weekly wrap-up

Its been a good week. A good mix of productive and fun with:

• Two cozy snow days
• catching up with some old college and high school friends on Facebook.
• finding a DJ for my 20th high school reunion (which I'm helping plan for this July)
• diving into a marketing project for work and logging some good hours
• three nights of Idol (guilty pleasure)
• Dylan enjoying playdates with friends
• finishing the new Wally Lamb book and starting the third Twilight book
• meeting with three therapists to wrap up Logan's evaluations and realizing how far he has come in the last year
• making appointments with a few area preschools to tour next month and determine where Logan will go next fall
• Logan sleeping all night, every night

So tonight, we're planning on going out for dinner. And tomorrow, we may head into DC to take in a museum. Its been a while since we've left our zip code, and its good to get out sometimes.

Next weekend, we're looking forward to going here with a group of our good friends. Thanks to my marvelous friend D over at Tatertown USA for hooking us all up with the details and getting us on board. Logan is staying with Grandma, and I know Dylan feels really special to be taking a big boy trip alone with us. I've never been snow tubing and I'm not really a fan of winter sports to be honest. But this just looks like a hoot. How fun to stay in a hotel with friends, letting the kids eat pizza, swim and watch movies, and then fly down the snowy hill the next morning before we journey home. If its a hit, we look forward to being able to take both boys again when Logan is a little older.

finally!

Dylan has been patiently awaiting snow, more than a flurry here or there as we've recieved so far this winter. This winter "they" promised us a lot of snow and we've yet to see any. So today around 6 a.m. the phone rang, it was the automated school message telling us schools were closed. Snow day! We looked outside and there was only a dusting, but as the day has gone on, a few inches has fallen and continues to fall now.

So after Logan's nap, and after we both put in some serious working at home hours, we suited up and went out to play. Dylan finally got to use his new sled/snowboard Santa brought. And Logan loved sledding down a huge hill by our house, on Daddy's lap.

And then of course, the best part of any snow fall - the hot chocolate that follows.

Now I'm ready for spring.

illin'

Friday night, Logan would not sleep. He kept crying that his ear hurt. I'm so glad he at least has the words now to tell us. And he's really been sleeping so much better lately, we knew something was off. He had a cold all of last week and by Friday night, I guess it migrated to his ear. I got one of the coveted few pediatrician appointments first thing Saturday morning, and sure enough, infection in the left ear. Not too, too bad yet but still worthy of antibiotics and lots of Motrin. Off to the pharmacy, we filled his prescription for amoxicillin, and he's slept just fine the past two nights.

Dylan was riddled with repeated ear infections when he was an infant. So much so, that by 10 months, he had tubes put in. We always wondered when we had a second child, if they would suffer the same fate. But this is Logan's first one ever, and at 2 1/2, I think that's pretty darn good. I hope its an isolated case.

On a related note, I keep wondering when its going to be Our Turn. Usually once a winter, all (or most) of us come down with a Terrible Stomach Virus. The kind where you don't know which end to stick in the toilet first. The past two winters, I swear I traced it back to a random weekend visit to Chuck E Cheese once, and a visit to the kids play area at the mall the other time. This winter, guess where we aren't going?

un doo free...

I've mentioned Logan is in the midst of a sudden language explosion. He will try his best to imitate anything and everything he hears (no more four letter words in front of him, damn.)

His big new thing this week is counting. Suddenly he is counting to ten. Everything is getting counted around here - toys, chips, noodles in his soup, blocks - very deliberately and confidently.

And I wish I could take credit. But today it occured to me why the sudden interest in digits. Wii boxing. Yes, he and Dylan play Wii boxing usually at least once a day, and Logan, while very skillful in his two year old technique, gets knocked out by Dylan every time and the referee counts to ten for the knock out.

2009, a charm so far

Logan is sleeping. All night. For about three weeks now. This is HUGE. I don't know what finally clicked, but he is sleeping, and he's a much happier boy because of it. We've cancelled his sleep study because why drive all the way to Baltimore and keep him up all night, disrupting what's become a beautiful trend of sleeping like a champ?.. If we ever need to revisit this in the future, we know we have resources. But we're just going to cross our fingers he keeps at it. We've been making a really big deal the next morning when he gets up, telling him hooray for being a such a big boy, and how proud we are of him for sleeping all night. He eats it up, too. I think he loves sharing a room with Dylan and that's been a huge part of it all. He wants nothing to do with his old 'baby' room.

