No, mine do it!

I have gone, yet again, two months without posting. Sorry 'bout that! Gavin continues to change and grow quickly. He literally talks non-stop all day. He repeats everything, so you have to choose your words carefully. He insists on doing everything on his own and says "no, mine do it" multiple times a day.

Easter was a blast this year! My parents and grandparents (Mimi/Papa and Great G'ma/G'dad) came to our house. We went to the church where Gavin attends daycare. They put on one heck of an Easter celebration with easter egg hunts (10,000 eggs total!!!), petting zoo, and moonwalks. Gavin undersood the concept of finding eggs, though the Easter egg hunt offered for Gavin's age group was a little below his ability!

Gavin's daycare celebrated the 'week of the young child' by having theme days. Below is a pic from CrAzY Hair day.

We converted Gavin's crib to a daybed, so he is officially our big, grown up boy sleeping in a BIG BOY bed. Tonight will be the 3rd night...no problems so far. Gavin also graduated from his highchair and now sits at the dining room table on a booster seat. He thinks he is pretty awesome.

MR SOCIAL: Gavin has moments of shyness but overall he is very social and friendly. When we are at the grocery store or Target he enjoys saying "hi" or "sup" to everyone who walks by.

Below are pics from Manhattan a couple of weeks ago. Gav got to play with his friend, Elle. They enjoyed splashing each other with water from the pretty water fountain at the mall.

About a month or so ago Gavin helped me clean the house. He insisted on helping me vacuum, which was so cute. He also helped me clean out his closet. He is growing so fast that we needed to make room for new, bigger clothes. I found the white teddybear that Children's Mercy gave to Gavin when he was hospitalized a couple of months ago. Without prompting from me, Gavin began to treat the teddybear like his baby. He held the "baby", then crawled up into his rocking chair and began rocking his "baby" and patting the baby's back. It was so darling! He found an empty sippycup and fed the "baby" milk. He decided that the "baby" was tired so with my assistance we put the "baby" in Gavin's crib for a little nap. The "baby" stayed in the crib for the rest of the day, but Gavin did check on the "baby" regularly. He has continued to be pretty affectionate with his "baby".

Jason and Gavin built a snowman during our last snow storm of the winter about a month and a half ago. Gavin loved it! It is amazing how quick he catches on to new activities. After they finished the snowman we went inside to have lunch. Gavin kept running to the window to look out at his "noman".

Hope everyone is enjoying the warmer weather.

Sending love to you all from the Perez Family!

So BIG!!!

Well, it has been two months since I've posted last...I can't believe how much Gavin has changed. He is our big, smart, handsome boy. He rarely stops "talking" and babbling; Jason says he is def my son. He is also eating us out of house and home. He typically eats more for dinner than Jason and I do, I guess that explains why he is in the 90th percentile for height and weight! He is a big fan of "new news" (noddles) and "dot dogs" (hot dogs) and "nanas" (bananas).

The pictures below are from today, Gavin is officially 21 months old! He enjoyed the indoor play area at Zona Rosa!

The next 4 pics were taken one year ago! Can you tell a difference!?!?!?
When we ask Gavin how big he is he replies by saying "SO BIG"...with his arms high in the air. He knows his name; he refers to himself as "Gavi"...he can say Perez too which is pretty amazing! When we ask him how old he is he says "2", which works cause he'll be 2 in 3 months!

His current fav things to do: "Pay" (Play), ride his motorcycle hotwheels, go outside, stack blocks, kick the soccer ball, color and play with his toolbox. He is working on skipping and jumping (I'll have to get that on video, cause it is freakin' hillarious).

Gavin said his first long sentence the other day. It left me with a mixture of emotions, I'm sure you'll understand why. Gavin was fighting a cold last week, Jason was holding him...I walked over to Jason and stuck my hands out to hold Gavin and he said, "NO, I want Dadda!" Of course, Jason was exuding with pride and happiness.

Gavin is adjusting really well to his new daycare. He walks in each morning shouting "schoo, schoo"...he acts like he owns the place! He was voted the best dressed and best smelling by his teachers! Ha ha!

Jason and I are going on a cruise with my mom's side of the family next week. There are 19 of us going! Auntie Em and Uncle G are flying from Spokane, WA to Kansas City so they can see Gavin the day before we leave for the cruise. We have been working on saying "OPA" with Gavin so he can greet Mr. and Ms. Arger when they arrive! We sail out of Ft. Lauderdale, down to Belize, Costa Maya and Cozumel. Gavin is staying in KC with Grandma Perez for the couple of days, then the rest of the time with my friends, Crystal, Elizabeth and Terrann. Hopefully Gavin will do well with us being gone...I know that it will be tough for Jason and me to be without Gav for a week.

This video of Gavin eating spagetti was taken a couple of months ago. Turn up the volume to hear "the sounds of Gavin"! Disclaimer: If you are easily offended by bodily functions, keep it on mute.

Will post after the McCaustland Family Cruise! Oh, P.S. Have a Happy St. Patty's Day too! We will be celebrating on the ship!
Love you all,

EP

HOLIDAY HANGOVER...

So I’ve decided that this whole blogging thing is a tad more challenging than I anticipated when I eagerly took on the task a couple of months ago. We have had an extremely busy first couple of weeks in the New Year. Gavin has been pretty sick a couple of different times, causing the blog hiatus.

