TEN MONTHS!!  I'm in shock.  I cannot fathom how big you are, much less how you are fitting into clothing that I just put into a bin marked "12 months and up" a mere 11 months ago.  I remember thinking you'll never fit into xyz outfit, and here you are, wearing it, and well, I might add.

You're crawling!  A proper, belly off the floor, crawl.  And you crawl EVERYWHERE.  And get into EVERYTHING.  If it's within reach, it's obviously yours.  Electrical cords, remote controls, papers.... any and everything.  But you are so very proud of yourself.  I walk from the living room to the back of the house, and it isn't two seconds before I hear your hands slapping the floor, crawling behind me.  I'm amazed at fast you are, you little quadruped.  That's not to say you have given up moving on two legs, it's just easier to crawl across the room, than it is to find pieces of furniture to help get you there.  But you still pull up on all kinds of stationary and not-so-stationary objects.  Recently, you found out that a bar stool and gravity are not very compatible when you try to pull up using the top of the stool.  After clonking your noggin pretty good, you sniffled out your protests on Daddy's shoulder, as you had given me a heart attack, and I needed resuscitating.

Halloween was lots of fun!  Nana took you for a night and a couple of full days while your Daddy and I went to a party in Georgia.  You guys had great fun.  In fact, so much fun that she reported no crying, fussing, not one sly look whatsoever... until we showed up to take you home.  You caught a cold while you where there.  You wound up being so terribly sick.  The next weekend, we took you to Spooktacular at the Zoo.  Local tradition of 1,000's of pumpkins, and four times as many people.  Not our brightest idea ever, but we figured we'd give it a shot and if you wanted to leave, we'd take you home.  Not more than half an hour in, and you wanted out.  Right.  Then.  So we packed it up and went home.

I kept you at home the whole following week in hopes of getting you better.  After a trip to the doctor to rule out the flu, we tried eucalyptus baths, vitamin c tablets, and lots of use out of the humidifier.  You just had a nasty head cold.  We got you better, but not before Halloween night.  That night, we went to Larissa's house for a dinner get together and trick or treating.  You got to go on your first trick or treat!  Once we got you outside, you did so good!!  We stopped and headed back after only half an hour or so, but in that time, you did really good in that elephant costume despite the unseasonably warm weather.  You were pitching fits at Larissa's left and right.  You were so uncomfortable and cranky that it would have been embarrassing had it not been so pitifully sad.

The very next morning??  Your fourth tooth!  You got your third one on 10/18/09, and this one was on 11/1/09.  Right and left tops!

Your personality just keeps getting bigger every day.  You squeal, you growl, you wave, you laugh and grin, you give hugs, drooly kisses, you play "bonk".... you put your pacifier in your mouth, then place it in mine, take it out, put it back.... fun little game of back and forth.

You say "Mama!"  I have so been looking forward to this little addition to your vocabulary.  You call Bocephus "Babo" when you see him, and of course, you say "Dada" all the time.  You get the biggest kick out of having lights turned off and on.  You've gotten somewhat attached to this one blanket we have.  A microfiber blue one with green trim.  It's very warm, so that's good, but there was a day when I walked by your crib with you in my arms, and you were reeeeaching.  So I leaned you close, and you pulled your blanket up to your face, snuggled and smiled so big.

Currently, your new favorite songs are The Eentsy Weentsy Spider, The Bumblebee Song, and Twinkle Twinkle.  I enjoy singing every single one to you :-)

You're such a busy boy these days.  It seems to only be getting busier.  In big news, you are standing up with the aid of something to pull on all by yourself.  I find you often in your crib, either sitting up, or standing up, waiting on me to come get you, or playing quietly.  You pull up in your playpen a lot, which is sentimental to me because when we first got it, I pointed out to your Grandma that you will probably learn how to pull up in there.  I couldn't have been more right.  We got you a walker this past month, and you have been moving all over the place!  You like to trap Bocephus in the hallway and laugh at him endlessly.  You also like any chance to explore all by yourself.  And you are FAST in that thing!  I put you in it, and I have to jump out of your way!  It's come in handy for a couple games of bumper cars with Sophia as well.  But with all this pulling up and aided walking, you also walk along using furniture!  You've taken a couple of confident proper crawls, but have yet to master balance by yourself to take some steps.  But I'll look up and you're across the room from where I left you by grabbing a hold of whatever furniture is close by and cruising.  I'm thinking you're going to leave crawling behind before you start walking.  You army crawl and roll to get to where you need to go, but you get endlessly frustrated and really prefer standing up to being on the ground.

