Have you heard of Buzz Lightyear?

In the midst of us packing up our home, we've still managed to have some fun!  Last weekend, Brooks and I decided to take Gavin to his first movie.  We realized that Saudi doesn't have movie theaters and it would be a while before Gavin would get that "movie theater" experience, so we took him to see Toy Story 3.  He has found a love for Buzz Lightyear and calls him by name while we're in stores and when he sees him on signs.  I found him a Toy Story t-shirt at Target and we taught him all the characters names.  He also has had a Toy Story placemat, which is now required for all his meals.. His Thomas the Train placemat has been replaced.  Here is a picture of Brooks and Gavin before we went to the movies. Gavin wanted to be like his daddy and wear his hat backwards too.  Too cute!

So we got to the movie theater early, or so we thought.  We immediately went and bought a tub of popcorn and a drink to help entertain Gavin throughout the movie. You see, Gavin isn't exactly the kid that will SIT for a long period of time.  He always likes to be moving so we weren't sure how he was going to handle an hour and a half movie.  However, we came prepared.  We brought Gavin his own cup with a lid and straw, skittles, goldfish, suckers, crackers, and more to help him "stay busy" throughout the movie.  We refused to bring his paci and froggie since those are for night night only.  We figured if he couldn't stay still or quiet we would just have to leave.  Our expectations were high, but we also understood a 22 month old may not want to hang out in a dark room, sitting for a long period of time.  Anyways, Gavin did awesome.  He didn't want the booster seat, which was fine with us, so we slipped it under our chairs.  He would sit for a little while then he'd stand in front of his chair.  Brooks and I sat on both sides of Gavin to kind of trap him in.  We had a huge blessing in the theater, because the only empty seat with in 6 rows of us was the one directly in front of Gavin.  Therefore, he was able to hold on to the seat when he stood and he wasn't bothering anyone.  Gavin really enjoyed the movie and Brooks and I had fun watching our little boy grow up in front of our eyes.

Since Gavin has taken a liking to Buzz so much, we took advantage of this new love the night before we went to the movies.  Our best friends, The Carpenter's, gave Gavin a gift card to Build a Bear for his dedication back in May.  We wanted to make sure Gavin got to make a bear before we moved.  Gavin hasn't exactly been the stuffed animal kind of kid, not because we don't want him to be, he just never has embraced them.  So, we went to Build A Bear not really knowing how Gavin would react to the all the stuffed animals.  During the first 15 minutes, he kept telling us "no" to every single animal we put in front of him- bears, dogs, penguins, cows, and more.  We were getting a little worried that he wouldn't make one, but eventually he warmed up.  Another little issue we were dealing with in the back of our minds, was that you aren't suppose to bring stuffed animals into Saudi Arabia (they believe they hoard spirits or something like that).  Anyways, we ignored that little fact and knew that we wanted Gavin to have something from his best friend, Cade, so we kept searching.  We eventually found a dog that Gavin was interested in and began making him.  Gavin stood back and observed the process.  However, he was willing to select a heart (or three) and he placed them into the dog before he got sewed up.  We decided to name his dog Cade, after his best buddy.  We were searching for the perfect outfit for his dog when we came across a Buzz Lightyear outfit.  Once we found that, our search was over.  We dressed "Cade" into "Buzz's" outfit and we were off.  Gavin really had fun and was excited to see his dog dressed in such a cool costume.  "Cade" is now packed comfortably inside a few bed sheets marked bedding in hopes that he will make it to Saudi with us!