28 posts tagged “coulson”
So Coulson turned 5 a little over a week ago. It's so cliche to say that I can't believe he's that old already, but it's true. As you can tell from all the goofy expressions in the photos, he's an amusing kid with typical 5-year-old silliness all over.
I don't have any superheroes flying around the house these days; currently I am protected by the watchful eye of a Jedi Knight. Jedi Luke Skywalker to be precise. Everyday. I got him a black hooded sweatshirt and black pants so he could dress up as Luke (circa Episode VI: Return of the Jedi) during playtime, but that wasn't enough. Every single morning he wants to dress like Luke. When his black clothes were dirty, he would ask of every outfit we picked out, "Is this what Luke Skywalker wears?"
At first I looked for orange and told him that it was like Luke's orange flightsuit, but he wasn't too impressed with his flight suit because there is no light saber involved. Then I progressed to "earth tones" because it was like something Luke might wear on Tatooine (Episode IV). And now it's anything comfortable, "because Luke has to wear something comfortable when he's Jedi fighting and this is comfortable, so yes, Luke would totally wear this." After some persistence on my part, he's finally accepted that almost everything in his closet is something that Luke would wear. Now he wants to know which color light saber goes with each outfit. Apparently Luke has a blueish-white light saber in the earlier movies, and a green one later, when he wears the black outfit. Our big birthday gift to him was a homemade Jedi cape to wear that we are quite proud of - crafted from a real pattern (Butterick B4319) and sewn on my own sewing machine. I'm not a sewer, so it's a pretty big deal for me.
He had a dinosaur birthday party and everyone had a great time. The kids made dinosaur masks and then we went on a dinosaur "imagination adventure" (kinda like the animal safari from last year's birthday party) where we went back in time and looked for inflatable dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs in our backyard. The dinosaur eggs, one of the party favors that each child took home, contained a 3-D dinosaur puzzle which turned out to be a mental exercise that challenged the adults for hours, so now I have to apologize to all the parents for sending such a horrible brain teaser home. Many of the moms have super-glued the puzzle together so that their children never, ever take them apart again.
Coulson is enjoying getting older and being able to take care of other little ones. He's the oldest child in our small group from church and he likes his position of helper. There are two other boys Charlie's age and one a little younger and Coulson especially likes the younger one. He watches over him at the playground, keeping him away from the edges, directing him to the safer slides and holding his hand on the bouncy bridge. It's very sweet to see him so caring to a younger child.
Because he's not with his own brother. A while ago, someone asked me if the boys got along and I absent-mindedly answered "most of the time." I reflected on that answer later as the boys were screaming at each other and realized I totally lied. They didn't get along at all. Charlie is old enough to know how to push Coulson's buttons and Coulson knows how to really get Charlie worked up, so they pretty much pick at each other all day long. Many many many time outs and confiscated toys later, they continued to be at each others' throats. But recently I got smart and told them they couldn't watch any TV until they played together nicely. Miraculous transformation from both of them! So now sometimes I do find them getting along. Charlie has started to get into pretend playing, so he can play along with Coulson now. Usually Coulson tells him what to do or who to be and Charlie goes along with it. It's a lot of fun watching them become playmates. And then they watch TV.
He's getting a little bit better about playing on his own, although he still strongly prefers to play with someone else. Friends are always super important to him and he's learning to branch out and make new friends. He notices the oddest details about things and asks an amazing amount of questions. He's starting to get interested in reading and he's learning bits here and there, but he doesn't quite have the attention span to sit down for a short lesson. He loves books and will drop anything if I want to read to him. He also loves to hear stories and sometimes will tell some of his own stories. Unfortunately for my readers, he tells his most interesting stories when I can't record them, like when I'm driving in the car, and when I sit down with him to type up a story, they are still amusing (to me, at least), but lack some of the spontaneity of his original tales. But he is very creative with his words and I look forward to seeing that develop as he gets older.
Yeah, I think five is going to be a good age.
