What's that sound?? Oh, it's silence! Drew is out with Lee, and Tucker and Connor are both napping, though for how long I'm not sure. What to dooooo? There's cleaning to be done, Christmas shopping to prepare for, a dishwasher to unstack, laundry to fold. I think I'll blog instead.
It's been a busy and mostly positive fall here. Drew turned four and has lost a lot of the worst parts of being three already. Unfortunately, he's also lost naps, which makes our weekends a lot harder because we realized we relied on those naps for our own sanity! Luckily, we can still bribe him with quiet time in his room or a video in ours. He's growing like a weed, totally hilarious, and loves just about everything and everyone. He's been in swimming class and he's doing a fantastic job. I'm so proud of him.
Tucker has finally stopped fighting us and started using words! It's still hard to get him to eat dinner, but we've started bribing him with cubes of bread (his favorite food) and it's working, so we're good with that. He's really super funny, tries to make jokes with us even though we've only heard one or two sentences (both declarative) from him. The one I got was, "Put that back!" For the record, I did not.
Connor may be growing faster than the other two boys combined! We've finally found a great additive for his food to bulk up his weight, and it is working! He's getting tall (up past my bellybutton now) and adding pounds. We adjusted his medications again this fall, and fingers crossed, but it's working pretty nicely so far. Only a very few breakthroughs, which is a far cry from the every five nights that was prior to the medication change. He continues to love school, and we love getting good reports. He has a very special friend, Emma, who just loves playing with Connor. We got a great message from his teacher one day telling us that they played a game together where Connor was laid out on his back on the mats in the room, and Emma got big cardboard blocks out and built a tower on his stomach. Then Connor rolled over to knock the tower down, and he smiled and she laughed. They did it over and over again. I honestly thought for a very long time that Connor wouldn't really have any friends, and it's possibly the best way ever to be proven wrong.
Okay, I'm hearing Tucker playing in his crib, which means I should at least get the clean dishes out of the dishwasher before I bring him downstairs for a snack and the usual destruction of order.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Swimming
This year, we finally managed to get Drew into a swimming class. He's done water babies and other toddler classes, but this is his first all alone in the pool class. I mean, there's a teacher, classmates, etc. Just no mom or dad. At first it scared me, but now I'm so proud. He is
a little afraid, but keeps trying. I wish I'd been more into swimming as a child. I'm nervous in water now as an adult, and as such will miss things with my kids since it's likely that Drew and Tucker will both be outswimming me within the next 4 years.
As of tonight, Drew can go underwater and blow bubbles, and crab walk along a wall, and kick around while using a floaty dumbbell. He still refuses to jump in. Oh, and he can float on his back and have a rubber duckie on his forehead for at least 5 seconds.
It's like parenting in a microcosm. Carry them in, help them stay afloat. Teach them to close their eyes and their mouths, to keep water out. One day, you have to let them in the water by themselves, and sit in the bleachers on your hands trying to keep from leaping in, fully dressed in non-pool-friendly gear, and holding them to your chest so that they don't forget that you support them and will protect them from everything.
Oh, swimming lessons are hard on a Mommy.
a little afraid, but keeps trying. I wish I'd been more into swimming as a child. I'm nervous in water now as an adult, and as such will miss things with my kids since it's likely that Drew and Tucker will both be outswimming me within the next 4 years.
As of tonight, Drew can go underwater and blow bubbles, and crab walk along a wall, and kick around while using a floaty dumbbell. He still refuses to jump in. Oh, and he can float on his back and have a rubber duckie on his forehead for at least 5 seconds.
It's like parenting in a microcosm. Carry them in, help them stay afloat. Teach them to close their eyes and their mouths, to keep water out. One day, you have to let them in the water by themselves, and sit in the bleachers on your hands trying to keep from leaping in, fully dressed in non-pool-friendly gear, and holding them to your chest so that they don't forget that you support them and will protect them from everything.
