Sunday June 14th we took the puppies to the dog park for the first time. They had a blast! Andrew had fun running around and playing on the dog training stuff too. After the meeting, the Fox family came to our neighborhood park. Each of the kids got to take turns on Andrew's skateboard - he was SO good at sharing. Jesse, the girl his age, was very scared to stand up on the board, so Andrew gently held her and walked with her on the skateboard helping her along. He was being such a gentleman.
Monday June 15th we managed to make it to the library after our chiropractic appointments. He picked out some superhero books and comic books and sat for 2 hours reading. He requested Aliens for Lunch, and Aliens for Dinner - but they didn't have them. I did let him bring three superhero books home and he's getting interested in Star Wars. lovely.
After lunch I bribed him to take a nap. I offered him candy after nap if he would actually sleep. He suggested he get his ipad back three days early instead of candy if he takes a nap. I agreed. He slept for nearly two hours.
When daddy got home, we learned that his cousin Dan was on a layover in Denver. So we headed out to meet him. Unfortunately, in an effort to find his hotel and parking near it amongst several one-way streets - we ended up in a fender bender. We moved the car into a covered ally to be out of the way of traffic. Andrew just sat by the car and read his new library books and asked Dan a lot of questions. Once all that fiasco was over, we walked to a burger place where they played several rounds of speed tic-tac-toe. We enjoyed meeting Dan and had a pleasant evening overall.
"I'm gonna have wisdom but not do what my dad said.... I'm gonna brush my teeth first instead of get in my pajamas." He is often wanting to do something other than what we say, just to test the limits of his own power.
Tuesday morning he came in my room all concerned, "mom! Colt's not here!!" He didn't know that Murray picked him up from the airport Monday night. He wasn't supposed to be here!
We got adjustments at the chiropractor because of the accident, and then went and picked Colt up from Murray's house. Andrew was so excited to meet him. Kevin came over and they all played some video games and rockband. Colt spent the night in Andrew's room.
Wednesday morning they played together and then we got Tony Lopez and Kevin, both 15, and headed to Elitchs. I told the teenagers we'd be in the kiddieland and they could go have fun but keep in touch. Andrew finally got to stay in the big tower with the air cannons and foam balls and not ride any rides. When his face was bright red and sweaty, I suggested we go to the water park to cool down. He enjoyed that, but was too nervous to go down the water slides without a life jacket on because he couldn't remember if he could touch the bottom. So we got one for him - and he could touch the bottom with his head and shoulders above water. So he ditched the lifevest and went down the slide more. That was exciting for him. Then he was cold. So we went back to the regular park, I let him try a caramel apple as a snack and we sat on a bench in the sun trying to warm him up. I finally suggested that running around in the ball place would help. So back there we went. When he got hot again, he was ready to go to water. The boys joined us there, but a few minutes later lightning was nearby so it all shut down. perfect time to go home! Two of the boys wanted Taco Bell so I took them there before dropping them all off at home one by one. All in all - a good day for Andrew I think.
Thursday June 18th - I got up to find Andrew already making his favorite breakfast rather than waiting for me to make it. He got a yogurt and had already stirred it. Then he had a cutting board where he'd sliced some frozen strawberries, and then had a toasted waffle on a plate he was cutting up. He asked me to help him assemble it - but he did the work!
Thursday night he was chosen for a part where they interviewed three children about their favorite Bible character. He chose David. It took me all week to get Andrew comfortable to just talk about what he knew rather than try to memorize a script of what to say. Just talk from his mind instead.
And when he got dressed, he had a vest and jacket on too and he said, "I look like a little elder don't I?" He helped the brothers set up the stage and plug in the microphones and then very anxiously waited for his part.
He mentioned how David killed a lion and a bear to protect his fathers sheep, but also killed Goliath who was taunting Jehovah's people. Then he went on to tell a detailed story of how David wanted to stop Goliath and knew Jehovah would be with him always, and went to a river and got five stones and put one in his sling and swung it around. The stone hit Goliath in the forehead and killed him. Then Goliath's army saw him lying on the ground and started to run away with the Israelites chasing after them and David won the battle. And when he was asked why he'd like to be like David - he said he wanted to have strong faith in Jehovah. He was so cute.
After the meeting he said, "I didn't want to do that part. I wanted a longer part." I told him he was the longest one up there! lol
There was one day recently when I was trying to clean the house and do laundry, etc. He came up and announced that he had helped me with the laundry so that I wouldn't have to do everything. So thoughtful. I went downstairs later and he had taken everything out of the dryer (with ten minutes left on it) and put the slightly damp clothes on my massage table for folding. Then he took everything from the washer and put it in the dryer and waited for me to push the button. He's so cute.
He has been better the last week or so about cleaning up all of his toy mess downstairs. I know Daddy has been reminding him.
Friday morning he packed his own backpack with clothes and loveys while daddy packed up the car for camping. Andrew was very excited to be going camping and fishing (he tried to convince me that I didn't have to buy canned food for them because they'd be catching all the food they need to eat) but got a little emotional when the reality set in that I wasn't coming with them. I sure hope they have fun!
Friday afternoon I got an email notifying me that Andrew was a winner in the Summer Reading week 3 from the library. He won a family 5 pack of tickets to the Lakeside Amusement Park. That should be fun. A nice surprise for him to learn about when he comes home from camping.
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Summer Activities
June 1st - Andrew spent most of the day in Kevin's care since I had appointments. Once I was done, I hung out with them too. We played a round of Mario Party 9, then walked to the park and played Frisbee, then played on the playground. I held the frisbee up and let the boys try to throw a small football through it, they climbed, dug holes and buried the football to dig it back up. Andrew got frustrated a few times throughout the day when he felt things weren't fair, or turns were missed, or if he had higher expectations of his abilities that weren't being realized.
June 2nd - I picked up Dwayne and Kevin and we headed to Elitch's. They were very kind in choosing rides that Andrew could ride too rather than running off to all the adult rides. Andrew seemed to have the most fun standing on the bridge or by the log ride and getting soaked each time a boat came down. He also found a hole in the pavement and sat in the puddle that had formed and splashed. What we didn't know at the time, was that he was also getting covered in tar from that hole. That didn't come off until we could use coconut oil at home.
After lunch in the parking lot, we went to the water park. He didn't know what to think about the lazy river and decided by the end that he wanted his feet down (surprisingly he could touch and wanted to walk). He liked the wave pool while the waves lasted but was freezing otherwise. Kevin spent about 20 minutes with him in the kiddie land watching him go down slides and in and out of the structures.
June 3rd - we were off to the chiropractor early. This time Andrew also got postural analysis and x-rays done. His weight was off balance and his head rotated just like mine was. And it turns out his entire pelvis is shifted to the right a bit. So that will need to get corrected.
June 6th he decided he wanted to take every door out in service. He only had one person tell him he wasnt interested. We walked a good 3 square blocks and he placed 28 invitations to the convention.
Monday June 8th we drove all over the place trying to find him new shoes. Dress shoes were hard to find. He got a new pair of tennis shoes at Ross... jumping from size 13 to size 3 in that particular shoe. A little on the bigger side but he's been complaining a lot of growing pains so maybe he'll stay in these longer. We had to go to the mall to get dress shoes. He loved checking out all the bunk beds and bed castles in a store we passed. Maybe someday we can have one for him. In dress shoes, we ended up getting him a 1.5 sized shoe. He may not be in it too long, but the 2-2.5 were too wide and too long.
Tuesday we went in service again. He has now adopted Jenny Geiger as his "aunt". He enjoyed working with her dad for part of the morning and then chose Jenny. He adjusted his presentation as the morning went on to say, "Hi, my name is Andrew. I have an invitation to a special event. All the information is inside. Here is your copy. Have a nice day." He did wonderfully. It was crazy hot though and a lot of walking.
On one uphill hike, he was telling Jenny about his family. He has disowned one of his cousins in his head and didn't know what to think when we told him that family is family even if you don't like them. He still has decided to disown a cousin. He mentioned that one cousin "did a very bad thing. Two actually. They told me to keep it a secret but I told my mom anyway." I assured him he did the right thing. "And they blamed me! But I'm not going to tell you what it was." He mentions it somehow just about every single week. I'm proud of him for talking about it without revealing what happened. I think he has victim's guilt, but talking about it surely helps him process it.
We went to the portrait studio to see the Waggoners photo session. As soon as we sat on the couch he felt lost behind Britt and Kevin and said "wait! who can see me??" thinking we were getting a photo taken. He was still confused after the viewing session when we were leaving wondering why we didn't have pictures taken. Cutie. We are going Saturday for our own.
On the way home we stopped and got his swimsuit and then went to the pool at their apartment. Kevin and Andrew swam for a good hour or longer before daddy showed up. Then it started lightning so we walked back to the apartment. Kevin came home with us and we made sushi bowls for dinner which Andrew protested at first (because he was upset that I wouldn't help him clean up a mess he made downstairs) but then said it was "awesome." Then we helped daddy rearrange and clean the garage until after 9pm. Andrew thinks it's very unfair that he has to go to bed earlier than everyone else. I told him it will seem very unfair for a long time, but when he is older, he won't be growing as fast and won't need as much rest and can stay up. But it was already two hours past his usual bedtime anyway and I'd been very kind to let him stay up, to pull out more toys, etc.
He is counting down the days until his cousin Colt comes in from Nevada. He is excited to meet him.
Wednesday morning we headed to the library only to discover it doesn't open until noon. So we took his bike to the park. There was a 12 year old girl playing soccer by herself, so Andrew asked if he could play and kick the ball back to her. They played for over an hour! It was really good for him.
We came home and I fed him lunch and then settled us both down for naps. I'm pretty sure he didn't stay in bed very long at all. When I got up, he was surprised to see me and his cheeks were obviously full. I asked him if he was eating candy and he nodded his head. I asked him how many he had and he replied, "I don't want to tell you." I reminded him that he doesn't get in trouble if he tells the truth and asked if it was more than two. He nodded again. I just turned and walked away. I'm too tired today. I found Mamba candy which is basically a starburst without food coloring - and he helped himself to several apparently.
Thursday the 11th we met the Fox family (5 kids) at another park where they enjoyed playing ball and climbing trees. Jesse is a little girl from the hall that is the same age as him, he's a little sweet on her. It was so nice for Andrew to have several new friends to play with.
June 12th - he didn't believe me that the ground was wet from overnight rain and went outside to play barefoot. Soon he was begging to turn on the hose to wash his feet. So I carried him to the bathtub and told him to wash his feet there. Before I know it - he is IN the full tub of water fully dressed and playing.
In the afternoon, I was putting things away in his room. I picked up his meeting pants to put on a hanger. He asked for a hanger and said, "hurry! before dad gets home!!" I asked why the rush and he said, "because he told me to hang these up in the morning!!" He turns to his shirt and mumbles to himself, "I know how to do this." Later I came back to find his shirt laying on his bed, with the top of the hanger coming through the arm hole. It might have been sideways - but hey, it was on the hanger, so technically, he had obeyed.
Saturday June 13th, we went to a photography studio for our free portrait session. Andrew was perfect. After that was done, we went to Play it Again Sports and Target and got him a youth football, soccer ball, baseball glove and balls, a small skateboard and knee/elbow pads, and a fishing pole. He just couldn't believe that we were getting all of that stuff for him. We also went to claim our $40 in free sushi at Wasabi which he was very excited to eat. He even got to have a natural Japanese soda where to open it you push the marble down through the top. That was interesting (and delicious!).
June 2nd - I picked up Dwayne and Kevin and we headed to Elitch's. They were very kind in choosing rides that Andrew could ride too rather than running off to all the adult rides. Andrew seemed to have the most fun standing on the bridge or by the log ride and getting soaked each time a boat came down. He also found a hole in the pavement and sat in the puddle that had formed and splashed. What we didn't know at the time, was that he was also getting covered in tar from that hole. That didn't come off until we could use coconut oil at home.
After lunch in the parking lot, we went to the water park. He didn't know what to think about the lazy river and decided by the end that he wanted his feet down (surprisingly he could touch and wanted to walk). He liked the wave pool while the waves lasted but was freezing otherwise. Kevin spent about 20 minutes with him in the kiddie land watching him go down slides and in and out of the structures.
June 3rd - we were off to the chiropractor early. This time Andrew also got postural analysis and x-rays done. His weight was off balance and his head rotated just like mine was. And it turns out his entire pelvis is shifted to the right a bit. So that will need to get corrected.
June 6th he decided he wanted to take every door out in service. He only had one person tell him he wasnt interested. We walked a good 3 square blocks and he placed 28 invitations to the convention.
Monday June 8th we drove all over the place trying to find him new shoes. Dress shoes were hard to find. He got a new pair of tennis shoes at Ross... jumping from size 13 to size 3 in that particular shoe. A little on the bigger side but he's been complaining a lot of growing pains so maybe he'll stay in these longer. We had to go to the mall to get dress shoes. He loved checking out all the bunk beds and bed castles in a store we passed. Maybe someday we can have one for him. In dress shoes, we ended up getting him a 1.5 sized shoe. He may not be in it too long, but the 2-2.5 were too wide and too long.
Tuesday we went in service again. He has now adopted Jenny Geiger as his "aunt". He enjoyed working with her dad for part of the morning and then chose Jenny. He adjusted his presentation as the morning went on to say, "Hi, my name is Andrew. I have an invitation to a special event. All the information is inside. Here is your copy. Have a nice day." He did wonderfully. It was crazy hot though and a lot of walking.
On one uphill hike, he was telling Jenny about his family. He has disowned one of his cousins in his head and didn't know what to think when we told him that family is family even if you don't like them. He still has decided to disown a cousin. He mentioned that one cousin "did a very bad thing. Two actually. They told me to keep it a secret but I told my mom anyway." I assured him he did the right thing. "And they blamed me! But I'm not going to tell you what it was." He mentions it somehow just about every single week. I'm proud of him for talking about it without revealing what happened. I think he has victim's guilt, but talking about it surely helps him process it.
We went to the portrait studio to see the Waggoners photo session. As soon as we sat on the couch he felt lost behind Britt and Kevin and said "wait! who can see me??" thinking we were getting a photo taken. He was still confused after the viewing session when we were leaving wondering why we didn't have pictures taken. Cutie. We are going Saturday for our own.
On the way home we stopped and got his swimsuit and then went to the pool at their apartment. Kevin and Andrew swam for a good hour or longer before daddy showed up. Then it started lightning so we walked back to the apartment. Kevin came home with us and we made sushi bowls for dinner which Andrew protested at first (because he was upset that I wouldn't help him clean up a mess he made downstairs) but then said it was "awesome." Then we helped daddy rearrange and clean the garage until after 9pm. Andrew thinks it's very unfair that he has to go to bed earlier than everyone else. I told him it will seem very unfair for a long time, but when he is older, he won't be growing as fast and won't need as much rest and can stay up. But it was already two hours past his usual bedtime anyway and I'd been very kind to let him stay up, to pull out more toys, etc.
He is counting down the days until his cousin Colt comes in from Nevada. He is excited to meet him.
Wednesday morning we headed to the library only to discover it doesn't open until noon. So we took his bike to the park. There was a 12 year old girl playing soccer by herself, so Andrew asked if he could play and kick the ball back to her. They played for over an hour! It was really good for him.
We came home and I fed him lunch and then settled us both down for naps. I'm pretty sure he didn't stay in bed very long at all. When I got up, he was surprised to see me and his cheeks were obviously full. I asked him if he was eating candy and he nodded his head. I asked him how many he had and he replied, "I don't want to tell you." I reminded him that he doesn't get in trouble if he tells the truth and asked if it was more than two. He nodded again. I just turned and walked away. I'm too tired today. I found Mamba candy which is basically a starburst without food coloring - and he helped himself to several apparently.
Thursday the 11th we met the Fox family (5 kids) at another park where they enjoyed playing ball and climbing trees. Jesse is a little girl from the hall that is the same age as him, he's a little sweet on her. It was so nice for Andrew to have several new friends to play with.
June 12th - he didn't believe me that the ground was wet from overnight rain and went outside to play barefoot. Soon he was begging to turn on the hose to wash his feet. So I carried him to the bathtub and told him to wash his feet there. Before I know it - he is IN the full tub of water fully dressed and playing.
In the afternoon, I was putting things away in his room. I picked up his meeting pants to put on a hanger. He asked for a hanger and said, "hurry! before dad gets home!!" I asked why the rush and he said, "because he told me to hang these up in the morning!!" He turns to his shirt and mumbles to himself, "I know how to do this." Later I came back to find his shirt laying on his bed, with the top of the hanger coming through the arm hole. It might have been sideways - but hey, it was on the hanger, so technically, he had obeyed.
Saturday June 13th, we went to a photography studio for our free portrait session. Andrew was perfect. After that was done, we went to Play it Again Sports and Target and got him a youth football, soccer ball, baseball glove and balls, a small skateboard and knee/elbow pads, and a fishing pole. He just couldn't believe that we were getting all of that stuff for him. We also went to claim our $40 in free sushi at Wasabi which he was very excited to eat. He even got to have a natural Japanese soda where to open it you push the marble down through the top. That was interesting (and delicious!).
Friday, May 29, 2015
Last week of school!
May 22nd - the Waggoners came over again to play Rock Band. Andrew was frustrated, even in no-fail mode, that he couldn't get all the notes right on the guitar or drums. He loved singing though - especially Eye of the Tiger. And when all else fails - he dresses up as a super hero and runs around engaging anyone who will play.
May 25th we went to Elitch Gardens Amusement Park. Andrew actually wanted to ride one called the sling shot. He and daddy got strapped into a round cage of sorts and then cables are pulled taut and then they are shot waaaay high, it bounces and spins, and then when it settles they are lowered back down to the ground. Andrew never even screamed. He stayed calm and collected. Daddy yelled excitedly to him, "Are you having fun, bro?" Andrew calmly replied, "Yes. I'm having fun."
He rode all the kiddie rides by himself by choice. The main thing he wanted to do is go into the tower with all the foam balls (like at Fun City) but I told him we could do that another day when daddy wasn't along (thinking they'd like to ride rides together.) They found a log ride they could do together. Ted actually had to hold Andrew down in his seat because the lap bar didn't come close to Andrew. They sat in the front. Andrew loved that. They didn't make it back over the bridge in time and got soaked by the next boat coming down, but they loved it. It started to storm shortly after, and it was 4pm anyway so we headed out.
