11 Months

I realized that I missed the 10 month update, so I will try to do some catching up here. Our sweet baby Gavin went to the doctor for his 10 month check up a couple weeks ago and weighed in at 25 pounds 2 ounces and he was 31 inches tall. This puts him in the 90th percentile for weight and 95th percentile for height. His head measured in the 50th percentile like usual. The doctor said that he looked great and was meeting all his milestones. She also checked his hemoglobin which was a 13.5, so our boy is far from anemic which is great. He also got one shot and took it like a total trooper. He didn’t even flinch. It is days like this that I am thankful my boy has chunky thighs.

Gavin started sleeping the night about a month ago and it is wonderful. He learned how to roll on to his tummy at night and he sleeps so much better as a result. We never put him on his tummy to sleep for fear of SIDS, but they say that when they can roll over on their own, then it is fine. Especially because I know he can roll back onto his back or sit up on his own.

Gavin never really took a pacifier like his older brother. But he loves his “lovie” and snuggles with that in the night. He is funny actually… he throws his lovie across the crib and then dives on it. Then he throws it to the other part of the crib and dives on it. It is almost and if he is wrestling his lovie to get into a comfortable position to sleep. It is funny. He also does a good job going to sleep on his own. I put him in his crib a bit drowsy and sometimes he sits up right away and starts to fuss. But he usually finds his lovie and goes to sleep in a matter of minutes. He’s such a good baby and doesn’t stress his mommy out to much over the whole sleeping thing.

Gavin continues to be our good eater. I almost think he eats more than Devin now. Mainly because Devin has been not so interested in food lately. He’s more interested in playing than eating. Gavin will eat pretty much anything we put down for him. His latest favorites are avocado, strawberries, and cheese. We serve him a portion of whatever we are eating which makes things easy.

Gavin is very mobile these days. We got the baby gates up on our stairs and it definitely takes the worry out of having him roam downstairs. The bottom floor of our house is difficult to section off, so he pretty much has free reign with the exception of the stairs and a few doors we can close to the bathroom and guest room downstairs. Our biggest challenge is keeping him out of Devin’s toys or away from the TV buttons when Devin is watching a video. On that note, Gavin is really starting to show his personality. He will crawl over to the TV and look back knowing we are going to pick him up. He is gets the biggest grin on his face.

Gavin is starting to move around furniture on his own. He’s been crawling really well for a while now, so standing up and balancing on his own is his next milestone. He seems very sturdy and balanced, but doesn’t really let go of things. I can’t believe he’ll be walking soon. Time sure flies.

Gavin did have his first ear infection and conjunctivitis in his eyes last month. We started antibiotics in his eye (which he hated) and then about a week later we started the antibiotics by mouth for his ear infection that would not clear up on his own. I was sad to give him antibiotics, but he really needed them. And now, he has hand, foot, mouth disease. He’s had a fever for the last few days and blister spots. Rich took him to the Med Clinic tonight and I’m taking him to his pediatrician tomorrow to confirm. It just breaks my heart when he is not feeling good (and I have to travel away for work).

Devin is doing very well with school. He is in a really good spot with school these days. He sometimes wakes up a little tired and cranky but has it together before we get to school. He sees the kids on the playground as we pull up and he says, “Yipee!” It makes me so happy to see him smile and give me lots of hugs and kisses goodbye each day. Devin’s teacher is about to have a baby so he’ll have another teacher for a few months that is already at his school until his new teacher arrives in August. I’m not too worried about it because Devin is very well adjusted now. We are actually going to look at the toddler program on Friday for Gavin. He can start at 18 months. I’m interested to see what a Montessori program looks like for toddlers.

Devin seems like he is starting to not want his afternoon nap. If he doesn’t get one, he’s cranky in the evening (which makes all of us cranky). But if he gets a nap that goes too long, he won’t go to bed until really late. He just lays there in bed. I think we may need to forgo the nap on the weekend, but strive to get him into bed by 7 or 7:30 as a transition. We’ll have to play this by ear. At school, he naps great. But it is only for an hour and a half, so I think he gets just the right amount with them. And it is probably a nice rest time with all the activity they have going on.

Devin loves his Bob the Builder and Fireman Sam videos right now. He still wears his tool belt every day and role plays fixing things. He is also a big fan of singing to the songs. And Gavin will instantly dance too to follow along. Gavin is mesmerized by Devin when he sings and dances around. So cute.

We just bought a tent trailer last week, so we are officially planning a summer ahead of camping. I am looking forward to some downtime with the boys in the luxury of a camper (vs. a tent). The trailer is super roomy and nice, so hopefully the boys will have fond memories growing up with one.

Rich is about to wrap up the semester and will start his summer vacation. We desperately need to get out the calendar and book some family trips. And he has a few backpacking trips planned for the small business. I can’t believe we are already talking about summer!

I have quite a few pictures to post. I’ll be sure to get to that hopefully this weekend if Gavin is feeling better. I also ordered a new Flip Video camera so maybe I’ll get the hang of posting video clips too. Stay tuned…