"Yes means yes and yes means no"

One of the latest things we've been trying to teach Andrew is Matthew 5:37 where we're told to let our yes mean yes, and our no, no.  I try to give Andrew choices as much as possible, but he'll say one thing, I get it for him and he's changed his mind. He would just keep going back and forth if I let him. He thinks it's funny. So I started teaching him the scripture and trying to explain what it means using whatever the latest option is as an example. "Okay, if you're choosing juice instead of milk, you're saying yes to juice and I expect you to drink it."  I dont really know if it sinks in too well. But when he tries to repeat it - he says, "no means yes and yes means yes."  *sigh*  

Whenever Andrew is outside, warm or cold, he asks to turn the sprinkler on. Recently he was outside and the hose was turned on so it was leaking at the handle. Andrew took the end of the sprinkler that is supposed to hook up to the hose and was holding it up to the drip hoping that it'd be enough water to come out the sprinkler.  I am also told he is now tall enough to reach the handle to turn the water on himself.  Great!

I have tried to let him help me water the garden a couple of times. He starts off watering the plants but then he decides to "water the clouds" and "water the airplanes"  and is getting everything but the plants wet.

Recently I was pushing him on the swing and an airplane started flying overhead. He pointed it out and I asked him where he thought the plane was headed. He said, "It's going west to California!"  I was stunned as it was actually flying West, though I dont know that he fully understands those directions that well yet.  When I told Ted, he was shocked because that was a conversation they'd had just once two weeks prior! 
Later at Lowes he was telling an employee that he was going to get on a plane and fly to California and go to the beach and swim with the dolphins. Among many other stories that I can't remember.

Andrew ran to the potty and sat himself on it. I came to check on him and he said it was stinky. I asked if he'd like me to turn on the vent and he said okay. Then I was trying to explain to Andrew how the vent in the bathroom can take the stinky air up and out. He stated back to me that the poo goes up into the vent so I told him, that no, the poo stays in the toilet, just the stinky smell goes up.  HE translated it as the big poo stays in the toilet and the little poo goes up the vent. I tried to reexplain the air thing. Then he tells me the stinky air goes up the vent and gets put into a garbage bag and taken out to the garbage for Mr. Jim to pick up with his garbage truck.

Sunday April 29th - he rattled off the days of the week in order. I've not heard him do that before. Anytime he is waiting for something in particular (like the next time he'll see Nana or go to the meeting) I'll say, "not until Tuesday. Today is Friday. So we have Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday.  We have the rest of today plus 4 days until we see Nana."

We have been going to Lowe's a LOT lately as we are remodeling the master bath and making plans to remodel the kitchen. We can't get out of Lowe's without letting Andrew "see" and play with the vacuum cleaners.  He has also added riding a lawn mower to his must see list. Thankfully, they are by each other. So we let him go handle a few vacuum cleaners then go ride a couple of lawn mowers before we leave the store.

He is also more interested in time. He asks throughout the day "what time is it?" and then take a guess.  He knows his alarm clock Momo wakes up at 7am.  I've casually been teaching him how to read a clock, the hour hand and the minute hand and what the numbers represent. He likes clocks.

Andrew wanted to help me do laundry so I got the washer filling with water and told him to throw all the laundry in from his hamper. When it was full of water it stopped filling at the same time he threw in a sock. He looked puzzled ... then with one hand hit the edge of the washer hoping it'd kick back on. That didn't work so he used both hands to hit the washing machine. LOL  I can only imagine where he learned that! 

A Ladder to Heaven

One of Andrew's favorite places to eat is Amigos - but he calls it Amingos. 
Our neighbor is Mr. Bobby Brown but he refers to him as Mr. Brownie. I'm so nervous I'm going to call him that myself!
He thinks barbecue is called "barbecube"
I gave him a popcicle recently and he kept calling it a "papa-cicle"
We also have to drive past a McDonalds a lot when going into town... he calls it "Donalds"


He has been very interested in airplanes lately. He will notice one in the sky even if its barely a silent speck in the sky leaving that white trail behind it.  He talks about airplanes a lot and I recently showed him that he has a book about "Amazing Airplanes" on his bookshelf. Now when I ask him to go find a book to read - that is the one he gets!  He still loves "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and the "ABC Look at Me" book.  He doesn't ask me to read to him every day like he used to. I have to ask him if we can read together!

One Friday evening, Aunt Eese was able to come for dinner and a visit. While outside on the swings, she apparently had a lovely dreamy conversation with Andrew about airplanes. One thing led to the next and they had a whole plan laid out of taking an airplane to the beach and then taking a boat to go swim with the dolphins.  Andrew was so excited he could hardly wait!  He told me all about it during dinner but he didn't understand why he couldn't go now.  I tried to explain to him that Aunt Eese doesn't have a plane, or a boat, and the beach was too far away and we didn't know where the dolphins were... we just couldn't go right now.  Annelise and Ted were barely containing their laughter as I'm explaining this to him, and Andrew looked utterly humiliated. I could tell he was holding back tears and remaining strong, but he was very disappointed. It broke my heart.  He mentioned wanting to go to the beach twice on Saturday.

