Showing posts with label bad boys bad boys. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bad boys bad boys. Show all posts
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Because My Bathroom Doesn't Smell Pissy Enough.
On Saturday evening I went into the downstairs bathroom to get the boys' toothbrushes ready for them. I glanced around while doing so and noticed a puddle in front of the toilet and some droplets between it and the sink, most likely due to Roanen's earlier attempt at getting himself a drink of water with a floppy silicone muffin cup. Then I happened to look down into the garbage can. I wondered what had been put in there that made crumpled up paper towel turn yellow. Then I saw yellow droplets on the side of the bag and it hit me. I stomped into the kitchen where the boys were having their snack and asked Josey "Did you pee in the garbage?" He immediately got a wide-eyed deer in the headlights look on his face and asked innocently "How do you know I peed in the garbage?". Little bum. When he finally confessed (which he only did because I cracked a smile at the absurdity of the act), it came out that he wanted to "make a lake" in the can, evidently after he had already started in the toilet and couldn't stop the stream while he switched receptacles. Naturally I forgot all about it until we got home from Ottawa yesterday and now my bathroom reeks of old pee. I love having boys.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Let's See How Many Times I Can Use The Word "Suck" In One Form Or Another
Today I feel...wait for it...good! Pretty amazing considering how hellish the last few weeks have been. Obviously I haven't been blogging much lately and it's mostly because sleep training sucks and preschoolers suck and I don't want to relive my sucky days by writing about them at night when the suckage temporarily stops. Today, however, hasn't sucked too much so far so I'm taking a little bit of time to blog. Lucky you.
Last night was a not-so-bad night for me. Russ and I switched roles and he put Tristan to sleep while I put the boys down, something that usually ends with bad results. Luckily Tristan went down no problem (ok, so putting him to sleep hasn't been much of a problem lately) and even the boys didn't give me any grief other than Roanen crying about wanting "MY songs" but not telling me what they were. I was even able to leave the room before he was totally asleep, something that we've been working on and that I've never been able to accomplish before. In the past couple of days Tristan has been settling himself occasionally when he wakes up and he did so a couple of times before we went to bed. Naturally as soon as I got into bed he really woke up and started crying. I've been really torn about what to do when he wakes up at night. According to the Baby Whisperer I'm supposed to do pick up/put down until he goes back to sleep and he's not to be fed between 7 PM and 7 AM if he's getting enough food during the day (which I finally think he is since he's taken so well to solids). The problem is that once he gets really crying he gets so worked up that he won't settle without nursing. I'm talking hysterical crying for hours and if he DOES finally settle, it doesn't last. I haven't yet managed to go an entire night without feeding him and he calms right down and generally sleeps for a chunk after he nurses. The verdict is that I'm going to combine a couple of sleep training techniques: the Baby Whisperer stuff for when he's first going down at night or for a nap, as well as when he wakes up at night and settles back down easily with shushing, and the No-Cry Sleep Solution techniques for the middle of the night when he won't settle back down easily. Basically that means nursing him when he wakes up, but not for longer than it takes for his sucking to slow down. I have a bad habit of falling asleep on the couch in his room while I'm nursing him and it tends to make him sleep really restlessly. As well, our bed is off limits. Since I've started the sleep training he has been intolerable in our bed, fussing and wanting to nurse constantly and I can't deal with it. It's actually easier to be awake and dealing with him in his room than half-ass sleeping and dealing with him in ours.
So back to last night, I nursed Tristan right at my bedtime, then once at about 2 and once at about 5. He slept in until 7, which I was able to do as well since Russ was home until then to entertain the boys before he had to leave for work. Of course just before the 2 AM feed Roanen came into our room and climbed into bed on my side because he knew Russ would get mad at him if he went to him. I put him back in his room after the 5 AM feed, then nearly got to sleep when Josey started calling for me. When I went in to check on him he was standing in the middle of the room and he said "Mommy! What did the Backyardigans have for snack?" as which point I tossed him into his bed and went back to mine.
