Matthew is a bit over 2 weeks old and I can not imagine our lives without him or before him. I have forgotten how much and how fast they change. I am going to try and wrap up a few memories over the last 2 weeks here, but hope to stay on top of the blog going forward to capture all of these precious times.
John's and Matthew:
* One of the funniest things that John has said about Matthew was when he told Nana and Da that we have to wash our hands AFTER we touch Matthew because he was going to be dirty! I think he got that turned around a bit! :)
* He is doing AWESOME with Matthew. He truly loves him and can not give him enough hugs and kisses. He "washes" (Germ-x, antibacterial stuff) his hands every time and then is super gentle with him. He does want to lean on him though, so we are working on that. One of my first and favorite memories that I will carry forever is the night that we came home from the hospital and Grammy, Granddaddy, Nana, Da and myself were at the table finishing dinner and Carl, John and Matthew were sitting on the rocking chair (John facing just the right way because he did not want to touch Matthew's feet at the time, weird?)...John sang "You are my Sunshine" to Matthew in a very sweet voice. Brought tears to my eyes!
* He has had some attitude towards Me and Carl, but totally understandable. We are trying to find the balance between patience/understanding/forgiveness and letting him run wild and form bad habits. We are getting there, but have some work to do; but what parent doesn't have some work to do?!?!? Right?!?!?
Matthew's routine so far:
* SLEEP! He sleeps so much that we thought there may be something wrong with him! John did not sleep this much the first few weeks. Grammie says that his choice to sleep over eat must come from the Jones side of the family! :) He is sleeping in our room in a bassinet. He is a pretty quiet sleeper. We swaddle him at night, but he does not fight to get out like John did, so he stays bundled up pretty easily.
* Eats....but not very well at first. I think it was the quick stay in the NICU during those crucial first hours out of the womb. We got off to a slow start and I was having to wake him up every 3 hours to eat. But we are going strong now and he wakes to eat about every 3 hours, give or take 30 minutes on either side.
* For the very little time that he is awake, we just hold him and love him. John likes to read stories during that time, or draw for him. John drawing on the chalkboard seems to be Matthew's favorite activity so far, he really does seem relaxed and appears to be watching (as much as he can anyway). He loves the sound of John's voice. So do I! :)
Matthew's appearance and personality:
* I am probably going to include a lot of comparison these first few months to John as I did not start this blog with John until he was 5 months old. I want to walk down memory lane a bit with John too. Matthew seems to be a laid back baby, he will lay there and take in the world in silence. I don;t even know he has woken up some of the times. John used to announce his awakening pretty loudly if I remember correctly.
* He will not look in my eye just yet. I know this is normal, but I really want him to!
* He has dark hair and dark skin (Carl calls him Mattito!), and I think his eyes have a chance of being brown, but too early to tell. Totally opposite from my fair-skinned, blond hair, blue eyed big boy!
* He is really skinny like John was, lots of loose skin to fill in!
* He has my toes (SUPER long) and my hair line (John had his Daddy's hair line very clearly).
* He has dimples on both sides and when he gets them both out, he looks like Grammie! I am not sure they are dimples that are going to stay though (can dimples disappear?).
Family changes:
* This is the first week that we are really getting back into routine as last week was spring break, but overall, things have not changed too much. Matthew just fits right into what we were already doing. The lack of sleep for me is the biggest change and I am still not accustomed, it is starting to catch up to me a little bit. When I nurse Matthew, it is all I can do to stay awake and then I crash about 2 or 3 in the afternoon.
* Carl was working from home last week and I have to say that it was the best thing EVER! It made the transition so much easier for us as a family. It really allowed us to work out some of those first few kinks that come with adding a baby to a family. And it helped me plan for when he is not here. I love him so much and am so blessed to raise a family with him!
* My WONDERFUL neighborhood play group is bringing dinner to us every night for 2 weeks! We are on night #2 and it is a true luxury! Seriously, taking out planning, preparing and cleaning dinner of the equation really makes the day a lot easier. And we get it for TWO WEEKS! I am blown away by the generosity!
* We our trying to spend separate and valuable time with just John which seems to be really effective. Carl and him went fishing one day already, and when Matthew is asleep or Carl is home, I make sure it is just the two of us for at least a little bit. I actually think it makes our time together more focused and fun this way.
Here are some pictures over the last couple weeks:
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
Matthew Allen Jones 3.9.2011
5:00am - My alarm goes off so that I can get up and eat the last thing before the surgery. Not like I was going to be able to sleep much past that anyway. So, I eat, shower and get ready for the day.
6:00am - Carl is up and working out
7:30 - John, Grammie and Granddaddy are all up and eating breakfast and getting ready for school.
9:00 - drop John off to school - lots of tears on the way for me.
9:15 - 12:30 - Agony! Time could not have crawled any slower! I should have left something for myself to do that day. I tried to watch day time TV (blah!) but it could not keep my attention. I was doing all that I could to keep from crying. I was trying to keep my mind off of it the best I could because I was getting so emotional. I did not really like that either though, because I felt sort of numb. But I did not want to be a ball baby.
12:30 - leave for hospital. They were so full, that they had no rooms for me, so I had to start out in recovery. Which means my parents could not go back there with us. It felt rushed and we had ALL of our bags and stuff crammed with us, but we did not have time to separate.
1:30 - Start prepping me. Then Dr. Robert came in and asked if we were ready and to start the surgery process about 2:30. Luckily Nana and Da had picked up John from school and had a successful transition to Kara and they were already on their way. So off we went.
2:45 ish - get back into the surgery room. I remember all of this this time which was SO NICE! I LOVED the anesthesiologist, she was so nice and helpful, she walked me through everything. I was numb and ready to go.
