The Monkey Pack!

A better title for this post would be, "Heather eats her words again!" Or "Never say 'I won't!'"

I have always wondered why on earth people put those harnesses/leashes on their kids. They have always bothered me. Mostly I wondered why people didn't just teach their kids to listen. The harnesses reminded me of walking a dog and while I do love my dog, children are so much more valuable than dogs.

And I guess that's the point. Our children are much too valuable to take unnecessary risks with their safety. You can train most dogs to heel, but you would still use a leash near traffic for their own protection.

I never imagined having a child with significant developmental delays or a possible developmental disorder. It never occurred to me that teaching a child to 'listen' may be complicated. When Conner, our oldest and typically developing child learned to walk, it was *work* to teach him to come to us when we called him, to stop when we asked him to stop, or to stay close to us in a store. He just turned 3 years old and we're still working on those things! I mean work!!

But when you work hard at something and reap the rewards, there's always an opportunity for pride to come creeping in. The misconception that "My child listens because I taught him to because I'm a good parent and I know what to do and if your child doesn't listen it's because you're not doing it right and that's just poor parenting." How's that for a run on sentence? I promised you in the first post I'd give you some of those! But, seriously. We think that way. I do and I think you do too.

But what Parker's delays and great shows of frustration (aka tamtrums) have shown me is that sometimes you can teach your heart out and reap limited results.

I said I would never have one of those silly harnesses. But clearly I do from that picture of Parker with a monkey on his back! The tail is part you hang on to. So, I ate my words! In the interest of my child's safety, I got a monkey pack so he could get out of the stroller and still be safe while I'm still trying to teach him to 'listen'. Wish me luck with that last part. The going is rough and progress seems to be happening at a snail's pace!

The picture above shows Parker walking on a pier at the lake. He loved it and didn't have to hold my hand. Since he can't stand to have anything touching his hands, that is a wonderful thing for both of us!

Thank you Lord for the Monkey Pack!

Best Friends!

A boy and his dog!

Parker LOVES Stewart, our miniature schnauzer. Conner finds Stew interesting from time to time, but Parker adores him. He's always chasing Stew around the house, patting him, playing with his ears and tail (nub, lol). He squeals and claps his hands whenever Stewart plays with him. He would love to ride Stewart like a pony, but the dog just will not cooperate. I can't imagine why! Parker outweighs the poor dog by about 10lbs now. But Stewart is a good sport.

At the lake, I was letting Parker brush his own teeth while I was brushing Conner's. My mom said, "I hate to tell you this, but Parker is brushing Stewart's teeth with his toothbrush." Sure enough! He wasn't just brushing the dog's teeth, Parker was sharing the tooth brushing experience with his beloved friend. "First brush my teeth, then Stew's. Then mine, then Stew's...."

YUCKY!!! Ugh, ugh, ugh!!! Parker was not pleased that his happy little grooming session was cut short when I ran over there and rescued him from doggy germs by taking the toothbrush and discreetly throwing it away. He's lucky it was me there and not his Daddy. Jerry would have rinsed it off and put it back in the bathroom, lol. And he would have been fine, but it grossed me out! So, we had to take a few minutes away from our all day outdoor play to go buy Parker a new toothbrush.

I still let him brush his own teeth (I brush them too of course), but now I'm watching him a bit closer so he won't share his toothbrush with his best friend. Ugh!

Parker’s First Words!!

Last Tuesday morning, the boys and I went to Gulley’s Plant Nursery to find a birthday gift for my mom (aka, Nana). Conner and Parker enjoyed walking around outside looking at all the plants and shrubs. It’s one of those places that makes you feel like you’re in a garden. A nice break from the commercial feel of the big chain stores.

We went inside to pay for our things and there was a model train chugging around a track near the ceiling. Parker, who loves anything that moves in a circle noticed it before I did, pointed with his finger and said, “Choo-choo!!”

My throat closed and my eyes filled with tears. The child is 19 months old and he finally said his first words!! He has said a few words like “all done”, “stink stink”, and “get down” so technically they weren’t really his first words, but let me explain.

Parker uses the phrases “all done” and “get down” interchangeably. After many months of very direct instruction ;) Parker started saying them so I’d get him down from his high chair or out of a swing. He is using them appropriately and is communicating with those phrases. We are very thankful for that. But it’s really more of a habit than anything else. It’s a hoop he jumps through to get down.

But the train! We had never seen that train! We have several books at home about trains. When I read to Parker, I don’t read the text. I choose something I want him to learn how to say. On every page I find that thing, say it twice and touch it with his finger. We have some toy trains he has played with a few times. But how he made the connection from the books and toys to that train in the nursery I don’t know. That was all Parker!

It was the first time he ever called something by one of its characteristics. It was like he was naming it. He has never called an object or a person by their name, so this was a giant step for him. A heartwarming moment of hope. My mind goes, “If he can see a train and say “choo-choo”, he should be able to say anything.” It doesn’t take much to get hope stirring again. Just a tiny little something every now and then. Thanks, Lord!

Pray for Scott!

