Ryan's Not The Only Big Boy In The House

It’s hard to believe that Gavin is 2 months old already! The past couple of months have flown by, which is somewhat surprising given that we’re awake nearly 20 out of 24 hours. As you can see in the pictures posted below, he’s growing up so quickly (too quickly in our opinion).

Gavin is much more alert than he used to be. He wakes up much earlier (typically around 5:45 a.m.) and spends a greater portion of the day awake. He has also started to coo and recently discovered that his arms and legs are attached to him. When he gets really excited he flails his little arms and legs and drools, grunts, and pants. He even smiles every once in awhile - social smiles, not gas ones! His first official smile was on Sunday, August 16th. We were all seated at the kitchen table for dinner and Gavin was in his bouncy seat next to my chair. He was cooing and calling out for attention. When I looked down and acknowledged him, he unexpectedly flashed me a big, slobbery, gummy, toothless grin. At that moment, I forgot all about the sleepless nights, endless hours of inconsolable crying, and all the times he's spit up and pooped on me!

In addition to smiling, Gavin has reached another developmental milestone - he can roll over from his stomach to his back on both his left and his right side! One evening last week, we were all in Ryan's room reading bedtime stories when much to our surprise, Gavin rolled over. Gavin can also lift his head, but he has trouble holding it up for any extended period of time.

Yesterday Gavin had his 2-month well-baby visit with the pediatrician. During the visit, the pediatrician measured, weighed, and thoroughly examined him. We are happy to report Gavin is a healthy, well-fed, growing boy! He weighs 14 lbs, 15 oz which puts him in the 97th percentile for weight and he is 24 ¾” tall, which puts him in the 95th percentile for height. His head circumference measured 16" which puts him in the 60th percentile. To serve as a point of reference, at Ryan's 2-month checkup he weighed 13 lbs, 4 oz (90th percentile), was 23 ¾” tall (80th percentile), and his head measured 16 1/4” (75th percentile).

Gavin also received four vaccination shots at his appointment. He was such a little trouper; his bottom lip quivered a little and a few yelps and tears escaped, but thankfully there were no earsplitting screams (probably because his pudgy little thighs lessened the pain of the injections!).

Here are several recent photos of the boys. As you can see, Gavin is filling out nicely and has lost the shriveled-up newborn look and Ryan is clearly enamored with his little brother!

Ryan and Gavin lounge together on the couch while they watch Saturday morning cartoons.

The first documented case of Arby's mouth with Gavin. Usually he sleeps with his mouth gaping open and his tongue sticking out.

He looks so sweet and peaceful...now, if only he could sleep this soundly at night!

Gavin takes a break from trying to hold up his head during tummy time.

Now how can the ladies resist such a fine body like this? Luckily girls dig chubby babies! He's such a little chunker that it looks like he has rubber bands around his thighs and arms!

Funny how the 2-month old can smile and look at the camera, but the 2-year old can't! Ryan is entranced by a particularly compelling episode of Diego.

Gavin perfects his rollover technique. My guess is that he mastered that skill fairly early because fear can be a powerful motivator (Ryan often enthusiastically volunteers to "help" Gavin practice his tummy time).

Ryan offers Gavin companionship and support during one of his tummy time sessions.

It still catches him by surprise when he unexpectedly rolls over!

I know it's 3 o'clock in the morning, Mom, but I'm just not tired!

Look how cute I am!