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JDaniel4s Mom

growing & learning with him

My Words are Stuck Mom

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Just last week my little clear speaker started getting his words stuck. He starts to say something like “What are you doing?” What comes out of his mouth is “What, What, What.” He gets so frustrated with himself and his words. This isn’t all the time. Sometimes it’s when he is tired. Sometimes it is when he has just gotten up. Sometimes it just happens.
I got worried and talked to my mom and my husband’s mom about it. My mom said that it was just a stage that he was going through and it would pass. My mother in-law remembered that both my husband’s sister Angela and her great granddaughter MK have trouble with this too. “Their brains were processing things too fast for them to speak their thoughts,” she said.
It is so hard to hear him struggle to get words out. I try to stop him and have him count 1, 2, 3. Then I have him try to start the sentence again sometimes that works. If it doesn’t I try to get him to slow down and focus on something else. That seems to work sometimes too.
We were at my mother in-laws over the weekend and she go to hear the what whats and the I I Is firsthand. When got ready to leave, she mentioned we might want to talk to a speech pathologist that we know. It is easy to say that it will pass. It is hard to hear him struggle. This is probably just a stage. We hope it is.

A Stepstool Can Lead a Toddler to Trouble

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A stepstool looks a harmless kitchen tool until you see what a toddler can use it to help him do. I have had the same white plastic step stool for years. This step stool is light and easy to move from one location to another. It is a great thing for me to have in the kitchen. At 5 feet 3 inches tall I have needed one to reach high shelves and clean the top of the refrigerator.

It is unfortunately a tool JDaniel loves to use to help both him and me. He uses it to help get himself into his booster seat. Next he may use it to help him climb into our bed. He may than pick it up and use it to help him get into the sink to “help” clean the dishes. It can be moved to the counter to “help” me make dinner. The stool may then be taken to the living room and be used to reach our books that interest him. If I haven’t remembered to close the bathroom door, it could be used to explore the bathroom counter.

If he needs it and it is somewhere else on the first floor stand clear, JDaniel will rush off to get it and bring it back. I could be working on dinner and get nudged by the step stool to make room for JDaniel to stand on it. He just wants to see what is going on and “help”.

The step stool has gone into timeout from time to time. If it is used in a way that leads to trouble, it sits on our bed for a time. Without it JDaniel can’t climb into our bed to retrieve it. It has to sit there and wait to be retrieved by an adult.

My husband has suggested that maybe the step stool could go away permanently. I hate to take it away forever. Without it I can’t reach the top shelf and JDaniel can’t get into his booster seat.

 

Great Green Gobs of Greasy, Grimy Gopher Guts!

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Great green gobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts have been coming out of my son. JDaniel has had diarrhea and a sinus infection this week. There are been great green globs from head to diaper. Thank goodness the Target diapers we use have been doing a great job. Thank goodness I stockpile tissue when it is on sale. We have been through plenty of both. I won’t gross you out with specific details of either. Just know that it is probably as bad as you think. All I can do for now is sing the line from the song above and keep him clean.

 

I did find this picture on the internet called Great Green Gobs of Gopher Guts. This pasta and cauliflower dish looks better than what JDaniel has.

 

I am a little nervous about Mrs. Matlock’s Summer School color of the week for next week. What could come out of JDaniel that would be blue?

Yield! Family in Boot Camp

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This yellow shirt tells you where my family is right now. We are in Toddler Boot Camp. Notice I didn’t say JDaniel was in Toddler Boot Camp. My husband and I are going through Boot Camp too. When you think about boot camp or at least when I do I think of the drill sergeant in an Officer and a Gentleman yelling at the new recruits. At my house, there isn’t a person in authority yelling at a toddler. We do at times have a toddler yelling, stamping his feet, and waving his arms at us. This doesn’t occur all the time. It does seem to happen when we are leaving someplace fun to return home, he is denied two snacks, and at random times as if for no reason like daddy walks in the door and he believes he has gotten mom where he wants her.

