The 4 year old kid and 100 piece puzzle

Eythen has always amazed me on his ability for detail. He notices your hair if you cut it, purchased a new hat, washed the car or simpy bought a new tube of toothpaste. He notices everything ... right down to the littlest detail. So, needless to say ... puzzles have always been a strong point for him. He has been putting 25 piece puzzles together since he turned 2 and instantly jumped to the 50 and 60 piece puzzle when he turned 3. I did not think he would be doing 100 peice by himself at the age of 4 though ... I must admit. This past week, Eythen had to stay home from preschool because he had strep throat. Luckily, he did not even act sick ... no fever or yucky feeling. He just had a little problem eating solid foods. So, Eythen and I spent 2 days eating ice cream for lunch and stayed in our PJ's all day long. I know what you are thinking ... what a good Mom. Not every Mom that would be willing to stay in her PJ's all day long, eat ice cream for lunch for two days straight!!! I do what I have to do. And if I needed to stay in my PJ's for the day ... so be it. haa haa Anyways ... back to my genius puzzle solving son. After lunch one day ... yes ice cream ... he wanted to put a puzzle together. Unfotunately, all we could find was one of Harleigh's Polly Pocket puzzles ... but it worked ... and he did not seem to mind that it was a girls design. When I pulled it out, I pointed out that it was a hard one and I may need to help him. He looked at me and said "I know this one." Well then ... if my 4 year old says he can do it ... who am I to tell him he can't. I went down the hall to finish putting up a couple of loads of laundry ... and when I came back down the hall ... HE WAS HALF WAY DONE!!! No freaking kidding!!!

Now, I have to point out that Eythen did not do this 100 piece puzzle like most people would. Find all of the outside straight line pieces and put that part together first ... and then fill the middle in. Oh no ... not Eythen! He started from one side of the puzzle and worked his way clear across to the other side. He looked acrefully at each and every piece and if he could tell that it would not fit in the slot that he needed it to ... he put it down ... and grabbed the next one. From left to right ... all the way across ... one piece at a time. All in all ... it took him a total of 32 minutes to put this 100 piece Polly Pocket puzzle together.

I am so darn proud of my little E-Man! A 100 piece puzzle in about 30 minutes at the age of 4!!! Way to go Eythen!!! You are one smart cookie!!!

Oh ... when he was all done there was one stinking piece missing. He instantly said "Oh man! I missing one piece. I bet Lucy ate it!" (Lucy is our dog).