3 and a half year old Gavin!

I’ve been trying to write updates on Gavin at least twice a year or so, and thus it looks like we’re due for another update!

Gavin is just over 3 and a half years old! Every day he seems like he still grows so much and I can’t believe how close we are to having a FOUR year old! I won’t lie, there are times I really wish I could reverse time and go back to when he was a snuggly little baby to re-relish in those times, but I just love the little boy he’s become too.

So here’s the latest and greatest talents of Mr. Gavin:

-This boy loves to talk! If you’ve read any of my past posts this is no surprise. Or if you’ve met his extroverted Daddy, this is also no surprise. But there are many times Tom and I look at each other and smile because Gavin will literally talk your ear off all day long. Sometimes I wonder if he is able to take a breath with how constant he’s talking!  A lot of what he has to say is asking “why” still, which I honestly don’t mind at all, because it’s fun to see how inquisitive and desiring he is to get to know the world around him and make sense of it all.  The way toddlers minds think just amazes me.  He also likes to tell us his interpretations of the world around him too.  Sometimes though things get a little off in the description which cracks us up.  For instance, I like to tell him about when he was a baby and how he used to be in Mommy’s tummy. The other day he told me that someday I’m going to be in his tummy and he’s going to be my Mommy.  Interesting though eh? J

Here are some of my other recent favorite quotes of Gavin's. He sure has us cracking up on a daily basis!

"What does holy mean? Does it mean guacamole?" 

"Mommy, I really like candy, cookies, peanut butter cookies, lobster, and crab"

I asked Gavin to call his Daddy and he yells "Tom! Tooooooooom!" 

He also likes to call our dog Marty "Marcina" or more recently "Marcina-rina".

-Another passion that continues is his love of all transportation.  This love continues to grow and his knowledge base is honestly impressive if not startling to me sometimes. I sometimes call him the "Rainman" of cars and trucks.  He makes Grandpa Denison proud with how well he knows his cars. When we drive around in our car he can name you off almost any car you see.  He knows Dodge Durango's, Saturn Views, Smart Cars, Mini Coopers (he likes to call those Coops), Volkswagens (which he pronounces in his best German way "VoltsVagen"), Nissan Exteras (which used to be his favorite car), you name it.  He has a fleet of his own cars and trucks at home that he likes to park around the house.  

-He's still an outdoors boy.  Anytime we have a halfway nice day out he's pleading to go outside. He has mastered his trike and has quite the endurance level for biking around the neighborhood.  He also loves to pull his little red wagon around and push his big firetruck around.  He loves to blow bubbles or even better pop bubbles that Mommy blows for him.  We got some new outdoor toys I'm excited to try out with him this summer.  We also can't wait to visit the splash pad close to our home.  We recently got a different kind of bike trailer as he's really grown out of our Burley Bee as he's just so tall--his legs stick out and he can put his foot on the back wheel of our bike tires so not super conducive to safety anymore.   

His first try in the new trailer didn't go so well as he got scared, but I have faith he'll learn to love it and we'll be enjoying lots of family bike rides this summer, one of our favorite family past times.  

-He's still got his cute little blonde curls.  Over the winter I questioned whether his hair was starting to turn darker but now that we've had some sunny days it's brightened up again to his same bright blonde.  He loves knowing that he has blue eyes and likes finding out what color everyone else's eyes are too, even his stuffed animals.  As I mentioned above, he's reallyr really tall for his age.  Literally at the top of the growth chart and the tallest kid in his daycare class.  I can't wait to see if this trend continues, it'll certainly be weird when he's eventually taller than me, which feels like it won't be too long now! Last time he was measured he was almost 43 inches tall and about 42 pounds.  

-Bedtimes and nap times have been smoother than they have in quite awhile.  We had a few weeks where he was really trying to rebell against his afternoon nap and I feared the end of naps (aka Mommy and Daddy's break, let's be real here) as we knew them, but he's settled back in to taking a good solid 2 hour nap each afternoon, sometimes longer even.  Putting him to bed has also gotten easier.  We used to go through a major rigamarole every evening trying to put him to bed with a hundred different questions and requests for more snacks, more water, more blankets, more bathroom trips, you name it, to delay bed time. He's really settled in though and we have a great routine of bathtime, putting on jammies, eating a small bedtime snack, brushing teeth, reading a few books, singing some songs while either Tom or myself lay in bed with him, then hugs and kisses and we say goodnight.  We still use his sheep clock (a kid's sleep training clock) we got awhile back and it really has helped get him to sleep until a decent time in the morning.    Then when he wakes up in the morning he yells out loudly "Mommy, Daddy my sheep woke up!!!" so proudly that he slept through the night.  

-About 3 months ago we went on our first big family trip since he was 6 months old when we went to Hawaii, and this time went to Clearwater Beach, Florida.  We all had a blast and can't wait for future family trips!  We flew down all together and Gavin was a trooper on the plane ride down, even when we got delayed with snow, and even napped for a bit on the plane.  We joined Tom on his work trip so Tom had work duties the first 3 days, but that gave Gavin and I some good Mommy/Son bonding time.  We went to a children's museum and an aquarium together and got to see a dolphin show.  The last 3 days Tom was off work AND the weather warmed up considerably so we were able to swim in the pool and went to the beach to build sand castles and dip our toes in the freezing cold water.  Gavin's biggest highlight of the whole trip though was riding in a golf cart shuttle that took us from our hotel to the beach.  He thought that was the most excellent thing ever (see transportation adorer above!).  

Gavin, we love you so much and you bring us so many smiles and sweet moments everyday.  We love your cuddles, your inquisitiveness, and how smart you've already become.  Here's to more memories to come! 

Gavin at 3

It's about that time to post the new happenings in the world of our little Gavin. This serves as my pseudo scrapbook to remember the facts and fun tidbits of his life. Our boy is growing so quickly. Now that we've started the new year I've already started thinking of how in only a few more months we'll have a 4 year old!  Ahh!  4 sounds really old. Well for now let's focus on his 3 year old self.

In the last couple of weeks we transitioned Gav out of his fire truck toddler bed into a twin sized bed (which just so happens to have been my bed growing up). We felt like he was starting to out grow the toddler bed and I noticed how uncomfortable his old crib mattress he'd still been sleeping on was. The transition was super easy and he handled it well. Most importantly though he's still been sleeping well (for the most part). He does wake up occasionally at night but goes back to bed quickly most of the time. Putting him to bed has been much smoother than it was months ago where we affectionately referred to him as Dr. Delay. Now he uses the potty, has a snack, and we read a couple books and sing a few songs and to sleep he goes!  He's normally in bed by about 7:30pm and sleeps till about 6:00 or 6:30am on a good day :)  He hit a milestone on January 13, 2014 and slept all night for the first time with no diaper and stayed dry.

