Gavin’s Development Through the First Year…
Month 1:
I wanted to write a quick note to let all of you know that we are doing well. This first month has flown by, despite our sleep deprivation. Gavin is breast feeding about every 3 hours on a pretty regular schedule. Shannon took 3 weeks off to be at home with us, which was a big help. Also both grandparents came down and spoiled him rotten. Gavin has already started to change in his appearance. I think he has a lot of Shannon’s traits right now. He has the milk induced double chin and his hair is getting lighter in color. This month he was able to recognize himself in the mirror, roll over on his side, grasp things in his hands for a few seconds, and lift his head for a few seconds. It is fun watching all of his thousand faces. We are really enjoying our times as parents. Most of the time he is a very happy baby. Very bright eyed and takes it all in, always afraid he’ll miss something. On March 6th he weighed 7lb 12oz and was 22 inches long. I am sure he is much heavier now. At 3 weeks we did a photo shoot here in the house of him and Shannon got some really great shots. If you haven’t checked them out on our website, we have many, many pictures of him as he grew up this month.
I am healing well I believe. I go back to the doctor April 1 to get the go ahead to go back to my normal routine. I can’t wait to start running again and resume yoga. For now I am taking Gavin for longer walks each day and doing my ab exercises. Some extra sleep would be nice, but I hear that I have a while before that comes!
Up and coming:
We will continue to update the website with month 2 pictures. We also hope to have Gavin baptized in KS in April. More details on that later. We have many guests coming to visit in the next month which we are looking forward to, as well as my best friend Leah coming to KS from North Carolina with her two little ones.
Month 2:
Gavin had his two month appointment today. He weighs 12lb 2oz and is 23 1/4in long. Heavier than I thought! He even did pretty good with his shots. He had 5 of them and cried for just a little while.
In the last month he has grown so much. He recognizes Shannon and I and our voices. He is smiling, cooing, and talking all the time. He is getting better at holding his head up, holding toys, and batting at things in his reach. He loves to listen to stories and to me singing (no matter how terrible it is). He has found his hands but we are anxiously a waiting the day he finds his feet! He loves his daddy. When Shannon finally gets to come home at the end of the day, he can’t seem to put Gavin down. Gavin loves to laugh and smile at daddy’s crazy faces and funny voices. Once again, Shannon is a hit with the kids!
On April 13th, Gavin was baptized in Aurora, KS. He did so good. He didn’t cry one bit. In fact, he slept through church and only awoke with big eyes when the water touched his forehead, and he went right back to sleep. He was exhausted though after being passed from one family member to the next. His first 5 hour drive went well. We stopped once for a rest and to feed and change him, but other than that he did really great! While we were in KS we met up with my best friend from North Carolina. She flew back to visit her grandmother in Omaha and decided to swing down and spend the weekend with us. It was so great to see her. It had been 4 years since I had seen her. She bravely brought her 2 little girls; Ashlynn who is 4 yrs old and Peyton who is 9 months. We had a great time catching up and sharing our stories as moms. Check out our website for pictures of the baptism, Leah’s visit, and more photos in the Gavin month 2 album.
Month 3:
Gavin turned 3 months this weekend so I thought it would be a perfect time for an update. He is doing really well. This month he has started so many new things. He is discovering things with his mouth, he loves to stand with help, and he talks all the time. One day his cry came out sounding like “Mommmmyyyy.” His little legs go all the time. One morning I found he had scooted himself out of the cocoon of his blanket and scooted until his head touched the bumper in the crib. He also started to go to sleep by himself. When it’s nap time he lets me know and I lay him down. It is so precious. When he wakes up he smiles at me when I show up beside his crib and he wiggles like crazy in excitement to start the day. Shannon and I also left him for an hour with one of our friends while we went out to dinner, so it was his first time without either of us and he slept the whole time. For my first mother’s day Shannon watched him while I got a massage and a haircut and they took me to the zoo. Gavin slept most of the time for his first outing to the zoo, but he did notice the sea lions when they swam past him like a bullet in the tank. He kept his eyes on the sea lion no matter how fast he went past. Gavin is still nursing, however we are gradually teaching him to take formula in case I cannot be with him all of the time. He doesn’t have much of a taste for it, but he is getting better. He has established his favorite toy as one of Baby Einstein sun’s that sing and blink with flashing lights and he just laughs and talks to it like they are best friends. His sleeping at night is about the same as last month. He is such a good little baby I couldn’t ask for more. He loves to smile and laugh and see the world. When daddy gets home he is just a ball of excitement.
