Gavin is on the verge of a onesie drought in another month or two if he keeps growing at the rate he has been lately, so today we were on a mission to replenish his supply with a trip to Crabtree Valley Mall. That place is dangerous because all three of my favorite baby clothing stores are there - Gymboree, Baby Gap, and Janie and Jack!

Gavin is already growing out of some 6-12 month clothes so I bought some 12-18 month size for the first time. What will he wear when he's actually 12-18 months old?!

It was so much fun to spend the morning shopping with Aunt Kristen since we haven't lived in the same state in five years! Gavin usually enjoys shopping in malls, too, since there are so many sounds and things to look at. He lets us know when he's been parked in the same place for too long and has grown tired of his view, though!

Gavin has seen a few babies in his time, with mixed results. This is the first time that he has sat down to play with another human his age. He and Logan had a few mutual smiles, but were largely just frightened. As harmless as babies look to us adults, they can, aparently, be fairly intimidating to each other. Towards the end of this video, it looks like they are going to finish on high note. Gavin gets a little too excited, though, and lets out one of his trademark happy-squeals. This only serves to frighten Logan, who soon starts crying. That bit of crying upsets Gavin, and then nobody's happy!

On Friday at 10 AM, Gavin and his family left Florida for a new life in North Carolina. He was an excellent traveler and slept most of the morning, but began to grow restless over four hours into the trip as we neared Ocala. Fortunately, we had planned to visit Mommy's friend, Kristin and her baby, Logan, in Gainesville so Gavin was able to get out of his car seat for a while.

Mommy and Kristin have been friends since middle school and were both due with their first babies three weeks apart last December. Kristin's Logan was born a little early in late November while Gavin arrived late in January, so neither ended up being born in December! We were thrilled to be able to see our babies together, not knowing when we'd have a chance to get together again anytime soon. Our visit was brief since we still had a long drive ahead of us, but it was so much fun to see the babies playing on the blanket.

Logan: "Mommy, I'm upset!"
Kristin: "Oh, it's OK, Baby."
Traci: "Awww!"
Gavin: "Ooh! A ceiling fan... with a light kit!"

After leaving Gainesville, Gavin took a short nap and woke up on I-10 wanting to be anywhere but in his car seat. While Gmummy took over driving, I discovered that the only thing that made Gavin happy was pulling my hair so I spent a half hour hanging over his car seat. Good times, good times.

We made it out of Florida and Gavin was asleep for the night by the time we hit South Carolina. That's when Gmummy loaded up on coffee and the atmosphere in the car suddenly became even more talkative! All the while we checked in with Jeff and the cats who were never more than a couple miles behind. We'd catch up at every break and fill up, listening to the chorus of meows most times that we called. Overall, the cats travelled just as well as Gavin.

"Sheila" summarizes the trip

In the wee hours of Saturday morning, we crossed the North Carolina state line and pulled into Gmummy's place in Wake Forest around 3:30 AM. Gavin, who'd slept his full 10-hour night as usual, woke us up bright and early at 8:00 so we signed the lease on our new apartment and started moving in on just a few hours sleep. We had cable installed on Sunday so we're online again and I can start working again tomorrow. The moving truck has not arrived so Gavin is currently sleeping in his pack and play while we're enjoying "camping" in our sleeping bags while using our camping cook set and sporks to eat meals when we're not over at Gmummy's. I've promised Jeff we'll do some "real" camping very soon!

Daddy is currently painting Gavin's new room which Mommy will use as her home office for a few more months. We'll send more updates on that project as they become available! Otherwise, we've been busy setting up utilities, filling up the pantry again, and getting everything ready for the movers to arrive. Gavin has been enjoying his new surroundings, a few new toys, and getting ready for his first big boy meal. We'll finally be starting him on solid foods!

Today, the movers came and loaded up all our stuff which means we have only one thing left to do: drive to North Carolina! We'll hit the road tomorrow morning to complete what we expect to be an memorable adventure.

Over the past week, we have said "goodbye" to many Florida friends. Many have said they visit this blog but only "lurk" and don't post comments. If that includes you, would you post a comment to this blog entry? In the years to come when we show Gavin his blog, we would love to be able to show him all of the people who love him and followed his early life. So, if you're here for the first time or visit daily, please post a comment below and let Gavin know you're here! If you'd rather lurk and never post again, that's fine, but please let Gavin know you've visited!

View the Video

Gavin has reached a long-awaited developmental milestone. He is now able to roll over! Gavin hates being stuck on his tummy. He wants to look around and see what's going on. Nonetheless, we have always tried to give him daily tummy time ("tummy torture," he says) to enable him to strengthen himself and grow. With our upcoming move this week, we're down to basic needs in our mostly-packed apartment, and the lil' feller has had a tummy hiatus. The last few days, however, I noticed that he was able to effect a substantial push-up motion while leaning against me in my lap. Finding a break in the packing this evening, we tossed Muddy on his tummy in front of the video camera and captured his first ever rollover for your viewing pleasure. Then, we captured his second and third rollovers. He was getting tired by the third roll, though, and we called it a night.

