Devin on Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas!

No Luck With Santa This Year

Well, we took off to Bartlesville tonight to have dinner and visit Santa. I just KNEW that Devin would love going to see him this year. He has been so excited about Christmas this year and is always talking about Santa. When I told him we would be going to see Santa after his nap today he jumped right in bed and fell fast asleep. When he woke up he couldn't get out of the door fast enough!
But- as soon as it was his turn to crawl up on the big man's lap....fear struck! He was having NO part in sitting on Santa's lap! He did tell him his name and of course accepted a candy cane and coloring book from him. He also shook his hand.
I was so excited about taking Devin to see Santa this year, thinking he would have the best time. Oh well...maybe next year!
On the bright side- I didn't have to cook dinner and got to eat at my favorite BBQ place, Dinks!

Devin's Speech Update

Today we had the meeting with Joanne from the Birth To Three program. She came do a developmental evaluation on Devin to see if he qualifies for the Birth To Three program based only on her evaluation.

They spent about an hour playing with puzzles, looking at books, stacking blocks, coloring and such. Devin was actually having a really great time. The great news is that she said he is WAY ahead on every level of her test. The ONLY problem that she saw was the pronunciation of words. She said he knows many more words that he should know at the age and is putting them together in larger sentences than is recommended at this age, it is just the way he is saying them. She said in each segment of her test that he is testing well over the 40 month mark. (He is 32 months old right now.) She was really impressed when he counted to 20 and told her every letter in the alphabet when they were using her flash cards.

She still wants him to see their speech pathologist but said she honestly thinks that they will recommend some things for us to work on at home and he shouldn't need speech therapy. There is still a chance that when they come back on January 6th that the speech pathologist may still recommend therapy- but she really doubts that will happen.

That is such great news for us. I know that his speech problem probably wasn't that big of a deal- but you always worry when your child is having a hard time learning something. I had to brag on him a little bit. We're always SO proud of our little sweet boy! I'm so relieved that he might not need speech therapy! I'll keep everyone posted after our meeting with the speech pathologist on January 6th.

The First Christmas Gathering of The Year!

Gavin jamin' in the drums!
Chad, Devin and Abby playing.

Devin playing his new drums!

He was SO proud of them!

Opening the drums....

Our first Christmas celebration was last night with Nana Sheila and Papa Greg. My brother Chad and his girlfriend Abby were able to come as well. I made dinner for everyone and we had a great time opening gifts and playing together.

They got Devin his drum set which he was THRILLED about! I wish I had the video camera on when he was opening them. He was SO excited when he saw what was under that paper! He also got a waterless fish aquarium and some clothing. Gavin got the Fisher Price Animal Train and some clothes as well. The boys are having a pretty good time playing with their new toys today.

Thanks Nana Sheila and Papa Greg for coming last night and for the great gifts! They boys really enjoy them!

DON'T SPILL THE BEANS!

At the store a few days ago I picked up some games for Devin. We really didn't have any and while we were in Kansas City visiting friends Devin really took a liking to one of their games.

I picked up Candy Land and Don't Spill The Beans. We haven't attempted to play Candy Land yet- I thought Daddy might like in on the action, but he really loved Don't Spill The beans. This age is getting to be really great! He's able to sit for more than 2 minutes at a time and listen to directions. We're able to do so many more activities now.

Another Ornament Project

Cutting out the shapes.......


More shapes.......

Ready for the oven!

Painting the Christmas tree.

Adding some glitter to the star.

More glitter....

He was SO proud of his ornaments. When I asked him which was his favorite he said the candy cane was his favorite.

The finished ornaments ready to hang on the tree.

Putting the star on the tree.

Today we decided to have another Christmas project. I have been wanting to try these for quite some time. I saw the recipe on the box of cookie cutters I have and thought it would be a great project for Devin- but probably VERY messy!

After seeing that our friends Jeannie and Michael completed this task yesterday I decided to give it a try. (If Jeannie survived the mess- I guess I could give it a shot.

As predicted it was a mess- but totally worth every piece of glitter I'll be picking off Gavin for the weeks to come. (I'm sure I'll keep finding it in other random places as well. As much as I tried to sweep if up after we were done, I'm still finding it all over the floor.)

