Hey there.
Hey there. It is me, your friendly neighborhood blogger. Lots of changes around here in the past few days.
I have been wanting a little table and chairs for the kids. I even asked Santa but apparently I wasn't good this past year. Forget Santa. Jerk. I took matters into my own hands. I found a table on craigslist for a mere $10 and it is in near perfect condition and a great size. There is room for the kids to grow into it but it is not too big for either kid now. Greg wanted to know where I was planning on putting it and just what was I going to do with it. Well, it was going in the kitchen and I figured it would be a great place for art projects. We haven't tried art projects on the table yet but we have decided that it is a great place for snacks.
I added a little strap to help William from falling out of the chair and to help me to keep him from leaving the chair in the middle of the snack requiring me to chase after him before he rubs his messy hands on the furniture. While the kids were eating the snack pictured above (cheese and crackers) I was able to get the dishwasher loaded. This is normally not something I am able to do during the day because I would end up with two kids in the dishwasher. Marcus was finished with snack first and he helped clean up. Then I turned around to find that he was helping to clean up his brother as well. Marcus was wiping off William's hands with a wipe and then he very gently wiped off his face too. So incredibly cute. Then when they were done I had to vacuum because not only does the little table not catch as many crumbs as the dining room table and William's highchair, but also William would then be eating all the crumbs off the floor for the remainder of the day. So, the new table doesn't create total perfection in our household but I am used to excessive vacuuming. Our dog is prone to shedding and with two kids, well, our vacuum hasn't actually been put away for months now. It lives in the living room, ready to operate at a moments notice. Today, while the kids were eating their snack, I got out that vacuum and vacuumed the family room that opens into the kitchen, something that is completely impossible when there are two kids hanging around.
This little table also proved to me that my kids are Dave Matthews fans. See, they are under the table and dreaming.
Don't worry if that makes no sense to you. It just means that you aren't a Dave Matthews fan.
Onto the individuals of this household, from oldest to youngest.
Greg - He has been back to work for a few weeks now. I ask him everyday what he did at work and everyday he says he has done the exact same thing as the day before. The only thing different is what he has for lunch. Mondays he has rotisserie chicken. Tuesdays and Thursdays are chicken finger days. Wednesdays and Fridays are up in the air from week to week. After work Greg comes home and dinner is served shortly after. Then we all play together as a family. After the kids are in bed, Greg can generally be found down in the game room practicing his Wii skills.
Me - I'm adjusting well to this whole staying at home with two crazy kids thing. I try to make the most out of my free time (the time the kids are asleep) but most days I am just lazy and hang out on the couch watching whatever it was that I had set our DVR to record recently. I started reading Happiest Toddler on the Block yesterday. I haven't gotten to the part of the book where it actually talks about how to raise a happy toddler. So far though, the anthropologist in me is finding great fascination with the author's comparison of toddlers to chimps, Neanderthals, and cave men. It is an interesting point of view, showing how kids Marcus's age basically have the skills that the Neanderthals had 2 million years ago. This keeps me well entertained using my advanced brain power to imagine a hundred Marcus's hanging out in their own village and planning a hunt and gathering food and designating a particular corner of the cave for taking care of their "business".
Peyote (the pooch) - She is hiding most of the time. I feel bad for her but she is apparently perfectly content spending about 23 hours a day hanging out in the bedroom on her pillow. She is not nearly as apprehensive about William as she used to be either. She tries to pretend that she doesn't really like him but if that were the case, would she really allow all the hugs and kisses he gives her?
