Well, the New Year is here, and it will surely be another year of many blessings, laughs, smiles, giggles, tickles, bumps and bruises, cries and whines, fatigue, busyness, travels, milestones and new adventures. This family of four is looking forward to what this year will bring!
But first, a look back at December...we did truly enjoy all the preparation for Christmas, etc. As we took down the Christmas tree and decorations, the boys were both very sad to see them go...Noah kept pointing to where the singing animals used to sit and Drew asked very mournfully "What are you doing to the tree?!" Always a little sad to see it go, but life back to 'normal' and 'routine' is welcomed as well.
We kicked off the month with Fireworks and both boys loved it! We have some friends that live down the street and they have a boy in Drew's class at school - we love that! Anyway, they had the great idea of going to the Middle School field just a few blocks away to see the fireworks show Benbrook displays every year for 'Santa' coming to town (also a food drive and fundraiser for the community). So it was fabulous because we were far enough away that the noise didn't bother any of the kids, there were no crowds and the boys got to run around in the field while we waited! It was great! We enjoyed all the Christmas lights on houses throughout the month, and especially the large inflatable decorations. We took lots of walks in the wagon at dusk to look at them all and the boys loved it! Noah's "ho ho ho" for Santa still makes me smile! So cute!
Noah is still very much a Mommy's boy, walking past Daddy when he needs/wants something, and we have given up on even trying to take him to the nursery at church. He does pretty well being dropped off at daycare, though it's not uncommon for him to cry, but I know he at least calms quickly with his teacher. So, Sunday mornings are interesting...there are days Noah does really well in church, and others where one of us spends most of the service in the halls chasing after him...when he does do well, he's likely to make some friends and put on his charm for those around us with his sweet smile!
Noah's big event for the month involves his strong desire and ability to climb on things he shouldn't...he's able to get on Drew's bed, our bouncing zebra, any sort of step, on top of the chimney hearth and anything about 1-2 feet up from the ground, and is not afraid at all! He does a pretty good job getting up, but has no idea he needs to be careful about how to get down - he'll just go to the edge and expect it to all work out...well, that didn't work out for us this month. We HAD a climber slide in Drew's room that the boys loved to play on...well, one day Noah got up to the platform by climbing up the slide as normal, and quickly fell off the platform in the second Mommy had her back turned. Well, he bounced back pretty quick, but then did it again in the evening when both Mommy and Daddy were out of the room for a second, and this time, he didn't bounce back so much! It took quite awhile to calm him down, which is not like him, and once he calmed down, he wouldn't walk anymore - he didn't want to put any weight through his right leg. He did however, try to crawl up the slide again! Are you kidding me?! Well, we ended up taking him to the doctor the next day, and got an xray of his lower right leg. Nothing showed on the xray, but apparently that's not uncommon for the common "Toddler Fracture" - it's a microscopic fracture of the tibia, from a fall, and it heals with time, and usually no intervention needed. So that was all fine with us, but our silly little Noah crawled for about 3 days and then said enough of that, and went back to playing as hard as he could, resulting in re-injuring it about 6 times in 3 weeks. We went through 9 bottles of Advil and several of Tylenol in those 3 weeks, and every time he re-injured the leg, I questioned whether or not he should be splinted or something to protect him, since he wasn't going to give it any extra care! I realize I can create drama and be a bit over the top sometimes, but since I was the one having to hold him for the 2 hours after he hurt it every time, and he wasn't sleeping well through the night, and it was so frequent, it really seemed feasible. We went back to the Dr. and I called them another time just to make sure, and they stayed their ground that no orthopedic Dr. would do anything for it. Aunt Shirley said if it were her, she could have created a splint for him, but our Dr. doesn't do that, so we were stuck...well, he did finally heal, but it was a long 3 weeks it seemed!
On other fronts, Noah is doing great! He is starting to have more meaningful 'words' and communication - he is starting to nod his head up and down for "yes", though this is not consistent of course! He's also added "be-be" for baby and his 'Mama' and 'Dada' are VERY clear now. He doesn't it use it often, but he does know "Du" for Drew, but I think sometimes he uses "bu-bu" for brother more. His animal sounds are getting better, and overall just does a better job of mimicking our sounds, so lots of fun! He has started to really jabber it up sometimes, and it's always hilarious, but I always love it best when it's while he's looking through a book, 'reading' it on his own! It's funny/sad to see how much less we are 'focused' on teaching Noah some things like we were with Drew, but I think he's also learning some things way earlier that Drew ever did, so hopefully it evens out...but Noah doesn't seem to know body parts very well - he's just now to the point where he doesn't jab his eye out when we ask him to point to his nose! Eyes, nose, teeth, and maybe hands and feet are all he knows...oh well. I do need/want to be more proactive with him, but for now, this is where we are at!
Where he is lacking in communication, he makes up for in motor skills it seems. Besides the climbing, he is doing a great job figuring out toys, etc. to make things move. He's starting to figure out how to make the 'pull-back cars' go. He always wants to be on the move - making 'calming down' for nap and bed much more difficult these days - there are times he has to just be put in the crib for the song and prayer because he just can't be held! He LOVES to dance, wiggle, shake and bounce to music and it's just adorable to watch! He still loves to spin around to get dizzy and will purposefully just throw himself to the ground - he just loves it! He also created a game where he throws a ball toward us, hitting us about 25% of the time, but every time we are expected to fall to the ground as if 'he got us' and then he comes over to wake us up - he squeals with delight every time! If we are every just lying on the ground, he's sure to find us, 'surprise us' to wake us up and tickles, pokes or screams at us with joy! He loves to be tickled, and always wants to be in on any type of physical play! He loves to be spun around, held upside down, and even better if those are combined - and of course end up throwing himself to the ground - what a hoot!