Oh, swimming lessons are hard on a Mommy.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
More milestones
Connor has lost his first tooth. It was actually his first two, and we are pretty sure he knocked them out himself!
Connor's lower front teeth were loose, for a few weeks. We'd been on daily alert to check them and see how close they were to coming out. With his strong bite reflex, retrieving a lost tooth from inside his mouth was going to be challenging. One fine morning, I saw that they were really, really loose, and wrote a note to his teacher and sent a baggie in with his school stuff in case he lost them and she could get them safely.
I arrived home from work, and they were gone! Both had fallen out! Christy said to me, "They were gone when he got off the bus. No blood, though." I raced over to his stroller and backpack, and there was nothing in it. Not even his notebook! They'd been so excited they'd forgotten to include it, I figured.
The plot thickened the next day - his teacher had no idea that he's lost his teeth.
So the only thing we can figure is that he lost them on the school bus home, and that either they were swallowed, or are rolling around on the floor of the bus, never to be left for the tooth fairy in the traditional way. Luckily for us, it did not seem to be very traumatic for him, and his top teeth are already loose we'll try again with the next one. Or ones.
Connor's lower front teeth were loose, for a few weeks. We'd been on daily alert to check them and see how close they were to coming out. With his strong bite reflex, retrieving a lost tooth from inside his mouth was going to be challenging. One fine morning, I saw that they were really, really loose, and wrote a note to his teacher and sent a baggie in with his school stuff in case he lost them and she could get them safely.
I arrived home from work, and they were gone! Both had fallen out! Christy said to me, "They were gone when he got off the bus. No blood, though." I raced over to his stroller and backpack, and there was nothing in it. Not even his notebook! They'd been so excited they'd forgotten to include it, I figured.
The plot thickened the next day - his teacher had no idea that he's lost his teeth.
So the only thing we can figure is that he lost them on the school bus home, and that either they were swallowed, or are rolling around on the floor of the bus, never to be left for the tooth fairy in the traditional way. Luckily for us, it did not seem to be very traumatic for him, and his top teeth are already loose we'll try again with the next one. Or ones.
Old School Video
Wandering in our photos today looking for a family picture (which I can't find) I did find this video from November 2005. Connor giggles a LOT in it. And when he's been having such a hard time lately, despite his happiness that school has started again, it makes me smile. Hope it makes you smile too. Have a great Sunday, all.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Milestones...
So this week, two very big things happened.
Thing 1: Connor's chair arrived. It was supremely unexpected, and the best surprise I've ever had. It's smooth and he is so comfortable in it - it's the BEST!!! I've already rhapsodized about it but it deserves daily adoration. I looooooooooooooooooooooove Connor's new chair!!
Thing 2: You know how you spend months trying to build up your young child's confidence in toilet training? You know how one of your prouder moments as a parent is when your child finally toilets properly, and you can see the end of diapers as you know it? I hear it's a beautiful thing. Drew has been making real progress lately, and I'm super proud of him. However, tonight we reached a pinnacle I had just not ever imagined. We had friends over for pizza tonight, and after dinner we were sitting on the deck while Drew and his friends ran around playing in the yard. It was lovely and peaceful, and then. Then...then Drew came up to me on the deck and said, "Mommy, I pooped behind the tree." We all laughed, and I said I think he meant peed. He walked me over to the tree on the other side of the yard. No. He had, in fact, pooped on the yard. We got him cleaned up (it didn't take much - he was very proud) and got a plastic bag to put it in the garbage.
Really. Really? Drew goes from diapers to dog-toileting?
I led him back inside and we talked about the fact that he did a great job not going in his pants, but that next time, he should come inside quickly and use the toilet. Because then he gets his Thomas bribe-toys.
Thing 1: Connor's chair arrived. It was supremely unexpected, and the best surprise I've ever had. It's smooth and he is so comfortable in it - it's the BEST!!! I've already rhapsodized about it but it deserves daily adoration. I looooooooooooooooooooooove Connor's new chair!!
