North Carolina pics

We're back from a fun vacation in North Carolina, only to head right back out this weekend to see the Cardinals in St. Louis with the Gillespie fam!  So before we get wrapped up in another vacation, I wanted to get these pics up!

It was fun to get away, and nice to see what life is like for Ryan when he's on the road for business.  The weather in Charlotte was hot and steamy, which I didn't mind, but I think the boys like things a little cooler!  We spent a lot of time in the water, either at the pool or at a nearby lake.  As we suspected from his bathtimes, Gavin LOVES the water.  I'm thrilled because I love to swim but Ryan isn't that interested, so I finally have a pool buddy!

Enjoy our vacation pics!  (And I apologize in advance for the massive amount of pictures :)

Gavin taking a much needed nap at the baggage claim in Charlotte.  Our solo plane ride out there could have gone better, but it also could have gone much worse!  It definitely helps to have a cute baby...people literally stopped me in the middle of O'Hare to tell me how cute Gavin was!

Gavin's first pool experience.  As you can see, he clearly hates it :)

Gavin and Mommy in the pool, I swear the water combed his hair over that way.  But I might have to replicate his little businessman hairdo sometime!

10 months old and already trying to borrow the car

Gavin's first "beach" experience (although I don't know if I count a lake beach...its just not the same as the ocean).  Apparently, Gavin likes to play in the water no matter what his surroundings are.

Enjoying the ability to splash freely.  This if forbidden behavior in the bathtub these days (although you wouldn't know it if you asked Gavin, he makes his own rules).

This is a common scene with Gav and I.  I try to show Gavin some affection and he promptly rejects me.  Actually, this is usually accompanied by a hand to my face, so this was a nicer rebuff than most.

Gavin and Daddy at the UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens.  I wish I had taken more pictures because it was really beautiful, but the trails were not really made for cheap-o $19.99 strollers.  The only reason this pic opportunity came up is because we thought Gavin had some fertilizer to add to the grounds.

This is Gavin playing at a water table at Discovery Place, a very cool children's science museum in downtown Charlotte.  There was a whole section devoted to activites for 0-4 year olds, and Gavin (and we) had a ball!

A good shot of the adorable aprons they had for the kids to wear.

Gavin playing in front of the funhouse mirror.

More fun in the pool.  This day, Gavin's favorite activities included trying to drink the pool water (one of the many gross things Gavin tried to do and Mommy tried not to think about on this trip), Gavin splashing Mommy in the face (but somehow not getting himself wet at all), and Gavin taking my sunglasses off and throwing them in the pool.

Gavin and Daddy playing at the Charlotte airport during our 3 hour delay.  The delay ended up being pretty great for us...we got a free seat for Gavin, Gav napped most of the flight, and Ry and I got flight vouchers for a vacation to be determined!

Mommy posing with a nervous Gavin.  I'm not sure why he got nervous all of a sudden, but this is definitely his anxious face, and that's his security blanket he is clutching.

Gav gets over his fear of flying and naps in Daddy's arms...so cute!

Gavin's favorite things

So, as a peace offering for such a long absence from blogging, we have FOUR new blogs for your Gavin fix :) Check out the other 3 blogs below this for lots of Gavster cuteness. This blog has a couple of videos showing some of Gavin's favorite activities.

This first video shows that Gavin loves bath time almost as much as he loves defying his parents. We could be in some serious trouble if I don't start practicing my mean Mommy face!


The second video is one of our new favorites. Its simply Gavin being the giggly, silly boy we know and love.

All that splashing and laughing really tires a boy out:

Random cute pics.

Gavin has taken off lately. He won't sit still... always squirming and wanting to explore the world. He loves to "read" out loud and he eats any and everything you put in front of him. He's had spanish rice, italian beef, pasta, steak, bagels with cream cheese, cereal, waffles, etc. and loves them all.

Gavin reading his new books in his fort.. aka under his jumper.

Such an interesting story. The protagonist really has a well defined story arc.

"Look Daddy! I CAN READ!!!"

"What? I like spaghetti... you try keeping clean with someone else shoveling food into your mouth."

And finally, here's a video of Gavin trying waffles with syrup for the very first time... he likes all food so the question was, how much would he like this.

Daddy's Birthday

Last month Daddy turned 29 and Gavin had a great time celebrating with him.  Gavin thought he'd help Dad out by chewing through the wrapping paper on all of Dad's presents when he wasn't looking.

Gavin using the lesser known method of tasting the paper to figure out what is inside each present. 

Gav is caught red handed by Daddy but finds his reprimand hilarious.

A serious conversation about whose birthday it is and who gets to open up the presents.

All is forgiven as Daddy gets what he really wants for his birthday... a kiss from his little boy.

Gavin decides to hand out an early birthday hug to Mommy as well (7 months early)... such a giver.

Worming away.

Thanks to a request from CJ on facebook, Ryan and I finally decided to get off our butts and update this blog! Gavin has grown a lot in the past few weeks while we took our blog hiatus. Gavin is fully mobile now, but a few weeks ago he was relying on the worm to get him most places. So the videos below show off what I'm sure will be a great dance move at a college party.

In this video, Daddy tried to lure Gavin to do the worm on camera by creating a trail of Puffs. As I'm sure you can guess, food is a great motivator for Gav.



This second crawling video shows what really motivated Gavin to learn to crawl....electrical cords. Basically, Gavin loves anything lethal. When Mommy tries to distract Gavin with safer (and apparently, lamer) toys like balls and trains, Gavin shows his disgust.