Spring Has Sprung!

I have proof!!!!


Finally!!! So Gavin and I have been outside enjoying the weather as much as possible the last few days. It has been awesome! Monday (once the rain cleared out) we were able to spend a little while outside so I decided to introduce Gavin to bubbles. As with most things, he was pretty unsure of the whole business to begin with and he gave me some interesting looks. Unfortunately, it is difficult to try to blow bubbles and then manage to get a good picture of his reaction to them at the same time. Here is what I managed to get...





He eventually warmed up to it a bit and even managed to smile at the bubbles that came his way.

Tuesday, unfortunately, was Gavin's 6 month well baby check up, which meant more shots. Ugh! I was dreading this one more than the others because I knew I would be doing this one alone (darn work has been keeping Scott so busy he couldn't get away to come). The appointment itself went well. Gavin is now 21 pounds 7 ounces and 28.75 inches, very healthy, strong and on track with everything he should be doing. Then came the shots.... awful! At least he mostly calmed down within a few minutes so we could make his next appointment and head home. He passed out on the way home and even stayed asleep when I brought him inside. After he woke up from that he was his normal happy self! What a relief! I always worry that he will be so miserable after that we are in for a long rest of the day.

Talking and smiling away!



We spent the majority of the afternoon outside walking around, we washed the Terrain, watched traffic and just enjoyed being outside.

Watching for Daddy to come home...


Today we spent some more time outside since we will be stuck inside tomorrow (raining all day - boo!), so we made the most of it. We walked around, watched traffic and rolled around in the grass. It feels great to be spending so much time outside. It is such a welcome change from being cooped up in the house all winter. Besides, Gavin absolutely loves lounging in his cozy truck. We certainly spend a lot of time walking around in it and sitting at the end of the driveway watching as people and cars pass by.

Happy Easter!

I do not have any pictures I am going to post (I promise to post a few new ones tomorrow), but I did want to share that Gavin's first Easter was a great day. He was in a great mood pretty much all day (and even went down for all of his naps easily - a very rare occurrence!) We watched Tangled (very cute movie), played, picked up the house and made dinner and dessert. Scott and I really enjoyed our weekend hanging out together as a family instead of working on our ever growing list of things to do around the house.

My parents came over for a very nontraditional Easter dinner (and of course dessert). We barbequed chicken for wraps that we all were able to customize with all kinds of good things (lettuce, tomato, cheese, bacon, avocado, peppers, red onions and ranch) with a yummy pasta salad. For dessert I made Heath Bar Cupcakes and we had vanilla ice cream. All in all, a great day with family!

I hope you all had an awesome Easter as well. We are looking forward to next year when Gavin will be a more active participant in all the holiday fun!

Happy Easter!

Lil' Gearhead!

Since Gavin already loves cars, Scott uncovered his 1955 Chevy last weekend. (Scott has been working very hard to get the basement and garage cleaned out so it was finally safe to uncover it). It was a huge hit! (And Gavin just happened to be wearing the perfect shirt for the occasion!)


"Why is someone always interrupting me with a camera?!"


Back to business!




It is so funny how he immediately reaches for the steering wheel and pretty much has a death grip on it and will not let go. He was loving having two "wheels" to grab in the '55 because there is the real steering wheel on the outside and then there is an inner "wheel" for the horn. He was loving it! Not that I am in a rush for him to grow up, but it will be awesome when he is older for us to go out for a ride as a family. Seeing as there are no seat belts, it will be quite some time before that will happen, but something to look forward to!

Gavin's Half Birthday!

It is unbelievable that 6 whole months have passed since Gavin was born. That is half of his first year already! As each day passes I wonder where it has gone and those days quickly turn into weeks and months... I really wish it would all slow down. I really enjoy how interactive and fun Gavin is now, but I also miss him being willing to lay down and snuggle. The only time he is willing to do that is if he is already sleeping because even when he is tired, he is fighting sleep and refusing to lay down. Oh well...


Stats:

Weight - Roughly 22 pounds (we won't get an update until next week when we have his 6 month well baby checkup)
Height - Guessing 29 inches or so
Clothing Size - Thankfully he has not grown out of too much in the last month. Depending on the brand he is wearing either 6-9 or 6-12. A few things are still 3-6 because even though they are a little snug, I am stubborn and really don't want to pack them away. I also started rotating in a few new shirts that are 12-18 months. (They are a big on him, but I want him to get more than just a few weeks use out of his clothes.)
Milestones -
*Gavin still refuses tummy time, but I try sneaking it in as often as I can and for as long as possible (which is usually still not very long because he either rolls himself over or if I have that blocked, he gets angry and starts yelling/crying). I have started putting him down on his hands and knees instead to try to encourage him to build his muscles and control. He protests that as well... stubborn little boy!
*He has gone from a supported sitter to an unsupported sitter. Although he still does topple over from time to time, he is getting better and usually can sit by himself for pretty long periods of time. He just has trouble if he tries to reach for things and forgets to use his hands to prevent a crash landing.
*His standing has greatly improved. He loves to stand (and sit) at his Leap Frog table. The spinning rattle side is his favorite!



