Milestones

In the past couple of weeks Gavin has hit a bunch of milestones that are pushing him closer to toddler territory. He's still definitely a baby. But sometimes I get glimpses of the kid he's going to be. These days are slipping by, and it's all happening too fast.

He finally cut his first tooth and is working on the second one. Granted, this isn't a sign of impending toddler-dom. If anything, he started teething much later than most babies. But it means that he's eating more solid foods now. More often than not we give him a little bit of whatever we're eating for dinner. He seems to like it more than the pre-packaged Gerber meals. He doesn't get a lot of his nutrients this way - the dog probably eats more of his dinner than he does. It's fun to watch him try new flavors, though, and to learn about new foods.

He's also a lot better at balancing now, which means he can sit for longer periods of time. We can finally put him in high chairs at restaurants and in the shopping cart. It makes grocery shopping and Target runs a lot easier (I don't have to limit myself to a basket).

Finally, Gavin has gotten disconcertingly good at pulling himself up. Considering how long it took him to crawl, I wasn't expecting this to happen so quickly. I blame it partially on the flight to Alaska. While stuck in his car seat for 6 hours, Gavin discovered the third dimension and started climbing all over the place out of boredom. A few days later he was pulling up on the couch in the hotel, and now he can pretty much climb onto the couch in our basement. It doesn't help my nerves that he's fearless. He's determined to stand up without hanging onto to a couch or bed. So he'll often turn and let go, only to sit down suddenly. I've also seen him attempting to stand without the aid of furniture, but his balance isn't quite there yet. I know it's only a matter of time before he's walking, and it looks like that might happen sooner than I was expecting.

It's fun watching him grow and learn new things. It's also exhausting, chasing him around constantly. I have to keep a much closer eye on him than ever before. At least the animals are both being patient with him. It helps that they can still get out of his range when he gets to be too much. I wonder how patient they'll be when he can keep up with them.