Using the sippy cup, finally!

I have tried off and on to get Gavin to use the sippy cup, without a lot of success, so I would forget to have him try it. We have also been leaving a bottle of water in his crib for him to drink at night, so today I'd thought I'd give the sippy cup a try. He knows he can drink from it, because I've given it to him without the valve a couple of times, but I can never seem to get him to drink it sitting up (he doesn't get he that he needs to hold it up to drink, he doesn't do it with the bottle, either, actually). It seemed to work with him laying down, though.

Trampoline Time!

Romping around on the trampoline with one of his cousins.



Static electricity, isn't it fun?



Not sure what's going through his mind...



That static sure shows up better with long hair!



Three little monkeys jumping on the bed. One fell off and bumped his head...oh wait...

Reading!

I have started giving him a book on the changing table. Gotta keep things interesting. He now looks almost as if he's really reading them! (Never mind that it's up side down!)

Holding onto the "oh poop!" handles...

doesn't that look like what he's doing?

Dad's Jacket Grew a Tail!

Curry...Yum!

Surprisingly enough, Gavin LOVED the curry that one of my friends made and gave to us for dinner this past week. He even whined for more if I wasn't feeding him fast enough (heaven forbid I eat a few bites myself!!!)

What it looked like before it was ground up.



Yummy!



He ACTUALLY ate it, much to my surprise!

Swimming with some of the Cousins

Gavin went "swimming" for the first time this season with a few cousins. The water was too cold for Daddy, so he just splashed around the edge of the pool.

With one of their chicks, she really loves them!

Somebody has a Death Wish!

Gavin LOVES the kitty, as I've mentioned. Today he has been especially insistent on trying to grab the kitty and his tail. I think he has a death wish will result in some scratching with the very sharp claws (which, I don't want to happen, but the cat does have a right to defend himself at some point and Gavin does need to learn to be gentle and not bug too much!) or the cat will figure out that he has to sleep in an out of reach position, like on our bed, or up by the window in Gavin's room.

What a way to be woken up! I think he almost got swiped today, hopefully the cat will get smart before someone gets hurt! (Oh, and by the way, Gavin is wearing a 24 month romper in this picture at 11 months old! He just won't stop growing! He also wore a 2T sleeper to bed last night and only the legs were a little long!)

Open & Shut

A while back Gavin discovered he could open and close the little "trunk" of his green car. He would do it repeatedly. Today he discovered he can open and shut the door. Watch out kitty!



I've been working on making the blog into a book and, of course, the videos can't be a part of it. I have heard that you can take still shots from a video. I'd like to do that for the videos so that the entries can be part of Gavin's first year book. Does anyone know how to do that?

Daddy's Day Off

Gavin's Daddy had Monday and Tuesday off, and he decided he wanted to do some manual labor for his sister, Aunt Jessica. So, we all went outside for a time and Gavin had a grand old time.

Playing with the grass.



The chickens excitedly went after bugs where Philip dug up the soil.



Digging up some soil for Aunt Jessica.



Playing with the dump truck.



Pulling up on the planter.



Playing with the basketball.



Gavin even tried to eat one of the clover flowers and almost choked on it!

Weirdo Cat Alert!

The other day the cat hopped up on our tv cabinet in our bedroom...and right into the laundry hamper! He then proceeded to stay there until we all left the room. He usually likes to be where we are, in fact when Philip, Gavin, and I are all in one room together the cat usually joins us. I have joked that when he comes in the room he asks, "So, are we having a family meeting?"

Is My Good Eater Back?

Tonight I made spam fried rice with peas, tofu, and bok choy and ground it up for Gavin to eat. He gobbled it down! Ate all but one spoonful of what I ground up for him! Maybe (knock on wood) my good eater is back now that he cut those teeth he'd been working on! (Although I think it looks like he's in the early stages of teething on a couple of more!)

Here is what the fried rice looked like before I ground it:



All that was left in Gavin's bowl:



Gavin with a bit of fried rice stuck on his face:



Oh, and is it just me, or does his face look chubbier now? Maybe it's time for a growth spurt. He went down soooo easily tonight (knock on wood yet again). I think he was tired; it could have to do with the fact that we went to the park today. Whatever the reason, it was nice! Please do it again, Gavin!

