First Dentist visit

Gavin had his first dentist appt this week and he was so good. He got super excited to see the dentist. The office was perfect for kids....games, coloring, fish tank. He walked down to his chair and jumped on. When the assistant raised it up, he laughed and said this is so cool. They leaned him back and he saw the TV with a fishy movie on it. Couldn't have been a better office set up. He let them clean his teeth and didn't say a thing..no crying...just a well behaved kid. He got stickers at the end and a new toothbrush and prize. Probably the best "doctor" type visit I have had since he was born.

We also got the seasonal flu shots and Gavin was a champ there too. He looked away as she stuck the needle in. There was a small "owww" face but then I said, Gosh, you were so brave and he immediately smiled. Gavin was a champ. Neither of us got sick either so it cleared up the myth of do you get sick when you get the flu vaccine. H1N1 is next once they get it here in SLO.

Gavin is loving all the holiday catalogs we get and he can look at them for a while...just flipping pages. Apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

He also likes to talk to his baby brothers...he will put his mouth on my belly and yell "What are you doing baby broddas?". He talks about them more often so I think he is starting to get it.

Staying local

We've been mellow the last couple weekends and plan to be for a while given the "don't go anywhere" mandate from my doctor. We had a nice weekend last weekend for Steve's birthday and went to San Simeon beach for a picnic. Steve and I had a great dinner at Buona Tavola downtown. After almost two hours of sitting and eating, we were too late to catch a movie and I was getting uncomfortable. It was an early night but we got out of the house. The rain last week was random. We got caught in a rain storm, drenched as we attempted to go the library just to find out it was closed for a holiday. Gavin loved it. He held the umbrella and loved to walk in the puddles. Then it was 80 degrees out and we were in shorts again this weekend.

Gavin is loving "cool"...aka school. He wants to go every day but until his "baby broddas" are here, we have to keep him in daycare so we keep the spot open. Once the twins arrive, Gavin will go full time to preschool. Gavin is starting to be a little joker. Some of the things he says just crack me up. Of course, I have baby brain as I write this and I can't remember what he said this weekend. When we asked Gavin what we should name his brothers, Gavin said "Dave". Maybe because he just had a visit from Steve's brother ...Uncle Dave. He wanted to name both the brothers Dave. Yesterday, we asked again and he wants to name his brother's Gavin and Coleson. A couple weeks ago it was Sean and Derek. No clue where he got those names. Jury is still out on what we are naming them.

Gavin's riddles

Gavin likes to tell stories now. Last week was a riddle.

What goes "he haw he haw"? Has a tail that goes swish swish? and has 4 legs?.... a donkey!!! and he laughs and laughs.

He watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and might have been traumatized by Augustus Gloop. For about 4 days Gavin said.... and that little boy fell in the water and he got stuck in the pipe! What happened to him Mommy? Well, he came out the other side (I assume). Why did he fall in the water Mommy? Because he didn't follow directions and he was being a bad boy. And he got stuck in the pipe? Yep, he got stuck in the pipe. We had that conversation about 20 times in 4 days. He would tell strangers we meet... and that little boy, got stuck in the pipe. He would also add...and that little girl turned into a BLUEBERRY! and he would laugh at that.

We were mellow this weekend allowing the news of twins sink in.. Steve surfed the Jetty in Cayucos twice (Fri and Sun) and got barrelled. A surfer's dream. We hit the local pool and Gavin was a little fish. We chilled, watched Eagle Eye and I got a bunch of errands done, except laundry, oh well. I made a killer Fatty Fattessa recipe (aka Barefoot Contessa). It was 5 cheese penne pasta...super easy and yummy...might not be the least fattening but you gotta feed the twins! It is something I can make ahead and freeze when the twins come. I am starting to walk slower and waddle as the belly seemed to have grown about 4 inches in 3 days. Saying "twins" or "babies" or "the boys" is trippy but kinda fun at the same time.

Adventure weekend

We had a packed weekend in Carmel. We drove up Friday night. Saturday morning we headed over to Moss Landing with kayak on the roof and did our first official family kayak in the ocean. It wasn't a typical ocean kayak. In Moss Landing it is more like a river than an ocean but perfect for Gavin. We all got suited up and Gavin was pretty excited. We had Nana and Papa going with us as well. They rented a kayak and gear and we launched.

The kayak was very mellow compared to an ocean kayak in Shell Beach. There was a ton of marine life. That made the kayak interesting. If there was no marine life, I would probably pass on this kayak. We saw huge pods of sea otters, tons of sea lions, bunches of harbor seals and a lot of pelicans and birds.

