Hi! I’m Fuller! I play wit you? We can play puppets!

This is snail. He smiles and isn’t a bad guy.

Mommy Bird says “tweet! tweet!” Louder! “TWEET! TWEET!”

Baby Bird gets lost from Mommy Bird a lot. Baby Bird doesn’t obey and cries.

Galigator is bad guy. He tries to eat Baby Bird and Mommy Bird. Baby Bird cries. (Fuller Mommy says Baby Bird cries a lot.)

Galigator is green. Green is my favorite color. Mommy’s favorite color is orange. Daddy loves blue.

Ion is bad guy. He stomps on Galigator and Baby Bird and Mommy Bird and Snail.

Spider-Man Puppet is good guy. He gets Galigator and Ion with his webs and sends them to the police. He saves Baby Bird and Mommy Bird and Baby Bird. Baby Bird says “Thank you!” and doesn’t cry.

Come back in my room and I play wit you?

Last night, around 1, I woke to hear Fuller talking in a frantic tone. I heard Damon’s reassuring voice, but really wasn’t sure. Then I thought it was just the TV, so I went to the bathroom for the sixth time. When I came out I realized it really was Fuller and Damon, so I went to investigate.

Apparently Fuller’s alarm clock had been turned on and went off around 1, scaring the poor boy awake. Damon had the situation under control, drying tears, reassuring Fuller it wouldn’t happen again, and putting Fuller back in the land of Nod.

This morning when I went to greet Fuller this morning, he was still fearful and had to recount the entire story for me. I guess now we have to make sure his alarm clock isn’t accidentally set, which will probably come before the goodnight kisses and hugs.

Since VBS is over I can say Thursday (Day 4) was the only day Fuller didn’t fight going to VBS. I’m not sure what excited him on that particular day, but he was happy to get in the car and go. His craft that day was making jewelry. He got to string beads into a necklace and apparently he was very good at it, surprising Amber when Fuller didn’t need any help.

When Damon came home in the evening, Fuller was able to remember a lot more about his morning, sharing details with a smile on his face.

After the struggle of getting Fuller to church, he once again was fine being at VBS. I’m not sure what the hesitation was, but he made it through the week so I was happy.

The final day of VBS had Fuller dancing and making sandals out of carpet samples (which are now part of his dress up box). At the end of the day the kids performed for parents, singing songs and saying their Bible verses. We wrapped up with a cookout and tears from Fuller when we had to leave.

I am so happy Fuller was able to be a part of VBS this year and am even looking forward to next year! Maybe Fuller will too.

If you’re a frequent crumleyBlog reader, you’ll recall our family participated in Free Comic Book Day, back in May. You may also remember that Fuller won $100 worth of free comics for his Speed Racer costume, and that about a month ago, we went back to the store and used Fuller’s winnings to start a very respectable comic book collection (for a 3-year-old).

In one of those comics, Spider-man battles Doctor Octopus. After being read that issue, Fuller developed a fascination with Spider-man’s 8-appendaged nemesis. So much so, that he would sometimes make Mommy or I pretend to be Spider-man so he could do battle as Doctor Octopus.

Since we’ve been trying to steer Fuller towards the virtues of super-heroism, not super-villainy, I was a little unsure of what to do. Ultimately, I decided that occasionally experiencing the world of superheroes from the antagonist’s point of view could be helpful if channeled properly. So, I decided to make Fuller a Doctor Octopus costume.

I drew up a quick list of supplies for Alli to procure from the thrift store and Lowes:

• 1 - child’s backpack
• 1 - adult-sized jacket, lab coat, or dress blazer
• 2 - 6′X1/2″ foam pipe insulation tubes

I knew I’d also need some zip-ties, black electrical tape, and some copper wire, but since I already had those, there was no need for Alli to buy more. (Interesting note: we purposely didn’t tell Fuller about the costume, but as he and Alli were purchasing the pipe insulation, he remarked, “those are Doctor Octopus arms.”)

Alli took photos of the construction and posted them in a new Flickr album, here. With the exception of the jacket (which had to be altered a bit), the construction was very easy and only took about 20 minutes (it took an extra hour to hem the jacket’s sleeves, remove some of the back panel and add slits for the extra arms).

While it’s may not have quite the polish of Rob Cockerham’s Doc Ock costume, Fuller still thinks the world of it. And since you could probably count on one (non-mechanical) hand the number of 3-year-olds who have one, he’s kinda right.

We are still having problems getting Fuller out of the house for VBS in the mornings. But once he is there, all the struggles of the morning (”you need a new shirt…” “please put on your shoes…” no you can’t take Speed Racer…”) were gone.

Some of his morning was spent pretending to catch fish. At least, that is what I figured out from the imaginary fish we brought home from VBS. I think it is still swimming in the “water” in our blue chair. (This brought back a VBS flashback of my own- I think one year we all got goldfish to take home?)

The past two days Fuller has not had an afternoon nap. His quiet time is spent in his room playing all kinds of imaginary games- building cities out of blocks, fixing things with his tools, and racing his cars. It is fine if he doesn’t nap, I just make sure he is in bed at 8 p.m. sharp.

