Mac 4.5

I have wanted to jot down some things about Mac right now. He just seems so grown up to me lately although he is just four and a half. And I just don't want to forget what he was like at this age.

He has come to be such a great big brother and is loving to play with Oak more and more. I think he is finally realizing that she can be a friend too. They have been having so much fun together and playing so well together. It helps that Oak is a tough girl and loves to rough house and do what ever Mac is doing. 

One day Mac was helping fold the kitchen towels that just came out of the dryer. He loves to do this specific chore and does it really well. One thing that makes it hard is Oak, who loves to steam roll anything that is in her way. Mac knew this would happen and with out any coaxing from me he asked her if she wanted to build  a tower with the blocks. He got them out for her and took them to the hard floor and helped her start her first tower and told her good job and then went and started folding towels. I couldn't believe that he had figured out the art of distraction. 

This boy loves to read and learn anything about anything. He is not that interested in regular story books and would much rather read books that give him information about something. His favorite are books about bugs. He soaks up the information and never forgets it. He is a walking encyclopedia.

He has finished out his first year of Preschool. He loved going to preschool, and would excitedly ask every morning if it was preschool day. He learned alot of learning skills that I think will help him so much in the long run for school. His teacher was great and really taught them alot. Mac pretty much thinks he is the smartest person in the world because he went to Preschool. He is very excited for kindergarten and can't wait to go, but he still has one more year of Preschool before he can go.

Since he is out of Preschool, we started him in Taekwondo. I have been wanting him to do Taekwondo since before he was born. He went one day to try it out and loved it and couldn't wait to get his white uniform. He will be doing it four days a week and I think it will great for him to have that while he is out of school for the summer. I think it will really benefit him in so many ways and will help his "class clown" behavior without squashing his bright personality. 

The other night I had a horrendous migraine and it just would not go away, and Hubs came home early to take care of me and get Mac off to Taekwondo since I didn't feel well enough to take him. I was just at a point of melt down because I had been sick for a week and a half and I just was having a hard time being a mom and a wife and a homemaker and I was crying on Hubs' shoulder. Oak came over to me and gave me her special bear and asked if I was okay. Mac really isn't too sympathetic when someone gets hurt, it has been something we have been working on with him. But he kept looking at me while I was sitting there crying and would smile at me and say hi and wave at me. At first I was a bit annoyed that he was doing that when he should be a little bit more sympathetic but then I realized that was his way of being sympathetic to me and because he is a boy he isn't going to get all gushy in the situation but he did want me to feel better so all he knew to do was wave, smile and say hi to me. And then on his way out the door he said, "Mom, you should go lay down and get some rest so you can feel better." I just wanted to pick him up and squeeze him for being so cute. 

He has been wanting to take showers instead of baths. He used to HATE showers and thought it was pure torture. But he thinks he is such a big kid now doing that over baths. The other day he was in the shower and had to go to the bathroom so I told him to just go in the shower. He was so confused and had to ask me over and over if it really was okay to do that. It totally just made me laugh!

I have noticed that his little baby chubby face is no longer there. His face just looks like a little kid face now and he just looks so grown up. He isn't a toddler anymore!

Mac has more common sense than most adults and it is amazing to witness. I am not saying this to boast about my own child, but that it really is true. An example (although an older one because it is all I can think of right now) is when he was taking a bath at my parents house and he was playing with the sponge bath letters that stick to the tub (we have some at our house too) and my mom had him spell his name with the letters and he tried but noticed that he only had one C to use. My mom told him he could take that C home so he could have two C's at his house to spell his name and he said, "But then I won't have a C here!" He went to church with my parents and his Primary teacher told my mom that "A kid that young just shouldn't have that much common sense!" This also comes into play with playing with other kids and I have dubbed him the "Hall monitor" because he is always telling kids they should or shouldn't do something because of this reason or that reason.

He is very much into guns and swords and any weapon really. I have known this time would come and it has been hard to figure out the best way to deal with it. I just feel like it is a hard thing to teach a kid the proper use of a gun when they are exposed to older kids who are just pointing there toy guns at each other and pretending to kill them for no reason. I am not a fan of toy guns, and although we don't own a real gun, I am pro using guns for safety reasons. But after trying a few things out we have given Mac a few rules to be able to have the opportunity to play with toy guns (that his friends have, we don't own any). He isn't allowed to point them at anyone and he can not talk about or act like he is going to hurt anyone. He is told that guns are used to protect himself and people and he can use them to "hunt" for animals. So we do alot of "Bear hunts". That has all seemed to help my anxiety with him using toy guns. 