We made it about halfway through Elkhorn Slough and turned around. Gavin was ready and our backs were hurting by then. Gavin fell asleep on the return paddle. We grubbed at Whole Enchilada. Cool decor but so so food. Gavin's lunch was tortilla chips dipped in ranch. What can ya do.. we tried with refried beans and burritos. We all had a fun time. Came home and crashed

Sunday we woke up early and made our way down to Carmel Beach for the annual sand castle contest. Last year we just watched but this year we decided to enter. Not sure that was the wisest move. We were the first people on the beach but our castle didn't show it. It took 2 hours to build the base of our "dog house" (Theme was dog houses) and another two hours to keep it from collapsing. Our vision and actual didn't look the same. Oh well. It took a lot of work to keep Gavin from jumping on it. Mom and I did bucket runs to the ocean... back and forth with water. Our backs ached. Steve dug the sand and piled it on top. By the end, we had no plaque for show for our efforts. People with crappier castles won so we were bitter. We decided next year to stick with no upright castle walls....too easy to collapse. That is if we decide to enter again. I like the idea of the beach, lame little castles I build with Gavin that he loves, killer picnic and walk around looking at EVERYONE ELSE's castle. That sounds more relaxing.

After all the fun events, we packed up and drove home. Good weekend but a tad tiring.

MIA for the summer

Sorry to be MIA for the summer. I just didn't feel like updating for some reason. So, end of July we went on a family "sorta staycation" to San Diego. We drove down and cut over on the coast so Steve could surf County Line. We met Wig there for a quick surf session. Had a yummo lunch from a grocery store that Steve said always has celebrities in it... it did not. Then we headed down to San Diego. We had a great little hotel room close to everything and Gavin called it our home all week. We had a pool and Gavin was a little fish. There was free breakfast and "dinner" each night....but the breakfast was average..nothing I would call grub. But it was free so I resorted to your basic bagel and cream cheese each day cuz you can't really screw that up.

The first day we went to the San Diego Zoo. It was nice weather, not too hot. We walked ALOT. About 2 pm we hit our wall and decided to call it a day. We didn't get to each exhibit because the place was just too big. Big hits were the overhead railcar thing where you can see everything from about 100 feet up. The giraffes, elephants and lions were really cool too.

Later that day we drove over to Coronado Island and walked around. Such a cute little place. I could definitely stay there and do the beach. We walked around the hotel Coronado and Gavin said "wow, this place is cool". So definitely cool if a 3 yr old thought it was cool. We had yummy ice cream (forget the name) and enjoyed the scene. Miguels for dinner on Coronado (take out of course) was grubbalicious.

Seaworld was the next adventure. That was really fun. Very interactive and a little more action than the zoo. Gavin fed the dolphins...if you call mom holding the smelly fish and Gavin laying up against the wall feeding the dolphins. :) We also fed the Sea Lions. The shark exhibit was really cool since we got to walk in a tunnel under the tank and the sharks swam over us. We also saw Shamu. Gavin and Steve were all excited. We sat in about the 6th row...even though mommy said this probably isn't a good idea. Got to almost the end then Shamu does his ceremonial splash. Before that Gavin says " Are we gonna get wet?" I say, "Yes, probably". "Ok, I wanna get wet". Splash Splash with an enourmous tail from the whale...Gavin bawling his eyes out. It was a little scary for a 3 yr old. But we got him a stuffed Shamu afterwards and all seemed to be fine.

Next day we went to the La Jolla cove. It was overcast most of the time but still warm. Gavin and Steve played in the water and Steve even snorkled. It was a fun day on the beach. As we walk along the nice green open park, Gavin decided he needed to pee...pulls down his pants and starts to pee in the middle of the park.. no trees, no bush, just wips it out and pees. Training required on the ettiquette of outside urination.

That night we went to dinner at Shelie (Campana) Herman's house. I haven't seen her in over 12 years probably but it was just like old times. We reconnected on Facebook (where else!) and we had a blast. Her house was awesome and we had a great bbq. The kids had a ball. Gavin left and said "I am gonna miss Elle".

We packed it up the next day and drove back home....stopping at Leo Carrillio so Steve could relive his childhood surfing days. Great trip. Definitely want to go back next summer.

August went by fast. We went to Ptown and had Coleson's bday party. Gavin tells everyone now that he wants to go to Colesons and go swimming.... he tells the guys working on the street, the mailman, people in the park. Stopped in Carmel and did a little Big Sur coastal drive home. Hung at the local beaches, went to San Simeon beach, and last weekend I chilled, went shopping with Vic in SB and relaxed and Steve and Gavin went up to the lake for probably the last swim of the summer.

