My Boys and Me

Thank goodness I have had 3 days off in a row.  I am so behind on everything.  I think I just need to accept that I will never be on top of things the way I used to be, that my memory will never be as precise, that my house will never be “Sandy” clean for more than a day, that I will ALWAYS have laundry in the basket, toys will always be slewed around the house, something will always be broken and needing to be fixed, and I will always begin a blog entry by looking at the date I last wrote and sighing, wishing I had time to blog more and a better memory to remember everything I’ve wanted to share since the last time I wrote.

Oh well, I have the most wonderful reasons for all of the above and SO much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.  Here are the top 2-

Things have been going really well and we’ve actually been able to spend a lot of time together as a family.  Braeden has been off school since Wed and Mike was off work Wed, Thurs and Friday too.  He and the boys came to work with me on Wed and I’ve been off since.  We were supposed to go to FL for the week, but decided to stay home and spend some time together alone.  We realized that we have not spent one holiday at home by ourselves since we were married.  We love our families SO much, but sometimes traveling is more stressful than enjoyable (with kids).  We had a perfect quiet day at home on Thanksgiving.  We enjoyed a Honeybaked ham, and the mashed potatoes that Mike’s Mom made us, played football outside with the boys, decorated the house for Christmas and watched Home Alone.  PERFECT!  To all the people we didn’t see for Thanksgiving that we love so much, we are so thankful that you are in our lives and hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving.

So, what else has been going on?  Mikey’s toe is healing well.  We took him to a foot specialist to be sure the nail was growing back the way it should and that the fracture has not gotten worse. So far, so good.  In other Dr. news- at Mikey’s 18 month checkup, he officially calmed our fears regarding his eating habits/tininess.  He had gained 2 pounds since his 15 month checkup which is GREAT for this age.  He is almost 23 pounds. He has not gotten better about eating, but his Dr. assure us that we have nothing to worry about and in fact we should relax a lot more with him and just have a take-it-or-leave-it approach at mealtime.  It will ALWAYS be a battle of the wills with a personality like Mikey’s and unfortunately until he gets a little older, he will always win. He drinks a lot of milk and water so even if he doesn’t eat at all during the day (which is sometimes a reality) we can be assured he is fine.  He truly does NOT like the Dr. and is very in tune with when he enters an office that even remotely resembles a Dr.s office. When we went for his 18 month check up, he was playing in the waiting room happily and even ran through the door when the nurse called his name.  As soon as he saw the nurse’s scrubs, he realized where he was at, said, “No!” and went running back out the door.  This week, when I took him to the foot specialist, he had to have a lollipop in BOTH hands before he would let the Dr. anywhere near him.  He is a SMART little guy- so smart he shocks us all the time.  Here are some of the things he is up to at 18 months-

Words he can say-Mama, Dada, Mom Mom (what he calls Mike’s Mom), Buba (brother), Milk, nigh, nigh, tan to (thank you), ba ball (baseball), No No (which he frequently tells Sayelor when he is with her at Mike’s Mom’s during the day), yummy (yogurt), ball (he LOVES anything round that looks like a ball), unny (bunny), Harley (he says his name in the loudest voice and rolls his tongue when he says the L, it is SO cute. When he is not here, he will walk around the house looking for him and yelling his name), hello, bye bye, go, out, baby, on, at (hat), bath.  He also uses all these words in the right context.  He understands a lot of words even if he can’t quite say them.  He can repeat a lot of the words as we say them.

He loves- the movie “Miss Pattycake,” being lifted to the basketball net so he can “dunk” the ball, pushing ANYTHING that will move (outside he pushes his lawnmower, inside he pushes the shopping cart we gave him as an early Christmas present- so he would stop trying to push his high chair around the house), sitting in the driver seat and pretending to drive (my sister is planning to get him the Little Tykes police car that he can sit in for Christmas), his bunny (that I have yet to find a replacement for online. Lets hope we don’t loose this one.  I’ve tried a couple substitutes, but he only wants the one he carries everywhere that sings “Jesus Loves Me,” climbing (he can get up and down from a chair), sitting at the table in a big boy chair (he does not like his high chair), our cell phones (he has figured out how to hit the last call button and frequently calls Daddy and Grandma.  He continues to be stubborn, curious, busy, demanding, but SO darn cute!  He is lucky he is adorable.  It helps Mike and I to laugh when he throws the horrible fits that he can throw when he doesn’t get his way.  He is also madly in love with Daddy and says “Daddy” when he sees any police car.  He recently got his first real haircut and actually did great.  I took him by myself and was quite nervous since the last 2 times we took him (just for a trim around the ears or a bangs trim) he did not enjoy himself.  We love his hair cut.  He was in dire need of one.  Check it out- This was the day after- we were at Rollie Pollie (a new favorite place for both boys to play.)

