I just love my little boy. I'm so thankful that *most* of the time he is sincerely sweet and kind. This past week, in every prayer he's thanking Jehovah for "mommy and daddy and mommy and Andrew." and then the rest of the prayer is different.. sometimes it has Nana and Papa and some of the cousins/aunts/uncles, other times is Grandma and Grandpa, other times its friends from Kingdom Hall. But then his list is always finished with, "and for all of our friends." Makes my heart glad.
And when he is introduced to someone, he holds out his hand for a hand shake and says, "very nice to see you." It totally blows away strangers out in public at how polite he is.
Twice the other day he decided to use his stepstool to get up onto the toilet and go potty all by himself (rather than use his potty). I was so proud of him even though its messier when he does that. We have a built in childs seat in the adult seat - and if he's not positioned just right, he pees right between the seats and it goes everywhere. But I'm elated that he's trying all on his own! I need to get a better step stool though. The one he's trying to use is for him to reach the sink and its really too high for the toilet. Now if I could just get him to TELL ME when he needs to go potty when he's fully dressed, that would be great. And if he'd try pulling his pants down when he's dressed and needs to potty - that would be great too. I know.. it's a process, and I'm glad he's so easy going about it as he is. It's just strange to have to let him be half-naked the entire time he's home. He'll consistently go in the potty as long as he has no pants on.
He has taken up interest in spelling. I told you that he "spelled ramp" the other day.. but now he is picking out words in books, saying each letter and then saying "spells ____". He is also interested in rhyming. Wednesday night during the meeting he all of a sudden blurts out a word and then lists off a bunch more words that sound the same, his smile getting bigger and bigger with each word! I'd never heard him do that before. He also had a spell of saying a bunch of words that start with the same letter. I dont think his brain ever slows down!
We also figured out how to watch Muzzy2 in Spanish instead of English. He probably has the English one memorized, and now when he watches it in Spanish he is repeating it all in English, and then some of the scenes he laughs and tries to repeat it all in Spanish. It will sure be interesting to see how he fares with Spanish classes later in school.
He has also added some new places to his "favorites" list when we're out and about. It used to be that he always asked to go to Olive Garden, and then Target and Kohls made the list. Now he asks to go to "Amingos" (Amigos, a cute mexican place) and sometimes "Titos" another mexican place. Home Depot has made the request list several times recently. Wednesday we were driving home and he wanted to go to Home Depot. I told him we had to go home and have a nap. Then he says, "Go home, nap... then go Home Depot. Yes." He only asks to go to Lowe's when we're driving by it, but if you ask him what he'd see at Lowes, he says, "Tools!" I was pulling into a Publix parking lot the other day and he got all excited. I asked him what he needed at Publix and his response was, "a cookie!"
On Tuesday, February 21st, Andrew prayed all on his own to give a talk on stage. I told him he just has to keep practicing his reading and he'll be able to. We have him read to us from the Learn From the Great Teacher book every night.
Also on Tuesday, I took him back to Mothers Day Out. He had a blast. They talked about Rainbows and colors today, had crafts that incorporated rainbows and colors, they marched around looking for particular colors, and then had some music time and sang songs. He colored a balsam wood butterfly, they did a butterfly handprints painting in a rainbow color pattern. And then they also made a wind sock, or "kite" as Andrew calls it, by making a wide tube from construction paper, and adding streamers to the bottom and a handle to the top. Andrew was very proud of it and loved it when he took it outside and the wind made all the streamers fly. I have it hanging in my kitchen window right now.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Creative Movement
Wednesday, February 15th, Andrew knew it was meeting night. He asked me if he could read on stage! A couple of weeks ago, a youngster gave his bible reading and had to stand on a step stool to see over the podium. Andrew was mesmerized by it, and while the boy was practicing before the meeting started, Ted was explaining to Andrew what was going on. Scott Perry let Andrew stand on the step stool to see too (he still could see *under* the podium.. lol) and it seems that Andrew now very much wants to do his own Bible reading. We told him he has to just keep practicing his reading. Wednesday night we had another young one give a bible reading, and though he didn't need the step stool, Andrew studied him and listened the whole time.
Last Saturday, a friend asked me if I take Andrew to storytime at the Library. I told her I'd never even been to the library. (gasp!) She told me every 3rd Thursday, after StoryTime, there is craft time and then "creative movement" time. Her favorite part is the creative movement.
Well, Thursday is also one of the "Mothers Day Out" days at Storybook Village and I have a 4 day credit since I had to take him out of MDO in November due to his concussion. Today my plan was to take him to MDO and go home and go back to bed for a change. Well, the director was out today and only the young assistant would be there handing 7 toddlers alone. I didn't feel comfortable with that so I decided not to leave him. We hung out for a little over an hour when I remembered the storytime at the library. I asked Andrew if he'd like to go to the Library and he was excited about the idea.
We totally missed Storytime and craft time (I thought it started at 10:30 and we'd be 10 minutes late, but it really started at 10.) However, I had no idea the Library had so much to do there!! I saw Michelle and Patrick Lafferty there with Blake (they're the ones who told me about it). Andrew immediately jumped in the tent that Blake was in and started playing, following other kids around and copying whatever they were doing. I showed him the train tables and activity centers and he just helped himself to the activity.
Soon it was time for the creative movement. So we went into the story time room. There were several little boys and girls sitting on a rug with their shoes off. So I got Andrew all settled in having no idea what creative movement even was! It's conducted by a young girl from a dance conservatory. It's basically getting the little kids to stretch and move in a directed fun manner. I can't remember most of it, but for example, pretending your fingers are silly spiders and you tickle from your head to your toes, holding your ankles and kissing your knees and then stretching your hands up above your head before doing it again, or painting a rainbow by spreading your feet far apart (while sitting) and reaching to one foot to get some paint and then painting over your head all the way to the other foot and repeating with other colors. Fun things to get them moving and stretching. They pretended to be bees buzzing around in a circle, they skipped, they jumped and then had to "freeze!" which Andrew didn't really understand that freeze meant stop. He was starting to get the hang of it when they were about done with playing freeze. They had to balance like a flamingo on one foot. The first time, he started to get it right but something must have confused him because before long he looked more like a kid desperately needing to use the potty and trying to hold it - his knees were pointed together, feet in opposite directions, one arm in the air. The second time, he had it perfect. I found it interesting though that he didn't want to mirror what the lady was doing, he wanted to stand exactly like her so he kept turning his back to her and then trying to look back and see what she was doing. Anyway - he had a BLAST and was so cute doing it all, or trying anyway. I hope I can arrange to get him there each month for that.
It was about noon when that was over. I let him eat his peanut butter jelly sandwich in the car on the way home. When we pulled in the driveway he asked to go play on the slide.. so I let him go play as I cut through the house to unload. I fixed myself a sandwich and ate it in the top of his fort while he played all around me. We had to come in for potty and he asked for another sandwich. So, I made him his second sandwich (these were full sandwiches, not half sandwiches!) and then shortly after he announces "Andrew ready for bed!" He usually heads to bed at 1pm, but he was asleep by 12:45! And as I'm writing this is is now after 4pm and he is still asleep! Wow! I guess I overloaded him with activity today. He's been a little angel today - so well behaved and cooperative.
i so wished I had remembered my camera today - but no pictures :(
Last Saturday, a friend asked me if I take Andrew to storytime at the Library. I told her I'd never even been to the library. (gasp!) She told me every 3rd Thursday, after StoryTime, there is craft time and then "creative movement" time. Her favorite part is the creative movement.
Well, Thursday is also one of the "Mothers Day Out" days at Storybook Village and I have a 4 day credit since I had to take him out of MDO in November due to his concussion. Today my plan was to take him to MDO and go home and go back to bed for a change. Well, the director was out today and only the young assistant would be there handing 7 toddlers alone. I didn't feel comfortable with that so I decided not to leave him. We hung out for a little over an hour when I remembered the storytime at the library. I asked Andrew if he'd like to go to the Library and he was excited about the idea.
We totally missed Storytime and craft time (I thought it started at 10:30 and we'd be 10 minutes late, but it really started at 10.) However, I had no idea the Library had so much to do there!! I saw Michelle and Patrick Lafferty there with Blake (they're the ones who told me about it). Andrew immediately jumped in the tent that Blake was in and started playing, following other kids around and copying whatever they were doing. I showed him the train tables and activity centers and he just helped himself to the activity.
Soon it was time for the creative movement. So we went into the story time room. There were several little boys and girls sitting on a rug with their shoes off. So I got Andrew all settled in having no idea what creative movement even was! It's conducted by a young girl from a dance conservatory. It's basically getting the little kids to stretch and move in a directed fun manner. I can't remember most of it, but for example, pretending your fingers are silly spiders and you tickle from your head to your toes, holding your ankles and kissing your knees and then stretching your hands up above your head before doing it again, or painting a rainbow by spreading your feet far apart (while sitting) and reaching to one foot to get some paint and then painting over your head all the way to the other foot and repeating with other colors. Fun things to get them moving and stretching. They pretended to be bees buzzing around in a circle, they skipped, they jumped and then had to "freeze!" which Andrew didn't really understand that freeze meant stop. He was starting to get the hang of it when they were about done with playing freeze. They had to balance like a flamingo on one foot. The first time, he started to get it right but something must have confused him because before long he looked more like a kid desperately needing to use the potty and trying to hold it - his knees were pointed together, feet in opposite directions, one arm in the air. The second time, he had it perfect. I found it interesting though that he didn't want to mirror what the lady was doing, he wanted to stand exactly like her so he kept turning his back to her and then trying to look back and see what she was doing. Anyway - he had a BLAST and was so cute doing it all, or trying anyway. I hope I can arrange to get him there each month for that.
It was about noon when that was over. I let him eat his peanut butter jelly sandwich in the car on the way home. When we pulled in the driveway he asked to go play on the slide.. so I let him go play as I cut through the house to unload. I fixed myself a sandwich and ate it in the top of his fort while he played all around me. We had to come in for potty and he asked for another sandwich. So, I made him his second sandwich (these were full sandwiches, not half sandwiches!) and then shortly after he announces "Andrew ready for bed!" He usually heads to bed at 1pm, but he was asleep by 12:45! And as I'm writing this is is now after 4pm and he is still asleep! Wow! I guess I overloaded him with activity today. He's been a little angel today - so well behaved and cooperative.
i so wished I had remembered my camera today - but no pictures :(
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Andrew's Own Playground
Tuesday February 7th... today was the first time Andrew tried to put his own shoes on all by himself. And guess what?! He did it! On the correct feet even! (Okay after I told Ted that, he said that on Sunday he loosened Andrew's dress shoes a lot and let Andrew put one shoe on. He wrestled with it a bit, but got it on himself.)
He makes a humming noise in imitation of a cell phone vibrating and then answers his play phone.