Please pray for a good friend of mine, Scott Bilton. He is around 30 years old and has been hospitalized. He has a blood clot in his leg that needs to be monitored and a pulmonary embolism in his right lung. He will be in the hospital tonight and possibly tomorrow night. His wife's name is Laura and is one of my best friends!!

Praying for you guys!! (((hugs)))

A Beautiful Day!

Hey guys! I wrote this last Friday while the boys were taking their nap!

What a nice surprise! We are at White Lake and the weather report said it was supposed to rain all day today. Not just a little here or there, but literally all day. It is after 1pm and we have yet to see a drop. The sun is shining like a beautiful gift from Heaven. It is very windy, but we can play outside in the wind. I just need to make sure Stewart, our Miniature Schnauzer doesn’t blow away!

And we have plaaaaaayyyyed outside today! As soon as we were able, Conner hopped on his bicycle and Parker and I walked with him to the lake. We counted 17 ducks swimming and riding the waves. Mind you, this is a lake, not the ocean. The waves were caused by the 30mph winds, but we didn’t mind and the ducks didn’t seem to either. Parker, who is getting good at pointing, pointed to the ducks and signed, “me” indicating he wanted a duck. If his Daddy were here, I would have sent him into the lake after one, but he couldn’t join us this time. And any of you who know Jerry, know that despite his undying loyalty to me and the boys he would have laughed at me “sending him” into freezing cold water after a duck anyway!

We’ve been to the playground, and after a fun snack of cheese crackers and juice boxes in the wagon, the boys played in the street for about an hour. **GASP** Did she say, “play in the street??” Yep. In this little RV community, the streets are more like glorified sidewalks and the property owner/manager has made it clear that children have the right of way here and everyone better kept it slow. I have yet to see another vechile drive down our street today anyway. So, in the street, Conner rode his scooter, Parker’s tricycle, and his bike. Parker amused himself for the longest time by pushing the wagon in a circle. He had a few breakdowns when it would roll off the pavement and stop moving. But he had a great time. He also pushed himself backwards on his tricycle a few feet. This is good because he has just learned to do that and I understand they usually go backwards before they learn how to move forwards.

I was prepared for today to be gloomy and wet. But it sure has turned out to be nice. Sometimes we don’t get what we want and we’re disappointed. Isn’t it nice when the opposite happens? This is just what the doctor ordered! I’m going to go enjoy it some more!

No More Paci!!!

Since Conner was a newborn, he LOVED his paci. He had it all the time. We used to try to distract him so he would play without it, but that was difficult. He was my baby and he loved it so much. It brought him so much comfort and peace and security.

When he turned one year old, I decided that in order to encourage speech development we needed to regulate the paci to bedtimes only. I waited until "just the right time" and started putting the paci away when I fed him breakfast and not getting it back out until naptime *no matter what* The first week was HELL!!! He cried and cried and cried. I thought I was going to lose my mind! I felt so bad for him. The one thing that helped was that he couldn't say "paci"yet. If I'd had the extra burden of him being able to ask for it, I would have been toast!

Jerry hated that pacifier. He complained about it for years!! As Conner's second birthday approached, Jerry started in on one of his many many many monologues about getting rid of it. I was perfectly content. As long as he didn't have it when he was awake, he could take it to college as far as I was concerned. But Jerry was determined for some reason (he'll have to start his own blog to explain/defend himself) that the pacifier had to go. Drove me crazy!

The problem was that no paci = no sleep. The first time, I tried to take it cold turkey. That was a disaster. The child was coming unraveled. We made it 5 days and 5 nights before I couldn't take it anymore. I was pregnant with Parker and the last thing I needed was a distraught 1.5 year old and a newborn to care for. No way!

The second attempt is actually kind of funny. I took Conner to the mall to the Wacky Bear Workshop (like Build a Bear). He put the paci into an empty teddy bear and pushed a button to fill the bear with fluff. The machine made a loud noise and Conner thought it was destroying his beloved paci. Yeah. We had a breakdown in the mall.

Third time's a charm! A few months before his 3rd birthday, I got that "it's just the right time" feeling again. So I took Conner to Walmart and let him pick out a toy for when he was ready to give up his paci. He loved this Little People's airplane. I told him I would buy it for him but he couldn't have it until he slept without his paci. So we took it home and put it on his dresser. He wanted that thing so bad. So he did it! There were still some tears and we had to add a back rub to his nightly bedtime routine (which we still do, lol). But it was in his hands. His choice. He did it because he wanted that airplane. So, at least I didn't have to feel like such a beast!

We've been paci free for months!

Happy Birthday!

We celebrated my mom's birthday the other day. Since my parents and grandmother and uncle couldn't come to Conner's birthday party a few weeks ago, we celebrated Conner's birthday again too! He didn't mind.

My parents bought him a turtle sandbox for the backyard. Both boys loved it when it was empty, but Parker wasn't too sure about getting into it once the sand was added. Conner however jumped in and had a blast.

They also got both boys little chairs for the yard. We had a great time!!
Happy Birthday Nana and Conner!!