Awhile back I posted that I had started jogging. I could jog one whole block. Nathan laughed. I felt like it was a huge accomplishment. I was sidelined for about the last two weeks. First I was kind of sickly and coughing and such and then I had a headache that lasted 5 days and blah blah blah.
But this week I have been back on track walking and jogging and feeling good. I am happy to say that I am up to two blocks! Not two blocks straight but two blocks during my nightly 30-40 minute walk. I jog one block and I don’t feel like dropping dead in the street. I walk fast for another block and then I jog the next block. After that block I feel like falling down in the street. But I don’t. I keep going and finish my walk.
It feels good. It feels like accomplishment. I feel stronger. I know I am stronger because I can see proof of it as I can jog longer and increase my distance every few nights. I am going to win this battle with myself.
That about sums up how I feel right now…
The boys are beginning to understand things I say to them or ask them to do. I know they understand the word, no. They always stop what they are doing and move on to something else. They used to cry when I told them no but they don’t really do that any more. Now they only cry if my tone seems different, like if I suddenly see them going for something or about to do something that I am afraid will hurt them. I think my tone scares them more than they are upset. It isn’t like I yell or anything but it is just different from my usual no. In those moments they cry and hurry to me for a reassurance. I always tell them that I am so proud they listened to me and followed directions. They never go back to what they were doing…at least any time soon!
I know they understand a few other things. They know the word sit. They hear it often during bath time and sometimes when they want to be on the sofa. We don’t stand on the sofa! They know the word stop is similar to no.
I am not sure that they understand, “Let’s go brush our teeth” or if they just know their routine. I know know if they understand, “I’m gonna get you” or if they run and laugh because our tone is teasing and we chase after them. They love that game.
I know that slowly but surely they are figuring out the world. They might not say any words but they know words.
At work, the table we use for a changing table is on the wall with the light switch and alarm pad. Dean loves to stand up after he is changed to push the buttons on the alarm pad. The alarm isn’t set up and he can’t really push them hard enough to do much anyway so we let him. Today, after I had changed him he waned to push the buttons. The light switch is right under the alarm pad. As he was pushing buttons on the alarm pad I said, “Dean, can you turn the light off?” He paused and moved his hand to the light switch and turned the lights off. Then he went back to pushing buttons on the alarm pad. I asked if he could turn the lights on. He would touch the switch but never turned them on. I must have asked him to turn the lights off half a dozen times or so and every time he did it right after I asked. It was clear he was understanding what I was asking him.
It was an amazing moment for me. I was so proud of him. Every day I am acutely aware of how quickly they are growing. I love watching them grow and start to make sense of their world. I love seeing them learn and figure things out. I know that most parents feel a little sadness as their children leave babyhood. But I am finding that watching them grow and learn is so happy and exciting that the little tug of sadness I feel of their fading baby-ness is hardly noticeable. Maybe it is the teacher in me that finds so much joy in seeing a child learn and grow. Maybe I am different than other people. I relish their growing independence. I foster it as much as I can. Maybe it will be harder when they are teenagers and really pulling away from me. Or maybe it won’t be.
If you read my blog then you know I am horrible at responding to comments. I don’t mean to be. It is just that responding to comments is pretty much at the bottom of my priority list of things I need to accomplish in the day. At the end of the day, if I remember and if I am not dragging myself to bed, I sometimes find a few moments to email or respond on the blog to comments.
So there are some things that I never did get around to answering.
Halloween…was as uneventful as I had planned. The boys didn’t have costumes. They each had a halloween themed t-shirt that they wore that day. But by 7pm they were in bed, asleep, as normal. Nathan was watching the OSU vs Texas game (which involved much cursing and in the end he turned it off to watch baseball) and I was in the bedroom watching a movie. I know the year will arrive, maybe even next year, when the boys will want to dress up and trick-or-treat. But this year they had no idea and I took advantage of that!
H1N1 shots….were yesterday. It went as well as any shot can go I suppose. They hate laying down on the paper that covers the table. I think it is really loud in their ears and freaks them out a little. I know I don’t like that paper. But they also don’t like us making them to lay down. The nurse is fast and they have that moment of realization and you can hear it in their cries. But as soon as it is over we scoop them up and hold them and they stop crying immediately. Overall they take shots pretty well. I feel good knowing that the first shot is over with. I know they have a lower risk of actually getting H1N1 since they don’t go to daycare and I can control their environment pretty well, but I still worry.
