Thursday, September 28, 2006

Do you Have Poo-Poos? And other random tidbits

For a long time now both Jamie and I ask Kian one question a few times a day: Do you have poo poos? It’s taken him a while to realize what that is and that he needs to inform us when he has one, but in the last month he’s been telling us when he needs a change. Of course we praise him when he tells us and apparently that hard work over the last few months has paid off! Last weekend Jamie told me that Kian walked right up to him and asked “Do you have poo-poos?” Sure enough, Kian had them (not Jamie! hehe). Kian hasn’t done this with me until this afternoon. Just out of the blue after he had bee playing for a while on the floor with his trucks he walked straight up to me and said, “Do you have poo-poos?” Of course he had them, so at least we have one step conquered in the potty training area.

Cooler Weather – We Weclome You!

Living in the area where we live is quite a bit hotter than places that are a bit closer to the coast or to the bay. Since our place has a hill butted right up against our back patio it shades us from direct sunlight until about 1ish. Anytime between then and 5ish we are hit with direct sun. My temp gage on my kitchen window reads in the 100’s then! So, Kian and I avoid the patio area for this time. After dinner usually me and Kian head out to the patio where he is loving his new sand box.

Today, I sit at our patio table in the yard with my laptop typing this. There is a light, cool breeze in the air. It reminds me of fall back in Wisconsin with the leaves are changing and you can smell crunched leaves in the air. Of course we don’t have the changing leaves around here really, but the air feels crisp. We are welcoming Fall with open arms in the hopes that me and Kian will be able to wear jeans and go for more walks without the worry of getting overheated.

The MOON!

Last night I showed Kian the moon for the first time. We have read about it in books. He’s seen it on TV shows and they also talk about it his class we go to weekly. Last night I showed it to him and of course he had to say “Hi Moon!” and Bye when we went inside. Tonight when we headed out the first thing he said was “Hi Moon!” The funny thing is it’s not really even dark but you can see the moon just over the top of the hill behind our house. I think my kid is a sponge retaining more knowledge than I think!

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Recovering and other news

This week was kind of a recovery for all of us. Jamie is back to normal hours which means we get to see him (hooray!) We are all feeling better but still battling the remnants of this cold we have. Kian’s also cutting his two year molars which has meant some late night wakings and some crakiness. We kind of stuck around the house this week – thankfully we have a sandbox in our back patio area that Kian enjoys along with some of the other things we have out there for him to play with.

We did go to our Terrific Two’s class. Let me say it doesn’t even stand a flame next to Gym Kids (which we went to before we moved 45 mins away from it.) The teacher is not the nicest person either – she has made some off handed comments about Kian (like him being demanding that he wants two stamps instead of one…that’s what the teacher would do at Gym Kids for everyone not to mention he’s only two!) I know they have three different teachers and I will just try out a different one next time around. Kian does seem to enjoy most of the class and I like the fact that he’s getting to play with other kids his age.

Poor, Poor Toby

Well, not this past Friday but the Friday before that Toby was sprayed in the fact by a skunk. Well, this Friday he’s going to undergo surgery to remove a large growth on his leg (it’s the size of a golf ball) and to be neutered. When we first got Toby, we thought we would stud him. We haven’t done that in the last 6 years and since it’s such a big thing to turn cancerous and that Toby is half way through his life span, that we better have it taken care of. The growth is something that would just get bigger and bigger quickly and if not taken care of could become inoperable. So, D-day for Toby is Friday morning. I just hope that he’s able to rest and Kian doesn’t hang on him too much.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Welcome to Sick Central!!!

Well, since we moved Kian hasn't had to have his breathing treatments pretty much at all. He was sick when we were in the process of moving and needed treatments until that was over - since then it's been almost two months since he has needed a breathing treatment! (He usually can only go one week without one.) That all ended this week.

Last Wednesday was our first day of Terrifc Two's a gym type class for Kian. I'm pretty sure we picked up this nastiness there - people always seem to think it's ok to bring your sick kid to functions like that which in turn exposes everyone to what their kid has. For Kian that's a dangerous thing. On more than one occasion a virus has landed Kian in the ER and even in the hospital - thanks to his asthma. I'm hoping that we have that under control - our last ER visit was Father's Day 2005.

So, when Kian's sick we all get sick. Right now what makes it worse is that Jamie is working late hours so it's really hard on all of us. In fact, I think right now Jamie is sicker than me or Kian. We all feel run down, have some dizziness, a cough, runny nose, and have bad stomach pains after eatting - none of us can even finish a meal or even eat half of it. Jamie's cough is getting really bad though. He wasn't even able to sleep more than three hours last night. And the night before he took a non-drowsy cold medication on accident so he was wide awake all night. With that said, I haven't been able to sleep well AT ALL from all the moving and coughing....thankfully at about 4AM Jamie went downstiars to try to sleep in the recliner to hopefully stop his coughing fits. At least I slept well from 4 until 7:30.

