Special Weekend for the Boys

This weekend was Joshua's turn to spend the  night at Grandma and Grandpa's house, while Jacob enjoyed the house to himself and some much anticipated alone time with Mom and Dad! Throughout the day, Jacob just kept saying, "I've been waiting for this day for so long, and it's finally here!"

 

We made it clear that Jacob could pick whatever he wanted to do. First up was Monkey Joe's. We knew to get there right at opening time, 10 a.m., to avoid the Saturday birthday party craziness. Jacob and two other little boys were the only ones there for the first 45 minutes! He LOVED getting to show us his "tricks" and made us go down some slides with him a few times.

 Next up was lunch at his favorite place: Moe's. He told us that "I can stay here for as long as I want!" Jacob loves to sit and eat and take his time, and he loves when he doesn't have to leave right away because Joshua is done sitting in a high chair. He enjoyed his taco and nachos with cheese, along with his strawberry lemonade. He was so tired after Monkey Joe's, but quickly bounced back after this wonderful lunch!

 After lunch, we headed to Toys R Us and let Jacob pick out a new GeoTrax train. We lucked out when we got there and got in line for a Lego building event. He was one of the last 3 kids in line. We didn't have to wait, he got to build with tons of Legos, and received a little monster pack for free to take home. He has been playing with the skeleton, bat and spider this morning!

Daddy and Jacob took a nap when we got home, and then we built a GeoTrax layout that took over the entire living room so Jacob could try out his new train. The weather was chilly, but we bundled up and headed out for a bike ride. Jacob said, "I hate that Joshua isn't here in his trailer," when we were almost home from the ride. He did miss his brother, but thoroughly enjoyed his time alone.

Jacob picked Burger King for dinner, and we stopped there on the way to the cheap movie theater to see the newer Ice Age movie.

 Jacob had popcorn and was allowed to order his very own Sprite - only the second time he's ever had his own pop EVER. He was thrilled! We went to the 7:20 showing, and came home and thought Jacob would be tired. But, he asked to play a video game, so we pulled out Bob's old Gamecube system, and the three of us stayed up until 10:45 playing MarioKart. Jacob was so thrilled, and was cracking us up with what he was saying and how he was driving.

Now, Joshua's day was equally exciting! Jacob let Joshua borrow his backpack. Here is Joshua leaving for the day with Grandma and Grandpa.

 He put his clothes in his own drawer at Grandma and Grandpa's house - looks like such a big kid in this picture!

 Of course, he got a new toy as well! He enjoys this pirate ship, but Jacob enjoyed it on Sunday when he pretended to be driving the Titanic and making Grandma save the captain.

 Baking cookies. My parents have an adorable video of Joshua taking the entire block of cookies and putting that on the pan and then clapping for himself. Too funny!

 This is such a great picture! He was so proud of his cookies, even the next day when he got to show us his work!

 Breakfast in the morning in his Woody pajamas. Never far from a train at Grandma's house!

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for giving us a chance to spend alone time with each of our kids. It is just so special to have a day devoted to themselves and getting to do whatever they want on their own schedule, and for us to hear everything they have to say. Bob and I made sure all of our laundry was done by Friday so we could spend the entire weekend with Jacob and not taking care of any errands or stuff around the house. Even though we miss whichever boy is gone for the weekend, we know they are having so much fun with their grandparents, and that they are soaking in their alone time as well! Such a special weekend for both boys!

Thank you, Little Bill

That Little Bill knows his stuff. Have you seen that show for kids from Bill Cosby? Jacob has always enjoyed it, and I have always dreaded it. The show is kind of slow moving, and  when I watch with the kids, I would rather them be watching something else.

But, this past Friday, Jacob saw Little Bill come through while I was flipping around and insisted we watch. The episode was about a new boy in school who always wanted to play some game where you call each other mean names, and whoever is the meanest wins. Nice kid, right? Well, Little Bill didn't know anything mean to say, so he asked his parents for some mean things to say at recess the next day.

Little Bill's Dad told him that since the things the other kid were saying weren't true, and didn't hurt Little Bill's feelings, all he had to do was say, "So?" every time the kid said something mean to him. So, that's what Little Bill did. And he learned how to win the game without stooping down to the other kid's level.

