Friday Photos

Kitty Loves Wii!

What happens when you let a toddler feed the dog.

What??? I got tired!

My International Harvester boys

A Little Taste of Freedom

I've been trying really had not to be a helicopter parent. It's not easy to not hover over your child all the time. It's really hard to be patient and let your child do things, like get dressed, etc. Cole has never gone through the "I do it!" stage, which makes it easy for me to just do things for him. Lately we've been trying to get him to dress and undress himself, get his coat on, you know, the typical every day things. We've been trying to get him to be a little more independent. So far it's going fairly well, and surprise surprise, he's still alive and unharmed! A few days ago, before the big snow and cold, I let him stay outside after chores and play, by himself. He has discovered he can take his pants of "by self" and has been doing a lot of it lately. Here's how he's dressed today. He started out with pants on.
First we have the football hat, also known as a basketball hat, but never a baseball hat. Then we have boxing mitts followed by basketball boots.

Jammin' with Auntie Jenny

I tried posting this a couple of times, but apparently if I try to edit it, it disappears.

Anywho, Cole and Tova were infatuated with Jenn's phone so she was playing some music for them. She had no idea she was being recorded, and I'm sure she's thrilled I'm posting it!

**Warning**

If you don't want to read about kid puke, stop reading now.

Last night we ended up eating supper rather late. I had started making supper and then the cows broke the electric fence, so I spent the next half hour helping herd cows. By the time I got in the house Tate was all worked up and very hungry. He was so mad he wouldn't even eat his peaches. By the time I got him fed and supper made it was almost 7. After supper we were sitting in front of the TV when I realized it was already after 8 and time for the kids to get ready for bed. I was getting Tate ready when Cole starting coughing. That's nothing new, he fake coughs a lot, but this was different. It was almost like he was choking, when all of a sudden, puke. I picked him up and headed to the bathroom. He was so upset because his shirt was dirty and his hand was dirty. I cleaned him up the best I could, stripped him down and threw him in the tub. I asked if his tummy hurt, but the only answer I got was "tummy hurt." So we got him ready for bed and he seemed fine. He's been fine ever since. It was very odd. I can count on one hand the number of times the kid has been sick in his life. It's very rare for him to even have a cold (knock on wood). Poor guy didn't know what was going on. I'm glad it appears to be an isolated incident. Hopefully we won't see that happen again for a very long time.

One Year Ago Today,

Pat's pager went off with news of a bus crash just south of Cottonwood. We figured it was an overreaction since it was a school bus. Little did we know... When Pat returned I asked if it was bad. Yep. Are people dead? Yep. Then the dreaded question. Are any of them kids? At least 3.

One year ago today, a bus accident ended the lives of 4 children and forever left a mark on the lives of everyone involved that day. It brought a community to its knees. One year ago today, rescue workers pulled their children and their children's friends from a bus turned on its side. One year ago today 3 families were ripped apart. One year ago today, a community responded and pulled together to overcome the tragedy that now defines it.

So today say a prayer for the families of Hunter and Jesse, Emilee, and Reed. Today, give your kids a hug before you send them on that big yellow bus to school.

Emergency Christmas

Apparently the Twin Cities are loyal Daily Show watchers. A couple of weeks ago, John Hodgman announced that a cure for the recession would be to have an emergency Christmas. MSP must have theirs scheduled pretty soon. Shopping in the cities was insane. Traffic was backed up on 494 and finding a parking spot at MOA was almost impossible. Is Valentine's Day comparable to Black Friday? Despite the crowds we managed to make our rounds on the search for my sister's wedding dress. Unfortunately we didn't have much luck on Saturday in that department.

Sunday, Kristen and I found our bridesmaid dresses. Since Jenn won't bend on this black and white color scheme, we've decided to make green the unofficial color and will be dressing our boys in green matching ties. Although, I'm rethinking that to green plaid shorts and white shirts, but we'll discuss that later. Anywho it was a busy weekend full of shopping. We did find the perfect dress for Jenn on Monday.

Cole did really well with his cousins. He loved running around with the big boys and even shared with Tova. Still not crazy about being touched, but one step at a time. Tate did fine except at night. I'm not anxious to travel with him again any time soon.

