After two weeks + one day of recovery time, Thing 1 returned to preschool yesterday. He still has bandage strips covering the scar, so we haven’t seen what it looks like since the stitches were taken out.
He really is a great patient. He follows all the rules and never complains. He enjoyed the extra attention, though I’m sure he’d rather be back to jumping and climbing and playing like a four and a half year old. Continue reading Update On Our Patient
In my youth, which means before I had kids, I had trouble getting up in the morning. I had to be very careful to set my alarm, or else I would sleep through whatever it was I had to do. Ahhh, youth.
I haven’t set an alarm clock in four and a half years. Surprise surprise, that’s exactly Thing 1’s age.
It is impossible for me to oversleep for anything now. Most days, Thing 3 is my alarm clock. We can’t set the exact time he goes off, but he is sure to be standing in his crib and doing his cock-a-doodle-do (aka crying) sometime between 5-6:15am.
Just in case Thing 3’s wakeup call doesn’t work (not likely), I have backup Plan B – otherwise known as Thing 2. As soon as he wakes up Thing 2 will come into our room and climb into our bed.
So, what happens on those rare occasions, like when I travel for work, when there are no Things to wake me up? Do I go back to my oversleeping youth? Not to worry.
My natural clock has been “readjusted”, from so many years of waking up by 6am, that it is impossible to sleep any later. It’s quite a curse blessing, really. It doesn’t matter how late I go to sleep, I will be up at 6am. Just like the Things.
I’m not a big fan of malls, but they are the perfect place to bring kids on a rainy day. Here are some pictures of my trip with Thing 2 to Tysons Corner Center this weekend.
Thing 2 has what we call an “inner rhythm”. He often goes around humming, singing, and dancing in his own little world. No matter what is going on around him. Here he is dancing his way through the mall. Strangers are entertained, and often stop to look and laugh.
No trip to the mall would be complete without a stop at the indoor play area. In case you don’t have kids, or haven’t been to a mall recently, these are the areas where parents let their kids loose to climb, run, and scream in a (somewhat) controlled environment. It is total chaos.
If the above photo looks blurry, that’s because the kids are in constant motion. Finally, here is a shot of Thing 2 doing his famous “monster face”.
Thing 1 had surgery six days ago. He was born with a hemangioma on his shoulder. It started as a little red dot, and eventually grew to several inches in diameter. It used to look like he was wearing a shoulder pad on one side, but it became flatter over time.
We’ve always known he would eventually have surgery to remove it. The doctors suggested we wait until just before school age, when he’s still young enough not to remember it, but old enough to allow the lesion to recede somewhat on its own. After school age, he might become self conscience about it. Up until now, it bothered us more than him.
The surgery was at Children’s National Medical Center, at an outpatient location. I’m sure to the doctors this was considered a “routine” procedure Continue reading Kids Are The Best Patients
Tonight I had the fun of bouncing between bathrooms as Thing 1 and Thing 2 both were attempting to go #2 on the potty. I was reminded of the banjo scene from the movie Deliverance, as I traveled back and forth to calls of “Daaaaddddy!”.
They alway decide they need to go potty after we put them to bed. Then, we have to go all the way back downstairs for the sticker chart ceremony. Then it’s: “I’m thirsty”. I know it’s a ploy to stay up later. But what are you going to do?
To those readers who are new parents, here is something you may want to see to know what to expect in a few years. Thing 1’s power struggles have been fodder for this site before. But this time, I actually caught one on tape.
This one was actually pretty tame by his prior standards. It started one weekend afternoon. He gave up taking naps on weekends a long time ago, even though he takes one every day at preschool.
The sequence of events is as follows.
Thing 1 says he needs a tissue. But he goes into his “I’m too weak and it’s too hard to move” routine, choosing to lay on the stairs instead. After making the long trek up the stairs, he returns to say there are no tissues. More accurately, there are no tissues because he put them all in the trash. The whole box.
I send him to his room. Crying ensues. After being in his room for a few minutes, he starts to bang the door. I go up to check. He denies doing it.
More of the same. More crying. Just another day with a four year old.
I can’t wait to show him this video in about 25 years, when he has a new baby, so he’ll know what to expect.
You already know about Thing 2’s fascination with dragons. It appears the obsession is rooted deep in his unconscious mind.
Is it just me, or does this finger painting look his new dragon? By the way, the dragon now has a name – Papo. Not to be confused with the taller one who goes by Mr Dragon.
Some time ago I wrote about Thing 2’s toddler comfort objects. At that time, it was all about Mustache Guy. Now, we have entered into the dragon phase.
After completing his first potty chart, Thing 2 picked out the big dragon. Last weekend, after his first successful poop in the potty (a big deal in our house!), he picked out the two headed dragon with fire coming out of one head.
He likes to go up to people, stick the dragon in their face, and say “Look at my dragon. Roooaaar!”. Every 10 minutes, it’s like he just got it for the first time. “Look at my dragon”.
So, naturally, the new dragon (with the fire) accompanied Thing 2 to preschool Monday morning. He started showing it to all his teachers and friends. Then we had a little problem.
SuburbanMommy dropped Thing 2 off in his classroom, dragon in hand. Then she took the other two to their rooms before checking back in on Thing 2. When she returned, she found Thing 2 in the corner with dragon, tears streaming down his face, but not crying.
The teacher explained that one of the girls in the class was a little frightened by the new dragon. Especially when Thing 2 did his ROOAAR! in her face. She started crying. And she actually peed in her pants.
When SuburbanMommy saw Thing 2 in the corner she thought he was getting a time out, and that was why he was crying silently. But the teacher explained that he was spending a last minute with his dragon before he had to put him away for the day. He was saying an emotional goodbye to dragon.