He had to keep one sock on to protect his sore toe.

Braeden had fun too-

Braeden is doing great!  He continues to love playing outside.  He is out shooting hoops right now.  He is such a breath of fresh air among the craziness that Mikey provides.  He is constantly telling me he loves me, always does what he is supposed to do, has become adamant about following the rules (even the dentist’s rule of flossing daily), he never gives us any trouble, and is so easy to love and adore!  He sets a wonderful example for his little brother and I hear and see him correcting Mikey all the time.  They are SO different, and I love them equally for so many different reasons (even though Mikey makes it tough to LIKE him at times) I actually love the fact that Mikey is difficuly, and has been in time out more in his 18 months than Braeden in his almost 7 years, and every other fact that makes them complete opposites.  Now I truly know what my parents meant when I’d ask them who they loved the most out of my sister, brother and myself and they would say “I love you all equally.” I never understood how this could be possible since we were so different (well, my brother and sister were a lot alike, but I was/am very different).  I was also more of the “Mikey” in our family so I am glad that parents DO in fact love the difficult one too. I’m sure Braeden must wonder how we can love Mikey as much as him when he acts the way he does, but I can’t imagine loving him any more if he were any different than exactly who HE is!

Here are a few more pictures to make up for the 2-week gap in writing

This one is for Aunt Lisa

“Brrr, I can’t imagine what its like to live in Canada, It’s freezing here and I do NOT like this big ole coat or hat Mama made me wear!”

And this one is for Uncle Jack

“I am STILL not a fan of this Santa guy!” PS. this was taken before we got his haircut- notice how long it is

THIS is a rareity- Mikey is sitting still AND sitting WITH his brother!

I will be very careful NOT to say, “I’m having a bad day” unless truly justified. Yesterday was really a BAD day and I hope I don’t have another one any time soon. Being stuck in traffic, running late, not having much money left till payday, just being stressed out, something breaking or spilling, no longer justify a “BAD” day in my world.  Sitting in the backseat with your baby in their car seat screaming in pain (and for safety reasons not being able to take him out and hold or comfort him), your other child crying out of sympathy for his baby brother, while your husband drives to the ER (again); holding your baby while he screams in excruciating pain (s0 much so that he couldn’t catch his breath a few times), while the ER Doctor pushes his nail back underneath his nail (not sure how to explain all of this) and then glue (thank GOD they didn’t have to stitch the toe which would have first involved a needle to numb) the cut shut, and tape the broken toe (after the x-ray was taken to determine it was broken), all while you are trying to get the words to “Jesus Loves You” out between your own sobs, JUSTIFIES a BAD DAY!

Lets back up about an hour- Mikey and I were happily walking through Shoe Carnival, about to get his foot measured for a new pair of shoes (he even reached out for my hand when I let go, indicating that he wanted to walk with Mama and was enjoying the moment- I was too).  It all happened in slow motion…..as I looked at a pair of shoes, Mikey noticed the mirror that was on the ground in front of us (large free standing metal mirror weighing about 30+ pounds).  He put his hands on the top of it and it fell over- all 30 pounds (or more) landing on his big toe. At first I didn’t realize that it had fallen on him.  I thought he was crying because it scared him.  Then, the pain quickly hit him and he was SCREAMING!  I looked down and saw blood gushing out of his sock.  The manager came running over and told me to look at it and make sure it was OK.  I panicked, knowing if I pulled the sock off and saw (worst case scenerio) his toe hanging by skin, I would pass out.  Mike was in the car with Braeden who had fallen asleep on the ride over.  I called him and he did the dirty work.  He took one look at the toe, said, “come on” and went running out of the store.  We were so unhappy with the ER we took him to for his drive-way fall (which happened to be across the street) that we drove 15 minutes (in rush hour) to a different one.  I can’t describe to you just how awful it is to know (and hear and see) your child in horrible pain and not be able to do ANYTHING to take the pain away.  I banged my toe on the wall once and remember how much it hurt (I cringe just thinking about it) and can’t imagine how my little guy must have felt after something so heavy fell on his itty bitty toe and then having to feel 3 x as much pain as the Dr. “worked” on it.  The toe nail was completely black by the time we got to the ER (they took him right back) which meant there was a lot of pressure under the nail and why he was in so much pain.  To make matters worse, he had JUST been at the Dr. the day before for his 18 month check-up and shots.  It was fresh in his mind what happens when he sees a nurse or Dr.   

