More Bubbles, Please

Evan did well in with his therapist this evening. One activity he enjoyed was the bubbles. She wouldn't do it "more" until he signed it, and boy, did he sign! He must have signed it at least 30 times.

Last week was his first week with this therapist. He did alright, but became frustrated easily and was throwing her toys. Tonight, he endured much longer and only threw toys a couple of times. She had him laughing quite a bit.

After therapy was a quick dinner, and then I headed off to the school with Evan and Kyle. John and Matt had their own errand to run. Wouldn't you know it, soon after we got to the school, Evan dirtied his diaper. I don't have diapers in the classroom, and I also didn't have any in the van. I didn't want him to stay in the diaper too long, because first, that's gross, and second, he gets rashes so easily. I was able to clean him up, because I do have wipes in the room. I only had about 15 more minutes worth of work to do; I thought he'd be alright. Of course not. As soon as we hit the cool air on our way out the door, he wet his pants. Luckily, he was wearing thick corduroys which helped to absorb the moisture! I lined his seat with an extra sweatshirt I had in the van and headed for home.

Note to self....keep a few diapers in the classroom.

Outing

John, the boys, and I went to The Feast of the Hunters' Moon today. "The Feast of the Hunters' Moon is a re-creation of the annual fall gathering of the French and Native Americans which took place Fort Ouiatenon, a fur-trading outpost in the mid - 1700s."

It was nice; I only wish we had gone earlier. Evan was ready for his nap about an hour and a half after we got there. He fell asleep in his stroller, so John decided to position it so that he wasn't sitting up. That woke him up..not a happy camper...we ended up taking turns holding him as he slept.

Some of the visitors to this event dress-up in clothing from that time period---that wouldn't be us. I can just see the boys going for that one! There were many areas set up that had food, but not things on a typical menu. We got buffalo burgers for the boys, but Matt refused to eat it due to the fact that they were called buffalo burgers. Kind of odd, because he's the one that eats just about anything!

Of course many tents were selling things...a lot of the items made of wood. The boys each got a wooden axe---although Matt wanted a real one----and Kyle got a wooden snake.

We listened to a couple of different drum corps, saw two guys who were awesome jugglers and very entertaining as well (the boys' favorite part), watched a group in authentic type clothing doing dances of the time, and we did a lot of walking.

The boys let it be known occasionally that they were ready to go home, but in usually Kyle style, he announced as we were heading toward the van, "That was fun." Mr. Positive--he felt safe saying that AFTER we left!

Here are some pics

No, he's not poking the horse in the eye!

Relaxing and listening to music

Evan's favorite part of the day....the slight roller coaster feeling during the ride home!

Are You Ready For Some Football?...

...Kyle has been saying that the past few days. Throughout the year, his teacher invites her students to attend different events at the school (so nice of her to do that); this time it was the homecoming football game. It is so amazing how excited Kyle gets about these events. When he was younger, I NEVER would have imagined; he was so not into other people.
Matt was also invited to go. A little different with him. Instead of excitement the past few days, he's been going around saying things like, "There's no way your making me go." Our response, "You're going, so knock it off." Matt-"No way, no how." Up until we actually pulled up, opened the van door, he was still announcing that he was not going to go. But, we told him he was, so he followed Kyle out of the van.
When I picked them up after the game, I could see from the smile on his face that he had a good time. The teacher told me that he talked a lot to one of the other students. As we we're leaving the parking lot, he was telling me the score, and that we won, and that you could still see the score on the scoreboard. Immediately after, he said, "Next time, Kyle can go by himself; I'm staying home." He just can't admit that he had a good time!

Happy Birthday x 3!

Happy Birthday Kyle! (19th)

Happy Birthday Matt! (20th)

Happy Birthday Chelsey! (21st)

For several years now, Matt has not been a big fan of having a birthday, so I'm not sure how "happy" his is! He always wants to "skip it."

Chelsey is home! Yay!

Her e-mail account was stolen a couple of days ago and the bozo sent out one of those completely bogus e-mails about being in some foreign country, helping the less fortunate, bag was stolen, blah, blah, blah. What an idiot. I know, I should feel sorry for how pathetic that person's life is.

Time to start the celebrations! (Actually, it's time to go to the store and buy something for Kyle and Chelsey. The ironic thing is that the one child that doesn't want a birthday is the only one who we already have a present for).

Ready for a Toddler Bed

The inevitable happened; Evan made his way out of the crib last night, and it wasn't exactly a graceful maneuver.

He had been in bed for approximately 30 minutes, and due to the lack of sleep I've been getting recently, I decided to go to bed early. Right after I got into bed, I remembered that Evan didn't have a diaper cover on, which means there was great potential for him taking off his diaper, and then, of course, there would be a need for a complete change of bedding in the middle of the night. He was still awake, so I debated about whether or not I should go in there. Due to my complete exhaustion, I decided I would just go ahead and check on him, because I was most likely going to be falling asleep fast...maybe before him.