We did get to enjoy the snow the day after Christmas - we were able to get out our sleds (yes, we own sleds, so that for the 1 day every winter we have just the smallest amount of snow, we can enjoy it as much as possible!) Drew loved every bit of it...even when he fell out of the sled and got covered with snow all over his face, I think he just laughed it off (which is very out of character for him)! He wanted to be in the sled, chase the sled, pull the sled...he was grinning from ear to ear almost the entire time! Noah wasn't as sure about it...he was still recovering from his last re-injury of his leg, so not sure how much that played into it, but he was more hesitant to get his hands in it...and he wan't a huge fan of the sled either. He did enjoy walking around some and getting to be outside in general, but he got cold quickly and was actually relieved to get back inside (also very out of character for him)! But it melted away by the end of the day and that's just how it goes here in Texas!
Drew has had his ups and downs this month with his attitude it seems. There are days that he is just the best kid, making good choices, being patient, wide eyed excited about something new...and then he turns around and is whiny, pouty, disobedient, resistant and confrontational about everything! Ah, the joys of 3 year olds! But I think it still feels like overall, he's a pretty good kid! He's doing much better behaving in church, which is great, especially since Noah is such a challenge right now! And we talk alot about making good choices versus bad choices, and we can certainly see that is a concept he understands.
We are enjoying the fact that Drew can play more games and follow more directions right now. Matthew is thrilled to use this to expose Drew to more video games on the Wii - and Noah gets right up there on the couch with him and loves watching! But we also see Drew enjoying more games like the "I Spy" books, reading in general, having the patience to 'set up' a game or race track, knowing the end result is worth it - it doesn't have to be instantaneous ALL the time any more...he's starting to enjoy the process of things it seems. :) He is enjoying the "Go Fishing" game he got for Christmas - which takes some good fine motor control! We are enjoying our special time with Drew before his bedtime, but after Noah has gone to bed to do some of the things that Noah would not enjoy, but would be hard to keep him 'out of'.
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| As you can see, Noah wants to be a part of everything Drew is doing, including "Time Out"! |
Drew is also growing up in other ways - he can be really helpful for us and Noah at times when he wants to! He will frequently help Noah get to toys he can't grab out of the toy box, he's happy to help us with some of the smallest of chores at times, and I think he loves being trusted to do things on his own! We need to be better about giving him more of those opportunities, but you can see him respond in such a positive way - rewarding positive behavior really does work!
As you might imagine, our house is never really quiet if the boys aren't sleeping, but most of that is due to Drew - he is talking non stop these days! Whether it's to us, to Noah (repeating things he hears us tell Noah!), to his toys, telling a story - he is telling somebody something! There are times at bedtime he will talk and sing and jabber for up to an hour, 'winding himself' down - it hilarious to hear some of what he says sometimes!
Drew can be quite dramatic as well...with Noah's leg being hurt, and lots of talk about that lately, Drew has often complained of his leg hurting. He also will tell us he doesn't feel good, he's sick, etc. just out of the blue...alot of times he brings it up when I ask him who we should pray for - it's almost always for him! Ugh - this kid's self confidence and ego is out of this world! (Sadly, this is all sounding a little too familiar!) But he's also shown the drama in actual times of pain...the slightest scrape and this child is through the roof with tears! It takes him FOREVER to get over little bumps, scrapes, etc., and if there's any sign of blood, triple the drama! Oh my! It's ridiculous really! I am so discouraged when this happens, as if I've failed some how in just these 3 years to show him to 'brush it off' - we have alot of catching up to do I'm afraid!
We rang in the New Year with a fun/eventful night for Drew! He and his cousin Luke have a blast playing together and now that Luke is in Kindergarten, our time to be able to get together is very slim. So, we scheduled a play date for Monday (New Years Eve day) because that worked best for everyone, and Matthew had the great idea of turning it into a sleepover for the 2 boys! They have had several of these at Grandma's house, and we've heard the stories, but we though, why not?! Well, they certainly had a blast to say the least! They had so much fun being together...we let Drew skip his nap on Monday to play with Luke and instead let them watch a movie in the guest room - we checked in on them every now and then, but let them be on their own...after one time checking on them and leaving the door cracked, one of them got up to close the door completely! So funny! They played with cars, space ships, animals, Wii games, wrestling, tickling, stories...they were in high heaven! And Noah loved it too - he literally threw himself into the mix several times! They were so excited about their sleeping bags, they ASKED to go to bed by 8pm - we thought we'd hit the jackpot! Well, not so fast! :) We were probably back and forth in the room 5-6 times between 8 and 10:30 when Drew finally crashed, and then one more time to help Luke feel comfortable in the room and he didn't fall asleep until about 11! (Just when the fireworks started in our neighborhood!) But then, they were both awake again at 4:30 - taking TWO times to get them to stop talking and go back to sleep. And then on the dot, Drew was up at 6:30, waking Luke and us up...Matthew went up to the room and slept on the floor with them to get them to sleep til 8 when Drew was up again...we had to wake Luke up at 9! Oh my...it was fun, when we were supposed to be awake, but the sleeping part, well, that was much to be desired...but that's how it goes, right?! We'll do it again...but not before Luke's parents have a turn! :)
Well, that about wraps it up - Happy New Year!