Fast forward to Jacob's soccer game Saturday morning. Jacob was on fire - he scored six goals and was just doing unbelievable! We were so proud. But, we heard some kid on the opposing team telling Jacob he was a baby, and just being a mean kid. So, Jacob told that kid he was a baby. When Jacob came to get a drink of water, he told me the kid called him a name and he said it back to him. I told him that's fine.

Then, I thought about it. And realized, I could let Jacob get the last word in with this kid, or I could actually teach him to rise above it and learn how to let things slide and still stand up for himself.

I stooped down to Jacob's eye level, and reminded him of Little Bill.

Jacob went back on the field. The little boy called him a baby. Jacob said, "So?"

The boy left him alone for the rest of the game.

And the smile on Jacob's face when he told me what happened and how he didn't have to call the boy names was priceless. Not saying this is going to happen every time, but I sure was proud of him for learning a new way to deal with name calling.

Thanks, Little Bill, for teaching me how to teach my kid a valuable lesson.

Lately

Jacob is on fall break from school, so we have two weeks of keeping him home every morning. I am THRILLED to have him home and not drop him off at school. I'm afraid this two week break schedule is going to back fire and make us just wish he was home always! He is such a joy to be around, and I just love spending so much time with him.

Jacob is really into the new toys, switch and go dinos, and we have been watching the commercial over and over (and over and over...) again. He gets to watch it on Bob's tablet, but he doesn't quite understand why it is called a tablet, and says all kinds of silly words for it, like "taberoo" or "table-let." He invites Josh to come and sit with him, which is so funny to watch them sit together and watch this commercial. These are the toys he is really asking for from Santa this year, so watching the boys get excited about these toys just melts my heart!

Joshua is talking like crazy, and I just can't believe how well he finishes his words and gets all of the sounds out. He is doing such a great job, and I love hearing his funny personality come out every day. He has been calling my dad "papa" instead of Grandpa, which cracks me up. And the way he pronounces it is just precious. Joshua gets this serious look on his face, or he screams "no" just to be funny, and he loves getting laughs out of people!

Jacob and Joshua chase each other like crazy around the house. And, now that Josh is talking so much, he likes to be the instigator and scream "run!" or "chase!" to Jacob, even if they are in the middle of the store. It's too funny to get upset about, even when they are running like insane people. They also like to yell "no" or "mine" at each other just to be funny and get laughs.

My parents bought Joshua this large motorcycle that makes music and does wheelies. He literally hugs this giant green motorcycle all day long. It's adorable, except when he got the wheels and handlebars stuck in my hair this morning!

Joshua is hating to ride in the carts at stores, and just insists he walk everywhere. He does such a wonderful job walking, but I get nervous when it's busy and make him ride after a while even though he screams like I'm secretly pinching him. But, watching two kids walk through the store and an empty cart in front of me is just the weirdest thing!

Jacob has a busy little social calendar during his break, and we are excited to spend two weeks together! I love that little man (and Joshua, of course!) and not being apart from him during the week just makes my heart smile!

Wonderful Big Brother

I have so much to catch up on here...soccer season, preschool, Joshua getting closer to the age of two, more hospitals stays and medicine, and Jacob's first field trip. But, I just had to write about my morning with my two amazing little guys before I forget.

I joined a mother's group that meets twice a month, which is wonderful and I am thoroughly enjoying my time there and getting to know new mothers, as well as get to know women I knew previously even better. But, Joshua had a tough go of it at the beginning. I leave Joshua in the "walkers" room, which is essentially all toddlers up until they become potty trained/preschool age. Jacob is in a preschool room with some kids he actually does go to preschool with, and he loves it. But, Joshua is too young for me to explain that I will be right back, and that he is in a safe place where he can have fun with new toys and friends. He hates going. He cries and screams, but he has been doing SO much better, and does calm down each time now and play.

This past weekend, Joshua was in the hospital with an asthma attack, and is now on four different steroids. He is a jittery mess this week, unable to sleep soundly because of all of the medicine in his system. But, he is not sick. He has been seen by doctors all week, and had a clean bill of health every time (in terms of sickness you can pass to others - we had been working on his breathing issues, obviously!). But, he has a cough from his asthma attack, and sounds kind of gross because of it all breaking up in his chest and lungs.

