fifteen and a half months - balls balls and more balls

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Another Fourth of July has come and gone.  Gavin enjoyed spending time with his buddy Dylan watching the Parade in the morning.  We were lucky not to get wet!!!  Dylan lent Gavin his snazzy head gear to celebrate :)  Later that evening we cooked out and put Gavin to bed before the fireworks got going.  Lucky for us he didn't wake up once...whew!

Over the past two weeks Gavin has been gaining more new language.  He is beginning to label objects in the house and pointing to indicate he wants to know what something is.  His new favorite word is "ball".  We cannot go anywhere without him finding, seeking, grabbing balls.  Balls can be anything round at this point.  A peach in the supermarket that he managed to get, grapes he eats for lunch, round rocks he finds in nature, amongst many others.  He has become quiet fond of a golf ball that was given to him by my Aunt and Uncle.  I think it is his new favorite!!  Even on the tire swing he wouldn't put it down and yes it did manage to make it into the tubby too LOL.

These past couple weeks have also been beautiful!  Gavin has spent many days outside playing in his water table, testing out a new bike from a close friend, and enjoying swings.  We even spent one morning watching a bunny hop around the yard!  I love this time of year :) 

Playing with Music

Gavin's New Bike

In addition to enjoying new balls and the outdoors Gavin has been helping me sort through my collection of Strawberry Shortcake dolls and other 80's toys to sell.  He seems to have found a girlfriend in the process of the sorting and decided rocking a NKOTB hat was the thing to do...snickers :)

This week we also had our first Big Boy sleepover with Ridge!  It was so much fun to have both the boys to play with for two whole days.  We managed to go swimming, have a picnic snack, and of course make funny faces in the window!  I got some fantastic photos and got a feel for life with two.   I am going to be a busy lady...but it is so exciting....I can't wait :)

Our weeks ended with a quick trip to visit some family.  Though I didn't manage to get hardly any photos we did enjoy fun egg decorating, observing birds, playing outdoors on the swings of course, and exploring new balls LOL like a basketball, tangerine, tennis ball, and the most revered golf ball.  Overall he has had a fantastic time exploring and watching nature.

15 months - goodbye ridge hello summer

A new chair in our new home!

Each month it amazes me how fast time goes by.  Gavin continues to grow with each moment.  He is beginning to recognize and repeat familiar words and uses them to communicate with us.  He loves balls of any sort and will retrieve them and throw back and forth which is so much fun in our new yard!    He is also using some basic signs such as "all done", "more", and "no" which is also helpful :)  He continues to run but is quiet clumsy at times and has some bruises to show for it.  Right now he has 10 teeth we are still waiting for those lower molars to come in...they are the worst the molars.

This month Gavin's big brother Brandon came to visit!  It was so nice to spend some time with him and for him to see how big Gavin has grown.  He also got to spend some time with little Patrick which was fun for him.  His dad was very sad to see him  go...I hope he comes to visit again soon!

the boys 

brandon & patrick

Now that we are pretty settled in our new home Gavin has had multiple opportunities to play in the yard which he loves.  He could spend all day out there.  We have a water table and a slide he enjoys, as well as his fascination with the bell on the shed and picking flowers.  He is so cute when he offers clovers for me to smell and gives me that big smile!

Gavin and Ridge  

Love these boys!

Sadly this was our last week of watching Ridge while his mom and dad our at work.  We are super excited for him to have his mom all to himself now, but we also loved spending time with him.  Gavin and Ridge are best buds.  

This was my final week of work for the summer and I am so excited to be able to spend my days with Gavin, and Chad will be home for dinners which will make it so nice.  While I was finishing up in my classroom Chad took some cute photos of Gavin outside playing.  I heart them!

This week we also spent some time with Auntie Elissa and Patrick taking field trips to the Children's Museum and walks to the beach to play on the swings.  We are so lucky that they will have the opportunity to grow and share together!  This picture is so special...amazing how big a year can make!

fourteen and a half months - if your happy and you know it clap your hands

Carousel ride with Auntie Elissa and Patrick

Last week Gavin and I ventured out with Auntie Elissa and Patrick for a fun filled day in the sun.  We wandered around some beautiful gardens, took a carousel ride, and played in some water.  Gavin was not a big fan of the Carousel ride.  Our attempt to put him on a horse was no good :(  I did manage to hold him on a bench though he clutched to me the entire time.  By far his favorite part of the day was playing in the water and mud....big surprise!

