Scarecrow Trail

Until today, it hasn't felt much like fall here in Alabama. I've been trying to get in a festive mood despite the warm weather, so Saturday we went out to the Huntsville Botanical Garden to see the scarecrow trail and Halloween decorations. Gavin had a wonderful time exploring the children's garden, although he was more interested in the pebbles and sticks on the ground than all the fun play areas...

The garden has several fountains for the children to play in. I've been wanting to take Gavin here all summer but we never quite made it. Since it was in the 80s, he was able to play in the water a little... I guess I still haven't quite got this mommy-thing down because I really should have brought a swim diaper and a change of clothes.

Somehow, Gavin has developed a fear of falling water - the shower, rain, most large fountains...but the fountains in the children's garden were gentle and he really enjoyed them.

Here's a few more pictures of my little guy exploring the children's garden. I had the hardest time keeping him out from under this bridge!

Gavin's favorite part was an area called the "Storybook Garden." I don't know if you can see in this picture, but the vine growing up the gazebo is covered in purple beans - it looked really cool.

He had fun in the maze, too. The vines were past their prime and starting to thin out, exposing the structure they grow on. I followed Gavin into the maze, but when he came to a dead end, he decided it would be easier to crawl through a rabbit-size hole in the fence and left me standing there to find the way out on my own!

Finally, a scarecrow! Gavin didn't pay much attention to the scarecrows, but he did like this one with the turtle theme (I think it was sponsored by a gardening club). He kept saying "hi" and hugging the little turtle!

After we finished walking through the children's garden, Gavin was ready to get home for a nap (and Daddy was ready to get home for football), so we decided to call it a day. But we did make time for a hayride!

Sunday Morning Paper

The last couple weeks we've had a new Sunday morning ritual - Gavin and Daddy read the newspaper together. Just recently, Gavin started climbing up onto the kitchen chairs, and sitting like a big boy. The funniest part...he usually reaches for the comics, and he's also been able to dig out the Toys-R-Us ad!

Moroccan Chickpea Chili

Since today was our first cool fall day, I thought it would be nice to have a warm, hearty dinner. I made this recipe - it was very easy - and Gavin absolutely loved it. I gave him his usual size serving, and it was gone before I even started mine. Gavin has always had a healthy appetite, but it's rare that he has enough patience to sit at the table long enough for a second helping. Tonight, he ate four servings! This took enough time that Chuck and I were able to enjoy a leisurely meal and actually finished eating before Gavin. On a typical night, Gavin is throwing food "overboard" to Macy and complaining to leave the table before I have had my second bite , so this was really an impressive feat. Here's the recipe - I'll give you the Cooking Light version, but I made a couple changes, substituting organic roasted red pepper and tomato soup for the water and tomato paste, and of course adding some chopped, garden fresh jalapenos to spice it up a little!

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black peper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 (15 oz) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatos, undrained
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Heat oil in large saucepan over med-high heat. Add onion, celery, carrot, and garlic to pan; saute 5 min. Stir in cumin and next 7 ingredients (through red pepper); cook 1 min stirring constantly. Add 1 1/2 cups water, tomato paste, chickpeas, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 mins. Stir in cilantro and lemon juice.


Since I didn't take any pictures tonight (and I know that's why you look at my blog), here are a few from earlier this week. He's playing with Daddy's hat and one of the stuffed peas from his peapod. "Peapod" is a new favorite game...I'll explain that next time, along with some video footage of Gavin playing.

The Computer Generation

I know kids are starting early with computers these days, but I didn't expect Gavin to have it figured out at 14 months. If he has access to the computer, he'll climb right up on the chair and start banging away at the keys. I tried giving him an extra keyboard, but it didn't take him long to figure out that it wasn't the real thing. Here he is, hard at work.

Of all the objects on the desk, Gavin went straight for Mommy's credit card.

He sure was excited about his pretend purchase!

Vacation!

