Let's hear it for the Boy!!

Before

So, it's official.  Andrew has given up his pacifier..... with some gentle pushing.  I have to admit that he used it much longer than the other two and I had NO desire to take it away.  I knew it was going to be hard.  I knew he would fuss and whine and cry and I honestly wasn't sure I could handle it.  I have felt more than a little overwhelmed lately so thrusting myself into the pit of paci withdrawal was not on my top 10 list of things to try that week! 

  Hannah only took hers until she was about 5 months old and gave it up on her own after a cold prevented her from being able to suck and breathe at the same time!!  She never wanted it back. Okay, that was EASY.  

  Ethan was much more attached to his "pootie" (don't ask..... his dad called it that once and it stuck) and he could usually be found with one in his mouth and one in each hand.  But he, like his sister,  decided on his own at around 18 months that he was done.  And so he was.  EASY

Andrew, oh Andrew.  So far, in my experience with Andrew I have come to realize that he doesn't do "easy".   He is extremely stubborn, persistent, and doesn't take "no" for an answer.  So why should I assume this would be any different?   

A couple of months age he began chewing holes in the pacifiers and Kris told him that after all of the paci's in the house were gone we were not buying anymore.  Andrew didn't really react to this declaration, as I'm quite sure he had no idea what his Dad was telling him. But I, on the other hand, was fuh-reakin' out on the inside.  I had already tried asking Andrew if we could throw his paci's away or give them to a baby that needed them and he was NOT down with that.  If he didn't know where one was at all times he would whimper like a little puppy so I had a pretty good idea what I was in for when that last paci got lost, chewed up or left somewhere.  NO. THANK. YOU.

But, last week my little boy did something that I have been waiting for him to do for well over a year.  He talked.  I mean more than his usual 10 word vacabulary.  He was repeating every word he heard and was asking for things by name.  It was music to my ears and it was then that I realized that it was time.   I wanted us to be able to go somewhere without having to hunt for a paci before we could leave the house.  I was sick of having to pick paci's up off of the floor at the grocery store and out from under the table at restaurants.  I was tired of being a slave to a pacifier!  

So, last Thursday morning I pumped myself up for what torture was to come. I had it all planned out in my head.  Every time he put one down I would secretly come right behind him and pick it up and put it in a secret location the cabinet.  Eventually, putting away the last pacifier.  So, I set my plan into motion.  By noon I had put away 7, yes SEVEN, pacifiers.  By 1:oo the last paci had been put away ..... and he definitely noticed.  He was looking under things, in things and around thing in hopes of finding a straggler.  I was scared because it was nearing time to go pick up Hannah and Ethan and car rides equalled paci time for Andrew.  I was dreading 3:00!  But it came anyway and to my surprise he was fine.  He took his juice with him and eventually fell asleep!!  Afternoon came and went with only a couple of whimpers and a brief rummage through the trashcan in a desperate search for a paci.  He kept coming to me pointing at his mouth (his way of asking for one) and I told him that I didn't know where any were and he would walk off.  At bedtime he looked a little anxious so I layed on the floor next to his bed and he was out within 2 minutes. Every day since has been a breeze.  He has completely stopped asking and looking for one.  It has been wonderful and feels so feeing to be able to go places without "it"  I love seeing Andrew's whole face and seeing his little mouth move when he says all of his new words!  And I have to admit, it was EASY!!!

After

¿Usted habla español?

Do you all remember my post back in January about Andrew's speech.... or lack there of? Well, as it turns out he can speak..... SPANISH!! I know, I know, the kid won't even speak English so who on earth would believe that he could speak Spanish?  I know I certainly couldn't... until I had him repeat it several times.  See,  we have this rather obnoxious maraca that sings numbers and colors in either English or Spanish to some really great mariachi sounding music.  It got flipped to "spanish" a couple of weeks ago and after hearing it so often I had the song in my head.   You know the one,  "uno", bum badumpump, "dos" ,bum badumpump, "tres", bum badumpump, "quatro"......and so on, and on.....and on.  So, it's in my head and unconciously I sang "uno", to which Andrew responded "dos".  Huh?  So I said "dos" and he responded "tres" (although a little harder to understand that "dos") He did this all the way to "quatro".   We repeated this sequence several times and he responded the same each time so I determined that it wasn't a coincidence.  Okay, what's going on?

