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?"
Bodie is into everything, just like it says on his cool black onesie! In the last week and a half, he's gone from just creeping along the floor like an army soldier sneaking under barbed wire, to a zippy, herky jerky little crawl. Not bad for an 8 month old! He gets ahead of himself now and then, and does a nose dive into the carpet, but he loves being able to follow his brothers around the house. As soon as he got the hang of crawling, he figured out how to pull himself up on furniture and take a look around. His poor little knees are getting rubbed raw, we've been keeping BabyLegs on him all the time for extra protection. The babylegs don't make him too hot, I don't think. They aren't the fuzzy kind. Even with the babylegs on, he's funny when he gets to a hard surface like tile or concrete. He always stops, pats the floor to observe the texture, then switches to crab crawl mode and continues onward with hands and feet, saving the knees! Its really cute.
Garrett did that too when he was a baby. He hated weird surfaces like grass or the beach, and always put his bottom up in the air and creeped around like a little crab. He did that so well, it took him forever to learn how to walk! He was so fast on all fours, he probably just figured he could stick with the safer method of travel. Even wearing BabyLegs, he refused to crawl on his knees. It fit his quirky, silly personality I guess.
Gavin, on the other hand, only crawled for a couple of weeks, then stood up and walked. Since Bodie is already pulling up, I predict he'll be walking sooner than later. He's a strong little devil, I can tell you that. Sara has little bruises all over herself from his kung fu grip pinches. He seems to be a little roughneck. When I hold him, he's always got his fingers up my nose, or he's trying to pull my lips off. You know, just for fun! He can be cuddly too, but only when he's on the verge of a siesta. Every kid is different, I keep hearing.
It's been said that three is the new two. Well, Garrett is three. His birthday was celebrated with a trip to Chucky Cheese (his choice) and then a weekend at Grammy and Papa Geno's house (our choice). We had a second party for him there with all the family and a little backyard cookout. Sara made him an awesome "Super Why" cake, his favorite spelling hero from the PBS show of same name. He absorbed the celebrations with all of the humble modesty you would expect from a three year old.
All of this fanfare, focusing on his new "three-ness", has made a strange impact on our sweet little middle baby. He seems to be making a transformation of sorts, right before our eyes. He constantly mentions that he's "three now", and he is suddenly open to trying new things he wouldn't dare mess with before. Out of the blue, he's going from baby to "big boy". He still loves his little trike and always thought of the bigwheel as something only Gavin could handle, but not anymore. It turns out his feet do reach the pedals and he can make it go. Before, when I'd prod him into getting on it, he would only quarrel with me and insist that, in his words "I'm too wittle, I'm 2!" He wouldn't even try to pedal, he would just sit and scowl. Now he can suddenly zip around the driveway on the bigwheel with an uncharacteristic reckless abandon. He is even starting to try to ride Gavin's new bike! Here's a picture of him getting ready to take Bodie on a thrill ride. They didn't get very far that time! His feet don't make the pedals go all the way around yet on that bike.
He used to be such a cautious and careful little dude, now he's a real tough guy, ready to try anything dangerous. He's standing in his chair when we're not looking, he goes flying out the back door chasing after squirrels, and he's climbing anything and everything. It's like a switch got flipped in his head that says "Now I'm three, I'm invincible!" I don't like it, but it is pretty cute. If this trend keeps up, in a couple years I'll be giving him the keys to my truck and sending him to the store for us.
In contrast, when the baby is getting too much attention, he still tries to sweep in and steal the show. Here he is messing with Bodie while we were trying to do a photo shoot for Snugfits. He gets that little baby voice and coos at him, always patting him on the head in a display of superiority. It's hilarious, although sometimes the baby is none too pleased. It's all part of growing up, I guess!