We made another long trip with you!  Our first trip was by car to Washington DC, but this trip was by plane to Syracuse, NY!  Flying was going to be a challenge in terms of what we could pack, and also getting your ears through take offs and landings.  You did really well on the shorter jogs from JFK to Syracuse, but the longer flights from JFK to Jacksonville really didn't suit you too well.  On the flight up you did just fine, but on the way back, because of the hour, it was hard getting you to stay asleep in my arms.  You're very much used to your crib, and had quite a few sleeping problems while we were there.  Once we got to our destination though, you were quite the charm.  You got to see Uncle Kevin and Cousin Timmy again, and this time, you were a lot more interactive than when you saw them last in February.  Just goes to show you what happens in a few months.  We surprised your Great Grandmother!  The last time she saw you, you were still in my belly.  She delighted in meeting you, and playing with you with her telephone and her kittens.  You got to pet her horses, too.  You got to meet your Grandpa Young for the very first time!  He really took to you and liked holding you.  You took his hat a couple of times from him.  You got to help out while your Daddy helped work on Grandpa's house!  Yes, he's building it with his two hands!  You got to meet plenty of relatives at your Aunt Teri's house.  We had dinner and breakfast the next day there.  She provided us with lots of treats for you, and gifted you with some new clothes, even a Syracuse hooded sweatshirt!  She showed you the wind chimes hanging from her trees, and you were completely enchanted.  We also got to go to Aunt Lorie's house to meet all of Grandma Williams' side of the family!  You got to hang from the monkey bars while standing on my shoulders.  You seemed pretty impressed with yourself.  You were on your best behavior there, and LOTS of hands got to hold you that day.  You really enjoyed spending time with Elizabeth, or she enjoyed spending time with you :wink:.  We got to see so much countryside while up there.  Your Dad and I decided to try and make it a yearly trip to go up and spend time with everyone there.

You managed to wave this week!!  We surprised your Grandma Crawley at work, and when you saw a familiar face, you waved at Barbara!  It was really neat to see you do something in a group of people you have never done before.

We got to play with a grown up cup this week.  I got plenty of pictures as I took the top off your sippee cup and let you experiment with drinking from a big person cup.  You managed to get quite a bit in your mouth considering how much of it wound up in your lap, in your seat, and of course, on the floor!  It was completely fun to see how you handled it both filled with water, and empty.  You enjoyed not tumping it over right away.  Instead you seemed to understand how to "drink" out of it, just couldn't get how fast the water comes out.  It was a fun filled day.

We play a lot more together than we used to.  Now I have to use your much shorter nap times to get the house done, because when you are awake, we are interacting and playing together.  We have lots of fun during our days.  Daddy joins in when he gets home from work.  You now say DaDa with consistency, and you both play together in the evenings.  He even gets you from your crib these days when you wake up. 

You're eating a wide variety of foods.  We even found out you like mangoes and plums!  You also enjoy a combination of squash and corn!  We're working on introducing meats and getting more grains in your diet.

You're growing up right before my eyes, my little bug.

You little booger, you.  You're developing fast and furious.  It's something new just about every day to every other day.  In the biggest news, you have teeth!  Your bottom teeth both came in during the same week.  Your first was on 7/31, and the second came in on 8/6.  It was quite a shock when I, as per regular, stuck my finger in to rub down your gums, and there was this little pin point of a nub sticking up.  I called all three grandparents after I took you into your dad to show off your new tooth!  It was quite a big day.

