Andrew rubbed his chest and said, "My pects hurt." I love that he is learning some of the muscles in the body.
Recently Andrew pulled out one of his paint brushes and told me that he thought it was too thick and had cut half the hairs off. I have no idea when he actually cut the brush, but he did a good job since his goal was to make the brush thinner. He was used to a different brush and I guess assumed that this one was supposed to be the same size.
Jenn and Houston were here for the last maternity photos and of course Houston and Andrew have quite the antics. Andrew told Houston that the spanish word for chicken is chickalente.
And whenever Andrew would speak to Jenn's belly, Houston would mumble words replying back to Andrew. Andrew of course knew it was Houston and was laughing hysterically. Even more so when he rubbed Oliver's bottom that was sticking up and Houston made tooting sounds. Later Andrew walked by asking himself if Oliver would toot again and he put his hand on Jenn's belly but no one made any sounds. He called everyone's attention and when Jenn made the sound he said, 'that wasn't it" So he did it again and Houston made the sound and Andrew yelled excitedly, "That's the one!"
They were still calling each other FredDrew and Houston Fred - and tonight left calling each other Andrew-chickalente and Houston-chickalente. They are so silly.
I had a big bag of clothes ready for Jenn and Houston to take with them, and a couple of toys. I told Andrew if there were any toys that he'd like to give to baby Oliver - to go dig them out now. He said, "I want to give Houston my firetruck!" and he got his beloved ride on toy, and got a fireman hat to put with it. And when they were leaving, he carried/pushed the firetruck all the way to their car and helped load it up. I was so proud of him for giving away a toy that has meant so much to him and that he has loved so much. I am also very glad to not always be moving it out of the way!
Monday Andrew got in the car after school and pulled a few legos out of his pocket and told daddy that he got them from school. They had a little discussion about taking things that aren't for us to take and Andrew suddenly understood what he'd done and how wrong it was. So as soon as they got home, they put those legos in a baggie and back into his backpack. First thing Tuesday morning, he took the baggie to his teacher and apologized for stealing them. He was very upset and trying not to cry. Then daddy took him aside and told him how proud he was of Andrew for having the courage to admit what he'd done and to apologize himself while returning them, and his honesty is appreciated, and he is still very loved. Andrew perked up.
Ted told me he wanted to reward Andrew for being truthful about taking the legos and for willingly returning them so he could associate telling the truth with a reward rather than a punishment. So after dinner, we explained to him again how proud we were of him for telling us the truth, and we were going to take him to the store and let him pick out an entire set of Legos. He came home with a lego set that builds a semi and a bulldozer that can ride on the trailer of the semi. We came home and helped HIM build the bulldozer. He did a great job!
One evening, I got out of the shower and Andrew was in the bathroom trying to figure out how to properly put on my bra. Then he randomly asked, "mom, why do you have a hole in your vagina?" The look on his face when I told him it was where a baby comes out (figured it was safe since we'd been talking about growing baby's and getting to feel Jenn's) was priceless. I told him that when it gets time that hole gets big enough to fit a baby's head through. He asked if the baby just falls out and I told him there are doctors there to help and it doesn't usually come out that fast. He was so intrigued and I could tell he was visualizing all of this too. I told him how the baby's head comes out first, slowly, then the shoulders, and then the doctor is able to hold the baby and pull him out the rest of the way. But then we talked about the umbilical cord and how it fed the baby all it needed to grow and was attached to the inside of the mommy, and that the baby doesn't eat with it's mouth while inside. Then after it's born, the doctor clamps the cord closed, and cuts it off so the baby is no longer attached. That shrivels up and becomes what we see as the belly button. He thought that was really cool, but then asked more questions about the umbilical cord. I had to use the cord on the fan as an example - how the fan doesn't work unless it's plugged into the wall, and the electrical outlet 'feeds' the fan electricity through the cord. The same way, the baby gets fed what it needs to work through that cord. He seemed to understand. I think I did a better job explaining it in person, than I am repeating it typed. It will be interesting to see how he incorporates his new found information into his own stories or more questions to come soon.
Wednesday night during the meeting, he pulled out his big notebook and some pencils - and drew the most perfect flowers! We were proud of his new accomplishment.
