3 years old - #MicroblogMondays

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Random things from my 3 year old this past week that I want to remember:

I was drying my hair when Finn came running into the bathroom, grabbed a bunch of tissues and ran back out.  A few minutes later, I found him in the hallway, working on this piece of artwork.

Sunday morning, Finn locked the bathroom door, and then closed it.  I can't find the tool to unlock it, and haven't had time to get another one.  After 30 minutes of failed attempts to get the door to unlock, I gave up, and told Finn we couldn't brush his teeth last night.  "But then my teeth are going to rot out of my head!"  I still haven't gotten the door opened - so I told Finn we may never be able to use it again.  "We'll tell Zachary there's a whole bathroom on the other side of that door, but he won't believe us."

Yesterday Finn asked me if I was losing my patience.  When I said yes, he said, "Close your mouth, so the rest of it doesn't escape."

He also told me that he's going to go to the store and buy himself a new butt.  "I hope it doesn't poop on my hand when I buy it."

We no longer call minor injuries boo-boos.  We call them "owies" because that's what Sophie calls them.

Sophie was the only girl in Finn's class that I didn't meet at his school picnic last week.  The rest were all vying for his attention, and all wanted to dance with him - except Sophie.  Coincidence that she's the only one I've heard him talk about?  I think not.  (And how funny is it that Finn is the ladies man of the class?)

Finn played a game on my phone a few days ago.  I later found he'd taken 15 pictures of the toilet with his pee in it.

Do-Overs

I've posted a few times about my struggles with some of Finn's behavior, and some of the books I've been using to help guide me.  Over the past few months I've found a few techniques that work really well.  One of Finn's favorites is the "do over."  If something doesn't go quite right, I've found that instead of getting mad, sometimes I can stop and say, "Finn, let's have a do over." And the we repeat the scene, but this time with things going the way they should - usually after talking about how we could have done things better.  It's an easy way to stop a bad behavior by modeling a good behavior and avoiding lecturing or meltdowns.

Tonight Finn wanted to play sword fight after the timer went off that meant it was time to pick out bedtime stories and get in bed.  I was tired, and I got irritated and snapped at him.  I thought we were in for a fight, but Finn stopped and said, "Wait Mommy!  We need a do-over!" And then he went on, "When you say that, you hurt my feelings.  Instead, you should say, 'Finn, the timer went off.  I know you want to play, but it's time for stories,' and then I'll say, 'Oh, I really do want to play.  But the timer went off, ok, I'll pick out my stories.'"

So we had our do-over, and bedtime was smooth and easy. And I got a lesson on not losing my temper.

This week's pictures show a baby on the move!

10/8/14: hanging in the swing

10/9/14: picnic at Finn's preschool

10/10/14: with Nanny M

10/11/14: fell asleep in the swing

10/12/14: is that a remote control on the table?

10/13/14: goofy look on his face

10/14/14: crawling into the bathroom

Slacker

My parents are going to be here for part of this coming weekend - they're making a brief stopover on their way to a week in the mountains.  I've decided to use them to the maximum advantage - I'm going to lock myself in my room and get work done.  Figure out my finances, get the last of my bills automated, get charts done...I'll be exhausted when I'm done, but it will be worth it.  Right now I feel like a slacker in just about every area except loving and parenting my kids.  That I'm working hard at.

Now if only I could figure out a way to get better sleep.  Well, I know the way, and that's to get Zachary to sleep in his own bed and give up on the cosleeping, but he's teething right now, so it's definitely not the right time.  I loved cosleeping with Finn, and I slept so well when he was this age. I love cosleeping with Zachary, too, but he's a lot more restless, and I just don't sleep well.  Once we're over the current round of teething, I think I'm going to start by transitioning him to the pack and play in my room.  At least that's my plan right now.

Speaking of sleep, I desperately need to go to bed, so here's today's pictures.  Tomorrow night my plan is to catch up on blog reading.  I'm very behind and missing reading everyone's updates (like I said, I'm a slacker).