First, I will back up a little and tell you about our Christmas.

We went to Garden City to spend Christmas with the Perez family. Gavin really enjoyed hanging out with his grandparents, aunts, uncle and cousins. He was quite captivated by his 6 year old cousin, Zandri. They played with the train, the dancing Gaba Gaba and dinosaurs. Gavin followed Zandri around the house and hugged her a million times.

We spent the weekend after Christmas in Manhattan. We celebrated with our family tradition of having a shrimp boil and opening gifts. Gavin totally entertained the entire family. He was quite the fashionista as he insisted on wearing his cousin Taylor’s pink boots. He especially appreciated that everyone laughed their butts off as he tried to walk around, much like a cowboy who just rode a horse for 8 hours straight. Gavin is a true entertainer! He loves to dance, sing and be ornery.

Jason and I love that Gavin is still in the stage where he loves to follow directions and do little chores/tasks around the house. He enjoys helping me do laundry; he helps to stuff the clothes into the dryer after they have been washed.

HAPPY update: Gavin is increasingly infatuated (yes, I think I can call it that now) with the movie Happy Feet. It has been the best investment we have ever made; we bought it for 5 bucks at Target. Along with working on decreasing the amount of curse words that slip out of our mouths, Jason and I now have to spell h-a-p-p-y. Because if Gavin hears us say the “H” word, he becomes determined to see his favorite little penguins dance and sing. I guess there are worse things to be obsessed about. And one bonus is, the movie is actually quite good…even after 30 times. Gavin stays very active while “watching” Happy Feet. He dances and tries to sing; and he imitates the penguins as they waddle.

OUTSIDE update: Gavin would love to live outside. He truly enjoys his time outdoors. While his Mimi was here yesterday, Gavin helped Mimi shovel the snow off of the driveway. Gavin loves to take walks and ride his new "hotwheel" outside. He gets “cabin fever” if we don’t get outside at least once a day. We also have to spell the word o-u-t-s-i-d-e because if Gavin hears the word he will get his coat, stocking cap and shoes…and the persuasion begins.

GAVIN'S HEALTH: Gavin was hospitalized last week after an allergic reaction. He is a sensitive little guy! He improved quickly and we were released from the hospital after a 12 hour stay. Unfortunately 5 days later he developed RSV and bronchiolitis. After a couple of breathing treatments he felt much better. We had a fabulous weekend, filled with relaxing around the house, running errands and taking walks outside. We hope that Gavin is fully recovered!

MY COWBOYS:
Love to you all!

Erin

Getting ready for Christmas!!!

It has been over a week since I posted last, so get comfortable cause I have a lot to share! Jason and I had a blast in Dallas last weekend. The Cowboys beat the Giants!!! We got all of our Christmas shopping done and ate at a couple of tasty restaurants with Jason's brother, Benny and sister, Diedre.

Gavin hosted a Christmas party at our house last night. His best friends, Monet and Elizabeth, and their mom's came over to hangout and play. They danced, played ring around the rosy and watched "Happy Feet". Gavin lights up every time he sees Monet and says, "Ne Ne!!!" Gavin and Elizabeth first met in the infant room at their daycare. They were the best of friends, they would never leave each other’s side...it was absolutely daring. Elizabeth and her parents moved to the Philippines, leaving Gavin without a BF! Elizabeth and her mom came back to the US to visit for a month or so. Gavin and Elizabeth picked up where they left off many months ago...they shared toys, helped push each other around on the car and held hands. Monet will be 5 on December 30th!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONET!!!

Gavin, Jason and I went to Union Station today to see the trains. Gavin was in heaven...absolutely mesmerized by the "choo choos"! Gavin is very much enjoying the holiday season. He has a small obsession with Christmas trees. We have our Christmas tree set up in the front room of our house. There are french doors with glass so Gavin can look but can't touch, launch the bulbs/ornaments or pull the entire tree over on himself...apparently I pulled my Grandma Diana's tree over on top of myself as a toddler...just trying to learn from my mistakes :) Gavin has to tell the Christmas tree "good night" every night. He also has learned a couple of new words over the past couple of weeks...both related to the tree: COOL and AWESOME!

We are heading to Garden City for Christmas. Gavin will get to meet his 3 cousins: Paige, Corbin and Zandri for the first time. We hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

Love to you all!

E. Perez

Headin' to the BIG D...

and I do mean Dallas! Jason's birthday is December 13th. I tried to throw him a "surprise" 30th birthday party last year, but a bad snow and ice storm decided to hit Kansas City the night of his party. So...I really wanted to surprise him BIG this year. As most of you know, Jason is a huge Cowboys fan. On Thanksgiving morning I sent Jason on a scavenger hunt throughout our house, looking for his gift. He was successful and discovered his Dallas Cowboys tickets. We are going to Dallas tomorrow night and will go to the Cowboys vs. NY Giants game on Sunday night. We are both super excited!

Gavin will be heading to Manhattan to spend the weekend with Mimi and Grandpa ("Papa"). He really enjoys spending time in Manhattan. There is a nice new playground area in the City Park. Gavin loves to swing and go down the slides. Here are some pics from last month at the park in Manhattan and a couple of pics from Thanksgiving day at the park near our house...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY/JAS!!!

I hope you all enjoy your weekend!

GO COWBOYS!

Love,

Erin