6 Months Old!

Our sweet Gavin is 6 months old!  He has a wonderful personality and is such a joy!  We sang Happy Birthday to him at 5:24pm and received a beautiful smile and giggle in return!

~Our "little boy" isn't so little!  He fits comfortably into 12 month clothes, especially shirts due to his long torso
~He's a very proficient sitter and enjoys looking around his environment
~We've started to introduce foods.  Gavin loves his food and is a fairly neat eater! We introduced rice cereal first.  Based on smelly gas, we suspected that it gave him an upset belly.  Next, we introduced oatmeal, which he seemed to digest a bit easier.  He's also had squash and loved every bite!
~Gavin is quite grabby!  He'll go for anything within reach!
~His favorite song is "The Wheels on the Bus"  It's almost guaranteed to result in a smile and giggle!
~Gavin takes two naps a day, ~9:00am and ~1:00pm.  Naps are normally between 1-2 hours.  If he doesn't fall asleep when nursing, he does a great job of putting himself to sleep in his bed.  He has been waking up once a night again.  He usually goes back to sleep easily after eating.
~He hasn't rolled over yet, but is starting to show some interest in reaching for toys out of range while on his back
~Gavin does well during tummy time, but wants to be entertained while exercising
~We love his smiles and giggles!
~Gavin is a talker!  He babbles frequently, using a variety of sounds, pitches, and volumes.  He even babbles something very similar to "Ma!"

Happy Valetine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day from our little cupids!

3 Year Stats

Brennan had his 3 year check up shortly after his birthday.  The doctor was pleased with his development and growth.  Our next well check up is at 4 years!  Unfortunately, we were back in the office 3 days later due to a high fever....

Weight: 37 lbs (95th percentile)
Height: 39.25 inches (approximately...they had to re-measure him and they didn't write down the second, more accurate measurement.  90-95th percentile)

Some things he can do:
-Talk.  A lot!  He can talk in lengthy, complete sentences with correct pronoun usage and carry on a conversation.
-Count 1-30
-Identify upper and lower case letters
-Identify numbers 0-10
-Use his manners, including please, thank you and you're welcome
-Pee in the potty.  He's doing better about telling us when he has to go, but also does a great job of waiting to go until we take him
-Jump
-Puzzles.  He loves puzzles!  He has an impressive visual memory and quickly memorizes where pieces go.  Our highest piece puzzle is 30 and he puts it together in a handful of minutes.
-Dress himself
-Sing to himself.  He frequently sings while playing with toys.
-"Read" to himself.  He memorizes his stories and will read to himself.  It's neat to listen to him!
-Orally spell Brennan and Gavin

Why?

We're definitely in the 'why' stage with Brennan.

Why are we in the 'why' stage?

Because it's a typical stage of development in children.

Why is it a typical stage of development in children?

.....

Brennan is definitely a curious young man, wanting to know "why" for many, many, many things. 

1st Tooth!

Gavin has his first tooth!  He did an excellent job and didn't seem overly bothered by it.  He actually seemed more bothered after it cut through.  Mommy noticed that it was very close to cutting through while giving him a bath, but couldn't feel it.  Just a few minutes later, Daddy felt it!

He cut his second tooth a few days later!  His skin around his mouth is occasionally chapped from having his fingers and toys in his mouth frequently.

He now proudly sports his two front, bottom teeth!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Brennan!

 "Happy Birthday to Me!"

 Enjoying cake at his birthday party!

Brennan is 3 years old today!  He's such a kind, intelligent, polite, and funny young man and we're so proud of him every day!

To celebrate, we had a Cars party, based on the Disney Pixar movie, as chosen by the birthday boy.  Guests enjoyed food with names from the movie, including Sarge's Sloppy Joes, Fillmore's Fruit Salad, Doc Hudson's Dippin' Veggies, Mater's Tator Chips, and Antifreeze (green lemonade) and Motor Oil (Iced Tea) to drink.  The kids enjoyed making license plates and racing cars on a race track, made by Uncle Matt.  It was a fun party and we're so thankful to be able to celebrate with friends and family!

Brennan's birthday fell on Martin Luther King, Jr Day, so Mommy was able to spend the day with the birthday boy!  He had fun playing with all of his new toys, opening more presents, and playing with a balloon Daddy brought home for him.  He chose his birthday dinner: Hot dogs, tator tots, cherry tomatoes and yogurt.  We also enjoyed more birthday cake.  Brennan seems to think he needs to blow out candles (either real or pretend) after singing "Happy Birthday"

5 Months Old!

Our sweet Gavin is 5 months old!  He's such a joy and has a wonderful personality!

~He's able to sit independently and seems to enjoy the new perspective of his environment.  He still topples over from time to time so we stay nearby, just in case!
~Gavin is reaching for objects, including toys, burp cloths, hair, napkins--you name it, he wants it!  The vast majority of the time, the object then makes its way into his mouth
~He's starting to blow raspberries!
~Taking naps in his crib is now acceptable to Gavin.  Not surprisingly, he's taking better naps than when he slept in a vibrating chair, either in the family room or in his bedroom.  He naps around 9:00am and 1:00pm, each lasting about 1-2+ hours.  Sometimes he'll also take a cat nap around dinner time.  Bed time is around 7:30pm.
~We decided to start sleep training and he's done a great job!  Gavin almost always falls asleep when nursing, but wouldn't always stay asleep when he was being put in bed.  One night, when we knew he had a full belly, clean diaper, and had been burped, we decided to have him stay in bed after he woke up during the transfer into his crib.  He fussed for a few minutes and then was out for the night!  He has put himself to sleep at nap times, bed times, and after over night feedings.  We typically give him a taggie blanket, turn on his musical soother on his crib, and a kiss and he's asleep within a few minutes.
~He usually sleeps through the night (~7:30pm-5:30/6:00am), but sometimes gets up once during the night.  When he's up, he wants Mommy.
~We've given him cereal a few times.  After a few bites, he seems to "get it" and eagerly looks for the spoon.  We'll give it more regularly soon.
~He's found his feet and likes putting them in his mouth!
~We seem to have finally found the solution for his skin!  We were prescribed Desonide 0.05% ointment and used it regularly for about a week.  Now, we only use it when his skin starts to get red.  We use Eucerin lotion twice a day and Aveeno baby body wash.  While I haven't been paying super close attention to it, he seems to have been doing better since I cut back on my peanut intake.  Farewell, daily peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch!
~Thankfully, bottles are a perfectly acceptable way to eat now.  Phew! 
~We love his smiles, shrieks of excitement and giggles!