Gavin's mind is focusing on physical development these days. Meaning, Gavin likes to MOVE! 
He started out army-crawling at 6 months old, then graduated to real crawling a few weeks ago. We installed our baby gate at the top of our stairs this weekend and it was a huge relief. He has just started pulling up on things to get into a standing position. Next up
will be cruising, then I guess we'll be moving on to actual walking! It seems to be happening so fast. As soon as I adjust to one stage, he has moved right along to the next. He is super-squirmy and loves physical play - being swung around, thrown in the air, rolled over and over, tickled - all these things make him giggle like nothing else can!Gavin also just endured the arrival of his first 2 teeth (one on top, one on bottom) and has 2 more about to break through. We're doing our best to keep him comfortable. He is always gnawing on his little fingers and toys (sometimes Cassidy's favorites, which causes major distress in her world). Our latest discovery is pretzel rods - he loves to sit in his high chair and gnaw on them until there nice and soggy. I think the salt must be a nice bonus too!
Last weekend, Gavin learned to clap. It was so adorable to see him put it all together for the first time. He claps his closed fists right now and loves to perform if you ask him to "clap, clap, clap!" I find him practicing when we're not looking. Then when I call his name and make eye contact, he gets a big grin and starts clapping harder.
When Gavin decides to take a break from moving, he likes to "talk." He babbles throughout the day (ba ba ba, ma ma ma) and plays with all kids of sounds - every version of squeals, squawks, and squeaks. Gavin is a very happy baby most of the time. But on those occasions when something is not to his liking, he is not shy about letting us know. He is particular about certain things, and can get pretty fired up if they aren't just right. For instance, he likes his daytime bottles to be given to him while he reclines in his blue chair. He likes his nighttime bottle to be given as he lays on his back on a rocking ottoman in his bedroom. He hates lying still on his back, so the minute we lay him down after a bath, or throughout the day for diaper changes, he flops onto his belly and tries to crawl away. It's exhausting to get him changed and dressed - we literally have to hold him down to keep him from twisting and wriggling. He cries the whole time, even though we sweetly explain that this same experience will continue to happen multiple times per day, every day. Of course as parents, it's our job to look for the bright side of these traits, so we've decided that he will one day be an active, athletic, productive young man with strong opinions and high standards. :) Ha.Gavin is on a consistent daily schedule now, sleeping through the night from 7pm - 5:30am (we
have an early bird here, and would welcome tips to change this. Ha.). He's napping twice a day - one short nap in the AM and one longer nap after lunch. Luckily, he and Cassidy nap at the same time in the afternoons so I usually get a nice chunk of quiet time. He takes his bottle 4 times a day and eats 3 "baby food" meals as well. He loves to snack on Cheerios. He is getting more interested in sippy cups and I have a feeling we'll be letting go of that bottle soon. When Cassie leaves a stray toddler sippy in his path, he makes a crazy beeline to get there before I step in and mess with his plans. And we are so grateful to find that he does not have a cow's milk allergy like his big sister. He has yogurt in the morning for breakfast and loves it!
Fortunately, Gavin seemed to lose interest in his pacifier at around 6 months, so we were able to
take that away without any fuss. That's a battle we are not looking forward to with Cassidy, so it's nice to know we'll avoid it altogether with Gavin. He has a special cuddle blanket that he uses to help himself fall asleep, and before lying down in his crib, he loves to rock with me in his rocking chair while I hum lullabies. He smooshes his little face onto mine and likes to have his ear directly on my cheek as his eyes start to close. He is my little snuggler! We love you Gavin!
