Gavin and Daddy's Day of Fun

By now you know that Gavin and I are flying solo in South Carolina while Steph and Liam are in Florida for her dad's birthday. I've tried to keep Gavin as occupied as possible--just to ensure he doesn't slow down and think "hey, where's the rest of my family?" Today was a nice mix of playtime for Gavin, and "adventure" for Gavin.

The day started off slow--in a good way. I woke up at 8am and thought to myself "how come Gavin hasn't woken me up yet?" Usually, no later than 7:30am I wake up to "DADDY...I need to go PEE-PEE!" But not today. I rolled out of bed wondering what was going on. Either he was exhausted from yesterday's busy-ness (which was very likely) or he was into mischief. Low and behold, it was neither of these. I walked into his room only to find him playing quietly on the floor. Steph and I have been wondering when he would start to show more autonomy in the morning (Steph, of course this happens when you're not here to enjoy the peace--go figure). Well, today is hopefully the beginning of a new phase of independence.

After going through our morning routine (potty, wash hands, brush teeth, eat oatmeal), I asked Gavin what he wanted to do. Gavin: "I want to play. I want to play Cars." So, for the first few hours of the day Gavin played freely in his room while I worked on the lawn just outside his window. I left the blinds up and the windows open so we could communicate while I got some stuff done (weeding, and a whole lot of it). As noon rolled in I came in, showered, bathed Gavin, and then put some lunch together. We also Skyped with Steph for a few minutes while Gavin was in the bath.

Following lunch it was finally time to head out to the "train station." I had been telling Gavin all week that we would be taking a train today. Our plans were to drive a few minutes north to Pineville, NC (suburb of Charlotte), take the light-rail commuter train into downtown Charlotte, hit a museum or two, and end our day at a Charlotte Bobcats NBA game. At first I planned to take him to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, but once I said the words "Discovery Place" he vetoed my NASCAR idea. I know he'll love the Hall of Fame (it's really interactive--and about cars no less), but we'll do it another day. Today is about Gavin, so Discovery Place it is.

Here are some pics, videos, and highlights from our day of fun:

Gavin & Daddy on the Charlotte Lynx Commuter Rail

Gavin's train ride into Charlotte--you can see that childish sense of wonder and amazement in his face--I love it! Notice the handful of Cars he's clutching onto? A travel-time must, of course.

This picture, along with the next few pics and vids are from Discovery Place. He absolutely loves this museum--it's so interactive and filled with many of his favorite exhibits. In this picture, Gavin's at the video microscope. He's getting more proficient with the microscope. He gets confused bouncing between the "zoom" and "focus" knobs, but he's starting to catch on. I love how consumed he is when he's learning.

Here's an exhibit that he loved. Strangely, we'd never done this one. You get to arrange your house however you'd like in order to maximize space and usability. I helped him, but much of what you see is based on his ideas. The rooms on the right are bedrooms. The one closest to him is his room (if you look closely you'll see a boy figure on the bed). He also placed Steph and I on the other bed with Liam laying close to us. I love how "into this" he got. He had to have all of the things in their proper place. He got so frustrated if I tried to put a bicycle in the living room. "Bicycles don't go in the living room. They go outside."

One of the rooms at Discover Place is dedicated to educational children's toys and playsets. This is one of his favorites. He gets to build a car out of Knex, and race it down a runway. Again, he gets so consumed...I've got a great, long video of him purely in the zone of building and racing, but this short clip gives you a preview.

Gavin's was playing with these blocks for quite awhile. He often dedicates all of his time to one area of the play room, so I try to rotate him around to try it all as much as possible. While building he said, "let's build a birthday machine" (something from the Little Einsteins). It's great to see him have a mission of what to build--his creativity is really taking of now. Steph, if you listen closely you'll hear Gavin singing the song that cracks Liam up so much.

As the clock his 5pm, I knew it was time to head over to Will Call at Time Warner Arena to pick up our tickets to the game. I didn't mention it yet, but it was St. Patty's Day today, and there were thousands of people doing the pub crawl around downtown. I just kept us off the beaten path and shielded him from the "drunkards." Gavin: "There sure are lots of green shirts. I have a green shirt...but it's at home. I'm wearing my blue shirt today." We grabbed a convenient dinner (cheese pizza and garlic knots), and headed over to the game.

Gavin's excited to be the holder of two tickets to the game. He loves the play "tickets" Grandpa gave him to play with (empty coin rolls), so of course he'd like the real thing.

Gavin was in heaven! As soon as I told him these women were dancers, he was fixed on them. So, we set out to have his picture taken with a few of the Charlotte Lady Bobcat dancers. But, low and behold, Gavin turned shy once the dancers asked him to come closer for a photo. It was so cute. He was like that timid boy who's afraid to say hi to the cute girl at school. After awhile, once of the dancers knelt down and said "How about if I pick you up for the picture? Would that be ok?" Gavin affirmingly nodded (Steph, it was that funny nod he does like when you ask him if his snack is tasty). By the way, that is a sincere smile of pure happiness. No gimmicks. No songs. He did that huge smile all on his own. He even got a program signed by the captain of their dance team--a dancer named Kia.

Here is a short video of Gavin in his seat waiting for the game to start. He was so interested in taking everything in. Of course, his #1 concern was locating "Rufus the Bobcat" (the mascot) as he walked around down below. Our seats weren't the greatest, but I didn't want to drop a bunch of money without knowing if he'd enjoy in or not. Besides, it's really all for the experience, not the great views of the court.

I have a bunch of other great photos and videos, but I think it's best that we end it with a picture of Gavin decked out in his Charlotte Bobcats gear. I didn't mention it earlier, but we got two free Charlotte Bobcats hats when we entered the arena. Also, we got a free Bobcat shirt for Gavin when I signed him up as an honorary "Future Bobcat." Finally, I bought him a palm-size Bobcat basketball ($7). He's been practicing his dribbling and shooting in "sports class" at Gymboree, so now he can practice at home.