*He has his two center bottom teeth. Thankfully they broke through the gums fairly quickly once we saw the little white buds and they no longer bother him (although they are still technically growing). I am hoping we get a little break before his top teeth start coming in.
*His sleeping seems to be back to "normal" (his normal) after being greatly disrupted while his two teeth were cutting.
*Gavin LOVES food. So far he has had rice cereal, oatmeal, avocados, sweet potatoes and peas. He has yet to reject anything.
Other -
*Gavin loves being outside. As the weather improves, we always spend at least part of the day outside for a walk, watching cars and people walk by or playing in the yard. It is pretty much always a hit to pull out his cozy truck as well!
*Gavin loves cars, as long as he is not strapped in his car seat. He loves to watch them pass by, he loves to sit in the drivers seat and hold on to the wheel, he loves to ride around in his cozy truck and he even enjoys being out "helping" me wash the Terrain!
*He comes up with all kinds of noises and faces that make us laugh on a daily basis which usually results in him laughing with us.
*He loves to play peek a boo and be "scared". This will almost always result in a giggle but at the very least a smile.

That is all I can think of. He is so curious and busy, I am enjoying his disinterest in trying to crawl because I know once he decides to figure it out he will quickly be into everything!

Sweet Potatoes!

One last post for the day because Gavin had another first today... his first taste of sweet potatoes!!

"FOOD!!!!"


"Mmmmm!"



"More!!"


Although this is really only the second type of "real" food he has had, we are starting to think he would probably eat anything. We will have sweet potatoes for a few days and then we are going to try carrots next!

New Ride!

Gavin has a new ride! His very own....

COZY TRUCK!!!


We decided back in February that Gavin needed one of these, but we had been waiting to go pick one up until the weather improved so that we could put it together and he could enjoy it. Saturday evening we decided to run out and pick it up. We ended up not getting to put it together because we didn't make it home until it was time to get Gavin in the bath and to bed (that was because we made a stop at Cold Stone for ice cream. Win!!). So, Sunday morning when Gavin and I got up, I brought the box upstairs so we could start to put it together. Unfortunately, we ended up having to wait for Scott to get up because the construction required power tools that I could not locate. After a much longer than anticipated construction process (this thing was ridiculous and the instructions were seriously lacking!) it was finally together. Gavin was clearly pleased:


We took turns pushing him around the house in it Sunday afternoon and evening before it became an outside toy today. He loved it and hated having to come out to take naps and eat.


Today we spent a great deal of time outside because it was absolutely beautiful outside! It was sunny and 70's (reaching low 80's at one point) with a really nice breeze. Perfect weather to take Gavin out to enjoy his new ride. We stayed home instead of venturing to Valkill but he really enjoyed be pushed up and down the driveway, around the yard and sitting at the end of the driveway watching people and cars pass by.

Before we went outside, he had to see if the bed of his truck was acceptable:


Then we headed outside to check things out:


Truck bed loaded up with toys, just in case he needed something else to occupy him:


People watching... he was talking like crazy!

Gavin then required a nap, despite some protesting on his part... he clearly needed the nap because he slept for almost an hour (which is pretty much unheard of anymore) and when I went in to get him out of his crib he wanted to eat and slept for another hour! After that we went out again to enjoy some more time before we had to come in for the night (you know, to make and eat dinner and then get a bath and go to bed).

More people watching...


Completely pooped! He was sucking on his burp cloth about ready to pass out in his truck!


It was definitely time to come in after that. We had an awesome day enjoying the weather and his new ride!

Avocados!

Friday night we introduced Gavin's first "real" food item. Up until now we have just been giving him rice cereal to give him practice eating from a spoon and something a little more solid than breastmilk. He has been doing great with that and even seemed to really enjoy it. I have been planning what to try next and thought avacados would be good. I had planned a dinner that we were having avocados in (mmmm... chicken, bacon, cheese, avocados and ranch in a sun-dried tomato wrap with fresh baked onion rings) and I mashed up some for Gavin.

Very excited about the food heading his way...


Mmmm... pleasantly surprised for something different (Notice the death grip on the spoon).


What he was being fed (and a little glimpse of what Scott and I ate).


