Last week, when Andrew was having one of those days where he was looking for praise: He went into my bathroom, used the potty, then unraveled the entire roll of toilet paper. Then he started to roll it back up and called me in. He was so pleased with himself, "Mommy! I rolled it up just like daddy!" (he really rolled up only half of it and then tore it off leaving the other half piled on the floor.) What he forgot was, the last time he unrolled the paper, daddy was upset with him and rolled it up himself. Andrew was forgetting that unrolling the paper was not good, but he was hoping for praise for rolling it back up. I had to give him some clarification, that yes, rolling it back up was nice for him to try and do - but it would have been better if he didn't unroll it in the first place. Silly boy.
He's been telling me lately that I'm a "silly goose" or getting someone else to laugh and then telling them "you're silly!"
Saturday daddy ran in the Warrior Dash with Barry Chumley. I told him that they were in a race. "*gasp* I want to race in a racecar too!" I told him they were running, not driving. All morning he asked me if he could go race with them too. Then he was telling everyone he met that his daddy ran in the grass and then got all dirty. (he saw the photo of Barry and Daddy all covered in mud.)
We met up with Joy and Barry and daddy at Jim 'n Nicks for lunch in Murfreesboro and then went to the Nissan Family Fun Day in Smyrna. We had less than two hours before it closed, but he got to ride all the kiddy rides and bounce in a bunch of inflatables. He had fun. Since we weren't too far away, we popped in to see Nana and Papa. Kaleb came over too and the boys ran around the yard, racing, playing ball, and throwing frisbees. They played with legos for a little bit and then it was time to go.
Monday I had to photograph a house for a realtor and Andrew ended up having to come with me. He was pretty good, but a huge distraction to me at the same time. It was a little past lunch time when I was done so I asked him where he'd like to go. "How about Olive Garden?" he asked. We both ordered soup. When he was done, he was telling me some story. I'm not sure what was going on in the story but I understood that someone was crying. I asked him why the kid was crying and he looked me in the eyes and said, "Because he was in a lot of pain, like you mommy." My heart sunk. He deserves so much better than this. I hate that he is so in tune to me being in pain - it obviously affects him.
Tuesday I took him to a gymnastics class. There were about 8 young kids his size and 2 trainers. They were flipping over bars, tumbling, bouncing, jumping on trampolines, etc. He LOVED it! So I signed him up to go every Wednesday at 9:30a.m. We're going to have a busy week with school Monday and Tuesday, gymnastics Wednesday, Thursday will be a whatever day, and school Friday!
Wednesday night, we were getting him ready for bed. Ted said, "you're getting so big!" Andrew says, "No! I want to stay little." Then when he crawled into bed and started saying his prayer, he prayed that he would "stay little." so sweet.
Thursday morning I told Andrew we were going to go to Nashville, and maybe we could go get some fruit snacks at Costco. Later he was driving his fire truck around and asked me to come to his "pretend costco". A little later he said, "my grandma is coming. my grandma is coming to my costco and she's gonna be happy, did you know that?"
While at Costco, Andrew saw the toys and there was a nice Tonka Helicopter. He picked out the orange one, I think it was a coast guard helicopter. I was interested too until I saw it was 19.99. I decided I'd pass and check it out online (where it ranges from 26-35!) and told Andrew that it costs too much money. Then he started following us around saying, "I need some money to buy the helicopter!" then I heard "I need to buy some money to get the helicopter." Poor kid, he knew he needed money but really had no idea how to get some. I nearly caved in because it was pretty schnazzy and it was BIG and he loves helicopters and planes.
When I was checking out, I had Nana take him toward the exit and look at a real motorcycle to give them something to do. When we were leaving, he kept asking if he can "have the motorcycle at my house?" We told him he has to grow up big and have a job.
Thursday evening we were eating rotisserie chicken and mashed sweet potato and Andrew excuses himself to go potty. When he comes back, daddy asks, "did you remember to wash your hands?" Andrew starts climbing back up in his seat and says, "I washed my hands (big pause) yesterday." We both busted out laughing. He hasn't quite grasped what 'yesterday' means as opposed to 'today' so even when he talks about what he wants to do today, he'll tell you it was yesterday. Just the way he said it was hilarious to us.