We made the 'dough' and cut out the shapes. I had a really hard time getting Devin to believe that they were not sugar cookies since we made those last weekend.

Devin really enjoyed cutting them out and putting them on the cookie sheet. We cut holes in the top with a straw before baking so that we would have a place to put the ribbon to hang them on the tree. After they came out of the oven we let them cool and painted them. After the paint had dried I painted on the areas that would need glue and Devin sprinkled the glitter. (I lied- he aggressively POURED the glitter on. LOL) It took every bit of restraint I had in me to let him do it himself- but I survived! Did I mention it was a HUGE mess?!

Devin was proud of his finished product and just like the last reindeer ornaments we made he was excited to put them on the tree. (The first attempt ended up with the star on the floor resulting in more glitter in another room in the house.)

Before I pack them away I'll probably add a coat of shellac to seal the glitter or I'm sure it will be all over the box by next year. I think this will be a yearly tradition!

Fun In The Snow

Despite Devin being a little under the weather I decided to let him go outside for just a few minutes yesterday and play in the snow. It was KILLING him to keep looking at it out the window and not getting to play in it.

We got all bundled up and went outside for all of probably 10 minutes- but he still had a blast. Maybe next time it snows he'll be feeling much better and we will have time to build a snowman.

More Walking From Mr. Gavin

Here is another video I took of Gavin walking last night. Yesterday he just seemed walking a lot more. He would just let go and walk to things he would have normally crawled to. He has had quite an improvement from the video I posted two weeks ago.

Enjoy!

Reindeer Ornaments

Putting on the eyes......

and the nose........

Here's the reindeer!

He was saying "They're FLYING!"

The whole herd......

Putting them on the tree.

During Gavin's morning nap I try to do something alone with Devin. We usually do some type of project. With Christmas quickly approaching we decided to make an ornament of some type today. We ended up making reindeer and they were SUPER simple- a perfect ornament for a child Devin's age. It just required a few dabs of glue, googly eyes, and pom pom's. Devin had a pretty good time making these and was excited to hang them on the tree.

Just One Little Treat!

When we got home from Kansas City Devin was wanting a snack. He spotted a Ziploc bag with 3 left-over sugar cookies and asked for "Just ONE little treat?!" I'm sure we had enough 'little treats for a few days (cupcakes, M&M's)- but who can say no to that?

Notice Gavin smuggling crumbs as they hit the chair! I didn't even notice he was doing that until I picked him up and he had blue frosting on his face. Smart little 'cookie'!

Devin was SO exhausted from all the playing that he fell asleep after we had lunch at Applebee's in Paola and slept ALL the way home! I couldn't have planned it any better!

Devin waiting for his lunch at Applebee's in Paola.

Devin LOVED Hayden's safari hat. (Thanks Hayden for sending it home with Michael. Devin REALLY enjoys playing with it!)

All the boys like helping push the air out of the air mattress in the morning!

Devin playing with his gift from Michael. Thanks Michael! Devin has been playing with this a TON since he got home!

Michael using the 'telescope'.

Michael opening one of his gifts from Devin.

Hayden opening his gifts from Drew.

And, as always- you've got to have a pic of that ADORABLE Drew in the mix!

Devin 'showing some love'. He's my little sweetie!

Last Friday we were able to make it to our friend's house, The Morehead's, near Kansas City. Since Dawn isn't able to travel during her pregnancy we headed up to see her along with our other friends, The Woodrich's and Blackard's.

We had a fantastic time just letting the boys play together. (And it had been much too long since we have seen Mr. Hayden!) It was also nice for us moms to be able to catch up with each other.

While Devin and I were gone, Gavin stayed home with his Daddy and I think they enjoyed each other's company. It was really nice to get away with just Devin. It has been such a long time since just the two of us have spent some quality time together. (But- I did miss my other baby boy terribly and couldn't wait to get home to see him.)

Thanks SO much for the great visit Dawn, Jason, and Hayden. (And the quickly arriving Baby Boy Morehead!) We had a fantastic time and can't wait to see you all again!

Bathtub Cutie!