He is very obsessed with turning five and talks alot about his next birthday and that he will be five. It is really cute. He will tell me that when it is December 14th he will be five. He just today told me he wants a bug party and have a spider cake. I actually was thinking maybe I would have a "half birthday" party for him this summer (without gifts). December is such a hard month to try to have a birthday party for him because everyone's weekends are filled up with Christmas stuff. And if we did one this summer it could be outside instead of in our small house. I may not be able to pull off the half birthday party thing since his half birthday is next week and we are headed out of town and I just don't have time to plan anything. He also talks about when he turns six he will get to go to Disneyland. Hope we will be able to follow through with that promise :)

Mac went to the Dentist last week. It was his fourth visit and he did great! He was so excited to go and he was very cooperative. His hygienist, Amy, is so great with him. He got x-rays and had no cavities! yay! He does have a molar that has not fully come through and they were a bit worried about it but said that they wouldn't need to do anything about it for a few years and hopefully by then it will have come through all the way.

After Mac's dentist appointment we had the opportunity to go on a little date together. We were going to go to a movie but he changed his mind and wanted to go miniature golfing instead. So we went to Putter's and we were lucky enough to be the only ones playing since it had just opened for the day. We had so much fun and Mac did so great. He was even getting better towards the end of the course at hitting the ball lighter when it was closer to the hole. He kept on saying that he was the best golfer in the whole world. I then let him play a bit on the play ground they have there and he keeps talking about the NEXT time we get to go on a date. 

He really loves to be outside and to help Daddy do yard work and work on the garden. He loves to water the plants. And loves to play with his friends outside. He likes to ride his bike and will sometimes ride his scooter. And if there is water involved with anything outdoors you better believe he will be wet from head to toe.

He is FINALLY starting to get freckles. I my word are they adorable. I have been waiting since the moment he was born and we saw that he had red hair for him to get freckles. Every time I look at his sweet face I just want to smother every little freckle with a kiss. He thinks it is funny how much I love his little freckles.

Mac has been floating at 38 lbs since at least his 4th birthday. We are waiting patiently for him to get to 40 lbs so that I am comfortable with him being in a booster seat. But really I am happy he is still in a 5 point harness since I know he is safer that way. I am a bit of a carseat nazi and like to know that I have done everything in my power to make sure my kids will be safe if we are in a car accident.

Hubs bought a new tent in preparation for the "Father & Son" campout. And he set it up in the family room. Mac was so excited about it that I asked him if he wanted to sleep in it last night. You better believe he said yes! He was so excited! He slept in it the whole night and woke up on cloud 9 because he loved it so much!

I just love this boy! He is so funny and makes me laugh constantly. I literally just want to grab him and smother him with hugs and kisses all the time. And every time I look at his sweet face I just can't believe how lucky I am to be his mom.

And just as much as I love him he can also make my blood boil. He is not, and never has been, a "go with the flow" kid. He is very strong willed and can throw a tantrum like no other when he does not get his way. He will fight tooth and nail when he doesn't want to do something that he is supposed to be doing.

And with how difficult he is in those ways, he never gets into trouble for doing things he shouldn't. I never have to worry about him getting into anything or playing with things he shouldn't. You give him rules and he is pretty darn good at following them. 

His eczema has all of a sudden disappeared and we have no clue why. But I am so glad. We think he may have a bit of seasonal allergies but it hasn't been very consistent so not sure on that one.

His favorite thing right now is to have his back scratched. It helps calm him down and when we do while snuggling him in bed he will most likely fall asleep.

One of his favorite things to do right now is color or draw. He quite the drawer and I have loved watching his little drawings morph into better and better pictures. He has also been doing better and coloring and staying in the lines and using more than one color on a picture.

Mac being a goofball while helping dad plant the garden.

Mac's last day of Preschool with his teacher (and our neighbor) Gina.

Mac in his Taekwondo uniform. I have some patches I need to get sewn on the front still.

Mac getting ready to sleep in the tent in our family room.

Mac still asleep this morning.

And some of his drawings...

This is a pirate ship and all the pirate hats have skeleton heads on them and the circles in the ship is gold coins and there is a shark in the water and the pirate in the water is captain hook I think.

This was a skeleton he drew in church one Sunday.

This is the picture he drew for me for my birthday. I think he said they were bugs or maybe robots with flowers.

I just loved this. One week he had colored the red car on the right and then just a week later he colored the tractor on the left. Just thought it was a profound change in his coloring. 

I think this was a picture of daddy with a sun in the sky and a heart to the left because he loves daddy and the circle inside daddy is food he ate.