Highlight of the Week: Saturday was a warm and gorgeous day and also the boys' 1st time skiing! (The rope tows are free at Alta.) Daniel happily rode in the backpack the whole morning and James rocked. The biggest challenge was deciding which parent would teach James how to. In the end, we decided it's best that Daddy teach them. Mommy likes to hold James tight and make sure he is happy and safe. Daddy takes the "grow a pair" approach. At the end of the day, when asked who James likes to ski with he said" No Mommy, Daddy." Sweet for me, next time I'll go ski a few runs on my own ;)
Indoor highlight of the Week: Train Show at Thanksgiving Point. I knew Mike would like it, but the boys did too. They were way more into it than I had anticipated. Afterwards we walked to farm country for a Pony Ride and Milking the cow demonstration.
Movie of the Week: Babe. The next day James crawled under Mikey when he was on all fours, turned his head up and said, "Mmm. Yummy milk." I suppose if he can't grow up on a farm he can still learn the facts of life.
Crazy Decision of the Week: Mike and I are officially signed up for a 1/2 marathon on (April 30 of this year).
Game of the Week: Break the Ice
Book of the Week: Clifford at the Firehouse (and every other Clifford book we have in the house)
Research for the Week: LASIK and Preschools.
Dilemma of the Week: Preschool. So expensive. I'd love to send him to a local preschool but it's $140 a month. I'm not aware of any good ones for less than that. I'll probably do a neighborhood thing next year then send him to preschool the next year. Any ideas my 5 readers???
Accomplishment for the Week: I finally spent some time on new.familysearch.org (only to find that lucky for me Tammy and Chris have already entered in all the info I have).
Vocabulary for the Week: Butt and Toot. James says both very clearly and is very proud of that. Daniel has the cutest way of saying toot. "Wow. Doot. That. Doot." There was one night when we thought Daniel was sound asleep in his crib and Mike tooted. In his sleep, Daniel said "Doot" and continued on sleeping.
Food of the Week: Fries. James loves them. That was one of his favorite parts of our ski trip-- fries for lunch. We also made homemade fries with the Bosch "fry maker" attachment.
Parenting for the Week:
1) At 3 am on Thursday night I was abruptly awakened to a head being banged into my eyebrow. James. He likes to sneak into our bed and curl up in between us. To be totally honest, I like it too. I know it's Mike's and My bed and that we don't sleep as good, but I love it and I know that all too soon James won't want any affection. So, I'm taking full advantage of it while I can.
Well, the partial black eye and the loss of sleep have caused Mike and I to draw the line-- and lock our door at night. The first night James kind of freaked out and threw himself on the floor outside of our door. After holding a little Melatonin and rocking him, he was able to go back to sleep. Last night he slept all night long... we'll see what tonight brings :)
2) James doesn't stay in time out for us, so I have resorted to sitting on him during time out. I would think the extra attention would be a reward but he usually cries, so maybe it's working.
3) On Thursday, James started the day by saying "I want..." SO, finally after the tenth time of him saying that before breakfast even started, I decided to chuck him outside in the snow every time he said it. Three times outside in his PJs and he was done (don't worry, each time was less than 10 seconds long).
Quote of the Week: "Walking Daniel is like herding a cat." Mike and I used to try to walk our cat Cosmo on a leash. Daniel is about that compliant.
Daniel: Mischievous. So funny. He continually cracks us up. Everything about him is funny. From his cute little face to his rodent bottom teeth and goofy hair that sticks straight up. I'm afraid one reason I'm loving him so much right now is because of what I'm afraid he could be like in 6 months. He's an opinionated and feisty little guy.
James: My golden retriever. He is such a sweet heart. I Love his smile. His cute laugh. He is so nice and it's fun to see him grow and begin to assert himself. He has been a challenge this week as he is going through the "broken record" faze. He repeats himself over and over again, even after I acknowledge what he has said. He says "I want" all day long and he has been pushing his limits. I know one reason is because he hasn't been sleeping as well as usual and has been tired.
Mikey: Had an unusually stressful week at work but the computer bugs have been worked out. Such an amazing husband and Dad. He invents the funnest games to play with the boys and naturally they adore him. Favorite games have been "firetruck/ station" with our living room couch, pony rides and the drop off station, jumping into the swimming pool (of pillows), and being sheep running away from the wolves/ sheep dogs (Babe).
Robin: Loving my new calling in Nursery (who would have ever, EVER thought I'd say those words?), loving the blue skies and warmer temperatures, already planning Daniel's birthday cake (yellow dump truck with a party at Farm Country), so grateful to be home with the boys.
My advice about preschool is something you aren't going to like to hear, but since you asked...
ReplyDeleteBite the bullet and pay for it, it's worth every penny :)
I used to have to sit on the boys in time out, too. Seems to have worked pretty well...
Great post... as usual! The skiing sounds fun! Maybe we need to take our boys up to try it out! About the pre-school thing... I love the one I take Blake to but I doubt you want to drive to Riverton for it! Good luck finding one! And the time-out situation with Daniel sounds all to familiar! Kyle is the same, we just have to hold him down until the timer goes off, or take away a special personal belonging or toy for a little while! Keep up the great parenting! You guys are doing great! :)
ReplyDeleteI love your blogs and the true-to-life experiences in your life (and all of ours) - with the honest highs and lows. It's great to see how much you love your boys (even the big one- Mikey), even when they drive you crazy at the same time.
ReplyDeleteGrandma Ginny says: I've tried different things with different kids. My favorite was the montesorri preschool that Shelly went to - but I was also working part time to help pay for it. I also loved the 4 moms taking a morning each week, then I had 3 days to myself (more or less). Find something that works for you and for him - I found it worked best at 4, not always at 3.
ReplyDeleteTime Out? - or is that another infliction for mom - I finally figured it was only for life and death times - sometimes the child's life or death - and they were usually so scarred by what they had just done that they stayed. Thinking Chair can work if it's only used for the most serious actions. I wish I had told them more scripture stories and then just told them that they were choosing and making a poor choice and that I wanted them to try again. I guess I'm saying I wished that I had taught more and punished less. Grandma Ginny
Mom, You did a fabulous job with us! When I try to figure out how you handled the lot of us at different ages and stages, I'm just impressed you kept us all alive. :)
ReplyDeleteRobin, I had to laugh at putting him out in the snow... it worked! :D