Tom's Farms

It seems like Tom's Farms is a regular stop for our family. It's a fun, inexpensive way to spend the day as a family and we all love it. Gavin loves the train ride, the carousel, the petting zoo, and the pony rides; while Matt and I enjoy the ambiance, the good food, and the family time.

Gavin and Mommy on the carousel

Gavin and Daddy

Daddy, Gavin, and Mommy

Gavin got knocked down when he first entered the petting zoo

He decided that he'd rather watch Daddy feed the aggressive animals

After the animals got some food, they were a bit more calm

Gavin loved the baby pigs

Such a cool guy...

Riding the pony

28 Months Old

My sweet boy,

I am once again behind on my milestone post. I know that I have missed several new things that you can do on your previous milestones posts, so I'm hoping to include those now, even though many of them are things you have been doing for a few months now. You are just so incredibly smart and so much fun! Daddy and I love you so very much and are so thankful for all the joy you bring to our lives! So, here are some new (and some not-so-new) things about you at 28 months:

• You can count to 10 now without skipping 4, and I have even heard you go as high as 13 a few times.
• About two months ago, you were able to recognize three letters: B, I, and O. You've actually known the letter "B" for several months, but the other two are more recent. I don't know what it was about the letter "B" that you liked, but every time you saw one, you would proudly say, "B!"
Riding a bike with Jason


• You are familiar with a few shapes. You can recognize a heart, diamond, and circle. You have known heart and diamond for a few months, but circle seems to be fairly new.
• You are very specific. If you are holding a toy and I say, "Oh is that your car?" You will reply with, "No, it's not my car. It's my orange hot rod." Oh excuuuuuuse me. I try to pay attention to those details when I talk to you now.
Washing your Cozy Coupe



• While reading My First 123's, I said, "One unicycle." And you replied, "It's missing a bike!" You are just so clever!
• While helping me clean the shower one day, you climbed in and left dirty little footprints all over and you said, "Left paw-prints!" It was so cute!
Mr. Cool


• One day, as you and Daddy were getting ready to leave in the Chevelle for a car show, you waved to me and said, "Bye, Mama. Come and visit!" Daddy and I laughed so hard!
• I was hanging clothes in the closet one day and you walked upstairs looking for me. Just when I walked out of the closet, you said, "Oh. I didn't see you there." The things you say are just so funny!
• After a car show one day, as I was putting you to bed, you said, "I had a goooood day!" It was so sweet to hear you say that and I was particularly impressed with the fact that you truly understood what it meant to have a "good day."
• I don't know what you were looking at exactly when you said this, but one day you picked up my cell phone and said, "Hmmmm..... that's weird." What a funny statement for a 2-year-old to say!
• You refer to UPS as "PS" because you think the "U" is for "you." Whenever we get a delivery (which is almost daily due to parts arriving for Daddy's job), you will say, "It's just PS."
Proudly displaying a new shirt from Daddy


• You were being particularly ornery one evening so I asked, "Why are you grumpy?" And your reply: "I'm not grumpy. I'm Gavin."
• Your favorite show for the past few months is "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse." You like to watch it in the morning with Daddy when you first wake up. You know all the characters and you like to sing along with the opening song.
• You love to take "niiiice naps" with Daddy and I (and we love them just as much!).
Napping with Mommy

Napping with Daddy


Your favorite book is one that was given to you at an auto parts store while you were there with Daddy one day. It is called, Custom Cars, and was made in 1968. Daddy changed the words to "Hot Rods" instead and so now wherever it says "custom cars" in the book, I have to say, "hot rods," or you get very upset at my "mistake." It was one of several old library books that had been donated to the parts store and you have decided that you want to read that book every single night now when it is bedtime. I even try to bribe you with other books, but to no avail. One night when I asked what you wanted to read, you said, "Hot rod book, of course." I told you that we are going to buy a new one because I am really burnt out on that one (I could probably recite it in my sleep) and being that it's from the 60's, it has a phrase or two that are not really politically correct. Hopefully we find a new hot rod book soon.




Spending time with your cousins

You are so much fun, Gav! We absolutely love you to pieces and look forward to all the fun times to come!

I love you, Gav!!

The Discovery Cube Museum

While I was off for my two week "summer break" I had lots of plans to do fun, inexpensive things with you. However, the time flew by and we didn't get to do as many things as I had hoped. Although, one really fun thing that we did get to do was visit the Discovery Science Cube Museum in Santa Ana. Grandma went with us and we had so much fun! You were so well behaved the whole day and you made Grandma and I very proud.

You got to watch a movie about water and evaporation...

Play in a coal mine...

Learn about wildlife in the desert...

Explore a space ship...

Watch a 3D movie about turtles (although you yelled, "I wanna go home!" when the snake jumped out at us)...

Learn about gravity and air pressure...

Drive a jeep through the wilderness...

Explore aquatic creatures and the ocean habitat...

Play with Mr. Potato Head...

And more!

It was such a fun day!

4th of July 2011

The 4th of July is always lots of fun at our house since the City of Riverside puts on a fireworks show right down the street. Every year since I was a child, my family has put blankets on our front lawn and watched the show from there. This year was no different. We enjoyed a barbeque, good time with good friends, and an amazing fireworks show. Matt even rented a blow-up water slide for the adults kids. It was so big that Gavin couldn't even go down the slide.

Mr. Cool checking out the waterslide

The slide was as tall as our 2-story house!

Gavin, Daddy, and Bocephus enjoying the pool at the bottom of the slide

Thanks to our friend Mikey for making this adorable cake!

Matt (on the right) with good friends Jason and Ray

Damian and Gavin

Billy and Gavin showing off his orange ear plugs

Yo, Ho, Ho, Ho, a Pirate's Life for Me!

