First Birthday Party

Saturday we hosted Gavin's first birthday party. We went for a friendly pirate theme. We ended up having five children (aged 4 months, 6 months, 8 months, 15 months, and almost 3 years) and ten adults to help us celebrate.

G might need some lessons in sharing. He didn't look too happy that Tenli was playing with his music table, but she was standing her ground.

Dean always has a nice smile for the camera.

Gavin was torn when he saw Dean playing with his lawn mower, so he had to go over to check on things. (Really gotta work on sharing.)

Gavin must have decided that all was OK with his mower, so he went over to check out gift. First, he "reads" the card so he'll remember who to thank.

More playing . . .

Finally, time for cake. We froze this small cake from the party my cousins hosted in June. It was just perfect for a little boy to dig into.

When we sang "Happy Birthday", Gavin looked a bit bewildered.

Gavin started by scraping the lettering off of the top.

And eventually, broke through the icing to find the cake.

Mmmm. Icing.

Hook 'em? Aunt B will be thrilled to see this picture.

Dave has discovered that when Gavin really likes a food, he puts his finger to his mouth.

The aftermath. I took it away from him when he began grabbing a handful to put in the seat of the chair with him.

Everyone enjoyed cake and visiting a while longer. Then, everyone drifted out. Babies needed naps. We opened gifts and cards.

Bongos from Glenda and Bill. Dave couldn't get them out of the package fast enough.

A cute summer outfit and socks from Rhonda and Jeff. G loved the packing of the socks: a good plastic bag with some crinkly sounds.

There were other gifts, though we had requested that in lieu of gifts everyone bring a food donation for GRACE. Check out the haul. We are so blessed to always have food. I can't imagine not knowing where my child's next meal would come from. So, we thought it would be nice to make this a party with a purpose. A big thanks to all our friends who brought food. We can't wait to drop it off at GRACE this week.

We tried once again for a 12 month picture with the blue monkey. Gavin was very interested in the mac & cheese.

This might be the best we do.

In our haste to get everything ready, we neglected to take a picture before the party. This is a shot of Dave's handy work. He's available for hire, if you need him. He works cheap. :)

It's His Birthday

A few images to recap Gavin's first birthday. . .

A breakfast with some Cheerios is a great way to start the day.

Gavin had fun at school. At 1:39, everyone sang to him. I also hear that whenever he was told, "Happy Birthday," he had a big smile.

After we got home and had dinner, it was time for gifts.

Gavin crawled away with a piece of paper. His mobility is a new challenge for Mama and Daddy. :)

Pulling tissue paper out of bags is as much fun as ripping paper.

After the new red wagon was empty, we attempted to take his 12 month-day picture in the wagon with the monkey. Gavin didn't want to sit still.

Dad took Gavin for a spin in the house. (Notice the drool. A tooth is coming; actually, I finally saw it Sunday morning.)

Then it was time for cake. We had to snap pictures quickly before he grabbed it.

Once we let him touch the cake, he was unsure about having icing on his hand.

But then Dad fed him some icing and cake, and all was good.

Bath time. For the first time I stuck this book in with him to keep him occupied. He kept turning to the page with a kite and pointing to it. So, I repeated "kite" several times. After a few minutes, he was trying to imitate the sound and came really close. What a smart boy!
After that, it was time for lights out. "Just a few more minutes with this toy, Mama."

Happy Birthday, Little Man!

GavinTube

Since Blogger sucks at viewing videos, I have decided to start a YouTube account. I will add videos from time to time, so you might want to subscribe to the account to get updates for when videos are added. Here is the link for my account:

http://www.youtube.com/user/davidmclaren1977

Gavin update: He was in the best mood this weekend! Right up until about 2:00 this afternoon. Evidently Gavin has some sort of bug. He threw up while taking his nap this afternoon, and has a fever. He wasn't eating very well today, but we didn't think too much of it since he was his usual happy self. We gave him some Motrin for the fever, and he seems to be his normal self. Mama is going to stay home with him tomorrow and they are going to plan out the details of Gavin's Pirate Birthday Bash.

Growing Up Fast

It seems that once Gavin really grasps the concept of something he then goes all in. His progress on eating, crawling, etc seems to go in big steps instead of a gradual progression. He has mastered the sippy cup and also loves to self feed now.

The week of the 8th, we asked Ms. Linda and Ms. Gina at school to start feeding Gavin from the menu. He got baby food twice that week at school. This past week, he ate off of the menu all week. Dad's upset that he had his first taste of pizza without him. I'm sure the pizza that Dad will take Gavin for will be better than school pizza. Gavin got to eat corn, a bean burrito, and steak fingers this week. He's eating better for us at home, too. He's decided that he loves slices of banana.

On Monday, February 8th, Gavin figured out that he could use his crawling for more than getting his favorite toy. Mama put him down in her bedroom on the warm rug and walked into her closet to change. In just a minute, she heard the scoot of the army crawl as Gavin was making his way toward her. He had the biggest smile.

Then, on Wednesdsay, February 17th, Gavin decided to show off his all fours crawling for Mama and Daddy before bedtime. Initially, it was four or five moves of the hands and legs before he sat down. I'm sure those arm muscles are having to develop. Today we lured him into performing for us by playing with his lawn mower. Let's hope he's as fond of the real mower about 12 years from now.

