We had a disastrous weekend. Saturday we set off for Chattanooga to visit with my Grandma for the day we left a little after ten expecting a two hour trip. Around the half way point is a very steep drive, it is so steep that there are off ramps just for runaway semi's who's breaks have overheated. Just as we got to this area we were stopped by a traffic jam. Now Saturday was a very hot day -mid 90's- and sitting in the car in the direct sun was torture. We were barely crawling a long and I began to worry about Gavin because we had taken Ellie's car and had forgotten to grab a sun shade for the window. We did all we could to keep him cool and shaded but he still looked wilted. It also got to be well past his lunch time but luckily (and amazingly) he stayed in a good mood the whole time which was a blessing because we were all suffering and a screaming baby would have been horrible. Because of where we were there was absolutely no place to get off or turn around, we had not choice but continue forward. After an hour and a half we got onto flatter land and we felt sure we would pass and accident soon and then traffic would clear up but as far as the eye could see were just cars. After a few more miles there finally was an exit for this little tiny gas station. We decided to pull over and decide what to do. You can imagine that after being stuck for so long there were a LOT of people with the same idea. The little gas station probably doesn't see that much business in a month. Then it was a race to the rest rooms were we had to wait in line for another 20 minutes ( the girls that is, Jacob got in after about 5, guys are lucky) In the end we decided to just turn around and go home because from what we could tell and from what people at the gas station knew, the jam kept on going for quite awhile (when we got home I looked up the accident and it was between two trailers and a car and had happened earlier that morning. They had to block of parts of the interstate and were diverting traffic. It was really the best thing that didn't go any further.) My grandma is already an hour ahead of us in time and by the time we got there it would have been quite late and we wouldn't even get to stay too long before having to turn around and leave. I felt horrible because she had prepared a lunch for us and I don't know what she did with all the extra food. When we finally returned home it was about 4 and every single one of us took a nap. We were just exhausted from the stress and the extreme heat. So in the end, the day was a bust and we were in the car 6 hours and the only place we got to was home.

Sunday was thankfully uneventful after the mess of Sat. but there was one highlight... Gavin finally learned to climb onto his slide, that he got for his birthday from his Hillyer grandparents, all by himself. I think he just used the technique he learned to climb onto the chairs and he made up really easy. Again, he was very proud of himself and spent a happy hour going up and down. The only problem was that instead of getting down by sliding on his tush he wanted to walk down the slide. Just another thing to keep an eagle eye on him for.

Gavin is a complete ham!! He loves to have people's attention on him and to make them laugh. Today he was just playing around when he rolled onto his back and lifted his legs into the air. It just so happened that he tooted as he was lifting his legs (is he a Hillyer or what?) Ellie and I laughed so hard we cried and he sat up and tried to figure out why we were laughing so he laid back down and lifted his legs again. This time there was no gass but it was still funny that he was trying to get a laugh. After a couple times of that he felt he was on a roll so he got up and fake fell. Sometimes when he wasn't as steady on his feet (and still now on occasion) he would be running and just dive across the room in a fall. He didn't get hurt and it was pretty funny so we would laugh. After awhile he figured out how to "fall" and get a laugh. Because he is one it is pretty obvious when he is fake falling but that is what makes it all the more funnier.

Just recently Gavin has begun sleeping with a blanket. I read when he was little that you shouldn't let babies sleep with blankets till they are one to prevent smothering. I thought that was a good idea especially since Gavin is such a crazy sleeper, he is never in the same position, or area of the crib, for long. In this heat though we have kept the air on through the night and he gets cold. I don't want to put warm jammies on him but I was nervous about starting with a blanket, mainly because what he likes to do with blankets is put them on his head. One day he put a blanket on his head and ran around the living room and fell right into the coffee table! I thought I would try a blanket though. The first two nights he just ended up sleeping on the blanket rather than it on him even though every morning when I would go into his room he would be laying there with the blanket on his head (sometimes he is so weird). That worried me so my mom suggested giving him a blanket with holes in it. I tried it and it not only helped but for some reason he actually used this one the right way. Just another step from babyhood into toddler.