Now that the boys are in a bunk bed, bedtime is a little easier. It is a lot more fun now. For some reason they both get pretty wound up right before bed, but reading a book with them can usually get them to settle down. While the top bunk officially started out as Gavin's, they take turns being up there. I still end up falling asleep with a book on my face on the bottom bunk with Garrett most nights.

Every now and then Gavin will have a nightmare and walk through the house looking for me, and if I'm in the bunk already, he just crawls in. He's been having more nightmares lately, and I think it could be just stress from school. He doesn't have the ability to tell me about his dreams in great detail, but I can make a few intuitive assumptions. It isn't "Where the Wild Things Are". Thank God he's over that one. He has a lot of stress in his Kindergarten life, being a child with autism in a class of 26 "neuro-typical" (normal) kids.

They are both great at sleeping. I would bet a large sum that they could sleep through a category 5 hurricane! Unlike the baby, Bodie. He wakes up at the slightest squeaky door hinge or cat meow. When he is taking a nap, the house has to be in deep silence mode - ringers off, t.v. muted, etc. When he is awake, nothing gets accomplished around here. All productivity occurs at naptime and very early morning!

I took this picture the other morning when I woke the boys up for school. I thought it was so sweet. Apparently Gavin had one of his nightmares and just crawled into the bottom bunk with his little brother during the night. Garrett doesn't realize it yet, but he'll probably be his big brother's protector throughout their lives. Gavin is lucky Garrett was born with a compassionate soul, a comforting aura, and an optimistic attitude. 

Gavin has found a new interest. Basketball! We've been going to some of the local semi-pro games and he is just captivated by the action. He can actually sit still for nearly the whole 2+ hour game, which is usually impossible for a little guy like him. He loves the cheering, shooting, and most of all, the dribbling. For whatever reason, he has taken great interest in the dribbling of a basketball. I don't know why, he just has.

We bought him a basketball and I overfilled it with air so its got some great bounce, and got him enrolled in the local church program called "Halo Hoops." That was about eight weeks ago, and he couldn't dribble more than 2 or 3 times before the ball would hit his foot and go rolling across the gym. He would get so frustrated! But every Sunday afternoon for the past 8 weeks we went back to the gym and practiced for 2 hours. They worked on stuff like jumping, skipping, galloping, red light green light, shark tag, shooting, and of course dribbling. Now he can go all the way across the gym and back - dribbling! It's unbelievable what a little practice can do. He's so proud of himself. Yesterday was the final session of Halo Hoops and he was so excited to get a trophy. He kept saying "I'm excited!"

The best part for us was the discovery that Gavin's brain seemed so much more "organized" after every Halo Hoops practice. He would use good sentences and could sit and concentrate on little tasks like coloring or a Highlights workbook for over an hour, which was previously unheard of. There is definitely something to be said about the connection between organized physical activity and the brain. Soccer is next, when it warms up a little!

It's funny how children learn words sometimes. It's hard to teach some words to Gavin that aren't tangible objects.  Especially abstract words like "summertime".

His first impression of that word came as we were leaving the local Jungle Rapids amusement park. The water park section was closed, and he saw the huge slides with colorful flags at the top and said "Flags!" I said "Yep. When it is summertime, we can climb up those stairs and see the flags, then go down the big slide!" He wanted the flags right now, and started to get very agitated. (He's obsessed with flags, especially the American flag) I just kept telling him that we have to wait for summertime. He doesn't like to have to wait for a future event. Everything must happen in the present for him. Finally I got him wrestled into his car seat, and we were on our way.

The next day, the first words out of his mouth were "Okay, now go summertime!" That was just priceless. I love it when he uses new words, and so does he. Meaningful sentences like that are pure manna. There was a time when we didn't know if he would ever talk to us. Some children with autism can't speak at all. It is such a blessing to be able to communicate with Gavin!

So now, in Gavin's head, summertime means big waterslides with flags at the top. Words need to be attached to something he can see, so I've been telling him summertime means the grass is green, the trees have leaves, and we wear shorts. Yo Gabba Gabba (his favorite show on Nick Jr.) did an episode that backed up my definition of summer, so I think it might be sinking in. When Foofa and Brobee sing about it, the message really hits home. Now he says randomly "Summertime. Its hot!"

When I set up the "slip and slide" for these kids in our backyard, however, Gavin's eyes got really big and he said "Little Summertime!" For him, that word will probably always be attached to waterparks, which is fine with me. As you can see in the picture, every good waterslide needs flags at the head of it. Those were Gavin's idea.