AW Post

There's a lot of exciting things happening in our house right now, so I'm going to brag a bit.

1. Jony is rocking all of our home renovations. The floor is just about done, we're about to paint the living/dining room and the hallway, and then we're going to tackle our master suite! I'm so lucky to have a handy husband.

2. Jeffrey wants to learn to read! Whenever he gets something in his head, he really focuses on it. So, he practices writing his letters all of the time, loves going through an Activity pre-school book we have, and is always wanting to look at books. All of those infant books have come back out so that he can look at the picture and corresponding word by himself to try and figure it out. He wrote his name on my niece's birthday card, and he signed all his Valentine's. It's so dang cute. He's definitely a lefty, also.

3. Gavin is rocking the mobility thing. He's taken a few steps here and there, but it's not consistent in any way. He's starting to stand up on his own (without pulling up), though. He's also in the process of dropping down to one nap. I'll miss having two, but that's when Jeffrey started sleeping through the night, so I'm not too upset. Plus, it'll be easier with having an older child since his new nap overlaps with Jeffrey's room time. I'm actually getting time to myself some these days!

I'm just so proud of my boys.

Jeffrey's Pearly Whites

Last Friday, Jeffrey had his very first visit to the dentist! He was so amazing. I'm so proud of him. Everyone was so impressed with his behavior and remarked how mature he was for three! I think the fact that the pediatric dentist we went to was AMAZING. There was no waiting, and the room had toys. The first thing she did was let him pick out his color for a toothbrush (red, clearly, as he'd be okay if that was the ONLY color) and turned on CARS on the TV that was in front of the dental chair. He got to wear his sunglasses to block him from the light, picked out chocolate ice cream toothpaste for the actual cleaning, got a toy car, a t-shirt AND two stickers. Not to mention that the staff was extremely awesome. His mouth looks great- no issues with spacing or cleanliness. His x-rays showed that he has peg teeth in the front (the ones on the sides of the front two teeth) just like me, which leaves him at a higher risk for not having some of the back molars (like me). I did get to see some of his permanent teeth, though, which is crazy to think about. Overall, I was beaming when we left the office. I took the boys to the Children's Museum to celebrate Jeffrey doing so well, and Jeffrey cannot stop telling everybody about it all.

The only problem was insurance. Having such good medical insurance, we didn't even think to check to see if they were on our plan. Turns out, they accept very few insurances. I think we'll get a little back, and, if that's the case, then we will continue to take them there. It's not that expensive, and it's not like you go to the dentist that often. Plus, he won't have x-rays again until he's over 6, most likely. That's what an HSA is for, right?

9 Months!

Now, we reach the point where Gavin has been out longer than he has been in. I could not be happier; he is such a joy and a blessing to our family. Jeffrey is obsessed with him, and Jony and I are pretty enamored with him, as well. He can be crazy dramatic, and teething does not agree with him, but we love that little guy to pieces. He's not walking just yet, but it's bordering on it. He's starting to attempt and doing what I call the "step fall," where he'll put his foot out like he's taking a step and then falls to a crawl to get where he's going. I even saw him stand up from a squat all on his own the other day, so I doubt it's going to be long. He's really finding his voice- shrieks ALL the time. He'll do it back and forth for as long as you can stand it. He's also starting to try and say "book" and "uh-oh," I'm fairly certain. Time will tell. He's going to be a class clown like his brother, though. There is lots of laughter in our home, and I love it.

Gavin's 9 Month Stats:
-appointment is tomorrow, so we'll find out weight/length then!
-growing out of all the 6 month clothes; onesies are starting to disappear form the wardrobe
-THREE teeth. That top one finally busted through; now, we wait for the other one. Sigh.
-standing unassisted for large amounts of time
-climbs up stairs
-an expert at the pincer grasp and small motor control, which goes along with him being a fabulous eater
-Favorite food: vegetables, such as green beans, carrots and peas
-loves: doing forward and back flips (rolls), the Melissa and Doug sorting toy (which he is starting to be able to do), Jeffrey's Cars cars of any kind, taking apart train tracks, climbing and eating leaves
-Strongly dislikes: being caged in and not being allowed on the floor (thank goodness that's over!) and not being able to go outside with brother due to his love of eating leaves