Valentine's Day 2011

The weather has really been sooo pretty the last couple of days, so we decided to go to the arboretum and our friends, Saylor and Erica, came with us. Gavin was so enamored with Saylor...he kept trying to hold her hand and wanted her wherever he went, "'Mon Sayor".

They loved this "waterfall"

Gavin holding Saylor's hand. She was a little hesitant. Look how happy he is!

This is my favorite picture! They were chatting amongst themselves and pointing to things on the Lake.

Saylor got up on "stage" and started to dance and sing. Gavin wanted in, too.

We sat down for a little picnic and read a Valentine book that NaNa sent us.

Gavin was also enamored with Erica. There was a bee buzzing around Gavin's applesauce and Ms. Erica swatted it away, and then she was her hero! He kept snuggling and climbing on her, and finally she asked if he wanted to sit on her lap. He was fascinated by the fact that she had a baby in her belly and kept trying to lift her shirt up to see it.

That night, we cooked dinner for Dada. We made heart shaped pizzas and set the table. Gavin decorated the monkey hanging from the chandelier, btw.

My present from Gavin. He got me a GIANT "Cars" coloring book and markers!! How did he know?!? :) We sat at the table later that night and colored...good family time.

Gavin got some stickers and a water globe from us. Nana sent him a bunch of stickers, two Valentine's Day books, some lollipops, chocolate covered animal crackers and a bunch in a box filled with little cut out hearts and rose petals.

Happy Valentine's Day boys!!

Winter is making me FAT!

We had another snow day on Wednesday...more of an ice day, but it made it dangerous to go outside, and, you guessed it, we stayed inside all day. Gavin and I were a little stir crazy so we started to bake. I started looking for stuff we had around the house and found a pie crust and some apples. So, we made some apple turnover type things. We rolled out most of the crust and ate the rest :) Gavin used his very own baby rolling pin that he picked out himself. They came out pretty good! I didn't follow a recipe or anything...just being creative.

Then, once we were done with those, we started making cupcakes and cookies to bring to his teachers on Friday. Gavin helped me crack, well, crush the egg (there was a disclaimer on all baked goods about egg shell remnants) and stir all of the other ingredients in the bowl. I had to wipe his hands a few times because he kept dipping his little fingers into the bowl!

THEN, we made muffins for his class. We were responsible for making snack on Friday, so we just got a jump on it. These are all the sweets I've been tempted with the past couple of days. My mom sent some really cute M&M's for Valentine's Day/Gavin's bday with his face on it and some other sayings. I also have a giant red lollipop, kisses, and then all the other aforementioned sweets.

These are what the teachers boxes turned out like. I put 3 heart shaped cookies on the bottom and a cupcake on top of that. To fill the space, I put some red, pink and silver kisses in the box.

Gavin had fun giving these to his teachers, and they turned out really cute!! Gavin is such a great little helper! Maybe now that the weather is warming up (this week at least), we can do fun things outside instead of being inside cooking/baking/eating!! Gary and I did start P90X a couple of weeks ago. I have to think all this junk food is sabotaging my diet!!

Is TV the devil?!

I used to think so. Don't get me wrong, I have a few shows that I like (The Biggest Loser, What Not to Wear...real works of art!), but for the most part, I leave it off. I especially hated television when I worked full time. I got so overstimulated during the day at work that I just wanted some quite time at home. Now, I can leave it on just to have some adult "interaction". I never slept with the TV on, but I do now because Gary likes it on sometimes and that's just what kind of person I am :)

Recently, Gavin has taken a real interest in TV. First, it was 15 minutes of Elmo before bedtime. Then, it was 30 minutes of Mickey before bedtime. Now, it's 30-45 minutes of "Cars" at night and sometimes during the day when I have to take a shower or cook. I was always opposed to that mom who let the TV "babysit", if you will. But I realize that it really comes in handy sometimes. Especially since Gavin has gone down to 1 nap. I used to take a shower during his first nap and then run errands, etc, after he woke up. Now, if I wait for him to nap, half the day is gone! So, I pop in a movie ("Cars"), and I trust him to sit there unsupervised for a small increments of time. I'm trying not to feel guilty about his TV consumption. I'm starting to think it's like anything else...it's ok in moderation. You know, like sweets? You don't want your kid to be the one devouring all the cookies he decorated in class before he can show you because he knows you won't let him eat one or two. So, I give in a couple times a day and let him watch TV. It works for both of us. Besides, it's really cute how he identifies with the characters and how he quotes lines from the movie. His favorite scene from "Cars" right now is Tractor tipping with a close second being Mack driving Lightening on the highway and the appearance of Snot Rod (who he called "Snot Rocket" for a while because that's what I mistakenly called him). He quotes stuff that the cars say like "Ka-chow! Momma" and "stickers". And, the other day, that James Taylor song started to play during the flash black, and Gavin started to sing along. How adorable!!! "Long ago..." Gary and I laughed until we cried because it was funny and oh so precious! Watching "Cars" together also gives us stuff to talk about, and we reenact scenes when we play with his cars.