He'll go potty all on his own as long as he is not wearing a diaper and pants. He runs to his little potty, goes, empties it into the toilet, rinses it in the sink, and puts it back - all without telling anyone. But if he's dressed, you have to tell him to go. He may or may not comply with that. If he does comply - he insists on pulling his pants and diaper down himself. If you help - he will pull them back up and say, "Andrew do it!"
The other day, Andrew emptied out the blocks from their zippered bag, placed the bag over his head and came into the kitchen to ask me if I could zip it closed. Silly goose.
We decided to splurge and buy him a cool playset last Monday. It was a really good deal at Costco. It has a two story house, two swings and a trapeze, a ladder and rock climbing wall to the upstairs, and then a covered swirly slide down. Of course, we had to assemble it ourselves, and the weather was gorgeous for doing so. Andrew found the box with the full picture on it and insisted I open that box. I'm sure he was expecting a fully assembled, ready to play on, swingset and slide. Instead, it was all the pieces to the yellow slide. He knew exactly what they were and from that point on kept asking, "build the slide?" over and over again. I told him I had to build the house first. "Build the house first, THEN the slide" he would repeat. A couple of days into the project, he was hauling wooden pieces over to me saying, "Andrew build the house." I did a lot of the work by myself, and then Joy Chumley came to help for several hours a couple of days. Then Papa came and helped me put the roof on and build the crowsnest for the slide. By the end of Friday all that was left to do was attach the swings, build the slide, and then finish a few of the decorative elements. Saturday it poured. Sunday afternoon, though, Barry and Joy came over and helped build the slide. I'm so thankful Barry was there because there was no way Ted and I could have put it together ourselves. The ground isn't perfectly level so it was a struggle to get the roof on right, and the slide was an even bigger struggle. It definitely needed more muscle power for pushing and squeezing - and a few times all four of us were holding it together. But by Sunday evening - Andrew had a complete playset! One of the first things he asked Monday morning was "Andrew go see the slide?" I'm so glad he finally has something else to do outside!
Monday morning we had to go grocery shopping. I decide to go to Kroger instead of the usual Publix since our milk is cheaper at Kroger. Before getting onto Saturn Parkway, we pass a sign that says, "ramp." I hear Andrew narrating our drive in the backseat but I hear what I thought was Andrew saying his vowels. But I was wrong. I wasn't really paying attention and I thought he said, "A.. E..." but then he said "M.. P.. spells ramp. (pause) I think." Now I dont know if he said " R.. A" first or what he really said. But I thought it was cute that he was spelling ramp and then saying, "I think" afterward.
If Andrew wakes up and I am still in bed, he will let himself into my room and say, "Mommy, wake up?" I invite him up into our bed which he loves. Then he gets the remote for the light. He'll stare at me as he makes the light get super bright. I cover my eyes and groan saying "thats too bright!" and he laughs really hard. Then he makes it go dim and I say, "aahhh, much better." Then he starts giggling again as he makes the light really bright. It's become his new game to make mommy groan that the light is too bright first thing in the morning. But.. it's better than him jumping in the bed and landing on me - that is what he used to do. He still jumps on the bed, but not so much on me anymore. And since we have the sleep number beds, he practically disappears on Ted's side of the bed. He will sit up and then just faceplant himself into the bed and laugh. Then I hear a muffled, "where's Andrew?"
Andrew was rummaging through my office drawers and got ahold of my address labels. He stuck several "stickers" to his socks
He loves to help me put clothes in the washer and dryer. Here he is doing a load himself:
He makes a humming noise in imitation of a cell phone vibrating and then answers his play phone.
He'll go potty all on his own as long as he is not wearing a diaper and pants. He runs to his little potty, goes, empties it into the toilet, rinses it in the sink, and puts it back - all without telling anyone. But if he's dressed, you have to tell him to go. He may or may not comply with that. If he does comply - he insists on pulling his pants and diaper down himself. If you help - he will pull them back up and say, "Andrew do it!"
The other day, Andrew emptied out the blocks from their zippered bag, placed the bag over his head and came into the kitchen to ask me if I could zip it closed. Silly goose.
We decided to splurge and buy him a cool playset last Monday. It was a really good deal at Costco. It has a two story house, two swings and a trapeze, a ladder and rock climbing wall to the upstairs, and then a covered swirly slide down. Of course, we had to assemble it ourselves, and the weather was gorgeous for doing so. Andrew found the box with the full picture on it and insisted I open that box. I'm sure he was expecting a fully assembled, ready to play on, swingset and slide. Instead, it was all the pieces to the yellow slide. He knew exactly what they were and from that point on kept asking, "build the slide?" over and over again. I told him I had to build the house first. "Build the house first, THEN the slide" he would repeat. A couple of days into the project, he was hauling wooden pieces over to me saying, "Andrew build the house." I did a lot of the work by myself, and then Joy Chumley came to help for several hours a couple of days. Then Papa came and helped me put the roof on and build the crowsnest for the slide. By the end of Friday all that was left to do was attach the swings, build the slide, and then finish a few of the decorative elements. Saturday it poured. Sunday afternoon, though, Barry and Joy came over and helped build the slide. I'm so thankful Barry was there because there was no way Ted and I could have put it together ourselves. The ground isn't perfectly level so it was a struggle to get the roof on right, and the slide was an even bigger struggle. It definitely needed more muscle power for pushing and squeezing - and a few times all four of us were holding it together. But by Sunday evening - Andrew had a complete playset! One of the first things he asked Monday morning was "Andrew go see the slide?" I'm so glad he finally has something else to do outside!
Monday morning we had to go grocery shopping. I decide to go to Kroger instead of the usual Publix since our milk is cheaper at Kroger. Before getting onto Saturn Parkway, we pass a sign that says, "ramp." I hear Andrew narrating our drive in the backseat but I hear what I thought was Andrew saying his vowels. But I was wrong. I wasn't really paying attention and I thought he said, "A.. E..." but then he said "M.. P.. spells ramp. (pause) I think." Now I dont know if he said " R.. A" first or what he really said. But I thought it was cute that he was spelling ramp and then saying, "I think" afterward.
If Andrew wakes up and I am still in bed, he will let himself into my room and say, "Mommy, wake up?" I invite him up into our bed which he loves. Then he gets the remote for the light. He'll stare at me as he makes the light get super bright. I cover my eyes and groan saying "thats too bright!" and he laughs really hard. Then he makes it go dim and I say, "aahhh, much better." Then he starts giggling again as he makes the light really bright. It's become his new game to make mommy groan that the light is too bright first thing in the morning. But.. it's better than him jumping in the bed and landing on me - that is what he used to do. He still jumps on the bed, but not so much on me anymore. And since we have the sleep number beds, he practically disappears on Ted's side of the bed. He will sit up and then just faceplant himself into the bed and laugh. Then I hear a muffled, "where's Andrew?"
Andrew was rummaging through my office drawers and got ahold of my address labels. He stuck several "stickers" to his socks
He loves to help me put clothes in the washer and dryer. Here he is doing a load himself:
Monday, January 16, 2012
Work-outs, Answers, and Prayers!
When Andrew was several months old, I started doing the T-Tapp workout to try and get the rest of my baby weight off. For a while I did it every day, and once I achieved my goal for the most part, I just T-Tapped 2-3 times a week. Now.. it's just a few times a month probably. Either way - Andrew is so familiar with it, he can repeat the entire 15 minute workout as the instructor is saying it. He LOVES to T-Tapp. I wish I could get him doing the full workout on video because he's actually pretty good at it. His favorite part is at the end, the hoedowns, which he sometimes refers to as "stairs." He'll ask to watch that part over and over again.
Well, he was recently introduced to Daddy's workout: P90X. Boy does he LOVE that!! That is a very intense workout. Andrew is so perceptive, that he has picked up on it quickly and also does well with the parts he choses to try and do. You should see him run in place - he's fast!! He also likes to try and do pull ups on daddy's bar too. We're gonna have one buff kid if he keeps all of this up!
He's kind of outgrown his little four-wheeler. he still loves it, it's just too small. His feet have always been too big for it, but I think he's getting too heavy for it now too. He's 30+ pounds now. Anyway, I found a little go-kart of sorts and thought it'd be a good replacement. He does NOT like it. Not yet anyway. He goes a few feet and then wants off and nothing to do with it again.
He does, however, always want to "jump on the wood."
I am blown away by how his vocabulary and speech is developing. He can speak so well - his answers at the meeting are spoken so clearly you'd think he's much older. And he reads all of his comments himself now. He can even say big words clearly, like in a recent answer "descendants" - perfectly said.
His reading just gets better and better. When we do our family study on Monday nights, we have him read first. We read from the Learn From The Great Teacher book. He can read 95% of the words in it and we do have to help him here and there, but he impresses us both when he tries to sound out a word he doesn't know. He gets pretty close!
He practices for the meetings every day too. He'll find toys to be his microphone and will repeat answers he remembers giving. This week it's been "tenderness" which was one of his answers last Wednesday. He takes it very seriously at times. He calls on himself to answer, answers, then thanks himself for the answer. Then he'll come to me and say, "Ms. Hagler" put the microphone to my mouth and wait (if I wait too long he whispers what I'm supposed to say) and I say, "Tenderness." He gets a big grin on his face, "yes, thank you." He walks away.. "Uh. Mr. Andrew. (pause) Tenderness. ... yes, thank you." I'm not sure where the Ms. and Mr. came from, but he's so perceptive in picking all of that routine up. Over and over again during the day, he'll practice giving answers at the meeting.
At the meeting.. he constantly asks for an answer. I tell him yes that we have an answer for him and he immediately looks around and asks "microphone?" If he raises his hand and doesn't get called on, we're left scrambling to find another answer he can give. This past Sunday it took three times, and the sister sitting behind us waving her watchtower to get the conductor's attention to look at Andrew! Last week, when I answered and he hadn't answered yet - he got so upset that I didn't give him the microphone when I was done and started crying and saying "Andrew's turn!! Andrew's turn!!" and Ted had to take him out of the auditorium for a few minutes. He really wants to answer! And when he sees others answering and he's patiently waiting for his turn.. he'll say, "Miranda's turn with microphone. Barry's turn. Nick's turn." (or whoever it is that is answering when he knows their name.)
You should hear him pray.. he's such a sweetie pie. When we're eating and daddy is praying - Andrew is praying right along with daddy repeating everything daddy says. When I'm putting him to bed at night, I say a prayer for him first.. and then he says, "pray for....." Usually it's Dawson up first, then Dylan and Carrie. So I just go ahead and mention every individual in our family. Then he starts getting creative. We've prayed for Nana's house and Uncle David's truck too. I figure those are still appropriate. Well, tonight, January 16th, after saying two prayers for him.. when he asked to pray I told him to go ahead. He prayed for the ceiling fan, the sprinkler and swimming pool, the curtains, the lamp, for juice, and even Corvax who is a cartoon character on his Muzzy dvd. He also prayed for Mommy, Daddy, Grandma... and Grandpa got mentioned three times in there. I love that he wants to pray for everything. He says, "Dear Jehovah.... uh ... thanks uh... (enter whatever it is he decides to pray for) .. in Jesus... amen."
last Friday night, I think he might have been sleep walking. Something startled me awake and then I noticed our bedroom door closing really slowly. It totally freaked me out.. and Ted was still in bed. I got up and our door was unlatched so I knew for sure my eyes were not playing tricks on me. Even over the monitor though I could not hear Andrew rustling in his bed or his room, didn't hear him open or close his door even after being awakened. THAT scared me too because my brain was telling me that it must not have been Andrew!
