Gavin Michael Curt

We are almost weaned. This is such a bittersweet thing. A month ago I was so anxious to get him off the breast because he was biting, twisting, and otherwise abusing it. I was beginning to feel self-conscious nursing such a large person in public. I always thought it was weird to see kids over one nursing and even though Gavin is several weeks away from being one, he is big enough to be mistaken for a one-year old. Last week I was away for three nights which basically forced him to accept bottles around the clock. He did. When I came back, he readily accepted bottles from me. He still does. He's never done that before. The last two nights he's done something he hasn't done since he was a newborn. He wakes up in the middle of the night, unconsoleably crying, arching his back, and flailing around. I try to give him the breast to console but he pushes it away. That's pretty much a sure sign for my body to stop producing it. I can proudly say I met and beat my goal of nursing him through the winter. Even though it meant pumping at work every three hours in a tiny little office listening to talk radio. Now that the end is near (if not here), I'm already missing the closeness of holding, nurturing and feeding my baby. I guess I can still do all those things, just differently...in a way that doesn't result in getting bit! Ok I guess it's not so bad.

Gavin was cracking up the other night at dinner. I had to pull out the video camera to capture his hysteria. Tyler kept making this funny little sound each time he took a bite of his chicken nugget. It sounded like a little snort or something. Anyway, it absolutely cracked Gavin up. It didn't take Tyler long to figure out his sound was getting a reaction out of the baby. This went on for a long time. Tyler would snort, taking a bite of chicken nugget. Gavin would laugh really hard just long enough to let Tyler finish chewing his bite before it was time to take another, making the snorting sound again. Gavin could have played this game all night but after about five minutes, I realized Tyler was beginning to bite off more than he could chew. His cheeks were stuffed like a hamster's and he couldn't close his mouth anymore.

Gavin said his first word (other than mama and dada which he uses for anything, not just mom & dad). We were in the car leaving Great Grandma & Grandpa Roberts' BBQ party for Grandmom Roberts Birthday and Father's Day, and Gavin said Bye Bye to Grandma. This was so sweet. He was very quiet, but repeated it over and over as if to assure us it was intentional. Yesterday at daycare, his teachers were gleaming with excitement as he siad Bye Bye to them also. For making such loud squawking noises out of nowhere, he sure does talk quietly.

Maybe it's because I'm in the record business but people keep saying Gavin looks like Phil Collins.

Do you see a resemblance? 

My kids have given me:
* The ability to laugh at myself. How else can I react when I finally notice I've been walking around work with spit-up on my blouse all day?
* A sense of humor. I never thought silly sounds and words that aren't English could be so funny sounding.
* A sense of timing. In one year a child goes from learning to walk to running, jumping, talking, marching, skipping and hopping.
* Strength. In one year a baby goes from fitting snugly in the crook of my elbow, to wiggling so much it takes all my strength to prevent him from flying out of my arms.
* The wisdom to think before I speak. When every word I say matters so much, I must pick the right words at all times.
* Patience. I can repeat the same rule ten times in one hour if repetition is really what it takes to get them to learn to always hold hands in the street.
* Energy. Some how I have more energy now than I ever had back in the days I was not a mom and would sleep the day away.
* Pride. I am a working mom of two amazing boys. Before that, what was I? An employee and a wife.