And with consistent sleep, we're seeing and hearing more language. Words, words all the time, even some phrases. I do think its all related, and his more rested mind can focus on communicating and being understood. His speech therapy continues, and getting him to practice specific consonant sounds (H and W especially). I'm visiting some preschools next month, trying to plan for next fall. And sometime in the months ahead, when the time seems right and he seems ready, we'll say goodbye to diapers and hello to big boy underwear. He shows signs of being ready soon and I'm hopeful we can tackle that one this spring, before pool season. I plan on incorporating Dylan's help and the powers of older brother persuasion.

I was driving to Costco today, thinking of where we are, as a family, right now compared to a year ago. Last year really kicked our butts. Things are just easier and better in so many ways:

1. This time last year, we were facing numerous gigantic car repair bills. It went on just about all year, until Andrew traded in his car in November and now has a nice, low mileage car/truck he loves. I don't think I ever wrote about his new car here, but he got a cute Honda Element truck that's really versatile, gets good gas mileage and its just pretty darn sporty.

2. We were just beginning a long cycle of trips to Kennedy Krieger for Logan to see a behavioralist due to some aggressive, nasty behavior we wanted to nip in the bud. Its also the time we began speech and OT for him. It really seems to me the work and energy we put into all this for the past year has really made a difference in him. He's really such a happier, more predictable kid who can play nicely and share with other kids. I'm sure we still have a lot of work ahead, but he's really doing well and is making us laugh a lot these days.

3. This time last year, I wasn't working. Last fall, I started a great, flexible part time marketing job that gives us some extra income and allows me to use a non-mommy part of my brain that was getting a little dusty. I don't have a lot of 'extra' time anymore, but I'm glad to be contributing a little to the family income, and I really love the people I'm working with.

4. We weren't getting much sleep - Logan's sleep issues, stress over car expenses....it was all taking its toll. Things seem to be much more manageable now and we're finally getting real sleep.

5. I spent the first half of last year stressing about Dylan starting kindergarten. How would he do? Would his handwriting skills finally take shape? Would he make friends and enjoy himself? I'm happy to say he's adapted to it all so well, and I couldn't be more proud of him. His handwriting is improving with practice and most importantly, he loves school. Now I can spend the first half of this year stressing about him starting full day 1st Grade this September and wondering how in the world he'll have time to eat his lunch (he takes so long to eat his meals and they only get about 20 minutes at school). I think this next year, we'll really see his reading skills bloom, too, and I'm so excited to watch that happen.

Yes, 2009 is looking much better. We didn't resolve our bathroom dilemma yet, and that might rear its ugly head again sometime this year. But we won't go there unless we have to. And really, when you're getting good sleep, even a leaky bathroom somehow doesn't seem as daunting.

In other exciting news, Dylan's third tooth is loose. He lost his bottom middle two last September, and nothing else has happened in a long time. But last night he announced one of his top teeth is a little loose. So sometime in the weeks ahead, his little boy smile will start to change into a big boy smile. I'll post a picture when the Big Event occurs. He still hasn't spent the money the Tooth Fairy brought for the first two teeth. I think he's saving it up for a new Wii game.

Inauguration Insanity

This town has gone nuts with the impending Inauguration events. For months leading up to this weekend, we've read articles about people renting their homes for thousands of dollars. They're anticipating a crazy insane amount of people in the city for Monday and Tuesday that will pretty much shut everything down - roads, bridges and businesses.

And we'll be watching it all on TV. Even if it was May, warm and sunny, there's just nothing fun about sitting in hours upon hours of traffic, dealing with enormous crowds and just waiting for the wrong one person to lose their mind. I remember going down to the Mall when Clinton was inaugurated and seeing Toad the Wet Sprocket play. I remember how crowded it was, but I was hmmmm, 17?, kid-free and we had the day off of school. Road trip. The Inaugural concert this Sunday looks amazing, with Bono, Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen, among others performing a free celebration concert Sunday afternoon, its oh-so-tempting to risk freezing our ta-tas off to experience it all in person. The temperature right now is a lovely 16 F, and Sunday won't be much better. And then there's the crazy insane crowd factor, and the oh-so-scary thought of nativigating it all with two small children who have no business being there. I wouldn't be them in that situation, its just not for kids (my opinion). The concert is airing for free to all viewers on HBO at 7 pm Sunday, we'll be watching and staying as far away from DC as possible.