Well, the next evening, we were still up when we heard a thud in his room. We went to his door and listened. We heard a little bit of rustling but no whimpering or cries.... then silence. After the escapades from the night before - I told Ted I wanted a video monitor in there. We had a spare video surveillance camera and Ted asked me if I could sneak in and plug it in. He opened the door for me and I took a couple of steps inside Andrews room and waited for my eyes to adjust to the dark so I could see and analyze his room. There was a dark square on the floor directly in front of me that I just could not focus on enough to figure out. Finally, Ted turned on a light in another room to give me more light to work with... that dark square was Andrew's pajamas! If I had taken one more step I'd have kicked Andrew in the head! Andrew was all curled up on his stomach, asleep on the floor. I stepped over him and moved some toys to get to an outlet where I could plug in the monitor. Andrew didn't budge. Then I went and got the camera but it was too dark to focus. So I turned on the light... he never flinched. He was out!
Well, he was recently introduced to Daddy's workout: P90X. Boy does he LOVE that!! That is a very intense workout. Andrew is so perceptive, that he has picked up on it quickly and also does well with the parts he choses to try and do. You should see him run in place - he's fast!! He also likes to try and do pull ups on daddy's bar too. We're gonna have one buff kid if he keeps all of this up!
He's kind of outgrown his little four-wheeler. he still loves it, it's just too small. His feet have always been too big for it, but I think he's getting too heavy for it now too. He's 30+ pounds now. Anyway, I found a little go-kart of sorts and thought it'd be a good replacement. He does NOT like it. Not yet anyway. He goes a few feet and then wants off and nothing to do with it again.
He does, however, always want to "jump on the wood."
I am blown away by how his vocabulary and speech is developing. He can speak so well - his answers at the meeting are spoken so clearly you'd think he's much older. And he reads all of his comments himself now. He can even say big words clearly, like in a recent answer "descendants" - perfectly said.
His reading just gets better and better. When we do our family study on Monday nights, we have him read first. We read from the Learn From The Great Teacher book. He can read 95% of the words in it and we do have to help him here and there, but he impresses us both when he tries to sound out a word he doesn't know. He gets pretty close!
He practices for the meetings every day too. He'll find toys to be his microphone and will repeat answers he remembers giving. This week it's been "tenderness" which was one of his answers last Wednesday. He takes it very seriously at times. He calls on himself to answer, answers, then thanks himself for the answer. Then he'll come to me and say, "Ms. Hagler" put the microphone to my mouth and wait (if I wait too long he whispers what I'm supposed to say) and I say, "Tenderness." He gets a big grin on his face, "yes, thank you." He walks away.. "Uh. Mr. Andrew. (pause) Tenderness. ... yes, thank you." I'm not sure where the Ms. and Mr. came from, but he's so perceptive in picking all of that routine up. Over and over again during the day, he'll practice giving answers at the meeting.
At the meeting.. he constantly asks for an answer. I tell him yes that we have an answer for him and he immediately looks around and asks "microphone?" If he raises his hand and doesn't get called on, we're left scrambling to find another answer he can give. This past Sunday it took three times, and the sister sitting behind us waving her watchtower to get the conductor's attention to look at Andrew! Last week, when I answered and he hadn't answered yet - he got so upset that I didn't give him the microphone when I was done and started crying and saying "Andrew's turn!! Andrew's turn!!" and Ted had to take him out of the auditorium for a few minutes. He really wants to answer! And when he sees others answering and he's patiently waiting for his turn.. he'll say, "Miranda's turn with microphone. Barry's turn. Nick's turn." (or whoever it is that is answering when he knows their name.)
You should hear him pray.. he's such a sweetie pie. When we're eating and daddy is praying - Andrew is praying right along with daddy repeating everything daddy says. When I'm putting him to bed at night, I say a prayer for him first.. and then he says, "pray for....." Usually it's Dawson up first, then Dylan and Carrie. So I just go ahead and mention every individual in our family. Then he starts getting creative. We've prayed for Nana's house and Uncle David's truck too. I figure those are still appropriate. Well, tonight, January 16th, after saying two prayers for him.. when he asked to pray I told him to go ahead. He prayed for the ceiling fan, the sprinkler and swimming pool, the curtains, the lamp, for juice, and even Corvax who is a cartoon character on his Muzzy dvd. He also prayed for Mommy, Daddy, Grandma... and Grandpa got mentioned three times in there. I love that he wants to pray for everything. He says, "Dear Jehovah.... uh ... thanks uh... (enter whatever it is he decides to pray for) .. in Jesus... amen."
last Friday night, I think he might have been sleep walking. Something startled me awake and then I noticed our bedroom door closing really slowly. It totally freaked me out.. and Ted was still in bed. I got up and our door was unlatched so I knew for sure my eyes were not playing tricks on me. Even over the monitor though I could not hear Andrew rustling in his bed or his room, didn't hear him open or close his door even after being awakened. THAT scared me too because my brain was telling me that it must not have been Andrew!
Well, the next evening, we were still up when we heard a thud in his room. We went to his door and listened. We heard a little bit of rustling but no whimpering or cries.... then silence. After the escapades from the night before - I told Ted I wanted a video monitor in there. We had a spare video surveillance camera and Ted asked me if I could sneak in and plug it in. He opened the door for me and I took a couple of steps inside Andrews room and waited for my eyes to adjust to the dark so I could see and analyze his room. There was a dark square on the floor directly in front of me that I just could not focus on enough to figure out. Finally, Ted turned on a light in another room to give me more light to work with... that dark square was Andrew's pajamas! If I had taken one more step I'd have kicked Andrew in the head! Andrew was all curled up on his stomach, asleep on the floor. I stepped over him and moved some toys to get to an outlet where I could plug in the monitor. Andrew didn't budge. Then I went and got the camera but it was too dark to focus. So I turned on the light... he never flinched. He was out!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Ooga Booga Booga!
He says "ooga booga booga" when he's trying to be silly.. And he
imitates a "dun dun.. dun dun... dun dun dun dun dun dun dedlededledee"
(i guess like Jaws) that Ted does when he's about to get Andrew. Andrew
squeals and laughs with anticipation.
he used to say oops, but that has occasionally become "oopsie poopsie" and i'm pretty sure i only said that once, but he apparently liked it.
he has been answering his play phone "hello, this is Amanda" for a while. Friday December 30th he said "hello, this is Amanda, uh photography." and then mentioned 'secrets' and something else unusual. I'm not sure where that came from because I dont say photography when i answer the phone.. and he apparently picked up the concept of "secrets" from a Muzzy story.
Friday we also had the Perry girls over all day. They had a blast pulling everything out in the studio, changing backdrops, and taking turns being photographer. Andrew was right along side them playing in all the props. After a while, though, Andrew seemed to get jealous for attention but wasnt really sure what to do when he had our attention either. He did play well with them all, and was good at sharing and taking turns when we played games.
I've been without my work computer for over a week and using a laptop to get online. He comes over and says "type to nana" and taps his fingers on the keys to mimic what it sounds like when i'm typing.
Last week we had guests arrive for dinner. There was a box sitting on our front porch that had been delivered by the postman. When our guests arrived, Andrew opened the door, saw the box and excitedly yelled, "A box for Grandma!! Open it!!" He associates the priority boxes with Grandma since he'd decorated one we mailed to her. Then later we got one from her with new suits in it. He does think that every single box that comes to our door has a present in it. lol
Andrew was so well behaved at meeting Sunday. Since its the new year our meeting is at 10am instead of 4pm. He sat quietly reading books, never had a snack or water. During the Watchtower a friend fell and I attended to her the rest of the meeting. Andrew crawled up on daddy's lap and was perfect. He didn't get to answer his first comment which was just "jehovah" anyway.. and he made his second comment beautifully. "david always relied on Jehovah'. Someone after the meeting said they could tell he was reading it. (we print out his answers ahead of time so he doesn't get lost in the paragraphs)
oh and the minute the meeting was over, there were three brothers standing in front of the stage talking... andrew walked up to them and shook their hands and then grinned and ran off.
he used to say oops, but that has occasionally become "oopsie poopsie" and i'm pretty sure i only said that once, but he apparently liked it.
he has been answering his play phone "hello, this is Amanda" for a while. Friday December 30th he said "hello, this is Amanda, uh photography." and then mentioned 'secrets' and something else unusual. I'm not sure where that came from because I dont say photography when i answer the phone.. and he apparently picked up the concept of "secrets" from a Muzzy story.
Friday we also had the Perry girls over all day. They had a blast pulling everything out in the studio, changing backdrops, and taking turns being photographer. Andrew was right along side them playing in all the props. After a while, though, Andrew seemed to get jealous for attention but wasnt really sure what to do when he had our attention either. He did play well with them all, and was good at sharing and taking turns when we played games.
I've been without my work computer for over a week and using a laptop to get online. He comes over and says "type to nana" and taps his fingers on the keys to mimic what it sounds like when i'm typing.
Last week we had guests arrive for dinner. There was a box sitting on our front porch that had been delivered by the postman. When our guests arrived, Andrew opened the door, saw the box and excitedly yelled, "A box for Grandma!! Open it!!" He associates the priority boxes with Grandma since he'd decorated one we mailed to her. Then later we got one from her with new suits in it. He does think that every single box that comes to our door has a present in it. lol
Andrew was so well behaved at meeting Sunday. Since its the new year our meeting is at 10am instead of 4pm. He sat quietly reading books, never had a snack or water. During the Watchtower a friend fell and I attended to her the rest of the meeting. Andrew crawled up on daddy's lap and was perfect. He didn't get to answer his first comment which was just "jehovah" anyway.. and he made his second comment beautifully. "david always relied on Jehovah'. Someone after the meeting said they could tell he was reading it. (we print out his answers ahead of time so he doesn't get lost in the paragraphs)
oh and the minute the meeting was over, there were three brothers standing in front of the stage talking... andrew walked up to them and shook their hands and then grinned and ran off.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
"Andrew's Working"
I don't think I remembered to blog this earlier. Several days ago, Andrew started to gag a lot. I dont know how much of it is real and how much of it is for something to do. One time I know it was real.. ha ha.. he had pooped in his diaper and when I took it off he got a whiff of it and immediately started to gag.
