Who Needs Toys, When You Have a BOX!!

That's right, Gavin has discovered the joy of a giant box! He already knew boxes were fun, he has enjoyed many boxes we have gotten in the mail, but he couldn't really fit into any of those (even though he had sat in and squished several). We still had the box from a 27 inch TV Scott bought many years ago. Scott was getting ready to finally get rid of it when he let Gavin at it and he loved it so much, we kept it and it has since made its way upstairs and into his play area.

We do all kinds of things with his box. We sometimes set it up by putting some blankets down and some pillows for a comfy reading spot (and a place that Gavin likes to run full speed into and crash and snuggle the pillows and blankets). Sometimes we use the handle holes to play games or close the "doors" and hide. We do all kinds of fun things. Gavin loves running in and out of it and often grabs a toy and runs for his box to play inside.




I am sure the last thing Scott thought when he kept that box all these years was that he would have a son that would get so much enjoyment out of it!

Pointer!

Gavin is such a curious little boy that he figured out if he uses his pointer finger to indicate what he wants or where he wants to go it is easier for us to help him. This quickly turned into him liking to be carried around the house so he can point at things to be told what they are and what they do. This is certainly a fun "game" and I am so glad he is curious but it is exhausting! If he could, we would do this all day long. Thankfully, he accepts doing it for a little bit (whether it be for 5 minutes or 15) and then is willing to go back to toys or books for a bit.

He has also started saying "see/say it" when he points to make sure you know to tell him what it is and what it does. Sometimes it sounds more like "see it" and sometimes more like "say it". I am not sure if that is actually what he means, but I always repeat back to him which one it sounds more like to reinforce what he said to me.

He really enjoys doing this in the house and outside. I wish he would do it while walking but most of the time he wants to be carried. Even if it starts out as me following him, he quickly decides he wants to be carried to get to things more quickly.

He is also obsessed with light switches and we can't pass one without him getting to turn it on and off. This also goes for touching the thermostat display in the hall. As we pass by, he has to touch the screen to make it light up. He has just started adding door knobs to his list of items we have to check out as we pass by. Walking down the hall is no longer a quick thing as there are several door knobs, a light switch and the thermostat that all have to be investigated!

He loves the fan in the entry way and once Scott showed him and the remote, he often has that and is turning the light on and off and changing the fan speed. He is just as obsessed with the switch on the wall that turns the whole thing on and off as well. The more he investigates, the more he finds that he needs to figure out. He's a smart little boy!

A couple of cute pictures of Gavin playing with a car he has, waiting for me to finish breakfast.

October!!

Finally what looks like consistent fall weather has arrived! Despite the seemingly constant rain, the temperature has dropped and we had a wonderful breeze all day. It didn't even rain all day as was originally forecasted and by the afternoon the clouds were starting to thin and we had a few small peaks of sun and blue skies.

We had a relaxing, fun day. Since Scott was able to get his antenna and tower back up in the air (he had brought it down to change out the antenna on it) last night, we spent the day hanging out as a family. We played, read (lots), chased Gavin around and watched/listened to some movies. We enjoyed having the windows open to get lots of fresh air. It smells and feels like fall! It is wonderful!

One of Gavin's favorite items... the fan...



Scott's tower and new antenna... and the pretty sky...


We combined efforts to make one of our favorite dinners, chicken and vegetable barbeque kabobs. We had cole slaw, salad and some roasted potatoes with it. We had gingerbread cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting that Gavin and I made yesterday. They are really good!

Gavin loves to have the water on when he is in the tub at night. He is now tall enough to turn it on and off himself. So he turns it on at some point in time pretty much every night, so he can play with the water as it comes out. He often ends up pulling the shower plug up and then gets quite a surprise as the water starts coming down on him. It is hilarious to watch because he immediately freaks and runs to the side of the tub to grab me and try to climb out. Crazy kid!


He also loves to turn the drain switch to drain the water and stop the drain. I think he just does that to have a legitimate excuse to turn the water on and leave it on. He loves water, but he loves running water even more.


After Gavin was in bed I tried out a new cupcake recipe for us to take tomorrow when we go over to my parents house for dinner for my Dad's birthday. Chocolate banana cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting. They look awesome and taste even better (we had to try one out to make sure they were good enough to take tomorrow)! Hopefully my Mom and Dad will agree with us and enjoy them.

Gavin's New Obsession...

For quite some time Gavin has been interested in the fridge. Heck, he is interested in anything, especially those things he can't have/do. The fridge is one area that I had let him "play" in because he really only was interested in exploring what was in the door. No big deal. Well, in the last week he has decided the door is boring and moved on to other areas. Namely, pulling out milk, half and half, heavy cream and seltzer cans, whatever he can reach. He loves sharing Scott's seltzer, so it is no surprise when he can reach those he pulls one out to try to get it open. Thankfully, he can not and he just moves on to something else. The milk products, he never passes up. He loves to pull the milk carton out and pop the top off (using his teeth... apparently teeth can be used for all sorts of things other than just eating) to chew/suck on it.