Unfortunately, Shannon has been asked to deploy to Afghanistan for 6 months. He will leave in June for a couple of weeks to go to training and then he will return for a few days and leave the first part of July for the deployment. He has been busy doing things to get us ready. He is having a tornado shelter installed in the floor of our garage. With the weather this year being so bad, he decided it was well worth the money knowing we would be safe. He also bought us a generator for if we have another ice storm or power outage of some sort. He has hired someone to help me take care of our land as well. We are going to miss him very much. Our plan is to visit KS for a few weeks here and there to break up the loneliness. But we want to stay home and enjoy our routine, the friends we have made, and all the work Shannon and our families have helped put into our back yard. We also are expecting some visitors this summer. It will be so nice to have company!
Month 4:
Time flies when you have a baby! Gavin is 4 months old today! Incredible! He weighs 13lb 15 oz and is 25 ¾ inches. The Dr says he is one healthy good looking little boy (he eats, sleeps, and poops). We are very thankful.
He learned to do so many new things this month. He slept through the night a few times (about 10PM to 5 AM). But of course it didn’t last and is very sporadic, otherwise he wakes once a night and then talks to himself about 5 AM, 6AM and then is ready to get up around 7:30AM. He is still breastfeeding about 6 times a day and has started taking formula in the eve as a little supplement. He found his thumb, feet, and loves to touch daddy’s face. He laughs a lot, and there is nothing sweeter than baby’s laughter. He held his bottle by himself for a few seconds, took out and put in his own pacifier, and started holding toys with his hands and feet. And of course EVERYTHING goes in his mouth. We also started playing out in our new baby pool. He seems to like it.
Gavin and I survived 2 weeks alone while Shannon was at training and now that we have him back, Gavin spends as much time with him as possible, laughing and playing. Daddy means playtime, mommy means business. Gavin and I started going to a couple of classes together while Shannon was away. The base provides a Baby and Me class where we have playtime with other kids and grownups. We also started attending a Rhythm Babies class where we learn fun songs and dances. Gavin is by far the youngest in that class, but it’s fun and I am learning some new material for home! I went to a class just for mommies where Gavin went into their little childcare room with some other children. We are given buzzers so if we are needed Mommies can rush back in and save the day as needed. It is a great facility. This was my first time leaving him with someone besides family. After 15 minutes my buzzer went off. Little G was not happy. Turns out he didn’t like to hear other babies crying and there were about 6 of them giving their very best hollers. The women that work there are saints.
My parents came down to visit over Memorial Weekend. Shannon and I also celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary that weekend. So Grandma and Grandpa Alderson got to babysit. Shannon and I went to a new movie theatre and out for some Frozen Custard. It was a nice short getaway. Gavin of course had his grandparents wrapped around his little finger and so he didn’t nap too well while we were gone. Oh well, what are grandparents for?
Shannon will be leaving the end of next week. We are not looking forward to it, but some friends gave us some great ideas for his deployment. We had some pictures of him blown up to poster size and hung them around the house so that Gavin can see daddy in almost every room. We are also videotaping Gavin and daddy playing so that Gavin can hear his voice and see them playing on TV once in awhile. We also recorded Shannon reading some books to Gavin.
Month 5:
Today is Gavin's 5
month mark. We are currently visiting family in KS. He is having a great
time getting spoiled rotten. At the end of June Shannon left for his
deployment. Gavin and I would wake up every morning and give his daddy's
picture a kiss and a hello. It was so cute, he would reach out his hand and
touch daddy's face in the picture and smile.
