Sneaky!

Tyler did something this afternoon that Rick and I found to be a little bit disturbing. Rick was upstairs and I was resting my huge pregnancy ankles on the couch. Tyler was right behind me playing with his table hockey (AKA rod hockey) set. He plays with it for at least an hour each and every day. A bone of contention between the three of us is how Tyler plays with it. Rick insists that all of the hockey players stay on their rods where they belong. The players are hand painted and Tyler tends to be rough as some players' paint has chipped somewhat. My take on the situation is that Ty is 4 years old and we can't expect him to keep any toy in pristine condition. Ty's perspective is that he should be able to pull some of the players off of their rods and play with them in a more free-style way. However, he still keeps them on the actual game (or ice, whatever you'd call it).

If Rick sees the players off their rods he makes Tyler put them back on the rods. If I see the same thing, I don't do anything. Again, I think since it was Tyler's birthday gift he should be able to play as he wishes as long as he's not destroying them. I know, I should respect Rick's wishes. Bad wifey.

But get this! Tyler dropped one on the floor this afternoon. Not a huge deal. He picked it up and put it back on the game (or so I thought). To be honest, I was tired and didn't really care. A few moments later I heard Tyler go into the pen/pencil drawer. This was also just a few feet behind me. I figured he was grabbing a pencil to draw with. Wrong. About an hour later Rick was putting the game away so he could set the table for dinner while I cooked. He found a hockey player's head on the floor! It must have broken off when Ty dropped it. "Where's the rest of it, Ty?" Rick asked sternly. Ty didn't answer. We looked all around. Then I remembered something. I looked in that pen/pencil drawer and guess what I found....a hockey player's body. Tyler slyly hid it thinking we wouldn't know what happened. But duh, Tyler, you left the head on the floor.

Rick and I were disappointed. How did Tyler learn how to be sneaky like that? We can understand many things such as the way he'll act out before thinking. It's something we're working on. But the fundamental problem with what happened today was that it was a thought out plan, even if it only took him a moment to think it up. We explained that dropping a hockey player on the floor can be an honest mistake but to hide the broken player is very, very naughty. He received a spanking and he lost his privileges to play rod hockey for a week.

Trust me, reader, I realize that a lot worse could have happened. It's not the end of the world. But let me say this, it took me aback to see him being sneaky like that. It just reminds me that children are not born innocent and that certain ingrain personality characteristics need to be undone or unsocialized out of children. My goal is to undo these things for Tyler sooner as opposed to later. I suppose it is a long, long process. After all, I'm quite certain that people of all ages have traits that need to be undone. I certainly do!

It's Official

It's official. I have turned into one heck of a miserable pregnant woman. I like nothing about it, not even the kicking. I hate how tired I am. My ankles are HUGE, my nose is stuffed up (but thank you over-the-counter nasal spray even though I've used you so much you don't work well anymore), I always have some sort of pain in some part of my body, I use the restroom at least once an hour, I have little to no desire to do anything, my poor husband does well more than his fair share of everything, I can't bend over, I only have two pair of shoes that fit (and sort of at that) and the worst part is that I feel like this is never going to end.

Keep in mind that just because I loathe being pregnant it has nothing to do with the fact that I appreciate that God has blessed me and Rick with another child. I envy (but am not jealous of, there's a big difference) women who like being pregnant and have good pregnancies. Tyler's pregnancy wasn't so bad at all. I didn't particularily like it but I can't say I disliked it. The only thing that has kept me from going 100% crazy is that I repeat over and over, "I will feel so much better once I give birth." That's what happened with Tyler. In fact, I was on a hormonal high for a few days. You can't buy a better high than that. Granted, I had to hide my elation seeing that Tyler was in the NICU and my mom was in the ICE! It just goes to show you how much our bodies can be in total disagreement with our circumstances.

I feel a lot better now that I've vented.
"It will get better once I give birth."

Candy Land

Before I had Tyler there were specific things I wanted to do and not do as a mom. Some of which I've failed at. For example, he watches more TV than I would have envisioned. But one thing I would definitely score myself with high marks with is the amount of sugar Tyler has had over this life span. I was/am a bit of a sugar Nazi with Ty. Seeing that I have a weight problem and a sugar lust issue myself combined with the fact that sugar is so stinkin' bad for us Tyler's sugar intake is important to me. As a sidebar, I'm a bit of a hypocrite in that if I ate as well as Tyler did I'd lose a ton of weight. But I digress....