Several weeks ago, we mailed a box to Grandma and I had let Andrew color on the outside to decorate it. Now, anytime I put a box together, he asks if it's for Grandma and if he can color it. He even got a priority box out of my office closet and brought it to me saying, "grandma!" ... he wanted to mail more so he could color the box and take it to the post office.
We also hung out with Aunt Eese one day and did a run through the grocery store. There was a wall of Hot Wheels for 99 cents each. I know I've seen them cheaper elsewhere at times but I figured it didn't hurt and I let him pick one out. Annelise ended up buying it for him so I told him in the car it was a present from Aunt Eese. He didn't let go of that concept! Not long after I got a box in the mail that had a toy for Andrew in it and I told him it was a present from mommy and daddy. Now, every time we get a box delivered to the door, Andrew picks it up... "present? present??" And since we gave away nearly all of his toys not too long ago, we've been splurging a little bit to give him some new things to play with. (everything we buy is a super good deal, on sale, and sometimes with coupons on top of the sale.) But I think he's getting a bit spoiled this month!!
His second night in the toddler bed, he fell out at midnight. We heard the thud and Ted darted in there like a rocket and found Andrew sitting on the floor a little dazed as to what had happened. He comforted him a little bit and set him back in bed and he went back to sleep.
He's done really well staying in his bed. There has only been one day that I recall where he wouldnt. I think it was this past Sunday. I put him down for his nap, Ted went to bed, and I sat on the couch to study. He's in there chattering away, and soon I hear toys clinking. So I go in there and he has the lights on and toys out. I gently remind him that its time to be in bed with no toys, and to go to sleep. A few minutes go by and I can tell he's out playing. So I go in, lights are off this time. I tell him to get back in bed and go to sleep, that he can play with toys after nap. A few minutes go by - he's not out playing on the floor - he's delightfully jumping in the bed. So I go back in there with the realization that he's obviously not going to sleep so I just made him go potty and told him to go play in the living room.
Wednesday morning, we had to run some errands. One of them was going to Kroger and getting some groceries. I discovered they have child-sized shopping carts! Perfect!! So Andrew pushed his little cart around as I filled it with milk and meat. He was SO GOOD! I'd tell him to turn left or turn right and he would. After getting milk, I pointed to the meat counter and told him we had to go over there to get daddy some lunch meat. He took off in that direction. I stopped for a second to read a label on a cereal box and he kept on going. I catch up to him as he stops in front of the meat counter. He ditched the cart for a moment to play with a pole that was standing there, but when we got our meat, he was back on duty! If I told him to stop and wait at any point, he just stood there with the cart waiting for me. He was just so cute.. next time I'll have to be sure to take my camera with me.
It was actually really warm this Wednesday afternoon so once we got home, we played in the yard a bit. At one point he found a long stick in the yard. I heard him poke the ground a few times with it and saying, "Andrew is working." He loves to work and be helpful. Even if its pushing the chair up to the sink to put your glass gently in the sink. Or to help you spread the peanut butter on his bread.
He pushes the chair back under the table every time he gets down from the chair after dinner. He usually turns the light off when he leaves his room. He loves to put laundry in the washer or carry it out from the dryer. He'll shut off toys when he's done with them. And of course, it's his job to let the kitty in and out.
He says, "excuse me" after sneezing.. he picked that up all on his own!
He wanted me to take some pictures of him. So I let him choose a chair for a couple, and then he got some pictures with his favorite invention: the vacuum cleaner.
Several weeks ago, we mailed a box to Grandma and I had let Andrew color on the outside to decorate it. Now, anytime I put a box together, he asks if it's for Grandma and if he can color it. He even got a priority box out of my office closet and brought it to me saying, "grandma!" ... he wanted to mail more so he could color the box and take it to the post office.
We also hung out with Aunt Eese one day and did a run through the grocery store. There was a wall of Hot Wheels for 99 cents each. I know I've seen them cheaper elsewhere at times but I figured it didn't hurt and I let him pick one out. Annelise ended up buying it for him so I told him in the car it was a present from Aunt Eese. He didn't let go of that concept! Not long after I got a box in the mail that had a toy for Andrew in it and I told him it was a present from mommy and daddy. Now, every time we get a box delivered to the door, Andrew picks it up... "present? present??" And since we gave away nearly all of his toys not too long ago, we've been splurging a little bit to give him some new things to play with. (everything we buy is a super good deal, on sale, and sometimes with coupons on top of the sale.) But I think he's getting a bit spoiled this month!!
His second night in the toddler bed, he fell out at midnight. We heard the thud and Ted darted in there like a rocket and found Andrew sitting on the floor a little dazed as to what had happened. He comforted him a little bit and set him back in bed and he went back to sleep.
He's done really well staying in his bed. There has only been one day that I recall where he wouldnt. I think it was this past Sunday. I put him down for his nap, Ted went to bed, and I sat on the couch to study. He's in there chattering away, and soon I hear toys clinking. So I go in there and he has the lights on and toys out. I gently remind him that its time to be in bed with no toys, and to go to sleep. A few minutes go by and I can tell he's out playing. So I go in, lights are off this time. I tell him to get back in bed and go to sleep, that he can play with toys after nap. A few minutes go by - he's not out playing on the floor - he's delightfully jumping in the bed. So I go back in there with the realization that he's obviously not going to sleep so I just made him go potty and told him to go play in the living room.
Wednesday morning, we had to run some errands. One of them was going to Kroger and getting some groceries. I discovered they have child-sized shopping carts! Perfect!! So Andrew pushed his little cart around as I filled it with milk and meat. He was SO GOOD! I'd tell him to turn left or turn right and he would. After getting milk, I pointed to the meat counter and told him we had to go over there to get daddy some lunch meat. He took off in that direction. I stopped for a second to read a label on a cereal box and he kept on going. I catch up to him as he stops in front of the meat counter. He ditched the cart for a moment to play with a pole that was standing there, but when we got our meat, he was back on duty! If I told him to stop and wait at any point, he just stood there with the cart waiting for me. He was just so cute.. next time I'll have to be sure to take my camera with me.
It was actually really warm this Wednesday afternoon so once we got home, we played in the yard a bit. At one point he found a long stick in the yard. I heard him poke the ground a few times with it and saying, "Andrew is working." He loves to work and be helpful. Even if its pushing the chair up to the sink to put your glass gently in the sink. Or to help you spread the peanut butter on his bread.
He pushes the chair back under the table every time he gets down from the chair after dinner. He usually turns the light off when he leaves his room. He loves to put laundry in the washer or carry it out from the dryer. He'll shut off toys when he's done with them. And of course, it's his job to let the kitty in and out.
He says, "excuse me" after sneezing.. he picked that up all on his own!
He wanted me to take some pictures of him. So I let him choose a chair for a couple, and then he got some pictures with his favorite invention: the vacuum cleaner.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
No more crib!
Andrew carries (and drags and swings) his light muslin blankets around all over the house.
This week he has been talking about his aunts, uncles, and cousins a lot. One night when I was putting him in his crib he asked about "uncle david" and then started talking about Dylan and Dawson. The next morning he woke up talking about Katara. During the day he talked about every single one of them, "uncle Adam and aunt "dinana", "Kabeb", and Katara, Aunt Eese, Nana, Papa, Daisy Dog, aunt Carrie, uncle David, Dylan and Dawson. Then that night after we finished our prayers, he said, "pray Dylan and Dawson too?" So we said a prayer for everyone. It's starting to become a ritual I think.
Sunday morning we converted Andrew's crib into a toddler bed. We'd been told not to do that until age three, but part of me was thinking that he'd stay in it because he really is so well behaved. He was so excited and has enjoyed being able to get in and out of the bed easily all by himself. For some reason, though, when he wakes up - he still doesn't climb out until one of us goes in there. I'm sure that will change, but I find it interesting. He's such a good boy!
Monday morning I was having a very off kind of day. My mood was fragile and my patience was lacking. Andrew was being his usual happy and good self, but I was struggling. At one point we were in the bathroom and he asked to go to the Kingdom Hall and out in service. I had forgotten that I had planned to volunteer some time in the ministry that morning. So I told him, yes, we could go. Then we had to hussle a bit to get showered, fed, dressed, and out the door to be there at 9am. With the exception of him telling me he needed to potty (more than once) and NOT going potty - just standing there touching everything or singing or goofing off .... he was SO GOOD! The very first door he got out with Mimi and Diane. He kept asking, "mommy coming?" as they got him out of the car, but he didn't get upset. Then at the door they heard a dog inside. Mimi told me that Andrew announced he heard "a black dog" inside. lol They found that amusing since no one could see the dog. He also couldn't seem to remember Diane's name... he called them both Mimi. Once he pointed to each of them and said, "Mimi 1, 2" referring to them as Mimi 1 and Mimi 2. They got a kick out of that too. Anyway - he got out at nearly every door, and was very well behaved at every single one. I was so proud of him! So I treated him to his favorite place to eat... Olive Garden.
I ordered a bowl of the chicken gnocci soup for him, and some mushroom stuffed ravioli and salad for me (we shared all three). He was a very messy eater since the soup kept dripping off the sides of the spoon. Then I showed him he could dip his breadstick in the soup.. which of course acts like a sponge - so when he bit into the bread, the soup oozed out all over his mouth and cheeks. I think we went through six napkins while he was eating soup.
Every day Andrew climbs up into a chair near my computer and asks, "Watch Andrew on Compoo?" He'll say "Computer" correctly only when I repeat what he's asking.
This week he has been talking about his aunts, uncles, and cousins a lot. One night when I was putting him in his crib he asked about "uncle david" and then started talking about Dylan and Dawson. The next morning he woke up talking about Katara. During the day he talked about every single one of them, "uncle Adam and aunt "dinana", "Kabeb", and Katara, Aunt Eese, Nana, Papa, Daisy Dog, aunt Carrie, uncle David, Dylan and Dawson. Then that night after we finished our prayers, he said, "pray Dylan and Dawson too?" So we said a prayer for everyone. It's starting to become a ritual I think.
Sunday morning we converted Andrew's crib into a toddler bed. We'd been told not to do that until age three, but part of me was thinking that he'd stay in it because he really is so well behaved. He was so excited and has enjoyed being able to get in and out of the bed easily all by himself. For some reason, though, when he wakes up - he still doesn't climb out until one of us goes in there. I'm sure that will change, but I find it interesting. He's such a good boy!