Daddy's turn to feed Gavin so I could eat my dinner (Gavin got really impatient that I would pause between his bites so I could eat my dinner... how dare I). Clearly Gavin loved the avocados, he kept reaching for the bowl...


Which he wouldn't let go of, even when he had the spoon in his mouth...


And Scott never took it away (even though I tried to warn him) because Gavin kept giving him cute and innocent looks...


Which leads to a very messy child.


Oh well, at least it was a hit. Next up, sweet potatoes!

Computer Skills!

Gavin was brushing up on his surfing and typing skills the other night with Scott. He already loves computers! He is always staring at Scott's laptop and reaching for it as well. Once Scott actually gave him a chance to check it out close up, he was hooked!

"Woah! Did you see what I just did?!?!"


Working in excel...



"Why are you interrupting me? I am busy!"


What a curious little guy we have on our hands... just like his father!

Saying Goodbye...

This week I had to say goodbye to my Civic forever... ok, I know that is a bit dramatic, but this was my first brand new car that I had bought and fully paid for myself. I spent many hours driving, washing, waxing and taking care of this car! It was my baby and I am very sad that I had come to a point in my life when it was no longer an adequate vehicle for our family. I was stubborn and kept insisting that even having Gavin, it would be perfectly reasonable to keep it. Unfortunately, I was forced to accept that it really wasn't a good source of transportation for us. Aside from just needing a vehicle that wasn't two doors (requiring acrobatics to get a car seat and child in and out of and to get in the back to sit with Gavin), we also needed more space for comfortable travel and all the stuff we have to cart with us when we go on vacations.

So, Scott finally wore me down and we started looking at bigger vehicle options and quickly settled on what we wanted and proceeded to go and test drive and negotiate. It all happened so quickly and we figured that once Scott finished detailing the Civic and posted it for sale it would be bought in a short amount of time (especially considering we had specifically not traded it in because the dealer was offering such a small amount versus what it was really worth). That did not happen as quickly as we thought, but I still think that was because in January people are not looking for a "fun" car. If they are looking at vehicles they are likely wanting something that is better in the snow, but who knows why it didn't immediately sell.

Regardless, Scott reposted the Civic ad about two weeks ago. Although there was still not as much interest as we thought, we did get a few inquiries and offers. Then Sunday night, someone called and he came to look at it Monday night. He was immediately sold (even though he didn't even spend much time really looking at what awesome condition it is in) and we proceeded to set things up to finalize the sale Tuesday morning.

Despite the fact that I accepted this would happen back in December when we bought our Terrain, it still wasn't quite real because we had not actually sold the Civic yet and I got used to seeing it around still, even though I hadn't driven it since we brought the Terrain home. Bringing the car and Scott taking off the plates and registration sticker and then signing the paperwork made it real. It is great that it has sold but it was still hard to see it go. Scott had taken some great pictures after I washed the Civic the first time, so in honor of it going to a new home:



On our way home we decided we had earned a stop for a late breakfast (since we had all gotten up early and hadn't had time for breakfast - well Gavin got to eat, but Scott and I hadn't and we were really hungry!) and when I ran in to pick it up, Scott entertained Gavin. Gavin absolutely loves cars already (I think we are in trouble!), he loves riding around on his Lightening McQueen car, he loved being in Erin's cozy coupe, he likes sitting in the Terrain with me while I clean it, etc. So Scott decided it was time to teach Gavin how to drive... a bit early, absolutely, but we want to make sure that he is a good driver!

He always remembers to look left:


Then right before he pulls out:


Such a smart (and safe) little boy!

Wax On, Wax Off!

Last weekend (yeah, I dropped the ball a bit getting this up... oops) we decided to hang out together while we also get a few things done around the house. We decided that since it was so nice, it would be a good opportunity to wash the Terrain. Scott had done it several times when it was really cold and Gavin and I had done it once a few weeks ago when it had warmed up enough he could sit outside while I washed it. It was fun to do (I enjoy the being outside, washing a vehicle is good exercise without it being hard work and I love having the added benefit of driving around a clean vehicle!) but a lot more work than washing my civic ever was. It was much easier to do as a team!



We had a lot of fun singing and talking to Gavin while we washed it and I think he really enjoyed it as well (until he was ready for a nap).


It will be even more fun when he is helping me do the detailing since I will be doing the majority of that since I apparently did such a nice job with my civic. Since the weather was bad on Monday, I even started a coat of wax, it will probably take me a long time to get the whole Terrain done, but doing a part each time it is washed is better than nothing.

We look forward to taking advantage of the many more nice days to be outside and washing vehicles that are to come!