When I was pregnant with Coulson a little over 5 years ago, I fell in love with the cake served at one of my baby showers. It's the sheet cake from Costco. It's huge, serves 44, comes with a mousse filling and it's only $15! For that price at the grocery store, you can get a cake half the size with no filling and it's not as delicious. Oddly for a life-long chocoholic, my love of Costco cake is limited to the white cake with white buttercream frosting. Chocolate cake just isn't as exciting.
If you've ever been to one of my kids birthday parties, you've enjoyed this cake (except for their first birthdays, we made our own cake for those special days). In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if subconciously the main reason that I enjoy throwing birthday parties for my boys is so I can get this cake. And all the extra cake from these parties is not a problem because the Costco cake freezes beautifully! We freeze it in smaller chunks so we only have to thaw out a few servings at a time (yes, this is a well thought-out process for us.)
Well, Coulson's birthday party is Saturday and now he's old enough to have an opinion about things like cake. We were at Costco and I was asking him what decoration he wanted on his cake when he suddenly stated, "I want chocolate."
"Chocolate filling? Okay."
"No. Chocolate cake. With chocolate icing."
At this point, I was about to state my usual, "Well, that's not a decision you get to make, that's a grown-up decision and you have to live with whatever I decide." But I realized that it was his birthday and he probably should get to decide. But I was the one doing all the work for the party, this cake is my payoff, said the little voice in my head.
Well, my maternal love won, so Coulson, when you eat your chocolate cake on Saturday, just know how much I love you and remember the sacrifices I've made for you!
Another installment from the writing desk of Coulson, almost 5. I bet you can guess what he's been watching lately... Casey could write a blog about that experience.
Episode 1 - The Emperor Strikes Back
Luke Skywalker and R2D2 and C3PO were going to a mission to blow the Death Star up. But the Emperor was sneaking off it. But Luke Skywalker was faster. He was running but there was a forest ahead and there was too many trees. But the Emperor was slowing down. He was getting tired. Cause a house blocked him and he was getting tired of trying to run through it. The End.
Episode 2 - The Jedi Returns
Luke Skywalker was back on his way to Yoda's planet Dagobah to have his last bit of training, but he left before soon, but the Empire was in charge of that planet too and they wanted Luke Skywalker to get off but Luke did not do it. But they couldn't make their things on every planet because Luke used the Force to reach them with his light saber so he could cut the wire. The End.
Registration for kindergarten is in the next couple months and our school district gives parents some choice in the school their child attends. They can choose the local school, or they can choose from 4 other schools in their "zone" and there are a few magnet schools in the system that are available by lottery.
Casey and I visited one of the schools today and it was so cute to be in an elementary school again with all the miniature desks and chairs. In the bathroom, the sink was mounted short and there were signs everywhere reminding me to flush, to use a small amount of soap and to only crank the paper towel dispenser 3 times.
The kids were great. They have a "zero talk" policy in the hallway for the kids, so when we passed a group waiting in line for the bathroom, they were completely silent. (Yeah, I'd love to see Coulson do that!) Even when the principal asked them questions, they didn't answer! In one class, the kids were all wearing their pjs. They did something good, or completed a goal or something like that and for their reward they chose to have a pj day!
It was fun to tour the school and get an idea about what elementary school is like. I think Coulson will like school, once he gets used to the longer days and that whole foreign concept of "sitting still" that he keeps hearing about. He loves to be around other kids (once he knows them), he does well in a structured environment, and he does like to learn knew things.
We liked the school today, but we have a couple more on our list to visit. Can you believe that I'm looking at elementary schools already??!!!! My little boy is growing up so fast I mean, not fast enough, I mean, too fast. (The end of this sentence changes many times throughout the day, but since he's sleeping so innocently and peacefully upstairs right now, I'll probably stick with "too fast" for the next few hours.)
Why don't the people living on the bottom of the world feel Jesus or God holding them?
*******
What if instead of watering plants, we poured milk on them? And then we watered the cows!
********
Coulson: Did it ever rain Bibles?
Me: No.
Coulson: Then how did the people know what to write?
********
And now for what will hopefully become a recurring installment on my blog....
