What's better then receiving a hand made birthday card from your one year old?? Nothing, besides maybe the thought of having two of my boys present a hand made birthday card next year!! Gavin presented this beautiful card to me the morning of my birthday, isn't is beautiful?! Love you Gavin!! Oh yeah, and look at the card Chris made for me too! He drew the rose himself (he knows I love black roses)!
It snowed on Christmas in Charlotte, can you believe it! ? I wish it was there Christmas morning, but better late then never! We took full advantage of the snow, and Gavin really seemed to enjoy it. Well, the first round was in the morning, and I think it may have been to cold, but our second go at it was a success! He enjoyed running around, chasing the dogs, building a snowman, and throwing snowballs! We tried a make shift sled with a cooler top, but it was a no go.... maybe next time! 
"Merryiss" as Gavin would say it this year! He said "issmiss" a couple of times, but resorted back to "Merryiss!" It was such a great Christmas for him this year, what a difference from last year. He was really into it, and seemed to understand some of it.
Let's start with our Elf on the Shelf, Ralph. We introduced the elf on the shelf the day after Thanksgiving. If you are not familiar with the elf on the shelf, it is a story about an elf who your family adopts, and he comes after Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve. He hides in a different location every day in your house, for the kids to find, then once found, he goes back to the North Pole to report to Santa if the children have been "naughty or nice," then comes back that evening to "spy" again. We really thought Gavin would be to young, but decided to try it anyway, and I am so glad that we did. He loved looking for Ralph every morning, he would wake up and say "Ralph?" By the way, his name originated from mommy saying, how about Ralph, and Gavin repeating it after me, numerous times, so the name stuck! It is a tradition that will carry on for years!!
Gavin's next obsession this Christmas season was the movie The Polar Express. He is really into Choo Choo's right now, so the movie was perfect for him. He would cuddle up on the couch and watch it as often as we would let him. Him and Nani Debbie would even watch parts of it throughout the day! He even had a little bell to ring like the little boy in the movie.
Some other interesting details about Gavin this Christmas:
Christmas Day was great! We were so excited to see Gavin's face when he saw the gifts underneath the tree. Although he was very excited, he really took his time opening his gifts this year. He would open a couple, then take a break. I will have to say, at one point he was more excited about the snacks that were in his stocking. However, no help was needed from anyone this year when he was opening his gifts, he had it all under control! He received so many nice things, some of which were a new bike, helmet, clothes, shopping cart, Thomas the Trains, Thomas the Train tent, a race car set, Handy Manny Toolbox, books, trucks, money, and more!! Thank you everyone, Thank you Santa!!
Nani Debbie was with us that morning, who's birthday by the way is Christmas Day, then Aunt Vickie, and Grandma and Grandpa Ryan joined us in the afternoon. We really missed everyone else this year at Christmas, and wished that everyone could have been here, but we know they will all be here soon to meet Gavin's new baby brother when he arrives!
Merry Christmas Everyone, and Happy Birthday Nani Debbie!
Gavin turned 22 months on Christmas Day, he is 2 months away from being 2 years old, I can't believe it!! This shot is not in his green chair, since I had about a million other pictures of him from the busy day!
I have not been doing a very good job at updating everybody on Gavin's milestones, so I have decided to give you a little bit of information on some of the amazing things that Gavin has accomplished in the past few months. I can't believe how fast he is growing up, just tonight, Chris, Gavin and I were at dinner, and both Chris and I were taken aback on how much he can do!
Let's talk about his vocabulary... He says so many different words it is hard to list them all, but I will try.... He says milk, water, juice, pizza (a.k.a. bad ass), spoon, hot, blueberries (a.k.a. boobies), grapes, toast, eggs, push, play, please, thank you, Manny, Mickey, Donald, Minnie, toot, excuse me, football, choo choo, bike, truck, ball, shoes, eat, bath, bubbles, tree, cow, bird, geese, moon, kitty, dog, nice, Dakota, Dylan, papa, nana, Debbie, Chris, Erika (kind of), Vickie, Amy, Matt, Ralph...and the list goes on. He is also now using 2-3 word sentences... at times. He may say something like "daddy, push bike," "Daddy stink" (he is used to me saying this) or "Dylan, sit" and so on. He is able to say nose, eyes, mouth, cheeks, ears, feet and teeth when you ask him what they are. He is like a little parrot, he repeats everything we say, which means, mommy and daddy need to start watching what they say!
When reading his books, Gavin is able to identify different animals when you ask him to, and the sounds that they make. For instance, he will point to the cow and say "moo" or the horse and say "neeee." He is also able to point out certain colors, like purple, green, red and yellow.
He has all of his teeth in except his back molars. He takes very good care of his teeth, brushes them every morning and night, and even in between. He really likes to come into our bathroom and brush his teeth with his "big boy toothbrush" several times a day. He also likes to remind us to take care of our teeth.
He is a very helpful young man. He is always helping us by putting things in the garbage, pulling mommy's shoes off (especially since I have gotten bigger), picking things up off of the floor, giving the dogs treats, helping us feed the dogs, putting dishes away, swiffering the floor, putting clothes in the dirty laundry, ect. He is VERY clean, just like his daddy, does not like a mess, especially when he is eating... he has to have a paper towel to wipe his hands and mouth, as well as the table in case he spills anything. Too Funny!
I am sure there is a ton I am missing, but there is just so much to list! I feel like he does something new every day!!
Gavin and I visited the Billy Graham Library to see all of the lights, live nativity scence, carolers, and take a horse drawn carriage ride the other evening. Just Gavin and Mommy! We started off by listening to the beautiful Christmas carols, then admired the live nativity scene, when finished there, we took a carriage ride to see all of the lights. I will have to say that it was a tie between the Christmas Carols and the horses in Gavin's eyes!
Reagan, Baby Michael, and Brooklyn came over for breakfast last weekend to celebrate Christmas with Gavin. It was a fun morning, we enjoyed breakfast together, opened gifts and built a Gingerbread House! I will have to say that Reagan won the award for the most creative when building the Gingerbread house, Gavin...maybe... added 2 pieces of candy and a cheerio, and Reags did the rest, with a little help from Brooklyn.. (baby Michael is still to little)! It is amazing how far these little ones have come when it comes to interacting with one another, they are growing up so fast!!
