He is the proud new owner of... a belt. He's noticed some of his pants have belt loops and he has no belt to put in them like daddy does. We went to Walmart Saturday to get daddy some thermal shirts and I spotted some kid sized belts. He picked out a classic transformers one. It's a nice dark belt with a solid brushed nickel belt buckle in the shape of the autobot logo.
Sunday we visited a new congregation to see if I could breathe and not be in pain afterward from chemicals. We went to the Columbia congregation where our friends Anne and Andy Zylstra moved last year. At first, Andrew was a little bashful, but when the Watchtower conductor came up and introduced himself and said he'd look for his hand on paragraph 1 - Andrew started opening up. Then he wandered off to the front to prance around. He was really good during the meeting, and gave his answer perfectly clearly and normal.
After the meeting he asked if he could go talk to an older gentleman behind a counter. He stood on his tip toes and peeked over the counter. The brother leaned forward and soon they were engaged in conversation. Then two more older ones came and joined in the conversation. Then I hear, "who does he belong to?" They all shrugged at each other until one noticed me watching and smiling and figured out he was mine. Soon he was off to the front again and I saw a tall bald brother with a white mustache pretending to be a zombie coming to get him. Andrew squealed with delight and then ran back to me. The brother played peek-a-boo crouching behind other people as he worked his way back around ... Andrew giggled and climbed into my lap for protection. I asked if he knew his new friend's name. He said no, so I suggested he just put his hand out for a shake and ask. So he leaped off my lap and put his hand out. The brother immediately straightened up and came to shake Andrew's hand. Andrew asked him his name and he kneeled down to talk to Andrew. His name was George. They had fun playing and talking and Andy Zylstra joined in the fun with Andrew.
A little later, Andrew headed back out to go meet people I guess, and all of a sudden swiftly turned around and walked back to stand by my seat. I see a brother with an eye patch walking by and realized Andrew probably was taken aback by it - and most likely wondered if he was a pirate. The brother just smiled at us and Andrew watched cautiously as the brother passed.
We went out to lunch with a large group - Andrew ate well and was very well behaved. We all enjoyed the day.
Once we got home, he asked if he could play on his playground. We all bundled up and ran around a bit. Then played some games inside too. All in all - a pleasant day.
All day Sunday - whenever we were on the road, Andrew kept yelling out, "Time tunnel! Time tunnel proaching" ('Time tunnel approaching' is what the conductor says on Dinosaur Train when they're about to visit a different era)
Tuesday was back to school. The teacher told me that when they went outside, he immediately noticed that the bird feeders in the trees were empty. He came to her and said his tummy was sad. She asked why. "Because the birds have no food to eat. It makes my tummy sad." So they went and got some bird seed and he scattered lots of food for the birds.
In the car, the song The Lords Evening Meal came on. Andrew told me he didn't like that song because "Jehovah died in it." I said, "No he didn't." He said, "Yes he did. Jehovah died." I told him that Jehovah can't die because he is God, but his Son Jesus did die and it gave us the hope of living forever in Paradise when everyone is nice and kind and the earth is beautiful.
The teacher posted a blog post that was primarily about Andrew and another boy Lucas.
"I recently spent a large portion of an afternoon watching Andrew and Lucas take a developmental leap from parallel play to associative play. Both boys had been dabbling with “growing their circle” and seeking out new friends to play with during the day.
They both picked up a yellow hula hoop and brought it over to the tree. Andrew hung up his hoop and started swinging it. Then Lucas hung up his hoop and put his belly in it and started to swing. Andrew started to swing and do the same thing as Lucas. Then he changed to doing a flip through the hoop. Lucas did the same and then added a ball. He threw the ball through the hoop. Andrew did the same and changed to a football.
They continued to observe and respond to each other until they took both hoops down and combined them together. They spent most of their time watching each other and adjusting their hoop or ball while giggling and chatting.
It was like watching a dance that had been choreographed. The boys played seamlessly and learned that they liked each other.
They have since added cars, sand, water, and clay to the list of things that they like to do together and they have continued to grow as friends." (A few weeks ago, their favorite activity was using pulleys)
Daddy was teaching Andrew "righty tighty, lefty loosey". Much later Ted asked him what it meant and Andrew defined it, "if you turn it right you tighten it. If you turn it left, you un-tighten it."
Wednesday morning he tried to fight me about going to gymnastics. While there, though, he had a smile on his face and enjoyed the entire time!
Afterward he had his first dentist appointment. In Dr. Farrow's waiting room is a vintage-styled VW bus with two driver's seats and benches in the back. He had a blast playing in it. I noticed that he only wanted to be in the right driver's seat so he knows that's the 'real' side.
Once he got called back, he panicked. He clung to me and didn't want to do anything the dentist asked. I had to do it all first. He showed us each of his instruments and took them apart to show all the pieces and describe what they do. He squished the spinning toothbrush and tried to stop it from spinning with his fingers, he tried to put bubbles into "Mr. Thirsty" the suction straw, and saw the water shoot. I had to bribe him with lunch anywhere he wanted just to let him get his teeth brushed. He sat on my lap with a death grip on my arm while the dentist brushed his teeth. We're doing a good job apparently.
