Aug '09: It's almost the end of summer and Tony is absolutely ready to go back to school with Ms Amy and Ms Carol!
His summer has gone very well. We drove down to Florida for a vacation with Oma & Opa and he was excellent during
the 15+ hour car trip! It just showed me exactly how far he has truly come =)
During the first part of the summer he went to summer school 2x a week and to an hourly daycare called KidsPlay 1x a
week. Once summer school was over he had the best treat ever ... Ms Amy came to babysit him! Talk about an excited
little boy ... oh my gosh he could barely contain himself when it was time for her to get here each day. They went all
over the place - stores, parks, playgrounds ... but it didn't matter where they would go as long as he was with 'his
Amy'! He's got about 2 more weeks until school starts again, but is already telling me each morning that he wants to
go to school, "pleeeeeease mama I go to school?". I'm so glad both my boys love school so much -- it is 100% thanks to
the great teachers they have!
Tony played t-ball last year, but it was too 'slow & boring' for him. It was a lot of standing, waiting, being patient ....
all things that truly tested him. So this year we skipped it. However, we did sign him up for soccer. He and Vinny are
on the same team and had their first practice last week. I knew the first one would be overwhelming for him, but we
have to take baby steps. It was a little rough and I ended up pulling him out of the practice after about 20 minutes.
But it's ok. We are going back every week and if he can last at least 5 minutes longer than the week before, then it's
an improvement! Of course, I've already began the bribery for next week. Yes, I use bribery, but I like to call it
incentive instead. He knows that any week that he behaves for the entire practice, we will go get an ice cream cone
when it's done. He is very excited about it and can't wait for the next practice now =)
He's been a very funny little boy lately. His latest phrase is, "what do you think you're doing?". He uses it all the time
- when I'm brushing my teeth, when I'm laying in bed watching tv, when I'm cleaning something up - whenever he feels
like it. He always has been and always will be fascinated by his own booty and the lovely noises/smells that come from
it. He is the only 4-year old that I know that can fart on command (we call them booty bubbles). hahaha he just came
up to me and said, "Hi mom, what do you think you're doing?" and now is looking for his name typed on the screen.
TONY TONY TONY alright he's gone. Ok, back to his booty .... as much as he does it, he insists on going to whoever is
nearest to him, bending over, and telling them to smell his booty! That would be fine if it was just at home - but he
does it while we are out in public as well. Most of the time people just burst out laughing ... which doesn't help matters
because he loves that. His personality is definately that of the class clown. He loves trying to play tricks on us or make
us laugh by doing silly things. And I love that about him, mostly because 2 years ago I never would have thought I
would get to see this side of him =)
Let's see ... what are some of his favorite things to do. He loves playing on the computer, and is really good at it. He
has his own icon on the desktop with links to sites like PBSkids, Disney, NickJr, Thomas and Friends, etc. He knows
how to open them, surf around them for different things to do, and uses the keys as much as the mouse. He also loves
tv and yes, I let him watch 2 channels pretty much whenever he wants because I swear he's learned so much from
them: Noggin and PBSkids. He has a couple of other favorites, but is only allowed to watch them a little each day
(nickelodeon, boom, disney). His favorite show is Thomas and Friends. In fact his love of that show cost us about $200
in pay-per-view movies as he tried pressing random buttons to find the taped shows on our DVR!! Needless to say, we
now have parental locks on every single tv and have to hide the remotes when we are not around.
He loves playing in water and can swim very well under water, just not 'above'. He really has no fear of anything -
which is great yet really scary at the same time. He does great on his bike (still with training wheels) and his scooter.
He's got such a great imagination as well. He is always playing out different scenerios in his own mind. Example: he will
come walking down the hall (by himself), stop and say, "come on guys, let's go get em" and then starts running around
the corner .... and continues for anywhere from 5 minutes to a half hour. I love watching him when he does this, not only
because it's entertaining, but he uses tons of language skills while doing it.
The one thing about Tony that anyone can see after just a short time, is that he absolutely loves his brother! They play
so well together and rarely argue. It's still hard for him to be at home without Vinny there and he is so excited when
they are finally together again!