I start each day by putting on my drill instructor uniform of shorts, a t-shirt, and sneakers aka as running shoes. I have to be able to run to keep up with the young one. JDaniel wears a similar uniform in a smaller size. He has to change his several times a day. Most of the time due to a spill or stain gained in the mess hall.

As in any boot camp exercises and lessons have to be taught over and over again with consistency. We need to work on praising his achievements and relearning skills not yet mastered. It is hard to watch him crawl through the mud and try to scale walls over and over again. (Figuratively. He would love to do it literally.) It is hard not to laugh at some of the antics that are funny but will cause him trouble. Like many boot camp instructors, my husband and I have to laugh at the events of the day after taps.
We truly love him and are trying to guide him through love. Lately, there are days that it feels like Boot Camp at our house.

Are you doing through Boot Camp too?

 

 

The Orange Sign, The Wedding, The GPS, and the Deer

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JDaniel is so into John Deere right now. It could be because his Cousin Charlie’s room is decorated in John Deere pictures. While we were up visiting my sister Kate’s family in the country outside of Syracuse, NY we saw a lot of orange signs. The only one that really stood out to JDaniel was the John Deere signs. I know they are supposed to be a deer crossing signs. According to JDaniel it is a John Deere sign. I am not sure if that means John Deere tractors across there or all things John Deere can cross at the sign. I think it is funny that he made that association.

 

The second reason we went to New York was to attend a cousin’s wedding right on Seneca Lake. It was a beautiful time for the bride and groom to share their love for each other. The food was amazing. Seeing relatives was great. What will JDaniel remember? He remembers the piñata my Aunt Sue set up and getting to throw rocks in the lake. If he had his way, he would have thrown rocks the whole time we were there. It was one way my sisters Kate and Michelle could convince him to leave mommy’s side. Each enticed him to go with them because they would take him to the rocks. While his cousins skipped rocks on the lake, JDaniel dumped, threw, and hurled them.

 

The wedding was almost two hours away from my sister’s house. By the time I decided it was time to leave it was getting dark. My sister Kate lent me her GPS to get back to her house. She and her family would be heading back later in the evening and were familiar with the roads. JDaniel loved echoing the GPS. The GPS would say, “Turn left in four miles.” JDaniel would say, “Turn left” for four miles. He did this over and over again. I tried singing to him and chatting with him. He decided he would rather chat with the GPS. Thank goodness this new game lost interest eventually. We discovered while driving home that GPS does a great job most of the time. Sometimes it causes you to drive in a circle or a square. I was pretty sure at one point I needed to go straight. The GPS said to take a left. I followed the GPS. It said to take another left and then another. Yes, you are right it put me back on the same road I thought I needed to go straight on. As we made the final left, I saw a deer on the left-hand side of the road. (A real deer not a John Deere) It looked like he was shaking his head at me. If he could have talked to me I bet he would have said, “I bet a GPS sent you this way. It is happening on this road more and more all the time.”

 

The Adventures of Driving to New York and Back

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I really dreaded the long car ride two weeks ago to New York from our house in South Carolina. While JDaniel and I looked forward to seeing my sister Kate’s family and going to a family wedding, the hours in the car were going to be a challenge. I drove the first leg of the trip from South Carolina to Virginia without any trouble. JDaniel read books, played on his toy computer, and listened to me sing The Digger Picks up Lots of Dirt and several other variations of the Wheels on the Bus with construction equipment as the featured vehicle. We made several stops along the way one for lunch and one for ice cream. We both needed to get out and move.