Andrew wanted an answer written out in his notebook. When his answer only filled up half his little page - he requested more words for a longer answer. No one would give him more, so he started writing letters hoping they'd make words and then asked, "what words are these?" I told him they aren't real words and he looked disappointed and then covered them over with his hands. Then he gave his answer in a tone as if he were mad and being forced to say something.
Friday evening, Andrew was given the choice of soup or turkey sandwich. He opted for the soup. Took one look at it and said, "I'm not eating that. I dont like it." I told him he'll be hungry then, so he decided he wasn't hungry at all anyway. I asked him to please try it, and he made all sorts of faces (I feel like I live in a Calvin and Hobbes comic book sometimes) like it was killing him to try something new. I told him he didn't have to eat all the pieces in the soup, he could just drink the broth. So he was doing that fine until some dripped and daddy cleaned it up first. We were back to Andrew not wanting to cooperate because HE didn't get to clean up the mess. I finally gave in and said he had to eat 3 more big bites to get something else (I know this backfires plenty) He happily ate three more big bites and hopped down to get cereal. He complained about the choices in the cabinet and got all dramatic about it. I showed him a box of Honey O's and he got excited to try them.
After another dramatic episode over trying to interrupt and having to wait his turn - he said, "with each bite of my O's you all will get all my powers and I won't be able to speak." Ted got excited and started acting more silly and energetic with each bite Andrew took.
Ted bought Andrew that Simon game where it lights up in a pattern and you have to follow it. The second time he tried it, he got all the way up to level 7. I'm not good at it at all. Ted has gotten up to level 11. I think the highest I've seen Andrew get is 8.
Saturday morning I was feeling rough and stayed in bed. When I got up, Andrew came out of his room in his underwear (changing into play clothes) with a bouquet of roses and said, "I love you mom!" It brought tears to my eyes, as I so needed to hear that.
Saturday afternoon he asked me if I could massage him. He was laying on the floor in my studio next to daddy in front of a heater. So I started rubbing his back. He didn't like it and said "that's enough massage." As he was saying it I started giving him a scalp massage instead, "Oh that's good! I haven't had enough massage yet."
Andrew has been begging me since mid October to make pumpkin bread out of the pumpkin he brought home from a field trip. Sunday was finally the day - as I had to use up a bunch of apples and over-ripe bananas, might as well cook the pumpkin too! I told him he could help me make pumpkin bread after the meeting. He did have one request, "make it gluten free so that Annelise can be part of our family" So he helped me make some pumpkin cake essentially. A few bites into it he decided it wasn't his thing.
Sunday night after prayer, he tried telling me some story about how some stars fall and like the be kept in a "thing with a lid on it" All I could assume was he was remembering catching lightning bugs and putting them in a jar. But then he said some like to go back up with all the other stars. I told him that was a good place for them to be. He tells such crazy stories.. I wish I could video him talking all the time. They are quite strange and detailed and elaborate. It usually involves someone getting hurt though with is disturbing.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Sunday, November 17, 2013
"Welcome to the grocery store!"
Saturday, we were still doing a special tract campaign and he kept referring to the tract as "the command" He was told he could offer one at the next door, "can I please have a command to hold?"
Monday he stayed home from school with me. He was so excited, and well behaved and polite all day. While we were at Kroger, he kept calling out to people, "Welcome to the grocery store!" And when we were checking out, he was reading name badges on the employees, "Welcome to the grocery store Jeremy!" (the bagger) "Welcome to the grocery store Amanda!" (cashier)
Tuesday he had his second special education assessment. Math. We knew he could do some basic math - some simple addition and subtraction, count, identify which group is larger or lesser, etc. We did not expect the psychologist to come back out and say he did SO well that again, he is likened to an 8 year old. That surprised us. Though she did tell us too that when she asked him addition problems, he always chose the second number as the answer. That is his way of telling you he doesn't want to do it. He also tried to test her knowledge when they were using counting blocks, she had to remind him that she is there to test him, not the other way around. She told us that if we want to pursue this - to go ahead and schedule the IQ testing because she's certain he's going to pass all three assessments with excellence. So that meeting is scheduled for December. We'll have to enroll him in school so he's in the computer system and can be tested, but he won't have to take classes there or anything yet. We rewarded him with his choice of dinner. He chose Buffalo Wild Wings.