With the warm weather upon us, we recently took full advantage of the beautiful pool at Matt's parent's house. Gavin especially loved the pirate ship they had and spent most of his time floating around as our little Captain Sparrow. He is extremely independent and did not want us touching his pirate ship at all, and if we did - even by accident - he would say, "Nooo!!! I wanna do it myyyyyself!" Well, since we haven't really experience the "terrible twos" yet, I guess I can't complain if that's the worst of it.

Helping Grandpa S clean the filter

"Ahhh.... refreshing!"

Finding "Doggie Doodles" with Grandpa

Father's Day 2011

For Father's Day this year, Matt and Gavin enjoyed a ride in the Chevelle to get some lunch before we did dinner with my dad that evening. Just before they left, I was able to catch what I consider to be one of the cutest pictures of two of them to date. I just love how happy they both look to be spending time together doing their favorite thing!

27 Months Old

My sweet boy,

You are absolutely the most wonderful son! Daddy and I just adore every moment with you and it just seems to get better every day. You are so smart; people are always blown away when they learn that you have just turned two! Your vocabulary is nothing short of amazing and the things you know and do are remarkable. You are so polite and loving - you make Daddy and I very proud. Here are some new things and cute stories (mainly cute stories) about you this month:

• You seem to understand some opposites. For instance, you will say, "I can't drive. I'm not tall, I'm short." Or, "It's not hot, it's cold."
• Your counting skills are getting better, you still count from 1-10 very well, but occasionally "4" gets left out. Who needs "4" anyway?



• You say the darndest things! One day while I was sick, you came in my room and said, "Cuddle, Mama." Of course, I will never pass up an opportunity to cuddle with you so I scooped you right up. I had been reading, so my bedside light was on and when you laid your head on my chest, you said, "Light bright!" So I said, "Do you want me to turn it off?" You said yes, and when I did, you snuggled down on my chest and said, "Perfect!"
• While getting you ready for bed one night, you said, "Knees hurt." So, when I asked why they hurt, you said, "Crash landing."
• As I've mentioned before your vocabulary is just incredible. I noticed that this month, you are beginning to understand the use of plurals and past-tense. For example, you are starting to add proper suffixes to words, such as -s, -ed, and -ing.



• As a little science experiment, we had you plant a few seeds in little pot and water them each day. You apparently have a green thumb (which you definitely did not get from me) because after just a week, you plant was already almost 1" high! So I said, "Gavin your plant is growing." And your response: "Yeah, a-mazing!" I couldn't believe my little 26 month old son was using the word "amazing." That's amazing to me!
• I had to drop you off at Grandma's house early one morning because Daddy and I were both working during the day. On the way there, it was sprinkling outside and you said, "It's not bright, it's sparkling."
• That same day, before we headed over to Grandma's house, you were holding your Monster toy that Daddy had won for you at Knott's Berry Farm and I observed you say, "Nice 'a meet you, Gavin's Monster" as you shook it's hand. You're even polite with your toys!
• Again, on the way to Grandma's (this was a very entertaining morning), you said to me, "I can't drive Daddy's blue work truck, I'm too short."



• I know I mentioned this on your "25 Months Old" milestone post, but your memory continues to amaze us! While reading your bedtime story one night, we came across a horse and you said, "I rode a horse when I was a baby." Well, you weren't quite a baby, but you had just turned a year old. (You can see the photos of his first horse ride here.) And you constantly talk about other things you remember from when you were younger. It's incredible!
• One day, Daddy and I were playing Hide-and-Seek with you and we were trying to teach you the concept of hiding. So, while Daddy counted, I helped you hide in the office, but each time Daddy came looking for you, you would run out to surprise him. I kept trying to explain to you that you needed to stay put and Daddy would try to find you, so you said, "Okay, Mama. I won't come out. I promise!" So cute!!! I don't know where you got "I promise," but I think the concept is still new because you came running out the moment Daddy came around the corner.



• Another polite little trait of yours is that you now apologize anytime you do something "wrong." If you drop your napkin on the floor, spill some milk, or even knock over blocks, you will say, "Sorry, Mama" or "Sorry, Dada" in this cute little upbeat voice. It is so adorable! In most cases, we just smile and say, "Well, that's quite alright, Gav." You are just too funny.
• In addition to apologizing, you also say, "Thanks, Mama" or "Thanks, Dada" at all the appropriate times. (Geez, I know some adults who could learn a thing or two about manners from you!)
• One day, Daddy brought you a kids meal from Subway, which comes in a little reusable cloth bag, and when you saw it, you said, "A present for me?? Oh thank you, Dada. How nice!" We laughed so hard, we cried!



• One night after your bedtime story, you said that you wanted to go to a car show with both Daddy and I. But I told you that I don't get to go to car shows very often because there isn't a seat for me in Daddy's "hot rod." Since it's a two-seater, there is only enough room for you and Daddy. Then, I made a sad face and you put your little hand on my cheek, rubbed it and said, "It's okay, Mama." My heart almost melted!
• While in your room one night, you pointed out your football-shaped clock and said, "It's Gavin's touchdown clock." And when I said it was yours, you said, "Actually Mama's." I cracked up! What 2-year-old says, "Actually"???



• You refer to sleeping as taking a "Niiiiiice nap." So, every night after you wake up, when Daddy goes to your room to get you, you say, "I wake up from a niiiiiiice nap!"
• While reading an animal book one night, we were discussing the giraffe and how they have very long necks. So I pointed out that while their necks are long, yours is very short and you reached up to touch your neck and said, "Yeah, it's tiny!"

Oh, Gavin, I could fill a book with all of the adorable things you say! You make us laugh everyday. You fill my heart with joy and I absolutely adore being your Mommy. Thank you for being my little angel!

I love you to pieces, Gav!!