We have had such fun times at the zoo!  We have gone a number of times, and you seem to be adjusting to the Florida summer heat well, so long as you have a sippy cup full of water handy.  So far, you have rode the carousel (you liked it for the first two go arounds, after that, you wanted off.  Quick.), you have fed the giraffes (you didn't want to let go of the branch that the keeper gave us to give to them.  He'd tug, you'd tug... I finally pried your little fingers loose of it, and you thusly looked very confused.), you have gotten splashed by a stingray (you were totally enchanted by them!), and you have rode the train.  You have really come to love splashing around in the play park too!  I sit you next to one of the small fountains coming out next to a manatee and a whale, and you splish splash away. 

You are able to pull to a stand, not only from my fingers, but in your crib!!  August 5, I watched you scoot over to your bumpers in your crib, you put one hand on the bumper, one hand on the crib bar.  With amazing determination, you used every ounce of strength to slowly pull yourself, one fist at a time, all the way to the top rail!  You stood so triumphant!  You've since started pulling yourself up with my fingers and standing like it's your job.  No longer are you very excited to sit up straight.  No.  You are a big boy.  You are to stand!

You are now babbling at a consistent clip.  da-da-da-da-da-da.  Yep.  After all the work on ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma.  But when you cry, if your fist is anywhere near your mouth, you eek out mamamamama's like nobody's business.  You like to spit out ah-da-ah-dat's like crazy.  Your little mouth opens so you can see your gums from side to side as you talk to me.  It's the cutest thing.  You also laugh more freely than you used to. 

You're still wanting to crawl so badly you can't stand it.  You can get up on all fours and rock back and forth.  I'm suspecting you'll figure it out in a week or two.  If not, I can bet you'll be figuring out walking pretty soon!

You are eating a variety of foods!  I still make everything from scratch, but here is what you have had so far that you like: peas, asparagus, pears, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, zucchini, avocado, bananas, plums, cheerios, banana puffs, veggie wheels.  You get such variety!  And you like most of it!  That is what befuddles me since I'm such a picky eater.  Apparently, you have taken your father's palate and ran with it.  I couldn't be more proud.

But can I tell you what the sweetest thing that you do is?  You reach.  You reach for me when I get close to you.  I love it.  My heart swells so big when I walk over to you in your bouncer, you smile oh-so-big, and lift up your arms to me to be picked up.  It'll never get old.  Not ever.

Is it July already??  This time last year I was four months pregnant.  Now Gavin is six months old, and full of personality.

Today was a big day, but before I jump into it, there are a couple of small updates.  His current favorite game is Peek A Boo.  Give that kid a small blanket, a cloth diaper, or anything that size, and he'll grab the corners, raise it over his face, and hold it there.  Until someone says "Wheeeeere's Gavin??"  Then he lowers it quickly and smiles so big when you look at him and say "There he is!!!!"  He will do this over and over again.  It is a riot.

I can currently smoosh my face into his belly and send him into a fit of giggles.  He loves playing with me on the changing table.  I can stand him on his feet on the changing table and hold his hips, and he gives me the most excited faces.  He also likes to "kiss" me while he's up there.  Meaning, he leans over with his mouth wide open to plant it over mine.  It's adorable, and I love his gummy, drooly kisses.  He smiles so much now, and at so many people.  This kid loves to learn.  He takes in everything around him and notices every detail.  He's trying so so so hard to push up and crawl.  He gets on his belly (and sleeps that way now), and kicks and kicks and kicks his little legs like he is under water.  Once this guy understands how to get himself up, he's going to be off like the road runner.

Some quick stats: He's in 6-9 month clothes on most things.  There's still a few 3-6 pieces that still fit.  :sniff:  He's wearing size 2 shoes.  He's 18.8 pounds, 27.5 inches long.  Meaning he's leaning out in percentiles.  He's getting taller than most kids his age, but he's leaning out.  His noggin is 43.5 centimeteres, putting him in the 45th percentile.  Little less than average sized noggin.  Interesting.  We'll have to see how that one plays out.

His doctor visit went well today.  He was excited and happy to see everyone that smiled at him.  He took to the exam like a champ, and was told that he was sitting up like a nine month old would do [proud mama grinned].  His motor skills look excellent, as are his senses.  So that is all good news.  Oh.  And his boys dropped.  Important, and not really a good segway to introduce that bit of info, so there it is.