Monday morning I was having a very off kind of day. My mood was fragile and my patience was lacking. Andrew was being his usual happy and good self, but I was struggling. At one point we were in the bathroom and he asked to go to the Kingdom Hall and out in service. I had forgotten that I had planned to volunteer some time in the ministry that morning. So I told him, yes, we could go. Then we had to hussle a bit to get showered, fed, dressed, and out the door to be there at 9am. With the exception of him telling me he needed to potty (more than once) and NOT going potty - just standing there touching everything or singing or goofing off .... he was SO GOOD! The very first door he got out with Mimi and Diane. He kept asking, "mommy coming?" as they got him out of the car, but he didn't get upset. Then at the door they heard a dog inside. Mimi told me that Andrew announced he heard "a black dog" inside. lol They found that amusing since no one could see the dog. He also couldn't seem to remember Diane's name... he called them both Mimi. Once he pointed to each of them and said, "Mimi 1, 2" referring to them as Mimi 1 and Mimi 2. They got a kick out of that too. Anyway - he got out at nearly every door, and was very well behaved at every single one. I was so proud of him! So I treated him to his favorite place to eat... Olive Garden.
I ordered a bowl of the chicken gnocci soup for him, and some mushroom stuffed ravioli and salad for me (we shared all three). He was a very messy eater since the soup kept dripping off the sides of the spoon. Then I showed him he could dip his breadstick in the soup.. which of course acts like a sponge - so when he bit into the bread, the soup oozed out all over his mouth and cheeks. I think we went through six napkins while he was eating soup.
Every day Andrew climbs up into a chair near my computer and asks, "Watch Andrew on Compoo?" He'll say "Computer" correctly only when I repeat what he's asking.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
The Ibpsy Spider
It took a full two and a half weeks, but Andrew is recovered and back to normal! Wahoo! I can't praise Jehovah enough or thank Him enough for that. It's so nice to have my happy, cooperative, pleasant and kind little boy back!! I'm on a high some days because it's such a relief.
I guess I should also report that Andrew stands to pee every time now since that Wednesday evening. In lieu of a step stool, though, I taped two unopened packages of printer paper together and made my own step. It works nicely and is easy to clean.
Wednesday the 23rd...
At the meeting, Andrew wanted to sit on my lap most of the time. During the bookstudy I asked him if he'd like to answer. He got all excited and every time the microphone came near he sat up tall "microphone? Faith?" (he apparently wanted to answer Faith again! but his answer was supposed to be "no".) It came time for him to answer and I all of a sudden second guessed myself that the answer was indeed "no." I felt really bad that he missed the opportunity and he kept asking for the microphone to answer into. I finally told him that he'd get to talk into it later.
Later: Ted had to give the demonstration for offering the Greatest Man book in the ministry. Andrew and I were going to be the householders. We practiced before the meeting and he did pretty well considering there were other children playing nearby. Then right before we go up I tell him that when we go on stage, he has to stand still next to mommy and be quiet. We go up on stage, and he did SO WELL!! At first he is still and quiet, but a few seconds into it he sees me holding the microphone for daddy and starts reaching for it and whispering, "have it? have it?" I snap my fingers and he stopped. Then another minute later he starts inching over to stand in between me and Ted and starts playing with the buttons on Ted's sportscoat. Ted just pats him on the head and keeps going. Then he starts inching toward the chair that sits next to us and then stands there with his back to the chair. (Another minute and he'd have been in the chair most likely.) Ted finishes the presentation and I tell him thank you, and then I hold the microphone down to Andrew and ask him if he can say thank you. He is facing the audience and gets a huge smile on his face and says perfectly clearly: Thank you. Then the whole congregation thunders with applause. Andrew stopped at the bottom of the stage to clap as well.
I love hearing Andrew sing. He sings the entire ABC's, The Itsy Bitsy Spider (The Ibpsy Spider), Twinkle Little Star, Row Your Boat, Baa Baa Black Sheep, and portions of London Bridge is Falling Down, The Farmer in the Dell, She'll Be Comin' Around the Mountain, and probably others. And when he watches his videos, Muzzy, "Can Read", the Leap Frog ones, the "Andrew Veoo" and even Bob the Builder "Legend of the Golden Hammer" - he seems to know every word and will narrate along with watching!
He is apparently in a size 9 shoe now. It should be an 8.5 but I can't find any in that size. He's almost out of his size 8, well-worn hand-me-down tennis shoes. A friend who works at Sports Seasons bought him a new pair of shoes in size 8. They looked slightly bigger than his current shoes and I thought they'd fit. I put them on and he said "heavy. Too Small. Off." He didn't like them. So I had them exchanged for a size 9. Well, the size 9 looks SO much bigger than the 8 - and these seem too wide. I found a pair of shoes in his closet in size 9 that I thought were way too big too - but they are at least more narrow and he seems to like them. Soo.. he'll be in a size 9 until he grows into and out of them I guess. Ted said Andrew must have narrow feet like his mama.
I guess I have no current pictures of him... need to remedy that!
I guess I should also report that Andrew stands to pee every time now since that Wednesday evening. In lieu of a step stool, though, I taped two unopened packages of printer paper together and made my own step. It works nicely and is easy to clean.
Wednesday the 23rd...
At the meeting, Andrew wanted to sit on my lap most of the time. During the bookstudy I asked him if he'd like to answer. He got all excited and every time the microphone came near he sat up tall "microphone? Faith?" (he apparently wanted to answer Faith again! but his answer was supposed to be "no".) It came time for him to answer and I all of a sudden second guessed myself that the answer was indeed "no." I felt really bad that he missed the opportunity and he kept asking for the microphone to answer into. I finally told him that he'd get to talk into it later.
Later: Ted had to give the demonstration for offering the Greatest Man book in the ministry. Andrew and I were going to be the householders. We practiced before the meeting and he did pretty well considering there were other children playing nearby. Then right before we go up I tell him that when we go on stage, he has to stand still next to mommy and be quiet. We go up on stage, and he did SO WELL!! At first he is still and quiet, but a few seconds into it he sees me holding the microphone for daddy and starts reaching for it and whispering, "have it? have it?" I snap my fingers and he stopped. Then another minute later he starts inching over to stand in between me and Ted and starts playing with the buttons on Ted's sportscoat. Ted just pats him on the head and keeps going. Then he starts inching toward the chair that sits next to us and then stands there with his back to the chair. (Another minute and he'd have been in the chair most likely.) Ted finishes the presentation and I tell him thank you, and then I hold the microphone down to Andrew and ask him if he can say thank you. He is facing the audience and gets a huge smile on his face and says perfectly clearly: Thank you. Then the whole congregation thunders with applause. Andrew stopped at the bottom of the stage to clap as well.
I love hearing Andrew sing. He sings the entire ABC's, The Itsy Bitsy Spider (The Ibpsy Spider), Twinkle Little Star, Row Your Boat, Baa Baa Black Sheep, and portions of London Bridge is Falling Down, The Farmer in the Dell, She'll Be Comin' Around the Mountain, and probably others. And when he watches his videos, Muzzy, "Can Read", the Leap Frog ones, the "Andrew Veoo" and even Bob the Builder "Legend of the Golden Hammer" - he seems to know every word and will narrate along with watching!
He is apparently in a size 9 shoe now. It should be an 8.5 but I can't find any in that size. He's almost out of his size 8, well-worn hand-me-down tennis shoes. A friend who works at Sports Seasons bought him a new pair of shoes in size 8. They looked slightly bigger than his current shoes and I thought they'd fit. I put them on and he said "heavy. Too Small. Off." He didn't like them. So I had them exchanged for a size 9. Well, the size 9 looks SO much bigger than the 8 - and these seem too wide. I found a pair of shoes in his closet in size 9 that I thought were way too big too - but they are at least more narrow and he seems to like them. Soo.. he'll be in a size 9 until he grows into and out of them I guess. Ted said Andrew must have narrow feet like his mama.
I guess I have no current pictures of him... need to remedy that!
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Standing Up To ...
Wednesday November 16: Andrew, daddy told me to write in your blog that you just peed in the potty while standing up. You both are so proud! Even though you go potty sitting down several times a day which makes me proud every single time - this was a big milestone for you and daddy to share. I'll work on finding you a step stool to make it easier so you don't have to stand on daddy's knees next time ;-)
Well, I had to take Andrew out of Mothers Day Out until he recovers fully from his concussion. He was doing "fine" but he'd come home, take a nap, and wake up a monster. Crying uncontrollably, shaking, wanting a hug but then pushing away and falling apart. I'd beg for any answer for something I could do to help and he'd just cry "Nooooo". He even said no to chocolate! Anyway - that's barely even describing what it's really like - but he's not himself in the afternoons of days where he's had very active mornings, and the day following a highly active day is difficult too. I was falling apart last Wednesday (reaaaally bad day!) and finally sat down to do more research on concussions hoping to find something I could do to relieve this for him. This time I learned that when a child has a concussion, they should not go back to school, not play on playground equipment, should be kept as quiet and calm as possible, stick to a sleep schedule and routine, and get plenty of rest - until fully recovered. Well no wonder every other day seemed awful and difficult - I was letting him do too much! So I took him out of MDO and have pretty much been under house arrest for a week. It's definitely better! We've been trying to keep play and activity really low key, and I still notice that if he gets too much activity - we all pay for it later. He's doing well though - still improving. I had no idea what I was talking about a couple of weeks ago when I thought he was 90% back to normal in a couple of days. HA! Maybe a few hours here and there he was.. but other times it's like we lost an entire year with him. There were days he resorted to grunting and pointing and would not use words at all. I'd ask him to use his words and he'd just fall apart sobbing (as I was told later, he probably wanted to use words and couldnt find them in his memory bank. poor baby!) It just seems to flip back and forth - and any little thing can set him off. I'm trying to give in a lot, while still testing out my own parental boundaries with him. I don't want him to get spoiled and catch on that all he has to do is fall apart to get what he wants. He fakes the cry and whine sometimes - but a lot of the time it's pretty genuine and he's upset. I can call him out when he's faking it and get a smile and a laugh from him, but if I do the same thing when it's genuine - you might as well have put on a scary monster suit and jumped out to scare him.
Well, I had to take Andrew out of Mothers Day Out until he recovers fully from his concussion. He was doing "fine" but he'd come home, take a nap, and wake up a monster. Crying uncontrollably, shaking, wanting a hug but then pushing away and falling apart. I'd beg for any answer for something I could do to help and he'd just cry "Nooooo". He even said no to chocolate! Anyway - that's barely even describing what it's really like - but he's not himself in the afternoons of days where he's had very active mornings, and the day following a highly active day is difficult too. I was falling apart last Wednesday (reaaaally bad day!) and finally sat down to do more research on concussions hoping to find something I could do to relieve this for him. This time I learned that when a child has a concussion, they should not go back to school, not play on playground equipment, should be kept as quiet and calm as possible, stick to a sleep schedule and routine, and get plenty of rest - until fully recovered. Well no wonder every other day seemed awful and difficult - I was letting him do too much! So I took him out of MDO and have pretty much been under house arrest for a week. It's definitely better! We've been trying to keep play and activity really low key, and I still notice that if he gets too much activity - we all pay for it later. He's doing well though - still improving. I had no idea what I was talking about a couple of weeks ago when I thought he was 90% back to normal in a couple of days. HA! Maybe a few hours here and there he was.. but other times it's like we lost an entire year with him. There were days he resorted to grunting and pointing and would not use words at all. I'd ask him to use his words and he'd just fall apart sobbing (as I was told later, he probably wanted to use words and couldnt find them in his memory bank. poor baby!) It just seems to flip back and forth - and any little thing can set him off. I'm trying to give in a lot, while still testing out my own parental boundaries with him. I don't want him to get spoiled and catch on that all he has to do is fall apart to get what he wants. He fakes the cry and whine sometimes - but a lot of the time it's pretty genuine and he's upset. I can call him out when he's faking it and get a smile and a laugh from him, but if I do the same thing when it's genuine - you might as well have put on a scary monster suit and jumped out to scare him.
