Knott's Berry Farm

I woke up one day feeling like I wanted to do something fun and different as a family, so we decided to go to Knott's Berry Farm. We weren't sure how Gavin would react to a theme park and if he would even like rides, but considering how much he loves going in "Daddy's Hot Rod," we figured he would probably have fun. Once we got there, we headed straight for Camp Snoopy, since they have the most kid-friendly rides in the park. The first one we saw that he was big enough to ride on was the Airplane ride. It's a little set of Airplanes that travel in a circle and can be controlled to go up and down. Gavin decided he was willing to try it and sure enough - he did! He picked a white plane and wanted to ride in the front seat (luckily we were the first in line so he had his choice). He did so good, Matt and I were just beaming at our brave little man and smiling at how cute he looked with his shades on in the little plane!

Gavin rode on the little race cars with Matt and he loved it!

Here is the only pic Matt got of Gavin and me on the bus ride (Matt's not quite a "Papa-razzi" like I am). And no, we do not know the man in the front of the picture.

And this is the only pic Matt got of Gav and me on the truck ride (you can just barely see Gavin driving the truck).

Gavin on the "Log Peeler" - he did so good riding by himself, but the poor kid behind him was terrified!

Matt got a few great pics of Gavin and me on the Carousel.

This was the first time Gavin has been willing to ride on a carousel and he loved it!

The day continued with Gavin wanting to ride every ride that he was tall enough for. He kept saying, "More rides!" We had so much fun. On the way home, we agreed that it was one of the best days we had had in a while. It's a completely different experience going to a theme park with your child for the first time. It was so neat to see it through his eyes. We are hoping to take him to Disneyland for his 3rd birthday. He's a huge Mickey Mouse fan, so I'm sure he would just love it there!

Matt and Gavin on the train

Me and Gavin on the train

Family picture (Hooray for the timer setting on the camera!)

Gavin took this picture of Matt - I think he has some potential as a photographer!

Our tired little man on the ride home!

Car Show, Car Show, Car Show

The Rogers' boys love car shows and I mean looooove them. If Gavin knows he gets to go to a car show with his Daddy on a Saturday, he will talk about it all week by saying, "Car show Saturday!" Then, if it's an early show and Matt has to wake Gavin up before the sun rises, Gavin will say in the groggiest little voice, "Car show!" But he will happily get up and get ready to go faster than you can say, "Are you sure you don't want to sleep in?" So, in the month of May, the two of them attended a car show on three weekend days in row (Saturday, Sunday, and the following Saturday) and they were just in hog-heaven!

The first was the Redland Optimist show that we attended last year. I couldn't go this year because I was at a baby shower. And being that Matt is not quite the camera-obsessed parent that I am, he only came home with a handful of pictures and they were all taken at the same moment. However, what he did come home with that meant even more to me was a story about an event that happened that day. He said that there happened to be real drag car at the show that day and my dad, Matt and Gavin all took some time to admire it. Gavin--being the polite little man he is--looked at the car quietly in awe and then shook the hands of all of the crew guys that were there and said, "Nice 'a meet you." Matt said the guys were so impressed with Gavin and they said he was the most polite child they had ever met at a show and offered to let him sit in the car to pose for a few pics. Gavin happily did so and they even gave him a photo of the driver of the car. He was so excited to bring it home to show me. Matt said he was such a proud Papa at that moment and I was so proud when he told me! And, to make Matt's day even better, he won two awards this year: Best Chevelle and Best Muscle Car! Hooray!

The next day, the boys attended the J & M Car Show and I was able to meet them down there. When I arrived, my poor little man was fast asleep in his stroller with his hand up his shirt. (Yes, he is still very fond of rubbing his nipples!) It was so funny! He woke up shortly thereafter and spent a few minutes polishing my Dad's car and then enjoyed some time in the driver's seat.

Gavin polishing my Dad's Chevelle

Matt's Chevelle

The following weekend was my 29th birthday. So, while the boys attended a small, local show, I enjoyed some time at home relaxing before we did a family dinner that night. I guess all the excitement from car shows wore my poor little guy out because this is what he looked like when they arrived home:

26 Months Old

My sweet boy,

You are now 26 months old and you are just more and more fun with each passing day! You are so smart and have such a sweet disposition. You are incredibly polity - saying "please," "thank you," "excuse me," and "sorry" at all the proper times. People are always surprised when they learn that you just turned two. You have your "terrible two" moments, of course, but they are so few and far between. I think if all kids were as easy as you, the world would be far over-populated! Daddy and I love you to pieces, Gav! Here are some new or just cute things about you this month:

• I think this probably should have gone on a previous milestone post, but by now, you know all of your colors: red, orange , yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, black, brown, gray, and white.
• You can now put your pj's on by yourself with very little help. I only help by "opening" your pj bottoms and shirt so you can pull them on (I also help pull the bottoms up over your little diapered tush since that can be a bit difficult).
• While putting on your pj's one day, you said, "Did it self! Proud of you!" Hmmm...that must be something you hear Mama say pretty often. Hee hee!
• You absolutely made my day one day when you said in the sweetest and most sincere little voice, "Mama's pretty!" I have never felt better about someone calling me pretty in my life! Thanks, Gav!
• Your final two teeth - the upper and lower ones on the cleft side - started to come in last month. So you finally have all of your teeth!
  
