Colton turned nine in January. Nine!!! I can’t hardly
believe it, he is so big! He wanted a Sly Cooper cake so I made him one and he
was pretty happy with how it turned out. He got four Walki Talkies, a journal,
and a light up fidget spinner for his birthday. Colton is so funny and smart
and he is such a sweet kid. On Thanksgiving he got up early and made toast and
hot chocolate and brought Weldon and I breakfast in bed because “it is
Thanksgiving and he is thankful we are his parents”. He is always helping out
and is nice and happy almost all of the time. Even when he is a bit grumpy it
never lasts more than a few minutes and I admire his ability to let things go
and just be happy, I could learn from that! He is also always trying to help
out and surprise me with things, one time I came down stairs after getting out
of the shower and found that they had decided to surprise me by ‘mopping’ the
floor for me. They had dumped several gallons worth of water on the floor and
probably half a bottle of dish soap and all four of them had towels and were on
their hands and knees and were busily mopping away. It was one of those times I
had to remind myself that it is the thought that counts as I helped them clean
it all up. Gotta say, even though the floor was a bit sticky from soap residue,
it was pretty shiny and it looked great! Colton also has a really funny sense
of humor and is always making little jokes. Once we were watching a show and
there were alligators in the water and someone fell in and Colton says “looks
like their food came in… get it Cayman, like the alligators!” and laughed and
laughed at his clever play on words.
Colton is getting to that stage where he is starting to get
embarrassed easily especially by displays of affection. Last week he gave his
teacher a hot pad he had made for her and she hugged him in front of the whole
class and he was so embarrassed. I told him he should never be embarrassed that
somebody loves him. Luckily he doesn’t seem to mind when I hug him, good thing
because I don’t plan on stopping! Colton has been having a hard time with his
multiplications in math and after being unable to pass his three’s on a timed
test for the fourth time he got really frustrated and started crying at school
and then was embarrassed about that and just felt really bad over all. His
teacher told him she would give him extra help and I told him I would help him
at home too. He told me, “Mom, you don’t even know them very well, I have trust
that my teacher can help me because she has lots of experience helping kids
like me learn.” Fair enough. Whatever she did seems to be working because the
next day he passed his three’s. He was so relieved and excited. When he got
home from school Kaci went outside and planned a surprise party for him with
our neighbors Elena and Povalina. They were so sweet, they decorated and had
snacks and everything all to celebrate him passing.
Kaci is always doing sweet things like that, planning a
party to help someone feel good, or drawing a picture or writing a note to help
someone feel better. She writes me love notes almost every day and they are my
favorite. She is teaching herself cursive and most of her notes are written in
her pretty cursive. She also loves to make things for people, especially her
teacher. She got a little loom thing and she and Colton made hot pads for their
teachers. Kaci said that her teacher told her that she really needed some new
ones and was about to go buy some but now that Kaci gave her one she wouldn’t
need to any more. Kaci felt so good that she gave her teacher something she
needed and saved her some money. Kaci has also make some for us to use at our
house and anytime I am cooking she comes in and asks if I need to use a hot
pad. Which of course I always do. She gets a really big smile on her face and I
can tell she feels very proud that something she made is useful and needed. Kaci
also used some left over fabric to make her teacher a purse. She did it all by
herself by folding the fabric in half and sewing the sides shut, she even cut
strips of fabric and made straps. She was very proud of her purse, and even
though she had made it for her teacher she wanted to talk to me first and make
sure it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if she gave it to her teacher instead of to
me. She is always thinking about other people and things she can to do make
them feel better. While she was sewing my machine started being stupid and
snagging and just not working right. She called me over to help and I was
getting pretty irritated with the darn thing and she kept apologizing for
breaking my machine, I had to stop and tell her that I was frustrated with the
machine, not with her, and that I didn’t think it was her fault that the
machine wasn’t working. I have learned that I need to be really careful around
Kaci because she feels responsible for things so I need to take the time to let
her know everything will be ok.