Marcus - He is as wild and crazy as ever. He really is such a good kid though. Sure, he is a typical Neanderthal who is prone to angry outbursts, frustrated by his limited communications skills, and under the impression that the world revolves around him. He is my little helper though. He cleans and gets drinks out for snack and puts drinks away and gets out diapers and wipes when it is changing time. There has been a bit of a behavioral issue involving Marcus. It probably could have kept going on unchecked if it weren't for the fact that some day I would like for Marcus and William to share a room. For quite some time I figured if we just ignored the behavior, it would go away. Instead, it has gotten worse. It is a sleep thing, a sleep avoidance thing really. It started months ago. We would put him down for nap or night and he would hang out in his crib and talk. He sometimes would talk for several hours. There were times he would talk from noon until 2, at which point he would finally go to sleep and I knew if I let him sleep past 3 then there would be no way to get him to go to sleep at night. Then he would wake up really irritable and still very tired. There were times we put him to bed around 7:30 and it was after 9 and he was still talking. I made it a point after he figured out how to go to sleep on his own not to go back into his room after he was put down to sleep. (Of course if he was sick or crying or something was obviously wrong, I would go in. But he was just in there, happily gabbing and keeping himself awake.) So this all seems like not a huge ordeal but things have escalated. It escalated into him yelling really really loud for hours on end. This is not the kind of yelling where something is the least bit long. We talk about the difference of inside and outside voices a lot with Marcus and he was just using his outside voice. There were also times when he would start banging on the walls around his crib too. He obviously wanted attention and I don't really get it because he knew that he wasn't going to get it since we NEVER go in there. But, he has been trying his hardest. We tell him "no" when he uses outside voices during the day but he also knew that he could use outside voices as much as he wanted when he was in his crib because no one was going to come in and tell him to stop. If there was a chance of Marcus and William sharing a room at some point, it was not going to work out if Marcus was using an outside voice for two hours at the beginning of sleep time. Yesterday I started the mission of getting Marcus to sleep at the beginning of sleep time instead of keeping oneself up. I thought about it for a bit and decided to try some Super Nanny tactics. When I put him down for his nap yesterday I stayed in his room and sat there quietly reading a book. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do if he started with the outside voices. Thankfully me just being there was enough to get the message of being still and quiet was what was supposed to happen at nap time. He did sit up once and I just laid him back down and told him that he needed to lay down during nap time. Within 10 minutes he was asleep. Last night at bedtime it was a repeat performance. Fifteen minutes of hanging out in his room and he was snoring. Today at nap time I was in there for about 2 minutes and he was asleep. Slowly I am going to make my way towards the door and keep my fingers crossed that once I step out of the room and close the door, the outside voices don't start up again.
William - He has been practicing walking a lot today. He will only take 2-3 steps at a time but he is starting to see that if it is only a foot to go, it makes more sense to walk there than to crawl. He gets really excited when he does it, but taking unassisted steps is still a rare thing. William has now gone down for a nap without a bottle of anything three times now. He has not put up one bit of fuss. Tonight he will be going to bed without a bottle. I have a feeling that he is going to not be too happy about it. He still looks and reaches for his bottle at night. I am very excited about how the bonding is going. It is so hard to explain it to people who haven't adopted before. When William came to live with us we had no clue what his likes and dislikes and normal behavior was. So with everything that he did, we had no idea if that was just his personality or if that behavior was because he was confused and didn't know who we were or why he was living here. When he first came home every diaper change was a fight to keep him from rolling off the changing table. We thought he just didn't like diaper changes. Now he just hangs out and waits for a dry diaper. I used to be afraid to pick him up because sometimes he would scream and the last thing I wanted to do was upset him. I thought maybe he just didn't like transitions and being taken away from what he was doing. Now when I pick him up he goes along with the ride. When he first came home he spent all of his time playing with toys and very little of his time caring what I was up to. I just thought he was an independent little guy. These past few days he has spent a lot of time just sitting in my lap cuddling and feeling quite secure in his environment. I have been trying to think all day how to really explain this growing attachment. It is a two way street. William attaches to us and we have to attach to him too. We have always loved him of course but for awhile, at least for me, it has been more of a brotherly love. We love him because he is family, kinda like how you might love a sibling. I was protective of him and cared for him and took care of him, but there was also some space between us like he had his world and I had mine. Over the past few weeks as our attachment has grown I finally feel like he is truly my son in my heart, not just on paper. I love him for everything he is. And so I leave you with this question. What do you get when you point a fan in the face of a really cute little boy? Pure elation of course!
I have been wanting a little table and chairs for the kids. I even asked Santa but apparently I wasn't good this past year. Forget Santa. Jerk. I took matters into my own hands. I found a table on craigslist for a mere $10 and it is in near perfect condition and a great size. There is room for the kids to grow into it but it is not too big for either kid now. Greg wanted to know where I was planning on putting it and just what was I going to do with it. Well, it was going in the kitchen and I figured it would be a great place for art projects. We haven't tried art projects on the table yet but we have decided that it is a great place for snacks.