Wednesday morning, I heard him get up at 2:28am. I kept waiting for him to go back to bed, and it seemed too long. I got up and he was just hanging out on the couch. (The security camera showed me later that he got up, turned on lights, and then fished through my lunchbox to see what was in it, and then went and sat on the couch.) He told me he was just waiting for everyone to get up. I explained that it was way too early and he needed to go back to bed. He appeared again at 3:16, fiddled around. Ted found him asleep on the couch with his blanket over his head at 5:30, when he woke up again. We're not sure how long he was awake that time as it didn't register on the camera.
Wednesday was also his second field trip! His school went to a local Kroger and learned more about foods and prices. They each got to spend $1 on food to donate.
Wednesday as he was eating dinner, and Annelise came in and he cheerily asked her how she was. She said she felt like her head was going to explode. I quickly told him that it's not possible and not to worry - it just means her head hurts. Then she asked him how he was, he replied, "I feel like my head is going to explode.... and my eyes are gonna go with it." He's so funny.
Right before bedtime, he kept trying to interrupt a conversation. We stopped and let him tell us a silly story of finding a skunk in a toilet and it turning around and spraying and saying ewww. The second time I told him to wait until daddy was done talking. He scrunched up his face and got upset. I managed to finagle him through teeth brushing and potty and getting into bed. Before lights out, he said he didn't want to pray because he had a broken heart. So Ted pulled out Psalms 34:18 and had him read how Jehovah is close to those brokenhearted and how it's now that Jehovah wants us to pray to him the most so he can comfort us. That made Andrew smile.
Saturday afternoon, both Shipwrecked and Monkeys Treehouse were both closed for private parties, so we took him to Goofballs. The boys played for two hours while I sat and studied for exams. Andrew had a good time, but they both were exhausted.
Sunday I made a full turkey dinner and Andrew helped chop up the shredded carrots for the stuffing. He was a good helper in setting the table too. He just about went crazy though wanting someone - anyone - to play with him.
Sunday night in his prayer, after thanking Jehovah for those who have lost loved ones and "helping bring them back to life in paradise where they can see their children again" .... he also thanked him for the big tower he and daddy are going to build in Paradise and be able to paint the inside walls. His prayers are always interesting.
Monday he stayed home from school with me. He was so excited, and well behaved and polite all day. While we were at Kroger, he kept calling out to people, "Welcome to the grocery store!" And when we were checking out, he was reading name badges on the employees, "Welcome to the grocery store Jeremy!" (the bagger) "Welcome to the grocery store Amanda!" (cashier)
Tuesday he had his second special education assessment. Math. We knew he could do some basic math - some simple addition and subtraction, count, identify which group is larger or lesser, etc. We did not expect the psychologist to come back out and say he did SO well that again, he is likened to an 8 year old. That surprised us. Though she did tell us too that when she asked him addition problems, he always chose the second number as the answer. That is his way of telling you he doesn't want to do it. He also tried to test her knowledge when they were using counting blocks, she had to remind him that she is there to test him, not the other way around. She told us that if we want to pursue this - to go ahead and schedule the IQ testing because she's certain he's going to pass all three assessments with excellence. So that meeting is scheduled for December. We'll have to enroll him in school so he's in the computer system and can be tested, but he won't have to take classes there or anything yet. We rewarded him with his choice of dinner. He chose Buffalo Wild Wings.
Wednesday morning, I heard him get up at 2:28am. I kept waiting for him to go back to bed, and it seemed too long. I got up and he was just hanging out on the couch. (The security camera showed me later that he got up, turned on lights, and then fished through my lunchbox to see what was in it, and then went and sat on the couch.) He told me he was just waiting for everyone to get up. I explained that it was way too early and he needed to go back to bed. He appeared again at 3:16, fiddled around. Ted found him asleep on the couch with his blanket over his head at 5:30, when he woke up again. We're not sure how long he was awake that time as it didn't register on the camera.
Wednesday was also his second field trip! His school went to a local Kroger and learned more about foods and prices. They each got to spend $1 on food to donate.
