Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Gavin eats...or tries to anyway...

We took the plunge. Gavin was getting too big to survive on mommy and formula alone, so it was time to give him the messy stuff.

Caleb, after an early, messy stage, has turned into a nearly obsessive compulsive clean eater. I'm not sure what to hope for with Gavin. On the one hand, clean is good, on the other, Caleb freaks out when it's not clean, so...whatever.

Anyway, here is the record of Gavin's first bites.


Like any good child we REALLY want to get our hands on whatever is being waved in front of us.

So, let's solve the problem...


We have a spoon in our hands now - so it's all good.



The biggest problem is that it just won't stay in there. Of course, the fact that he sticks his tongue out isn't helping any, but still...



The trick is to open your mouth. Caleb really enjoys helping feed baby brother - it's oh, so much fun. He really wants to be the one to wield the spoon, but that just ain't gonna happen.



It's all just a little overwhelming the first time - isn't it?

This was a week ago or so and he's doing much better. He is actually opening his mouth now and eating well. His weight has reached a plateau and he's down from his heaviest of just over 20 lbs. to just over 19 lbs. Still a healthy boy by any definition, but not quite as chunky as he has been.

Monday, March 28, 2005

Spring hike with the boys

On Saturday we went on a little hike. That morning I took a friend of mine up to the top of Superstition Mountain (for trip reports on those hikes, look here and here). Anyway, the mountain was just so loveley clothed in her spring flowers, that I had to take Marci and the boys to see it.

It was well worth the double trip.

This was Gavin's first experience with the backpack - but he really didn't seem to mind.


In fact, he really dug sitting back there and having me be his beast of burden (a great deal if you can get it, as long as you get to be the "burden" part).

It was late afternoon, so the sun was out, but the temperature was a perfect 75 degrees. The mountain was, of course, spectacular.


We brought along some friends so Caleb would have someone to hike with his own age, but he had a lot of fun anyway. I just wish, when he posed for the camera, that he would learn how to smile.


The base of the mountain was simply awash in little gold flowers (from the brittle bush in bloom).


Which also provided some majestic views.


With the gorgeous weather, the absolutely crystal clear sky (just look at the blue in some of those photos) it was the perfect day.

We ended up going a total distance of just over 1.5 miles, and even after that, Gavin was still just as fascinated as ever with all the color and the fun of riding in the backpack.


We'll go on another hike in the mountains as things warm up in the desert (82 degrees today - yuck). But Saturday was a great day, and we all had a lot of fun.

Monday, March 21, 2005

Be afraid - be very afraid....



We went to an airshow at Luke AFB on Saturday. They had a number of planes and helicopters available for visitors to climb around in. Caleb was VERY excited to climb inside this Marine Blackhawk helicopter and play with their gatling gun.

I would say a little too excited - except for the fact that it was so freaking cool!

Good times.

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Just a cute picture



Gavin was in a good mood, so I snapped a couple of pictures of him, and this one was just too cute not to post.

This is what he's like most of the time. He's been pretty sick recently with a fever and a nasty cough, but all he really wants to be is happy. It's kind of funny to watch, but he gets this look on his face that says "I know something hurts" but then he sees you looking at him and immediately brightens up so that you see this totally bizarre war of "I want to be happy" and "It hurts" going on. Usually the "I want to be happy" wins out.

He's an excellent little baby.