May 26th was Field Day at school. Because of the month of rain we'd had, they held it inside for the first time ever. It was chaotic - but Andrew and his partner ran around doing as many activities as they could and seemed to have some fun.
That night we had our circuit overseer. During his talk he mentioned how our worst day ever can only last 24 hours. It does come to an end. Andrew was on my lap and said, "Mine never ends! Every day is bad!" Poor kid. lol. Last week he did get in trouble apparently for talking at school twice and had some of his recess taken away, he didn't get recess one day later in the week because he didn't turn in Math homework (which never came home with us and I had written a note to the teacher on Monday saying that), kids had been making fun of him at school calling him names and teasing him that he eats 'baby food' from those squeezy pouches (no different than apple sauce!) and someone had pushed him and made him get hurt. It had been a tough week.
On the 27th he got to go to the zoo with his school. He said he enjoyed it but he didn't tell me much about it. We picked up Kevin after school and hung out at the park for a while. They played Frisbee, kicked a ball around, climbed the tree, and played on the playground until I was ready to go home and start dinner.
May 28th was finally the last day of school! He said the best thing about it was "getting out at 1:30 instead of 3:30" and that they got more recess. I had a chiropractic visit right after school, and Wasabi's Sushi Bar was next door. So we surprised him and took him for sushi. I ordered a fried Philly for him. "I don't like this ham," he said. "It's not ham, it's salmon," I replied. "Well I don't like this salmon." I suggested he eat it with the cream cheese. He ate his entire roll and made sure the entire roll was his and he didn't have to share it.
We went to Sports Authority so daddy could ask about snow boards. They both have season passes to Winter Park this year and apparently for kids you can rent all their gear for $70 for the season.
Andrew found the skateboards and tried riding one around the department. He is begging for a skateboard.
We went to the park on our way home for a while. The boys kicked the ball around a bit, played frisbee. Got the ball stuck in a tree which daddy had to climb to get. He tried doing chin ups on a tree branch after climbing to the top of the tree twice and back down. He showed daddy what a pro he is at the monkey bars. He just zips right across them like they are nothing!
He did try to negotiate his bedtime. "You know, I should be able to stay up later because I dont have school anymore." I told him that for this night, he still needed to go to bed and get proper rest and he'd be in trouble if we caught him up reading or playing.
May 25th we went to Elitch Gardens Amusement Park. Andrew actually wanted to ride one called the sling shot. He and daddy got strapped into a round cage of sorts and then cables are pulled taut and then they are shot waaaay high, it bounces and spins, and then when it settles they are lowered back down to the ground. Andrew never even screamed. He stayed calm and collected. Daddy yelled excitedly to him, "Are you having fun, bro?" Andrew calmly replied, "Yes. I'm having fun."
He rode all the kiddie rides by himself by choice. The main thing he wanted to do is go into the tower with all the foam balls (like at Fun City) but I told him we could do that another day when daddy wasn't along (thinking they'd like to ride rides together.) They found a log ride they could do together. Ted actually had to hold Andrew down in his seat because the lap bar didn't come close to Andrew. They sat in the front. Andrew loved that. They didn't make it back over the bridge in time and got soaked by the next boat coming down, but they loved it. It started to storm shortly after, and it was 4pm anyway so we headed out.
May 26th was Field Day at school. Because of the month of rain we'd had, they held it inside for the first time ever. It was chaotic - but Andrew and his partner ran around doing as many activities as they could and seemed to have some fun.
That night we had our circuit overseer. During his talk he mentioned how our worst day ever can only last 24 hours. It does come to an end. Andrew was on my lap and said, "Mine never ends! Every day is bad!" Poor kid. lol. Last week he did get in trouble apparently for talking at school twice and had some of his recess taken away, he didn't get recess one day later in the week because he didn't turn in Math homework (which never came home with us and I had written a note to the teacher on Monday saying that), kids had been making fun of him at school calling him names and teasing him that he eats 'baby food' from those squeezy pouches (no different than apple sauce!) and someone had pushed him and made him get hurt. It had been a tough week.
On the 27th he got to go to the zoo with his school. He said he enjoyed it but he didn't tell me much about it. We picked up Kevin after school and hung out at the park for a while. They played Frisbee, kicked a ball around, climbed the tree, and played on the playground until I was ready to go home and start dinner.
May 28th was finally the last day of school! He said the best thing about it was "getting out at 1:30 instead of 3:30" and that they got more recess. I had a chiropractic visit right after school, and Wasabi's Sushi Bar was next door. So we surprised him and took him for sushi. I ordered a fried Philly for him. "I don't like this ham," he said. "It's not ham, it's salmon," I replied. "Well I don't like this salmon." I suggested he eat it with the cream cheese. He ate his entire roll and made sure the entire roll was his and he didn't have to share it.
We went to Sports Authority so daddy could ask about snow boards. They both have season passes to Winter Park this year and apparently for kids you can rent all their gear for $70 for the season.
Andrew found the skateboards and tried riding one around the department. He is begging for a skateboard.
We went to the park on our way home for a while. The boys kicked the ball around a bit, played frisbee. Got the ball stuck in a tree which daddy had to climb to get. He tried doing chin ups on a tree branch after climbing to the top of the tree twice and back down. He showed daddy what a pro he is at the monkey bars. He just zips right across them like they are nothing!
He did try to negotiate his bedtime. "You know, I should be able to stay up later because I dont have school anymore." I told him that for this night, he still needed to go to bed and get proper rest and he'd be in trouble if we caught him up reading or playing.
Monday, May 11, 2015
Winner winner!
As soon as the doors swung open at school Thursday afternoon, May 7th, I had all these
little first graders surrounding me trying to speak over each other
about Andrew. I had NO IDEA what they were trying to say. They were
taking so long to spit their thoughts out that I was starting to wonder
if Andrew was in big trouble because they were all so serious about it.
"Andrew got his name called over the loud speaker..."
"Andrew is gonna have his name on the BIG screen!... "
"Andrew beat everyone, even the second graders, even the Kindergarteners"
"Andrew got his name called over the loud speaker..."
"Andrew is gonna have his name on the BIG screen!... "
"Andrew beat everyone, even the second graders, even the Kindergarteners"
Andrew came running out, "I won the Race to Read!!"
This kid reads on the toilet, reads instead of getting dressed, will sneak a flashlight under his pillow so he can read after bedtime. Well - it finally paid off I guess. He has a free ticket to a race at the speedway where they apparently will put his name on the big screen and something else. I didn't quite catch it all. But he's pretty proud of himself!! He is an excellent reader and I'm glad he loves to read.
They had student led parent conferences at the school that we had to speed through so we wouldn't be late to meeting. Andrew wanted us to come so he could show us his artwork, show us the chapter books he is independently reading (about zombies), show us the rocks they studied in science, and even the powerpoint presentation about animals that he created.
On the way to meeting, he was telling us all about Ancient Egypt and people buried in Tombs, and to be careful of false passages. He talked about tomb raiders. He couldn't remember the names of the characters, but he gave so many details about the story that we had to ask if it was a book they were discussing as a class, or if it was a movie he saw. Nope - just a book he was reading himself. Ted and I were blown away that he could grasp so much from the book. So much detail he was spouting!
They've had the book fair going on at school all week. I told him we really didn't have the funds for books right now. He made a wish list though. He wanted books that were good vs. evil battles relating to zombies, Lego characters, and Big Hero 6. Nana kindly offered to reward him with some books for winning the Race to Read contest. So Friday morning we went to school early so we could browse the fair. The first several books he showed me, I refused to buy. I totally understand why he is drawn to them, but I just don't support it and I dont think Nana would either. And these would be a gift from her. He did get excited about a Skippyjon Jones book. We brought home Racing The Waves: Tales of the Time Dragon; Dragon Masters: Rise of the Earth Dragon; Hot Rod Hamster and the Wacky Whatever Race; Skippyjon Jones: Cirque De Ole. Wouldn't you know he nearly missed getting to go to the book fair this morning because... he was reading instead of getting dressed for school.
One day he was in line outside the school waiting for the doors to open. He was wearing a black sweatshirt with glow-in-the-dark skeleton bones on it. He turned to the girls in line behind him, "I have a super power. You know what I can do? I can make these bones glow in the dark!" lol
May 13th we had to go buy Andrew a new booster seat. He outgrew his car seat for daddys car. I had a free $5 and a coupon for Kohls so we swung by there also to buy Andrew another book. He picked out one that is short stories about all the Marvel comics characters. It's a large 200 page book with plenty of reading and pictures. That night I just sensed he was up after bedtime. Sure enough, I open the door and he is sitting in his bean bag reading that book by the light of a salt lamp. I tried to explain to him the need for sleep. He was already halfway through the book! The next morning, daddy found him on the couch reading the book and almost to the end. "Have you read all of those pages??" He said yes, so daddy took the book and quizzed him on a few of the characters. Sure enough, Andrew proved he not only read it, but retained it! We can't believe he went through such a large book in only about 2-2.5 hours time!
May 15th I picked him up early from school to head to the Pediatrician. I was pretty sure the eye blinking (which has mostly stopped finally) and the throat clearing (which is better but still there) was all stress related. It started shortly after he told me about being 'taken advantage of' and all the emotions/stress that go with that, while daddy was already in Colorado and we were still in Tennessee, and in the midst of the stress of moving and knowing that we'd be changing schools and congregations soon, and a couple of kids at the hall bullying him a few times. Lots of stress for the little guy, especially after the ridiculous year we'd already been trying to recover from. BUT, he did claim a few times that it felt like a lump in his throat so I wanted to be sure there wasn't more to be concerned about that didn't show up with the FCT testing. The doctor agreed it was 100% stress and I had nothing to worry about. It's possible it could go away on its own later, but it might be good to try and deal with it now rather than later by giving him resources to help with the stress. So I have a list of therapists that the Dr. trusts that work with children regularly that I can consider.
Friday night, the Waggoner boys came over to hang out. They had a blast getting to wrestle, rough and tumble all evening. Andrew got his bean bag out and they used it as padding to run into each other and jump on each other. They were going til about 11:20pm!
Saturday morning the boys slept in but met me later at the Kingdom Hall work day. We pulled weeds and the boys hauled rocks and moved rocks. We offered drinks to all the workers. It was a lovely morning. We barely got to eat lunch before the thunder and lightning started and managed to get home before the rain.
In the evening, the boys were off to Bandimere Speedway to watch the Night of Fire and Thunder that Andrew got them into for free thanks to his Race to Read. His name was on the big screen all night too. He got a goodie bag full of candy, a wand that has multiple lights on it, a water bag, a pencil, shoe laces, etc and got to pick out a new book. He and daddy had a blast.
Sunday morning the Waggoner boys jogged with daddy and then we walked the dogs around the park. A little later, Andrew hurt his elbow. Daddy scooped him up and I kissed his elbow. I said, "You're a bit stinky!" and he said, "That's my daddy!" lol They both needed to bathe.
Our latest 'battle' with Andrew is that he tries to be sneaky. He has tried to sneak his ipad into his room and hide it under his bed, he has hidden books under his bed. When we ask what he's doing he denies doing anything. He lost his ipad for a week for stealing it and hiding it and then lying about it.
One day recently he got a card from Nana. We were walking home from the mailbox and he was carrying it. I asked him who it was from and he said, "Asta" and I said, "who is that?" He looked up at me with a very special dear smile and said, "Do you know my Nana?" Funny thing is that he and Nana picked out the same card to send each other! Andrew didn't even have it all the way open when he said 'it looks like the Hamster Dance card!" and when it was he laughed, "It is! This is hilarious!!"
This kid reads on the toilet, reads instead of getting dressed, will sneak a flashlight under his pillow so he can read after bedtime. Well - it finally paid off I guess. He has a free ticket to a race at the speedway where they apparently will put his name on the big screen and something else. I didn't quite catch it all. But he's pretty proud of himself!! He is an excellent reader and I'm glad he loves to read.
They had student led parent conferences at the school that we had to speed through so we wouldn't be late to meeting. Andrew wanted us to come so he could show us his artwork, show us the chapter books he is independently reading (about zombies), show us the rocks they studied in science, and even the powerpoint presentation about animals that he created.
On the way to meeting, he was telling us all about Ancient Egypt and people buried in Tombs, and to be careful of false passages. He talked about tomb raiders. He couldn't remember the names of the characters, but he gave so many details about the story that we had to ask if it was a book they were discussing as a class, or if it was a movie he saw. Nope - just a book he was reading himself. Ted and I were blown away that he could grasp so much from the book. So much detail he was spouting!
They've had the book fair going on at school all week. I told him we really didn't have the funds for books right now. He made a wish list though. He wanted books that were good vs. evil battles relating to zombies, Lego characters, and Big Hero 6. Nana kindly offered to reward him with some books for winning the Race to Read contest. So Friday morning we went to school early so we could browse the fair. The first several books he showed me, I refused to buy. I totally understand why he is drawn to them, but I just don't support it and I dont think Nana would either. And these would be a gift from her. He did get excited about a Skippyjon Jones book. We brought home Racing The Waves: Tales of the Time Dragon; Dragon Masters: Rise of the Earth Dragon; Hot Rod Hamster and the Wacky Whatever Race; Skippyjon Jones: Cirque De Ole. Wouldn't you know he nearly missed getting to go to the book fair this morning because... he was reading instead of getting dressed for school.
One day he was in line outside the school waiting for the doors to open. He was wearing a black sweatshirt with glow-in-the-dark skeleton bones on it. He turned to the girls in line behind him, "I have a super power. You know what I can do? I can make these bones glow in the dark!" lol
May 13th we had to go buy Andrew a new booster seat. He outgrew his car seat for daddys car. I had a free $5 and a coupon for Kohls so we swung by there also to buy Andrew another book. He picked out one that is short stories about all the Marvel comics characters. It's a large 200 page book with plenty of reading and pictures. That night I just sensed he was up after bedtime. Sure enough, I open the door and he is sitting in his bean bag reading that book by the light of a salt lamp. I tried to explain to him the need for sleep. He was already halfway through the book! The next morning, daddy found him on the couch reading the book and almost to the end. "Have you read all of those pages??" He said yes, so daddy took the book and quizzed him on a few of the characters. Sure enough, Andrew proved he not only read it, but retained it! We can't believe he went through such a large book in only about 2-2.5 hours time!
May 15th I picked him up early from school to head to the Pediatrician. I was pretty sure the eye blinking (which has mostly stopped finally) and the throat clearing (which is better but still there) was all stress related. It started shortly after he told me about being 'taken advantage of' and all the emotions/stress that go with that, while daddy was already in Colorado and we were still in Tennessee, and in the midst of the stress of moving and knowing that we'd be changing schools and congregations soon, and a couple of kids at the hall bullying him a few times. Lots of stress for the little guy, especially after the ridiculous year we'd already been trying to recover from. BUT, he did claim a few times that it felt like a lump in his throat so I wanted to be sure there wasn't more to be concerned about that didn't show up with the FCT testing. The doctor agreed it was 100% stress and I had nothing to worry about. It's possible it could go away on its own later, but it might be good to try and deal with it now rather than later by giving him resources to help with the stress. So I have a list of therapists that the Dr. trusts that work with children regularly that I can consider.
Friday night, the Waggoner boys came over to hang out. They had a blast getting to wrestle, rough and tumble all evening. Andrew got his bean bag out and they used it as padding to run into each other and jump on each other. They were going til about 11:20pm!
Saturday morning the boys slept in but met me later at the Kingdom Hall work day. We pulled weeds and the boys hauled rocks and moved rocks. We offered drinks to all the workers. It was a lovely morning. We barely got to eat lunch before the thunder and lightning started and managed to get home before the rain.
In the evening, the boys were off to Bandimere Speedway to watch the Night of Fire and Thunder that Andrew got them into for free thanks to his Race to Read. His name was on the big screen all night too. He got a goodie bag full of candy, a wand that has multiple lights on it, a water bag, a pencil, shoe laces, etc and got to pick out a new book. He and daddy had a blast.
Sunday morning the Waggoner boys jogged with daddy and then we walked the dogs around the park. A little later, Andrew hurt his elbow. Daddy scooped him up and I kissed his elbow. I said, "You're a bit stinky!" and he said, "That's my daddy!" lol They both needed to bathe.
Our latest 'battle' with Andrew is that he tries to be sneaky. He has tried to sneak his ipad into his room and hide it under his bed, he has hidden books under his bed. When we ask what he's doing he denies doing anything. He lost his ipad for a week for stealing it and hiding it and then lying about it.
One day recently he got a card from Nana. We were walking home from the mailbox and he was carrying it. I asked him who it was from and he said, "Asta" and I said, "who is that?" He looked up at me with a very special dear smile and said, "Do you know my Nana?" Funny thing is that he and Nana picked out the same card to send each other! Andrew didn't even have it all the way open when he said 'it looks like the Hamster Dance card!" and when it was he laughed, "It is! This is hilarious!!"
Monday, May 4, 2015
Sneaky obsessions
Friday the 24th, we took a break from moving the Waggoners and the boys came over to relax. Andrew definitely enjoyed having the boys to play with. Saturday he got to have little Kennedy and Kaiya, both 3 year old little girls, to play with in an empty room at the Waggoners house while we were moving stuff that day. He enjoyed that. Before we left in the evening, we had to take Kaiya to the apartment. Andrew was acting like an adorable big brother and babying her, trying to help her unbuckle and help her out of her seat, help her to the sidewalk and walked her to the apartment door.
Since he got to play Clue a few times, he moved on to wanting to learn to play Monopoly. I don't like the game but daddy was patient enough to teach him. He grasped it easily and kept his property and money organized, and he did the math on his own for the most part. Ted said, " My favorite was what happened every time he landed on a property I own. Ted:'Okay, you owe $450 for rent." Andrew would reply, "I'm just going to give you $50." Ted would say, "No, it's $450." Andrew: "Okay, here is $450." LOL Near the end of the game, he didn't have enough to pay that rent and he knew it. But he was trying to count up everything he had. "Can't we just cheat in this game?" he asked, hoping to find some way to prolong the game. I'm glad he enjoyed playing despite losing in the end.
He used a bungee cord to tie both of his scooters together, hoping he'd be able to ride them at the same time.
He also rode his bike down the small hill in the front yard - straight for the road, but through the rocks. He got to the sidewalk and crashed. Skinned his hip and knees pretty well. Daddy and Kevin were working in the garage and came to make sure he was okay. We sat on the steps for a few minutes as Kevin and Daddy both related their crashing stories trying to make Andrew feel better. I finally leaned over and whispered in his ear, "you know what this tells me - so far you're smarter than them when it comes to riding a bicycle." He got a big smile on his face, stood and marched to the top of the stairs... "you know what my story is gonna be??!..." and he was all happy again.