Record Setting Snow

The snow continued to fall last night. I'm not really sure when it stopped. The official snow total for DFW is 12.5 inches. We measured 10.5 at one place in our yard and could have found places deeper than that.

Our power blinked a few times, then went out around midnight. It was off for a while, then came back on. Then around 3, it went off again, finally coming back on after 5. Each time it went off, we could see bright flashes outside; I guess that was sparks from powerlines somewhere, which is odd because the power right here is underground, but there are powerlines elsewhere in the area.

Dave got up each time the power went off to check to be sure that Gavin was warm enough, to find the flashlight, and just check on things. I roused up, but never really got up. It was nice to know someone else was taking care of it.

Gavin slept in until almost seven. Last night my school district cancelled classes for Friday, which uses our Monday President's Day Holiday. But Dave reminds me a three day weekend is a three day weekend and that the kids need this opportunity to play in the snow.

Before Gavin's nap, we bundled up and headed out for some pictures.
An artsy icicle shot.

Mason loves the snow even though it's so deep.

Our neighbor Robin and her daughter Addison built a snowman.

Addison made a snow angel.

While Robin snapped a quick family photo in the snow.

(I'm wearing glasses this week because I have Lasik scheduled for next Friday and have to be out of my contacts until then. I go in for my pre-Op appointment Tuesday morning. I hope that all looks good and we're a "go.")

Gavin and I came in, while Dave stayed out to shovel the drive way, so he could go to work. All that "playing" in the snow must have worn Gavin out. He napped for over two hours.

It's 40 degrees right now. So, snow is falling off the the trees. The roads are passable. Tommorrow is supposed to be near 50. Gavin's 1 year pictures are scheduled for outside at 9am. I've got to rethink his outfits.

This is Getting Old

We got to experience the snowstorm of all snowstorms today (for Texas). It is still snowing as I type this, and we currently have over eight inches of snow on the ground just since midnight last night. We set a record for the most snowfall in DFW during a 24 hour period today. Thankfully it was warm enough today for the roads to remain mostly clear. There was some slush on the roads this morning, but nothing too bad. Tonight is a different story. Around 6:00 the temperature dipped below freezing and the snow started sticking to the roads. The roads tomorrow morning should be a huge mess. We have already seen a firetruck go by the house once tonight for what we can only imagine is a wreck.

Gavin seemed to like the snow. But then again, he always likes being outside. It doesn't matter to him if it is super cold or really hot. He just prefers to be outside with the breeze and the outdoor sounds. We didn't get him out in the snow today. We might get him to do some posing tomorrow morning before all the snow melts away in the afternoon (hopefully).

Mason joined in on the fun too. Snow seems to give him an extra jolt of energy. I spent 15 minutes or so playing with him in the backyard. He was trying to chase the snowballs that I threw but would somehow loose them. He was running, jumping, biting the snow, making some yellow snow, and having the kind of afternoon that only dogs can have.

And here is a picture of G for those of you who only read the blog for your Gavin fix....

Ducky Bath > Bathtub

Last night was the first night in our attempt to transition G into the "big boy" bathtub. He was super tired last night before the bath because he didn't get an afternoon nap. So naturally he screamed the whole time that he got his bath in the big boy tub. We thought that he was just really tired (which he was), and didn't think it was because he wanted his Ducky bath.

Were we ever wrong. We tried again tonight when he was in a better mood. Same reaction. We then hurried up and dusted off the Duck, filled it up and stuck him in it. All smiles....bathtime was fun again. It looks like the duck might have to go for a swim in the big boy bathtub in an effort to transition G into the regular tub.

Groovin'

Gavin has aquired quite the taste for music lately. When he hears a song with a good beat from either a toy or radio he has started bouncing up and down to the music. We both always get a good laugh when he "dances".

Tonight after we got him ready for bed, he crawled into his closet and found the popcorn mower noisemaker (for lack of a better term). When I switch it to the music sound setting this is what happened:

It looks like he has learned a new moves besides just bouncing to the beat. He has incorporated some uppper body choreography as well into his routine.

First Haircut

Before During After

Since Gavin's birthday is approaching, we decided it was about time to get the boy's hair cut. His one year pictures next weekend are another reason that we needed to get Gavin a trim. We went to a place in Southlake that only does kid's haircuts. He cooperated very well for his first haircut. He sat there, watched a little TV, and made sure that he checked everyone out that walked into the store. Gavin was amazed by the hairdryer that one stylist was using.

The whole process was maybe 10 minutes - five for the actual cut. Dave is still a little ticked that a one year old's five minute haircut costs as much as his does. We may look into some cheaper alternatives in the future.

Thank Goodness for Grandma and Granddaddy

Grandma and Granddaddy spent the week with Gavin. He was a bit under the weather, so Grandma got to give him extra love and Mama and Dad didn't have to stay home from work.

As usual, we didn't take many pictures--only this one of Gavin showing off on Granddaddy's shoulders. I think Grandma took plenty; I'll have to get some from her.

During the week, Gavin has perfected his ability to go from laying down to sitting up and vice-versa. Earlier, he was almost crashing onto the floor when he went from sitting to his tummy.

I think a week with Grandma and Granddaddy was just what the doctor ordered.