Thing 2: You know how you spend months trying to build up your young child's confidence in toilet training? You know how one of your prouder moments as a parent is when your child finally toilets properly, and you can see the end of diapers as you know it? I hear it's a beautiful thing. Drew has been making real progress lately, and I'm super proud of him. However, tonight we reached a pinnacle I had just not ever imagined. We had friends over for pizza tonight, and after dinner we were sitting on the deck while Drew and his friends ran around playing in the yard. It was lovely and peaceful, and then. Then...then Drew came up to me on the deck and said, "Mommy, I pooped behind the tree." We all laughed, and I said I think he meant peed. He walked me over to the tree on the other side of the yard. No. He had, in fact, pooped on the yard. We got him cleaned up (it didn't take much - he was very proud) and got a plastic bag to put it in the garbage.
Really. Really? Drew goes from diapers to dog-toileting?
I led him back inside and we talked about the fact that he did a great job not going in his pants, but that next time, he should come inside quickly and use the toilet. Because then he gets his Thomas bribe-toys.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Words
Sometimes, I forget about words. I forget about how they are a building block for everything. You would think this would not be a problem for me, 'cause I like words. I've been overusing them since a very young age.
Tucker has started using some words. His current favorites are "uh-oh!" and "Dad-deeeeeeee" which applies to most of us. We're all Daddy, apparently, to him.
This morning, though, a really interesting and exciting thing happened. Lee and I got Connor and Drew downstairs, and while I was getting the coffee made (and the milks warmed up) Connor was sitting in his chair ya-ya-ing in his usual way. I couldn't really hear him over the whirr and chunk of the coffee grinder. Drew, however, was right by him, and he jumped up and exclaimed (really - that's the perfect word for this!) "He said words, Mommy! He said, `Oh, yeah!' He said it!"
Drew was delighted that Connor has said words. We have spoken with Drew a few times about how Connor communicates without using regular words, and in his own way he seems to understand. But his unbridled excitement that his big brother had learned something was a great way to start a week. Of course, logically I know that Connor wasn't deliberately using language, and that's all right because it's what I know I can expect. If I could bottle the best of Drew, this would be in there. He loves Connor so much that he tells us at least two times a week now that he wishes he still shared a room with him. He never asks to share a room with Tucker. Well, not yet.
These little boys. They just fill up my heart.
Tucker has started using some words. His current favorites are "uh-oh!" and "Dad-deeeeeeee" which applies to most of us. We're all Daddy, apparently, to him.
This morning, though, a really interesting and exciting thing happened. Lee and I got Connor and Drew downstairs, and while I was getting the coffee made (and the milks warmed up) Connor was sitting in his chair ya-ya-ing in his usual way. I couldn't really hear him over the whirr and chunk of the coffee grinder. Drew, however, was right by him, and he jumped up and exclaimed (really - that's the perfect word for this!) "He said words, Mommy! He said, `Oh, yeah!' He said it!"
Drew was delighted that Connor has said words. We have spoken with Drew a few times about how Connor communicates without using regular words, and in his own way he seems to understand. But his unbridled excitement that his big brother had learned something was a great way to start a week. Of course, logically I know that Connor wasn't deliberately using language, and that's all right because it's what I know I can expect. If I could bottle the best of Drew, this would be in there. He loves Connor so much that he tells us at least two times a week now that he wishes he still shared a room with him. He never asks to share a room with Tucker. Well, not yet.
These little boys. They just fill up my heart.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
A little crack in a little heart
Last night, our routine was unroutinely interrupted. On most nights, Drew and I read with Tucker, then with Connor, then just the two of us together in his room. Some nights, Tucker is already asleep by the time baths are complete, like last night. So into Connor's room we went to read his library book from school, named "Harry the Dirty Dog". We've read this book 5 times already, once each night (one night Connor was asleep, so we just read in Drew's room). I don't remember this book from my childhood, but it's obviously old enough that I could have read it as a small one. In the book, Harry, a white dog with black spots, hears the bath running and doesn't want to be bathed, so he buries the scrubbing brush and runs away from home for the day to play around town. During the course of the day, he gets so dirty, he becomes a black dog with white spots. Drew thinks this is very funny. At the end of the day, he goes back home and the family wonders who the new dog is, and where their Harry has gotten off to. Well, he does his tricks to show them that he's Harry, including "playing dead".