He continues to be a super active mover and shaker as well as an excellent eater. We really can't name anything he won't eat but his appetite varies quite a bit day to day. At his 3 year appointment we laughed that he was a perfect square as he was 40 inches tall and 40 pounds. He's still been a very tall kiddo and fun to think of how tall he'll be someday.

Some of Gavin's favorite things to do include reading (favorites include his Bible, Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site, The Bearanstain Bears series, and anything by Dr. Seuss like Are You My Mother), putting together puzzles, playing with his trucks and parking them, playing with his Thomas the train set, playing with play-doh, pushing his toy lawn mower around the house, singing songs, and chatting the ears off of anyone around!  He has a ton to stay all day long and loves to ask lots of "why" questions. He still has lots of funny things to say that crack us up as well. Here's a couple recent favorite quotes:

"Lollipops look like pickles!"

When I asked him what kind of ice cream he wanted, "chocolate, no whip"...someone has gone through the Starbucks drive thru with Mommy a few too many times.

When I was tickling him I joked and asked if I could eat his little piggies (toes) and he responded, "no, they're my fancy toes!"

After reading a book with a raccoon, "when I was a baby raccoon I used to have a truck".

Instead of saying "yesterday" he says "last morning" exclusively.

He has overall been a lot healthier as he's gotten older though did have to have ear tube surgery again in November 2013 due to pesky ongoing ear infections. He did have one other recent cold and a very short bout with the stomach flu but that's still a lot better than when he was younger.

Truly my favorite things about Gavin is his excitement, curiosity, chattiness, and his big huge hugs. I look forward to many more fun and special memories to come!

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!

Many months in review (long overdue!)

I am significantly behind in the blogging world and have been thinking for some time that I need to blog about our recent happenings. So here it goes!

 It's so hard to believe that Gavin is over 2 years old now (27 months to be exact)! He amazes me everyday with how much he has learned and I am so proud to be his Mommy. It's so hard to sum up all the wonderful things that make Gavin, but here's a few....

**Gavin loves all things to do with transportation. I'm talking LOVES. He knows the names of all sorts of transportation including: dump truck, school bus, city bus, train, car, taxi, plane, boat, semi truck, bike, motorcycle, fire truck, police car, ambulance, and race car (you get the picture eh). He loves pointing them out as we drive around. When we turned his car seat around it was like a whole new world to explore and see.

**Gav also loves being a little chef in the kitchen. For Christmas he got two kitchens for his play room, one from his Uncle Corey and one from his Uncle Aaron and Aunt Emily and he LOVES pretending to whip up food like pizza, eggs, and make coffee for Daddy. Mommy may also have just as much fun playing with his pretend food as he does! We also made Christmas sugar cookies in our grown up kitchen and used a recipe for cookie paint so Gavin got to paint each cookie a different color. It was a blast to have him as my little helper and to see how cute he was in his apron.

**Gavin has a happy go lucky, full of life personality. My little guy brings out smiles from all he encounters any times he shows his smile (complete with heart melting dimples) or laughs his contagious giggle. Our dog, Marty, is a common cause for bringing out Gavins giggles and he loves to tell "puppy" or "Marney" (as Gavin calls him) to sit, lay down, or beg and finds it quite hilarious when he listens to him. Lately when Gavin's especially excited he'll let out a big squeal as well. 

**Gavin is a Daddy's boy through and through. He loves to yell out "my Daddy!" and run up to give him huge hugs. To witness the bond these two have is something that brings me such joy.

**His current daily routine has been the same for many months. He wakes up between 6 and 7 (closer to 7 lately--hooray!). He has breakfast right away and reminds us by telling us many times as soon as he gets up that he is "hungry!" Getting him to change out of his pj's is normally a bit of a battle because he only ever wants to wear his "truck" shirt (shocking huh). Breakfast for him is usually either cereal, pancakes, or eggs with fruit. At daycare he goes to a music class in the morning and then plays outside. He has a mid morning snack and lunch at 11:30am then takes a nap starting at 12 to anywhere between 2 and 3. Then he has his afternoon snack and normally plays either outside or in our play room in the basement (when not at daycare) for the rest of the afternoon until dinner at 5:30pm. We then do baths normally every other night and go to bed between 7 and 7:30pm. Going to bed is a bit tricky on occasion because Gav only wants Daddy to put him to bed. I know it's a phase but this is certainly a challenging part of parenthood at this time. Luckily I'm a-ok in his book any other time of day :)

**Potty training has been an adventure we've been embarking on since Gavin was 22 months old. He enthusiastically started this process with much assistance from daycare as I was skeptical with having him start this early. It helps that daycare has tiny toilets the kiddos size. At home we have a froggy potty and he has been doing so well using it. We really haven't had to try very hard to get him motivated to sit on it which has surprised me as I thought it would be a lot harder than it has been. He has started wearing pull up diapers and is so proud of himself for being such a "big boy".

**Tom and I like to get out of the house on the weekends so we have taken full advantage of our Minnesota Zoo and Children's Museum memberships. Gavin loves watching the fish and penguins get fed at the zoo and to "wake up" the dragon in the castle exhibit at the Children's Museum. We also make some semi frequent visits to Mall of America because we live so close and Gavin loves to watch the rides and play in Lego Land.

**One of Gavin's most recent loves is "Froggy", which is a frog whose real name is Pepsi at his daycare who swims in a fish tank. Every single day when we drop him off and pick him up from day care, "see Froggy" is one of the first phrases he tells us and pulls us over to the tank. He excitedly narrates what the frog is doing, such as sleeping or swimming through his tunnel.

With just having experienced his 3rd Christmas (where has the time gone!!), we took full advantage of Gavin being old enough to "get it" this season. It was so fun getting to have Gavin participate in helping to decorate the Christmas tree and see his fascination with the lights and ornaments. (I won't dwell on how he knocked it down 3 times from a bit of over excitement--luckily never got hurt doing so). Gavin also loved pointing out our wreath on the front door and icicle lights on our house every time we drive up our driveway. We also took a trip to the Macy's 8th floor display (an annual tradition we've started with wonderful friends Becky, Jeromy, and Linnea) which was lots of fun. I got Gavin an "elf on the shelf" we named "Elfy" and he got a major kick out of finding out where Elfy was hiding everyday. He would gasp and point every time he found it. We also continued a tradition we have had for many years to sing Christmas carols around the piano while Tom plays the songs for us. This is one of my most favorite parts of Christmas for sure. We also sang happy birthday to Jesus and Gavin impressed us by knowing all the words to the song though we had never taught him (good ol daycare!). On Christmas Eve Gavin modeled his new Santa Elmo pajamas and we set out cookies and milk for Santa. Gavin stole a quick bite from Santa's cookie but he must have been forgiven as he certainly got spoiled silly the next day with gifts. Being the first grandchild has made him one lucky kiddo that's for sure. We loved watching him help everyone open their presents Christmas Day and see how he was more excited about the bows than his gifts.