I realize that I probably shouldn't be thrilled about a night like that, but I feel pretty energetic and well rested today so I'll take it. The best part was to come this morning though. Around 9:15 I took Tristan upstairs for his nap, sang him a couple of songs and put him down in his crib. He wasn't overtired so he just smiled and talked to me, which I took as a sign to leave. He fussed a little bit, but 5 minutes later HE WAS ASLEEP. ASLEEP. ON HIS OWN. I REPEAT, ON HIS OWN. WITHOUT ANYONE IN THE ROOM. I mean, Roanen still has a hard time with that and Josey didn't do it until he was 2 1/2. I'm ecstatic. I'm not assuming that this will happen every time, but it's definitely a step in the right direction. Yay.
On other fronts, we have our Nanny 911-esque sessions with a home worker starting in a couple of weeks. All the assessments are done and the worker will be helping us out with sleeping (which I actually hope to resolve before she gets here), self-soothing for Roanen and Tristan and discipline. We really haven't had many problems with Roanen lately, even though he was the main reason we originally called for help. That being said, he's been standing at the glass door in the playroom for the last 20 minutes in hysterics because I *gasp* locked them in there to play with their zillions of toys so they wouldn't wake Tristan up. I'm mostly excited about the discipline part. We've been having a ton of problems with Josey lately. He refuses to listen to anything from "Please turn off the tv and get your boots on" to "Get out of Tristan's face, he's scared of you" to "Don't run into the busy road or you'll get run over". He gets physically aggressive with the younger boys and myself and is getting time-outs at preschool because of bad behaviour. Time-outs are hard because I end up having to chase him around the house when he gets one and drag him into his time-out spot. Overall sucky behaviour which will (hopefully) get resolved sometime before he's bigger than me. Too bad I can't take the car keys away.
And finally, a conversation between Josey and Roanen:
Josey: "I'm all done my granola bar, Roanen. Can I please have some of yours?"
Roanen: "Ok, Josey. Here you go"
Josey: "Thanks Roanen"
Roanen: "You're welcome Josey"
And I didn't even imagine it.
Last night was a not-so-bad night for me. Russ and I switched roles and he put Tristan to sleep while I put the boys down, something that usually ends with bad results. Luckily Tristan went down no problem (ok, so putting him to sleep hasn't been much of a problem lately) and even the boys didn't give me any grief other than Roanen crying about wanting "MY songs" but not telling me what they were. I was even able to leave the room before he was totally asleep, something that we've been working on and that I've never been able to accomplish before. In the past couple of days Tristan has been settling himself occasionally when he wakes up and he did so a couple of times before we went to bed. Naturally as soon as I got into bed he really woke up and started crying. I've been really torn about what to do when he wakes up at night. According to the Baby Whisperer I'm supposed to do pick up/put down until he goes back to sleep and he's not to be fed between 7 PM and 7 AM if he's getting enough food during the day (which I finally think he is since he's taken so well to solids). The problem is that once he gets really crying he gets so worked up that he won't settle without nursing. I'm talking hysterical crying for hours and if he DOES finally settle, it doesn't last. I haven't yet managed to go an entire night without feeding him and he calms right down and generally sleeps for a chunk after he nurses. The verdict is that I'm going to combine a couple of sleep training techniques: the Baby Whisperer stuff for when he's first going down at night or for a nap, as well as when he wakes up at night and settles back down easily with shushing, and the No-Cry Sleep Solution techniques for the middle of the night when he won't settle back down easily. Basically that means nursing him when he wakes up, but not for longer than it takes for his sucking to slow down. I have a bad habit of falling asleep on the couch in his room while I'm nursing him and it tends to make him sleep really restlessly. As well, our bed is off limits. Since I've started the sleep training he has been intolerable in our bed, fussing and wanting to nurse constantly and I can't deal with it. It's actually easier to be awake and dealing with him in his room than half-ass sleeping and dealing with him in ours.
So back to last night, I nursed Tristan right at my bedtime, then once at about 2 and once at about 5. He slept in until 7, which I was able to do as well since Russ was home until then to entertain the boys before he had to leave for work. Of course just before the 2 AM feed Roanen came into our room and climbed into bed on my side because he knew Russ would get mad at him if he went to him. I put him back in his room after the 5 AM feed, then nearly got to sleep when Josey started calling for me. When I went in to check on him he was standing in the middle of the room and he said "Mommy! What did the Backyardigans have for snack?" as which point I tossed him into his bed and went back to mine.
