Surfer Buns

Gotta love the surf board buns!

True Spirit

This is the absolute uninhibited spirit of my child. Just wanted to document because I love this phase of finding pure pleasure with simple play. Here he is running down a "hill" at Grandpa ("BaPa") and Grandma's cottage.

Farmer's Market

Friday morning (before work), we headed to the Fulton Street Farmer's Market to grab some delicious fresh fruit. And, bonus, we had Kasey Vandertol from Posh Photography take some photos along our shopping journey. I learned of Posh Photography through a previous co-worker/blogging friend (thanks EB!).

I just loved the idea of what Kasey calls a "mini-session". For just $30, we had some fantastic journalistic-style photos taken. I've been admiring Kasey's work with EB's girls on her blog, so it was fun to experience first hand. Check out Posh Photography's website.

Here are some of my favorites...Gavin wasn't in a particularly smiley mood, but they still are cute!

Beachin' It

We headed up to Traverse City last weekend Sunday and spent the afternoon on the West Bay beach. It was a bit cloudy, but the perfect temperature. Including the water which was incredibly warm. Gavin played in the sand a bit, then headed for the waves. He had a blast swimming -- more daring that I've seen from him before. And of course, my camera battery died shortly after I took these sand photos, so none of him in the water. Note to self, check the battery more often.

We used paper coffee cups from the hotel room as sand toys, in the absence of packing any real sand toys.

Like sand through an hour glass.

Mini castles

Potty

We have officially purchased Gavin's first potty. I'm not sure that he's ready to use it yet, but we thought it would be a good idea to at least introduce him to it. He was delighted to have this "gift" to open. And he loves to sit on it, not so much for actual use, just for fun. We have been talking with him lots lately about "potty" and "pee" and "poop"...just what you all wanted to hear, huh? He's starting to get it.

Just like Dad in this one! Enjoying a good read!

More ammunition

In follow-up to my video post of Gavin discovering his nostrils, here's another great photo that will come in handy some day for embarrassment. He found great fun tonight in demonstrating how momma wears her shoes.

A Day at the Park...

For Grandma

My parents are vacationing in Europe for two weeks, so I've been given strict instruction that I need to post photos so they can get their "Gavin fix" while away. Here are some photos of just everyday stuff, nothing terribly exciting.

Gavin is getting quite good at coordinating utensils. Here he is enjoying Cheerios with milk. It's still a bit of a messy experience, but much less messy than just a couple of months ago.

He looks so old to me in this picture. Sometimes I look at him and still see the baby in him, other times, I look and I can see glimpses to the future of Gavin as an older child or even teenager. I can see some of the teenager in him here.

Mischievousness is at an all time high. Many times the furniture becomes off-limit because Gavin is just too wild and fearless...and his mother is not!

"Boons" - Balloons, great fun!

Nostrils

Time for a video update. Embarrassing footage that will provide good leverage in the future when Gavin is a teenager.

Water Baby

A long over-due update to the blog...sorry avid followers, we've been having too much fun this summer to keep up on the blog. And now I'm exhausted and up entirely too late, so you will have to settle for a mini photo-dump. Gavin was so excited to get his first life jacket. He wore it all around the house. And when he's not wearing it, we frequently find him pulling it behind him all around the house, like his little companion.

Over the holiday weekend, we stopped at this cute little park in Holland and let Gavin run around through the water spraying everywhere -- great fun! Here are just a few of the hundred or so photos I shot...

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"