I can honestly say the only gift in the world I ever need is just to look at my sweet little boy. He brings me ongoing everlasting joy and that little guy has me wrapped so tight around his finger. He challenges me in all the best ways and I feel like I've grown so much by being his Mommy. I really mean it when I saw I never could have expected how much I could have learned from such a little human. I'm so looking forward to tons of memories to come...and I promise I'll try to blog a bit more often, though Gavin certainly keeps me on my toes!

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1 1/2 years of Gavin!

Time sure flies when you're having fun.  I find that the days, weeks, and months, just keep speeding up somehow.  I believe my last update was just at the turn of the new year.  Since then, we've been up to a lot!

For Gavin, he has been exploring the world, learning a ton, and thrilling us each day just by being his wonderful, cute, happy, giggly self.  Gavin has been walking all over and running all over! He loves to explore everything in our house and he and our dog, Marty, have become really good buddies.  Gavin loves to poke Marty's face, pull his tail, pet his back, and throw him his ball.  Most of the time, Marty is a calm companion with him (most of the time!).

Because of Gavin's love of exploring we've gone to the Children's Museum a few times in the last 2 months.  He just LOVES that place.  He especially loves the water exhibit, splish splashing around.  One time when we went he made a couple of friends with two older girls who were about 8 years old and they played peek-a-boo with him--very cute :)

After our very scary high fever escapade at the hospital with Gavin (see previous post), our pediatrician got Gavin a quicker appointment with an ENT.  We quickly decided we were going to pursue surgery to have ear tubes be put in for Gavin.  He was on ear infection #10 that wouldn't go away despite 3 trials of antibiotics.  I was very nervous for the procedure but it went super quickly (15 minutes long).  Gavin even made the nurse and anesthesiologist laugh when he met them and stuck out his hand to shake their hands.  He's quite the charmer! He didn't even shed a tear at all during or after the procedure.  What a champ! I was a proud mama.  And to date, he's been ear infection free (hoping this trend continues!).

Also, Gavin had his first dentist appointment.  Our pediatrician said it's now recommended that kids go to the dentist once they are 1 year of age.  We weren't sure what to expect since we can barely brush his teeth without a fight from Gavin.  They mostly did education about dos and don't for good tooth care.  It was honestly all things we already know--like don't give him lots of sweets, gummies, or juice.  They did show us a handy way of brushing his teeth by having him lay backwards on Tom's lap with his head in my lap so one person can hold his hands while the other brushes his teeth.  Sounds funny, but it really works!

Gavin has really been talking up a storm lately.  Most of his "words" are unintelligible to the non-mommy or daddy ears, but he will say "da" for dog, "dada" for daddy, "ma" for mommy, knows "ba ba" for the sound of a sheep, and lots of other cute little sounds.  He has also progressed a lot with learning sign language which certainly helps us understand what he wants.  For instance, he will sign "more", "help", and "all done".

My favorite "new" thing that Gavin has learned is to give kisses.  He will lean in if you ask him for a kiss. He hasn't quite gotten the pucker part, but it's super cute nonetheless.  He also gives us hugs too and it just melts my heart!!  Other new things Gavin has learned is to open and close doors, he's getting much better at drinking out of a cup without a lid, can use a spoon and fork to feed himself, he has learned to play the recorder (and often sings into it to make sound), and tries to help us get him dressed (sometimes undressed too by taking off his socks for instance).

On average Gavin sleeps about 10-11 hours at night, falling asleep between 7-8pm and waking up about 6am.  He then takes about a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon from 12-2 or 3pm.  We have had a slight recurrence of some separation anxiety at night time with lots of crying when we leave him in his crib, but this is improving slowly but surely.

In our unseasonably warm March weather we've been venturing outside daily.  It's so fun to be outside with Gavin now that he's more mobile.  He loves discovering everything there is outside, including trees, leaves, rocks, and our neighbors cat which he calls "ca".

We marvel everyday at home much Gavin is growing and learning and my love just continues to grow for this little boy.

It is way too HOT in here!

Though I put some humor in the title, the last 48 hours have been anything but humorous with respect to Gavin's health. 


On Wednesday afternoon around 4pm Jackie received a call from our daycare stating that Gavin's temperature was over 100 degrees and he needed to be sent home. After Jackie seeing him and feeling him burn up we took no chances and went to urgent care. Jackie and I were suspicious thinking this could be an ear infection since Gavin finished his 3rd course of antibiotics in the last 6 weeks. However, the exam showed that Gavin's ears weren't red or infected but they were recessed. We opted for no prescription medication since we had a scheduled visit with his pediatrician on Friday and decided we would treat with Tylenol and ibuprofen. We got lucky and left the urgent care within one hour (the nurse had sympathy for us and saw that Gavin is quite active and an hour wait in the waiting room wasn't going to do anyone any good). We took him home that evening gave him dinner and put him to bed. However the night didn't go so well as Gavin was up a few times between 3-5:30am. 


Jackie and I decided that I should stay home with Gavin (we couldn't send him to daycare within 24 hours of a fever anyway) and we did a little coloring, played with some puzzles, read lots of books and did quite a bit of napping. Gavin did well throughout the day until yesterday evening (Thursday). We continued to give him ibuprofen and Tylenol alternating doses. He went to bed at 6:30 which has been quite earlier than normal (Gavin typically goes to bed around 7 and falls asleep around 7:30). Jackie and I went to bed knowing that we'd need to be getting up throughout the night (6th sense parenting feeling). Sure enough we were worken up with cries from his room. I got up and took his temperature which was quite high at 103.9. We decided that with only the four hours of ibuprofen on board that we couldn't keep his fever down so we called 911.



We hear sirens go by in our neighborhood and we always wonder where the emergency vehicles are headed. This time we knew they were coming to us. A police officer and two EMTs came into our house and asked us into about Gavin and his condition. The officer left after the EMTs felt comfortable and they got right to work. They put a device on Gavin's finger measuring his oxygen which was normal. After documenting a brief history, they then asked us what we wanted to do. We decided that it was best to go to the St. Paul Children's Hospital ER and take the ambulance ride in the event of a seizure or other medical care that Gavin required. Jackie rode in the ambulance with Gavin as I followed behind in the car.

