Bryan and Stacie Huelsbeck

We begin with Gavin’s most recent haircut.  This was by far the most drastic haircut so far- he looked like such a big boy.  He wasn’t really excited about it when we first got to the chair- it took Daddy and the haircut lady holding his arms while I pushed his little butt into the seat and strapped him in!  But once she bribed him a sucker, he simmered down and watched tv.

And here he is passed out in the carseat sporting his new do- hard to really see, but trust me, he was HANDSOME.  Of course, it’s all grown out again and he needs another one!

Next up, we have Gavin’s play area which has been recently revamped with the addition of his new Christmas presents- check out his art easel and Pirate Ship- those are his current favorites:

And here is a close up of the backside of that pirate ship:

Now for some pictures from Wisconsin.  Unfortunately, we didn’t take many photos- seeing as we were too sick to get off the sofa most days.  But here are a few of Gavin checking out the snow.  Also note the paci… this is the last time you will see that- we are now completely paci free!

It was very pretty though…

This is pretty much all Gavin wanted to do in the snow…

step in… step out… step in… step out…

We have some videos too, so maybe I’ll figure out how to upload them this weekend!

 

It has been a rough couple of weeks!  We left on Christmas Day to go to Wisconsin.  Gavin had a slight cough that morning so we started breathing treatments before we left.  He was fine at Grandma’s house… a little fussy and still had the cough, but mostly ok.  But I knew by the time we got up to the place we were going to be staying all week that things were not good.  We went out to dinner that night and Gavin was very fussy and actually fell asleep in my arms which he hasn’t done since he was a baby.  We had a rough night and Sunday just got worse.  By next morning, we were at the Urgent Care center as soon as they opened.  At this point, I knew what we were dealing with.  The shallow breaths and unproductive coughs were exactly the symptoms from his last bout of pneumonia.  Add to that some nasty stuff coming out of his ear and I knew my boy was SICK.  I told the Dr what I thought and he listened to him and said he didn’t think it was pneumonia but would do the x-rays anyway.  15 minutes later and yep… I was right.  So they gave him a shot of steroids and sent us to Walmart to get antibiotics and other meds.  He laid around for the next 2 days and slept a lot and watched a ton of disney movies.  He was so cuddly and sweet- I know he felt bad, but I have to admit that I enjoyed all that snuggling :-)  By Wednesday, he was starting to get some of his spunk back and was throwing some major temper tantrums so I knew he was on the mend.  I thought we might still be able to salvage the last couple days of our vacation and actually get out of the house… ummm, not so much.

I woke up with a scratchy throat on Thursday morning.  By that afternoon it had progressed to severe congestion and runny nose.  Back to Walmart for some cold meds for me…  I felt horrible on Friday- completely congested and not able to breathe very well.  By the next day, Bryan was starting to feel stuffy too.  So we loaded up on the Sudafed and boarded the plane- knowing it would be a hard flight with the air pressure.  Taking off was ok, but the change in air pressure coming back down was AWFUL.  Next morning, we paid a visit to our local urgent care where the Dr informed me that I probably had pneumonia too (no x-ray to confirm it but he just treated it anyway).  He practically ran out of the room to get away from us!  Gave us both a shot of steroids and some antibiotics.  Bryan started feeling better but not me.  By Tuesday, I was back in my regular Dr’s office begging for something else.  My ears were hurting so bad that I was sure I had an ear infection- but nope they were clear!  Apparently the air pressure from our flight did some real damage and they are going to have to heal.  She gave me a new round of meds and I spent another day at home.  I finally came back to work on Thursday after 2 full weeks off, but still not feeling 100%.  The worst part is that I still feel like I’m in a cave- my ears are really messed up! 

Then we had the “snow storm.”  As we all know, Georgians panic when the temp drops and stuff is falling from the skies.  I was honestly too exhausted from my illness to do the customary stop for bread and milk on the way home and figured it would be a tiny amount of snow- no big deal.  Well, I was partly right.  There was the tiniest dusting of snow on the ground, but under that was some pretty nasty ice.  My office was closed and when we tried to head out at noon to take Bryan to work, we found that the hill in our driveway was covered in ice.  We couldn’t get out no matter what we tried.  So we were stuck inside all day eating old leftovers and whatever else I could scrounge out of the bare pantry.  It was crazy- the roads were completely dry and clear, but the sun was just not hitting our driveway so the ice never melted.  My mom finally came and rescued us on Saturday and we thawed out by Sunday. 