So, he chose Grand Buffet for lunch. He was SO good there. Sat properly in his chair, didn't try to goof off, was friendly to those around him, and he ate almost two full plates of food. His favorite is the crabmeat with cheese, and the noodles. But he also ate the shrimp, broccoli (he asked for it!), a pork egg roll he asked for (ate half) and green beans. I introduced him to their custard thing - he liked that a lot!
Lately he's been telling me he doesn't want his toys. He wants new ones. But he also asks incessantly to watch videos and fumes each time I tell him no. I'm fed up with it. So much so I wish we had no tv at all. He clearly got too much tv and game time during our sick vacation. So, when he rants at me, I threaten to take toys away unless he straightens up. It usually works and I've only had to take toys away twice. But his constantly telling me he doesn't want his toys is driving me nuts. When we got up from a good nap on Wednesday - he was still at it. "Can I watch a video... puhleeeeese?" "No. You can play with toys, color, or read." Scrunching up his face, "But I don't want my toys!" This went on for another minute and then he told me he was going to go watch tv. I said, "Fine. If you turn on that tv to watch it - I'm packing up your toys. You can say goodbye to your toys." "Good-bye toys" he said as he marched out to the living room to watch tv.
So, I got a bunch of grocery bags and started packing up his toys. I took more than half of his toys and left just a couple of trains and cars, one dinosaur, and his blocks, and one car track, his three play hats, and his music instruments and stuffed animals since they're in the closet anyway. Everything else is categorized in bags in the top of my closet. I'm not sure yet if I'll make him trade toys for them or let him earn them or what. I'll have to play it by ear.
Thursday, daddy had to take his truck out to Nissan in Smyrna for a tailgate issue. So we joined him. Nana and Papa picked us up and we all went to Arby's for a quick lunch. Andrew started his prayer tonight with, "Dear Jehovah, Thank you for Nana and Papa who met us at Arbys where the cheese sticks and french fries, and ketchup and sandwich are...." and then thanked him for the planets and stars and prayed for those who are sick to be better. I guess he liked Arbys today!
Friday was gorgeous weather. Almost 70 degrees. Andrew asked me if I could stay at school with him, but I had a dentist appointment. He was sweet about it. When I came to get him, he was in his spare clothes which means he got the first set muddy. I sent him potty before going outside to play and he came out of the bathroom still pulling his pants up - his underwear was inside out and backwards. I know he knows which way they go because he dresses himself sometimes and talks about the tag going in the back - the teacher suggested he might have just been in a hurry.
We played outside on the playground for a bit before coming home. He didn't want to leave, but he didn't fight me. When we got home, I let him ride bikes in the driveway. Then i remembered, on Tuesday I bought him a scooter secondhand. I showed him the surprise in the back of the car and he gasped, "A Scooter!!!" and instantly knew how to use it already. I have no idea where he's been on one.. maybe the Laffertys?
Saturday after a drizzly morning of service, we grabbed some quesadillas for lunch. While we were sitting at a table waiting for them, a toddler walked by and showed us his drink. Andrew asked what he did and I said he showed us his cup of water. Andrew announces, "I don't need any water." I told him that we all need water. Daddy chimed in that we are made mostly of water. I clarified that on the inside of our body is mostly water. Andrew put his hands on his belly and said, "and in the middle, sweet tea." We both laughed.
After nap we were all sitting playing with blocks and monster trucks in Andrew's room. At one point Andrew stood up and started dancing all around and said he was exercising. Daddy suggested we all go do P90X yoga. Andrew said, "No, I want to do this..." and continued to wiggle and jump and dance in his room. As he was saying it, one foot slipped on the hardwood and he nearly did the splits. He fell on his rear in surprise, but then smiled and yelled, "I won!"
Daddy also made a great fort by throwing a comforter over the top of his bed (three sides are still high like a crib) and Andrew liked turning off the lights and having his planets glowing and his ladybug shining stars all over the walls to pretend it was night time.
Since going to the Monster Truck Jam, he likes making lines with his blocks and driving his truck over them and making the truck flip over like Grave Digger did in the real show. Then he pretends to get a tractor to pull it upright again. (he does the same with his bikes and scooter now too) Then he wants to build a "time tunnel" (from Dinosaur Train) and a car wash.
Saturday evening he was sitting in his rocker and told me, "After the circus, I'm going to find a rocket ship and DRIVE it!" I asked him where he'd go. He told me he'd go to explore the purple planet and see ____ and _____ but there'd be no other people there. I didn't recognize the names he gave so I'm wondering if this idea is from a book they might have read at school. He seemed pretty excited about the expedition. I bought tickets to take him to the circus at the end of January.
I just read the blog his teacher keeps for us parents to read. It was beautifully written about how the children use all things around them to create art, sometimes with simple meanings and sometimes complex expressions. The last paragraph was this, " I looked all over the playground for our hula hoops on Friday. I finally ducked my head in the log cabin and there they were. Four hoops were balanced carefully in the rafters with a menagerie of dinosaurs standing guard in the eaves. This was art and if I had to analyze the creation for an art appreciation class, I could speak about balance, symmetry, line, and color. I think the message would have been “We like these things here.” So I left the hoops where they were placed. I believe art can be anything that a child has changed and arranged with careful thought and consideration. Art is everywhere!"
I told Ted that I would venture to bet that Andrew had something to do with those hula hoops and dinosaurs. Then he told me, "You know, Andrew was trying to tell me something about Hula Hoops and Dinosaurs.. what was it?"
Here are some other photos of him at school recently:
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