On Monday, after dress shopping, I headed to the mall for a final stop. I decided to run through ranges at Sears just to compare. Low and behold, I found it! I found my perfect range. It has 5 burners and a convection oven, and it was about $300 less than anywhere else. The only problem is that I hate our Sears in Marshall. They have absolutely no customer service. So I thought I'd buy it in Rochester and have it delivered to Marshall. The only problem is the one here is privately owned and won't take deliveries for customers from other Sears stores. So my dad is going to bring it out for me. Yay! I'm so excited. I bought a cast iron griddle to use over the middle burner. I actually think I'll use that a lot for burgers, pancakes, grilled cheese, etc.

Saturday also marked 7 months of life for my baby! Can you believe it? He's getting pretty good at sitting. He still won't roll, but I think he's just stubborn. He's got the strength. He tries to sit himself up from laying on his back. Crazy kid.

The Miracle Mam

Tate has been driving me crazy the past week. He won't nap, and he's just plain cranky. I almost took him to the doctor yesterday because nothing was working. Lately Cole has been helping by trying to shove a pacifier in Tate's mouth. Normally he just chews on it a little, then spits it out. Yesterday it actually seemed to help a little. I had to run some errands today so I decided to pick up some bigger pacifiers. What do you know? It worked. I picked up the Soothies which we've used from the hospital, and some Mams that were on clearance. The Mam brand actually is working. He's been sleeping for almost an hour and a half! Guess I'll return the Soothies and pick up some more miracle Mams!

It's Here!

Our new table arrived today! It's so pretty and like all the rest of our furniture doesn't match anything else in the room! Oh well. I still like it.
There is a leaf that goes in and makes it square. Pat mentioned getting rid of the rug which I am contemplating. The table might look prettier on a bare floor. We honestly won't eat there very often, but that's ok. Now to get the old table out of the house...

The Results Are In

We had a meeting with the special ed. teacher and speech therapist today to go over Cole's recent assessment. Guess what? He qualifies. He was delayed in 3 areas, language comprehension, social skills, no surprises there, and gross motor. Now I know parents tend to make excuses for their kids, but come on, this kid has short legs. He runs, jumps, climbs, does everything he should, except walk down stairs one step at a time. If you've seen his legs, and our stairs, you wouldn't be surprised. So no one is terribly worried about his gross motor skills. He came out surprisingly average in his speech assessment which was a relief.

So our plan of attack is to have the special ed teacher come out once a week to basically play with him. Then this summer we will probably send him to school one day a week. We are hoping that he will get comfortable enough with the teacher that it won't be as big of a deal to leave him alone. This will give him an opportunity to work on his social skills and hopefully he will be more comfortable and confident around kids his own age. They are currently running the class he will join. It's a special ed class for kids ages 2 1/2 to 3. Not severe special ed, just delays like Cole's. The nice part about it is since he qualifies for special ed, this class, and next year's preschool will be free!

I have already seen his language improve since he was tested. He seems to get stuck in a rut, and then all of a sudden pulls out of it and surprises me with new things. For instance, he has started singing his ABCs, and I got it on video. Enjoy!

Poopy Puppy

The following is a conversation I had with Cole.

Cole coming up from the playroom: Need napkin.
Mommy: What? (she was busy on facebook)
Cole: Need napkin, poop.
Mommy: Who pooped?
Cole: Poop downstairs.
Mommy: Did you poop, or did the puppy poop?
Cole: Puppy poop downstairs.

Lovely. The worst part, the dog wasn't even in the house at the time, and no one has been downstairs since yesterday. So that means the dog pooped down there long before it was found. Glad it's not carpet down there. Gross. So much for a smart dog...

Random Updates

Wow, it's been over a week...oops. I really try not to go this long between posts, but honestly it's been ordinarily crazy here. The weather has been mostly gorgeous the past week. Yesterday and today have been rainy, but still around 40 degrees. Last week I took both boys out to get a little sunshine. Experts are now saying kids don't get enough vitamin D, which can play a role in broken bones. I, however, don't think that was Cole's problem seeing as he is outside everyday, rain or shine, doing chores. Anywho, I thought it was also a good opportunity for a family photo. We don't do nearly enough of these. I guess that could be one of my resolutions for the year, to take more family candids.