Wednesday as he was eating dinner, and Annelise came in and he cheerily asked her how she was. She said she felt like her head was going to explode. I quickly told him that it's not possible and not to worry - it just means her head hurts. Then she asked him how he was, he replied, "I feel like my head is going to explode.... and my eyes are gonna go with it." He's so funny.
Right before bedtime, he kept trying to interrupt a conversation. We stopped and let him tell us a silly story of finding a skunk in a toilet and it turning around and spraying and saying ewww. The second time I told him to wait until daddy was done talking. He scrunched up his face and got upset. I managed to finagle him through teeth brushing and potty and getting into bed. Before lights out, he said he didn't want to pray because he had a broken heart. So Ted pulled out Psalms 34:18 and had him read how Jehovah is close to those brokenhearted and how it's now that Jehovah wants us to pray to him the most so he can comfort us. That made Andrew smile.
Saturday afternoon, both Shipwrecked and Monkeys Treehouse were both closed for private parties, so we took him to Goofballs. The boys played for two hours while I sat and studied for exams. Andrew had a good time, but they both were exhausted.
Sunday I made a full turkey dinner and Andrew helped chop up the shredded carrots for the stuffing. He was a good helper in setting the table too. He just about went crazy though wanting someone - anyone - to play with him.
Sunday night in his prayer, after thanking Jehovah for those who have lost loved ones and "helping bring them back to life in paradise where they can see their children again" .... he also thanked him for the big tower he and daddy are going to build in Paradise and be able to paint the inside walls. His prayers are always interesting.
Monday, November 11, 2013
Watch This!
He doesn't always get the attention he is wanting. I hear "mom! look at me!" "mom! watch this!" even when I've seen him do the same thing the three previous times he asked me to look. So now, he has started saying, "Hey Jehovah! Watch this!"
Wednesday November 6th, Andrew had his second bible reading. Ted just happened to see it on the information board last Wednesday, so we had less than a week to get him prepared. The reading was Titus 2 and had several long words - but he did really well. We were both very proud of him for sticking with it. He stumbled a couple of times, and lost his place once, but he did great. Someone in the audience kept gasping with awe when he'd get a long word spoken clearly. Then I heard, "he reads better than I do!" It sounded like an older person, but I never looked to see who it might have been. We took him to Baskin Robbins for an ice cream sundae afterward.
Friday he came home with some assessment papers for Bracken School Readiness Assessments done at his school. He made 100% in each of colors, letters, numbers/counting. He made an 82% in sizes/comparisions and 85% in shapes. That gave him a 92% overall - but put him in the 99th percentile rank and "very advanced"
Saturday we had a little bit of a rough start. Lately, Andrew has been completely ignoring what I say to him, or not listening when I answer his question. This morning he was going into overdrive with it. He was laying on the floor in the kitchen with his feet propped up on the drawers and kept asking me a question I'd already answered. I answered it three more times and he just wasn't listening. I finally told him to stop asking. He didn't, and so I told him to go hang out in his room. He whined and fussed and I told him again to go to his room. He continued to whine so I finally yelled REALLY LOUDLY. That finally got his attention. I'm pretty sure people in the next state could have heard me. He ran to his room. A minute later I walked in and he was hiding under his covers. I asked, "so, how does it feel to get yelled at like that? Does it feel good or bad?" He said bad. "So how do you think it feels to me when you are not listening, and you're not hearing the answers to your questions." He said, 'bad.' I told him I do not like yelling at him, and I do not like spanking him when he doesn't listen or obey either. But I need him to try and work on listening so we can all have a good day and have good things happen. He came and ate his breakfast and didn't fuss.
Saturday he was intrigued with big bellies and was curious why someone's belly might be big if they aren't growing a baby. We discussed different reasons and then I told him it wasn't polite to tell people they had big bellies. He seemed to have forgotten, as we were with two other people in the morning and I heard him asking one dear friend if she was growing a baby. She isn't.
Sunday morning he helped me make some waffles for breakfast. He doesn't like to crack eggs open anymore because, "I dont want to have to wash my hands again."
Later he was playing with some toys in the hallway and missed his target. He'd yell out "ARGument" whenever he missed.