The pressure this time was so much less intense than I remembered. There was one point that a girl was sitting on my chest and pulling back the top flap of my belly and Dr. Robert pushed Matthew out, and I had no idea. I only got nausea one time for about 2 minutes when the medicine first went in.
3:23: I hear Matthew for the first time and his scream sounded like someone was gurgling mouth wash. They swept him away to do the measurements and clean up and what not. However, he could not get control of his oxygen levels due to the fluid in his lungs and he was breathing too fast. After several attempts at putting him on oxygen and then him not being able to hold the levels, the NICU nurse came in, showed him to me, let me kiss him and then rushed him away. I had NO idea all of this was happening and it hurts to know that Carl had to watch that all by himself. I seemed like a long time of him crying and I did not understand why they had not let Carl hold him, but everyone was very calm and successfully diverting my attention.
This is where the time line and details become a little fuzzy, as they started to dope me up on some heavy meds.
I remember being in recovery and my Mom coming in. I think Carl was with Matthew or out in the waiting room with my parents. I remember them giving me an anti nausea shot in my leg that ended up hurting for over a week. I think she must have hit a muscle.
I do not remember going back to the room at all. But we got lucky and they had not regular rooms left so we got one of the rooms that the pregnant bed-rest patients use. I think it was bigger.
6:00ish - the next thing I remember is Carl bringing John up the hospital. He was SO EXCITED! However, when he walked in and saw me in my gown with all the tubes hooked up to me, he wanted NOTHING to do with me. Come to find out, Carl may have built up "we need to be careful with Mama" a little too much. He told John that the Dr. cut a whole in my belly to get Matthew out. I think he was a little freaked out. It took almost 3 days before he would let me hug him. He brought Matthew a teddy bear and a toy frog thing, and he brought me two beads for my pandora bracelet.
7:00ish through morning - My parents took John back home for bedtime routine. Nana and Da left, and it was just Carl and I. It did not seem right to not have Matthew with us. The time line is really fuzzy here, but I know I was pumping and trying to time it to get Matthew some of the good stuff for each of his feeding times. I did this through the night and we went to see him every 3 hours and tried to nurse. It did not go so well with all the tubes hooked up to him and I both. The funniest story of the hospital trip was probably the time that my nurse said I needed to skip going to see him and get some rest...so, while on some heavy drugs I called down to the NICU and told them that my husband was coming, but he could not breastfeed! WHAT? She did not say anything, but I am sure she laughed about it after we got off the phone.
8:00am ish on the 10th - we go down to the NICU and Matthew has ripped out his feeding tube! What a little rascal! But it was probably a good thing, because it was one less thing they had to do before they gave him to us. We were there when the head NICU lady to check him out and then she released him to us. It was awesome!
The next two days - We stayed in the hospital and enjoyed pretty darn good food in a nice big room... I highly recommend Baylor of Frisco to have your baby!
John came on Thursday in the morning and met Matthew, he was so excited and cute about it. He loves his little brother. He was smiling and was not scared, but a little timid in touching him; probably because we had drilled it in his head to be easy with the baby. He held him for the first time in Daddy's lap at the hospital and it was a precious site! He would not get near me or in my bed though. :( I am pretty sure he came back that night too, but for some reason I can not remember.
I started asking to be released on Friday on Wednesday BEFORE the surgery. I knew I would be ready to be home. Sure enough, we were on our way out Friday morning! YEAH!
Friday evening we had both grandparents over for dinner and celebration. It was a perfect time for Carl and I. I had happy hormones this time (at least until this point) and was only crying because I was happy.
You hear it, but you don't believe until you have one of your own, but my heart grew at 3:23pm on March 9, 2011. I have fallen in love all over again with all three of my boys!
6:00am - Carl is up and working out
7:30 - John, Grammie and Granddaddy are all up and eating breakfast and getting ready for school.
9:00 - drop John off to school - lots of tears on the way for me.
9:15 - 12:30 - Agony! Time could not have crawled any slower! I should have left something for myself to do that day. I tried to watch day time TV (blah!) but it could not keep my attention. I was doing all that I could to keep from crying. I was trying to keep my mind off of it the best I could because I was getting so emotional. I did not really like that either though, because I felt sort of numb. But I did not want to be a ball baby.
12:30 - leave for hospital. They were so full, that they had no rooms for me, so I had to start out in recovery. Which means my parents could not go back there with us. It felt rushed and we had ALL of our bags and stuff crammed with us, but we did not have time to separate.
1:30 - Start prepping me. Then Dr. Robert came in and asked if we were ready and to start the surgery process about 2:30. Luckily Nana and Da had picked up John from school and had a successful transition to Kara and they were already on their way. So off we went.
2:45 ish - get back into the surgery room. I remember all of this this time which was SO NICE! I LOVED the anesthesiologist, she was so nice and helpful, she walked me through everything. I was numb and ready to go.
The pressure this time was so much less intense than I remembered. There was one point that a girl was sitting on my chest and pulling back the top flap of my belly and Dr. Robert pushed Matthew out, and I had no idea. I only got nausea one time for about 2 minutes when the medicine first went in.
3:23: I hear Matthew for the first time and his scream sounded like someone was gurgling mouth wash. They swept him away to do the measurements and clean up and what not. However, he could not get control of his oxygen levels due to the fluid in his lungs and he was breathing too fast. After several attempts at putting him on oxygen and then him not being able to hold the levels, the NICU nurse came in, showed him to me, let me kiss him and then rushed him away. I had NO idea all of this was happening and it hurts to know that Carl had to watch that all by himself. I seemed like a long time of him crying and I did not understand why they had not let Carl hold him, but everyone was very calm and successfully diverting my attention.
