Peach Picking

After a week of temperatures exceeding 100 degrees, we were grateful for the cool front that moved into the region bringing the temperature down into the low 80s.  It was too beautiful not to get out and enjoy the weather today, so I took the boys peach picking and to the petting zoo.   

Ryan kept a protective arm around Gavin during
the entire tractor ride.  Gavin was a little unsure of
the bumpy ride, but enjoyed his freedom from the
confines of Mommy's lap.

.

I'm not sure what selection criteria he used to determine
which peaches to pick and which to leave behind.  But, it's a
significant improvement from our apple picking adventure last
year when he only picked up the rotten, bruised apples that
he found lying on the ground.

 

As the designated fruit inspector, Gavin tastes
first, then looks closely for worms and bad spots!

Gavin tries to escape the runaway train
driven by conductor Ryan.

Sensing he had a handful of food, this goat enthusiastically
greeted Ryan at the entrance gate and immediately snorted
all the oats in Ryan's hand.  Ryan said he was a "gobble guts."   

After calling Gavin a goat for several months now, Ryan is
excited to finally see a goat up close.  Fortunately for Gavin,
Ryan did not see much resemblance.

The kittens were such a hit, Ryan decided to ask Daddy if
he could bring one home.  As you can imagine, that request
went over about as well as if Ryan had asked for a tattoo
or a motorcycle!

More Firsts For Gavin

We affectionately refer to Gavin as "the goat" because he will eat anything we offer him from carrots to cookies!  We decided to let him feed himself tonight in the hopes that it would slow him down a little.  (Seriously, at this rate, Mike will need a second job to feed him!) 

He was so excited when I presented him with bowls and utensils instead of the usual jumbled heap of food that looks like it was served with an ice cream scoop!  Apparently, Gavin pays more attention to us than I realized, because he immediately knew exactly how to use the fork and spoon.  His technique was a bit unsteady at first as he accidentally launched a few pieces of peaches over his head onto the floor behind him.  Luckily, Guinness had positioned himself at the base of the highchair and was anxiously waiting for sneaky handouts and dropped food. 

Here's a "before" picture.  Anticipating a big mess, I stripped him down to his diaper before beginning the meal, but have no explanation as to why I decided to forego a bib.

Here's a brief video clip of Gavin's first meal feeding himself with utensils.  As you can see, he's quite excited about his new independence at mealtime.  Although he's normally a big eater, tonight he was more excited to stir his food with the fork and spoon.  I'm not sure how much actually made it into his mouth.  It's also touching to see Ryan so excited to celebrate Gavin's achievements and equally as endearing to see how enamored Gavin is with Ryan.  He relishes any attention Ryan directs his way!

Here's an "after" picture.  For those of you who may be impressed at how relatively clean he is, please note that this was taken after round two of the meal.  Handfuls of peaches and macaroni noodles had already been scooped out of the highchair and fed to Guinness, and Gavin had already been completely scrubbed down once.  This is what he looked like after gobbling down a cereal bar for dessert!  He was immediately whisked to the bathroom for a much needed bath.  Then, the kitchen floor had to be wiped and moped.  Guinness probably needs a bath to get the sticky food droppings out of his fur, but I don't have the energy to tackle that tonight!

Gavin is also dangerously close to walking.  He's been furniture cruising for weeks now and can walk across a room holding on a finger for support.  Recently, he began standing unassisted for long periods of time and just today took a few unsteady steps on his own before resorting to crawling.  He also likes to push the walker around the house, but has realized that he can do it much faster if he pushes it while crawling.  I think it's only a matter of time before he's truly walking - a milestone I have mixed feelings about.  On one hand, I'm anxious to regain the use of both of my arms.  Although I've gotten used to carrying him around on one hip, he's getting heavy!  But, it is also a sign that he's growing up.  The past year has already flown by so quickly!

 
Finally, I wanted to share a picture of Gavin after completely emptying my Tupperware cabinet.  Despite my repeated half-hearted objections, Gavin, with a little help from Ryan, pulled out every plastic container I own, and then had a grand time crawling into the cleared out, much roomier cabinet!

Child Prodigy

I admit, as his mom, I'm not exactly objective when it comes to assessing Ryan's talents.  I interpret all of his artistic renderings to be the work of a genius!  However, I was honestly stunned a couple of nights ago when Ryan showed me his creation (shown below).  He maneuvered the different shapes around the wooden maze and assembled them in such a way that they resembled our house.  As Ryan explained, the green circle represents our front bushes, the red triangle is the roof, the blue box is our house, and the yellow clover is the sun.  I'm impressed!