Monday, November 7, 2011
What A Week!
We've given an old cell phone to Andrew. It doesn't work (but he used to think a calculator was a phone so this is an upgrade) Lately he picks it up and pretends to answer it saying, "Hello? Amanda. .... Thank you." I guess he's heard me answer my phone too much "This is Amanda" and saying "Thank you" at the end of my calls.
Last Sunday at the farm, before we left Adam took his yellow backhoe into the field to feed the cows hay. I remember pointing at the tractor as it was coming back and telling Andrew to look. I must have told him what Adam was doing because ever since he's been showing me his yellow toy backhoe and asking "Feed the cows? feed the cows hay?" and has also started to add "Feed the cickins? Feed the chickens?" (he gets the word right the second time)
Day #2 at Mothers Day Out: He wouldn't eat more than maybe two bites of his turkey and cheese quesadilla. Didn't drink a lot. When she put him on the potty he cried so she took him off and just changed his diaper instead. He made a paper teddy bear, and painted some fall leaves that got strung together and did some coloring. When I showed up to take him home, he got super excited and started jumping up and down - and then all of a sudden fell to the floor and burst into tears. He didn't want to show me his artwork or anything.. I guess he realized I was there to take him home and he didn't want to leave. I told him he could go play for just a few minutes and he cheered up and went to play with their Thomas train set. I gave him a few minutes and he was fine leaving after that. The teacher told me that Andrew LOVES music. He enjoyed playing the toy clarinets and the drums. She said when he was on the drums she'd say "okay, lets play softly and quietly" and he'd play softly for a second and then yell "Go!!" and start beating the drums really loudly, hard, and fast. Silly boy.
Once home, I realized he had a fever and he wasn't really feeling well. He didn't sleep well either.
He's been so emotional all week, from the fall no doubt. He's been defiant but needy, aggressive but then sorry sometimes, would just burst into tears all of a sudden over the smallest thing. I'm sure he has been just as confused as I have. My heart has been aching all week as I've prayed for wisdom and patience in handling him.
Sunday November 6th... this is the first day he seems like his normal self again. There were just a couple of brief periods where he was emotional, but overall - it was a pleasant day and he did really well. So, we decided we could take him to Kingdom Hall. We also prepared an answer for him from the Watchtower. On paragraph 12, the answer was "Faith." A word he already knows and can read!
Ted pulled out the rockband microphone to practice with. Andrew said it perfectly once, and then the rest of the time it was him shouting "FAAAAAAIIIIIIITh" really loudly. We weren't sure what to expect. We were the first ones at the hall, so decided to practice again. We sat him in a chair, I sat next to him, and daddy held the microphone out. He yelled it excitedly a couple of times, and then said it perfectly and calmly. So again, we weren't sure what to expect.
Andrew was SOOOO good through the public talk and the beginning of the Watchtower study. We were on paragraph 11 when he started to lose it. He was getting antsy, wanted down, didn't want his books, etc. (Just one more paragraph til his answer!) So I told him, just wait a little bit longer, and said if you give your answer in the microphone, I'll give you some raisins. That got him excited.
The paragraph was read, the conductor asked the question, Andrew waved his arm - and was overlooked. So we waited and then raised his arm again, and he waved his hand. They say his name and the microphone comes, "Raisins!" ... "No, say Faith!" ... "Faif" .. and Ted and I just laugh.
Oh, and when Ted was brushing Andrew's teeth to get ready for the meeting - he discovered Andrew has new teeth! Sure enough - two new teeth have come through and one about to surface. Well no wonder he wasn't feeling well and not eating the other day! What a traumatic week this has been for him - concussion, teething, and first days of being in a mothers day out program! A lot for my little boy. Although it'd have been a breeze without the concussion - he's a rock star when he's his normal self. But it hit me Sunday night that Andrew has been trying to TELL me that his teeth were hurting him all week! He was coming to me with a finger in his mouth and saying "ouch." I thought he had bitten his tongue or the inside of his cheek each time since he'd been eating. It just didn't occur to me that he was teething! Poor munchkin.
Monday - well, yesterday was nice but Andrew is being aggressive and touchy again this morning. I know it can take two weeks or longer to recover from a concussion. Sunday was a nice break and gave me a glimmer of hope that my boy will recover sooner than later. *sigh*
Last Sunday at the farm, before we left Adam took his yellow backhoe into the field to feed the cows hay. I remember pointing at the tractor as it was coming back and telling Andrew to look. I must have told him what Adam was doing because ever since he's been showing me his yellow toy backhoe and asking "Feed the cows? feed the cows hay?" and has also started to add "Feed the cickins? Feed the chickens?" (he gets the word right the second time)
Day #2 at Mothers Day Out: He wouldn't eat more than maybe two bites of his turkey and cheese quesadilla. Didn't drink a lot. When she put him on the potty he cried so she took him off and just changed his diaper instead. He made a paper teddy bear, and painted some fall leaves that got strung together and did some coloring. When I showed up to take him home, he got super excited and started jumping up and down - and then all of a sudden fell to the floor and burst into tears. He didn't want to show me his artwork or anything.. I guess he realized I was there to take him home and he didn't want to leave. I told him he could go play for just a few minutes and he cheered up and went to play with their Thomas train set. I gave him a few minutes and he was fine leaving after that. The teacher told me that Andrew LOVES music. He enjoyed playing the toy clarinets and the drums. She said when he was on the drums she'd say "okay, lets play softly and quietly" and he'd play softly for a second and then yell "Go!!" and start beating the drums really loudly, hard, and fast. Silly boy.
Once home, I realized he had a fever and he wasn't really feeling well. He didn't sleep well either.
He's been so emotional all week, from the fall no doubt. He's been defiant but needy, aggressive but then sorry sometimes, would just burst into tears all of a sudden over the smallest thing. I'm sure he has been just as confused as I have. My heart has been aching all week as I've prayed for wisdom and patience in handling him.
Sunday November 6th... this is the first day he seems like his normal self again. There were just a couple of brief periods where he was emotional, but overall - it was a pleasant day and he did really well. So, we decided we could take him to Kingdom Hall. We also prepared an answer for him from the Watchtower. On paragraph 12, the answer was "Faith." A word he already knows and can read!
Ted pulled out the rockband microphone to practice with. Andrew said it perfectly once, and then the rest of the time it was him shouting "FAAAAAAIIIIIIITh" really loudly. We weren't sure what to expect. We were the first ones at the hall, so decided to practice again. We sat him in a chair, I sat next to him, and daddy held the microphone out. He yelled it excitedly a couple of times, and then said it perfectly and calmly. So again, we weren't sure what to expect.
Andrew was SOOOO good through the public talk and the beginning of the Watchtower study. We were on paragraph 11 when he started to lose it. He was getting antsy, wanted down, didn't want his books, etc. (Just one more paragraph til his answer!) So I told him, just wait a little bit longer, and said if you give your answer in the microphone, I'll give you some raisins. That got him excited.
The paragraph was read, the conductor asked the question, Andrew waved his arm - and was overlooked. So we waited and then raised his arm again, and he waved his hand. They say his name and the microphone comes, "Raisins!" ... "No, say Faith!" ... "Faif" .. and Ted and I just laugh.
Oh, and when Ted was brushing Andrew's teeth to get ready for the meeting - he discovered Andrew has new teeth! Sure enough - two new teeth have come through and one about to surface. Well no wonder he wasn't feeling well and not eating the other day! What a traumatic week this has been for him - concussion, teething, and first days of being in a mothers day out program! A lot for my little boy. Although it'd have been a breeze without the concussion - he's a rock star when he's his normal self. But it hit me Sunday night that Andrew has been trying to TELL me that his teeth were hurting him all week! He was coming to me with a finger in his mouth and saying "ouch." I thought he had bitten his tongue or the inside of his cheek each time since he'd been eating. It just didn't occur to me that he was teething! Poor munchkin.
Monday - well, yesterday was nice but Andrew is being aggressive and touchy again this morning. I know it can take two weeks or longer to recover from a concussion. Sunday was a nice break and gave me a glimmer of hope that my boy will recover sooner than later. *sigh*
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Rough and Tumble
Andrew has an affection for his muslin swaddle blankets. I have to admit - they're pretty great blankets. He is starting to carry them around with him throughout the house. He also likes putting one over his head and trying to walk around.
Sunday we were all gathered at my parents house to visit with family that I hadn't seen since our wedding. Andrew was keeping up with all the bigger kids, running and playing. One of them was being a little rascal. While we adults were still eating at the picnic tables, I saw the three youngest boys run off around the corner. I got up to make sure they weren't going to chase chickens or go past the electric fence. What I see instead is one of the boys laying on top of Andrew keeping him pinned to the ground. Andrew wasn't crying but making a distressed whine. I just yelled to him to get off, he complied, and I walked away. Later, though, things didn't go as well. Andrew was standing on a chair leaning against the railing of the porch. Kaleb, who is four, came over to him and pushed him over the railing. That is quite a drop to the ground for a little two year old! It even knocked Andrew's shoe off! Andrew was crying hysterically as I yelled to my brother to tell him what just happened. I let him deal with Kaleb (who completely disappeared) while I tried to calm Andrew down. I should have taken him straight to the ER according to a couple of other mommies and nurse friends I have - but that never crossed my mind. He was walking and crying and I assumed those were good signs. I was just grateful he didn't break his neck (or anything else!) and be killed or paralyzed. The potential was there.
Once he calmed down, he did go back to playing, although to me he was a little more subdued. He seemed to know who was responsible. When Kaleb was told to apologize and give a hug, Andrew backed up, sat down on my lap and didn't want a hug. Poor kiddos. A lot of drama.
Sunday night, though, he was definitely a different child, very melodramatic and needy. He repeatedly told me about his hitting the ground when I was trying to get him ready for bed. That whole night I was scared and praying that there wasn't anything internal going on (like brain swelling or bleeding, or fractures) that I couldn't possibly be aware of by observing him.