He is rolling over from back to front and front to back. He gets his knees up under him ready to crawl but for now is just sort of scooting a few inches. He has started solid foods, this week is sweet potatoes. He isn't sure about them and makes a face but he certainly knows what food is. His grandma had him taste a pickle and he seemed to enjoy the flavor. He recognizes what food is and tries to get it from me before it reaches my mouth. He opens his mouth when I am eating something he thinks he wants. He is sleeping most nights from 8 PM to 5 AM which is really nice. He hums and sings to himself before he goes to sleep or just when he needs some entertainment. He says na-na a lot and makes this cute little face when he's frustrated. I am trying to get it on camera for the website. We have taken a ton of pictures this month and they are up on the net for all to see. He is getting so big. I have a hard time hanging on to him when it's time for a diaper change. He stayed up at my cousin's wedding to party it up. He danced and got handed around like candy. He loves the attention.
I am not sure what I will do when we get home in August and there is no one for him to go to but me! Speaking of which, most of my August and September weekends are open, so I am taking names and dates for those of you who want to visit. Please fill up my calendar so we aren't so lonely! I definitely want company to make the time pass. We are heading home around Aug 5 and have Shannon's sister coming the weekend of Aug 8, other than that, our schedule is open.
Month 6:
He is rolling over from back to front and front to back. He gets his knees up under him ready to crawl but for now is just sort of scooting a few inches. He has started solid foods, this week is sweet potatoes. He isn't sure about them and makes a face but he certainly knows what food is. His grandma had him taste a pickle and he seemed to enjoy the flavor. He recognizes what food is and tries to get it from me before it reaches my mouth. He opens his mouth when I am eating something he thinks he wants. He is sleeping most nights from 8 PM to 5 AM which is really nice. He hums and sings to himself before he goes to sleep or just when he needs some entertainment. He says na-na a lot and makes this cute little face when he's frustrated. I am trying to get it on camera for the website. We have taken a ton of pictures this month and they are up on the net for all to see. He is getting so big. I have a hard time hanging on to him when it's time for a diaper change. He stayed up at my cousin's wedding to party it up. He danced and got handed around like candy. He loves the attention.
I am not sure what I will do when we get home in August and there is no one for him to go to but me! Speaking of which, most of my August and September weekends are open, so I am taking names and dates for those of you who want to visit. Please fill up my calendar so we aren't so lonely! I definitely want company to make the time pass. We are heading home around Aug 5 and have Shannon's sister coming the weekend of Aug 8, other than that, our schedule is open.
Month 6:
It’s already been half a year! Hard to believe. And this last month has been a whirlwind with Gavin doing so many new things. When people say “they grow up so fast” they aren’t kidding! The end of July we were in Kansas visiting the grandparents. During that time he stopped sleeping through the night but we are back home and back on track. As you can see from our website photos and videos we had a busy month. Gavin played in the big pool and loved it. He also started solid foods; rice cereal, banana, oatmeal, and avocado are some of his favorites. He loves to try and do it himself. I am also having him drink directly from a cup. No sippy cups needed here! I am taking a stab at making my own baby food. This month I have a lot of work ahead of me as we get into even more variety of fruits and veggies.
On August 5th we made the long drive back home to Oklahoma. We were both ready to be home but not enjoying the ride. I stopped 5 times and he cried for 4 of the 5 hours. As soon as we got home though he was a happy baby. We were glad to start back into our routine. The following weekend Nedra and Shane came to visit. While in the Bass Pro Shop he waved out of nowhere to Aunt Nedra. It was so adorable we got it on tape. I haven’t been able to get him to do it the same since. Now it’s like a big arm wave. During this month he also started rolling and army crawling to get where he wants to go. Which means he gets into trouble. He can sit up on his own for over a minute. At his 6 month dr appt he weighed 15 lb 10 oz. He even did well with his shots. He gets a fever a few hours later but that’s about it. Next time we go is at 9 months and no shots are necessary, whoo-hoo!
To stay occupied we are going to our baby classes and having playdates with other moms and babies. We go for walks and mess around in the yard. His friend Jonah who is just 5 days older than him, look at each other, smile, talk, and touch each other’s faces and shake hands. It’s very adorable. He loves to watch me blow bubbles. He follows them all around until they pop and waits for me to make more. He realizes if he touches them they pop. One of his favorite games is to drop toys on the floor and watch me bend over to get them. He likes to make sure I get in my daily workout!
