Six months old... So fast with the second!

I can hardly believe that my second baby is half a year old! Trevor hit his six month milestone on Good Friday. He had a perfect check-up. Measuring in at 27.5 inches (87%) and 19 lbs. 12.5 oz. (84%). He's a big boy!

And he'll keep it up too, because he loves solid food. We started solids earlier with Trevor than we did with Gavin. Mainly because Trevor had his neck on a swivel with every bite I took. His interest level in what I am eating is high. So at 4 and 1/2 months we feed him some puréed pears. And we were off... Avocados, green peas, apples, apricots, sweet potatoes, squash - just to name a few of the firsts foods.

He also loves to smile. As a super happy baby who lights up when you engage him, let's just say, he's a charmer. I love it.

Gavin is one sure way to make his brother smile. It is so much fun to watch them interact. Trevor beams at his big brother. And watches his every move. Truly one of his favorite people. We can't wait to watch their relationship develop.

I'm trying to be aware of not creating sibling rivalry. We don't want to pit them as competitors against each other. But as encouragers to each other. For instance, if we want Gavin to try a new food, we cheer him on without making a comparison to his brother. We don't say, "Trevor ate all of his peas, won't you take a bite too?"

Ok well I'm off to fill Easter baskets for TWO adorable boys!

Trevor ... Our new baby

In October 2011 Trevor joined our family. We are loving being a "party of 4!" and seriously can't imagine life without him. Which is weird because before he got here I was having a hard time imaging life with more kids than just Gavin. I'm so thankful that I knew we would have "more than one." Because honestly Gavin was getting easier and I half considered being done. But that wasn't our path and we are thrilled... All of us. Gavin has adjusted better than I could have imagined. He's a terrific big brother.

So I'm going to try blogging more often... It seems like life has sped up now that we have two kids. I don't want to look back and not remember the little bright spots that make my life magical. I love being a mom and I want/need to have an outlet to commemorate the really great things that just happen everyday so when a "bad" day hits (and they do) I can look back at all the good ones.

Like a little duck . .

We've enjoyed swim "lessons" at the Rose Bowl, and here's a few pictures to prove it:

Tummy time in the water!

This child loves to splash! Do you see how wet his face is?



Ready. Set. Go!

Jumping in from the side of the pool.

Swimming with dad.

What fun!

Mother's Day

For some reason Mother's Day made me feel very emotional this year. I guess having a baby of your own and realizing you're a "mom" now may make one who is prone to being emotional, a little emotional on the said event of celebrating motherhood.

But it was a good day, all in all. And I'm delighted to be a mom to little Gavin.

Who is . . .

happy.
biting.
pulling up to standing.
still not crawling.
getting his 7th tooth.
bellying laughing.
ticklish.
taking swim lessons.
almost 9 months old.

I can hardly believe it's gone so fast! What a ride, what a great, great ride!

Best of Friends

I'm truly lucky in life to have friends like Melissa. Check out her newest blog entry. Thanks Melissa for brightening my life. Your friendship has meant so much to me.

elf in training . . .

We had a wonderful first Christmas with Gavin. Here are some of my favorite shots from the day. . .

Gavin, look what Santa left us under the tree. Is that for me?

opening gifts with daddy . . .

Grandpa Dial, what did you get from Santa?

Gavin's own big boy chair - thanks Grandma Dial!

we enjoyed a yummy prime rib dinner.

Great Grandparents - so sweet

nothing better than snuggling with a sleeping baby Gavin. This is what bliss looks like . . .

But next year I've decided that we're not leaving our house . . . you'll have to come to us on Christmas day. :-)

Yesterday morning started off okay . . . up at 5:45am feed Gavin and get him dressed. It was downhill after that . . . While waiting for Karl to finish getting himself ready I was playing with Gavin and his adorable new snow boots. I stood him up and saw it - a little dark spot creeping out of the back of his pants and up his back. Now we are seriously moments away from putting him in his car seat.

"Karl he's pooped his pants and it's leaking up his back - I'm going to change his diaper and outfit.," I shouted out. This should have been a fairly quick exercise, but once I opened him up it wasn't just leaking up the back. It was down the leg and on the socks. Up the back all the way to his shoulders. Gavin just smiling through it all. Karl peeps his head in to see what's taking so long at this point. He surveys the scene and says he can get into work late, because he knows I'm thinking, "This kid needs a bath."

So I strip him down and give him a quick bath - no shampooing the hair, just soap him up and hose him down.

Back on the changing tabble just as I'm pulling out the new diaper . . . he turns into a fountain. Peeing eveywhere! I gasp - which sends Karl running to the room. He helps me clean it up and I finish putting on the new diaper.

I get the new pants on and ask Karl to put the jacket on while I search for the baby comb (it's never where I left it). We're so close to getting them out the door and then just as Karl goes to put Gavin's second arm in . . . he spits up on Karl. Karl who is fully dressed and read to walk out the door now has baby spit-up running down his arm and pooling in the elbow of his dress shirt. I help mop it up but Karl decides that spit-up is not the odor he wants to share with his co-workers and needs to now change his shirt.

So finally with both boys in their second outfits of the day and it's not even 7:00am - I send them out the door (SIGH). Being a mom is harder some days than others. :-)