Andrew has been SO GOOD this week - listening and obeying and being kind. Probably because we got out of the house more.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Friday, September 21, 2012
Three - "I'm older now"
Saturday evening he chose long sleeved pajamas to wear. He got in them all on his own and then promptly pushed the sleeves up to his elbows. I asked him why he was pushing his sleeves up and he says, "So I can get some air on my arms."
Every single night he cries begging us to let him wear underwear to bed. He is dry most nights, but the nights he's not - that diaper is f-u-l-l! I think it will get easier when it gets darker earlier and we're not outside so late, and thus eating dinner later.
Sunday he was SO good during the meeting. Sure I had to threaten him a couple of times, but overall, he was quiet, responding when I told him to stop doing something, and relatively still in his seat. Daddy had to be on stage to read the watchtower lesson, and Andrew decided to sit in daddy's usual seat on the end of the aisle. We had an answer prepared for him on paragraph 4. During the discussion of paragraph 3, however, he gets out of his seat and says, "Mommy, I need to go potty." I tell him to wait because his answer is in the next paragraph and he'd miss it if we go now. He looks at me blankly and says, "But I need to go pee pee." So I tell him to get back in the seat and try to hold it until after he gives his answer, and he can go after. So he gets in his seat and holds his hand down there pushing in to keep the pee in. He patiently waits for paragraph 4 to be read and a scripture to be read... gives his answer perfectly clearly "Jehovah saved him (David) from a lion and a bear." The second he was done - he leaps out of his seat, turns to me and holds his hand out and says, "you don't take me to the bathroom" and ran to the bathroom. I decided to wait until everyone stopped answering on our side of the hall to go back there, or when the next paragraph would be read. I looked at the clock just to take note of the time. Everyone else in the hall that saw him run off by himself was really nervous and couldn't believe I was letting him go by himself. I had 95% confidence he'd be fine. Anyway, he came running back after just two minutes. I didn't even get a chance to check on him. I knew he'd gone, too, because his tie was now tucked into his pants.
After the meeting, several came up to me and said they were nervous in my behalf and nearly went to check too! I probably won't do that again, but I did want to see what would happen. It's not like I help him in the bathroom anyway.
Monday - he's officially THREE! He has been excited about turning three since we told him last week. About a month ago, Ted was using the rototiller outside and Andrew asked if he could use it. Daddy said, "not until you're older." When we told him that he wasn't going to be two anymore, he said, "I'm older!" I said, "yes you are. we get older every day." Then he got excited and said, "I can use the tiller because I'm older!" It was sad to bust that little bubble.
Monday we toured a new possible school for him. Spring Hollow Early Learning Center. Its a very organic natural environment and toys. They are encouraged to explore and examine and evaluate the things around them that they are interested in. They learn to problem solve and understand their emotions. It was very interesting to observe. Andrew immediately felt safe, included, accepted, and wanted to be involved there. When I tried to get us out the door he first tried to ignore me, then wanted to show me more things, and finally told me he didn't want to leave - even if it meant lunch with daddy at Red Lobster. We got outside, and in the pouring down rain, he stops and just bursts into tears crying that he wanted to stay. After that, he kept referring to it as "my new school" - so I guess we're going to give it a try even though the schedule is not convenient for me.
So on Wednesday I was doing laundry and Andrew came up to me and said, "Mom. Mac is in the hospital."
I said, "yes she is. Would you like to say a prayer for her to have strength and to feel better?"
"Yes."
"Okay. Would you like to say it, or do you want me to?"
"I'll say it. On the phone." He picks up his toy phone and says, "Dear Jehovah, please and thank you for Mac and strength and please help us feel better...."
Thursday he asked to watch 'Listen Obey and Be Blessed.' so we're watching it. Then the Obey Jehovah part talks about magic and how it's bad. He turns to me and tells me princess Pea (from super why) uses a magic wand to write a C. (and all the letters). He's putting two and two together here.
Every single night he cries begging us to let him wear underwear to bed. He is dry most nights, but the nights he's not - that diaper is f-u-l-l! I think it will get easier when it gets darker earlier and we're not outside so late, and thus eating dinner later.