Friday May 1st he was out of school so I invited friends to come have breakfast and play. He had 5 boys from ages 9-15 come to play with him. They loved climbing the trees, wearing superhero capes and masks, learning to do hand-stands from Kevin, and how to properly fall as they launched over the deck railing. Two car groups stopped by for break too. It was lovely.
I managed to get Andrew to take a nap before a 4 year old named Drake came over to play in the late afternoon. They enjoyed his toys and a little hide and seek outside.
He has been loving a "tornado tube" and "bottle fountain" he's been able to make with two plastic bottles and water. The tornado tube makes a water tornado as it empties from one bottle to the other. The fountain has two straws that create a fountain in the top bottle as the water empties to the bottom. He loves the snap circuits and light up lego pegs and figuring out how things work.
One day recently he got off the toilet after pooping and told me, "it's science. Sometimes when you have some hard poo, it all sticks together and comes out as a family group." Interesting way to describe it I guess.
One night he was saying his prayer and in the middle included, "and we wish you all to have a good time up in Heaven" So sweet.
Andrew told me last week that he no longer likes yogurt covered raisins. "And I don't really like turkey." He doesn't like peanut butter and jelly, bananas, mac n cheese, popcorn, or even chicken fingers really, and he wont eat hotdogs anymore since he got sick after eating them. He wants taco salad, burritos, nachos, and sushi. I'm having to give him turkey and cheese sandwiches for his school lunches for now - but if he ever starts refusing to eat them - I'm in trouble!
We were passing the greeting card aisle at the grocery. "I want to send a card to Nana!" I told him he could pick one and gave him an appropriate section to browse. He liked all the ones that make sounds. He finally picked a fun one to send to Nana and said he wanted to pick one for Papa too. He wanted to send Papa the same card - so I suggested we just address the same card to both of them. He was okay with that.
He's been an absolute angel lately. I really do think it has to do with having the Bars therapy done a few times lately. whew! Such a sweetie.
One morning Ted came out to get ready for work and found an empty yogurt container and the limeade container was on it's side and opened (thankfully nearly empty). We're guessing some little one in our house helped himself to a midnight snack. Another morning I came out and he was sitting in the hallway eating fruit snacks. I shook my head and he leaped up, "I only ate half! You can finish them!!" I told him he could finish them but he was not to have fruit snacks for breakfast again.
He is obsessed with his ipad. We don't let him play it much, but he's always begging to. Saturday I had left him at the table eating a snack and went downstairs for just a couple of minutes. I return and he's nowhere to be found. I call him and hear a faint voice from my room. I go in and he quickly sits on his hands between his legs. "Andrew, why are you holding your penis?" "I'm not holding my penis." "Why are you sitting that way?" (pause) Then in a defeated tone, "My ipad is in my shirt."
He told me that he was trying to move the charger for his ipad into his room so he can have his ipad under his bed and keep it in his room. I told him (for the umpteenth time) that he can't keep his ipad in his room.
That night we put him to bed at 7:30. We heard him get up a couple of times. At 9:30, Ted told me that Andrew was up again. I went and stood outside his bedroom door. Andrew opened the door, surprised to see me. I put him back in bed. He asked, "Why were you standing outside my door?" I told him it was because daddy told me he was up. "HOW did he know??!" I giggled and said "I have no idea!" which made Andrew laugh but be so amazed at daddy's skills. Daddy noticed a glow under the bed when I was leaving the room. Andrew had been in there playing his ipad all that time!! No wonder he wasn't falling asleep!
Monday May 4th I was making his usual breakfast of a waffle with yogurt, fresh fruit, coconut, chia seeds, hemp, and chocolate chips. He was riding the border of sounding rude most of the morning though I didn't think it was intentional. While sitting at the table working on homework, the pencil dropped. He demanded that I get the pencil and I told him I was working on his breakfast and couldn't come running to help him. He got irritated, "Why do I always have to get up to get it" so I left the chocolate off the breakfast and delivered it to him. A few bites in he asked if I put any chocolate chips or m&ms in it. I told him no; I had the package in hand ready to put on until he made the rude outburst about his pencil and expecting me to get it. I reminded him that he never has to make his own breakfast, or lunch or dinner. Never has to wash his own clothes - because Mommy does it all. And even when his room gets out of control, I don't always make him clean it up - I take care of it even though I shouldn't have to. I left off the chocolate because you don't seem to appreciate what I do for you. He took a few more bites and then apologized. I thanked him and asked if he was saying sorry because he understood how much I do for him, or if it's because he hoped it'd fix the situation and I'd give him chocolate. He said it's because he understood. I gave him some chocolates then and he was very pleased with how many I put on and stopped being rude after that.
Since he got to play Clue a few times, he moved on to wanting to learn to play Monopoly. I don't like the game but daddy was patient enough to teach him. He grasped it easily and kept his property and money organized, and he did the math on his own for the most part. Ted said, " My favorite was what happened every time he landed on a property I own. Ted:'Okay, you owe $450 for rent." Andrew would reply, "I'm just going to give you $50." Ted would say, "No, it's $450." Andrew: "Okay, here is $450." LOL Near the end of the game, he didn't have enough to pay that rent and he knew it. But he was trying to count up everything he had. "Can't we just cheat in this game?" he asked, hoping to find some way to prolong the game. I'm glad he enjoyed playing despite losing in the end.
He used a bungee cord to tie both of his scooters together, hoping he'd be able to ride them at the same time.
He also rode his bike down the small hill in the front yard - straight for the road, but through the rocks. He got to the sidewalk and crashed. Skinned his hip and knees pretty well. Daddy and Kevin were working in the garage and came to make sure he was okay. We sat on the steps for a few minutes as Kevin and Daddy both related their crashing stories trying to make Andrew feel better. I finally leaned over and whispered in his ear, "you know what this tells me - so far you're smarter than them when it comes to riding a bicycle." He got a big smile on his face, stood and marched to the top of the stairs... "you know what my story is gonna be??!..." and he was all happy again.
Friday May 1st he was out of school so I invited friends to come have breakfast and play. He had 5 boys from ages 9-15 come to play with him. They loved climbing the trees, wearing superhero capes and masks, learning to do hand-stands from Kevin, and how to properly fall as they launched over the deck railing. Two car groups stopped by for break too. It was lovely.
I managed to get Andrew to take a nap before a 4 year old named Drake came over to play in the late afternoon. They enjoyed his toys and a little hide and seek outside.
He has been loving a "tornado tube" and "bottle fountain" he's been able to make with two plastic bottles and water. The tornado tube makes a water tornado as it empties from one bottle to the other. The fountain has two straws that create a fountain in the top bottle as the water empties to the bottom. He loves the snap circuits and light up lego pegs and figuring out how things work.
One day recently he got off the toilet after pooping and told me, "it's science. Sometimes when you have some hard poo, it all sticks together and comes out as a family group." Interesting way to describe it I guess.
One night he was saying his prayer and in the middle included, "and we wish you all to have a good time up in Heaven" So sweet.
Andrew told me last week that he no longer likes yogurt covered raisins. "And I don't really like turkey." He doesn't like peanut butter and jelly, bananas, mac n cheese, popcorn, or even chicken fingers really, and he wont eat hotdogs anymore since he got sick after eating them. He wants taco salad, burritos, nachos, and sushi. I'm having to give him turkey and cheese sandwiches for his school lunches for now - but if he ever starts refusing to eat them - I'm in trouble!
We were passing the greeting card aisle at the grocery. "I want to send a card to Nana!" I told him he could pick one and gave him an appropriate section to browse. He liked all the ones that make sounds. He finally picked a fun one to send to Nana and said he wanted to pick one for Papa too. He wanted to send Papa the same card - so I suggested we just address the same card to both of them. He was okay with that.
He's been an absolute angel lately. I really do think it has to do with having the Bars therapy done a few times lately. whew! Such a sweetie.
One morning Ted came out to get ready for work and found an empty yogurt container and the limeade container was on it's side and opened (thankfully nearly empty). We're guessing some little one in our house helped himself to a midnight snack. Another morning I came out and he was sitting in the hallway eating fruit snacks. I shook my head and he leaped up, "I only ate half! You can finish them!!" I told him he could finish them but he was not to have fruit snacks for breakfast again.
He is obsessed with his ipad. We don't let him play it much, but he's always begging to. Saturday I had left him at the table eating a snack and went downstairs for just a couple of minutes. I return and he's nowhere to be found. I call him and hear a faint voice from my room. I go in and he quickly sits on his hands between his legs. "Andrew, why are you holding your penis?" "I'm not holding my penis." "Why are you sitting that way?" (pause) Then in a defeated tone, "My ipad is in my shirt."
He told me that he was trying to move the charger for his ipad into his room so he can have his ipad under his bed and keep it in his room. I told him (for the umpteenth time) that he can't keep his ipad in his room.
That night we put him to bed at 7:30. We heard him get up a couple of times. At 9:30, Ted told me that Andrew was up again. I went and stood outside his bedroom door. Andrew opened the door, surprised to see me. I put him back in bed. He asked, "Why were you standing outside my door?" I told him it was because daddy told me he was up. "HOW did he know??!" I giggled and said "I have no idea!" which made Andrew laugh but be so amazed at daddy's skills. Daddy noticed a glow under the bed when I was leaving the room. Andrew had been in there playing his ipad all that time!! No wonder he wasn't falling asleep!
Monday May 4th I was making his usual breakfast of a waffle with yogurt, fresh fruit, coconut, chia seeds, hemp, and chocolate chips. He was riding the border of sounding rude most of the morning though I didn't think it was intentional. While sitting at the table working on homework, the pencil dropped. He demanded that I get the pencil and I told him I was working on his breakfast and couldn't come running to help him. He got irritated, "Why do I always have to get up to get it" so I left the chocolate off the breakfast and delivered it to him. A few bites in he asked if I put any chocolate chips or m&ms in it. I told him no; I had the package in hand ready to put on until he made the rude outburst about his pencil and expecting me to get it. I reminded him that he never has to make his own breakfast, or lunch or dinner. Never has to wash his own clothes - because Mommy does it all. And even when his room gets out of control, I don't always make him clean it up - I take care of it even though I shouldn't have to. I left off the chocolate because you don't seem to appreciate what I do for you. He took a few more bites and then apologized. I thanked him and asked if he was saying sorry because he understood how much I do for him, or if it's because he hoped it'd fix the situation and I'd give him chocolate. He said it's because he understood. I gave him some chocolates then and he was very pleased with how many I put on and stopped being rude after that.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Losing More Teeth
Wednesday April 8th, we were sitting in the car waiting for school to open. He showed me his wiggly tooth again and it sure seemed ready to me! I got a paper towel and tried to pull it but it wouldn't come. So we wiggled it a little bit more. I was certain it should come out though. I finally got the idea to pull it forward (which it did easily) and then pull.... it came right out! It bled a lot so Andrew went to class with a bloody paper towel shoved in his mouth. But he was so happy to have the tooth out. The adult tooth had already grown in behind it!
Thursday the 9th, Andrew had an epic meltdown. I wont relate it all, but it did involve throwing his school stuff in the driveway and kicking his thermos at the garage door, and *screaming* at me so violently that even the dogs cowered at my feet and under my computer desk retreating from him. I didn't even know how to react - I just let it run it's course. I asked him why he was so angry and he said it was because I didn't help him (carry his backpack and lunchbox) but his anger had started well before that. We're kind of wondering if it wasn't blood sugar. He did start eating a snack as soon as he got in the car, and he was already getting angry then - its a 4-5 minute drive home, then another 5-10 minutes of tantrum and then it was over. He was fine. I was fighting a migraine because of the stress of the situation and daddy took over for the rest of the evening.
We were at the grocery store together and Andrew was picking out yogurts and stacking them in my arms. I asked, "do we have enough?" and he said, "let me count! 1-2-3.. wait. We have three key lime, and two ____, 3+2 is five. Then we have two of ____ so that makes seven. We have two ____ which is nine - so we need one more." I asked, "Why do we need one more." He replied, "Because I like things in even numbers." I thought it was neat that he didn't just count them, but did actual addition by flavor.
He is LOVING having a tree in the yard that is easy to climb. He can get pretty high in it too.
Sunday the 12th he came inside and said, "So, I was throwing the hula hoop in the air and it happened to get in the tree. I threw my ball to get the hula hoop." I looked outside and saw a hula hoop way high in a neighbors tree by our fence, and a ball a couple of feet below it. I used a long stick to try and get the ball but it fell into the neighbors yard. I couldn't get the hula hoop myself though.
The 13th, he came home with a bill from the Library. A couple of weeks ago, while we were having family worship, Charlie chewed the edges of the borrowed book. Andrew was very concerned that he had to pay for the book himself. They wanted $18 for it. I found it on Amazon for 7.05 so we're just replacing it instead.
He's been begging to play the game Clue. Finally on the 14th, daddy taught him how to play. He did win one round, but I guess he decided it's not quite as fun as he anticipated.
The 15th, I had a client come with her boys, 9 and 12. The 9 year old played a game of Chess with Andrew while I was working. He was very impressed that a 5 year old knew how to play. Then Andrew was telling everyone to" make sure you don't let your hands touch during a bars session because it creates a circuit, and a circuit is very bad because it keeps mommy from being able to do her job." lol At dinner, he asked me to feel how loose another tooth was. I said, "that's ready to come out!" I got a paper towel, tilted the tooth out as far as it'd easily go, then gave a good tug. He was so surprised! It made eating dinner easier though - we were eating pizza. So he has lost 4 front bottom teeth so far... two just a week apart!
Andrew has been really good since his meltdown. Polite, mostly obedient. What we would expect from him really. He got sick over the weekend though. He got sick the last time we had specific hotdogs (jumbo Hebrew Nationals) too. He was vomiting and had diarrhea.
Aunt Sandi and Uncle Rudy came by on the 18th with a new Lego set. Andrew is very pleased with it.
Sunday morning he woke up with an itchy rash on his face and pain/itching inside his ears. He was very tired all day. I did some FCT testing on him and made some remedies. He is a mess!
He got sick again Monday morning so stayed home from school and played with his blocks and Legos and read some books. We went through ten FCT remedies. He has two to take daily and then we'll repeat all of them in a week. Hopefully something clears up.
Thursday the 9th, Andrew had an epic meltdown. I wont relate it all, but it did involve throwing his school stuff in the driveway and kicking his thermos at the garage door, and *screaming* at me so violently that even the dogs cowered at my feet and under my computer desk retreating from him. I didn't even know how to react - I just let it run it's course. I asked him why he was so angry and he said it was because I didn't help him (carry his backpack and lunchbox) but his anger had started well before that. We're kind of wondering if it wasn't blood sugar. He did start eating a snack as soon as he got in the car, and he was already getting angry then - its a 4-5 minute drive home, then another 5-10 minutes of tantrum and then it was over. He was fine. I was fighting a migraine because of the stress of the situation and daddy took over for the rest of the evening.
We were at the grocery store together and Andrew was picking out yogurts and stacking them in my arms. I asked, "do we have enough?" and he said, "let me count! 1-2-3.. wait. We have three key lime, and two ____, 3+2 is five. Then we have two of ____ so that makes seven. We have two ____ which is nine - so we need one more." I asked, "Why do we need one more." He replied, "Because I like things in even numbers." I thought it was neat that he didn't just count them, but did actual addition by flavor.
He is LOVING having a tree in the yard that is easy to climb. He can get pretty high in it too.
Sunday the 12th he came inside and said, "So, I was throwing the hula hoop in the air and it happened to get in the tree. I threw my ball to get the hula hoop." I looked outside and saw a hula hoop way high in a neighbors tree by our fence, and a ball a couple of feet below it. I used a long stick to try and get the ball but it fell into the neighbors yard. I couldn't get the hula hoop myself though.
The 13th, he came home with a bill from the Library. A couple of weeks ago, while we were having family worship, Charlie chewed the edges of the borrowed book. Andrew was very concerned that he had to pay for the book himself. They wanted $18 for it. I found it on Amazon for 7.05 so we're just replacing it instead.
He's been begging to play the game Clue. Finally on the 14th, daddy taught him how to play. He did win one round, but I guess he decided it's not quite as fun as he anticipated.
The 15th, I had a client come with her boys, 9 and 12. The 9 year old played a game of Chess with Andrew while I was working. He was very impressed that a 5 year old knew how to play. Then Andrew was telling everyone to" make sure you don't let your hands touch during a bars session because it creates a circuit, and a circuit is very bad because it keeps mommy from being able to do her job." lol At dinner, he asked me to feel how loose another tooth was. I said, "that's ready to come out!" I got a paper towel, tilted the tooth out as far as it'd easily go, then gave a good tug. He was so surprised! It made eating dinner easier though - we were eating pizza. So he has lost 4 front bottom teeth so far... two just a week apart!
Andrew has been really good since his meltdown. Polite, mostly obedient. What we would expect from him really. He got sick over the weekend though. He got sick the last time we had specific hotdogs (jumbo Hebrew Nationals) too. He was vomiting and had diarrhea.
Aunt Sandi and Uncle Rudy came by on the 18th with a new Lego set. Andrew is very pleased with it.
Sunday morning he woke up with an itchy rash on his face and pain/itching inside his ears. He was very tired all day. I did some FCT testing on him and made some remedies. He is a mess!
He got sick again Monday morning so stayed home from school and played with his blocks and Legos and read some books. We went through ten FCT remedies. He has two to take daily and then we'll repeat all of them in a week. Hopefully something clears up.
Monday, April 6, 2015
Mad for Sushi
I think it was late Saturday afternoon that Andrew and I were playing 'Don't Break the Ice'. While we were setting it up he asked, "What does torture mean?" I explained it and then asked where he heard that word. At Boondocks, when we were waiting in line for the go-karts that he ended up too short for, another kid in line kept saying that waiting in line so long was torture. He'd been trying to figure it out for two days on his own!
Sunday March 29th, we took the dogs to the park at 9am to meet up with some folks who are trying to get their dogs accustomed to others. Cara and Charlie were so excited to be out of the house - they just wanted to run. They were still really well behaved and sat when told. They never lunged at the other dogs nor growled when one sniffed them. Andrew didn't like the lack of attention on himself. He was supposed to be riding his bike all around but spent half the time sitting in the grass in the middle of all of us sulking to some degree.