So here we are, hopefully getting back to “normal” this week.  I’ll add some pictures and videos later, but for now… HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Well, we are supposed to be at a wedding tonight.  Sorry about that Joey and Stephanie!  The ceremony was great and what we saw of the reception was stunning.  Best wishes for a long and happy marriage…. and can one of you send me your address so I can send the gift?  We forgot to leave it!

We started the evening out at the wedding, but a certain someone did not want to behave… so we had to leave.  Mommy was not amused.  But the good news is that this gives me time to update the website one more time for 2009.  Can you believe that Christmas is less than a week away?  Or that this year is almost over?  I knew that time would fly once we had a baby, but man, it still catches me off guard sometimes.  Things are going to be even more crazy than usual for our Christmas this year, so if we don’t get to see you all we really hope you have a very Happy Christmas and New Year!  On to the pictures from the last couple months:

Gavin went through a really cute phase where he was obsessed with balloons.  He would just carry it around the house and hold on to it all the time. 

We started out November with a trip to visit Santa.  Yes, we had to visit him early because he is a very busy man.  This is not just any Santa- this is the famous Phipps Mall Santa.  I had to make an appointment in September- they start taking them on the website at 12 am and by 10 am the next day, all that I could get was a weeknight in early November.  Yeah, he’s that popular.  Here is Gavin ahead of time… writing his wish list- he loves to scribble:

And here is Coralyn in her pretty dress and pigtails:

 She did great with Santa… but Gavin- not so much.  He started shaking his head and saying “NO NO NO” as soon as we started to approach Santa.  We didn’t even get a picture of him alone because he was crying so hard and actually tried to throw himself off Santa’s lap…

He was fine as soon as we left Santa though…

Then we headed over to the Pink Pig.  Gavin and Coralyn are so sweet and gave each other a big hug…

OK now this is just a funny pose:

Another picture of Gavin and his balloon infatuation:

Then we did a mini-session with Jody from Jodylynn Photography.  She did our fall pics last year too and man, I just love her!  She just captures Gavin so perfectly!  Can’t wait to use her again next year!

So into December… I did a quick shopping trip with Granny and Corrie and Coralyn.  We left the boys at home.  Corrie and Coralyn went for a little train ride around the mall…

Here’s a picture of our Christmas Tree.  I really wanted one of Gavin standing in front of it, but he would not cooperate (anyone noticing a theme here?  We are definitely in the terrible twos!)

Gavin also did not want to cooperate with any of the adorable hats I bought for him…

Yeah, Wisconsin is gonna be FUN if he won’t even wear a hat!

I did manage to get a few cute pictures of him tonight in his little tuxedo… notice that I had to bribe him with a giant sucker to get him in front of the Christmas Tree… whatever works!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE- STAY SAFE AND WARM!!!!  SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!

We have been so busy this month!  I think I’m going to have to rely on the pictures to help me remember it all… 

First of all, Granny got Gavin some great new monkey slippers- he loves them and just wanders around in circles wearing them…

 

Gavin and Daddy spent some quality time watching tv.  But then mommy got mad at Comcast and turned it off… so now we watch a lot of DVD’s and play on the internet

 

I just thought this was a cute picture:

 

Then we went to the Pumpkin Patch.  Gavin had a great time- we took a hay ride and that was probably his favorite part.  He really liked the tractor!

  

After that, we picked up some small pumpkins.  Gavin calls them “balls”- ok, whatever you say.

 

Then we went to pick out a big “ball.”  This was a little overwhelming for Gavin.  He wanted to pick them all up and he kept getting distracted by the tractor passing by.  I think he was afraid we were missing our ride!

We’ve been working on using a spoon with Gavin.  He does pretty well at school (or so they say), but home is another story.  Dinner time is always a messy affair.  So to try to encourage him to use the spoon, we give him TWO- one for each hand!

