Month 3!!!!

I know I say it all the time, but I can't believe how fast Gavin is growing up! This last month has been very eventful for our little family. Gavin continues to grow taller and taller and is even out growing some of his 3-6 month clothes because he's so long in length. He has also been cooing, giggling, and trying to talk a ton. This has definitely made parenting more fun because he is so much more interactive and we can't get enough of how his face lights up when he smiles. Some of his favorite phrases are "ah-goo", "ah-ooo", and "rah". He's pretty hilarious when he says the "oo" sound because he purses his lips so dramatically. I keep saying he's going to be a big talker like his daddy :).

Gavin is also getting quite close to rolling over from his tummy to back as he keeps trying to kick his little legs to the side when he's on his tummy. He has also started to be able to grasp things in his cute little pudgy fingers and has tried putting a few things in his mouth....I know this trend will continue! He also loves standing on our laps and his eyes get so big when he does, he seems so proud of himself! The other day he broke out in an enormous fit of giggles when some water spilled on the coffee table and Tom wiped it up--not sure why it was hilarious to him, but his laughter was contagious for us!

At the beginning of Gavin's third month we made the long trek to Wisconsin to visit Tom's family for Thanksgiving. It's normally a 4 1/2 hor drive but ended up being over 6 hours because we had to feed Gavin twice. But it was really nice to introduce Gavin to the rest of Tom's family as his brothers and Tom's grandma hadn't met Gavin yet. We even got a four generation pic of Gavin, Tom, Tom's dad, and Tom's grandma.

On December 12th Gavin was baptized, a joyous, happy, and quite memorable day for many reasons. We were very proud to welcome Gavin into our church community. The day before the baptism we got one of the biggest blizzards in Minnesota history, about 18 inches of snow! Because of this none of Tom's family made it, but my parents, our faith group at church, and Gavin's wonderful sponsors, Becky and Jeromy Carlson, all made it. And Becky's mom, Susan Weaver, a pastor at our church, baptized Gavin. This was really special as well since she married Tom and I and I have known her since Becky and i became friends 13 years ago! Gavin was a trooper and slept thru most of the baptism, startling awake when the water touched his head but not crying.

This month also brought the very sad end of my maternity leave. I feel like it flew by in a blink of an eye, especially given the multitude of health problems I was dealing with during those 3 months. Tom and I were talking that I think I went to the doctor more post-partum than I did for all my pregnancy visits. But alas, I did end up going back to work which has been going well. The first day was definitely the hardest but it's slowly gotten easier. I had one really tough day when we got a bunch of snow and it took me an hour and 45 minutes to get home from work from Eden Prairie to our home in Eagan and Gavin was already asleep so I didn't get to see him at all. Luckily most days I'm able to get home in time to feed him and rock him to sleep which are moments I treasure.

And speaking of sleep, Gavin continues to be a rock star sleeper. He routinely goes to bed between 6-7 at night and wakes up between 5:30-6:30 in the morning. He's pretty much amazing in my book! I have felt a lot more alive now that I can get a solid 8 hours of sleep! He also sleeps quite a bit better than he used to during the day as well. I've tried to follow a lot of tips I read about in the "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" book which have helped. The book recommends trying to put them down for a nap within 2 hours of when they wake up throughout the day and that tactic really seems to work for him.

Lastly, as far as new events in our little guy's young life was his start at daycare. We bring him to a center very close to our home and really like it so far. The woman who primarily takes care of him is Patty and she's great with him, showing him lots of love, which we love! There are 8 total babies in his class all under a year old and 2 women caring for them. They each have their own crib for naps and tons of toys to entertain them with.

Well that's all for this month. I'm sure we'll have even more to share next month as he explore the world and continue to grow!