Wanna go out and play

Me: I'm tired Peanut, I don't wanna go upstairs and vacuum.
Peanut: Come up!

You know, when it's his first time saying a new phrase, you sit up and do what you're told ;)

Slowly but surely hearing more words out of him. More slowly then surely, but it's happening. I can get him to repeat some words with taunting him with the spray bottle. Like 'Momma is cool' then he gets sprayed in the face.

We also played Hide and Go Seek the other day, he loved that a lot. I wanted to try Red Light Green Light, but I forgot to try that this morning, and it's best to do that with two parents.

So what's been going on? Yesterday, I drew some cows and cut out some spots, we've had fun putting the spots on the cows. I got him to say 'banana cookie'. Boi valiantly attempted to corral him while I did some work. One of the things, and I know I've said this before, but one of our issues I think we're having is we don't treat Peanut like a 'big boy' we treat him like a toddler. And he's not anymore, he's capable of doing a lot more then we currently ask of him.

Somethings are tough. Like yesterday morning Boi got frustrated because Peanut wouldn't pull his pants down. I intervened, and said it was ok for us to do it for him, because it was early and Peanut was waking up. And I do stand by that. However we should expect him to do it when he's more awake later on in the day, and I shouldn't just jump to do it to speed things up. A learning process for us all. I expect Peanut to get his own plate/bowl and fork/spoon. I expect him to leave his milk on the table, and if he spills, to clean it up.

So then why don't I expect him to clean up other messes, why does it have to be just milk spills? Why can't he get other things for himself, like clothes? Ok, it's hard for him to get shirts out of the closet, but I could tell him to go grab his own underwear out of the drawer. And then lift him up so he can select a shirt.

I need to be more awake in the morning, to start the day off right, instead of just turning on the TV and sleepily figuring out where the caffeine is. Going to bed earlier won't be easy... it's kind of a huge lifestyle change. But I can't get Peanut to go to bed later - we've been trying, he refuses to sleep past 7-8. Usually 7. So until that changes... I suppose I need to just change and get to bed BY midnight.

Last night I also sent in my resume to a local company, and they responded positively to it this morning. KMFX that we can work out something good for everyone. I don't have a lot of details, but it could turn out to be something great. It'll also get me out of the house a little, which I think I really really need.

Also this morning, Peanut came up to me, said, "Hello." I said hello back. He held up his milk and said "Cow Moo." and walked away. It was so very pleasing!

After All Day...

After a day of a high strung child, yelling and screaming about eating, about using the potty, about waking up from his nap, about not getting his way, about only letting him eat 700 million raisins. Running around the room at a million miles per hour, desperate to pin him to get on his nighttime diaper, never mind his pajamas. Struggling to get his freshly cleaned sheets on the bed, to help get the sickness out of the house.

Then choosing to run up and down the bed instead of sitting down to listen to a story. We give up and tell him that we aren't going to read anything more. Shut his beloved Froggy book. Of course he SCREAMS! It's his way or no way! I wrestle the boy up in my tired arms and haul him onto the rocking chair. He struggles as I sing a few bars, and as Daddy gets his quilt adjusted on the bed. Then the lights turn off.

The past few nights I've done something different. Stories didn't fully calm him down. Me hanging out with him for awhile after didn't either. So a few nights ago, I started just holding and rocking him for awhile before laying him down in bed. And with the lights off, the stars on his ceiling glow. So far every night I've managed to tell him a different story. I've got the lights mapped out in my head. The corner by the tree is Sir Topham Hatt. Percy's drives down by the door. Thomas is of course right above his head. Tonight, Percy had an exciting day delivering mail, and as he parked next to Thomas, he asked him about his day. Thomas said he spent the day at the wharf having Cranky put Jobi logs on his flatbeds. They were going to rebuild their sheds, and add one more slot for a new train.

Can you guess what that train was called? Logan train! Thomas heard he was the greenest and most helpful engine from his home island. Percy is shocked and scared, another green engine? But Thomas assures him that he's also the kindest. Then Percy closes his eyes, and Thomas gets sleepy. Then I tell Peanut that he gets to go to bed with the trains too, and if he's quiet and listens carefully, he might hear Thomas's whistle (you never know if a train is going to go by, right???).

Every night it's worked. I close the door, and he doesn't leave his bed, he just lies there like a sweet little boy. That makes the whole day worth it. Knowing no matter what, for now at least, I have the key to getting him to go calmly to sleep.

We're getting a bit more healthy. We enjoyed the day with Boi. We enjoyed making a journey of the stressful day. And we're going to do our best to enjoy our next journey. Boi is going to be home more, things at his job are getting messed up. It's going to be tough financially, it's likely going to be extra tough on him to keep positive, but we're going to have him home with us, and we are going to love every extra second we get with him.

