Yonker Christmas

On Saturday we celebrated Yonker Christmas with all my aunt, uncles and cousins. Gavin was basically out of control. He learned what opening presents is and wanted to help everyone rip off their paper. He also skipped a nap that afternoon so his usual hyper-self was escalated. When he sees Anne's son Sam, he goes crazy and just starts bear-hugging in anticipation of a wrestling session. So...he acted accordingly and as the afternoon went on he got increasingly less balanced on his own two feet. Keeping up with him was a nightmare. However, he had a great time and it was fun to all be together and celebrate Christmas.

Gavin pointing to all the pretty ornaments, wanting to touch them all.

The parents gave my grandparents a gangster tour in the city...this was the comic presentation.

Gavin helps Great Grandpa Dody with her present.

Gift hit of the night with all the kids...and some dads too. Wrestle-Mania.
Happy, hyper boy.

Merry Christmas To Us!!

Thursday night Chad and I went out on a great date night! We went out for a nice dinner downtown and then to see Harry Connick Jr.'s holiday show. It was SO great. Dinner was fun...it was so nice to relax and talk over a great meal and then head to the show which was....FABULOUS!! Obviously, I am a bit obsessed and a bit in love with Harry so for me the shows are always great but this one was fantastic. He did Christmas stuff and non-Christmas stuff and was super entertaining and funny...sigh...it was great and I left on cloud nine. However, when we left, per our tradition, I made Chad stand in 8 degree weather so Harry could sign our tickets! I make him do it everytime and this time he just kept repeatedly saying, "you're nuts." So...I may be but it was so worth it! The whole night was great.

We decided this would be our Christmas present to each other this year (even though it is so more for me than him) in hopes that the other big gift we'll give each other is a new house!!

Of course I forgot my camera....so no cute pics for the night. :(

15 Months

Fifteen months old...We had our Dr's check up which went pretty well. He was quite the ham for the Dr....he walked around, was sitting on the little stool and treated her to many of his fake laughs and plenty of smiles. He was definitely showing off...which was good considering her "concerns" that we talked about. He is a healthy growing boy and is in great health however, we talked about the lack of speech and she seems to be a bit concerned. Hmm. It is true, he isn't talking...he may have said Mama or Dada a couple times but nothing regular and beyond that, there are no words. So, she wants to do a speech check in 1 month. In the meantime, we need prayers that this little boy of ours will miraculously start spitting it out. She gave us a few tips of using overexaggerated excitment with words to get him to repeat...but seriously, none of this is anything we haven't done. So, we'll see and pray and keep our fingers crossed.

As for stats: 33 inches tall and 24 lb 3 oz.

At 15 months his favorite things are giving kisses, giving high fives, head-butting, running (which is quite dangerous), chasing Maddie, giving hugs and destroying my house. He listens and comprehends really well and knows when you ask him to do things. He loves to mimic...apparently just now sounds so much. He is a funny little guy and we just love him.

O Christmas Tree

So Gavin cracks me up with this Christmas Tree. Every morning he gets VERY excited when we go downstairs and starts pointing and babbling. When I put him down, he methodically walks around the tree "commenting" on every ornament one by one. He says somethign about each one and then moves to the next ornament. Sometimes he wants to sit on my lap while we look at it and then quickly gets up and begins pointing again. We keep telling him "no-no" and "don't touch" and for the most part he has totally been listening. Then again, the other day I was in the kitchen and it became VERY quiet over by him...when he returned to the room, he had a nice shiny red ornament in his grubby little paws...

Science & Industry

Tuesday we went to the Museum of Science and Industry for the first time! My cousin Anne invited us to go along so that Gavin could spend some more time with his cousin Sam. (The last time they were together, Gavin followed Sam's every move and almost attacked him with a big wet kiss). So in an effort to have some fun playtime together, Anne, Sam & Marot, Erin & Charlie and Gavin & I all went to the museum. It was a huge hit--Gavin loved watching the trains and the newly hatched baby chicks. However, we spent MOST of our time in a huge interactive play area where the kids played with big blocks, water fountains, watched bubbles, threw balls, etc. By the end of the day, the kids were melting down before our eyes. We made it home at which point my little trooper took a 2 hour nap. It was a great outing and we hope to do it again soon.

Let It Snow!!

Earlier this week we got our first offical snow that stuck around so Gavin and I thought we'd enjoy it a little bit. It took my mom and I as a team about two times longer to get him bundled up than we actually made it outside. Ha! We put him in a snowsuit and boots and seriously, he couldn't even move. We plopped him in the snow and while he was amused for awhile, the inability to move which led to a faceplant in the snow cut our time outdoors quite short.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving weekend was jam-packed with activities. It was crazy and I have so many things to post so they are all happening in one big post. I'll explain as I go along. Starting with...

Thanksgiving Day for us is generally very busy. We start with church and then head out to Hinsdale to my Aunt Jeanne's house for a big Thanksgiving feast with all my Mom's side. Gavin enjoyed his first taste of a Thanksgiving dinner.

Next stop is Chicago Christian High School's gym with all my Dad's & Grandma Yonker's extended family...I think the crowd was 75 this year. It is always fun to see random relatives and we used to love playing hoops in the gym while the adults talked...and now we are doing the talking...and Gavin well...take a look...

(Chad was reliving his glory days checking out his old titles which Gavin will quite obviously hope to outnumber some day)

Finally we head back to Grandma Yonker's and end the night with something we aren't too proud of....

yep...we devoured a few crave cases of sliders

Friday...insanity...Gavin and I tried to brave the mall of all places. It was not one of our better decisions however, Grandma let him enjoy a special treat with her while we were there.



Saturday night marked our official start to the Christmas season with the Huizenga Christmas party in yet another gym...this one being Timothy Christian. Gavin loved running and playing and apparently slam dunking...hmm.

Oh yeah...and his first boy kiss...thankfully he'll kiss anything in sight lately so we can't be too concerned. :)

Sunday...picking of the Christmas tree. We usually go the Sunday after Thanksgiving and although we don't cut it down, we pick out a nice Frasier Fir for the holidays.

Gavin helped in the freezing cold but he gravitated to those just his size.