Monday was difficult for me. I was already emotionally strained and he was behaving oddly and out of character. Although he was happy during parts of the day, he seemed out of it at the same time which concerned me. Everything else was an issue and a struggle or a battle. He was defiant at times but needy, sensitive and emotional. Completely out of the ordinary. This was not my obedient, very happy, loving little boy. I did take him to the doctor Monday morning. It turns out he had a concussion. I didn't really know you could have a concussion without losing consciousness, so it hadn't crossed my mind. But one eye was dilating slowly, and he had pink in his ear she said was from the fall. We got him a chiropractic adjustment which he cried hard through (to the point he nearly vomited on me), but I'm glad I took him. His side and back were tense and his neck was out. He did appear to feel better once it was all said and done. He still seemed off most of the day - clumsy too which is unusual. The whole experience felt traumatic to me too listening to him cry so hard two days in a row.
Here he is hanging out with his cousins:
Tuesday morning he was about 90% back to normal. Still a little emotional, but seeming more like his usual happy self. I was so relieved because this day was his first day for a Mothers Day Out program. He was going to spend from 9-1 doing activities with other 2-3 year olds under the direction of one adult, in a fun classroom setting. They told me that he had a grand old time, and was very well behaved. She told me more than once that I have a really great little boy - he's sweet and well behaved. I was so pleased! Of course, I expect nothing less given how well behaved and polite he is at home, it's still nice to hear from someone who is around hundreds of kids each week. I don't know what they did all morning, but he did have two drawing activities and they made turkeys out of construction paper. It's cute. The teacher put the glue on and then he pressed the paper and eyes in place. He seems proud of it which makes me happy. His hands are stained red from a marker. He got red marker all over his hands and on his shirt too. She said it's supposed to be washable, but a baby wipe didn't take it off, and neither did soap and water. And when he woke up from nap this afternoon, he had a red handprint on his thigh - he must have slept on his hand. lol He also hardly touched his lunch. He asked for peanut butter and jelly, so that's what I gave him. Along with a bunch of snack foods. It looked like he only had one bite of his sandwich, two small bites of a granola bar, a few yogurt covered raisins, and his package of fruit snacks. After his nap, he didn't want anything to eat but peanut butter. Straight peanut butter. So I mixed some almond butter and coconut oil into a dish of peanut butter and let him have it. I used to love eating spoonfuls of peanut butter straight.
Here he is ready to go! Holding the only lunchbox I had:
And the turkey he made:
Sunday we were all gathered at my parents house to visit with family that I hadn't seen since our wedding. Andrew was keeping up with all the bigger kids, running and playing. One of them was being a little rascal. While we adults were still eating at the picnic tables, I saw the three youngest boys run off around the corner. I got up to make sure they weren't going to chase chickens or go past the electric fence. What I see instead is one of the boys laying on top of Andrew keeping him pinned to the ground. Andrew wasn't crying but making a distressed whine. I just yelled to him to get off, he complied, and I walked away. Later, though, things didn't go as well. Andrew was standing on a chair leaning against the railing of the porch. Kaleb, who is four, came over to him and pushed him over the railing. That is quite a drop to the ground for a little two year old! It even knocked Andrew's shoe off! Andrew was crying hysterically as I yelled to my brother to tell him what just happened. I let him deal with Kaleb (who completely disappeared) while I tried to calm Andrew down. I should have taken him straight to the ER according to a couple of other mommies and nurse friends I have - but that never crossed my mind. He was walking and crying and I assumed those were good signs. I was just grateful he didn't break his neck (or anything else!) and be killed or paralyzed. The potential was there.
Once he calmed down, he did go back to playing, although to me he was a little more subdued. He seemed to know who was responsible. When Kaleb was told to apologize and give a hug, Andrew backed up, sat down on my lap and didn't want a hug. Poor kiddos. A lot of drama.
Sunday night, though, he was definitely a different child, very melodramatic and needy. He repeatedly told me about his hitting the ground when I was trying to get him ready for bed. That whole night I was scared and praying that there wasn't anything internal going on (like brain swelling or bleeding, or fractures) that I couldn't possibly be aware of by observing him.
Monday was difficult for me. I was already emotionally strained and he was behaving oddly and out of character. Although he was happy during parts of the day, he seemed out of it at the same time which concerned me. Everything else was an issue and a struggle or a battle. He was defiant at times but needy, sensitive and emotional. Completely out of the ordinary. This was not my obedient, very happy, loving little boy. I did take him to the doctor Monday morning. It turns out he had a concussion. I didn't really know you could have a concussion without losing consciousness, so it hadn't crossed my mind. But one eye was dilating slowly, and he had pink in his ear she said was from the fall. We got him a chiropractic adjustment which he cried hard through (to the point he nearly vomited on me), but I'm glad I took him. His side and back were tense and his neck was out. He did appear to feel better once it was all said and done. He still seemed off most of the day - clumsy too which is unusual. The whole experience felt traumatic to me too listening to him cry so hard two days in a row.
Here he is hanging out with his cousins:
Tuesday morning he was about 90% back to normal. Still a little emotional, but seeming more like his usual happy self. I was so relieved because this day was his first day for a Mothers Day Out program. He was going to spend from 9-1 doing activities with other 2-3 year olds under the direction of one adult, in a fun classroom setting. They told me that he had a grand old time, and was very well behaved. She told me more than once that I have a really great little boy - he's sweet and well behaved. I was so pleased! Of course, I expect nothing less given how well behaved and polite he is at home, it's still nice to hear from someone who is around hundreds of kids each week. I don't know what they did all morning, but he did have two drawing activities and they made turkeys out of construction paper. It's cute. The teacher put the glue on and then he pressed the paper and eyes in place. He seems proud of it which makes me happy. His hands are stained red from a marker. He got red marker all over his hands and on his shirt too. She said it's supposed to be washable, but a baby wipe didn't take it off, and neither did soap and water. And when he woke up from nap this afternoon, he had a red handprint on his thigh - he must have slept on his hand. lol He also hardly touched his lunch. He asked for peanut butter and jelly, so that's what I gave him. Along with a bunch of snack foods. It looked like he only had one bite of his sandwich, two small bites of a granola bar, a few yogurt covered raisins, and his package of fruit snacks. After his nap, he didn't want anything to eat but peanut butter. Straight peanut butter. So I mixed some almond butter and coconut oil into a dish of peanut butter and let him have it. I used to love eating spoonfuls of peanut butter straight.
Here he is ready to go! Holding the only lunchbox I had:
Friday, October 28, 2011
Andrew help
A couple of Saturdays ago, Andrew and I were in the ministry with another couple. We passed by a field with wild turkeys in it. For some reason I made a comment about Turkeys and that "we like to eat Turkey, don't we?" which was probably followed by me gobbling like a turkey and pretending to tickle Andrew. Days later, we are looking at a book of animals. Andrew gets to the turkey picture... "Turkey.... eat it?"
He has already lost interest in the stickers for his potty chart. So.. I told him that whenever HE tells us that he needs to go potty and goes on the toilet - he'll get chocolate and a sticker. I'm pretty sure that will never happen. Although, he will tell us whenever we're at a restaurant or store.. just not at home.
This past Saturday I had to work all day. Ted took Andrew to Storybook Village for a about an hour. Andrew liked climbing up the rock wall, going down the slide, and then chasing after Ted to "zap daddy!" Apparently other parents there got a kick out of it.
I think his favorite restaurant is Olive Garden. He talks about it a lot. I think he also has the breakfast, lunch, and dinner sorted out correctly in his head now. Before, lunch and dinner were both called "munch" or "wunch" to him. Sunday night he pointed to his plate of food and said, "dinner" and then looked at me for confirmation.
He has interesting little conversations with himself that describe what he sees around him. He'll start off with some jibberish and then start making sense - but the rest of it all follows a pattern. " and uh .. a cup, yeah, a cup. And uhhh, and a plate, yeah, a plate. And uhhh, and a fork, yeah, a fork." That was obviously at the dinner table. In the car he'll be doing that with trees, cows, red tractor, a fire engine.
We get catalogs in the mail all the time advertising kid stuff. Andrew loves to sit down and read them over and over again until the pages fall out. He talks about the different toys and pictures he sees in them.
If you want to see Andrew have a nearly complete meltdown... let Flash in or out the door yourself, rather than let Andrew do it. Oh my goodness! I made the mistake of letting Flash out while Andrew was eating breakfast. He went crazy crying "Andrew help!!" I told him he could open the door and see if Flash would like back in and he calmed down. I have had to explain more than once, that it helped Flash to let mommy open the door (rather than let him stand outside in the cold pouring rain waiting for Andrew to come open the door) but that Andrew could help the next time. He seems to accept that.
He has already lost interest in the stickers for his potty chart. So.. I told him that whenever HE tells us that he needs to go potty and goes on the toilet - he'll get chocolate and a sticker. I'm pretty sure that will never happen. Although, he will tell us whenever we're at a restaurant or store.. just not at home.
This past Saturday I had to work all day. Ted took Andrew to Storybook Village for a about an hour. Andrew liked climbing up the rock wall, going down the slide, and then chasing after Ted to "zap daddy!" Apparently other parents there got a kick out of it.
I think his favorite restaurant is Olive Garden. He talks about it a lot. I think he also has the breakfast, lunch, and dinner sorted out correctly in his head now. Before, lunch and dinner were both called "munch" or "wunch" to him. Sunday night he pointed to his plate of food and said, "dinner" and then looked at me for confirmation.
He has interesting little conversations with himself that describe what he sees around him. He'll start off with some jibberish and then start making sense - but the rest of it all follows a pattern. " and uh .. a cup, yeah, a cup. And uhhh, and a plate, yeah, a plate. And uhhh, and a fork, yeah, a fork." That was obviously at the dinner table. In the car he'll be doing that with trees, cows, red tractor, a fire engine.
We get catalogs in the mail all the time advertising kid stuff. Andrew loves to sit down and read them over and over again until the pages fall out. He talks about the different toys and pictures he sees in them.
If you want to see Andrew have a nearly complete meltdown... let Flash in or out the door yourself, rather than let Andrew do it. Oh my goodness! I made the mistake of letting Flash out while Andrew was eating breakfast. He went crazy crying "Andrew help!!" I told him he could open the door and see if Flash would like back in and he calmed down. I have had to explain more than once, that it helped Flash to let mommy open the door (rather than let him stand outside in the cold pouring rain waiting for Andrew to come open the door) but that Andrew could help the next time. He seems to accept that.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
"Mmmmm... Tastes a good!"
He calls Ketchup "chaput"
When he tries to say "Hasta Manana" it comes out more like Ostah Nanannan
If you ask him to count something.. he just casually says, "One Two Three Six" for everything. Its rare that he'll actually sit and count for us anymore. But - all on his own, you'll hear him count to 20 just fine.
I love hearing him sing the alphabet. He knows most of a bunch of songs too... Itsy Bitsy Spider, Row Your Boat, Head Shoulders Knees Toes, .. I know there are more but I can't think.
