
AGE 4 (MONTH 12)
JUL 21 – AUG 20 (2019)
TODD SAID…
- “Brave kids are averse to Thanos”
- “You’re correct, mama/dada”
- “Am I correct?”
- “Get!”
- “Break it off!” (he says this instead of ‘knock it off’)
- “But what the hell is this? What the heck does this do, or what?” (while picking up a flash drive)
- “I’m not Mr. Lebowski, you’re Mr. Lebowski. I’m the Dude, so that’s what you call me” (he recited lines from The Big Lebowski movie trailer playing at the beginning of a Pink Panther DVD)
- Eric asked, “What kind of logic is that?” & Todd said, “That’s not a word to say”
SHARK FRENZY
Todd was a chatterbox talking about his shark toy and about taking it to the pool on 8/4. He was non-stop for at least half an hour before I decided to it write down:
- “I think the Great White shark is going to be alive in our pool. I like this GW shark because it’s pretty grey. And we have to be careful of this guy. See, I really, really think he’s going to be alive in our pool. He’s gonna bit your hands. He bitted your mouth. He bitted all of you. Now you’re in his mouth. He ate all of me. He ate all of dada. I’m just kidding. Look at his tail, look. This is really, really going to be alive in our pool, and it will swim on its own and it will open its mouth and close it. Look at the dorsal fin. Let’s see if it sinks or floats. Okay? I think he will sink. How many gills does this GW shark have? I think this is gonna sink. I’m gonna throw him into the deep end and see if he likes it. And let’s dry him off, too, from when we’re getting out of the pool. And look, this is a big one, but not as big as the pool. The pool is bigger than this GW shark. Our pool is huge. Look how big this guy is! Look, look at his tail. This guy is so freaky, from he just bites. Sometimes when he bites it’s really freaky. Right now he’s just watching you guys doing something. He’s pretty big. And this is my idea to put a GW shark in the pool and watch for it. We really have to be careful, mama. So I will be careful, so just chance me.”

HOME ENTERTAINMENT
- In the Sharks library book, he likes the page with the ‘mixed up shark’ (above)
- Building marble run, playing beanbag toss game, playing a game with chess pieces/board
- Building Legos & putting together lots of mixed up figures with weapons/accessories
- Fighting with his Hulk figures in slow motion
- Pretending he’s a cat named ‘Lizzy’ by crawling, jumping on the couch & trying to lick my face (he started doing this after our trip to Ocean Shores)
- He says he’s going to be a scuba diver from when he gets bigger
- He is better than me at Hill Climb Racer now! He likes to take screenshots
- He said:
- “I didn’t appreciate from when you took it out of her hand” (talking about a Lego figure)
- “I got the wrong vehicle” & “I need a new vehicle” (playing Hill Climb Racer)
- “If you watch me you will be a fan of Neon” (playing Hill Climb Racer)

APPLE VALLEY GYMNASTICS
- Open gym (3x)
- He was able to do a full row of monkey bars! (8/5)
- He was able to grasp the bar & hook his legs on the bar; once he flipped all the way around (8/5)
CASHMERE PUMP TRACK
- Eric & Todd went to the pump track while I mountain biked (8/4)
- Swinging at the park & throwing rocks in the river



OTHER FUN ACTIVITIES
- Play date with Lyndsay/Wyatt/Zeke after open gym (7/29)
- TEAMS Learning Center (5x)
- Puddle jumping on a very rainy morning (8/9)
- Library (1x); getting new books & looking at the fish

TRIP TO OCEAN SHORES (WA)
- See post, “Trip to Ocean Shores (July 2019)“
- We drove to there 7/24 & drove home 7/28 (stayed 4 nights)
- Activities:
- BoomShaka trampoline park (7/24, 7/28) [See post]
- Grammie’s house: Building trains at Grammie’s house, playing Hill Climb Racer, loving on the cat (Misty), tearing apart & rebuilding the Lego Jr. fire set, watching American Ninja show then practicing ‘moves’ before bed
- Grammie’s beach: flying the kite, playing in the water, walking in tide pools
- Riding on Globber scooter (7/25)
- Coastal Interpretive Center & Matthew McGee Nature Trail (7/26)
- Damon Point Beach (7/26)
- Swimming @ the Ocean Shore Community Club, Cabana Park pool (7/26, 7/27); Todd’s first jump off a diving board! [See post]
- He got 2 answers on Jeopardy correct (“Great White” & “Thresher Shark”)
- He slept on the inflatable bed & said it was ‘cozy’ (during past visits he slept in the travel tent)
- He loved the ‘sandwich cookies’ (Trader Joe’s Neapolitan Joe Joe)
- Dining out: Carl’s Jr (7/24), Los IV Hermanos (7/27), Pho and Baguette (7/28)

