more on the four-year-old-karol

there are many sides to having a son. a lot of people keep telling me that boys are the sweetest. and, they may be right.  at four years, karol still acts very much like a baby.  he likes to be babied in every way. he even sometimes does baby talks when he wants to be noticed. well he does a lot of things, good or bad, just to be noticed.

routines

for example, we know very well that he can dress by himself.  however every morning, when we tell him to get dressed for kindergarten, he would always tell us he doesn't know how to do this or that, only so that we would dress him.  it has become a routine. sadly, it doesn't always end well.

at night, he also has a lot of amusing routines.  from bed time stories to tucking him in... 

* after a bedtime story or two, he almost always asks for another one. even if you agreed from the start how may stories/books you would read.

* "i want you to pray for me," the words he uses to make you help him with his evening prayers.

* "i want you/mommy to put on my blanket." is self-explanatory.  but mind you, the blanket has to be as straight as a ruler.  

* "bye-bye! good night! see you! have a nice day!" the last words he speaks plus unending number of kisses.  take note, kissing him is different from him kissing you. and there always has to be a flying kiss/es.

lights out!

wait, what's that sound?! *footsteps in the hallway*  uh-oh, it's not over yet.  after all the routines, he suddenly realizes he has to go to toilet and then you have to do again the bye-bye and blanket routine.  repeat these until mommy or daddy gets angry. sigh!  luckily, the number of repeats are getting less and less.

he really used to wee-wee like every 5 minutes. at first we thought he just wanted to make an excuse to get up from the bed. then i got worried and had his piss tested, which luckily was negative for infection. so it was really the former.

but on a funny note, there blanket story that i just have to share. after daddy put him to bed, he still got up and came to me:

karol: mommy, can you please put on my blanket.

mommy: you know how to put on your blanket. so you go back to bed and put it on.

karol: i know. but, i want YOU to put on my blanket.

so, what else can you say to that. *wink*

accidents

the sad part of having a boy is that they get into accidents. about a month ago, he had another chin injury, just about half a year after the first one. he got four stitches this time.  i don't know if i will ever get used to this kind of heartache.  i was not in the emergency room when they were doing the stitches. hubby had to stay with him while i watch the other two piglets.  at that time, i still didn't know they are going to give him stitches, but when i heard him cry, i knew and i almost cried myself.

emotions

i'm not sure if it's being a middle child or being the only son that makes him so emotional.  well, maybe it's both. he's a real cry-baby. he cries about almost everything, from frustration about some toy, to us saying no to what he wants.  well he either cries or throws fits of tantrums.  but then he easily gets placated. you really just have to let him cry things out most of the time and then he's ok.  i just wish he outgrows this stage sooner than later.

oh well, that about sums up my one and only karol.  the sweet, routine-loving, babiest karol. no wonder men are so complicated yet simple... because they start young. :D

the boy who loves toys

a very late post indeed... andy just turned two, that means that karol will be 4 years and 3 months in a few days.

at four years karol hasn't changed much.  he still loves to play cars, trains, and anything with wheels. as expected, he got a lot of cars for his birthday.  the curious boy that he is, not one hour after he received one, he broke the side mirror. and a few more minutes after that, the window broke. i don't know if i will be disappointed with him for breaking his new toy, or just be happy knowing he really plays with his toys.  and when i say really, i mean REALLY.

having three kids, of varying ages and interests, we have lots of toys.  we could open a kindergarten and not ran out of toys even if each child would take home one.  i think one of the most frustrating things to parents is when you buy kids toys but they never really play with them.  well, we never have such problems with karol. it doesn't matter whether it be expensive or cheap, small or big, he is happy. he gets to have a favorite for a day or a week. but then he really plays with all of his, and even her sisters', toys.

whenever he is home, he is always busy taking things in and out of the toy boxes.  changing one car in favor of another. i just know that if he has a new one, it will be the favorite for a few days. but soon after, he goes back to some older toys.  it's a real mystery to me what is his criteria for choosing his toy of the day or the cars/trains he gets to take to his bed.  yes he sleeps with his cars.

lately though, i noticed that he is getting more and more interested with things he can take apart and put back.  he also started to get interested in drawing.  well he needs a lot of improvements on that department. but at last, he can hold a pencil! still, just the thought of it brings tears to my eyes. lol!

well, that's my boy!

photos from august

graham crackers

i use graham crackers for cheesecake crust. it is however very hard to come by here in bratislava. so the last time we were in philippines, i bought a tub of it. for a long time, i haven't made any cheesecakes and so i started giving it to the kids for snacks. it was instant love, specially for karol and andy.

karol used to refer to it as "cookie with holes." so then, i told him they are called graham crackers. earlier today, the biglets woke up before andy. they had cupcakes for snack. the cupcake was too sweet for andy so i figured i'd just give her graham crackers instead. besides, it would be time for dinner soon.

as we were putting on shoes on the way to the mall for dinner, i saw that andy dropped her graham on the carpet. so i picked it up, gave it back to her, and said, "andy, you dropped your graham cracker." karol then interjected, "but that's not a grayham cracker. that's a brownham cracker."

