Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Wednesday: lawyered

Today went...fine.  I kind of felt like no one wanted to do the same thing at the same time until the very end of the day.

Then it was time for Isaac to do his chores, and he was asking what he had to do.  I told him feed Flurry, S blends, and water the plants...

I: I don't want to water the plants.
A: If there wasn't an X in the box from yesterday, you need to water them.  [Note: between school and bath he only fed Flurry last night.]
Isaac goes to look.
I: There's an X in the box.
A: Did you just put it there?
Isaac just smiles.

I told him that was lying and to go water the plants while I decided if he should be punished.  I didn't punish him since he didn't say the X was already there and I think he understood the threat.

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Tuesday: school starts!

Today was the first day back at school.

Isaac got right back in the routine, barely glancing at me when I left his room.  When I picked him up he wondered if we could come back tomorrow because he was having fun playing with the new toys.  Of course, in the next breath he asked when he was going to be in kindergarten.  He seems quite excited for that step, and I haven't even told him there are no naps in kindergarten yet.  :)

Joshua did ok.  He was sad when I left, as normal.  They said he played well by himself and tolerated the group activities.

My classes went fine.  The first day I always feel like I'm throwing a ton of information at them and it barely sticks.  But, if I skip saying it then everyone is really confused.  So lots of talking and lots of standing.

When we got home the kids where loud.  They're never quiet, but they seemed louder than normal.  We finally calmed Joshua down by putting on some music, but then that was loud too.

Also...WoW expansion day!  I didn't play that much; my favorite play style is to just do a little at a time.  I like to quilt too.  But I did get my new weapon and did the first quest chain.

Monday, August 29, 2016

Monday: 56 months

Isaac is almost 56 months!  (I know, it's a day early.  But I took the pictures because the quilt goes to school and I figured I could balance out the late posts.)


Sleeping: Isaac decided to take some naps this month and it was always a problem.  He can't go to sleep if he does that.  We're slowly working out a good method to deal with it (as he'll probably take a nap at school), but it can still be annoying.  (Tonight he came down, said that his extra awake time was done and that he was sick.  He wanted yucky medicine for a headache.  I told him sleep was good for a headache.  He asked how many minutes could he come back down.  Ben said thirty and he waffled.  I suggested setting his time (sixty minutes) and he jumped at it.  Five minutes later he seems to be asleep.)


Crying: we had some huge bouts of crying this month...longer than he's ever had before.  I think what he's crying about is rather silly...usually the routine changes and he doesn't like the change.  (He knows that the routine is going to change...it isn't a surprise.)  It slowly seems to be getting better and yesterday he only cried for twenty minutes and didn't scream.


Activities: Although we had the few issues mentioned above, they really have only happened a few times.  Most of the time he is still our silly puppy dog.  He loves being silly (and Joshua encourages it a lot).  He loves playing, still usually defined as Castle or Bucky, with us.  He also likes Legos, going to the beach, baking, and taking his time while eating.  He is not all that excited about school starting again because he doesn't want to nap or color.  He still runs a lot, often with his arms waving as boosters or jets or rockets.


Chores: chores are still going pretty well, although they usually get done right before bed.  He is in charge of putting his clean clothes away, and likes to use pants hangers to clip them.  I decided that was fine, but that there should only be one shirt per hanger.

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Sunday: 25 months

Joshua turned 25 months today.

Eating: Joshua has started eating a bit better.  He wanted seconds of pineapple today, which he hasn't touched before.  He still eats an apple piece and then spits it all out.


Talking: Joshua can communicate quite well now.  I'm still not sure that others would be able to understand him all that well, but he can get his point across to us.  It's nice to say, "Do you want to go to the grocery store or on a stroller ride?" and get a response.  His favorite phrase is "I got it."  It comes up when he actually has an object or when he's done something he wanted to do.

Toilet training: We haven't pushed this very hard, but Joshua does like to wear underwear.  If he poops he knows that he's supposed to go to the toilet, although he usually does it in the wrong order.  When he gets to wear underwear it's been a bit of a struggle to have him sit on the toilet, but I found that if I start counting he calms down (and often counts with me).  We count to about twenty, sometimes taking long breaks.  A lot of his toys are pooping right now and EE got to wear some underwear this week.


Activities: He enjoys dancing and music and running.  He likes to color...much more than Isaac does.  He still loves to play with circuits and Legos/Duplos.  He likes to read, but doesn't like to sit on your lap while reading.  This often means that books only get half read.

Misc: He realized that he can move chairs/stools around to get to light switches.  He likes getting Isaac's shoes for him.  He still carries Bear and Elephant around all over the place.  He loves robots and thinks that most things are robots, including the stand light in his room.  He says he's "scared" easily, but besides running to Ben or me he doesn't seem very scared.  He still listens for bears and sometimes makes bear noises.  Today at church he remember the place where we go on bear hunts.  He likes going down big slides.  He adores his brother.



Saturday, August 27, 2016

Saturday: Joshua's package

Joshua got a package in the mail today.  I asked Isaac if he wanted to help Joshua open it.  They sat in the kitchen.

I: Ok Joshua, first I look for something loose to rip, like this flap.  Do you want to rip it?
J: Yes.
It rips, not much.
I: Next I use a scissors.  You need to put your fingers in the black circles and cut.  Ok?
J: Ok.
Joshua tries.  I'm not sure what he did; I couldn't see it.
I: It usually works better if you put the scissors in a flap.
J: oh.
I: Would you like me to do it?
J: Yes.
Isaac opens the package.
I: Then you take everything out!
Joshua takes some things out but gets distracted.  Isaac helps him finish the job.

My heart was melting.  It was the cutest thing ever.

Friday, August 26, 2016

Wednesday: Dutch Village

Every time we go by the Ferris wheel in Dutch Village, Isaac has wanted to know when he could go on it.  Today was the day!

Of course, we got there and he saw how tall it was and changed his mind.  I had to change it back for him.  He hung on so tightly, but by the end seemed to be enjoying it.
I think Joshua might have enjoyed it too, but he said he didn't want to go on.  I wasn't going to push it.

We wandered around, climbing on all the stuff.




Then went for a carousel ride.  Joshua never seemed too sure about it, but Isaac enjoyed it after I was his seat belt.



We wandered around a bit more, checking out a maze and a pump duck race.  So simple, yet so fun.


Isaac wanted to go on the last ride.  I didn't think he'd enjoy it, but he liked the whole thing.  Maybe just because it looks like a fast spinny ride is why I thought he wouldn't like it.  I went on it with him and didn't find it bad at all.  Once you get up to a constant speed you just stay there - no ups or downs or speed changes - so it was nice and gentle.

Isaac brought Aunt C on one last Ferris wheel ride, we took a quick look at the train, and then headed out.  We barely touched the barn animals.  It always surprises me how much fun the place is...it seems like it should just be a tourist trap, but it's more like a fancy playground and tourist trap and you can do whatever part(s) you want.

Joshua and Aunt C bonded during the outing and as she was leaving he blew her a kiss.  Super sweet and I'm not sure I've seen him do that unprompted before. :)

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Thursday: airplanes

Joshua likes to draw airplanes.  So now I have a fleet of airplanes.