  

Also this month, Gavin finally got his ear tubes put in.  It’s been two weeks now and so far so good!  Actually, we had a huge spurt of new words immediately after having it done.  I don’t know if that’s coincidence or not, but we are very happy about it!  Here is a pic of Gavin playing basketball in his hospital room right before surgery:

 

Here’s a cute picture of him playing with his choo choo:

 

Then it was time for Coralyn’s birthday party!  Can you believe she is already 3?  I can’t!  The kids had a blast in the bounce house and playing in the playhouse:

 

 Then we went to Six Flags for Fright Fest.  Apparently, I forgot about my camera… this is the only picture I got that night.  Impressive, huh?

 

 Here’s Gavin playing “chef”:

 

And here he is playing on my computer:

Next it was time for Colin’s birthday!  Mommy and Gavin and Granny flew out to Texas to have lunch at Rainforest Cafe.  Uncle Chris and Coralyn were there too.  Too bad we were only there for about 3 hours! We’ll come back and stay longer soon…

Playing in the boat at church:

Now for the fun Halloween stuff!  First, Gavin got to go trick or treating around my office with his daycare class.  He was DJ Lance Rock from Yo Gabba Gabba.  For those of you who don’t know about this show, here’s a picture of the cast.  DJ Lance is the guy in the orange fuzzy hat: 

And now presenting- YO GABBA GAVIN!!!!!!

He did pretty well trick or treating at my office.  He finally caught on after about the 4th office and actually started holding his basket up for them to put candy in.  But trick or treating in the neighborhood… now that was interesting.  First of all, you have to understand that I couldn’t get him to hold still for a picture unless we bribed him with candy.  Secondly, instead of ringing the door bell and waiting for the candy, Gavin tried to walk into every single house we went to.  And then he’d get really mad when we pulled him back out.  But it was cute and another little girl in our neighborhood dressed up like Foofa from Yo Gabba Gabba so they were super cute together!  It did rain on us, so we only did a few houses… but all in all, I think it was a success.

Well, that’s all that’s on my camera, so I guess that’s it for this month!  Next update will probably have some Santa photos.  I’m anxious to find out if he will be a screamer this year!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Can you believe it is almost October?  Or that Christmas is less than 3 months away?  Craziness.  So what’s new with us?

Bryan and I went to visit Grandma at the end of August.  Gavin wasn’t able to go since he had just had pneumonia and I was too afraid he would get sick again since he always gets sick when we travel.  But, it was a great trip and Bryan and I really enjoyed our time alone and with Grandma and everyone else.  The weather was gorgeous- like fall- and I was in heaven!  We were really glad that Gavin wasn’t with us on the flight home when we were diverted to Huntsville for 3 hours! 

September started off hard with the death of my Grandad Williams.  He has been sick for a very long time and I know that he is resting peacefully now, and that is a great comfort to us all.  But still, we all miss him very much.  I still can’t believe that Bryan and I have been so lucky to have had our grandparents with us and such an active part of our lives for long.  Sometimes it is hard not to take it for granted- but the truth is, we are soooo blessed.  Gavin has got to be the luckiest boy in the world.  He was born into a family with 4 living grandparents and NINE living great-grandparents.  Sadly that number has gone down to seven in the last few months… but still- such a blessing. 

Last week, we all went back to Disney World with Nonnie and Grandpa and Grannie even came down for the day on Sunday.  We had such a great time and we are already excited about planning our next trip!  Disney never gets old to us.  We love it more and more everytime we go!  I think all of the pictures this month are from Disney… we got some good ones so I hope you all enjoy!

Getting ready to go into the Magic Kingdom…

Riding on Aladdin’s Magic Carpet Ride:

Gavin liked the parade:

Now this is fun… here is a picture of me and Gavin in it’s a Small World this year:

And from last year:

At least he was a little more alert this time… altho not much!

 

Riding on the carousel with Daddy:

 Wearing his cool 3D shades for Mickey’s Philharmagic show:

Gavin’s favorite part of Disney World was the play fountains.  He LOVED them and we had to stop everytime we passed one!

He wasn’t so sure about the characters at first… but eventually warmed up to them enough for some pictures…

Chip:

Dale:

Pluto:

And finally… Mickey himself:

Gavin at the Finding Nemo ride at Epcot:

Can you spot the wonderful seagulls from Finding Nemo?  “Mine…mine, mine!”

