Make believe

While I was shoveling rocks out of the pool perimeter (so we can install the new pool) I was really in a rhythm and I didn't know Andrew got between me and the wheel barrow.  I completely sidelined his right ear. I'm so grateful the shovel isn't sharp or I'd have cut his ear in half!  The shovel hit his ear and then in an effort to move the shovel up, all the rocks fell off the shovel onto his head.  He screamed as I watched a blue line form across his swelling ear, and I just hugged him and apologized over and over again while holding him. I can only imagine the pain he felt. But.. he stopped crying for a frozen lemon popcicle, and you'd never know anything had happened.  The swelling didn't last too long, and he had a slight bruise on the backside of his ear for a couple of days. It never seemed to bother him. I hope there was no other damage. Poor kid.

We are getting ready for a kitchen remodel too (thanks to a great sale Lowes was having!) and since the new cabinets will be white - it meant we needed to paint all the cream colored woodwork to match. I offered to pay Papa to do the work. We unplugged and moved the tv off the entertainment shelf which meant Andrew could not watch a video for 3 days. He didn't understand until the 3rd day - but he was also convinced it was Papa's fault he couldn't watch anything. It was because Papa was painting!

I overheard Andrew playing outside and he asked Nana to sing her tune "Da dum, Da dum. da dum ta dum ta dum" while he pranced around.

He is still very interested in time, and clocks. He studies the hands and makes predictions as to what time it is, and that when the minute hand gets to X number, somebody will be "heah" (here) .  Every morning he requests someone to come visit him.

He's doing really well pedaling his tricycle. He's fallen off of it a few times, like when he rode it off the driveway step into the backyard and it flipped, or his shorts get stuck on the seat as he's trying to get on or off. But overall, he does just fine on it.

He has found two 2 pound dumbells that he likes to haul around and pretend he's working out with. That kid is strong already, but if he keeps that up he's going to be one buff 3 year old!

He is very eager to communicate with everyone.  He is using full and complete sentences too. Long ones even!  He'll talk to anyone who will listen. Andrew will narrate what they are doing, what he is doing, and what he wants to do next, or what he did earlier.  We sold our riding lawn mower recently to an older gentleman. Andrew ran up to him and stuck out his hand to shake it and tell him "it's nice to see you."  After the man tried it out and then had it loaded onto his trailer, I guess Andrew went over to talk to him. The next morning the man emailed Ted with this, "as i was loading the tractor your son came out and really talked a lot to me.i don't know what he said but he was really communicating.i know he will grow up to be a fine young man! best wishes for you and your family."

He spent quite a bit of time at a yard sale at Fred and Ann Arnold's house last weekend. I had to work Saturday but he was dropped off there while Ted had a meeting to attend.  Apparently, he turned himself into the official greeter. He'd excitedly yell and wave to every person who showed up saying, "Hi!! How are you? It's nice to see you! Thanks for coming!"
Later when I was there, a man and his wife showed up on a motorcycle. While the wife was browsing, the man stayed at the motorcyle to smoke. Andrew begged,"mommy, let me go see the motorcycle.... pleeeeease?"  So we marched down the driveway to go see it.  The man was super nice. All Andrew wanted to do was look at it, and then he quickly touched it with just one finger and then came back and stood by me.  The man offered to let him sit on it, but Andrew said no. Then he offered to let Andrew wear the helmet, which Andrew said yes to.  Another friend came down the driveway with a camera and snapped some cute pictures - but I have to get them off of Ann's camera still.  He enjoyed wearing the helmet and seeing the motorcycle.  The man and woman seemed to be amused by Andrew as well. They even drove by again hours later and honked at us as they went by.

I love the stories Andrew tells me. Outside on the swing he was telling me that there was  HUGE pineapple growing on top of the tree reaching way up into the sky. Then he said I have to be careful because it's going to fall. Then he told me it fell and broke into a bunch of pieces and we could eat it.  The story changes a little each day. 
Then inside, when he is sitting on the potty, he tells me there are things in the waterfall (there is a painting of a waterfall on the wall). The most common one is to tell me there is poo in the water in the waterfall. Of course he loves my, "Whaaat?? Ewwww I don't want poo in the waterfall!" reaction. The most recent is that Dollywood is in the waterfall with cows. Then he started telling me he is excited to go to Dollywood and the big pool (Splash Country) and that we'll have to be very careful. That we'll get in a boat in the big pool but have to be very careful because cows will be in the way. ??  Then he said we'll have to be careful getting off the cows and the elephants so we don't get hurt.  I have no idea where these things come from, but they are amusing.

Everything is "what's this?" and "Name??"   Everywhere we go, in every book, and even on tv - he wants to know everyone's name. If we don't know we do tell him and then suggest he come up with a name for them himself.  Sometimes he'll ask "what's this?" about the same thing over and over again. I'll finally say, "Andrew - you *know* what that is."  And of course, he does, and proceeds to tell me what it is and how it works.

He loves to rhyme and sing songs that he makes up, but he usually doesn't want any of us to be singing.

A while back we bought him a kid's digital camera. The batteries have been dead for ages but he still pretends to use it. He'll hold it up to his face and say, "say cheese!"  (and yes, you really do have to say it) and then he looks at the back and then shows it to you saying, "see, nice picture."  (remember the camera is dead, there is no picture) It's nice to know he has such a good imagination.