Andrew blew the congregation away with his reading skills at the meeting Sunday and last Thursday. His goal is to get to read one of the cited scriptures each meeting. Sunday he missed a shorter and easy one, but did get called on for one of the longer ones. He did great and was very pleased!
After meeting, the Waggoner boys came over to hang out. They brought their xbox and rock band, but when daddy tried to do a quick wiring to get the amp and the game hooked up - there was a spark and it took out the amp and the tv. So no games on the tv. We grilled hotdogs for dinner and then pulled out Boxers or Briefs and Imaginiff and played games until almost 10pm. Andrew left in a fit a few times for no understandable reasons. Later in the evening, he kept coming out of his room with a different mask or costume on and trying to get attention that way. Then he'd join the game for a little bit until he got mad about something else. It was a roller coaster, but we all had fun anyway.
Monday was his last day off of school. I was not feeling well at all. He patiently waited for me to finish some work I had to get done. He wanted to make another handprint, so we mixed up the salt dough, rolled it out, imprinted his hand, and then baked it. Then he drew pictures for friends.
March 31st he came home with the phone number of a girl in his class that I'm pretty sure he's a little sweet on. She seems to be the most mature in his class from what I can tell too. He said her number was "in case we want to have a play date."
His favorite thing to have for breakfast right now is two small waffles, spread with yogurt, and topped with frozen strawberries and blueberries. It's actually a lot of food! Then again - he's been eating me out of the house lately. He'll finish his food and say he's still hungry!
April 1st, we went out to dinner and left Andrew with the Waggoners. He really didn't understand why we would want to go without him. I tried to explain that there are times when he will want to be with just mommy, or just daddy - and sometimes mommy and daddy just want some time together without having to take care of anyone else. I think it hurt his feelings. He held it together all evening but as soon as we pulled in the driveway at home he burst into tears, "Why did you have to go eat sushi without me!!" He was sobbing and angry and hurt. I gently reminded him that we love him dearly and we absolutely will go again with him but that we needed some time as adults. He wouldn't let it go though. He swore he was never going to go to that sushi place and never eat sushi again.
Friday evening was the Memorial. He was very pleased to get to pass the emblems but he still wanted to smell the wine. We joined a group of friends for dinner afterward. Andrew was a roller coaster of emotions. One minute he's content and the next minute angry about something as simple as trying to speak to the seating hostess and her not hearing him and walking away. The entire evening ran long and he definitely was overtired.
Saturday I spent the morning with a friend. The boys did some chores around the house and then went to Murrays house around noon. Andrew got to pet a snake that popped it's head out in the yard, and fly remote controlled helicopters, and meet a new friend a few months older than him. (and eat three cupcakes and a bowl of ice cream, with koolaid and a hotdog)
We ended up at the Waggoner's for spaghetti dinner. I did an oil treatment on Kevin and then Andrew asked for one. It was nice to have him agreeable to it. He enjoyed playing some racing games with William. They served me some ice cream in a mug the shape of a toilet bowl... Andrew exclaimed "I want a toilet bowl!!" lol
Sunday he was still upset that we went without him and he was craving sushi. We had a joint meeting with the other congregation in the morning. He eagerly introduced himself to the Bethelite speaker and they talked about visiting Bethel and the brother told him he had a brochure about Bethel to be sure and get before leaving. He was a roller coaster of emotion again.By the time we were ready to leave, Andrew refused to meet the wife or get the brochure. We got it for him. He was angry that we were not going for sushi. I told him we had to go to the grocery store after lunch so we can get him sushi there. He was not satisfied. We ate at a Vietnamese place next to the grocery... where he went back and forth from defiant and depressed to cooperative and polite. It was exhausting. He did like all the food he tasted... and he enjoyed picking out sushi at the grocery, as well as vegetables and fruits to juice and snack on at home.
He and I both took a nap when we got home. Once daddy was done with some work - they went to the park for a while. We read a book after a bath.
He came in my room around 8:30pm saying he had a bad dream about Transformers - so we chatted a little and I sent him back to bed with some ideas for good dreams. He admitted to me Monday morning that he read two more books, one being a chapter book. I'm guessing he gets under the covers with his flashlight so that we don't notice.
Sunday March 29th, we took the dogs to the park at 9am to meet up with some folks who are trying to get their dogs accustomed to others. Cara and Charlie were so excited to be out of the house - they just wanted to run. They were still really well behaved and sat when told. They never lunged at the other dogs nor growled when one sniffed them. Andrew didn't like the lack of attention on himself. He was supposed to be riding his bike all around but spent half the time sitting in the grass in the middle of all of us sulking to some degree.
Andrew blew the congregation away with his reading skills at the meeting Sunday and last Thursday. His goal is to get to read one of the cited scriptures each meeting. Sunday he missed a shorter and easy one, but did get called on for one of the longer ones. He did great and was very pleased!
After meeting, the Waggoner boys came over to hang out. They brought their xbox and rock band, but when daddy tried to do a quick wiring to get the amp and the game hooked up - there was a spark and it took out the amp and the tv. So no games on the tv. We grilled hotdogs for dinner and then pulled out Boxers or Briefs and Imaginiff and played games until almost 10pm. Andrew left in a fit a few times for no understandable reasons. Later in the evening, he kept coming out of his room with a different mask or costume on and trying to get attention that way. Then he'd join the game for a little bit until he got mad about something else. It was a roller coaster, but we all had fun anyway.
Monday was his last day off of school. I was not feeling well at all. He patiently waited for me to finish some work I had to get done. He wanted to make another handprint, so we mixed up the salt dough, rolled it out, imprinted his hand, and then baked it. Then he drew pictures for friends.
March 31st he came home with the phone number of a girl in his class that I'm pretty sure he's a little sweet on. She seems to be the most mature in his class from what I can tell too. He said her number was "in case we want to have a play date."
His favorite thing to have for breakfast right now is two small waffles, spread with yogurt, and topped with frozen strawberries and blueberries. It's actually a lot of food! Then again - he's been eating me out of the house lately. He'll finish his food and say he's still hungry!
April 1st, we went out to dinner and left Andrew with the Waggoners. He really didn't understand why we would want to go without him. I tried to explain that there are times when he will want to be with just mommy, or just daddy - and sometimes mommy and daddy just want some time together without having to take care of anyone else. I think it hurt his feelings. He held it together all evening but as soon as we pulled in the driveway at home he burst into tears, "Why did you have to go eat sushi without me!!" He was sobbing and angry and hurt. I gently reminded him that we love him dearly and we absolutely will go again with him but that we needed some time as adults. He wouldn't let it go though. He swore he was never going to go to that sushi place and never eat sushi again.
Friday evening was the Memorial. He was very pleased to get to pass the emblems but he still wanted to smell the wine. We joined a group of friends for dinner afterward. Andrew was a roller coaster of emotions. One minute he's content and the next minute angry about something as simple as trying to speak to the seating hostess and her not hearing him and walking away. The entire evening ran long and he definitely was overtired.
Saturday I spent the morning with a friend. The boys did some chores around the house and then went to Murrays house around noon. Andrew got to pet a snake that popped it's head out in the yard, and fly remote controlled helicopters, and meet a new friend a few months older than him. (and eat three cupcakes and a bowl of ice cream, with koolaid and a hotdog)
We ended up at the Waggoner's for spaghetti dinner. I did an oil treatment on Kevin and then Andrew asked for one. It was nice to have him agreeable to it. He enjoyed playing some racing games with William. They served me some ice cream in a mug the shape of a toilet bowl... Andrew exclaimed "I want a toilet bowl!!" lol
Sunday he was still upset that we went without him and he was craving sushi. We had a joint meeting with the other congregation in the morning. He eagerly introduced himself to the Bethelite speaker and they talked about visiting Bethel and the brother told him he had a brochure about Bethel to be sure and get before leaving. He was a roller coaster of emotion again.By the time we were ready to leave, Andrew refused to meet the wife or get the brochure. We got it for him. He was angry that we were not going for sushi. I told him we had to go to the grocery store after lunch so we can get him sushi there. He was not satisfied. We ate at a Vietnamese place next to the grocery... where he went back and forth from defiant and depressed to cooperative and polite. It was exhausting. He did like all the food he tasted... and he enjoyed picking out sushi at the grocery, as well as vegetables and fruits to juice and snack on at home.
He and I both took a nap when we got home. Once daddy was done with some work - they went to the park for a while. We read a book after a bath.
He came in my room around 8:30pm saying he had a bad dream about Transformers - so we chatted a little and I sent him back to bed with some ideas for good dreams. He admitted to me Monday morning that he read two more books, one being a chapter book. I'm guessing he gets under the covers with his flashlight so that we don't notice.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Spring Break
Sunday March 22nd he helped daddy walk both dogs before we headed to the park to let him ride his bike for a while (and let daddy see how well he does!). He also got a lesson in trying to play catch since it's been so long since we've played ball with him.
Andrew has been a very disrespectful, unappreciative brat to me a lot lately again. It got better the first couple of weeks we were here in Colorado but it's settling back in. Sunday was no different. During the meeting he started acting up, deliberately not looking at what I'd show him, would stick his fingers in his ears to try and not hear, would turn his back to me with his feet in the seat. I took him in the back to talk to him and ask him what is going on. I was very sweet and gentle with him. I tried to ask leading questions to find out what is bothering him so much to act this way. I asked what makes him happy and he said, "nothing." I gave him examples of things i KNOW make him happy - like riding his bike - and he just sharpened his tongue to say things he knows would be hurtful to hear. So I left him sitting there and walked away to my seat. He followed and daddy made him sit next to him instead. He started doing the same thing to daddy. I started wondering what on earth I am doing wrong and ended up sniffling and wiping tears away repeatedly, no longer getting anything out of the watchtower lesson about marriage. Then daddy had enough and took him outside to talk.
We went to Murray and Monika's for dinner. Andrew enjoyed playing there and getting Murrays attention. Seems like he got 'talked to' again after we got home for things he said to us in the car. I can't remember what order some of it happened.
Anyway.. Monday morning he came in and apologized to me for 'using my tongue as a sword' and trying to hurt me on purpose with it. He had lost his ipad privileges for however long it takes for him to start showing respect again.
He checked throughout the day on Monday, "am I showing you respect?" ... "then can I have my ipad back?" I told him it was going to take a few days. He just gets upset anytime he hears that which does not help his case.
Tuesday I decided I'd take him to Fun City. He played outside for a little bit in the morning and we still ended up there half an hour too early. So we went across the street to Natural Grocer and browsed the organic grocery store. Every time an employee asked if we needed help finding anything he'd say, "You know how much money I have? I have _____ cents. I could buy this!" He picked out a can of soup he wanted and kept telling me he could buy it with his own money. I told him he didn't need to buy food with his money - he needed to save it. He should go ahead and start saving for his first car because I'm not gonna buy that for him. So he started saying, "I can buy this ... but I don't have to. You're gonna buy it, right mom?" We bought some lunch material and ate it in the car. Then I bought him an unlimited attractions package. He played for a long time in the foam balls tower, we did a round of mini-golf. He didn't believe me that the ball wont come back to him at the last hole. He asked the lady at the counter how all of that works and how often they get the balls out. We did a round of laser tag which he loved. The 10lb vest about swallowed him, it was so cute to see him running all over the place in it. He did a laser maze a few times. The first time he got in there and I stood just inside the door. He couldn't remember what he was supposed to push. So I had to go ask. He had to hit both flashing yellow buttons. After he did, there was one flashing red one. He was scared to push it and insisted I go ask. I told him to just hit it anyway and thankfully he listened.. lol. We did two rounds of bowling and then spent the rest of the time back in the foam tower and little kids city. In the foam tower is a basin you can fill with foam balls. When you hit the button it sucks all the balls out and they erupt at the ceiling like a volcano so the balls rain down on you. He would scream with sheer delight every single time. We also worked together to fill a huge crate at the ceiling level that when it got full would tip over. He got that dumped on him twice. He also loved tying a bag of balls to a rope and pulling the rope to lift the bag to the higher levels, and then using it to fill air cannons. He would engage anyone who would play with him but mostly targeting boys that were twice his age and size to play with. Daddy joined us after work and we ate some dinner. Andrew was too short to ride the go-karts but he did love trying the rock climbing. The kids wall was broken so he had to try on the adult wall. He could hardly even reach the next grip most of the time. He tried the easy, medium, hard, and expert multiple times and did remarkably well trying without giving up easily. He didn't want to wait and see daddy try so I let him go ahead to the foam towers by himself. I told him I'd come when dad was done, but I wouldn't be in there to watch him until then. I watched him walk to the place and stand in line. I waved to him to go ahead in. He came running back to ask what I wanted. I told him he didn't have to wait - he could go in. He said, "I was going to tell her that my mom couldn't watch me and ask if she'd take care of me." I told him she works the counter and wont be able to - just to go in, he'd be okay.
When we were about to leave, he wanted his wristband cut off. The lady tried and tried and the scissors were not cutting it. Finally he said, "Nevermind. I can just break it off." And then he yanked really hard on it and it came apart! We spent 7.5 hours there and put him through a bath when we got home. He got upset trying to get jammies on and threw them in the bathwater. I finally dressed him myself and got him in bed.
Kevin's mom asked if I could get him out of the house so Thursday I took them to another Boondocks which is another adventure center. They started off riding bumper boats. Then poor Andrew waited patiently in line through two rounds of go-karts only to be told he was an inch and a half too short. So he drove the kiddie ones which were really slow, and then Kevin took him on one of the faster ones that holds two people. Andrew decided not to play laser tag so we waited for Kevin to finish and then we had lunch. Andrew played inside in the climbing towers while Kevin did his own thing for a bit. They played some arcade games together and then we headed back outside for two rounds of mini-golf and bumper boats before heading home. I think they had a good time together even with all the waiting in lines.
Friday night, Andrew opened our door at 10pm to say his tummy hurt and promptly threw up in the hallway. Daddy rushed him to the bathroom and we all struggled not to get sick during the process. I ended up putting peppermint oil on fan blades and setting a fan by the bathroom door to circulate. He was at it again at 12pm, 5am, and 6am. I had service plans so I left daddy sleeping and Andrew sitting on the couch. When I got home, we all went down for naps. Andrew had diarrhea the rest of the day, but at least he wasn't throwing up anymore.
Andrew has been a very disrespectful, unappreciative brat to me a lot lately again. It got better the first couple of weeks we were here in Colorado but it's settling back in. Sunday was no different. During the meeting he started acting up, deliberately not looking at what I'd show him, would stick his fingers in his ears to try and not hear, would turn his back to me with his feet in the seat. I took him in the back to talk to him and ask him what is going on. I was very sweet and gentle with him. I tried to ask leading questions to find out what is bothering him so much to act this way. I asked what makes him happy and he said, "nothing." I gave him examples of things i KNOW make him happy - like riding his bike - and he just sharpened his tongue to say things he knows would be hurtful to hear. So I left him sitting there and walked away to my seat. He followed and daddy made him sit next to him instead. He started doing the same thing to daddy. I started wondering what on earth I am doing wrong and ended up sniffling and wiping tears away repeatedly, no longer getting anything out of the watchtower lesson about marriage. Then daddy had enough and took him outside to talk.
We went to Murray and Monika's for dinner. Andrew enjoyed playing there and getting Murrays attention. Seems like he got 'talked to' again after we got home for things he said to us in the car. I can't remember what order some of it happened.
Anyway.. Monday morning he came in and apologized to me for 'using my tongue as a sword' and trying to hurt me on purpose with it. He had lost his ipad privileges for however long it takes for him to start showing respect again.
He checked throughout the day on Monday, "am I showing you respect?" ... "then can I have my ipad back?" I told him it was going to take a few days. He just gets upset anytime he hears that which does not help his case.
Tuesday I decided I'd take him to Fun City. He played outside for a little bit in the morning and we still ended up there half an hour too early. So we went across the street to Natural Grocer and browsed the organic grocery store. Every time an employee asked if we needed help finding anything he'd say, "You know how much money I have? I have _____ cents. I could buy this!" He picked out a can of soup he wanted and kept telling me he could buy it with his own money. I told him he didn't need to buy food with his money - he needed to save it. He should go ahead and start saving for his first car because I'm not gonna buy that for him. So he started saying, "I can buy this ... but I don't have to. You're gonna buy it, right mom?" We bought some lunch material and ate it in the car. Then I bought him an unlimited attractions package. He played for a long time in the foam balls tower, we did a round of mini-golf. He didn't believe me that the ball wont come back to him at the last hole. He asked the lady at the counter how all of that works and how often they get the balls out. We did a round of laser tag which he loved. The 10lb vest about swallowed him, it was so cute to see him running all over the place in it. He did a laser maze a few times. The first time he got in there and I stood just inside the door. He couldn't remember what he was supposed to push. So I had to go ask. He had to hit both flashing yellow buttons. After he did, there was one flashing red one. He was scared to push it and insisted I go ask. I told him to just hit it anyway and thankfully he listened.. lol. We did two rounds of bowling and then spent the rest of the time back in the foam tower and little kids city. In the foam tower is a basin you can fill with foam balls. When you hit the button it sucks all the balls out and they erupt at the ceiling like a volcano so the balls rain down on you. He would scream with sheer delight every single time. We also worked together to fill a huge crate at the ceiling level that when it got full would tip over. He got that dumped on him twice. He also loved tying a bag of balls to a rope and pulling the rope to lift the bag to the higher levels, and then using it to fill air cannons. He would engage anyone who would play with him but mostly targeting boys that were twice his age and size to play with. Daddy joined us after work and we ate some dinner. Andrew was too short to ride the go-karts but he did love trying the rock climbing. The kids wall was broken so he had to try on the adult wall. He could hardly even reach the next grip most of the time. He tried the easy, medium, hard, and expert multiple times and did remarkably well trying without giving up easily. He didn't want to wait and see daddy try so I let him go ahead to the foam towers by himself. I told him I'd come when dad was done, but I wouldn't be in there to watch him until then. I watched him walk to the place and stand in line. I waved to him to go ahead in. He came running back to ask what I wanted. I told him he didn't have to wait - he could go in. He said, "I was going to tell her that my mom couldn't watch me and ask if she'd take care of me." I told him she works the counter and wont be able to - just to go in, he'd be okay.