Our little family study, after having Andrew read a section of the Great Teacher book to us:
"So do you remember what is Jesus' daddy's name?"
"Jehovah."
"Right. And who is Jehovah's son?"
"Jesus."
"And where does Jehovah live, do you remember?"
"At the Wetzel's house"  (that is where we met for service for a couple of months)
Ted and I look at each other and laugh a little. So he tries to correct himself, "At the Kingdom Hall."
"Well, Jehovah lives in heaven. Do you remember where heaven is?  It's up above the clouds in the sky. We can't see Jehovah, but he can see us and he hears you when you pray..."
"It's too far away in the sky! We need a ladder!"   [I love this little boy and his logic!]

He definitely tries to stall going to bed now. Wanting some water or refusing to pee when we ask him to before bed but then needing to pee after I have him all tucked in. Or he'll ask for teethers or "some cold medicine please mommy?" in the sweetest voice he can find.  "No sweetheart, just go to sleep." Then he gets the biggest grin on his face and turns over on his side because he thinks it's funny and knows I've called him out on his trying to stall.  More than once he has also turned himself sideways in the bed and then whines and whimpers and calls for help saying he's stuck... "I need help!"

We have unplanted strawberries sitting on our deck. Every single strawberry that blooms he takes interest in well before they are ripe. We tell him not to pick them and not even to touch them when we see him next to them. So what does he do? He doesn't pick them.. but he leans over and takes a bite out of them!  They don't stand a chance to ripen all the way!

Andrew has also recently just started talking away in nearly complete jibberish - but most likely just wanting to get in on conversation and therefore is imitating what we sound like to him. Inflections, chuckles and all!  He does speak very well and thought out sentences too when he genuinely is communicating to us. 

I love when he comes in to wake me up in the morning.  Lately he comes in and says, "Mommy, Andrew is probably awake now."  Then he tells me what time it is on my clock, turns off my white noise, hands me my glasses and says I need my "regular glasses" (as opposed to sun glasses) and "andrew is excited" when mommy gets out of bed.  Then he'll be talking about other people he's thinking of.  "Amber Perry come to Andrew's house to play?"  "Nana takes care of Daisy dog... Andrew can take care of Daisy dog too?"  "Daddy is at work at Nissan."  "When the minute hand gets to the 6 then Nana will be here!"  If you don't acknowledge that he has said something - he'll get closer and practically shout it at you with great enthusiasm.

He also likes to whine and come running for a hug and says, "I'm so sad! I'm so very sad! Andrew crying!!" and then says, "awww"  like I would.  Then we'll go between sad face, and "Happy!" face, sad face, happy face!  Sometimes he'll throw in excited too.

Actually he understands excited really well. Anytime he is anticipating something that gets him excited, like flying the balsam wood airplane outside with daddy, or flying a kite, or getting to do something he wants, he can hardly contain himself and yells, "excited!!" as he jumps up and down waiting for us to catch up to it. 

Since Andrew is such an early riser (between 5:20-6:20) Ted thought we should try one of those sleep trainer clocks. Neither of us wanted to pay for the ones we could find. I happened to find a different one in a toy store I popped into Thursday.. Momo is the monkey that sleeps on the clock. You set the alarm and Momo closes his eyes and will open his eyes at the set time. So when the child wakes up and sees Momo's eyes closed, he knows to stay in bed and go back to sleep. If he sees Momo's eyes open, he knows he can get out of bed.  Andrew didn't know what to think about Momo. He didn't want Momo awake, he wanted me to put Momo to bed. Well, the next day Momo's analog clock quit working. We told Andrew it was broken and needed to be fixed.  "Take it to Monty!"  Ever since we took the car to Monty to be fixed.. he thinks anything that gets broken needs to be taken to Monty to get fixed. 

I have posted pictures on facebook rather than try to post them all here. But.. here is one my favorites from recently:

"Thumb's Up" and Roll Play

Andrew knows the name of all the states on his map puzzle, and some of the capitals.  A couple of weeks ago we were doing our t-tapp workout and she says "lean over, put your organs in"  and he got all puzzled confusing organs with Oregon and leans in front of my face, "oregon?"

He got his first sunburn last week. It was my fault. Nana asked me if he needed sunscreen on and I was so distracted and focused on work that I said he'd be fine. We'd been out several times recently with no problem, but I wasn't thinking about what time of day it was nor how long they might be outside. He looked like a lobster that night. I put some aloe vera on him and he cried. I remembered that white vinegar takes the sting out so i started applying some not knowing he had two scratches on his lower back which of course stung with the vinegar.  I finally went and got some manuka honey and smeared it all over his back. I knew it'd make his pajamas stick to him but surely it'd help with the burn. The next morning I was amazed! He was a little pink/red but nothing like he was the night before! He kept telling me that he had an "owwie" on his back and needed a bandaid. I thought he was talking about the sunburn, but I think he may have been referring to the cuts on his lower back more than the sunburn.

