4th of July

With the 4th on Sunday, all the celebrations and parade was today. Here's what we did today:]

waiting for the neighborhood parade. it took an hour to get to us. one really long hour with a busy toddler. but in the end, the wait was worth it. it was fun! this is our fourth 4th of July but sadly the first time we went to the parade.

we met Abe Lincoln. Gavin wasn't so sure he could trust Abe not to steal his candy.

Gavin got to pet several dogs in the parade. he loved it. maybe when we move we'll get him a pet. we'll see.

Nutsy, the mascot of the Richmond baseball team, was the grand marshall. I still don't understand why the flying squirrel was chosen as the mascot. Couldn't we come up with something a little better than a squirrel? 

After the parade, some friends came over for a BBQ.

Tommy, Tyler, and Liz

Adam, Aaron, and Carina

Adam being silly for the camera

Sterling, Coulter, and Charisse

Jimmy and Amanda

 I made my jello salad. I think it turned out the better than any other year so I had to show it off :)

We had a really fun day celebrating our country's birthday.

Now a random Gavin update.

Last week after his bath, Gavin played with his towel for an hour.  Yep, an hour. He stood in front of the mirror and swished it back and forth and ran around the house in a diaper and loved every minute. It made me laugh. 

And I realized today I haven't been as good about recording what Gavin is doing. I don't expect anyone but my mom to read these. haha. But I wanted to record it somewhere.

• Gavin can say 3 word sentences. {he's been able to do this for over a month now} One of his favorites is: "ready, set, go"
• Gavin has a large vocabulary for his age. Between 5-50 words is normal, and I'm sure he's got at least 50 words because I was going to list all the words he can say and realized it was more than I wanted to type! 
• He loves going to Sunday Park. We have a routine that we do. First we stop and see the ducks and "fishies" and feed them if I remembered to bring bread. Then we go swing. Then we swing on the tire swing, and go down the slide a few times. Then we head back home and say "bye-bye" to the ducks on the way home. Gavin always knows what's next. 
• Gavin is starting to sit still a little longer and let's us read more of the words when we read books instead of just look at the pictures for a couple seconds.
• Still completely obsessed with fans or anything that spins.
• Asks us to turn the ceiling fan on and off.
• Loves fruit. Especially blueberries, cherries, strawberries, peaches, ok, so about any fruit.
• Starting to eat a little better. Loves feeding himself and drinking from our cups. 
• Loves Chef Bourdee ravioli's.
• Knows where his eyes, nose, tongue, and belly are. 
• Loves the song "Wheels on the Bus" and can make the wheels, wipers, mommy, and baby motions. He also loves the "ABC" song and has requested us to sing it to him over and over for months. I think I can swing the ABC's backwards in my sleep by now....
• Is starting to learn the names of animals instead of just the sounds they make. 
• Knows what sound at least 15 animals make.
• Is attached to his lovey, Froggy. Froggy eats, plays, and sleeps with Gavin. He is so attached to Froggy! It's hard to steal Froggy away for his weekly washing. Last week he saw me put Froggy in the washing machine and every 10 minutes while he was washing Gavin went to the washer and asked for Froggy. 
• Gavin says "bless you" after you sneeze or if he sneezes. So cute!!
• Learning to say "thank you". 
• Starting to become interested in the Potty. We got him a little potty, but not sure I want to take the leap of faith and potty train yet. Although his Dr. said he might be ready. I don't know. I don't think I'm ready for the mess!! 
• Gavin is finally getting his canines in. He got in all 4 of his first molars, but didn't get the canines in until now. Only a few more teeth left and he'll be done teething. yay!!
• Gavin has become a bit more clingy lately. Which is really strange. He's always been happy to leave us and go play with someone else until now. He cries for a few minutes after we drop him off in nursery.