Ridiculous

Monday morning he crawled into bed with me. Then he'd pop his head up, "Are you ready to get up yet?"  Then he told me, "you just put your head up, and then your feet up, and then put your feet down and sit up! That's how you get up!" 

In the early afternoon, Jenn and Houston Cox were here. Houston was playing with Andrew and jokingly told him that his name was Fred, not Houston. When I tried to tell Andrew that Houston was just playing with him and that his name was Houston - he thought for a second, smiled and said, "Noooo!"  as he laughed. The Houston pulled out his driver's license to let Andrew read that yes, his name really was Houston.  So Andrew said, "Okay. You're Fred Houston."  And from now on, he probably will be.  And Houston kept calling Andrew "Fredrew"  which he got a kick out of .

Monday late afternoon we were playing "What Time Is It Mr. Fox?" in the backyard.  Andrew was the fox and daddy and I would ask him the time. After a few rounds, Andrew suddenly would answer, "Let me check" and he'd make a "chickachickachicka" sound while making short burts of movements with his arms up and down from the elbow and moving them from right to left as he'd turn his body. Maybe he was being a robot somehow. Then he'd stop making the 'chicka' sound, look toward us and hold up 5 to 10 fingers and announce the time.  It was hilarious to watch and we have no idea where it came from.

Annelise was here in the evening and we were talking and Andrew would come up and say, "Excuse me. Excuse me mommy!"   .... "Can I talk to Annelise for a minute?"   And when she went to play Legos with him and I was still talking to her, he came back to me and told me to stop talking so she could play.

Tuesday morning he came to me for a hug and seemed like he didn't want to let go. So we sat on the floor cuddling. I told him I loved him and he said he loved me too. Then I whispered "you're my boy" in his ear. He very softly said, "and you're my girl" as he tighted his hug around my neck. 
Though on the drive to school, he saw a lady in her driveway and asked if it was grandma. I told him Grandma was in California and we were still in Tennessee.  Somehow we ended up in a conversation about daddy being grandma's boy all grown up, just like mommy was nana's girl all grown up. Then I told him daddy was grandma's boy just like Andrew is mommy and daddy's boy.  He said, "No.. I'm Papa's boy. I'm Papa Bruce's boy."   Okay.

While we were still getting ready for school, Andrew was playing on our bed. I walked in and he points to the cord hanging from our light and says, "yours works mommy. mine doesnt." I said okay and got him to come brush his teeth.  I didn't think anything else of it.

Hours later, I walk in the room, the light switch is already up but the lights are off. So I find the remote on the bed and I'm pushing the button and nothing is happening. I go back and check the light switch. THEN I remember what he'd told me. I pulled the cord on the light and then hit the remote, and the light worked.  I'd have never figured that out if he hadn't told me. lol

Thursday we toured the Tennessee Career Institute again. When we arrived, the director came out saying, "Hi Andrew!"  Andrew had his hands in his pockets and pulled one out at a time to introduce us, "This is Annelise. And this is Amanda.... my Aunt Annelise and mommy Amanda."  And put his hands back in his pockets.

I asked Andrew if he had a favorite word. He thought and said, "ridiculous."  I'd agree with that. He's been using it more lately and laughing.

A couple of weeks ago he asked me play "Annelise's phone"  (my ringtone for Annelise which is Fur Elise.)  So I showed him on the piano how to start the song.  This week, he went to the piano, pushed on a key and then worked his way up until he heard the right one. And started playing those first two notes of Fur Elise like I taught him!  I was impressed that he remembered the tone and matched it.


Friday he begged me to let him take his "delicate violin" (the real one) to school. I wouldn't let him, so he asked if he could take the toy one. I said yes but told him he'd have to teach everyone how to be gentle with it. He was so proud to show it off, and he let everyone who wanted to try it have a turn.
He is still very interested in learning the violin. I've asked a friend for their teacher's information, but she hasn't given it to me yet. I'm hoping that it will work out to get him lessons soon.

Saturday morning Ted introduced him to the amazing violinist Lindsey Stirling on YouTube video. He watched and listened to the Ice Castle one, completely mesmerized. When it was over, he looked up at daddy and said, "Wooow! Coool!"   Then we showed him the Shadows one and he enjoyed that too.  After nap, he asked if he could watch the girl playing the violin again. 

I just have to say - I'm so proud of him. He is so polite and kind. He has no problem sharing. He is helpful. We rarely have to ask more than once to get him to do something - he complies quickly. Age and race mean nothing to him when it comes to making friends. (Strangers don't mean anything either... he'll chat with anyone and tell them anything they want to know!)  He is just such a wonderful boy.