Kaci LOVES school, she just excels at everything and is
doing so well that she is basically helps the teacher teach. In fact they even
send her to kindergarten to help out with the kids there and be an assistant
teacher there. She also helps the kids in her class with their math and
reading. She love to help and I think it makes her feel special and useful, but
she doesn’t like being in charge of helping them behave because it is hard for
her to tell on them if they are being naughty, she is afraid it will make them
feel bad. One of the things that she got to do as a reward for being so good
was to choose a day that she could sit at the teachers desk for the day instead
of her little desk. Oh she was so excited, she wanted me to put her hair in curlers
the night before because she wanted to have curly hair like her teacher so she
would really look like her teacher and trick her class mates. Haha so we put
her hair in curlers, she said her teacher laughed when Kaci told her that she
was trying to look like her. Our silly Kaci. Even though she is sweet and
wonderful Kaci is still very much a tease, in fact once at school their teacher
asked her if she could have any pet what would it be. Kaci answered that she
would like a parrot. When her teacher asked why Kaci said “because a parrot
would repeat everything Mom says and that would drive her crazy and Daddy would
laugh”. Haha a repeating parrot would drive me crazy, and Weldon would probably
be the one who taught it to repeat so he would be laughing! She knows us well.
Weldon got Kaci and Colton little tiny swiss army knives
with a bunch of different blades and scissors and tweezers and stuff and they
thought they were pretty neat. Well they asked if they could cut the box that
they came in while I was making breakfast before school, so I said sure but to
be careful. So they are cutting away when Kaci cuts her finger. She is
breathing deep and trying to stay calm and shows it to me. It was a pretty good
cut. I was surprised that the little knife was able to cut her that bad. I
couldn’t really tell how deep it was and I didn’t think it needed stitches but
it was bleeding pretty bad so I tell her we need to rinse it off to see how bad
it is and so the band aid will stick. We go in the bathroom and gently rinse it
off. Kaci is still doing a good job of staying calm when she says “I can’t see
anything, I need to sit down” and she just slumps over. I am barely holding on
to her one bleeding hand and don’t have a good grip on her and didn’t want her
to fall and bash her head on the sink or toilet so I am half way shouting at
her to stand up and I help her to the kitchen chair for her to sit on. She was
so pale that her lips were blue and she was cold and sweaty and kept gaging
like she was about to throw up. We brought her a bowl just in case and I
hurried and put the band aid on. Once I got it covered up I gave her a piece of
chocolate to try and help her not feel like she would pass out any more. After
the cut was covered and the blood wiped up she started to feel better. She
doesn’t remember me yelling at her, so that is good, but she did say it was
weird to not be able to see and that everyone sounded really far away. Once she
started feeling better she decided that she still wanted to go to school so she
could tell her teacher that she almost passed out. She wore that band aid like
a badge of honor and she will probably have a scar on her finger. She also decided that she shouldn’t use her
knife for a while and that when she does she will be more careful.
Preston is five, funny and full of life. He has the most
interesting view of things and he cracks me up every single day. Before
Christmas he was really concerned with the naughty and nice list and if he
would make the cut. Weldon had jokingly said ‘shut up’ or something like that
and Preston had gotten after him for saying a bad word, so I said “Yeah Daddy,
talk nice or you will be on the naughty list!” Preston just started bawling and
says “Oh no! Sometimes I say bad words, they just sneak out, and now I am going
to be on the naughty list!” he was in full blown panic mode. So I had to help
him calm down and told him just to keep trying to be good and say sorry if he
does something wrong and he should be fine. Preston is a tease, he likes to
pretend that he ‘teleports’ everywhere. When I come to wipe him in the bathroom
he will call me and then say “I’m in the downstairs bathroom, I teleported!” to
try and trick me into going to the wrong bathroom. Sometimes I wait a few
minutes before coming in and when he asks what took me so long I say it is
because I went to the downstairs bathroom and he wasn’t there. Then he will
laugh and say he just teleported back up to this one. He talks about Halloween
every single day and changes his mind on what he wants to dress up as every
twenty three minutes. He changes his favorite color, and his favorite animal
every hour too, but it always gives us something new to talk about. He insists
that he is part of whatever his favorite animal is at the moment. For example:
“Wow, I am really strong, I must be part Gorilla!” or “Wow, I smelled breakfast
all the way upstairs, I must be part Wolf!” And he is very proud of his ability
to spot things we can’t, in fact we call him Eagle Eye Preston because of this.