At the ER Gavin was seen right away. They took his temperature rectally and it shot way up to 107.1. Now we REALLY had cause for concern. The physician came in to see us shortly after the nurses did some initial work-up and said that she wanted to rule out any scary diagnoses and ordered a urine sample, chest  X-ray, blood work and have him Tylenol rectally. The four hours in the ER were challenging. After all the testing was done it came back normal but Gavin needed some hydration so they put in IV into his left ankle and also gave him medication through that line. 

Thankfully the physician ruled out meningitis and didn't order a spinal tap, but she was concerned that Gavin may have the flu. So to be sure, our nurse performed a final test by squirting water up Gavin's nose and immediately sucking it out. Of course he didn't like it thrashed and threw a fit but also got a bloody nose from the test which lasted only a few minutes. We won't find out if he has the flu for approximately 48 hours after the test.

Thankfully we are all home and resting, gearing up for our next doctor visit to Gavin's pediatrician to discuss the test results and come up with a treatment plan. 


Given that I not only like to share the process and experience of the visits we have, I also want to share a few new bits of knowledge Jackie and I gleaned from this visit to the ER.

1. In Gavin's case, and I don't know of this is because of age and weight, we can administer ibuprofen on a schedule of every 6 hours and if he spikes a fever we can give Tylenol too in between.
2. Similar to when you're expecting to deliver a baby, have the diaper bag at the ready in your home with diapers, wipes, a change of clothes, etc...  Consider having a change of clothes or extra clothes for the parents/caregivers in the event you would leave the house in an emergency like we did.
3. Ask if you don't understand something the nurse or physician tells you. There are so many times medical and office staff came in and out of the room, hooked up an IV, took a urine sample, obtained chest X-rays, took my co-pay, peeked in to see if we were OK, etc... Ask for spellings of medications. Ask how long the dose is effective. Should it be given with food? Does it need to be refrigerated or room temperature for storage? Does your discharge paperwork summarize the care you received and a next course of action?   
4. Stop at the pharmacy and stock up on some basics; in most cases, it's cheaper than your average "big box" store. I bought a large amount of liquid Tylenol for $2 and I know it will get used.  

Nursing woes...belated recap

I was reflecting today that I really love my blog because it's a great memory book about what's been going on the past 2 years or so of my life.  Especially with bringing Gavin in the world, it helps me remember all the little things that have happened.  What I recognize, though, is that there's a huge part of the beginning of Gavin's life I really haven't written about.  That is the breastfeeding part.  Truly, I have only really opened up about most of this nursing saga with my close friends, and only Tom knows all of the...gory...details.  I never wrote about my experience being a nursing mama on the blog because I thought it was too personal, and some may not want to know all the TMI details.  And maybe it is too personal, but I'm realizing that the memories associated with it are the hardest I have from Gavin's early days and I decided to write this blog post as a sort of catharsis for myself to try to let go of some of the memories.  And if it can help any soon to be nursing mamas prevent some of the many problems I had, even better.

So here we go...

I knew from pre-becoming pregnant that I wanted to breastfeed.  I read books about it, I went to a breastfeeding class through a parenting center we have in the Twin Cities, and felt ready.  In the hospital I saw two different lactation consultants to get as many tips as I could to set Gavin and I up for success in this new nursing relationship.  Unfortunately, the second lactation consultant I saw really set me up for a road to trouble.  She made me use a nipple shield (I know I told you it may get to TMI) and said I should only nurse with this to make sure Gavin was latching on appropriately.  Only later did I learn that this can cause babies to become dependent to only using this and that it can also increase your risk of developing breast infections.  She also told me that I should use a breast pump for 10-15 minutes extra after EVERY nursing session to ensure that I'd have an adequate milk supply.  I was extremely exhausted in the hospital after a labor that lasted over 30 hours, but was determined to listen to the advice of the lactation consultant, so I did.  It was laborious and time intensive to pump after each nursing session (which lasted about 45 to 60 minutes each anyway because Gavin was VERY slow), but I did it.

Five days post-partum when we were at home is when it really got hard.  This was the day my milk "came in" and I became horribly engorged.  Naive me, I continued pumping like the lactation consultant told me to, after each nursing session as I'd been instructed which made it all worse.  That afternoon my brother, Corey, came over for dinner and to meet Gavin.  During dinner I felt like I got hit by a truck, was so exhausted that I laid my head on the table and nearly fell asleep.  After my brother left I took a bath to try to relax and started shaking uncontrollable and was SO cold.  It was then time to nurse Gavin again and I felt absolutely awful, like I had the flu.  I took my temperature and it was 102.  I then started to have excruciating pain in my chest and nursing was also terribly painful.  The pain was shooting up my arms to the point I could barely hold Gavin.  Because I was so engorged as well, I had developed lumps all over both of my breasts and could tell Gavin wasn't able to empty them completely.  I called my nurse line and they paged the on call OBGYN who called me back shortly.  I ran through my symptoms and he was pretty certain I had mastitis but wanted me to be seen the next morning to make sure.  I was advised because they thought it was mastitis to make sure I was emptying my breasts of milk every 2 hours around the clock until the infection cleared.  Talk about exhausting.  I was also told I could use ice packs on my chest to help the pain and engorgement.  I got barely any sleep that night because I was in so much pain and my fever made me sweat like crazy.

The next morning my doctor was able to fit me in and confirmed that I had mastitis. In addition, she confirmed that (TMI alert) my stitches from labor had torn, became infected, and I had a bladder infection to top it off.  I was pumped full of antibiotics and was cautioned by my doctor that once you get mastitis, the more risk there is of developing it again.  I was uber determined, however, to get past this and continue to breastfeed.

One very nice part of my post-partum journey was a benefit I got through my job for free telephonic services with a lactation consultant named Debbie.  Debbie became my nursing lifeline.  I probably spoke with her 1-2 times a week for the first 16 weeks of Gavin's life.  Debbie was the first person to help me realize how enormous my milk supply was.  She had me pump after Gavin had a full nursing session and I pumped out 6 ounces of milk out of each breast.  She had some sort of reaction like, "holy crap!".  She said at this stage it was normal to pump 2 ounces per breast BEFORE a nursing session.  She then coached me on a plan to try to cut down my milk supply.  Once my mastitis cleared up, we talked about a plan to try to reduce how much milk I was making because this was lending itself to the plugged milk ducts that I constantly had and was constantly trying to rid myself of.  Basically the plan was to keep pumping after each nursing session to ensure that I was emptying all of my milk out to try to get rid of the plugged ducts.  Then I was to choose one nursing session a day and only pump out half as much as normal for 3 days, then skip pumping after that nursing session the next 3 days, and keep repeating until I was no longer pumping at all after nursing sessions.