So, I went in there, he hadn't taken his diaper off, I told him good-night, and I headed back for bed. Unfortunately, my brief appearance in his room did agitate him a bit, and he started "calling" me. He wasn't crying, just calling out, and I figured that he would settle down quickly. Nope. Instead, after only a couple of minutes, we heard the big "thud." I ran into the room knowing that he was going to be on the floor. He was flat on his back doing the cry where he was crying so hard, that he was kind of holding his breath. I was almost afraid to pick him up.

I brought him into our room, gave him a good check-over while he cried, and I tried to comfort him, but after about 10 minutes, he was trying to get out my arms and bed. He's not into the whole cuddling thing.

He fell asleep quickly after that, but was up about about 10 times last night! Maybe 10 is an exaggeration, but that's what it felt like.

I've been thinking about it, and I think that the others were in beds by this age (27 months); I know Chelsey was. It's really hard to believe that he doesn't need his crib anymore. It's one of those 3 in 1 deals, so it's probably just a matter of a few screws, and more importantly, a secure gate for the hallway or maybe his bedroom.

Happy Birthday..

..to me!

Overall, it was a quiet birthday. My parents came over for a dinner of shells and meatballs (John cooked---now THAT'S a good birthday!). My mom brought some yummy french loaf bread that we baked in the oven---that provided one of the highlights of my birthday. I was breaking off small pieces of the bread for Evan and having a hard time keeping up with him shoving them in his mouth. At one point, I had stopped giving him pieces, and he pointed to the bread in the middle of the table and PERFECTLY signed more!!! I have been working on that sign for a couple of months now (at least), and this was the first time that what he did really looked like the sign. In the past, he had done something that I wasn't sure was a sign---he would very quickly bring his hands together---and it would almost look like it was only a result of him being very excited. Recently, he has been clapping a couple of times when I asked him to "say" more. It was beautiful!

The boys both picked out birthday cards for me when they went shopping with John. Matt insisted on a musical card---"Can't touch this." Of course, I had to do a little dance (scary sight). I was very impressed with John's shopping this year. He got 3 shirts that I actually like---a lot! He also gave me a couple of pairs of pants; definitely a good effort---I like the color (can't go wrong with black and brown), BUT, I'm not into elastic waistbands, they were a size too big (not his fault, I recently went down a size), and most importantly, I don't wear pants that are labeled "short." It had a tag that had that word at least 7 times!

So, I don't feel any older, there's nothing particularly exciting about turning 38, except for the fact that I get to.

Today's Happenings

Today started off with me sleeping in a bit--8ish. That was after waking up at 5:30 and spending at least an hour trying to get back to sleep. I don't know why I do that, because then when I wake up "late," it feels like half the day is gone.

After a quiet morning with Evan and the boys, I went shopping at Teacher's Delight; I still had a coupon that someone had given to me after I graduated. It seems like the list of things I need (or want) for the class is never ending. I hope that improves as time goes by.

Evan and I walked to the park this evening...somewhat crowded tonight. We first stopped to watch some people playing basketball. There was a little boy there who was probably a little younger than Evan who had a ball; they entertained each other for a little bit. Evan's lack of language wasn't much of an issue because I don't think this boy spoke any English.

After basketball, we went to the playground area and were so fortunate to meet up with a sweet, 5 year old, little girl! She immediately "adopted" Evan. And, just like the last time we met a little girl at the park, Evan did something new! After she went down the curly slide (the smaller one), he scooted that way, too. The first time, I went down with him to see how "scary" it was. Well, my adult size really wasn't a good indication for the scariness, because I basically had to scoot down all the way. So, at least I found out it wasn't very slippery! After we got to the bottom, Evan headed right for the stairs (following the girl), and went right over to the part of the equipment where the slide is. I let her hold him this time...worked well. He then wanted to do it again. This time, I told her to go first so that she could "catch" him. She did, and then he willingly went down!! Her role was more of "help him get off the slide when he gets to the bottom" because of the not-so-slippery factor. This happened a couple of times.

Next, it was on to the swings where after a few minutes, he signed "all done," and we walked home. He's getting really good at that sign. His version is a little different; he crosses his arms and kind of keeps them like that for a few seconds, usually until I say, "You're all done?" Oh, and John said he waved again yesterday... a few times. He took a break for a couple of weeks from that, and now, he'll probably take another break!

2 to 18

It's so hard being away from Evan. I know I would be thoroughly enjoying my new teaching job if it weren't for my desire to spend every second with him. I do enjoy my class---great kids---I'm so fortunate for my first year of teaching! It's just that beautiful little boy keeps tugging at my heart....and keeping me awake at night to voice his disapproval of my absence during the day.

Chelsey seems very happy so far at school...right Chel? I still think your room looks more comfy than your new place!