A few weeks ago we were in the forest on a walk and Weldon pulled some bark off
of a tree and there was a mouse that fell down with it and no one saw it until
Eagle Eye Preston pointed it out to us. He thought that was pretty funny, and
that naturally, he must be part Eagle. Preston was explaining something to the
other day and it took me a while to figure out what he was talking about. He
was telling me how when Colton and Kaci were in my tummy and I would eat
something they wouldn’t like it and they would punch it out, but when he was in
my tummy he liked all the food and he never punched it out. I realized that he
was talking about me having morning sickness when I was pregnant with Colton
and Kaci but not with him. And his understanding was that the babies ‘punched’
the food out because they didn’t like it.
Preston managed to run over his own hand while riding a
tricycle yesterday and he was so sad because he ‘really liked that hand’. And
he cried and cried as if his hand will never be the same, but then a band aid
fixed the problem. Later last night he tripped over a toy car while getting
ready for bed and got a slight scrap (no blood). He immediately began yelling
for a band aid the way a soldier on a battlefield would yell for a medic. It
was a pretty big deal that once again was fixed by a simple band aid. I love
band aids, I am glad that right now everything bad in his life can be fixed
with kisses and band aids, even if he is a bit of a drama king. Preston has a
little wart on the palm of his hand and we got some medicine to put on it and
make it go away and when he found out we wanted to make it go away he was not
happy with us. He said it is a part of him and he loves every part of himself
and we can’t take it away. Haha it is kind of hard to argue with that logic! So
I am not sure what we will do about that.
I have started donating Plasma twice a week and I take the
two little boys with me because they have a nice little child watch place for
them to play there for the hour I am donating. When I explained before we went
that they would have to poke me with a needle Preston freaked out and said he
wouldn’t let me go, I was NOT allowed to go! They couldn’t have any of my
blood! No matter what I told him he wouldn’t calm down and since I already had
an appointment but didn’t want to take a hysterical five year old in I told him
I wouldn’t let them poke me but I still had an appointment. (horrible I know)
He calmed down and we went in and he was really excited to see the toys he
would get to play with. When the nurse at the front desk asked if I had eaten
breakfast I said yes, then Preston let her know we had pancakes, and Owen
informed her we also had sausage and eggs. So she said “oh yummy, pancakes with
sausage and eggs! Did you save any for me?” Preston’s eyes got huge, deer in the
headlights look, and while never looking away from her face he leans towards me
and in the loudest stage whisper ever asks “Mom, do we have any left?” I
laughed and said I don’t think we do, the nurse laughs and tells him she was
just joking, but thanks any ways. So then I check them into the child watch and
went back for my donation. When I pick them up he tells me all about the fun he
had and then he asks me if they took some of my blood, I had to fess up so I
told him yes, but that I was ok. He looked at me and says: “Ugh I KNEW you were
tricking me!” but he since he could tell I was ok he didn’t seem too upset.
When we got home he runs into the kitchen and grabs the plate of pancakes off
the counter and says “Mom we DO have some left!” he wanted to go back and give
it to the front desk nurse but we didn’t. Preston is just so funny and sweet
and love to snuggle me and wants to be where ever I am. He always makes me feel
special.
Owen is not a baby anymore. That is kind of sad really, but
now I get to enjoy him as a big kid and he is really fun to be around. He
turned three in January and we decided it was time to potty train him. The only
problem was that he didn’t want to. No amount of bribing him would make him sit
on the little potty chair. He didn’t want candy, he didn’t want marshmallows,
he DID NOT want to run around naked. I was at wits end about what to do because
I knew he was old enough, he just didn’t want to. Finally Weldon offered to let
him ride in his truck with him and go get happy meals if he would just pee in
the toilet. So he did. And that was it, no accidents, straight to underwear.