I realize that I probably shouldn't be thrilled about a night like that, but I feel pretty energetic and well rested today so I'll take it. The best part was to come this morning though. Around 9:15 I took Tristan upstairs for his nap, sang him a couple of songs and put him down in his crib. He wasn't overtired so he just smiled and talked to me, which I took as a sign to leave. He fussed a little bit, but 5 minutes later HE WAS ASLEEP. ASLEEP. ON HIS OWN. I REPEAT, ON HIS OWN. WITHOUT ANYONE IN THE ROOM. I mean, Roanen still has a hard time with that and Josey didn't do it until he was 2 1/2. I'm ecstatic. I'm not assuming that this will happen every time, but it's definitely a step in the right direction. Yay.
On other fronts, we have our Nanny 911-esque sessions with a home worker starting in a couple of weeks. All the assessments are done and the worker will be helping us out with sleeping (which I actually hope to resolve before she gets here), self-soothing for Roanen and Tristan and discipline. We really haven't had many problems with Roanen lately, even though he was the main reason we originally called for help. That being said, he's been standing at the glass door in the playroom for the last 20 minutes in hysterics because I *gasp* locked them in there to play with their zillions of toys so they wouldn't wake Tristan up. I'm mostly excited about the discipline part. We've been having a ton of problems with Josey lately. He refuses to listen to anything from "Please turn off the tv and get your boots on" to "Get out of Tristan's face, he's scared of you" to "Don't run into the busy road or you'll get run over". He gets physically aggressive with the younger boys and myself and is getting time-outs at preschool because of bad behaviour. Time-outs are hard because I end up having to chase him around the house when he gets one and drag him into his time-out spot. Overall sucky behaviour which will (hopefully) get resolved sometime before he's bigger than me. Too bad I can't take the car keys away.
And finally, a conversation between Josey and Roanen:
Josey: "I'm all done my granola bar, Roanen. Can I please have some of yours?"
Roanen: "Ok, Josey. Here you go"
Josey: "Thanks Roanen"
Roanen: "You're welcome Josey"
And I didn't even imagine it.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Quickquickquick
This one's going to be all over the place. I'm frantically trying to blog while Tristan naps and the boys aren't too needy, so I apologize in advance for a confusing read.
Josey is going through another "angry" phase, where he constantly gets upset at us and says such lovely things as "MOMMY I DON'T LOVE YOU!" and "BAD DADDY!" for any number of reasons, usually when we make him do something after asking 600 times. He definitely needs more social interaction, but I sometimes resist going to playgroups because it's such a huge ordeal when we have to leave and I often end up dragging him into the van kicking, hitting and screaming without his coat and boots on. He's been good for his preschool group though and the teachers have both told me separately that he's very smart. So far he listens well during the sessions, and hopefully that won't change when he gets to know the teachers better.
He can write his name, and can identify quite a few letters and numbers. He still insists that he's going to be a "tractor painter" when he grows up, so he really won't need any of them writin' or readin' skills though. Good thing he knows his colours.
With the exception of two nights last week, Roanen has been getting up every single night and coming into our bed. If it wasn't for Tristan I'd probably be more insistant that he stay in his bed, but Russ is the one who has to deal with him screaming for hours on end, then get up for work at 5 AM so I don't blame him for just letting him sleep with us. After he screamed for hours the other night at my parents' place I went out and bought a couple of herbal remedies, one that is supposed to calm him at night and help him sleep in general and another that is to be sprayed in his mouth if he's having a screaming fit. I don't have much hope for either of them since I think it's just in his nature to be like this, but it won't hurt to try. Russ is actually calling around, trying to find a child psychologist to help us out. While I think this is a bit extreme, I'd appreciate any suggestions on how to deal with him when he gets psycho. Supernanny? Nanny 911? Please?
On the upside, he's getting even more independent and is very comfortable going off on his own at playgroup, and even joining in a group of kids singing or listening to stories without Josey or me around.
