When we decorated the Christmas tree, we assembled the “Silver Bell Express”, a train designed to go around the bottom of the tree. Gavin was a quick study on how to use it and was amused by it for days before Christmas (when he promptly forgot about it because of all the other toys!)
Just getting out the door was crazy. The snow was almost as tall as Gavin and was as tall as the dogs! But there is no stopping fun! Daddy forged a path and the short ones tried to stay in it. I bought Gavin a snow shovel (couldn’t find a sled) and got him busy shoveling the steps. He was oddly helpful for a 2 year old!
Early morning, December 19. About 18 inches of Snow and counting. Gavin is very interested in all this white stuff. It may be years before he sees this much snow again!
We moved Gavin to a twin size bed last night. He was very, very excited to have a big bed to jump on! We’re telling him that big boys who sleep in big boy beds stay in their beds all night. So, when he woke up at 5:30 he called to me instead of coming into my room. It’s a start! 
Our first snow was an icy and thin covering, but that didn’t stop Gavin from having some fun in it! Just falling down on it kept him busy for a very long time!
This is what Guitar Hero looks like at our house…
Gavin was a fireman for halloween. He loved his costume and was good a going to each house. He wasn’t strong on the “Trick or Treat” but did really well with “Thank You”!
Gavin and I went hiking with Eric and Morgan on Saturday. We went on a short, 20 minute trail, but we dressed for an Alaskan winter. Afterwards we went to Eric’s folks house and saw some horses, and on the way home we stopped and checked out some llamas. A great day all around!
We went to Carter Mountain Orchard yesterday to get a pumpkin and a little outside time. Gavin loved climbing on the big pumpkings and tossing the smaller ones like they were balls (sorry, Carter Mountain Orchard). After making our purchases, we wandered into the orchard a little and found a nice tree for Gavin to sit in - which was the only way he would sit still long enough for a photo.
In a sentimental mood, Scott and I watched the videos we took of Gavin, mostly in his first year, and cannot believe how much he has changed. We watched the 12 minutes of video of him just sticking out his foot to touch a toy. We were so proud of that. Now he is running, jumping, and climbing. He’s still got the same big eyes, but all his pudgy baby fat is gone. He’s a lean, mean playing machine now!
We found out yesterday that he is getting a baby sister. We will show him some of the baby videos to help prepare him for what a baby is like!
Gavin at 2 1/2. He is such a big boy now. So many changes have happened over the last few months. He is wearing size 8 shoes, eating a sandwich that is not cut into tiny pieces, but most of all, he is talking and talking and talking. I am so amazed at how quickly he went from a few words and phrases to sentences and concepts. He tell stories of thing that happned (”That boy pushed me down. That boy apologized to me.”), he repeats thing to show his understanding (”When I get bigger, I go in attic.”).
Oh, lets not forget, he had entered the “Why?” stage. Mostly I think he likes the fact that he can say “Why?” and someone will answer him. I don’t think the answer is that important. On day on the way home from work/school we had this exactg conversation about 6 times before I gave up…
He asked “Where the man go?” about the man on the tractor that we had just driven past.
I said “He’s behind us riding the tractor.
“Why?”
“Because he’s going to the field to cut some hay.”
“Why?”
“So the horses can have hay to eat.”
“Why?”
“Because everybody has to eat.”
Now, after all the why sessions, no matter the topic, when I have no more reasonable answers to “Why”, i signal the end of the conversation with “Because everybody has to eat.”.
It gets better. On the way home from school last week, Gavin started telling a story about the firemen and the fire trucks. I didn’t get the whole story, but he ended with “Because everybody has to eat.”. I’m so proud!
-J