Sunday during the public talk he got frustrated that I was getting on to him because his pencils were noisy. He wrote ARG on a paper and started scribbling really hard. He climbed on my lap after I took the noisy pencils away. I gave him a back and shoulder rub, and then he leaned back into me. A few minutes later, he was sound asleep. I slouched down in my chair to make him more comfortable and he didn't wake up again until the next to last paragraph of the watchtower lesson! He was really out of it, but still asked for an answer.
We managed to get an impromptu family photo session in when we got home. He wouldn't sit still, nor did he want to look at the camera and not make a face. They're hilarious to go through in sequence. We had friends over for dinner and he had a blast getting to play.
He says such funny things all the time - but I can never remember them long enough to get them written down! :(
Wednesday November 6th, Andrew had his second bible reading. Ted just happened to see it on the information board last Wednesday, so we had less than a week to get him prepared. The reading was Titus 2 and had several long words - but he did really well. We were both very proud of him for sticking with it. He stumbled a couple of times, and lost his place once, but he did great. Someone in the audience kept gasping with awe when he'd get a long word spoken clearly. Then I heard, "he reads better than I do!" It sounded like an older person, but I never looked to see who it might have been. We took him to Baskin Robbins for an ice cream sundae afterward.
Friday he came home with some assessment papers for Bracken School Readiness Assessments done at his school. He made 100% in each of colors, letters, numbers/counting. He made an 82% in sizes/comparisions and 85% in shapes. That gave him a 92% overall - but put him in the 99th percentile rank and "very advanced"
Saturday we had a little bit of a rough start. Lately, Andrew has been completely ignoring what I say to him, or not listening when I answer his question. This morning he was going into overdrive with it. He was laying on the floor in the kitchen with his feet propped up on the drawers and kept asking me a question I'd already answered. I answered it three more times and he just wasn't listening. I finally told him to stop asking. He didn't, and so I told him to go hang out in his room. He whined and fussed and I told him again to go to his room. He continued to whine so I finally yelled REALLY LOUDLY. That finally got his attention. I'm pretty sure people in the next state could have heard me. He ran to his room. A minute later I walked in and he was hiding under his covers. I asked, "so, how does it feel to get yelled at like that? Does it feel good or bad?" He said bad. "So how do you think it feels to me when you are not listening, and you're not hearing the answers to your questions." He said, 'bad.' I told him I do not like yelling at him, and I do not like spanking him when he doesn't listen or obey either. But I need him to try and work on listening so we can all have a good day and have good things happen. He came and ate his breakfast and didn't fuss.
Saturday he was intrigued with big bellies and was curious why someone's belly might be big if they aren't growing a baby. We discussed different reasons and then I told him it wasn't polite to tell people they had big bellies. He seemed to have forgotten, as we were with two other people in the morning and I heard him asking one dear friend if she was growing a baby. She isn't.
Sunday morning he helped me make some waffles for breakfast. He doesn't like to crack eggs open anymore because, "I dont want to have to wash my hands again."
Later he was playing with some toys in the hallway and missed his target. He'd yell out "ARGument" whenever he missed.
Sunday during the public talk he got frustrated that I was getting on to him because his pencils were noisy. He wrote ARG on a paper and started scribbling really hard. He climbed on my lap after I took the noisy pencils away. I gave him a back and shoulder rub, and then he leaned back into me. A few minutes later, he was sound asleep. I slouched down in my chair to make him more comfortable and he didn't wake up again until the next to last paragraph of the watchtower lesson! He was really out of it, but still asked for an answer.
We managed to get an impromptu family photo session in when we got home. He wouldn't sit still, nor did he want to look at the camera and not make a face. They're hilarious to go through in sequence. We had friends over for dinner and he had a blast getting to play.
He says such funny things all the time - but I can never remember them long enough to get them written down! :(
Sunday, November 3, 2013
A Trained Monkey and First Field Trip
Sunday we had to stay home because mommy was feeling really sick and daddy was hurt. Andrew was wearing a shirt with a picture of a monkey on the front. Then he put on a vest that had a train on it. He bounced up and down on the couch acting like a monkey and said, "I'm a trained monkey!" We thought it was an interesting play on words, given the monkey and train on his shirts.
Monday, mommy was sick and had to work and daddy had to go to the Dr for a sprained ligament in his knee. So Joy was kind enough to take Andrew to school early in the morning. She said they had quite an interesting conversation.
With a sad tone, "My mommy and daddy are both sick."