10/1/14: yummy apple

10/2/14: get in my mouth!

10/3/14: definitely not sleepy

10/4/14: family selfie in the backyard

10/5/14: Z's first church service (a friends and family service at a friend's church)

10/6/14: chunky monkey

10/7/14: loving his new car seat!

Mobility

Life in our house has changed a lot over the past few weeks.  Zachary is mobile and I'm amazed at how I'd forgotten how much a baby can get into.  His mobility does have his limits - he can only crawl backwards with any sense of confidence.  He did manage to crawl forward today, but then seemed so surprised that he fell over and hasn't done it again.  Most of the time he does a combination of sliding and rolling if he's trying to move in any direction besides backwards.  It's fun to watch him, but suddenly everything is at risk and I'm finding choking hazards everywhere. (Why are there so many small bits and pieces to all of Finn's toys?)

I love this age so much, but I'm also already missing the days where I could put him down and he'd stay where he was put.

The past few weeks I've made some time to work on some projects at home.  I've hung some pictures, rearranged furniture, and the landscaping in my backyard is finally getting done.  There's a lot more to do, and much of it is going to have to wait as all my money is going into my landscaping, but it feels good to get things done that make the place feel more comfortable and homey.  If only I could find a way to keep it neat.  (Is that even possible with two boys?)

This week's pictures are not my best efforts - but at least I got them!

9/24/14: the family bed

9/25/14: Z spends a lot of time trying to get away from F these days

9/26/14: Z's mornings involve a lot of time on the bathroom floor

9/27/14: walking the river greenway with friends

9/28/14: grocery shopping

9/29/14: blurry pic, but this expression is what I think of when I think of Z

9/30/14: happy boy at bedtime

Two Weeks of Pictures

I found another wonderful walking trail a few weeks ago, this one right along the river and perfect for a long steady walk.  It doesn't have as many places for Finn to get out of the stroller to explore, but it's beautiful, he still enjoys it, and I can get a good steady walk in with this trail, so we've started doing one weekend day, and then the other one the next day.  I'm so enjoying being able to get outside with my boys!  Even when we're having a difficult weekend (as we did this weekend - Finn is definitely testing his boundaries) we are all happier after spending some time outside.

This weekend was hot.  We went to the farm greenway on Saturday morning, and found ourselves in the midst of a barbecue and bluegrass festival.  After we got our walk in, we stopped to listen to music for a few minutes and then I decided to head home.  As I was leaving, I thought to myself that we'd come back next year and sample the barbecue.  And then Finn told me he wanted to stay.  And I realized there was no reason we couldn't!  So I bought us a ticket and we sampled all sorts of yummy barbecue, before buying sno cones and sitting in the grass to listen to great music.  Finn was enthralled - he loved watching the musicians play, and would have stayed all day if I'd let him.

Sunday we walked the river trail, and even though we went in the morning, I was a hot and sweaty mess by the time we were done.  Both kids fell asleep on the walk, and Finn stayed asleep until we got to lunch.  Poor kid was exhausted.  And I had the best workout I've had in years (pushing that stroller up and down hills is no joke!)

The weather has done a huge change the past two days and been downright chilly and rainy.  Finn's worn pants and a jacket to school and I've started to notice a hint of red and orange in the trees. This is my favorite time of year - the foliage, the cooler weather, the smells and the yummy foods - I love it all.  I am making it a priority to find time to really enjoy it this year.

I somehow never made it back to post my pictures from last week, so this week's post has two weeks worth instead of just one.

9/10/14: more mobile every day

9/11/14: working on getting into the crawling position

9/12/14: still loves to sleep in his swing...might be getting a bit too big for it!

9/13/14: shopping with the boys

9/14/14: along the river trail

9/15/14: bathtime!