Sunday he was SO good during the meeting. Sure I had to threaten him a couple of times, but overall, he was quiet, responding when I told him to stop doing something, and relatively still in his seat. Daddy had to be on stage to read the watchtower lesson, and Andrew decided to sit in daddy's usual seat on the end of the aisle. We had an answer prepared for him on paragraph 4. During the discussion of paragraph 3, however, he gets out of his seat and says, "Mommy, I need to go potty." I tell him to wait because his answer is in the next paragraph and he'd miss it if we go now. He looks at me blankly and says, "But I need to go pee pee." So I tell him to get back in the seat and try to hold it until after he gives his answer, and he can go after. So he gets in his seat and holds his hand down there pushing in to keep the pee in. He patiently waits for paragraph 4 to be read and a scripture to be read... gives his answer perfectly clearly "Jehovah saved him (David) from a lion and a bear." The second he was done - he leaps out of his seat, turns to me and holds his hand out and says, "you don't take me to the bathroom" and ran to the bathroom. I decided to wait until everyone stopped answering on our side of the hall to go back there, or when the next paragraph would be read. I looked at the clock just to take note of the time. Everyone else in the hall that saw him run off by himself was really nervous and couldn't believe I was letting him go by himself. I had 95% confidence he'd be fine. Anyway, he came running back after just two minutes. I didn't even get a chance to check on him. I knew he'd gone, too, because his tie was now tucked into his pants.
After the meeting, several came up to me and said they were nervous in my behalf and nearly went to check too! I probably won't do that again, but I did want to see what would happen. It's not like I help him in the bathroom anyway.
Monday - he's officially THREE! He has been excited about turning three since we told him last week. About a month ago, Ted was using the rototiller outside and Andrew asked if he could use it. Daddy said, "not until you're older." When we told him that he wasn't going to be two anymore, he said, "I'm older!" I said, "yes you are. we get older every day." Then he got excited and said, "I can use the tiller because I'm older!" It was sad to bust that little bubble.
Monday we toured a new possible school for him. Spring Hollow Early Learning Center. Its a very organic natural environment and toys. They are encouraged to explore and examine and evaluate the things around them that they are interested in. They learn to problem solve and understand their emotions. It was very interesting to observe. Andrew immediately felt safe, included, accepted, and wanted to be involved there. When I tried to get us out the door he first tried to ignore me, then wanted to show me more things, and finally told me he didn't want to leave - even if it meant lunch with daddy at Red Lobster. We got outside, and in the pouring down rain, he stops and just bursts into tears crying that he wanted to stay. After that, he kept referring to it as "my new school" - so I guess we're going to give it a try even though the schedule is not convenient for me.
So on Wednesday I was doing laundry and Andrew came up to me and said, "Mom. Mac is in the hospital."
I said, "yes she is. Would you like to say a prayer for her to have strength and to feel better?"
"Yes."
"Okay. Would you like to say it, or do you want me to?"
"I'll say it. On the phone." He picks up his toy phone and says, "Dear Jehovah, please and thank you for Mac and strength and please help us feel better...."
Thursday he asked to watch 'Listen Obey and Be Blessed.' so we're watching it. Then the Obey Jehovah part talks about magic and how it's bad. He turns to me and tells me princess Pea (from super why) uses a magic wand to write a C. (and all the letters). He's putting two and two together here.
WHY does everything have to have magic in it? Some of the other times he's mentioned magic, I told him it's not really magic, it's science. Ted said, "I just tell him it's not real magic. They just say it's magic because it's too
difficult to explain to the other little kids. He seems to get that."
He's also recently asked what the expressions "Oh my God" and "Oh Jeez" means. And what "respect" means. He's a real thinker.
He's still intrigued with the function of his intestines. He pulls out his book that shows the inside of our body and asks about the bones and the organs. We've talked a little bit about veins carrying the blood around - but his favorite part is still the intestines. Even after he poops he'll tell me, "that came out of my intestines." LOL
Oh, and I discovered this week that when he goes potty by himself, he is now standing without a stepstool! Not sure how I missed this. Maybe because he takes himself potty all the time? I was impressed though.
Friday evening he had a chiropractic adjustment. He's been coughing the past week, mostly when he's lying down, but 1-2 times during the day too. Hoping the adjustment will help him get over whatever it is. He weighed in at 32.8 pounds and 38-3/4 inches tall. He did awesome. No tears or fussing.
