c little (or should I say big) update

charlie is growing up more and more every day. he will be 3 and a 1/2 on October 9th! ever since he started preschool he seems to be maturing. he still has meltdowns and crying fits, but he is saying the sweetest things and is fun to be around. I think preschool has made him appreciate being with me and his sisters more because he will say things like “I yuv you mom. I yuv being with you. thank you for caring for me mom.”.

he is also picking up on the phrases I say and repeating them to me when he thinks it would work.

“mom – can you just trust me on this?” (when he wants to get/do something he knows I wouldn’t allow)

“mom, I need you to obey me.” (this gets me frustrated and we sit down and have a talk about how he can’t make me obey him. he can ASK me to do/help him with things)

he has learned the art of talking back. I will say “charlie, you need to sit down” he will respond “you need to sit down”. he then gets an explanation that that is disrespectful and called “talking back” and he will get a punishment if he continues to do that.

when putting him to bed a few weeks ago, I asked him if he wanted to curl up on my chest like when he was a baby during prayer time. he decided to try it and now whenever I am putting him to bed he asks to “be held like when he was a baby” before we start praying. so sweet and it is incredible to feel how big he is when he lays on me. his legs are down past my knees!

charlie really likes – maybe even loves – preschool. this is big for charlie. usually if there is something that I want him to do (go into the RAC childcare, go to SBS childcare, etc) he will put up a little stink. he won’t cry going in, or cry before going, but when I mention that we are going to do something he will say “I don’t want to”. obviously, this never changes anything, but it is sometimes hard for me to hear every time we were going to the RAC (and he did love the childcare – he always came out smiling and sweaty from running around). however, when I mention preschool the mornings we are going he will pause and then say “fun! I like going to preschool!”. it is wonderful to hear that come out of his mouth. I am still not really sure what he does because he is not the kid to chat about exactly what he did each day. I hear bits and pieces about different friend names, animals he played with (stuffed) and lately he has been singing a song they must sing when they start. what I love most about the preschool is how relaxed it is. they are always playing outside at pickup time. the focus is on fun and learning to play and interact with other kids – not learning numbers, letters, etc. I pray he continues to develop a love for learning as this school year goes on.

charlie is also learning more and more about the Bible and is excited about it. last night, it was getting late and I needed to put dinner together. I asked charlie what leapfrog video he wanted to watch with the girls while I made dinner. he said he wanted to watch the Bible dvd because then sisters could learn about Jesus. how sweet!

then a few mornings ago at breakfast time when I started praying charlie stopped me and told me he wanted to pray. I let him and this is a bit of his prayer. It was mumbled, but this is what he was trying to get out “Our Father hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. give us this day our daily bread, forgive us our trespasses (then he skipped a part and I started correcting him and he told me that he was just going to pray…alright – fine by me!)…on earth as it is in heaven. thank you for a mom who cares about me (this comes from a book we read), who I love and who loves me. thank you for cars from heaven that I love. thank you for sisters who love me. amen!”. I about melted! it was so sweet! I loved the “cars from heaven” part. at one point bill was starting his prayers with charlie with Our Father so now charlie likes to start his prayers like that.

his imagination is running wild! the last couple days he wants to pretend he is a dog named “Fendo”. I must call him by Fendo to get his attention and treat him like a dog. when I mistakenly call him charlie he corrects me. it is pretty funny.

this saturday morning – bill was home with us (first saturday we have been home and he has been around in months!) and we pulled all the kids into bed with us when we first got up (around 7:45!!). When we were laying there Charlie started telling me that we were going to get married next sunday. he carried on about loving me and wanting to get married and I thought it was so sweet and classic. I think most little boys claim they will marry their mothers at some point – because they obviously don’t know what it means. but to me it means he loves me and wants to hang out with me a lot – which makes me one happy mom.

proud of his tall tower.

 

after picking him up from preschool one morning his teacher said to me “charlie had a LOT of fun looking at a lego magazine today. he has a note in his backpack for you.”. I thought – oh no, he probably had a meltdown over it and got a little out of hand or something.

this was the note. guess it wasn’t that bad. but he will probably be getting lego magazine soon.

charlie is still such a great big brother. he loves his sisters and can be so loving towards them. frequently he will do a run by arm nudge to knock said sisters over and continues to grab baby toys from them when he is frustrated. more often than not though I hear him saying in a really high mommy voice “that’s ok ellie (I interrupt and correct him that it is claire not ellie he is with), oh, claire, you are fine. come with me over here. let me show you…”. I love that he still has a hard time (or he is lazy) telling the girls apart. cracks me up.

here is a little early morning crib wrestling.

charlie – I love you and am so proud of the little boy you are growing into. what a great job you have done being a big brother to two very busy, time consuming sisters. I love watching you play with your cars and now legos. I love hearing you repeat lightning mcqueen’s mantra “I am speed. focus”. you definitely have those things little man – focus and determination and speed.