Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

Happy Birthday Gavin! I can't believe that an entire year has passed already! It has been a truly amazing year. I love him more today than I did a year ago when I first held him (and 8 months before that when I found out he would be joining us). What an incredible year it has been watching Gavin grow and learn. As I look back, it is hard to believe he was ever as small and helpless as he was, especially since he is now walking all over and asserts his independents regularly!

Brand new Gavin:



One Year Old Gavin (too busy to stop and smile for the camera):



We had decided that it would be fun to go to the Mid Hudson Children's Museum for Gavin's birthday. We planned to go right after lunch because Gavin normally is up from his nap by then (he sometimes still takes two one hour naps, but more often he is down to one longer nap of anywhere from an hour and a half to two and a half hours). That didn't work out. So we had a later lunch since Gavin took an exceptionally long nap (around 3 hours) and then packed up and headed to the museum. It was a rainy day so it was perfect weather to go somewhere indoors to hang out and get out of the house. Gavin loved it and immediately started exploring the toddler area (the main floor has a section intended for babies and toddlers, another area for toddlers and older and then the upstairs that is intended for kids a bit older but toddlers can explore as well).






We spent a couple hours there and Gavin wasn't interested in leaving the baby/toddler area. Scott explored a bit and convinced Gavin to check out a few other things like the firetruck (which has buttons for a flashing light, siren and a couple of messages and a bell) and the bakery, restaurants, school, construction and ATM areas.

It was getting close to their closing time so we decided to head home so I could get dinner made. We didn't do anything fancy, just a normal dinner and we had a little ice cream after dinner. Since his party is this weekend, we decided not to do a huge dinner and dessert on his birthday this year.

After dinner, we had Gavin open his presents. We figured since he loves to eat and rip paper normally he might catch on and want to rip all the paper off. No such luck. He was more interested in other things than opening presents.


He was interested in the first present once it was unwrapped. He enjoyed eating it.


After that, he wasn't interested in opening other things, so I helped him out a little. Once everything was opened he showed more interest in things. He liked his new books, pumpkin sing a ma jig and wooden blocks. He especially loved knocking over the stack of blocks we made.





We had a lot of fun together as a family!

As for what Gavin has been up to in the last month...

Stats:

Weight - 26 pounds plus (we have his one year well baby visit on Monday for official weight).

Height - Probably 32 inches at least (we have his one year well baby visit Monday for official height).

Clothing Size - He hasn't grown out of anything in the last month but we did buy larger sizes for him for winter/spring because we are hoping he won't grow out of much during the winter. So his new clothes are a variety of 18 month, 18-24 month, 2T in sizing. It just depends on the brand and type of clothing what he needed. (Pants are bigger because he needed the length and room for his diapers since his cloth diapers are not quite as small as a disposable).

Milestones -

*Gavin is a walking machine that is working on running and climbing now. He does pretty well with running, but still often ends up taking a spill because his top half gets in front of his legs. He is getting quicker every day. I am just glad that I am still faster, for now! He is working on climbing anything that he can get a good enough grip on. He tries to climb all kinds of things but the items he can manage is small. He can climb in and out of his rocking chair, tries to use the phone to climb/reach up to higher shelves and he climbs on and off of Lightening McQueen. He tries to get up on the couch and bed but he can't quite get his legs up enough to make it. He tries to climb his high chair, shelves, the gate, anything in reach.

*Gavin is a babbling maniac. I thought he talked a lot before, but he just keeps adding noises to his vocabulary. It is really funny to have "conversations" with him now because he seems to actually be trying to say things and he points to things as he is talking. It is great. I am sure that he will be replacing the babbling with actual words and will continue to talk all day long. We have a lot of fun talking back and forth and he repeats noises back to me and I will repeat what he says too. He has added "cheese", "cluck, cluck" and "say/see it" to his actual word list. He even says cheese when I pull some out of the refrigerator now.

