little monkey

Gavin is a climber. We always suspected that he would be, but when he didn't start climbing early along with walking, I thought maybe he wouldn't be so much of one. But no, we were wrong. A couple weeks ago he surprised us by pushing a box up against the sofa and climbing on the box then the sofa and playing with the stuff on the end table that he couldn't otherwise reach. One day last week he climbed up onto the sofa with no help at all. He also started climbing up onto his play table. And the dishwasher (as you saw last entry). Now he's climbing up onto a low trunk we have here in the office and standing behind out chairs giggling at how clever he is.

Such a sweetheart though. Everyday he makes me laugh and smile and I am truly amazed at how smart and clever he really is. I know, I know, all mothers think their babies are the smartest, cutest, cleverest babies ever. But in my case it has to be true. Ha ha ha.

A couple months ago we started playing the "where's the [insert name of object]" game. He picked up on it really fast, and even picked up the little shoulder shrug I unknowingly did each time I asked him where something was. I wish you could see and hear him when he does this. He shrugs his shoulders and throws his arms out to the side and makes a sweet little interrogative noise. One night recently, he was playing with Jason's cell phone, which lives on a belt clip attached to his jeans. Jason got annoyed with the constant attention to his phone and hid it. Gavin went to look for it, found it missing, then did the shoulder shrug, made the noise, and tugged at Jason's belt. "Where's the phone?" he was asking. See? Clever!

The weather has been so nice lately that we've taken walks almost every night. Gavin, who is all about asking what things are now (he points and says "buh?"), now knows what a house, a tree, a car, a truck, the moon, and a mailbox are. I started asking him "Where's a house?" and he'd look around and point at a house. "Where's a tree?" And he'd point up at the tree we're walking under. And so on. See? Smart!

turn your back for one second

You turn your back for one second, and...

When did my baby turn into a monkey?

You turn your back for one second, and...

It's a miracle! He never falls asleep on his own.

You turn your back for one second, and...

It's spring!

toys toys toys

This afternoon I finally got some much needed cleaning done around the house. There is still plenty to be done but at least now I feel a little more sane. Part of my cleaning today involved gathering up all Gavin's toys and dumping them out on the floor in the family room, sorting through them, and rearranging what toy goes in what room in the house (family room, kitchen, office, basement). He gets bored if he constantly has the same toy in the same room. Somehow moving it to another room makes it interesting again.

The boy has a lot of toys.

12 month checkup

I forgot to mention last time that Gavin had his 12 month checkup on Wednesday. He weighed in at 24 lbs 14 oz (85%), 30" (50%). I forget his head circumference but it was 80%. Everything else was fine. Dr C said he's a very healthy boy and to keep on doing what we're doing.

crabzilla

What, so he turns one and suddenly he thinks he can skip right to Two? Gavin's been an absolute bear this week. Clingy and whiny and squirmy and manic, flipping from happy to raging mad in no time. And he's developed quite a mind of his own. No thank you, Mommy, I don't WANT to go over there. I want to stay RIGHT HERE and eat this plant ifyoudontmindthankyouverymuch.

Of course, the clingyness and whinyness isn't without reason. We discovered a molar a couple of weeks ago, and now for some reason he thinks it needs company. I think 9 teeth is a healthy complement for a kid. He should stop right there. No more teeth, little one. Sorry. Molars are overrated anyway.

On up side (up in the literal sense), Gavin has learned to climb over the barrier we moved in front of the steps. Barrier is gone now. He also climbed up onto the sofa yesterday. And he learned how to get up to standing in the middle of the floor without anything to pull himself up with.

We went to the zoo on Tuesday (which I forgot to mention in taht entry) for no other reason than to save my sanity (well also because it was a gorgeous day, but it was mostly for my sanity). Shannon and kids came with us. It was so wonderful. Gavin was quiet and didn't play the "I want up. No, I want down. Ack! Why did you put me down? I never said I wanted down! Pick me up! Pick me up!" game once all afternoon. Bliss. I think I might move into the zoo. They've got a lovely unused corral over by the zebras.

happy birthday boy!

We had a really lovely day. Mom and Grandma came over and we had cake and ice cream, and Mom brought something that she forgot to put into Gavin's present on Saturday. Gavin opened the present from us - a Gazoobo shape sorter - and seemed to like it. Good for chewing on. He once again wanted nothing to do with cake. Or ice cream. Funny boy.

All yesterday and last night I couldn't stop thinking about what I was doing this time last year. My water broke (11:15 am)... at the hospital now (1:30 pm)... contractions get serious (5:30 pm) ... miserable (7:00 and 8:30 and 9:22 and...)... gotta push but can't (midnight)... push! push! push! (12:50 am)... it's a boy! (1:13 am). All day I was keenly aware of how not-pregnant I am. And how not-in-pain I am. And of course, how wonderfully blessed I am to have been oh-so-pregnant and in pain last year.

party time

We had Gavin's party yesterday afternoon. It was a rousing success! Jason's dad and his wife Julee drove up from North Carolina, and sister-in-law Tracy, the boys, and her mom drove down from Indiana for the occasion. We were blessed to have them here, and so happy they made the long drive!

Saturday morning I was awake at 4.30 and couldn't get back to sleep. Probably because I was wondering about the cake. It sounds stupid to say it now, but I kept thinking about what I was going to do with it, because at that point I hadn't really made up my mind. I thought I wanted to do a giraffe cake, but did I want to draw a giraffe on the rectangular cake or did I want to risk cutting it up and frosting it into an actual giraffe? Or maybe did I want to do something else entirely with it? Tough decisions, decisions which weigh heavily on the mind at five o'clock in the morning. In the end, I took a risk.

It paid off, I think. I'm very pleased with the results. Gavin was, too.

Gavin gives us the thumbs up on a yummy cake.

Gavin may have liked the look of the cake, but he didn't like the cake itself. He took a few swipes at the frosting and ate a bit but had no interest after that. Wouldn't try the bit of cake I scooped out with my fingers and tried to feed him. Wanted OUT of the high chair. NOW MOMMY. It was a bit disappointing, I have to admit. We had big expectations for him. Chocolate cake everywhere. Hair. Ears. Nose. Ceiling. The neighbor's deck. You get the picture.

Cake disappointment aside, Gavin enjoyed the party. He did well opening gifts, due mostly to the people who put their gifts in gift bags instead of wrapped boxes. Wrapped boxes are great, I love them, but they do lack the immediate gratification required by year-old little boys.

The presents Gavin got were lovely. He especially seems to adore the fire engine ride-on toy from Grandpa Marshall and Grandma Julee. He sits on it and pushes the buttons that make it go "rrrrrrrrrrrrr" and "vrrrrooooooom" and "quack quack." And yes, it does go quack quack. We can't figure it out either.

Tuesday we'll celebrate Gavin's actual day of birth with some quiet family time at home, eating leftover cake (Mommy and Daddy will have some, even if Mr. Hates-Cake doesn't) and ice cream, and Gavin will open his gift from Jason and I. Jason and I will relive Gavin's birth... sans pain and hard work, thank God... Maybe I will finally get him to write his version of the birth story.