Gavin at the Living Seas:

Playing at the Imagination Ride:

A silly picture from Germany:

Playing in the water at Typhoon Lagoon:

Grandpa and Nonnie waiting for the bus…

This was the first time we’ve visited Disney World in the fall.  There were lots of fall decorations throughout the parks:

Gavin had the best seat in the house:

So that he could see the show:

Dumbo was another big hit!  Or as Gavin calls it: DUH-BO!!!!

It was kind of hard to get an actual photo of Gavin on the ride… this was the best we could do:

After Duh-bo, Gavin was hysterical because well, the ride only lasted about 15 seconds and apparently that was not long enough.  So to appease him, we went over to the Pooh play area:

Except we didn’t realize that there was a water play area there.  We didn’t have an extra set of clothes… so Gavin didn’t get to play in the water.  OH MY GOD… did he scream!

So I went to the bathroom and when I came back… this is what I found:

He held that thing for the rest of the night.  It was so cute!  Yes, we are THOSE parents who bribe their kid with light up toys to get them to stop screaming in Disneyworld :-)  And proud of it.

And this picture just made me laugh:

Apparently, the flash scared him?

And Bryan thinks Gavin’s face in this one is hilarious:

Again… how cute is he???

Gavin and Daddy with the Lego Dogs at Lego-land:

Can you read what these pumpkins say?

“See ya real soon”

How cute is that?

 And finally, after all this fun, Gavin passed out on the bus back to the airport:

 

Yes, I am a major blog slacker.  Moving on…  Let’s start off with our trip to Florida… it already seems like it was so long ago, but it has only been a couple weeks!  We went to Sea World while we were down there- that was fun… and hot.  Gavin did ok.  Not great, but not terrible.  The good thing about him is that he loves to ride in his stroller will still nap in his stroller if he gets too tired.  So that really helps.  I’m hoping that we will have a successful trip to Disney world next month.  He is such a Mickey Mouse fanatic already that I think that will appeal to him more than Shamu.  Anyway, Gavin had fun at the beach and the pool and playing with all of his cousins.  I think he’s been bored back home with just us without all those people to entertain him!  We did have an unfortunate poop painting incident in the car.  Aunt Kim cleaned him up and I literally hosed him down at a rest stop.  No permanent damage, although I think Mommy and Uncle Chris may be slightly traumatized. 

After that, we had a calm quiet week… until Thursday.  I heard Gavin cough a couple times in the morning and I noticed he had a runny nose when I took him to Lulie’s for lunch.  Otherwise, he seemed fine.  After lunch, I took him back to daycare for his nap.  2 hours later, his teacher called to tell me that he woke up screaming and hadn’t stopped in 30 minutes.  So I went down to check on him.  He was hysterical and having a hard time breathing.  I took him home right away to start breathing treatments.  That was probably the scariest night since he was in the NICU.  He wasn’t even able to breathe in enough to make a wheezing sound.  The albuterol wasn’t helping and even when he was asleep, his breathing was very fast and labored.  I called the nurse line to see if we needed to go to the ER.  She was awesome and talked me through it all and we decided to keep doing the albuterol every 3 hours through the night and get him to the pediatrician first thing the next morning.  They took us straight back and the Dr came in right away.  Did a quick exam and diagnosed Gavin with a double ear infection and obviously respiratory distress.  They gave him a shot of steroids and a shot of antibiotics and did two mega breathing treatments.  He was screaming and thrashing around when the Dr came back in to talk to me.  I know that he told me that it’s time to quit beating around the bush and just diagnose him with asthma.  Even if it is just allergy/illness related asthma, that is what it is and we are now doing a daily preventative.  He also must have diagnosed him with pneumonia, but somehow with Gavin screaming and thrashing around, I missed that diagnosis until the nurse called me back on Monday to “check on Gavin’s pneumonia.”  Say what???  So we need to fast track the ear tubes.  I mean, if the kid is going to get pneumonia from a simple ear infection, that’s just not gonna work.  Within a few days of antibiotics, steroids, and breathing treatments, he was back to his normal self. 