With Sept coming tomorrow, I think summer feels officially over. But the weather is not cooperating...very hot here.

Gavin is loving Batman and Spiderman (aka as Piderman) and wants to be one of them for Halloween. He can write his name and is great with letters. He loves to sing the Bob the Builder song or the Special Agent Oso song. One of these days we will capture it on video.

Summer fun

We have been enjoying summer. We had a trip up to Ptown. Gavin loved swimming with cousin Coleson. I went into the Cisco office for a couple days. Then we made our way up to Pine Mountain Lake for the 4th of July.

We brought enough food for an army and ate well. The Franklins came up as well on Friday and we got to celebrate Aaron's bday with some delicious homemade cupcakes from Nik. The boys loved going in the lake. With their life vests, they could float and would get into the lake without any help. Steve's brother Dave came up too as well as our friends the Pittengers. They brought the best blueberry pie! Yum.

Each day we swam, ate, swam, tried to relax if Gavin would sit still, then ate again. The weather was nice and we got in a couple of kayaks rides as well. Gavin likes the kayaks this year. The boys also loved the sandbox that Steve built them along the lakeside. Great activity. Steve did his second annual treasure hunt and the boys actually dug up the treasure in the sandbox. Pirates of the Carribean Pez dispensers was the "loot".

We were lazy last weekend and didn't do much. We got in one trip to Montana de Oro...hit up our favorite Mexican joint..Tus Amigos... and checked out the beach. Gavin had fun in the sand dunes.

Gavin has disgressed a little with going to bed by himself. The chart worked well but since we started traveling and we have been in the same room sleeping, he wants us to sleep with him again until he falls asleep. The other night I sat on the sofa right outside his room and he sat in his bed yelling "Mommy, mommy" about a hundred times... then said "Are you listening?" "Mommy, I am getting mad!". Wonder where he got that from? He eventually stopped and wanted to read books...so I caved for education.

Father's Day

We had a fun weekend for Father's day. We stayed local and just hung out around town. Saturday was pretty gloomy but nice enough to go downtown and hang at the park. We got yummy Nonna's sandos and Gavin had fun playing on the playground. We got Gavin down at a decent time and we watched Gran Torino.

Sunday we started the morning with bagels in bed for Steve. I packed up a yummy picnic and we tried out a new hike up on the Grade. Can't say we will do that hike again but at least we tried it. It was along the freeway up in the hills. It was sunny and kinda hot but with some wind. It was a serious incline most of the way up. Gavin was a trooper for most of it but then wanted to be carried the second half.

The afternoon was lazy as Gavin took a nap then we got sucked into Fried Food Paradise on the Food Network. I had a meal of risotto and salad planned and we nixed that for a delicious treat at Longboards in Pismo consisting of fried zucchini, fried mushrooms and burgers. We got turkey burgers but we should have splurged for the real meat. Oh well. It was tasty but we felt kind crappy afterwards. It was worth it when Steve said... now that is a Father's Day dinner. Score!

Gavin and Steve packed up the car on Monday and headed up to Pine Mountain Lake. They are going to go up to Yosemite and play for a couple days. Gavin is very excited to see Papa at the lake. Fun for them! I am back home working. I will either me really productive or soak up the quiet.

Getting ready for Summer

We are gearing up for Summer break. The weather is kinda funky right now but still nice enough to hang outside and go to the beach.

Saturday we got to hang out with Springer. He was in town for a guy's golfing weekend. We went to Luisa's for breakfast and it was better than I remembered. The streets were packed with Grads and parentals because it was Graduation. There were many drunks in the streets at 9am. Kinda funny to see. Luisa's was packed. We waited 40 minutes oddly enough to get a table. Gavin just played outside until we got in. He did well while we ate. Luckily it was really loud in there and plenty of jam packets and creamer tubs for him to play with. I had an awesome Huevos Rancheros! Definitely will go back there. If was fun to catch up with Springer too.

We got in some good park play at Meadow park then came home and had a family crash on the sofa. Saturday night we got a sitter and went to a wine tasting party. We tasted Cabs. Tolosa 2006 won as the best Cab. Good food too.

Sunday we headed out to Cambria/Moonstone beach. We had fun playing around in the sand and taking pictures and walking along the boardwalk. Steve got to watch some surfers since the waves were breaking. He was bummed he didn't bring his board. Gavin loves to dig and play with sand.