Afterward, we went to Fulin's for dinner. He got the green dragon roll and ate the entire thing by himself using chopsticks all by himself without dropping any of it, and 1.5 pieces of crab rangoon, one entire piece of my big crazy roll, a few bites of fried rice and a bite of general tso's chicken, two cookies, and two full cups of lemon water. Wow! Almost sounds like the hungry caterpillar.
After dinner we went to Target to find a lunchbox for him to take to school. In the clearance section, I line up every option and ask him to choose which one he likes. He pointed to most of them and said he likes those - but then I asked him to pick just one that he'd like to take to school. He picks up a nice one that is designed to look like an owl and says, "I like this one. It's gorgeous!" I laugh as does another lady walking by who heard him say that. She turned around twice smiling and told me that was so cute to hear.
He's also recently asked what the expressions "Oh my God" and "Oh Jeez" means. And what "respect" means. He's a real thinker.
He's still intrigued with the function of his intestines. He pulls out his book that shows the inside of our body and asks about the bones and the organs. We've talked a little bit about veins carrying the blood around - but his favorite part is still the intestines. Even after he poops he'll tell me, "that came out of my intestines." LOL
Oh, and I discovered this week that when he goes potty by himself, he is now standing without a stepstool! Not sure how I missed this. Maybe because he takes himself potty all the time? I was impressed though.
Friday evening he had a chiropractic adjustment. He's been coughing the past week, mostly when he's lying down, but 1-2 times during the day too. Hoping the adjustment will help him get over whatever it is. He weighed in at 32.8 pounds and 38-3/4 inches tall. He did awesome. No tears or fussing.
Afterward, we went to Fulin's for dinner. He got the green dragon roll and ate the entire thing by himself using chopsticks all by himself without dropping any of it, and 1.5 pieces of crab rangoon, one entire piece of my big crazy roll, a few bites of fried rice and a bite of general tso's chicken, two cookies, and two full cups of lemon water. Wow! Almost sounds like the hungry caterpillar.
After dinner we went to Target to find a lunchbox for him to take to school. In the clearance section, I line up every option and ask him to choose which one he likes. He pointed to most of them and said he likes those - but then I asked him to pick just one that he'd like to take to school. He picks up a nice one that is designed to look like an owl and says, "I like this one. It's gorgeous!" I laugh as does another lady walking by who heard him say that. She turned around twice smiling and told me that was so cute to hear.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Bored at home!
Well, he's officially been out of school for only 3 days and it's been awesome having my kind, loving, agreeable, happy little boy back!!
Monday he cuddled in bed for a little while, kissing me on the forehead and telling me "I love you so much." We tried to pick up toys that had been left on the floor and do some light cleaning around the house. When I told him we needed to clean he asked, "Why? Who is coming over?" I said no one is coming over - it's just that the house is dirty and I'd like it to be clean. He still wasn't convinced. I told him to go get dressed in play clothes. "Why? Where are we going?" lol Really? Do we only get dressed because we're going to go somewhere, and only clean house if someone is coming over? Am I that bad??
Last week I let him measure out flour, salt and water to make a dough with. We rolled it out together and made a handprint of his right hand and baked it. His hand is almost exactly the same size as Ted's was - when Ted was in kindergarten! This week, I tried making balloon heads. It was an experiment listed in one of his books and I thought they were cute. Ha! I dont know what kind of balloon I was supposed to use, but it was next to impossible to get much flour in the balloons I have. So we ended up with two small balloons with flour in them, I let him paint some cotton balls and glue them on as hair. Then I drew a face on one and he drew a face on the other. He told me the face he drew was "scary." You're supposed to be able to squish them and make the face change a little, and it can be a cute paperweight. I think it was a project fail. We got flour all over the counter and floor, which was a good excuse to let him vacuum the kitchen.
Soon it was lunch time and we sat at his little table together eating our turkey and cheese, fruit and chips. Turns out he loves Salt and Vinegar potato chips.
