More Quotes

<ever-so-slightly paraphrased>

"Mom, at night, when I'm sleeping, my muscles don't make me strong. They jump out and sleep on the ceiling. Then when I wake up, they jump back in my body to make me strong. That's what your muscles and Daddy's muscles do, too. Did you even know that?"

"He knows when you are sleeping. 

He knows when you're awake. 

He knows when you've been better,

So be better for the steak."

"Dec-orate the halls with jelly.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha"

Math Practice

Gabriel and I set out for IKEA this afternoon in jackets, scarves, hats, and gloves. He was wearing a new pair of gloves that had come in a set of two. On our way to the store, he asked me how many pairs we bought. I told him there were two pairs and then asked him how many gloves are in two pairs.

K: How many gloves are in two pairs of gloves?
G: Four!
K: Good job! How did you figure that out?
G: I just thought it in my head.
K: Ok. What if we had three pairs of gloves? How many gloves would that be?
G: Five!
K: Is that right?
G: Yeah. If one of the gloves fell away.
K: So one of the gloves fell away?
G: Yeah. There were 6, and then one fell away so there were 5.

That's pretty smart, kid.

Christmas List 2015

For family-type people who might be thinking soon about Christmas gifts...
These are simply examples of what I think he would like...not specific items we expect someone to buy.

Building toys
Lite-Brite
Snap Circuits, Jr.

Tegu magnetic wooden block sets (we have ROBO, he would love MAGBOT or CIRCUIT RACER)
Legos (kits or just more classic blocks)

Puzzles
He likes all kinds of puzzles.

These are puzzles we have:
USA
Continents
Paw Patrol
Planets

Games
He likes all kinds of games.
The brand "Peaceable Kingdom" has a lot of games that look interesting.

These are games we have:
Connect Four
Paw Patrol Adventure Game
Paw Patrol Popper Game (like Trouble)
Candy Land
Dinosaur Escape
Boom Boom Balloon
Chutes and Ladders
Cootie
Sorry
Robot Turtles
Go Fish
Crazy 8s
Uno

Other
Paint with Water books
Hot Wheels Mega Hauler
Paw Patroller


Outdoor
Ring Toss
Balance Board
Kick Croquet
Disc Golf goal

Stuff He Said

This goofy kid has said some funny things.

 
Yesterday Gabriel was doing something, and I changed it a bit. He sighed loudly and said, "Mom, don't wreck my day."

"Mom, will you come wipe my bottom? But don't look at my poop." <pause> "It was hard. And soft. It was hard and soft, mom." <I help with wiping> "Mom! Don't look at it!"

Me: Gabriel, it's time to get in your bed. 

Gabriel: I need to do my iPad. 

M: No, it's time to get in bed.

G: But God and Jesus told me to do my iPad. God AND Jesus. 

K: <laughing pretty hard> I think God and Jesus want you to follow your mommy's instructions and get in your bed. 

G: No, God and Jesus only talk to me. 

Gabriel shows his dad a box of frozen waffles that we just brought home from the store. 

Gabriel: Dad, do you see these? I bet you think they're for you. 

Dad: Yum. I think those are for me. 

G: <pffffft>

Football Practice

Gabriel and his dad practiced throwing and catching the football earlier this week.

At one point the lesson took a turn downhill due to semantics. (He's my kid. I take responsibility for this.)

J: Keep your eye on the ball. 

G: It's called a football. Did you even know that?

Here's a (very) short video of a successful catch.

 

Pumpkin Festival

We met up with Grammaw, Gabriel, and Hannah at the Pumpkin Festival one day last month to pick out some pumpkins and have some fun.

First G helped pick out a pumpkin. He liked dragging the wheelbarrow around while we considered the pros and cons of a large number of pumpkins. We finally selected a nice one. (Which I think later became the minion pumpkin at Halloween.)

 

They also had a ton of things to do...bouncy houses and slides, petting zoo, cupcakes, balloon animals, and a photo booth. We all had a lot of fun!

How To: Make a Kid Happy

...and Give His Mother an Anxiety Attack

Gabriel BEGGED to eat outside at Sonic tonight. 

I am beyond uncomfortable. He is beyond happy. 

The things we do. 

Halloween 2015

Gabriel told me about a month ago that he wanted to be Ant Man for Halloween. I was dubious...but he was committed...so we got his costume, and he loved it. 

He loved trick or treating with our friends from the neighborhood, too...though they didn't do a great job of posing for this picture. 

Left to right:

Good Witch, Strawberry, (I forgot what she called this), Balloon Boy, Ant Man

We went door to door as a group while J stayed at our house to hand out candy. He was kept company by the pumpkins we carved earlier in the day. 

Minion:

Batman:

It was a really fun day!

Peace means...

Gabriel's definition of peace is really nice. 

"Put flowers on your knees" is the phrase they use to describe resting your hands on your knees with fingers pinched together toward the ceiling. 

"Bubble in your mouth" is how they tell the kids to hold air in their mouth and not let it out, a physical reminder not to talk. 

