4 year old Gavin

Our little man is FOUR! We celebrated by taking a long weekend to go to Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. And, we may have twisted a few arms (jk not really a hard sell and we were so excited they came down!) to have Uncle Mike and Auntie Katie come down from Calgary to join us. I'll share pics from the trip and their visit in my next post. 

We had a great time despite some overcast and rainy weather. G woke up and declared quite excitedly it was his birthday, then noticed his decorations. He had been waiting for his bday for months! He patiently waited until everyone was awake and we had breakfast to open his presents. Then we slowly got ready and made our way out to a volcano hike. He's really into volcanoes lately so this was really fun for him. He even got a ranger hat and got to be sworn in as a junior ranger :) 

That evening we had dinner take out at the AirBNB we rented, then a homemade chocolate quinoa cake, and, despite what you may think based on what is in it, it was so tasty! G had requested a chocolate cake this year so I had to find one that I felt okay about him eating (recipe courtesy of Gma U and the monster candles courtesy of Gma H - he has great Gmas!).

Gavin is a true delight (of course he can throw a tantrum with the best of them but these are less and less lately and usually are when his little world gets rocked by travel or when he is hungry). He is curious and conversational, thoughtful and inquisitive. We enjoy his questions and our chats together. It is often surprising what comes out of his mouth! He loves his baby sister Zozo/ZZ/Zoe Bean and his Mommy Bubby and Daddy Stefan. It gets me every.single.time when he randomly says out loud, "I love you" to one of us. 

He says he is going to be the following when he grows up ... Daddy's coach, volcano scientist, police officer, firefighter, construction worker, farmer, astronaut, professional German soccer player, and I am probably missing a few. He also says he is going to live in Hawaii, California or Germany on any given day, but that we can visit him (oh dear!). 

At his well-child appointment yesterday he sat per usual and took it all in, slightly shy about talking to the nurse and doctor. He came in at 29% for height (39") and 19% for weight (32lb). The doctor said he was a healthy little dude despite his 3+ size tonsils and daily snoring (4+ is the largest I guess). Although at school he passed his eye test, he didn't pass his eye test here, so we are anxious to see what that means at the eye doctor we need to go see now. He got the rest of his immunizations and was a champ and brave up until the nurse touched his legs, then the tears came and he nuzzled into Daddy's chest while I held his little legs. Three shots, but now done till 10 years old! He of course needed lots of attention the rest of the evening and this morning but was excited to show everyone in his class his band aid that he left on. 

He eats well and tries all sorts of things, although he prefers not the same thing back to back. He also doesn't do spice or bitter/sour tastes. He eats lots of veggies and enjoys trying new ones out of his school garden (radish! he didn't like it), ha! He says he doesn't like green peppers or onions, but pretty much everything else he will eat. Some favs are cheese, olives, noodles and his smoothies (sometimes at night he calls them milkshake). Of course he loves treats and sweets but we work to mines those as best as we can. 

He still has tons of energy and one of his favorite things to do is run around the house, either playing tag or chase or racing. He still loves Lego and has quite the collection now. He recently saved up (for over four months) enough to get a big set. He sat with Stefan for FIVE HOURS on a rainy Saturday and built the entire thing. Its quite impressive what he can do. He still enjoys being read to and knows all his letters plus is starring to learn to write many of them and learn their sounds. He's still into anything with wheels and has a little interest in sports and music. Right now he's into space and volcanoes and a little bit of dinosaurs. 

Watching him with his sister is precious, and he gets excited when she does something new. Those two together can be so heartwarming. Counting our blessings with this amazing little soul we get to call our son! Happy Birthday G-man! 

Goodies from the AirBNB host including a b-day ribbon, b-day decor and sparkling grape juice (the healthier version even). 

Gavin's excited about his special drink and ribbon!

My family will recognize this, I had the same one for years growing up until it broke. Knew we were in the right spot when it was on when we walked in Friday evening to our rental house. It has an eclectic style but was warm and welcoming and perfect for the six of us.

Cheers with G's special juice.

B-day gifts!

Decor for when he walked out of the bedroom.

B-day morning, put on his hat first thing.

Little love bugs.

Present time!

Pic with M&K (yes U. Mike broke his arm a few days before coming down, slipped on socks on a hardwood floor, ouch!)

Thanks Great A Sue and Great Uncle Al - he played with his spacecraft toys a lot that day and on.

Main presents from both sets of g-parents got to be opened early, but each sent a little something extra (spoiled boy!). Thanks Gma and Gpa H!

Thanks Gma U and Gpa U! 

Love this - checking out his new books in his new chair.

Thanks Auntie for the clock and Uncle Andrew for the books and chair.

Thanks Uncle Matt! It was built as soon as we got home.

Our gift - his very own Camelback. He loves drinking out of the spout, now he has his own for hikes and adventures. 

He's excited! Singing HBD.

Love this timer photo because of Z grabbing G's hat. HAHA!

Take 2...

And a good one on take 3