Cole has been obsessed with wearing a cap the last few days. I think it was because I let him wear a cap instead of a stocking hat outside since it was nice. Last night he wanted to wear it to bed. This is what I found when I went up to put Tate to bed about an hour after Cole went to bed. He even came down this morning with it on. I guess it did come off in his sleep, but he put it right back on. Pat called this morning at 7 to say that Cole was standing at the top of the stairs, with his hat on, watching them out the window.

I spent Sunday in bed, sick. It wasn't horrible sick, but it wiped me out enough that I missed class yesterday. I am doing much better today. Cole and I did manage to make it to the last of our ECFE classes last night. He didn't separate at all. We are going to start another one at the end of March, so we'll see how it goes. I am going to sign him up for swimming lessons, which I am looking forward to.

We are supposed to get the results of Cole's speech assessment tomorrow. I'm not sure which way I'm hoping it turns out. On one hand it would be nice for someone to work with him and get him to answer questions instead of repeat, but on the other, it's one more thing to schedule in and I'm fairly sure the next time Tate is evaluated he'll be getting physical therapy. More on that later. I think Cole is doing pretty well with speech though. Besides the repeating, he talks constantly, knows what things are, puts words together, and all that jazz. He just doesn't answer questions well. I'm really trying to work on this with him, but I just don't know how. Today he made me really proud though. He has a FP Playpod that sings the ABC's, numbers, and has letter and number recognition games. He loves music, but refuses to sing himself. Today I caught him singing the ABC's with his Playpod!

Back to Tate. Not much has changed there. He's not sitting, not rolling. He still tries to sit himself up in everything, but if you sit him up alone he tips to one side or the other. He refuses to roll, but doesn't mind being on his tummy. He doesn't need much help to roll, I think he just lacks motivation. He has been sleeping through the night, finally! It's still sporadic, but it's been more often than it has been. It's so nice to get sleep!

The dog is doing well. We had a messy today yesterday. She did not want to go outside in the wind and rain so she preferred to do her business on the floor, 4 times. It's been much better today.

Our new dining room table comes this week and on Saturday the boys and I are heading to the cities to go wedding dress shopping with my sisters and mom. I am so excited to go. I wish I didn't have to drag the boys along, but Pat is doing a guys weekend in a few weeks, so he's staying home on the farm. Well, that's my update. I'll try to be a little better this week as we actually have fun things going on.

Puppy Update

I'm sure you are all just dying to know how things are going with Juno. She's doing pretty well. She's helping keep toys picked up off the floor since everything on it seems fair game for chewing. She hasn't been too bad yet, but I'm sure the chewing will pick up when she's big enough to get more things in her mouth. She's been doing pretty well in her kennel at night. She only cries when she hears someone up. I've been taking her out when I get up to feed Tate, or like last night, I took her out while he actually slept through the night! Go figure, as soon as I have to get up anyway, he'll decide to sleep. I don't think he'll make it tonight though. Anywho, Juno was welcomed, brutally, to life on the farm today. Pat had her in the parlor while he was working on some stuff and she got her tail caught in the door. It actually cut the tip of her tail off! I don't know how, but she lost the cute little white tip. Go figure! She's doing fine and leaving the second wrap alone. She pulled the first one off and started bleeding again. She's been pretty good with potty training. I try to take her out every couple of hours and that seems to work. She only had one accident today, and that was about 15 minutes ago. Although she hasn't spent a whole lot of time inside today either. She is pretty smart though. Yesterday Pat was letting her out of the shop as the milk truck pulled in. I guess she darted back to the shop door and wouldn't come out until the truck had stopped. Hopefully she'll keep that habit. I guess our milk truck driver had planned on giving us one of their puppies that are due this spring. I thought that was nice since it wasn't his fault he hit Calvin. So far we have been keeping her in the house and I put her in the shop when I'm gone. Pat lets her out when he's around working on stuff. When she's in the shop I guess she just sits by the door. Pat's dad opened up the big garage door to the shop this morning, not knowing she was in there and she didn't budge from her spot by the door. So far so good....

Tonight Cole and I had school again. He loves school and is starting to get excited to see the other kids, but he didn't make it very long during separation tonight. Any tips out there? I try explaining to him that I will just be in the next room and he'll stay with B~ and D~ and Mrs. T and have a snack, but that wasn't working for him tonight. I'm just at a loss. I don't know what I can do to make it ok and I don't know how far to push him. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.