I added a little strap to help William from falling out of the chair and to help me to keep him from leaving the chair in the middle of the snack requiring me to chase after him before he rubs his messy hands on the furniture. While the kids were eating the snack pictured above (cheese and crackers) I was able to get the dishwasher loaded. This is normally not something I am able to do during the day because I would end up with two kids in the dishwasher. Marcus was finished with snack first and he helped clean up. Then I turned around to find that he was helping to clean up his brother as well. Marcus was wiping off William's hands with a wipe and then he very gently wiped off his face too. So incredibly cute. Then when they were done I had to vacuum because not only does the little table not catch as many crumbs as the dining room table and William's highchair, but also William would then be eating all the crumbs off the floor for the remainder of the day. So, the new table doesn't create total perfection in our household but I am used to excessive vacuuming. Our dog is prone to shedding and with two kids, well, our vacuum hasn't actually been put away for months now. It lives in the living room, ready to operate at a moments notice. Today, while the kids were eating their snack, I got out that vacuum and vacuumed the family room that opens into the kitchen, something that is completely impossible when there are two kids hanging around.
This little table also proved to me that my kids are Dave Matthews fans. See, they are under the table and dreaming.
Don't worry if that makes no sense to you. It just means that you aren't a Dave Matthews fan.
Onto the individuals of this household, from oldest to youngest.
Greg - He has been back to work for a few weeks now. I ask him everyday what he did at work and everyday he says he has done the exact same thing as the day before. The only thing different is what he has for lunch. Mondays he has rotisserie chicken. Tuesdays and Thursdays are chicken finger days. Wednesdays and Fridays are up in the air from week to week. After work Greg comes home and dinner is served shortly after. Then we all play together as a family. After the kids are in bed, Greg can generally be found down in the game room practicing his Wii skills.
Me - I'm adjusting well to this whole staying at home with two crazy kids thing. I try to make the most out of my free time (the time the kids are asleep) but most days I am just lazy and hang out on the couch watching whatever it was that I had set our DVR to record recently. I started reading Happiest Toddler on the Block yesterday. I haven't gotten to the part of the book where it actually talks about how to raise a happy toddler. So far though, the anthropologist in me is finding great fascination with the author's comparison of toddlers to chimps, Neanderthals, and cave men. It is an interesting point of view, showing how kids Marcus's age basically have the skills that the Neanderthals had 2 million years ago. This keeps me well entertained using my advanced brain power to imagine a hundred Marcus's hanging out in their own village and planning a hunt and gathering food and designating a particular corner of the cave for taking care of their "business".
Peyote (the pooch) - She is hiding most of the time. I feel bad for her but she is apparently perfectly content spending about 23 hours a day hanging out in the bedroom on her pillow. She is not nearly as apprehensive about William as she used to be either. She tries to pretend that she doesn't really like him but if that were the case, would she really allow all the hugs and kisses he gives her?