This is where the time line and details become a little fuzzy, as they started to dope me up on some heavy meds.
I remember being in recovery and my Mom coming in. I think Carl was with Matthew or out in the waiting room with my parents. I remember them giving me an anti nausea shot in my leg that ended up hurting for over a week. I think she must have hit a muscle.
I do not remember going back to the room at all. But we got lucky and they had not regular rooms left so we got one of the rooms that the pregnant bed-rest patients use. I think it was bigger.
6:00ish - the next thing I remember is Carl bringing John up the hospital. He was SO EXCITED! However, when he walked in and saw me in my gown with all the tubes hooked up to me, he wanted NOTHING to do with me. Come to find out, Carl may have built up "we need to be careful with Mama" a little too much. He told John that the Dr. cut a whole in my belly to get Matthew out. I think he was a little freaked out. It took almost 3 days before he would let me hug him. He brought Matthew a teddy bear and a toy frog thing, and he brought me two beads for my pandora bracelet.
7:00ish through morning - My parents took John back home for bedtime routine. Nana and Da left, and it was just Carl and I. It did not seem right to not have Matthew with us. The time line is really fuzzy here, but I know I was pumping and trying to time it to get Matthew some of the good stuff for each of his feeding times. I did this through the night and we went to see him every 3 hours and tried to nurse. It did not go so well with all the tubes hooked up to him and I both. The funniest story of the hospital trip was probably the time that my nurse said I needed to skip going to see him and get some rest...so, while on some heavy drugs I called down to the NICU and told them that my husband was coming, but he could not breastfeed! WHAT? She did not say anything, but I am sure she laughed about it after we got off the phone.
8:00am ish on the 10th - we go down to the NICU and Matthew has ripped out his feeding tube! What a little rascal! But it was probably a good thing, because it was one less thing they had to do before they gave him to us. We were there when the head NICU lady to check him out and then she released him to us. It was awesome!
The next two days - We stayed in the hospital and enjoyed pretty darn good food in a nice big room... I highly recommend Baylor of Frisco to have your baby!
John came on Thursday in the morning and met Matthew, he was so excited and cute about it. He loves his little brother. He was smiling and was not scared, but a little timid in touching him; probably because we had drilled it in his head to be easy with the baby. He held him for the first time in Daddy's lap at the hospital and it was a precious site! He would not get near me or in my bed though. :( I am pretty sure he came back that night too, but for some reason I can not remember.
I started asking to be released on Friday on Wednesday BEFORE the surgery. I knew I would be ready to be home. Sure enough, we were on our way out Friday morning! YEAH!
Friday evening we had both grandparents over for dinner and celebration. It was a perfect time for Carl and I. I had happy hormones this time (at least until this point) and was only crying because I was happy.
You hear it, but you don't believe until you have one of your own, but my heart grew at 3:23pm on March 9, 2011. I have fallen in love all over again with all three of my boys!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
John's 3 year appointment
Johns 3 year appointment was pretty uneventful (other than the shots! AWFUL! ABSOLUTLY AWFUL!). Everything looks good and he is right on track for development. I just wanted to post his "stats" for the record books.
Weight: 31 pounds (42%)
Height: 38 inches (56%)
And the newest stat:
Blood pressure: 121/77
PLEASE NOTE: He has not gained one pound since his 2 year appointment but has grown 3inches! NOT ONE POUND!
Weight: 31 pounds (42%)
Height: 38 inches (56%)
And the newest stat:
Blood pressure: 121/77
PLEASE NOTE: He has not gained one pound since his 2 year appointment but has grown 3inches! NOT ONE POUND!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Our last few days as a family of 3
I wish I would have had the blog when it was our last few days as a family of 2, would have been drastically different than this I bet!
Carl and I have been working hard around the house and in the back over the last couple of months to get everything up and ready for John to be a big boy and for Matthew to join our family. I think we might have underestimated the time it would take to do all of these projects, but in looking back, I am so glad that we knocked it out. We were supposed to rest this past weekend, but it did not turn out that way.
This past weekend, we ran several errands including getting a dining table for out back. Not sure what it is with Carl and buying furniture right before babies join our family! I love the table and we will get SO much use out of it. We also ran around and picked up a few last minutes things for John's playroom and overall "stocking" of the house.
While John was awake he either helped us do our projects, or one of us would play with him and spend some QT. I know how precious it is and we are going to wish for more of it soon. We took some time out to go fly a kite for the first time in the park. Pretty successful, but needed just a tad bit more wind for longer flying times. Here are some pictures.
Carl and I have been working hard around the house and in the back over the last couple of months to get everything up and ready for John to be a big boy and for Matthew to join our family. I think we might have underestimated the time it would take to do all of these projects, but in looking back, I am so glad that we knocked it out. We were supposed to rest this past weekend, but it did not turn out that way.
This past weekend, we ran several errands including getting a dining table for out back. Not sure what it is with Carl and buying furniture right before babies join our family! I love the table and we will get SO much use out of it. We also ran around and picked up a few last minutes things for John's playroom and overall "stocking" of the house.
While John was awake he either helped us do our projects, or one of us would play with him and spend some QT. I know how precious it is and we are going to wish for more of it soon. We took some time out to go fly a kite for the first time in the park. Pretty successful, but needed just a tad bit more wind for longer flying times. Here are some pictures.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Mom?
Over the last 2 days or so I have become "Mom"?!?!? What?!?!? I thought that would not happen until he was at least in school. I realize it is no big deal, but I kind of like Mama and Mommy and wanted it to last. It is just one more thing to show he is getting older. :)
Friday, February 25, 2011
My new favorite room
Carl has out-done himself yet again! He has literally been up to 3:00 or so in the morning several nights in a row to pull this one off. He started on Saturday afternoon after John's birthday party and then by the next Thursday, it was complete and John was able to "open" it for his birthday. John was not allowed in the room during transformation, so he was super excited to see it.