After nap, we spent the entire afternoon and evening outside blowing bubbles and riding bikes. He's finally getting the hang of his big boy bike. That if you want to stop you just push backward on the pedals. He hates wearing a helmet so he doesn't like to ride the bike for long, but today was the longest he stayed on it, and the most times he got back on. He only got nervous one time and that was because he took his foot off the pedal and thus lost control of the brake.
He even got to ride on the lawn mower with daddy Monday evening. Then we were off to Moe's for a late dinner. Another gentleman there complimented us on how well behaved Andrew is.
This kid LOVES shrimp. Loves it! One day at Cracker Barrel he discovered fried shrimp was on the kids menu. When it arrived, he didn't realize it was shrimp because he'd never had the breaded shrimp. Half way through my own meal I realized the confusion and had to peel the breaded part off to show him that there was shrimp inside. Then he peeled most of the bread off the rest of the shrimp and ate them happily.
His favorite book, according to him, is Corduroy. He'll even go in his closet and pull out his overall-shorts to wear like Corduroy.
Wednesday night after the meeting, Andrew went up to a group of teenage boys and said, "hey guys! Hey guys!! Hey guys!!!" ... then after finally getting their attention said in a gruff voice, "I'm a pirate!" They all just blankly stared at him for a moment and then went back to their conversation.
Later I was getting jelly beans out of the bookbag when he came to tell me that he was hanging out and talking with two of the teenagers (who were on the ramp behind the side of the stage). I just smiled and handed him a jellybean. He got all excited and ran back up to the boys and showed them. They even got excited and one took it and pretended to eat it. Andrew smiled and said, "hey! I want to eat it!" The kid gave it back. Andrew came back and told me about it and I gave him three jelly beans and told him two were to share and one was for him to eat. He ran back to the boys who *really* got excited that time!
Thursday morning he finally slept until 7am which allowed me to get 5.5 hours of broken sleep. I sit up in bed and rub my eyes. "Can I turn the lights on?" Andrew asks. "No I'm not ready for the lights." "Are you going back to sleep mommy?" "No. I'm just really tired still and trying to wake up." Then he so sweetly says, "Can I help you get out of bed mommy?" "No sweetheart, I can do it, but thank you."
I took a few minutes to myself to check my emails as I usually do in the morning and Andrew said he wanted to work on his train table. Although I knew that meant trying to take it apart, I consented. He's trying to figure out how it works. It's just three big pieces that lay flat across the top together to make a tabletop inside a frame. He recently discovered that that tabletop can come up if he pushes on it from the underside. He comes back to me a few minutes later and says, "It's a hard day. I need a drink. .... but I need some underwear first." He wanted his morning milk, but decided he should at least put some underwear on first. He's not quite tall enough to reach the underwear drawer without standing in his bed, but he can't open it from there. Maybe it's time to rearrange the drawers in his dresser.
Thursday after nap, he crawled into my bed and put his head on daddy's pillow and we chatted for a little bit. Then he sat up, "Mommy, can I cuddle with you?" When he got settled into me and my pillow, he said, "I love you so much." He knows how to melt my heart.
After nap we went outside to play. His favorite thing to do is ride his bike in the driveway. He has three. One is a plastic tricycle, one is a Red Flyer Tricycle, and one is an actual Bicycle with training wheels. This week is the first week he's shown genuine interest in trying to ride his bicycle. Today I tried to entice him a bit. I told him he could ride it in the road and go up to the creek if he rides his tonka bike. He got excited about going in the road but then said, "I need to change bikes." I told him no and explained the deal again. He reluctantly consented. I told him it was okay to be scared, but he was being very brave trying to ride it even though he was scared. Sure enough, he ended up riding it all the way to the creek. Then he stomped through the water barefoot and got to swing on the tire swing (i think for the first time.) He LOVED that! Daddy ended up coming and picking us up because he had to go to Lowes so the joy was relatively short lived.