Next week we have a six month photo shoot at JCPenny’s. Our first professional shoot. We’ll see how he does for someone else’s camera. We know with mine he’s a big ham!
My parents are coming down Labor Day weekend and we are hoping for more visitors to come down and help speed up the time before Shannon gets home in January. Plus I am looking forward to a break!
Shannon is doing well. He is ready to come home. They are over-working him. Luckily he finds time to talk to me online and give the occasional call. It makes thing easier. If anyone would like to email him directly, his email is Shannon.cummins@gmail.com He would love to hear from you.
Month 7:
Yes, it’s been 7 months since little Gavin blessed us with his presence. It’s hard to believe he could get any cuter, but he does! We are also nearing the halfway point of Shannon’s deployment. Lord, it feels like forever! But Shannon has been very supportive despite the distance between us and keeps in great contact with us so it makes it so easy. He always takes some time to talk to Gavin on the phone. Until this month, Gavin would just sit and listen and eat the phone. The other day he talked to Shannon on the phone. He got some ooh’s, aah’s, squeals, and spit bubbles. It was great!
Gavin was weighed on Sept 8 at 16 lb 4 oz. He is extremely active and most days I am exhausted and can’t wait for sleep to come. He rarely wants to be held and is like nursing a slippery fish. It’s everything you can do to keep him focused and on task. On the 19th we went to our first professional photo shoot at JCPenny. Gavin did very well. He is always ready for a camera. He’s gotten so used to me photographing his every move.
He has tried an array of new foods and likes most of them.
We have been getting out and doing as much as possible. This month he sat in a shopping cart like a big boy. At first, he was like, “mom what are you doing?” It was funny, but he got the hang of it fast. My parents came to visit and Grandpa Stan babysat while mom and I ran some much needed errands. We have visited the zoo, the local Oktoberfest, Harrah Daze, the Cowboy and Indian Museum, and the Oklahoma State Fair. He has several little playmates we get together with and he loves them all. He loves to watch the older ones run around in envy, and is very curious how they get to move so quickly on two legs. We still enjoy walk in the park several days a week and his favorite part is the windmill. He loves to get out and most of the time his naps are short and sweet, he wants to see it all and is afraid to miss a thing. Sometimes this results in a very grumpy boy at the end of the day.
He started army crawling late last month and is now on the verge of the real thing. He is getting up on all fours and rocks and today he moved a slight bit here and there on all fours and then dropped down to pull himself instead because it was much more efficient. He even does a little yoga. His flexible little body forms a great Up-ward Dog, and Down-ward Dog pose. He goes after Rusty, our cat, all the time. Rusty tolerates it but would much rather be sleeping somewhere in peace and quiet. Often Gavin’s squeals of delight for Rusty are just a little too much and he runs to the high ground to avoid Gavin’s pincher grasp. Pretty soon, the couch will not be a safe zone. Gavin gets into full yoga position to reach Rusty and is almost there! If Gavin’s not after Rusty, he’s rolling up my living room rug or trying to eat my slippers or shoe of the day. He started saying mom-mom a few days ago. Over the monitor one night, he woke and called out mom-mom-mom-mom over and over. So adorable! He says it with both lips completely tucked. Kid cracks me up. We still have no teeth, but I am sure they aren’t far behind. As a nursing mom, I am in no hurry to add teeth to the little piranha’s mouth!
It has been a month of fiasco’s for me, but every day that little boy calls out for me and gets me out of bed. And from then on, the day just flies by. We have many guests in store for the coming weeks. My aunt and uncle, my Grandparents, Shannon’s parents, and my parents again. I enjoy it though. It is great to have company… and I can put them to work! Hee hee!
Month 8:
What a month! There
is so much to say! It has been a whirlwind. Gavin has done more
developing this month than ever and boy has he kept me on my toes. I go to bed
exhausted at night just trying to keep up with him.
Right after his 7
month mark he started crawling on his hands and feet mostly. He does get on all
fours but has decided hands and feet are much more efficient for him. So it’s a
really funny crawl and you can’t help but laugh every time he does it. He
crawls wherever he wants now getting stuck behind the couch, crawling under the
coffee table and the kitchen chairs to examine the screws and how the pieces
are put together. Apparently he’s like his dad and finds the engineering of
things is quite fascinating.