The first picture is the "before" shot. Carl stripped the texture off the red wall and made it into a chalkboard, and the checkered wall is a super strong magnetic wall now. It is SO COOL!
The last picture is of the playdate group we had over here today, they broke the room in well!
The first picture is the "before" shot. Carl stripped the texture off the red wall and made it into a chalkboard, and the checkered wall is a super strong magnetic wall now. It is SO COOL!
The last picture is of the playdate group we had over here today, they broke the room in well!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Happy third birthday week: Dear John
Dear John -
Our lives as we know them will change completely within the next couple of weeks as we will grow our family and welcome your new baby brother into the world. I think you will do great with Matthew. You are such a sweet and kind natured boy and love is what you do best.
This past year has been full of change and growing up for you. You have taken it like a champ. You started school and went through potty training. Literally one day you decided you did not want diapers anymore, and so it began. You mastered it right away, but the baby in you struggled with it a few times through the year and even today have a few set backs, but overall you are Mama's potty champion! Your move to a big boy room was seemless. Your language and communcation skills have really given you independence and confidence that have propelled you into the next stage of life.
I love talking with you, most of all when you look me in the eye. It melts my heart and makes me so proud! I know when you look me in the eye, you are serious about the subject, and I best listen. When you get really excited about something or can not seem to find just the right words, you take about 20 seconds to say one sentence, as you start from the beginning every time. You like things for things to be right from the start! This also carries over into other things. If you start a book or song and something happens or if you get interputted, you must start from the beginning; if your coloring page has a mistake on it, you will trash it and start all over, even if you had been working on it for a long time.
There are few things that have your full and undivided attention like coloring and animals do. When coloring, you concentrate and do not like to stop until it is complete and exactly the way you want it. All of your animals and their care and organization is as detailed and percise. You have a soft spot for animals of any kind (stuffed or real), and I truly can not think of one animal that you do not have. I am not exagerating.
You still love to be outside and would choose that over most anything else. You are not a real TV watcher, you would not watch it at all if we did not turn it on. You RARELY ask to watch anything, but when you do it is either Dino Dan, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, the new Pirate show on Disney Jr., or maybe Wonder Pets. Movies on the other hand...in the car you love to watch either "How to Train your Dragon" or "Ice Age, Dawn of the Dinosaurs". You love to watch 3d movies with Daddy and your "special glasses", especially the documentary on the ocean (shocker).
One of my most favorite things is watching you and Daddy. You two are the best of buddies. You love to wrestle or tackle him or have him put you in "John jail" until you can guess the password, which is typically some sort of dinosaur. You love to go up and "excersise" with him, which is so good for the both of you in so many ways. When Daddy is doing a project, all you want to do is help him. You mimic him and want to be just like him. He is the best Daddy in the world for you!
You have become less cautious this year. I would describe you now as observant and intuitive, I hope your continue to develop these things as I think they will serve you well through life. It makes talking around you a little more difficult these days as you are a sponge whether you act like you are listening or not. You notice ANYTHING that was different than they way you left it, or anything new in the house right away. You ask about immediately. You also have a sense of when Daddy or I are sad or angry about something. When we are down or have had a long day, we are putting a lot of effort into trying not to show this to you, as it does effect your mood and attitude.
You are the reason that Daddy and I do everything we do, we could not love you more and want nothing but the very best for you. One day you will know that everything we do is out of our love for you and nothing else. You have our hearts!
Happy third birthday week: School
This year John started a new era in his life that will continue for the next 18 years or so... he started "school". I put it in quotations, as it is not really school at this age, but that is what John knows it as and I am not sure having him refer to it as "mothers day out" is appropriate. :)
We waited until he was 2.5 to start him in school, and I think it was the perfect time. Every kids is different and Matthew may be ready earlier or later, but for John, it was ideal. I think I posted about this before, but that first day of dropping him off... I was crying so hard that I left my sunglasses on the whole time and it was one of those cries where you can not even take a deep breath. The second day, John was more upset, but then after that... smooth sailing!
Ms. Tonya and Ms. Betty are his teachers and John seems to like them just fine. A couple of our friends in the neighborhood also have them as teachers and are not the biggest fans though. I guess John really does not know any better, but he is happy. Neither of them are super warm people, but by no means are they mean or inappropriate. Ms. Betty is a grandmother and Ms. Tonya has high school kids, so both are a bit older than I would have expected. They do seem to treat the day more like a business than a fun experience. But they have been doing it for so many years, I am sure they just fall into a routine.
They seem to love John. I asked yesterday if they were seeing any mean talk or behavior out of John while at school and Ms. Tonya acted so surprised. She said he would be the last kids that he would expect that from and that he is always so sweet. She said she would start listening and watching for it, but seriously doubted it. That makes me feel good I suppose, although that means he is just doing it towards me and Carl, which is disturbing.
Anyone reading this knows that I am a highly competitive person, so when the first semester "progress report" came home (which I had no idea about, or I would have been on pins and needles for a week) I was no less than running to the car to read it. Keep in mind this is a 2 year old program and there is no comparison to other kids, but I still was so curious how he was doing when I was not around.
The scale basically was "not exhibiting the skill at all", "emerging skill" or something like "doing it less than 50% of the time" or "doing it more than 50% of the time". Almost everything was more than 50% of the time for John, but some of the ones that he was doing less than 50% of the time surprised me. Specifically - using scissors. I had NEVER handed him scissors before, of course he does not know how to use them! I did not think he was ready... but don't you know the next day I had a pair of safety scissors for him to practice with at home! Anyway, I won't go into all the details here. Once I get the 2nd semester report I will do a separate post, as I think it will be interesting to look back on in years.