I'm sure once the weather is better and the summer comes, we'll be outside all the time or hanging out with friends. Maybe. Probably. But we'll still watch some TV together at night. It's just way too cute not to.

Winter storms in Dallas?

For almost a week now, most of Dallas has been shut down because of a winter storm that moved through this past Tuesday. Gary had off of work from Tuesday through Friday. Gavin was really excited to have Dada home.

The first morning, they made pancakes using the fun, smaller whisk that I bought for Gavin. I think he may have gotten more pancake on the counter than in the bowl!!

"Helping" Dada cook pancakes.
"Cheese"

After breakfast, the boys got dressed to play in the "snow". There was no real snow...just a whole lot of ice. In fact, there was a giant sheet of ice on the ground. But that didn't stop us from going out to play.

Jack's Frisbee got iced in the ground and Dada dug it out for him.

Showing Gavin the sheet of ice.

My bundled up baby.

It stayed pretty icy the next couple of days. It was pretty unpleasant and scary to be outside because of all the ice. THEN, we woke up on Friday morning to 5 inches of powdery snow! I had to go to work, but the boys played outside for awhile. Jack, Gavin and Dada act like little kids in the snow :) When I got home from work, we went back out to the park. Gary went to get the neighbors for a friendly snow fight. Matt, Amy, Jonathan, Tina, Gary, Gavin, Jack, Odin and I all played in the snow for a while. It was a blast! The boys ran around pelting each other with snow balls and the dogs jumped and tumbled and rolled around in the snow. Everyone had a great time. My feet got really cold and I had to leave to put thicker socks on. I was a little sad that I didn't have better cold weather gear because it was so beautiful and so fun to be outside.

Gavin brought his "Scooper truck" to the park

Gavin decided he was tired of walking around in the snow and hitched a ride with Aunt Tina.

Snow balls flying!!

Uncle Jonathan and Dada being silly.

Our backyard

Today the snow started to melt. It made these really cool icicles on the side of our house. It really has been beautiful the last couple of days. It's supposed to snow again tomorrow and Wednesday. If it does, we'll play in it again...but I sure am ready for Spring :)

Cuddles...

Ever since Gavin was born, I followed certain rules about sleeping. Even as a tiny baby, I followed the "put him to bed drowsy, but not asleep" mantra. He had very scheduled feeding time, awake time and sleep time. He rarely slept with us or on us because I was so terrified of having a child that didn't sleep well or a child that climbed into bed with us every night. That advice really seemed to work. Gavin has been sleeping through the night since he was 8 weeks old and has always napped well.

I did always have one regret about such a scheduled kiddo...he would never snuggle or sleep with us even when we wanted him to. When it was time to go to bed, he wanted to be put down in his crib and left alone. He even told me, "bye bye" one night when I lingered to rub his head, so cuddling before bedtime was out of the question!

About 3 weeks ago when I was putting Gavin down to bed, he said, "Hold you, Mama?" I said, "You want Mama to hold you?" He said, "uh huh". So, I gave him his monkey blanket, and we went over to the rocking chair so that I could hold him for a little while. After about 3 or 4 minutes, I put him down in his bed drowsy, but not asleep. The next afternoon before his nap he said, "Hold you Mama? Rocking in rocking chair?" This time we sat down in the rocking chair for about 5 minutes. I started to feel his breath get a little slower and louder, his head got a little heavier on my chest, and then he stopped moving. Oops. I rocked him to sleep!!! I sat rocking him for another 5 minutes or so just enjoying our time together. I picked him up and put him in bed, and he didn't even move! And guess what? I liked it so much, we did it again the next day! That night, I put him down after rocking him for a couple of minutes, and he started to whimper. "Hold you Mama? Rocking in rocking chair?" Realizing that this was a bad idea, I said, "No baby, it's time to go nite nite. I love you", and then I left the room. He went to bed without incident, but this really made me think. It felt so great to have him fall asleep on me, but doing that is pretty selfish. If I keep doing that, he'll expect it and won't be able to go to sleep by himself or he'll nap poorly at school because I'm not there to rock him. I guess rocking him to sleep every now and then isn't such a bad thing, but I need to be careful not to make it a habit...no matter how great it feels.

My boy...

It seems like over the last couple of days, Gavin has really started talking and budding quite a personality. There are many words that would describe him, but if I had to choose one word, it would be: comedian. I wonder if that is any surprise considering his parents. He is so funny and silly. He has great comedic timing and knows how to make us laugh. And when he does make you laugh, he mimics you! He knows falling is funny and invites you to partake. He knows it's funny to make you look away and then tickle you. He has the best little laugh I have ever heard.

I would also describe him as good natured. OK, that's two words, but those words are fitting. He is very rarely rattled by things that we do. Gary can tease him about something, and he just laughs about it. He is so easy to get along with.

I think he is a little shy, too. When there are a bunch of people around or a few people he doesn't know, he is a little observer. He is very quiet and just watches. Then, when and if he feels comfortable, he lets his inner comedian loose!

Other adjectives that describe him: persistent, goal oriented, sweet, lovable, sensitive.

He's speaking so well over the last couple of days. And, his memory and direction following blow me away.