He LOVES Thomas the Train. I had looked at all the train stuff in the Target toys department and got too overwhelmed because I didn't know what anything was, and there were so many different sets. Nana was able to make sense of it all and found the sets that have tracks that can fold up nicely, and stay put together, called Take-n-Play. You just unfold the track and play. Genius! That we could do! I compared the prices online and they were cheaper at the store (on sale!!) so we got two of the smallest tracks. One has a tunnel and came with Thomas, and the other has an "engine wash" and came with Percy. He thinks they're both great and loves having the two trains. We figured we'd wait until he started getting bored with those two tracks before splurging on another one.
Firetrucks and Trains seem to hold equal fascination. He has a little matchbox car fire engine - and it rides nicely on his Thomas the Train tracks!
We've started a sticker reward chart for going potty. He gets excited to pick a sticker and put it on the
"Fire Truck" chart or his Train Potty chart. He still won't tell us when he needs to go - but I can just annouce that it's time to go potty and he complies with no problems. Not sure what it's gonna take to get him to tell us!
He brought me the family album book with last year's pictures in it. After naming everyone, and each dog throughout the book, he came back to a picture of Papa, pointed to him and said, "stash." He was talking about his mustache!
He likes to talk about the waterfall painting when we're in the bathroom. For some reason, though, he thinks it is at Nana's house. Wouldn't that be awesome!
Whenever he is hungry and I am not making breakfast or dinner fast enough, he gets the box of dry oatmeal out, gets a spoon out of the drawer, and sits down in the middle of the kitchen floor to eat the dry oatmeal.
Several months ago I bought Gummy Vites that look like gummy bears and Gummy Omega 3's that are in the shape of stars and fish. The very first bite he got was a star. So now he refers to them all as Yummy Stars. Every day he asks for them; I think it's cute that he's so excited to "pick" them out of the jar himself.
Thursday, October 20th, Andrew got his first pomegranate experience. Ted told him that the pips were like little red bugs. I ask him later "what are you eating?" He says, "bugs! mmmmm, tastes a good!" I hope this doesn't begin a taste test of actual bugs outside!
When he tries to say "Hasta Manana" it comes out more like Ostah Nanannan
If you ask him to count something.. he just casually says, "One Two Three Six" for everything. Its rare that he'll actually sit and count for us anymore. But - all on his own, you'll hear him count to 20 just fine.
I love hearing him sing the alphabet. He knows most of a bunch of songs too... Itsy Bitsy Spider, Row Your Boat, Head Shoulders Knees Toes, .. I know there are more but I can't think.
He LOVES Thomas the Train. I had looked at all the train stuff in the Target toys department and got too overwhelmed because I didn't know what anything was, and there were so many different sets. Nana was able to make sense of it all and found the sets that have tracks that can fold up nicely, and stay put together, called Take-n-Play. You just unfold the track and play. Genius! That we could do! I compared the prices online and they were cheaper at the store (on sale!!) so we got two of the smallest tracks. One has a tunnel and came with Thomas, and the other has an "engine wash" and came with Percy. He thinks they're both great and loves having the two trains. We figured we'd wait until he started getting bored with those two tracks before splurging on another one.
Firetrucks and Trains seem to hold equal fascination. He has a little matchbox car fire engine - and it rides nicely on his Thomas the Train tracks!
We've started a sticker reward chart for going potty. He gets excited to pick a sticker and put it on the
"Fire Truck" chart or his Train Potty chart. He still won't tell us when he needs to go - but I can just annouce that it's time to go potty and he complies with no problems. Not sure what it's gonna take to get him to tell us!
He brought me the family album book with last year's pictures in it. After naming everyone, and each dog throughout the book, he came back to a picture of Papa, pointed to him and said, "stash." He was talking about his mustache!
He likes to talk about the waterfall painting when we're in the bathroom. For some reason, though, he thinks it is at Nana's house. Wouldn't that be awesome!
Whenever he is hungry and I am not making breakfast or dinner fast enough, he gets the box of dry oatmeal out, gets a spoon out of the drawer, and sits down in the middle of the kitchen floor to eat the dry oatmeal.
Several months ago I bought Gummy Vites that look like gummy bears and Gummy Omega 3's that are in the shape of stars and fish. The very first bite he got was a star. So now he refers to them all as Yummy Stars. Every day he asks for them; I think it's cute that he's so excited to "pick" them out of the jar himself.
Thursday, October 20th, Andrew got his first pomegranate experience. Ted told him that the pips were like little red bugs. I ask him later "what are you eating?" He says, "bugs! mmmmm, tastes a good!" I hope this doesn't begin a taste test of actual bugs outside!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Busy busy boy!
I forgot to mention that Andrew measures 35 and 5/16th inches now. He's good at standing in the doorway and letting us measure his height. I'm not sure what he weighs.
Sunday the 25th, we surprised Aunt Eese by showing up at her meeting in the morning. I was having a rough day physically and emotionally and was pretty much tapped. Andrew definitely tested my patience with him. He wouldn't stop talking, asked to go potty and wouldn't go pee once we got in there. I took him outside and calmly reasoned with him and headed back to the seat. We did it all over again too. While I'm squatting in a tiny stall keeping him from falling in the toilet - he's touching the grout on the wall and anything else he can reach, messing with the toilet paper rolls, beating me on the head, trying to take my glasses - and finally started head butting me. I nearly lost it at that point. One of the times back to the seat too he started applying the brakes and pulling on my arm and trying to sit and drag himself on the floor. I spanked him right then and there - apparently hard enough to make him cry which he's never done before when I had spanked him in the past. I just couldn't take it anymore. I took him back to the seat and then I went outside and did some praying and crying and breathing. I didn't come back until the meeting was over. Evidently, Andrew didn't like my leaving and when I returned he had soaked Ted's shoulder with tears and was very solemn and clingy to me.
After the meeting we went to a Thai restaurant with Annelise and Eileen. We couldn't find anything on the menu Andrew would particularly be interested in so I was going to share my curry with him. I've never been to a Thai restaurant where the curry has been hot so I thought a 3 out of 5 heat index would have been okay. It was way too hot to give to Andrew. So he ended up eating white rice and some miso soup. Then when Eileen was done with her Pad Thai - she offered Andrew some of her leftover noodles. He ate them happily and started saying, "Thank you Eileev. Thank you Eileev." It was SO cute. Annelise got it on camera.
Wednesday the 28th, we were at Storybook Village again. Today though - Andrew seemed so grown up. He tackled the rock climbing wall three times and successfully made it to the top every time without any help at all. He's never done that! AND he has never been willing to go down the big twisted slide by himself either, and after I put him down it once - he went over and over again all on his own.
Wednesday night we had two answers prepared for him. One during the bookstudy and one during the Bible Highlights. We rehearsed several times before going, and even printed out his answers on paper so he could read them. At home, he read them nearly perfectly. At the hall - he got bashful when the microphone came to him and seemed embarrassed. The second time - I dont even know what he said, but it wasn't the answer we prepared!
One night while we were eating dinner, Andrew got his fork full, made a stiff face, and then tensed up his whole body and started shaking hard (like being beyond cold) and kept shaking until he'd put the fork full of food in his mouth. It freaked me out at first - I thought he was having a seizure and still managing to feed himself but then I realized he was doing it on purpose. We all busted out laughing. Where does he come up with these silly things to do?
He also has learned what "zap" means. The static electricity zap. He thinks its hilarious!
Wednesday October 5th we went out to the farm and dug up more privet to plant along the perimeter of our yard. Thursday night we planted 40 of them. Andrew was so cute out there helping daddy dig holes, and shovel dirt to fill the holes after we put the plants in. He got his first wheelbarrow ride too - but he didn't really like it.
Here are some more pictures I found on my camera:
Sunday the 25th, we surprised Aunt Eese by showing up at her meeting in the morning. I was having a rough day physically and emotionally and was pretty much tapped. Andrew definitely tested my patience with him. He wouldn't stop talking, asked to go potty and wouldn't go pee once we got in there. I took him outside and calmly reasoned with him and headed back to the seat. We did it all over again too. While I'm squatting in a tiny stall keeping him from falling in the toilet - he's touching the grout on the wall and anything else he can reach, messing with the toilet paper rolls, beating me on the head, trying to take my glasses - and finally started head butting me. I nearly lost it at that point. One of the times back to the seat too he started applying the brakes and pulling on my arm and trying to sit and drag himself on the floor. I spanked him right then and there - apparently hard enough to make him cry which he's never done before when I had spanked him in the past. I just couldn't take it anymore. I took him back to the seat and then I went outside and did some praying and crying and breathing. I didn't come back until the meeting was over. Evidently, Andrew didn't like my leaving and when I returned he had soaked Ted's shoulder with tears and was very solemn and clingy to me.
After the meeting we went to a Thai restaurant with Annelise and Eileen. We couldn't find anything on the menu Andrew would particularly be interested in so I was going to share my curry with him. I've never been to a Thai restaurant where the curry has been hot so I thought a 3 out of 5 heat index would have been okay. It was way too hot to give to Andrew. So he ended up eating white rice and some miso soup. Then when Eileen was done with her Pad Thai - she offered Andrew some of her leftover noodles. He ate them happily and started saying, "Thank you Eileev. Thank you Eileev." It was SO cute. Annelise got it on camera.
Wednesday the 28th, we were at Storybook Village again. Today though - Andrew seemed so grown up. He tackled the rock climbing wall three times and successfully made it to the top every time without any help at all. He's never done that! AND he has never been willing to go down the big twisted slide by himself either, and after I put him down it once - he went over and over again all on his own.
Wednesday night we had two answers prepared for him. One during the bookstudy and one during the Bible Highlights. We rehearsed several times before going, and even printed out his answers on paper so he could read them. At home, he read them nearly perfectly. At the hall - he got bashful when the microphone came to him and seemed embarrassed. The second time - I dont even know what he said, but it wasn't the answer we prepared!
One night while we were eating dinner, Andrew got his fork full, made a stiff face, and then tensed up his whole body and started shaking hard (like being beyond cold) and kept shaking until he'd put the fork full of food in his mouth. It freaked me out at first - I thought he was having a seizure and still managing to feed himself but then I realized he was doing it on purpose. We all busted out laughing. Where does he come up with these silly things to do?
He also has learned what "zap" means. The static electricity zap. He thinks its hilarious!
Wednesday October 5th we went out to the farm and dug up more privet to plant along the perimeter of our yard. Thursday night we planted 40 of them. Andrew was so cute out there helping daddy dig holes, and shovel dirt to fill the holes after we put the plants in. He got his first wheelbarrow ride too - but he didn't really like it.
Here are some more pictures I found on my camera:
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| the only time he's ever been so tired to fall asleep eating! |
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| helping mommy make gluten free cookies - he's stirring the eggs and sugar |
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| his favorite time of day on Tuesdays! |
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| saying goodbye to the first carseat he had. |
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| riding a train!! |
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