Johnny Appleseed

Gabriel's class recently learned about Johnny Appleseed. They each made a page about what they would plant.

Gabriel is a big fan of carbs. 

Two of my other favorites:

Smiles

Cheese

Chalk Walk 2015

On Saturday we went to the Chalk Walk Festival to check out the drawings, food trucks, performances, and vendors.

Gabriel got to try out the boxing gloves at the Title Boxing Club booth. The gloves were a little big for him, but he was a fan of sanctioned hitting.

Next we went to watch the dancers from Paint Horse do a traditional dance. We had started to walk away when they invited people to come join them for the last dance. Gabriel turned around and hopped on the stage faster than I could blink. When you gotta dance, you gotta dance!

Dad woke up with a pretty miserable allergy attack, so we did not end up staying very long. I had already mentioned getting snow cone, though...so after going home for a nap, I took G out to Kawaii Shaved Ice for a treat.



Kawaii is not far from the area downtown where the festival was happening, so he asked if we could go back over there. We rode the little train together, even though he is really old enough and big enough to do it by himself.

Then we bought a square of pavement to do our own chalk drawing.

I'm told the top part is a scary monster that poops candy. If you require further information, I must defer to the artist.

Always Planning Ahead

He packed for "our next trip." He put his suitcase and backpack near the door so they'd be ready. 

Don't know where we're going. Or when. But he's prepared. 

I need to check the snacks he packed; there may be fresh produce. That's not going to make it through customs. 

Man Gave Name to all the Animals

I grew up with my dad singing the song Man Gave Names to all the Animals. We loved that song and loved shouting out the names of the animals at the end of the verses.

Dad gave a book to Gabriel last year that illustrates each verse, and it included a CD with a recording of the song. It was then that I learned that Bob Dylan (and not my father) wrote the song. Your pedestal just got a little shorter, dad. Sorry about that.

Here's Gabriel reading the book:
(Please excuse the "something, something, something" lyrics in the middle...I don't have it memorized and couldn't see the page from where I was filming.)

Forward Thinking

In Gabriel's closet, we have a double rod. I hang the in-season clothes on the bottom and the out-of-season clothes on the top. There is nothing of interest in the top shelf--just boxes of clothes he has outgrown. 

Tonight I saw that Gabriel had moved a step stool into his room and set it up in front of his closet. I asked him why it was there. His response:

"In case of it's sweater weather. For the winter, when I get to play in the snow. Or something like that."

I admire his preparedness, but that stool could be there a while. 

ps- I decided not to squash his dreams by explaining the likelihood of actual snow in central Texas. 

Self Portrait

I love it so much. 

First Day of Pre-K 4

Sunrise Montessori had their official first day of school today, so I tried to get a first day of school picture. It didn't go too well. None of these are good.

Usually the transition back to the school year is seamless for Gabriel, but this year is just slightly different. The school decided to move the teachers and students from his class into a different classroom in the other building. So instead of being a Firefly, he is now a Dandelion. He has the same wonderful teachers and many of the same classmates, just a bigger space for all the awesome learning he'll be doing this year. :)

If I Lived on a Ranch

During the month of July, Gabriel's school chooses a theme to explore each week. One of those themes was Texas. This is one piece of work Gabriel did during Texas week.

I like the part where he puts on boots to keep away bugs. I really like the drawing of cowboy Gabriel and his trusty horse. I haven't seen him draw a lot of people or animals yet, so this picture really struck me as far as his development in that area. 

Four Year Well Check

At G's 4 year well-check appointment, he was:

weight: 42 pounds 8 ounces (88%)
height: 42 inches (85%)
BMI: 16.93 (85%)

He totally rocked the vaccine part. He didn't even know it was over yet when the nurse told him what kind of band-aid she was putting on. 

He had a good deal of anxiety about getting shots, though, so we had already arranged a donut prize for after his appointment. Can't go wrong with sprinkles. 

Hyperbole

I unintentionally ended the life of a bird who did not move out of the way of my car quickly enough yesterday. 

Me: Uh oh, I killed that bird. 

G: Is it going to be ok, Mom?

Me: I don't think so. I think it was hurt really badly. 

G: Aw, man. That was my favorite bird in the whole wide world. 

4 Year Old Birthday Party

Gabriel wanted a Paw Patrol theme for his birthday this year, so Aunt Jordan made an awesome cake with the pups' badges on the top. Everyone raved about how good the cake was. Because as we all know, Jordan's cakes are the best. Thank you, again, Jordan!!!

Some of Gabriel's friends gathered for a picture with the elephant that visited the party at Safari Champ. Some were already finding seats at the table so they could get cake. You can't blame them too much for not wanting to leave the general vicinity of the cake...

I got a so-so video of blowing out the candles.

I guess when we sang Happy Birthday, it was too loud for Conrad. I think Conrad has covered his ears during the song at every birthday party we've seen him at. :)

Thank you to everyone who came to play. Gabriel had a grrrreat birthday party!

