Catch up on Andrew

Oh, my. Blogging just hasn't been in the cards in 2011 yet. Neither has calling my sisters, or reading books or cross-stitching. I don't know what I've been doing, but it has certainly been keeping me busy ;)

So let's catch up on Andrew.

Here's the goon before Christmas. He created (with mechanical help from his Dad) a Power point presentation for a school project, and this was a shot he wanted to include. Just in case the class forgot who was giving the presentation, I suppose. I like it now, because it clearly shows his little baby teeth...on New Year's he lost one of those front ones, and his smile is forever changed...

The Tuesday before we left, Andrew's class put on a play, The Gingerbread Caper. It was kind of instead of a traditional holiday party. I love it. He was so stinkin' cute. He gave the intro and ending as well as his part in the middle. His teacher told me later that she hadn't planned on an intro or ending, but mentioned it during the last run through. Andrew raised his hand and said, "I'll take care of it." She didn't even know what he was going to say. Mr. Confidence. Remember when his problem in preschool was mixing with the other kids? Whew. We've come a long way, baby.

At Grandma's we made Gingerbread cookies on Christmas Eve. Andrew is at such a fun age. He is patient and agreeable and really creative. He isn't bashful about his talents. He is just a delight. Here is his fishing gingerbread man.

Despite getting quite lanky and large, Andrew still likes to cuddle. It's like having a Great Dane who thinks he is a lap dog. We often lose circulation to our legs, but who could say no to this cute (big) kid?

This is Andrew and his men's body wash. When shopping with his Dad for other family gifts, he fell in love with this scent. Jeff took Lily back to the store and got it for him. So now my 7 year old proudly smells like a 40 year old man. Lovely.

Playing at Enter-Train-ment park. Again, he is just so much fun to interact with...the scavenger hunt was superb with him.

Here's the tooth gap...

And I might brag a little more about this kid's brain. His math skills are...incredible. We do not work with him on math, although we do ask him to figure stuff out as we go about our days. Like Jeff took him shopping for his little brother for Christmas. Andrew picked out two cars that were $5.99 each. He asked Jeff what 99 + 99 was. Jeff asked him if he could figure it out. Andrew thought for a few moments, went up to the cashier and said, "This will be $11.98". Once Jeff picked his jaw up off the floor, he asked Andrew how he did it. Andrew said, "Well, I know 100 + 100 is 200, so 99 + 99 is 198." No mention of the adding it to the dollars, but whatev's.

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He is also doing multiplication (last night he figured out 6x6), and asking lots of questions about fractions.

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He's smart. I had a conference with his teacher yesterday to discuss what the school has to offer as far as accelerated tracks. I'm pretty sure she thinks I am a psycho parents who drills Andrew with flashcards every extra second of his life. She'll know the truth when she gets Lily in a few years ;)

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He also continues to show amazing empathy for others. He came home last week with another boy's lunch box because he'd forgotten it at school. He wanted me to drive it to his house, because, "B. packs such big lunches it won't all fit in a little paper bag. He NEEDS this lunch box, Mom." I love his big heart.

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And his sense of humor continues to develop. He actually understands my sarcastic jokes a bit now. Like the other night at dinner we were all discussing imaginary friends. Lily was saying she has one and Andrew confirmed that he also had one. I said that I had 2 imaginary friends. Andrew asked me what their names were. I said, "Peace and Quiet." Andrew starts chuckling as he figures out the joke. He kept repeating it as he explained it to himself.

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Ah, how I love my 7 year old!