Time to Baby Proof...

I'll write more about my fantastic birthday week later, but one of the best gifts I got was that my baby boy started CRAWLING!  He had been doing this thing for a few weeks where he'd pop up on all fours and just hover back and forth for a minute or two before deciding he could roll to his final destination more quickly...but last week he started actually attempting forward motion.  Nine times out of ten he landed on his belly (and the proceeded to, once again, roll and roll and roll) but occasionally he'd scoot a foot or two in the right direction.  But this weekend the crawling was undeniable.  Gavin can officially move from a seated position onto all fours and crawl to whatever it is he wants to get into.   He's still super shaky and it'll probably take some time to build his confidence -- but HOORAY for developmental milestones!

The downside of this new skill is that Stephen and I officially have to baby proof our home.  We live in a small ranch-style house, so baby proofing for us essentially means removing most of our furniture.  Our end tables moved to the basement along with our desk hutch when we started preparing for Gavin's arrival, and with his new mobility (and curiosity), it's looking like our floor lamp and coffee table will be joining them.  Once we get covers on the outlets and cords all tied up and tucked away, Gavin will have the entire living room to roll around and explore.  I'm having a little bit of difficulty adjusting to the fact that my nice Pier 1 decor has been replaced with Fisher Price must-haves, but it's fun watching Gavin play and laugh with his new toys.  I haven't decorated for a single holiday this year.  I still have owls and berries and reds/golds everywhere from the winter holidays!  So maybe it's not the biggest deal that when guests come over, they will now have to sit on the rug hahaha (just kidding, we still have our couch and chairs).

We bought our house in early 2009 and figured we'd stay around five years.  It's small -- perfect for a family starting out, and at the time, we weren't even engaged yet.  As we got engaged, then married, then pregnant, the house started filling with more and more stuff.  Breadmakers and stemware when we got married!  Stuffed animals and mamaroos when we got pregnant!  But nothing compared to the amount of stuff our 8 lb 10 oz newborn brought with him.  Blankets, binkies, bottles, teethers, loveys, clothes, lotions, diapers...it's amazing how much STUFF you need to take care of a little one!  Our house suddenly felt very small.  Moving all this furniture to the basement makes the house look a little bigger, for sure, but I am definitely starting to look forward to moving to a larger house in a few years.  A house with two stories, preferably, so Gavin can have lots of room to play but we still have space to entertain guests who don't want to have to maneuver around the bazillion toys constantly littering our floor.

This video was taken a few days ago...since then, he's gotten less wobbly (though I think his little wobble is the CUTEST) and even faster!  Folks, get ready, this kid is about to take us for a wild ride...