The Return of Grumpy Clown

I started something at Gabriel's 1st birthday party, and I'm trying to continue it. I'll do it for as long he'll play along. It's fine if he rolls his eyes.

1st Birthday
The birth of grumpy clown.

2nd Birthday
Was taking it off before we could snap the picture.

3rd Birthday
Didn't actually get it on his head.

So, varying levels of success in years 1–3.

This year I decided not to try it at his birthday party, figuring that the attention would likely discourage his participation. Instead, on his actual birthday (6-17), he got a birthday Nutella sandwich for dinner and blew out the candles. I was surprised that he willingly put on the clown wig and let me take pictures. :)

I asked for a smile.

I asked him how he really felt.

I'm pretty sure this was his actual attitude.

4 Year Letter

Dear Gabriel,

We've arrived at the day that marks 4 years since you slowly (so, so slowly) made your way into this world. Four years old seems so big when I think back to you as a little baby and then as a toddler. You've grown up so much in the past year, and we have loved watching it happen.

You are often so, so silly. We have lots of fun making each other laugh. When you're playing, we see how you've imagined a landscape we can't even see. We hear the voices you've given the other characters in your world, whether they be your stuffed animals or people/things only in your imagination. You make sound effects to help us see how your ideas are playing out in your mind.

You've learned a lot this year. You are counting way past 20 now (though still leave out 13 most of the time), and we've been working on comparing the size of numbers and on simple addition. It's awesome to see you get it. You've also been learning about letter sounds, so we've been playing some spelling games. You recently proved that you can spell your first and last names! You finally decided to take an interest in writing. I don't know why it took so long, but you've always been one to do things on your own timeline.

You still have that stubborn streak. That's a theme we've noted since pretty much day 1, and I very much doubt that it will be going away. You crave control, so I try to make sure you get to make as many decisions for yourself that are safe and reasonable to do. Even so, there are moments when you just lose yourself. You can melt down over seemingly small things, and we're still learning how to help you deal with those big feelings. You've always been a 0 to 60 kind of kid about your emotions, and by the time we think we can help you deal with it all, you go from 60 back to 0!

You still turn to your monkey for comfort. And that index finger. We've been preparing you for the past couple of months that when you turn four, we would start reminding you not to suck your finger during the day. I figure there's not much I can do about you sucking on your finger when you're asleep, but we'll keep helping you stop it in the waking hours. You are excited about being four, so hopefully this hurdle will be easy enough to get over.

It's been a good year, three years old. We made it to the other side of some tantrums, some assertion of independence, and some small rebellions. You get many, many, many reminders about following instructions and listening to parents and teachers, but you're much more cooperative on those fronts compared with three or four months ago.

It's amazing that we could already be at four years old, and I know five will be here before I even realize it. I think I better try to absorb as much of this last year of preschool as I can.

I love you more than anything,
Mom (somehow I became Mom this year...sigh)


Let's see what has happened since your last birthday...

Over the summer, we went to the pool quite a bit with our friends and neighbors. You were not so keen on the getting in the water part at first. Finally you started splashing and having fun in the really shallow (2-3 inches) part. Then I coerced you into the main part of the pool. We got you a puddle jumper for floating, but I don't think you really trusted it, so you did not want me to let go. Or to float you away from my body while holding onto you. At all. By the end of the summer, though, you were hanging onto the edge of the pool and monkeying all the way around by yourself. I'm hoping you'll become even more comfortable and excited about swimming this year.

You also got to visit with your cousins Blake and Caleb last summer. Having three boys in the house was a new and loud experience! We were fortunate enough to have them visit again this summer, and I was really proud of how well you all played together. You started running a fever the morning they arrived, so I was worried that things were going to go downhill quickly, but you hung in there. I think you all had a lot of fun, and I'm glad you get to spend time with them, even if it's not very often.

July 2014

June 2015

At Halloween, you dressed as a fireman. You were so darn cute. When Grammaw had you try it on the first time, you posed like the boy on the costume package.  Adorable!

At the school carnival last year, you got to hold and play a small guitar. You loved it! You had seen Grandpa play his before and had helped him play it, but you started asking for one of your own. So, 
at Christmas, Grandpa gave you a guitar of your own. Hopefully he can give you some lessons as you get older.

You've been doing so well at school. Your two closest friends are Charlie and Conrad. Unfortunately, Charlie moved away last year, and Conrad will be moving at the end of this month. We're sad to see your buddies move away, but we know you'll make other friends.

Conrad, Charlie, and Gabriel

I think the Montessori approach has been really good for you because you get a measure of control that I know you want/need. Your teachers are great, and they've worked with us to help you grow socially and academically this year.

We, of course, did our annual bluebonnet pictures with Aunt Jordan, William, Aunt Joanah, and Grammaw. We are so lucky to find such good friends right in our family. I always love the photographs that come out of these sessions because the series captures you so well. You can be so goofy sometimes, and I love capturing that silliness.

Here's hoping this coming year is awesome!