Gavin 4+ years old (50 months)

My friend Annika is so good about keeping up on her blog(s) and she writes about/ to her kids so frequently. My goal is to write about my kiddos once a month on their day of birth (for Gavin it will be the 20th and Deia the 1st). It’s nice for me to document it for myself, family and for them!

Sweet Gavin. Today when I dropped him off at school, his priority was to make sure the Uncle Ricky (his teacher’s husband) was okay. Uncle Ricky broke his back in lifeguard training and Gavin had been  concerned and really was interested to see how he was. When Teacher Nancy was talking about it, Gavin was eagerly listening to the details.

In a way, this sums up Gavin and his demeanor. Quiet but so intent. Always taking things in. Thinking deeply. Sensitive. Very caring of his sister. Protective over Deia and his Mama:)… Lucky me. Incredible memory of big and little things. Slow to warm up. Needs to feel secure and safe and understood.

I’m learning to really honor his thoughts and feelings. For example, when he just doesn’t feel like being around people or doing something, there’s usually a reason. And instead of pushing him into it, letting him take his time or wait until he’s ready. And then he thrives in his own time.

He has been put the ringer with Deia the last couple of months…. Bitten, hair pulled hourly, pinched, squeezed, hit, pushed, jumped on. A lot. 😦  But through it all he still cares for her and loves her so much. This morning when he woke up he said, “Mama, I only want Deia in here. I want her to lay in bed and play dinosaurs with me. Maybe I can read her a book?”  So I went to the kitchen and made oatmeal while he hung out with Deia.

Most of the time he doesn’t want anyone else touching Deia or even when she does something to hurt him or someone else, he doesn’t want her to go into time out. He doesn’t like it when she cries. And usually he tells me why she’s crying. He got mad at me the other day, “Mama! Deia’s mouth is hurting her and she only wants you to hold her. Stop cleaning the kitchen and pick her up. She needs you!”

He is very particular and pretty organized. He knows what the tiniest pieces of plastic are from and where each scrap goes. He might have 52 dinosaurs, and at all times he knows where each one is.

The latest “trying” phase we have gone through is this grouchy talk while pointing his finger at us.  “Mama, you are NOT the boss of me and you don’t even KNOW anything!” and he’s furrowing his eyebrows and pointing the finger.

We tried to not get worked up by it, or react, and just let it go- but after a couple of weeks it got to be a little much. So we talked to him about it and asked him what he thought fair consequences were. We agreed on a 4 minute time out with no toys. Just some time to think about it and cool off. After two days of a few time outs, the grouchiness was gone! For the most part:)……

Right now he really loves his dinosaurs, making buildings with blocks, hiking, body surfing, climbing on rocks, working out with Spencer, doing puzzles, and learning about anything!