A boy ahoy!

Hey Y'all,
Exciting times around here. We found out right after the last email I sent that I'm getting a brother! I don't have much of an idea about what that means, but mom's pretty sure I'll enjoy it. I've started saying 'hi baby' to mommy's growing tummy, but that's just b/c she tells me to. She and daddy are excited about having another boy because I've been such a blast so far--and there is the added bonus that they can reuse all the stuff I didn't wear out.

Other than breathless anticipation of my baby bro's arrival, I like making letters by eating bits off pretzels. I love to count, but I still need a little help to get the order right most of the time. I enjoy practicing my letters and I've learned a couple of their lower case friends. The weather has finally cooled down a tiny bit, so I'm outside a lot. Mommy & I go for walks almost every day and that is a good time for me to kick back and chill in my stroller.

Oh, and I should mention that I was snoozing when the LSU Tigers finally beat the Florida Gators and became NUMBER ONE IN THE NATION, but you better believe I got a some good "Geaux Tigers" in before I was sent to bed. I need to get some tiger garb for the rest of the season...can't be their loudest little fan w/o some respectable Tiger-wear.

Well, y'all take it easy! Enjoy some crisp fall weather for me :o).
Go Tigers!
Gavin

Wow! I guess I took the summer off without meaning to. Well, I'm still here and enjoying my 19th month. The early part of the summer was very pleasant: warm, but not oppressive. These last few weeks have been wretchedly hot, so much so that I actually come indoors on my own sometimes! From what the weatherman says we're not the only ones roasting, though. I guess it will cool down in a couple months.

So, I've made it my business to learn lots of words as well as letters, colors, numbers & shapes. It's really cool because they are everywhere: in books, on cereal boxes, on signs outside...so I can practice wherever I am. We just took a trip to the Smoky Mountains and you might say it was a bit if a working vacation for me because I added to my repertoire of knowledge: I only have a handful of letters yet to learn, I know 5 different shapes, a few colors, and the numbers 1-9! I know lots of new words too, the only trouble is that mommy can't remember what they all mean: try-tul means triangle, not turtle! We'll work on annunciation next ;o).

But enough about business, I've been having a really great summer. I mostly like to be outside still. I hit golf balls with some of daddy's old clubs. I also love to ride my tricycle (altho I still don't use the pedals). I also like to find weird things in the yard and bring them to mommy: leaves, bugs, dirt etc. We had a bumper crop of figs last month and I really enjoyed helping with the harvest. Our yard is covered with muskadines this week and somehow I've resisted eating them even tho they look exactly like purple grapes. Mom & I also take walks a lot; I love to point out all the flags, trash cans, dogs and squirrels, but the best part is when we play at the park after the walks. I've also been saying hi to everyone in the store lately, and not just once, I say it over and over because most people think it's funny, even cute ;o).

I've also been experimenting a little with using the potty. Mommy thinks it's a little early so we're taking it slow, but who knows maybe I can get that out of the way before I have big brother duties. Oh! Did I forget to mention that before? Well, I guess it's out there now: I'm going to have a little brother or sister soon! His/her ETA is late January, but I'm hoping for early February so I don't have to share my birthday month :o). Either way, we are all excited about another little one on the way.

Well, this is far from a complete update, but it will have to do for now. I hope all of you are doing well; we think of you often. I'm attaching some pictures, but it's hard to top the ones from last time ;o). Let me hear from you!
Gav

SWEET Sixteen

Hey all y'all!

How's every little thing?? I'm great! Some really (REALLY) cool friends just gave me a car...I know, we couldn't believe it either. Well, okay, it's more for mommy, but the bottom line is that we aren't confined to home all day, every day, every week, every month, every year...I'm getting a little carried away, but you get the idea. We have had one car as long as I can remember, and really, I was fine with that (hey, it was all I knew), but now that we can get around I don't think I could go back. We go to the park, we hang out with friends more during the day, we are even scheduled to go visit some baby goats soon; it's very exciting!