Its been so exciting reading the millions of Washington Post articles as the Obama's have arrived and starting settling in. They've been sightseeing, dining out at some local spots , and I even read Obama has been dropping into a local gym unannounced in Adams Morgan to play basketball. And as much as I love to read about what they're doing in the paper everyday, I hope the media can calm down a little once things settle in and just let them try to live as normal a life as possible.

I think good things are going to happen, and we're very optimistic about the changes to come.

trouble

We've discovered that too much Wii equates to a severe listening impairment/personality change for Dylan. So we've been limiting his Wii time and trying to use it as something he can earn by doing the right thing without being asked. But Sunday night, he had a meltdown over something silly (ice cream flavor) and it came directly after playing way too many hours of Wii all weekend. So we hid the controllers and games, and he's had all week to earn them back. He's having a playdate today, and I had planned on letting the boys play Wii since he's been trying really hard since Sunday to listen.


However, today he came home with this from his teacher:

Too much talking at school, when he should have been doing his work, and letting his friends do their work. So, no Wii today again. He'll have to earn it back again.

This is his third school time-out ever. And everytime, he's gotten off the bus and told me immediately, turning on the sad eyes. I'm glad he's up front about it, instead of me just finding the note in his backpack later with no warning. And granted, there are worse things he could get in trouble doing at school than talking. But he has to listen and follow the rules, and know there are consequences if he doesn't.

So the Wii will wait at least another day. Its hard to punish him, and I hate it. But its the very necessary not-so-fun part of parenting.

boy toys

When we play blocks with the boys, my strutures are usually your basic square or rectangular shape, no doors or windows, bare bones boring while Andrew's are all intricate with gables and vestibules. Give me some Barbies, I can spend hours setting up a mansion that would make P Diddy proud using random household items. But we don't exactly have a lot of Barbies in our house. Just a whole lot of boy toys. And my brain just doesn't work that way. I don't know what to do with cars, other than race them across the coffee table. Rescue Heroes, forget it. Star Wars Action figures, just not fun to me at all. Transformers, all I do is break them.


So when Uncle Hector and Aunt Lily sent Dylan the Lego Police Command Center for Christmas, clearly it was going to have to be a father/son activity. Last night, Andrew and Dylan (well, okay, just Andrew while Dylan and Logan tried really hard to lose some of the needed pieces) put together one part of it. Today Dylan asked if I'd build the next part for him. I looked at the huge box of tiny bits and pieces and started shaking in my boots. But then I looked at Dylan and what I could say "No, its too hard and its going to make my brain hurt really badly?". So down I sat and triumphantly tackled each structure.


Lego is smart. They had each of the four major parts of the thing split into separate bags. So instead of looking at a pile of 43,276 trillion pieces that needed to comprise three structures, you could empty out one bag of 13,412 pieces and know you only had pieces that would be needed for the one structure. I can do this. I have a degree. From a college.


So I sat down and got busy. And it was really fun and weirdly fulfilling! In fact, I'm so damn proud of it I took a photo. And now I'm already wondering what our next set should be?

Yo Gabba Grabs Ya

I know I've ragged on this show before, but I have to say, lately I've been reconsidering.

First, the show features some pretty cool guest stars. My boys love this segment with Tony Hawk. They also regularly feature old rapper Biz Markie (remember that great 80's song/video "Just a Friend?", with "Biz's Beat of the Day" and he teaches kids how to beat box. Logan especially loves to imitate the beats and get his groove on. They also have some really cool bands on there with catchy tunes.

Plus, it comes on each day at 4:30 on Noggin (prime dinner making time), and captures both of my boys full attention for 30 minutes. Dylan can really shake his booty in that 30 minutes too.

Plus, DJ Lance is a little sexy, don't you think?

