First Haircut

At ten months, Gavin's hair was scraggly and unruly. Something had to be done! This past weekend, we took him to Lollilocks and got him the first-timer treatment. Gavin proved once again to be concerned-but-willing-to-go-with-the-flow. There were no tears, just a few skeptical and dirty looks which quickly turned back into smiles once the cutting had ended.

Gavin Goes Green

Turning 10 months old just days ago, Gavin decided one can never be too young to begin thinking about one's impact on the environment. The obvious consideration for a green overhaul is his use of disposable diapers.

For quite a while, Gavin consistently produced one full diaper pail of dirty diapers per week. Dad conveniently emptied the diaper pail on garbage day on his way to breakfast and promptly disposed of the smelly stack in the trash outside. Recently, however, Gavin's waste output has increased and the convenient weekly routine has broken down. Not to mention that those boxes of diapers seem to be winding up empty within days of being purchased.

Bring on the cloth diapers. These ain't your momma's cloth diapers! With a multitude of adjustments and fashionable colors, it is hard to turn down this cost-effective replacement for disposables. As you can see, Gavin is excited about his new-found drawers and is particularly pleased with this eco-friendly or economically clever option.

Anyone notice how the top of Gavin's head is equal with mom's mid-thigh. He is the Little Green Giant...

New Faces of Gavin

It has been a while since we have examined the many faces of Gavin. He is sporting a few new looks which are based on the time-honored tradition of imitation.

First, we start with Gavin's dashing, baseline look -- the very adorable baby boy face we have come to know and love.

Second, we have Gavin's squinting face. It is believed that this face has its roots in Gavin's early weeks when his dad winked at him. A second theory postulates that Gavin began squinting during Christmas and was inspired by the Christmas lights -- altering their appearance by adjusting his squint factor.

Last, we see Gavin in mid-execution of an "elephant call". Again, his dad was spending some quality time teaching Gavin some life lessons. Gavin caught the drift of the lesson in just seconds and was soon trumpeting like an elephant calf. The lesson was captured during the filming of "Gavin: The Documentary" and a preview will be released in the coming weeks.

Technology Is Inevitable

To give Mom a little space and time to concentrate on job-hunting, I took Gavin out on a pilgrimage I have been meaning to make for a while.

Back East, I used to make a trip to Microcenter or one of the other techo-shrines in Manhattan on a monthly basis. Outside of Denver, however, I have found the tech store situation to be very similar to the restaurant scene in our town -- there are a several national franchise chains, but nothing with a high-caliber specialty. Don't get me wrong...Best Buy and P.F. Chang's have their uses, but sometimes you need more.

Fortunately, there is a Microcenter in Denver. It is at least a thirty minute drive from our home and would definitely have been out of the question to drag Kiersten to. For just Gavin and me, it turned out to be a perfect father-son trip.

Although I want to distance Gavin from the whole technology scene somewhat, I realize that it is too much a part of who I am to deny him or attempt to ignore its influence. Cruising the aisles buckled into his shopping cart seat, Gavin seemed pretty interested as much as an infant can be. There was much grabbing for items hung on racks and boxes stacked on shelves with the intention of licking or chewing, I am sure. Eventually, I selected a new keyboard and put Gavin in charge of keeping it in the cart. He did an excellent job and banged out a catchy, rhythmic beat for the remainder of my long-awaited perusal of all things artificial and electronic.