Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Yep, this Baby's Rollin'.

Up until now, I could count the number of times I'd watched Gavin roll. It just wasn't his thing. Turns out he just needed the right motivation-- his pacifier. Three times in the last two days Tony and I have found Gavin in his crib on his tummy.

Today, on one of those occasions, Gavin was waking up from his nap and fussing just a bit. I entered his room to find him on his tummy, 180 degrees from where I'd left him, just a few inches from his pacifier. Did he fall asleep like that? Did he wake up and go searching for his pacifier? I don't know. But I do know (or have at least reasoned with my mommy intuition) that it's his pacifier that has brought about the new skill of rolling from back to front.

It's inevitable folks-- Gavin will soon be on the move. I'm still in the denial stage.

Solid Food update: After 2 and half weeks of "Rice Cereal Training", it appears that Gavin is now actually eating and swallowing his rice cereal. It took a bit of getting used to, especially in how to maneuver his tongue, but now that he seems to have gotten it, we can start adding to the menu.

Here are some fun photos taken in the last week or two.

We took a walk at Port Williams beach on Sequim Bay. It was COLD, but we had to get out, at least for a bit.

A Big Day for Gavin

This week, on Wednesday, Gavin had a BIG day. It was such a momentus day, I kept him up a half hour past bedtime so that he could show off his new talents to his Papa after he came home from youth group.

Here is what Gavin added to his repetoire on Wednesday:

1. Sitting Up-- Yes. He is sitting up. I decided earlier in the day to prop him up and see what happened. He fell backwards pretty quickly, but with each try, he was able to stay up longer and longer. By the end of the day, he was holding his hands out at his side to balance himself, sitting for long periods, and even leaning forward to reach for toys. The falling backwards still happens occasionally when he gets excited, but it won't be long before we can rid ourselves of the safety pillows behind him.

2. New Sounds-- I was in the other room when I first heard Gavin's new sound and thought he was choking or gasping for air. Turns out he had learned that if he sucked in his breath he could make a different sort of screeching sound (which still sounds like gasping to me). He finds many ways to incorporate this new sound into his conversations.

Here is a video of these first two new skills...


3. Arms extended/butt up-- This is what I would consider the "crawling position" and Gavin has begun practicing doing his baby push up and getting his bum up in the air. It's a bit before he crawls, but he's getting the idea. I'm more convinced than ever that Gavin will mostly skip the rolling and go straight to crawling.

4. Laughter has been unleashed!-- We don't have a video of this yet, but Gavin is finally laughing-- more than a few giggles at a time. I discovered this when I was holding him on my hip and let his body hang backwards a bit. He had to work hard to hold himself up and for some reason found this as the occasion to finally laugh. Since then, we've found other ways to make him laugh and now have laughing sessions as we tickle or gobble him up. This is where the real fun is. We knew he would be the laughing type-- his laughing gene just had to be unlocked.

Gavin's Half Birthday

Last Friday (Friday the 13th) we celebrated Gavin's 6 month birthday. Half a year. Wow. Wow. I mean, he's so old. So grown up. It's amazing to think how much he has changed and developed over the last six months. What a miracle to watch God's design unfold.

Strike a pose!
Just before he tipped over and was rescued from nearly falling off of the chair. Sitting not quite mastered yet.

We commemorated his six month birthday with a photo shoot (of course) and then his first meal of rice cereal. It wasn't quite what I'd call a meal, but it was definitely an experience. For as much as Gavin has been interested in our eating, he's not quite sure what to do with the runny, not quite breastmilk stuff that is offered to him on a spoon. He welcomed it with joy and interest, even helping with the spoon at times, but most of it came right back out, dribbling down his chin. He needs some time to develop the right tongue movements and then we'll be off and running.

Have we mentioned that this is a fun age?! Tony and I are both having so much fun, I'm not sure I'm ready for a mobile child and the house is certainly not baby-proofed yet. Gotta go, there is work to be done and preparations to be made.

Playing Catch(-up)

The last month has flown by, and as you may have noticed, I have not blogged at all. I did "write" several blog entries in my head, but never did make it to the computer to share them with you. In fact, just last week I downloaded a month's worth of pictures from my camera. I was a little behind.

It almost seems silly to play catch-up now, but since this blog serves as a journal for us of Gavin's first year (and in the off chance you may want to know what you've missed the last four weeks), I will do a quick update before chronicling Gavin's 6 month birthday and the latest news.

One of Gavin's new skills and activities this last month was playing catch. Yes, catch. We'd set him up in a reclined position and without much coaching he learned to move his arms inward to trap the ball. And, if that didn't work, he often stopped the ball with this feet. He would even do some fancy footwork to raise his feet in an effort to bring the ball up to his hands. Seemed like a pretty amazing skill to us, but maybe it's normal. We won't be surprised though if these are early signs that we'll have a soccer all star in the future. We now play a modified version of this game as he loses interest in the reclined position and wants to sit up (but is not quite sturdy enough to catch and sit).

Other than that, the big theme between 5 and 6 months seemed to be "almost."

Almost... sitting up. For most of the month he's enjoyed sitting on our laps or nestled in the boppy pillow on the floor, but hadn't quite mastered sitting on his own. One of the fun new skills that came along with almost sitting-- bouncing. The joy is contagious when he bounces up and down on your lap, arms raising up and down. Don't forget the sound effects.

Almost... giggling. Gavin is no question a happy baby, but for some reason we still have not been entertaining enough for a full giggle. He'll string a few laughs together, but we're still waiting for the unabandoned belly laugh.

Almost... ready for solid foods. It has been obvious for a bit now that Gavin is completely enamored with my coffee cup. He loves watching it raise and lower and will turn and twist his body to get a glimpse of it on the floor. That and some other clues have had us preparing for his first "meal" on his 6 month birthday. I considered feeding him rice cereal in one of our coffee mugs but then had a moment of parent foresight-- Gavin grabbing my full, hot coffee mug thinking it was his food-- so I decided to go with glass bowls instead.

Hi-Chair "Practice"

Do you think he needs more to eat?

Almost... on the move. These days we savor the fact that we can set Gavin down to lay on the floor and when we come back, he is still there. However, he is growing his moving skills and reminding us that it won't be long before he is one the move. On his back, he's learned how to arch and will rotate 180 degrees. On his tummy, he first figured out how to lift his legs and push, burrowing his head and eventually moving forward. Now he's figured out that he can move a bit while in the push up position. But, since his legs don't work in tandem with his arms, when his arms are in control he scoots backwards. This can be a bit frustrating, especially when there is a toy or other target out in front.
Almost forgot to mention that Gavin and I survived our first week without Tony (he was in San Diego at a Pastor's conference). He was definitely missed, but I'd say we fared pretty well. And it was pretty cute to see Gavin smile when we said Good Night and Good Morning to Tony's photo on the wall. He's also been interested in the phone lately and even responded to hearing Tony's voice mail message on speakerphone.
It's been quite a fun month. I wish I could just bottle everything up-- all of the excitement, joy, new discoveries, emotions, sounds --to open up at a later date. But alas, Gavin keeps growing and changing and reminding us what a gift he is and to savor each moment.

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.