Sometimes he attempts to dump milk out too, most of the time I manage to reach him and rescue the milk before that happens. The half and half and heavy cream he loves as well. No idea why. He tries to get the caps off of those but usually can't since they screw on. He did manage to do it once and was attempting to drink the half and half. Crazy kid! Regardless, he is in love with the fridge and if he hears it open, he comes running. As does he love the dishwasher, cabinets, hall closet and bathroom closet. He absolutely loves the hall closet because he can pull out the duster and vacuum. Any time the vacuum comes out he follows it around as I vacuum and yells at it. It's really funny.


He is such a silly little boy!

Cabin Fever!

We have had rain almost every day in the last week! It has been a bit depressing and Gavin and I have been cooped up going a bit crazy. It's hard to be outside even when it isn't raining because of the humidity and mosquitoes. It is no fun to go to the park and get rained on. We haven't had any errands to run. Friends are sick so we haven't had any play dates (we are waiting until the colds and such are completely gone before we risk it). So, Gavin and I have been working to have as much fun as possible at home. We have baked various treats and some awesome dinners. We have read lots of books. We have kept the house reasonably clean. We have even managed to organize and put away some things that have been put off for way too long. It has been great.




Despite all our fun, we are looking forward to nice sunny days again! I hope the forecast is wrong because as of now, it is going to be another rainy, humid week. I guess we will just continue to work on things around the house until we can resume enjoying the fall!

11 Months Old!

Really, another month? Already? I think the last month flew by faster than any other one yet. Maybe it is because Gavin is now walking around and getting into anything he can reach. Maybe it is because I am in complete denial that he will be a year old already. Maybe it is because I can't believe that this time last year we were running around working on finishing as much as possible around the house (including Gavin's room) before he joined us. I have no idea, but this month has gone by way too fast. Gavin is growing up way too fast. He is such a smart, fun, amazing little guy. I love every second I spend with him (even when I am exhausted because he didn't sleep well which means I didn't sleep well). I am sad that he is no longer a tiny newborn but so happy with where we are now because he is so much fun!

He has quite the personality, which includes not holding still for a photo shoot.



Or looking at the camera, since the grass is much more exciting.


Let's see what has changed in the last month!

Stats:

Weight - 25 pounds 12 ounces according to our visit last week.

Height - 31.25 inches according to our visit last week.

Clothing Size - He has grown out of his 12 month pants which is not all that big of a surprise, but nothing else.

Milestones -

*Gavin is walking all over the place now! He still takes some falls here and there when he is tired or gets ahead of himself (trying to run across the room instead of walk) but he is amazingly fast and loves to explore the house. He walks from room to room all day long checking things out, getting into trouble and following me as I pick up and clean. It is guaranteed he will follow me if I have either the feather duster (to do corners and such) or the vacuum. Both are favorites of his. He gets all excited and comes running when the hall closet is opened.

*Gavin has discovered even more new noises and vowel sounds this month. He doesn't stop "talking" almost the whole time he is awake! Other than "dada" (or "dad" and "daddy") he doesn't say too much that I would consider words. He says what sounds like "I did it/did it", "yeah", "okay", and "that" but nothing that I would consider a word, yet. I repeat things back to him when it sounds like he said an actual word, but I am sure he just thinks I am crazy and I am far from repeating what he intended. Who knows though. He also likes to make all kinds of crazy noises with his tongue. He will mimic all kinds of noises too. He smiles really big and the does it himself. It is really cute!

*Gavin is really starting to appreciate and enjoy some of his books. There are some he absolutely loves and he smiles and laughs when we read them to him. He especially loves when you do voices for different characters and emotions. He also loves the touch and feel and sound books now. I have always enjoyed reading to him but it is so much more fun now that he seems to enjoy it more. I still occasionally read my books to him but he mostly ignores me since there are no pictures, fun sounds or things to touch. Hopefully someday he will appreciate those more as well.

*Gavin has seven teeth (three on top and four on the bottom) with who knows how many more coming in. He seems to constantly have another one that is coming in. I guess we won't be getting a break from teething until they are all in. Oh well... it will end someday!

That about sums up all his new tricks. He is an absolute joy in our lives and we are so thankful to have him!

Fun and Lazy Sunday!

We had a fun, relaxing day today. I have been taking advantage of the cooler weather and making some things in the Le Creuset. Yesterday we had stew and seasoned bread sticks. Today I was trying out a recipe I have had my eye on for a few months now, but wanted some cooler weather to try it out. Chicken enchilada soup. So, I made some enchilada sauce and threw in all the other ingredients and let it start cooking together for dinner!

While that was cooking, Gavin and I picked out some toys to take outside. We headed out to hang out while Scott worked on his antenna. It was a beautiful day out. Sunny and around 70. Perfect weather. The mosquitoes even seemed to stay away as long as you stayed in the sun and didn't sit in one spot for too long. That isn't too difficult with Gavin since he is always on the move. He was exploring the yard and eating lots of grass and some dirt. Probably even a little mulch since he wandered over around Scott's tower.

Gavin also found the hose and was very excited about that. He is obsessed with the hose.


i

He is also obsessed with his daddy. He wouldn't take his eyes off of him.



Gavin also shares his dad's love of seltzer water. Any time he sees Scott pull out a can, he freaks out and wants some. He even figured out how to use a straw to drink it!




We had a great day together and a delicious dinner! Chicken enchilada soup is really good. We will definitely be having that again sometime this fall/winter!