Back to Blogging... Sorry for the long absence.

Well a lot has happened since February 09. After Gavin turned 1, we put our house on the market and decided to move. First to Keller, TX and then after a lot of thought, we determined Nashville, TN was a better option for us. We missed the north, the trees, the hills and the seasons. We didn't quite want the northern weather and taxes, so Nashville was the best decision for us to get the best of both worlds. We had our house on the market from February through May and finally had an offer. We took the offer and had 30 days to move. We got a POD and we packed up our cars, closed on our house and moved up to Nashville. We are currently in a hotel, waiting for to close on our new home on Monday. We are excited to start a new life in Tennessee. I was really sad to leave my friends that I have become close with in the last few years. I will always keep in touch with them and want to know what they are doing always. Thankfully for the internet, this is easily possible!

Gavin is trying to adjust to his new life. He is very scared right now. He will not leave mom leave the room. I can't go to the bathroom without him crying and yelling for mom. He has a lot of anxiety and thinks I am going to get packed up. He will adjust eventually, but for now we are doing what we can to ease the process for him.

He can say a lot of words now. Most of them start with some variation of a "D", but a few actually start with the correct letter. "Fish" "Missy" "Mom" "More" "Kitty" and several others are words besides things that start with D that he can say. He can say anything that starts with a D.

He can hold a baseball bat correctly and swings all the way through. He loves balls and throwing them at everything and anything. He is very active and happy as long as he is getting attention. He loves to say hi to strangers and flirts with girls/women/old ladies.

Everyone comments on his eyes and long eye lashes.

Someone told us he looks like a miniature "man", which I really don't think is a compliment lol. I personally don't think he looks like a man boy :).

Gavin - Milestones

Gavin can climb, walk, jump, dance whenever he hears music, run and harass the cats with decorative sticks he pulls out of the pot in the living room! He is very silly and laughs at things he deems to be funny.

Gavin can say "ki-dee" for kitty, "Da-Goon" for balloon, "goon" for moon, "soxxx" for socks, "shhhhh" for shoes, "yux" for yuck, "da" for ball, "da-dee" for daddy, "do-dee" for doggie, mo for "more" and "done" which he says perfectly.

He can sign about 10 signs and does a very good job of communicating what he wants.

He LOVES to play outside. He loves to play with the fake snake in the yard and drag it around and have maingy (one of our cats) chase it and drag it away. Gavin chases after Maingy, who is carrying the snake away. It is actually pretty funny to watch.

He loves going to the Little Gym. He goes Saturday mornings and he gets really excited when he is there. I think it has helped his motors skills, but I do rolls and tumbling with him at home, so mainly it is to help with the social skills he can't get from being at home all day. He interacts with other kids well.

Gavin loves to jump on mommy and give her lots of kisses. He gives kisses every time you tell him "no" he can't touch something or grab something. He is already manipulating us. He is a very sweet boy and generally is a happy kid as long as he isn't bored or hungry.

He loves to read books, practice new skills such as hitting a ball with a bat, which he can do pretty well already, throw and catch, dance, jump and imitate whatever dad is doing.

Happy Birthday Gavin

Gavin turned 1 on February 5th. I cannot believe he is ONE already. He is so fun now!

10 Month Milestones

Gavin is a little over 10 months now. Crazy how time goes by so fast. He can completey walk on his own, with no help. He can throw a ball, kick and dribble a ball and LOVES to watch the football spin on its end around and around, over and over.

Gavin loves to eat cheese, beans, chicken, corn and many other foods.

He can say kitty, dog, duck, dada, diaper, momma... but none really sound very much like the actual word. "keyd" for kitty and "dyedye" for diaper.

It has been pretty cold in Texas the last few weeks, sometimes even getting into the 40's.... all of you Nort Eastern people are probably laughing at that statement. We have a fire in our fireplace every single night.

We have our christmas tree up and ready for Santa to come down our chimney. We are going to have Christmas at our house in Texas on Saturday the 20th of December, since we'll be in NY for the actual holiday.

Gavin's 9 month milestones

Gavin is now over 9 months old and growing so fast!

He can walk completely on his own with no help, crazy I know!
He can say "Kitty" and some other words like "duck".

He loves being outside and playing in the grass. He loves trees and can say "aweee" which I think means tree. He is a very active boy and always wants to walk around and explore new things.

We had our family photographs taken by my friend Missy who is an architect and aspiring photographer. She is trying to rev up her portfolio to start up a business in photography. Besides a few issues with Gavin being unhappy at 8:30am in 45 degree weather and a really bright sun shine which made him squint, she got some pretty good pictures.

go to webshots.com/user/hollandfamily2008 to see the album.

We'll be coming home for Christmas on Dec 22nd and staying through Dec 31st.

Visiting and Visits From The Grandparents

Early in October, Grandma (Shelley) came down to visit Gavin. The weekend went well and we had a lot of fun. Gavin was happy to see his Grandma and wanted to play with her a lot. We went to the zoo and Gavin was very focused on the animals. He did take a little catnap half way through, but was very well behaved and happy at the zoo.

One week later, Gavin and Mommy went to visit Grandma and Grampa (Monroe) in Windsor, NY. We flew into Philadelphia and then drove 3 hours north to Windsor. It was a very stressful day in the airport with Gavin. They do not make airports friendly for moms and babies. We were there for a week, and were lucky with weather (relatively speaking). It was in the 50's most days and when we left it snowed, so we were lucky. Gavin loved playing in the front lawn, with the leaves, pumpkins and grass. I got to spend time with my good friend Stacy and she got to hang out with Gavin and he loved her, so it all worked out great. It made me miss having help, miss having Grandparents around, remember how much I hate the cold weather, remember how much my skin hates the weather, remember how much I love the colors changing, remember how closed in NY makes me feel, and remember how ugly the majority of people in Binghamton really are..haha, sad but true. Not everyone, but 90%. If I ever moved there, we would limit Gavin's pool of pretty girls significantly haha...

We are still up in the air about where to move. We always have a new plan so don't bother keeping up with it, it will most likely change. So far we have been through Greenville, SC, Pittsburgh, PA, Wake Forest, NC, Fishers, IN, Rochester, NY, Nashville, TN, Columbus, OH, and I am sure others... It is beautiful weather in Texas right now, so its not as urgent now :)

8 Months Old

Gavin is getting bigger every day!

Milestones this month:

- can crawl like crazy, anywhere and everywhere

- can pull himself up to stand on anything from a magazine to a radio to a wobbly laundry basket.

- can take 6-7 steps without falling down

- can recognize and retrieve a ball, book, duck, etc when asked

- can crawl through obstacles such as legs, crib, big garafe legs

- can say "momma" "Kitty" "Duckie" "Baba" "Daaa" "Heyyyy"

- can do the sign for more

Gavin isn't that great of an eater because he knows he gets a bath after he eats, so everytime he starts to eat he wants out so he can play in the bathtub.

Gavin loves to chase the cats around the house

Gavin LOVES his mommy and cries every time she leaves the room or does not pay attention to him.