9/16/14: happy boy

9/17/14: everything goes into his mouth

9/18/14: he's discovered drawers

9/19/14: taking a break from dinner

9/20/14: if you look closely, you can see his two top teeth poking through (this was on the farm trail)

9/21/14: waiting for dinner to be ready on the back patio

9/22/14: he's a tummy sleeper now

9/23/14: PopPop trying to get him to walk

Tired.

It's Wednesday night, and I should be asleep, and I should have posted my pictures of the week by now.  But I had a work dinner tonight and got home after the boys were in bed.  Then I was so sleepy, I got into bed a little early, and discovered that Zachary has no interest in sleeping.  At least not with me in the bed.  After 45 minutes of "shhhh!" and "go to sleep" and pats and belly rubs, I have given up.  I can still hear him making noises, but they're drowsy and becoming less frequent, instead of the nonstop babble that was going on a few minutes ago.

Tired seems to be the word of the month.  (The year?) Both boys have colds, I have a cold and an asthma exacerbation. Zachary is teething.  And his new found ability to roll has him trying it out in bed, which keeps him awake.  I've had a medical student with me for the month, and he's smart and interested and enjoyable to work with, but I'm so far behind because I spend all my free time talking to him.  I've just about exhausted every super quick meal idea I have and haven't cooked anything really good in weeks.  I'm failing miserably in my goal of getting 5 fruits and veggies a day.

And yet...Finn has had some really good days at school.  I've found that if I wait, he'll share just a little of his day.  Just a snippet, but he shares it carefully and thoughtfully, and so I treasure these little pictures of his day.  He's still constantly pushing, constantly testing, and an emotional powder keg, but we're both starting to find a way to work through these issues.  Zachary still smiles, even when covered in snot, and has started to give kisses that feel like hickeys in the making.

My house is a mess. My hair is a mess.  I'm pretty sure I owe people money.  I know I owe a few friends phone calls or emails. I'm not sure I've ever been so sleep deprived in all my life.

And yet...there's an infant who has now thankfully fallen back to sleep in my room.  And there's a soft bed calling my name.  If I'm really lucky, the 3 year old will stay in his own room until right when my alarm goes off in the morning, and we'll have time to snuggle and reconnect before getting up for the day.

Emotional Outbursts

Last Wednesday afternoon, Nanny M sent me a text that Finn had not had a good day at preschool.  Actually, most of his day had been good, but then there was an issue with sharing with his new friends, and he had a meltdown.  One of the teachers ended up having to take him out of the room to calm him down, as he kicked and screamed, saying that he hit his mommy and said he couldn't stop. I don't think he actually hit a classmate, but I know he did try to hit one.

These emotional outbursts are not new, and getting him to stop hitting me when he gets mad is something we've been working on for a long time.  So his outburst wasn't completely surprising, but I didn't really expect it to happen at school. I spent the whole rest of the day worrying about what I would say to him, and how I would deal with it. We ended up talking about what happened, talking about dealing with anger and how it's ok to be angry but it's not ok to hit our friends. I also pointed out to him that he rarely hits me anymore - usually he catches himself as he's about to hit and stops himself.  And then we did a lot of role playing of how to deal with anger and sharing - which he loved.  He's had good days since, but I worry that this incident might have taken away a little of his joy in his new school.  Getting him to tell me about his day is like pulling teeth, so unless he shares something in play, I don't get any information at all about his day.  (Believe me, I've tried everything, including very specific questions, but the kid isn't talking.)

Meanwhile, Zachary is just full of smiles and happy.  This week's pictures were all on my phone (which is what happens when I put up my good camera while cleaning house and never get it out again).

9/3/14: still just the two teeth - and so cute!

9/4/14: sound asleep

9/5/14: hanging out in the back yard

9/6/14: Z's first trip to the mall - I was going to try for a better picture but I got distracted by the pretty pots and pans

9/7/14: first time with a sippy cup

9/8/14: he tried so hard to get this ball

9/9/14: selfie