After spending the night at my friend Cheryl’s in Virginia, we headed north to New York. We made two stops then too. I let JDaniel run around the battlefield in Gettysburg. Seeing a toddler running around with a bag of fruit chews on a battlefield seemed like such an anachronism. I am pretty sure Lincoln’s troops didn’t carry fruit chews into battle. The battlefield run wore him out. He ended up taking a long morning nap. That meant I could cover a lot of ground before lunch and I won’t be singing the forklift version of the Wheels on the Bus for a few hours. He woke up just in time to eat lunch at McDonald’s and run around in their play area. He was in heaven fries and climbing tunnels. After lunch, we hooked up the DVD player my neighbors lent us and Thomas the Train provided the afternoon entertainment. I learned not to stop for gas right after you start a movie or you have to go through the whole process of starting it again.
Coming back from New York and going to Virginia was a breeze. There were tons of areas with road construction. Yes, that is a good thing. Traffic may slow down, but my two years old was thrilled at getting to see his favorite equipment in action. He loved getting back to my friend Cheryl’s house. She has a toy treasure box he was allowed to explore and a wonderful pool in her community he could play in after dinner. He really thought she was the best.
After three wonderful legs of the trip, you knew something might have to happen. Well, it did. I left my purse at Cheryl’s and didn’t realize I didn’t have it until I reached Harrisonburg, Virginia. Harrisonburg is about an hour in a half away from her house. It was thanks to JDaniel wanting to listen to his new music from Cheryl that I noticed it was missing before I was further away without my credit cards and cash. It would have been hard to fill up the gas tank without them. Thankfully she was home when we got back to her house and were able to get back on the road quickly after a brief lunch to try and make it home. Since it was much later than our original start time, I decided to take a different route home that was supposed to be faster. We ended up going through three rainstorms crossing the mountains of Virginia. There were several opportunities to see construction equipment. It wasn’t as much fun this time. After many hours of watching movies on the DVD player, JDaniel decided to become Harry Houdini and slip his arms out of his car seat straps. He couldn’t figure out how to get them back in and claimed it hurt to try and put them back. This doesn’t sound that bad, doesn’t it? Well, the toughest part of the trip still hadn’t occurred yet. Just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina Interstate 77 was completely shut down heading south due to three tractor-trailers jackknifing. It was a mess. We sat on the highway now a parking lot for 45 minutes before weaving our way through traffic to get gas. After filling up, we sat on the on-ramp with the overhead light on reading books until traffic started moving about twenty minutes later. By the time we started moving it was ten o’clock at night. JDaniel then fell asleep, the heavens opened up again and we started making our way home again.
It was wonderful to wake up at home. We loved visiting family and friends, but I think it will be a while until I take a road trip without my husband. Next time I am writing out a checklist of things not to forget. My purse will be at the top of the list.

 

 

 

 

 

Two Red Ys

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We were exploring downtown Greenville and came across this red sculpture. It is titled Untitled. When JDaniel and I stopped to look at it, I asked him what he thought it was. He replied “Ys”. It really does look like two ys stacked together.

This sculpture is sort of symbolic of conversations I have with JDaniel some days. They seem to be filled with a least two whys.

Here are a couple of examples:

Conversation One

JDaniel:“Why did we have to stop car?”
Me: “There is a red sign that says stop on it in front of the car”
JDaniel: “Why sign?”
Me: “There are a lot of cars on the road and if we didn’t stop we could hit one.”
JDaniel: “Mom, no cars here.”
Me: “The law says I have to stop anyway”

Conversation Two
Me: “What color is that car in the picture?”
JDaniel: “Orange car”
Me: “Close. What color is that red car in the picture?”
JDaniel: “Orange car”
Me: “Honey, that car is not orange. It is a red car.”
JDaniel: “Why?”
Me: “They decided to make it that color in the book.”
JDaniel: “Why?”