Joy, in her kind tender voice, "I know, but they will get better."
A: "No they won't."
J: " Why do you say that?"
A: "Because daddy ran out of laughs, and mommy ran out of air."
Then he suggested they needed to go to Hobby Lobby to get laughs for daddy. Joy envisioned getting helium for me to take in, so I'd talk funny, which would make daddy laugh. Problem solved.
Tuesday he got to go on his very first field trip! They went to Walden Farms and got to pet several animals, play, have a tractor ride, and pick a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch. He has been begging ever since to make pumpkin bread from his pumpkin.
Wednesday night at meeting, he saw a microphone sitting in the chair on the stage awaiting a demonstration. He leaned over to me and asked if he could go up there and grab the microphone and say 'hello' into it. We laughed and objected but he didn't quite understand why not and said something about having been able to say hello into the microphone once before - a long time ago. I asked Ted later about when Andrew might have said hello into the microphone - he said it was a LONG time ago - like two years ago!
I've been so proud of him. We discussed Halloween weeks ago, explaining what people believe ghosts are and why it isn't true - and that is why we don't celebrate the holiday. He seems okay with it, especially since we've told him that when he says no to those things, he makes Jehovah very very happy (and us!) and he'll add "and it makes Satan sad. I want to make Jehovah happy." Love him! Anyway, everywhere we go, people are asking him what he will be for Halloween. Neither of us say anything so that Andrew can tell them whatever he wants. So far, every time he has said quite adamantly, "I'm not doing anything for halloween! I don't celebrate halloween."
Thursday I met Ted and Andrew at Spring Hill Elementary School to meet with the psychologist and special education teacher there. Andrew sat patiently and was extraordinarily well behaved! He politely introduced himself before we went to a classroom. He said, "excuse me Ms. Casey, can I please play with these toys?" before pulling any out. After a little discussion and some paperwork, we were asked to leave while they did the reading and comprehension assessment. Later they will do math and basic knowledge of his environment. Anyway, she reported that he was exceptional in his reading and comprehension. It looked like she had about four pages of stuff and she said that of everything they went over, there were only two things he didn't know (and shouldn't at his age anyway.) The first was syllables. When she asked how many syllables were in a word, he instead counted how many letters make up the word. She said even that was still advanced. We can't remember what the other thing was. She said his reading and comprehension is already at a level that she would just be *starting* with 8-9 year olds. It's not that uncommon for a 4 year old to be reading before kindergarten, but usually at that point - it's all just words still. For Andrew, he could read an entire story, and tell you a lot of the details in it even if they weren't directly stated. For example, they read a story about some kids who had an empty fish tank and had to fill it. By the end of the story they had a red fish, blue fish, and yellow fish. It never said there were three fish... but one of the questions she asked him was 'how many fish did they have?" He told her three. That was information that he had to come up with on his own - and kids his age just don't do that. Another example was a story about a Java cup. In the story, it never tells you that a java cup is for coffee. We can't remember what she said the story actually was about - but the question she asked at the end was, "what is a java cup?" Andrew told her "it's a cup that you put coffee in and it keeps it warm" Things like that. She said she does see about 3-4 kids each year that have a higher intellectual ability than most, but she said Andrew, at least in the reading and comprehension department, is "truly exceptional" He not only read "eloquently" and fluidly, he understood and could expound on what he read. She said he also knew that a period "stopped the sentence". He clearly passed that assessment with flying colors.
We plan to meet back on November 12th to continue the assessment.
We were really proud of Andrew's cooperation and how polite and kind he's been the past two days. The psychologist let him pick out two treasures from her box (a pencil and then a large plastic Eeyore figure) and then we told him that we'd take him to dinner for anything he wanted. "Sushi at Fulins, and I want to pick out where we eat and I want to pick out which one I want to eat." We told him he didn't get to choose the table, but he could pick what to eat. He asked the waitress, "does the rainbow roll have food coloring in it?" We told him it does not, but it is layers of raw fish on top. He opted to have his usual - green dragon roll.
