A Sunshiny 4!

Neal Hendrix Betz is 4 years old! I could never have imagined this guy or the road he's on. I'm so thankful for him and the light he brings to our family and our world. I feel like he's left toddlerhood firmly behind. He's now my little boy. He has big ideas and expresses them in big ways. He is sure he won't be forgotten. He stakes his claims and defends his territory very well. He's become really flexible and handles disappointment like a champion. He doesn't ask for much, but when he does, it's hard to not give him the world without a second thought.

Happy 4th birthday, Sunshine!

Feeling Blue for Sal and Others

Zane is naturally and strongly empathetic. He often hugs and tells his little brother and all of us how much he loves us. So you might guess he's also very protective.

When reading stories and watching movies, Zane is quick to analyze and report dangerous or distorted ideas. He does it all the time, sometimes to be sarcastic and other times with full seriousness, but I was thinking about it more the other night when reading Blueberries for Sal. It has been a while since reading some books that are always around, so we recently decided to dig back into our upstairs basket full of childhood books. 

As we were reading, Zane kept calling out instances that would not be deemed okay parenting by today's worldly ideas and commands. And like with most times he does this, I had to explain why it might be okay in some circumstances and maybe not okay in others.

While reading about Sal just eating the blueberries in the field, Zane interrupted the story to announce: "They didn't wash the blueberries first?!"

And as Sal's mother moved along and away to pick her own blueberries for canning, Zane exclaimed "I can't believe the mom would just leave a baby . . . toddler alone like that!"

Zane wasn't trying to be funny, although I chuckled as discreetly as I could.

A Peculiar Pal

He can be so very silly. His name is so fitting because he's so zany. Is it him living up to his name or is it purely coincidental that his name matches his personality? Who knows but I do know he'll always be remembered as amusingly unconventional and idiosyncratic.

His friends, teachers and coaches always note just how funny he is. He comes home with at least one note but more like several notes every week pointing out just how funny he is. Sometimes I think he feels he has to continue to live up to an expectation, always striving to be even funnier than moments before and sometimes forgetting when to stop. :-)

Valentines Day 2020

 Hendrix enjoyed reading his cards.

Zane can't believe his Mom would sign her card with so many XOs. :-)

And Vanessa technically had her first Valentine date ever! 😲😲😲 I won't get into how sweet and sappy it was. But they were chaperoned and had a lovely time.

And I'm pretty sure Zane determines his Valentine Day box based on getting to use certain things all on his own. He really wanted to spray something with the leftover spray paint we had. He was going to just leave it all black. I suggested he check out the sticker drawer in case he would like to add a little more. And when he got home from school, he cut off the top of his "box" to sort and read all of his Valentines, and then he explained " See. Now it can be a trashcan on my desk for my candy wrappers." He's such a naturally frugal and creative guy! 

Kylo Ren Breaks the Ice

When the Star Wars characters started making rounds at Vanessa's state competition, Zane was excited but also a little nervous with a bunch of costumed characters for which he couldn't see the real person behind the mask. He refused to get close enough to take a picture with any, pointing out "Mom, remember I've never liked people in costumes." So to respect that, I stopped nagging him to take a picture.

After a short while, Zane pulled on my arm to say he could finally see Kylo Ren. I took the opportunity to ask again if he would like a picture, and with a slight hesitation, he agreed. :-) After that, Zane was like "Okay, if I can take a picture with Kylo Ren, I can take a picture with any of them! He heard that we would have another photo op at 2:30, between robot rounds, so we made it a point. I'm so excited Zane stepped outside of his comfort zone! He was glowing the rest of the afternoon.

And guess what, it was purely coincidental that Zane wore a Star Wars shirt and socks. This crew noticed!! It was meant to be. :-)

Mechanical Masterminds 2019/2020

From Grand Champions at Regionals, the Core Values Award at Districts to another opportunity to go to State, the Mechanical Masterminds have had an amazing season for a ton of growth and incredible ideas.

Building His Way

He builds with LEGOs a lot. He builds on Minecraft a lot. He builds with just about anything. So far Hendrix is proving that he is the biggest homebody of all of us in this Betz Household. I'll offer to take him to toddler theater, to open gym, to the library. . . and he often replies "No, thank you. Not today. I want to go back home." Or sometimes if he's sort of interested he'll respond "We can go in 2 minutes."

I figure we still have a little time to push him out of his comfort zone a little more than I already do, to become more comfortable at events like I mentioned above, but I'm just so very intrigued by just how content he is when doing his own thing. So far I'm guessing he's technically more introverted than extroverted. He doesn't like large groups of people. When at big events he likes to remove himself from front and center and basically insists on it.

But he loves to go on outdoor adventures with family and friends and loves to run errands and go household shopping. He doesn't throw tantrums at the store and rarely asks for anything. He helps load the cart and unload the cart. He likes talking about all the things at the store, and when I place something in the cart he thinks we can go without, he will say "Mom, we don't need that. It's fifty thousand dollars." :-)

He asked to go back to a hotel to sleep for just the night -- I told him we have to pay money each time we stay at a hotel, so we'll wait till next time. "But Mom, there is monies in the cabinet in the kitchen." Yes, that's true, there is change we collect in the cabinet, but we're saving that for other stuff, like toy machines and toddler theater and . . . :-)

I feel very blessed that we're able to allow me to nurture him at home, based on his personality and preferences -- it makes his desire and ability to learn so much richer when he feels comfortable, for sure.