GAVIN'S FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

September 8, 2009 at 08:50 am Gavin and Mom walked hand in hand into Ms. Knutzen's Kidergarten class. Gav was clad with new "exercise shoes" (that make him run fast) and a new "Cody backpack". (Neighbor Cody is a sixth grader that Gavin idolizes.) He picked out his clothes the night before. A new pair of jeans and a Red Hawaiin shirt made by Grandma Barber.

He walked in and found his cubby and was dissapointed to see that he had to share the shelf with others. He quickly recovered and found his seat. He looked around quietly to see what all the other kids were doing. There was a paper on his desk with a picture of a schoolbus and all of the kids' name on it. He got out his crayons and preceded to color the bus just like the rest of the kids. Look how well he did. Right on task!

Once the kids circled thier own name they turned in their papers and took a seat on the rug. Look where Gavin sat.

Right in the front row. Criss cross applesauce with his eyes on the teacher. At a boy! You know Gramma Pam has got to be proud!

When it came time to pick Gavin up he was a little tearful at having to wait for mom who was 4 minutes late. The rest of the kids had been filed out to catch the bus. He said he got a little sad for mom a few times but he still liked the day.

New Red Pup

Meet "Swimmer". She is the new addition to our family. She is part "fox red" Lab and part Vizsla. She was born October 30th. She is a little over 8 weeks now. She and Gavin are very fond of each other.

Future Olympian

Tonight I got home from work and Amber was snoozing before work, so Gavin was quasi-babysitting himself. He loves the interactive bike he got for Christmas and had it plugged into the TV. He was pedaling away when I walked in the door and the screen was zooming along as if he were riding down a road. I noticed his hands weren't on the handlebars, but didn't think much of it.

I put down my bag and walked up behind him and asked, "what ya up to, bud?"

He hadn't realized I was home until that instant, but his answer was this beautifully honest, guilt free, self confident statement of fact. As he swung around and flashed a cheesy grin he announced, "I'm riding my bike with Cheetos."

He saw nothing odd about exercising with a bag of Cheetos in your hands and I'm glad. The concept of irony can wait.

...Heck, Elanis Morisett is over 40 and she still doesn't get it.

Gabrito, hold the beans please.

We went out for Mexican food last night to celebrate Mother's Day. Gavin wanted to go to Cabo, Mexico, but we decided El Cazador Restaraunt in Burlington was close enough. He got a chicken "gabrito" which came with rice and beans. Gav dug into the refried beans and, pleased with the flavor, asked Amber how they were made.

Amber chose to give him the Bill Oehlman explanation... "Well, it all started with the Mayan belief that the sun was an angry god..." (OK, not quite that Bill Oehlmany.) But she did start by telling him beans are plants that grow in a field. Men pick them and put them in a big pot. "Then they fill the pot with salt and water and boil the beans for a loooong time. When the beans get soft, they drain the water..." blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. The explanation went on for at least ten minutes. She ended with, "they fry them again, scoop them out of the pan and put them on your plate, and that's how they make the beans."


By this time, Gavin's eyes had glassed over and he appeared to be in a modest trance. "Wow, mom," he said, blinking himself back to consciousness, "that sure was a lot of words."

When they're small...

A while back Gavin and I were at the office looking at animals on the computer, discussing what they eat, where they live, are they dangerous, etc.

Gavin asked me what snakes like to eat I and replied "mice." He then informed that Spike and IBK also like to eat mice and that "when they're small they're delicious."

An Extra Puka

Two nights ago we sent Gavin to put on his Jammies before bedtime. He headed into his room and we could hear him shuffling drawers and talking to himself in a productive manner. A few minutes later he appeared back in the living room wearing two snug-fitting Jammy tops. One was correctly adorned as a top, but the second one was pulled up and bunched around his waste as bottoms. He had one leg through a sleeve and the other through the neck hole.

Foolishly, I decided to point out the mistake. "Gavin," I said, "I don't think those are Jammy pants."

"Yes they are," he responded.

Not one to loose an argument, I pointed to the unused sleeve and asked, "...then what's that?"

He looked down and for a moment I caught that "I never noticed that before" look in his eye, but he quickly recovered and decided to play through. "Well, dad." he paused to think, and he reached down with the other hand and reefed the sleeve past the neck hole, (serving as a pant leg) and brought it front and center, "that is the puka."

PUKA (poo-kuh) is the Hawaiian word for a hole that goes all the way through. It is a part of Gramma Barber's daily vocabulary which he picked up somewhere along the way.

Gavin called me today to ask when I was coming home. We have two days left before a big trade-show, so unfortunately my answer was, "Sorry buddy, but I have to stay late."
He got really bummed and asked, "why?"
"Oh, dude, I just have so much work to do." I replied.
His little mind didn't miss a beat and in classic management style he declared, "Well, dad... maybe KaKa could do all the work.

I love the way he thinks.