He had the server, the manager, the sushi chef, and even other patrons involved in conversations, stories, and a debate. He told them that he had ten grandsons but they weren't alive yet, he was growing them in his tummy. But they will live in (and he listed several different states) one day. Then one story about having a cat (similar to a waving statue they have for 'good luck') in his room that glowed gray, green, and pink. But then one gal tried to relay it to another and said it "glew in the dark" which sparked a debate about the past tense of glow. Even Andrew told her it was "glowed".
Later in the evening, I was giving daddy a massage, and Andrew was playing with toys. He came and went a few times. Once he came running in in a panic, "Mom! There is a stranger at the door!!" I told him it was okay, that it was just kids who celebrate halloween coming to ask for candy. He was very concerned that they weren't going to go away. I told him they'd probably already left. "Forever?" Yes. He raised his hands up in the air and cheered.
Saturday morning he was digging around in his legos and found a game piece to one of the 'trouble' games. We have one that is scooby-do and a travel size regular one that I bought at consignment sales. I asked him what it went to and he said, "It goes to the snoopy doopy"
We found out Wednesday night that Andrew has his second Bible reading next Wednesday. So we have just under a week to get him familiar with Titus chapter 2! He's doing pretty well so far as long
as he stays focused.
Saturday evening I got to hear him play the beginning of Twinkle Little Star on his violin! He didn't even look at the paper with the notes written on it! And I noticed he goofed on one note and then adjusted his fingers to get the correct note. I'm so proud of his progress since he rarely practices at home. Though I guess it has been, what? close to 6 months already of learning.
We played Rock Band again Saturday night. He decided to play the drums for a few songs and got all excited... "pause it! pause it until I get back!" And he ran and got one of his muslin blankets and the warrior dash viking hat. He put the blanket over his head as hair and then put the hat on top - and then got his drum sticks with the flames on them - all ready to rock n roll! Then it was his turn to choose a song... they are listed in order of easy to most challenging. He quickly scrolled all the way to the bottom, picked the hardest and worst sounding song and said, "Yeah.. this one."
Sunday he loved getting to play outside in a pile of fallen leaves. He and daddy swept all the ones on the deck together and played in those before pushing down to a pile on the ground.
Monday, mommy was sick and had to work and daddy had to go to the Dr for a sprained ligament in his knee. So Joy was kind enough to take Andrew to school early in the morning. She said they had quite an interesting conversation.
With a sad tone, "My mommy and daddy are both sick."
Joy, in her kind tender voice, "I know, but they will get better."
A: "No they won't."
J: " Why do you say that?"
A: "Because daddy ran out of laughs, and mommy ran out of air."
Then he suggested they needed to go to Hobby Lobby to get laughs for daddy. Joy envisioned getting helium for me to take in, so I'd talk funny, which would make daddy laugh. Problem solved.
Tuesday he got to go on his very first field trip! They went to Walden Farms and got to pet several animals, play, have a tractor ride, and pick a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch. He has been begging ever since to make pumpkin bread from his pumpkin.
Wednesday night at meeting, he saw a microphone sitting in the chair on the stage awaiting a demonstration. He leaned over to me and asked if he could go up there and grab the microphone and say 'hello' into it. We laughed and objected but he didn't quite understand why not and said something about having been able to say hello into the microphone once before - a long time ago. I asked Ted later about when Andrew might have said hello into the microphone - he said it was a LONG time ago - like two years ago!
I've been so proud of him. We discussed Halloween weeks ago, explaining what people believe ghosts are and why it isn't true - and that is why we don't celebrate the holiday. He seems okay with it, especially since we've told him that when he says no to those things, he makes Jehovah very very happy (and us!) and he'll add "and it makes Satan sad. I want to make Jehovah happy." Love him! Anyway, everywhere we go, people are asking him what he will be for Halloween. Neither of us say anything so that Andrew can tell them whatever he wants. So far, every time he has said quite adamantly, "I'm not doing anything for halloween! I don't celebrate halloween."
