Like Father Like Son

I love this picture!

Gavin's Photo Shoot/I'm too Sexy for a shirt!

3 Months Old!

I can't believe it, Gavin is 3 months old. He is turning into such a little man. Look at him with his one hand on his knee. We did not have a doctor's appointment this month, so we are only guessing on his weight. We think he weighs around 15 pounds. We figured this out by mommy stepping on the scale by herself (SCARY!), and then stepping on the scale with Gavin. One good thing about not having a doctor's appointment this month, is NO SHOTS!!! YAY!

He is such a good baby, he is happy all of the time, and it is very rare that we hear him get upset, usually when he is overtired. We are working on a sleep schedule, which is going pretty well. He takes a nap in the morning, one in the afternoon, usually around 12-1pm, and then one in the early evening. He goes to bed around 9:30ish, unless he misses a nap, then it is a little earlier. WE have started to establish a routine of bath, nursing, reading, rocking, sleep..... I am reading a book "Health Sleep Habits, Happy Baby," which I highly recommend for any new parent. It talks about how important sleep is for babies, even though we want to spend as much time as possible with them, awake. In the mornings, he gets up, nurses, and then he lays down next to me, with his head on my shoulder, and his tummy right up next to my side, and falls right back to sleep, it is the best feeling in the world.

We are working on trying to get him out of the swaddle blanket, very difficult to do. We watch him when he is not in it, and he startles himself, waking himself up. However, we were told that at three months, babies should be able to start soothing themselves to sleep, and that the swaddle should not be needed as much anymore. He also has started sucking on his hands a lot more, he uses this to soothe himself at times when trying to fall asleep. As for the crying it out method when trying to get him to go to bed, IT SUCKS! I know that we are doing it for his own good, but it is very hard letting him cry himself to sleep, needless to say Chris and I are not very good at it yet. I think he is still to young...............

Milestones:

Cooing and "talking" up a storm

Squealing in delight

Motorboat sounds

Blowing Bubbles

Mimics us when we motor boat

Smiling when we smile at him

Holding on to things (rattles)

Follows smaller items when put in front of him

Aunt Shannon's Visit

Gavin met his Aunt Shannon for the first time this past week. She flew all the way from Alaska to meet the little guy, oh and see all of us to. She has lived there for a while now, she goes to school and works a full time job there. She was able to spend a lot of time with Gavin, and he really enjoyed spending time with her. We went to the lake one of the days, and had a cookout at our house one evening, so Shannon could see everyone. We miss her, and wish she was not so far away. Hopefully, we can go see her someday soon! Here are some pics from her trip here!

Gavin's Meet and Greet

Our trip home to New York had a purpose, Gavin went home to meet family and friends from mommy and daddy's side. He met his Uncle Matt, Aunt Niko, and his cousins Kali and Maddi, he also met many of his great aunts and uncles from both sides of the family, his Great Grandma Bush and his Great Grandpa Dennison, along with alot of family friends. He was able to spend time with his Grandma Dennison, Grandma and Grandpa Bush and Uncle Justin also.

The party was great, it was held at the Quality Inn in Batavia. Grandma Dennison decorated so beautifully, and the food was great, she did a great job planning the party! There was even a cake with his picture on it that Grandma Bush brought. There were chocolate bars with his picture on them, and favors with his name on them. Everyone that came to the party was also given a picture of our family.

Gavin was probably held by every person at the party, which was ALOT of people. He did very well considering what a long day it was. He was a very happy baby!

We are so excited that he was able to meet alot of his family and family friends, everyone was so excited to meet him (especially his cousins Maddi and Kali). He received so many nice gifts, savings bonds, and he was given some money to start his own bank account. He recieved a beautiful scrap book from his great aunts' Cindy, Rosemary, and Cassie.

We would love to thank you all for sharing such a special day with Gavin and our family, and we thank all of you for everything you did for him!

Here are some pictures from the trip to New York:

Gavin's First Plane Ride

Gavin had his first plane ride at 2 and 1/2 months. He did wonderful! It is quite a process getting a baby ready for a trip, and it was a short weekend trip. We went home to New York, so Gavin could meet family and friends. When packing I had to be sure not to forget anything that he needed, what if the weather was too cold or too hot, what if he got sick or had a fever, what if he was constipated, what if we needed a baby first aid kit?? These are all of the questions you need to ask yourself, on top of, how many outfits will he need a day in case we have a very messy diaper, etc., etc.....??? We had to be sure to have the baby tylenol, gas relief medicine, a thermometer, many changes of clothes for different temperatures......, wow, it was a two day process getting ready! Anyway, he did great. Chris and I were pretty nervous that he would be "that baby" who screamed bloody murder on the plane, but not a peep, when we boarded the plane and took our seats, he was very calm and dozed off. When the plane took off we gave him the pacifier, and tugged on it a little bit so he would suck on it harder to help with pressure in his ears, and it worked really well. We had the same great experience on the way back home! Check out Gavin's first picture in the Charlotte-Douglas airport.