Odds and ends
Mr. B is has been wearing me out. He hasn't napped in about 2 months. Other than needing to get him into bed a little earlier at night, he wasn't showing any signs of it otherwise. But for the last week or so he's been having a pretty regular meltdown at about 5:45-6:00. And anything can set him off. Yesterday it was when I took of his shirt in the bathroom before he peed before his bath. Apparently peeing is much better with a shirt on. Although I have to give props to my big boy who has been doing "stand-up peepees" since Sunday. He fought standing to pee for such a long time and the just did it. And does it well. Damn, this boy has aim. He actually gets in the bowl without even having to hold onto the equipment. Better than alot of men, lol. But back to the meltdowns, it's just something I have to weather because he'll go from 0 to 60 in terms of being sane and rational to suddenly being exhausted and hitting the wall. It's just made bath and pre-bedtime a bit of a challenge to say the least. He does usually calm down for bedtime. We chat and cuddle on the bed and he's usually his sweet self after awhile, but of course just when it's time to sleep.
He's also been so grown-up in so many other ways. We've been doing alot of trips without the stroller. We done lots of trips to stores, the mall, to the playground, walks around the neighborhood, all without it, with no problems. He's very good most of the time about not running away and holding my hand. And I'm really surprised that he hasn't been asking me to pick him up. He's been alot more into creative play, never his forte previously. I've found him picking up the portable phone and having pretend conversations with alot of different people, even with stores he likes. Last night he took his blankie Tee and wrapped it around his shoulders and told me it was his new jacket "for when it snows" and put his Dorothy the Dinosaur on his head and told me it was new hat and he paraded around like that. But most of all he's so excited because I got him a Handy Dandy Notebook. He's been talking about wanting one for awhile, especially since he decided he wanted to be a (Blues) clue for Halloween. We stopped at Toys R Us and I picked one up. Let me just say -
Handy Dandy Notebook - $4.99
Happy child and a break for Mom - Priceless
He's spent hours with this notebook (he told me it's his "friend Joe's notebook". He'll make up clues, for example he told me the first clue was the wall, the second clue was the sky and the third clue was my shirt. Then he'll pretend he's in the thinking chair and he'll decide what the clues mean and then he sings "We just figured out Blues Clues because we're really smart." He's always been such a literal kid so I love seeing him be so creative. And I have to admit that there are times to this day where I still worry that he might have some kind of developmental issue. I remember back when he was 15 or 16 months old and had no speech and wasn't pointing and there were just other worrisome issues. Yes, he had great eye contact and was very affectionate, but I so worried. And then his speech started up and within months that wasn't a worry, but he still had anxieties and the inability to interact with other kids in a meaningful way. More worries. Well, a years maturity and lots of experience with other children and that worry is gone. Then there was the lack of creativity. I remember once reading an article about a mother who had an older son who was autistic and a younger son without it. She mentioned the younger child at age 2 pretending to eat an apple from a book page and how her older son could never do something like that. I remember waiting and wathcing and being so excited when Brendan did things like that. At this point I think that most of the worries I were groundless, that Brendan just had to do things on his own schedule in his own way. He didn't say his first word until 17.5 months and now is a little dictionary. He didn't even roll over in one direction until 7 months, and then in the space of one week at 10 months, rolled over in the opposite direction, crawled forward, pulled up and started cruising. It was just at his own pace. And it's funny how now it's often that people don't remember that Brendan is only 3. He's so tall and articulate and advanced in alot of ways (although dammit I wish he would get onboard with the poop train) that it's hard to remember he just turned 3. My mom told me today that she went to get gas (gouged for $2.94 a gallon) and when she signed for it, Brendan insisted on signing too. The gas station owner, who loves Brendan, was asking if he was starting kindergarten. Uh, not for two years, lol.
But he is so much fun these days. I wish I got more time to spend with him. We have a 3 day weekend coming up which is nice, but sometimes it's just not enough.
He's also been so grown-up in so many other ways. We've been doing alot of trips without the stroller. We done lots of trips to stores, the mall, to the playground, walks around the neighborhood, all without it, with no problems. He's very good most of the time about not running away and holding my hand. And I'm really surprised that he hasn't been asking me to pick him up. He's been alot more into creative play, never his forte previously. I've found him picking up the portable phone and having pretend conversations with alot of different people, even with stores he likes. Last night he took his blankie Tee and wrapped it around his shoulders and told me it was his new jacket "for when it snows" and put his Dorothy the Dinosaur on his head and told me it was new hat and he paraded around like that. But most of all he's so excited because I got him a Handy Dandy Notebook. He's been talking about wanting one for awhile, especially since he decided he wanted to be a (Blues) clue for Halloween. We stopped at Toys R Us and I picked one up. Let me just say -
Handy Dandy Notebook - $4.99
Happy child and a break for Mom - Priceless
He's spent hours with this notebook (he told me it's his "friend Joe's notebook". He'll make up clues, for example he told me the first clue was the wall, the second clue was the sky and the third clue was my shirt. Then he'll pretend he's in the thinking chair and he'll decide what the clues mean and then he sings "We just figured out Blues Clues because we're really smart." He's always been such a literal kid so I love seeing him be so creative. And I have to admit that there are times to this day where I still worry that he might have some kind of developmental issue. I remember back when he was 15 or 16 months old and had no speech and wasn't pointing and there were just other worrisome issues. Yes, he had great eye contact and was very affectionate, but I so worried. And then his speech started up and within months that wasn't a worry, but he still had anxieties and the inability to interact with other kids in a meaningful way. More worries. Well, a years maturity and lots of experience with other children and that worry is gone. Then there was the lack of creativity. I remember once reading an article about a mother who had an older son who was autistic and a younger son without it. She mentioned the younger child at age 2 pretending to eat an apple from a book page and how her older son could never do something like that. I remember waiting and wathcing and being so excited when Brendan did things like that. At this point I think that most of the worries I were groundless, that Brendan just had to do things on his own schedule in his own way. He didn't say his first word until 17.5 months and now is a little dictionary. He didn't even roll over in one direction until 7 months, and then in the space of one week at 10 months, rolled over in the opposite direction, crawled forward, pulled up and started cruising. It was just at his own pace. And it's funny how now it's often that people don't remember that Brendan is only 3. He's so tall and articulate and advanced in alot of ways (although dammit I wish he would get onboard with the poop train) that it's hard to remember he just turned 3. My mom told me today that she went to get gas (gouged for $2.94 a gallon) and when she signed for it, Brendan insisted on signing too. The gas station owner, who loves Brendan, was asking if he was starting kindergarten. Uh, not for two years, lol.
But he is so much fun these days. I wish I got more time to spend with him. We have a 3 day weekend coming up which is nice, but sometimes it's just not enough.
posted by Laura @ 8/31/2005 02:43:00 PM
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