Sorry if I didn't give you a fair chance, Gabba. I guess I just didn't understand your genius.

paying it forward

Once when I was in college, a car load of us were driving to the beach. We had to pass thru the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and of course, its toll booth. I think the toll was $2.50 or something like that. Now its probably $10. But anyway. It must have been spring break or something, because there were throngs of cars on Route 50, heading east, full of lusty college kids anxious to get their drink on. So I remember pulling up to the toll booth with my $2.50 at the ready, and the toll booth worker (do they have another official job title I'm unaware of?) told me "Don't worry about it, the car in front of you paid your way". I didn't know the person driving in front of me from Adam, it was a complete stranger, I didn't even get a look at them. But how cool was it that they saved me my $2.50, so I could put it towards another six pack of Milwaukee's Best, or whatever sludge we drank back in those days?

I've always remembered that little incident and how a nice little random act of kindness can really make someones day. I honestly can't say I practice random acts of kindness in my life on a regular basis. I'm usually practicing random acts of trying to dissipate meltdowns, tantrums and not losing my car keys at Target while Logan is running circles around my shopping cart.

But today, while I was out running some blissfully kid-free errands, I saw my chance and took it. A while back, we opened savings accounts at our credit union for the kids. And for each account, we recieved $5 Starbucks gift cards as a nice little bonus. I tucked one away in my wallet, saving it for a rainy day. I don't often go to Starbucks because 1) I'm not often alone and I believe a $5 coffee just can't be properly enjoyed with a two year tagging along fingering all the shelves of breakable coffee mugs and 2) Well, the coffee is $5.

So I pull into the Starbucks drive-thru to order my venti White Chocolate Mocha. The guy rings it up, $4.53 he says. I pull up to the window for my beverage treat. He tells me the balance on my gift card will be $.47. I think for a second and notice a car has pulled in behind me to place their order. "You know what, I'm never going to use it. Just use it towards this next person's beverage". The scraggly high school Starbucks guy smiles "Nice!" and off I went. It was only $.47. But I'm pretty sure that counts as a random act of kindness, right?

a light at the end of the tunnel?

Although I haven't mentioned it in a few weeks, Logan's sleep pattern every night has still been to wake once or twice a night, and he has a hard time going back down. Despite sleeping in Dylan's room, he still cries and just seems very disoriented at night when he gets up. The question is still two-fold. Why does he wake up, and why is he so upset when he wakes? We tried Prevacid for a couple of weeks, trying to rule out acid reflux (unlikely since we see no other evidence but just something we thought we'd experiment). It didn't seem to make a difference, he still woke up. We moved Logan into Dylan's room (moving Dylan to a loft bed over Logan's bed), thinking maybe it would be less scary when Logan woke at night. Didn't seem to matter. The fact is, he still wakes, and he still gets out of bed, closes the bedroom door and cries for us.

So yesterday, I drove to Frederick, Maryland and took Logan to see the pediatric sleep specialist that I learned about last month. He was very thorough, and gave us an hour of his time. He completely checked Logan physically and didn't see anything obvious that would lead to his wakings. I gave him the complete sleep history and we talked at length. I asked about eliminating his afternoon nap (which is usually only 1 1/2 hours anyway) for fear it might be interfering with his rest at night, but the doctor said a child his age still really needs at least one short nap per day (and Lord knows I need him to take one!). He feels an overnight sleep study is definitely warranted, and maybe this will help us finally get to the bottom of it all. So we are scheduled for an overnight study Sunday, January 25th at a hospital in Baltimore. They are the only place in the whole metropolitan area set up to do a pediatric sleep study and from what I can tell, they are experts in this area.

We may learn nothing, but then again, something might just show up and finally click. There is a condition called Periodic Limb Movements Syndrome; there is a possibility that he just never reaches a deep enough level of REM sleep... it could be any number of things. Or, it could just be something behavioral that he is going to have to grow out of. So we'll see. I'm not excited, personally, about the sleep study because the likelihood of my actually getting any sleep that night is slim. Logan and I will have a private room with a queen size bed and a recliner (guess who gets which?). We'll be discharged by 7 a.m. Monday morning to drive home in rush hour traffic from Baltimore. But, if this is what we need to do to find some answers, bring it on.