*Gavin and I spend a great deal of time reading every day. He loves to sit with me in his room or on the couch or in his box. Anywhere will do. He certainly has favorites but the list of books he really likes continues to grow. Unless it is a book he doesn't favor, he sits with me as we read book after book. Usually we do at least 4 at a time and quite often we read a lot more than that each time we sit down, which is at least twice and sometimes three times a day. That has become one of my favorite times of the day because I love to read, getting to share that with Gavin and get a snuggle in, it is absolutely perfect!

*Gavin loves to "help" out while Scott and I are doing things. Although it isn't all that helpful yet, it will be a lot of fun when it is. He likes to be in the kitchen while I cook and bake and usually has a spoon, whisk, spatula or some type of utensil and a container or bowl of some kind. He wants to help stir, but doesn't quite get that yet. He loves watching the Kitchen Aid while it mixes whatever we are making.

He loves to check out all of Scott's tools. He loves his drill and drill press the most. He "asks" to go downstairs several times a day to get a chance to play with that and check out what other tools are available. He loves tape measures, screw drivers, levels, hammers, anything he can get his hands on to explore. I am sure Scott will have lots of help on projects when Gavin is old enough to actually bring him tools and use them. Gavin is already attached to Scott whenever he is home, so once he can actually help, I am thinking I will have a lot of alone time.

*Gavin still just has seven teeth (three on top and four on the bottom) with who knows how many more coming in. It has been a nice break from the constant night wakings from teeth pain and the grumpy days from not sleeping and teething pain. I am sure it won't last since the rest have to come in some day.

What an incredible year we have had. Gavin is a truly amazing little boy and I am so grateful to be his mother. I couldn't ask for a better child and I look forward to all the many wonderful years to come, watching him learn and grow!

Birthday Party Preparations!

It has been a very busy couple of weeks! My compulsive cleaning and planning problem has gotten the best of me. I have been super cleaning everything I can get my hands on (and I still have things on my list to get to before this weekend). Kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms, furniture, windows, floors, cabinets, shelves, walls, toys, you name it, I have cleaned, disinfected and possibly even shined it! Things I used to do yearly (if I had/made the time) I have started doing monthly and in some cases even more often than that (like windows that are now cleaned weekly since Gavin loves to touch them with slobbery fingers). It is probably an unhealthy obsession but I can't seem to let it go. Maybe there is a cleaners anonymous? I probably wouldn't go, even if it did exist. I much prefer things to be clean and organized. Thankfully, Scott doesn't mind and Gavin doesn't seem to mind either.

I have also been working on creating some decorations, invitations and planning Gavin's birthday party. Unfortunately, the theme we settled on is very difficult to find decorations for so I am having to pull from lots of places to put everything together. I don't want a lot of decorations but I want it to at least look like a birthday party and to look themed. We shall see how that turns out.

Gavin has been a trooper through all of this. He has been sleeping fairly well since he doesn't seem to have any teeth coming in at the moment. He has also been doing really well entertaining himself during the day when I need to do things (like vacuum) that I can't do once he is napping or in bed for the night.

So, a few more days of insanity and hopefully everything will be ready. Then I can return to our more typical routine and maybe get a little more sleep instead of staying up all night cleaning and making things for Gavin's party!

A couple of cute pictures of Gavin in an otherwise boring post!

Loving our Cars DVD!


Hanging out with his new favorite buddy, Snoopy! Thanks Grandma!

Apples, Pears and Pumpkins Oh My!

We had another awesome weekend together! I had been wanting to go pick apples for weeks and hadn't found a good time to do it yet so I asked that we go and combine it with pumpkin picking. We had a few things to do around the house on Saturday and the weather was going to be questionable (potential rain) when we started to plan the weekend, so we decided to go Sunday.

Saturday morning turned out to be beautiful. A welcome change from all the rain earlier in the week. Gavin was being silly with carrying toys around and exploring so I got a couple of funny pictures.


Attempting to climb Scott's desk by using his hands and mouth/teeth...


Dune buggy!