During this last
month he also started pulling himself up and now stands to look out the window,
to pick on Rusty who lounges on the couch, to grab remotes or phones or just to
say hi from his crib. He loves Rusty so much that the cat is on the verge
of losing some weight just from changing positions from one couch to the other
or from one room to the other as Gavin chases him all around. Rusty is
Gavin’s best friend whether he likes it or not! Rusty isn’t the only one
losing weight with the recent developments, Gavin is still sitting at 16lb 13
oz and 28 ½ in.
In the course of
the crawling, cruising, and standing Gavin also learned how to come to sitting
up position on his own from his tummy. One day I left him laying down and
found him sitting up. He never ceases to amaze me, how he just does
things. He also started self feeding. He now can munch on a cracker or
even use his little pinchers to pick up tiny bites of food. He loves the
independence. He developed 2 chompers on the bottom to help him munch on
these foods too. That induced some night time issues but we are slowly dealing
with them, and I am sure it’s not the end. In addition to all the
movement Gavin also started clapping, which is super cute. He claps all
the time now. Especially while eating as if to say, “Yay, I’m eating the
crappy green beans!”
We also had some visitors in the last month; Great Uncle Perry and Aunt Marjean Bemis, Great Grandpa and Grandma Hirt, Grandpa and Grandma Cummins, and Grandpa and Grandma Alderson. It was a joy to have some company and to get a little break myself! We visited the Myriad Botanical Gardens downtown OKC with a friend and have been attending our playgroups. We also started playing at the park and discovered sand, which he just loved. He even did really well and played for awhile without trying to eat it! And he loves the big boy swing. He isn’t much for the baby swing we have at home. He would rather try and figure out how it works than actually swing, which leads to some daring acrobatics, so it’s safe to say we are done with the baby swing!
Well that about
sums it up for Gavin. Shannon is still in Afghanistan and will be home in
2.5 months. We talk almost every day and that brings some reassurance and
a much needed calming effect to my day just to hear his voice. I am exhausted
most of the time, but when I do get a few minutes to myself I like to read, sit
outside and get some fresh air, or work on my scrapbooking. My plan is to
break up the last month and a half or so and go home to KS for the
holidays. So if any of you Kansans will be in Con for the holidays
(Thanksgiving/Christmas) let me know and maybe we can get together.
Month 9:
Today Gavin is 9
months. Hard to believe in the amount of time it took creation to make our
little man ready for this world as he grew in my belly, he has been here with
us in our arms. It is amazing to see how much a tiny cell can grow in 18
months time. The things that little cell learns and
accomplishes.
This month Gavin
perfected his cruising, he does it with ease and excitement to get himself to a
new place. He gets down from one piece of furniture without bruising his
bottom and crawls to the next spot. He also started letting go of the
furniture for up to 10 seconds at a time just hovering, checking his balance.
This past weekend he did a fast walk with the assistance of his walker.
He made it look so easy. He started recognizing the sound of an airplane
and will stop what he’s doing just to listen carefully. He has begun
bouncing to music as his form of dance, which is so adorable. And he
found kitchen cupboards house loud instruments like pots and pans. The
last big thing he has started is saying “ta” for cat or Rusty. And “du”
when he sees a duck.
This month we visited Orr Family Farm in Moore, Ok which was great fun. He rode his first carousel ride, petted a bunny and sheep, and rode a hay ride to sit in a pumpkin patch. We also visited the fire department where he saw how they toot their horn and spray lots of water. He went trick or treating with our neighbor’s son on Halloween to a few homes in the neighborhood as our little pumpkin. We went to the OKC zoo again and to the daycare one day for a few hours. The base offers a “give parents a break” program so for my birthday I dropped him off and went and saw a movie and had dinner. For my birthday Gavin also slept through the night as a gift to me. And one of my girl friends husbands babysat Gavin for a few hours one evening while we went out to dinner. It was a great birthday.
We visited the
doctor a few times for the flu shot and also because he caught a cold which
gave him a fever we couldn’t seem to shake for a few days. Today at his 9
month appt he weighed 17 lb 9 oz and was 28 ½ “ tall.
