Our Left Eye Issues

We went back to the eye doctor last week and Wright's eye is still not improving as they hoped it would. So, now he has to wear an eye patch for 2 hours a day to help strengthen the muscle. If this does not work, we will have to do a surgery to help the muscle out. Praying that does not happen... In the interim, Wright hates, and I mean HATES, the eye patch. When we get it out of the box, and walk toward him, he starts screaming. Then he pulls at it and tries to get it off. The first day he wore it, we went through 3 before we could get him to keep one on. Also, when we take it off, he gets this big red mark on his face that looks so painful. Hopefully this will all improve with time...

House Update

Well the house that we loved near Lakewood is no longer for lease. So, we had to go try to find another rent house over the weekend. The best one we found is much farther away than we hoped (from family and most of our friends). But, we do really like it and it has more space than the one on Chesley. Plus, the Elverums and Beales are right there so we will get to see them more. Now we are just waiting to hear back from owners on our app, if we can paint, rent amount, etc. If all goes as anticipated, we will be moving the week of 3/16! SO SO SO soon....

Bucket Head

Recently I have been picking Wright up from school early so he can get home and get a good nap. This allows me to talk to his teachers more and learn more about his day. Today they gave me the usual report of his new chattiness, then mentioned that he was very friendly today. I asked how much the little ones actually interact with each other. She told me that Wright's favorite thing to do is put a bucket on his head and walk around the room. Today he decided to involve his friends in his favorite activity and kept going up to the other babies and offering to share his bucket/hat. This cracks me up and immediately brings images of the kid in Parenthood who runs around with a bucket on his head and bangs into things until he falls over begging Steve Martin to ask "What is wrong with my child?" LOL! At least he is sharing his new found toy!

Chatter Box

In the last few weeks, Wright has become such a talker. He used to always get "quiet" circled on his daily report card at school, and now every week his teachers say "He was so chatty today". We hear it from the Sunday school workers and the gym day care too. It is funny because he talks non stop but most of it is complete nonsense. Although, every once in a while a real word is interjected. For example the other day out of nowhere, he pointed to his bubbles on his toy shelf and said "Bubbles" and then went "fffffffffeeeew" (like he was blowing). So cute :) He also has started saying "house" (probably because everyday we look at them) and "Mimi" (which sounds a lot like mama). He is still quiet and shy when he first meets someone or is not as familiar with someone, but after about 5 minutes, he eases right in and puts on a show. Now THAT sounds like Brendan's and my child...a quiet person wouldn't get a word in edgewise in this house!

Wooden Spoon Mania

I have been spring shopping for Wright and debating about what sizes to get. So when I got home today, I needed him to try some stuff on. He HATES trying on clothes more than almost anything, but somehow the wooden spoon seemed to entertain him a ton. Turned out, he had a great time and I got some great pics. He was laughing and running around banging the spoon on stuff.



This picture cracks me up! I think he looks like he just finished a performance on Broadway!

Bob and Caitlin Visit

Uncle Bob and Caitlin came to Dallas last weekend for a visit. Bob can do this thing where he clicks his tongue abnormally loud and it has been entertaining kids for years. Wright was intrigued, and now likes to click his tongue all the time.

Caitlin is so cool...I love her as much as my snacks.

How does he DO that!?

Fun with Daddy's Hat

Wright is fascinated with Brendan's baseball hats and is always grabbing at them. The other night he had the best time running around with it on his head. He also loves to torture Lucy by giving her toys she is not allowed to chew, like his balls, etc and then grabbing them out of her mouth.

House Stuff

We are officially under contract on our house. We knew we are in a good neighborhood for resale but I don't think we really expected it to happen in 3 weeks! Praise God! He is so good to us and has continually taken care of us during this trying time. We have also found a great rent house that is close by and very very cute. It is smaller than what we have now but we will be saving about $1000/month so we figure we can suck it up for a year or two. Now the big prayer is that the house will still be available when our option period is up. We have about 2 weeks.

The lyrics of the song that play on my blog keep going through my head. They are just so applicable to our lives, especially right now.