This week we also finished our big move to our new home!!!  It was a lot of work and we are still living in boxes.  Some amazing friends helped us out and we would not be here without them :)  You know who you are!!!!  Thank you soooo much!  During the days of the big move Jessie and I took Gavin and Ridge to BJ's for some shopping.  She got this amazing video of them.  They are the best! Just click on the photo to see it on YouTube :)

YouTube Clip

We are looking forward to taking some photos of Gavin in his new home once we get settled!  It is so amazing to watch him explore all the new space he has.  Though I must said it has led to more and more climbing.  He is also beginning his journey to exploring the yard which is a new concept.  I cannot believe what a big boy he has become.  In closing a photo of him enjoying his new tub!  We are so excited to have a real tubby...YAY!

14 months - sand and statues

14 months - gavin and his faces :)

Blogging so far apart like this is so strange to me.  It feels like so much has happened and changed in the world of Gavin!  He is a runner now and can climb on anything in the house.  He loves to get into spaces he "should not" be in and also loves to be in water.  I cannot wait to get him an outdoor play pool this summer.  Also Gavin has popped four new teeth over the past month.  His two top canines and two top molars.  One day I just looked in his mouth and saw them there.  He now has 10 teeth and counting.  He is drinking primarily almond milk and only has one or two bottles a day.  We are working towards one and eventually none.  His vocabulary is expanding...he is referring to balls (ba), balloons (bobo), his dad (dada), me (mama), and his milk (baba).  In addition he has a variety of other sounds he like to make one of my favorites being "wow" and "ohhh".   Amongst all this change we are  starting our big move to our new place.  We will have so much room and outdoor space for us all to enjoy.  It is very exciting!  Let's hope this will be the last move for a while....all this packing is maddening.  We plan to be in and living by this weekend...wish us luck!

Gavin's attempt to climb in his walker!

Over the past couple weeks we have spent some gorgeous days enjoying the beautiful weather.  Gavin has had multiple opportunities to get in some long walks in the sunshine and fun times at the park.  He loves to swing and has recently become interested in climbing slides.

Gavin and Ridge after a long walk!

Alan and I had the opportunity to bring Gavin to the beach for the first time this season.  It was so interesting to watch him explore the sand and rocks.  He tried many attempts to eat the salty rocks though not the sand.  His dad did bury his feet in the warm sand which he seamed to enjoy.  We look forward to bringing him back to play in the water when it is warmer.  

This expression is priceless...love him!

On Sunday we went to Busia and Pop's for a BBQ.  Gavin enjoyed playing outside.  He made friends with Busia's statues and enjoyed playing with the wind chimes with Pop.  It was hard to get him back in the car to go home.  He could have enjoyed the sunshine all day!  So excited for the warm weather :)

In closing here are some of my favorites from the past couple weeks...

Gavin and his shades.

Fishing for Gavin.

Gavin and Eggplant Parm.

Best Buddies and Mickey :)

thirteen and a half months - old memories and new toys

Gavin discovers the refrigerator!

It seems like forever ago that I posted on the blog.  Time seems to be moving so fast I can't even keep up.  Gavin continues to grow and blossom.  He runs around the house climbing on furniture and at times jumping off.  He loves to climb!  I cannot wait to get him outside this summer on the playgrounds with his buddies.  These weeks he has also been teething like crazy with three new teeth coming through and one a big boy molar!  He has been sleeping through the night for weeks now, which is awesome, though those teeth sometimes interfere.  

In our last entry we shared our family trip to the aquarium but I forgot to include the most important photos of Gavin in the hotel pool.  He love love loved the pool.  Like a fish.  We need to start those swim classes again soon and I look forward to getting a pool in the yard :)

In addition to the pool, Gavin also enjoyed the touch tank at the aquarium.  Here is a cute one of him and his Auntie...also an attempt at a fun family photo :)

Gavin also had some fun playing with Ridge these past weeks.  Ridge has been playing with us three days a week which we love having him.  Gavin and Ridge have such a blast together.  They are also both learning the fine art of sharing...which is a difficult concept :)

We also managed to have some more play dates with Addy and Patrick.  It is so fun to watch all our kids grow up together.  It's amazing to think about them as they grow and change!  Here is a cute shot of Gavin and Addy! He is trying to share his new blue ball from Ms. Phoebe :)

The weather has been so nice around here that Alan and I had a chance to get the trailer on our bikes for Gavin.  We took him for a quick trip and he laughed and giggled the whole time.  We look forward to testing it out on the bike path real soon.  We even bought him a super cute bike helmet so he is all set!

Other highlights in our week include packing, packing, and more packing.  We are headed to a new home which is really exciting.  We will have a big yard and more bedrooms.  Though packing is not our favorite, we have done it many times, we look forward to the change and growth it will provide our family.  See you in two weeks :)