When we were about to leave, he wanted his wristband cut off. The lady tried and tried and the scissors were not cutting it. Finally he said, "Nevermind. I can just break it off." And then he yanked really hard on it and it came apart! We spent 7.5 hours there and put him through a bath when we got home. He got upset trying to get jammies on and threw them in the bathwater. I finally dressed him myself and got him in bed.
Kevin's mom asked if I could get him out of the house so Thursday I took them to another Boondocks which is another adventure center. They started off riding bumper boats. Then poor Andrew waited patiently in line through two rounds of go-karts only to be told he was an inch and a half too short. So he drove the kiddie ones which were really slow, and then Kevin took him on one of the faster ones that holds two people. Andrew decided not to play laser tag so we waited for Kevin to finish and then we had lunch. Andrew played inside in the climbing towers while Kevin did his own thing for a bit. They played some arcade games together and then we headed back outside for two rounds of mini-golf and bumper boats before heading home. I think they had a good time together even with all the waiting in lines.
Friday night, Andrew opened our door at 10pm to say his tummy hurt and promptly threw up in the hallway. Daddy rushed him to the bathroom and we all struggled not to get sick during the process. I ended up putting peppermint oil on fan blades and setting a fan by the bathroom door to circulate. He was at it again at 12pm, 5am, and 6am. I had service plans so I left daddy sleeping and Andrew sitting on the couch. When I got home, we all went down for naps. Andrew had diarrhea the rest of the day, but at least he wasn't throwing up anymore.
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Riding a Bike
Tuesday March 10th neither of us really wanted to go home. He asks every day if we can go someplace. He's also been asking how to get to the mountains. So, I took him to Red Rock. He loved the ride up. We parked at the top and walked around. He wanted to see the museum but it was closed. The amphitheater was cool, but it was a million and two stairs down and I refused to go. From the top, you could see so far in every direction. "You can see all the way to Denver!!"
Wednesday morning, super early, the electricity kept blinking and waking us all up. It was very warm in the house too. Andrew gets hot when he sleeps anyway, but he felt exceptionally hot and complained of a headache. We took one of his blankets off the bed. When it was time to get up, he laid on the floor crying because of his headache, the lights made it worse. My kid had his first migraine! He'd start to feel better after laying down and sleeping, but as soon as he'd try to sit up, it all got worse. I think it was the altitude getting to him. I tried to rehydrate as long as I could get him to drink, but he mostly slept all day.
Thursday he was much better, but the teacher said that when he came back in from recess he was looking a little pale. They don't get to drink all day long, I dont know how they expect the kids to stay hydrated!!
Saturday was a nice morning for service. After service, a new young friend named Kevin came over to help daddy take down the handrail "wall" in the living room so we can build a real wall. Andrew was a big helper in cleaning up the debris on the ground as they took out some sheetrock to put up frames. We went out for burgers that night and Andrew could hardly stay awake he was so tired.
Sunday the 15th, we went to IKEA when it opened. The play area was full so Andrew had to stay with us. He started getting upset and cranky so we stopped at a table/chairs section and asked if he'd like to talk. He picked a place to sit and we chatted a bit to get an understanding of how he was feeling. Then about every 3 minutes he wanted to stop wherever we were to chat some more. I told him we were on a time limit and needed to get out of here, we couldn't keep stopping. We got some great ideas for making the kitchen, baths, and closets functional. We were gonna get a quick bite and check out and buy Andrew a cute little snack box when Ted discovered he'd lost his wallet. Long story short - I found it in the car, it had fallen between the console and passenger seat. But by this point, we were too late to catch our KH meeting either. So we decided to stay, eat our food more leisurely, and browse a little more at IKEA and let Andrew play in the playplace for an hour. In the clearance section we found a cheap shelving unit that would fit all the games perfectly since we dont have a closet to store them in. So we loaded that in the car and headed home.
We were invited to join in feeding the speaker so met up with them at a mexican restaurant. Andrew enjoyed getting the attention from those around him. In the bathroom the faucet handles were installed backwards so you had to bring them toward you to turn them off. I was drying my hands and Andrew had been washing his but when i look back there is steam coming from his. He scalded his hand trying to figure out what was wrong with the faucet and started screaming. I ran it under cold water for a bit and hugged him.
Monday when I picked him up from school he was very upset that he needed to wear green on Tuesday or everyone would have to pinch him. "Why do they have to pinch me??" I tried to explain that it's a dumb tradition where people believed the leprechauns would come out and pinch people - but they'd be invisible to the leprechauns if they wore green. People who pinch are just being mean, and they don't "have" to, they choose to. It's just become yet another holiday.
He slipped on some loose gravel in the parking lot and skinned his knee - which apparently rendered his arms useless and he no longer could buckle himself in, nor could he walk on his own. When we got home, I told him "wait til you see the downstairs!" I had unpacked all of his toys and had everything nicely arranged and easy to access. "Well, I guess I could walk on my own." But when we got inside, Cara had pulled all the fluff out of a boxing glove (that he doesn't even use) and he burst into tears and decided all his toys are ugly and he hates them. So all my hard work went unappreciated.
Tuesday morning I didn't say anything about wearing green. Instead I got him excited that he was officially 5 and a half! I had found more of his clothes the day before and put them in his closet. He was so excited to discover a new (hand-me-down) t-shirt with a Lego character on it and chose to wear it to school. Of course, it was green. Oh well. When we got to school - green was everywhere. Right as we got to his classroom door is when he remembered. He unzipped his jacket a little and saw his green shirt and breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn't going to get pinched all day.
After school he asked if we could go to the park to ride his bike. I said sure. We had a quick snack and loaded up the car to head to the neighborhood park. When we moved, friends removed the training wheels to help the bike fit in the pod. We haven't put them back on yet. I noticed here in Colorado - no one uses them anyway. Kids just use their feet and stride. So he tip-toed and glided down to the vacant basketball court, then all of a sudden he just took off riding! I think he was as surprised as I was!! He rode around with a huge smile on his face, stopping to check on me periodically. On one lap I heard him say, "Five and a half guys can do this! This is easy!" (he turned 5-1/2 today!) He rode for a little over half an hour gaining speed with each lap around. He tried going uphill on the sidewalk and that proved more challenging than he expected. He only fell three times and they were hardly anything. On the way back to the car I tried to give him a little boost since it was all uphill but then he rode off into the grass which didn't work out. I tried to pick up his bike and carry it and he yanked on it to try again. So I let him, knowing full well he wouldn't be able to really get going. He tried, failed, and then got angry at me that he didn't succeed. He said, "You're so hateful! You were supposed to hold me up!" I picked up the bike and told him to get in the car. He threw his helmet in the car and hit it a few times and fussed at me. I reminded him that I don't even like going to the park - that I go for HIM to have fun. I don't sit and play games on my phone or ipad either - I watch him - the entire time. There isn't even a place to sit and rest my back there - the benches have no backs. The park is all about him because I love him and do things for him. That is not being hateful. He just stared up at the ceiling of the car when I spoke to him. *sigh*
Friday after school we went to a different neighborhood's park. It had taller slides with more twists, more to do, benches with backs. When we first got there, only a 3.5 year old girl and her daddy were there, and very happy to see us. They rode bikes together on the basketball court, we bounced on the seesaws, they rode the swings, and Andrew showed off his skills zipping through the monkey bars, and he tried to teach the little girl how to go down the firepole without help. At one point, Andrew said he could throw her ball through the hoop and she let him try. He missed completely the first time, but hit the backboard the others. So he decided he'd get a running start from the opposite goal and as the ball missed and rolled down the hill, the little girl was jumping up and down cheering him on at what a good job he was doing. If only we all had a little cheerleader like her follow us around!
We got home shortly after daddy, ate some dinner, and dropped Andrew off at Kevin's house for the evening. We went to IKEA to buy some closets. We arrived around 9pm to pick him up. He was eating a sandwich on the couch and watching a movie. We stayed and finished the movie with them... leaving after 11pm! He was up in no time saying he was having bad dreams about a character in the movie.
Saturday morning we were still offering memorial invitations. I asked Andrew if he'd like a turn at the door and he said no. But then the next door I went to he got mad and said I wasn't listening to him - that was supposed to be his door. I spent the next 45 minutes in service asking him at every single door if he was ready for a turn. We could tell he wanted to but he'd just sulk and shake his head. If I said it was such a pretty day for service, he disagreed. If I said the waterfall feature was nice, he said it was dirty and stinky. We pressed on. He finally told me that he wanted a turn but couldn't decide on what to say (I'd given him three choices.) I told him he could at least knock and if he got flustered I promised I would step in and take over. He knocked and ran from the door. No one was home so he tried folding the invitation and sticking it in the door. We rehearsed options again between then and the next door. He refused to tell me what he wanted to say. He knocked and a lady came out greeting us kindly. He said, "My name is Andrew. Here is your gift." So I told her what the invitation was for and we left. He seemed relieved and opted to walk with daddy to move the car instead of continue with me and the group. He enjoyed discussing French and Spanish at break.
We had a nap at home and then he wanted to help daddy work on the living room wall - running electrical and drilling screws to hold the sheetrock in place. He had trouble changing out a battery and got all upset again. Took another hour or more to pull him out of that funk. He decided to ride his bike to the mailbox with me while I walked Charlie. We went again without Charlie so I could carry the mail home. He got upset that he couldn't really get going on his bike. Daddy moved the cars out of the driveway so he'd have space to ride his scooters and bike around freely. Still not as fun as riding at the park apparently. He found a tree limb that was about the same height as himself - and banged up a thorn bush (roses I think) in the yard and messed with the tree, and twirled the limb around a bit. Then went back to his bike while I was studying the Watchtower lesson. Then he played in the backyard for a while with more sticks and the dogs.
He discovered he does like Chicken Tortilla soup from Costco.
Wednesday morning, super early, the electricity kept blinking and waking us all up. It was very warm in the house too. Andrew gets hot when he sleeps anyway, but he felt exceptionally hot and complained of a headache. We took one of his blankets off the bed. When it was time to get up, he laid on the floor crying because of his headache, the lights made it worse. My kid had his first migraine! He'd start to feel better after laying down and sleeping, but as soon as he'd try to sit up, it all got worse. I think it was the altitude getting to him. I tried to rehydrate as long as I could get him to drink, but he mostly slept all day.
Thursday he was much better, but the teacher said that when he came back in from recess he was looking a little pale. They don't get to drink all day long, I dont know how they expect the kids to stay hydrated!!
Saturday was a nice morning for service. After service, a new young friend named Kevin came over to help daddy take down the handrail "wall" in the living room so we can build a real wall. Andrew was a big helper in cleaning up the debris on the ground as they took out some sheetrock to put up frames. We went out for burgers that night and Andrew could hardly stay awake he was so tired.
Sunday the 15th, we went to IKEA when it opened. The play area was full so Andrew had to stay with us. He started getting upset and cranky so we stopped at a table/chairs section and asked if he'd like to talk. He picked a place to sit and we chatted a bit to get an understanding of how he was feeling. Then about every 3 minutes he wanted to stop wherever we were to chat some more. I told him we were on a time limit and needed to get out of here, we couldn't keep stopping. We got some great ideas for making the kitchen, baths, and closets functional. We were gonna get a quick bite and check out and buy Andrew a cute little snack box when Ted discovered he'd lost his wallet. Long story short - I found it in the car, it had fallen between the console and passenger seat. But by this point, we were too late to catch our KH meeting either. So we decided to stay, eat our food more leisurely, and browse a little more at IKEA and let Andrew play in the playplace for an hour. In the clearance section we found a cheap shelving unit that would fit all the games perfectly since we dont have a closet to store them in. So we loaded that in the car and headed home.
We were invited to join in feeding the speaker so met up with them at a mexican restaurant. Andrew enjoyed getting the attention from those around him. In the bathroom the faucet handles were installed backwards so you had to bring them toward you to turn them off. I was drying my hands and Andrew had been washing his but when i look back there is steam coming from his. He scalded his hand trying to figure out what was wrong with the faucet and started screaming. I ran it under cold water for a bit and hugged him.
Monday when I picked him up from school he was very upset that he needed to wear green on Tuesday or everyone would have to pinch him. "Why do they have to pinch me??" I tried to explain that it's a dumb tradition where people believed the leprechauns would come out and pinch people - but they'd be invisible to the leprechauns if they wore green. People who pinch are just being mean, and they don't "have" to, they choose to. It's just become yet another holiday.
He slipped on some loose gravel in the parking lot and skinned his knee - which apparently rendered his arms useless and he no longer could buckle himself in, nor could he walk on his own. When we got home, I told him "wait til you see the downstairs!" I had unpacked all of his toys and had everything nicely arranged and easy to access. "Well, I guess I could walk on my own." But when we got inside, Cara had pulled all the fluff out of a boxing glove (that he doesn't even use) and he burst into tears and decided all his toys are ugly and he hates them. So all my hard work went unappreciated.
Tuesday morning I didn't say anything about wearing green. Instead I got him excited that he was officially 5 and a half! I had found more of his clothes the day before and put them in his closet. He was so excited to discover a new (hand-me-down) t-shirt with a Lego character on it and chose to wear it to school. Of course, it was green. Oh well. When we got to school - green was everywhere. Right as we got to his classroom door is when he remembered. He unzipped his jacket a little and saw his green shirt and breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn't going to get pinched all day.
After school he asked if we could go to the park to ride his bike. I said sure. We had a quick snack and loaded up the car to head to the neighborhood park. When we moved, friends removed the training wheels to help the bike fit in the pod. We haven't put them back on yet. I noticed here in Colorado - no one uses them anyway. Kids just use their feet and stride. So he tip-toed and glided down to the vacant basketball court, then all of a sudden he just took off riding! I think he was as surprised as I was!! He rode around with a huge smile on his face, stopping to check on me periodically. On one lap I heard him say, "Five and a half guys can do this! This is easy!" (he turned 5-1/2 today!) He rode for a little over half an hour gaining speed with each lap around. He tried going uphill on the sidewalk and that proved more challenging than he expected. He only fell three times and they were hardly anything. On the way back to the car I tried to give him a little boost since it was all uphill but then he rode off into the grass which didn't work out. I tried to pick up his bike and carry it and he yanked on it to try again. So I let him, knowing full well he wouldn't be able to really get going. He tried, failed, and then got angry at me that he didn't succeed. He said, "You're so hateful! You were supposed to hold me up!" I picked up the bike and told him to get in the car. He threw his helmet in the car and hit it a few times and fussed at me. I reminded him that I don't even like going to the park - that I go for HIM to have fun. I don't sit and play games on my phone or ipad either - I watch him - the entire time. There isn't even a place to sit and rest my back there - the benches have no backs. The park is all about him because I love him and do things for him. That is not being hateful. He just stared up at the ceiling of the car when I spoke to him. *sigh*
Friday after school we went to a different neighborhood's park. It had taller slides with more twists, more to do, benches with backs. When we first got there, only a 3.5 year old girl and her daddy were there, and very happy to see us. They rode bikes together on the basketball court, we bounced on the seesaws, they rode the swings, and Andrew showed off his skills zipping through the monkey bars, and he tried to teach the little girl how to go down the firepole without help. At one point, Andrew said he could throw her ball through the hoop and she let him try. He missed completely the first time, but hit the backboard the others. So he decided he'd get a running start from the opposite goal and as the ball missed and rolled down the hill, the little girl was jumping up and down cheering him on at what a good job he was doing. If only we all had a little cheerleader like her follow us around!
We got home shortly after daddy, ate some dinner, and dropped Andrew off at Kevin's house for the evening. We went to IKEA to buy some closets. We arrived around 9pm to pick him up. He was eating a sandwich on the couch and watching a movie. We stayed and finished the movie with them... leaving after 11pm! He was up in no time saying he was having bad dreams about a character in the movie.
Saturday morning we were still offering memorial invitations. I asked Andrew if he'd like a turn at the door and he said no. But then the next door I went to he got mad and said I wasn't listening to him - that was supposed to be his door. I spent the next 45 minutes in service asking him at every single door if he was ready for a turn. We could tell he wanted to but he'd just sulk and shake his head. If I said it was such a pretty day for service, he disagreed. If I said the waterfall feature was nice, he said it was dirty and stinky. We pressed on. He finally told me that he wanted a turn but couldn't decide on what to say (I'd given him three choices.) I told him he could at least knock and if he got flustered I promised I would step in and take over. He knocked and ran from the door. No one was home so he tried folding the invitation and sticking it in the door. We rehearsed options again between then and the next door. He refused to tell me what he wanted to say. He knocked and a lady came out greeting us kindly. He said, "My name is Andrew. Here is your gift." So I told her what the invitation was for and we left. He seemed relieved and opted to walk with daddy to move the car instead of continue with me and the group. He enjoyed discussing French and Spanish at break.
We had a nap at home and then he wanted to help daddy work on the living room wall - running electrical and drilling screws to hold the sheetrock in place. He had trouble changing out a battery and got all upset again. Took another hour or more to pull him out of that funk. He decided to ride his bike to the mailbox with me while I walked Charlie. We went again without Charlie so I could carry the mail home. He got upset that he couldn't really get going on his bike. Daddy moved the cars out of the driveway so he'd have space to ride his scooters and bike around freely. Still not as fun as riding at the park apparently. He found a tree limb that was about the same height as himself - and banged up a thorn bush (roses I think) in the yard and messed with the tree, and twirled the limb around a bit. Then went back to his bike while I was studying the Watchtower lesson. Then he played in the backyard for a while with more sticks and the dogs.
He discovered he does like Chicken Tortilla soup from Costco.
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Moving to Colorado!
February 16th to 20th there was no school because of so much ice! It was nice having him home for an extra week. On the 20th, our shipping containers were delivered. It started snowing heavily about the time the truck arrived. Andrew gave him some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.
On the 21st it was rainy so we had to postpone packing the pods until Sunday the 22nd. The meeting ended up cancelled and yet 16 people still showed up to help us move!! It was a soggy mess. Andrew and Samantha played outside and came in covered in mud. Andrew fell flat into it once and Nana had to help him get changed and cleaned up. She said he did a good job not getting it everywhere.
We spent the next week on borrowed air mattresses, with borrowed chairs,dishes and towels. With not much to do or play with, he got way too much ipad time watching Kipper and How to Train Your Dragon. There was no school again on the 26th when some sisters had scheduled lunch with me to say goodbye. So Andrew got to hang with Samantha and Blake one last time at Frankie's Pizza and Grill.
On Friday, Ms. Hobbs made it a special day all about Andrew. Nana and I took cupcakes to his class. They all made cards for him and talked about what a good friend and helper Andrew has been to them. Ms. Hobbs gave him the book The Giving Tree with a note to him in the front.
