Little Gavin

Gavin's second birthday is just around the corner (exactly one month from today), so I thought I would share with you how his little personality is developing.

Just recently, Gavin has taken on a love for legos, peg puzzles, and Mr. Potato Head. He will focus on building a tower with his legos for quite some time... until the tower crashes and I hear his upset voice cry out. In honor of his brother, Gavin got a few beginning puzzles for Christmas. At first, he wasn't sure how to maneuver the puzzle pieces. One day he got it though, and you could see confidence glowing on his face as he placed each piece in its spot. By far, Gavin spends the majority of his time each day with Mr. Potato Head. He doesn't really get which parts are supposed to go where, just takes great pride in fitting one body part in each hole. (Jacob always gets so upset because the pieces aren't in the right spot. He comes up to me with a concerned look and says, "Gavin's just being silly?")



Gavin loves to sing and some of my most cherished moments are cuddling in his rocking chair and singing together. Whether I sing a song he knows, or make one up (which is a frequent occurrence in our family), he gazes into my eyes and softly sings along. One time I was singing "Mommy loves Gavin" over and over and he just smiled and sang "Mommy wuvs Gabin" with me. After each song is through, he always ends with "RAY", short for hooray! I also hear him singing himself to sleep in his crib at night. If you listen carefully, you can even make out the song he is singing.

He is learning that each thing has a place and likes putting things where they belong. The only trouble is that he thinks dirty forks and spoons belong in the garbage, so we've lost a lot of silverware lately. Unlike Jacob, he thinks cleaning up his toys is fun... especially if I sing the clean up song. One odd thing he loves to do is put his diaper ~just the wet ones ;)~ in the diaper genie for me. He doesn't like getting his diaper changed, but takes comfort in making a basket with the diaper and carefully closing the lid.

Gavin's world revolves around being a big boy and doing things on his own. He no longer wants to be carried or ride on his belly down the stairs, he insists on holding onto the railing and taking one step at a time. Gavin has recently taken a huge interest in letters and will point to and tell me what letter he sees. Sometimes he is even right! :)

One thing I've especially noticed is his love for our dog, Sy. I think this stands out to me because Jacob has never taken an interest in or even payed much attention to Sy. However, Gavin is constantly petting, hugging, bringing balls to, and putting blankets on him. He also found Sy's dog food in the pantry and will frequently bring it to me in hopes of feeding him.

The number of words he is able to say is multiplying rapidly. Some of the most common phrases are "More meel" (more milk), "OK Jacob" (when Jacob is upset), "jup jup be" (jump on the bed), and "Ora, Iego, and Iggles" (his favorite TV shows). Mostly, I just hear Moooommmmaaa all day long. The tone frequently changes though from whining to asking a question to just seeming to say it for no reason at all.

Gavin weighs about 34 pounds, but hardly eats anything. I wouldn't say he is picky, he just eats tiny bits of whatever it is we give him. The only exceptions are french toast, pancakes, chicken nuggets, and anything sweet. He is more of a vegetable fan and will hardly touch the meat, while Jacob eats the meat and hardly touches the vegetables. Jacob, only weighing five pounds more, eats more than Gavin everytime though. Shows how much of a factor genetics play, huh?

All in all, he is growing into a little boy before my very eyes. I can't believe he is going to be two!