This boy

How I adore this little boy.

Gavin is as mischievous as he is adorable, as busy as he is happy. But oh, how I love him.

Today while I was nursing Lexi we played a game. While I sat in the rocking chair in her room, I tossed her binky into different corners and he fetched it. (See? I don't need a dog.) Gavin found this game delightful, and I was highly amused at each rescue mission and triumphant retrieval. Then he put a collection of binkies in a little plastic jar on her desk. We counted as he put them in. I paused after each number, and he filled in the blank (I cannot believe how this boy can count!). Then we counted toes. Over and over and over again. Tiny Lexi toes and dirty Gavin toes and even red-painted Mommy toes. (Survey says: we each have ten.)

The letters L and F have broadened Gavin's vocabulary, as has the introduction of two-syllable words. Quite suddenly, Gavin can say things like:

laundry (lawdwee)
blanky (blayhee)
close (clo)
hello (hello)
help (hell)
please (plee)
Zachary (Zawee)
Tyler (Tylah)
Lexi Lou (Lelli Lou)
Karlie (Karlie -- a favorite babysitter)
Home Depot (Ho Depot)
salsa (sosa)
oh no! (oh no!)
oopsie (oopsie)
vacuum (vavoo)
thank you (gaykoo)
football (foo'fah or foo'ball)
lawnmower (lawmow)
flip-flop (flih-flah - the word for all sandals)
open (opeh)
outside (ahsigh)
see ya (see ya)
up/down (up/down -- always together)

Gavin loves to putter in the back yard. He loves to ride his bike. He loves to play with a squirt bottle (it's a wonder mine is always broken). Gavin loves to be where his brothers are, or where the action is. Containment in the port-a-crib only lasted a few weeks; if he senses he's missing out on something, he climbs right out. Gavin loves Baby Einstein movies and often requests a show. He loves milk and goldfish crackers and grapes and bananas. He loves Russell and Elmo, his stuffed sidekicks. He loves to suck on his toothbrush and my toothbrush and everyone else's toothbrushes. He comes to me with a random toothbrush and the toothpaste about ten times a day. (He hates having his teeth brushed.)

Last week's toilet training efforts fizzled out. He's not ready to commit, and neither am I. But Gavin still enjoys using the potty when Garry is around to take him. (He never asks me to take him). Yesterday he went four times. I think he just likes getting M&Ms. But since he also tends to announce when he's going potty in his diaper, I think he's making connections.

I'm amazed at Gavin's coordination. He can kick a ball and throw pretty well. He can climb up and down a flight of stairs unassisted (no rail!). And his dexterity is quite remarkable. He often switches hands when eating. Is he ambidextrous or just left-handed? Maybe he can't decide.

I love to tickle Gavin in the spot on his chest that garners his signature belly laugh. He can't help it, and I love it. It's a sure-fire way to make me laugh, too. The other day Garry tickled Gavin under his arm. Gavin laughed. Then he raised his arm and said, "Ticko 'gain?" He wanted to be tickled again and again.

A friend commented today that if Gavin wasn't so good-natured, he just might kill me. I think she's right. But today was a very, very good-natured Gavin day, and I'm glad we're both alive.