Tristan has been totally weaned of his medication for about a week now and seems to be a lot better. He's doesn't cry nearly as much as he used to, particularly since I've figured out that he can only handle about an hour and a half of awake time before needing another of his 30 minute naps. His night sleeping, which used to consist of a 5 or 6 hour stretch, followed by a 2-3 hour stretch before he insisted on coming into our bed, has deteriorated badly in the last couple of weeks. Last night he was up every hour and a half, and wanted to be nursing constantly once I brought him into bed with us. I'm pretty sure this is because he's not eating much during the day (he's happy with 8 minutes of nursing every 3 or so hours) and needs to get more calories at night. I just don't know how I can extend his day feeds without starving him and listening to him scream at night.
Otherwise he's super smiley and pretty happy. Everyone comments on how alert he is and although he's small (12 lbs 11 oz today, less than both the other boys were at HALF his age) he's really strong and can hold his head right up and stand up straight. He also crawls to the head of his crib when he wakes up. He's just starting to grab at things and everything goes into his mouth, where he gums things really hard, including fingers.
Now it's my turn! ME! Now ME!
I tossed out the old goals that I made before Christmas and made up a new set of health resolutions at New Years. Here they are:
1) Drink 8 cups of water each day
I've been pretty good at this one, mostly due to the fact that I reward every 2 cups of water with either a white chocolate peppermint Hershey's Kiss, or a Riesen caramel. I'll get a craving, then chug water just so I can have my reward. Whatever works, right?
2) Eat raw vegetables every day
This one is hit and miss. I usually get in a couple of carrot sticks or some red pepper because they're easy, but actually breaking down and washing broccoli or cauliflower is a little too much like work for me.
3) Have at least one meatless meal a week.
The first week I started off just making pasta with tomato sauce, but this week I made vegetarian enchiladas and tofu pad thai, both out of the Looneyspoons and Crazy Plates cookbooks. They both turned out really yummy.
4) Each week have at least one serving of the following: spinach or kale, sweet potatoes, legumes, broccoli, cauliflower, red pepper, nuts and olives.
I've been really good at this one, even doubling or tripling my servings of some of these during the week. It really helps to plan my meals well in advance, and I use Recipezaar to find really good recipes if I don't know what to do with something.
5) Eat fish or seafood at least once a week.
We pretty much did this before anyway, but I threw it in there to look special.
6) Find a good Greens supplement and take it.
I don't like Greens+ or anything like it so I've been lazy on this one, with the excuse that I can't make it to any stores that carry it with the kids. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I stopped buying ice cream too, and if I want something like it I have frozen yogurt. Just like I thought I would, as soon as I bought new pants I lost a pound and evidently several inches off my waist and hips. Now I have two brand new pairs of pants that I can pull off and on without undoing the button. Grrr. I'm guessing that I was dehydrated before and retaining water because of it. Once I started drinking enough water my body didn't have to store it anymore and I lost water weight. Grrr again. I haven't been exercising at all, other than lugging Tristan around half the day. We're trying to get Tristan to take a bottle, and if we succeed at that and Russ is compliant I'd like to start taking a yoga or pilates class in town. I was also planning on starting to jog in the spring, but I think it would be a little too hard on my joints so I'm going to try (gulp) biking instead. I've ridden a bike once in the last 10+ years and I just about killed myself, so I'm not looking forward to it, although I'd like to be able to get into good enough biking shape to stick a couple of the kids in the bike stroller and go for rides.
I know I have way more to blog about, but my mind has gone blank for now. I'm off to drink water so I can eat chocolate. Sorry so boring :)
Josey is going through another "angry" phase, where he constantly gets upset at us and says such lovely things as "MOMMY I DON'T LOVE YOU!" and "BAD DADDY!" for any number of reasons, usually when we make him do something after asking 600 times. He definitely needs more social interaction, but I sometimes resist going to playgroups because it's such a huge ordeal when we have to leave and I often end up dragging him into the van kicking, hitting and screaming without his coat and boots on. He's been good for his preschool group though and the teachers have both told me separately that he's very smart. So far he listens well during the sessions, and hopefully that won't change when he gets to know the teachers better.
He can write his name, and can identify quite a few letters and numbers. He still insists that he's going to be a "tractor painter" when he grows up, so he really won't need any of them writin' or readin' skills though. Good thing he knows his colours.
