asa poops turns 4

Ah, Asa.  I sure do love this kid.  He's quite the character that brings a lot of joy to our family... a little madness at times, but mostly joy :).  Here's my list for my four year old, Asa:

1.  He is LOV. A. BLE!  He has such sweetness about him that it's quite easy to be smitten with him.  Even his dear preschool teachers seem to have a special place in the hearts for him.  His laughter makes you laugh and his smile makes you smile.  He's contagious.

2.  BUT, he can sure be a little stink!  When he's in the mood to antagonize, disobey, or be naughty, he can sure drive us nuts.  Especially, when he's laughing about it the whole time.  Like I said, he's a character!

3.  He is very affectionate.  Luke doesn't particularly appreciate this about Asa.  Which is interesting, because Luke is very touchy feely himself.  But, Asa wants all of his family to receive equal amounts of his affection so he forces it on Luke.  If he doesn't hug and kiss his big brothers before they leave to school, I have to spend the next five minutes consoling his tender heart.  If you are upset with him, or show any frustration with his stubbornness, he will insist on hugging you before he can proceed to receiving a consequence or correction.

4.  He is SO SLOW!  Eating, dressing, getting in the car, pooping, telling a story... it all requires a lot of patience... and planning ahead.  Part of it is that he obviously has no sense of urgency (even when I'm laying on the pressure thick) and part of it is he has to do things on his terms (which means the pressure I apply just works against me).  I'm not sure why I still pray for patience.  It's apparent that I have been given the perfect little being to teach me patience in abundance.  I guess I didn't expect to have to work for it so hard :).  I do feel like I am doing much better with this though and I'm pretty sure if I keep it up, I will technically be considered a saint by the time he is 18 yrs old.

5.  He thinks he has to plant any and every seed that he comes across.  If he eats an apple, he saves the seeds.  If I cut up veggies, he'll dig through and save the seeds.  Any seed he may spy outside, he saves.  Then he puts them in a baggy (he puts EVERYTHING in baggies) and saves it for the right time to plant them.  I guess he is just copying me - I have saved a variety of seeds from plants and stick them in a baggy... he just takes it to a whole new level.

6.  He also insists on collecting just about every rock or leaf that he crosses paths with.  I know this is a kid thing, but he borders on compulsion.  Unfortunately, I'm not the best pocket checker and so I end up washing about 5 lbs of rocks every time I do laundry.

7.  Something that I hear from him on a daily basis is, "You're my best mom."  Which is good.  My self esteem might take a hit if his other mom moves to #1.  You know what's sad?  I take these little sayings for granted.  Sweet things that my say every day.  Will I notice the day that I don't hear it anymore?  I need to appreciate it while it lasts.

8.  So, my kids like me to sing them a song when I tuck them in at night.  We have our usual's:  "You Are My Sunshine", "Please Think Of Me", "Rock-a-bye, Don't You Cry", "I Am A Child Of God"...  but Asa always wants me to make up songs for him.  And, he usually wants them to be about skeletons, eyeballs, or creep crawlies.  I'm definitely not a song writer, so it can be pretty challenging.  Luckily, he's pretty easy to please though - it doesn't need to make any sense to make him happy.

9.  He talks SO MUCH!  He always has something to say, and he is always saying it.  Words always seem to be pouring from his mouth, kind of like a river - always running.  Whether you can actually understand him half the time is another story.  He has some speech issues that can make him  hard to understand, but hopefully we're making progress.  Interestingly, he goes to a speech class and his teachers have said that he doesn't talk much.  He's definitely not a shy kid, so I find that fact interesting. Oh, to be a fly on the wall.

10.  Asa is a happy, easy going spirit.  He wants to play, tag along with his big brothers, and occasionally be told how big he is getting.  He loves his family and will be friends with literally any body who is willing to play with him.   I feel so blessed to have him in our family and I'm grateful for all the lessons this loving little man is teaching me.