Gavin tells us he loves us all the time now. It is very cute. He also says to "leave me alone" a lot as well when he doesn't get what he wants. Not as cute. Definitely a 3 yr old.

A good weekend in SLO

We have been traveling for the past few weekends but this weekend we got to stay in SLO. We hit up Farmers Market on Thursday and that always kicks off the weekend in a good way. Laid low Friday night and went to Morro Bay on Saturday.

We hiked up Black hill and saw an awesome view of Los Osos, Morro Rock and Cayucos. 360 degree view. Great little hike for Gavin. We had lunch at our favorite dive mexican joint, Tus Amigos, then took a little pit stop on the beach by Morro Rock. Laid low on Saturday night too.

Sunday we headed to the beach with some friends. It was a great sunny day. Not too hot, not too cold. Gavin had fun playing in the sand. Now it is time for the Lakers!

First ER visit

We are officially parents now. We had our first ER visit with Gavin last weekend. We were in the pool at Nik's house and Gavin was having a blast jumping from the edge of the Pool into Steve's arms. He got really excited and jumped to Steve...but Steve wasn't looking. Gavin banged Steve in the forehead really hard. Gavin started to cry and Steve made a loud noise then he threw Gavin over to me. Blood was coming from somewhere..not sure at that point. Trying not to freak, I quickly get out of the pool. I look at Steve and his head is not bleeding so I knew it was Gavin. We sit him down on the side of the pool and blood is gushing out of his chin.

He split open his chin on Steve's forehead. We apply pressure with a towl and get it to sorta stop. We knew it was too big for a band aid and we quickly get dressed since we were all sopping wet in our bathing suits. We weren't sure if we were in for a long night so we didn't want to be wet dogs in the ER. Fifteen minutes or less, we are at the ER. Luckily is was a slow night.

We got Gavin admitted and the doctor's clean the cut. It was pretty deep and open. Hard to watch. But Gavin didn't cry at all once we were there. He laid down very still, closes his eyes while they patched him up. They used skin glue rather than stitches. I was glad since I knew they would have to give him a shot if they did stitches. About an hour later, we were back home. Gavin had a big ouchy and a huge chocolate ice cream cone for being so brave. Ice cream for dinner after a traumatic event is ok by me.

Leave me a-yone

That is one of Gavin's favorite sayings now.... "Leave me a-yone" (he can't really say the "L" in alone).

Today he said... Mommy go away, leave me ayone... I am playing by myself.

Woohoo.. you don't have to tell me twice. I am outtee...off to drink my coffee and watch the tube!

Gavin playing

Gavin now likes to play by himself and talk to his cars and trains. Today I watched him and he makes up little stories for the trains. It was very cute. " I am going to be the first train. I will help you Fred.. ooh no.. Bertie, I will help you."

He brought a train in the car today on the drive to daycare. I didn't realize he was talking to his train and I asked... "what Gavin... what did you say?". He says... "No, I am talking to myself"..then goes back to making up a little story for his train. Very fun to watch. :)

Mother's Day Weekend

We had a great weekend, or at least I did :)

Friday night my mom and stepdad came into town and we had a nice dinner at home. Saturday morning we woke up and my mom and I headed to the spa. ahhhhhhh. We got to soak in the hot springs tub for a half hour then we had a nice massage at Sycamore Mineral Springs spa. It's a nice place. Maybe not the most spa-ish... if that is a word...but it was still very relaxing. We had lunch at the Avila Market and it was beautiful out. The food was amazing. Gavin was also very good. He sat at the table the whole time and we could actually enjoy our food. I am still doing the cleanse but I was able to find something that worked. An ahi tuna salad. Yum!

We came back home and tried to get Gavin to take a nap. Mom and I hit downtown to window shop. Glad we didn't do too much damage. I got one shirt and she got dog food. Boring! haha. It it just fun to go downtown and walk around.

Saturday night we attempted again to go out to dinner and it worked...again! Gavin played with his trains and did an awesome job. Didn't eat anything as usual even though we got him food. I guess it saves up money. :)

We vegged out Saturday night and went to bed. Sunday we went to brunch at Novo and Gavin once again did awesome. We had one episode of him running from the table but overall he is definitely growing up! It was very warm and I even got a little sunburn. Where was the Arbonne?? haha. The rest of the day was pretty lazy. I got to watch an entire movie during the day without interruption. Loved it. Then we felt the need to be a little productive so we did a Costco run and I cheated on my cleanse b/c I couldn't take it anymore...mainly b/c it was Mother's Day and I wanted my treat! Costco Pizza is definitely not on the cleanse but it was heaven! I am back on the wagon this morning with my fruit smoothie and melon for breakfast. One day can't kill me. :)

It was a great weekend. Oh, I got flowers galore too. I bought myself some tulips then Steve came home with Tulips and another beautiful bouquet. Then my mom came with some flowers too. The house is filled. I love it! Great weekend!

