here’s a shot of gavin honing his samurai skills

gavin and lilah playing with the baby gym

here’s lilah’s first smile on camera

another little smile

lilah checking out the living room

The pictures of Lilah were taken while she was wearing a gown that my Grandma, June McClenahan gave my parents when I was born and which I wore home from the hospital. My sister also wore it when she was a baby.

i threw together a short 7-8 minute movie of some of the video clips we had lying around of gavin that i’ve been meaning to do something with. more of these will be forthcoming, but in the meantime you can see it on my blog

here’s Gavin having fun with his football.

here’s Lilah practicing being a big girl and holding herself up on her tummy.

Gavin is getting better from his cold and feeling much friskier. He’s enjoying going for walks in the fallen leaves, picking them up and looking at them and the crunching noises they make when we go over them in the stroller. Lilah is doing well too. She’s been briefly interested in looking at lights and colors lately. She’s been smiling for a week or two and smiles at me frequently. She mostly smiles little closed-mouth smiles but once in a while I get a big open mouth grin when I’m playing with her.

Today Gavin wanted to hold her hand when I showed him her little fingers. He said “bay-beee!” He was also very excited by the embroidered duck on her outfit today.

In other news, we kept a list of the words and signs he used over a weekend a month or two ago and then again just this last week. The first time he had a total of 18 words and signs….this time he was up to 37! Yay Gavin!! He’s making so much progress.

here’s gavin being silly

and here’s one of lilah’s excited face

We all have been very very busy here. And there’s always more that needs doing than time available. Lilah has been busy sleeping, crying, eating and dirtying diapers. Chris has been busy working for Albertsons, working on web site design, and doing lots of household work. Gavin has been busy climbing out of his bed at all hours of the night, playing hard, chasing cats, and the last day or so, being sick with a cold. I have been busy taking care of Lilah, trying to give Gavin adequate attention, doing laundry and occasionally trying to use the bathroom or brush my teeth and thinking of all the other things I need to be getting done. Eek!

Here is Gavin looking at Lilah, who’s very interested in him too.

Gavin is off to a great start in his brotherly role. He’s offered his sister a truck, patted her head, laughed at her silly faces, and tried to feed her potato chips. He’s been very positive about her showing up in his house and life and I am so proud of him for his generous attitude. He does get sad that he can’t spend time with his Mama every time he’d like and sometimes he gets upset by the sound of her screaming. He’s been a bit clingier than usual and a bit more prone to tantrums. I wish that the adjustment was easier for him and that I could comfort him every time he wants, but we both enjoy the moments we can cuddle together.

Gavin has also been making huge leaps in his communication! Just in the last several weeks, he’s started signing a whole lot more and using verbal words more too. Yesterday he signed “cheese” for the first time and it was in context…no prompting! I can’t wait till he’s chattering away.

Lilah is a pretty happy baby most of the time. She’s not awake a lot yet but she likes having her diaper changed and she smiles when she sees our faces up close to hers. She makes little cooing noises that are so cute and also she makes really funny and loud grunts and honks that make us laugh sometimes.

I am so excited to think about Lilah being able to interact with Gavin and how much fun they will have together. It won’t be long at all now before she will start trying to do everything her big brother does.

p.s. Lilah now has her very own ticker with an accurate age at the bottom! Check it out.