Saturday, February 25, 2012

Ode to Zavion on his fifth birthday

In the spirit of those '25 things' lists on Facebook - here is 25 things about Zavion as he turns 5...

(Zavion today in Zanzibar - giving his 'biggest smile')

1. He is hilarious. It's like living with my very own comedian. He loves to use big words (and not always correctly,) likes to make up his own jokes and has a clever, sarcastic, mature-for-his-age sense of humor. Simply put, he cracks me up.

2. He is a master negotiator. To him, everything is negotiable. Usually, these are done cutely and inocuously, but sometimes we can engage in quite a stubborn battle of wills... Again, he's very clever. And did I mention stubborn?

3. He is extremely knowledgeable for his age - be it animals, geography, science, the body, etc. He asks a LOT of questions and actually listens to the answers. He is also always trying to figure stuff out and is very fond of experiments. We can be walking along outside and he'll say, 'Mom, I have a hypothesis...'. And he's not just happy with WHY things are, but wants to know HOW things work. He loves math, puzzles and problem solving. He will probably be an engineer/inventor some day.

4. He's not as into doing creative work. He gets bored after only a few minutes drawing or coloring. He'd rather build things out of the crayons or put them into patterns. Because of this, his fine motor skills could use some work.

5. He's competitive and doesn't like losing. (insert pouty face here.)

6. He is easily distracted and has a hard time holding still. Unless he's watching something...

7. He has become a picky eater of late and doesn't seem interested in eating dinner any more. This has been the subject of our biggest battles recently. And the source of much of the afore-mentioned negotiating.
 
8. He is ambidextrous.
9. He's super sweet and loves to cuddle/snuggle- but this is mostly reserved for mommy. When he's tired/scared, etc., he will rest his head or hand on my trachea because he 'likes to feel the vibration.' He's definitely still a Mama's boy and it sometimes takes him a while to warm up to new adults. But not to kids.

10. His cousins are his best friends. He was lucky enough to live with three of them for stints this year. He is definitely missing them all on his birthday...

11. He talks in his sleep. I can tell when he's dreaming and what he's dreaming about. Last night, it was something about being on Pangea and feeling the crack of the continents breaking apart... Lots of times, it's about someone stealing his food or toys.

12. He's very active and trending towards athletic, but, due to his long, skinny limbs, he's still a bit awkward in the coordination department. He likes to try all sports, but isn't obsessing over any particular one, yet. He does fancy himself quite the karate expert, though. He gets upset when he's not as good as other kids in sports.
 
13. His favorite dance move is the booty spank. He will perform this move any time, any place.

14. Like boys the world over- he thinks that fart, poop and butt jokes are the funniest things ever.

15. His favorite bands are The Beatles and They Might Be Giants. His favorite instrument is the drums.

16. His current obsessions are The Last Airbender, Ben Ten, super heroes and Tuff Puppy.  (Thomas is SO last year.)

17. He loves to collect things. Everytime we are out and about, he collects rocks, sticks, feathers.... and I am always ending up with these things in my pockets, backpack, etc. He has had to leave behind several collections on this trip. Just today, on a 2 hour excursion around Stone Town, he found and brought 'home' a golfball sized mini-melon, a string, a walking stick, a triangle shaped piece of styrofoam that he  named Rubbish Talion Brigham, a hollowed out coconut shell (Rubbish's house,) an arrow-shaped rock, a sword-shaped stick, etc. You get the picture...
 
18. He's a great traveller and an awesome companion. He's been to about 25 countries already, and likes learning about them. He's amazingly adaptable and has been a star (most of the time) on our seven month adventure.

19. He loves animals. Domestic and wild. And he wants a pet.

20. He loves being outdoors - be it the mountains or the beach. He's a pretty decent hiker.

21. When asked what he wants to be when he grows up, he says a  scuba diver, veterinarian or race car driver.

22. Despite the fact that he is Gap-model gorgeous, he doesn't like to be called pretty. He's not a girl, after all. He prefers cute, handsome, or cool.

23. He is still learning how to share.

24. He doesn't like loud noises, though is certainly capable of making them.   

25. He is, without question, the light of my life and the best thing that has ever happened to me. I couldn't imagine life without him.

Happy birthday, sweet boy!!

1 comment:

  1. Tracy you are great mom to Zavion. Your 25 comments sound a lot like how I would describe you. Well... most of them. ;-) It is amazing how we never can imagine how much we can love someone until we have a child. Congratulations to you and Z!

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