Lil' Goblin

Our little goblin has celebrated Halloween all week long. Thankfully, he's too little for candy and sugar, so his celebration has been in the clothes he wears.

I bought this little ghost bib last year and put it up for Gavin.

Grandma brought this little onesie to Gavin when she visited a few weeks ago.Miss Glenda gave Gavin this little ghost onesie.

Grandma Judy sent Gavin a Halloween card. He enjoyed looking at it--after we were able to call his attention away from the GA-FLA ball game (Go Gators!).

He especially enjoyed chewing on it, and he got really mad when I took it away from him.

This is his scary face in his skelton outfit.

Happy Halloween, y'all!!!

It's Two Great Pumpkins, Charlie Brown

Our friends Alan and Kimberly are expert pumpkin carvers. Each year, they have a friendly competition--winner gets a mini-shopping spree. You can view past pumpkins and cast your vote here. You'll have to enter your email address, but when you do, you'll get an email notice next year so that you can vote.

Dave and I hope to one day be able to carve the pumpkin we buy each year. It seems October is always a busy time for him. And, the fall is busy for me with Friday night football each week and the various other school activities.

Maybe the delight of Gavin will push us to do more next year. There's always next year, right? Until then, we continue to marvel at the talent of Alan and Kimberly.

Cullman Liquidation

so funny...

Eight Months Old

Gavin is 8 months old today. He has started doing a lot of new things in the last month.

We're introducing new foods. Yesterday, he got his first taste of pears and loved them. We've also started giving him table food--pieces of a blueberry muffin, rolls, mashed potatoes (not a big fan), churro (loved it), cooked carrots (loved it). We also added a third meal to his diet this weekend. Up to now he had been having cereal at lunch and dinner, but only milk for breakfast. We'll see how we work out the addition of cereal for breakfast wreaks havoc on our morning work/school routine.

It's starting to cool off, so I've starting putting shoes on Gavin. He wants to chew on his shoes. He has finally found his foot and gets it to his mouth. He might do this more if he laid on his back more, but he loves to sit up and doesn't lay down when playing that much. He has also discovered his socks and can pull them off.

Gavin has his two bottom teeth, and I suspect there's something going on up top. Time will tell.

Gavin smiles when I come into his classroom to pick him up at the end of the day. He definitely recognizes my voice. My heart melted the first time he squealed when I walked in. I'm sure I'll become a puddle the day that he cries after me when I leave him.

More and more, Gavin is "talking" and making sounds. Many days on the ride to/from school, Gavin makes a "bbbbbb" sound the entire time. He says "Mama" when he's upset. He smiles and babbles "Dada." And, we've heard "doggie." It's funny how he's beginning to mimic the intonation of words as Dave and I talk with him.

And, G is developing a temper. I suppose he comes by it honestly. As much as both Dave and I would like to blame the temper on the other, we are equal contributors to his temper. Gavin can get quite upset when something is taken away from him. One morning last week I had to leave him crying at school because he had been holding my ID badge when we went into his classroom. When I had to take it from him before I left, he turned red and started crying. Miss Kim was quick to swoop in to attempt to distract him, but the damage was already done. I felt horrible leaving him mad, but I know he got over it quickly--at least I hope he did.

And, our little man is super strong. He grabs anything he can get his hands on these days. While making nachos for lunch, Dave pulled out the 2.5 pound bag of shredded cheese from Costco. Gavin quickly grabbed it and was holding on to it. (Incidentally, he got mad when we took it away from him.) Dave also had him "lifting weights" with my microwavable corn heating pad yesterday. I have a bruise on my arm where he pinched me the other night while I was trying to get him to go to sleep (or was it while he was eating?).

We enjoy every moment and every change that each new day brings. (Well, maybe not the new diapers . . . )

Having Fun

Waking Up EARLY

Gavin has started developing a bad habit of waking up earlier and earlier lately. A couple weeks ago he was sleeping till his normal time ~ 6:00. Then it gradually changed to 5:30, then 5:00, and now he is up at 4:30-4:45! We aren't sure if he is hungry or just waking up that early.

This morning Miranda got up and fed Gavin. We thought that he actually might be hungry this morning since he didn't get his cereal last night because it was really late when we got home. After his early breakfast, he wanted to play! I went up at 5:30 to relieve Miranda and played with Gavin in between trying to get him to go back to sleep. I even tried some "tough love" and let him cry (scream) for about 10 minutes thinking that he would eventually soothe himself and go back to sleep....not so much. Mom and Dad are really really hoping that this thing works itself out soon.

Living Room Tailgating

Miranda, Gavin and I ran some errands this morning, and then settled in to watch Georgia Tech beat Virginia. We spread out a blanket in the living room so that Gavin could play while we ate our lunch. Mason had to be as close to the blanket as he could get.
Gavin was in a GREAT mood. We think that he was really excited because he absolutly loved the pears that he had for lunch. He ate just about the entire container of pears. Mom and Dad had hotdogs. It won't bee too long till G wants a bit of our hotdogs. He had some carrots at Cotton Patch Cafe last night, and ate a few bites of blueberry muffin this morning for breakfast.

We are working on getting Gavin to do the touchdown signal when Georgia Tech scores. Gavin's friend, Dean, has learned this crowd pleasing trick and we are hoping that some it rubs off on Gavin. It's coming along quite well (actually in this picture he was just excited that he got his sock off and was waving it around).

Gavin's Six Month Pictures

In order to quiet the masses that demand more Gavin blog content, I humbly submit Gavin's six month pictures. He's a photogenic little guy who is typically more interested in the camera than smiling for the camera. These were professional pictures....no stuffed animals this time.

"This is my gun, there are many others like it, but this one is mine"

Texture gun that is.....The bathroom renovation is continuing slowly but surely. I finally got the walls textured today. I initially considered renting a texture gun from Home Depot, but the rental price was just $2 less than just purchasing one. So I am now the proud owner of a texture gun.

It was surprisingly easy to texture the walls. The hardest part was holding the hopper that was full of wall texture. It was only probably around 20lbs. But you had to continuously hold this thing up while moving it very slowly and getting an even amount of texture on the walls. It took a surprisingly delicate hand to do the knock down part of the knock down texture.

Now that the texture is complete, the painting will begin this week. I have incentive to start the painting quickly. There aren't any lights in the bathroom right now. I had to take them down to texture the walls, and can't put them back up till I get the walls painted.

Doggie?

Gavin is babbling more and more these days. He can say "DaDa" and "MaMa". We also get "deedee" from time to time. One night this week, we would have sworn we heard "doggie." Not wanting to think too much of his sounds, we dismissed it. But after this morning, we're thinking maybe he does know "doggie."
He was sitting on the island in the kitchen with Dave's support. When Mason walked through the kitchen, Gavin looked right at Mason and said, "Doggie." Dave and I stared at each other in disbelief. Gavin continued to chat and wiggle. We couldn't get him to repeat it, but can't get him to say "DaDa" or "MaMa" on demand, either.
Gavin enjoys watching Mason. When Gavin is in his exersaucer, Mason always comes over to give G a few kisses. Gavin smiles widely when he sees Mason headed his way. We've taught Mason that he cannot step on a blanket laying on the floor. (Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?) But, Mason fudges a little so he can be close to Gavin while he plays on the blanket by laying down as close as he can to the blanket, sometimes pushing the blanket out of the way of his paw. These two are going to be inseparable later.
So, I guess now he knows all the members of the family. I wonder what he'll "say" next.