Gavin's fascination with the Potty Song

Gavin is fully potty trained. Well, minus the peeing incident last night at 2am where he wet the bed, he is potty trained. He loves to watch the dvd the Potty Song.

Every morning, "I want to watch the Potty Song, Mommy."
"Mommy, I want to go there"
"Mommy, those babies have bum bums"
"I want to go there"

Not quite sure what the fascination is. Maybe it is the song at the end, maybe it is that he likes saying wee wee and poo poo. Don't know.

It is funny and a bit odd, but whatever works to get him to sit still in the morning will he gets dressed, I will take it.

Gavin is funny

Well, at least I think he is funny. Have to capture these funny things or I will forget.

Gavin and I play kiss and tickle. Gavin will say.. Mommy kiss me and tickle me... So I act like I am eating him up and I tickle him all over. He says "do it again"... this goes on for about 10 rounds.

Today I said.. I am going to eat you up... Gavin says...

"Mommy, I am not a piece of bread.... I am Gavin".

Guess only a mother could love that little saying and you might of had to have been there but it was super cute.

April Update!

It has been a while since my last post. Just been busy with work and doing stuff on the weekends. Working on the computer all day makes it a little hard to want to come up to the office again and post. But it is fun to document all the funny things that happen so here goes... hope my memory is up to par today.

Easter 2009: Great weekend. We took Good Friday off and headed up to Carmel early. Gavin as always was a good little traveler. Very excited to see Nana and Papa and Bailey. He also couldn't wait to see cousin Coleson. He is started to talk about Keaton more too. I am sure once she gets a little bigger, she will be their little playmate too.

Saturday morning we headed down to the Lions Club Easter park special. There were Easter games, egg tosses, face painting. Perfect games for Gavin and Coleson. Uncle Aaron did the sack race since the boys were not into that one. It is very fun to watch the boys have so much fun. They each got little toys and loved the plastic eggs.

Sunday we all looked for easter baskets and their eyes got very big looking at all the candy and treats. Nana still does a basket for the big kids so that makes it very fun for all. We went to church then came home for the easter egg hunt. It was great weather and the boys ran around the courtyard scooping up their eggs into their basket. They found them all. Coleson scored the most but Gavin was only a few behind him. Very fair little hunt. haha.

Last weekend, Steve's brother Dave came into town and they had a surf session. We got a sitter Friday night and had some drinks with friends at Blue. Great time and fun to get out. Our sitter is great too. Sat the boys did dawn patrol and Gavin and I hung out. We headed over to a birthday party with the day care kids and then cruised to Avila barn so Gavin could feed the goats. He is into it now and laughs when they take the lettuce. Gavin says "Oh, oh, I know.... I got an idea!" and then says something funny to do.

Gavin is doing great. He sits on the big potty, gets dressed by himself... very mature little guy now. Maybe it is the grown up haircut? We are working on the listening skills and the whiney voice but I think it is a typical 3 yr thing.

He says "I love you" a lot and says "I'm sorry" if he hurts you (by accident, usually). He loves to walk into our room in the morning and say "Good morning,mommy. What are you doing?". My typical response is "sleeping". haha. He also says "Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure sure" a lot when you ask him something like... do you want something to eat?.

We are using a bedtime chart for him now so he stays in his room after we leave. After we leave the room and say good night, if he stays in bed, he gets a happy face on his chart. If he gets up, he gets a sad face. If he gets 5 happy faces in a row, he gets a toy. Works like a champ.

Fun with the family in March

The past couple weekends we have logged a lot of time on the beach. First we went to Carmel to celebrate my birthday. Steve and I enjoyed a nice stroll downtown Carmel while Gavin went to the store with Nana. We had coffee and pastries, window shopped, bought cheese, it was awesome. The weather was perfect and it was nice to get up and walking around before many people were out.

We planned to go to the beach when Coleson walked through the door. Nikki and Aaron surprised us with a visit. The whole family came down to Carmel. Gavin was very excited to see Cousin Coleson and of course cousin Keaton. We decided to get a picnic lunch and head down to a park to run the kids around. We were very busy at the park then headed over to feed a bunch of birds. Gavin is doing really well with his big boy undies and promptly does the pee pee dance when he has to go. No accidents at the park. Yeah! Kids fell asleep on the way home.

