"NO!"

Is it possible for the "terrible 2's" to start early? Oy. I guess i'd say Gavin is more of an extrovert than terrible. This weekend though however, we've had more meltdowns than we've seen in him. He's such a happy boy and loves everyone, but is a tornado when we're home. There are no moments of "stillness" while we're home....ever. In a matter of 5 minutes today, every foot of the living room had at least 1 if not 5 toys, the entire Tupperware drawer was empty, pots and pans cupboard, half of the food pantry and most of Troopers water (splashed out not drank, i'm not THAT bad of a parent).

Incase your wondering what kind of parents we are, we do have locks on several of our cupboards (especially the chemicals) but in order to make breakfast with both hands, I let him explore. Maybe he'll get it out of his system? Wishful thinking :) After a good few hours playing, he fought a nap and finally gave in. We later went out to meet a friend for lunch and he was a gem for several hours. Once we get home though, oh-my-gosh. Tornado on overdrive. He is normally a well mannered play-by-myself kind of kiddo. Not today, oh no. It was more like "pick me up or I will cry until you physically go lose your mind." So before that happened, I decided to wear him around the house to help me make dinner and clean. He did well and enjoyed hanging with mom. (Dad was out building a new deck with Grandpa!)

Long story short, we're currently trying to decide what type of discipline is the best for us and our family. It will be a constantly evolving topic, i'm sure. Thankfully, both Mark and I agree on it thus far. He's too little to discipline, in our opinion so we're working on redirecting. There may have also been other underlying issues for his behavior such as not feeling well or teething. I think I need  to read some books and decide what is NOT for us and go from there. I have learned so much being a parent, and so much more to come no doubt. Glad I have a special guy to co-parent with and a cute little boy to teach me patience and endless love!

The Pounds

Just for giggles

Mr G. has some serious moves...most of which include this head bob. We think it makes him look special, in which he is, but are encouraging a little more hand waving with it!

Walk it out...

We're SOOO close to having a "walker" on our hands. He's standing up on his own almost every time he stands up and is taking one, maybe two steps at a time before toppling over. Even our daycare lady said "I wouldn't be surprised if he comes back Monday walking." I wouldn't call him a "walker" yet, but he's getting close!

When did our baby become a toddler is what I want to know!

Speaking of daycares, we're on the hunt for his next spot. He is currently at an in-home with three other babies, but the woman only keeps them until they are two so his time to move on will be soon. Ok, not soon at all, but the waiting lists for daycare centers that we're looking into are a 6-12 month wait. We toured one and were not very impressed. From having the play area right up next to the street with no fence, to most of the staff being smokers and REAKING when stood next to them.

We will have another interview next week at a hopeful center which is close to our house and a church based center that is fairly affordable. Let's hope it works out! Our little boy needs the best care ;)

Until next time...

The Pounds

Summer lovin'

So i'd like to think that we're "fun" parents...to Gavin anyways. Clearly we're his only parents, so fun or not, he's stuck with us. 

Here are a few tid-bits of what we've done so far this summer!

May:

On a walk around Silverwood Park with my friend Elizabeth

At daddy's softball game!

A few stroller rides to the park by our house

July

A dip in Lake Owasso with mom and Grandma L

First boat ride on Pelican Lake

Arts and crafts and tortilla making class with mom and Grandma C

Mom's birthday at the Spaghetti Factory

Lots and lots of pool time, bath time, lake time

Slice of Shoreview Parade with some friends

 Thank goodness for stroller naps

First haircut! We watched Elmo the entire time and were so good!

 August

At a wedding with Uncle Adam 

*cheeeese!* Swimming at grandma and grandpa's house

We also got to the zoo and went to Stillwater to visit Grandpa Al and had several play dates. 

Still on our summer to-do list is...

State Fair
Eagles Nest play date

Hopefully a trip to Duluth

Waterpark with my cousins

New Deck

...and lots more time soaking up the outdoors!

~Pounds

the big 10!

Big boy is ten months old next week. He seems to have developed and grown a ton this month. 


