SWEET Sixteen

Hey all y'all!

How's every little thing?? I'm great! Some really (REALLY) cool friends just gave me a car...I know, we couldn't believe it either. Well, okay, it's more for mommy, but the bottom line is that we aren't confined to home all day, every day, every week, every month, every year...I'm getting a little carried away, but you get the idea. We have had one car as long as I can remember, and really, I was fine with that (hey, it was all I knew), but now that we can get around I don't think I could go back. We go to the park, we hang out with friends more during the day, we are even scheduled to go visit some baby goats soon; it's very exciting!

I'm talking quite a bit these days, still no sentences (unless "Thank you!" counts), but I like to practice all my words. When I'm reading books I love to name off all the things that I know -- even if no one is listening. I also copy mommy/daddy's silly inflections, so I don't just say 'gourd,' but rather ...."GOOOOUUURRRD!!!!" in a full-throated growl voice. (If you've never seen Veggie Tale books that might sound a little strange: a wee little boy like me learning the word gourd, but it's nothing weird. I promise!) Speaking of veggies, they are some of my favorite things to eat AND drink! I love all sorts of veggies (especially tomatoes and broccoli) and V8 is one of the best ways to get me to take my vitamins. Mommy hopes that continues into adulthood; she wishes she loved V8 as much as I do. Na na na boo boo! ;o)

So swimming season is back and better than ever!! I have a little slide (affectionately called "wee!") that plunks me right into the water: what a blast!! I pretty much just jump around, splash, screech and holler until it's time to go inside, and then, needless to say, I'm exhausted.

For those of you who don't know, Baton Rouge has ever-present road construction and lately that has been in my FRONT YARD! Whoopee!! There are backhoes, dump trucks, bulldozers, piles of sand...it's little boy heaven!! On the weekends and evenings daddy takes me to slide on the sand pile, but during the day they are working like crazy, so I can't go past "the tree." I have to just watch: I wave my arms around and yell as much as I want and lots of times those tractors & trucks will honk for me. It's sooo cool!

Well, that's it for now. I'm attaching a picture of me in my Sunday-go-to-meetin' clothes altho, it wasn't Sunday and there wasn't a meeting when I wore them. And I know, I've heard it all: I look like a politician, a frat boy, a little boy off to boarding school in the 1950s...whatever...the bottom line is that I look CUTE! ;o) HA! Just for fun...if I was running for office I'd promise: swimming year-round; playing only in construction sites; and V8 for all!!

I always love to hear from all of you!

-Gavin for President