All About Gavin

It's been a few months since I've documented some of Gavin's Gavin-isms so it's about that time to write them down so they won't be forgotten!  Here's all about Gavin at nearly 33 months:

• Gavin sometimes talks in double negatives and I pretty much think it's adorable.  For instance he'll say "my not can't see it", "my not can't do it".  Oh and he refers to himself as "my". :)
• He's been doing pretty darn well with potty training and poops in the potty about 99% of the time (sorry I know, TMI, but it's what is going on with him right about now!).  When he's finished, he looks in the potty and says "woah!!".
• He still loves and adores his trucks.  He has acquired dozens of them and likes to "park" them and drive them around and make their appropriate noises (like wee-oh wee-oh for an ambulance).  He has started to be much better with sharing and even lets Tom and I share and play with his trucks at times (which is a big deal as these are his most precious toys) which we're very proud of.  I'm already thinking ahead to his 3rd birthday party (ahh he can't be almost 3 yet!!) and thinking of doing a truck theme--already have some fun ideas in the making too!!
• Gavin adores our dog Marty.  I really do believe Marty is his best little buddy and in many ways a therapy dog for Gavin.  Gavin loves to give him hugs, play with him, and lay on him when he lays on the ground.  He especially loves laying on him when he's hot and panting as he thinks it's pretty hilarious how his chest/tummy goes up and down so quickly.  Gavin also likes to give Marty walks outside and actually does a fantastic job holding onto his leash and keeping him on the side of the road.  We've got a dog lover here folks!
• Gavin has been sleeping in his big boy bed for about a month now and has actually been doing a really good job overall. He sleeps through the night most nights in his bed which is a major achievement.  Going to bed is still somewhat of a challenge because he is Mr. King Delay when it comes to bedtime. He asks for a snack, to use the potty 15,000 times, needs water, milk, to sing songs, etc etc etc before he'll finally settle down.  We're working on some new tactics to try to cut down the amount of time this process takes but once he's down, he's down to bed thankfully.  
• When Gavin wakes up he puts his face right up to his door and yells "me waking up now!!!!!". So subtle :)
• His language continues to explode.  He can talk in full sentences and 90% of the time we can easily understand what he's saying.  It's just amazing to think of not so long ago all he could say were only a couple of words at a time.  He has been working on his counting and can count to 10 in Spanish and all the way into the 20's in English.  Though he does get a bit confused in the 20's.  He'll go from 20, 21, 26, 24, 26, and on from there :)  I'm still impressed!
• He loves loves loves to sing.  There is rarely a series of minutes that pass where he isn't humming or singing some sort of tune.  You name the kiddy-song and he likely knows it.  He has a music class at daycare and he comes home singing lots of fun new songs he's learned there.  One of his favorites recently is the "Water Buffalo" song from the Veggie Tales.  It's really fun and sweet to see this love of music expanding as I know how proud it makes Tom who's obviously Mr. Music himself.  
  
• He still has some favorite friends at daycare, including his best buddy, Kritagya, and other buddies, RJ and Garrett, and loves to tell us about them and how they played together.  
• His daycare teacher at his center, Shannon, tells us lots of wonderful things about how he acts at daycare which make us so proud. She tells us he's one of the most social kids in the class and loves to help.  He helps Ms. Shannon carry the little kiddy trash cans into their room each day.  He also continues to be one of the best nappers at daycare (wahoo!) and most of the time at home takes great naps too.  We're going to hold onto that for as long as we can!
• Gavin is a definitely outdoorsy kid.  The second we bring him home from daycare he asks to go outside, no matter how cold/rainy, etc it may be.  He loves to explore, run and kick balls in our yard, and play with his bike and wagon.  He has a big beach ball and asks me and Tom to kick it way up in the air for him and thinks it's pretty much the funniest thing ever when we do.
• Gavin's pretty much always been a fantastic eater and continues to be.  There's really almost no food that he won't eat. The only food previously we couldn't get him to eat was lettuce and we've even been able to encourage him to try it successfully. Some of his favorites though are bananas, any other type of fruit really, turkey burgers, rice, peppers, and cereal.  He does love his smoothies too!  

