Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Unfortunately, I was so busy, that I didn't take any pictures except for one of the table before everything was even put out. We had a delicious menu consisting of:

• Salad and salad dressing
• Spinach dip with sourdough bread
• Apple cider and vodka party glug
• Apple stuffing
• Cornbread stuffing
• Corn
• Mashed potatoes
• Gravy
• My brother's special cranberry sauce recipe
• Sweet potato casserole
• Sliced sweet potatoes and pears with a syrup glaze
• Turkey!!!

Everything was good! I look forward to making some of these recipes again next year!

20 Months Old

My sweet boy,

Once again, you continue to amaze me with how smart you are and what a sweet and easy child you continue to be. You are so much fun and Daddy and I love and cherish every moment with you. Here are some new things you are doing by 20 months:

• We have a nightly routine - bath, put on pj's, read a story, I sing (if you want to call it that) "Gavin, Gavin, My Sweet Boy," you give me several kisses, then I lay you in your bed and we kiss your doggie and two bears, and then it's off to sleep. On some occasions, we cuddle in the glider-rocker after your bath while you’re still bundled up in your towel. One night, as I got ready to lay you on your changing table, you shook your head and whined. So I said, "you want to cuddle first?” and you promptly replied, “ya.” So, we cuddled for a bit and you fell asleep in my arms. I then changed you and got you ready for bed while you were completely out. You were like a little rag doll, just limp and sleepy. So, I gently laid you in bed, thinking you would just drift off to sleep. Well, you opened your little eyes, leaned forward and planted a sweet kiss on your doggie, wrapped your arms around him, and fell back asleep. It was the sweetest thing - another moment when I had to hold my hand to my chest to keep my heart from melting out!
• When scooting across the tile floor on your little car, you lean forward because it makes you more aerodynamic.

• You still love to be outside. I love this picture of you looking through the fence for Bocephus.

• You know what you do and do not want and you answer questions with "ya" when you want something and "done" when you don't.
• You say "Teak Ooo" (Thank you) in a sing-songy voice.
• You know how to sign "tree."
• You love cleaning (let's hope this trait lasts well into your teen years!).

• You move my necklace (the one with Grandma's ashes) off to the side when you want to lay your head on my chest.
• You love the Cookie Monster. Aunt Evie bought you a Cookie Monster movie and we have watched it so many times since she bought it that I'm surprised our DVD player isn't worn out.

• When you held up your Lightning McQueen foam in the bath and wanted to know what it was, when I told you it was "foam." But then, you got an odd look on your face as you held it up to your ear as if it was a "phone." The look on your face told me, "I don't know about this, but if Mom says it's a phone, I guess it is."
• You have gone poop on the potty (twice!) and when you do, you request little pieces of toilet paper by saying "pease."


• When we read a book at night, you know which book you want and will shake your head "no" or say "ya" depending on what book you are in the mood for.
• You constantly rub your nipples. I really don't know where you got this one, because that's certainly not a habit you see Daddy or I doing!



• You love bean and cheese burritos (and I definitely know where you got that from!). You and I could probably eat bean and cheese burritos for three meals a day and be perfectly happy!



• You attended your first church service and did very well. At one point, the pastor told a joke and the congregation began laughing and you laughed out loud with them. However, once the laughter had died down, you continued laughing and Grandma had to take you outside because you wouldn't stop!! It was the funniest thing!

I love you so much, Gav! I cherish every moment with you and look forward to all the moments to come!

Aunt Evie's Birthday

My youngest sister, Evie, turned 22 on November 13. We celebrated at a Hibachi-style Japanese restaurant called Ooka. It was a great night. Happy Birthday, Seester!!

From left: Matt, me, my youngest sis Evie, my middle sis, Kristy, and her boyfriend, Mark

Aquarium of the Pacific

On Veteran's Day, we went the Aquarium of the Pacific. Gavin knows how to sign "fish," so I anticipated his little arm getting tired from signing "fish" so much throughout the day. We had so much fun! I had to take most of the pictures from behind, so there are a lot of back-of-head shots, but I still got some cute ones!

Gavin was ready with the keys and his bag!

An appropriate snack of Goldfish Crackers

Signing "fish"

Signing "water"

He looks so stocky in this picture - my little football player!

He liked the otters

Getting a little sleepy

We ended our day with delicious meals from Bubba Gump Shrimp. It was such a fun day and we look forward to going back again!

Tell Mama, Please

Gavin has learned how to say “please” using both sign language and orally. Right around Halloween, he was asking for a snack and I wanted him to say "please." I was trying to encourage two-word phrases like his speech pathologist had requested, but Gavin just kept saying “please,” and rubbing his little hand on his chest and belly to sign it as well. So I said, “tell Mama please” hoping to prompt him into using the two-word phrase. Then, he came up to me and rubbed his little hand on my belly and said, “pease!” I guess that's how he tells Mama. Ha ha!

First Visit to the Dentist

This one comes a little out of order, because I almost forgot about it! Gavin had his first visit to the dentist, Dr. Lee, on October 7. Of course, he screamed the entire time Dr. Lee was trying to look in his mouth, but overall, it was a good first visit. Gavin's gums and teeth are healthy and he said we should continue brushing like we are doing, but we can begin using kid's toothpaste instead of just water. We have been using toothpaste since then and Gavin continues to do pretty well with teeth brushing. Dr. Lee was very nice and made me feel very comfortable. He said Gavin is a little late with his teeth because they generally like to see eight teeth by the time they are his age and he still only had four. He said that if Gavin didn't have more by the time he is 2 1/2, they would have to do surgery to extract the teeth! I was doing some major praying that his teeth would pop through before then, because the last thing a cleft child needs is another mouth surgery! (Fast forward: Another tooth popped through shortly thereafter and just this week at 21 months, he got two more! Phew!)

At the end of the visit, Dr. Lee gave Gavin a little blue teddy bear with an "I Heart My Dentist" shirt on along with some other goodies. We were then told that he was set for a year and the Dr. Lee would see him again at when he is 2 1/2. Let's hope some more teeth pop through before then!

Halloween 2010

I had bought Gavin the most adorable lion costume for Halloween this year. It was complete with a little mane to go around his face and "paws" to wear on his hands. It was SO CUTE!! This is what it looked like:

I couldn't wait until Halloween for him to sport it. Well, the day before Halloween a friend of mine invited us over to her apartment complex where they were having a costume contest for kids. I attempted to put Gavin in his costume and he completely freaked out. He was screaming in terror when I even got it near him. At first, I started to panic and felt like Halloween would be ruined for us this year, but then, I could almost hear my mom's voice saying, "Don't force him to wear something he's uncomfortable in, even if he just wears pajamas as a costume, it will be okay. You want him to be comfortable." Thanks, Mom, I think her words of wisdom will continue to be with me forever.

So we skipped the party and went shopping for a new costume instead. We headed over to Old Navy with Aunt Evie and found an adorable dragon costume. The tail even wagged when Gavin walked! He actually liked the costume because it was just a jacket and pants and I loved it because it was comfy and warm for him on our cold Halloween night. He liked it so much that he didn't want to take it off, so I just carried him up to the register and set him on the counter to be rung-up. Even better--because it was the day before Halloween, the costume was marked down from about $30 to $5! I love an adorable bargain!!!

We spent Halloween in Canyon Lake since many of our friends live there and the community really goes all out for the holidays. We had a blast and Gavin had a great time visiting with the other kids. I even had one person ask to take Gavin's picture because he looked so cute. I guess everything worked out for the best in the end.