Now mommy has some sort of bug.  I just feel tired and achey all the time.  I had my thyroid levels checked and they were slightly off… but not enough to explain how miserable I’ve been.  I hope I can kick this soon.  We were hoping to go to Wisconsin to see Grandma this weekend, but with our illnesses, that didn’t work out.  Hopefully we’ll get to go soon.  I’m sick of the heat and humidity down here- it was so pleasant when we were there for Kristin’s wedding, I can’t wait to go back.

On to some pictures…

 I just love this pose… so innocent looking.  Don’t be fooled!

Lounging in his chair…

I just love this picture…

Center of attention…

Isn’t he so handsome?

Dancing with the bride…

This was just moments before the infamous poop painting…

Watching Shamu with Granny:

Playing in Peyton’s tent:

You can see why spaghetti is his favorite food…

Since he loved Peyton’s tent so much in Florida, we had to get him one for at home:

And this is a decent shot of his new big boy haircut:

He likes to sit on his zebra and read.  Weirdo.

We just bought him a train set… he doesn’t really get it yet.  But he has fun tearing it up and banging all the pieces together.

Cleaning machine:

I can’t believe it’s July already!  June flew by and as you can see, I forgot to post an update on Gavin.  Sorry about that.  We started off the month of June with a quick trip to Disneyworld.  It was just me and Bryan- Gavin stayed home with Granny this time.  He’ll get to go back later this year.  This trip was a combo gift for Bryan- Father’s Day and his Birthday… yep, he’s about to turn the big 3-0! 

The next week, Gavin got sick again.  This time was by far the worst ever.  He hardly slept at all for 2 nights and basically just screamed and cried constantly.  We had no idea what was wrong.  He had a low grade fever the first night, but then it was gone.  He kept drooling like crazy so I thought maybe he was just teething really bad.  I took him to Children’s Healthcare first thing on Sunday morning and she diagnosed him with a nasty virus called Stomatitis.  It’s related to Hand, Foot, and Mouth- except Gavin only had the sores in his mouth.  Since it was viral, there was nothing they could do for him.  Ugh.  So we suffered for 2 more days and then I took him back to our doctor.  By then he had developed a TERRIBLE ear infection.  He also had a cold that was causing an eye infection and a runny nose.  My poor boy was miserable.  I’ve realized how useful this blog has been for me to track Gavin’s illnesses.  At this point, I am POSITIVE that Gavin needs tubes for his ears… I think we will probably move ahead with this later this summer.

Unfortunately, Bryan’s Grandpa Farnsworth passed away this same week.  Because of the ear infection, Gavin was not able to fly up for the funeral.  It was a beautiful service and we all loved sharing stories about Grandpa and how special he was.  Bryan has been watching old home videos ever since.  Grandpa was an amazing man and we miss him very much. 

Developmentally, Gavin is really getting so smart.  He does the funniest things and he totally cracks us up.  Today in the car, he patted his hands along with the Little Einsteins DVD.  He’s never done that before and Bryan and I both just laughed and watched him and cheered him on.  He is soooo fun!  He is definitely learning new words, but he so addicted to that pacifier, that we don’t get to hear him talk very much.  We are going to cut that out soon… I need to talk to his teachers about it this week.  I can’t believe we went 15 months w/ no paci and now he’s hooked.  Go figure.

It is now July and we are getting ready for Kristin’s wedding next week.  After that, we are home for a week and then heading off to Florida.  I have training down there again, so Mom decided to rent a condo and Brent and Chris and the kids are all coming along.  So I probably won’t get to post again until August.  Now, on to the pictures…

Now let me explain this next series… I made the following collection of pictures for Bryan for Father’s Day and put them in a frame with 3 openings…

Cute, huh?  Now for the outtakes…

And the indoor shots… Gavin was not amused as I was interrupting Yo Gabba Gabba…  I couldn’t even get a second “D” out of him.

And here we have Gavin’s standard Yo Gabba watching position (or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse… it’s a toss up for him right now)

This picture is from daycare.  All the kids love this chair and fight over it all day.  Well, Gavin was the first one there the other day and he ran straight over, grabbed this rake and plopped down on the chair like it was his throne.  So cute that I had to snap a picture of my little king!