Shannon has a month
and a half left overseas. He has also had a cold and has been worked to
the bone. Sometimes 36 hours with no sleep, but he still calls us and says
hello no matter what. This past weekend we did webcam which we haven’t
done in forever and Gavin could see him and I think recognized him, though the
picture was grainy.
We leave this week
for Kansas and are looking forward to visiting family and friends for several
weeks before Shannon gets home.
Month 10:
Hello all and Merry
Christmas!
Gavin is 10 months old today. We are currently staying in Concordia, KS with my parents. We are getting spoiled by both Shannon's and my family and enjoying the time here. However, time does not seem to be going any faster to get Shannon home. There is no exact date on when he will be here, but we know it will not be in time for the holidays.
Once again we have had another month of amazing changes in Gavin. The biggest being that he has started walking! Crazy to think a 10 month old is walking, when just about that long ago he was completely helpless! He is not yet walking all the time as his mode of transportation, but he's getting better and better at it by the day. In fact, he was walking and clapping at the same time because we would always clap when he walked the first several times. It was so adorable. He looked like the little monkey without the symbols!
The same day he started walking, he also dialed 911. Yes, grandpa let him play with the house phone even though I told him it probably wasn't a good idea, my dad said, "oh, he can't hurt it." A few minutes later, a policeman showed up at the door wondering why we dialed 911. When he saw Gavin holding the phone, he knew we weren't being held hostage by Christmas burglars, we just had a very intelligent or lucky dialing little boy. Needless to say, it's the last time Grandpa let him have the phone! Oh-- good times!
Back in November, Grandma and Grandpa A babysat Gavin overnight while I went out with some girls from school. It was great to have some free time and Gavin did wonderful. He has started making an assortment of faces including the fish face and now plays peek-a-boo by himself. We caught an adorable video of it and it is on the site. He loves to be the entertainment where ever we go. At Thanksgiving he would go to anyone who would hold him or play with him.
He speaks several more words this month, "hot," "dog," "uh-oh" and "lights". They don't always sound exactly like they are supposed to, but we get the point. He loves the Christmas lights and it is everything we can do to keep them on the tree. When we turn them on he says "light" about 50 times, which follows with us saying "no" about 50 times. It's a fun little game! He sat on Santa's lap at the local Wal-mart and did wonderful. He looked at him and gave his beard a little tug. Yesterday he spent his first few moments in the snow, but he was so bundled up that he couldn't feel anything but the cold on his cheeks! I also think I caught him signing the sign for "more" one day when I was feeding him cheerios, but he hasn't done it since. Gavin also thinks it's fun to gargle his milk when I give it to him in a cup or bottle and laughs when someone burps. Oh, he's such a boy.
He has tried an array of foods this month and likes anything he can feed himself. He is very independent and stubborn. He wants to do it all himself and he wants it his way or the highway, which makes for some interesting and exhausting days. As you'll see from photos on our website, he gets into everything: the dishwasher, the toilet paper, spits food out and throws it on the floor, torments the animals, empty's drawers and cupboards, climbs stairs, gets stuck chasing the cat in tight spaces, and helps decorate or rather, breaks, things for Christmas. He absolutely loves my moms cd player and claps at himself when he turns it on to a music station. He dances to the music. We watch Ellen together and Gavin claps when the audience claps and dances when she starts dancing. He gets a big kick out of her show. I think he has a tooth finally coming in on the top, it might certainly explain his sleepless nights, and I hope it comes out very soon so we can
both get some sleep!
It has been another amazing month and we can't wait for Shannon to get home and share in the joys and craziness of our days. It looks like Gavin might be walking into his arms when he gets off the plane! Well, we hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a great new year and the next time I send an email I hope to say our family is finally back together!
Gavin is 10 months old today. We are currently staying in Concordia, KS with my parents. We are getting spoiled by both Shannon's and my family and enjoying the time here. However, time does not seem to be going any faster to get Shannon home. There is no exact date on when he will be here, but we know it will not be in time for the holidays.