We highly praise MedCare Express, their staff and candor.  Not only did they take Mikey back immediately, but the nurse brought a lollipop for Mikey right away to try and distract him and would you believe that the traumatized little guy managed a “tan to” (thank you) as he grabbed the lolipop which he continued to grip with all his might through everything until we left and then devour in the car.  He deserved at LEAST this much. 

The little guy is doing OK.  He can’t walk for a day or 2 and doesn’t really want to. He cooperates when we prop his foot (which indicates he is still hurting- he NEVER sits still). We were shocked that he slept the entire night without waking up in pain.  We felt certain that the dose of motrin we gave him before bed would not hold him until morning, but I think he was just SO exhausted and if he did wake up, he probably didn’t have the energy to cry out for us.  When Mike got him up this morning he pointed to his toe and said, “oh oh” and continues to say it every so often. Bless his sweet little heart, that boy is TOUGH!  Mama on the other hand is NOT!  I want to place him in a little bubble and not let him out of my sight. Mike and I didn’t mean it literally when we said, “this is the first of many” when we were in the ER with him a few weeks ago. 

“What a day!  I am exhausted!”

“Unny (bunny) makes me feel SO much better!”

Apparently, all the outside play Braeden and Harley have enjoyed since the weather has cooled, has paid off and created a little athlete.  On the weekends, Harley and Braeden spend hours outside playing baseball mostly.  Harley is 10 so I really don’t “supervise” their play and simply peak on them every now and then as well as referee fights (they ARE more like brothers afterall).  Anyway, this past Sunday I went out to do some errands leaving Mike and the boys home.  When I arrived home, they were in the backyard, so I walked to the back from the driveway to greet them.  I could not believe my eyes as I stood in the backyard and watched.  The same kid who awkwardly tried his BEST playing baseball last year (and truly did come along way from start of season to finish) was confidently playing baseball with Daddy and looked amazing!  Although he made great improvements towards the end of the season, he still couldn’t throw the ball more than 5-10 feet- this weekend he was throwing the ball across the backyard to Daddy and we have a BIG backyard)!  I think I can count on one hand the amount of times in the entire season that he caught the ball in his glove (including times the ball was thrown to him AND hit to him)- he was catching (in his glove) 4 out of 5 throws from Daddy, including pop flies AND this one that he DOVE for (he did catch it, it just rolled out of his glove).

It was so much fun watching Braeden (try) to play baseball last year, and I truly am not meaning to put his efforts last year down, rather compare exactly how much practice has improved him.  It will be so exciting watching him put his new talents to work this year when a new season begins. There is also another 5 months or so before he will start back up so he will have time to get even BETTER!  We are SO proud of you Braeden!

PS- Papa, you may not be able to tell in the pictures, but Braeden has a Detroit Tigers hat on.  He and Peggy (Mike’s Mom) were in Target the other day when he spotted it- it was the only one too!

mean more to me than ANY amount of ANYTHING!

Conversation between Braeden and Harley:

Harley-”Who do you want to win the election and become President?”

Braeden-”I don’t know.”

Harley-”Well, we don’t want Obama to win because he is going to raise taxes.”

Braeden-”What’s taxes?”

Harley-”Its $ you add when you buy things and if he RAISES taxes, we won’t be able to buy as many things!”

Braeden-”Oh well, I already have a LOT of things!”

My sweet, sweet Braeden is so satisfied with what he HAS- Mama needs to learn more about being “satisfied with what I have.” I am blessed far more than I deserve!

This is Mikey in the bath the other night…..he never ceases to AMAZE or AMUSE us!

I thought for sure by the time I ran to get the camera he would have stopped.  He is a little entertainer though so all it took was Mike laughing for Mikey to continue.  He would stop and laugh each time he “tried to get a drink!”