Behaviorally and speechwise, I think Logan has made lots of progress over the last couple of months. We're hearing more and more spontaneous language and more two word phrases, sometimes three. He really mastered the word "MINE" over Christmas. He still has meltdowns, of course. But slowly we're starting to be able to reason with him and use consequences to get him to change his behavior. I'm starting to feel like the last year (age 18 months - 2 1/2 years) was the real toughie, and we're heading into a slightly easier time with him. He is playing more independently and using his imagination. I'm starting to understand more and more what makes him tick. If we could just get him to sleep all night, every night, I know I'd have more patience to get me through those moments when I just don't understand what he wants.

sunshine and raccoons

Dylan was awarded another sunshine award at school today. He was all smiles getting off the bus to tell me. This is his fourth award this school year. We're all getting back into the groove after our unexpected trip, and I'm proud of the kids and how they handled themselves with the disruption to our normal routine. I wish I could be so flexible.

And speaking of sunshine, it is entirely absent from the sky these days. It seems to rain every day without a glimmer of a promise of snow. Its getting hard to forget we don't live in Seattle. What I wouldn't give for one weekend of backyard BBQ weather right now...

And speaking of our backyard, last night at 4 a.m. Bella broke into a furious barking frenzy which could only mean one thing - wild animals on our porch. You may recall past stories of nocturnal animal friends visiting us during the dead of night to feast on our buffet of dry cat food. After Bella proceeded to wake up the entire house at that ungodly hour, Andrew indeed discovered two racoons on our screen porch. He managed to chase them off and turned the light on to discourage them from coming back. But something tells me they'll be back tonight. I just wonder what weapon solution Andrew might concoct this time (you may recall Possum Golf?)

family

We don't often get to spend time with my Dad's side of the family. My Mom and Dad are from the same small town in Southeastern Ohio called Jackson. Growing up, we made many a pilgrimage to Jackson for Christmas, summer break and for family events. Going back to Jackson now isn't the same as when I was a kid. Back then, it was a time for my grandparents (all four then), and my aunts and uncles to spoil me. Back then, there were no chain restaurants, no bowling alley, no highway bypasses. Now there is a Taco Bell close enough to Grandma's house to walk, new roads, and a Super Walmart right around the corner. Now we're all adults, busy raising our own kids, and coming together not often enough. But some things are still the same. Its a town where everyone knows everyone else. And all the days we were there, smiling faces dropped off platters of food and cakes and offered us all shoulders to cry on. The ladies at the church organized a luncheon after the funeral fit for a king. Its a small town full of people with big hearts.

This trip to Ohio for my Grandpa's funeral was not only a celebration and reflection of his life, it was a wonderful family reunion on my Dad's side. We came together and made something good out of something bad. My Dad delivered an incredible eulogy, that emphasized how important family was to my Grandpa. Its the most important thing. And it reminded me that no matter how busy we all get in our daily lives, in our own little worlds, we need to take time out to just be with our family and enjoy life in the moment. It made my Grandma so happy to have us all there with her. My Grandma is an amazing woman who raised four kids in a tiny three bedroom house my Grandpa built from a kit. She told me she has a lot of plans in the days ahead, including her weekly work-outs at the Silver Sneakers at the YMCA, and her paintings.

Here are a few photos from our days together this past weekend. We had a lot of laughs, ate a lot of fattening food, and enjoyed reconnecting with each other. Despite the circumstances, it was a nice way to welcome in a New Year.

Here is my cousin Alexis with Dylan and Logan. Alexis is 14 and is as sweet as she is beautiful. I hadn't seen her since she was 8. My boys fell in love with her, and so did we.

Here I am with my Grandma, and my Aunt Suzy (left) and Aunt Diane (right). My Grandma and my Aunts have incredible voices and broke into song many times over the trip. Unfortunately I didn't inherit the singing gene so much.

Here is Grandma with Logan. It was his first trip to Ohio. Dylan had been once before, when he was about the age Logan is now. Logan's favorite part of the trip was giving Great Grandma rides up and down in her recliner.

The boys also loved racing their Hot Wheels down the wheelchair ramp built for my Grandpa off the front porch.

Here are Andrew and Uncle Paul (Suzy's husband). We had a lot of laughs and silliness with Paul.

Here are Suzy and Paul together..