Gavin has become quite a seasoned traveler. He's been to Chicago three times, Hawaii once, and this was trip number three to Florida. What made this trip different is that it's the first since Gavin has started walking and stopped breastfeeding. I was so mad at myself for forgetting to bring my camera on this trip! But, thanks to Gramma, we did get some photos.

There was so much to explore that I think Gavin would have been happy to stay at the hotel all day. His favorite word right now is "hi" - really, he says "hi" at least a hundred times a day - so he had a great time meeting all the staff and especially the birds in the lobby. Gavin learned his way around quickly, and each time we went to the main lobby, coming or going, he'd run right over to Lu Lu, the green macaw, to say hi. Lu Lu would lift her foot and wave back to him, which he loved. At first, I thought it was a coincidence, but every time Gavin waved, she waved back!

Merlot, the scarlet macaw, was not quite as friendly as Lu Lu, but Gavin enjoyed looking at him just as much.

Gavin paused for one picture with Grandpa before wiggling down to go see the birds.

Gavin also learned his way to the Regency Club room right away. He'd take off from our room, make all the correct turns and find the "special room" with the ladies who gave him milk and snacks, and the big fish tanks. He'd go back from one tank to the other saying "hi" to each individual fish, and then start over again. I guess I haven't been giving him enough credit - he knew exactly what he was doing!

We took Gavin the hotel pool, but in his opinion, 85 deg water was still too cold for swimming! Although he didn't like the pool, he had a great time running around with his beach ball. He even made a few friends - it was really cute to see all the little ones chasing the ball, and I was so proud of him for sharing and playing nice! He stopped the game, though, when a pretty 14 month old in pigtails came by, and he had to give her a hug - that's one I wish I had caught on film!

Also at the hotel, we took a surrey ride. I've seen these several times before and they looked so easy! When I've seen people struggle on a little hill, I always thought that it's because they're overweight and must be out of shape...boy, was I wrong! Chuck and I peddled with Gramma and Gavin in the back, and it was hard work. So much so, that we stopped on the way back and walked around the nature trails, just to get a brake from peddling. It was a little more relaxing for Gavin and Gramma. Here they are enjoying their ride.

EPCOT Center was another highlight of the trip for Gavin. He had an especially good time at Innoventions, where he danced to the music, ran around on a sparkly street, and played with the fire truck controls.

Possibly his favorite part of the trip was lunch at the Moroccan restaurant. He was dancing in the highchair, so I put him on the floor, and he went right up on stage with the belly dancer!

By the end of the day, he was all tired out!

The toughest part of the trip was that Gavin was so excited he wouldn't nap. He was exhausted by noon every day and just keep going. He also wasn't going to have any part of the hotel crib. He didn't have any trouble settling in to the big bed most nights, but it just wasn't enough sleep, and the first day we arrived home he went to bed at 4pm...and slept until 6 the next morning! Fortunately, he got right back to his old routine the next day.

Thanks Gramma and Grandpa for a wonderful visit!

First Haircut

I know I promised more pics from Florida, but yesterday was Gavin's first haircut, and I am so excited, I had to post this first!

Here's the new look:

I didn't get any shots of the actual hair cut experience because I was too busy trying to prevent wiggling. Daddy waited in the car doing emails because he "doesn't like going into woman's places." I knew there was a reason I wanted him to come in... Oh, well. Gavin did get this really cool certificate, and his hair cut was complimentary!

To the hairdresser's surprize, Gavin sat on the booster seat and even showed her how he can comb his own hair. They had a special child clipper, called a Peanut, which she let Gavin check out prior to his haircut. He attracted the attention of most of the other stylists and several clients. As always, he thrived on being the center of attention!

This morning, he spent extra time combing and sytling his new 'do.

I have to admit, I am sad that his beautiful blond curls are gone. Numerous books and articles prepared me for how emotional it would be to stop breastfeeding...that I would be depressed about my little baby growing up. After 13 months, though, I was happy to have him fully weaned and excited about his growing independence. This haircut, on the other hand, has really made me teary-eyed (figuratively, anyway) about Gavin getting older. He even has an "official" paper stating that he's a BIG KID now!