I feel like I am missing a comment or two…my brain feels mushy this morning. Emory was in bed with us most of last night. He will have one or two really bad nights as a new tooth comes in and then he is fine. He is about to cut a bottom tooth. I think it will finally push through today and tonight should be a much better night. Dean on the other hand has 3 teeth (1 top, 2 bottom) all coming in at once. I think at least two of them have cut through. It is hard to see because he isn’t a big fan of me looking.
Last football game tonight. At least for district play. I think that some of you might be under the impression that I hope they win. You would be mistaken if you thought that. While I don’t want the boys to lose, I am ready for my husband to be home a little more. And going to playoffs just means another week that football season is prolonged. Wrong? I am sure it seems that way. Selfish? Yes. But I don’t think what I want really effects the outcome of the game that much.
Another busy day ahead. Yesterday afternoon our phone lines were cut AGAIN (that is the 2nd time this week). But they were fixed yesterday evening and I have tons of things to do today. And Fridays are always short! Have a great day!
Time is passing by at an alarming speed. So many little moments happen during my day. I am sure that I forget most of them. I feel like I never stop. My brain never pauses. Just when one is content the other one isn’t. I try to remember it all. One of the main purposes of my blog is to remember the small moments of my life. Right now those moments involve my boys.
A few things that I never want to forget…
- I love the way that Dean will rub his hand up and down my arm when I give him a bottle. I know it is soothing for him. It is just so sweet to feel his soft touch on my arm. It is his way of showing his love without words.
- When I get Emory up from a nap he likes to cuddle for a few minutes. Emory isn’t an overly cuddly little boy. When he does cuddle he dives in, grabs his cuddle, and then races off. But after nap, before he is completely awake, he likes to cuddle a little extra. He snuggles in close and lays his head on my shoulder and we hug. After a little bit he starts to giggle. That giggle turns to a laugh and then he picks his head up and looks me in the eye. He smiles and laughs and then lunges to get down. He is off again!
- I think that Dean is trying to figure out tickling. We always tickle their bellies. In the afternoons I sit on the floor to give them my full attention. They love this time and so do I. They climb over me and we laugh and play and have so much fun. One thing that Dean does every single day during our floor time is he pulls my shirt up to see my belly. He thinks this is so funny. He moves his fingers on my belly and looks at me expectantly. I think he is trying to tickle me. So I laugh and it makes him smile. And I would do anything to make them smile.
- Every morning Nathan gets the boys up. If he doesn’t bring them in to our bathroom to see me they find their own way. I hear them coming long before I see them. To see them turn the corner and smile and laugh and lift their arms up takes my breath away every. single. time.
- They are starting to build their brother relationship. I love watching it grow. During bath time Emory has started to engage Dean in a giggle-fest. Emory will lean forward to look at Dean in the face, kind of like he is peeking around his shoulder and just start laughing. Hard belly laughs. Dean will look at him like he is crazy and smile. Emory will sit back and go back to splashing or playing and then suddenly lean forward and look at Dean and start laughing again. This happens several times until Dean joins in the laughter. It is the cutest thing. I want to get it on video but the minute I turn on the camera they stop doing whatever it is I want to capture. Grrrr…
So many moments. I am so lucky to have them. So very, very lucky.
Today Ava turns 6 years old. I am her Auntie Ginger. I was there to take hundreds of pictures on her first day of life and then so many afterwards. She is so special to me. She was my baby when I didn’t have a baby. She was our flower girl at our wedding. She is am amazing and beautiful little girl. I don’t see her as often as I would like. Life is busy. But my love for her will never change! Happy Birthday sweet Ava!
In other news, the boys get their first round of H1N1 vaccine today. I am so glad. I would like to avoid H1N1 if at all possible. Their second round will be next month at their 15 month appointment. They have to get two rounds of the vaccine because they are so young…just like they did with the season flu shot.
Also, we are back up and running at work. It is such a relief!
Tonight and tomorrow are the last games of the regular high school football season. Hooray! If varsity wins tomorrow night they will be in the play offs. If they lose the other team will go to the playoffs. I wonder if you can guess what I hope will happen…???
Have a great Thursday!
