Happy 5th Birthday, Gavin!

Happy 5th Birthday, Gavin!

Our sweet, goofy Gavin is 5 years old!  He's an intelligent, hilarious and inquisitive young man.  We're so proud of him!  We celebrated Gavin's birthday with a roller coaster themed  party at a local park.  We followed up with gifts and more sweets at home!

~Gavin loves to be goofy and make others laugh.  He has the best belly laugh!

~He is extremely observant, noticing even the smallest details of his environment.  He'll comment or ask about these details later.  For example, he'll talk about locations we've been at by describing the color of things he saw (e.g. the park with the blue slide that is twisty and the stairs that are green).  While drawing roller coasters, he includes small details (e.g., A red light at the top of the hill).  Also, while shopping, he'll inquire if we're going to particular aisles to get desired items (e.g., Can we go to aisle 8 to get cereal?). 

~Gavin is enrolled in the Pre-K classroom at Wee Care preschool in Fremont 3 days a week.  While his academic and social skills are strong, he still naps daily.  With his late August birthday, he could attend kindergarten this year, but he would be very young. This year will be great for him to further develop his skills and he be all set to go for kindergarten next school year!

~Speaking on academics, Gavin is doing great! He can verbally identify and write all upper and lower case letters.  He is able to write his name and his siblings' names without a model. He's also working on identifying letter sounds.  He can count well over 100.  Gavin is also doing great with math and is able to answer applied math problems (e.g., If I make 2 more baskets, I'll have 10!  If I give you two crackers, I'll have 3)

~Gavin continues to love gross motor/ball games.  He rarely walks by a ball without throwing or kicking it.  He's able to throw very far and drop kick small and large balls.

~He loves roller coasters!  He enjoys going to Cedar Point and riding the rides.  While he sometimes needs a little encouragement to ride new rides, he quickly loves them!  At home, he can turn just about everything into a roller coaster (blocks, cars, forks, books), complete with noises - clicks of the chains, cars rushing by, screams of riders, air breaks, and operators ("Enjoy your ride on Maverick!" Welcome back, how was your ride?")

~While Gavin knows how to push his siblings' buttons, as any brother would do, he's also extremely kind, sweet and considerate.  He loves to give hugs and hold their hands. He praises them often and speaks in a sweet mother-ease to his littlest sister. He's a great kid!

Stats:

Height: 43.5" 58th percentile

Weight: 37lbs 21st percentile