Unfortunately I was not able to ever finish this plan because 3 weeks post partum I developed mastitis again.  This time Tom was at work and I was home alone with Gavin.  I noticed the initial signs of exhaustion again and while nursing I felt the same shooting pains in my breast and up my arm.  It hurt so bad I was literally afraid I would not be able to hold Gavin and had to set him in his crib.  I called Tom who raced home to find a crying me and a crying Gavin.  I again had a high fever and called the nurseline who said again that it sounded like mastitis.  I went right back to the doctor who confirmed it again and sent me home with more antibiotics and that I needed to nurse until my breasts were empty every 2 hours until the infection had cleared.  Totally exhausting.  Plus this completely threw my whole plan on decreasing my milk supply back to the starting point.

After this second bout of mastitis, I had a brief period where I decided I couldn't do this anymore.  I couldn't put my body through this wearing routine any longer and we bought a can of formula.  I gave Gavin one bottle of formula which he promptly spit up all over himself, and decided this was not what I wanted.  I really, really, wanted to be able to breastfeed.  I knew all of the positives and decided to not let myself give up.

Once the mastitis cleared up, I worked with my lactation consultant, Debbie, on trying to get Gavin off of the nipple shield and she also advised me to see a lactation consultant face to face.  I went to see one at Methodist Hospital who was very helpful in correcting Gavin's latch and nursing went much more smoothly after this.  I did tons of research on ways to prevent mastitis as there are many different things that can contribute to it (including stress--ironic huh?!).  I started taking Lecithin supplements three times a day which is supposed to help prevent pluggled milk ducts.  I was super hopeful.

Yep, you guessed it, as soon as thing started getting better, and I was advised it was time to try cutting down my milk supply, then came back the plugged ducts and again at 7 weeks post-partum I got mastitis a third time.  I was devastated.  Beyond devastated.  This really hit me not only physically but also emotionally. I felt like I was trying so hard and only running into the same problem over and over again.  My body was so tired.  While working through this course of antibiotics, Tom had a "come to Jesus" moment with me.  I was constantly, every single day of Gavin's life, thinking and worrying about my body.  That, on top of post-partum hormones was really wearing on me.  He really wanted me to stop breastfeeding.  I really, really didn't want to do it.  It took a lot of talking, a lot of crying, and a lot of convincing, but I finally came to the decision to stop.  Let me tell you this was the hardest decision of my life.  Not kidding.  I had so much guilt about stopping, felt like a failure, had to deal with telling others including some who though didn't say it outright, gave judgmental glances when I told them I was going to stop nursing.  I had to acknowledge the fact that I couldn't be a good mom while nursing in my conditions.  My doctor also had a mini "come to Jesus" moment with me too, acknowledging that it was very lucky that the mastitis would come back again, which I was terrified of.  Being worried and anxious all day every day was causing me to be preoccupied and not able to enjoy my time with Gavin.

Here came the tedious and tricky part.  Because I was making SO much milk (at my peak I was making 70 ounces a day which my lactation consultant said was about 3 times what a normal woman makes and was the most she had ever seen a woman make with only one baby--not multiples), I had to move forward very carefully.  I spoke with my lactation consultant and did a lot of research on my own.  I met with my doctor and we came up with a plan to actually go on an antibiotic for a little over a month while weaning and to do a very slow weaning process to try to prevent getting mastitis again.  We learned from my previous mastitis experiences that each time I got mastitis, it only caused my milk supply to go up because of how often I needed to nurse to cure the infection.

Basically what we devised was a 7 week nursing taper.  I stopped nursing completely and instead just pumped.  I started with 7 times a day.  Because of how much milk I was making it took me 45 minutes for each pumping session to empty all my milk.  Yep this was a lot of hours a day I was pumping.  I did this all through the night as well.  At 8 weeks old Gavin was sleeping through the night and I was still waking up 3 times a night to pump.  Every 4 days I cut one of those pumping's in half, only pumping half as much milk as I normally did.  Then 4 days after that I skipped the pumping entirely.  I kept going with this schedule and once I had cut a few pumping's out, I spread the time out between pumping's further.  Basically this entire time I was dealing with engorgement and constant pain from the pressure from all the milk I was holding.  I was discouraged as other women I had talked to said it took them 3 days to wean and I had to deal with 7 weeks of it.  I was bitter and so sad about it all.  What I also started to notice was not what was supposed to happen....which is that the less I pump the more my milk supply should go DOWN.  But no, not my wacky body...my milk supply was going UP!  So frustrating.

With my lactation consultant, we then decided to try EVERY other trick in the book for decreasing my milk supply.  Many of these tips were more or less old wives' tales but I was desperate.  I tried wearing multiple sports bras to try to squelch the milk supply.  I put ice packs on my chest after each pumping session to try to again, stop the milk from coming back.  I tried placing cold cabbage leaves on my chest after pumping, again for the same purpose.  I then tried taking Benadryl multiple times a day which is also supposed to decrease milk supply.  I also drank cups and cups a day of peppermint tea each day which again, supposed to decrease milk supply.  Nothing was helping.  Luckily, I was able to continue the weaning schedule and hadn't gotten mastitis again.  I did have one hiccup in the weaning process when I was about halfway done with the weaning I was pumping and started pumping blood...a whole ounce of blood.  It was gross and totally freaked me out.  Call to my nurseline again and I got another reaction like "oh my, that should definitely not be happening".  Back to the doctor's office and my doctor said she had never had someone experience this and went and did a pole with some of her other colleagues.  Basically they couldn't determine why this had happened but nothing they could find told them this was specifically cause for concern.  I was told to keep pumping and continuing weaning but to come back if it happened again.  Luckily me for it didn't happen again.  So back to weaning...it wasn't until I was down to 2 pumpings per day that my milk supply FINALLY started to decrease.  I was up to pumping 28 ounces in one pumping at that time, though.  Yes this is an insane amount of milk and you can only imaging how uncomfortably painful this was.  When I was finally done pumping all together, it took a full 10 days for my engorgement to go away.