The movers are due to arrive tomorrow morning and we're ready for them! Inspector Gavin has given us the all-clear and by tomorrow evening, our living room will be empty.

I enjoyed a pleasant afternoon visiting my dear mother at work today. Her coworkers were having a bit of a send-off party to wish her well in her new location, from which she will continue to work with them. There was a whole table full of yummy stuff from Iguana Mia, and I kept trying to convey to my parents that today would be the perfect day to start me on solid foods. Alas, they can be dense, at times. I don't see the value of waiting another week for a coupla spoonfuls of lukewarm baby cereal, when I could have spent hours on that buffet table, cutting teeth on tasty tacos and smearing succulent handfuls of guacamole all over my face. But, I digress.

I was able to show my teeth to my old 4What buddies - well, the funny ones that made me laugh, anyway. I showed off my sitting and my standing, but I was dissappointed to see that none of them had made any more developmental progress. Sure, walking around and talking is fancy, but I'm learning a new trick every week! I didn't even see anyone roll over, and Daddy says I'll be able to do that any day now!

After having been denied the joys of solid foods, yet again, I stretched out my neck and let my curious eyes explore the room. My gaze alighted on the most beautiful face I have ever seen. She was so exquisitely beautiful that my mouth stopped sucking my pacifer. My jaw gaped. My legs wiggled. My arms reached. Enough drool slipped loose to put out a California wildfire. Her mother lifted her up out of the stroller, and I thanked my lucky stars that I can follow things with my eyes now. She was nearly within arms reach! Oh, I pursued, and she withdrew, then she pursued, and I withdrew, and so we danced. My heart burns like a thousand diaper-rashes for her, but I must move on. I'm leaving town this week, and a play-date just isn't in the cards.

I picked up the pieces of my heart as Daddy carried me away, continuing the tour of the 4What facility. I checked out Mommy's cubicle. It was acceptable, I suppose, but not welcoming enough. I found it lacking a certain... je ne sais quoi - so I tinkled on the counter. It's perfect now. After having a super-fun diaper change with Daddy under Mommy's desk (I was giggling up a storm), we said our goodbyes. We went out to the car, and things get a little fuzzy here... I woke up inside of Lowes! Oh well, a story for another time.

View the Video

He sounds a bit like an old Apple ImageWriter. This video was shot May 24th, 2008.

This past week has been a busy one as we plan for our big move to North Carolina on Friday. Grandmommy is in town to help babysit while Jeff packs and I work. Today, all of us spent the day packing and receiving visitors while Gavin spent most of the day trying to take over the world in his command center. We thought he was making progress late this morning when we heard what sounded like bomb exploding. However, we quickly realized it was the space shuttle Discovery going subsonic as it passed over Fort Myers on its way for a landing on the east coast. Our living room is now full of boxes from floor to ceiling while contents of the fridge and pantry are slowly dwindling.

Glenn and Antoinette Sabatka met Gavin this morning. Glenn was present the first time Gavin's parents met over six years ago. Gavin's social schedule is quickly filling up as he will meet many more friends before leaving Florida and saying final good-byes to long-time ones.

View the Video

As we're running out of hard drive space (again), I was sorting through the unpublished footage and found one of Gavin's supercute post-sneeze noises. He is tired of being cute for his grandmummy, so she puts him in the bouncer for a nap. He then lets out a cute baby sneeze followed by the supercute moan that used to follow all his sneezes. This footage was shot February 29, 2008.

This is one of those entries that may not be too interesting to readers but I want to include as a chronology of Gavin's development. So, if you came for something cute or funny, feel free to skip to the next blog entry with the stinky video! It's the best... the BEST!

With that great intro, here's the scoop. Gavin celebrated his five month birthday by going to the pediatrician again today to have his umbilical granuloma checked. At the past two regularly-scheduled wellness exams, the doctor applied silver nitrate to help it dry up. This has been absorbed since the last check-up three weeks ago, so Jeff took the Gavster again to have more applied. If the granuloma doesn't go away on its own, minor surgery may be required.

If you haven't Googled "umbilical granuloma" by now, you may be wondering what it is. Gavin has a little ball of red skin (sorry if this is sounding gross) in his belly button. It's what caused his umbilical cord stump to hang on for so long when he was a newborn. I've read that 1 in 500 babies have it, there are no causes or ways to prevent it, and it's painless. I'm sure you never even noticed it in any of the naked baby pictures posted here because it's so small (a little bigger than a peppercorn) and nestles quietly inside his innie belly button.

Gavin was weighed again and is still growing fast - 19 pounds! That's about a pound and a half in the past three weeks!

View the Video

Gavin likes to feel my hair, but likes a surprise face appearance even more. My little game was fun for both of us until I told Gavin that he stinks. As you'll notice, he didn't find that humorous. I had to go to great lengths to get him back to good spirits.