Flu!

Ok, first of all, I think I solved the image issue. Stupid Google and they're need to integrate all their products.

So yeah, Friday night, Boi started feeling sick, it's flu. Two days later I started feeling like crap. The next morning, Peanut is obviously off his game. It seems that Peanut got over his fast though, he seemed better today while I still was not. The last two days has been Thomas Thomas Elmo Thomas Thomas Elmo.... Believe it or not he would come up to me and say 'no more haha.' Which is Thomas. And he won't let me play the season on Amazon that still has episodes we haven't seen because it shows Big Bird instead of Elmo. But then he was ready for more trains

I'm actually feeling pretty clear at the moment. I'm hoping that means I can go back to being a good parent, because it sounds like he's getting really close to more intelligible babble. I'd love to just spend all day with him, playing with him, and listening hard to figure out if I can figure out a few new phrases coming out of his mouth. But sometimes it's a challenge, it took me embarrassingly long to to figure out that haha was thomas, fortunately I picked up PP for Percy quickly. I want to read books with him, and not cough through the book. It's one of those things where two days of crappy parenting and you're so desperate to just get back into it.

Potty training. He had the accident Friday night. And then tonight. And no pee accident in between. So that's pretty awesome. I've bumped up mandatory potty breaks up to 75-90 minutes successfully. I was thinking of bumping it up again, but after tonight, we'll wait a bit more. He did know that not holding it was... not wrong... incorrect? He went uh oh, and I carried him upstairs quickly and put him right on. Fortunately I was right there. But he doesn't get a sticker, and he wanted one, and I felt a bit bad about that. He doesn't always remember the stickers, but this time he did. And I had to tell him that we get stickers when we stay dry. Continuing to walk the line of... it's not a punishment, but there's no reward.

But he did great on his day out with Gma and Gpa out at the train show. I'm going to see if they have any more pictures. But they said that when they walked in, he was so excited that he was shaking. And Gma said it was the best train show she'd been to, looking at it through the eyes of a 2 year old. And he behaved like a dream, so with any luck he bought himself another trip out with them in the near future. I bought them a carseat to be used! ;)

He's my awesome little boy :) I better be able to get off the couch tomorrow and play!

Adventures in Potty Training

I thought yesterday was going to be the day. It was 8:15PM. No accidents all day. In a few minutes, we were going to head upstairs for his final potty break and to change into his nighttime diaper. A little early, however he could wear his diaper for a bit before bedtime, obviously it should stay dry. I announce our plans, giving him a few minutes to finish playing "Peanut, in 5 minutes we're going to go upstairs and use the potty, OK?" I get a resounding NO! Which is not unusual, especially when he's playing. Which is why I gave him the warning, to get it in that sweet little noggin that it's going to happen, so play now! But then he stops. Looks down at his legs. Completely still and quiet. And all I could think to myself was, "Oh no." A perfect day foiled, either by the mere mention of the potty or his unwillingness, hard to say. I raced him upstairs, but yeah, he was pretty wet.

However, today was the day! We thought maybe he had... However he had a milk accident. Spilled his whole cup everywhere. Have I mentioned he wants cups now? Which means sometimes he puts it down wrong and it spills. However this means he's drinking less (it takes him longer) so his bladder doesn't get as full. Which is excellent for learning how to hold it.

It was a fun day because Daddy was home. Fun for all of us! I made them buckwheat pancakes, we went out and shoveled, we got a package from Boi's cousin with awesome new train books and we looked at those. Watched some Sesame Street while snacking, but he was pretty full from all the pancakes. He took a niiiiiiice 2 hour nap, I sorted through picture stuff. He woke up and we watched the last bit of Thomas. Peed and his nap time diaper was dry, w0000t! We hung out, did some coloring and some reading. I started up some cheesy cauliflower, mixed together some more Gf flour mix to have on hand while Peanut attempted to snack on everything. We called up GG and video chatted for a bit, while consuming his daily apple, then hung up to mix together some cookie dough. It was already bath time, and he was really riled up. There is a book with a page where we are quiet for the secret train car, then LOUD FOR THE COW! He loves that. I had to sing a few songs to calm him down enough to rest. 

And that was our day.

From Lovely to Snow!

It appears that the images aren't working anymore. Hopefully I can figure that one out. Sighs. It likely has to do with a setting I did recently. I really wish sometimes google wasn't so 'integrated.'

What a welcome surprise that weather was. Hovering around 30 degrees, it was prime sledding weather I tell ya!