One thing I have loved is seeing him learn from other people. It took me back at first when he would come home with a new word or song or action that I know I did not teach him. But it is so fun. I LOVE talking to him about his day (when he is in the mood that is), I think his answers are so interesting. And most of the time are quite revealing... the other day he told us that he was telling Zach about his fishing trip with Daddy and that Ms. Tonya had to tell them to be quite and not talk during the movie (it was Valentines party, they normally do not watch a movie). And then one day he told us that Ms. Tonya told him he could not growl at Avery any more because she did not like it. That is my little dinosaur!
He has not really picked up the Spanish much, or at least he does not really talk about it, but I know he loves when it is music or art day. I have SO MUCH art. I am saving it all in a box, not sure why, but I can not bring myself to throw it away.
He says he favorite part of school is the playground....shocker. He favorite friend changes every day, which I think the 'center time' is structured so that they play with different kids everyday. I really like this.
His coloring and tracing has gotten so much better this year, I attribute that to school and Kara. She works with him one on one a lot when she is hear. I love her too!
He will actually not go to this school again in the Fall though. I got up and stood in line at 5:00am in February to get one of the last remaining 6 spots in the Sunshine Kids preschool program at Stonebridge United Methodist church. It is where Carl and I got married. They have an incredible program that people just rave about and get in line at 5:00am in the morning to get a spot for. I am so excited about that! And he will be in the same class as his best little buddy Garrett.
It has been a great start to the next 18 years of his life....
We waited until he was 2.5 to start him in school, and I think it was the perfect time. Every kids is different and Matthew may be ready earlier or later, but for John, it was ideal. I think I posted about this before, but that first day of dropping him off... I was crying so hard that I left my sunglasses on the whole time and it was one of those cries where you can not even take a deep breath. The second day, John was more upset, but then after that... smooth sailing!
Ms. Tonya and Ms. Betty are his teachers and John seems to like them just fine. A couple of our friends in the neighborhood also have them as teachers and are not the biggest fans though. I guess John really does not know any better, but he is happy. Neither of them are super warm people, but by no means are they mean or inappropriate. Ms. Betty is a grandmother and Ms. Tonya has high school kids, so both are a bit older than I would have expected. They do seem to treat the day more like a business than a fun experience. But they have been doing it for so many years, I am sure they just fall into a routine.
They seem to love John. I asked yesterday if they were seeing any mean talk or behavior out of John while at school and Ms. Tonya acted so surprised. She said he would be the last kids that he would expect that from and that he is always so sweet. She said she would start listening and watching for it, but seriously doubted it. That makes me feel good I suppose, although that means he is just doing it towards me and Carl, which is disturbing.
Anyone reading this knows that I am a highly competitive person, so when the first semester "progress report" came home (which I had no idea about, or I would have been on pins and needles for a week) I was no less than running to the car to read it. Keep in mind this is a 2 year old program and there is no comparison to other kids, but I still was so curious how he was doing when I was not around.
The scale basically was "not exhibiting the skill at all", "emerging skill" or something like "doing it less than 50% of the time" or "doing it more than 50% of the time". Almost everything was more than 50% of the time for John, but some of the ones that he was doing less than 50% of the time surprised me. Specifically - using scissors. I had NEVER handed him scissors before, of course he does not know how to use them! I did not think he was ready... but don't you know the next day I had a pair of safety scissors for him to practice with at home! Anyway, I won't go into all the details here. Once I get the 2nd semester report I will do a separate post, as I think it will be interesting to look back on in years.
One thing I have loved is seeing him learn from other people. It took me back at first when he would come home with a new word or song or action that I know I did not teach him. But it is so fun. I LOVE talking to him about his day (when he is in the mood that is), I think his answers are so interesting. And most of the time are quite revealing... the other day he told us that he was telling Zach about his fishing trip with Daddy and that Ms. Tonya had to tell them to be quite and not talk during the movie (it was Valentines party, they normally do not watch a movie). And then one day he told us that Ms. Tonya told him he could not growl at Avery any more because she did not like it. That is my little dinosaur!
He has not really picked up the Spanish much, or at least he does not really talk about it, but I know he loves when it is music or art day. I have SO MUCH art. I am saving it all in a box, not sure why, but I can not bring myself to throw it away.
He says he favorite part of school is the playground....shocker. He favorite friend changes every day, which I think the 'center time' is structured so that they play with different kids everyday. I really like this.
His coloring and tracing has gotten so much better this year, I attribute that to school and Kara. She works with him one on one a lot when she is hear. I love her too!
He will actually not go to this school again in the Fall though. I got up and stood in line at 5:00am in February to get one of the last remaining 6 spots in the Sunshine Kids preschool program at Stonebridge United Methodist church. It is where Carl and I got married. They have an incredible program that people just rave about and get in line at 5:00am in the morning to get a spot for. I am so excited about that! And he will be in the same class as his best little buddy Garrett.
It has been a great start to the next 18 years of his life....
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Happy third birthday week: A Day in the Life
Over the last year our weeks have changed quite a bit. The most significant change is that we are no longer as consistent as we used to be, no one day is like another. So, what better day to use in this post than today, it is as typical as any other day at home. On Tuesday and Thursday John is in school, so those days are a bit different than today, but tomorrow's post is all about school, so we will capture it then.
6:30 - I get up and showered, I really like to be up and have already had my coffee and wake time before John gets up. I am just calmer throughout the day.
