16 Month Fun

It's impossible to think that 16 months have elapsed since the entry of our little guy into our lives. But it has. I often get the question from co-workers or people I haven't seen in a while or on a routine basis, "how's your little guy, he must be close to a year old now. And maybe walking" Well, he's running and he's quickly jetting through his second year of life. 16 months, gosh!

It's pretty incredible over the past few weeks -- the language skills are running at record speeds. And curiosity is also at an all time high. It's incredibly fun and fulfilling to watch this little boy develop and learn. And love learning. He is saying many new words. And most exciting, understanding what they are. I can't recall what I blogged previously (and I'm too tired to look back on the blog), so I'll document a few of his very favorite words...all of which he can point out in a book or, in the case of body parts, on himself: car (caa), ball (ba), bus (ba), dog (dok), duck (sounds similar to dog), shoes (shu), nose (noh), toes (toh), truck (trah), knee (nee), leg (leh), teeth (tee), strawberry (nah-berry), star (stah).

By far, car wins for being his favorite word and object right now. Anything with a motor and/or wheels that even semi-resembles a car IS a car...lawn mowers, boats, motorcycles, trucks, wagons. This boy is a boy and loves his cars. He goes to bed now with two little plastic Tonka trucks, one in each hand, falls asleep with them in hand - and proudly shows them to you first thing in the morning when he wakes up. He is rarely without his little trucks ("caas").

Gavin also has an obsession with climbing - on everything - with absolutely no fear of falling. He frequently conquers the chairs and coffee table, as well as toy box. Any day I'm sure we'll find he's climbed out of his crib.

And the last thing I'll mention in this post is that our child is just a little ham. He does little dances, spinning stunts, goofy faces - anything to get a good laugh. So happy, but also a little naughty at times, too.

I must say I love this little man!

Between playing cars and reading, Gavin is very content.

This is a classic Gavin face.

Coloring Dad's Father's Day card.

And yummy summer strawberry shortcake...a staple in our house this time of the year.

Memory Card Download

A few recent pics that were lost in memory card world on my mom's camera.

Cake mixed with yogurt...and near perfect spoon technique! On a related note, forks are great fun now as well.

Pool time!

Flowers...

and swinging!


Lots of summer fun!

Expert Toddler

It becomes more and more apparent each day that our little guy is becoming an expert toddler. His creative mind is blossoming at rapid speeds. He engages in toys and books in ways that he hasn't in the past months. I think he is learning to understand the meaning of stories and pictures, as well as all of the cool things he can accomplish with his toys.

Here is "Giddy" horse who Gavin pets, feeds and rides like a true equestrian (well, a true toddler equestrian).

Gavin is a definite little boy - he loves trucks and cars. He runs to the window every time he hears one go by our house, points and exclaims with excitement "caa". We took him to the Memorial Day parade in Walker to see all of the trucks and cars. His favorite, of course, was Uncle Tim's Firetruck (that's him in the driver seat below).

We spent a nice evening strolling about in Grand Haven on Thursday. We discovered that not only does our little guy like cars and trucks, he is fascinated with boats. He points and says "brrrrrmmm".

And the Silly Town stackable little creatures (for lack of a better definition) are providing hours of entertainment. Here is Gavin stacking a couple of them on the windowsill (one of his favorite play areas). He has gotten as high as six stacked before it collapses. He is very proud of his little towers.

I'll have some more photos to post soon of pool time today. I forgot my camera and had to borrow my mom's this morning/afternoon to get some pics. Now I just need to take the time to download them from her camera.

Cheeky!

A must buy for Gavin. I can't take credit for finding this commercial, though. My friend Elizabeth brought it to my attention...

"The coolest you'll ever looking pooping your pants"