Now what I can say is that when I was finally done weaning, I for the first time in 4 months (which is how old Gavin was when I was fully weaned) I felt relief and no more worry.  I was so glad to be done with nursing even though I still had a ton of guilt about it.  The one positive that came of my breastfeeding problems was that because I made so much milk, I had been able to save all of the extra milk Gavin wasn't able to drink.  We had so much milk, in fact, that we had to buy a separate chest freezer to store it all (we're talking about 1800 ounces total).  With this, Gavin had breastmilk until he was 6 months old and that, in my opinion, isn't too shabby.  I was proud that I was confident that I had literally tried everything I could to try to make breastfeeding work.  It just didn't for me.  I was also lucky to have an extremely supportive spouse who dealt with helping me through this whole process.  

So to copy my husband who likes to write anecdotal comments to his "future Tom", here is my list of tips to "future Jackie" if I ever have another child.  Because I will try breastfeeding again.  Despite all of the trauma I went through the first time around.  But here are things that I will do next time and a list of things I will NOT do next time:
-Do NOT buy nursing bras with underwires in them (I didn't know this)...they can instigate plugged milk ducts
-Do NOT use nipple shields unless ABSOLUTELY necessary, and even then try something else
-Do NOT pump at all until your milk supply is well established
-DO meet face to face with a lactation consultant as often as possible in the early weeks of nursing
-DO be on the lookout for plugged ducts and intervene as quickly as possible to eliminate them
-DO take Lecithin supplements to help ward off plugged ducts

When I became a mama, most of my closest friends hadn't yet entered this journey so I did feel alone with a lot of this.  I hope, though, that I can help others who have had issues and help them know there is a way through the hardest of the journey.

Christmas and 10 days off!

This year, Tom and I were lucky enough to be able to take a good chunk of PTO from work which gave us 10 days in a row off of work and home with our family of three!  It was a wonderful 10 days and so great, that I decided it deserved a blog post of its own because Tom and I planned the week to include many things we don't often have time to do.

Day #1: To start this break off, we had Christmas Eve.  In the morning we went for a walk at Mall of America in the morning. Yes, it's probably pretty dorky sounding, but it's just so chilly outside and this way we get to take Gavin and not freeze! It's just us and the old folks :)  We then went to church and Gavin did pretty well in the VERY busy service and spent some of the time in the nursery when he was getting a little antsy in the service.  Afterwards we went to our annual Christmas Eve dinner at Panera.  It's been a tradition to go there with my parents for many, many years.

Day #2: Christmas Day Gavin woke up in his Christmas jammies and we took part in our own family of three's family tradition of singing Christmas carols around the piano serenaded by Tom.  This is my favorite tradition, personally, and look forward to when Gavin can sing with Tom and I.  My parents and brother came over about 10am and we opened a ton of presents and all got very spoiled.  Some of Gavin's favorite toys were a big boy toothbrush he gnawed on for a long time, legos, stacking blocks, and Dr. Seuss flash cards.  When Gavin went down for his nap, my mom and I did a lot of cooking and then ate a very delicious dinner together.

Day #3: The day after Christmas we spent a lot of time with friends.  In the morning we went to Ikea for breakfast and met up with some Luther friends we hadn't seen in awhile, Nick and Michelle, and got to see their two girls as well.  In the afternoon we hosted a bunch of friends at our house for a pancake dinner to celebrate two of our friends being in town, Rachel and Nathan.  It was a lot of fun to catch up with them and for them to get to see Gavin too!

Day #4: This day we drove up to the Maple Grove Community Center to meet up with my coworker, Melanie, her husband, and her son who's 4 months older than Gavin.  We all went swimming in their pool there which was a TON of fun.  They have a kiddy wading pool there and I swear Gavin didn't stop smiling and laughing the whole time there.  That child is definitely a water lover.  We can't wait for next summer to be able to take him swimming more often!

Day #5: We started the morning off with Gavin's 15 month well child doctor visit.  Previously Gavin had no problems or fears of going to the doctor, but the poor guy has learned to fear the doctor's office.  As soon as the nurse walked in he started crying.  Unfortunately we learned there that his 5 month streak of being ear infection free had ended.  He also had to check 2 vaccinations which was the low of the visit.  On the plus side, though, is that he's growing and developing wonderfully.  Just in the last week or so he's taken off walking on his own and we love seeing it.  His stats at the visit were: 31.5 inches tall: 60% (which the doctor thought might be an underestimate as he was very squirmy when he was getting measured;  27.4 lbs: 80%; head circumference: 18.3 inches, which is in the 30th %ile.
Later that day after Gavin rocked out a 3 hour and 15 min nap (those shots wear him out!), we met up my mom at Mall of America and went to Underwater Adventures.  Gavin LOVED it there.  He was so amazed at all the fish, especially the jellyfish and sharks and kept pointing to them and saying "ah" which is his new lingo for when he wants to touch something.

Day #6: We decided that on this day that we would take Gavin to daycare so that Tom and I could get lots of to dos done sans baby. This happened to be the first full day he spent in his new toddler room and he did so well there.  We were nervous because this was the first time he slept on a cot instead of in a crib like in his previous infant room  But he went to sleep super easily and slept for 2 1/2 hours-woo hoo!  Meanwhile while Gavin was at daycare, Tom and I were all over doing tons of errands.  We started at Mall of America where did a few exchanges for other sizes for Christmas things, etc, and then took our dog Marty to what we refer to as the "dog spa" at Petsmart to get groomed.  We went out to a nice yummy lunch at Doolittles Woodfire Grill and then did a few more errands and went back home and took down our Christmas tree and cleaned the house.

Day #7: In the morning we took Gavin to the St. Paul Children's Museum and all three of us had SO MUCH FUN.  So much fun that we bought a year's pass which is actually really economical as you only have to go 4 times to pay for it.  Gavin really really enjoyed walking and crawling and exploring, climbing on things, and playing with all of the little exhibits.  His favorites were the bubbles, stacking blocks, and playing on some drums there.  We already can't wait to go back.

Day #8: This day was a bit more low key in the morning.  Tom drove down to Mankato to help my brother move to a new place.  While there, Gavin and I went to the library where he picked out a bunch more books.  Later that night since it was New Year's Eve my mom came and stayed the night at our place so Tom and I could go to our friends' Kirstyn and Dave's party where we got dressed up and hung out.

Day #9: New Year's Day we slept in (till 7:15-woo hoo! Sad, I know).  In the afternoon we just ran a couple errands so a pretty low key day as well.