Last night, Drew stopped me on that page, saying, "What's that?"
"What, honey?" I hedged, dreading the worst.
"What's dead?" he replied. I have arrived unexpectedly at...the worst.
"Huh. Well, that's hard to explain," I said, my mind spinning as I tried to find an easy, non-upsetting explanation of `dead'. Guess what? I came up emtpy. So I plowed on, "Well, dead is when you aren't alive any more. Right now, you and Mommy and Connor and Daddy and Tucker, we're all alive and we get to be together and play together. When you are dead, you don't get to play or be with someone any more." He sat there, a stoic expression on his face, and looked at me very hard. I waited a minute, collected myself, and said, "Are you okay, honey? Do you want to ask Mommy something?" He said no. I asked if we should keep reading. He said yes. We finished the book, and said good-night to Connor.
When I was about to tuck him in, the waterworks started, but he couldn't tell me what was making him cry. I am SURE it was the conversation we had about what "dead" is. The fact is, it's likely Drew and Tucker will learn about dead earlier than some of their compatriots. Actually, what's likely is that I will feel a compulsion to prepare them for death, since it's entirely possible that Connor will not live as long as I do. This has fostered in me a desperate desire to keep them from knowing about death. My preferred language has been to use "not alive" in place of "dead" - sure, it's a hairsplit but one that made me more comfortable.
This morning, Drew woke up upset still. In a way, I hate that I was a party to the first hard thing he tried to learn. He's a very emotional young boy and I don't want to encourage him to tamp down those emotions. Genetically speaking, he's a little hosed. I am surprisingly sentimental, and Lee is at times hyperbolically emotional.
At the same time, I would have hated myself if I wasn't there with him for his first major emotional lesson. I want him to know every day that we will always be there together.
Last night, Drew stopped me on that page, saying, "What's that?"
"What, honey?" I hedged, dreading the worst.
"What's dead?" he replied. I have arrived unexpectedly at...the worst.
"Huh. Well, that's hard to explain," I said, my mind spinning as I tried to find an easy, non-upsetting explanation of `dead'. Guess what? I came up emtpy. So I plowed on, "Well, dead is when you aren't alive any more. Right now, you and Mommy and Connor and Daddy and Tucker, we're all alive and we get to be together and play together. When you are dead, you don't get to play or be with someone any more." He sat there, a stoic expression on his face, and looked at me very hard. I waited a minute, collected myself, and said, "Are you okay, honey? Do you want to ask Mommy something?" He said no. I asked if we should keep reading. He said yes. We finished the book, and said good-night to Connor.
When I was about to tuck him in, the waterworks started, but he couldn't tell me what was making him cry. I am SURE it was the conversation we had about what "dead" is. The fact is, it's likely Drew and Tucker will learn about dead earlier than some of their compatriots. Actually, what's likely is that I will feel a compulsion to prepare them for death, since it's entirely possible that Connor will not live as long as I do. This has fostered in me a desperate desire to keep them from knowing about death. My preferred language has been to use "not alive" in place of "dead" - sure, it's a hairsplit but one that made me more comfortable.
This morning, Drew woke up upset still. In a way, I hate that I was a party to the first hard thing he tried to learn. He's a very emotional young boy and I don't want to encourage him to tamp down those emotions. Genetically speaking, he's a little hosed. I am surprisingly sentimental, and Lee is at times hyperbolically emotional.
At the same time, I would have hated myself if I wasn't there with him for his first major emotional lesson. I want him to know every day that we will always be there together.
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