Couple new things

We've come upon the most amazing season to have canines. The end of winter beginning of spring season. The snow is finally melting and everything under the snow is showing. I bet you can't imagine what that is.....no...then you don't have dogs. I love our two big Labs. I also love having a husband who went outside to scoop 3 garbage bags full of, well, you know...

While Daddy was outside cleaning up, we stayed inside and cleaned up. The other best part of having dogs during this season is enjoying a muddy kitchen! If only all the raindrops really were lemondrops and gumdrops then my kitchen floor would have a chance!
So while I was mopping the muddy footprints up, Gavin thought he would play with the dog food a little bit. He likes to pick pieces up and feed them to the dogs. The dogs are very good with him.

The last few weeks we have been working very hard with picking up our toys and putting them away after we play with them. This also goes for books, socks, shoes, and sippy cups and food thrown on the floor while eating. Yes everyone, I make him pick up everything he throws now. It was quite a challenge in the beginning as he would throw himself on the ground rather than pick up the pieces of fruit or veggies under the table. However patience has been my virtue through it and now he picks things up with less of a fight AND there is less being thrown! So it was much to my dismay when he picked up the entire dog dish and scattered it ALL over the kitchen after I finished mopping. The little Stinker! Yes, I made him pick up every last piece as I stood over him. You don't think I was going to let my efforts go out of frustration at this point, do you? Especially since the broom and mop were so close at hand. Nope. This took a little more time and patience than food under the table, but we got it all cleaned up:)

This past weekend we also removed the high chair tray and he sits at the table like a big boy!! I love having dinner every night as a family. We have done our best to eat together every night at the same time. Routine does wonders for us all. Let's hope we can keep it up with all the changes potentially occuring around here over the next few weeks.

You can tell he is excited to sit up at the big table now!! My current patience activity...no feet on the table. Apparently since the high chair tray isn't blocking them from going up, they do just that. They constantly go up. It's almost like they have a mind of their own.