Day #10: In the morning we met up friends, Becky, Jeromy, and Linnea at Ikea for their free breakfast (FYI we just learned about the fact that they have a free breakfast for anyone on Monday mornings-amazing!).  Then that afternoon I met up my friend Sarah to geek out and see the Breaking Dawn movie.  Yes I read all the Twilight books and had to see the movie too--it was great!

So that was our fun-filled 10 days off and it was a blast.  Super refreshing and wonderful to build so many memories with my family and friends.

Fifteen month updates...better late than never!

Well since Gavin turned ONE, the last 3 months have FLOWN by! Moving forward, I probably will be less stringent on updating the blog as regularly, but definitely hope to update it as often as I can to help in scrapbooking some of the memories of our little man.

Our little family has been uber busy the last 3 months.  This mama has been taking an online grad class I need to do for continuing education to maintain my therapy licensure.  Despite being busy, that hasn't meant we've been lacking in the wonderful moments these last few months.

For Gavin, these last three months have included a transition to a new sleep schedule.  He is almost fully transitioned to his new room at the daycare center he goes to, which is for toddlers.  In this room they only take 1 nap per day and it's been quite a big adjustment for him to go from the 2 naps to one. But he's now there, sleeping at night from 7pm to somewhere between 6 and 6:30am, then napping from 12 or 12:30 for about 2 hours.  We also just started adding in a blanket to his crib for sleepy time.  He hates to have the blanket on him as he doesn't like having his legs restricted.  He is still quite the active sleeper, and moves around all night.  So we just lay the blanket next to him and he cuddles up to it.

The other major milestone for Gavin has been the beginning of walking.  Gavin initially preferred doing a lot of army crawling and then overnight figured out the whole genuine crawling thing.  From there he was pulling up on everything in sight, scooting around furniture and walls, and walking holding onto our hands.  In mid-November (the 14th to be exact!) he took his very first big boy step to his Daddy.  I missed the first official step but Tom called me over when this happened and Gavin took his 2nd official step towards me.  Since then he's been taking lots of little steps (up to 8 in a row at this point) and we bought him his very first pair of high quality shoes (from Stride Rite).  We love how proud of himself he is when he's taking steps.

Speaking previously of daycare, in his new toddler room, he has a new daycare teacher named Rose who is very kind and enthusiastic with the kids.  Everyday they go outside (unless it's super cold) and do daily art projects.  They also send us daily emails and pictures from their activities which I love.  So far he's already gotten to play with play dough, water color paints (and he licked the paint brush), and did an experiment with snow.

I know some struggle with this toddler age bracket, but I personally LOVE it.  I find Gavin's predictability with naps, eating, etc. much easier than the major unpredictability of how he was a year ago.  I also love seeing how his personality is developing more and more everyday.  He talks and babbles a lot lately, especially a lot of dada's and mama's, uh-oh's, and trying to say other words like water and bottle and dog.    One time about a month ago while giving Gavin a bath, he looked at me very deliberately and said "hi, mama", and my heart just melted!  He also loves to go pet Marty, our golden retriever, and sometimes even tries to lay on him which is very cute. Luckily Marty has been very calm and understanding of Gavin for the most part.  Gavin also loves to clap his hands and can even do it on cue when we ask him to.  One night while rocking him to sleep, I sang him a lullaby and when I was done he looked up to me and gave me a round of applause.  It was just the cutest thing ever.  He also makes a ton of funny faces including sticking his tongue out, smacking his lips, and trilling his lips.  One of the down sides of this toddler era is the growing presences of tantrums. He really likes to push some boundaries, primarily regarding things he knows he's not supposed to touch, like our Christmas tree, Marty's dog dishes, and our exercise equipment.  We really try to focus on positive reinforcement with him which has proven to be really helpful so far.  And you may call this too much information, but about a month ago, Gavin gave us another "first" I could have lived without...his first time pooping in the tub.  Gross!

We've been glad that since July Gavin has been on a major lucky streak with his ears, meaning he hasn't had a single ear infection since then! He did just recently develop his first major cold of the winter season.  He had a lot of coughing, some wheezing, and a sinus infection that he needed antibiotics and a nebulizer treatment for.  He's been a major trooper and is on the upswing now!

A couple of other highlights of the last 3 months have included some trips to the library, where he gets to play with new toys and bring home lots of fun books.  Gavin has found a true love of books and will often sit on the floor with a book in his lap "reading" to himself.  For Halloween this year, Gavin dressed up like a giraffe, and we went trick or treating to a few of our neighbors houses where he was a big hit.  Mama and Dada thoroughly enjoyed all the candy he raked in as Gavin wasn't able to indulge in it this year.  For one of our faith group gatherings, all of our babies dressed up in their costumes and it sure was fun seeing all our cutie pies in their big puffy costumes.  We also enjoyed a trip to Grandma and Grandpa Denison's house for Thanksgiving Day.  We also went to the Macy's 8th floor display with friends, Becky, Jeromy, and Linnea Carlson, to see the Christmas display.  We also had friends Jeff, Alisson, and Megan Rasmussen over for dinner to celebrate the first baptismal birthday of both Gavin and Megan who were baptized on the same day together at our church.  It was a great time to celebrate and reminisce about the last year of both of our babies' lives!  Everyday I enjoy seeing Gavin interact with others, especially with Tom.  Tom has been such a wonderful father and has the perfect balance of being silly with Gavin but also with a tremendous amount of caring as well.

Life is good.  Really really good.  I absolutely love being a mother, it's really something that I can say has made me feel more complete, more fulfilled, and Gavin brings me joy everyday.

A whole year old!

I can't believe it's true. Gavin is a whole YEAR old! Tom and I have been very nostalgic this past week, reminiscing about what was happening last year at this time. Everything from going to my last doctor appointment when I was one week overdue, to going out to dinner our last time as a family of two, to going to the hospital for what was to be a very long induction process, and especially the moment we first got to lay eyes on this little bundle of joy. It's just all so unreal.

This last month leading up to the big birthday has been full of lots of memories. Gavin has been crawling around all over in his own unique style, what we call the army crawl. He also loves to stand holding onto funiture and practice walking holding onto Mommy and Daddy's hands. He can also pull himself up to his knees. He really loves music, having us sing to him, pounding on the keys to our piano, and playing with his musical toys. He had some increased separation anxiety, a little cold, and teething (his pediatrician said he has 4 top teeth coming in) which caused a brief relapse into waking up in the middle of the night. But luckily, he's now back to sleeping like a champ. He goes to bed at 7pm and wakes up between 6 and 6:30am. He also takes 2 naps a day at 9am and about 1:30pm, with each lasting 1-2 hours each. As for eating, he eats 3 meals a day and an afternoon snack. I'd say his favorite foods are all types of fruits and cottage cheese (gross to me but he gobbles the stuff up). He has quite the personality too. He is extremely expressive with his facial expressions which helps us understand how he's feeling. He is also Mr. Chatty saying lots of "da da", "ma ma" and his latest phrase, "uh oh". We are just constantly telling him how cute he is. Not that we're partial, but we just love this little guy more and more every day.

