To Huntsville

Sunday evening (June 23rd) Andrew built a pretty awesome looking car out of Legos. He built a rectangle and said it was the engine, and then kept adding to it once that was in place on the truck.  Monday morning he modified it to be a street sweeper "road cleaner" and then later it became a garbage truck with an arm on the side to lift the trash into the truck. 

Then he said to himself, "I want the house to be red" and he started building with red blocks, making an outline. Soon it turned into a maze instead with lots of colors used.  He was so proud of it he couldn't wait for daddy to get home to see it.

We had four trees each planted in 5 gallon buckets. Our friend Paula came by to pick them up. Andrew desperately wanted to help and insisted he could carry one. He had to stop and set it down three times between the garden and her car - but I was very proud of his effort. He'd say, "1-2-3-go!" and pick it up again and wobble toward the car saying, "I'm strong!" "I can do this!"

Tuesday he didn't have school so he got to have a nap before violin lesson. It seemed to me like he focused better being tired than he did today!  I could tell he was imitating her and things she's said and done in past lessons. Today he deliberately making a 'fox' with his hands instead of a bunny and said 'oh! look what I made! It's a wild animal that starts with F' as if he's trying to quiz her. When she asked him to get out of the chair and stand in position, he pretended he was stuck to the chair. Later she was instructing him on hand placement and he said, "Hold on. My phone is ringing" as he reached for his pocket (I had no idea he had his pretend phone in his pocket).  Usually he's 99% focused and cooperative, but today he seemed all over the place.

On the way home, to avoid traffic lights and backed up traffic I took 840 to Carters Creek Pike.  He saw the sign for it and asked if this was the way to Nana's house. He'd asked me that before and I thought it was a silly question since it's the opposite direction, but I finally made the connection today. We get off of 840 onto Jefferson Pike to go to Nana's. The Pike in both names confused him.

Thursday (the 27th) afternoon we headed off to Huntsville for the District Convention. He wasn't too eager to stay in a hotel, but he got excited when I said yes to his question, "can I jump on the bed?"
We made a bed for him out of chair cushions and pillows between our two beds - he liked that.

He did SO well sitting all weekend. Friday he was awesome - pretty still and quiet all day. Though at one point he started wiggling his feet up and down fast and his shoe came flying off and landed right in his lap! I was so relieved it didn't fly off somewhere else! 
Right off the bat he was listening and asked me, "What does Value mean?"  It took me a few minutes to figure out how to define it. I told him it was when you care a lot about something and want to keep it and protect it.
Andrew drew a good picture of a scary monster in his notebook. A few minutes later he did some more scribbling on it and told me something about a diaper. I asked him if the monster was wearing a diaper and he laughed and said, "No! It's not wearing a diaper! It's pooping! It pooed on my head!" And so begins the childish fascination with poo.
At one point, we were standing talking among friends and another one walked by and asked Andrew if they were bothering him. He said, "No, I'm entertaining." He does try to entertain people!
We took him outside after lunch and looked at the fish in the canal and tried to walk a lot. He enjoyed going over the bridges and climbing along a wall and getting to be with Aunt Eese.
After dinner we let him go play in the pool. He had a blast! He adopted another young mom and took turns jumping into her arms over and over. He also made friends with a handicapped person.

Saturday morning I knew it was going to be a long day because he was so full of wiggles and being loud from the second he woke up. We walked to the convention site, the fountain outside was working and shooting water really high. He got excited to see it and likened it to a geyser which they learned about in school recently. He really just wanted to sit at the side of it and watch it come on and off.
We saw the handicapped friend and he went up to say hi to him. As they were saying goodbye, the brother drooled a little bit. Andrew looked a bit disgusted and very matter-of-factly told him, "You're dripping." 
He was very interested in the pool at the convention and learning about baptism. He watched it on Saturday with enthusiasm. In the evening, after swimming in the hotel pool, he told us he got baptized there in the pool.
After lunch we went to the pond and he fed leftover bread to the fish and geese. We did a lot of walking and tried to get him to run and jump in the shade of some magnolia trees. After lunch, I wasn't feel well and I knew Andrew needed a nap. So we headed back to the hotel after lunch. On the way down, Andrew tripped on the steps and fell face first. He slid along several steps before catching himself with his arms. It scared us all and hurt his arms; he was a champ about it. Daddy ran around the railing and scooped him up and then set him down at the bottom to 'check and make sure everything still works.'  His forearms were red and tender, but everything worked. We continued on to the hotel where he ended up sleeping for nearly 3 hours!  We went and had dinner and then it was back to the pool for his physical activity.  Everyone would comment to me what a happy boy he is.

Sunday morning Ted and Andrew were walking back to the seats when another woman walked by on the steps. Andrew gasped and said, "you have really red lips!"   Ted was relieved that it wasn't anything else! Lately Andrew has asked friends about their big bellies or big bottoms! And recently he told me that I had really gooey eyes just trying to get a laugh. We're never sure what he'll say and we haven't discussed tact.
Sunday afternoon he picked a large maple leaf and brought it to me as a gift. Later he told me I should take it to bed with me and it'd be amazing.

Sunday evening, back at home - he built a car out of legos that had two regular wheels on the front but two squares as wheels on the back. He said it's not a truck, it's a Bep. He added a steering wheel to it and said, "There, my Bep now has a Perp."  Ted suggested calling it a burp instead and said "your Bep now has a Burp."  They're so silly.