Maybe it's because *I* am overtired this week and all he wants is attention, but the last few days he's decided to be more... testy. For example, I open the car door and unbuckle him and he just stays in his seat, "I don't want to get out." I calmly and nicely ask him to please get out of the car. He may or may not consent at that point. If he does, he then stands in the doorway of the car. I will nicely ask him to get out of the car a couple of times, but it's like he waits for me to lose my patience and snap, "Get OUT of the CAR!" before he'll jump out - and of course be grumpy. I then hold the keys out and ask, "Would you like to open the front door?" "No." "Okay, then I will." "Noooo!! I want to open it!" as he starts whining and crying. "Then you should have said yes." Usually I just hand them back to him at this point, but I'm getting tired of this ridiculous routine he is starting. So Friday morning I kept the keys and started walking toward the door, with every intention of asking him again when we got to the door if he'd like to unlock it. But he stood in the driveway declaring that he was not going to come. I repeated, "come." He came to the edge of the sidewalk, arms crossed, head down, face scrunched up, "I don't want to come to the front door." I finally yelled at him to listen and obey and that I said to come. He screamed at me the entire length of the sidewalk and stomped up the steps and turned around and yelled at me some more. I handed him the keys and very sternly said, "Please unlock the door so we can go inside." I barely spoke to him as we went in. He did something else that I can't even remember now, but he was being very rude and disrespectful and defiant. I finally went over to him and swatted his bottom. I told him I don't like to spank him but he HAS to learn to listen and obey. I can't protect him in important situations if he's not even willing to listen and react in ones that aren't as essential, and it's certainly not okay to tell mommy and daddy 'no' when we tell him to do something. Anyway, I knew he felt hurt that I spanked him and after talking to him I encouraged him to cuddle in my lap with a blanket and just held him and reassured him that I love him dearly. It's exhausting though to feel like the simplest task in the world is more like a debate or battle.
One day this week I got him ready for nap with no problems, but when he got in bed and I went to put the blanket on him, he kept kicking his feet and laughing. I asked him to stop and he ignored me so I just tossed the blanket onto him without tucking it in and said, "I'm not doing this." and left. He cried out, "noo! Do this!" meaning to tuck the blanket it. I didn't respond since I was closing the door already. This resulted in a meltdown. He got out of bed crying and yelling like he was reprimanding himself. He'd hit the door and then yell, "You stop that! Don't do that!" and other things. I gave him a minute then I calmly opened the door and he jumped back in bed and softly said, "don't spank me!" I told him I wasn't going to spank him, that I don't like spanking him. I asked, "do you like to be spanked?" He said no and I asked him if it hurts. He said yes. I told him it's much nicer when he just does what he's told to do. I'm too tired to battle him over everything. I asked him if he'd like a hug and he smiled and wrapped his arms around my neck. I told him I like hugs and kisses much better than yelling and spankings. After that he laid down. I dont recall if that was a day he didnt take a nap or that he did. He's had a couple of days this week where he didn't sleep. Ayeayeaye.
Which reminds me... Flash will drive us nuts sometimes and I'll say "ayeayeaye.. sheesh." Andrew now says that a lot. Its funny coming from him.
He's now responsible enough to feed Flash. So I let him do that. Friday morning when he was going to get some cat food I heard him singing songs about Flash that he's heard me sing. I think this morning it was "Flash-a-roni, Flash-a-roni..."
And Friday morning, instead of coming to get me first like he usually does, I heard him go to the front door and let Flash in, and then he was talking to Flash in the office. "Flash kitty (emphasizing the tt's in kitty) Flash kitty!" who I guess was ignoring him. "Flash kitty! Stop licking! Stop licking Flash kitty!" *big sigh* Then he comes in my room, "Mom, Flash kitty won't stop licking!" LOL I explained to him that, although it can be annoying sometimes, that is how cats give themselves a bath. But then he thought I was suggesting we give Flash a bath.
Monday he cuddled in bed for a little while, kissing me on the forehead and telling me "I love you so much." We tried to pick up toys that had been left on the floor and do some light cleaning around the house. When I told him we needed to clean he asked, "Why? Who is coming over?" I said no one is coming over - it's just that the house is dirty and I'd like it to be clean. He still wasn't convinced. I told him to go get dressed in play clothes. "Why? Where are we going?" lol Really? Do we only get dressed because we're going to go somewhere, and only clean house if someone is coming over? Am I that bad??