Attack of the...

...Shoe Monster!

We now have a shoe rack in the entryway, trying to take our shoes off when we come in to cut down on the dirt. I was making dinner and knew that Gavin was playing with the shoes, (not my favorite thing for him to play with, but he does it no matter what I do) then I noticed he was having a little more fun than usual. Made more for me to clean up, but I still thought it was funny.

Normally they look like this...



Then this happened...

I Can't Get In...

Look closely at these pictures...he was doing this while I was making dinner tonight.

Rubber Ducky, You're the One...

Gavin has a rubber ducky that is a favorite bath time toy. Last night he had it, and he said, "Duck!" I was thinking it was a coincidence, but I told Philip about it anyway. He said that he had done the same thing with him before! I tried to get him to say it again tonight, but he didn't want to cooperate. I'm still not 100% convinced there is meaning behind it, but it's still pretty cool! (He has also said dada, mama, and what sounded like baby.)

Say Hello to Tooth #3 and #4!

After the unsuccessful Japanese lunch, I thought I'd give getting a picture of Gavin's new teeth a try. Tooth #4 finally cut yesterday, and tooth #3 is quite visible. If you think that the white speck to the left of the top tooth is just rice, it's not. It's actually tooth #4.

Japanese Lunch

I decided to try Gavin out on the baby Miso soup I had bought a while back.





I also gave him some tofu to eat as a finger food. He played with it a bit, but that was about it.



Here's his reaction after my giving him some of the Miso. I have to admit that it had a pretty strong smell and taste as well. He didn't want to eat it willingly, so I had to force my way in (My sister pointed out that this sounds bad, so I'm telling you that I hold his hands and he usually opens his mouth. If he doesn't want to eat it after that I usually don't make him. Which, by the way, I have to do for foods he has already tried and likes. He's discovered he has a choice when it comes to eating, that's for sure.)



Caught mid head shake.



Oh well, I'll just keep trekking when it comes to trying new foods. That's all I can do, I guess.

I'm so pathetic...

...take me out of the crib!

Gavin finally discovered that he can pull up all the way in his crib. He did it yesterday for Philip and for me, separately. Today decided to do it at nap time and not go to sleep. At his first nap he cried for about an hour. I even gave him ibuprofen thinking he might be in pain, but he still wouldn't go to sleep. I ended up rocking him to sleep about an hour and a half after his scheduled nap time. A friend of mine suggested playing music for him, but I don't have a CD player. At his second nap, he started to do the same thing, but after about five minutes I took him out and tried to rock him to sleep. He wasn't interested, he wanted to look around. So I put him back in bed, rubbed his back for a little bit, and he went to sleep. Just now at bedtime, he started doing the same thing, so I took a couple of pictures. He cried for probably ten or fifteen minutes before I took the pictures, thus the red face. (I'm such a mean mom, huh? Taking pictures of my child in distress!) After I took the pictures, I picked him up and put him back down on his tummy to sleep. He was SO hot because he worked himself up. I then got onto the computer and after about five minutes I thought he fell asleep, but then he fussed a bit more. Hopefully he's really asleep now. The joys of parenthood. If it's not one thing, it's another.



This is his new thing, I found him like this earlier today as well. He must be tired, but he's so stubborn! Gee, I wonder where he gets it. Could be from either one of us!

More Walking Pics

Here are some more pictures of us out in the morning for our walks. We started walking at one of our local parks as well that has a couple of ponds and lots of ducks and geese. Thanks, Dori, for taking the pics.

Wearing my Lamda Delta Sigma shirt. Don't I just look like a sorority girl? Hehehe.

At the park with Gavin playing with the bar across his lap. He discovered it bends because it folds when we put the stroller away.



Another couple of shots from our hill walks.

More Fun at the Park

On Tuesday we went out to lunch with some friends and then to the park for a little while. Here are some pictures. Thanks, Connie, for taking them!