Marcus - He is as wild and crazy as ever. He really is such a good kid though. Sure, he is a typical Neanderthal who is prone to angry outbursts, frustrated by his limited communications skills, and under the impression that the world revolves around him. He is my little helper though. He cleans and gets drinks out for snack and puts drinks away and gets out diapers and wipes when it is changing time. There has been a bit of a behavioral issue involving Marcus. It probably could have kept going on unchecked if it weren't for the fact that some day I would like for Marcus and William to share a room. For quite some time I figured if we just ignored the behavior, it would go away. Instead, it has gotten worse. It is a sleep thing, a sleep avoidance thing really. It started months ago. We would put him down for nap or night and he would hang out in his crib and talk. He sometimes would talk for several hours. There were times he would talk from noon until 2, at which point he would finally go to sleep and I knew if I let him sleep past 3 then there would be no way to get him to go to sleep at night. Then he would wake up really irritable and still very tired. There were times we put him to bed around 7:30 and it was after 9 and he was still talking. I made it a point after he figured out how to go to sleep on his own not to go back into his room after he was put down to sleep. (Of course if he was sick or crying or something was obviously wrong, I would go in. But he was just in there, happily gabbing and keeping himself awake.) So this all seems like not a huge ordeal but things have escalated. It escalated into him yelling really really loud for hours on end. This is not the kind of yelling where something is the least bit long. We talk about the difference of inside and outside voices a lot with Marcus and he was just using his outside voice. There were also times when he would start banging on the walls around his crib too. He obviously wanted attention and I don't really get it because he knew that he wasn't going to get it since we NEVER go in there. But, he has been trying his hardest. We tell him "no" when he uses outside voices during the day but he also knew that he could use outside voices as much as he wanted when he was in his crib because no one was going to come in and tell him to stop. If there was a chance of Marcus and William sharing a room at some point, it was not going to work out if Marcus was using an outside voice for two hours at the beginning of sleep time. Yesterday I started the mission of getting Marcus to sleep at the beginning of sleep time instead of keeping oneself up. I thought about it for a bit and decided to try some Super Nanny tactics. When I put him down for his nap yesterday I stayed in his room and sat there quietly reading a book. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do if he started with the outside voices. Thankfully me just being there was enough to get the message of being still and quiet was what was supposed to happen at nap time. He did sit up once and I just laid him back down and told him that he needed to lay down during nap time. Within 10 minutes he was asleep. Last night at bedtime it was a repeat performance. Fifteen minutes of hanging out in his room and he was snoring. Today at nap time I was in there for about 2 minutes and he was asleep. Slowly I am going to make my way towards the door and keep my fingers crossed that once I step out of the room and close the door, the outside voices don't start up again.
William - He has been practicing walking a lot today. He will only take 2-3 steps at a time but he is starting to see that if it is only a foot to go, it makes more sense to walk there than to crawl. He gets really excited when he does it, but taking unassisted steps is still a rare thing. William has now gone down for a nap without a bottle of anything three times now. He has not put up one bit of fuss. Tonight he will be going to bed without a bottle. I have a feeling that he is going to not be too happy about it. He still looks and reaches for his bottle at night. I am very excited about how the bonding is going. It is so hard to explain it to people who haven't adopted before. When William came to live with us we had no clue what his likes and dislikes and normal behavior was. So with everything that he did, we had no idea if that was just his personality or if that behavior was because he was confused and didn't know who we were or why he was living here. When he first came home every diaper change was a fight to keep him from rolling off the changing table. We thought he just didn't like diaper changes. Now he just hangs out and waits for a dry diaper. I used to be afraid to pick him up because sometimes he would scream and the last thing I wanted to do was upset him. I thought maybe he just didn't like transitions and being taken away from what he was doing. Now when I pick him up he goes along with the ride. When he first came home he spent all of his time playing with toys and very little of his time caring what I was up to. I just thought he was an independent little guy. These past few days he has spent a lot of time just sitting in my lap cuddling and feeling quite secure in his environment. I have been trying to think all day how to really explain this growing attachment. It is a two way street. William attaches to us and we have to attach to him too. We have always loved him of course but for awhile, at least for me, it has been more of a brotherly love. We love him because he is family, kinda like how you might love a sibling. I was protective of him and cared for him and took care of him, but there was also some space between us like he had his world and I had mine. Over the past few weeks as our attachment has grown I finally feel like he is truly my son in my heart, not just on paper. I love him for everything he is. And so I leave you with this question. What do you get when you point a fan in the face of a really cute little boy? Pure elation of course!
posted by Annie and Greg @ 2:43 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Lovely post. :-)
i was just going to leave the same comment as amy!
really touching!
The table is great and looks real nice too. Love all the pictures.
Gail
What a great update post! Bonding is something I worry about as we get to what is hopefully the end of our wait to bring Sophia home. I feel like each day she gets older, the more difficult it will be for her (and us) to adjust. You give me a lot of peace and hope. I know it could be different with us, but I have just decided that it's going to be good. Because I said so.
And, everyone please note in the last picture...Annie isn't kidding when she says she spends much of the day watching DVR'd programs...look in the top right corner of the photo of William enjoying the fan. The DVR/Cable Box reads 'play'. There. There's my Highlights "find the hidden thing in the picture post" lol. And please, don't ask me why I even noticed that. I'm just a big, big dork.
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