Five Months Old!

Gavin turned 5 months old last week. (Tear. He's growing up so fast!) Our little guy continues to hone his skills of reaching, grabbing, holding, screaming, talking, wiggling, tummy time and even a little rolling.

I read in one of my baby books the other day that temperment has more influence on when babies roll-- more than ability. So, mellow temperment (Gavin) equals contentment just hanging around and being visually stimulated (Gavin) while casually working on his skills (Gavin). Explains him to a "T." Speaking of "T", the Toths are known to be a mostly mellow clan, so maybe (er, most definitely) it's in his genes.

Oops. Cute outfit, but the pants blend in to the pattern of the chair. This is Gavin's 2 second sitting pose. He's working on his sitting skills too.

Our Happy Little Camper

Just before New Year's, Tony took his middle school students to winter camp at Black Lake Bible Camp in Olympia and Gavin and I got to tag along. Thankfully, we had our own cabin complete with living room, bathroom and kitchenette.

We (or at least I) ate camp food with the kids and went to as many of the events as we could handle. It was fun for me to get to know some of the students since I don't usually hang out with the middle school group. And Gavin, well, let's just say he was a hit. And he seemed to adjust pretty well himself.

At the end of the three days Tony commented, "Gavin is a good youth group kid." We are constantly thankful for our happy, well-adjusted, flexible son. We are truly blessed and having a ball.

Looks to me like he's enjoying himself.

Gavin's harem of leaders and middle school girls. I had a big laugh at the girls gushing over Gavin. At one point one of the girls adoringly exclaimed, "Oh! He sneeeeezed!"

All geared up for the cold in our little cabin.

Will Gavin take after his silly Papa? I hope so.

The whole gang.

New Faces, New Tricks, New Traditions... All in a Week's Time

The week of Christmas was quite eventful for the Toth Family. So eventful, in fact, that it took me a couple of weeks to recover and then a couple more to catch up with photos and blogging.

We had a great time this Christmas. Everything we did had so much more meaning because we got to share it with Gavin. We had lots of fun enjoying all of the firsts and thinking through some of the traditions our family will have. Gavin is by far the greatest gift we received this year.

So here are the cliff notes of Gavin's first Christmas and our trip to California.

Gavin's first plane flight (outside the womb, of course.)
Loving standing and playing with his Papa.

Our valiant knight, Oliver.

A new family tradition-- new PJs on the eve of Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning and Gavin's first stocking. He was quite enamored with the gummable keys in his stocking.

The making of Toth Family Cinnamon Rolls on Christmas evening. Quite scrumptuous. Way to go Tony!

Tony introduced Gavin to his first Tommy Burger. Don't worry. No burgers or soda were consumed by Gavin in the taking of this photo.

Crowns from our Christmas Crackers.

Gavin with his Gramme and Grampa.

Cyrus Toth. Is he cute or what?

Tony's longtime friend Marie. She was witness to Gavin's first rollover. Gavin's other new tricks included playing with his feet, additional talking sounds and wiggling his way to a 180 degree rotation.

Ivan was excited but a little apprehensive to hold Gavin but he did a great job!

More Cousins! Ivan, Gavin, Elitza and Cyrus. Not Pictured: Baby #4.

Good Friends. Gavin meets Jenny and Henry (and Jeff, not pictured). The boys are 4 weeks apart and destined to be great friends.

Gavin with is Uncle Philip and Cousin Oliver. Where's Auntie Colleen?

Gavin: "Why am I awake Papa?"

We had a pre-Christmas dinner with all of the family. Time got away from us and we started opening gifts after 8:30. After realizing that we couldn't experience gifts without Gavin, we scooped him out of bed and interrupted sleep. Needless to say he was a little confused.

This blurry picture demonstrates some of the chaos of the gift opening extravaganza.

Cousins Sicily and Olvier. They are the cutest!

Another introduction: Cousin Rocco and Uncle Warren. (Also Cousin Sicily and Aunt Nichole.) These guys are only 8 days apart. They made the same facial expressions and noises. It was a crack up.

Grampa and Gavin hit it off from the start.

Gramme and Grampa were having so much fun with the company and festivities there was no reason to leave it all and sleep in a cozy bed.

Gavin got to meet Jen and Steve Sweet-- VIPs in Tony's life.

Friends from the Laguna Crew-- the Sweet boys, Bryan and Brooke.

Our adorable little reindeer.

Gavin made more friends-- More folks from the Laguna posse. Casey, Garret & Cindy, Cameron and Laura.

Ummm. Islands. Yummy. And Laguna friends. Jill, Casey, Cindy & Garret, Cameron and my boys.

Gavin just needed a little introduction to his feet and then they were instant friends.