gavin has been eating lots of butternut squash. he really likes it and smiles and starts waving his arms around and stomping his feet when he sees the container and spoon.

he still isn’t quite crawling forward (backwards is easy) but between scooting around, crawling backward and rolling, he can get to where he wants to be. if he’s over by the videos and we put him back on his blanket, it’ll take him 15-45 seconds to get back to the videos. he really likes pulling things off of shelves. it’s very exciting. and once, he tried to pull the tablecloth, with food and books and other paraphenalia off the table, and would have succeeded if i didn’t rescue the tablecloth from his mighty grip!

he’s also starting showing signs of separation anxiety from me. if he’s upset or tired and someone else tries to hold him (sometimes including Chris) he cries/screams. i wish that wasn’t the case, but i guess it’s a normal part of development. it would be nicer if this happened when he was not quite so heavy!

i sometimes turn on the ceiling fan in the bedroom when changing him so he can watch it go around. these days, most of the time a distraction is needed while attempting a diaper change, otherwise he’ll roll and scoot right off the table and prevent you from getting a new diaper on at all costs!

last week i hauled his exersaucer out onto the lawn and put him in it while i did some much-needed weeding of the front “flowerbeds” (which might be more accurately called weed extravaganza.) he really liked being outside. some neighbors came by and stopped to chat about the baby and try to coax a smile from gavin, which he gave. and the neighbors were so thrilled! it made me think of all the other times when people i meet around town are so eager to try to interact with gavin. people are so enthusiastic about babies and want so much to be a part of their experience, even if just for a moment.

babies and kids can be so charismatic. it feels like having gavin is a gift not only to me and chris and our family, but also to the community (and maybe world) at large. seeing this makes me realize how huge the love my family and others had for me must have been when i was a child. it’s a good thing to know. it’s not that i didn’t know this before, but having gavin around and being on the other end of things makes me realize in new ways and to a further extent. i hope that when gavin is older, he’s able to understand his immense worth to me and others.