His summer has gone very well. We drove down to Florida for a vacation with Oma & Opa and he was excellent during
the 15+ hour car trip! It just showed me exactly how far he has truly come =)
During the first part of the summer he went to summer school 2x a week and to an hourly daycare called KidsPlay 1x a
week. Once summer school was over he had the best treat ever ... Ms Amy came to babysit him! Talk about an excited
little boy ... oh my gosh he could barely contain himself when it was time for her to get here each day. They went all
over the place - stores, parks, playgrounds ... but it didn't matter where they would go as long as he was with 'his
Amy'! He's got about 2 more weeks until school starts again, but is already telling me each morning that he wants to
go to school, "pleeeeeease mama I go to school?". I'm so glad both my boys love school so much -- it is 100% thanks to
the great teachers they have!
Tony played t-ball last year, but it was too 'slow & boring' for him. It was a lot of standing, waiting, being patient ....
all things that truly tested him. So this year we skipped it. However, we did sign him up for soccer. He and Vinny are
on the same team and had their first practice last week. I knew the first one would be overwhelming for him, but we
have to take baby steps. It was a little rough and I ended up pulling him out of the practice after about 20 minutes.
But it's ok. We are going back every week and if he can last at least 5 minutes longer than the week before, then it's
an improvement! Of course, I've already began the bribery for next week. Yes, I use bribery, but I like to call it
incentive instead. He knows that any week that he behaves for the entire practice, we will go get an ice cream cone
when it's done. He is very excited about it and can't wait for the next practice now =)
He's been a very funny little boy lately. His latest phrase is, "what do you think you're doing?". He uses it all the time
- when I'm brushing my teeth, when I'm laying in bed watching tv, when I'm cleaning something up - whenever he feels
like it. He always has been and always will be fascinated by his own booty and the lovely noises/smells that come from
it. He is the only 4-year old that I know that can fart on command (we call them booty bubbles). hahaha he just came
up to me and said, "Hi mom, what do you think you're doing?" and now is looking for his name typed on the screen.
TONY TONY TONY alright he's gone. Ok, back to his booty .... as much as he does it, he insists on going to whoever is
nearest to him, bending over, and telling them to smell his booty! That would be fine if it was just at home - but he
does it while we are out in public as well. Most of the time people just burst out laughing ... which doesn't help matters
because he loves that. His personality is definately that of the class clown. He loves trying to play tricks on us or make
us laugh by doing silly things. And I love that about him, mostly because 2 years ago I never would have thought I
would get to see this side of him =)
Let's see ... what are some of his favorite things to do. He loves playing on the computer, and is really good at it. He
has his own icon on the desktop with links to sites like PBSkids, Disney, NickJr, Thomas and Friends, etc. He knows
how to open them, surf around them for different things to do, and uses the keys as much as the mouse. He also loves
tv and yes, I let him watch 2 channels pretty much whenever he wants because I swear he's learned so much from
them: Noggin and PBSkids. He has a couple of other favorites, but is only allowed to watch them a little each day
(nickelodeon, boom, disney). His favorite show is Thomas and Friends. In fact his love of that show cost us about $200
in pay-per-view movies as he tried pressing random buttons to find the taped shows on our DVR!! Needless to say, we
now have parental locks on every single tv and have to hide the remotes when we are not around.
He loves playing in water and can swim very well under water, just not 'above'. He really has no fear of anything -
which is great yet really scary at the same time. He does great on his bike (still with training wheels) and his scooter.
He's got such a great imagination as well. He is always playing out different scenerios in his own mind. Example: he will
come walking down the hall (by himself), stop and say, "come on guys, let's go get em" and then starts running around
the corner .... and continues for anywhere from 5 minutes to a half hour. I love watching him when he does this, not only
because it's entertaining, but he uses tons of language skills while doing it.
The one thing about Tony that anyone can see after just a short time, is that he absolutely loves his brother! They play
so well together and rarely argue. It's still hard for him to be at home without Vinny there and he is so excited when
they are finally together again!