We talked about my concerns with solids, when to feed him, how much, how often, what to feed him, etc.  We talked about my concerns with his gross motor skills and how I can manage his environment to give him a better benefit in that arena.  We talked about plastics, shampoos, sunscreen, and teething.  We talked a lot about the vaccination he was to be receiving that day as well.

We waited to give him his immunizations at six months so we would have a good handle on his personality and his daily routine.  So we would better see abnormal symptoms and know how to deal with them.  He was given the Hib vaccine today.  He was crying when I laid him on the table out of hunger and bordom protest to begin with, so when it came time to stick him (and yes, I had to be the one to help hold him down), all he did was pause for a second, then cry harder.  I felt awful.  But I picked him right up, scooped up our stuff, and moved him into the nursing room; where I proceeded to nurse and comfort him a bit.  There were a few more tears to be had, but overall, he was such a tough little guy.  Once he was fed, he was quiet, and calmed down.  And once he was in the car, he passed out, but not cold.  He had a low grade fever for the rest of the afternoon.  The poor kid slept from 12 noon until 5.

Gavin also had his first run with bananas and a sippy cup tonight.  The first being more successful than the second.  I put his biggest bib on him, grabbed a spoon, buckled him in his high chair, and for the first time, didn't give him blocks to play with.  The beginning of the end.  I started by giving him a couple of teeny spoonfuls to give him a chance to check out the texture and flavor, and see if he liked it.  After that, there was no stopping him.  He grabbed the spoon, and after smashing it into the side of his face, he made it to his mouth (bananas smeared all over the left side of his face), were he proceeded to suck off every last bit.  I took the spoon, put more 'nanas on it, then gave it back for more experimentation.  It was a smidge messy, but he got the idea really quick!

He got through about a quarter of a jar when he called it quits and decided he wanted Mama's Best instead of Earth's Best.  I tried to give him a sippy cup after wiping him clean with some water, but that was a no go.  He really didn't care for that at all... but I think it's just because I wet his appetite, and all he wanted was milk.

It was a big day for this little man.  But he handled it well.  I'm hoping he gets a good night's sleep after going to bed at 11pm, and dozes a little tomorrow morning to help get his bearings back to normal.  Breakfast at 9:30am of bananas again and milk.  Two more square meals (with two milk breaks in between), and we'll be off for his six month portraits.  I hope the later time suits him a bit better.  But we'll post up some pictures once we have them done.

Six months already.  Time is flying.

Dear Matt,

My husband, and the father of my son... we have been given an amazing blessing.  As your son has grown, he has become so fascinated with you.  He loves your voice, he loves your laugh, he loves when you simply look at him.  I have never seen a kid light up so much as when you sing Dr. Worm just for his amusement.

I always knew you would be an amazing dad, but to see you in action just moves my heart to new heights.  You're a different man than you were before we had him.  I can't put my finger on it, but it's a good kind of different.

We celebrated your first Father's Day with you today.  I'm not quite sure how you felt about "being a father" or "celebrating as a father" ... but as you touched Gavin's head so softly during the church service where he was dedicated, I saw how much you loved our child.  One simple gesture spoke volumes.

You're going to be Gavin's hero, even if you keep your cape tucked inside your shirt.  I see so many days ahead of Gavin squealing from the back of our house "daaaaaaddyyyyyyy!!!" as he slams himself into your legs for a big hug.  I see wrestling matches, games of catch, and building forts.  I see Gavin learning so many things from you.  I see him growing into a fine man; a man who will exemplify the incredible values and morals you will help instill in him.

And Matt?  He couldn't learn it from a better man. 

I love you.

Happy Father's Day, and may many more follow.

Love,
Candy

Gavin... Where's Mommy?  [you turn your head and smile the biggest grins when your eyes meet mine]

I'm loooking at yoooou [I put my nose on your nose and stare in your eyes.  You smile the most when I do this to you]

Git em git em git em git em!!! [I tickle you under your arms and snuzzle my face into your neck.  This sends you into a fit of giggles]

Mama's gonna git em!! [This happens right before git em git em, after the first one, just me saying this makes you laugh]

Shake your booty! [During a wet diaper change, I shake your little baby butt.]

