First Swimming Lesson

Clay has always said that he wanted to be the one that gave Gavin swimming lessons since he used to teach them when he was a lifeguard.  There were only a couple of problems I saw with that 1. We have no pool 2. If we don't schedule it, it will NEVER happen.  So a couple of weeks ago we decided to go ahead and set a regular time and day every week and then see if we could use Clay's nephew's pool.  Well we got it all set up for the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and then Clay got an invite to go saltwater fishing that I couldn't possibly ask him to pass up on.  Thankfully these friends also have a pool and invited me and Gavin over after they got back from fishing so that Clay could give Gavin his first lesson.

I have been somewhat anxious about the whole thing because although Gavin loves to play in the water (bathtub, hose, baby pool), he never wants to get in a big pool, even if it is only ankle deep.  It was so incredibly hot that day that I think his wariness was outweighed by the fact that if he didn't get in, he was going to roast to death on the cool deck.  

Clay decided to try and acclimate him to the water by putting him in this pool float......

As you can see, Gavin was not impressed at all!   And I of course am playing sideline coach, telling (screeching) at Clay to take him out.

But eventually it worked, just like Clay knew it would.

Then came the dunking session, teaching him to hold his breath.  I know there is no other way to do it, but it nearly gave me an ulcer.  Amazingly enough, it didn't bother Gavin at all, he never cried at all....go figure.

But then the floating and kicking segment, which didn't bother me at all, brought on plenty of crying and No, No Daddy! before he finally just gave in and did it.

 Clay tried several times to get Gavin to jump off the side to him and Gavin never would do it.  But as soon as Wes got in the pool, Gavin jumped right to him....poor Daddy :-).  Clay and I both decided that it was probably best, if I didn't attend future swimming lessons or at least until Gavin gets over his apprehension.  So I don't have any pictures from this past Saturday but hopefully I will be allowed back soon and can get some then.

The cool weather that we were having the first couple of weeks in May have definitely been replaced by the extreme heat we are used to this time of year which makes us all the more thankful for the kiddie pool that Gavin got for this birthday.  Gavin always wants to be outside so having this pool makes it much more bearable for all of us although only one of us plus Gavin can fit semi-comfortably :-).  Poor Clay almost passed out having to blow it up though....

I'll leave you with a couple of cute pictures of Gavin on our way to the grocery store on Sunday.  Silly boy!  We are heading to the zoo this weekend so hopefully I will have lots of pictures next week!

2nd year and Birthday weekend

Gavin has changed so much over this past year.  It is hard to believe all the things he does now!

He is super talkative and most everything is understandable although he gets some of the letters in the words jumbled or reversed for example blue, he says bulah.  Or some he doesn't start out quite right, for instance lap, he pronounces as yap and crown he pronounces as fown.  But then he will go on these tangents where he is apparently holding a very animated conversation with an imaginary friend or just with himself, where he seems to be speaking in another language :-).  Along with his language developments he has also developed quite the bossy streak!  Earlier this week he told me, "Mommy, Mommy, sit down......NOW!"  Complete with the pause , I couldn't believe it!!!  Most of the time it is really amusing, but I am confident that it will begin to be un-amusing very soon.

He has also really gotten into singing songs lately.  We sing the Mickey Mouse song, the intro to Elmo's world, ABCs, Row, Row your boat, Old McDonald, and the blessing "God our Father".  I have to get a video of him doing that, it is so sweet!

Things he currently loves:
Tractors
Trains
Trucks
Being outside
Slides
Anything he can ride on
Coloring
Play doh
Wrestling with his Daddy
Books
Baths

Favorite foods:
Baked beans (especially from Smokin Pig)
Bananas
Apples
Chicken Nuggets
Chippies (any kind of chips)
Green Peas
Mandarin Oranges

On the Friday before his birthday we showed up at his school for a little birthday party with his class.  Clay and I had made these cookie frogs from Oreos, pretzels, and M&Ms.  They turned out super cute although I don't really think they look much like frogs since they are dark brown.

 Then once we got home he wanted to play in the "cars" and he happened to find one of his birthday presents from Mrs. Angie.  He was SUPER excited about it!

 From the looks of it, he may be a much better golfer than baseball player though.....

Saturday morning we had pancakes for breakfast and then headed to Jump-n-Jacks for a little birthday edition of how tired can we make Gavin so he will take a good nap??  I never get good pictures when we go there, not sure if it is our camera or if it is just a fact of life because he is moving so fast....

I know this is not a very becoming picture, but it made me laugh pretty loud when I was just going through them deciding which ones to post.....bad Mommy!

After that it was time for a Mickey D's Happy Meal and a NAP!  Mom also took a nap so Clay was saddled with the majority of the responsibility for putting together the turtle cake we had made.  It was my idea and I baked it and made the icing but Clay gets most of the credit for the rest of it.  I have trouble icing anything without getting crumbles everywhere and I figured he would do a better job of cutting out the shapes.  I will say that we should have just gone back to the store and gotten the green fruit rollup or Starburst things instead of trying to use food coloring on the Tootsie-Rolls.  But all in all I say it was a huge success!!

After Gavin woke up it was time to head to the park to meet the all the cousins and the McCrary's who just so happened to be in town last weekend!

Gavin getting pulled around in his present from Clay's Dad by his cousin Kaleigh

 Gavin's spider monkey cousin Charleigh

Gavin and all his girl cousins, who adore him!  As you can see he is more interested in the cake than he is girls, which makes Mommy super happy!

I feel like he is saying, "I CAN DO THIS!!!" to himself :-)

Papa offering a little sideline assist

 I just loved this one, that face is priceless!

Sunday Papa Waldron and MeMe came to visit for Mother's Day and to bring Gavin his present.

It took who I consider to be three very smart men, a significant amount of time to put this little truck together.....

 Gavin doing his own sound effects, vrrroooooommmmmmm

Daddy's sunglasses complete the scene

Time for a little healthy competition between Gavin and MeMe or should I say Papa and Uncle Dave :-)

After the loss, Gavin decided to take matters into his own hands, since Papa was apparently way too slow

All in all, it was a wonderful birthday weekend for Gavin I think and he got tons of presents that should hopefully keep him entertained during those long hot Saturdays and Sundays.

Oh and Gavin had his 2 yr well visit today and he is currently:
34 3/4 inches tall in the 65th percentile, which is REALLY weird because at his last visit 6 months ago he was in the 75th and he has grown 2 3/4 inches since then!
His weight was 32 lbs, which was in the usual 90th percentile
And his head was 20 inches around, big ol noggin!!