Gavin's ONE-year Photos

At the Park

Question?

John and I have a running joke now - so often Gavin has this cute little look on his face like he is asking a question.

Time for Fun!

Gavin and his friend on a "play date."

New Studio Shots!

Happy Spring!

Splash Happy!

Gavin gets a bath in a storage bin now! He's too young for the bathtub but he's too big for any of the infant bath tubs. He really likes the storage bin and he LOVES the water!

Let it Snow!

Nathan and John made a snowman in the front yard on New Year's Eve while it was snowing out.
Nathan enjoyed making Frosty ...
and making tracks in the snow ...
but he did NOT like the snow falling on his face ... and he's wearing two different mittens because one mitten from each set went missing on two separate cold days.
So Nathan has since gotten two new pairs of mittens and another new hat. Now I see how the strings connecting mittens to jackets originated. It's hard to keep track of all the little winter wear.
Of course, all this snow quickly melted throughout the next week. Each day Nate would look out the window at his creation and admire the snowman. But one day, as Frosty was melting back into the ground, he fell over backwards and his head came off and his stick arms were on the ground and his little rock eyes had fallen off his head. Nater had a hard time accepting Frosty's demise and he looked at what was left his snowman and yelled, "Up! Up!" Poor decapitated Frosty didn't respond and then Nathan noticed his eyes too were missing and he yelled, "Eyes! Eyes! Where are the eyes?" How does a mom explain the melting process to a toddler? I just keep telling him that we can make a new snowman next time it snows. He also was sad to see Baby Jesus go away - a manger scene in our neighbor's yard, which we drove past every day during Christmas to say happy birthday to Jesus. Now Jesus is put away but Nathan keeps asking to see Him and I say we'll see him again next year but He's still watching us. I meant to get pictures of Baby Jesus and of the finished snowman but, because we've been out of sorts around here (and sick) the picture-taking has slowed down a bit. Hopefully everyone is better soon. Happy New Year!

A Great Daddy

Merry 12th Day of Christmas!

A Budding Artist

Nathan and I have been drawing a lot lately as he has a new interest in creativity. He loves to watch Mommy draw and now he's finally trying to copy what he sees! It's so cute. This morning we were drawing Mr. Potato Head, a fairly simple endeavor. It was amazing to see how this little two-year-old interpreted the image and then tried to re-create:

Gavin sat close by and laughed at how easily amused Mommy is.

While Nathan still has his two-three-word moments, he is speaking in clear sentences now. Some of his latest words of wisdom:

• "Nathan needs to do what Mommy says!" ~that's a good one!
• "No, I'm not done; I'm eating pizza right now, Mommy."
• "No ... I'm not a monkey; I'm Kekeen!" (He'll still occasionally call himself Kekeen, his pronunciation for Nathan, although he can easily say his own name - funny!) ~He said that one to John one evening as they were reading a book together.
• "I want that for Christmas Mommy! I want that - yes, I want that please!"

It Happened!

The boys are sick! I'm not surprised - it's been a busy month for Christmas parties, lots of playing with other kids, time spent in the church nursery, etc. It was bound to happen. They both have mild colds; I just hope they stay mild and I hope they clear up by Christmas. These pictures are from the Edina Realty Christmas party we went to a few weeks ago. We have no pictures from any of the other Christmas parties because we were too busy talking to people to take time out for snapshots.
Nathan was afraid of Santa at first, but once he learned that Santa had little treats for all the kids he warmed up to him - somewhat.
Gavin was just happy to be held by anyone ...

This & That

Nathan making a fish-face: Today we went to Music class! It was good for Nathan as he really needs help with following directions and staying on task. We are going to begin several classes beginning January and right now we're evaluating a few different ones to see which ones he likes the best. He enjoyed music class but he had a hard time with transitions between different activities, another reason for joining some new classes. He is around other kids several times per week along with the occasional play date - church, Bible study, the health club, and now Sunday school but I don't think he gets enough structured class time.

The boys went to three Christmas parties this weekend, which means three different times they were playing with other children. Yesterday at the health club I noticed one of the other kids had a cough but his mom said he just has allergies. We're still hoping for a healthy Christmas but we also can't stay inside the house all day.

It's been just another day at the office for John. Hulk Hogan was in the Fox studio so he met him and his daughter today. I thought that was worth noting since John just e-mailed me from work to tell of his celebrety sighting.

Happy Birthday Auntie!

Last week we celebrated Paula's birthday with a day at MOA! We took the little ones to Lego Land, ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, went to the Underwater World, and of course made a quick stop at Baby Gap. It was a fun day even though Nathan was a little "off" that day - not enough sleep? A tummy ache? Over-stimulated? One never knows. We planned to visit Santa and to go on some rides but you can only do so much with a 2 year old, a 16-month-old, and a 7-month-old! :-)

Love that smile

and those eyes, and the nose, and the two new teeth, just to name a few.

Why Worry?

"It would be a lot easier to enjoy your life if there weren't so many things trying to kill you every day."

This is the opening statement in one of my recent Time magazines. The article is very fitting - and convicting - for me, sad but true. The article is titled, "Why we worry about the things we shouldn't ... and ignore the things we should."

I'm always worrying and trying not to worry. My sister has seen several cases of Rotavirus in the clinic so these days my mind wanders to the many illnesses that could make their way to my children, infest them and lead us all into a holiday season of cold & flu. But then I think of other children whose worries are far worse or, more aptly, whose realities are far worse than my fears could imagine.

And yet, I dwell on the new thoughts introduced by Time, good ol' Time magazine, which never ceases to amaze me with some sad truth about the world. This time it's this fact: the fall out of bed kills 600 Americans each year!!! That is a scary thought, given that Gavin will, at times, find himself in our bed when he seems inconsolable at night and needs the comfort of having Mom and Dad close by. What if one of us were to get up at night and soon find him ... okay, I'll stop right there because here I go worrying again. P.S. I do know all the many many articles everywhere and countless people who say that co-sleeping is WRONG WRONG WRONG. Judgment hats away please. Anyway, here's hoping none of us are one of the 600 people who fall out of bed and into their death.

So going back to the worrying about illness. Here we are at the Mall of America and Nathan finds himself at Lego Land, the perfect breeding ground for germs of all sizes and shapes! I've heard three days is the magic number for the length of time it takes for a virus to cause symptoms. Today would be day #1. We're hoping for a healthy December but I still can't help but worry ...

Flashback Friday

On this Flashback Friday, I recall last year at this time and how excited Nathan was to visit Santa and then how terrified he was when he actually did visit Santa. We plan to visit Santa this weekend so Nathan can tell him all the many requests he has for Christmas this year. Already, as we walk through the toy aisles at Target he is informing me of the things he would like for "tit-tit from Sata if good boy." So far his list includes a Diego train (Dora's cousin), Diego toys, a robot, a baby rattle (?), dinosaurs, more Legos, and a Dora playhouse (I don't think he'll be getting anything Dora). If he treats Santa this way again, I'm sure Santa will not be so inclined to bring him all he wants for Christmas.