Gavin's Growing Up

I can't believe Gavin is 5 months old already!  Where has the time gone?!  It doesn't seem like that long ago we were anxiously holding vigil over him in the NICU.  Now he's almost a half-year old and shows no signs of his fragile start to life!

Aside from some lingering GI issues (e.g., frequent spit ups and bellyaches), he's fairly laid back, content, and curious about the world around him.  He's interested in bright-colored toys that rattle and squeak.  But he's most fascinated with his feet, especially when he's wearing outfits with animal feet (he has ones with feet that look like bears, monkeys, puppies, and frogs).  Although he's teething and is quite the little slobber monster, he has no interest in wearing bibs.  He fusses and tugs on the bib until we give in and take it off or he removes it himself.  He's also shaping up to be an avid thumb sucker, which is bad for orthodonic reasons, but good as a self-soothing technique.

Gavin used to only have eyes for his Mommy, but lately he's become increasing captivated with Ryan.  Ryan is equally enamored with Gavin and often likes to climb on top of him in the bouncy seat just to be close.  Luckily, Gavin is still my little snugglebug - he frequently wants to be held and loves to cuddle, especially in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning. 

Developmentally, November has been a big month for Gavin.  Here are a few highlights of the milestones he's recently conquered:

Giggling:  Earlier this month, Gavin began giggling to "tweet tweet" sounds.  Around the same age, Ryan would giggle whenever anyone pretended to sneeze (i.e., "Achoo").  Gavin, on the other hand, finds it funny when someone chirps like a bird!

Sitting up:  Once we noticed Gavin trying to pull himself to a seated position in his swing, we decided he should be strapped into his swing and bouncy seat at all times!  Also, he can now sit unsupported for approximately 10-15 seconds before toppling over.  He can sit unsupported in his Bumbo seat indefinitely (although after a few minutes he's usually tackled by his overly enthusiastic brother!)

Creeping:  Gavin has begun "creeping," which is the precursor to crawling.  On one occasion when we put him on the floor in the middle of his blanket for tummy time, he used his knee to "creep" or propel himself forward more than 6 inches to reach his peacock toy.

Rolling:  He surprised himself last week when he rolled from his back to his belly.  Now, much to Ryan's delight, Gavin can roll all over the floor - front to back, back to front, he can get wherever he needs to go!

Babbling:  Gavin's vocabulary used to be limited to "gee" and "goo."  Now he's added, "oink, oink" to it.  Ironically enough, he loves to oink at us when we're sitting at the dinner table.  The first time Gavin oinked, Ryan looked down at him in surprise and asked, "why couldn't you oink like that when you were a pig for Halloween?"

Here are a few recent pictures of our handsome little guy: