Gavin {18 months}

Our baby is 18 months already. And boy does this child have a lot of things to say about him at 18 months.  I wanted to get some good pictures of him to document this milestone but I didn't know how we were going to fit it in. So I got sleeping pictures of him, thinking that's the best I'd probably do.  But that evening we ended up heading to the trail to hike with friends, so we dressed him up and did a little photo shoot for 5 minutes before.  I didn't have much time. We found a place, set him on a bench and I had to move fast, because he moves fast.

 

 

Oh Sweet Gavin.  There are so many things I want to remember about you at this age.

You are craaaazy! You are sooooo much more boy than your brother was.  Maybe that's because he just had a sister at the time he tried to keep up with all the time.  But you, you have found the mud, the rocks, things to climb, cupboards to open, and you don't stop moving unless you are sleeping.

 Your tear duct surgery really helped your eyes.  We haven't dealt with yucky, red looking eyes sense.

But you still have skin issues, bad outdoor allergies and you're the only one in our family who has to stay away from eggs and nuts.  But it could be a ton worse.  We are hoping you grow out of a lot of this.

 

 You are talking a lot more these days.  But still not a ton.  You have always been good at your head nods and sign language for please, more, thank you, all done.  So we usually communicate pretty well with you.  Your most common used words are "ma" and "da".  All day long we hear you saying "MA!...MA!...MA!"  or "DA!...DA!...DA!" and then if we are both home it's "MA!...DA!...MA!"

You also say "no, no", only when talking about going into the street.  Although you have been caught saying it, and the darting into the street just to be naughty.  But for the most part you know that you have to stay away and you steer your scooter into the grass at the end of the driveway every time, so you don't roll into the street.

You also will say "da" (sounds the same for both dog and ball), "bubu", "sissy", "nana", "pa"(papa), and "ba"(for aunt barb and for your friend Brahm). And you're really starting to repeat lots of things we are saying.

 

 You love to be outside. If anyone walks out the door, you throw a fit until you can go out too.  You love your scooter, and your legs move so fast as you push yourself up and down the driveway.  You love ladybugs and roly polys, but most of the time you put them in your hand and squash them on accident as you walk around with them.

You love the sandbox and the mud.  You love to climb anything you can get on to get higher.  You were very angry that you couldn't swim in your brother and sister's pool so we had to get you your own.

 

 

 

And you are also our runner.  We haven't had a kid who likes to run in the opposite direction they are supposed to, but you are that kid.  One time you even took off riding your scooter down the street while Daddy chased you.  You knew Daddy was chasing you and you just went faster and didn't look back.  You've also been known to make it to the neighbor's house before we notice.  (man, that makes us sound awful, but seriously kid, you are fast and always on the move).

 

 

You love books, but you are always done after 1 or 2, and point to your bed to be laid down.  You are still our very best sleeper!  We took away your morning nap for awhile because I thought surely you were old enough that you didn't need it, but after a few rough weeks we went back to it and you are much happier.  You nap in the morning and afternoon and go to sleep at night and never ever wake up.

 

You love playing chase and wrestling with your brother, and you love playing kitchen and baby dolls with your sister. You have the funniest faces and expressions and you think you're pretty funny yourself.  It doesn't help your antics to have a big brother and sister who laugh at you all the time too.

One of the funniest things you do is your back float in the bath tub.  You began doing this all by yourself when you took baths with Taylor.  You'd lay your head back in her lap.  She always had to be ready because we never knew when you'd just plop yourself backwards.  But you got better and better to the point that you can now lay yourself back without anyone holding on to you and pretty much really float.

 

 

 

 

 

You love to put on every else's shoes. I think I could lock you in a shoe closet and you'd be happy all day wearing one pair after another.  It just makes it hard for us to find our shoes because you string them all over the house.

 

But one thing that I love about you is that no matter how crazy you are, you still like to cuddle with your mama, and your daddy too.  You give the sweetest kisses and hugs. And you say "mama" in the sweetest voice as you snuggle your head into me. 
 

 And you MUST do what everyone else is doing at all times.  Even if it means insisting on fishing all by yourself with Daddy's pole.

 

 You're a busy, busy boy.  You are full of spunk and personality.  You make us laugh so much.  We love you so much sweet boy.  We thank God every day for blessing our family with you.