The volunteers in his room thought he was sick and not feeling well, so pulled me from the meeting to take him home. Even though I knew he wasn't sick, I took him and went to Jacob's room to pick him up and take him home. The volunteer in Jacob's room was the sweetest woman, and offered to let Joshua join their room for the rest of the morning so Joshua could stay with his brother, and so I could hear the speaker we had coming. I gave her my phone number in case he was a distraction to the older kids, and went back to the meeting. I listened from the doorway for a minute to make sure he wasn't crying, and was shocked that she had Joshua done crying within 30 seconds. What an amazing woman!

I returned at the end of the meeting to hear the most wonderful report on both boys. Joshua had a fantastic time playing on the playground, being with his brother, and running with the big kids. He asked for "mama" every once in a while, but the volunteer was able to distract him and he didn't cry the rest of the time. What melted my heart was hearing how wonderful Jacob was for his brother. Jacob took care of him the whole time, included him, and took care of him on the playground. When Joshua dropped his pacifier on the playground, he went and found it, gave it back to his brother, and made sure he was okay. He let his brother sit with him, and helped him the entire morning. He is just the best big brother I could ever hope he would be. He knew I wasn't around to see any of this, and he very easily could have just ran around and left his brother to handle the morning on his own. But, he took his brother under his wing and made him included and comfortable. Jacob is the reason I was able to have an uplifting, positive morning with other mothers. He was so wonderful, and I made sure to remind him all day of what a wonderful boy he was and how much Joshua and I appreciate him and his kind heart. He was beaming.

But, Jacob was also a little upset when he got in the car. He has never once cared to be dropped off or to be away from me, but was crying when I picked him up. In the car, I heard a trembling voice in the backseat tell me, "They are going to tell the teacher and I'm going to get in trouble." He started crying and told me that he accidentally colored on the table when he crayon slipped off the paper, and a kid in the class told him that he was going to get in trouble, and that he was going to tell the teacher on Jacob. Jacob is such a rule-follower, that this stuck with him all morning and was causing him a lot of anxiety about being in trouble for something he didn't mean to do. He broke my heart! He is just so sweet! I assured him that accidents happen, and he most definitely would not be in trouble and that the crayon was surely already cleaned off of the table.

I was beyond proud of Jacob for telling me the truth, even though he thought he was going to get in trouble. In his mind, he was basically tattling on himself when he told me he colored on the table and thought I would tell the teacher what he did. I told him that I was so proud of him for telling me the truth, and he should always remember there is nothing he should hide from mommy. If he makes a mistake or does something he is not suppose to do, the best thing is to tell mommy and we can figure it out together. I want him to know that home is a safe place, and that mommy is here for him to help with problems and not to get him into trouble. He was so happy, and relieved. I am thankful that a big hug and a special lunch can fix his problems at this age!

A very successful morning with a lot of life lessons - much more than I thought I would get on this rainy Friday!

Too Lazy to Load Pictures

*Jacob has had two soccer games already. He's doing a really good job for a four-year-old and scored 4 goals in the first game and 2 in the second. In the second game of the season, he was passing the ball to players on his team. This weekend is going to be a killer though, with two games on Saturday, one on Sunday, and one on Monday.
*Joshua is really excelling in Gymboree. He listens to directions unbelievably well, and loves showing off what he can do. He is so fast for his age that the teachers and his doctors are amazed when they see him run. Every week at Gymboree he insists that when the teacher has Gymbo give all the kids kisses, that I get kisses too. He pulls the teacher's hand with the Gymbo puppet over to me saying, "Mama kiss, mama kiss." Love that he's looking out for his mama!
*Jacob is learning about creation at school again this year. They taught him about God creating light today. I wish I recorded him explaining light and dark to me when I was tucking him in for his nap. Jacob always refers to God and Jesus as women. He told me today, "She is powerful. So powerful, she's invisible." He was amazed that the world was dark, and we didn't live here, so God decided to make light so we could see. I love how he is processing what the teachers are telling him at school. From the way he explains God and Jesus to me, I think he pictures them as super heroes. He does his little super hero hand motions when he explains them to me.
*Both boys had their well visit on Monday, and both are in the 98-99 percentile for height. They are going to outgrow me way earlier than I will want them to.
*Jacob was always interested in books as a toddler, but Joshua rarely will sit still for an entire story. But, lately, he has been bringing books to us and we are getting better at him sitting through stories. He just likes to run so much that it's hard for him to want to sit still and look at the book for a long time.
*Jacob's handwriting is getting really great. He is writing letters now without anyone showing him how to do them. Today he wrote a "B" even though he hasn't worked on it before at home or school. He wrote his name, Mom, Dad and JosHua the other day on his paper (yes, capital H and lowercase everything else, haha).
*Jacob is drawing people so well now. No more stick figures. He draws a body and colors it in - so cute.
*Joshua's speech is really taking off. He is really starting to form sentences, and he just has the cutest little voice. I love listening to what he has to say. He figures out how to say long words, like lemonade. He won't say "thank you" very often, but after he gets his stamps at Gymboree, he'll turn and say "please" to the teacher, haha.

