Actually, it's Gavin's third haircut rather than his first, but we won't count those first two trims by mommy. They weren't too great. It became time to enlist the help of a pro!
I was so surprised at how still Gavin sat for his haircut. The couple times I did it at home, his head was spinning from side to side trying to grab my shiny scissors. But they've figured things out - they put on a movie and gave him a tiny plastic radio to hold and press buttons, not to mention he got to sit in a shiny blue speedboat chair that went up and down when the nice lady stepped on the pedal. So the distractions were a big help. He didn't seem to mind the misting water bottle, scissors, comb, even the electric trimmer was OK. Cassidy would really like these haircuts to happen often, because she got to roam around and play with toys, eat lollipops and try on hair accessories. We left with balloons and a certificate for Gavin's baby book that included a little lock of hair. Here's the "after" pic!
The temperature hit 90 a few days back so we decided it was a perfect day for the baby pool. The kids had so much fun. Cassie never actually made it into the pool since there were too many "yuckies" in the water (our cottonwood and maple tree droppings are just everywhere!). But she had a great time tossing all her toys in for little dips and Gavin had the time of his life splashing away in the cold hose water. We have also been having lunch "picnics" out on the back deck. We're so glad the warm weather has arrived! Here are some photos of our recent backyard fun.
Cassidy's afternoon nap has returned! Ahhhh, such a wonderful thing. We went through a spell for about 2 months where she dropped her nap completely. Some days, she really didn't seem tired, and other days she was exhausted but just refused to let herself wind down to fall asleep. We tried quiet time in her room with little success, so the days just became marathons - 13 hours of non-stop toddler play, and an early bedtime of 7pm. Then about 3 weeks ago, we encountered a day when she was just miserably tired by noon - so she willingly (which just means a minor tantrum rather than a major one, ha) laid down to take a rest. She slept for 3 hours. The next day, as naptime approached, we just acted as if naps were always a regular part of her day and she pretty calmly took yet another nap! Since then, we've hardly missed a day, and it makes both of our afternoons go SO much more smoothly. Even Gavin, who was showing signs of dropping his morning nap, has gotten back into a daily routine of a 2 hour nap in the morning and another 2 hours in the afternoon. The nap angels must be watching out for me!
Gavin turned 14 months old this week. In the past 3 days, I've had 4 different people tell me that he's changed into a little toddler overnight! It seems like all of a sudden we have a walking, talking (in his own way of course) little boy whose baby face is turning into a little boy face - with a full head of fluffy white-blonde hair that seems to grow longer by the day. So what's Gavin up to these days? He has a little vocabulary that now includes mama, dada, bibi (his cherished bear blankie), no-no (hear this most often as he is throwing his food on the floor), bye-bye, ni-ni (night night) and ball. He likes to imitate sounds, like animal noises and the choo-choo sound that the toy train makes. He still loves to play chase and he loves to play ball, whether we roll it back and forth or walk around giving it little kicks. He will blow kisses and give hugs, and still likes to snuggle (yay!). He shows lots of emotions, going from belly laughs when he's tickled to fits of anger when he's taken away from something dangerous that he thought would be super-fun. This happened pretty fiercely last weekend when Gavin and I took a trip together to Lexington to celebrate his cousins Emily and Ellie's First Communion. As we waited to board the plane, he noticed the door open to the jet bridge, and stared down that long, downhill carpeted hallway towards the plane. He took off with a racing crawl and threw the biggest fit I've ever seen when I scooped him up just before he made it past the door's opening. Arched back, full volume screams, wild leg kicks - wow. Definitely got the attention of the other passengers (I'm sure they had their fingers crossed they didn't get seated near us! Ha.). He knows what he wants, that's for sure. And speaking of our trip, what a great time we had! We got to join both the Reder and Burkholder clans for a big celebration for Emily and Ellie. We also celebrated Mother's Day and gave my mom a neat recipe book of all our favorite recipes - both the ones that we remember growing up and new ones that have become our own family favorites now. We all have a copy, and we plan to do future editions in the years to come. It's full of funny family photos that go along with each recipe. So, we enjoyed a Mother's Day breakfast as we sifted through our new cookbooks! Back at home, Erik and Cassidy had a great daddy/daughter weekend. They went to the children's museum, had a lunch date at McDonald's and spent a day with Grammy and Grandpa Brown, which included a fun trip to the Brookfield Zoo. She had lots of stories to tell me when we got back Sunday night! I arrived home to a vase full of flowers and some special Mother's Day cards. It was a wonderful weekend.
Actually, it's Gavin's third haircut rather than his first, but we won't count those first two trims by mommy. They weren't too great. It became time to enlist the help of a pro!
from side to side trying to grab my shiny scissors. But they've figured things out - they put on a movie and gave him a tiny plastic radio to hold and press buttons, not to mention he got to sit in
a shiny blue speedboat chair that went up and down when the nice lady stepped on the pedal. So the distractions were a big help. He didn't seem to mind the misting water bottle, scissors, comb, even the electric trimmer was OK. Cassidy would really like these haircuts to happen often, because she got to roam around and play with toys, eat lollipops and try on hair accessories. We left with balloons and a certificate for Gavin's baby book that included a little lock of hair. Here's the "after" pic!
