Flock of Swanns: Gavin (Month 12)

ONE!!!
(taken on the 17th... in the first 24 hours of you being ONE!)

Dear Sweet Gavin,

It's here... your birthday. I tried and tried to make time slow down, but alas, stopping time is not one of my mommy superpowers! Thankfully, I have kept a fairly detailed diary of all things "you" and, as a result, can remember and reflect on so many things that would ordinarily start to fade from memory. So, in a way, I suppose I did freeze time.

Today we celebrate one year of YOU! One year of the joy you bring to our family. One year of being a family of five. One year of watching you grow into the sweet, happy, silly, affectionate, giggly, determined, loving little man that you are. How we got so lucky to have you complete our family, I am not sure. But you, sweet boy, do complete our family in the most spectacular way.

You have such a happy disposition and, though you are starting to give us some hints as to your temper (diaper changes can be like a wrestling match and you scream pretty loud when we aren't figuring out what you're trying to say!), you are really an easy going little guy. You love cars, trucks, trains, planes... anything that goes! You love to mimic their sounds and you will look at books with pictures of them endlessly. You will shove books at me, clap your hands together and and say, "Buh," which is "book" and we can easily spend 30 minutes at a time doing this with a stack of your favorites. So fun! You love music and will stop everything to dance whenever it plays. You are obsessed with all things related to Preston. You will engage him in cars (you LOVE playing with cars and roll them around just like your brother), balls or rough and tumble play (your one year-old version of rough and tumble!) and, in the next moment, will crawl over to your sister and plant a slobbery smooch on her. You love being out and about and take in everything around you. You are also equally content at home and play independently better than your sister or brother ever did. You will play with toys and busy yourself for impressively long stretches of time and then seek me out to "check-in" and get some snuggles. Though you prefer me when you're tired and cranky, I wouldn't classify you as a mama's boy. You adore your daddy and excitedly wait for him to walk in the door on work days.

You delight in making others smile and laugh. Your newest "trick" is this crazy collapsing-dive where you stand up, throw your arms straight up and then fall forward landing on your hands and narrowly missing a full-fledged face plant. It's hilarious (and terrifying!) and now that you know we laugh, you do it all the time! The same is true for the goofy expressions you make while eating. You do it just for the reaction and it never fails to crack me up. You like testing us with climbing onto shelves and getting into things you're not supposed to, but thankfully, you are minding pretty well and clap for yourself when I say, "Good boy! Good listening!" It's so cute!

I could gush on and on about your sweet nature, how loving you already are and how much we all adore you... but I think you'll get the idea when you're old enough to read and understand this. It's so hard to fathom that a year ago we didn't yet know you... and a year before that, you were a dream we thought would never happen. And, even though I can remember what our family was like before you entered the world, I know you were the final piece to complete our little flock. You are the brother that Preston longed for. You are a second little brother to love Gracie, make her smile and even, at times, drive her a little nuts. You are our baby... a second son and third child to love and nurture... the perfect completion of our flock. It is a blessing and honor to be your mommy.

I love you with all my heart, Boo-Dee.

Mommy

One Year of Gavin

At one year, you can sign:
(Most are approximations due to only being one!)

more
milk
ball
dog
elephant
brush teeth
baby
all done
bath
bread
cookie
airplane
Papa

You have many "words" now, too. You are very chatty and try so hard to imitate words we say to you. Lots of things are "ba ba" or "bay bay" "duh" or "buh" - - but with your signs, I can often tell what you're saying! You clearly say "Mama" "Dada" "Bubba" and "Papa."

When asked, you can show us:
your tongue
your hair
your tummy
your toes
your ears
your hands
your shoes

When asked, you can tell us:
what a car sounds like - - your version of "vroom"

You joyfully:
clap your hands
throw your arms in the air when we say "woo hoo!"
play peek-a-boo
throw your arms out to your sides when we say "ta da!"
mimic parts of "Itsy Bitsy Spider"
clap when all songs are over (because you're happy, not because you're glad my bad singing is over!)
sign all done when we finish books
read books, over and over... and over!
love to swing at the park
get excited when I tell you it's time to go pick up Bubba and Sissy from school

Stats:
You weigh 20lbs 5oz
You are 29.75 inches tall
You have eight teeth and a ninth is starting to poke through
You eat like a champ, but don't nap like one! Same as your brother and sister at this age, you seem to think sleeping during the day is overrated. UGH!!!
You graduated from your infant car seat to a bigger boy car seat that will grow with you. I miss being able to "tether you down" before getting out to the car! I also miss the convenience of carrying you around in your car seat... especially when you're asleep! Because now, if I get you out of the car and you're asleep, I always end up waking you and ruining a chance at a nap! This is one of my least favorite transitions in baby land!

In the last month, you:

Got into a lot of mischief... but were cute doing it!
You do a pretty good job of minding and love it when you're praised for listening!

Got your first big boy haircut!
I missed your hair immediately because you appeared to grow up in the ten minutes she spent cutting your hair.
You were incredibly good as you sat in the Lightning McQueen car, saying "vroom vroom" the whole time.

Developed an obsession for rearranging our furniture.
This is exhausting for both of us! With this new pasttime, we have learned that you are freakishly strong!