Last week I let him measure out flour, salt and water to make a dough with. We rolled it out together and made a handprint of his right hand and baked it. His hand is almost exactly the same size as Ted's was - when Ted was in kindergarten! This week, I tried making balloon heads. It was an experiment listed in one of his books and I thought they were cute. Ha! I dont know what kind of balloon I was supposed to use, but it was next to impossible to get much flour in the balloons I have. So we ended up with two small balloons with flour in them, I let him paint some cotton balls and glue them on as hair. Then I drew a face on one and he drew a face on the other. He told me the face he drew was "scary." You're supposed to be able to squish them and make the face change a little, and it can be a cute paperweight. I think it was a project fail. We got flour all over the counter and floor, which was a good excuse to let him vacuum the kitchen.
Soon it was lunch time and we sat at his little table together eating our turkey and cheese, fruit and chips. Turns out he loves Salt and Vinegar potato chips.
After nap, we spent the entire afternoon and evening outside blowing bubbles and riding bikes. He's finally getting the hang of his big boy bike. That if you want to stop you just push backward on the pedals. He hates wearing a helmet so he doesn't like to ride the bike for long, but today was the longest he stayed on it, and the most times he got back on. He only got nervous one time and that was because he took his foot off the pedal and thus lost control of the brake.
He even got to ride on the lawn mower with daddy Monday evening. Then we were off to Moe's for a late dinner. Another gentleman there complimented us on how well behaved Andrew is.
This kid LOVES shrimp. Loves it! One day at Cracker Barrel he discovered fried shrimp was on the kids menu. When it arrived, he didn't realize it was shrimp because he'd never had the breaded shrimp. Half way through my own meal I realized the confusion and had to peel the breaded part off to show him that there was shrimp inside. Then he peeled most of the bread off the rest of the shrimp and ate them happily.
His favorite book, according to him, is Corduroy. He'll even go in his closet and pull out his overall-shorts to wear like Corduroy.
Wednesday night after the meeting, Andrew went up to a group of teenage boys and said, "hey guys! Hey guys!! Hey guys!!!" ... then after finally getting their attention said in a gruff voice, "I'm a pirate!" They all just blankly stared at him for a moment and then went back to their conversation.
Later I was getting jelly beans out of the bookbag when he came to tell me that he was hanging out and talking with two of the teenagers (who were on the ramp behind the side of the stage). I just smiled and handed him a jellybean. He got all excited and ran back up to the boys and showed them. They even got excited and one took it and pretended to eat it. Andrew smiled and said, "hey! I want to eat it!" The kid gave it back. Andrew came back and told me about it and I gave him three jelly beans and told him two were to share and one was for him to eat. He ran back to the boys who *really* got excited that time!
Thursday morning he finally slept until 7am which allowed me to get 5.5 hours of broken sleep. I sit up in bed and rub my eyes. "Can I turn the lights on?" Andrew asks. "No I'm not ready for the lights." "Are you going back to sleep mommy?" "No. I'm just really tired still and trying to wake up." Then he so sweetly says, "Can I help you get out of bed mommy?" "No sweetheart, I can do it, but thank you."
I took a few minutes to myself to check my emails as I usually do in the morning and Andrew said he wanted to work on his train table. Although I knew that meant trying to take it apart, I consented. He's trying to figure out how it works. It's just three big pieces that lay flat across the top together to make a tabletop inside a frame. He recently discovered that that tabletop can come up if he pushes on it from the underside. He comes back to me a few minutes later and says, "It's a hard day. I need a drink. .... but I need some underwear first." He wanted his morning milk, but decided he should at least put some underwear on first. He's not quite tall enough to reach the underwear drawer without standing in his bed, but he can't open it from there. Maybe it's time to rearrange the drawers in his dresser.
Thursday after nap, he crawled into my bed and put his head on daddy's pillow and we chatted for a little bit. Then he sat up, "Mommy, can I cuddle with you?" When he got settled into me and my pillow, he said, "I love you so much." He knows how to melt my heart.
After nap we went outside to play. His favorite thing to do is ride his bike in the driveway. He has three. One is a plastic tricycle, one is a Red Flyer Tricycle, and one is an actual Bicycle with training wheels. This week is the first week he's shown genuine interest in trying to ride his bicycle. Today I tried to entice him a bit. I told him he could ride it in the road and go up to the creek if he rides his tonka bike. He got excited about going in the road but then said, "I need to change bikes." I told him no and explained the deal again. He reluctantly consented. I told him it was okay to be scared, but he was being very brave trying to ride it even though he was scared. Sure enough, he ended up riding it all the way to the creek. Then he stomped through the water barefoot and got to swing on the tire swing (i think for the first time.) He LOVED that! Daddy ended up coming and picking us up because he had to go to Lowes so the joy was relatively short lived.