Today however, the activities caught up to him. He played well for about an hour and half, but when I went to get him at 4, he was fast asleep. So he slept for about another hour and woke up with his “Grumpy Fuller” persona. I pretty much counted the seconds until he went to bed this evening.

Fuller started out this morning telling me he didn’t want to go to Vacation Bible School. But since I had to be there, he wasn’t going to win that fight.

He fussed when we got there, but eventually warmed up to the idea of being with his class and moving through the morning fun. He liked the games and snack, but was reluctant to remember anything else that happened.

Apparently during craft time he said to his leader, “I think I hear my mother calling me” and then made motions to come over to my tent where the boat craft was happening. Tomorrow I won’t be sticking around to take pictures, but dropping him off and taking off. Maybe without me being around he might be more interested in what is going on and can give us a better idea of what he is learning.

Today was Fuller’s first day of Vacation Bible School. I was really, really, really excited for him because I have such great memories of VBS. There were songs to learn, verses to memorize, prizes to win, and crafts to make.

Now, I know since Fuller is only 3 1/2, he might not have the most awesome experience I did, but still I was excited for him.

And he just sat there.

Fuller wasn’t sure why were at church on a non-Sunday. And he wasn’t too keen on the whole “singing” aspect since he still equates church going with playing trains. But once he was settled with his group, donned a red bandanna, and got his fingers in some glue, he was pretty happy.

I was able to spend the morning taking pictures and tomorrow I will be in charge of the boat craft. And hopefully Fuller will be thrilled to be there another day.

Fuller is enjoying books more and more. I am enjoying him sitting still more and more. Typically Fuller hears a story read and then requests, “Again! Again!”

I have had to make a small rule that before we read “Again! Again!” for the fifth time, we must find something new on the book shelf. Hopefully something we haven’t read before or within the last twenty-four hours.

Today I introduced him to Peter Rabbit and his adventure in Mr. McGregor’s garden. It was a great break from his Speed Racer book and another round of reading of Goodnight, Moon.

I’m thrilled we have moved into this phase where reading with Mommy or Daddy is an acceptable past time. And I’m thrilled to do it again and again.

Technorati Tags: reading, early childhood

My mom arrived in Chattanooga on Saturday to visit, spend the night, and leave from our airport to spend the week in Texas with my dad. However, she left a house guest to spend the rest of the week with us:

Fuller is loving spending time with Esau. He actually spent about an hour outside today, in the heat, playing with Esau.

But, his love for Esau does not surpass his love for Vieja (my mom). He keeps expecting her to come back any minute; stopping whatever he is doing, asking at any noise, if it’s Vieja returning. What is really funny to me is how Fuller’s little mind is going to be blown when we go to The Lake at the end of the month. Because not only will he get to bask in the attention of Grandma Linda and Grandpa Albert, but Vieja and Grandpa Fred will be there for a few days as well. One little boy with so much attention poured on him, it just can’t be good.

As a kid, I loved superheroes. As an adult, I still love them, only now, I’ve begun passing that love down to Fuller. As our growing digital photo album shows, he’s prone to don various superhero costumes, patrol our house (as well as the sidewalks of the city) for truth, justice, and the American way.

Remembering some of my own imagined exploits as a costumed hero, I often wonder: if I were growing up now, would I be able to transform those ideas into something more than just idle fancy. Sadly, since most of my efforts were devoted to characters owned and trademarked by Marvel Comics, I’d have little chance, if any, of seeing them published or produced commercially. I want Fuller to have the option to do whatever he wants with his superhero creations, so from time-to-time, I’ll promise that some day he and I will make up our own superheroes.

Today, he reminded me of that promise and asked if we could go ahead and get started. Keep in mind that Fuller, is only three, and expecting him to offer anything more than rubber stamp approval to the superhero creative process is unrealistic. So, to get him primed for future para-human brainstorming, I made up a beginner superhero creation curriculum.

To ensure that any superhero Fuller eventually comes up with is more than just a knock-off of Spider-man, Batman, or some other officially licensed character, he’ll first need an understanding of the vast array of super powers. So, I pulled out my old copy of the GURPS: Supers RPG guide book. (FYI: GURPS is a role playing system that can be modified to fit any genre - fantasy, sci-fi, espionage, etc. GURPS: Supers is specifically dedicated to superheroes, and as such, contains a pretty comprehensive list of powers and abilities.) So, to help expand Fuller’s awareness, I told him that each day he reminded me, I’d read him one super power from the book and he and I would play with some of his action figures and have them use the new power.

Today’s power was 360° Vision:

You have a complete 360-degree field of vision. If you know the Karate skill, you can attack foes behind you at no penalty… you suffer no penalties when defending against attacks from the side or rear, and your opponents gain no bonuses when attacking from behind.

A pretty decent power, huh? Well, Fuller thought so… at least he did after I demonstrated how the bad guy couldn’t sneak up on the good guy because he can “see all around”. Soon, Fuller was off in his own world, dodging laser-fire and delivering crushing karate chops. Excelsior.