Tori: ??Mom! ??This does not belong here! ??(Referring to her notebook).

Me: ??Oh? ??Where does it belong?

Tori: ??On the homeschool shelf. ??Now if you excuse me, I am going to go do my school!

 

*******************

While editing a picture the other day, Tori approached and watched me a bit. ??I expected her to comment on how adorable the baby was. ??Nope.

Tori: ??Well….it looks like you did have some light.

The day before had been overcast (which is rare in Phoenix) and Jim and I had discussed it. ??Apparently, my Mini-Me, was paying attention.

*********************

Tori’s favorite quote this week: ?? “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh cccccccooooooommmmmmeeeee ?? ??oooooooonnnnnnn!”

I thought this was funny until she started directing at me when I gave her a task to do. ??Then it got nipped. ??I just turned my back and grinned.

*********************

The other night I sent her to bed and asked her to come give me a kiss. ??She looked at me with an odd expression and said “I think I’ll just go straight to bed tonight”. ?? Not easily fooled, I invited her closer for an inspection. ??She had a pistachio in her mouth. ??RIGHT after she had brushed her teeth. ??Nice try. ?? ??After having four brothers, I lean towards the suspicious side. ??As my Dad has always said “Trust and verify” LOL.

***********************

Do you know what I find odd??? Out of all my children, Ty actually has the best focus for task work.?? Tanner and Troy both have long attention spans.?? Tori and Ty do not.?? However, when it comes to getting something done, Ty is the best at knocking it all out the most efficiently.???? I was talking to Jim about this and he said that he is not surprised by it because Ty is motivated by schedules, order, rules…etc., therefore, it makes sense that he would do well with task work.

 

I have been amazed at Troy’s attention span.?? Unlike Ty, Troy is a player.?? He loves toys and will play and play all day.?? He is such an easy baby.?? He is saying “Thank you” now so adorably but he hasn’t added much to his word repertoire in quite some time.?? He is very chatty, we just have no idea what he is saying most of the time.???? This week I cold??turkey-ed??the lansprozale (15 months) so hopefully that will go okay and we won’t have reflux symptoms crop back up.?? He still vomits occasionally but has really come along way with this.???? His patching is frustrating.?? Some days he keeps it on, some days I replace it six times in three hours.?? The glasses are a constant struggle and I am so tired of chasing them down to find where he HID them.?? He has also decided to be a morning baby for over a month now (6:30 or 7:00 AM wakeup) and that is not conducive to our lifestyle AT ALL.?? I am trying to get him past that but no luck so far.?? Thankfully, due to my diet changes, I can’t sleep much past 7:00 AM either so at least I am up (though I am wishing for some quiet morning time).???? Quiet??? In the Brinkman household??? Ever??? Not going to happen.

 

******************************

Back in August, we met with Troy’s birthparents at Desert Ridge and let the kids play in the water area (and it was so good to see them and get to chat for a bit – and yes, of course, they thought Troy was beautiful).?? While there, I went in to Cold Stone and left the kids with Jim.?? When I came out, I had that sense of alternate reality.?? It was a Saturday and many other parents had the same idea of utilizing the water feature at the mall.?? There were probably 30+ kids out playing.???? As I walked toward the area, it caught my attention that everyone had gone very still and silent.?? Weird.

When I saw Jim approaching me with a smirk and twinkle (his hallmark expression), I felt a tremor of anxiety.?? Suspiciously, I questioned why the lack of animation.

Jim enjoyed relaying to me that Ty had sighted a large red button on the wall by the fireplace.???? Need I say more??? You know what my low impulse control darling did.?? How could he not??? Better, who in their right mind would put a large red button on a wall within reach of a child IN A PLAY AREA????

OOOOOHHHHHH COOOOOMMMMMEEEEEEE???? OOOOOONNNNNNN!!!

The really stupid thing was that the security guard actually had to call the maintenance man to figure out how to turn the water back on.?? Meanwhile, our family stands there being drilled by a 100 sets of eyes.?? I am avoiding eye contact.?? Ty is wide eyed having no idea how to fake a guilty expression. ??”Woops” is about all you will get out of him. ??Jim is grinning.?? He can’t help himself.

To this day, we can’t mention the red button incident without Jim splitting into a grin again.?? One of the many humors associated to raising a kid with disabilities.?? You learn to take life a lot lighter.?? There was no way on this earth Ty could have NOT pressed that button.???? Jim was telling a co-worker about the incident this week and Jeremy sent Jim the following video (which then Jim enjoyed sharing with me).

Not sure many would find this as funny as Jim and I do, but if you can relate to it (and anyone who interacts with Ty can relate), it’s a real winner.?? Welcome to our world.

 

Ren and Stimpy on Nicktoons