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord

It is so easy to praise God when all is going well in life, but during the difficult times like we have been dealing with, it is more important than ever for us to remember that God is in control. He will do good for those who love him. And he takes on our burdens which is such an amazing gift...we can't imagine handling all of this alone!

Mimi's Birthday/Thanksgiving Celebration

We went over to Mimi's house on Monday night and celebrated her birthday Thanksgiving style. She had a turkey that she has been wanting to cook and decided that was what we were going to do for her birthday. So, we enjoyed our first February Thanksgiving dinner. A little odd, but tasted good regardless. Mimi wanted a red velvet cake too which I made for her and completed after 4 long hours, including breaking glass, burning my hand and ruining one of the cakes. So, I really hope everyone enjoyed it. Here are some pics of Mimi and 3 of her favorite boys on her big day.

Ryan's 8th Birthday

We had a great time in Frisco celebrating Ryan's 8th birthday. It was wonderful to see Gigi and Papoo too!

A Day at the Parks

We had a great Saturday morning taking Lucy to the dog park to play fetch and get some exercise and then to the school by our house for Wright to play. Now that Wright can walk, he was actually able to play on the playground. However his favorite thing was still picking up gravel and dropping it. I am having to get used to this whole dirty boy thing :)



Wright loves watching all the puppies.

Climbing into the tunnel.

Here I come!

This thing is wobbly...

Daddy, Wright and Wright's stick.

Lovin' that gravel.

Growing Kids God's Way

Brendan and I have started this class that our friends Jennie and Pat are teaching based on the series of books that begin with Babywise. We are such big believers in what Babywise teaches and how well it worked for Wright, that we thought this class would be good for us too. It focuses on pre-toddlers (12-18 months) and addresses all of the things that we will face during this time. But the biggest overarching purpose is to raise kids that love the Lord and bring glory to Him

We have already been dealing with some of the typical stuff that kids do at this age and have learned that it mostly all seems to stem from frustration. So, we have been implementing some new techniques and so far they are working great. Here are some things we are now doing...

1. Independent Time - we have always let Wright play alone in his playroom so he is used to entertaining himself, but we have never made sure that he is not just aimlessly amusing himself vs. actually learning and playing with purpose. Amusement is fine but just not ALL the time, so we have started doing 25 minutes in his crib with just a few toys each morning. So far it has been working great and it gives me time to get ready for the day while he is occupied. Today he fussed a little bit after about 10 minutes and just when I thought that I should probably go get him, I peeked in and he was contendedly flipping through one of his books. Not only is this helpful and convenient for me, but the long-term benefit is that Wright will be able to entertain himself and work on his own.

2. Mealtime Manners - we have been having big problems with Wright throwing fits in his high chair while waiting for his food. Yesterday it was so bad that I had to literally hold him to calm him down and begin feeding him in my arms. Clearly this is not an acceptable long-term solution. So, last night we got some good tips from our group and implemented them today. The one that worked best was to remove Wright from his high chair and put him in his crib alone for a few minutes as soon as he started screaming. Pat said to me last night "It's not like he is going to starve to death and he needs to know that screaming for his food is not allowed." So we did that this morning, and when I brought him back to his chair, he was much calmer and sat and waited for his food happily eating cheerios. Although I felt like the meanest mom ever, I saw immediately the benefits of removing him when he began to get out of control. At lunch, he started to cry and I quickly said "We do not cry, we wait patiently for our food." and he seemed to calm down and "listen" to me...so we'll see how this pans out. I also started giving him smaller portions and making him ask for "more" instead of just piling all the food on his tray. This has greatly helped with the throwing of the food and cup, feeding the dog, etc.

3. Signing - we have sparatically used signing with Wright since he was about 8 months old, but we have never really enforced it. Like everything else, it is not going to be successful without consistency, so we are now working on signing much more frequently and moving his hands to sign if he does not know the motion yet. This has helped at mealtime too with "please", "more", "thank you" and "finished". He is not at the point where he can completely do them all yet, but he is getting much better. And most importantly it helps him be less frustrated.