7:00 - Daddy is up and working out upstairs. So proud of him for doing this again, he is really sticking to it and it is so much motivation for me once I am cleared to exercise again.
7:30 - I go upstairs to wake up John because we have a busy morning. Normally he is up between 7:15 and 7:45. He lays in bed and wakes up awhile and then he says "Mama, I am ready to get up". I have told him daily that if the sun is up that he can get out of bed on his own, but he replies with "no, I will just wait for you". We cuddle for about 10 minutes or so because he DOES NOT LIKE to be woken up and rushed around.
7:45 - I give him two waffles and some milk while he watched the Disney Junior pirate show. Typically I try not to turn on the TV in the morning, but we were in a hurry and he was still not fully awake, so I was doing what I could to avoid a fit. I even did his hair on the couch so he would not have to be interrupted.
8:15 - out the door to take the dogs to get baths. They are so old these days and they just stink, despite any effort we put in. But with the baby coming, I wanted them to go through a good bath and the deshedding deal that takes 2 hours.
John is pretty indifferent about the car these days, no love or hate. Long trips do require a movie though.
8:40 - check in at the OBGYN ("Matthew's doctor" to John). John goes with me to every appointment and he is pretty used to the routine. Not that it is an easy routine, but overall, not bad. Although, one time he did poop in his pants, so I had to clean him up with no wipes and throw his underwear away in their bathroom. As long as I have the ipad with me, he is generally okay. Today was a bit out the ordinary. As soon as Dr. Robert came in, he proceeded to throw a fit about something and kicked me right in the shin. Would have been embarrassing, but she has a daughter a few weeks older and she totally understands. This was just the beginning of a long day of attitude, see below.
9:15 - head to Target for a few household items. On trips that do not involve a lot of groceries he gets to sit in the big part of the basket, so he was perfectly content with no fits. I have found a trick to the long trips to the store though.... I pick up a bag of trail mix (right there at each of the checkout counters) at the beginning of the trip and it keeps him busy (and messy) the entire time.
10:15 - yes, the Target trip took about an hour, I move really slow these days. We head to the park because the cleaners were still at the house. It was a gorgeous day and it was just the two of us. He does not really care about what I am doing when he is at the park, especially if his friends are there. He is pretty well independent. I will follow him around the big tall toy thing, but other than that, he would rather be left alone (or with friends if they are there). He is pretty cautious at the park and will not really try to climb up anything too difficult or tall. He likes to play pretend (including dinosaurs and dragons)and the collect sticks and rocks and find ants. Pretty typical boy stuff. I LOVE having a park 5 houses down from us and so many friends in the neighborhood, a real blessing.
11:15 - back home for a little play time. We continued to play on the front driveway for a bit longer. Daddy was working from home today, so I was able to entice John to come inside pretty easily. He played with his dragons a bit and I made lunch, which consisted of spaghettio's, blueberries and turkey, and milk. We all three sat down to eat.
12:15 - went back out front to play because it really as a gorgeous day. Daddy left to run an errand. I gave John his typical 10 minute warning about going inside, then 5 minutes, then 2, and so on. When it was time, he asked me if he could take this little black sprinkler out of one of the floor pots, I told him no. He looked at me and then reached for it. I told him no again and that if he did it he would have to go straight to nap. He looked right at me, turned around and yanked it out. I picked him up and marched him inside immediately. I made him walk up the stairs, pee and get into bed. He was crying the whole way. I lost it, I started crying pretty hard and John looked at me like I was crazy. I told him that it made me sad when he was not a good listener and that I did not like to punish him. He then proceeded to ask to say prayers (which we typically only do at night) and if I would lay with him for 2 minutes (EVERYTHING is 2 minutes with him right now, it is like a negotiating tool). So I said a prayer and cried even harder. He rubbed my cheek and gave me a kiss.
I am sure it is a combination of me being 9 months pregnant and him being 3, but my patience with him is thin and he hurts my feelings a lot. I also think he might be acting out a bit in preparation of Matthew. Things have been a little crazy busy around here lately and he probably feels that. I remind myself constantly throughout the day to take a deep breath, this is just a phase....
1:00 - I think he had fallen asleep at this point. I did some laundry, dishes and straightened up then decided that I needed a time out, so I just laid on the couch and watched TV for a bit and then fell asleep.
2:45 - "Mama, I am ready to wake up". I was awakened by a sweet little voice. After about 10 minutes of waking up and playing in his bed, he went to the potty and then of downstairs to help me make rice krispy treats for his school friends tomorrow to help celebrate John's birthday. This, and a few ritz bit PB crackers and milk was his snack for the day.
3:15 - Mainly play for the next chunk of time. Playing these days mainly consists of pretend play (which is not my niche) with dragons and dinosaurs. He also loves to paint, color, "work on" his letters and numbers in his workbooks, do "projects" whether that be making a card for someones birthday, helping me cook/bake something, his science kit, etc., move and play with his 1001 animals (still obsessed as he was at age 1 with animals). He is also still into his Toy Story friends, Lego duplos (although for only short bits of time), and puzzles. The latest thing is exercising. He will go up with Daddy and stay up there for the full hour trying to do the same stuff they are doing on TV. I am sure it is a distraction for Carl, John loves it.
4:00 - We go out back to play and pick up poop. He played with this new bubble gun he got for his birthday which was shaky at best, but he liked it. When it was time to go in, he started throw another fit. I convinced him to come inside so we could go pick up the dogs. The whole while telling him how God wants us to be good listeners and be kind to one another. I am hoping that it is getting through his head, although, he is 3.
4:30 - pick up the dogs and head back home. no drama.
5:00 - upstairs to play and draw a bit. Then he wanted me to me the Mommy Monster and chase him. He said "you can not run because of your big belly, but you can walk and chase me".