HIKING
- Icicle Gorge Loop (8/11); 4.4 miles
- See post, “Hiking: Icicle Gorge Loop (8/11/19)“
- Highlights were: throwing bread in the water, seeing fishes/water snake/Northern Alligator lizard; throwing rocks in the creek, sitting with Todd on the same log that I sat on when I was pregnant with him

TRIP TO BEND (OR)
- We drove there 8/14 & drove home 8/18 (stayed 4 nights)
- See posts, “Part 1: Trip to Bend (August 2019)” and “Part 2: Trip to Bend (August 2019)”
- Activities: Lego building (Old Fishing Store set), playing at the park, mountain biking, floating the Deschutes River, discovering tadpoles/frogs/fish/snakes at Todd Lake, going on the waterslide & diving board at Juniper Swim and Fitness Center, ‘catching fish’ at Discovery Park
- Birthday party for Eli & Todd (8/17); we had vegan burgers, cupcakes & ice cream
- 5th birthday presents:
- Nana & Grampy: Lego Batman Mech vs. Poison Ivy Mech
- Grandma & Grandpa: Lego creator Deep Sea Creatures, Shark Bite game, Megalodon monster truck, Shark/diver/cage toy set
- Elisa/Eric & Karin’s family: Lego Welcome to Apocalypseburg, small bagged figure
- Dining out: Burgerville (8/14, 8/18); Pacific Pizza & Brew (8/15); Bonta (8/15); Baskin & Robbins (8/16)


FLOATING THE DESCHUTES RIVER
- This was part of our trip to Bend (see above)
- After we got home, he said, “Next time from when we go on the river, we have to go much, much farther, so we can go to South America”



POOL
- Swimming at condo pool (12x)
- He spontaneously decided to try diving from the top step of the ladder in the deep end (See the videos here: “Water Play (July/August 2019)“)
- Friends Charlene/Henry joined us 1x


SLIDEWATERS
- We went to Slidewaters 3x
- See post, “Water Play (July/August 2019)“
- 7/23: Todd rode behind me on #1 big slide twice, then went by himself for the first time!
- 8/2: Todd went by himself on all big slides #1 through #4. He liked #2 & #3 the best because of the tunnels; in the pool he practiced making a shark fin by floating prone & placing hands with palms together over his head
- 8/7: He likes to climb up through the hole in the lazy river inner tube (requires effort but he can do it)

HAIRCUT
- We convinced Todd to get his hair cut by motivating him with a small Lego set that he saw at Fred Meyer. First, Eric buzzed his own hair then he used his clippers on length #6 for Todd.



FOOD NOTES & DINING OUT
- He ate carrot stick & avocado slice when motivated by a ‘sandwich cookie’
- He likes grilled cheez sandwiches made with Daiya shreds
- Dining out: Munchen Haus (8/11) after hiking; Froyo (8/12)
- Eric: “Will you eat some sweet potato?”…Todd: “No”…Eric: “I thought you were going to be 5 tomorrow”…Todd: “I’ll still be 5 even if I don’t eat sweet potato”

MISC
- When he brushes teeth, he takes pretend phone calls [Example: “Hi Boones. I’m getting ready for bed. Are you brushing your teeth? Yeah. Dada already went to bed. Is Jason in bed? Oh!”]
- Most nights he wakes up in the night, then goes to sleep with Eric (he says he gets afraid when he’s alone)
- Couch nap (8/7; after a short day at Slidewaters)
- We met his Kindergarten teacher (8/13)
- He is afraid to ride his peddle bike with training wheels!