Hmmm.... this is a new angle...


Loving the view from the chair!


We had a low key day and got a few things done around the house and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Sunday morning we got things ready so that after Gavin napped and we had some lunch we could head over to the farm that I always go to. There are lots of places to go apple picking and we pass at least one (maybe more) on our way and there may be lots of places that are closer. I choose to go to the same place every year because it is more than just apples. They have tons of apples, at least 15 different kinds with many long rows of trees for each, which are awesome. They also have pears, peaches, plums, tomatoes, grapes, pumpkins (what is available depends on what is ripe and in season), animals, pony rides, play village for kids, tractor rides, festivals and they have all kinds of awesome baked items they do all themselves (donuts, pies, jams, salsa, candies, etc). Plus, you don't have to pay to go, you only pay if you want to buy anything. They also encourage you to sample the fruit (just don't be excessive and wasteful). It is awesome!

So, we set off to the farm! I was so excited for Gavin to see the animals, play in the village, pick pumpkins! It was busy when we got there, busier than I usually see because I used to go earlier in the day but as we were coming in, many were clearly at the end of their visit so it worked out. We headed up to see the animals first. They changed things around a bit this year because they had some new additions to their animals. They have lots of ducks, geese and chickens, ponies, sheep (and some cute little lambs), llama, and several goats (they are really cool). Gavin wasn't sure what to make of them. I wasn't totally surprised, he has a similar reaction to most new things. Maybe next year he will enjoy it more.

After the animals, we headed over to the village so Gavin could get down and walk around. There were a lot of kids around, so we picked a house that no one was in to start with. He was very hesitant at first, but Scott walked in and then Gavin was willing to go in and check things out.


Then he made a friend. She was very sweet.


After that, Gavin realized that there was fun to be had. He watched the older kids run around and tried to keep up.


Checking out another "house"... we suspect this was intended to be a mini horse stable.




What are they doing? I can't climb like that (yet)!


I'm out of here...


We went to check out the pumpkins they had in the less crowded pumpkin patch (they actually had picked all of them and moved them so it was easier to get to them, the pumpkin patch is actually on the other side of the farm, a bit of a walk). Gavin immediately took off to explore all the pumpkins. He had a great time!


People watching but still not willing to let go of the pumpkins.



Hmmm... what's down there?


Then we picked a few apples and pears before we picked out our pumpkin. It was an easy decision on the pumpkin. There were lots of great ones but the first one we picked up was perfect. So we headed to pay (and pick up some apple cider donuts because we can't leave without some of those too!) and waited for the tractor to take us back to our car. Gavin wouldn't take his eyes off the tractor once it started up and started moving.




We headed home and Scott started working on getting the gate at the top of the stairs fully installed. We ended up needing to get one when Gavin stopped ignoring the stairs and kept trying to dive down them head first. It is a tension gate, but the extension piece that it came with made it too wide to fit the opening but without the extension the opening is too wide to get enough tension for it to be safe. So, Scott was creating clamps to mount to that will also protect the handrail. While Scott worked on that, Gavin and I played, checked out the power tools Scott was using and made dinner.

Another awesome fall weekend together has come to close. I can't wait for our next trip to the farm!

Raining Again?!?!?!?!?!?

It seems as though all it does anymore is rain (and it doesn't just rain for a day or even two... it basically washes out an entire week, literally). Which means that Gavin and I are stuck inside as the mosquito population grows, again! Ugh! So, we try to make the best of it by either putting some fun music on while we play, dance around, watch the rain from the window or back door, put a movie on (more for me than Gavin since he ignores them), do some baking, cleaning. Anything to keep us busy when we are rained in!

Showing off his fish face... he often walks around the house making fish faces randomly now.


Checking out the DVD case for our movie (ugh)... getting in the mood for Halloween with Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie!


"Say it!"


Must turn on speaker phone! (Who cares if the lady yells at me before causing the most annoying beeping noise ever!)


We are hopeful for some sunnier weather soon!

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.