My Morning in the Cat Room

Last week I got to spend the morning with Gavin in the Cat room. It is always so enlightening to see what the kids in his classroom are doing. I think I have mentioned before that Gavin is with the same group of kids as last year, so I have seen them several times over the past year. It is neat to see them mature as a group - for example, they talk about how they are feeling now, instead of just reacting. IE, Gavin told his friend, "No, I don't want any more blocks," instead of hitting/crying/knocking everything down.

They have motor time first thing in the morning. The day I was there, they rode tricycles:




Gavin in his favorite "choice time" area - the block center:




I was there on a Tuesday, which is the day Gavin works with the occupational therapist. She had him pick up these puff balls with a tweezer and put them into the plastic bin:




Our attempt at a photo of the two of us.

I had a great time, as usual. We'll see the Cat friends again soon!

Aunts, Uncles, and Cats

Last Sunday we went over to Auntie Di and Uncle Kevin's house. Uncle Kevin put new brakes on Francis' front wheels (and discovered two nails embedded in the tire - thank goodness you found those, Kevin) while Gavin chased the cats around. Gavin is gentle with the cats, but he doesn't tone down his energy level for them. He actually chased poor Fern so much that she was panting!

Here he is holding Fergie's tail (gently, of course):




Shaking hands:




Checking out Uncle Kevin's white Miata (now being sold for parts) with Auntie Di:

A few days later, Uncle David came over to watch Gavin while Francis and I went to his parent/teacher conference. It was mostly good news. Something funny that came up was that Gavin skips the number "15" when he is counting in school, which I noticed at home as well. He can count well into the 20's, but he won't say 15!

Anyway, here he is making silly faces with Uncle David:

They also watched many videos of trains on David's iPhone, which must have worn him out. I kept him up a few minutes past his new bedtime of 7:30 (it was formerly 7:00) and he told me that he needed to go to bed!

Christmas Lights

Since we had such wonderful weather this weekend, Francis decided to put up our Christmas lights. And before anyone starts complaining that it's not even Thanksgiving yet, let me remind you that the weather here can change in five minutes. We need to take advantage of these "Indian summer" days when we get them!

They started with the backyard lights. Gavin was the superviser:

I don't have pictures of the front yard yet, but Francis did a great job of making the outside of our house look festive! Now I'm ready for snow (although I don't think anyone else is).

Cantigny "Tank Park"

Last weekend, we had some still-decent weather. Gavin had his first trip to see the tanks at Cantigny with Francis and Nana & Grandpa Cermak. (We had been to see the Lego train shows there, but somehow we hadn't explored the grounds.) Needless to say, everyone had a great time!

Gavin was very sure-footed and wanted to explore every tank. This tiger-painted one was a favorite!

We'll be back soon if the weather allows - otherwise, we'll be back in the spring!

Memorial Trees Planting & New Playground

The closest park to our house is called Queensbury Greens, but Gavin calls it "the regular park." They tore it all up in August and put in new play equipment and benches, and they just finished it a few weeks ago. We walked over there last Tuesday, which was a very nice weather day, and checked it out with Grandma Cordes.






Gavin loves all the new stuff there!




Then, on Friday, we went back to watch the planting of our two memorial trees. Nana Cermak's workplaces, Benedictine University and College of DuPage, had contributed to the memorial tree program, which is handled by Naperville Park District. As it turned out, we were able to have two trees planted! We chose what type of tree we wanted - autumn blaze maples - and which park to plant in - "the regular park, " where Evie and Gavin played the most. (We had waited to do the planting until the park renovation was complete.)





Uncle David and Uncle Brad came, too. Gavin was very interested in the whole process!







Gavin decided that the first tree that was planted was Evie's tree and the second one was his. Evie's tree is below. This was actually just a "ceremonial scoop" - the park district guys did most of the digging!













In the ground at last:





Gavin sat in my lap and observed while Evie's tree was planted. He got more involved for the second tree - he even used his own little shovel to scoop some dirt:










Gavin's tree:




Time to water:




It was a bit cool, but as you can see, the sun was shining and there were no clouds in the sky. It was a perfect morning!

Happy Halloween!

Trick-or-treaters are walking up and down our street as I write this post (don't worry about our house getting egged - Nana & Grandpa Cermak are on candy duty). And where is Gavin, you ask? He is sitting inside, reading with Nana and handing out candy. For the second year in a row, he refused to wear his costume.

I thought for sure, this would be the year, since he has made so many friends on our street. But I was wrong. He refused to dress up and trick-or-treat at Francis' office, and he refused to dress up for the Halloween party at his school. (below)



As you can see, I was in my costume, but not even that could motivate Gavin. He is in his soccer uniform because the party was in the late afternoon, after his soccer class.


Over the weekend, we met up with Uncle David at Johansen Farms. Gavin liked all the "spooky stuff" there, and wanted me to take lots of pictures of him. Here is the "Nice" picture:



And here is the "Silly" picture:




Gavin was most interested in pulling the wagon, even when it was loaded down with the 21 pound pumpkin that he picked out (he insisted that he "could do it himself!"):




This one is more his size:





I guess Halloween is nothing if not eventful when you have small children. We never know what Gavin will do (or not do).