This weekend the Lego store near our house had a special event where kids could build lego bricks.  A Lego Master Builder was on hand to use the bricks to put together an 8-foot-tall R2D2 built entirely out of Legos.  We went on Friday and Colin and Eamon built a few bricks of each color and turned them in for a Lego Certificate.  On Sunday we went back to see the final pieces added to complete the model.  We had to wait for a while, but we enjoyed seeing the last layers of bricks added and the streamers falling from the sky as all the crowd cheered and yelled, “LEGO!”  

If you click on the pictures, you’ll see the larger version of the whole thing instead of the thumbnail.

Eamon usually does surprisingly well eating with chopsticks when we cook Chinese food. However, he is used to eating rice and some version of stir-fry. One night when we had lo mein, he tickled us with his method of getting the noodles to/in his mouth. For anyone wanting lessons on a proper way to use chopsticks, I don’t think this is it! I have to admit that he is extremely cute, even though he was getting incredibly messy!

Today was a great day, especially after we were all so sick with a cold/sinus infection last week. I got caught up with some chores and sewing and the boys played well together all day. We have a McDonalds playset (boys’ version of a kitchen) they were playing with. They took turns being the employee and customer. Then, Colin (9-years-old) decided that he wanted to be at a sit-down restaurant instead of McDonald’s. Eamon (4-years-old) was still standing in the “kitchen.” Colin told him he had to go take his order like at Pizza Hut. So, Eamon went to take his order at the kitchen table. He said, “Hello, Sir, May I take your order?” Colin said, “Could I have a menu, please?” Eamon said he didn’t have a menu, but there was one on the cash register (at McDonald’s), so he went and got it. Colin told him what he wanted and Eamon apparently didn’t know what he meant and said Colin would have to draw a picture of what he wanted so he could go back to McDonald’s and make it. Then, Eamon rang up what Colin had ordered and it was about 46 million dollars. Colin said, “This is not worth it and the food’s not that good anyway.”

Later, after dinner, Eamon helped me make cookies. We had the butter, egg, and brown sugar in the mixing bowl and he said, “Mommy, this just looks like brown sugar slime to me.”

This is them eating the “brown sugar slime.” Thank goodness it turned out to be great cookies!

One time during the day, Colin was in the bathroom and Eamon was waiting for him outside the door with a light saber. Colin told him he wasn’t coming out until Eamon counted to 10. Eamon counted and Colin still didn’t come out, so Eamon went in. Colin was hiding in the linen closet. Eamon found him (he knew he was in there somewhere). When they related the story to me, Eamon said, “Mommy, it was a wonderful surprise finding Colin in the closet!”

You just never know what those little guys will say. I have told Colin that God gave us Eamon to keep us entertained and laughing. He is great at it, too!

I can’t even believe that my sweet little baby that I wanted so badly is already turning four years old! I let him do almost anything he wanted today, and he didn’t even take full advantage of the situation. He got to watch the cartoons he wanted in the morning, ate homemade waffles for breakfast, played in the sandbox, squirted his water gun, had cereal for lunch (then frozen pizza), got to watch a movie, ate dinner at McDonald’s, and watched a “Thomas” movie. He said he had a good birthday, but would be sad tomorrow when it wasn’t his birthday anymore.

I am shocked all the time when I find out something else Eamon knows that I haven’t taught him. That big brother, Colin, teaches him so many things that I had to teach Colin myself. Granny got Eamon a preschool workbook for his birthday and he finished it all in less than 30 minutes. He didn’t actually write in the book, but just told me all the answers. The two things I was amazed at (the most, anyway), was that he recognizes numerals and that he knows when 2 things start with the same sound. With the numerals, they didn’t have to be 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9. It could be 3 4 5, 4 5 6, 7 8 9, etc. and every time he would count how many items there were in the picture and point to the corresponding numeral. With every letter of the alphabet, I would tell him the letter (if he didn’t already recognize it) and he would say the name of the picture, then tell me the other picture that started with the same letter. For example: I would say “The letter B is for” and Eamon would say “B is for /b/ /b/ /b/ Banana. /c/ /c/ /c/ Cupcake, /b/ /b/ /b/ Balloon. B is for Balloon.” Wow! He is really good at that.

I tend to think of certain things like reading and it feels like I’m going to have to start over again with schooling and I wonder how I ever managed to teach Colin to read in the first place. As time goes by and it starts happening so easily (not that Eamon will be reading chapter books anytime soon), I realize that learning is a natural, God-given ability and I can and will teach it all over again, and it won’t be that bad. Maybe the second time will be even easier than the first time was because I’ll be more experienced.

I decided to attach a picture of the birthday boy with his cake I made him for his party Saturday. I am very thankful I am Mommy to such a wonderful little boy.