Nana babysat that night for all the kids while Nikki, Aaron Steve and I went to PF Changs to use our Xmas gift card from Dad. We sported the dinner since we have enough on the card. When we go to Pleasanton, we get Cheesecake Factory on them! Great dinner, yummy drinks, and delicious cake. We had a lot of cake this week.

Sunday we went down to the beach and played until it started to rain a little. We saw a break in the sky further south so we jumped in the car and headed down Highway 1. Steve found a great little trail hike along the cliffside. Very nice. We then heads to Rocky Point cafe. Gavin behaved nicely as we ate (yeah). He played with the sugar packets. It was a great day. We headed back to SLO with my new navigation system that I got as a present from my mom and Nikki. I am finally caught up with the times.

Gavin's new saying this week: Yeah yeah, sure sure. I say, Gavin, do you want a peanut butter and jelly... "yeah yeah, sure sure". It is funny. He says I love you a lot more. He also says "Leave me a-yone" when we have told him not to do something. "A-yone= Alone".

We took an adventure to the Monarch Gardens in Pismo. Monarchs all left for the season but it was a great day. Had fun playing in the dunes. Gavin got tired then mommy had to carry him. All was fine until I looked down at my legs and saw they were infested with nats. Then I started feeling them in my ears, they flew into my mouth. No more fun for mommy. They were everywhere. We quickly departed for the car at that point.

Sunday we took a mini adventure at Port San Luis and climbed along the pillow lava rocks. Gavin loves to climb rocks and does a really good job. He likes to squish the annemonies so water squeezes out. He also collected a pocket full of shells. He had to go potty and we were by ourselves near the rocks. We said.... just pee on the rocks. It was so funny because the pee sprayed up so high it almost when as high as his head. He really had to go. He was laughing and so were we. Hopefully he doesn't like it so much that he does that all the time. He didn't get wet by the pee but he then proceeded to jump in almost every puddle of ocean water he could find. Good thing we have a spare pare of clothes in the car!

Wonderful Weather

We stayed local this weekend and soaked up the sun. It was about 70 degrees and it is March. Gotta love it. We had a nice dinner with our friend John "Wiggy" Wigmanich on Friday. He brought over a great bottle of wine that we will have to search to find if we want another bottle. Called Brother in Arms 2002 Shiraz. Yummy. Gavin called him "widgy".

Gavin is going on about 3 weeks of big boy undies and we have only had a few accidents. Pretty good for starting out.

Saturday we planted plants in the backyard while mom did the taxes. Hoping we don't have to pay and we get something back.

Sunday we went to the beach. Gavin says "I LOVE the BEACH". We made sand castles, rock walls, stick castles and chased each other with seaweed. Gavin walked in the tide pools and got a little cut on his foot. He says "Mommy, I am OK!"

Good thing we had the "porta potty" in the trunk. At lunch Gavin said " Mommy, my pee pee is coming out". We wiped open the back, pulled out the little potty, and Gavin didn't have an accident. The question was where to dump the pee? Out on the park lawn... good fertilizer. Now if only they can make one of those for grown ups. We had a great lunch and the seagulls didn't steal our food. Gavin fell asleep as usual on the car ride home and we just leave him in the car until he wakes up.

It was a good weekend but a little too fast as usual.

Gavin's 3rd Bday

Gavin had an awesome weekend. We had a full house, Nikki, Aaron, Coleson, Keaton, Mom/Nana Meyer, Steve/Papa Meyer, Nana Gould and Papa Gould. All cramped up in the house. Nik and Aaron took Gavin's room and we put his two mattresses flat on the floor. Keaton was in the pack and play. Coleson slept on the crib mattress on the floor. We had one set of parents upstairs in the office loft and one set downstairs on the pull out sofa. Every inch of the house had someone in it.

Gavin started the morning with a trip to the beach so I could decorate with Nik and Mom. We got the house all ready, balloons, streamers, M&Ms in bowls and popcorn flowing. Two of Gavin's favorite treats. Then came the bounce house.

He loved it. It was a perfect size. It had the Backyardigans on it. We got to bounce for about an hour before people arrived. Coleson and Gavin got sweaty from bouncing so much. We had Giovanni, Georgia, Mari come over. Ben couldn't make it and not sure what happened to Kalani.. no show. It was ok because with only a few kids inside, we didn't have any accidents. Well, Coleson did fall on the ground when getting out but no one knocked heads inside the bounce house. We had some of the parents jumping and I got in a few bounces as well. Gavin said " I LOVE the BOUNCE HOUSE!".