The Adventures of Rice Pudding Man
Episode 1: The Bad X-orater
By Coulson Glass age almost 5
Rice Pudding Man was going shopping when Bad X came along and was stealing from the grocery store. Rice Pudding Man used his sticky power to stick him to one of the shelves.
Episode 2: The Bad Monster of City Quiet
By Coulson Glass
One day Super Rice Pudding Man was fighting Bad X when he sent out one of his bad monsters and it was called...Jambalya. So the monster was gonna go underground but Rice Pudding Man stuck him to one of his rice puddings. And then the monster got stuck underground.
The End
I don't know where he got the idea of "rice pudding." It's not something I've ever eaten.
On the passage of time:
What if instead of countries, there were years and I swam to winter so my birthday would come faster.
It took me a while to figure out what he was thinking, but eventually it did make sense.
Coulson had his first T-ball game today. I was a bit skeptical about how this would work with a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds. A few months ago I tried to explain baseball to Couson while we were at a minor league game. The concept of hitting the ball was pretty easy, but then I tried to explain strikes and outs and it got very complicated. Coulson's eyes glazed over and then he just wanted to go back to climbing over the stadium seats (it was a curiously empty stadium, probably because it was in South Carolina on a Sunday -- no beer).
So thankfully the rules for T-ball are a bit simpler than baseball. For each inning, the teams bat through the whole line-up. For each hit, the runners each advance one base (if the ball goes out real far, there is potential to go more, but that didn't happen today). In the field, once a player gets the ball, he holds it up in the air and yells "time." The coach explained the reasoning this way: "One - they can't throw the ball and two - they can't catch it." The game continues for about an hour, or four innings, whichever is less. No strikes, no outs, everyone scores, but no one keeps count. We made it through 3 innings today. It was mostly the coaches directing the kids what to do and where to go, but by the third inning, the kids were catching on a bit.
Enjoy the video Casey made. It's about 8 minutes long, but it's edited, so it's not boring endless taping. There is also some cute commentary by Charlie (examples of the endearing "oh man"). Coulson is number 4.
On medical technology:
Coulson: What if shots didn't hurt but they tickled? Instead of a needle, the shot could have fluffies. And then it would explode. BAM!
Coulson: Does the needle poke through your skin?
Me: Yes.
Coulson: Why doesn't it leave a hole in your skin?
Me: It does, but your skin heals itself..
Coulson: No! That's what the band-aid does. Band-aids keep the hurt in. It keeps the hurt in inside your body so it doesn't get out.
On tiredness or hunger?
I'm so tired I could barely eat a camel. A camel with two humps.
To Charlie on a tire swing:
You have to hold on real tight. You can't let go. If you let go, you'll fall through and knock your eye out. And your knocked out eye will be all yucky and then you'll die!
At the end of our bedtime routine, I sing a song to each of the boys before I tuck them in and leave the room. They are now sharing a room (yeah, we have enough bedrooms, so we did this on purpose, crazy, I know), so I'll sing to Coulson while we all cuddle in his bed and then I'll sing to Charlie right before putting him in his crib. Lately a favorite request is "Snuggle Puppy" a song from Sandra Boynton. (Sandra Boynton writes children's board books, but they are all very clever and funny, so it's not a drag to read the same book over and over and over again. She has also written some songs which are also very amusing and "Snuggle Puppy" is from the the book/music CD Philadelphia Chickens.)
The lyrics go like this:
Ooooooo, Snuggle Puppy of mine,
Everything about you is especially fine.
I love what you are. I love what you do.
Fuzzy little Snuggle Puppy, I love you.
After I leave the room, I go across the hall to the office to check email and do internet stuff. Sometimes Charlie wants me to keep singing, but I don't want to get stuck in a routine of endlessly singing to him till he falls asleep, so I have to say no more singing. But after I leave the room, sometimes Coulson will take over and start singing to him. So as I have been writing this, Coulson is singing Snuggle Puppy to Charlie and it's just the sweetest thing in the world, so I thought I would share it with you. Little moments like this are the reason we wanted them to share a room!