  
• One day, you didn't take your nap until 5:30 and by 8:00, when you usually go to bed, you were still napping! I had to wake you up to eat and get ready to go back to bed and I said, "You took a loooong nap!" and your response was, "Yeah. It's fun!"
  
  
• You got sick with croupe on Mother's Day, so we ended up in Urgent Care.
• While I was carrying laundry downstairs one day, you followed behind me and said, "Careful!"
• While going downstairs another time, you asked me to carry you, so I picked you up and you said, "Hold it tight!" Geez, did you think I was going to drop you or something? And since when do you refer to yourself as "it"?
• You are a super picky eater and if it wasn't for "pudder jelly" (pb & j) and bean and cheese burritos, I think you would starve.
  
  
• When you are tired, you will fall asleep anywhere, and I mean anywhere.
  
  
  
• You are an extremely polite child (which makes Daddy and I soooo happy!). You say "please," "thank you", "excuse me", and "sorry" when necessary. But most recently (and my personal favorite), when you meet people, you shake their hands and say, "Nice 'a meet you." It is so stinkin' cute! You impressed the heck out of all of our friends when you shook their hands at a recent party.

I know I am missing tons of things that you can actually do this month, but I guess that's what happens when I'm nearly two months behind on my milestone posts. I'm really trying to get caught up (which is one of my goals since I'm off for two weeks for "summer break"). Anyway, thank you, Gav, for making Daddy and I smile everyday. You are our little sunshine and we absolutely love you to pieces!

We love you, Gav!!

5 Year Anniversary

Matt and I celebrated our 5-year anniversary on April 29. We went to Pechanga for the weekend to enjoy a little getaway. We were accompanied by friends of ours who we met while on our honeymoon cruise. We hit it off with them and ended up keeping in touch over the years, doing another cruise together and even getting pregnant at the same time (their son is exactly one week older than Gavin). We really enjoyed the weekend. We spent the day lounging by the pool sipping piña coladas and in the evening, we went out for dinner and dancing. I can't believe we have already been married for five years. The time has flown by and each year only gets better. I adore my hubby and am so thankful to have such a wonderful man. Seeing him with Gavin has only made me love him more. He is an amazing Daddy, husband, and friend. Here's to five years and many more anniversary's to come!

April 29, 2006 in Fallbrook, CA

April 29, 2011 at Pechanga

Craniofacial Team Visit

On April 25, we had another craniofacial team appointment. We were scheduled to meet with four team members, but the plastic surgeon was absent, so we just met with the speech pathologist, dentist, and pediatrician.

Once we walked in the building, Gavin quickly realized where we were and his fear of doctors set in. He began crying, "Go home! Go home!" He was terrified and the mommy in me just wanted to scoop him up and drive home as quickly as we could. I was holding him and telling him that it was going to be okay, but he wouldn't calm down. The other parents were giving me looks like they were hoping we would leave, and honestly, I wanted to thumb my nose at them! We waited about 45 minutes before going in and once we were alone in the room, Gavin was fine. He was in good spirits as long as no "doctors" were in there with us. Since his speech is so amazing, I was anxious to hear what Heather--the speech pathologist--was going to say this time. Unfortunately, Heather was out on maternity leave so we saw someone new. However, after asking some questions and hearing Gavin talk a bit, she determined that he is definitely advanced with his speech and is on the high end for everything speech-related. Woo-hoo, Gavin!! I was so proud of him. I knew his speech was pretty amazing, but to hear a speech pathologist confirm it was very nice. She said that he should be saying 2-3 word sentences by this time and he was saying 5-7 word sentences!

Later, we saw the dentist, who said that everything looked good and that we should continue brushing his teeth twice a day.

Our final visit was the pediatrician. However, Gavin was ready to go home before he arrived. I told him that we still had to see one more doctor and our conversation went like this:

Gavin: "Doctor go?" (Translation: Where did the doctor go?)

Me: "I don't know, bud. He should be here in a minute."

Gavin: "Doctor hungry, he go home. Eat burrito - beans and cheese."

I laughed hysterically! I couldn't believe he was actually trying to get me to believe that the doctor went home to eat so we'd better just go home ourselves. What a smart little guy!! Then, when the doctor arrived a few moments later, Gavin quickly ran over to the little kid-sized chair, laid his head down and made snoring noises! So I said, "I'm sorry, Dr. Elmendorf, Gavin's sleeping, I guess you can't visit with him today." He found that quite humorous! When I told him about the burrito story, he laughed so hard and asked, "Are you sure he's only two?" He said that for someone who just turned two to be making up stories is remarkable. He said he was going to share the burrito story with his wife later because she would just love it.

Once we got down to business, Dr. Elmendorf said that Gavin should be taking a multi-vitamin (which he is now doing). Also, after sharing my recent discovery of my hearing loss, he told me that research has shown that certain types of hearing loss have been linked to a chromosomal defect. Therefore, I may have inherited the hearing loss from my mom, who may have inherited it from her dad (both wore hearing aids), and unfortunately, there is a chance that I may pass it on as well. At this point, I hear well enough that I don't feel hearing aids are necessary, so I guess only time will tell when it comes to my hearing. And, Gavin seems to hear just fine at this point, so once again, time will tell.

Anyway, overall it was a good team visit. Getting confirmation from two of the team members that Gavin is advanced was very nice! I knew he was a genius, but it's always nice when others recognize it as well (hee hee!). I just hope the team visits will get easier on Gavin as he gets older.