For example, this week was very cold and we've stayed inside most of the week. I decided to bundle us up and run a couple of errands. We talked about looking for fire wood, so we could light a fire in the fire place tonight. He kept talking about "wood" and "light fire in fireplace". When we got home, he helped me unload the wood. I was unsure about lighting the fire myself (he was very disappointed we had to wait) and I told him we had to wait until Da Da got home. He seemed to forget about it pretty quickly and went off to play. As soon as Gary walked through the door tonight, he grabbed his hand and said, " 'mon DaDa, light fire". Gary said OK and then stated we needed our fire starter (giant lighter). Gavin proceeded to the drawer where we keep that lighter and fetched it for Gary. We lit a fire, and everyone was happy.

Later that night, Gavin was on the changing table and started to fuss. Gary was putting his diaper and pajamas on, and I walked over to him and asked him why he was upset. Me: "Baby, what do you want?" Gavin: "Um, beans and applesauce!" Me: "OK, I'm going to go warm up some beans, but you can't have anymore applesauce tonight. Would you like some yogurt?" Gavin: "Heat up beans, and NOOOO applesauce (waving his finger in the air), only yogurt!" He repeated that a couple of times and then when he heard the microwave go off, he looked up at us and said, "They're ready!" So, we went to sit down and eat our beans and yogurt. I was feeding him because I didn't want him to dirty his pajamas. He looked at me and took the yogurt and said, "I hold it!" And he did.

Today was a great day and a reminder that he is growing up so fast. I hope I can cherish every moment.

Catching up....

It has been a super busy time for us since the week before Christmas. We drove down to New Orleans with the boy and the dog. We hardly even knew Jack was there and Gavin was entertained by sleeping or the portable DVD player we borrowed. It was actually not a bad drive. We left super early in the morning to miss Dallas and Baton Rouge traffic. It worked. We got there Wednesday afternoon and rested that day. GiGi and "Unc Dada" pulled out the big guns..the tractor!

The next night we went to Beth and Joey's to eat dinner and exchange gifts. My poor monkey didn't feel good...he kept saying "Bye bye, GiGi home".

Friday was Christmas Eve. We had dinner at my sister's house....ham, sweet potato casserole, spinach casserole, etc. Yum! We opened a couple of presents Christmas Eve for those who weren't going to be there in the morning. We made some cookies earlier in the day that we left for Santa, along with some milk. Santa ate most of the cookies and drank the milk.

Gavin very methodically opening a present

We woke up Christmas Day, early, and opened presents. No one was as excited as Gary, Gavin and I. We opened some presents and ate breakfast. It was a little overwhelming for Gavin because he had a LOT of presents!!! He was a great helper and was bringing presents to people and offering to help open them. Later on that day, we went to Jan's house for dinner. Gavin and Sara got along really well! She entertained him most of the night, which was great. And, we got a great surprise...Michelle got engaged!! We are so happy for her! Gavin opened most of his presents, but was starting to get overwhelmed, so we took a couple for him to open Sunday. Gavin loved his dinosaur that Santa left! "EHHH!"
The Marchand boys

Ellie, Sara and Gavin

On Monday, Gigi, Gavin, Gary and I went to the aquarium. Gavin was soooo excited! He ran around pointing to everything...It was really cool to see him so excited. Monday night, Michelle and Leonard came over to watch the Saints vs. Falcons game and share their news.

Tuesday we were supposed to go to Fulton Street and to the Roosevelt to see lights and snow. Gavin's "cold" finally got the best of him, and we had to take him to the urgent care center. Turns out, he had an ear infection and RSV. Doc put him on cough syrup and antibiotics, and we ate Popeyes for dinner.

We left first thing Wednesday morning. We left early again to miss all the traffic. Oh my goodness was it great to be home!!!

A couple of days later Beth and Joey came in to celebrate New Year's Eve. We made dinner reservations at Sambuca. The meal was pretty good and the service was pretty bad!! Overall, it was a good time, although our friend Jonathan got sick and had to leave early. And Joey was ready to go 30 minutes before midnight. The band was pretty fun and the group of people there was so diverse. The next day I got to cash in my Christmas present and go shopping with Beth all day. It was sooo fun! The best Christmas present EVER!

The weekend after that, Dad and Ellie came in town for the Cotton Bowl. The game was incredible! We sat six rows up in the end zone. At first, it was annoying because we were in the Aggie's section, but they soon stopped making so much flippin' noise! Games are always more fun to be at when your team wins :)

The next day, we went to J and Tina's house for a BBQ and to watch the Saints playoff game. Sadly enough, they lost. Better luck next year, right? Then, we came home, gave Gavin a bath and lit our own fire in the back yard and talked until the boys came home.

Sunday...it snowed! We got a couple of inches of snow that accumulated briefly on the ground. Gary built a snowman (about a foot high) and Gary, Gavin and Jack played in the snow. It was too cold for anyone else! The next day, Dad and Ellie's flight was cancelled, so we went to the mall and to Houston's for dinner. MMmmm! There flight left the next without incident.

Dada, Gavin and "George" the snowman.

We have been busy. And I am whipped! I so enjoyed having company, but I'll enjoy having the house to just us for a few weeks!