Once again we have had another month of amazing changes in Gavin. The biggest being that he has started walking! Crazy to think a 10 month old is walking, when just about that long ago he was completely helpless! He is not yet walking all the time as his mode of transportation, but he's getting better and better at it by the day. In fact, he was walking and clapping at the same time because we would always clap when he walked the first several times. It was so adorable. He looked like the little monkey without the symbols!
The same day he started walking, he also dialed 911. Yes, grandpa let him play with the house phone even though I told him it probably wasn't a good idea, my dad said, "oh, he can't hurt it." A few minutes later, a policeman showed up at the door wondering why we dialed 911. When he saw Gavin holding the phone, he knew we weren't being held hostage by Christmas burglars, we just had a very intelligent or lucky dialing little boy. Needless to say, it's the last time Grandpa let him have the phone! Oh-- good times!
Back in November, Grandma and Grandpa A babysat Gavin overnight while I went out with some girls from school. It was great to have some free time and Gavin did wonderful. He has started making an assortment of faces including the fish face and now plays peek-a-boo by himself. We caught an adorable video of it and it is on the site. He loves to be the entertainment where ever we go. At Thanksgiving he would go to anyone who would hold him or play with him.
He speaks several more words this month, "hot," "dog," "uh-oh" and "lights". They don't always sound exactly like they are supposed to, but we get the point. He loves the Christmas lights and it is everything we can do to keep them on the tree. When we turn them on he says "light" about 50 times, which follows with us saying "no" about 50 times. It's a fun little game! He sat on Santa's lap at the local Wal-mart and did wonderful. He looked at him and gave his beard a little tug. Yesterday he spent his first few moments in the snow, but he was so bundled up that he couldn't feel anything but the cold on his cheeks! I also think I caught him signing the sign for "more" one day when I was feeding him cheerios, but he hasn't done it since. Gavin also thinks it's fun to gargle his milk when I give it to him in a cup or bottle and laughs when someone burps. Oh, he's such a boy.
He has tried an array of foods this month and likes anything he can feed himself. He is very independent and stubborn. He wants to do it all himself and he wants it his way or the highway, which makes for some interesting and exhausting days. As you'll see from photos on our website, he gets into everything: the dishwasher, the toilet paper, spits food out and throws it on the floor, torments the animals, empty's drawers and cupboards, climbs stairs, gets stuck chasing the cat in tight spaces, and helps decorate or rather, breaks, things for Christmas. He absolutely loves my moms cd player and claps at himself when he turns it on to a music station. He dances to the music. We watch Ellen together and Gavin claps when the audience claps and dances when she starts dancing. He gets a big kick out of her show. I think he has a tooth finally coming in on the top, it might certainly explain his sleepless nights, and I hope it comes out very soon so we can
both get some sleep!
It has been another amazing month and we can't wait for Shannon to get home and share in the joys and craziness of our days. It looks like Gavin might be walking into his arms when he gets off the plane! Well, we hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a great new year and the next time I send an email I hope to say our family is finally back together!
Month 11:
Only one more month to go and our little guy is going to be a year old! It’s incredible. Gavin had a great Christmas. He helped open his presents and loved to chew on the wrapping paper and as usual was the center of attention.
This month he learned to climb down the stairs, hands first, then he turns sideways, and then brings his legs down. An interesting way of doing it, but he figured it out all by himself. He is quite the problem solver. I love watching the wheels turning as he thinks about how something works. Gavin’s top two teeth came in this month within a week of each other. He has started playing kick ball (we may have a soccer player on our hands) and he gives dad a high five after he kicks it. He also started blowing. His favorite words are hot and lights and when something is on the stove or a candle is lit, he says “hot” and blows like he’s trying to cool it off. It’s adorable. His walking has been perfected for awhile now. He has great balance and just goes and goes. He is a go-getter!
We got back home
from Kansas and settled back into our routine shortly after Christmas. We
were both glad to be home in our own beds. We prepared for Shannon to get
home and late January 8th he did. Gavin got to reunite with him
first thing in the morning. He was shy at first, but it didn’t take long
before he was rough housing with daddy. It was bittersweet. Shannon
is on his second week off this week. He has been working on my honey-do
list and learning the routine and finding out all the changes. Like—you
can’t leave a beverage on the end table in the living room anymore unless you
want it all over the couch and the floor! We are very glad to have him
home and things pretty much just fell back into place like he was never
gone.