Asthma...or not

Joshua has been hospitalized twice in the past six months for difficulty breathing. Lots of steroids, tears, frustrations, late nights, bags under the eyes later, we saw a pediatric pulmonologist.

He was amazing. Explained everything. And said Joshua could have asthma, and very well could not. The best idea is to treat him now and wait and see how he does.

So, we are now on a controller medication, an inhaler, so we can try to stay on top of his episodes and make sure he doesn't end up in the hospital again. We will give him two puffs in the morning and two in the evening until the spring, and then reevaluate.

It seems his only triggers at this point is when he has a cold/virus, he isn't able to fight it without it getting into his lungs and causing him some breathing difficulty.

Asthma is so common, and yet still shocking at the same time. No one in our families has asthma. No one has any breathing issues. We have never dealt with a daily medication before. But, Joshua doesn't really like to follow a certain path, so it's kind of fitting.

We are desperately hoping he outgrows it, as predicted from the doctor. With no history, and only 2 episodes in his almost 2 years of life, the chances he outgrows this problem by the time he is four or five years old are high. So, for now, we will do the inhaler and cross our fingers that we will be through this in a few years, and he won't have to be on medication for the rest of his life.

And, for now, we are thankful we are headed into the winter and terrible cold/virus season with a plan, and with a way to protect our little guy and give him a chance to fight things off without a trip to the hospital.

Interview with Jacob

We let Jacob stay up "super late" tonight (9 p.m.) and just started asking him questions after he was done watching his show and finishing up his snack. Here are his awesome answers at the age of 4 (not yet 4 and a half for a few months).

Favorite TV show: Jake and the Neverland Pirates
Favorite toy: Cliff Jumper and Wheeljack (Transformers)
Favorite restaurant: Chik-Fil-A (later he added Moe's when I asked him if it was one of his favorites)
Favorite food: Chicken
Favorite snack: Jake fruit snacks (Jake and the Neverland Pirates)
Best friend: Maddox
Favorite thing to do outside: ride my bike and my fire truck
Favorite dessert: chocolate cake and vanilla
Favorite book: Transformer book
Favorite movie: Transformers Prime (Season 1...anything we have on DVD is a movie to him)
Favorite Transformer: Optimus and Bumblebee and Cliff Jumper
Favorite thing you do with your brother: play dump trucks, because there's two dump trucks
Favorite thing you do with Mommy: twirl your hair
Favorite thing you do with Daddy: play with him...play dump trucks and Scooby
Favorite thing to do at school: play with cars, because there's an airplane and jet there
Favorite drink: Gatorade and milk and juice
Favorite vacation: camping
Favorite animal: hippos
Favorite color: purple...GREEN
Favorite music: Michael Jackson. I like it because it has a wolf in it...stomp stomp AWHOOO (Thriller)
Favorite bath toy: Daisy Duck
Favorite shirt: Purple shirt
Favorite place to sleep: in a tent
Favorite holiday: Trick-or-treating day
Favorite thing to dream about: Boats, because I like boats
What color are your eyes: Brown
What color is your hair: camouflaged
Favorite time of the day: the end of the day. The middle of the day some days where we get music rockin
What do you want to be when you grow up? A daddy
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? To G.G.'s house, because I love G.G. (his great-grandma)
Favorite season: Spring, because I like spring a lot. I like fall when leaves fall off the trees and I can jump in the leaf pile.