Scrapbook moments

How many times do I hear moms say about a cute thing that their kid did "oh that was so cute, I'm going to have to write that one down!"? Well, I guess you can't answer that question for me, but I will tell you that I hear it quite often.  With best of intentions I have said it myself but still have yet to write anything down.  Well, that's what's happening today folks.  My house is cluttered and messy and if I have one more stray piece of paper hanging around with anything written on it, I might just have to scream.  So here is my online scrapbook to record some Gavin moments from the past month or so that I hope that I always remember.

Gavin is becoming quite the big boy and as such is starting to do some of his own chores.  Among the things on Gavin's "to do" list are:

• Brushing his teeth (this usually consists of chewing on the end of his toothbrush and drooling until we have to change his shirt)
• Picking up his toys
• Getting the trashcan on trash day- this has become Gavin's official "job" at the Cox house.  He really likes it- and I must say he does it with pride.  Usually Gavin can go a little rogue when we take him outside- what kid wants to stay in their own front yard?  But when we tell him it's time to get the trashcan, he'll run straight to it, tilt the top towards him and take it straight into the garage.  Lately he's even gotten to where he'll point at it and start "talking" about it when we drive up if the trashcan is still out.  He takes ownership of his chore to say the least.

Another Gavinish tale is how he takes care of his little sister.  He's becoming quite the big brother which is a big job for a 20 month old.  He sometimes has some "Lenny" moments where he want to pat her a little harder than one might appreciate, but for the most part, he does a great job.  He likes to play with her on the floor and get in her face with a smile.  He gets almost 100% when we play the "where's harper" game where we ask him to point to her different body parts.  He is very excited to know that she has a mouth, nose and eyes just like him!  He takes his brotherly duties very seriously! The other day I asked him to bring Harper a toy and he absolutely outdid himself!  Gavin brought her 9 books, a stuffed dog, a move-and-crawl ball, a blue block, a little people lion, and a dust pan and broom. What was even more great was that he felt the need to put most of these on her face. 

Gavin is also quite literal and super smart.  It's amazing to see things start to "click".  You can tell he knows what you're talking about when you say certain things.  Like the other day when Matthew told him to clean his plate.  Matthew was actually telling him to eat the rest of his dinner, but Gavin took it to mean this...

He literally cleaned his plate but putting all of the things on his plate into the cup holder on his high chair.  Did I say that kid is smart?! 

He's a very avid golfer.

And while I admire his dedication to the sport, it's also very good to see that he also diverse in his love of sports.  As shown above, he enjoys mixing golf with basketball.  He will also put golf balls on his tee ball stand or use the golf clubs to find balls that have rolled under the couch.  How smart is this kid?

With this kids love of all things having to do with a ball, you can imagine how excited he was when we went to a "bouncy barn" a few weeks ago and he was able to play in a whole pool of balls!  I, however, was not- a worker came over and told me to get out of the ball pit- apparently there was a fear that I was going to crush all of the balls.  Oh well- at least I'm not a mom who's afraid of looking silly for her kids...a trait I'm afraid Gavin might come to appreciate less as he gets older...

While I was on maternity leave I was faced with a dilemma that I would love to be faced with everyday- what to do with all the time we had to spend together?!  It was so fun to get into a little daily routine with him and figure out things that we could do together.  We had a really fun time making up activities, one of them was playing with beans. 

Some other things that I hope I never forget...

• Gavin calling playgrounds "wee's".  We'll pass by a playground or slide and he'll go crazy trying to point out the "wee" to us.  I think he gets it from us saying "weee" when he slides down a slide.
• He's known the word basketball for a long time, which comes out kind of like "bayball".  When we go on walks around the neighborhood, he'll point out every single basketball goal in the neighborhood by saying "bayball....bayball...bayball."  
• Lately when we are taking a picture of him and we say "say cheese" he'll cover his eyes with his hands like he's playing "peek-a-boo".  I think it's because he's knows the flash is coming.  At least he smiles while he does it.  Maybe we can learn to photo shop out his hands...

I know he won't be little his whole life and these sweet baby/little boy moments are few and fleeting.  

I hope that I can always remember the sweet, soft feeling of his little baby cheeks when I kiss him and the weight I feel when he rests into my shoulder when we're singing him "Because He lives" at bedtime.  

I hope that even when I'm at my wits-end when he's a teenager I can still remember the sweet smile he has when I go to get him out of bed in the morning or the look on his face when he knows I'm being silly.   

He's a sweet little boy and even when he's a handful, I'm so glad that he's my handful!