Florida 2009

Over the weekend of Gavin's ACTUAL birthday we went to Florida this year with my family. It was so fun for us all to have a few days down there together and Gavin had lots of fun with all the attention he was getting. The weather was HOT and rainy for the first few days but it did clear up and give us some sun to go with that humidity. As usual, we had a great time together and enjoyed relaxing for a few days.

Right off the bat, Gavin started fishing with his Uncle Chad.

Getting excited for the "shark zone" in the pool.

The squirt gun left Gavin in fits of laughter.

Gavin & Daddy hunting down targets.

Learning to swim all by himself--with JUST his swimmies!! Such a big boy!

Throwing Gavin in the air....

a tad bit higher...

...and the picture that makes a Mom have to turn away.

Nice dinner out.

Riding high with "ky-ky"

Birthday treat.

He couldn't decide which was more effective...his tongue or the sample spoon.

Kids.

The whole gang.

Gator Bait.

After what this gator did to Harry...Gavin was having none of it.

Come on, how cute is this?

So cute, I had to post another one.

Harrison with Auntie Jenny.

Rough housing.

A double-dunk.

Happy Birthday--officially 2 that day.

Making friends.

Birthday dinner...no candle so we went high class and used a lighter.

Awesome, I know.

Doesn't really matter as long as there was a treat involved.

Family Swim.

Grandma and her two boys.

Another family swim.

Gavin & Harrison.

Harris Fun

The weekend of Gavin's party, the Harrises were in town for a couple of days staying with us. We obviously tried to maximize our time together which we pretty much accomplished. Saturday was party day, Sunday we went to the zoo and out for pizza after naps, Monday we went to fall fest...and that is about all we could pack into 2 1/2 days. As always, it was fun to have them with us and the kids never tired of each other...in fact, there were more than a few tears when they had to say goodbye.

Cuddle bugs watching morning cartoons.

Three little bouncing joeys.

Daddy and Gavin.

The Harris men.

Mommy & Gavin.

Monkey Hunt.

The other Harris fam.

Moe & Aunt Jenny - all smiles.

Hanging out in front of the dinosaur.

Apparently, a TERRIBLE group shot if you can even tell.

The animal I most identify with at the zoo currently.

We were SUPER excited when the seals came close.

BFFs.

Smiling b/c for now he's still number 1 in my book.

Moe, Gavin, me & Great Grandma Norton.

Two little monkeys jumping on the bed.

Katy loves sharing her popcorn...

...and kisses...my kinda girl.

Having lots of fun at fall fest.

Out of 20, this is the best pic we got.

Dancing with Grandma.

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Over Labor Day weekend we celebrated Gavin's birthday with an animal themed bash. We invited all our family over for dinner and lots of birthday spoiling of our little 2 year old. Gavin was IN HEAVEN. It was like every way he turned he saw one of his favorite people...cousins, aunts, uncles, grandmas and grandpas...he didn't know who to show things to first because he was so overwhelmed having all his favorite people in one place, JUST FOR HIM. He of course loved the presents and especially the cake. In fact...since the party we've celebrated a few more times and hence have had cake lingering in the house-every time you say the word birthday he acts like he is blowing out a candle and runs to the kitchen pointing to where the cake is. Trust me at 2, he may not be doing a lot of things yet but he definitely knows what a birthday is.

Lots of fun things awaiting his excited little hands.
Enjoying dinner.
His fabulous animal/jungle cake.

Salivating and getting ready to blow.

It took a couple blows and some help from Mom but we'd been practicing so he knew EXACTLY what to do.

Finally...time to eat it up...and he ate the plate clean.

Sharing with Daddy.

And even sharing with Grandpa.

Look what I'm eating!!

Starting to open presents.

One of the first presents was a tool set--which he was so excited about, he almost didn't open another gift. Needless to say, it was a huge hit.

He wanted the goggles on...but when they were on, his mouth had to be open and we aren't sure why. This picture is quite a moment he was having.

More with tools...and with the mouth.

