Gavin (Month 23)

You love your strider bike that you got for Christmas!
You look SO BIG here!

Dear BooDee,

Sigh... you are almost two.  I am trying not to think about it, but you make it really hard when you act "almost two."  And, by that, I mean all the adorable stuff you do... like be a total ham, crack your toddler jokes (they crack you up, too), talk up a storm (this is so much fun.  you are now making little sentences.  "Morning, Bubba." "Help me, Mama."), you dole out hugs and kisses by the dozens, you are so.very.sweet. 

You are ALSO an almost two year-old stinker... hitting, kicking during diaper changes, spitting, climbing EVERYTHING.  We are using a timeout chair.  You loathe it.  But when your time is up, you sign "sorry" and say "dorry" and then give me all kinds of love.  We discuss the issue and when I say, "Are you going to be good?" You say, "Ya. Ok, Mama."
Your personality is too much and I love you so much I could burst.  I cannot believe that next month you will be two.

Snuggling with your Bubba.
Be still my heart.



A little Christmas break lunch treat at the park.
(Yes... we let you eat that garbage every once in a while.
You probably will be digesting it until you're five. Ugh.)

You were in absolute awe of the amount of presents under the tree on Christmas morning.

Your first ride on your Strider bike from Nana and Papa.

Our first ride on the new Plasma cars.
Preston was already cruising around on the other one!



Christmas night... you were so exhausted!
It's hard to believe how tiny you once looked in this crib. Sigh.

Sound asleep... with a fever... and round one of two very ugly illnesses that rocked our entire family.
We all rang in 2014 with the nastiest, longest lasting stomach flu I can ever remember.

Poor sweet baby.  Kept falling asleep everywhere.
We were all so sick.  I would literally crawl to you and Gracie and attempt to make you drink from your sippy cup between naps.  It was awful.



Feeling much better and hanging at the park.



This was so funny!  I took several pictures of you fascinated with your shadow!
You kept making scary monster hands and sounds.

I love you, Smooch!

Silly boys... snagged my phone for a selfie!

Fractured Fashonista

Check out our little Diva's left foot.
Yep, that's a cast - - and cute toes, of course!

 On January 2nd, Gracie's ankle was fractured in two places following a massage and stretching with her nurse.  While her nurse clearly should have used less pressure and force, it wasn't entirely her fault.  Gracie has low bone density in her lower extremities due to lack of weight bearing and nutritional issues for the better part of nine years. 

You can see the lack of bone density here... her bones should be very bright and glowing instead of faded and almost transparent in places.  The ER doc and radiologist told me to be prepared for more of these as she ages.  Ugh. 

The good news is that is wasn't vascular - - her pediatrician had me rush her to the ER on the 2nd thinking she had a blood clot (DVT) rather than a break.  I had called in requesting an x-ray order because she suddenly wouldn't weight bear as we were leaving for a park outing.  He wanted us to be seen.  So along with Gracie's nurse, I rushed all three kids into the pediatrician to then have him tell me under no uncertain terms to rush her down to Children's in Oakland... 40+ miles away.  "Don't even stop at home first," he said.  (I did... I needed stuff for my kids and I needed to get Gracie's nurse back to her car.)

We rushed down to Oakland, John abruptly left work and met us alongside the freeway where we quickly exchanged the boys.  Gracie's nurse had been kind enough to offer to watch the boys in the lobby of the hospital until John got there, but he literally flew through multiple freeways to meet me. 
When I got Gracie to the ER, they were expecting us (those who had been waiting for hours were not so friendly and we had lots to say about us getting right in... including screaming racial slurs at us and the nursing staff who pulled us to the back immediately.  Sometimes I am so grateful Gracie is deaf and oblivious to that part of life.)  Anyway, once they examined her, they all seemed very underwhelmed and said they figured it was a fracture.  I said I figured so, too, but that the pediatrician literally freaked when he saw her leg swelling straight up past her knee and felt how hot it was.  Thankfully, he was wrong.

The bad news is this fracture is likely the first of many to come due to the fragility of her bones.  They put on a soft cast in the ER and by the time we drove all the way back home (at 10 something at night), Gracie had torn it off.  She got her hard cast on Monday and literally cried for four straight hours before conceding and giving into the fact that it won't come off.  We all know how this girl likes to be sock/shoe/clothes-less the minute she gets home... she was fit to be tied.  Now, though, she accepts it and is standing in it, doing her "Gracie Yoga" and pretty much back to normal.  And, in true Gracie fashion, she handled the pain like a champ.  Unless it was touched by someone other than her, she didn't really complain of pain hardly at all.  She even cruised furniture a bit before she was casted.  OUCH! 

Gavin (Month 22)

LOVE this little face!

My little Gav-man,

You continue to explode in your communication.  AND you continue to edge toward two... with a more shrill "no" when you are trying to get your way, a masterful "fake cry" when you are trying to get your way with Preston and you think Daddy or I will step in and defend you (we are onto you... you are smart... but so are we!) and versions of "no" such as "don't like" and "uh-unh."  At the same time, you are as sweet as can be - - so loving, so helpful and eager to please. 

You say, "ohhhh kay" when I remind you not to say "no" (or not to scream "no") and "ear you go" (here you go) when you hand us something.

You are great about making sure everyone picks up after themselves... especially Brooke, Gracie's nurse.  You constantly are picking up things that she sets down and handing them to her, "ear you go."  So funny and so cute.   At the same time, you will dump every bin in the playroom in a flash in order to line up the bins and pretend they are a balance beam.  Or you'll stack them and use them as a step stool. 