Friday evening I dropped him off at Joy's house while I went to the airport to get Daddy and Murray. He was very excited to see them again.
Saturday morning, we packed up what didn't fit into one last pod. Several friends dropped by to say goodbye to Ted, and then they drugged the pups and started driving to Colorado. They spent 7 hours in an ice storm on the way, but made it safely around 4am to Murrays house.
Andrew and I went home with Nana - said our goodbyes to Joy in our driveway and both of us nearly started crying when we got in the van. We stopped in to say goodbye to Ann and Fred too and she reminded us to embrace the change and always be happy, not sad.
Monday morning we arrived in Denver at 8am local time. Daddy picked us up and dropped us off at the new house and headed off to work. We snacked on some nuts and took a good nap before venturing out to find some lunch.
Tuesday morning we went to his new school, Devinny Elementary, to meet the principal and staff. They decided to have us return Wednesday to assess Andrew to decide if he should finish this year in Kindergarten or in regular first grade. He would start gifted first grade in the fall. We went to the grocery store to get fresh salad material and basic supplies.
Wednesday he spent 45 minutes getting assessed. She said he could work on his handwriting - he holds the pencil with all fingers instead of just three. But they decided to let him enter first grade! Andrew was so excited!! I asked the office for the addresses of some fun places we could go. We went to Fun City. It has bowling, laser tag, mini golf, go carts, arcades, rock climbing walls, a little tots town, and a huge multi-level area filled with foam balls and air canons. We decided to pay for the kid area that included the tot town and foam ball place. He enjoyed it immensely. His favorite part was filling a huge saucer with balls, hitting a button and a huge vacuum sucked the balls up and spouted them out the top. We both got hit on the head a few times but it was fun - the balls are soft.
Thursday was his first day of First Grade! He LOVED it! He was in such a good mood, calm, hugged me and his teacher. Friday he said was a good day too, and he was actually excited about having homework. He was feeling very proud of himself to not have finished kindergarten and starting first grade while only being five. (no humility here!) We did go to the park after school both days. Even with snow still on the ground, the sun was warm and no jacket was required.
Friday evening we went to Lowe's to look at cabinets, hoping to find some in stock we could stack to make a pantry for now. No go. So we went next door to American Signature Furniture to look for a couch since we sold ours before moving. Andrew enjoyed testing out everything - especially the automatic ones. We found a couch and loveseat similar to what we had in TN and then realized - we don't have an entertainment center for the TV here. We got a cheap but large one that could do the job. We also found some nice cabinets that would work as a pantry for now too! After checking out, the salesman took Andrew back to a rack of stuffed animals and asked which he'd like. Andrew picked out a small white tiger. The salesman picked out the biggest white tiger there was and offered that to him. He has been sleeping with it ever since.
By Saturday morning, Ted and I had almost all of the containers unloaded. Murray came by to help with all the heavy stuff. We finished right around lunch time. I got some burgers and as soon as we were done eating - 7-8 people from the hall showed up to help unload and were so surprised to see it done! I suggested they could still help us assemble the office and my new pantry cabinets, and our sleep number bed. It would have taken us days to get it done and they had it completed in about an hour! They even played with Andrew a little bit during the process!
On the 21st it was rainy so we had to postpone packing the pods until Sunday the 22nd. The meeting ended up cancelled and yet 16 people still showed up to help us move!! It was a soggy mess. Andrew and Samantha played outside and came in covered in mud. Andrew fell flat into it once and Nana had to help him get changed and cleaned up. She said he did a good job not getting it everywhere.
We spent the next week on borrowed air mattresses, with borrowed chairs,dishes and towels. With not much to do or play with, he got way too much ipad time watching Kipper and How to Train Your Dragon. There was no school again on the 26th when some sisters had scheduled lunch with me to say goodbye. So Andrew got to hang with Samantha and Blake one last time at Frankie's Pizza and Grill.
On Friday, Ms. Hobbs made it a special day all about Andrew. Nana and I took cupcakes to his class. They all made cards for him and talked about what a good friend and helper Andrew has been to them. Ms. Hobbs gave him the book The Giving Tree with a note to him in the front.
Friday evening I dropped him off at Joy's house while I went to the airport to get Daddy and Murray. He was very excited to see them again.
Saturday morning, we packed up what didn't fit into one last pod. Several friends dropped by to say goodbye to Ted, and then they drugged the pups and started driving to Colorado. They spent 7 hours in an ice storm on the way, but made it safely around 4am to Murrays house.
Andrew and I went home with Nana - said our goodbyes to Joy in our driveway and both of us nearly started crying when we got in the van. We stopped in to say goodbye to Ann and Fred too and she reminded us to embrace the change and always be happy, not sad.
Monday morning we arrived in Denver at 8am local time. Daddy picked us up and dropped us off at the new house and headed off to work. We snacked on some nuts and took a good nap before venturing out to find some lunch.
Tuesday morning we went to his new school, Devinny Elementary, to meet the principal and staff. They decided to have us return Wednesday to assess Andrew to decide if he should finish this year in Kindergarten or in regular first grade. He would start gifted first grade in the fall. We went to the grocery store to get fresh salad material and basic supplies.
Wednesday he spent 45 minutes getting assessed. She said he could work on his handwriting - he holds the pencil with all fingers instead of just three. But they decided to let him enter first grade! Andrew was so excited!! I asked the office for the addresses of some fun places we could go. We went to Fun City. It has bowling, laser tag, mini golf, go carts, arcades, rock climbing walls, a little tots town, and a huge multi-level area filled with foam balls and air canons. We decided to pay for the kid area that included the tot town and foam ball place. He enjoyed it immensely. His favorite part was filling a huge saucer with balls, hitting a button and a huge vacuum sucked the balls up and spouted them out the top. We both got hit on the head a few times but it was fun - the balls are soft.
Thursday was his first day of First Grade! He LOVED it! He was in such a good mood, calm, hugged me and his teacher. Friday he said was a good day too, and he was actually excited about having homework. He was feeling very proud of himself to not have finished kindergarten and starting first grade while only being five. (no humility here!) We did go to the park after school both days. Even with snow still on the ground, the sun was warm and no jacket was required.
Friday evening we went to Lowe's to look at cabinets, hoping to find some in stock we could stack to make a pantry for now. No go. So we went next door to American Signature Furniture to look for a couch since we sold ours before moving. Andrew enjoyed testing out everything - especially the automatic ones. We found a couch and loveseat similar to what we had in TN and then realized - we don't have an entertainment center for the TV here. We got a cheap but large one that could do the job. We also found some nice cabinets that would work as a pantry for now too! After checking out, the salesman took Andrew back to a rack of stuffed animals and asked which he'd like. Andrew picked out a small white tiger. The salesman picked out the biggest white tiger there was and offered that to him. He has been sleeping with it ever since.
By Saturday morning, Ted and I had almost all of the containers unloaded. Murray came by to help with all the heavy stuff. We finished right around lunch time. I got some burgers and as soon as we were done eating - 7-8 people from the hall showed up to help unload and were so surprised to see it done! I suggested they could still help us assemble the office and my new pantry cabinets, and our sleep number bed. It would have taken us days to get it done and they had it completed in about an hour! They even played with Andrew a little bit during the process!
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Thank goodness the party was fun!
Last week, I was asked if I could superimpose photos of the
Vaals into a photo of Paradise to give to them while Allison was in the
hospital with encephalitis. I searched their facebook pages to come up
with photos and got one of the Vaals, one of Patty and Ann Marie, and
one of Mike on a motorcycle. It's all I could find that I could work
with. I found a nice photo of a paradisaic setting but it'd only make a
bookmark really. It came out well. Andrew looked at it and asked about
it. I told him it was an idea of that family in Paradise. He said,
"But there won't be motorcycles in Paradise!" lol
Friday February 13th I had taken a nap in the afternoon. I had let Andrew play on my ipad I guess. When I got up, he excitedly told me, "Mom! I bought a bunch of new trucks in this game and I didn't even have to go to the app store!!" He showed me a bunch of new trucks in a monster truck game. I wasn't sure what he meant by "bought" - if it was with coins you can earn and spend in a game, or if he really meant he made a purchase. I messaged Ted about it and moved on.
Saturday afternoon, we had house-showing and I let him have my ipad in the car. He continued to play some games once we got back inside. He comes to me to show me Dragon City and how to hatch more dinosaurs and new structures that were in his city. He was very pleased with it. He spent some earned gems on some new dinosaurs and as he tapped something else another window popped up saying he didn't have enough gems - but he could buy more for $4.99. I grabbed the ipad and was yelling "no no no no no!" I told him that was real money coming out of my bank account - and he cannot spend that. So I took the ipad and took it offline right at the same time that it died from low battery. I plugged it in and left it. We had to leave soon anyway.
On the way to a going-away party for Andrew, I hear Ted calling me. I check the message at the Funderbergs house. Apparently... Andrew managed to spend over $200 in game purchases!! Ted was freaking out a little bit because it was on a card that he'd just used for the first time at an ATM machine to get money for his driver's license. He'd never used it in person before then, and suddenly over two days there these big purchases. I told him it was definitely Andrew. The friends said to call itunes and they would probably reduce or wipe out the purchases since it was a 5 year old and a first time mistake. Whew - so glad they did!!
The going away party was very nice. Tonya Funderburg had a nice spread of healthy snacks, and several pizzas. The Arnolds, Chumleys, Pingles, and Laffertys joined us for a nice cozy evening. She had goodie bags for Andrew, Blake, and Sam. Darth Vader body wash, glow sticks, silly putty, activity books and I'm not sure what else. Andrew saw the body wash and said, "Mom - this is Darth Vader body wash. I don't want that!!" lol But Samantha did so she traded glow sticks for the body wash.
Sunday morning Andrew drew some pictures and thank you notes for the Funderburgs. He sealed them up in an envelope and then cut the address off of labels to use the little pictures as stickers. I never got to see them, but later Tonya told me he wrote, "thank goodness the party was fun!" and drew a picture of her. lol She thought it was adorable.
Friday February 13th I had taken a nap in the afternoon. I had let Andrew play on my ipad I guess. When I got up, he excitedly told me, "Mom! I bought a bunch of new trucks in this game and I didn't even have to go to the app store!!" He showed me a bunch of new trucks in a monster truck game. I wasn't sure what he meant by "bought" - if it was with coins you can earn and spend in a game, or if he really meant he made a purchase. I messaged Ted about it and moved on.
Saturday afternoon, we had house-showing and I let him have my ipad in the car. He continued to play some games once we got back inside. He comes to me to show me Dragon City and how to hatch more dinosaurs and new structures that were in his city. He was very pleased with it. He spent some earned gems on some new dinosaurs and as he tapped something else another window popped up saying he didn't have enough gems - but he could buy more for $4.99. I grabbed the ipad and was yelling "no no no no no!" I told him that was real money coming out of my bank account - and he cannot spend that. So I took the ipad and took it offline right at the same time that it died from low battery. I plugged it in and left it. We had to leave soon anyway.
On the way to a going-away party for Andrew, I hear Ted calling me. I check the message at the Funderbergs house. Apparently... Andrew managed to spend over $200 in game purchases!! Ted was freaking out a little bit because it was on a card that he'd just used for the first time at an ATM machine to get money for his driver's license. He'd never used it in person before then, and suddenly over two days there these big purchases. I told him it was definitely Andrew. The friends said to call itunes and they would probably reduce or wipe out the purchases since it was a 5 year old and a first time mistake. Whew - so glad they did!!
The going away party was very nice. Tonya Funderburg had a nice spread of healthy snacks, and several pizzas. The Arnolds, Chumleys, Pingles, and Laffertys joined us for a nice cozy evening. She had goodie bags for Andrew, Blake, and Sam. Darth Vader body wash, glow sticks, silly putty, activity books and I'm not sure what else. Andrew saw the body wash and said, "Mom - this is Darth Vader body wash. I don't want that!!" lol But Samantha did so she traded glow sticks for the body wash.
Sunday morning Andrew drew some pictures and thank you notes for the Funderburgs. He sealed them up in an envelope and then cut the address off of labels to use the little pictures as stickers. I never got to see them, but later Tonya told me he wrote, "thank goodness the party was fun!" and drew a picture of her. lol She thought it was adorable.
Friday, February 13, 2015
"In my ears and out my mouth"
The week of January 20th was difficult for several reasons. Of course, daddy hasn't been home. The Principal of his school was murdered over that past weekend, and we both were still trying to process events surrounding a boy kissing him several times, wanting to try 'another kind of kissing' (french), and his revealing to me past incidents that were very inappropriate and disturbing. It took us the entire week to really sort things out in our heads. Thankfully, because the Principal died, there were therapists and counselors at the school all week. I did email his teacher mid-week to let her know what I'd learned over the weekend so she could be aware if anything came up at school. I'm so glad I did! Either Thursday or Friday they were walking in line back to class and he said, "Ms. Hobbs, there is something I just can't get out of my head." He mentioned the incidents I'd emailed to her and she immediately pulled him out of line and allowed him to speak. She told him none of those things were his fault, and he has a voice that he is free to express himself with. Then he said, "Do you think I could talk to one of those counselors?" So she sent him to one. He again talked about the incidents, as well as missing daddy, and questions he had about the murder of the principal. What a tragic week for us it was. Though it did make him more eager to move to Colorado.
Also that week, I tried to make some soup like Olive Garden's Chicken Gnocchi soup, and some chocolate chip cookie dough. When Andrew got off the bus he asked, "What do you have planned for today?" I told him, "Eating chocolate chip cookies!" He said, "for real?!" I told him he had to eat soup first. I told him I had chicken gnocchi soup. "Do we have Gnocchis?" I told him I had to use biscuits instead. He said, "Then you should have called it Chicken and Biscuits Soup."
That weekend, Andrew developed a cough and some sneezing. Daddy got to come home too for an overnight visit!
Every day he gets off the bus and asks, "Do you have any plans for today?" He is always disappointed too. It's so hard to get together with people during the week since there isn't much time to play before dinner and bedtime.
Thursday February 5th, Joy and Barry came over to experience FCT and then we followed them home for dinner. So he had an enjoyable time playing there and staying up late.
Saturday the 7th I had to tell him that if he wasn't ready for service on time - he was going however he looked. He managed to be dressed but still had bedhead. Fred took him into the bathroom and helped him fix his hair. Then we joined the phone witnessing group with Ann. He got embarrassed when he tried to talk to another sister and she snapped at him, "SHHH! We're talking!" So, we helped Ann figure out how to get her copier to work and then put Andrew in charge of bringing us the letters to send, and putting the stamps on the envelopes. We only stayed for about an hour and a half and went home to rest a bit. At 1:45 Joy and Lauren came to get him and headed to Bellevue to babysit 14 month old Henry. He didn't get home again until 8:45. He had some fun, and some not so fun moments. He did tell Joy that he was not going to tag along the next time she goes to Bellevue. lol
Sunday morning he woke me up asking if he could use the microwave to heat up his hamburger. I got up to help him and went back to bed. When I got up he had also made a huge mess on the table with peanut shells. We didn't have time to clean up before meeting. He enjoyed sitting with the Laffertys during the meeting. After meeting I let him watch "Robots" while I made some cookies and pumpkin pie. He helped me clean up the mess the dogs had made the night before. They got the bag of barley and bag of lentils off the counter and spread them all over the place; and of course his mess. I think he only helped because it meant he could get a cookie later. I asked him to hang up his clean shirts and he said, "no, that's your job!" (shakin my head)
Monday February 9th he came bounding in my room when he knew I was awake. He cheerfully suggested pumpkin pie for breakfast and was very excited when I said that sounded like a great idea. He hoped to have the entire pie. I did let him have a second piece but he was too full to finish it.
Monday night at dinner he looked at me and said, "Mom, you're dehydrated." I said, 'oh yeah? what makes you say that?" He said, "Because under your eye is a little dark. That one too. Both eyes." Hmmm.
Andrew has also been obsessed and afraid of wolves since being at the farm. I have told him nearly every day that he is unlikely to ever even see a wolf and there is no need to be afraid. It's been driving me nuts. For the hundredth time we talked about wolves all the way to Kingdom Hall Wednesday night and I was ready to scream. He's convinced there are wolves in ever patch of woods, waiting to come out and get him. The Wrights were entering the same time and I pleaded with Paul to tell Andrew that the chances of him seeing a wolf in Spring Hill are very slim. He so badly wanted to encourage that imagination to run wild but very kindly succumbed to my request and told Andrew that they're pretty rare. Cairo suggested a coyote would be easier to find - but still, in an area so populated it's not that common either.
We never used the microwave up until we started packing to move. In an effort to keep the counters cleared, I moved the toaster oven to the garage for a while and we have been using the microwave. Andrew is very interested in it and likes getting to push the buttons.
He's been saying a lot lately, "It went in my ears and out my mouth" to reference having a though or idea that he expresses. And also saying, "You took the words right out of my mouth!" He told me this week, "I like saying 'in my ears and out my mouth' but my teacher says it 'goes in one ear and out the other.'" I chuckled to myself but didn't explain to him what that means.
Friday I picked Andrew up from school early since they were having Valentine parties. We ran a few errands and he was awesome and patient and helpful. At the bank, he convinced the line of customers behind us that he is a real ninja and very strong.
When we got home, he told me that since he didn't have a valentine box - all of his gifts went into a bag and he wouldn't bring it home. I was very proud of him. There were a couple of loose things in his backpack and he had a beaded necklace with a heart on it around his neck. He made the heart, and apparently it originally was on string that kept making him itch, so his teacher put it on a beaded necklace instead. He was pleased with it.
Of course he spent the rest of the afternoon swinging it around (like everything!). I kept asking him to please stop swinging it when I or the dogs were around. He almost got me in the face. Moments later he arched his back and leaned against the couch with his face looking like he was screaming but no sound was coming out. Then the crying started. I brought him toward me and held him and he arched his back again when my hand wrapped around his rear as he cried, "It still feels like stinging real bad!" He had accidentally whipped himself.
I suggested it might be a good time to go ahead and get jammies and brush teeth. He had a hard time with the toothpaste making it onto the toothbrush instead of in the sink. I gave him a few tips and he successfully got the job done himself. So we cuddled into bed together and I finished reading Junie B. Jones and the Stinky Smelly Schoolbus. I gave him some more hugs and he asked me, "why do you like to hug so much." I told him that when we hug someone, chemicals are released from our brain that make us feel better. He gasped, "it does?! My body releases chemicals? Where do they go - into the air?" I told him they go through his body wherever they need to. He said, "They go down to my feet." He gave me some more hugs while we prayed and talked.