Doesn’t even wear a diaper at night. It was amazingly easy once Weldon figured
out what Owen really wanted. So yeah now he is completely potty trained and will
even use the restrooms away from home and tell use when he needs to go and
everything. About a week after he started using the potty Weldon had just
gotten home and I had just made dinner when he went pee. We all clapped and
celebrated with him but when he wanted to go on a ride in Daddy’s truck we
couldn’t because it was time to eat, so he wanted some candy, but he couldn’t
because we were about to eat. He got frustrated with us and puts his hands on
his hips and says “guys, it’s called potty training!” we laughed, and he did
get his ride and his candy after we finished dinner. One of the most common
things I hear from Owen now is “Sorry for peeing over the toilet”. This kid… I
am not sure if it is just a high power sprayer or a crooked sprayer because he
can be sitting down, everything positioned in a way that physics would usually
dictate the pee go into the water, and still manage to pee straight over the
top. Once I was standing in front of the toilet, a good two feet away, and he
somehow peed in-between the toilet and the seat and managed to get it all over
my feet. He thought it was funny, I did not. Another time right before bed he
goes into the bathroom with his stuffed Batman toy that he sleeps with, and
next thing I know he is yelling in a near panic “Mom! I peed on Batman!” it was
the same kind of deal, poor Batman was just in the wrong place at the wrong
time. I had to wash him and Owen was nearly traumatized. Peeing on Mom is
funny, peeing on Batman is just outta line… explain that to me! When he got him
back the next day he was very grateful and thanked me repeatedly for washing
his Batman.
I also finally weaned him, I know I know three is so old to
still be nursing, but it was the only time he would hold still and let me
snuggle him. I regret nothing. While I was still nursing we would race to our
chair and when he would beat me there he would sit there with his hands
together and say “well, well, well, what have we here?” it was hilarious. So
anyway to wean him I just stopped nursing him and told him it was all gone.
Naturally he was skeptical. When I told him it was all gone he puts his hand on
his chin in the ‘thinking pose’ and says “Hmmm, can I check?”
So Owen loves Batman, not sure if that has been mentioned.
He can work Batman into every single conversation, every single one. Talking to
Owen goes a lot like this: “Hey Owen, do you want mac and cheese for lunch?”
and he will answer “yeah, and Batman can fly and has a super-fast car” and then
he will run off acting like flying Batman with sound effects and everything.
For his birthday he had a Batman cake and he was thrilled, he still
occasionally thanks me for making his Batman cake.
I have to do some figuring out sometimes when it comes to
what he is talking about. The other day in the grocery store he kept talking
about chocolate eggs and was upset with me for getting regular eggs. It wasn’t
until he pointed them out that I realized he was talking about the brown
organic eggs and that he thought they were chocolate. About a week ago we found
a tic on Shadow and of course got it off right away but Owen was just really
worried about that ‘lady bug’ on Shadow. About two days pass and he is sitting
on my lap when he reaches up and touches a mole that I have on my neck and
asked me if I had a ‘lady bug’ like Shadow. I assured him that I do not have a
tic on me sucking my blood, and that it was just a mole. (And it didn’t make me
self-conscious about it or want it removed at all either, haha)
A while ago he was kneeling on my lap and he leans towards
me with a big spit bubble on his lips trying to show it to me. I try to move a
way but it pops and some spit drips and lands on my pants and I say “Gross you
got spit on my pants!” and he is very indignant that I didn’t give him the
praise he felt like he deserves and he says “I made a BUBBLE!” as if that
totally justifies the spit that dripped on me. Being a mom can be gross
sometimes.
Owen really wants to go to school. Colton always brings home
crackers and apple juice that he shares with the boys, so Owen thinks that is
all they do at school and he wants to go so bad. He asks every day if he can
go, and promises that he will bring me home all of his snacks and apple juice.
He has started calling the childwatch at the Y and at the plasma place his
school and calls the people that watch him his teachers. So now he can say he
had a fun day at school and it makes him feel good. He is so sweet and sill and
makes life fun. I love kissing his belly, he has learned how to wink and give
thumbs up, and he is pretty cute. Anytime he is play shooting and he gets me he
will say “ here, have an apple, an orange, a bane-anna (banana) its medicine,
all better!” as he hands me imaginary medicinal fruit to heal me so we can keep
playing. He is funny. And if he apologizes for anything you had darn better
acknowledge and accept immediately or he will say ‘sorry’ louder and louder and
get angry with you if you don’t.
Some pictures of our life
Poor Owen was so tired of smiling!! haha
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