4. Talking to him - obviously I have always talked to Wright but I think overall I have been understimating what he understands. As a result, instead of asking him to do things or telling him no and why not, I have just sort of let him get away with a lot. One of my goals is to really work on talking to him more and explaining things better. This will take more time and will not be as easy as me just doing it, but of course will be better in the long run.

After we master all of these things (if that ever happens), we are going to work on blanket time. Just don't have that in me yet...

Mr. Independent

Wright is growing up fast and wanting so badly to be independent these days. One example is when he eats he grabs for the fork or spoon to do it himself. Sometimes I let him practice. It can be a little messy, but as you can see he is very proud of himself.

15 Month Memories

Here are some things that Wright is doing at 15 months...

- He is very particular about what he wants and does not want to do. He gets frustrated easily if things do not work out the way he wants. For example, he has started playing with his blocks, stacking them, etc. But if one does not stack easily or if his tower falls down, he starts fussing about it. I keep having to work with him on not getting frustrated and continually showing him how to do it in hopes that he will learn some more patience.
- He is understanding so much. I have started realizing that we have been underestimating what he actually gets. We can read books with him and say things like "Point to the ball" or "Where is the duck?" and he will show us. I can also tell him to bring things to me or put things in a basket and he will do it. One thing we have been working on is cleaning up. It is a complete chore and he HATES it, but I have been surprised at how well he seems to be catching on quickly.
- He is growing into a typical little boy and he loves to be outside playing with sticks, dirt and rocks. Luckily, we recently re-sodded our backyard so he has somewhere to play. But, he doesn't really seem to like the grass as much as the concrete porch where he can pick at the dirt between the blocks. The downside to this is that when he is on his swing or playing in the backyard and we have to go inside, he gets very upset. And of course the cold winter weather can be challenging.
- Lucy is the playmate that he loves the most. She makes him laugh by far more than anyone or anything else that he interacts with. One thing he does that cracks us up, is he goes and finds toys that he knows she will want to chew on (soft things, stuffed animals, etc) and he dangles them in front of her face until she grabs them. Then he cracks up at her running around with his toys and at us yelling at her. He also loves throwing any ball to her and watching her chase it or chew it.
- He has learned a lot of new words recently and learned how to use them well. One of the big players is "up". He stands at my feet, pulls my pants and looks at me with those big eyes saying "Up, up." How can I resist that?
- He actually cuddles with us now. It used to be that he was far to busy to sit in my lap and snuggle, but now he seems to enjoy it more, especially when he is tired. He also loves to lay with us and read his books. It is really cute because he has certain favorites that he will go grab off the shelf and bring over to us to read to him. We have "Dinosaur Roar" and "Mommies are for Counting Stars" memorized for sure.
- Dancing has become one of his many talents recently. He loves this show on Noggin called "Jack's Big Music Show". Every time it comes on he stands really close to the tv and claps and dances to the theme song. He also has a toy that plays music when you push this one button and he likes to push it repeatedly and dance, dance, dance.

15 Month Checkup

We went to Wright's 15 month checkup on Monday. He is now the 70th percentile for height and 40th for weight. I think he might have lost some weight while he was sick which is why he is so "small". ;) While we were there, I was commenting to the dr. that he has been super grumpy and he was like well his ears are still very infected. Basically the 2 different antibiotics we have had him on are not working even though they have in the past. He is now on a 3rd antibiotic that we are hoping will clear up his ears. If not, he is probably going to have to get tubes which I hear is not a huge deal but nonetheless is a "surgery" of sorts because he would have to go under anesthesia. So, not so excited about that. Today when I tried to put him down for his nap, he cried every time he laid flat which is an indicator to me that his ears are hurting him. So, I completely broke every napping rule I have and held him for over an hour so he would sleep. Its just not worth it for him to get no sleep and be a complete pill all evening. We are going back to the dr. on Friday and will determine the next steps from there.

On another note, I subbed at UPUMC on Tuesday and loved it. Hoping I will get offered a job there or at another preschool for next year. It seems to be a great fit for me and a good long term solution for our family. Not much action on the house thus far, but the weather has been cold with freezing rain, so we are hoping that is the big reason for the lack of showings. We have another Open House this weekend. We'll see if someone falls in love with this place.