With the exception of two nights last week, Roanen has been getting up every single night and coming into our bed. If it wasn't for Tristan I'd probably be more insistant that he stay in his bed, but Russ is the one who has to deal with him screaming for hours on end, then get up for work at 5 AM so I don't blame him for just letting him sleep with us. After he screamed for hours the other night at my parents' place I went out and bought a couple of herbal remedies, one that is supposed to calm him at night and help him sleep in general and another that is to be sprayed in his mouth if he's having a screaming fit. I don't have much hope for either of them since I think it's just in his nature to be like this, but it won't hurt to try. Russ is actually calling around, trying to find a child psychologist to help us out. While I think this is a bit extreme, I'd appreciate any suggestions on how to deal with him when he gets psycho. Supernanny? Nanny 911? Please?
On the upside, he's getting even more independent and is very comfortable going off on his own at playgroup, and even joining in a group of kids singing or listening to stories without Josey or me around.
Tristan has been totally weaned of his medication for about a week now and seems to be a lot better. He's doesn't cry nearly as much as he used to, particularly since I've figured out that he can only handle about an hour and a half of awake time before needing another of his 30 minute naps. His night sleeping, which used to consist of a 5 or 6 hour stretch, followed by a 2-3 hour stretch before he insisted on coming into our bed, has deteriorated badly in the last couple of weeks. Last night he was up every hour and a half, and wanted to be nursing constantly once I brought him into bed with us. I'm pretty sure this is because he's not eating much during the day (he's happy with 8 minutes of nursing every 3 or so hours) and needs to get more calories at night. I just don't know how I can extend his day feeds without starving him and listening to him scream at night.
Otherwise he's super smiley and pretty happy. Everyone comments on how alert he is and although he's small (12 lbs 11 oz today, less than both the other boys were at HALF his age) he's really strong and can hold his head right up and stand up straight. He also crawls to the head of his crib when he wakes up. He's just starting to grab at things and everything goes into his mouth, where he gums things really hard, including fingers.
Now it's my turn! ME! Now ME!
I tossed out the old goals that I made before Christmas and made up a new set of health resolutions at New Years. Here they are:
1) Drink 8 cups of water each day
I've been pretty good at this one, mostly due to the fact that I reward every 2 cups of water with either a white chocolate peppermint Hershey's Kiss, or a Riesen caramel. I'll get a craving, then chug water just so I can have my reward. Whatever works, right?
2) Eat raw vegetables every day
This one is hit and miss. I usually get in a couple of carrot sticks or some red pepper because they're easy, but actually breaking down and washing broccoli or cauliflower is a little too much like work for me.
3) Have at least one meatless meal a week.
The first week I started off just making pasta with tomato sauce, but this week I made vegetarian enchiladas and tofu pad thai, both out of the Looneyspoons and Crazy Plates cookbooks. They both turned out really yummy.
4) Each week have at least one serving of the following: spinach or kale, sweet potatoes, legumes, broccoli, cauliflower, red pepper, nuts and olives.
I've been really good at this one, even doubling or tripling my servings of some of these during the week. It really helps to plan my meals well in advance, and I use Recipezaar to find really good recipes if I don't know what to do with something.
5) Eat fish or seafood at least once a week.
We pretty much did this before anyway, but I threw it in there to look special.
6) Find a good Greens supplement and take it.
I don't like Greens+ or anything like it so I've been lazy on this one, with the excuse that I can't make it to any stores that carry it with the kids. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I stopped buying ice cream too, and if I want something like it I have frozen yogurt. Just like I thought I would, as soon as I bought new pants I lost a pound and evidently several inches off my waist and hips. Now I have two brand new pairs of pants that I can pull off and on without undoing the button. Grrr. I'm guessing that I was dehydrated before and retaining water because of it. Once I started drinking enough water my body didn't have to store it anymore and I lost water weight. Grrr again. I haven't been exercising at all, other than lugging Tristan around half the day. We're trying to get Tristan to take a bottle, and if we succeed at that and Russ is compliant I'd like to start taking a yoga or pilates class in town. I was also planning on starting to jog in the spring, but I think it would be a little too hard on my joints so I'm going to try (gulp) biking instead. I've ridden a bike once in the last 10+ years and I just about killed myself, so I'm not looking forward to it, although I'd like to be able to get into good enough biking shape to stick a couple of the kids in the bike stroller and go for rides.
I know I have way more to blog about, but my mind has gone blank for now. I'm off to drink water so I can eat chocolate. Sorry so boring :)
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