Why, oh why?

Within the past 36 hours, Gavin and I have been enjoying some father and son time, and he has learned how to use the word "why." He is really expanding his conversational skills with all his questions which is extremely cute! Below are a few of the hundreds of conversations I can recall over the past 36 hours.

Me: "Gavin, it's time to put on your coat."
Gavin: "Why?"
Me: "It's cold outside and I don't want you to get sick."
G: "Why?"
Me: "We don't feel well when we're sick and I want you to be healthy."
G: "Why?"
Me: "Because you have more fun playing when you're healthy."
G: "Oooooooohhhh!!!"

10 minutes later...

G: "Daddy drive car? Daddy drive mail truck, semi truck, mail truck, Becky, Jeromy, Linnea, Grandma, Grandpa, Grandma, Grandpa's car???"
Me: Daddy is driving Daddy's car to the Children's Museum."
G: "Why?"
Me: "Because we're going to see Jeromy and Linnea and we're going to play."
G: "Why?"
Me: "We're going because we always have fun at the museum."
G: "Why?"
Me: "Because you get to wake up the dragon."
G: "Wh---Me wake up dragon?!? Mommy, Daddy, Gavin, wake up dragon!"
Me: "That's right"
G: "NO--Me wake up dragon!"

After lunch

G: "Daddy slippery?"
Me: "Yes, it's slippery outside."
G: "Why?"
Me: "Because it snowed last night and rained a few days before."
G: "Why?"
Me: "Well, there was a low pressure system that made the temperature cool outside"
G: "Low pressure?"
Me: "Yes, that's why it was cool and that's why it snowed instead of rained"
G: "Oooooooohhhh!!!"

Before bath time

Me: "Ok Gavin, it's time to come upstairs for a bath"
G: "Why?"
Me: "Because you're stinky!"
G: "Why?"
Me: "Because we played all day and got sweaty."
G: "Daddy sweaty?"
Me: "No, Gavin sweaty..."
G: "Why?"
Me: "Because we haven't taken a bath yet."
G: "Why?"
Me: "Because you keep delaying our making it to the tub."
G: "Ooooohhhhh! Daddy bathtub?"
Me: "Gavin. Bathtub. Now."

Never forget

There have been so many times since having Gavin that I tell myself "never forget this moment".  I hope I never forget his sweet newborn baby scent and all those firsts he's had over the last 2+ years.  So this blog post is dedicated to the current "Gavin-isms" that I never want to forget:

*Gavin is a charmer.  He knows he has me wrapped around his finger.  When he wants something he knows he probably isn't allowed to have, he'll grasp his hands next to his chin and turn his head and smile his big dimpled grin at me.

*Some fantastic words Gavin says: "right hee-ahh" (aka: right here), "rab-ee-oh-lee" (aka: ravioli), "folk lift" (aka: fork lift), "too spicy" (aka: all food he eats right now is TOO SPICY!).

*Gavin sometimes acts like he's a parent of 10 children and can't remember whose name is he wants to say.  A common phrase out of his mouth is "MommyDaddyPuppyGrandmaGrandpaBeckyJeromyNaya" in one big breath (including most of his favorite people).  It cracks us up!

*Gavin has developed quite the imagination.  He loves to pretend to go to the grocery store and bring us back lots of goodies including: bananas, mangos, pistachios, chocolate, and quesadillas--he's such a ham!  He also loves to pull out all our pots and pans and stir up "soups", "cakes", "cookies", and give us pretend tastes of his creations.

*Gavin has just now gotten into "loving" on a stuffed animal.  The only one he really cares about is "Little Puppy" which is what he's named his stuffed puppy dog Grandma and Grandpa Denison gave him for his birthday and only recently has started carrying him around, giving him hugs, and trying to feed him.  Also when he's sad he asks for "Little Puppy" to snuggle with which just warms my heart.

*Gavin is also particular about his bed time requests.  He always asks us for "two bankies" (aka: two blankies) when we put him to bed and tuck him in.

*He has really learned an increased self-awareness.  He loves to say emphatically, "ME!" and pat himself on the chest for extra emphasis.

I just love and adore this little boy all the more everyday!