Gavin: 12 Months

The big O-N-E!! I can't even believe we are here. No more answering the "How old is he" question in measurements of months. We have moved up into the years. And what a year it has been! Not only has Gavin changed, so have we. The day we brought him home, we had no clue what we were doing. What does that sound mean? Is he going to be able to breathe in his crib? Why won't he smile? Is he warm enough? Now when we hear a sound, we know it means he wants more Puffs or he wants to get down. He loves sleeping in his crib and he smiles constantly. What we didn't know then is that we already had everything we needed to be good parents: love.

Our sweet birthday boy

 

And oh boy do we love that little guy. It grows stronger as he grows bigger. Of course I miss a few things that come along with having an infant. But becoming a toddler has been so much fun. He has become mobile which means he can go anywhere his little mind wants to take him. It isn't necessarily all the places Mommy will let him go, but he is learning! He has acquired the typical little boy fascination with trucks and cars. He is growing faster than I can keep his closet full of clothes that will fit him. We have had to lower his crib mattress as he quickly figured out how to stand up in there. He pulls himself up on the coffee table and it won't be too long before he starts taking his first steps. So this month, like the last, has brought on a lot of developmental changes in our little boy.

Peek-a-boo! Starting to stand up with the coffee table

His birthday was on Sunday, so after we went to church, it was full on party mode! We had a few friends over to help celebrate Gavin's big day. I didn't really go with any sort of theme as I had very little time to plan something because I was in Florida for a couple of weeks and well, because I am a procrastinator. Gavin could have cared less what we did. My major concern was what type of alcohol should I have at a party that is being held at 3:00 on a Sunday afternoon. I know that sounds awful, but listen, there were NO kids coming to his party. It was all adults and you have to cater to the company! So I decided to make some Blueberry Vodka Lemonade and it was delicious!

Yummy!

The big highlight of the party was the cake. Or so we thought. He was, to say the least, not a fan. At all. When we finally got his fingers in the icing, he held his hand out to me with this look on his face saying, "Please wipe this awful stuff off my fingers!" I tried to feed him some of the icing and then some of the cake and he was not having any of it. At least he was able to smear some of it on his face so we got some really cute birthday pictures.

Completely excited about what is going on

Ooooh, this looks like fun!!!!!

Ok, no. I don't like it.

 

I don't like the cake, but I could totally get used to being dirty!

 

Heading for the bathtub

Birthday bath!! Nothing like frosting clouded water

The aftermath

He got a ton of trucks for his birthday. They are his new found love. He doesn't know which one to pick up next. But the biggest surprise of the day was his electric four wheeler that he got from NeeNee and PP. It took him about three minutes to figure out the button that makes it go and stop and we haven't been able to stop him since. He got books, money, clothes, shoes and all sorts of toys. He is one blessed and loved little boy.

All clean! Now its present time!!!

 

He absolutely LOVED bouncing his new balls on the tile

All these new toys and he is interested in the camera!

So our first year of Gavin has come to a close and a brand new one is starting. He has brought such joy to our lives and every day is an adventure. I really cannot believe how fast this is all going by. We still have no clue what we are doing but I would say at least we have a better handle on things. He isn't such a foreign being in our lives, he IS our lives. So here is to the many more years of Gavin. I can't wait to live all of them!