We are now counting down! One week from tomorrow we close on our house! Yippeee! I am in a quandary right now because it FEELS like I should be doing something but most things that need to be done don’t make sense to do today so I feel like I am caught in the “hurry up and wait” cycle:).
I don’t have too much to write today so this will be briefer than usual. I’ll post pictures though because I am way behind on current pictures. (See the Dec-Feb album)
Tanner and Moving
When we first told Tanner we were moving he thought it was a grand idea. Now he isn’t so sure. In the last week he starts to get upset if we talk to him about it. He has decided he likes living here and moving is apparently – too much of a change. I think he’ll change his mind once we do it but he doesn’t appreciate this disruption to his “norm”. So like my Tanner:).
Grandparents
Both my kids are well educated in the role of grandparents. Ty especially is quickly to call for a grandparent rescue if he is in trouble with mommy. He is very practiced at charming people. He squints his eyes with those long lashes (and when I say long I mean I have never in my life seen llllooooonnngggeeerr) and worms his way right into your heart.
This morning Tanner woke up and told me he was going to go camping with Papa and Sweetie and I couldn’t come. I had to stay home. I told him that camping sounded like fun and I’d like to go to. He said I’d have to camp somewhere else. Sheeeeeshhh! Was he serious? Oh yes I believe he was. He realizes that Sweetie will give him undivided attention if mommy isn’t there and he would rather be the center of her world and would prefer to not have to compete with me. Makes sense really so I can’t fault him:).
Last week Tanner wanted to stay the night at Sweetie’s. When I was pulling out of their driveway, Ty realized that Tanner was staying and he wasn’t. He pitched a royal screaming fit. He yelling, crying and spitting for a mile. All of a sudden my car speeds up on me and won’t stop. I was scared to death and ultimately had to throw the car into park. (It turned out to be the throttle cable was hung open and Jim actually asked me why I didn’t step on the gas to release it!!!! Duh!!! When my car is SPEEDING UP why in the world would it occur to me to press the gas pedal?????) Anyhow, Ty got his way and we had to walk all the way back to Papa’s. He sang and smiled all the way back.
Why Oh Why
Tanner is going through the lovely why stage. My friend Laura shared a thought one day that I believed was wonderful. When her kids ask her “why” after she has told them to do something, she will only answer the question AFTER they obeyed. I do not like “why” questions either – especially the whiny ones. I have been trying to break Tanner of this. Recently Tanner spouted out a really long whiny “wwwwwwhhhhhhyyyyyy” and before I could even respond Ty copied Tanner with perfect tone. Aaaaggghhhh!!!! I then set about trying to teach both boys to simply say “Yes Ma’m” when I asked them to do something. Surprisingly, Ty caught on right away and is doing very well with this. He say’s “Es Em”. So cute.
Food
When Tanner was two, he loved to look at picture books and he knew the names and sounds of all the animals. Ty could care less about the animals. He wants to look at the food pages. He knows “Cake, chocolate, strawberry, banana, broccoli, cupcake, chips….” and a whole host more. Ty loves to eat. This week about 45 minutes after lunch he told Jim “I hungweee”. He kept repeating it over and over. Finally Jim said “Ty you don’t even know what hungry means.” Ty looked Jim in the eye and said “Lunch!”. Apparently he knows exactly what hungry means:). Mommy was not a bit surprised. This afternoon he got hungry for lunch so he picked up the phone and tried to dial an order in. I heard him saying “Boo-goo….Fwies”.
X Box
I am going to take our stinkin X box and throw it through the window. Ty begs for “Gemes” or “X box” 24×7 and it is driving me crazy!!!! He is totally OCD about it so the last two days I haven’t let either of the boys go anywhere near it. He even starts singing the star wars song and marching in front of the television to let me know that he wants the Star Wars game on. THAT is funny:)
Balance
Ty’s PT this week told me that she would release Ty from PT if it weren’t for the balance issues. He still is so clumsy and he has such a hard time with any elevation change or step/curb. I don’t know if it is depth perception or not. Usually, he doesn’t even look down at his feet at all. Like he has no awareness that he needs to observe where he is going. Still watching this one…
Valentine’s….
Got this Happy Valentine’s from Aimee and wanted to post for you. My niece Zandi and nephew Zane. Simply irresistible aren’t they?
Wishing you a wonderful day!
8 responses to “Valentine’s”
i had to giggle out loud about ty and the food books. 🙂 a boy after my own heart – ha ha! go for the sweets!
and these kids are dolls! boy – that little boy sure reminds me of david in this picture!
Oh Doni, Not only do you have your hands full with Ty, he’s going to keep you on the run! I have a feeling he isn’t shy about stating his needs! LOL, The picture of him in front of the TV marching singing the star wars song is too much! LOL We need to get him a little robe and light stick! Does the new Star Wars still have them? We bought Rick a new race game for his birthday this week. I’m not sure if Eric has given him a turn yet! I too wanted to throw that thing out the window, I took it away for a while from the big ones and the little ones and slowly gave it back with HUGE boundries 🙂 It has made a world of difference. The difference being in mama’s sanity!