Gavin also had his one year well baby check up and his stats are:
Height 30.5 inches, 75TH percentile
Weight 25 lbs and .5 ounces, 75TH percentile
Head circumference was in the 25TH percentile
Very happily, I can report Gavin is going on over 2 months since his last ear infection. This is literally the longest he's gone without one since he was 3 months old. We are very happy about this and hope it's at trend that continues. The pediatrician said Gavin is doing great, and commented on what a happy, social boy he is. We couldn't agree more, and that's just a few of the reasons we adore this little guy. This week we also started Gavin on whole milk which we're introducing gradually into his diet. So far, he seems to like it.

To ring in his 1 year birthday, we had a birthday party celebration, Hawaiian luau style and everyone was greeted with a lei as they arrived. We had lots of family and friends in attendance, and we had a wonderful time. It was a huge blessing to have so many people who love Gavin present that day. For the party itself, we had pulled pork sandwiches (to mimic pork cooked buried in the beach), lots of fruit, and some yummy punch. And we can't forget the cake! Gavin got his own personal Teddy bear cake. It was so hilarious to watch him eat it. At first he was very cautious, just touching the frosting and taking a few licks from his fingers. He soon realized the yumminess in front of him (this was his first time ever having sweets mind you) and started eating handfuls of the cake and lots of frosting. Luckily only a few pieces went flying around our kitchen, but it was definitely a memorable moment. He also ate his cake off of a birthday plate that I made him, which I hope and intend for him to be able to use for each birthday to come. Gavin also received many wonderful gifts at the party, including lots of clothes and pajamas, tons of books, and toys, toys galore! He is definitely stocked and has already enjoyed playing with all his new things. But I believe his favorite parts of the party were getting to tear up his wrapping paper (which was cute because each time he'd tear a little piece off, he'd hand it to me for safe keeping) and hitting his balloons.

For his actual birthday, on September 20th, which was on a Tuesday, Tom and I both took a day of PTO and had a day of fun all together. Gavin got to wear a shirt all day that said Birthday Boy. We also took him out to lunch and out to his first time having ice cream. He was an instant fan and stuck his face right into the ice cream cone. We also went on a walk and did lots of playing.

Wow oh wow, our baby is now a 1 year old. He'll always be my baby though, even when he's 60 :). We can't wait for all that's to come in these next months and years!

11 months and counting!

Dear Gavin,

Happy 11 month birthday! You've hit a ton of milestones this month including pulling yourself up on the dresser, babbling lots of da da das, and scooting aro

und on the floor. Personally, I thought you would've been crawling by now, but I'm not anxious to push you along. You can take your time.

Here's a few pictures of recent adventures this month.

Most recently, we went to a Kite festival in Bloomington on your the 20th of August. We're definitely going back again. Here's a video of us running through some streamers, and a few pictures of you and me, and you and Momma.

Other funny stuff that you did this month was sucking on your top lip. It must be because you're teething and working on those top teeth, but you sucked your top lip in so far and made lots of smacking sounds. Here's one of these funny photos.

Finally, you've become so wiggly when we need to change your diapers and clothes, that we sometimes put your changing pad and supplies on the floor. This way you tend to roll in circles and not off the dresser.

The next milestone we hit with you is your one year birthday. What an exciting time that day of celebration will be.

Love,

Momma and Daddy

10 months baby!

We've now made it into the double digits for months and in less than 2 months we'll have a whole one year-er on our hands, yikes! Every month with Gavin has been simply a joy. Here's a few of the highlights:
-Gavin has become a lot more in motion. He is spinning around on his tummy, scooting backwards at times, reaching for things, rolling like crazy, clapping his hands together, and standing with help.
-Gavin has some strong opinions! He loves to let us know things he really likes and things he really does not like. For instance, he really likes Mommy's water bottle, any type of paper, shiny, glass things, and really does not like when Mommy or Daddy try to take them away. In all honesty, though, it is really fun seeing his personality come out and develop into the little man that he is. It is also super fun to hear his ever expanding babble vocabulary. Sometimes he has long strings of, "ma-da-ba-ga-da" sounds in his cute little voice.
-also this month Tom's parents visited and got to spend some HQ time with Gavin
-over Fourth of July weekend we also went to Como Zoo which was Gavin's first zoo experience. He really liked it, especially the polar bear exhibit where he watched the polar bear swim up to the glass and they had a fake polar bear baby he got to pet.
-this month Gavin has mostly been sleeping on his tummy. At times this has freaked us out a little because at times he will sleep with his head on his hands and his face straight down, but we have made sure he is still breathing and he seems to be just fine.
-Gavin now has two pearly white bottom teeth fully through and with this he has been graduating upwards in the food world. He is now eating three meals a day and 5 bottles total. For breakfast he has cereal and fruit. For lunch he has yogurt, fruit, and puffs or some other carb. For dinner he has some form of meat, veggie, and carb. He is now eating bigger chunks of fruit and veggies and mostly loves it all! I love how proud of himself he gets when he can put the food in his own mouth. He has also mastered the sippy cup and drinks water from it throughout the day too.
-this month also includes our seemingly never ending ear infection saga. After Gavin got his 6th ear infection that took two courses of antibiotics to clear, we set up an appointment with an ENT (ear, nose, throat specialist). We don't have an appointment till mid-August since that was the soonest available, but we are pretty certain we will be getting tubes for Gavin's ears after that. Though this infection is currently cleared, when we had his ears rechecked there was still a lot of fluid just sitting there, making him susceptible for another one. I am praying that doesn't happen but unfortunately historically we don't seem to be having the best luck. But we'll keep hoping for the best!
-lastly, over this month Gavin got to participate in our annual WOMANZA (an acronym our friends use to describe our awesome get-togethers) cabin weekend at our friend, Sarah's, family cabin. It was a full house with 10 adults, 1 baby, and 1 dog, but we had fun. Gavin got to go in his first boat ride and even helped Captain Sarah drive it at one point (he was very thrilled about that!). He didn't sleep super well in his pack n play, but it was fun to get to share Gavin with our friends who don't all get to see him that often.

We hope you are all enjoying your summers, I know we are! Until the next month's post, chao!