Okay, so he doesn't really catch the cars. The only thing Gavin can reliably catch at this age is a cold. Nonetheless, it's amusing to watch his face as he first hears the voice of Lightning McQueen signaling the impending launch of a car from the closet. After he gets his car and I ask him to show it to me, he does his "excited" thing where he grins and tenses his arms so hard his little body shakes. When I ask him to thank the car's sender, he looks at me as if he knows that I'm the one who sent the car (I did, for the purpose of capturing this video) and then does his "thank you" noise super slow.

Now that you've seen how happy the cars make him, how can you possibly resist sending him one every time you visit?

If you're wondering how and why our closet emits cars, catch up with these two previous entries:

What's in YOUR Coat Closet? - Video of the actual car launcher (removed from the closet–the closet is too dark for video), along with a few technical details on how the system and the launcher work.

Play with Gavin - Video of a Gavinless launch, as well as an introduction and instructions on how to send a car to Gavin yourself.

View the Video

If you're the geek parents of a car fanatic, maybe it's something like this. Another of my weekend projects, this video shows the homemade machinery behind the "Send Gavin a Car" car-launching feature of this web site. I brought it out of the closet for a little introductory video. To recap the original blog entry, clicking the "Launch Car Now" link on this web site will send ones and zeros from your computer all the way to the coat closet in our living room. A sound clip from the movie Cars will play, followed by a toy car shooting out from under the closet door into the living room.

For those interested, the "Launch Car Now" link triggers a bit of PHP script on the web server which sends an email to Traci's home computer (that happens to sit right next to the closet). When the computer's email program finds a properly coded email, it runs an AppleScript that pauses iTunes (if music is playing) and raises the volume to a level commensurate with gaining the attention of a hyperactive two-year-old. The script then triggers an applet I wrote in the Processing language. The Processing applet plays a sound bite of Lightning McQueen psyching himself up for the race in the movie "Cars". The applet then establishes a serial connection with the microcontroller on the car launcher (a Parallax Board of Education ) and sends a notice to launch a car. The microcontroller performs a bit of logic checking with it's sensors and switches while running the servo motor to open the launcher door (mounted to the garage section on a drawer slide) until one of my little black tabs interrupts the infrared beam to signify that the launcher door has opened exactly one garage bay. The car slides out into the excited hands of our son. Don't worry, video of Gavin running to the closet will come soon. You can watch Gavin's reaction in the Catching Cars blog entry. The car launcher then sits idle with the launcher door partly open until the next launch command is received, and continues in that manner until the launcher door is all the way open, at which point the launcher door closes and the launcher waits to be reloaded. The PHP script on the web server makes sure the "Launch Car Now!" link is only available during Gavin's normal living room playtimes, and also limits the number of launches to five per day.

Oh, and we do have coats in there, too.

Gavin's latest book recommendation (his first was Moon Plane) is the Cars Essential Guide published by DK. Perhaps "recommendation" isn't a strong enough word. Gavin is obsessed with this book and all things Cars! Gavin asks to read it several times every day in addition to paging through it himself. Daddy reads him this book...

Mommy reads the book...

Gmummy reads it to him...

And he reads it all by himself...

Each page focuses on a different character or scene from the movie with lots of pictures and paragraphs of text.

It's not necessary to read all of the text on the page to tell the story, so we randomly pick a few paragraphs to read on each page so Gavin hears something a little different every time and we don't get bored from reading the book so often!

Gavin has most of the Matchbox Cars characters and often matches them to their pictures in the book...

Two big cheeks for the Cars Essential Guide!

Raleigh's second snow of the season began falling on Friday night. By morning, there was a two-inch-thick blanket of light, fluffy snow in our yard.

Gavin begged to go outside but just played at his sand table for about a half hour. He always loves playing at his sand table and doesn't mind the cold weather one bit!

Since Gavin could care less about the snow, I ventured into the woods behind our house to take a few pictures.

After watching Mommy and Daddy sled down the hill a few times, Gavin finally decided that snow might be fun after all and rode downhill with Daddy.

Then, Daddy pulled Gavin around the house a few times in his sled. Faster! Faster!

Having tired of the sled, Gavin walked up the steep hill and into the woods all by himself. He was quite determined!

Daddy shook the trees to make snow fall. Good times!

When we reached the opposite edge of the woods, we stopped to wave at cars driving by on the road and make some snowballs. Gavin thought this one was rather wimpy...

This is more like it!

When we wouldn't let him walk closer to the road, he threw a minor tantrum on the ground. The End!

Baby Brother hasn't been getting nearly the attention on this blog that his brother had during this phase in his life. So, this post is all about the little one on the way, due to arrive in just over two months.

Today, I had another prenatal appointment. Just like his brother, Baby Brother is a perfect in utero baby. At every appointment, my belly measures exactly the right size, my test results are all perfect, his heartbeat is strong (today he kicked the doppler - feisty little thing!), and my weight gain is right on target (I'm actually exactly the same weight that I was when I was this far along with Gavin!). My appointments are now biweekly and I also see a hematologist every few weeks for blood tests. My blood platelet levels were lower than normal at my first prenatal appointment back in October, but they've been slowly rising ever since and are now just on the low end of normal. I keep going to my "vampire doctor" to make sure they don't drop again.

We haven't really thought about names yet. Gavin didn't even have a name on his due date so we're a little slow with this process! We're trying to stay away from another -in, -an, -en ending so that the name doesn't sound similar in any way to Gavin. There sure are a lot of popular boy names right now with that ending! We're also trying to stick with a maximum of two syllables. Gavin's middle name was decided pretty early on, but we aren't even close to choosing a middle name, either.