Reflecting on My Freshman Year of Blogging

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I have just come to the end of my freshman year of blogging. Much like my freshman year in I learned a lot. There were ups, downs, missteps, and glorious moments. I would like to share with you some of the things I learned this year. They may be things you learned, don’t care about, or are learning along with me.
  1. I started out with a routine of the types of posts I would write each day of the week. That hasn’t changed much. I like the structure of my blog.
  2. Hosting giveaways is a ton of fun and a lot of work. I started them to draw attention to my blog. Posting them many places each week takes at a lot of time. I didn’t intend and still don’t intend to be a giveaway blog per se. I totally admire the blogs that can do it. The number of giveaways and reviews is going to go down a bit. My plan is to add one or two a week.
  3. Finding a niche of friends to visit, comment on, and get to know is really important. I have joined several blogging groups (Mom Blogger’s Club and Secret to Success is Support) and participate in Mom Loop on BlogFrog as one of five moderators.
  4. Memes can be a great way to find new blogs to read, meet friends, and share with others that have similar interests. I am a part of several memes ( Muffin Tin Monday, Mrs. Matlock’s Alphabe, Wordless Wednesday, and stART) I don’t do all these memes every week. In the future, I think I will be cutting back to Muffin Tin Monday and Mrs. Matlock’s Alphabe. Not just because they comment back and they do with a vengeance. All the memes have people that comment back. I have just found a niche in these two memes.
  5. I have read a million times that it is not about the number of followers, subscribers, or comments. It should be about writing great posts and building friendships. The truth is I can get a thrill out of the numbers. I can also be touched by one comment or e-mail about a post that can be just as thrilling. I am going to continue to comment on tons and be better about enjoying the blogging experience.
  6. You don’t have to have exact goals or fit into a certain blogging mold. Some blogs do and have great success. I have an eclectic mommy blog that is growing and changing as I grow and change. I guess I am like a rising sophomore without a major.

 

The Claw and Mini Claw Live At My House

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I am participating in the SITS Girls Back to Blogging week, and as part of day two I am re-posting something that I wish more people had read.
For many years my husband chased his nieces and nephew around as “The Claw”. He would place one hand around the wrist of the other and making grabbing motions with it as they ran from him with glee. They loved it. When we got married, several of them asked me if I knew about “The Claw”. Yes, I told them I have seen it in action.

A few months ago my husband started chasing JDaniel around the house as “The Claw”. JDaniel loved it. If he felt it was time for “The Claw” and his dad hadn’t started chasing him, JDaniel would get “The Claw” ready by taking one of my husband’s hands and place it on the wrist of the other. He would than run like crazy. Sometimes I join in as “Wife of Claw” or “Mommy Claw”.
Recently “Mini Claw” has been chasing his parents around the house. JDaniel loves getting his hand ready to be “Mini Claw” and chase us around the house. He really enjoys been the chaser who is chopping at his parents from behind.
I do have small problem with “Mini Claw”. He has joined us at the dinner table a few times. “Mini Claw” works like a grappler or front loader to feed JDaniel. The fork and spoon stay neatly beside JDaniel’s plate when “Mini Claw” has arrived for dinner. My husband isn’t bothered by it. He says it is a boy thing.

Yammering and Yowling for Mommy to Yield

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When I was little I talked my mom’s ear off. She was forever letting me know she was busy with something. I don’t know if I talked to get her attention or because I just liked to hear my own voice. Maybe I never learned to process thoughts internally. I remember her saying some of what I was saying wasn’t really important or something she needed to know. There weren’t many quiet moments for her when I was around. I seemed to be yammering about something thought or idea all the time.

JDaniel received his mother’s gift of gab. We are constantly chatting about what he notices in the world. There are many “What’s that” statements said every day. He wakes up talking to himself in his bed. Then we chat about what to thank God for in our morning prayers and what he would like for breakfast. This pattern of chats and questions continues for the rest of the day. Unless he gets busy with “work” or reading. Work is done while chatting to himself and reading in done silently most of the time.

Those times of conversation and language sharing are great! I love them. The ones that drive me nuts are the yammering or whining conversations. They are filled with “I want” and “I need”. Sometimes they are accompanied by a foot stump or two.

Yelping or yammering is also done. I think he does it in an attempt to wear mommy down. If he goes on and on about it in a demanding voice, he thinks he will get what he wants it he sticks with the yelping or yammering long enough. It doesn’t seem to work well for him yet he doesn’t seem interested in giving it up. I try to gently remind him that there are other ways to ask. I try removing myself from the area of the house that contains the object of his desire.

I am starting to understand what my mom lived through. Do you think she prayed I would have a child just like me?



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