Out for Daddy’s Birthday Dinner… Gavin LOVES spaghetti!

And finally, some 4th of July pictures… Gavin loved the sprinkler!

 

May has been another crazy month… we had a nice Mother’s Day.  Went to dinner with our parents and Mommy got a pretty new pink mini computer :-)  We also went to the lake for Memorial Day and Gavin went for his first boat ride.  I’d call it a success.  He didn’t scream or cry.  Basically he couldn’t move in the life jacket so he just kind of laid there on my lap the whole time- hahaha!

Today we went to the zoo with Granny and Poppie.  We had a nice time and Gavin seemed to actually SEE the animals this time instead of just people watching.  We rode the train there, but it broke about 2 minutes into the ride… the engine was smoking and everything.  Nice.

Then we came home to house with no air conditioning.  Lovely.  The repairman just left at 9:30 pm and told us that the motor is burned out and he can’t fix it until at least tomorrow.  Possibly longer!  Seriously?  It is hotter in here than outside.  Thermostat says 84 degrees.  Needless to say, I’m not in a very cheery mood at the moment. 

So in an attempt to beat the heat, we let Gavin play in his kiddie pool this evening.  He loved it and screamed his head off when I made him come inside.

Speaking of screaming his head off… Gavin started his transition to the toddler room this week.  It did not go well.  I expected this to be an easy move for him.  He usually adjusts so well, but not this time.  He screamed everyday for most of the day and has just generally been a cranky pants all week long.  Tomorrow he goes in there for the whole day… including napping on a cot instead of a crib.  I don’t see this going well at all…

Here’s some pics from this month:

Petting a Kimodo Dragon (don’t worry, it’s fake!)

Riding on the train at the zoo…

Funny Faces…

Playing in the pool- check out his cool pirate swim trunks!

 

April has been a great month for Gavin!  He has had a major brain spurt in the last week or so and has suddenly learned several new words.  A week and a half ago, Gavin’s entire vocabulary consisted of Dada and Du-chuh.  He can now say all of these new words (maybe not phonetically correct, but close enough that we can figure it out): Cup, Book, School, Kitty, Bye Bye, and Circle.  This last one is a puzzle to me and Bryan and his teachers, but that is definitely what he is saying (pronounced “Erkle”).  I know there have been others as well, but I can’t remember right now.  He is also responding to yes or no questions by nodding/shaking his head.  He’s even been using his sign language more.  It’s just amazing how fast it all happened!

Other tricks include bouncing a ball and riding on his little ice cream truck.  He is a good little climber now and can handle the stairs with no problem.  He will give hugs now and blow kisses- but only if he’s in the mood.  He blew about 20 kisses to the neighbors dog last night…  he really likes her.  He has also apparently been spending a little too much time around Poppie because he is a cleaning machine!  Give the kid a towel and he will wipe the floor, clean the table, and my favorite… detail his ice cream truck.  There is a picture of this below :-) 

Currently his favorite food is hot dogs.  He LOVES them.  Other favorites are spaghetti, bananas, and goldfish crackers.  But basically, the kid will eat anything- he’s not picky (unlike mommy and daddy).  We are finally trying to stop the bedtime bottle.  I gave him a bottle with water in it the other night, per the dentists instructions.  Apparently he was supposed to not like that and no longer want a bottle.  Hahahaha!  Yeah right- he didn’t care- didn’t finish it but didn’t scream either.  The next night was not so successful… he did scream and mommy caved.

Easter was this month.  Gavin got an automatic bubble blower shaped like a Hippopotamus.  Very cute.  Of course all he wanted were the plastic Easter eggs.  We didn’t do a lot of candy this time but we did have some Easter marshmallows which he LOVED.  Mommy and Daddy enjoyed them too.