On the 17th, Shannon’s parents came down to watch Gavin and we went away for a night to a B&B in OKC. We had a great time. We saw a movie, had dinner at a new restaurant in Bricktown, and went shopping the next day. It was a beautiful day and the B&B was comfortable and gorgeous. We can’t wait to do it again! Today we are going to get some family photos taken, so I’m excited about that.
Month 12:
Well the day has
arrived and gone. Gavin turned one last Tuesday the 17th. It is
really hard to believe. His birthday
party went great. His grandparents and aunt and uncles came down Friday. We had our party on Saturday and played a
movie Shannon and I had made of Gavin’s best video clips throughout his first
year. It turned out really great and they all got a copy as a gift. I had also made a crossword puzzle to see who
knew the most about Gavin, they all did pretty well! The grandparents were the winners! We opened gifts (he was interested in each
one, except for the clothes (boring!), had carrot cake, and soup for
dinner. It was great fun! He had a wonderful time but was so tired.
In this past month
Gavin started doing the high five. He gives hugs which is the best feeling in
the world and I love to receive them. He
points and recognizes so much like the sky or grass. His vocabulary has
increased at warp speed. He says “ice”
or “i-sh”(we had a bit of an ice storm so that’s where he learned that
one.) He says “hi” which he got from
high five. He says “all done” or
“all-duh” which came from throwing his food on the floor when he is finished,
which he still does, but now he says “all-duh” along with it. He says “oww-dee” for airplane (his favorite
sound), says “dance” because it’s his favorite thing to do. He even says thank you, which usually sounds
like “i-do.” He says “lid” which we seem to have a lot of in this house. You never pay much mind to things like
airplanes flying over head or lids for various household items until you have a
one year old pointing them out.
We sing the “clean
up” song every night, and one night he actually started cleaning up his toys
and putting them in the container when I sang the first word to the song. It
was incredible. He picked them all up and then put the lid on the container. As
you can see, the little things have started to amaze me as well. He mimics nearly any word we say, so we
really have to watch what comes out of our mouths these days. He mimics kissing too. Shannon will come home
from work and kiss me a bunch of times exaggerating it just for Gavin and he
will start smacking his lips too. It’s adorable.
He has learned how
to use the paper shredder by watching us use it. One day I was cleaning up
lunch and I heard the shredder start up. I ran in to the office just as Gavin
was running out of it, as if to say “I didn’t do it.” I looked in to see what he had shredded and
there were my notes on Alaskan cruises. The little guy had taken the notes off
the desk and shredded them. I guess he didn’t want to go on a cruise!
For his birthday
weekend and Valentine’s Day we went to Tulsa to visit their zoo and aquarium
and to get out of town. We stayed at the Embassy Suites and G’s first
hotel. He loved it. He ran around the
lobby and talked to strangers, checked out the fountain, rode up and down on his
first elevator with glass so you can see the world going up and down, splashed
in the pool, and searched every nook and cranny of our hotel room. It was fun watching him explore. It was kind of our test for a short vacation
as we want to get back to traveling this spring and summer and he did well. He
still doesn’t do that great in the car, but he’s still too tiny to turn around
his car seat! At his Dr appt he weighed
in at 18lb 15 oz and 29 3/4 inches so he’s a skinny guy. But he eats like a horse and runs around like
a chicken so I suppose most the calories get worked off!
He is completely
weaned from nursing and switched successfully to cow’s milk. He had a cold which started with Shannon and
ran through the whole family. And is
slowly getting teeth (we have 5 now) but we have had a few good night’s
sleep! Well I’ve had a lot of good
night’s because Shannon now gets up with him in the middle of the night so I
sleep just fine!
We had some family
photos taken at JCP and he cooperated wonderfully, then for his one year photos
he wanted nothing to do with it. It was a struggle but we got a few good ones
and he got to experience some messy cake before his first birthday.
There are a ton of them. We hope you enjoy looking at them as much as we do. It has been a wonderful whirlwind of a year for Gavin and I and I am glad I had you all to share it with. Love The Cummins Clan
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