Sooooo biiiig! [I hold your arms up and say sooooo biiiiiig in a sing-song voice.]

Flyyyyyying baby!! [I pick you up and raise you in the air above my head; you've only nailed me with drool a couple of times, but the big grins are worth it.]

We MIGHT be going to the beach this morning if I can get my six foot tall lump outta bed and get us down there!!  I'm packing up the beach bag now :-)  Caaaaan't wait!!

*UPDATE* No beach.  Matt had to work.  Went to his office, picked up a phone number, he got the go-ahead from QA on his work, and he was free the rest of the afternoon.  So we went to Hooters for lunch, then to Guitar Center so he could drool over some things he couldn't afford.

Hi Sweetheart.  You're five months old, and you're teething like crazy.  You're all drool, all the time, and have turned into the boy that screams and screams a lot and enough with the screaming.  You can throw some pretty wild fits now that you have this high pitched scream down pat. 

You'll start eating, pull away, scream, eat some more, pull away, scream, and get back to eating.  You completely baffle me.  It can get so frustrating.  But like your mother, where you throw fits passionately, you can also love so passionately.  It's either one extreme or the other.  However, it's pretty fleeting.  You're so much like your grandfather in the sense that you are very "whatever" in whatever setting you're in.  You're very serious, but have gotten very demanding in letting me know when things aren't "just so".  I'm not sure if Zane rubbed off on you when he came over for me to babysit on Tuesday, or if this is a fun, new, personality quirk that you have developed all on your own.  I can almost say it's like you're a newborn again.  Because the behavior is very much the same.  Tantrumy, grumpy, cranky.... I want to say that it's just teeth, and pray that it's just a phase you're going through.

You're getting more and more curious about the world you live in.  You smile more at people, you're picking up objects, and you're totally into being on your tummy.  Until you're tired of being on your tummy, then you scream for me to come and rescue you.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, and you're forced to lay there and throw a fit while I wait to see if you'll figure this one out on your own.  You put yourself there, so you've got to figure out how to put yourself back.  You've started sleeping on your tummy, too.  Of course, this sends me into a round of paranoid checking at every so often (read: every ten minutes).  The thought of SIDS terrifies me as I witness you take your first couple of tries at being individual and testing your personal preferences for things.  I'm interested in how this first night of letting you sleep on your belly is going to go.  Are you going to wake yourself up in the middle of it when you realize you're uncomfortable and want to roll over?  I don't know.  I'm not for certain I should turn you back over before I head to bed tonight.  Curious, indeed.

My son, I have been trying to come about and write an account of your birth.  I have to admit, I harbored a lot of ill feelings about the recollection of it all, and sometimes it still haunts me how you came into this world.  I feel guilty for a number of reasons, and I feel angry for a number more.  However, I must preface all of this by saying that I am overwhelmingly happy that you are here, healthy, and adorable as can be.

Your "due date" was estimated at the very beginning at December 17.  I say estimated because that was what I was told to call it at the time.  That nothing was for sure, really.  Of course, I told them, and on about we went.  It was the perfect pregnancy.  One hundred percent drug free.  I didn't even bother with a Tylenol on the two occasions I was under the weather.  You were healthy and forming just as you should be.  I was eating as well as I could, and every test was coming back normal as could be. 

As I continued to grow with you, December 17 came and went.  Christmas came and went.  I finally stopped showing up for work because I was cramping and feeling generally icky for the last two weeks of December.  It was then that it was apparent that our due date was etched in stone, and the powers that be had had enough waiting.  They considered me two weeks late, and wanted to induce on the 31st if I didn't go into labor naturally.  We had a couple of false alarms, but for the most part, I was cramping on and off for a week and a half straight.

December 31st arrived, and so you were supposed to be arriving as well.  Matt and I packed up the Jeep, and made a quick stop at a minute mart for orange juice, something to eat, and water.  I knew this was going to be a long process.  We arrived on time, and were told to stick around in a waiting room because every single bed was taken at the moment.  I felt a pang of guilt right then, figuring, maybe you weren't late.  Perhaps you were just right on time and we shouldn't be rushing this along.  Too little too late.  They pulled us back after waiting to get a hep lock put in, vitals taken, and paperwork filled out.  After all of that, I met my family back in the waiting room to yet again wait for a room to open up.  About forty five minutes later, one did, and so we were escorted back.  When I say "we", I mean, you, me, your father, your aunt, and all three sets of grandparents.  I had quite an audience to keep me company.