 I have been working my tail off to teach this kid how to count in English (heck, I have been working my tail off to get him to say anything) and he learns to count in SPANISH from a flippin' MARACA!  After feeling a little inadequate I decided that I was just ecstatic that he is, indeed, talking.  In the last week he has said so many new words and is repeating EVERYTHING!  This is a huge accomplishment.  It had been over 18 months since we had heard Andrew utter a new word so this week it has been sort of like hearing his first words all over again.  It is wonderful!  Especially after the news we received a couple of weeks ago.  The Speech Therapist that evaluated Andrew let us know that our insurance had denied therapy for him because his delay is not due to injury or illness.   To say that I was devastated is an understatement.  After the shock and helplessness wore off I immediately began looking at other options for him, but it appears that there is not a lot that can be done for him elsewhere until he is 3 (although I am still holding out hope as I wait to hear back from the school district).  So we have been waiting.  In the meantime he has had a language explosion!  Praise the Lord.  I am so thrilled to talk with my little man, even if it is in Spanish!!

Swing me, Daddy!!!

  So, after a lot of nagging, Kris finally put Andrew's swing up in the front yard.  I had a feeling that Andrew would like it but I had no idea it would be this much!  

  Andrew and Kris have developed a cute little routine.  Everyday when Kris gets home from work he asks Andrew if he wants to go check the mail.  Andrew stops whatever he is doing and runs to the front door.  It has now become so routine that Kris doesn't even have to ask him to go anymore.  In fact,  the other day I had Andrew in the bathtub when Kris came home.  Well, faster than I could realize what was happening, Andrew was out of the tub running naked and dripping wet to the front door to check the mail!  So back to the story;  after they check the mail Andrew runs up to the flower bed near the front door and sits on the pavers and taps on the spot next to him so Kris will sit beside him.  They sit for a couple of minutes then come in the house...... sometimes willingly, sometimes not. 

  Well, since the swings arrival the trips to the mailbox have taken a detour to the swing.  As soon as the door is opened rather than heading to get the mail, Andrew makes a b-line for the swing.  So they swing.  I can usually hear Andrew laughing all the way in the house.  In true Andrew fashion he prefers to go high and fast, all the while squealing in enjoyment!  If the swing slows too much he will instruct Kris "more, more".  After a while in the swing they get the mail.  Then, Andrew runs to the flower bed and has Kris sit next to him.  They sit for a couple of minutes then come in the house...... sometimes willingly, sometimes not.

Swing Install:

Kris fulfilling one of his fatherly duties -  risking his life in attempts to make a certain toddler happy!

Andrew's first time in the swing.

Wordless Wednesday!

Kinda gives "riding Bareback" a whole new meaning don't you think??

I'm back!!

 Hey everyone.  Sorry for the lack of posts lately.  The kids had Spring Break last week (now 2 weeks ago) so I was a little more occupied than normal and this week I have been...... well, lazy.  It's not that I didn't have anything to say it's just that I have so many pictures of last week that I wanted to post it just seemed to daunting a task so I keep putting it off!  

 Here it goes. So Spring Break.  Was FABULOUS!  For the first time in several years the weather here was amazingly perfect every single day!  I think we spent every minute of daylight outside!  We went to the park more than a few times, flew kites, blew bubbles, went on LONG walks, and drew with sidewalk chalk. 

  On Monday we went to a local park with a giant wooden playground and a duck pond with a walking trail around it.  Hannah and Ethan had a great time playing on the wood playground but it was a little to big for Andrew so I took him over to the smaller playground a few feet away.  He went on the slide a few times and then decided to move on to bigger things... like scaring the living daylights outta me!  There was this arched ladder thing that was about 5ft. tall that he insisted on climbing.  Ok, fine I can help him.  NOPE!  He would not let me touch him.  He had  to do it himself.  He did pretty well although there were a couple of times that I had to quickly grab him before he fell through the bars to the ground.  Andrew (and my heart) survived!  After playing on the playground for a while we went to the duck pond to take a walk around the path.  As we came upon a duck family I thought this would be a great learning opportunity for Andrew as he had never really seen duck up this close before.  They are very conditioned to people so you can just walk right up to them so off we went...... or started to.  As it turns out my little dare devil who is not scared of anything is scared of DUCKS!  Yep, scared of ducks!  We kept walking...........

 

  

On Tuesday, we had plans to go to an indoor play area but got there to realize that it was no longer in business!  The kids were super bummed.  We had been there before and they couldn't wait to get back so we were all disappointed to find it closed.  So we created a plan B.  I let the kids plan the day and I have to say they did a fantastic job.  Not only did they decide on something that they would have fun doing but something fun for Andrew as well.   First we went to McDonalds for lunch.  They didn't even want to play in the playland because they were so excited to put their plan into action.  