I have started my search and I am making my list of things I am considering for the boys for Christmas. Yesterday a catalogue came in the mail that I have never seen before. It is called Lilly’s Kids and I have found tons of things I want, both for now and for in the future. I am really trying to avoid themed toys for the boys. They don’t watch Sesame Street so Elmo and friends are out and I think most of the other T.V. show themed toys are junk. I know that one day we will most likely end up with some. But for now I can choose not to buy them. I would rather spend my money on unique toys that will grow with the boys and foster imagination and open ended play. Here are some things on my list for Christmas. (All these products can be found on their website.)
This is the Plush Beehive Counting Toy. I don’t think I will be buying this toy to give at Christmas but I might go ahead and purchase it to save for later in the spring when we need something new.
Bucket of Vehicles. We can’t have too many things that roll! Plus you can connect them all together and make a long line.
This is the Forest Club Playset. I think this will be a fun “put and take” toy. I love the little characters!
Country Ice Cream Cone Stacking Toy. I think this is so cute and unique and it is only $7.00!
Rollipop Marble and Tracks Set. I think this is a great beginning to the marble tracks I want to buy them when they are older.
My First Soft Book. Love this and I can have their names put on their own books.
Lil’ Shopper Veggie Playset. I love this so much. It is so cute and original and will be great for imaginative play as they get older.
I think I mentioned that last week our network crashed at work. One hard drive was completely fried and because that one failed it caused another one to die. We still had two good hard drives but you can’t run the network on two hard drives. Our super amazing IT guy (I am totally not being sarcastic. I love this guy and he is completely awesome and a genius.) did tell us he could jump start the system on the two remaining hard drives but that we would probably lose all of our data. In other words…that was not an option.
So off the system went to be restore. Today, one week later we finally got our network back. We still aren’t up and running but I have internet and the system we use will be working by tomorrow. We still don’t have our company email…but hopefully some time this week.
But no computers and having to complete all shipping and receiving and PAYROLL by hand is not the only joy of the past week.
Yesterday they started some construction for some concrete work. They had to cut huge blocks of the existing concrete out and dig a big drench to run some drainage. In the cutting of the concrete the phone and internet line to our building was cut. So yesterday we had no phones or internet access. I guess it wasn’t too bad because the phone was ringing constantly…at least that we could hear! But that also mean we couldn’t page another phone to ask a question. We actually had to walk ( I know! gasp!) to other buildings. Not a big deal but with the boys we can’t just up and leave.
As if that wasn’t enough this morning they were digging out the trench and apparently hit or nicked or something the water main to our building. So today we were without water. We had phones and internet and our networks was back. But water is extremely important! You need water for toilets. You can live without phones and internet and computers, but water is completely different. Late this afternoon water was restored.
So after a very LONG week, of which yesterday and today seemed like the longest part, we are almost back to normal. Hopefully tomorrow will be catastrophe free! I have lots of work ahead of me, going back and inputting everything from the last week, but I have internet and, really, that is all that matters!
With yesterday firmly in the past I am ready to start the holiday season. November and December are probably my favorite months of the year. It is busy and festive and full of cozy times and family. The year is drawing to a close but it isn’t quite over yet. I suppose the only good thing about Halloween (in my opinion) is that it ushers in November. And November I enjoy!
I am looking forward to the holidays this year. The boys still aren’t quiet old enough to grasp the concepts of the season, but they are at such a fun age. I know that Dean will love all the sparkling lights and Emory will be excited just because he is Emory. We have planned for gift giving this year. I decided at the end of last year to save $10 a week in preparation for Christmas this year. I am paid weekly and I hold out my $10 in cash. Physically holding out the money makes it easier to save it. I could just transfer the $10 directly to savings but the money needs to be separate or else it would be spent paying down a bill. And while paying down bills is important it is also important to have a reserve for Christmas spending so we won’t break our regular budget or end up charging gifts that we will spend months paying off.
I decided that if I could save $10 a week, an amount that we wouldn’t even notice, we would have close to $500 by the time Christmas arrived. We actually have a little over $700 saved as of today. Any time we have ended up with some extra cash money we put it in the Christmas fund. Watching it slowly grow over the year felt good. And now that it is time to start making lists and purchasing gifts it feels so good to know we won’t be charging anything and racking up more debt.
Our goal is to have a wonderful Christmas without spending everything in our Christmas fund. We haven’t decided yet if we will just roll anything left over into next year’s Christmas fund or take the left over amount and put it on one of the few remaining debts we have to pay it down. I feel like either way we will come out ahead. I guess we will take stock of our financial situation at the first of the year and decide then.
But for now it is time to plan.