After everyone left and the bounce house was gone, Gavin looked outside, slumped his shoulders and said " I miss my birthday" and turned around and walked out of the room. Too cute.

He got so many great toys... he loves his playmobile guys, the rocket launcher, the view master, the dinosaurs, puzzles, and the jumpee skip. He calls his new Leapster.. his remote control. We will play with the playdo and the dot markers this week.

We had a great time. So fun to make your kid smile!

Getting on the Potty train!

Gavin started potty training for real this time. He went all week at daycare... pees and poops. Take off his own pants, puts them back on, can crawl up onto the toilet, wipe, the works. Nisha says he is 100% potty trained with her.

Now if only he would do the same at home. When he comes home, he is not as confident, but he will get there. We traveled to Nikki's house and he had to pee on the way up. So we stop at McDonalds.

He wouldn't go with Steve so I tried. He was crying and didn't want to get on the poppy but I knew he had to go. So up the seat cover he went, still crying. Trying to keep his hands from touching anything nasty. There he starts peeing.... spraying me almost in the face, most of it went in my hair. I quickly point his pee pee down and it is squirting everywhere. On my pants, my shirt. But I remain calm to make sure he doesn't free ok. It's ok, Gavin, it's ok. Finally he is done. He calms down and I give him a lot of praise. I am soaked in pee but at least Gavin went in the toilet.

Yipee, potty training! Gavin got a milkshake as a treat.

Rainy weekend

How did the weekend end already? That went by way too fast. We had a rainy night on Friday and just hunkered down with the movie Cars (for the trillionth time) and popcorn. We got a funny video of Gavin dancing. I decided with Facebook and Flicker and Blogging that posting everything everywhere is too much. So just going to post on Facebook and leave Flickr to Steve. It's all connected anyway.

Gavin loves to dance now to any music. He has the rad moves for sure. Saturday we had a great morning going to Gymnastics. Gavin had an absolute ball. He wasn't paying attention at first but eventually he listened to the teacher. His favorite was the trampoline. It was a long rectangular one and he ran down it and jumped and them dove into the foam blocks. He ran and ran and rolled on pads. We got home, had lunch, and he passed out in his little chair. Love it! I would do that every weekend if it wasn't soo expensive. For a few weekends of a long nap, it may be worth it!

I have been very good about working out on Sunday. I am getting in 5 days a week of 500 calories burned. I am proud of myself that I motivated. I was a little lagging in getting there but once I was inthe middle I fired up. Once I am done, the rest of the day, I feel really good. It's awesome. A lighter, healthier feeling.

Gavin and Steve played around the house and did colors. Steve gets a bunch of bowls and drops in food coloring. Then they mix different colors.

We did pretty good with the potty training. He got Diego's backpacks wet (the training diaper has little pictures that disappear when they pee) but he did sit on the potty and go a few times. He pee'd mostly on the floor (hasn't mastered the weiner points down since he is too small to stand) but at least he is trying. He loves M&Ms which is his treat for peeing on the potty. Although if he doesn't ask, I conveniently forgot. Not sure if I should make a bigger deal but I figure if he doesn't need them to pee, that is less sugar.

Gavin loves the show Max and Ruby. When it is on, he says "HURRAY!!! WOOHOO" really loud. "MOMMY MOMMY MAX AND RUBY HURRARY!!!".

Gavin wrote letter A

Gavin sang the alphabet this weekend at the beach. He was so proud of himself. He was dancing around and singing. It was really cute. He also knows how to write some letters of his name. He can do the letter A really well and the letter I, and starting on N. He knows the letter V. G will be a little harder but I know he will do it soon. Nisha has been teaching him at daycare. Yeah for Nisha.

We went to Cayucos this weekend and hung on the beach while Steve and Uncle Dave (Steve's brother) surfed. It was warm but not too warm. Gavin and I had fun playing in the sand. Sunday we just hung out and then had some friends over for the Superbowl. Nothing fancy just a few chips and dips and hotdogs with tater tots. Basic super bowl fair. The boys had fun running around and screaming.

Gavin likes to be naked these days. He is always asking to be naked and he can take off his diaper. He runs around and dances. It is pretty funny. He likes to come into the shower and calls it rain. But he won't actually take a shower yet. The bath is more fun.