Let me tell you, a cold and working until about 9:30 at night each day is not a good mix. At least the deadline is Friday - but that also means SUPER late hours Friday night as well....I hope Jamie is able to bounce back over the weekend.

This has been a pretty rough last few weeks for us. I was even sick last week with something entirely different! I just hope the germs stay way from us and we all can enjoy each other again once this deadline is over.

For the time being, coffee will be my friend. Then the couch once Kian goes to bed - unfortunately it's near impossible to lay on the couch at all since Kian thinks I'm there to be his jungle gym lol

Ok, enough complaining for the day! I'm singing this crabby butt off!

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Pee-pee on the Potty!

Kian went pee-pee on his potty for the first time today!

We have been letting him sit on his potty when we are in the bathroom as well for the last few weeks – mainly with his clothes on. Just this week he started to take his own pants down and ask for us to take his diaper off. And, just a few minutes ago he started did his first pee-pee in the toilet!!!!

For now we will just take it slow and let him just continue to do what he’s doing – just sitting on the potty when we do…that is unless he tells us he wants to! At least one milestone has been accomplished! :)

Monday, September 04, 2006

More Entertainment from the Mr. Man

Kian is saying more and more things clearly. He’s been talking for quite some time now, but we just couldn’t understand what he was saying all the time. More and more every day we understand more words. In the last week he started saying “yeah.” When I would ask him a question he would tell me yes or shake his head profusely no lol It’s so cute!

One funny thing this weekend was the events that happened Sunday morning. He had several time-outs in the first hour he was awake (btw, this isn’t normal for him) and after the last one I said to him, “You’re having a rough morning, huh?” He said through tears, “Yeah!” LOL I about lost it!

Kian also has found new freedom as we took down a gate that kept him out of the kitchen and dining areas (mainly because my laptop is parked on the dining table and I need it to work and make sure I’m on top of work emails). Most of Kian's timeouts stemed from the fact that he was touching my computer. Daddy had a great idea and found an old keyboard and mouse that Kian has had a great time pounding on. It's also helped him to fight the urge to do the same to my computer!

I think Toby and Allie are adjusting to this as Toby doesn’t have much other places to go and Allie well, she’s just her old sassy self lol Kian discovered Toby’s food bowl today and and all day has been feeding Toby his food one morsel at a time. If you know our dog, he won’t take any food or item from anyone unless he is told “okay.” After each morsel Kian would tell him “oh-tay” LOL Poor Toby! At least he’s ok with Kian sticking his fingers right in his food though!

Also, this weekend we got Kian a sandbox! It took a while to search one out that we liked and felt like Kian would be able to grow with. He’s enjoyed digging in the sand, but only on the outside of the box. He’s not real fond of the feel of sand apparently, but I figure he will get used to it as we go out there and play off and on throughout the day.

As I type this Kian is running back and forth from the landing on the stairs to the dining area where I am using my lap top. It’s amazing to think he really hadn’t quite mastered walking yet at this time last year! It’s amazing how many changes he has made over such a short period of time. How time is flying by!

OH and I almost forgot to add that apparently Kian has inherited my Wisconsin genes! Today, Labor Day, we grilled brats (which of course were parboiled in beer and no it does not make the brats be full of alcohol which was one of Jamie’s questions) and had corn on the cob for lunch. Kian’s not a meat fan but he does like sausages. A brat is like a sausage so he gobbled it right up! He also was asking me for some sauerkraut since he saw me put some on my brat. I wasn’t sure how he would do with it but as soon as he had a bite he said “mmmmm” I guess he’s definitely his mommy’s son!

Sunday, September 03, 2006

STOP THE PRESSES!!!!! CHEESE CURDS IN CALIFORNIA!!!!

Well, this week I made a wonderful discovery!!! We received some coupons in the mail for A&W Rootbeer and there was a coupon for CHEESE CURDS! YEP!!! (for those of you who don’t live in Wisconsin you can learn more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fried_Cheese_Curds

For me it’s a taste of home and reminder of Tom’s Drive Inn – a local fast food restaurant in the area I grew up in Wisconsin. And of course they serve cheese curds there :)

This week we had dinner at A&W one night and thought their food was very, very good! So, we decided we would eat there as a family tonight for dinner. Kian had a great time entertaining people in the restaurant, including a guy who worked there named Steve which we learned from looking at his name tag.

Funny thing is when we walked in the door of the place a man was standing behind us and Kian said, “Hi Steve.” I informed Jamie that he calls every man he sees Steve – I think Kian thinks it’s how you say “man” lol The poor little guy only really knows 4 men: Jamie, Joe on Blue’s Clues, Steve from Blue’s Clues and our friend Steve. So, every man is called Steve by Kian lol

Well, back to Steve the A&W worker – in the restaurant they have a jukebox and were playing a lot of oldies songs. “I’m a Believer” from the Monkees came on and Kian started dancing. Steve started dancing and playing with Kian. It was really cute – especially when Steve said that Kian was a real “knee slapper” and slapped his knee. Kian slapped his knee and said “knee slapper.” I don’t think Jamie and I have laughed so much in our lives!!