I love watching you play (which you do so well) - - sitting back and watching you problem solve and play is one of my favorite things to do.  I will say, "You're busy working hard, aren't you, Boo?" and you'll nod and say, excitedly, "Ya!"

Even Batman needs a nap! 
This is pretty much becoming the only way we can get you to nap during the day... by going for a drive!

You LOVE your sissy and smooch her all the time.

Getting SO big!!!

Cracking yourself... and me... up!

I love these moments I get with you when your brother and sister are at school and Daddy is at work.



The "bin balance beam."

Silly boy!



You LOVE when Bubba blows bubble gum bubbles. 
Sorry, BooDee, it will be a while before you can have gum!

Your first Starbucks hot chocolate.
The first of many, I am sure!

Shopping is hard, hard work. 
(Actually, as per usual, you crashed in the car and daddy had to do this to grab a few things.)

Gavin (Month 21)

You were so cute at the park when you insisted on wearing Gracie's sunglasses!

At 21 months:

- Your language continues to explode... both verbal and sign.  I love that I can sign something to you and you'll say the word. 

- Every single day you learn something new.  I am amazed at the things you pick up without me even trying to teach you.  You hand me a ball for instance, then another and say, "two."  Blows me away.  You name items and tell me their color... and if you are incorrect, I can sign the color and you'll correct yourself.  Each morning when we walk into Gracie's classroom, you see something new or different and talk all about it.  You are chatty and such a sponge.  We talk all day long - - I always have been a narrator of your world, so you, in turn, narrate to me now.  (I was amazed at your brother during this stage of development, too, and though you two are very different in so many ways, so many things you do now trigger so many memories of him.)

- You LOVED Halloween and all the "pooky" decorations everywhere.  It is quite possible that our family will never say "spooky" again... your version of the word is so much cuter!

- You are TOUGH.  You have had some pretty good face-to-tile and knee-to-asphalt run-ins and recover way quicker than I do!  It is amazing to me how you get over it and don't dwell on the owies (other than to kiss them yourself and request kisses from me... but you are a hug and kiss kind of guy regardless of your owies!).

- I adore that you are so in tune with your sister.  You know her mood just by the sounds from her trach - - reminds me so much of Preston at this age.  You will say, "Dee Dee... ahh-pee" when you can tell she is laughing (without even seeing her face).  It warms my heart to no end... and makes me shudder at the fact that there have been adults in her life who couldn't ever tell by her sounds.  Love you... good, sweet brother... taught by a good, sweet brother.

- You started saying, "I don't know," and shrugging your shoulders.  Funniest and cutest thing. Ever.

So much fun with Gracie and Preston

Be still my heart... what a face!

Gavin the Pirate

Checking out all the Halloween decorations, though you weren't 100% sure of the scarier ones...

Like the "pooky" ones on the porch!

You LOVED all the animals at the pumpkin patch!
You plopped yourself down and clapped for the chickens!

"You want me to stick my hand in there and do what?"

Such a love... even to the cute statues in the neighbors' yard!



I miss this view of you!  I don't get to hold you until you're asleep very often anymore.

Silly, silly boy with a box of raisins in your mouth and vacuum accessories in each hand.
(Not to mention the ensemble of diaper and socks!)

"No... 8:30 won't work, it's past my bedtime.
Have your people call my people and we'll work something out."

 

Gavin (Month 20)

Today you are 20 months

You had a language explosion this month - - your twentieth!
 
- "Happy" (Ahhpee) You said this to me after I was telling you how happy your hugs and kisses make me.  After the first time, I immediately captured this adorable, heart-overflowing cuteness on video.

- "I love you" (AhLuhlyou)  You'd been signing (attempting... the coordination of this takes a while to develop) this for a few months, but now you say it while approximating the sign.  This one was also captured on video the same day you started saying it.  It is seriously adorable and you now will look across the room, make eye contact, stick up your sign approximation and say it totally unprompted.  It is THE BEST and will never stop making me so "ahhpee."

- Your obsession with picking up trash at the park continues... and now you ask, "Blue?" to find out whether it is trash or should go in the blue recycling can.  Adorable, but gross that you pick every single thing up off the ground!

- "Don't" and "No" These are said clearly and, though developmentally wonderful, drive me nuts!  You sternly say no to anything that is not agreeable to you.  Anything and everything.  Let the countdown to "two" begin!  Ha!

- So many more phrases and words... you put many two and three word combinations together now... for instance, "ovaltine (o-doe-deen) milk please," "daddy work," "Bubba, Deedee school" and on and on.

- You are such a good helper!  You love being involved in any chore that is happening.  Feeding the dog, making coffee, laundry, cleaning up, unloading the dishwasher.  If there is a part you can do, I try to let you be involved, even when it is faster and easier to just do it myself!  ;)

On the merry-go-round at Pier 39 with Daddy



You rode in Gracie's car seat for the first time... and LOVED being forward. 
You did NOT, however, enjoy my singing!  Most people don't, Gavin, but you could have gone easy on mama!

You cracked up at me when I pretend pouted and cried when you didn't approve of my singing - - I couldn't resist taking this shot through the headrest gap.

Fun with your big sister and brother.  You adore both of them!

After a haircut... it was so strange to not see a bunch of hair peeking out from under that hat!

"I can help, Mama."

"What... you looking for me?"



There were a million things on my to-do list this particular morning, but playing with you was way more fun!



"Here I am!!!"



Like mommy, like Gav-man

Silly boy... always messing around at soccer.  You will take off running when I say I am going to chase you.
Then, you dive into the grass and wait for me to "attack" you with kisses and tickles.

Just hanging out

You will often stop and "smile" this cheese-filled grin when you know I am taking pictures.