Gavin has been a little backed up for some reason. We are giving him Miralax but not producing anything yet. Poor guys walks around saying mommy my poo poo is comig out my poo poo is coming out and asks me to change him. Nothing is in the diaper. Hasn't pooped in about a week but we saw the doctor and we are monitoring it. I wish he could just drop the kids off at the pool. Maybe I will start saying that to him and he will think it is funny.

Gavin knows his letters

Today Gavin learned how to write the letter A. He was very proud of this and we were too! He knows all his letters and sounds thanks to Lettery Factory DVD.

A few more Gavin sayings that made me laugh today:

"Hey mommy, mommy, (sniff sniff) do you smell sometin? It smells like Hot Dogs!"
- The funny thing about that is that Gavin does not even eat hot dogs
"Daddy, help me, I am tuck, I am tuck, I can get up"
- He loves to say this on the sofa and he squeezes between the ottoman and the sofa.

We talked to cousin Coleson today on Skype.

It's Pooky out there

I love some of the words Gavin says these days. He can talk up a storm but has some difficulty fully pronouncing a few words. Here are few of my favorites:

"Mommy, it's really really pooky in there. It's really really dark"
"Look at my pie gadgets, Mommy. I have a remote control, and all these really cool pie gadgets"
"Can I ride my cooter on the sidewalk?"
"Mommy, are you working on your pooter again. Do you have to go to work?"

He also thinks many things are beautiful and lots of things are his favorite.

MLK Holiday

Monday was a holiday and usually when I post... But...... I was playing outside and today I worked all day. Now it is late... I will post.... eventually on our adventures last week with pics once I get the camera up stairs. For now, I must rest. Til then my friends!

Getting Active

I have a new outlook on working out and I am determined to lose the weight that I gained over Xmas. Not sure how it all came on so quickly but I packed on some lbs this holiday. Guess I figured I would get fat from a baby anyhow... didn't happen..... so now I am back on the wagon. I got a personal trainer and I am motivated. I have started a group circuit training plan and it is actually fun. I am packing workout clothes and I will work out when I travel. No more flabby ass for me! So the weekend is filled with workouts I can incorporate in with family fun and I am scheduling time during the week. If people try to schedule over that time, look out. I am on a mission.

I should do a before and after photo but I don't think I want to show everyone my big arse.

Gavin is learning his alphabet thanks to a great video by Leapfrog. He knows almost every letter and how it sounds. It is really fun. He can sound out his name and points out letters all the time. When I say something like....You are a little monkey... he says... I am not a monkey, I am Gavin. He is so much fun right now.

We started putting little underwear on his stuffed animals in the hopes he will want to wear them as well. He is showing some interest now and then but not much in the potty training. In time I guess he will come around.

We went for a great hike in Avila this weekend. Found a new trail that I cannot mention because Steve wants to keep it hidden. There was no one on it. Reminded me of the trails up in the Bay Area that I loved. Great view of the ocean when you get to the top.

Steve is on his last week of break before he goes back to school. He is going to the snow with Gavin and we are meeting up in Carmel for the weekend to see Nana.

Happy New Year!

Christmas break was great and I was barely on the computer yeah! So I am back in the saddle and updating our blog. I can't post pictures since our hard drive is full. We are awaiting a 500GB external hard drive so we can post more pics.

We had a great time up at Nik's house for Xmas. Gavin hardly cared about opening presents. He must not have gotten the gift gene that I have. He was just playing around the house all morning and not paying attention to opening presents. Maybe that will change next year. We hung out for the week then made our way back to SLO and had a nice long week at home off as well. We say Elephant Seals and went to the Children's Museum. We went to the beach and the park. We celebrated New Years at home with a nice dinner. We made it to midnight but barely. We were in bed by 12:20. Sometimes it is nice to just stay home and not worry about driving.

Gavin has a bunch of funny things he is saying these days. The latest is "I'm sorry, I can't do that mommy, I am watching Backyardigans". He loves playing with his "pie gadgets" aka spy gadgets. The pie gadgets are an old cellphone, old digital address book and dead palm pilot. He is getting really good at playing by himself. It is fun to hear what he says to his little trains..."come on everybody. I got you. let's go". I have to smile when I hear some of the things he says.

We got the word factory dvd at xmas and he can sound out a lot of words. We went to the train station and there was a sign for AMTRAK. He said "AHHHHH" (sound for A), "MMMMMMM" , Tapped his toe and made a T sound, said "Pa pa pa" for R, we will work on that one, then screamed "AHHHHH" again, then said "C, C, Cold" for K. Pretty good for not being two yet.