A Day to Just Play

I forgot to mention that during our potty training weekend:  one of the flashcards Ted made for him said 'poop' and one of the times Andrew was sitting on the toilet, he had it upside down and I said, "dood."  After that, he wouldn't read poop anymore - he would turn the card over and say dood.

Monday he handed me something green and said the word green - all on his own. We weren't even reviewing colors at the time. Although it wasn't clear I knew thats what he was saying. I think he knows most of his colors now, not just by reading but also picking out colors. I also quizzed him on a few numbers. I held up 4 and 6 and asked him to pick 4.. he did. I held up 6 and 8 and he correctly picked out 6. I held up 8 and 9 and asked him to find the 8. He looked at them both and seemed like he was about to pick the right number but then deflected and wanted to play with something else. I think he wasn't sure about the 9 and not confident in his choice for 8. 

He made me proud Monday evening. We went to Carmax to pick up daddy's latest truck. We were there for two hours and Andrew and I hung out in the kids play area. After a while, two more little boys came in to play. One was a little shorter than Andrew but was 21 months old, and the other was 4 or 5 years old. They were rough kids too.  Well, there is a half door with a low handle on it to get in and out of the room. Andrew would go over and open it. I would say, "Close the door please" and he would push it closed.  The other little boy went over and opened it and the daddy said to me, 'Watch. I'll say the same thing and he'll just run out the door." Sure enough, thats what happened. Andrew was obedient in everything I said to him. The other kids kept getting in trouble.
 Also, the other little boy would get a running start and plow into me with a big hug. Later, the older boy decided to get a running start and plow right into me and say "I got you!" I gave in and roughed him up a bit, but the second time he jumped on me - Andrew came running over very concerned. He looked me right in the eye and I told him "mommy is okay, mommy is not getting hurt. its okay." And he paused for just a second and then turned and went back to playing. How sweet is that?

He loves the mop and the vacuum. When I vacuum, he tugs on my pants asking for a turn. He seems so serious and determined when he vacuums. He pushes it back and forth and forward... SO cute!  Monday he vacuumed himself right under the dining table. He got upset with me when I took it back out from under the table to reposition it. I think he thought I was taking it away from him entirely. I was, of course, redeemed when I invited him to continue vacuuming in the kitchen.

When clients come over to either drop off payment or pick up pictures - Andrew brings them one toy after the next to show off his things. I'm glad he likes his toys.  Monday he even brought the seat ring out of his little potty. I took it from him and he went and brought the bowl of the seat. I set them both down on the floor, and surprisingly he picked them up and put them back!! He got the order wrong as far as putting it back together right, but he tried!

Wednesday, blue was apparently his color of the day. He brought me things that were blue and said the word. Again, not clearly or perfect, but I knew thats what he was saying.
Wednesday evening, we were all in the kitchen. Ted was repeating Andrew's name, I think trying to get his attention for something. Andrew started saying "An-doo" and we were both shocked! He was saying his name! Of course he hasn't said it since.

Also on Wednesday, he seemed kind of done eating his yogurt and whatever else it was I had given him. I was bored so I stuck his hand in the yogurt container. He loves squeezing his food, but he hates having mess on his hands. He had a big blob of yogurt on his fingers, and then started to try and shake it off. Yogurt splashed onto his face, my face, and the floor. I swabbed some of it and put it on his cheeks. Then he picked up the spoon and poked it around in the yogurt and then tried to feed me the yogurt. We had fun making a mess.

It is so cute when he holds a doll/bear/toy and rocks it in his arms like a baby. He does it so sweetly.

Friday I woke up feeling pretty good. We had breakfast together, did my workout, read some books, played with toys, ran around in the studio. Then I thought it'd be fun to go outside and play. It was about 60 degrees but breezy. We ran around in the yard, climbed on the scrap wood pile, banged on trees, played with the gate, and climbed up and down the stairs. Oh, and he pulled an empty garbage can around for a while. Later in the day, I was finishing up some work on the computer and he was playing in his room. He came in and tugged on my arm like he usually does, so I got up and followed him. He took me to his room. His ball pit was overturned and moved across the room and balls were e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e. I didn't have my camera ready so I just joined in and played in the mess. I even threw a bunch in his crib and put him in there to jump. And when I put the ball pit upright and started putting the balls back in, Andrew helped clean up! I didn't even ask!

Here are some pictures from the morning: