Dear Gavin at 4

This post will be a ridiculously mushy, lovey and gooey post about my buddy, Gavin. This boy makes my heart swell with pride. He is unbelievably kind and good hearted, and ridiculously cute. Those dimples get me every time.

 He is creative and funny. He's so eager to obey and wants to please those around him. He has a tenderness for children younger than him, playing the role of big brother well. In the past two months, he's stopped calling his brother "EY", and now always says "Eli". I realize this is a good thing, but it makes my heart sad to lose that sweet nickname. In the past year, his speech has grown by leaps and bounds. Most of his speech is easily understood now, and he just seems so grown up. No more "pea-bubba" sandwiches in this house - it's "peanut butter" all the time now. As an aside, that's seriously all this kid would eat if it was up to him. Half a peanut butter sandwich, watered down apple juice and applesauce - morning, noon and night. Vegetables are always a struggle and he still would prefer you feed him, rather than he feed himself.

If you've spent any time at all with Gavin, you will have heard his loud, contagious belly laugh. I adore it. He is just so full of joy, most of the time. He is very quick to cry these days, as he has a soft heart and seems to get offended easily, mostly by his older sister.

 As much as he doesn't want to give it up, we are transitioning away from his beloved sippy cup. This picture below still melts me. His cup, his big lips and his squishy cheeks. My baby has come a long way, but I just want to freeze moments like this.

Gavin lives loud and loves big. He is just a loud kid. I wonder where he got it from? ;) He is not shy. He adores his older sister. He still cries every day when she goes to school saying, "I just miss Chelsea so much!" and it's true. He comes downstairs after every nap, asking, "Is Chelsea home yet?"

 He still shows such a love for learning and reading. He has endless patience and will sit for hours, "reading". He loves when you will help him read, each and every word. Sometimes, just as I'm about to get frustrated and finish reading the book for him, he'll look up at me and say, "Mommy, I just love learning all the words" and my heart melts. He's still fascinated with counting and since we've pretty much mastered 0-100, now we've moved on to skip counting. He begs to go to Kindergarten. He's taller than most of the Kindergarteners - wonder if anyone would notice if I slipped him in?

He loves big and often and loves to cuddle. He'll run up to me just to give me a squeeze and a kiss. He says he loves me "one hundred and three - because that's a humongous number".

He still sleeps with his two beloved monkeys. His favourite foods are perogies and chicken nuggets, and peanut butter sandwiches, of course. He loves being at home. Every time we go out, he constantly asks if we are going home soon, even if he's having a good time. He says he "just loves all my things at home."

At four, he is still very into Mario and Angry Birds. He will sit for hours and hours, playing with his little figurines. We had to move them onto the landing of the stairs because the pieces were so small, they were a choking hazard for Eli. I wanted to put them in his room or the basement, but then Gavin looked at me and said with tears in his eyes, "but I want to be able to SEE you, mom." so yes, he plays on the little area on our stairs. Seriously, how could I say no?

He loves being outside. He has a scooter and a bike and although he loves to ride them, 9 times out of 10, you'll see me trying to push a stroller and lug a bike or scooter along with me, while he runs up ahead. Although every once in a while I manage to stick him in a pair of jeans, he much prefers pants "but with no buttons or zippers." He has finally mastered pulling up his own pants but still refuses to put on his own sweaters, shirts, socks, or shoes (thank you for crocs. Those he will do!). I'm not sure if he's just been babied up until now, or what the deal is, but it's definitely frustrating. Ah well, good thing he's cute enough to make up for it.

Don't get mad at me, but he still naps for at least 2 hours a day, sometimes longer. He sleeps from 8:30 - 7:30 and then naps in the afternoon. Because I'm working mornings come September, I had to put him in afternoon preschool, so I'm not sure how he's going to handle staying up during those two hours. Hopefully he'll be busy enough that he'll stay awake.

Gavin, you truly are the sweetest. I love you, Buddy. I love you one hundred and four.