Friday: screaming toddler

There's always that one mom with a screaming child in the store, right?  Today was my day.  I've been pretty lucky, actually...I think this is the first time it's been bad.

It started when Isaac wanted to get out of the cart, which prompted Joshua to say that he wanted to get out too.  Ok.  Then he freaked out every time he wasn't holding my hand.  It makes steering a bit hard, but we made it through.

We got to the checkout and things started going downhill.  Joshua threw a little fit and when I picked him up he said, "I'm grumpy."  Yeah...I had noticed.  At least he noticed too.  It was our turn and he started entertaining himself with a chain.  Ok, no problem.  Isaac and I hurried to scan the groceries, but we can only scan so fast.  Joshua had mini-melt downs because the chain was tangled and because I wouldn't let him put it behind Isaac's knees, which created a trip hazard.  Then Joshua bonked himself on the face, so I picked him up.  We were just about done, so I did a dance of picking him up and putting him down to scan the large items.  I quickly moved all the groceries to the end of the checkout so the next person could at least start and Isaac and I started bagging.  Joshua was so sad now that he was crying even while I was holding him, so putting him down wasn't an option.  We skipped the pony ride and tried to make a quick get away.  At least Isaac was super-good.  I should have done one of the cashier check lanes, but didn't think about it until it was too late.  Next time.

Joshua fell asleep in the car.  He reluctantly woke up for lunch...Isaac helped him wake up and I wish he had waited five more minutes so I could get the groceries in, but at least Joshua was awake.  He took a long nap and then was still weird.  I finally gave him some medicine because he obviously wasn't himself, although there wasn't a fever, and it seemed to help.

Aunt C babysat while Ben and I went out to dinner.  It was a good day for it.

Thursday: alarm

The classroom in which I teach has a keypad lock on it.  So usually we end up propping the door open because it is just easier.

A few weeks ago I noticed that the door wasn't always closing all the way...there is so much air blowing into the room that the door can't shut.  (Yes, it is crazy weather in the room.  Usually way too cold and I'm almost an ice cube at the end.)  I thought about saying something about it but didn't.

Someone else must have said something.  Today there was an alarm on the door...if it was open for about a minute it started beeping.  It was annoying that we couldn't leave the door open, but that's not really a huge deal.  The big deal was that the door still doesn't close automatically, so any time anyone went in or out of the room we tended to get an alarm.  It only takes a few people doing it in the middle of class to become really annoying.  The other annoying thing is that the alarm doesn't happen "right away", which is good, but after a minute the person that didn't get the door all the way closed is long gone.  So then someone else has to deal with it.

But I did get a big pile of free stickers today!  The boys were so excited.

Wednesday: wacky Wednesday

The week of Halloween was spirit week and Isaac's school and he missed Wacky Wednesday.  He's been asking to do it for a long time now, so we finally did it.

He's wearing two shirts and shorts over his pants.  I also wore shorts over some leggings to show I was participating.  He didn't really want to do anything else wacky during the day, which was kind of nice and kind of sad.  I had some good ideas.

Acting wacky:

For our activity today Isaac choose the cooking option.  We ended up making curry, turkey corn soup, and chex mix.  They participated on and off throughout the morning as the spirit moved them.  Here Joshua is doing the very important job of chopping up one of the spices.  After this one he chopped one that was already loose and then I remembered I had another one that needed to be chopped.  Keeping them both busy can lead to some interesting jobs. :)

Tuesday: class

During my second class today my throat got a little tickle that I could not get rid of.  Coughing didn't help, drinking didn't help.  So for about 10 minutes I was raspy and coughy and it was terrible.

The evening was interesting also.  Ben's back was extra sore, I was extra tired/coughy, and Joshua was extra grumpy.  Isaac was extra puppy-y, but that was rather fun.  He also has these footy pajamas that have a dog on them and they make him look so cute.

Monday: 28 months

Joshua turned 28 months today.

He wanted to sit for his picture today.  And drag his quilt around.  I finally got him to lay down, but he was crying.  I took pictures and then comforted him.

Joshua's newest favorite word is "can't".  He uses this when he actually can't do something or when he just doesn't want to try.  I still make him try, and often he can do it.

He is still a rather picky eater, but crunchy beans are still a favorite so I at least get some sort of vegetable in him.  Sometimes he'll eat his fruit, sometimes not.  Same thing with the meat.  He often won't even try the food on his plate.  He gets very upset if he thinks it is time to eat and the food isn't immediately ready.

Sleeping  - we took the side off his crib and haven't had any trouble with him getting out of bed by himself.  He sleeps from about 8pm to 7am with a nap in the middle of the day.  However, he still wakes me up several times during the night because his blankets fell off.  We tried something new last night, because two nights ago was terrible, and it worked a bit better.  However, he had only had two slices of strawberry for dinner so he woke me up to remind me that he wanted to finish his donut for breakfast and that his blankets weren't quite right.

Joshua loves to run around, especially if he is being chased or running with Isaac.  Really, he enjoys doing anything with Isaac.  There are still frequently bears in/near the house, and this last month there were some ghosts too.  He likes to play with Duplos and SnapCircuits and likes to color.  He usually enjoys reading.  He is starting to enjoy doing stuff in the kitchen with me and can almost be trusted not to make a huge mess.  He also likes hiding with Ben and that is currently his go to game after dinner.  They hide in the corner of the couch and...something.  I'm not really sure what goes on.

Joshua is quite resilient and if something got hurt during playing usually just needs a quick hug and then any tears change to tears of annoyance because he wants to go play again.  He knows the phrase I seem to say the most: "rub it out" and has told me to do the same thing a few times.

Saturday/Sunday: happenings

Saturday Isaac got to go on a sleepover at Larry and Cheryl's with Scarlet and Autumn.  He was excited, but we did have the following odd conversation:

Isaac: Can you take a picture of yourself for me?

Amanda: Well, there were be lots of pictures of me at Grandma's house.

Isaac: But I want one from today.  So I can remember what you look like.

Joshua was very sad to have to come home with me, but it was good to have some one-on-one time with him.  He made a faucet for Ben to drink from.

Today I picked Isaac up and he was so sad to be leaving.  He stopped listening while we were getting ready to go and then was teary for a while.

We had a second Thanksgiving with some of Ben's coworkers and the turkey was delicious.  I think it was the best I've ever had.

Friday: cleaning

Amanda: ug.  The kitchen's a mess.  I'm not even sure where to start.
Isaac stands up from where he's eating.
Isaac: you should start with the toys.
Amanda: ok.  Is that what you do when you clean your room?
Isaac: I just start with something easy.  Let me know when you're done and I'll help you figure out the next step.