Rocking...

G went down for a nap today with no problem.

10 minutes later he was awake and crying. Very loud.

I went in and scooped him up in my arms. I held him as he fell back asleep. He does not usually do this. Just sometimes.

I sat down in the rocking chair with him. I usually promptly put him back to bed.

I sat there and held him. I thought about {a few} mothers who are not able to do this. I thought about the pain I would feel if my baby were in pain. I though about how much I hurt for these mothers. And their babies.

I kept thinking I would put him back in bed. I could not. I thought about those mothers. I kissed his head. I smelled his neck. I held on to his hand. I cherished this time.

I prayed. Prayed for certain families. Prayed for the health and safety of my own. Prayed that God would give me the strength to keep praying for others even when it is easier to just try to forget because it is too painful.

I rocked. And rocked. And rocked. I promised myself that I will not take any of this for granted. Ever.

Hold someone close to you tonight.

Baby Jail

Tonight we thought we would see how G liked the pack n play...as we think that in the near future he may need to be in it sometimes;) He is on the move more and more, and one of these days he will be crawling. We thought we would put him in here every once in a while with some toys so that he does not hate it! So far he likes it! He sat here all by himself...such a BIG boy!

Other news, Gavin has officially started to really like eating solids! He gets excited and opens his mouth very wide:) He is very impatient and does not want to wait for you to put food on the spoon...he wants it in his mouth asap. We have been giving him 2 ounces at a time until yesterday...when he wanted more and more. Now we are up to 4 ounces! So far he LOVES apples, yams, sweet potato's, and the new food of the week---green beans! I thought for sure he would spit these out, but nope! He ate them with no problem, he loved them! He has also found a love for bananas. I just give him little chunks of my banana when I am eating it...and he loves this. He can't get enough. He grabs the entire banana and tries to stuff it in his mouth;)

Park Fun

We have so much fun at the park. G loves the swings. He also loves all the attention he gets from everyone. All smiles this boy!

6 Month Check-Up

Today Gavin went to see Dr. Copeland for his 6 month well baby visit. He did really great! He was smiling, talking, and moving all over the place. He does not sit still AT ALL anymore:) His nurse weighed him and measured him, then left to get the Doctor. When she left another nurse knocked on the door and said she just wanted to meet Gavin because his nurse said he was SO cute...we thought that was sweet:)

Gavin is right on track with everything he is doing and eating. We decided that we will start a vitamin supplement with fluoride in it because our water has none. We told her that we have yet to start the vitamin because we did not want to introduce anything new when we were having all the dairy issues. Now that everything seems to be under control, we thought it was time for vitamins! Dr. Copeland said "It does not look like he is really missing any nutrition or vitamins!!!" Ha!

We also decided that since Gavin's tummy issues with the dairy are pretty much non-existent (Because I have cut out all dairy from my diet), we will continue to do exactly what we have been doing. We talked about having him see an allergist, but decided that for now we do not need to see one. She said that even if he tests negative for a dairy allergy, it still doesn't mean he is not sensitive to it, and most likely he will outgrow it. We will revisit this allergist idea when Gavin is a year old if we have issues when we introduce dairy to his diet. At this point I have totally excepted the idea that I will stay away from dairy, and honestly it is just fine for me. If it means Gavin is getting the best nutrition possible AND happy with it, then I am all for it. Right now I don't want to spoil a good thing, and Gavin's eating regimen is just perfect. No tummy issues, and that's all we want!

Gavin got one shot (Polio, HIB and DtAP, a combined shot) and he did not even give the nurse a mean look! She gave him the shot very quickly in his thigh and he just looked around at me and Derek. Then Derek was able to distract him by telling him he did a great job:) No cry, no whine, no nothing! Such a good boy at the Doctors!

We will go back in one month for a "Shot only" visit so that he can catch up on his 6 month shots (We have him on a delayed vaccine schedule) and then he will go again at 9 months for a check up with the doctor:)

We feel so blessed to have such a happy and healthy baby:)

Weight 17lbs 25-50th percentile

Length 27inches 50-75th percentile

Head Circ 43.5cm-40th percentile

How could you not

Seriously. How could you not hug and kiss him ALL DAY LONG? Impossible.

Chunky Monkey

G loves his bath time. Now that he is in the "big boy" bath (Thanks Grandma G!) he is loving it even more. He loves to sit up by himself and just smiles the entire time. He is able to sit up by himself, but still needs a hand close by for when he decides to face plant. We had to take some pictures of him tonight because he just looks SO chunky! He has so many rolls, especially when he sits like this;)

Spring is around the corner!

We really can't wait for spring around here! It has been pretty nice out lately, a nice reminder of what is to come! I have been taking G to the park, and he LOVES it. He loves the swings, he loves watching other kids run around, he just loves to be outside. We are so lucky to have this great park just down the street from us. Here is G squealing with delight on the swings!