5:30 - he continued to play upstairs for a bit and I made dinner.
6:00 - Dinner was healthy tacos and then John also had carrots, whole wheat crackers and grapes. Daddy came down (he has been working and working in the play room all day trying to get it finished for John's birthday on Thursday) and we all ate together like we do every night. John will almost always ask to be excused from the table, which I love! We do have to say no every now and again until he has a few more bites, but typically we are done way before he asks.
6:30 - we all head upstairs. Daddy starts in the playroom again and John and I color and draw and play with his baby dragons.
7:00 - bath time. this time used to be such a beating to me. For the longest time for some reason I just did not like this task. These days, it is pretty easy with no drama (once you get him in the bath). John was being super sweet and a real good listener, as I had told him after dinner when he asked for "Jessie the cowgirl" back (I had taken her earlier in the day for hitting) that is he could be a good listener all the way through bath that he could have her back during quiet time.
7:30 - immediately after bath, he went and knocked on the playroom door (he knows he can not go in until Thursday) and told Daddy we were going downstairs for quiet time. We all went down and John got Jessie back, some Zyertec and a gogurt. We all relaxed a bit on the couch and then it was off to bed.
8:00 - tonight bed time was not too bad. It is about 70% good and 30% bad out of any given week. Which has gotten so much better with his move to his new room. Bed time is pretty much the same as it has always been.... potty, brush teeth, diaper and PJ's, books, put 3 animals in bed with him (he picks different ones every night), lights out, prayers, 3 songs (Old McDonald, You are my sunshine and God our Father) and then he asks you to lay with him for 2 minutes. We just lay there and he plays with your ear or rubs your cheek, special times.
8:15 - Daddy off to work in the playroom again, I help as much as I can and then I head downstairs to write this blog.... here is hoping for a 10:00 bedtime. Carl was up until 3:00am last night working on the room and up at 7:00 this morning to work and work out.... we both need some sleep.
As much as these days wear me out physically and emotionally, I do love and cherish them as our lives will never be the same in a short couple of weeks.
6:30 - I get up and showered, I really like to be up and have already had my coffee and wake time before John gets up. I am just calmer throughout the day.
7:00 - Daddy is up and working out upstairs. So proud of him for doing this again, he is really sticking to it and it is so much motivation for me once I am cleared to exercise again.
7:30 - I go upstairs to wake up John because we have a busy morning. Normally he is up between 7:15 and 7:45. He lays in bed and wakes up awhile and then he says "Mama, I am ready to get up". I have told him daily that if the sun is up that he can get out of bed on his own, but he replies with "no, I will just wait for you". We cuddle for about 10 minutes or so because he DOES NOT LIKE to be woken up and rushed around.
7:45 - I give him two waffles and some milk while he watched the Disney Junior pirate show. Typically I try not to turn on the TV in the morning, but we were in a hurry and he was still not fully awake, so I was doing what I could to avoid a fit. I even did his hair on the couch so he would not have to be interrupted.
8:15 - out the door to take the dogs to get baths. They are so old these days and they just stink, despite any effort we put in. But with the baby coming, I wanted them to go through a good bath and the deshedding deal that takes 2 hours.
John is pretty indifferent about the car these days, no love or hate. Long trips do require a movie though.
8:40 - check in at the OBGYN ("Matthew's doctor" to John). John goes with me to every appointment and he is pretty used to the routine. Not that it is an easy routine, but overall, not bad. Although, one time he did poop in his pants, so I had to clean him up with no wipes and throw his underwear away in their bathroom. As long as I have the ipad with me, he is generally okay. Today was a bit out the ordinary. As soon as Dr. Robert came in, he proceeded to throw a fit about something and kicked me right in the shin. Would have been embarrassing, but she has a daughter a few weeks older and she totally understands. This was just the beginning of a long day of attitude, see below.
9:15 - head to Target for a few household items. On trips that do not involve a lot of groceries he gets to sit in the big part of the basket, so he was perfectly content with no fits. I have found a trick to the long trips to the store though.... I pick up a bag of trail mix (right there at each of the checkout counters) at the beginning of the trip and it keeps him busy (and messy) the entire time.
10:15 - yes, the Target trip took about an hour, I move really slow these days. We head to the park because the cleaners were still at the house. It was a gorgeous day and it was just the two of us. He does not really care about what I am doing when he is at the park, especially if his friends are there. He is pretty well independent. I will follow him around the big tall toy thing, but other than that, he would rather be left alone (or with friends if they are there). He is pretty cautious at the park and will not really try to climb up anything too difficult or tall. He likes to play pretend (including dinosaurs and dragons)and the collect sticks and rocks and find ants. Pretty typical boy stuff. I LOVE having a park 5 houses down from us and so many friends in the neighborhood, a real blessing.
11:15 - back home for a little play time. We continued to play on the front driveway for a bit longer. Daddy was working from home today, so I was able to entice John to come inside pretty easily. He played with his dragons a bit and I made lunch, which consisted of spaghettio's, blueberries and turkey, and milk. We all three sat down to eat.
12:15 - went back out front to play because it really as a gorgeous day. Daddy left to run an errand. I gave John his typical 10 minute warning about going inside, then 5 minutes, then 2, and so on. When it was time, he asked me if he could take this little black sprinkler out of one of the floor pots, I told him no. He looked at me and then reached for it. I told him no again and that if he did it he would have to go straight to nap. He looked right at me, turned around and yanked it out. I picked him up and marched him inside immediately. I made him walk up the stairs, pee and get into bed. He was crying the whole way. I lost it, I started crying pretty hard and John looked at me like I was crazy. I told him that it made me sad when he was not a good listener and that I did not like to punish him. He then proceeded to ask to say prayers (which we typically only do at night) and if I would lay with him for 2 minutes (EVERYTHING is 2 minutes with him right now, it is like a negotiating tool). So I said a prayer and cried even harder. He rubbed my cheek and gave me a kiss.
