Birthday Cake

After nap time, Dean and Lindsey came over for birthday cake. First the boys had to discuss Gavin's new sand and water table. Next, it was time for some wheelie poppin'.

And a little rockin'.

Then a game of chase.

And finally, cake! Gavin stuck his hand in the blue icing along the back before I could stop him.

Then, he took a look at the cake.

"Oh, Thomas choo choo train!"


A little shyness while we sang to him.

Blowing out the candles.

Yummy, cake!

Dean thinks his cake is great.

Such a well-mannered young tot!

Hmmm. Let me rub some icing in my hair while I stretch.

Time for presents.
Thank goodness Dean and Lindsey brought wrapped gifts.

Glenda and Bill came, bearing a bubble mower. Dave pushed it around a bit to get the bubbles flowing. Meanwhile, Gavin tried out his MagnaDoodle from Dean.

Some instructions from Glenda.

And after everyone left, Gavin thought he should try on GrandBob's shoes.

Wild Birthday

Since the grandparents were in town to celebrate Gavin's birthday and since this might be the only year he could care less, we decided to forego a birthday party. Instead, we picked up Dean and went to the Fort Worth Zoo. It was a bit chilly to start, but it turned into a beautiful morning. The boys were ready to watch the animals with blankets handy and snack cups in hand.

The boys enjoyed watching the gorilla.

They were equally impressed by the acrobatic act of the swinging monkeys.

While looking at the giraffes, Dean shares some words of wisdom to Gavin, now that he's two.

Gavin is too busy looking at the lion to look at the camera.

After lunch, the boys drove a safari Jeep for a while, and it didn't cost me a thing. How long until they figure out you need to put quarters in?

On our way out we found the "big turtles." Both boys were mesmerized by this guy.

The grandparents and the boys.

Time to go home.

Dave and I sang and played with the boys all the way home so that they'd take good naps once we got home and not a short nap in the car. We were successful. We dropped Dean off just before 2pm; I bet he was asleep before we got home. Within 5 minutes of being home, Gavin was out. Both boys napped, then we all got together for birthday cake and gifts. (That's the next post. I know you can't wait.)

Gavin Turns Two

I can't believe Gavin is two. It seems like only yesterday I was changing his diapers. Oh yeah, I still change his diapers. Seriously, it is incredible how much he has learned in the last six months. At one year, he wasn't walking. Now, he can walk, run, march, dance, jump, shake. We'll work on skipping, next.

At the beginning of last summer, he could say: Mama, Dada, car, dog, ball. At this point, I couldn't even begin to list the words he knows. I was relieved at his two year check up when the question about language was, "Does he know 50 or more words?" Gavin is beginning to speak in sentences. Lately, we hear, "I did it!" a lot. And, he doesn't watch Dora the Explorer. He had to pick it up at school.

He is very good at color identification. With almost 100% accuracy, he names red, blue, green, yellow (pronounced lell-o), orange, purple, pink, white, black, and brown. Today he called navy black, but I know adults who can't distinguish between the two.

We're working on shapes. He knows circle, heart, and star. We're working to add square and triangle.

And, lately, he loves to sing. Near the end of the summer, he would say things like, "beep, beep, beep," when he wanted me to sing "The Wheels on the Bus." On Sunday, February 20, he sang "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" all the way through. He will recite the refrain of "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom." He can sing all of "Baa Baa Black Sheep." Today we were singing "Old McDonald's Farm," and Dave began to substitute "Gavin" in the song, which got big laughs from Gavin.

And did I mention that he likes balls. All kinds of balls. We decided that he needed a basketball goal for his birthday.

For his second birthday, Grandma Sandra, Grandma Judy, and GrandBob came out to help us celebrate. Granddaddy had to mind the farm and wound up with a cold while Grandma was visiting, poor guy: no party and a cold.

On Thursday evening after Gavin went to bed, we got all of his new toys ready in the play room. After his lack of enthusiasm about opening Christmas gifts, we decided to forego the gift wrap. Plus his toys were too big.

After Gavin had his breakfast Friday morning, we took him into the play room to see what goodies he got for his birthday.

Grandma and Granddaddy bought a sand and water table.

There was a ride-on Thomas from Grandma and GrandBob.

A basketball goal from Mama and Daddy.

GrandBob brought out Daddy's rocking horse.

After watching Gavin play for a while, Dave and I went off to work, leaving Gavin in the hands of the grandparents. What little boy doesn't deserve a little spoilin' on his birthday?

Dave and I decided we should prepare Gavin's favorite meal for his birthday dinner. But who knows what that is. We're realizing that dinner is not Gavin's biggest meal; lunch seems to be. We settled on scrambled eggs and pancakes for dinner. The boy loves to dip.

After dinner, it was time for birthday cupcake. (We had cake Saturday.) This was a special cupcake from Gavin's former teacher, Ms. Rosa. She gave it to him two weeks earlier on his last day in her class. We were heading out of town so I put it in the freezer and was able to give it to him on his birthday. It's a good thing I had something for him. Grandma told me that he kept saying, "birthday cake?" every time mention was made of it being his birthday. Once he had the cupcake, he didn't ask any more. Poor guy.

He acted shy when we sang "Happy Birthday" to him.

He had no problem blowing out the candles. I guess because he blows on his food to cool it off.

There was a little airplane on top of the cupcake.

Mmmmm. Icing.

Our little guy is two.

Grandma Judy and GrandBob.

Grandma Sandra.

All done.