Nana's Birthday

Nana had a birthday a couple weeks ago.  We baked cupcakes and Gavin sprinkled them liberally:  Sprinkling and cracking the eggs are his favorite part of the process!

He was very careful.  He only dropped a few (really) and he picked them up!

Gavin helped Nana open her present  - a new ergonomic keyboard!

 Then it was time for a story:

Happy (belated) birthday, Nana!

A Visit to Daddy's Office

Gavin has been asking to visit Daddy's office, and last week we finally had a good day to go.  He checked out the phone and computer:

But the best part was all of Francis' toys.  This Tron car carrier ended up coming back home with us:

Getting comfortable!

One Year Later

It's been a year since God called you home on Easter Sunday, Evie. We love and miss you every day.

Evie's First Day of School -- October 14, 2010

Your brother Gavin has been taking good care of your spot. He also makes sure your friends the birds and the little field mouse have plenty to eat.

Egg Hunt

Last week, we went to an Easter egg hunt at the home of a friend in my "mom meetup group." Gavin had fun grabbing eggs, but he was more interested in the play set in the backyard.



He just grabbed this rope and climbed up by himself. He couldn't do this last year!



He wasn't interested in opening the eggs until the next day, when Grandpa & Grandma Cordes came over. He insisted that Grandpa eat the peanut butter egg (a real hardship, right, Dad?), then told him he needed to go to the dentist because "candy is sugary."

Easter

Gavin had a great day on Saturday, the day before Easter. But that night, he threw up a record EIGHT times. Francis and I were up all night with him. I would calm him down while Francis changed the sheets and ran the washing machine. We haven't had a rough night like that in quite a while!

In the morning, we tried to get Gavin to open his presents from the Easter Bunny (he decided they were from the Easter Beagle). He opened a few and then wanted to rest.



He was excited to color eggs, even though he was still a little peaked:

The bubbles that formed over the crayon lines spelled "Nana."

Gavin fell asleep on the floor watching TV, and slept between 3 and 4 hours:

When he woke up, he felt better. He still didn't eat any solid food, but he opened the rest of his gifts. He loves his new aircraft carrier:

He slept great last night, and he is a little better today.

Little Monkey Business

Last week I took Gavin to an indoor play place that we had heard about but had never been to. It's called Little Monkey Business, in Wheaton. We met his friend Nick there, who has spring allergies just like Gavin. Playing inside was perfect!

They had a blast and ran around non-stop for two hours:

Gavin loved opening the doors of the "crawler" section (luckily there were no crawling babies that afternoon)!

They sell coffee there, too, so I was happy!

Gavin asked every day if we could go back, so I relented and took him again last Monday. I highly recommend it!

Cat Cousins

Last weekend we went to visit Auntie Di and her cats. Uncle David came along for the ride!

The cats have figured out by now that when a small person comes over, they are going to get treats.



Gavin fed a treat to Fergie:




Fergie showed Gavin her new cat tree. He tossed puffballs at her and she batted them down. Gavin loved it!

Gavin examined Fergie in her box, while Fern examined Gavin from her spot on the windowsill:

Fergie came out eventually...

...only to sit in another box:

Gavin had so much fun that he didn't want to leave. Unfortunately, after this visit my suspicions were confirmed that he has a cat allergy. The car ride home was not a happy one, and eye drops were needed as soon as we got home. (I hope none of you have to attempt to give eye drops to a four year old!)

Country Lakes Park

Last weekend ,we took advantage of the warm weather and played at the park with our friends Lindsey, Maya, and Brandon. It was great to see them! Since they're in kindergarten (all day), we can't play together as often as we'd like.

Gavin surprised me by climbing up this rope thing all by himself. He just zipped up, right along with Brandon. He couldn't do this last year! He assured me that he didn't need any help getting down either.



One rung higher, just to show me he could do it:









Gavin also managed to walk along this chain-link bridge thing, all by himself. Again, last year he needed help with this.

Slide races with Brandon:

Those two little faces peeking out belong to Gavin and Linsey:

There is a big hill that the kids can roll down, or run up and down:

We had a great time and hope to meet up again over spring break!

Under the Weather Again

Gavin came down with another 24-hour bug last week. It started Thursday afternoon and lasted until Friday night. He had a low fever, so I kept him home from school on Friday.

He was listless, but had no cough or runny nose. I'm not sure what it was, but he was able to run around and play outside by Saturday!

He fell asleep on the floor Friday afternoon:

Rainbow Fish Play

Gavin's classroom performed "The Rainbow Fish" for us last week, and it was just about the cutest thing in the world! The class actually had three "performances" so that each kid could have a turn to play a character. Here is the backdrop that they created:




Gavin played the Rainbow Fish in the first performance. His teacher is putting on his costume:

Here he is with the student who played the Little Blue Fish. Only the Rainbow Fish got to wear a costume.

The video below doesn't have anything to do wih the Rainbow Fish, but every Wednesday the school had a "dance party" where everyone goes out into the hall and dances to one song, then goes back to what they were doing. We just happened to be there on Wednesday! Gavin is in the red shirt in the middle of the hall, showing off his moves:





The videos below are from the play. The kids are "swimmimg" when they are walking around on their knees.

When all the performances were complete, we got to hang out in the Cat room and have a snack and play with the baby chicks.




Gavin wanted all of us to take a turn holding one. Francis went first. Gavin showed him how to hold it:

Nana got a turn:

Grandpa got a turn as well. So did I, but my chick unfortunately decided to poop and pee while I was holding it. SIGH. Just my luck!

We had a great time and were very impressed with all the classroom activities. The chicks have since returned to the farm, and the kids have moved on to a new unit - on pizza!