COEUR d'ALENE - It's been half a year and the kid has grown.

Air Force National Guard Technical Sgt. Shane Avriett knows because he marked his 2-year-old boy's height at home the day before he deployed for a six-month tour in Iraq.

Returning from the tour on Thursday, the little guy's sprout was the first thing he noticed.

"Oh yeah," Avriett said, picking up Hunter at ABCD Day Care Center in Coeur d'Alene Friday afternoon. "He's grown a good four inches."

It was Avriett's third - and longest - tour in Iraq. He has been to Afghanistan four times, but he has never had to leave his only child for so long.

"I missed him more than words can say," Avriett said.

And for his safe return, all of the day care kids helped make and hang banners for Avriett, and cheered when he picked up Hunter on Friday.

"Thanks for saving our world," one boy told him.

"You've been gone for a long time," another said.

The show of support was just one way the day care center wanted to say thank you to Avriett, and for staff to meet Hunter's father since Hunter started coming to the day care after the sergeant and combat arms instructor left.

"He's finally home," said Chris Bjurstrom, who owns ABCD with her husband, Andy. "It's a special event for us to meet him, too."

The kids surprised Avriett in the day care's gym with a shout of "welcome home" and "thank you." The signs they made saying the same were hung on the walls.

Avriett said the cheer caught him off guard, but it did make him smile.

"Thanks guys," he told the crowd.

"I'm shocked," he said later. "I didn't expect it."

He said he's looking forward to getting into a good sleeping routine at night, something he wasn't afforded abroad, and that he's happy to be back.

"It's good to be home, in a safe environment," he said, adding he's unsure if he'll be deployed again.

A Coeur d'Alene police officer, Avriett will go back to work April 1, after he has had some down time.

"It's a little overwhelming," his wife, Tara, said of the safe return. "But we'll get past that."