Gavin's four-month wellness exam was this morning so he has a new round of stats:

• 17 pounds, 11 ounces (90th percentile)
• 26.75 inches long (90-95th percentile)
• 45 cm head circumference (90-95th percentile)
  

Since his two-month check-up, his weight gain has slowed just a bit and he is growing faster height-wise. In the head size department, I'm sorry to say that he appears to be taking after his mother! Just last week we ordered him a sun hat in the 6-12 month size and it's too small. The 12-18 month size hat fits great!

Gavin in Robonanny at 6 days old and 8 1/2 pounds,
and at almost 4 1/2 months old and 17 1/2 pounds

He got another round of immunizations. Daddy held him for comfort and Gavin reportedly "soiled his armor" after the first injection. The poor little guy got scared by the bee the bit his leg!

The pediatrician had no concerns about his development (Mommy was just being paranoid about a few things!). Although the average baby "should" be rolling over around this age, she said those milestones are outdated since they were set when babies slept on their tummies. Now that sleeping on the back is recommended, babies don't hit milestones like rolling from tummy to back as soon. Gavin still isn't too pleased with tummy time and usually tries to escape by scooting forward like an inchworm. When he's laying on his back and we pull his arms up, he no longer bends at the waist to sit and makes us pull him into a standing position instead. He loves to stand! I'm sure he'll learn to crawl and stand on his own before he ever rolls over or sits alone!

A solid attempt at rolling over

Gavin has reached the age for starting solid foods (4-6 months is the current recommendation). Since he never wants more food than the bottles we give him and is currently only eating the minimum daily amount of formula for starting solids (30 ounces), the pediatrician told us it's perfectly fine to hold off on expanding his diet. He'll be less likely to develop food allergies if we can wait until he is closer to six months old anyway. I plan on making his baby food and am looking forward to concocting all sorts of organic pureed foods for him!

Trying to find a decent segue to the next topic... This was Gavin's last visit with his Florida pediatrician. We will be moving to Raleigh on June 20th. We will sadly be temporarily leaving Gavin's paternal family behind (but hope they can join us very soon!) and will be moving close to his maternal family. We're beyond excited to be moving to a beautiful area with four distinct seasons (Winter? What's that?!) and the best environment to raise our son. The moving van will arrive to load up on the 19th and we'll hit the road on the afternoon or evening of the 20th. With the baby, we figure it will be easiest to drive through the night since Gavin should sleep most of the time. Grandmommy will be flying down over a week early to help take Gavin off our hands while Jeff packs and to be a driver/back seat nanny during the move. Driving our two cars on the interstate for 13+ hours with a 5-month old and two cats (who can't travel to the vet 1/4 mile away from our house without becoming hoarse from meowing so much) should be an unforgettable adventure for sure!

With pastor Tim Halverson (who married us two years ago) following Gavin's baptism

My first Mother's Day this past Sunday was highlighted by having Gavin baptized. We were convinced that our happy, social baby would just smile at the pastor and the congregation would melt into a chorus of "aw's." Instead, Gavin ended up being tired and was certainly in no mood to have a bath in front of 300 people, so he cried the entire time. He'd gotten a case of the hiccups just before the baptism started so it seemed at first that he would spend the entire baptism hiccuping, but the crying quickly rid him of that predicament! Once the baptism was over and he was reunited with Mr. Sucky, all was fine and good in his world again and he slept through the remainder of the service. There is a video of the baptism available thanks to Gavin's Aunt Beth. Be sure to listen for some great hiccups in the beginning!