18 Month Update

With an active 18 month old constantly wanting our undivided attention, I feel like I haven't had the time to post and actual blog (other than LOTS of pictures) in a while.  So obviously as you can see Gavin is as cute as ever, but pictures just aren't enough to sum up his entire cuteness and adorable personality.  He's changing so quick, and it's strange adjusting from calling him my little baby to a "boy".

Gavin's accomplishments at 18 months:

• Gavin has 12 teeth - his front 8, and 4 molars
• Is in the 9th percentile for his weight
• Knows that a puppa (puppy) says, "Ruff! Ruff!"
• Knows that dinosaurs say, "Raawww!"
• Knows that Santa says, "Ho! Ho!" (glad we got this one down before Christmas!)
• Usually knows that cows say "Moo", ducks say "Ma, ma", kitties say "Meea", and horsies say "Nea"
• Uses the words outside and cookie ALOT!  We just finished going through a phase where "outside?" was the first thing Gavin asked for in the mornings.  Now we've moved on to asking for a cookie each morning before even getting out of bed
• When Jared leaves he always waves and says, "Bu-Bye Dada"
• Says and points to Jesus when we show him a picture 
• When Gavin get's an owchy he says, "oww!" and comes for me  to kiss it better.  I love it!  Immediately the pain is magically gone and Gavin announces, "abuda" (all better)
• Gavin loves closing doors, (occasionally on his fingers), knocking on doors, and sliding toys under doors
• Gavin folds his hands (for the first few seconds) at prayer time, and says, "ado!" (amen) when HE thinks it's time for the prayer to be over
• If he puts his pointer fingers together and says, "spda" it means he wants to sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider, and he does all the actions with us
• "Lo-lo" (we're not sure where that one came from) is Ring Around the Rosy, and sometimes he'll do it on his own, saying "lo-lo, lo-lo" as he turns in circles
• Gavin will point out his own and others' ear, eye, nose, teeth, head, toe toe, belly button, and is getting better at chin, cheek (those sound similar and get confused), shoulder, knee, bum-bum, and mouth
• Gavin blow's and gives kisses, gives "hi-fi" (high five) and "bupi" (pound it), waves bye-bye, and still screams when he wants something he doesn't know how to ask for. 
•  Gavin's other words include: all done, cheese, toe-toe, coat, shoe-shoe, sock, up, off, on, ligh (light), hot, wow, is a hello (its a phone), poo-poo, and diaper (I'm sure I'm missing a few here...but these are the most common)
• Gavin loves reading his stories, but announces "all done" when he's ready for a new activity.
• Lately Gavin has started coming up to me when I'm trying to do something on the laptop and says, "all done", while trying to close the lid so we can play
• We're still working on learning please and thank-you, and that you don't always get your way.  We give Gavin short 30sec to 1min time outs when he does something he knows he shouldn't, and he's really good at sitting still in his "time out spot" until the alarm goes off, and then will give us a hug or kiss before going back to play
• He likes to test his limits to see what he can get away with.  The other day I was sweeping the kitchen and I kept reminding Gavin not to step in the pile.  That didn't stop him from inching closer every few seconds and stopping to look at me with his mischievous smile to see how close to the pile I would actually let him get.  Or when I asked him to give me back my hair brush he kept holding it out to me, then pulling it back quickly and taking a few steps backwards with that same silly smirk, testing how long he could go before he REALLY had to give it back
• It's amazing what Gavin is learning from just watching us; things that I don't even know how he learned.  It's crazy what little sponges children are!  The other day I was cleaning the bathroom and the Q-tips were out where Gavin could reach them.  I turned around and Gavin was walking around holding a Q-tip in his ear!
• He loves to help out with the laundry.  His laundry basket is right next to his change table, and after we change him out of his PJs or out of his clothes, he's the one in charge of dropping his dirty clothes into the laundry basket below.  When I do laundry he helps me push the laundry basket to the washing machine, then gets to climb up onto a chair and drops the clothes into the washer as I hand them to him.  Granted it takes alot longer, but it keeps him happy and is just so cute.
• Gavin LOVES nursery (almost too much).  His first week he didn't even bother to say good bye to us - he just headed straight for the toys.  Then last week when I took him out during sacrament meeting he recognized the door to the nursery room and started screaming even more because he wanted to got to nursery RIGHT NOW!  That same Sunday we left early because I was still feeling sick, and when I went in to take Gavin home he was distraught about having to leave early and screamed all the way home.

That's about all I can think of for now!  He's cute, fun, (frustrating at times), but we love him oh so much!  He's still not a great eater, but he's been doing alot better since we realized he's been drinking more than twice as much milk as he should be.  He loves his milk, but it makes him not hungry for food, so we're trying to get him interested in drinking more water during the day.  We're excited for Christmas this year since he'll be a little older and more interested in opening presents than he was at 6 months!  He's been really good with our Christmas tree, and only sometimes takes ornaments off.  He's not too fond of Santa this year (other than in books or waving from a distance), but one day we did get close enough to give him a high five!

We love our Gavin, and watching him grow and discover the world around him!