I was issued a hospital gown, and put on some monitors to see what your baseline stats looked like.  All was well and getting ready to get underway.  Dr. VanScriver came in, and we shooed everyone out except your father.  My water was broken, and mysoprostal was applied to induce labor.  Everyone was ushered back in, and we all hung out while contractions started to build.  I laid my head to the side and tried to let everything fall away while I closed my eyes through each one.  I could hear everyone talking, and every now and again I was asked how I was doing, but after a while, I didn't want to talk.  Once the machine started cranking out the numbers that the powers that be wanted to see, I was allowed up and out of bed for a while.  Everyone was ushered out into the waiting room since I wanted to get up and to the bathroom, and get down to business.  We started at 2cm.  I labored with you on the potty for a bit since the pressure was too great to sit on the hard surface of the shower, and I wasn't prepared to stand up.  But I finally got my feet under me and decided to labor in the hot water for a bit.  During the past few weeks, hot water had become my friend.  I stood in the shower, holding the shower head at my back, and swayed and moaned with you while we worked together for an hour.  I was interrupted and sent back to bed to be strapped with monitors once again.

We were now at 5cm.  I had been laboring for a few hours now.  Back in bed, things got uncomfortable.  Your grandmother and your father were both there to help with things.  Your grandfather brought in gatorade earlier in the morning and some rice cakes.  They both came up after laboring in the bed for an hour or so.  The powers that be didn't like the numbers that were being put up, and came in with an IV and oxygen mask for me.  Your father was scared.  I was scared, but confident that we might still be able to have the birth we wanted for you.  Contractions were getting so intense.  I was falling asleep between each wave, trying to catch a break where I could.  Those were becoming shorter and shorter.  I snapped at your father after he asked me, once again during a contraction, how I was doing.  I felt guilty, but was in too much pain to do much about it.  I was put on all fours to see if I could not only get more oxygen to you, but labor more effectively.  It turned out that the IV line wasn't working, and they had to get another one in.  They blew out my vein on the first one, but manged to get a second line in.  I wanted to push, and at that announcement, at only 9cm, a FLOOD of people entered the room.

The lights shined bright as they turned me over onto my back, and pulled my knees up to my ears.  This was not how things were supposed to go.  You were still sunny side up and refused to turn around.  You were in the birth canal already.  I was pushing for only half an hour, and pushing very well by the lead nurse's account.  Your heart rate kept decelerating after every contraction.  Too low.  In the 90's, then the 70's.  Just too much work for such a small body to handle.  Seven hours of labor.  That's a lot of work.  Pushing hurt.  You still had a little bit of lip left over you, and Dr. Slade said she had let this go further than she wanted to.  They were prepping the OR without even telling me they were prepping.  Matt and I urged her to let me work a little longer with you.  My gut kept telling me you were alright.  I was terrified.  They wanted to cut me open and take you away from me.  They didn't want to wait.  They threatened that I would have to work as hard as I ever had for 20+ more minutes, but they weren't willing to let me do it. 

And so the call was made.

Your father was put in scrubs, tears filled my eyes as I watched my mother cry for us, and was wheeled out of our room and into an opertating room to "deliver" you.

My heart was wrentching.  This was not how I envisioned it. 

They were talking above me as if I wasn't there.  In one moment, the process of spinal anethesia was being described as I was going through yet another contraction, then performed, and in the next, Matt was next to my face looking above the curtain as the procedure to "rescue you" was being performed.  In the middle of a sentence, you were born.  I was completely unaware that they were bringing you out, then all the sudden, your cry was heard.  I didn't get to see anything.  My heart broke and rejoiced all at once.  You were okay.  You were here.  Except... it wasn't me that birthed you.

They stated that nothing was abnormal.  Your cord was not around your neck, you were in no distress.  And as it turns out, you looked like a 39-40 week old baby.  Not a 42 week old.

