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.

Try Again Gramma

Spring Break was a terrific week for GrammaBarber! I got to come up to your house, Gavin, and spend lots of quality time with you! We had such fun!We played "make a fort", trucks, tinker-toys, and then we played outside! That was the first hour I was there. The second hour went a little slower.

When the rain stopped for a little while, we dragged out the big blue hose , and made a line in the grass to kick the yellow ball across. The wind was blowing VERY strong, from the west, and that wind was in my face. So, when we played kick the ball across the line, GrammaBarber had a little bit of trouble, what with the STRONG wind and all. But you were gracious, and very encouraging. You would stand on your side of the blue hose, patiently waiting for GrammaBarber to get her act together, and kick the ball further than 6 feet. You encouraged her with shouted phrases: "Try again, Gramma"..."You can do it this time, Gramma!!" " Almost" "Good try!"

Words to live by, uttered by a three year old!

Then, later in the week, I watched while you played ball with your daddy and the goats.. and I can see why you are such a good little ball player!

Love you very, very much Gavin. Hope you come to see me at the "big house in Vancouver" very soon!

Love, GrammaBarber

Here is your new cousin, Tyler!

Hey! Gavin! It looked like you and Willow had such a wonderful time looking at Tulips and going to the park! Grandpa and I looooovvvvveeee Tulip festival time! We want to share your new cousin. Uncle Dave and Auntie Christie have a brand-new little baby boy. His name is Tyler Kadin Oehlman and he is one week old today. Ask mommy to show you your picture when you were just a week old. This is Tyler on the day he was born. He weighted 9lbs 2oz and was 21 inches long. He has gobs of hair! (He looks a lot like your grandpa Oehlman when he was a baby.) Babies can be funny that way. We see the links and smiles that join our families together through your eyes and chins and noses. It's lots of fun and makes grammys smile deep down inside their hearts. We love you, Gavin. We know you will love baby Tyler too.

Grammy Pam

A Day With Willow

It was a fun day for Gavin and Willow yesterday. Giggles galore! A trip to muddy Tulip Town was first on the agenda. (Of course, I had envisioned these beautiful mud-free portraits of the two of them posing in front of abundant colorful tulips. Uhhh. Are ya' sure it's Spring?)

We only found three rows out of 400 in bloom. Gavin face planted in the mud four times. On the final fall he managed to take me down with him. Yes, it was graceful. I found mud in places I hadn't yet discovered. Enough said. We were caked in mud. Willow escaped the falls by sheer luck. Lord knows why. The kids were troopers. Good thing we were wearing boots.

After the muddy trek we ventured back inside where they got their faces painted. Willow wanted a pink butterfly and Gavin wanted a monster truck. We left to refuel and stopped at The Mexico Cafe. (I'm sorry to the employee that has to clean the muddy bathroom. I had no idea he could get dried mud to stick like that.) They ate a great lunch while I read them two stories. They proudly showed off their painted cheeks to anyone that passed our table.

We moved on to the park after lunch. Willow pushed Gavin in the swing and soon both rediscovered the slide. What a great day. They sure do love each other!!!