Halloween, 2009 was the first Halloween we let him eat any of his candy. It gave him a taste for sugar. He became under the impression that he should get a treat everyday. I hate you, Halloween. Then there's school. Uggg. One day last year I picked up Tyler from preschool and my eyes about popped out of my head. The kids were eating large cupcakes WITH a 100% sugar drink. His teachers could tell that I did not like that. It was someone's birthday and the child's parents brought in treats. Thanks a lot. Doesn't common sense tell a person that you bring in a healthy drink if you have a sugar treat or visa versa?

I was reminded of my hatred of sugar today when I picked up Tyler. It was someone's birthday and each child got a goody bag of one drink (granted it was 100% fruit juice), one yo-yo, three packs of Smarties, one bag of cookies and one package of sour gummy worms. Can you hear me sighing? I explained that he may have one treat today and one tomorrow.

Okay, people, I know I can't control his sugar intake forever. I know that he has to eat some sugar otherwise he'll go to the other extreme later in life. But as a parent I feel like I'm constantly fighting something. You should have seen me a few months ago when I all but yelled at the kid across the street because she pointed a play gun at me. Rick explained to her that even though a gun is fake you never point it at someone. Speaking of guns, that is something I'm even more of a Nazi about than sugar. In this day and age I feel VERY STRONGLY about play guns. Tyler will never, ever have one. Not even a super-soaker or a water gun. He will be taught to respect guns and Rick will take him to a shooting range. (No, we don't have a gun, don't worry.)

So what are you anal about? Not that you probably think I'm crazy....

Thay-at

There are two types of Southern accents: the endearing kind that is a pleasure to listen to and the kind that makes the speaker sound dumber than a sack of hammers. Unfortunately, Tyler is picking up some of the later. Mind you, my son is far from dumb but Rick and I are trying hard to correct some of the words that make him sound let's just say less than intelligent. Most of the words have an 'a' in them and are one syllable words that he's turning into two syllables such as: cay-at, thay-at. Just as I'm typing he said they-ar (instead of there).

I think he's getting his accent from his teacher in school (who is not dumb but who has a thick Southern accent) or one of his classmates (all who seem smart). I don't know what to do. I don't want to keep 'correcting' him because he's really not doing anything wrong. Who am I to say what is the right way of speaking vs. the wrong way of speaking? Our family may be a mixed bag when it comes to accents. Actually, Rick basically untrained his Long Island accent and you'd never know where he's from with the exception of a few words here and there. He doesn't have any type of accent. I'm from Ohio but grew up in Arizona, where people are from all over and we all just came to acquire a non-regional specific accent. For additional fun maybe the three of us should just develop an Australian accent and really throw people off.

Preschool Update

Some of you may have read my posts regarding the decision Rick and I will need to make as to where Tyler will go to school next year: Bright Beginnings through CMS or Church Preschool. I'm also expressed my worried feelings to some friends in person. I've prayed about this at least a few times.

Rick and I are 90% sure that we will place Tyler in Church Preschool. Signs here and there have been unfolding and I feel that God is speaking to us through these signs. The first light bulb moment was when we received thank you cards from his teachers for the meager Christmas candles we gave them. It wasn't the cards themselves that were a surprise but this was: one of his teachers wrote, "I love having you in class and I love you, Tyler." How sweet is that?!

The second sign was the fact that his preschool will now offer a four day a week program for four year old children. I spoke with the preschool director and all but begged her for a four day program as they currently offer three day programs. I felt like that was an answer to a specific prayer.

Tyler absolutely loves his classmates. I'm talking head over heals type of love. He speaks about them frequently. We bought a copy of the class picture and I put it in a frame for him to look at. In a typical Tyler fashion, he started using in as a lovey. He carried it around and went to bed with it. (Rick and I would go into his room after he would fall asleep to remove the picture from his grasp.)I guess he loved the picture too much because he broke the glass in the frame! Yikes, I'll need to find an alternative way to protect it.

I have a soft spot in my heart for Tyler's teachers and the preschool director. I think they are sweet, kind, warm, and lovely. More important than that, Tyler has progressed a lot more there than in the CMS program. Now reader, I have never been in denial about Tyler's "disabilities" but now I feel that the progress he's made strips away the label of having any disabilities. I think that some of the thing's he's now a tad behind on are a result of just needing to mature more. For example, he can't carry on a conversation to the extent that you (I) might think he should be able to for a four year old. Yet several people, including the church preschool teachers, have told me that there are plenty of "normal" four year olds who don't have conversations per se'.

Part of me wants to pull him out of the CMS preschool system now. Rick pointed out that as long as the CMS preschool isn't slowing him down than there really isn't a reason to pull him. Good point, Rick. A lot can change between now and May, when we need to tell CMS what our decision is. I'll be surprised if we change our minds and put him in CMS next year.