Gavin returns!
Raina's first friend ever was Gavin. They started at Westport School at roughly the same time (12 weeks) and they were together in the same classroom for multiple years. They were both very sweet natured kids and they got along well together. And then Gavin's mom decided to stay home and raise him full-time, and that pretty much eliminated Gavin from Raina's life. We occasionally saw Pam and Gavin at the YMCA, but nothing regular, and we only heard through the grapevine that another little MacDonald was on the way.
Two weeks ago, we ran into Pam and Gavin at the pool, and discovered that the baby had just been born. To give Pam a break, Raina and I hosted Gavin on Friday. Sadly, they didn't seem to remember each other at all, but they had a great time anyway. The pair had very interesting parallel conversations (about swimming, swimsuits, siblings, snacks, being silly, and animal sounds), built a great train track, fought off monsters in the dollhouse, danced to Finding Nemo music, ate a huge lunch, and played CandyLand, the peacock game, and Gulo, Gulo. It was lots of fun to watch the two of them together.
What I learned most is that Gavin is a better friend than Raina is. While Raina was willing to share all her toys, she didn't want to always play with them. Gavin was much more willing to be considerate of what Raina wanted to do than the other way around. Additionally, Raina's bossy side emerged on occasion, which caused Gavin to look at me with a "why is she like this?" expression on his face. At one point, Gavin was working on the train track solo because Raina had abdicated all responsibility for it. She was just rolling on the floor, chatting to her stuffed cat. Gavin then said to both of us, "I wish Raina would stop talking to her cat and come talk to me." It was the most articulate expression of emotion I have ever heard from a three year-old.
Hanging out with Gavin for four hours straight caused Raina to CRASH afterwards. She slept three straight hours, and we had to yank her out of bed for dinner. Overall, a great experience :)
Two weeks ago, we ran into Pam and Gavin at the pool, and discovered that the baby had just been born. To give Pam a break, Raina and I hosted Gavin on Friday. Sadly, they didn't seem to remember each other at all, but they had a great time anyway. The pair had very interesting parallel conversations (about swimming, swimsuits, siblings, snacks, being silly, and animal sounds), built a great train track, fought off monsters in the dollhouse, danced to Finding Nemo music, ate a huge lunch, and played CandyLand, the peacock game, and Gulo, Gulo. It was lots of fun to watch the two of them together.
What I learned most is that Gavin is a better friend than Raina is. While Raina was willing to share all her toys, she didn't want to always play with them. Gavin was much more willing to be considerate of what Raina wanted to do than the other way around. Additionally, Raina's bossy side emerged on occasion, which caused Gavin to look at me with a "why is she like this?" expression on his face. At one point, Gavin was working on the train track solo because Raina had abdicated all responsibility for it. She was just rolling on the floor, chatting to her stuffed cat. Gavin then said to both of us, "I wish Raina would stop talking to her cat and come talk to me." It was the most articulate expression of emotion I have ever heard from a three year-old.
Hanging out with Gavin for four hours straight caused Raina to CRASH afterwards. She slept three straight hours, and we had to yank her out of bed for dinner. Overall, a great experience :)
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