As they stitched me up and put me back together again, they cleaned you up, took all the measurements, and handed the 8 pound, 20 1/2" long bundle to your father.  He brought you next to my face so that I could meet you for the first time.  You were the most beautiful little boy I had ever seen.  With the biggest feet I had ever seen!

It took longer than normal to get you out as you were already wedged into the canal.  The family was on pins and needles expecting the worst news because of that, as your father went out to tell them that everything was okay.  I breastfed you within an hour of your birth.  You were amazing and took to it right away.  It was a wonderful moment to share with you.  To know that I could at least do something.  You were a very calm baby.  Just a sleepy and hungry newborn with a penchant for being so adorably cute.   

Time seems to blur in and out, but the next thing I remember, all of our family came in to meet you.... and the rest, as they say, is history. 

Three days later, you were home, and we both recovered.  Together.

Thus, this is the story of how you were brought into this world.

Dear Gav,

Your personality is shining more everyday.  You are recognizing and remembering people that you meet.  You're pretty comfortable with most people, too.  Just about anyone I hand you over to, you'll happily sit in their arms for a time, barring no gas upsets, or just generally not wanting to be held sitting up.  It's gotten easier to figure you out, but sometimes you can still throw me for a loop.  Typically, when all else fails, and all you are is fussy in my arms, the trick has become to just stand up.  Simply standing up really works out for you for an odd reason or another.  You also like to be "stood up" on my legs.  You love rolling over, too.  I have woken up a couple mornings in a row to a very pissed off baby on his belly in his crib.  Don't ask me how you got there, all I know is you're screaming to be off your belly.  Lately, you've been a challenge to change on the changing table, seeing as your new found fun thing is turning over.  You also like to pull your knees to your belly when I'm changing you just to make things extra fun.  Things are just becoming more and more physical each day.

You're still one hundred percent breastfed.  You're in the 95th percentile for boys your age in both length and weight.  People constantly confuse you for a six month old.  And your father is very interested in wanting to feed you foods.  Not quite yet though.  We'll be starting you on foods/solids at six months.  I think your father and other people are looking forward to seeing how you will handle things.  I'm debating in my head what your first food will be.  So far, it's a toss up between sweet potatoes or bananas.  I got an excellent "Cooking For Baby" cookbook.  I'm going to try my hand at making baby food for you; here's hoping it turns out good!

You went to your first baseball game last weekend!  The local hometeam, the Jacksonville Suns, played against the Birmingham Biscuits.  We lost, but we had excellent seats, and had a wonderful time anyway.  My parents, grandmother, aunt and uncle were there as well, but we didn't wind up sitting together.  This generous couple offered us two of their four season passes to behind and level with the Suns' dugout on the third baseline!  We took them, and aside from when we got up to get out of the rain in the second inning, we sat with them and cheered on our team.  Your grandma got you a Suns bib and you wore with your baseball outfit and white shoes.  You crashed at the bottom of the seventh and decided to snooze through until the end of the game.  But we made it through, and it was a fun time for us as a family.  I hope to share a lot more baseball games with you.  Maybe one day you'll be playing t-ball and pop warner. 

You're just developing so fast.  You smile and laugh so much.... I live for those giggles you throw out there.  I can tell you, you're pretty serious.  You think a lot about what you're going to smile at.  But when you do, it's so genuine, it just lights up the room.  You smile at your dad instantly!  You love watching him talk, and lately, sing.  In particular, Dr Worm by They Might Be Giants.  You love a rigid schedule and predictability.  The more predictable it is, the happier you are.  But you're usually content to just be you.  You're not a very demanding baby.  So long as you are dry, fed, and somewhat entertained, you're content.

We've lately re-introduced you to a swing.  You really seem to enjoy it!  The little swing you originally had could no longer swing you and the car seat.  You just simply outgrew it.  So we got you a full sized swing.  You fall asleep in it if your sleepy, but if you're awake, you're completely entertained.

Well, you've got an hour before you wake up, and I've got dinner to prep and get in the crockpot...... snooze away darlin.  I'll be here when you wake up.

Love,
Mama