Ok so we may not get to talk on the phone any time soon about the pt issues soooo….you had a very profound paragraph about Ty and his balance issues. This hit home to me and made perfect sense…well sorta lol….Kenslie had this same problem forever and to this day still does she is the only 5 1/2 yr old I know that doesn’t look down when she is walking aghhh!! She has always fallen down since she started walking this was one of my main issues that kept her in therapy…..ultimately her pt and nuro. said this will be something that is a lasting effect from her PVL I dont know all the correct terms for why and how come. It has been along time since therapy for her now( we quit when she was 3 1/2 she went into school) I do still notice things with her falling down when she is running or trying to keep up with brothers and sisters on a rough surface. Her PVL is on the left side so there for she has right side motor skill delay. Her right leg is the leg that would drag when she learned to crawl and was stiff when she learned to walk and very scary stiff when she would jump on the trampoline….we had to teach her to bend it. She is still stiffer on that side but stretches do help. In the end though and she is only 5 a person without any formal training in PT would never know anything is wrong with Kenslie, she just trips a little more than the other kids so we just tell them shes clumsy…whole lot easier than telling them the entire story. A side note the one thing that has started bothering me is that she has just started writing this past year and we have noticed that she will mirror some of her work, more like most of her words. It is something her teacher and I have been working with but another side effect of PVL. The DR. said she may struggle with this cause her brain may be confused thinking it should be right handed and she cant do any fine motor with her right so she will definetly be left and that will cause her to have to work alot harder than most at writing. She is doing wonderful with her academics though, sailing through kdg. and beggining to spell and read, she can spell most 3 letter words and read them as well. The best advice I can give to you is to do ecactly what you are allready doing THERAPY and to listen to them and repeat all week long.
sorry this doesn’t apply to others but will to Doni,
Luv Shayla
i feel content when i hear others chiming in to love my (MY! hee hee… possessive, aren’t i?) doni and nephews. 🙂 i’m glad to know there is such a great support system of others who have walked similar roads and are willing to share their challenges and successes in an effort to help one another.
the truth is we ALL have challenges. ty’s and kenslie’s are quite unique based on unique experience – but every challenge faced is a testimony to incredible challenges that have been overcome. i’m so thankful the Lord said yes to these precious ones and gave them loving parents to help walk them through. i will have unique challenges with my little guy and will have to encourage him through hard times too. it’s nice to see the example through ya’ll that when we need it – the right person will be there to encourage us too.
bless you!
I sat back and smiled when I read about “WHY OH WHY”
and the interventions of trying to teach manners. The old
WHY response rings through my house often. And the only time I get a “yes mam” is when my kids know deep inside that mommy has had it and she is serious. Wait.. thats not true my older ones tend to use the “yes mam” when they want a couple of extra “Jolley Dollars” ( family money my kids can earn buy helping out). We don’t believe that our kids should be paid real money for doing chores around the house we believe that our family is a team and must work together to make things work. It works pretty well, they earn Jolley Dollars and after so much is collected they are rewarded.
Landen Clark is our new WWWWHHHHHYYYYYY man around the house. It is one of the few words he can say and makes sure that everyone around him hears him. The other day I was making dinner and Landen decided to knock his baby brother down for no reason. When I told him to be nice and give his brother a hug he stood there looking at me with his BIG blue eyes and asked WHY, over and over again. I looked straight at him and told him that I had already raised four 2 yr. olds and have learned many things about them and that I knew all the little games they try to play on moms and dads. I promise you he stop dead in his responce, put his little head down, turned around and gave his bubba a hug. Then looked over at me and puckered up his little lips and gave me a sweet little kiss. I know it sounds common but most of the time my answer to the ” why” question is ” BECAUSE I SAID !!!
Hi Doni ~
I just wanted to let you know that we saw you on 60 Minutes last Sunday shaking hands with the President. Tanner is so darn cute!
wow! what was that 60 minute episode i wonder????
Why why. Oh did I love that stage. Shay (5 1/2) is out of that stage and now he is into bargaining with me. Let me tell you this is a lot more fun than whyyyyy’s. I also believe that I have the whinniest boy in the US! I thought boys were not suppose to whine. Not my kid! Both my boys are so different and I am not sure what I would do if I had two that were the same. Sage is a very quite kid, and Shay is my loud child. Its fun watching them devolpe and there minds grow.
Real quick on moving. We moved with Shay when he was 4. He didn’t do too well. It took him a couple of months to adjust. But we moved 3000 miles away and had to wait for his toys and things for 2 weeks. I know you are only moving down the street but it still seems like it is taking its toll on Tanner. I am sure Tanner will adjust fast and end up loving his new place. It probably makes it easier when it is in the same neighborhood.
Good luck! And thanks for keeping us informed!
Jere’