Eddie cavity free!

Yesterday was Eddie's dentist appointment. He was really good! Poor kid had to have his bottom teeth scraped though because he had some build up on them. The dentist recommended we pay more attention to brushing close to his gums to prevent the build up from happening again.

They asked us to use the bass technique when brushing:

After they were done scraping, they gave him a mirror to show how much better his teeth looked. Eddie's gums were slightly bleeding from the scraping, so when he looked at the mirror, Eddie immediately had a shocked and worried look on his face. He asked the dental assistant: You mean you tried to take my teeth out?!!!!!!!!! Everyone immediately comforted him and explained why his gums were bleeding. Eddie did not cry at all and was super brave despite being uncomfortable.

Other than that, we are cavity-free!

The two ladies in the office really liked Eddie's way of speaking. They genuinely giggled enjoying his comments, opinions and observations.

One of the ladies even asked if she could take a picture with him.

The dentist asked him: How was school? Boring? 
Eddie said: No. 
Dentist: Was it fun?  
Eddie: It was just a regular day. You know? Just ok.
Dentist: What's your favorite subject?
Eddie: Recess.
He made the dentist laugh.

 

Being a good sport

Eddie has been maturing and it makes me glad to see him growing the way he is. Here is a picture of him this morning on the way to school. He told me that he liked his new clothes because he looked like a grown up. He wants so much to be older.

Lately, though, he has had problems with demonstrating good sportsmanship. As I mentioned in a previous blog, he likes to race me but doesn't want me to let him win. But if I win, he blows up in anger!

A few days ago, we went specifically to run at a park. We warmed up, did a few sprints and then raced. When I beat him the first time, he yelled at me, telling me how much of a bad mother I was for being fast. He said he wished HE  was MY father so that he could make me stop being fast. I tried my best to calm him down, but he wouldn't stop with his rage. He asked to race me again and I reminded him that it was not ok for him to get angry the way he did. I beat him the second time and he blew up again. I had to send ourselves home because he could not stop being a sore loser. Sometimes I wonder where he gets it from. Neither Eddie's dad nor I are as aggressively competitive as Eddie is.

I've thought about how to teach Eddie to manage his competitive rage and finally decided it's time to really educate Eddie on how to train to be a fast runner. I started by teaching him 3 important lessons (to start with-there will be more later.) Below you can see that not only was I telling him, but I also texted them to him so that he can remember. As you can see, Eddie has a sense of humor.

 

The video I sent him is of a cartoon on being a good sport. Eddie actually liked it and watched it several times. I only asked him to watch it once. Here it is in case you want to see it. 

Yesterday, I took him to the park and we did a 2 lap warm up. Then, I made him sprint 5 times and timed each sprint. I made him race against himself and beat his own time. After his sprints, I reminded him to say out loud the good things about his speed even when he was slower than the previous time. One of the good comments he made to himself when he was slower was, "I'm going to be faster in the next sprint!" 

Once he was done sprinting, we raced. He beat me the first time (I wasn't warmed up at that time lol and I did NOT let him win on purpose) When he won and crossed the finish line, he immediately laughed at me and called me a slowpoke. I reminded him that it was NOT ok to call names after winning-That is considered a sore winner. I asked him to apologize and instead give me a compliment. He was confused and congratulated me for losing. I had to remind him that all he had to do was say something nice each time, whether he won or lost.

His compliment to me was "You're fast mom. I thought you were going to beat me." Then, he gave me a high five.

The second time, he won again and gave me another high five. On the third race, we tied and congratulated each other.

I really did not let him win. I was running top speed. 

I am going to keep working on running with him and telling him that it's not ok to be a sore winner or a sore loser. Today we will be visiting his friend Daniel, so before heading there, I will remind him to practice good sportsmanship, as they like to race each other a lot. 

Science center and USC

At the end of the day, I have said time and time again, if Eddie decides he doesn't want to go to college/university, there is nothing I can do about it. I tried pushing my sister into it and it backfired on me. I hope dad, grandparents (and other family) and I can encourage him to go all the way. 

This is the 2nd University he has visited. 

Eddie's first question while walking on campus was "Why do these universities try to copy HARRY POTTER!?"

He loved it when I explained to him about mascots and school colors. He really smiled and compared it to Hogwarts.

Before our tour at USC, I took him to the California Science Center.

Then our trip began to USC. Below is Eddie petting the dog, George Tirebiter.

"This was the nickname initially given to a dog at the University of Southern California in the 1940s who was the unofficial mascot of the school before becoming the official mascot on October 22, 1947. He was famous, or infamous depending on your perspective, for chasing down passing cars and nipping at their wheels. The lovable shaggy mutt quickly endeared himself to the student body. He was pampered by the fraternities and sororities in USC's Greek community, routinely being carried back and forth from campus and being fed ice cream."
Here is a picture of Eddie squeezing the dog's nose as he likes to do to Zero.

Next, we went to the playground nearby (walking distance)

After the playground, was time for fro-yo, as he enjoys.

First day of second grade

Eddie's first day of second grade. He expressed he felt nervous. But once he arrived at school, he was yelling his greetings at his friends, who were walking to school across the street from him. His friends yelled back and waved in excitement. Some of his friends are in the same classroom as he is.

Eddie is 7 and a half years old. He likes to play Mimpi Dreams and My  Singing Monsters on his iPad, he enjoys playing with legos and making lightsabers out of anything he can find. He helps me when I ask him to and does kind things such as hold the door open for me or help me carry heavy things from the garage to upstairs. He likes to race me and asks me, please, not to do what grown ups do and let him win-he asks me to run at my top speed. He doesn't want to cut his hair, so our compromise is that he  has to comb it to one side to get the bangs out of his eyes. He says he wants to go to UCLA so that he can defeat the bad guys "The red team" aka USC. He grew more in the last 6 months, than he did between 6 and 7 years old.

We hope he has a good year!

Eddie's race question

Yesterday Eddie was playing with a little boy at a playground.
When we were heading home, I mentioned to one of my friends that the little boy was Mexican, not like the kids at his school who are Asian. Then, Eddie asks me, "Mom, what am I? I mean, what kind of boy am I?" I've never heard Eddie ask me such a question and to be honest, I didn't want to answer it yet. I changed the subject and he forgot about his question.