This month firsts: 
           - boat ride
           - wearing size 4 diapers
           - moving into 12-18 month clothes
           - Three teeth (finally)
           - hair cut- he was beginning to look shaggier than Trooper
           - walking while holding your hands
           - climbing and "cruising" while standing
           - waving bye bye
           - giving kisses
           - sippy cups
           - saying "dada" or "mom" (although we're 99.9% sure he doesn't know what "mom" means)


           - new finger foods:
                  lasagna
                  green beans
                  blueberry muffin
                  toast
                  yogurt (that one didn't go well!)
                  freeze dried yogurt drops
                  blueberries
                  rice
                  ravioli
                  mac and cheese


His loves :
            - bath time/ pool time
            - holding his own bottle
            - baby Einstein videos
            - Stroller rides
            - Play dates with friends
            - seeing "mama" and "dada" after a day away
            - hair brushes (for chewing of course)


His dislikes: 
            - being woken up (takes after his mother)
            - diaper changes
            - going to the doctor
            - getting dressed

This week we went up north on vacation with the Trefethren family. It was a blast and super relaxing. Mark wasn't able to join the family until the end of the week, but we made the most of our time with him too. We learned very quickly that Gavin needs his beauty sleep and takes quite a while to wake up. We also learned that he needs his own space. As fun as it was, none of us slept because he knew we were in "his" room. All of the kids fueled each other and by the end of the day we were all exhausted. They all learned a ton from each other and we can't wait to vacation with the cousins again!

 In the pool with the girls and Uncle Scottie

Ellie picking on Gav

                 

 Enjoying his first boat ride...clearly

 Give the boy a shovel, he will dig

Eating breakfast with my cousin.

Until next time, 

     The Pounds

Who and Why

We're mostly just doing this for ourselves to be able to look back on and out of town family to wants the 411, but anyone is welcome to tag along. I have a few friends who have created a blog for out of town family to read and having a little blog envy has encouraged me to start this one back up. It was used previously as Mark's deployment blog which we have had fun looking back at, but since a few things have happened since then we have much more to talk about. 

Mark got back from his deployment June of 2010, got all settled into our cozy little house and got to know Trooper, our chocolate lab for a while. We're clearly people persons (I can't say people, people, right?) so decided to expand the Pound clan and what was once two Pounds, is now three. Gavin Elliot joined us on Oct 1st, 2011. It was the best decision we've ever made. He's amazing. It's taken Trooper a while to warm up to him and now he can at least tolerate Gavin, which is a plus. He keeps us on our toes and teaches us something new everyday. There have been minimal frustrating days and mostly good days (i'm not just saying that, he's been a great baby- we're doomed come baby #2).

Bye bye feet!

                                                  A basket full of perfection- 10 days old

                                                                    8 months old

Until next time...

The Pounds

Settling in

Well, it's been just over 3 months since Mark has been back. I think we're finally getting the sense of normalcy that most people have.

Mark's been to two of his 30-60-90 day re-integration sessions. This weekend he has one up in Chisholm. It's a celebration type weekend, where families come...they have parades and bbq's. Mark says he wouldn't make me go, because it's so boring...just a lot of talking I guess. So instead I have a date weekend with the little boy - Trooper that is.

We've done some landscaping/fixing up in the yard this summer. Had to re-do some pipe (PVC type) for water drainage, since we've been having some problems with water in our basement. We also got new windows, so that's helped a lot! Half of our yard is trying really hard to grow grass, but I think it's been over watered by this rain the past couple of days, we'll see if we get any little sprouts soon. It's funny the things you get excited over when you own a house :) It's nice that our house is finally starting to become our home.

Mark and I were talking about how much people helped out while Mark was gone. Between the care packages, taking care of the runt (t-dog), and keeping me company. It's kind of neat to see people drop their normal schedule to pitch in a little somewhere else....we both really appreciated it...and still do.

Mark is back in school. He has a year left after this semester is over. I signed him up for the most classes he could take, to try to get done earlier (without telling him of course :). It'll be nice to have the school thing behind him, that's for sure.

I've been thinking of grad school. I have to take some tests before I will even apply, so there is some time, but it's in the works hopefully.

Our little fluff. Don't let his cuteness fool you, he's still a tiny terror.

H, M + T-dog