These are a few of Oak’s favorite things.
I Wish You More by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld. This was gifted to us in the years we waited for Oak, and he absolutely loves it. We read it every night before bed, and some days a few more times. He has different motions for the pages and it still melts my heart even when I’ve seen it every day for weeks now.
Cinnamon rolls. A true Flour & Flowers classic, a Blunier family tradition become a Spurlock tradition! This was his first, and he loved it. This morning we had let dad sleep in a bit, I made eggs for Oak & I, then pulled a pan of cinnamon rolls out of the oven. He immediately ran off, “DAD! DAD!”
Music. Oak is showing us how much he loves music, asking for it to be playing by bringing us a little bluetooth speaker or asking for drums. He also does the “Wheels on the Bus” motions to tell us he wants music or Stephen to play the guitar. He loves to drum with dad & play cajon by himself. He’ll often ask for Dad to play the guitar for him, and this week Oak sat for about twenty minutes while Kyaw Gee played for him.
The Burmese alphabet poster, laminated. It can be rolled and unrolled, or simply carted around from place to place. What better toy could one ask for?
Fake sleeping. He does this most often in his car seat, when we tell him not to fall asleep on the way home, but he generally thinks its fun any place and any time, to pretend to sleep while smiling broadly.
Mister Rogers. This might be because it’s the only thing we’ve let him watch on a screen, but we’ve just started last week watching an episode on Sunday night as a family. He giggles with glee, answers the questions, and stares in awe. (I think he’s heroic, too, Oak!) It’s become a fun family activity, once with a chocolate at the end and once with hot chocolate after a rainy bike ride. (We’ve only done it twice, so…that’s it so far!)
Being outside. He loves being outside any way he can get there: whether we’re visiting the neighbors’ pigs and chickens, going for a bike ride, swimming, or riding in the jogging stroller while I run. He will ask and ask and ask to go outside, pointing to every thing that will get him there! It’s been a great way to get time with him, get our exercise in, and also just get some introverted time for all of us. He seems very extroverted, but still seems to reach a limit in the community, when he just wants to sit by himself. Each of us on a tandem bike seat works great for this 🙂
Cleaning. He loves to “help” out, particularly with sweeping, dishes, cooking, and stacking chairs. (We live in a country where most chairs and stools are both light-weight plastic and stackable: at church, at restaurants, and in our house. He likes to ask you to get up so he can stack your chair.)
The scrubber brush. I bought a new dish scrubber for Stephen’s “coffee bar” (that sounds far too Pinterest-y for the coffee|makeup|laundry|tools combo that cupboard is) a few weeks ago, and he loved it right when I pulled it off the shelf. He held it through the store and checkout, on the car ride home, and then went right to the scissors to ask me to cut the tag off. He held onto it for most of the day, prompting me to buy him another the next week on our store trip. He then took it around town with us through the week and it went with us on our road trip to visit friends! I think he’s genuinely using it to “clean.” He had it with him when we walked into a used wood shop in the market–with dirt floors and dirt-covered wood everywhere–at which point he handed it to me and pointed, as if to say, “You help on this one.”
Ice. It’s one of his favorite snacks.
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These are a few of our favorite things.
Cardigans and long pants. Maybe it’s because we spend every day in shorts and t-shirts, but the cardigans and pants are just too much. The cardi in particular just makes me think we’ll be the best of friends.
“One!” It started over meals: we do a one-one deal at most meals to make sure he’s getting proteins and vegetables. One piece of chicken, then one piece of fruit; or one bite of vegetables, then one bite of bread. Really I just pick whatever his favorite thing is (sometimes ice or soup broth, even) and make that the reward for whatever I’d like him to eat! We also have a system with naps: since we need him to be able to nap anywhere depending on our days, we give him a snack-size bag of his favorite little chocolate koala snacks. He gets one before going to sleep, then the rest of the little pack when he wakes up. Its been working well, so that he has the one and then tries to sleep, which is enough if he’s tired! And now–my favorite part–he says, “One!” when he sees the bag of snacks or his ready for his reward bite; whenever. It’s adorable.
Kisses. He gives so many kisses, particularly in the morning and evening. Its his primary way to be affectionate, and it’s so very sweet.
“Bye!” This is his favorite word and so very common. He says bye to most the people we pass in stores, the cars that pass us, and sometimes when we leave the room. He says bye when he goes to sleep, which is adorable.
His first time to watch Mister Rogers. Last Sunday we watched our first episode, and it was just amazing. He wore his cardigan, and he just laughed and laughed. He was so enthralled and responsive.
Belly laughs. When he really, truly thinks something is funny, he just rolls with laughter. The easiest way to do this is jokes about where people sleep. If he lays down in mom’s spot or dad’s spot and closes his eyes, he’s laugh uncontrollably. He had a tent for the first few weeks as we were traveling, and every night he’d tell us to get in it–then roll with laughter when we didn’t fit. Every night. Same routine. Same belly laugh. Same silly parents going along with it because they just can’t get enough!
