Little Red Caboose

Georgie and I have been bonding for the past couple of months. Pretty much everything he says is cute/funny/sweet. Tonight we had supper with the missionaries at another family's home. George sat right beside the missionaries and talked to them so much they could hardly get a word in edgewise. He asked them what their names were and thought it was funny that they were both "Elder." He said, "I saw you at church, but you didn't say hi to me!" He informed them that he saw them at a hockey/basketball game too. Then he went on to tell them about his music class and asked if they knew (and listed a bunch of different kids' names) from the class. On the way home in the car, he was singing "Back to life! Back to reality" (reality came out sounding like a much longer word--added a syllable or two).

One of the cute things he does is get mixed up with his personal pronouns.  He will say, "Tommy hit me with hers stick!"  Or in speaking of a girl, "He said him's my friend!"  Its a bit confusing and very endearing!

Before Halloween, Georgie really wanted to make a scarecrow. We had a couple of conversations about it, and I wish I had followed through with it, but he kind of lost interest (much to my relief). We bought him a new bike helmet with movie CARS on it and it came with a bell. He is so cute with that helmet on, and he loves to press the bell. When the weather was nice, I would go for a walk and he would ride either his strider bike or his normal bike with the training wheels. We went on some beautiful walks down our path through lots of crunchy leaves, as well as walks around the lake by Owen and Tommy's school. Sometimes he'd get worn out, but usually he lasted a good length of time, and I'd get a little workout in.

James started a fun little game at dinner times to choose someone to pray. Calls it "spin the fork." George gets into this game and now seems to have taken charge of who will pray. If he doesn't like who the fork chooses, he will spin again and again. Sometimes he will insist that the fork is pointing to someone who it clearly is not. He really wears the pants around here most of the time. The other day George was sitting at the bar eating some noodle soup. He must have gotten some broth on his hand and then rubbed it in his eye because he said suddenly, "Mom! I'm going blind! This noodle juice is in mine eye!" He has a major sweet tooth, and Halloween did not help this. Also all the birthdays around here. He is always asking "do you have gum in your purse mom?" Even though he knows that the answer almost always is "no." One of his favorite snacks is our protein shake powder that you add some milk to. Its actually pretty healthy, so I'll let him have little scoop now and then. He's pretty picky right now though, and its hard to get him to eat anything. He pretty much snacks on what he didn't eat for meals all day. So I'll get him a bowl of oatmeal in the morning and he'll have two bites. Then an hour later he'll wander by it and remember that he's hungry and eat most of it. Same thing with lunch!

The other day George was in the tub and I came in to help him wash his hair (although he prefers to do it himself these days). I set the soap on the shelf up high and then laid him on his back to rinse out his hair. The slippery soap slid right off and landed on his face with a smash before I could do anything about it. He got a cut under his eye and a bloody nose. It was very traumatic, but he now loves to tell the story to anyone who will listen. I've never had that happen in all the years I've bathed boys!

George is really into puzzles right now. He usually picks ones that are above his level, but he will struggle along for awhile without help. He is getting the hang of them. He also loves to go into his brothers' rooms while they are gone and play with their lego creations or search for their Halloween candy. The other day I went into Owen's room and George had his head all the way into Owen's pillowcase treat bag. When he emerged with a sucker in hand he told me it was really his sucker. George also has a habit of climbing into bed with different brothers. One night Ryrie appeared at the side of my bed and informed me that George was in his bed, asleep. Another morning, I woke up to study my scriptures and saw that George's door was ajar and he was not in bed. I searched the whole house twice over and, starting to panic, ran out into the street--the front door was unlocked--and then back in, praying. I was about to wake everyone up when I checked Owen's bed one more time. There was George, totally cuddled up to him under the covers, fast asleep. Usually its our room he comes to though, and our bed he gets into. The other morning while I was reading at the kitchen table, George was sitting on "the warm hair" vent. He had asked for some bread, so I gave it to him and then didn't really notice what he was doing until I saw him breaking off bits of bread and putting them into the vent. When I asked him to stop he said, "I don't want this bread. It will make me lose a tooth!" This seemed to make perfect sense to him.

 I take George to school every morning while I help in Tommy's class for a bit. He sits at the back and reads books or colors quietly. The class always says "Hello Mrs. Spencer" and "Hello George" but he never answers back. One time after school Tommy asked him, "Why won't you say hi to my class?" George confided in me later "I'm shy at Tommy's class." I told him that was just fine. He was also quite shy in his music class for a time but is now very comfortable there. One time Sarabeth asked, "Who would like to sing a solo?" This was the first time she had asked that, so we weren't sure the kids knew what it meant. George raised his hand, and he ended up singing a solo! That seemed to break the ice for him, and now he's very participative there. He loves the songs he learns there and we sing them all the time at home. One of my favorite things is to hear him singing to himself. Also talking to himself as he plays. I absolutely love that sound. Sometimes he will change the lyrics of a song to make it funny. Every night when he's going to sleep he asks me to sing something from music class.

 I took him to an appointment and he brought his little backpack that he carries everywhere. We were there for 45 minutes and he played quietly the whole time. Afterwards the therapist said, "It is such a treat to see a child that still knows how to play." I agree--it is a treat to watch/play with him. George is learning the procrastination game. He's very good at saying, "just 30 more minutes mom!" or when I'm trying to get him to bed, "I didn't say good night to my brothers yet!" or "I didn't brush my teeth yet! I'll go so fast--just one minute mom." He also has the Broken Record down to a science. He knows how to wear one down simply by repetition. He is also very patient though and usually can be convinced to change his mind.

The rough thing about being the caboose of 5 boys is that everything is wearing out.  He finished off our double stroller and crib, and is on his way with the bike stroller and toddler bed as well!  We sure love this little Red.