Thursday I met Ted and Andrew at Spring Hill Elementary School to meet with the psychologist and special education teacher there. Andrew sat patiently and was extraordinarily well behaved! He politely introduced himself before we went to a classroom. He said, "excuse me Ms. Casey, can I please play with these toys?" before pulling any out. After a little discussion and some paperwork, we were asked to leave while they did the reading and comprehension assessment. Later they will do math and basic knowledge of his environment. Anyway, she reported that he was exceptional in his reading and comprehension. It looked like she had about four pages of stuff and she said that of everything they went over, there were only two things he didn't know (and shouldn't at his age anyway.) The first was syllables. When she asked how many syllables were in a word, he instead counted how many letters make up the word. She said even that was still advanced. We can't remember what the other thing was. She said his reading and comprehension is already at a level that she would just be *starting* with 8-9 year olds. It's not that uncommon for a 4 year old to be reading before kindergarten, but usually at that point - it's all just words still. For Andrew, he could read an entire story, and tell you a lot of the details in it even if they weren't directly stated. For example, they read a story about some kids who had an empty fish tank and had to fill it. By the end of the story they had a red fish, blue fish, and yellow fish. It never said there were three fish... but one of the questions she asked him was 'how many fish did they have?" He told her three. That was information that he had to come up with on his own - and kids his age just don't do that. Another example was a story about a Java cup. In the story, it never tells you that a java cup is for coffee. We can't remember what she said the story actually was about - but the question she asked at the end was, "what is a java cup?" Andrew told her "it's a cup that you put coffee in and it keeps it warm" Things like that. She said she does see about 3-4 kids each year that have a higher intellectual ability than most, but she said Andrew, at least in the reading and comprehension department, is "truly exceptional" He not only read "eloquently" and fluidly, he understood and could expound on what he read. She said he also knew that a period "stopped the sentence". He clearly passed that assessment with flying colors.
We plan to meet back on November 12th to continue the assessment.
We were really proud of Andrew's cooperation and how polite and kind he's been the past two days. The psychologist let him pick out two treasures from her box (a pencil and then a large plastic Eeyore figure) and then we told him that we'd take him to dinner for anything he wanted. "Sushi at Fulins, and I want to pick out where we eat and I want to pick out which one I want to eat." We told him he didn't get to choose the table, but he could pick what to eat. He asked the waitress, "does the rainbow roll have food coloring in it?" We told him it does not, but it is layers of raw fish on top. He opted to have his usual - green dragon roll.
He had the server, the manager, the sushi chef, and even other patrons involved in conversations, stories, and a debate. He told them that he had ten grandsons but they weren't alive yet, he was growing them in his tummy. But they will live in (and he listed several different states) one day. Then one story about having a cat (similar to a waving statue they have for 'good luck') in his room that glowed gray, green, and pink. But then one gal tried to relay it to another and said it "glew in the dark" which sparked a debate about the past tense of glow. Even Andrew told her it was "glowed".
Later in the evening, I was giving daddy a massage, and Andrew was playing with toys. He came and went a few times. Once he came running in in a panic, "Mom! There is a stranger at the door!!" I told him it was okay, that it was just kids who celebrate halloween coming to ask for candy. He was very concerned that they weren't going to go away. I told him they'd probably already left. "Forever?" Yes. He raised his hands up in the air and cheered.
Saturday morning he was digging around in his legos and found a game piece to one of the 'trouble' games. We have one that is scooby-do and a travel size regular one that I bought at consignment sales. I asked him what it went to and he said, "It goes to the snoopy doopy"
We found out Wednesday night that Andrew has his second Bible reading next Wednesday. So we have just under a week to get him familiar with Titus chapter 2! He's doing pretty well so far as long
as he stays focused.
Saturday evening I got to hear him play the beginning of Twinkle Little Star on his violin! He didn't even look at the paper with the notes written on it! And I noticed he goofed on one note and then adjusted his fingers to get the correct note. I'm so proud of his progress since he rarely practices at home. Though I guess it has been, what? close to 6 months already of learning.
We played Rock Band again Saturday night. He decided to play the drums for a few songs and got all excited... "pause it! pause it until I get back!" And he ran and got one of his muslin blankets and the warrior dash viking hat. He put the blanket over his head as hair and then put the hat on top - and then got his drum sticks with the flames on them - all ready to rock n roll! Then it was his turn to choose a song... they are listed in order of easy to most challenging. He quickly scrolled all the way to the bottom, picked the hardest and worst sounding song and said, "Yeah.. this one."
Sunday he loved getting to play outside in a pile of fallen leaves. He and daddy swept all the ones on the deck together and played in those before pushing down to a pile on the ground.
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