what a smart guy he is! :)

accidents happen :(

been meaning to update this blog for a long time. just never thought it would be on a dreadful note.  our dear karol had an accident yesterday. :(

it was right after the mom and me playgroup gathering. a sort of family day barbecue at zelezna studienka.  it was time to go home and karol was riding his bicycle (the one without pedals).  mommy was looking after alex who fell from her scooter while daddy went off to get the scooter.  karol went ahead on his bike and went sliding down hill.  he could already balance himself but was probably going too fast and fell.  nobody saw what happened. our friends just saw him sitting on the ground, crying, and blood trickling down his chin.

he got some nasty cut on his chin and we brought him to the ER.  it was a horrifying sight.  but by the time i caught up with hubby and karol in the waiting area, he was already calm.  i couldn't believe they kept them waiting. in my mind for sure this required stitches and needed immediate care.  alex had an accident a few months back which required three stitches and karol's was definitely much worse.

finally we just went inside the clinic ahead of the others the moment they called for the next patient. the nurse and doctor were very calm about it.  i didn't understand them, but from the tone of their voice they didn't think it was serious.  no stitches. they instead put lots and lots of strips and covered it with a bandage, then sent us home. he's under observation for 48 hours for concussion.  and the strips should be kept for 10 days.

so far he's doing ok.  he's having a bit of trouble talking and eating. he doesn't have so much pain, but i think he can feel the strain every time he moves his chin.

earlier, i was still feeling worried. i can't shake off the image of seeing his jaw (from the inside). :( so far this is the worst accident we've had with the piglets.  no amount of information from the internet was enough to calm me.  i felt that a bunch of strips are not enough to fix my little boy.  then hubby told me to read about steri-strips.  as it turned out, these are better than stitches.  works like stitches but doesn't scar as much.

so hopefully, after 10 days his chin will be back to normal.  i hope it doesn't scar his sweet little face. sigh!

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i don't want to end this post with a sad face. so here are two of karol's vocabulary antics.

one day we were talking about members of the family.

me: so you see, alex is our daughter and you are our son.
karol: i am not your sun.  i am your moon!

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this morning, he didn't feel like eating.  i knew he likes sweets, so i offered him some banana cupcakes.  at last he agreed and said, "but i want to eat it with comb."  due to his injury, he speaks very softly, afraid to open his mouth fully.  i thought i must have heard him wrongly.  it turns out he meant he wanted it with frosting.  he probably thinks frosting is similar to ice cream.  and now i realized, he calls ice cream a cone and when he says cone (a.k.a. comb) he means ice cream. :D

a family of cars

karol will be having his name's day on the fourth of november. today, we had lunch at dedko's and he got his advance presents. he got an rc car from dedko, and his first ever lego set from tita lucia and tito peter.

at first he didn't want daddy to put batteries on his rc. he really didn't enjoy rc's that much before. he likes to "drive" (karol's own words) his cars on his own. that means pushing it around on the floor. he almost started crying when mommy tricked him into giving the car back to daddy. luckily, the car has flashing lights when activated and he was later on convinced to operate the rc. at last, he was fully enjoying the rc experience.

we only have duplos at home but karol likes playing lego when we visit babka. today he received his very own first lego set (which means we would have to graduate from duplo sooner than planned :D). anyways, as you may have guessed already, it's a set that comes with wheels. he wanted to open the box the moment he got it. naturally, mommy had to convince him not to. he agreed, but didn't let go of the box, not even when we went to cemetery and until we got home. he first had to take a nap. then, as promised the moment he woke up, we built 2 cars and a gasoline station.

one of the lego cars looked like a pick up truck. when i mentioned it to him, he had to run and get his car that looked like the lego car. incidentally, his old car is smaller, so then he explained to me that that one is a "baby car" and the lego is a "daddy car". i was surprised since he usually refers to bigger things as "mommy." apparently, cars are male. or, so i thought! because when i pointed this out to him, he immediately brought the rc and said that that is "mommy car." hihihi!!!

the family of cars

karol's first cinema experience

last friday, mommy took karol for his first cinema experience... cars 2!!! it was a great experience for him; complete with popcorn. i think he ate more popcorn than me and alex combined. :D anyways, karol enjoyed it so much he even wanted to finish the ending credits. unfortunately, alex had to run to toilet. karol only budged when i told him he can watch it at home. good thing i downloaded the movie before hand.

this was taken after the movie. not so happy looking anymore. not even five minutes after the movie, he already picked a fight with alex. geesh! i hope he outgrows this crying stage soon... at least he let me take his picture. :D

Karol turns 3

sorry for the late post. karol turned three, three weeks ago. we just had a simple celebration at home, day after we arrived from the tatras mountains.

hmmm.. how will i describe the three year old karol? he still loves cars and trucks, etc., etc.. and is so makulit. always says no or i don't want to anything and everything. cries about everything which doesn't agree with him. but is still super sweet.

what can i say, being the only boy and the middle child can be difficult. i think he's trying to make a statement. hopefully, this phase will end soon. although most of the time, you can eventually talk him into doing things even if he says no. and eventhough he just repeats what he hears from alex, he knows very well when to use them. he says the funniest things and the things he says makes a lot of sense when he's in a good mood.

anyways, after our tatras trip, i realized he's not into hiking :))) and that it takes him some time to get used to new things. poor karol was forced to hike and live in an unfamiliar hotel. he was so homesick. the moment we arrived home, he run to his room and played with his cars. surprisingly he wasn't cranky even if it was past his bed time. i guess he was just happy to be back home at last.