little big man

a week and a half ago i had to have my wisdom teeth taken out. all four of my wisdom teeth were impacted, but my bottom ones had the awesome bonus of being dangerously close to a nerve - the surgery was less then awesome. i had the surgery on a monday and went back to full time mom duties on tuesday, but was given the added bonus of having the most responsible and amazing four year old on the planet. since my surgery the little man has been an absolute doll. he has been happy, helpful, sweet, compassionate, and thoughtful. i was having a particularly rough day 3 days after surgery and he rounded up all the pillows and soft blankets from the house and made me a giant place to rest. he read books to his little sister, reminded me often that i needed to only eat soft foods, and played with his little sister as much as she would let him. plus, he is pretty much the most helpful person ever to play lego batman 2 with because he always points out the little things i miss. the kid is an electronics genius.

the husband and i have made the decision to put ge man into speech therapy. i had a hard time admitting that he needed the help because i always felt that saying that meant i was saying there was something wrong with him, but then i remembered i was being ridiculous and he deserves all the help we can give him when he goes to kindergarten in a year. there aren't many therapy places around here that accept insurance so we are on a waiting list, but i am hopeful we will be able to get him in a little sooner then projected. the lovely lady at the therapists off gave me some advice to call every month or so to see if we can sneak in on someone's cancellation. i told ge that i couldn't say my r's when i was a little girl and that my evil brother, sister, and neighborhood friends teased me something fierce and we wanted to help him avoid that, and he responded well. he seems happy about it. as of right now he cannot pronounce his sh, th, l, j, r, p, z, and has a lisp with his s's. the therapist i spoke to thinks it might take him a year, and we are willing to give it everything we have to help him. oi.

the husband built the kiddos a big ol sand box this last weekend and ge is loving it. he has loved his giant back yard this summer and has really let his little boy shine through so amazingly. sometimes he can be so shy and up in his own head, but outside in our backyard he is a brave explorer that loves breaking down plants with sticks and swimming in his little pool as if it were a giant ocean. he really has started opening up and i absolutely love watching him. when i finished putting the sand in his sand box he stood in it for a minute playing with his trucks, then he looked at me and said, "is it okay if i sit in it!?" heh. coming from a little kid that used to hate getting dirty - that's a pretty big step. love it.

ge man and i are working on spelling and addition and subtraction as much as possible lately. i started a white board list of spelling words for the week and every other hour or so we go over how they are spelled and how the sounds work together to form a word. he has been very responsive to this approach and i am hoping that it helps in teaching him how to read. we are turning every day things into addition and subtraction lessons and he loves that, but he has always loved math so that one seemed easy. i love how much he enjoys being educated; it makes my job as a stay at home mommy so much easier. he makes everything in life so much freaking easier.

long story short - little man is doing 20 shades of awesome and then some. he has been loving his leap pad lately and is enjoying the new disney brave game that teaches him science like things. yesterday we learned about recycling and today i think i am going to find some craft to hammer the lesson home. he is at such a fun age right now and we are both clicking completely in our roles with each other. we like to laugh at his crazy sister, read books that teach us new and excited things, and sing songs about farts. he constantly makes me laugh and always makes me want to scoop him up and keep him this age forever. love doesn't even begin to describe how i feel about my little man. i am so proud of who he is and so happy to be his mama.