Maybe it's because *I* am overtired this week and all he wants is attention, but the last few days he's decided to be more... testy. For example, I open the car door and unbuckle him and he just stays in his seat, "I don't want to get out." I calmly and nicely ask him to please get out of the car. He may or may not consent at that point. If he does, he then stands in the doorway of the car. I will nicely ask him to get out of the car a couple of times, but it's like he waits for me to lose my patience and snap, "Get OUT of the CAR!" before he'll jump out - and of course be grumpy. I then hold the keys out and ask, "Would you like to open the front door?" "No." "Okay, then I will." "Noooo!! I want to open it!" as he starts whining and crying. "Then you should have said yes." Usually I just hand them back to him at this point, but I'm getting tired of this ridiculous routine he is starting. So Friday morning I kept the keys and started walking toward the door, with every intention of asking him again when we got to the door if he'd like to unlock it. But he stood in the driveway declaring that he was not going to come. I repeated, "come." He came to the edge of the sidewalk, arms crossed, head down, face scrunched up, "I don't want to come to the front door." I finally yelled at him to listen and obey and that I said to come. He screamed at me the entire length of the sidewalk and stomped up the steps and turned around and yelled at me some more. I handed him the keys and very sternly said, "Please unlock the door so we can go inside." I barely spoke to him as we went in. He did something else that I can't even remember now, but he was being very rude and disrespectful and defiant. I finally went over to him and swatted his bottom. I told him I don't like to spank him but he HAS to learn to listen and obey. I can't protect him in important situations if he's not even willing to listen and react in ones that aren't as essential, and it's certainly not okay to tell mommy and daddy 'no' when we tell him to do something. Anyway, I knew he felt hurt that I spanked him and after talking to him I encouraged him to cuddle in my lap with a blanket and just held him and reassured him that I love him dearly. It's exhausting though to feel like the simplest task in the world is more like a debate or battle.
One day this week I got him ready for nap with no problems, but when he got in bed and I went to put the blanket on him, he kept kicking his feet and laughing. I asked him to stop and he ignored me so I just tossed the blanket onto him without tucking it in and said, "I'm not doing this." and left. He cried out, "noo! Do this!" meaning to tuck the blanket it. I didn't respond since I was closing the door already. This resulted in a meltdown. He got out of bed crying and yelling like he was reprimanding himself. He'd hit the door and then yell, "You stop that! Don't do that!" and other things. I gave him a minute then I calmly opened the door and he jumped back in bed and softly said, "don't spank me!" I told him I wasn't going to spank him, that I don't like spanking him. I asked, "do you like to be spanked?" He said no and I asked him if it hurts. He said yes. I told him it's much nicer when he just does what he's told to do. I'm too tired to battle him over everything. I asked him if he'd like a hug and he smiled and wrapped his arms around my neck. I told him I like hugs and kisses much better than yelling and spankings. After that he laid down. I dont recall if that was a day he didnt take a nap or that he did. He's had a couple of days this week where he didn't sleep. Ayeayeaye.
Which reminds me... Flash will drive us nuts sometimes and I'll say "ayeayeaye.. sheesh." Andrew now says that a lot. Its funny coming from him.
He's now responsible enough to feed Flash. So I let him do that. Friday morning when he was going to get some cat food I heard him singing songs about Flash that he's heard me sing. I think this morning it was "Flash-a-roni, Flash-a-roni..."
And Friday morning, instead of coming to get me first like he usually does, I heard him go to the front door and let Flash in, and then he was talking to Flash in the office. "Flash kitty (emphasizing the tt's in kitty) Flash kitty!" who I guess was ignoring him. "Flash kitty! Stop licking! Stop licking Flash kitty!" *big sigh* Then he comes in my room, "Mom, Flash kitty won't stop licking!" LOL I explained to him that, although it can be annoying sometimes, that is how cats give themselves a bath. But then he thought I was suggesting we give Flash a bath.
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