I'm talking quite a bit these days, still no sentences (unless "Thank you!" counts), but I like to practice all my words. When I'm reading books I love to name off all the things that I know -- even if no one is listening. I also copy mommy/daddy's silly inflections, so I don't just say 'gourd,' but rather ...."GOOOOUUURRRD!!!!" in a full-throated growl voice. (If you've never seen Veggie Tale books that might sound a little strange: a wee little boy like me learning the word gourd, but it's nothing weird. I promise!) Speaking of veggies, they are some of my favorite things to eat AND drink! I love all sorts of veggies (especially tomatoes and broccoli) and V8 is one of the best ways to get me to take my vitamins. Mommy hopes that continues into adulthood; she wishes she loved V8 as much as I do. Na na na boo boo! ;o)

So swimming season is back and better than ever!! I have a little slide (affectionately called "wee!") that plunks me right into the water: what a blast!! I pretty much just jump around, splash, screech and holler until it's time to go inside, and then, needless to say, I'm exhausted.

For those of you who don't know, Baton Rouge has ever-present road construction and lately that has been in my FRONT YARD! Whoopee!! There are backhoes, dump trucks, bulldozers, piles of sand...it's little boy heaven!! On the weekends and evenings daddy takes me to slide on the sand pile, but during the day they are working like crazy, so I can't go past "the tree." I have to just watch: I wave my arms around and yell as much as I want and lots of times those tractors & trucks will honk for me. It's sooo cool!

Well, that's it for now. I'm attaching a picture of me in my Sunday-go-to-meetin' clothes altho, it wasn't Sunday and there wasn't a meeting when I wore them. And I know, I've heard it all: I look like a politician, a frat boy, a little boy off to boarding school in the 1950s...whatever...the bottom line is that I look CUTE! ;o) HA! Just for fun...if I was running for office I'd promise: swimming year-round; playing only in construction sites; and V8 for all!!

I always love to hear from all of you!

-Gavin for President

Checking in at almost 15 months

Hey everyone!

You haven't heard from me in a little while, but I'd better not catch you thinking that's because not much is going on with me!! Life is getting VERY exciting! I've started running from place to place. That's especially fun outside, altho my increased velocity still doesn't help me catch the birdies; and it looks very much like I'm about to tip over at every step. I love helping mommy wash the car; puddles are sooooo much fun to stomp.

Mom and dad's latest project is training me not to fling my cup on the floor and to resist sweeping all my food off my highchair tray. I sometimes pretend not to know what they are talking about, but I probably could have been trained not to do that a few months ago. It really only took one day of concentrated training & now I almost never throw anything from my highchair :o). They are also teaching me to tell them when I'm all done instead of fussing. Sometimes I'm just so tired tho; I don't feel like talking!

My vocab has exploded! Car is one of my favorite words, I make sure mommy asks a few times and then out it pops with much gusto: Car! I also say tractor, shoes, see, birdie, flower (sounds like wowah...very cute ;o), yuck (for ant hills and garbage cans outside), broom, down, night night, cheese, book, and I say my name (altho it sounds a whole lot like dada). I love learning about letters and numbers; my favorites are 3, c, t, g, ...really anything with that "ee" sound at the end :o). I can also say 'arf' like a dog and 'ooh ooh ah ah' like a monkey :o). I get very excited when anyone mentions a bath or outside. And I like to pick flowers with daddy (to give to mommy, of course).

I've started giving very good hugs and with a little more practice I'll be giving kisses. I also like to give little love squeezes when I can't give a full hug. For example, if mommy is reading to me and I don't want to turn all the way around to throw my arms around her neck, I'll just hold her forearm and give it a little squeeze to let her know I like how she's reading to me. Creative right?

I also like to put things in & out and on & off, like putting a golf ball in a measuring cup or trying to put lid back on the peanut butter (whoops! don't tell mommy!!). I have a little trouble sometimes, which often leads to loud protests on my part; it's just so frustrating when things don't cooperate with my cute little fingers. Does that ever happen to y'all?

