Gavin 6 Months

Gavin has had a lot of FIRSTS in the last few days. He has started saying, "dada, baba, and mama." He can roll over from front to back. He looks like he is about to cut his first two bottom teeth which is little scary for me since I have 6 more months of breast feeding left to go and the girls didn't get teeth until they were almost a year old. He was weighed yesterday and is a whopping 20 pounds 0.4 ounces and in the 89% for weight. His height is 2'4" and he's in the 88% for height and his dome is in the 65% which is nice being that his head is not large.

Gavin can sit up by himself and he can grab everything. If I make it out of this without going bald it will be great. His arms are always moving. When I nurse him he is constantly whacking whatever he thinks may be behind him. He is also a little nosey bugaroo. He has to see what EVERYONE is doing. He still sleeps great and through the night, he eats like a champ as if that wasn't obvious looking at his gargantuan size. He stands well on his chubby little legs and he is the happiest baby ever. Everyone who knows him or meets him gets a view of the dimples and the flirty eyes. I could not have asked for a better baby. He has also cut his first tooth.

 Gavin engaged in circle time with his buddies.

 See the look of envy that those other babies are so limber...

 This is the morning of his 6 month birthday.

 Later that day he had to crash out on the couch with his remote and phone. Being 6 months is hard you know..

 Gavin on a trip to the park to watch Ava pogo stick and Liv ride her scooter.

And my Gavinator- I just wanna smooch that face all over.

HappyBirthday!!!

To my wonderful husband I want to say "Happy Birthday- You are my everything!" and to my little man who just hit the 6 month mark I want to say, "Happy Birthday big boy- we are so proud of how much you have changed our lives for the better."

So to celebrate Dave's birthday the kids and I brought him to the Exploratorium in SF. This was Gavin's first BART ride and adventure in SF so this was kind of a big deal for everyone. Look at my little man sitting up on his own. He was loving the ride.

This was also the first time the girls had been to the Exploratorium and they went nuts. They played with everything, checked out what every single project does whether it was how a tsunami works or how the brain functions. I think they were on education over load but they loved every minute of it. And then there's Dave... this was right up his alley. He is a science junkie so coming here was a huge success. Here's a few pictures of the girls enjoying themselves.

Ava was checking out the skeletons in her closet.

 Gavin's getting his first glimpse into the science of how things work. Ava is helping explain things to him.

 Olivia and Ava are feeling out the cyclone while Dave watches...

 Olivia is mesmerized by the bubbles so she made a big one and then...

Dave trapped her inside of one. It was huge and Olivia told me, "It was awesome Mommy."

 After the Exploratorium we walked over to Fort Mason and then to Ghirardelli for some chocolate.

 And then we headed to the beach to play. Gavin got his first look at the ocean and the waves.

 While standing down there he did not enjoy is warm feet being stuck in cold sand and the bottom lip popped right out. Sad face.

But he did like the sand on his feet once he was off the ground. Oh boy, another one of our kids who enjoys digging in the dirt.

And here we are, the gang, off to another adventure.

The Weekend

 Before the big game Gavin was undecided on which team to root for...

 Psych! He's a Saint's fan all the way just like his daddy!

 We had a few minutes between games and BBQing to get our picture taken. Notice Olivia looks strange... that is the smile she chose to have in all the pictures so we went with it. One day she'll have to explain that to her boyfriend and we can all snicker and laugh. Oh wait- we did that already!

 12 jumps on the pogo stick at the park- a new record. Olivia's at 8 so far.

 The cruiser on her new two wheeled scooter.

My man giving me the sign to go!

Size

Just for reference:
Ava 5 years old- 45.5 inches tall 48 pounds
Olivia 6 years old- 48.5 inches tall 48 pounds

He Speaks!

You heard it here first folks- The Gavinator speaks.

As he laid silently in his crib out pops, "dada."

Rolling Around

At 3:52 PM today while watching football Gavin rolled over from front to back. It's a good thing too since we were thinking maybe the hospital gave us a broken model and we were going to have to return him for a full refund:)

New Year's Eve 2011

Instead of going to bed at 9 o'clock like a couple of old farts we decided to go up to the cabin and spend New Years weekend with our friends. Given that this is Gavin's first New Year it should be somewhat special right?

When we got there it was still a little nippy out so the kids took off in their jackets to walk the dogs.

By the afternoon they were climbing trees, riding bikes, raking leaves into huge piles and running through them, shoveling rocks to make a pathway with some pavers, and having a grand ol' time.

Nick can ride now without training wheels. Way to go!

Ava will be an expert tree trimmer one day!

And here's the happy family BEFORE the chaos starts.

So New Years Eve day Rachael and I take off to go have some girls time without the kids and we head out to lunch leaving the kids and the men with chores. We were gone a few hours and when we got back everything was done. It was awesome. Everyone followed directions, they ate some popcorn for being so great, and then it was getting dark so they all came inside.

This is when Olivia tells me she has a headache. Of course we don't have any pain reliever up in the middle of nowhere so I check her head and there's the fever. Again. We cannot seem to catch a break this winter with the stupid colds. So I have her lay down for awhile until dinner. As we are sitting around marveling over how good the Honey Baked Ham is... Olivia coughs. You know the cough that is usually followed with vomit. So we whisk her away from the table and put her to be with a washcloth apologizing to her for such a miserable New Years Eve. The hours roll on and now it's around 9Pm and the other two kids are getting cranky. Nick ends up in timeout so I put Ava to bed which leads to Nick going to bed too. I check on Olivia and her fever has broken and she is now sleeping. Yea let the good times roll right? No.

Midnight hits and we all celebrate and then a few minutes later Ava comes running out of the room and throws up. Can't take my kids anywhere the little pukers. She proceeds to barf until 2AM. So not only did Dave and I get any action on New Years Eve but we also slept in separate rooms so that he could hold the bowl while Ava threw up while I stayed with the baby in the other room to keep him from getting sick.

So the next day we head home, all kids feeling better, and once home everything that day and night go back to normal. Then the next night the kids go to bed and Olivia comes running out and throws up. Really? Have we not had enough vomit for 2012? Apparently not. I guess this is how we will be spending the next year... Yea, I say most sarcastically.