Toddlers are Fun!

I really do enjoy having a toddler most days. Gavin is a lot of fun and can be so sweet when he asks for hugs and kisses. However he is often quite a challenge these days. As he learns and grows he becomes more fun and more opinionated on everything. There are some areas this isn't much of a surprise since he has always been one to defy what most people believe is normal baby and toddler behavior but a few have caught me by surprise because they happened earlier than I thought.

Gavin certainly enjoys playing with his toys more and wants you to sit and play with him. This is somewhat recent because he often didn't care whether you were playing or just sitting there with him before. This makes setting up and playing with his trains a lot more fun. He even puts tracks together himself now. He still asks for help or for us to fix something if it comes apart but his interest level has certainly changed drastically. 

He now likes to "pretend" things happen more. He has used anything and everything as a phone and had conversations for quite a while but he now likes to make things crash. For the most part this isn't a problem, they are his toys so if he wants to crash them, fine. This usually ends up with a toy (or several) being taken away and a massive tantrum on Gavin's part (and depending on the day an adult "tantrum" as well) when he gets too carried away. I figured tantrums would become more frequent but man, Gavin is an expert tantrum-er and he makes tantrums I have seen other kids throw look like amateur hour. I am afraid for what the next few years hold because supposedly it gets worse before it gets better. Gavin has a lot of freedom around the house. The few areas (bathroom, downstairs, and Scott's radio room) are gated or otherwise blocked. His toys (except for those taken away) he has easy access to, he is allowed to climb on a lot of things (couch, bay window, and beds), and we are always looking for new fun ways to enjoy his toys.

It can certainly be tough as he explores his world and tries things out and has to learn what is ok and not, but he is such a curious little boy, it makes it fun to watch him learn and grow! Even though we can't have fun conversations with Gavin yet, it is nice (and fun) to be able to communicate with him more than before. He understands so much and has for a long time, it is nice that he is able to speak more and make it easier to help him when needed and help him understand his limits and boundaries. It should be interesting to see where this all leads as he grows and especially when he has a sibling in just a couple short months!

Kids Kingdom!

Gavin and I visited a new play place today. I have heard from several people that it was a nice big place and a lot of fun do I thought I was time for us to check it out. I am working on formulating our possible strategies for this winter since we will not be able to spend the same time outside due to colder weather, possible snow (maybe we will actually have snow this year), and a newborn to work around. I want to have as many get out of the house before we go crazy options as possible.

Gavin wasn't interested in getting into either of the ball pits until he saw some other kids playing. He loved watching them and finally wanted in and started to really get into and enjoy it! (Sorry for the crappy pictures, I only had my phone with me to take pictures and it really wasn't able to capture anything without making a mostly blurry mess... I will need to bring the Canon to get some good pictures sometime when Scott can come as well.)








Gavin loved the sand box area. It was huge and had a ton of great toys in it! This was the most interest I have seen him take in sand and not throw it and dump it out of the play area, which is what he mostly tries to do at the museum's sand box.






This will definitely be added to our list. Gavin had a blast. We were there for 2 hours and if we hadn't needed to leave I'm sure he would have gladly stayed for 2 more hours, or even more! I was really glad I had done all the prep work (and even had part of it in the oven set up to start baking before we got home) for dinner that morning while Gavin played and napped so we could stay as long as possible. I can't wait to go when Scott can go so we can get some better pictures and have even more time to play!

Changes...

After two incidents of pulling ticks off of Gavin, I mostly refuse to go outside at home now. I know that, unfortunately, in this area that will likely always be something we have to contend with but when one incident was on a day we hadn't even been outside and the other we had not even spent much more than an hour outside and it was already working on attaching itself by the time we came in, I am done for now.

To replace our time outside at home I have been working really hard to arrange our schedule each day so we can get out and have fun things to do and for Gavin to get to run around. There is an added bonus of Gavin getting to play with other kids even more often and we have even made some new friends! To maximize our time out (usually after Gavin has napped) I have been being really good about meal planning each week (which I have been doing for a long time but I had been slacking some in the last few months), doing as much prep work for dinner as I can in the morning when Gavin is playing on his own or napping, Gavin has been better about helping pick up all his toys before he naps, and I make his lunch and have that and snacks and our water packed up before he wakes up so if he doesn't want to eat right away we just take it for him to eat while we are gone. Most days this works out really well and we get at least 2-3 hours to play wherever we go, depending on how long he naps. It has been fun.

We have been to the museum several times (Gavin still loves it!), the playground, the library, and run our weekly errands (Gavin even enjoys these too). We have a few places we know about from last winter that we will check out from time to time when the weather makes it more difficult to be outside but they are a bit farther away so we have been sticking closer to home to maximize our time playing while the weather allows us to be outside. It is certainly easier to not have to leave home all the time but Gavin doesn't mind because he is really enjoys seeing all the other kids when we go places to play. It also causes him to burn more energy by running around more than he does when we are outside at home. He seems to really look forward to going these places and has started asking or his shoes and going for a ride. He is often very cooperative in getting changed and out the door pretty quickly once he is up. He seems to understand that if he cooperates we get to go play with kids and have more time there.

I am hoping that we will be in a good enough routine with the changes we have made that it will not take us too long to incorporate a new baby into the mix. We probably will not be going places every day but we still need to get out at least a few times a week to prevent both Gavin and myself from going a little stir crazy. I'm sure our first outings as a group of three will be quite interesting when the time comes!