Monday, June 28, 2010

The day we bollixed it

So last Thursday had to be one of the most "interesting" days I have had.  So we get up and Drew is going to work for a little bit before Ben's gymnastics class.  Hopefully, he'll get enough done to go with us.  Yay for family time right?  Not so much.  Drew didn't get any work done because his computer went kaput.  Total kaput.

So  Ben and I go to class.  This week like last week, Ben just wants to run around.  He isn't interested in any of the gymnastics things.  He just runs.  I get him to try to climb on or over a couple things and he giggles.  Then goes back to running.  He stops and climbs up the back of one of those things they use to jump on the balance beam and what not.  He climbs up the back and runs down it.  He seems to think that's fun so I thought maybe it would be fun for the both of us to run up the big (like 2 feet tall at the most) wedge mat thingy.  So we ran up it and jumped off.  Fun right?  Not so much.

When we jumped off, we landed on a slope, which I didn't expect, so I landed funny on my foot.  Ben runs off laughing and the teacher of the group is paranoid because I'm hurt.  Of course she is thinking, please don't sue us and shortly followed by I hope you are okay.  She goes to get Ben and bring him back to me.  I sit there for a minute and get up and walk on it.  It hurts, but it seems pretty okay.  We finish the class.  She hopes I get to feeling better and we head home.  As I walk out to the car and drive home, my foot starts hurting a little more and I'm laughing at myself because I hurt myself at a 1 and 2 year old gymnastics class.

I get home and Drew sees that I have hurt myself, but I tell him I'm mostly okay.  Then he tells me about his morning.  Yes his computer is totally dead and I had the keys to his car, so he couldn't go get a new one.  He started trying to work on mine.  First he had to load the software on mine and set it up, which took some doing.  Then he started to try to use it, but he has to use the F1 to F5 keys.  Most computers not a problem.  My computer, he has to hit the function key and then hit the F1, etc.  So it's going SLOWLY for him.  His plan had been to go to Best Buy and get what he needed while I kept Ben and then we go on like normal.  Except now I have hurt my foot and it is hurting more by the minute.

Now we're really in a pickle, his work is going to take him twice as long because he's working on a foreign computer and is due by 6pm.  He has to run after Ben because I can't.  And possibly most importantly, do I need to go to the doctor?  If so, how do we fit that in?  Well, I have never broken, sprained, etc. a body part, so I really have no clue what either one feels like.  My foot is not swelling and there is no bruising.  So we decide to elevate it and ice it and see what happens.  Well, what happens is that it HURTS!!  I bug Drew a time or two about how do I know if I broke it?  We go back to the doctor conversation.  We decide that it's probably a bad sprain and keep elevating and icing it.

Ben is behaving super!  He's not getting into any of the stuff he isn't supposed to and he is playing by himself very well.  So we're going along pretty good until late afternoon.  Drew is going to go to Best Buy and get a computer.  What to do with Ben?  He goes to Nana's.  I get to relax, Drew gets a new computer, and Ben gets Nana time.  All's well right?  Mmmm... not so much.

Ben didn't get his whole nap out because he fell asleep before lunch.  He got up hungry and ate pretty good, but it was late.  Nana gave him a pretty good snack, which some days is the size of his dinner.  The toddler tummy is a fun thing!  Ben comes home exhausted, so we play a little and then he goes to bed.  I'm thinking well, he must have gotten full with his snack.  He's not acting hungry, so sleeping a little early is okay.  Drew finished working, I kept relaxing, and Ben is sleeping.  Rough day, but it's ending nicely right?  Nope, not over yet.

I normally get Ben back to sleep when he wakes up, which recently has been rarely and only with a little whining.  A smidgen of a back rub and he's back asleep.  However, with my foot, Drew is going to get Ben tonight.  Poor Drew.  Ben wakes up a little madder than usual a little before 2 am.  Drew tries my tricks to get him back to sleep.  Nothing doing.  Drew brings him to bed to see if I can help.  Ben roots and rolls and flips and flops.  None of us get back to sleep and Ben gets more angry.  So by the time he's really screaming we realize he might be hungry or thirsty.  We try some milk in a sippy.  Nothing.  We try some Cheerios.  Nothing.  He's still screaming.  We call Nana, yes at 2 am.  She is wonderful and doesn't mind this.  She tells us to come over and we'll figure out if he's sick, ear infection pain or something, hungry, or something else.  The ride to Nana's helped calm him down.  He eats some yogurt and some Cheerios.  He drinks a sippy full of milk.  He then thinks it's time to play.  So we play for a little bit and about 4 am, Ben starts to get tired.  We go home.  He goes to bed and we go to bed.  Finally the day is over.

Moral of the story, even if physically things are going wrong and work is going wrong, don't forget to feed your kid or no one gets to sleep.  So yeah, that is the story of the day we bollixed it.  Thankfully, God gives us chances to start over and Friday was much better.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Swimming with Ben

Today was Ben's first swimming lesson at the YMCA.  We were a few minutes late, as per usual.  For some reason, I am always a minute or two late the first time I go anywhere.  I guess I underestimate the travel time.  We were only a minute or two late and they were still going over instructions, so I didn't feel too bad.  Drew tagged along with us to take some photos.