Solids!

I thought I would do a little quick update since I have been so busy! I have been working every other day for the last week, and will continue to do so for the next 3 weeks. Ugh, it seems like I am always at the hospital! Every time I have a day off, it seems like I am spending it getting everything in order for me to be gone the next day (cleaning, cooking, preparing Gavin's breast milk bottles, cleaning pumping stuff, doing dishes, doing errands, blah, blah!). I really can't wait to be working less...there are so many things I have been neglecting, and I can't wait to re-focus myself on my family. and husband. and child. and house. and self.

Last night Derek and I decided that we would make Gavin some batches of homemade baby food to freeze. So far he has had rice cereal and sweet potatoes. Yesterday while I was eating an apple, Gavin was VERY interested. So I let him suck on my apple for a little while. He LOVED it. Would not stop. Cried when I took it away. Uh oh! So we thought maybe its time for G to have some applesauce! We went to my favorite market, Lunardies, because they have a great selection of organic produce. We bought some organic apples, carrots, and sweet potatoes. I baked the sweet potato, added water to puree, and froze in 1 ounce cubes. Then I boiled the apples and added some of the water to puree. I froze those in 2 ounce cubes. Then for the carrots, I steamed them and used the leftover water from the apples to puree them. I thought that would give them a nice sweet taste. (And I could not use the water I steamed them with because it has nitrates in it from the carrots...something I learned during my baby food research days on bed rest!) I was very surprised at how easy all of this was, and how MUCH food it made! It look less than an hour (Mostly because of the potatoes taking an hour to bake) and made enough food to last Gavin a month! We spent about $8 for the produce, so in the end this is a pretty big money saver! (That's not why I am doing it, but it is a big plus!)

So far Gavin is just sort of interested in baby food. He will play with the spoon, help feed himself, and smear the food all over. He does not really seem to be too interested in the actual eating part! Part of me loves the fact that he still really loves to nurse rather than eat baby food. I really cherish this bond that we have, and I feel blessed to be able to do this. Some can't and I can imagine it would be very disappointing. So, for now we will continue to give him some solids at breakfast and dinner...and one day he will catch on!

First Tooth!

For my records, Gavin's first tooth is about to break through! I can FINALLY see the white poking through! Its about time because I feel like he has been "teething" for months now! I will snap a pic when I am able to get a toothy smile:)

Exciting Changes

I am so very excited to finally be able to say that as of March 7th, 2010, I will be working part time! It has been a HUGE decision for us, and I am so lucky to be able to do this.

Ever since I realized back in December that I would be going back to work, I have had a lot of anxiety about it. I did not want to make any decisions (to work or not to work) until I at least tried it for a few months. After going back to work full time, I really realized that it is just not working for us. This is JUST my personal opinion, but I really think that working full time AND having a family is 10 times harder than staying home. I feel like I am able to say this because I was home for 4 months with Gavin. I have experienced both worlds, and I don't know how some women do it! Being a stay at home mom is a full time job, I know that. Add on another full time job (taking care of very sick children) and it makes things that much harder. I am not able to give enough of myself to my family, and they are the most important thing in my life. Period.

I can never get this time back, and I don't want to look back and regret not being home with Gavin more...and so we decided that if we are able to make this work, why not? So, pretty soon I will be a "relief" nurse and will only be required to work one 12 hr shift per week. The great thing about this position is that I can work more if I need to! (bad thing is I won't have benefits through work anymore) We will need to cut way back on our spending, and really plan out what we buy. That will be a big change for us, but I am excited to be staying home more, so I will do anything I need to!!!

I feel so fortunate to be able to have the "best of both worlds." I will still be working, just not as much, and we feel that this is the best for our family right now. I am excited to able to focus more of myself on our family and less on work. I am also extremely fortunate to have a wonderful husband who is able to support our family. Gavin and I are both so lucky to have Derek.

Thank you Grandma!

Mom (Grandma) just left and we are pretty sad around here! It meant SO much to me to have her here the last 2 weeks...more than she will ever know.

Being so far from my family is so hard, and it never gets any easier. ::sigh::

Mom, Thank you for all you did for us...It was so much fun to have you here and see you take such good care of Gavin. He truly adores you:) We love you!

{Gavin 6 Months}

Development
-You roll over both ways (front to back and back to front).
-You look for a toy dropped out of sight.
-You have no head lag when pulled to a sitting position.
-You "tripod" (sit with one hand on the ground for support)
-You grasp and mouth objects, but now can transfer small objects from one hand to another.
-You get mad and frustrated if you drop a toy.
-You recognize your dad and I, and you are starting to show some signs of stranger anxiety...although I think you are just a little shy at first:)
-You smile, laugh, and squeal.
-You can be content on your playmat for a while playing with one or two toys.
-You can bear weight on your legs when held in a standing position.