Last weekend was Uncle Jeffie’s wedding in Savannah.  I hear it was a beautiful ceremony.  Unfortunately, Gavin and Mommy and Granny and Megan got lost in downtown Savannah and missed the ceremony.  High heels and cobblestone do not mix.  We did make it there for some pictures though so check out Gavin in his suit.  Very handsome.  The reception was great and Gavin especially enjoyed the mashed potato bar (he is definitely his fathers son!).  We got to see so many relatives and it was great to see Grandma and Grandpa Farnsworth!  We miss you guys and hope to get to see you again soon!  We had a great time in Savannah even though Gavin’s allergies flared up and led to another round of breathing treatments.  He was doing much better but woke up from his nap today with a fever and is clearly not feeling well… guess we’re going back to the Dr tomorrow

OK, enough already… enjoy the pics!

I just love this outfit with the suspenders…

This is Gavin spacing out while watching Yo Gabba Gabba…

 Happy Easter!

 

 

This one is just too cute- he looks like such a grown up reading his to do list…

Uncle Jeffie’s Wedding…

Playing on the porch at Cracker Barrell…

Spaghetti Lunch Day at School…

Cuddling with his blankie and boppy…

Cleaning Machine…

A year?  Really?  Are you sure this isn’t some sort of calendarific mistake?  Do you honestly expect me to believe that 12 whole months have gone by since that night in the hospital?  Because it seems like yesterday to me.  I refuse to accept this.  He is still my tiny little baby and he will be that way forever.  OK, so maybe not so tiny… but he WILL be my baby forever.

Gavin has had a busy month.  First and most importantly, he is officially WALKING!  He really started the week before his birthday and he’s got it down now.  We finally caved to Granny and got him some walking shoes.  He hated them.  When we first put them on, he just stood there in the store like his feet were glued to the floor.  Then he just sat down.  He wouldn’t even butt scoot in them.  Just sat there and looked at me with this pathetic “why did you do this to me?” expression on his face.  He is used to them now though.  By the way, he has ginormous feet.  I wanted to get him the super flexible early walker shoes at Stride Rite because that is what the doctor reccommended.  But they only go up to a size 5 and he is already in a 5 1/2 and could probably wear a 6!!!  So needless to say, his new shoes look huge on his feet.  Along with the walking, my clumsy little boy has had several bumps and bruises this month.  Mommy really needs him to be more careful!

His birthday party was a huge success.  He loved his cake and did a great job smashing it all over his face.  I made the cake and it turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself.  The icing filled diapers that followed were not so cute :-P  Somehow, I think my trial run cake turned out better, but hey- go figure.  Thanks to everyone who came to help us celebrate- it was a great time!

He has now cut his 3rd tooth and I can see the 4th one and maybe a couple others that are about ready to push through.  I guess our doctor was right and they are all going to come in at once.  He has had a couple of other bugs lately- a rash on his face, arms, and legs that just wouldn’t go away.  And a cold/virus that turned into an ear infection.  He’s on antibiotics now, so hopefully he’ll be all better soon.

Oh, and as for talking, Gavin is really babbling a lot more now, but he’s not really saying a lot of words yet.  He says Dada sometimes and DuhDuh or ChuhChuh (his words for Duchess) more than anything else.  You know, it’s really nice that he loves the dog so much, but is it really asking too much for an occassional Mama?  I don’t think so.

Oh and pointing!  He started pointing and it is the cutest thing ever!  We’ll ask him to point to Duchess and he’ll point to her or Dada or whatever.  And if he can’t find what we ask him to point to… he just waives his little finger in the air!  Love it!  We are also working on blowing kisses.  He has done it a few times but he’s really stubborn about that one.  Oh and he likes to shake his booty and dance when he hears music playing.  This is such a fun age.  I know I’ve said that at every stage, so I guess that just means that we think it’s all fun!  

Last week we got some sad news and Gavin would like for everyone to please say a special prayer for his uncle Brent!  We are thinking about you!

So here’s some pics and some videos from the last month… enjoy!

Hey Daddy, how many of these can I fit in there?

I think I see something in there…

Gavin loves this toy.  He pushes the button and then shakes his booty while it sings the ABC’s.

Gavin’s 1st Birthday!

This is after the party- he crashed from the sugar high!

Look at his giant feet!

Cute Duchess napping in the sunshine…

Gavin’s new favorite game to play with Daddy:

 

Gavin does the weird growling thing when he gets sleepy.  He just kind of spaces out and makes this groaning/growling sound…

 

Gavin’s 1st steps… only a couple…

 

 

Now he’s got it!