Gavin's friends

Gavin is a busy guy these days. When he's not accompanying me to Baby Bootcamp a few days a week, he's also hanging out at the park, going to playgroup, a music class, and various playdates with some of his closest friends. It may sound like a lot for a toddler, but I've found if we're just sitting around at home for more than 2 hrs, we both get a little stir-crazy! So, here are some pictures of Gavin doing his thing...


Enjoying a preview of summer a few weeks ago at the park with the fountain of all fountains (have I mentioned how much Gavin LOVES water fountains??)


Some of the moms and boys from playgroup (we all met through the hospital's new moms group back when the kids were tiny)


The boys patiently waiting for lunch (and focused on Dora)


I found these matching jackets for Gavin & Bennett at a twins resale event (with their names already sewn on!)

Little dudes on the loose

Sharing crayons with Jack

Out to dinner with Jack

At Music Together class

Cooling down after bootcamp.

One smart mommy brought bubbles!

Happy Birthday Paul!

Last week, Paul turned [a certain age] and we were lucky enough to have my mom come up to stay with Gavin and give us a blissful 24hrs off. We basically pretended we were still dating and played some pool at Rock Bottom, went to a fancy restaurant for dinner, stayed at a lovely hotel downtown, and had brunch the next morning at another favorite restaurant from our dating days. After brunch, we wandered around downtown aimlessly, stopping by Saturday Market before heading back home. We definitely missed Gavin, and felt a little lost with all of our free time, but we really enjoyed ourselves. Mom, you can spend a night with your grandson ANYTIME you feel like it! :)

Side note: we didn't get to go out on Paul's actual birthday, so on that night he requested his favorite dinner of all-time - Bellagio's Pizza. He's a tough guy to please.

Gavin really enjoyed it too:

Still here

These posts are getting fewer and farther between these days. Not because Gavin isn't doing anything interesting, but it's just so hard to capture everything on camera and get him to perform now. He is so funny, though. Just when we think he's pretty smart, he comes out and says something even smarter, like he's been holding out on us. He's moved on from single words to compound words and short phrases...here are a few that I can think of:

Uh oh, guy fell down - it's okay
Mama night-night, baby night-night, etc.
Go home

Bye, see ya!

Missed it - try again
Mommy's cereal - eat it
Mama sit
Yah, dah be fun (yeah, that'd be fun)
Basketball all gone (the neighbor's bball hoop fell down in a recent windstorm)
Kitty cat ride the car, kitty cat ride the school bus
Sit Mama's car (if he wants to play driver)
Draw Blue's Clues, or draw mailbox (if you've seen the show, you know what this means)
Crayon broken (crown breakee)
Read story
Macaroni & cheese
Spaghetti Os
Microwave
Cash register
Hairdryer
Excuse me (sku-mee)
Water fountain
That way
Sandwich
Alphabet song (affa song)

He LOVES going outside, but with the constant rain lately, it's been hard for him to be cooped up all the time. If we get a break in the rain, we go on walks around the neighborhood and he points out all of his little landmarks. It goes something like this: "that way, water fountain, Al's car, basketball hoop all gone, Scott's house, Eene's house (Evangeline), Gabe's house, stop sign, drain, etc. (There are 3 water fountains, 3 basketball hoops, and lots of kids on our street, so these are his obsessions. :)

Making his rounds in the neighborhood

Making a friend along the way...

Here he is saying "water fountain!"

Another obsession he has is with drawing. Not just sitting and coloring on his own, but he insists that we draw things for him ALL THE TIME. He really likes to watch how we make things and then seems to try it himself. This morning, I did my best to draw a giraffe on his magnetic drawing board, and he corrected me and said it was an "ostich". :)

Here's my happy little artist

I finally got around to putting some more videos up on YouTube again. And instead of clicking on individual links to the videos, you can just go to our "channel" and watch all the videos there: http://www.youtube.com/pmgmclaughlin. I didn't edit them, so they can be a little long, but by the end, he ususally says something significant. Hang in there.