Also that week, I tried to make some soup like Olive Garden's Chicken Gnocchi soup, and some chocolate chip cookie dough. When Andrew got off the bus he asked, "What do you have planned for today?" I told him, "Eating chocolate chip cookies!" He said, "for real?!" I told him he had to eat soup first. I told him I had chicken gnocchi soup. "Do we have Gnocchis?" I told him I had to use biscuits instead. He said, "Then you should have called it Chicken and Biscuits Soup."
That weekend, Andrew developed a cough and some sneezing. Daddy got to come home too for an overnight visit!
Every day he gets off the bus and asks, "Do you have any plans for today?" He is always disappointed too. It's so hard to get together with people during the week since there isn't much time to play before dinner and bedtime.
Thursday February 5th, Joy and Barry came over to experience FCT and then we followed them home for dinner. So he had an enjoyable time playing there and staying up late.
Saturday the 7th I had to tell him that if he wasn't ready for service on time - he was going however he looked. He managed to be dressed but still had bedhead. Fred took him into the bathroom and helped him fix his hair. Then we joined the phone witnessing group with Ann. He got embarrassed when he tried to talk to another sister and she snapped at him, "SHHH! We're talking!" So, we helped Ann figure out how to get her copier to work and then put Andrew in charge of bringing us the letters to send, and putting the stamps on the envelopes. We only stayed for about an hour and a half and went home to rest a bit. At 1:45 Joy and Lauren came to get him and headed to Bellevue to babysit 14 month old Henry. He didn't get home again until 8:45. He had some fun, and some not so fun moments. He did tell Joy that he was not going to tag along the next time she goes to Bellevue. lol
Sunday morning he woke me up asking if he could use the microwave to heat up his hamburger. I got up to help him and went back to bed. When I got up he had also made a huge mess on the table with peanut shells. We didn't have time to clean up before meeting. He enjoyed sitting with the Laffertys during the meeting. After meeting I let him watch "Robots" while I made some cookies and pumpkin pie. He helped me clean up the mess the dogs had made the night before. They got the bag of barley and bag of lentils off the counter and spread them all over the place; and of course his mess. I think he only helped because it meant he could get a cookie later. I asked him to hang up his clean shirts and he said, "no, that's your job!" (shakin my head)
Monday February 9th he came bounding in my room when he knew I was awake. He cheerfully suggested pumpkin pie for breakfast and was very excited when I said that sounded like a great idea. He hoped to have the entire pie. I did let him have a second piece but he was too full to finish it.
Monday night at dinner he looked at me and said, "Mom, you're dehydrated." I said, 'oh yeah? what makes you say that?" He said, "Because under your eye is a little dark. That one too. Both eyes." Hmmm.
Andrew has also been obsessed and afraid of wolves since being at the farm. I have told him nearly every day that he is unlikely to ever even see a wolf and there is no need to be afraid. It's been driving me nuts. For the hundredth time we talked about wolves all the way to Kingdom Hall Wednesday night and I was ready to scream. He's convinced there are wolves in ever patch of woods, waiting to come out and get him. The Wrights were entering the same time and I pleaded with Paul to tell Andrew that the chances of him seeing a wolf in Spring Hill are very slim. He so badly wanted to encourage that imagination to run wild but very kindly succumbed to my request and told Andrew that they're pretty rare. Cairo suggested a coyote would be easier to find - but still, in an area so populated it's not that common either.
We never used the microwave up until we started packing to move. In an effort to keep the counters cleared, I moved the toaster oven to the garage for a while and we have been using the microwave. Andrew is very interested in it and likes getting to push the buttons.
He's been saying a lot lately, "It went in my ears and out my mouth" to reference having a though or idea that he expresses. And also saying, "You took the words right out of my mouth!" He told me this week, "I like saying 'in my ears and out my mouth' but my teacher says it 'goes in one ear and out the other.'" I chuckled to myself but didn't explain to him what that means.
Friday I picked Andrew up from school early since they were having Valentine parties. We ran a few errands and he was awesome and patient and helpful. At the bank, he convinced the line of customers behind us that he is a real ninja and very strong.
When we got home, he told me that since he didn't have a valentine box - all of his gifts went into a bag and he wouldn't bring it home. I was very proud of him. There were a couple of loose things in his backpack and he had a beaded necklace with a heart on it around his neck. He made the heart, and apparently it originally was on string that kept making him itch, so his teacher put it on a beaded necklace instead. He was pleased with it.
Of course he spent the rest of the afternoon swinging it around (like everything!). I kept asking him to please stop swinging it when I or the dogs were around. He almost got me in the face. Moments later he arched his back and leaned against the couch with his face looking like he was screaming but no sound was coming out. Then the crying started. I brought him toward me and held him and he arched his back again when my hand wrapped around his rear as he cried, "It still feels like stinging real bad!" He had accidentally whipped himself.
I suggested it might be a good time to go ahead and get jammies and brush teeth. He had a hard time with the toothpaste making it onto the toothbrush instead of in the sink. I gave him a few tips and he successfully got the job done himself. So we cuddled into bed together and I finished reading Junie B. Jones and the Stinky Smelly Schoolbus. I gave him some more hugs and he asked me, "why do you like to hug so much." I told him that when we hug someone, chemicals are released from our brain that make us feel better. He gasped, "it does?! My body releases chemicals? Where do they go - into the air?" I told him they go through his body wherever they need to. He said, "They go down to my feet." He gave me some more hugs while we prayed and talked.
Andrew sitting on the toilet, "MOM!!" To which I come running. "Did you know you have a thousand and one things in your bathroom?"
"No, I don't think I do."
"Uh huh! I even counted the dots in the drain and everything!" as he gestured toward the shower drain and up the tiles"
"No, I don't think I do."
"Uh huh! I even counted the dots in the drain and everything!" as he gestured toward the shower drain and up the tiles"
Monday, January 19, 2015
An eventful week
Several times recently he has referred to 'cereal' as 'grains' and tell me he wants grains for breakfast.
Sunday we rode with the Arnolds to the meeting and sat with them. Andrew was great and was very pleased to answer a few times, but disappointed he never got called on to read scriptures.
After the meeting, we went to the Beauchamps for hospitality. Andrew only ate salad, wouldn't eat the chili or macaroni salad. I let him have a little bit of the Mello Yellow he won at a school event a while back, and some dessert. He brought the game of Uno and got several to play with him.
I think it was Sunday evening that he got to Skype daddy and meet Murray on the ipad and see the house there.
Monday I was gone all day. Returning home, I discovered the dog gate was left open and they had access to the entire house all day. Thankfully, they only chewed up the brand new Lego set Andrew purchased with his own money and some of our underwear was around the living room and backyard. It could have been SO much worse! But I was afraid Andrew would be tired coming home and fall apart at the news. So as soon as he arrived, I said, "I have some bad news for you... let's talk inside." He hustled in and I told him the news, and said just this once, I would replace it and offered to rebuy it or get a different one of similar value. He opted for a different set. But he went up to Charlie and grabbed both sides of his face and looked him in the eyes (Charlie's nose literally two inches from Andrews) and Andrew gets a deep gruff voice, "you've been a bad dog!" and he smacked the side of the dog. I scolded Andrew and told him he cannot hit the dog and especially when Charlie has no idea what he's being scolded for! So he went to Cara and grabbed both sides of her face and said, "If you ever eat another Lego set you'll be a very bad dog!"
Later, we went to the Laffertys to join their family worship night. We watched the January broadcast and Andrew did NOT want to sit still and be quiet to watch it. He wanted to get up and play (understandably). He got to play a little bit afterward but he was hard to drag away. Getting in the car it was freezing outside and I gave up waiting for him to sit down and buckle - I closed the door and got in my seat. He yelled at me so I had to explain to him that it's too cold to wait outside. I gave him examples of all the times he keeps me waiting outside and it's freezing me but he's being slow anyway (like walking home from the bus and dragging his feet or actually stopping, or refusing to get out of the car, or not getting buckled right away), and how that is actually unkind. He seemed to get the point.
Tuesday he announced that he wanted "a weekend off" of school - Tuesday and Wednesday - he didn't want to go. lol I told him the actual weekend would be here soon. He was in good spirits when he got off the bus. And he kindly ran home rather than take a long time walking slowly - I thanked him for that! We played a round of Life after eating dinner, he got to skype daddy briefly, and then read a short book about the life cycle of animals. He called me back into his room after I'd said goodnight, to tell me that Sam is no longer his best friend. I asked him if I could be his best friend until he gets things worked out and he said, "You are always my best friend!" Apparently Sam and Delilah have a secret handshake and wont use it with Andrew even though he knows about it. I told him girls are strange sometimes - one day they'll love you, the next they don't, one day they have secret handshakes and the next day its dumb to them - not to worry about it.
He gave me lots of hugs and kisses - and kept trying to steal mouth kisses again. I told him that it's not respectful to keep trying when someone has said no. I gave him a few examples of other times he might say no - how would he feel if the other person did it anyway (like a girl or a boy trying to kiss him!) He got the point and apologized.
Wednesday morning he had trouble staying focused to get ready, but managed to have a few extra minutes to play. There was a dusting of snow outside and he was very excited and wanted to build a snowman until I told him there wasn't enough to build one with.
The first thing out of his mouth when he got off the bus was, "did my lego set come today?!" He rushed to his room to open the box and start assembling the Spiderman heist, only stopping briefly to eat some dinner. He got it all done! I only had to help him a few times to find a piece he couldn't see on his bed, and then another time to readjust some pieces to make it right. He didn't have time to play with it though.
Thursday morning was a rough start. He got up and was quietly playing with his new Lego set. But he was not quick to respond when I gently and repeatedly told him to put it away and get ready for school. I told him three times nicely before I had to raise my voice which he responded to. He chose 'cereal' for breakfast but instead of picking it out he went and sat on the couch where I still had a fireplace spark-shield blocking Cara from getting on it. I asked him twice to get down and pick out his cereal and he didn't listen until I started sounding snappy. Instead of getting off the couch, he tried to walk across it with the shield in the way. I finally had to yell at him to get OFF for him to act. I got down in front of him and tried to explain that what he was doing could have got him hurt if the shield had slipped. He just stood there with his eyes turned upward and flapping his eyelids being very rude. I repeated what I said and he snarled, "I know! I heard you the first time!" I told him I couldn't tell because he was being so rude still. He just waved his hand between our faces making some noise. I told him he was still being rude and he did it again.
I was pouring his cereal and he said he was cold so I told him to go get a sweater on. Instead he came out with a blanket and pillow. I took them from him and said he cant eat breakfast under the blanket and pillow (I know, he's tried and we didn't have extra time today) and he whined, "but I want to!" I told him to put on a sweatshirt. He yells, "I don't even care!" and refused to put on a sweater.
Then I finished making a 'daddy sandwich' for him and when he saw it he started protesting. "I don't want that! I want to eat in the cafeteria again!" I said, "Then don't eat it and go hungry. It's what we have." He snarled at me with his eyes rolled up in his head again and in an exasperated voice said, "fine." He complained about something else when I was trying to put the food back in the fridge and I just lost it. The whole entire morning it had been a battle - fighting me every.step.of.the.way - and I couldn't take the disrespect any longer. I had the cheese and lunchmeat in my hand and I banged their containers on the side of the table with each word I said "why do you have to fight me on everything!!" Finally the tops came off the containers and I just tossed them on the floor and fell to my knees crying. I threw the food to the dogs and went to my bedroom to cry.
A couple of minutes later I returned to finish making his lunch and he gave me a big smile and danced around a little bit. I told him to go get dressed and he said, "I'll just go back to my cereal." I go into the kitchen and he had disassembled the daddy sandwich. I just reassembled it and put it in his lunchbox and went to my computer for a minute to regroup. He finished his cereal and I told him to go get dressed. He was in there for a long time (the video footage shows he played first) and I reminded him there were only 14 minutes left before we had to walk out the door. He came out with just a shirt and pants on asking if he can play with his legos. I told him he still needed socks, shoes, and to brush his teeth and hair. He got his socks and shoes on and then stood in the bathroom talking to himself in the mirror. I spoke to him in a very frustrated voice telling him to stop playing around. "Get your job done first - THEN play if there is time leftover." He still took too long. It was time to get coats on and he said, "But I'm almost ready!" I waited another minute as he tried to wet a comb and put it through his bedhead. I raised my voice, "COME ON! We don't have time!!" "Okaaaay!" he replied and finally came. We barely made it to the bus. I just don't understand what I have to do to get him to listen without me raising my voice to him. He'd been so good for several days and then he gets a new lego set and it all goes to pot.
Thursday afternoon, I picked him up early from school to take him to his dentist appointment. He thought it was neat that they used his first and last name over the classroom intercom "we need Andrew Hagler for dismissal." He was already concerned with what would come after the dentist appointment before we even got off the sidewalk. On the way, he told me he did some first grade work today and got it all right and got to pick out a treasure at school - a turtle on wheels! He was very pleased with himself - as he should be.
At the dentist he read some books in the play area until he was called back. He asked them to fully recline the chair before he had to get in it because he didn't like it going backwards. I got him all settled in the chair and they put a nose mask on him for the nitrous oxide. He looked very worried. I took a picture to show him. I could tell he was nervous and asked if he was alright. He said, "I'm scared" and you could tell he was holding back tears. I told him it's okay to cry, and its very understandable why he's scared because it's something he's never experienced before. But once it's all done - he'll be super brave and realize that next time it won't be so scary. He was a champ! He asked a few questions as the doctor showed him all the tools and discussed the procedure with him. Then he settled in and watched the cartoons on the tv above him. He was perfect! The best part was he got another token to spend in the "treasure tower" and he got a new bouncy ball. I learned later that he thought the dentist was going to drill his tooth out - meaning the whole entire tooth would be removed by a drill. Poor kid! It was just a teeny tiny hole in a couple of teeth to fill!
He helped me take some photo stuff to the UPS store to get boxed and mailed and then we met up with Becky Moody at Olive Garden for some Chicken Gnocchi soup. It was just the comfort food we all needed! Before we left we ran into Bruce and Lourdis Wright eating there too and visited a bit.
I let him stay up a little later so he'd have time to play with his Legos before bed.
Friday when he got home from school, we packed up the car and went to Nana and Papas for the long weekend. Andrew and Kaleb ran around in the dark for a bit, and then watched Adam and Greg play pool. I let him stay up late but he was still awake super early Saturday morning. I grumbled at him a bit to stop asking me questions and waking me up and finally told him to go downstairs.
We had a pleasant morning of service. Andrew was very well behaved and even told one of Papa's calls all about Blake Lafferty's room and how there is a clubhouse in it. lol
We had lunch at Five Guys. He was grumpy when it was time to order, but I did let him pick out soda to drink and he very sweetly thanked me for that. He liked that they had raw peanuts to crack open and eat there. After he started eating his burger, he decided he wanted some pickle slices afterall. I told him that if he wanted them, he had to go order them himself because he refused to cooperate when I was trying to help earlier. It took him a few minutes to muster up the boldness, and he was very pleased to have his pickles. He got some hot sauce too that he painted onto his burger with a french fry, but forgot and licked it off the fry and about burned his mouth. He didn't complain though.
At some point, Andrew helped Papa move a hay bale into the field for the cows. Papa said he just gave hand motions and Andrew speared the bale, moved it to the location, then went and lifted the bale ring and put it around the new bale, and returned the tractor. Papa was pleased, and Andrew was proud too.
He loved getting to see Houston at Kingdom Hall two days in a row. He thought it was hilarious when Houston said, "you're shoe's untied" when Andrew had slip on shoes. Then Andrew told Houston that his ears looked like waffles and he was in stitches laughing. He was really tired by the time the Watchtower started. He had answers prepared but didn't want to give them. He thumbed through the Bible Stories book on his ipad for a bit and then shifted and went to sleep. I had to carry him to the car. He said he wasn't feeling very well and he didn't even want to go out for a late lunch - he just wanted to go home. So we had grilled cheese at home.
Kaleb was pleased to have Andrew at the farm for several days to play with. Sunday evening they played in the pool room for a bit and then went out to the field for a while. I went out to get them just before dark and they were playing on the hay bales. Later I learned that they had been down in the sinkhole junk pit smashing glass and all sorts of other trouble went on. Andrew told me about being told to keep secrets and the threats that were made against him if he told. I just rolled with it but he was clearly upset. I let him call daddy and have small talk with him before falling asleep.
Monday morning Papa took the boys to clean up the piles of glass they put on the hay bales. They didn't get to play together much longer before we sent Kaleb back home and headed to lunch and then home. We went to a hibachi grill - Andrew really enjoyed that. Even when he was eating his rice, he used his fork to imitate the man chopping the food really fast on the grill and was still talking about hibachi later.
On the way home, we stopped to see Ann Arnold. He found an RC motorcycle there and helped change out the batteries (and got a lesson in always walking with the screw driver pointed down, never running) and then played with it. Ann let him bring it home to try on our paved driveway and hardwood floors since it doesn't stay upright for long. It was relatively mild outside, so he played on the swingset for a bit too.
After dinner, he skyped daddy to have a lesson in the Bible story book about king Josiah. He was very good, and asked some good questions too. His last question was if Josiah would be resurrected to heaven or earth. He was very pleased to learn he could meet him someday!
Something cute he says right now is "I caught ____ in my eye" as a way of saying he saw someone. There was another saying he says differently that's neat but I can't think of it.
Sunday we rode with the Arnolds to the meeting and sat with them. Andrew was great and was very pleased to answer a few times, but disappointed he never got called on to read scriptures.
After the meeting, we went to the Beauchamps for hospitality. Andrew only ate salad, wouldn't eat the chili or macaroni salad. I let him have a little bit of the Mello Yellow he won at a school event a while back, and some dessert. He brought the game of Uno and got several to play with him.
I think it was Sunday evening that he got to Skype daddy and meet Murray on the ipad and see the house there.