  They had me take them to WalMart where they picked out kites, bubbles and balls for everyone.  We then went up to their school and took advantage of the playground and giant open field. We flew kites, blew bubbles and played, played, played..... for HOURS!!  The kids played so hard and got so hot and sweaty that when we got home they were all begging to take a bath.  I'm sure that'll never happen again!

 

 On Wednesday we all went to the Ft. Worth Zoo.  We were there when they opened so we beat the massive crowds for the most part, although by early afternoon it was getting hard to push the stroller through the crowd.   We were able too all of the animals that the kids wanted to see except for "woofs".  That is a "dog" for those of you that don't speak Andrew.  No dogs at the Zoo....... who knew?!?  Any how,  the favorite find of the day (for the kids) would have to be the penguins.  They have a really great penguin habitat set up with icebergs and water and all.  It really was neat to see these guy so close up and watch them dive into the water and pop back up onto the ice!

  On the way home from the Zoo!

  On Thursday we had to kind of take it easy.  Ethan had Allergy shots that morning and he isn't supposed to be very active for about 24 hours afterwards.  After Ethan's shots we took April for a much needed visit to the groomer.  I am embarrassed to say she hadn't been since August and was looking pretty rough!  The man at the desk when I dropped her off even accused me of taking her somewhere else in between visits there because it had been so long!  When the kids and I went back to pick her up it was pretty funny because Andrew kept staring at her like he had never seen her before and Ethan said "mommy, are you sure that's our dog?".  I must admit,  she looked COMPLETELY different!   On the way home from picking up the pooch we stopped at Sonic for some milkshakes and slushes!  It was a nice relaxing day!

  On Friday Ethan was still coming off his Allergy shots but was allowed light activity so we stayed around the house and played outside.  We laid a blanket out in the backyard and the kids read, snacked, played in the sandbox, rode their bikes and and drew with chalk.

  Even though we had a "staycation" rather than a vacation it was still a blast and we couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather!  Hope everyone else had a great Spring Break!

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I have not been taking a shower in the kids bathroom because their shower head is SO much better than mine.   Even if theirs was better than mine I would just go buy a new one for my bathroom rather than lugging all of my shower garb into their bathroom each day. Ridiculous!  Glad I don't do that.

I am not more excited than the kids are about our Zoo Trip this Wednesday.  It will not be Andrew's first time at the Zoo and I will not take way too many pictures!

Andrew did not quickly find his favorite place to play at Dana's house.  Can you guess where it was?  It was not Derek's room.  It (surprisingly) wasn't the bathroom. It was...............................the DOG CRATE!

I did not run out of gas in the middle of a busy intersection.   Of course not.  After 16 years of driving I am certainly aware of these things and I would NEVER  run out of gas for the FIRST TIME EVER with two of my three kids in the car! 

Two super nice men wearing ties did not push my car out of the intersection into a safe parking lot while I was talking to OnStar .  Hannah and Ethan did not think that this was the coolest thing ever and did not keep asking if we could call a tow truck to drive us home.  

OnStar did not send Auto Rescue to bring me gas.    OnStar is not the best thing EVER invented!  

Oh yeah,   Kris did not laugh at me all night after I finally made it home!

What a week it was!  Next week should be a doozie............ the kids are on Spring Break!!!

Have a great week!!

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not get into bed earlier in the week, very ready to go to sleep, and realize it was full of smooshed up Goldfish crackers and a plastic screwdriver.  This is impossible because I never let any of the kid eat in my bed, especially when they don't feel well!

Andrew did not spend the entire day on Thursday naked because he decided he wanted to use the "big boy"potty all day.   He did not only have one accident and it was not in MY BED!

On Thursday evening when Andrew spilled his juice in MY BED I certainly did not just cover it with a towel and proceed to go to bed as if nothing had happened because I had not JUST put clean sheets on my bed not even an hour before (see above Not Me! moment)! 

I did not go to WalMart nearly everyday this week because I can't ever manage to get everything I need all at once.

I did not tell Hannah that I couldn't help her with her math homework because I simply didn't "get it".  That's silly.  Of course I know 4th Grade math; it hasn't been that long!

I did not get all bent out of shape when Hannah told me that the substitute teacher she had made her sit out at recess because she made a bookmark out of a piece of notebook paper! I mean really..... I paid for the darn paper and if the child needs a bookmark then kudos to her for making her own.  Plus, not allowing a 4th grader to blow off steam and burn all of that pent up energy before returning to the classroom............. who is this really punishing?  

Have a great week everyone!