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.

Gavin had his preschool graduation this week. He was so excited, and I think also very proud to get his certificate. He had been going to the Child Development Center (CDC) since he was two years old, it has been a huge part of his development. When he started there, he was completely "non-verbal and low functioning" - in layman's terms that means he couldn't speak and he was in his own little world all the time. Now he is just a social butterfly and sometimes talks too much! When he gets around his school buddies he is definitely the class clown. His speech is by no means perfect or on par with a typical five year old, but his social skills have really come a long way. Having him in this school has been great. They have been able to let Gavin's naturally sweet personality flourish while setting rules, getting him accustomed to school routine, and always pushing the limits of his abilites. I doubt he would be even nearly ready for kindergarten next year if he hadn't had the awesome teachers and classroom experiences he's had for the past 3 years.

To kick off the ceremony, the teachers herded all the graduates up onto the stage and they sang two songs together. Gavin was right in the middle of all his friends, just belting out the words like a little rock star. Every now and then he would pause for a second to yell out "Mama! Daddy!" Pointing to us in the audience. Though somewhat lacking in tonality, (Simon Cowell might say "He's a tad bit pitchy") he made up for it with robust volume and energy. Gavin is actually a really good singer, I catch him all the time singing to himself. This performance just turned out to be a little more "Punk Rocky", since he had a big captive audience. He always has to be the "Black Sheep" these days, it seems.

The actual receiving of the diploma was pretty funny, too. He was so excited, but he sat nicely right next to his teacher, on the edge of his seat. It took forever for his name to be called, since it's toward the end of the alphabet. As each child walked (or ran) to get their diploma, their picture was put up on the screen. Gavin couldn't wait to see his picture up on the screen, which I'm sure to him looked like a giant flag. If you've been following these posts, you'd know a little about Gav's flag fascination. He is very proud of his diploma, and he's been carrying it around with him all week, even to bed! Here's a little excerpt of "Brown Bear, What Do You See?"