Feeding
-You continue to breastfeed every 3 hours and your Dad gives you a bottle of breast milk every night before bed.
-When I am at work all day you get bottles of breast milk from your dad or grandma, and you don't have a problem taking the bottles!
-Every once in a while you get an ounce or 2 of formula when I am not making enough milk (due to going back to work)...you don't really mind it (although you make a funny face at first). It is me who is having the issue with this...It was a very important goal of mine to exclusively breastfeed you the entire first year. I am thankful we have made it this far:)
-You get homemade rice cereal at night during dinner time. You like to grab at the spoon and you are starting to open your mouth for the spoon.
-You are "gnawing" on everything.

Sleep
-You go to bed every night at 7pm. Our night time routine is to give you a bath at 6:30 and then get you in your jammies and play/read books/sing in your room. Then your dad gives you a bottle with the lights out and you fall asleep. Your dad is the only one who can do this routine. When others try you resist a little...I think its cute:) (for now, HA!)
-You either A. Sleep the entire night and then get up for the day at 4am or B. Wake up and cry a few times. We have stopped going in to get you so that you learn to fall back asleep on your own. This is ONE of the hardest things I have ever done. It is because we love you, I promise.
-Your nap schedule is pretty predictable. You go down for a nap about 2-3 hours since you last woke up. We need to work on putting you down awake...as you are getting too used to us rocking you to sleep.
-Your naps last anywhere between 20 minutes and 2 hours...just depends:) Some days you will nap up to 5 times!

Potty
-You strain and grunt when you go to the bathroom...and yes, I think this is adorable!

Behavioral
-You LOVE peek-a-boo, and squeal and laugh when we play it!
-You think the word "boo" and laugh and smile when we say it.
-When you get bored with a toy you drop it and act like the world is over...and SCREAM!
-You like to reach for my face, hair, and jewelry now. You also like to give big wet kisses on my face. My FAVORITE!
-We can't keep shoes or socks on you to save our lives! Your legs move a mile a minute and NEVER stop...its almost impossible to get you dressed in the morning!

Gavin & Genevieve

On our way home from the beach we stopped at our friends Mike and Rebecca's house because they live very close by. We have not seen them in a while...so it was really fun to see them and Genevieve...she is 18 months old now and SO SO adorable! She has a HUGE smile and is very social. She was great with Gavin and even gave him hugs and kisses. It was so sweet.

Day trip to Capitola

It was a beautiful day today so we decided that we would take Grandma and Gavin to the beach! (It was the first time either of them had been to this beach!) Capitola is one our favorite beach towns, and it always so much fun. We spent the day downtown having lunch outside, shopping, and walking along the beach. We love this town! Gavin was good as gold (as always) and took a little nap while we walked around. We can't wait to take him here during the summer when he can play in the sand and ocean:)

So many outfits!

We laugh about how Gavin has SO many clothes, yet sometimes I dress him in PJ's or very comfy clothes instead of his "outfits." Mom and I were about to take him for a walk and decided that he looked pretty funny in this outfit. Train sweater, striped doggie pants, skater boy hat, and blue bib...He is so darn cute in whatever he has on:)

Gavin and Nicholas

We had Laura and Nicholas (9 months) over to play. Gavin used to be so much smaller than Nicholas, but he is catching up! They are so cute together! Nicholas has started getting jealous when Gavin has a toy he wants...and same with Gavin (Gavin just gives him mean looks) what!!!??? I can't believe that they are getting this old!!!

Poor Arnie!

Gavin has taken a pretty big interest in Arnold the cat...every time G sees Arnie walk by, he starts to flap his arms and kick his legs in anticipation of getting to "pet" him. The other night G was on the ground trying to "get" Arnie and he did a complete push up on all fours (last pic). I think he may be crawling sooner than we thought!

Grandma and Gavin

Sorry I have not updated that much lately, we have been busy! Mom got here last week and we have been having so much fun with her here:) She has been watching G while I have been working...and he is so in love with her...it's pretty cute! I promise to take more pictures and give some more updates soon...just trying to enjoy the time Mom is here with us!

Sweet Potato

At dinner tonight we decided to give Gavin his first taste of sweet potato. We had a VERY yummy dinner of honey-soy glazed salmon and ginger spinach salad...Mom made it and we DEVOURED it! (Maybe its been a while since we had such a good dinner...I have been slacking in this department since I went back to work!) Gavin was not very sure about the potato, as you can see in the pictures. He made some very funny faces and then he even gagged a few times. I am pretty sure this means he is not ready for this stuff yet;) I think his favorite part was getting to hold the spoon and chew on it, go figure. We will keep trying, but for now I think he is not very interested!