He got a new tricycle and helmet!!

Kate had to bring her tricycle in too so they could both be on them.

We are all about safety in our house...so we were considering leaving the helmet on for awhile or all the time.

Punching Bag!!

Grandma, Harrison and Aunt Heather.

Hanging out.

"Fixing" the table.

More tool fun with the girls and Daddy.

Our fam at the end of the night...party pooped.

Speech Update

We started speech in March ....so 6 months in, I thought it was time for an update. Gavin has been consistently seeing "Miss Lisa" the speech therapist once a week. Usually each session is similar to the last and to most people (and to me at times) just feels like an organized playtime. Miss Lisa brings her toys and props so as to engage Gavin in some sort of discourse.

As I have posted before, he's gotten quite good at signing and can sign most of the commands he would need throughout the day. This isn't to say he does them readily all the time and still can get quite frustrated but at least we can communicate.

One of the skills he has really improved on is "repeating." He will try (emphasis on the word try) to repeat most sounds you make which has resulted in some sort of speech. According to our therapist this is a great skill that he is developing and as we start to be a bit more discriminatory in his noises, it should also lead to more speech. For example, when working on the word "up", we try to get him to say "ahhhhh" and then the "p" sound. Well sometimes his first response when I say, "Tell Mama UP" is a very enthusiastic "BEE-BA!!"...obviously, very wrong. So where we used to say, "good talking" and take any noise we can, we are starting to be a bit more picky in what we'll accept and keep encouraging him to try again.

At this point though, we do have a few words...they are very few but when he knows one, my word, I hope you like it b/c he just uses it constantly.

Here's what we have:

Mama
Daddy
Mama (in reference to Grandma)
Papa (Grandpa)
More (pronounced MO)
Hi
Buh-Bye
Uh-oh
Wow or Woah
Yes (usually just a very soft "sssss")
Cheese (usually without the CH sound and the S sound so not super good)
Please (again, as two separate sounds: P + eeee, sometimes with an s)
Open (sounds like "oooohhh +ma)...or whatever other sound he decides to add in there.

So really, its a toss up. We're getting close on "baby, up, on"....but I think that's about it. We still have to prompt him on about half of these and if you heard them, trust me, you would have NO idea he just said a word.

As of last week my speech therapist keeps claiming he's "on the verge" of talking b/c his babbling has increased. If anything, I think we're just on the verge of going crazy. So, hopefully in time and before baby number 2 starts talking, Gavin will decide to grace us with words and sentences. One day, I hope I'll be posting something like "funny things Gavin said." Until then...more ST, PT and OT updates to come.

Occupational Therapy

So we have just recently added OT to our weekly "regiment" with Gavin. We've had two sessions so far--the first was pretty much informational and the second we did delve into a bit more "OT" work.


So far, the OT session was comprised of bouncing on the yoga ball for core strength, doing lots of arm stability/balance excercises over the ball (very hard) and over my lap. We also did some fun swinging exercises which he loved and some rolling exercises. Alot of the OT for Gavin involves movement which he LOVES and some of these activities had him eagerly yelling for "more" and laughing. Some on the other hand...were a challenge and had him running away whining and crying.


As the weeks go by, we'll get into more sensory type stuff so we'll see how it goes. At this point, we're desperate for the kid to start talking so we're willing to try anything. We are just hoping for the best and praying that at some point all this therapy is going to pay off.

Peek-A-Boo

The other morning I was getting ready to take a shower with Gavin so we could get going for the day. Usually he hops right in and starts playing with the toys and shampoo bottles. This particular morning, he thought it would be WAY more fun if I chased him around to get him in there. My chasing resulted with him cornered in the closet...which led to a hysterical game of peek-a-boo...which of course had me running through the house naked for my camera. Sigh, the things a Mom will do for a good picture.

The best part of these pics...like I can't see those two chubby little legs sticking out.

Totally laughing and proud of himself each time.

What a grin!

Yet again....where's Gavin?

Such a ham!!