Tuesday, February 10, 2015

A Typical Afternoon

I decided to make some peanut butter cookies yesterday. Zander loves to help!




The cookies were Dad approved.

Random Pictures

 Zander decided to go treasure hunting in the pencil drawer and found a black sharpie and the tape dispenser.
 Yogurt facial anyone?
 Wearing mama's shoes
splashing in the sink while mom gets ready
His diaper was so full it started to fall off. I was laughing so hard chasing him around the house to change his bum. Cute little thing!

Monday, February 9, 2015

Zander's Shinanigans

He's at it again. Last week Zander got himself stuck in the bathroom. We have to keep the door closed all the time so he doesn't go playing in there, but the door will sometimes pop open by itself, which is how I think he got in. He loves playing in the drawers, but he knows he's not supposed to, so he shut the door and opened two drawers out all the way in front of the door trapping him inside the bathroom and with no way for me to get in. It happened within a few seconds. He thought that was pretty funny. He started pulling everything out of the drawers and just throwing it on the floor. I tried to talk him into closing the drawers, but he was having too much fun.

Stephen was instructing a training that day, so I knew he wouldn't have access to his phone, but I kept texting him anyway. Then I texted mom and Becky. They both thought it was hilarious. I really didn't know what to do except wait until he got tired of playing and closed the drawers, but my main worry was the chance of him falling in the toilet and drowning, as ridiculous as that sounds. I could see him through the crack under the door. He was playing and splashing in the toilet, then got the disgusting toilet brush out and started brushing the door with it. Any time I tried to stick my hand under the door to point to the drawer for him to open he would immediately try to shove my hand back out. I do have to admit, it was kind of funny, but not, at the same time, because there was literally no way for me to get in the bathroom without having to either chop the door down or smash the window.

I finally got him to close one drawer, but not the other. He went back to playing for a while. He climbed on top of the toilet and started going through the tissues pulling them out of the box and throwing them on the floor. I looked for long utensils like a spatula and a long wooden spoon that I could fit under the door and use it to close the other drawer, but as soon as Zander saw them he would run over to the door and grab them out of my hand. What a little stinker!

I finally got him to close the drawer. I got in! It had only been a half hour, but it seemed like forever. Sometimes that kid is too smart for his own good.

The next day was pretty rough on Zander. After a day full crying for no apparent reason, he fell down the stairs. This was the first time it has happened, and I hope the last. I cannot tell you how scary that was to hear his little body go thumping and thudding down the stairs head-first. He landed with a loud crash because he had hit his head on the wall at the very bottom. Stephen was yelling and panicking as he scooped Zander's body up into his arms to check him over for broken bones or a concussion. The poor boy had blood running down his mouth.

We took him to the bathroom to clean him up and give him Tylenol for his head. He didn't cry for too long. Kids are so resilient. I think it traumatized me and Stephen more than it did Zander. You can bet I cried that night just thinking about my little boy hurting himself like that; the thumping noises still ringing in my head. Like I mentioned before, he's usually ok after a few short minutes; as long he can continue playing he's all right.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Parenting

It's only half way through the week, and we've already had a lot of incidences happen this week. First of all, Stephen and I have been trying to get Zander to stop biting, pinching, and scratching. So far we've had no luck and it's driving us insane and I mean to the point of tears most days. We are at wits end and have resorted to yelling at him, and that shouldn't be happening. Period. But what do we do?! So we're trying something new. He gets to go to time-out every time he bites or uses his nails in anyway to hurt someone. Instead of losing my tempter and yelling during the day I decided I'd try and sing a song instead; to calm myself down as well as engage Zander and calm him down as well. I guess it's working so far. I haven't had to stick him in time-out more than a few times a day, and over all we've just had better days since I haven't felt like yelling. I can't tell you how liberating it is not to have to yell. I hate it. It makes me feel really bad and guilty, and Zander couldn't care less; he just tunes it out anyway.

The other thing is trying to get him to calm down while changing his diaper. He hates it. He kicks and rolls, and screams, and when we try to hold him still he scratches at our hands until we let go. So again, we sing songs that we know he likes to do actions for, like "The Wheels on the Bus" or "Patty Cake" etc... usually it works. I didn't think we would be having problems like this and that they would drive us crazy. Parenting is hard; and it's hard in ways you wouldn't expect, but I love it. There's so much more good that comes out of raising children. We love the little runt!

I kept telling myself I would always have a clean house even when I had kids. I'd teach them to clean up their toys and do chores etc... so I wasn't having to do all the cleaning. That was wishful thinking! I need a vacuum in all rooms of the house because I usually end up having to vacuum at least three times a day--the dining room after meals, the living room after he sneaks to play in the plant and throw dirt all over as he's eating it, the stairs where he throws anything and everything including food, the bedrooms where he tracks dirt and garbage from the trash cans throughout the house; it's never ending. There are toys all over the floor upstairs and downstairs at all times. Even after I pick them up; when he gets up from his nap it's like he knows I just cleaned so he takes the whole box of toys and just dumps them out all over again as if saying, "I wasn't done with them Mom."

But then you have the really sweet, tender moments with them like last week Zander learned to give kisses and hugs when you ask him. The other day he said his first prayer all on his own. He folded his arms and jibber jabbered, then did his amen. It was SO cute! Or when I sneak a peak in his bedroom while he's playing and I watch him use his imagination as he plays with his toys. And when Stephen and I try to help him with something, but he pushes us away because he wants to try it on his own. Hearing him laugh.

We always have to take the good with the bad no matter what it is we are dealing with. I know that if we have good attitudes the bad doesn't always seem so bad, and you can usually turn it to something positive. I have the best job in the world; there isn't anything I'd trade it for. I am so thankful that I was entrusted by Heavenly Father to raise Zander and any other future children I may have.