Eddie Turned Four!

Two weekends ago we hosted our very first house guests at the Coast House.  We picked blackberries and apples, ate a hearty salmon dinner, and survived a couple of nights in bedrooms still under construction and without power.  Edward stayed over for the rest of the week with us, partly to make his long trip up to the coast worth the effort, partly so I would have company on the drive to Livermore, and partly because Eddie turned 4 on Tuesday.  FOUR.  I seriously can't believe it.

Happy birthday big Eddie!

On his birthday we had pancakes with sprinkles in the batter.  We often stir sprinkles in, but I used extra sprinkles for his extra special day.  He went to daycare that day where he got to wear a special crown covered in dinosaur and tractor stickers and share Girl Scout cookies with his friends.  I offered to make cupcakes or something but he wanted Samoas and Thin Mints.

We had a mini celebration that night at dinner, with Uncle Edward, Papa, and Grammy there. We'll wait for his real birthday party until September.  He chose the menu of hot dogs, mac-n-cheese, tomato and blueberry salad (weird...but really yummy with basil!), and brownies for dessert.

I used sauerkraut with spicy mustard on one dog and caramelized onion with Thai sweet chili sauce on the other. Boy howdy, were they ever yummy. We've been making our own mac-n-cheese using powdered cheese from Amazon and whatever pasta we have on hand...it tastes exactly the same as boxed.

Eddie wanted a tomato salad and I offered to use red, orange, yellow, and green tomatoes. He asked if there were blue tomatoes and since there aren't, he opted for blueberries. With lemon olive oil, thick balsamic, and basil shreds, it made a lovely birthday salad.

The lucky boy was gifted some neat things: his daddy's childhood electric keyboard from Grammy and Papa, a pogo stick from Auntie and Uncle, a gallon bag of used LEGOs and a huge watermelon from Mama and Dadda, and a cool Eddie Bauer brand outfit from Grandma Jane.  The shirt says, "Captian Eddie" on the front. Later, he got a wooden bowling set from Aunt Bernie and Uncle Michael.

Eddie is learning about polite things to say to people who gift him things. For example, instead of just saying, "thank you!" we're trying to get him to acknowledge what he's thankful for. Here he's saying, "Thank you for the piano, Grammy and Papa!"

At four years old, Eddie sure keeps us entertained.

• Favorite color is blue but he loves me so much that he also includes pink and green, my favorites.
• Favorite foods change every few weeks but he favors fruit over veggies and still doesn't drink soda or other "bubble" drinks. He'll tolerate eating things like zucchini if there's a reward like ice cream attached to the task but he'll happily eat salad, especially with balsamic vinegar.
• Favorite toys include LEGOs, light sabers, and bungee cords ("hookers"...hahaha).
• Favorite playtime activities include looking for "bad guys", making ships with LEGOs, and constructing complicated traps for bad guys and dinosaurs.
• The best way to get him to do his nighttime routine in a timely manner is to "race" him: who can undress and get into the shower fastest (one of us usually showers with him to make this work), who can soap up and rinse off fastest, who can hang their towel fastest, etc. But then he always tells us that "brushing teeth is not a race."  Well then.
• He still doesn't sit still for a whole meal and we have to remind him many times to finish his food.  "But I just have to get ONE MORE piece for my LEGO ship, Mama."
• We read three longish books each night before tucking him in. He stays awake playing and reading books for another hour or so.
• Tucked in for bed ~8:30-9 pm, woken up ~6:30 am. Both of these times need to be at least 30-60 minutes earlier! He takes a ~2 hour nap at daycare still.
• Gets to watch up to a few shows a day on one of our laptops. We still don't have a living room and therefore don't have a tv set up (we might not ever do it just to avoid being couch potatoes in the evenings). Eddie is one of the only kids I know who doesn't own/have access to a tablet or iPad or smartphone for watching shows. He still doesn't play video games or education computer games.
• Can count up to 20 and actually knows the value/meaning of up to 10. He can count up to 5 in his head but uses his fingers to count past there.
• Can spell his name out loud and on paper. He seems to be realizing that all the letters in books are what I'm reading to him. Recently he's been asking me which part of the text I'm reading at a given time so I try to run my finger underneath the words the whole time.
• Really wants a kitty cat and a baby sibling. He'll have to wait a bit longer for both!
• Expresses love by saying "I love you" or "I give you lots of hearts."
• Expresses frustration usually by crying and sometimes by trying to hit us. He doesn't have uncontrolled physical tantrums and never really has, whew. He's learning new descriptor words at daycare and tries using them at home. When we hear something new like "idiot," which he came home with the other day, we tell him it's not okay to use that word. He asks why, we explain what it means and how it can hurt people's feelings. Usually he'll then ask why people say it. Other words include: damnit, stupid, hate, and the phrase "Oh my God."
• Weighs ~40 pounds, ~42" tall, wears size 11 shoe, and 4T clothes.

He starts preschool on Thursday and will be in Teacher Kerri's morning class from 8:15 am - 11:15 am and afterward she'll walk him around the corner to the daycare.  I can't wait for him to be in a classroom where he can learn in a different way than he ever has before.  It'll be interesting to see how he does.

This big boy of ours keeps us buuuuuuuuuuuuuusy asking questions, eating food, and running around. We love him tooooooooooooooooooooons and tons and are so happy he'sin our family.  

Three Bowers on 8/13/2013.