We made it through the Circuit Assembly. He did really well considering he was being asked to sit still and be quiet most of the day.  He couldn't resist talking the entire time, but did okay. He loved lunch time.. he got to go outside and run run run!  Both days we gave him some organic jelly beans with lunch hoping the sugar would winde him up but then make him crash shortly after the meeting started again. It actually worked! Both days I was able to hold him on my lap and stroke his face and put him to sleep when it looked like he was getting tired.

Monday April 2nd I had just a couple of errands to run and then I planned to head out to Nana and Papa's place so Papa could detox and see if it helps his feet any.  I never even hinted to it as being an option to Andrew.  All morning, though, he was talking about seeing Nana and Papa. He kept saying "when the minute hand gets to the 6, Nana will be here."  I told him Nana wasn't coming today. Then he said, "when the minute hand gets to the 9, Nana AND Papa will be here!"  Again, they're not coming.  [Mom usually arrives at 9:30 for work, and one day last week Papa brought Ted's truck back so they both were here and I told Andrew I expected them to come when the minute hand got to the 9.]  A little later he was sitting on the potty and we were having a conversation and he just blurted out, "I gotta go to Nana's house!"  lol 

Tuesday April 3rd was the first time I really saw Andrew pretending and roll-playing. We were outside and he went and got in his little tykes car (his Jeep he calls it) and said he's going shopping. I asked him where and he said to Kroger.  He drives a few feet and parks the car. (He narrates all this as he does it himself). He walks through the gate into Kroger. I welcome him and tell him to let me know if he needs help finding anything. He asked where the fruit snacks were and I pointed to a spot on the fence. He walked over pretended to grab some and came back to me. I asked if he was ready to check out. "Yes" I pretend to scan the item and ask him if he has a dollar. "Yes!" as he hands me pretend and invisible money. I thank him and hand him his fruit snacks and he walks back to his car very happy. 
Then he told me he was going to TSC.  We went to see the pretend baby chicks and pet them and held them.  Then he went to Lowes. He needed building material to build a ramp. He picked up a big post from the pile in our driveway (leftover from tearing down our old fence) and brought it over to the gate. I set it down so it made a ramp from the driveway to the ground and then he walked up and down it a few times. Once he was done, he picked it up and hauled it back to the pile.  We did all this a few times. Then he pretended to go to "Mommy's house" to get some toys.  I think it was after that we went inside and made "peanut butter jelly jelly" sandwiches to eat outside.

Earlier on Tuesday, Andrew was sitting at the table with Nana. I dont remember why, but I asked him if he'd like something to eat and he said no to everything but pickles. So I gave him a few pickles and went back to work. Nana told me later that once he finished the pickles I gave him, she asked him what he wanted to eat next. His reply was something like, "I just need more pickles honey."  Nana chuckled and Andrew corrected himself, "I just need more pickles Nana."  

It only took a day and a half, and Andrew now can count to ten in French. I knew how to count to 6 so mom had to teach me the rest.  Andrew could remember the numbers better than I could! I kept forgetting what number 8 was but he remembered every time we practiced and he helped teach me.
I know he can count past ten in Spanish, to ten in French, and to 40 in English (with help two or three times). He knows the entire alphabet and the sounds of the letters, he knows which letters are vowels. You can say a word and ask him what letter that words starts with and he'll tell you correctly most of the time. He knows all the usual colors in English and Spanish. He knows the states and most of the capitals. He knows his address and town and state. He knows his left, right, straight ahead and behind directions. He knows a lot of shapes. He can write the letter A. He knows a lot of signs in sign language. He knows God's name is Jehovah and that he lives above the clouds in heaven. He knows what is important to pray for. He knows his first name and last name and our names and each family member's name. He knows that 1+1 equals two.   ... what should he learn next?

I went into the Dance Conservatory to ask about classes for his age group. Turns out there aren't any. The youngest is 3.  There is a window in the lobby where you can see some dancers dancing and he had a meltdown when we tried to leave. He cried and kept saying "I want to dance!"  it broke my heart. He loves music and dancing so much, I'd love to expose him to it more than just the creative movements class at the library once a month. 

He has finally learned how to do the thumbs up.  Whenever Ted would give Andrew a thumbs up, Andrew would try to imitate it but he'd just point his index finger up instead.  Now he can do it correctly and is very proud to do it!

I'd say we are just about potty trained. He wears underwear at home and organic pull-ups when away from home if it'll be a long outing. Some days we reuse the pull up from the day before because he stayed dry. I'd say at most he only has one tiny accident a day if he has one at all.  He's stayed dry all night a few times and of course gets soaked others. Same with nap time.  I'm elated that we hardly use diapers at all though! Saves a lot!