Yes, we cut Gavin's hair! He is growing up. He has started kindergarten and the party is over. Does he miss his long, wavy mane? Well, judging by the photos, one might think so. In exhibit A: He looks looks like some mischievous kid who may have just cut class to sneak into a Backyardigans concert. In mugshot, er, exhibit B: He looks like a common five year old, mired by the humdrum, wearisome duties of Kindergarten life. He looks 3 years older to me as well.

The truth is that he loves his new haircut. He was excited, although hesitant, when we breached the subject with him before we went to the kids' barber. It is a big milestone for him! He's been a little boy with long hair for as far back as he can remember. The actual cutting wasn't too scary, even for a boy with autism. He sat still, stiff as a board, cringing the whole time with his face contorted in a mixture of fear and excitement. There were no tears. He watched his long locks falling to the floor through little slits in his tightly scrunched eyelids. After about twenty minutes, the transformation was complete.

The first few hours post-haircut, he did express some "barbershop remorse". I asked him if he wanted his long hair back, and he said "Yes, can we put it back on?"
I said "No, it takes a long time to grow."
He said "Like the grass?"
"Well, yeah. Kinda."

However, by the next morning he was completely enamored with his new look. He leapt out of bed and ran to the mirror, just beaming and giggling. I guess he had to see if it had all been a dream! The haircut was still there, and it hadn't changed his sparkling, buoyant personality a bit.

Now he (and Garrett) both refer to their hair as "haircuts". For example, "Garrett hurt me on my haircut!" It makes sense, I suppose, since Gavin just had hair before. Now he has a haircut. 

Bodie has walked! Last night he decided to just stand up and take 5 steps across the office floor. Sara and I we're both pretty stunned, even though we've seen him take one or two steps before. It was the first time he just 
stood right up in place and sauntered a good distance, with purpose! The look on his face was priceless. It was a mixture of joy and bewilderment, as if his legs had involuntarily carried him across the room like a magic carpet ride.

At the sound of our loud cheering and clapping, Gavin and Garrett came flying into the room to see what all the hubbub was about. Gavin is always extremely proud of his littlest brother and showered him with kisses, while Garrett immediately looked for something unique he could do in order for him to get the same  applause. He grabbed his little Backyardigans karaoke machine and said "Now I will listen to a song and you can clap for me!" As if that were his greatest talent, just listening. Not singing along with it or dancing, just listening to it! Garrett's a funny kid. He doesn't know it but his greatest talent so far is his ability to make everybody laugh and brighten up any room.

Bodie's greatest talent is definitely his ability to hold his own against his big brothers. He's a real scrappy little 11 month old. If they try to take a toy away from him, he doesn't passively let them have it, he holds on tight with both hands and a menacing glare. When they do pry it from his tiny fingers, he doesn't sit and cry for mama, no sir. He lets out a determined grunt, puts his head down and crawls after the villain as fast as his little hands and knees can carry him. I love his personality, but I'm afraid he's going to be pretty headstrong.

Surfers Healing was pretty incredible this year. Gavin and Garrett both got to surf! Gavin was so sweet with his little brother. He wanted Garrett to go first so he could stand on the beach and cheer for him. It was a really cute moment when Garrett was heading out into the waves, and Gavin was standing on the shore shouting "WOO Garrett! Great job! High five!" Izzy (the founder) took Garrett out and caught some really good waves, Garrett even got to ride in the tube for a minute! I asked him if it was fun or scary he said "It was fun! Lets go again!" Gavin did really well, too. He actually put his feet on the board this time and got to ride high on the shoulders of Puna Moller. For a couple of the rides in, the boys were side by side! That was pretty cool. In the picture you can see Garrett looking over at Gavin.

The local news was there and interviewed Gavin, but he didn't cooperate very much. He wasn't in the mood for paparazzi, and the reporter was asking questions like "What do you think you'll take away from this experience?" That's a pretty puzzling question to a five year old with autism. I should've asked the reporter to tell me what she knew about autism, I bet she would've been equally puzzled! In the news clip, they just show Gavin at the beginning talking about jumping over the waves, his new favorite thing to do at the beach.

I guess Oprah's crew was there too, she's going to do a series on Izzy and Danielle Paskowitz and Surfers Healing. That's some good exposure for this awesome cause!