We were working on kicking, blowing bubbles, and splashing.  Ben was a natural!  He stuck his feet out behind him and floated mostly.  He eventually did kick his feet.  It was mostly underwater, but a few times he did kick them above water.  He put his face in the water several times.  It was to try to swallow some water and then when he did he coughed and got a little freaked out.  He did try to blow bubbles once or twice.  I sat him on the side and he splashed, then I got him back in the water and he splashed a little more.  He didn't really understand splashing in the deep water, but when we were up next to the wall he splashed pretty good.  It was fun and I'm looking forward to Wed.  It was exhausting though.  Carrying 27 pounds around in the water for 30 minutes is quite a work out!  Hopefully, I won't be so wiped out on Wed.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Bedtime routine #547

Well maybe we haven't gone through that many, but we have gone through a whole bunch.  Walking around the house, walking in his bedroom, rocking while reading stories, rocking without reading stories, modified cry it out, full on cry it out, listening to music, singing, rubbing his back, having a bottle, having a sippy cup, no sippy cup, and various combinations of all of the above.  So after all this, I am convinced that my son is one of the hardest people on earth to get to sleep.  And if that is my only complaint, then I don't have much to complain about.  Now with all that being said, you understand reason for the title.

We have finally found a routine that I am enjoying and I hope sticks around for awhile.  Previous ones have only lasted for a few months.  It starts when he gets his sippy cup of milk and we rock while he drinks that.  After his milk, he gets his gas medicine, Zantac.  Then we go brush his teeth.  When we are done with that, I put him in his crib and I read him a story.  Most of the time, when I'm done with that he takes the book and flips through it in his crib.  When he's done 'reading' it, he drops it over the side and we read another one.  We generally read 2 or 3 books a night.  After that he whines a little and reaches toward me.  That's Ben-speak for, I want a back rub.  A couple weeks ago that would calm him down and make him drift right off.  Now he's all excited about it.  He flops down and I cover him with one of his afghans.  I'll rub his back, which does help him pass some of his gas,  and he plays with his afghan.  After a couple minutes of that, he'll sit up and I go sit in the rocker.  He plays in his crib a little more while I rock.  (This is a great time for me to pray.)  Then he'll  lay back down, I'll leave the room and he'll go to sleep.  Of course some nights I fall asleep in the rocking chair beside him, but this is generally what we do.

It is rather involved, but we get to sleep without any screaming.  Of course, every night couldn't be the same.  Like last night, when he screamed for a good 5 or 10 minutes before we realized he wanted to skip the sippy cup and play in his crib.  What I am left wondering is... Does every parent go through all of these different routines or is it just my child that can't decide how he wants to go to bed?

Friday, June 11, 2010

Trying again

Okay, so after not posting for a long time, I'm going to try this blogging stuff again. I'm still not sure that I have anything interesting to say, but as a teacher we are encouraged to be tech savvy. So here I am being tech savvy and blogging. We'll see how it goes. What to start off with...

10 random things I have realized recently

1.  The amazing beauty of this world that God has created touches each person differently and maybe the beauty that touches us most is the beauty of our home area.

2.  I need to talk to my brother more.

3.  Middle School is a lot crazier at the end of the year than high school is.

4.  Our youth love coffee a lot and that seems odd to me.

5.  Part of the reason I am blogging is because others do.

6.  My son knows entirely too much about technology.  He can turn off the TV when the button is on the side of the TV.  He can open my laptop and tries to type.  He knows how to turn off the satelite even though we have it hidden behind the TV.

7.  My son is a bit of a daredevil.  He climbed on the arm of the sofa the other day and tried to climb over the back of it.

8.  I really love the Olympics and the World Cup because so many other people around the world are crazy about them.

9.  I'm not a Blackhawks fan, but I do think it's pretty cool they won the Cup.

10.  I really don't mind helping other people even if it takes some time and effort on my part.  Unfortunately, I think God knows that too and he's going to be using that alot in my future.  I think His plans are pretty scary sometimes.

I still suck at blogging

This should have been posted in March and somehow didn't, so here it is:

Sorry it has been so long, but being a grad student, a teacher, a mother, a wife, and now a youth leader keeps me busy. However, it should give me lots to talk about on here right. So I have a few more days before Spring Break. I will be studying for my comp exam on April 17th. Lots to study, but I do feel like I am slowly getting there. I only have 100 pages to left in 100 Years of Solitude. Then I can focus full time on studying for the exam. I need to review my notes from my classes and the reading list. I'm almost past the worrying stage and I feel like I am entering into the "I can do this" phase. I really shouldn't be worrying and doubting so much because I know that I am doing this because it is a part of God's plan for me.
On another note, I am looking forward to the Easter Egg Hunt at church and the skit that the youth are going to do for the kids. We're going to have a movie night with them afterwards. This will be the first event at our house with them, so that should be interesting. :)