Gavin doesn't have any concept of what's coming. He hasn't even really noticed that my belly is bigger. We'll keep talking about the baby more, though, and maybe he'll catch on sometime before the baby arrives!

No, we are not going to keep trying for a girl. This is by far the most frequent question when I tell people we're having another boy. Why do so many people assume that every mother needs a girl? We are completely thrilled to have two boys. I get more excited with every passing day because I already know how incredible little boys are and can't wait to have two! Some women are desperate to have a girl and there's nothing wrong with that; I'm just not one of those women! That's not to say we would have disappointed with a girl by any means. We simply don't feel like we need one to complete our family.

Having another boy is definitely beneficial for our checking account since we already have so much boy gear. Being a second child myself, I know what it's like to get hand-me-downs throughout childhood and will definitely make sure Baby Brother gets new toys and clothes, but it's nice to know that the basics can be reused - jeans, coats, pants, blankets, toys, etc. Gavin certainly benefits, too, because it's easier to justify lots of clothing purchases for him now that we know they will be used twice!

I purchased Baby Brother's first new clothes recently for his first year photo project - a set of identical blue onesies in every size up to 12 months. I took a photo of Gavin every day of his first year but am realistic and know that won't be possible for this little guy when there's an older brother in the house! A different photo project is in store for Baby Brother that will hopefully be just as special. :)

Baby Brother has become quite active in the past two months. I feel him move throughout the day and some of the kicks are really hard! Before New Year's, I usually only felt him in the evenings when I was quietly resting.

Less than 75 days to go! Can't wait to meet you, Baby Brother!

View the Video

You don't want him planting a real kiss on you, anyway, he's got a bit of a runny nose.

View the Video

Quite simply put, if you click the "Launch Car Now!" button on this website, a car will shoot out of our coat closet.

After you click the "Launch Car Now" link on the left sidebar of this blog, a sound clip from Gavin's favorite movie will play in our living room followed by the coat closet automagically dispensing a toy car. The sound should give our little car fanatic enough time to run over and catch the forthcoming car. The "Send Gavin a Car" section in the left sidebar will let you know if a car is loaded and ready to be launched into Gavin's eager hands. If a car is loaded and ready, click "Launch Car Now" to send a car. If a car has been recently sent, you will be so informed and recommended to come back after I've had a chance to reload the car launcher. If you visit the blog outside of Gavin's normal playtimes (9AM to noon and 3PM to 7PM), you will get a message explaining his absence and suggesting you try back later. Have fun!

Yesterday was Mommy's birthday, officially ending the string of winter family birthdays. Mommy and Daddy had the day off and took Gavin to Tiny Tumblers in the morning. We spent the afternoon at Gmummy and Grandpa's place where we played Settlers of Catan (the birthday girl won!) and Rummikub (Daddy won) while Gavin napped and then played with Grandpa.

When Aunt Kristen's work day was over, we all headed to her house for dinner, presents, and cake. Kristen and Gmummy whipped up a delicious taco dinner...

Gavin wasn't interested in tacos so he sat on the couch and watched the iPod...

It's Handy Manny!

Mommy's boys. :)

Gavin helped unwrap gifts. We wondered if he'd assume any present would be for him with Christmas and his birthday fresh in his memory, but that wasn't the case!

He probably didn't care about gifts because he heard about the cake...

As expected, he didn't enjoy the singing. Last month, Gavin protested when we sang to him on his birthday and when we sang to Daddy. Chin up, Gavin. You have a three-month break now until the next family birthday.

Mommy made a yummy 14-layer cake...

Yum...

Oh, yummy...

I don't think these guys could look more bored if they tried. They really did enjoy the cake ... especially Gavin!

View the Video

For awhile now, Gavin has been regularly attending a terrific free-play program put on by a local gymnasium. With Mommy along on her day off work, I was free to run the video camera and capture a bit of the crazy running-about behavior that Gavin so enjoys.

After the new window sill was hammered into place, Jeff installed moulding and applied two coats of paint. Gavin got a little creative when Daddy offered some painter's tape...

Home improvements are continuing slowly but steadily at the Highsmith house. Jeff is currently installing a new window sill and moulding around the living room window. I heard quite a noisy racket downstairs while working this morning and had to take a peak. This is what I found...

While Daddy hammered away, Gavin tapped the new window sill with Pat the hammer from his Handy Manny toolbox. The cuteness of the father-and-son home improvement sessions is just too much for me to handle these days!

Things that make Gavin happy...

• Wearing his car and truck pajamas
• Watching the movie Cars
• Reading his Cars book
• Playing with his Cars matchbox cars
• Rhyme Time - finally, he really enjoys it and participates!
• Shaun the Sheep, a short filler that airs after Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the Disney Channel in the morning that he likes more than any actual television show!
• Earth's Best cereal bars
• Organic Valley chocolate milk
• Monkey
• Dancing
• Playing the I'm gonna get you game with Daddy (Daddy says, "I'm gonna get you!" as Gavin squeals and runs to Mommy for protection)
  
• Brushing his teeth
• Playing with Daddy's LEGOs
• Helping others - Gavin loves feeling helpful
• Watching movies of himself
  

Things that make Gavin upset...

• Burt walking on Gavin's living room window sill, knocking his cars to the floor
• Mommy or Daddy singing along to the Handy Manny songs
• Anyone singing any song
  
• Asking him to say a particular word
• Diaper changes
• Not being immediately stripped of all winter weather gear the second we roll his jogging stroller back inside after our morning walk