Some of my favorite things to eat are peanut butter sandwiches, apples, bananas, peas, broccoli, green beans, cheese cubes, and crackers. My absolute favorite is pizza...I can put a hurtin' on some pizza!! I love to say "mmm mmm mmm!" when I'm eating. Mommy & daddy will usually join in for even more fun!

Okay, better go. I guess I shouldn't let so much time go by between updates... this is really long!

Gavin

Lucky 13

It's been a busy month! I'm 13 months old! hope all of you are enjoying 2007 as much as I am! I was thinking about decreasing the frequency of my updates to every quarter or something like that, but way too much went on this month not to give you the latest.

My vocabulary has exploded which leads to greater communication with the big people, but also great frustration/annoyance when they just can't get it. Apparently they don't always understand my sophisticated pronunciation of words. I mean, ball, bear, bye bye, bath, blanket, balloon and bite all start with the 'b' sound, so just b/c I say 'ba' doesn't mean that I want a ball EVERY time! One handy tool is my index finger: if I point and say "diss!" they get it! :o) I also say thank you, juice, milk, down, more and a few other things. They have been trying to teach me how to say pea, because I'm always happy to devour as many as they give me, but, really, they look just like balls, so why confuse the issue with extraneous words!? I've even said something resembling I love you once, but my preferred method of communicating affection is still the full-contact tackle.

Well the big news this month is that I no longer have the soothing company of my precious nunu (pacifier). I guess it got tired of me because it started to sprout holes...and then one day the entire end fell off! (I think mommy had something to do with those developments.) Anyway, a nunu with a hole just doesn't do the trick, so I decided to send it off to nunu paradise (with an indignant sound & a shove). I admit, my attitude wasn't always the best, but hey, it was a big sacrifice! Sleeping was tough for about a week, which made pretty much the whole day rough b/c I was tired & cranky. Anyway, glad that's over. I'm completely back to my normal self now except that I take only one nap each day instead of two.

So my latest feats of superhuman abilities include climbing up everything. I get down safe and sound most of the time, but believe me, it isn't as easy as it looks to climb the furniture. I'm thinking about getting some ropes and special foot wear to give me an edge out there. Do they make climbing harnesses for 25-30 pounders?

And now for the injury report: I had a lot of head bumps this month, many due to climbing adventures. The most dramatic wound came in a battle with my play house. I was attempting an especially gutsy move when I lost my grip and busted my lip open. I handled it with class (normal amount of crying), but mommy freaked out and rather than comforting me (hellOO? that's what mommies do!) she starting making frantic phone calls: first daddy then the doctor then daddy again. All the while there was this weird taste in my mouth. Anyway, very mysterious behavior, but when she ascertained that the bleeding had stopped she calmed down considerably. I had a fat lip for a day; that was pretty cool; one can always be proud of battle wounds :o}.

So I play on my own a lot, b/c mommy has stuff to do during the day. Most of the time she can hear me playing, so even if I'm in the other room she knows that I'm okay. My favorite noisy toys play music. :o) However, I think most moms know that when it gets quiet it's time to get worried. Most kids would be prying open the peanut butter or testing the electric sockets with a paper clip, right? Not me! It never fails: I get quiet, mommy jumps up to check on me ... only to find me snuggled in my room reading my books. Okay, okay, before you peg me as a nerd...remember the battle wounds! I've got brawn AND brains!!

Well, I have a couple more teeth...molars. It's tough to show them off b/c they are so far into my mouth. The work great for eating!

I guess that's about it. Talk to all y'all soon!

g

Happy New Year! Happy Birthday!

