What He’s Been Up To

Mr. Trouble on Feet is always finding something interesting to do.

Over the past few weeks he’s taken to building wonderful block structures.  Kids playing with wooden blocks makes my heart sing!  I love coming into the family room on a break from teaching to see what he’s added to his creation.  Every day it changes and grows a little bigger.  He’s even combined Kapla blocks, unit blocks, and Tegu blocks together to make wonderful buildings and enclosures.

He’s also been using up a lot of duct tape.  Taking after his biggest sister, he made himself a flat screen TV out of cardboard.  Last week, inspired by election day,  he made numerous paper flags and attached them to stick flag poles with duct tape.

He set up an “office” in the foyer to write secret evaluations of my music students.

He has been spotted putting together puzzles, practicing writing letters and numbers (he gets SO frustrated when I can’t tell him what words his letters make) and he’s drawn enormous monsters on huge sheets of paper, so big that they need to be worked on on the floor with a basket of markers because they don’t fit on a desk or table.  He’s designed things using pattern blocks,

He’s always drumming on something with his hands or a pair of drumsticks.

Best of all, though, he likes to “work” and do real jobs.  Everyone else in the family tries to get out of work, but he looks for it!  He raked the whole front of the yard last week, mostly all by himself.  (Don’t worry, he still fusses when he’s asked to pick up his toys at the end of the day . . . he’s normal after all).

When the workers were building our new front steps, he nearly talked their ears off, inquiring about what they were doing.  He was pretty fascinated with the process of using bricks and mortar and pouring concrete.  He was especially excited about the cement truck that parked in our yard to deliver the concrete for the new steps.

He loves audio books and lunch dates.

He’s in charge of the “Hug office,”  which opens up whenever I need to order a set of hugs.  Instant free delivery.  My favorites are squeeze hugs, and neck nuzzles.  Every day he races me to see who can remember to say, “Did you know it just so happens that I love you?” to the other person first.

He’s anxiously awaiting his first loose tooth, but I’m in no rush to say goodbye to those baby teeth.