Monday I was gone all day. Returning home, I discovered the dog gate was left open and they had access to the entire house all day. Thankfully, they only chewed up the brand new Lego set Andrew purchased with his own money and some of our underwear was around the living room and backyard. It could have been SO much worse! But I was afraid Andrew would be tired coming home and fall apart at the news. So as soon as he arrived, I said, "I have some bad news for you... let's talk inside." He hustled in and I told him the news, and said just this once, I would replace it and offered to rebuy it or get a different one of similar value. He opted for a different set. But he went up to Charlie and grabbed both sides of his face and looked him in the eyes (Charlie's nose literally two inches from Andrews) and Andrew gets a deep gruff voice, "you've been a bad dog!" and he smacked the side of the dog. I scolded Andrew and told him he cannot hit the dog and especially when Charlie has no idea what he's being scolded for! So he went to Cara and grabbed both sides of her face and said, "If you ever eat another Lego set you'll be a very bad dog!"
Later, we went to the Laffertys to join their family worship night. We watched the January broadcast and Andrew did NOT want to sit still and be quiet to watch it. He wanted to get up and play (understandably). He got to play a little bit afterward but he was hard to drag away. Getting in the car it was freezing outside and I gave up waiting for him to sit down and buckle - I closed the door and got in my seat. He yelled at me so I had to explain to him that it's too cold to wait outside. I gave him examples of all the times he keeps me waiting outside and it's freezing me but he's being slow anyway (like walking home from the bus and dragging his feet or actually stopping, or refusing to get out of the car, or not getting buckled right away), and how that is actually unkind. He seemed to get the point.
Tuesday he announced that he wanted "a weekend off" of school - Tuesday and Wednesday - he didn't want to go. lol I told him the actual weekend would be here soon. He was in good spirits when he got off the bus. And he kindly ran home rather than take a long time walking slowly - I thanked him for that! We played a round of Life after eating dinner, he got to skype daddy briefly, and then read a short book about the life cycle of animals. He called me back into his room after I'd said goodnight, to tell me that Sam is no longer his best friend. I asked him if I could be his best friend until he gets things worked out and he said, "You are always my best friend!" Apparently Sam and Delilah have a secret handshake and wont use it with Andrew even though he knows about it. I told him girls are strange sometimes - one day they'll love you, the next they don't, one day they have secret handshakes and the next day its dumb to them - not to worry about it.
He gave me lots of hugs and kisses - and kept trying to steal mouth kisses again. I told him that it's not respectful to keep trying when someone has said no. I gave him a few examples of other times he might say no - how would he feel if the other person did it anyway (like a girl or a boy trying to kiss him!) He got the point and apologized.
Wednesday morning he had trouble staying focused to get ready, but managed to have a few extra minutes to play. There was a dusting of snow outside and he was very excited and wanted to build a snowman until I told him there wasn't enough to build one with.
The first thing out of his mouth when he got off the bus was, "did my lego set come today?!" He rushed to his room to open the box and start assembling the Spiderman heist, only stopping briefly to eat some dinner. He got it all done! I only had to help him a few times to find a piece he couldn't see on his bed, and then another time to readjust some pieces to make it right. He didn't have time to play with it though.
Thursday morning was a rough start. He got up and was quietly playing with his new Lego set. But he was not quick to respond when I gently and repeatedly told him to put it away and get ready for school. I told him three times nicely before I had to raise my voice which he responded to. He chose 'cereal' for breakfast but instead of picking it out he went and sat on the couch where I still had a fireplace spark-shield blocking Cara from getting on it. I asked him twice to get down and pick out his cereal and he didn't listen until I started sounding snappy. Instead of getting off the couch, he tried to walk across it with the shield in the way. I finally had to yell at him to get OFF for him to act. I got down in front of him and tried to explain that what he was doing could have got him hurt if the shield had slipped. He just stood there with his eyes turned upward and flapping his eyelids being very rude. I repeated what I said and he snarled, "I know! I heard you the first time!" I told him I couldn't tell because he was being so rude still. He just waved his hand between our faces making some noise. I told him he was still being rude and he did it again.
I was pouring his cereal and he said he was cold so I told him to go get a sweater on. Instead he came out with a blanket and pillow. I took them from him and said he cant eat breakfast under the blanket and pillow (I know, he's tried and we didn't have extra time today) and he whined, "but I want to!" I told him to put on a sweatshirt. He yells, "I don't even care!" and refused to put on a sweater.
Then I finished making a 'daddy sandwich' for him and when he saw it he started protesting. "I don't want that! I want to eat in the cafeteria again!" I said, "Then don't eat it and go hungry. It's what we have." He snarled at me with his eyes rolled up in his head again and in an exasperated voice said, "fine." He complained about something else when I was trying to put the food back in the fridge and I just lost it. The whole entire morning it had been a battle - fighting me every.step.of.the.way - and I couldn't take the disrespect any longer. I had the cheese and lunchmeat in my hand and I banged their containers on the side of the table with each word I said "why do you have to fight me on everything!!" Finally the tops came off the containers and I just tossed them on the floor and fell to my knees crying. I threw the food to the dogs and went to my bedroom to cry.
A couple of minutes later I returned to finish making his lunch and he gave me a big smile and danced around a little bit. I told him to go get dressed and he said, "I'll just go back to my cereal." I go into the kitchen and he had disassembled the daddy sandwich. I just reassembled it and put it in his lunchbox and went to my computer for a minute to regroup. He finished his cereal and I told him to go get dressed. He was in there for a long time (the video footage shows he played first) and I reminded him there were only 14 minutes left before we had to walk out the door. He came out with just a shirt and pants on asking if he can play with his legos. I told him he still needed socks, shoes, and to brush his teeth and hair. He got his socks and shoes on and then stood in the bathroom talking to himself in the mirror. I spoke to him in a very frustrated voice telling him to stop playing around. "Get your job done first - THEN play if there is time leftover." He still took too long. It was time to get coats on and he said, "But I'm almost ready!" I waited another minute as he tried to wet a comb and put it through his bedhead. I raised my voice, "COME ON! We don't have time!!" "Okaaaay!" he replied and finally came. We barely made it to the bus. I just don't understand what I have to do to get him to listen without me raising my voice to him. He'd been so good for several days and then he gets a new lego set and it all goes to pot.
Thursday afternoon, I picked him up early from school to take him to his dentist appointment. He thought it was neat that they used his first and last name over the classroom intercom "we need Andrew Hagler for dismissal." He was already concerned with what would come after the dentist appointment before we even got off the sidewalk. On the way, he told me he did some first grade work today and got it all right and got to pick out a treasure at school - a turtle on wheels! He was very pleased with himself - as he should be.
At the dentist he read some books in the play area until he was called back. He asked them to fully recline the chair before he had to get in it because he didn't like it going backwards. I got him all settled in the chair and they put a nose mask on him for the nitrous oxide. He looked very worried. I took a picture to show him. I could tell he was nervous and asked if he was alright. He said, "I'm scared" and you could tell he was holding back tears. I told him it's okay to cry, and its very understandable why he's scared because it's something he's never experienced before. But once it's all done - he'll be super brave and realize that next time it won't be so scary. He was a champ! He asked a few questions as the doctor showed him all the tools and discussed the procedure with him. Then he settled in and watched the cartoons on the tv above him. He was perfect! The best part was he got another token to spend in the "treasure tower" and he got a new bouncy ball. I learned later that he thought the dentist was going to drill his tooth out - meaning the whole entire tooth would be removed by a drill. Poor kid! It was just a teeny tiny hole in a couple of teeth to fill!
He helped me take some photo stuff to the UPS store to get boxed and mailed and then we met up with Becky Moody at Olive Garden for some Chicken Gnocchi soup. It was just the comfort food we all needed! Before we left we ran into Bruce and Lourdis Wright eating there too and visited a bit.
I let him stay up a little later so he'd have time to play with his Legos before bed.
Friday when he got home from school, we packed up the car and went to Nana and Papas for the long weekend. Andrew and Kaleb ran around in the dark for a bit, and then watched Adam and Greg play pool. I let him stay up late but he was still awake super early Saturday morning. I grumbled at him a bit to stop asking me questions and waking me up and finally told him to go downstairs.
We had a pleasant morning of service. Andrew was very well behaved and even told one of Papa's calls all about Blake Lafferty's room and how there is a clubhouse in it. lol
We had lunch at Five Guys. He was grumpy when it was time to order, but I did let him pick out soda to drink and he very sweetly thanked me for that. He liked that they had raw peanuts to crack open and eat there. After he started eating his burger, he decided he wanted some pickle slices afterall. I told him that if he wanted them, he had to go order them himself because he refused to cooperate when I was trying to help earlier. It took him a few minutes to muster up the boldness, and he was very pleased to have his pickles. He got some hot sauce too that he painted onto his burger with a french fry, but forgot and licked it off the fry and about burned his mouth. He didn't complain though.
At some point, Andrew helped Papa move a hay bale into the field for the cows. Papa said he just gave hand motions and Andrew speared the bale, moved it to the location, then went and lifted the bale ring and put it around the new bale, and returned the tractor. Papa was pleased, and Andrew was proud too.
He loved getting to see Houston at Kingdom Hall two days in a row. He thought it was hilarious when Houston said, "you're shoe's untied" when Andrew had slip on shoes. Then Andrew told Houston that his ears looked like waffles and he was in stitches laughing. He was really tired by the time the Watchtower started. He had answers prepared but didn't want to give them. He thumbed through the Bible Stories book on his ipad for a bit and then shifted and went to sleep. I had to carry him to the car. He said he wasn't feeling very well and he didn't even want to go out for a late lunch - he just wanted to go home. So we had grilled cheese at home.
Kaleb was pleased to have Andrew at the farm for several days to play with. Sunday evening they played in the pool room for a bit and then went out to the field for a while. I went out to get them just before dark and they were playing on the hay bales. Later I learned that they had been down in the sinkhole junk pit smashing glass and all sorts of other trouble went on. Andrew told me about being told to keep secrets and the threats that were made against him if he told. I just rolled with it but he was clearly upset. I let him call daddy and have small talk with him before falling asleep.
Monday morning Papa took the boys to clean up the piles of glass they put on the hay bales. They didn't get to play together much longer before we sent Kaleb back home and headed to lunch and then home. We went to a hibachi grill - Andrew really enjoyed that. Even when he was eating his rice, he used his fork to imitate the man chopping the food really fast on the grill and was still talking about hibachi later.
On the way home, we stopped to see Ann Arnold. He found an RC motorcycle there and helped change out the batteries (and got a lesson in always walking with the screw driver pointed down, never running) and then played with it. Ann let him bring it home to try on our paved driveway and hardwood floors since it doesn't stay upright for long. It was relatively mild outside, so he played on the swingset for a bit too.
After dinner, he skyped daddy to have a lesson in the Bible story book about king Josiah. He was very good, and asked some good questions too. His last question was if Josiah would be resurrected to heaven or earth. He was very pleased to learn he could meet him someday!
Something cute he says right now is "I caught ____ in my eye" as a way of saying he saw someone. There was another saying he says differently that's neat but I can't think of it.
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Moving Daddy
It seems like overnight he suddenly grew a lot. Most of his size 5 clothes are too short in the arms, legs, waist, or just don't fit right somehow. He is now in size 6, and his shoes are a size 1.
Sunday January 4th, we were back at the 10am meeting time. Andrew was sad that he and Samantha couldn't sit together. I suggested he sit with Joy and he packed his bag and was ready to go when he turned and looked at me. I gave him a smile and he turned to hug me. Then he decided he'd rather stay with me.
The speakers were a bit too loud for both of us so we moved to the back school. When it came to the Watchtower lesson, he was eager to answer as much as possible again. He successfully came up with his own thought that related to the material.. I think he said something about 'without Jesus resurrection we wouldn't have the hope of Paradise' or something similar. I'm proud of him for listening and trying to participate in his own words.
After lunch at home, we headed to the bowling alley in Franklin, and joined by Kelly and Samantha Pingle. We spent some time in the arcade waiting for a lane to open up. His favorite game ended up being Deal or No Deal. He did really well! He got 103 tickets in one round! The most you can get is 200 - and he actually had picked that case, but 'sold' it for the 103. If he'd held out, he'd have had 200!
Bowling was fun too. He did really well bowling with bumpers. At one point, he didn't wait for his 8 pound ball to return and picked up a 13 pound ball. I'm not sure how it happened exactly, but he smashed his finger with it. He sat out that turn. Later he slipped and fell but was able to still catch the ball as it was rolling toward other lanes. All in all, it was a successful event.
Monday he went to a new dentist. He was great through all the xrays and the cleaning. The worst part was when they painted a floride coating on his teeth. He hated the sticky, and I hated that it was a neurotoxin. So we came home and brushed his teeth with hot water to get it off.
Soon we were off to get daddy from his last day at Nissan, and then meet an old co-worker Kelly Schwartz for lunch at Peter's Sushi and Thai. The sushi was fantastic! Andrew ate his entire volcano roll and two pieces of my rolls.
Monday night the dog barked and it woke Andrew up. I don't think he was fully awake (he's been talking a lot in his sleep lately). I laid him back down and he said, "I can't really sleep at night. I'm nocturnal."
Tuesday was back to school! I'm not sure what happened but I knew he was upset when he got off the bus. Everyone else got off well before him so I suspected he fell asleep on the bus. (He told me yes later) He came running to me without speaking to any of the other kids and burst into tears when I held my arms out for a hug. I'm just guessing he was embarrassed that the bus driver had to wake him up. He opened a present from a classmate and it turned out to be a tissue paper hat and an empty tiny little bag. Neither of us understood exactly what it was for and Andrew was not pleased with it. I got him content again and suggested he quietly sneak into daddy's bedroom and quietly crawl up into the bed to snuggle. Instead he snuck in there and then roared to scare daddy. Daddy was not impressed which led to more tears. It took me a little longer to get him calm and functional again. But soon he was doing jumps, twists, and turns all over the studio doing his "cool" Ninja moves.
He also came home saying "Ms. Hobbs is the weirdest teacher ever." But he couldn't back that accusation up with any examples.
Wednesday and Friday both, daddy and I met Andrew in the cafeteria to have lunch with him. He enjoyed that very much. Thursday we would have too, but school actually closed because of the cold! One day, while daddy was on a phone call, Andrew and I were in the kitchen. Suddenly Andrew put his head in his arms on the counter and started crying, "I don't want daddy to move to Colorado!" I stood there and hugged him and explained that none of us want to be separated and we'll be together again as soon as possible.
Friday evening we went to the farm to deliver some things. Andrew ended up getting to play with all of his cousins! Though they all seemed more interested in trying to play games on the ipads. The did play outside for a little while until they all hurt from the cold!
Saturday morning, the Arnold's invited us to Cracker Barrel for breakfast before taking daddy to the airport. Andrew was excited to see the airport, lingered with us in our group hugs, and fought back tears like us. We cried a little bit as daddy went inside and we buckled back in.
When we got home, we played several rounds of Sorry, Life, and Uno, and then read a long book before bed.
Sunday January 4th, we were back at the 10am meeting time. Andrew was sad that he and Samantha couldn't sit together. I suggested he sit with Joy and he packed his bag and was ready to go when he turned and looked at me. I gave him a smile and he turned to hug me. Then he decided he'd rather stay with me.
The speakers were a bit too loud for both of us so we moved to the back school. When it came to the Watchtower lesson, he was eager to answer as much as possible again. He successfully came up with his own thought that related to the material.. I think he said something about 'without Jesus resurrection we wouldn't have the hope of Paradise' or something similar. I'm proud of him for listening and trying to participate in his own words.
After lunch at home, we headed to the bowling alley in Franklin, and joined by Kelly and Samantha Pingle. We spent some time in the arcade waiting for a lane to open up. His favorite game ended up being Deal or No Deal. He did really well! He got 103 tickets in one round! The most you can get is 200 - and he actually had picked that case, but 'sold' it for the 103. If he'd held out, he'd have had 200!
Bowling was fun too. He did really well bowling with bumpers. At one point, he didn't wait for his 8 pound ball to return and picked up a 13 pound ball. I'm not sure how it happened exactly, but he smashed his finger with it. He sat out that turn. Later he slipped and fell but was able to still catch the ball as it was rolling toward other lanes. All in all, it was a successful event.
Monday he went to a new dentist. He was great through all the xrays and the cleaning. The worst part was when they painted a floride coating on his teeth. He hated the sticky, and I hated that it was a neurotoxin. So we came home and brushed his teeth with hot water to get it off.
Soon we were off to get daddy from his last day at Nissan, and then meet an old co-worker Kelly Schwartz for lunch at Peter's Sushi and Thai. The sushi was fantastic! Andrew ate his entire volcano roll and two pieces of my rolls.
Monday night the dog barked and it woke Andrew up. I don't think he was fully awake (he's been talking a lot in his sleep lately). I laid him back down and he said, "I can't really sleep at night. I'm nocturnal."
Tuesday was back to school! I'm not sure what happened but I knew he was upset when he got off the bus. Everyone else got off well before him so I suspected he fell asleep on the bus. (He told me yes later) He came running to me without speaking to any of the other kids and burst into tears when I held my arms out for a hug. I'm just guessing he was embarrassed that the bus driver had to wake him up. He opened a present from a classmate and it turned out to be a tissue paper hat and an empty tiny little bag. Neither of us understood exactly what it was for and Andrew was not pleased with it. I got him content again and suggested he quietly sneak into daddy's bedroom and quietly crawl up into the bed to snuggle. Instead he snuck in there and then roared to scare daddy. Daddy was not impressed which led to more tears. It took me a little longer to get him calm and functional again. But soon he was doing jumps, twists, and turns all over the studio doing his "cool" Ninja moves.
He also came home saying "Ms. Hobbs is the weirdest teacher ever." But he couldn't back that accusation up with any examples.
Wednesday and Friday both, daddy and I met Andrew in the cafeteria to have lunch with him. He enjoyed that very much. Thursday we would have too, but school actually closed because of the cold! One day, while daddy was on a phone call, Andrew and I were in the kitchen. Suddenly Andrew put his head in his arms on the counter and started crying, "I don't want daddy to move to Colorado!" I stood there and hugged him and explained that none of us want to be separated and we'll be together again as soon as possible.
Friday evening we went to the farm to deliver some things. Andrew ended up getting to play with all of his cousins! Though they all seemed more interested in trying to play games on the ipads. The did play outside for a little while until they all hurt from the cold!
Saturday morning, the Arnold's invited us to Cracker Barrel for breakfast before taking daddy to the airport. Andrew was excited to see the airport, lingered with us in our group hugs, and fought back tears like us. We cried a little bit as daddy went inside and we buckled back in.
When we got home, we played several rounds of Sorry, Life, and Uno, and then read a long book before bed.
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