I am sure it is a combination of me being 9 months pregnant and him being 3, but my patience with him is thin and he hurts my feelings a lot. I also think he might be acting out a bit in preparation of Matthew. Things have been a little crazy busy around here lately and he probably feels that. I remind myself constantly throughout the day to take a deep breath, this is just a phase....
1:00 - I think he had fallen asleep at this point. I did some laundry, dishes and straightened up then decided that I needed a time out, so I just laid on the couch and watched TV for a bit and then fell asleep.
2:45 - "Mama, I am ready to wake up". I was awakened by a sweet little voice. After about 10 minutes of waking up and playing in his bed, he went to the potty and then of downstairs to help me make rice krispy treats for his school friends tomorrow to help celebrate John's birthday. This, and a few ritz bit PB crackers and milk was his snack for the day.
3:15 - Mainly play for the next chunk of time. Playing these days mainly consists of pretend play (which is not my niche) with dragons and dinosaurs. He also loves to paint, color, "work on" his letters and numbers in his workbooks, do "projects" whether that be making a card for someones birthday, helping me cook/bake something, his science kit, etc., move and play with his 1001 animals (still obsessed as he was at age 1 with animals). He is also still into his Toy Story friends, Lego duplos (although for only short bits of time), and puzzles. The latest thing is exercising. He will go up with Daddy and stay up there for the full hour trying to do the same stuff they are doing on TV. I am sure it is a distraction for Carl, John loves it.
4:00 - We go out back to play and pick up poop. He played with this new bubble gun he got for his birthday which was shaky at best, but he liked it. When it was time to go in, he started throw another fit. I convinced him to come inside so we could go pick up the dogs. The whole while telling him how God wants us to be good listeners and be kind to one another. I am hoping that it is getting through his head, although, he is 3.
4:30 - pick up the dogs and head back home. no drama.
5:00 - upstairs to play and draw a bit. Then he wanted me to me the Mommy Monster and chase him. He said "you can not run because of your big belly, but you can walk and chase me".
5:30 - he continued to play upstairs for a bit and I made dinner.
6:00 - Dinner was healthy tacos and then John also had carrots, whole wheat crackers and grapes. Daddy came down (he has been working and working in the play room all day trying to get it finished for John's birthday on Thursday) and we all ate together like we do every night. John will almost always ask to be excused from the table, which I love! We do have to say no every now and again until he has a few more bites, but typically we are done way before he asks.
6:30 - we all head upstairs. Daddy starts in the playroom again and John and I color and draw and play with his baby dragons.
7:00 - bath time. this time used to be such a beating to me. For the longest time for some reason I just did not like this task. These days, it is pretty easy with no drama (once you get him in the bath). John was being super sweet and a real good listener, as I had told him after dinner when he asked for "Jessie the cowgirl" back (I had taken her earlier in the day for hitting) that is he could be a good listener all the way through bath that he could have her back during quiet time.
7:30 - immediately after bath, he went and knocked on the playroom door (he knows he can not go in until Thursday) and told Daddy we were going downstairs for quiet time. We all went down and John got Jessie back, some Zyertec and a gogurt. We all relaxed a bit on the couch and then it was off to bed.
8:00 - tonight bed time was not too bad. It is about 70% good and 30% bad out of any given week. Which has gotten so much better with his move to his new room. Bed time is pretty much the same as it has always been.... potty, brush teeth, diaper and PJ's, books, put 3 animals in bed with him (he picks different ones every night), lights out, prayers, 3 songs (Old McDonald, You are my sunshine and God our Father) and then he asks you to lay with him for 2 minutes. We just lay there and he plays with your ear or rubs your cheek, special times.
8:15 - Daddy off to work in the playroom again, I help as much as I can and then I head downstairs to write this blog.... here is hoping for a 10:00 bedtime. Carl was up until 3:00am last night working on the room and up at 7:00 this morning to work and work out.... we both need some sleep.
As much as these days wear me out physically and emotionally, I do love and cherish them as our lives will never be the same in a short couple of weeks.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Happy third birthday week: Big Boy Room
I think Carl's way of "nesting" is to do construction projects. And we are so lucky because of it! Carl has real talent and he never ceases to amaze me. His first labor of love for John was his nursery construction project that he poured himself into. This time around, he did 3 major projects around the house. One being the nursery of course (entry to come next week), one being the playroom for the boys (entry to come next week) and of course... John's big boy room....
Below you will find before and after photos. Carl did all of this work by himself, completely! It took a bit longer than I think he anticipated, but it is a masterpiece. He knocked out the closet and built in the bookshelves, hung the trim, painted, wired the new lights and hung everything. We still have some finishing touches and decorations to find and hang on the wall, but you can tell from the pictures that it is a fishing theme with sharks and vintage metal signs and actual fishing gear that Carl uses. Fishing will always be a special thing for Daddy and his boys, so it could not be more fitting.
Below you will find before and after photos. Carl did all of this work by himself, completely! It took a bit longer than I think he anticipated, but it is a masterpiece. He knocked out the closet and built in the bookshelves, hung the trim, painted, wired the new lights and hung everything. We still have some finishing touches and decorations to find and hang on the wall, but you can tell from the pictures that it is a fishing theme with sharks and vintage metal signs and actual fishing gear that Carl uses. Fishing will always be a special thing for Daddy and his boys, so it could not be more fitting.
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