Happy New Year!! I hope all of you had a great Christmas and that this new year is the best ever! Speaking for myself: Christmas is ...wondrous and crazy and busy and FUN!! I have a whole new set of toys, I got to eat cool stuff and play with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends (old and new) and even doggies (more on that later). It was all a little overwhelming & honestly, I'm having a little trouble adjusting back to normal life! So where do I start? Well, we'll go with the abridged version or else I will have to pay you all overtime to read this. I got to open one gift on Christmas Eve and of course that was a bit traumatic b/c under normal circumstances it is a big no-no to rip paper...with minimal encouragement I got used to the idea ;o). Next we listened to Amahl and the Night Visitors. Yes, that is an opera and no my parents aren't nuts. ;o) Mommy's family had a tradition of listening to a recording of Amahl every year and so we decided to follow suit. Mommy made a couple small changes: she used a CD (rather than the cassette from the dinosaur ages) and she got a picture book so we can read along as we listened to the singing...and good thing, b/c it's really tough to understand what the words are with all that vibrato & drama!! Mommy was learning right along with me even tho she's heard the opera countless times :o). Anyway, even if you don't understand every single word, Amahl is a nice way to remember what Christmas is all about. I'm not sure how much I understand now, but I'm sure mommy & daddy will keep teaching me about Jesus and Christmas...I think they may still be learning themselves. :o)

Ok, so then came Christmas morning, which was sheer madness: I would have been completely happy to play with the new toys I got the night before, but there were several more gifts to tear into that morning...and even more later in the day when family came over. I barely had time to taste everything!! (Uh huh, everything STILL goes straight to my mouth for chewability testing.) Then mommy went crazy cooking and setting out the nice china and for a little bit everyone was scurrying around getting ready for a big meal. And then...I went to bed. Yup, I was snoozing it up while everyone ate. Well, really what would you do? I got upstaged by some toasted bird and squished up cranberries!! Pshhaw! Where's the fun in that??

The day after Christmas we left on a huge world tour...well really we just went to Texas, but we drove forEVER to get there! I was really good, and had so much fun with the friends & family we saw over there. Oh, yeah, and I got even MORE presents on our trip.

So I'm not quite running yet, I mostly do the cowboy stomp. That is small, quick steps with feet raised and legs wide: produces loud noises inside (esp on hardwood floor) and is a very effective mode of transportation in tallish grass. Additional perk: looks very cute & endears me to the public (wink). I just started climbing everything: very scary time for mommy. I also have a few more new words: I say bye bye and nana can mean night-night or Nana (grandma Wheeler); as you can imagine those meanings are both very popular. I also say baba for bottle (sometimes) and I love to try to copy lots of different words, but I don't really know what they mean. And I even try to sing my ABCs (I still need to learn the names of the letters, tho ;o).

Speaking of Nana, she got a new puppy and brought him to visit me for Christmas! I like petting and chasing him. It's much better than visiting the puppies at the pet store...and mommy isn't so tempted to get me a puppy since I can play with Nana's now. I also got to play with a little doggie (Emma) in Texas; she was a LOT of fun!

Well the big day was Tuesday: I'm 1 year old!!! We had a costume party with pizza (yum!) and cake and ice cream (yum yum!!). I dressed up as a dinosaur (rrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaarrrr!) and my cousin Leighton dressed up as a giraffe; the adults were party poopers and didn't dress up at all. We had to take the costumes off eventually because we aren't supposed to get food all over them. I got a whole new batch of presents even though I've barely gotten the ones from Christmas out of their boxes! I was a bit dazed because I missed my afternoon nap, but that didn't prevent me from flinging bits of pizza and cake all over; making sure much of the frosting ended up in my hair; and wrestling with Leighton over my new toys. I think we should have birthday parties everyday!

Well I'll sign off with the statistical bit: I have 12 teeth (molars are on their way), I'm 33 inches tall (100th percentile) and I weigh just over 25 lb.s (80th percentile). I went to the doctor today, and she said she can't remember seeing a kid my age with so many teeth! :o) The good news is that after this set of molars come through I have only one more set...I guess then my teeth will start falling out, but maybe, just maybe I will get a break from teething!

Much love and best wishes for the new year!!
Gav