Along with sledding, we started potty training. I'm not sure yet what the outcome will be, I'm not feeling overly positive, but I know those first few days will be the roughest. Last night was rough, he could have cared less. It also isn't helping that he's stubbornly keeping his mushy newborn poops. Every since he had that steroid, it went back, and no amount of GF diet has helped him. I wish he could tell me what was going on...

We tend to do well in the mornings, maybe one tiny accident, then at night... we get too tired to do it. And well, an accident just now. Sighs. He's interested in asking for a new diaper, he's closer to training then ever, but maybe it's just too early for him to recognize he's going to pee and that he shouldn't. We'll at least give it a few more days.

His hands and feet grew? A few mornings ago I was staring dumbfounded at his feet, then the next day his hands fully fit in his mittens. But no height yet, though he did down 2 slices of PB toast before bed last night, like he was starving and had no dinner (which, of course, he did). So maybe the height is still coming.

We've had a lot of bad news recently, still trying to find our way out of it and figure out what it's all going to mean. Hopefully we can make lemonade out of these lemons shortly, I'll update you guys in time. Just right now, feeling pretty down. That's a lot as to why this has taken so long to update. And why it's so short.

But in good news, Peanut has added 'here you go' and 'cottage cheese' to his repertoire of words. Huzzah!

Holy Dry Skin Batman!

Well, the Polar Vortex headed through. I only know it's apparent name thanks to Facebook though :D Boi came home early Monday night as the store closed due to the extreme cold. That's nice, of course he did still have to go in early to work a full shift, so that's not really that great.

Aren't these CFC bulbs supposed to last like 5-10 years or something :/ they seem to go bad as fast as the old kinds. We gotta figure out what to do with them in the meantime, can't toss them. Sighs.

He's cute, that kid Peanut. He's hanging out in our cabinets, sorting the sippies and lids. He's getting more into coloring - attempting to color the train and not just randomly on the paper. Still in scribble form, but progressing. We've got markers going on all over the place... Mainly on our hands :D

------

This week can suck it. Today was just sucktastic. The only good thing? Or non sucky thing: I think Logan is growing.

Just a Quickie

We got Peanut to say Touchdown today!!! I managed to get him to eat some veggies (it's been awhile now) by hiding them in nachos. Win? Maybe not, but I'm pretending it is, because he's scoffed at all my attempts at him eating them lately.

2 weeks late, but here's his 27 month picture. That one is never going to be on time, as it's on xmas day. Sooo yeah, usually a little busy. Or sick right afterwards, you know how it goes ;)


And also, here's a video we took today!

Whisper of the Heart

Well, I checked out the movie, Whisper of the Heart, a little while ago, so we watched it tonight. It wasn't what I was expecting, Miyazaki usually has a much different style. However, nothing's wrong with a heartfelt story, right? There was enough tr
ains and cars in it to keep Peanut entertained on and off as well.

It's been an interesting few days, I knew exactly when the steroids wore off. All of a sudden his voice sounded hoarse, but it's been sounding a bit better every day. The power struggles have continued though, stemming a lot from his inability to communicate. Sometimes it takes us like 5 minutes just to nail what he wants to eat. Like, once you figure out he wants some kind of sandwich, then it's WHAT on the sandwich. And obviously it has to be just like he wants it.

We had a cute new phrase appear. Daddy ran to the store for milk, etc, and I saw him come back, so I told Peanut to look. But he just missed him, and he kept saying 'where daddy? Where daddy?' So I picked him up and carried him to the door, and... 'There daddy!' :D I melted a little inside. Also he's been saying 'the cow moo' for a little while, but today he said 'a cow moo.' So all that language is seeping in, just can't understand 99% of it. Maybe if I can find another really useful line in a book (not that the cow moo is useful) in a book and stress the hell out of it while reading, I can get him to use it. What book do we have that has something like that... maybe like in the Spot book, where he says that he's 'Not Sleepy' over and over again. That could be annoying, but I'd love it :D I'd give my arm to have a conversation with Peanut.

We took down the xmas stuff today, he had fun doing it. Though I can't find Stewart anywhere, so that box is still out. Need to get everything squared away. We went out and bought our three new ornaments for next year (we wait for everything to be major clearanced). I got a Kermit ornament, Boi got a R2D2 and of course... Peanut got a Thomas the Train. We also got this light up thingermabober, might put it on the front door or garage door... we'll see. It was like 3 bucks, and I was like, heck, why not. Next year we'll let him pick out something new for the house, he ought to be a bit more excited next year. This  year it was all fun, but he really didn't get all the concepts. Something about a santa who goes ho ho ho and ripping open presents and lots of lights and weeeee!

Hah, there was an old beared man in our movie tonight and he'd say 'ho ho ho' whenever he saw him. Well, time to enjoy a GF cookie Boi so thoughtfully made his family :D