Gavin ~ 1 Year Old

What a difference a year makes!  On January 10th Gavin turned ONE!  This past year has flown by at an alarming pace.  We got off to a bit of a rocky start; refresh your memory HERE, and despite 2 unexpected deployments the overall year has really been a great one.  It has been an overwhelming privilege to see our baby boy grow and pass his milestones with a joyful heart.  

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

 

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

 

8 Months

9 Months

10 Months

11 Months

1 YEAR!

As you can see, Gavin LOVED his first birthday cupcake! I'm a little disappointed in myself to say that the curse of the second child has all ready set in. No huge 1st birthday party here, unlike his sister's. Just the four of us and my mom who is here visiting for a week. But none the less, we all had a great time :).

Since Gavin's 9 month update he has continued to take on the world one little baby step at a time. He's walking more and more each day (of course I have yet to get a descent video). He has 5 teeth ~ 2 top and 3 bottom, the last 3 popped up all in the same week...that was fun times for all. He weighs in at just under 24lbs. We're not sure of his length because his well baby check up had to be rescheduled due to a snow day. But I don't need to know his length to know that he is growing like a weed! He loves to eat anything crunchy, a new world of healthy toddler friendly snack foods have opened up to him and he's loving it. The latest finger food veggie he's enjoyed is steamed asparagus. He seemed to like it well enough, which is a good thing because this family loves asparagus, even Kayla gobbles it up.

Gavin's daily schedule is a solid one. His morning nap is usually around 9:30, the afternoon nap is at about 2pm, and he's down for the night around 6:45pm....then up the next morning between 7-7:30am. I really couldn't ask for more in the sleep department :)

Gavin is a lover! He wraps his arms around my neck and gives the BEST baby hugs imaginable. He hasn't met a stranger yet, although he may act shy to begin with, stranger anxiety has never been a problem. He easily interacts with new people and quickly makes friends. Our house is not a quiet house. He is a talker and makes his voice heard.......especially when he is not happy. He adores his big sister. Gavin wants’ to be where Kayla is. He'd much rather play in her room over his own. When she is upset or in time out he is quick to crawl/walk over to her and investigate the source of her sadness. And thankfully Kayla enjoys her little brothers company all most as much as he does hers.

As we round out his first year I have been reminded of a few baby/toddler phases that are not so enjoyable. Gavin has officially entered the 'i need your constant attention/entertainment/affection or else i will become a heaping mess at your feet' phase. Thankfully I now know that this is just a phase that will pass and in the meantime we praise and encourage as much independent play as possible and not indulge the clinginess more than necessary.

Gavin you are our sweet SWEET boy and we love you so much. Our family was made complete with you! I can't wait to see what year 2 has in store for us!