Trying to wrangle and direct a child like Jack often feels like I'm trying to herd water. There's just no easy way to do it. Water pretty much goes where, and does what, it wants to and, if there's enough of it, water has the power to destroy everything in its path. This, in summation, is like life with Jack. When we're playing, the objective is not to direct him towards different activities, but rather to contain his environment and ensure that it's safe. Ideally, my job is to block all accessible escape routes. I think if I put Jack in a round, padded room with nothing else in it, he'd find a way to occupy himself. But the water analogy comes into play when I'm actually trying to get him to do something - pick up his toys, get ready for bed, or go shopping. With bedtime, we've got an extra ten minutes built into the routine to account for trying to direct Jack towards the next thing he's got to do. For example, we help him take his clothes off. We have to talk about anatomy and how Jack does not have a baby growing in his tummy. After this, he flops around on his bed, runs from room to room, jumps on the bed, and eventually comes to rest on the shag rug in the guest room - buck naked. Then, we have to go potty. This includes a full inspection of the toilet, talking about how "Jack goes pee-pee," flushing the toilet, picking out the perfect sticker and then placing it in the exact right position on his sticker chart. Afterwards, I have to brush his teeth, which is frustrating because Jack thinks it's funny to not open his mouth or clamp down on the toothbrush. And then, he's got brush his teeth after I'm finished. We have to give him his allergy medication, we have to drink several small sips of water (note: this does not mean he sips from a full glass. He has to fill the cup over and over again with the precise amount of water to drink it. If it is not filled correctly, the process must start over), and then we can finally go get his pajamas on. This also includes a discussion of male anatomy, more flopping around on the bed, and eventual success. It's a process - and this is on a night when he doesn't need a bath. I should also add that this scene also includes me following him around, giving him futile directions several times over.
This is parenting, isn't it? There are moments where I want to rip my hair out in frustration as I chase a naked lunatic running through the house, but it's perfect in every single way. This is my child - the crazy, energetic little flood who will stop in the middle of what he's doing and run up and give me a hug and kiss. The one who wants to make sure everyone is included in whatever mayhem he has planned. And, underneath it all, he's still sensitive and sweet. The other night, he was running wild and ended up smacking me in the face with a foot. It hurt, and he could tell he hurt me. Well, this upset him so much that I was the one who was still consoling him long after the pain in my eye socket had abated.
Anyways, we had yet another awesome week. And the weekend couldn't have been much better. The weather was, in short, absolutely perfect. I made sure we spent as much time outside as we could. My sister and the boys came up on Saturday morning and we played outside and had a picnic. Our neighbors were doing some spring cleaning and gave us a power motorcycle. Jack and Wim kind of played around it, until they figured out what it could do. And then after that, it was awesome. They each took turns riding it around in a circle (or into a bush) laughing hysterically - which continued until the thing ran out of juice.
If you can't tell, Blue was absolutely beside himself with worry and kept hollering and me and Annie - as if to tell us that we needed to get the kids away from that death trap. I didn't let Jack ride it around on the driveway until we got to Target to buy him a helmet - good news, he's got the head circumference of a teenager. Wonder where he got that from?
Anyways, Jack went down for an early nap and I spent my time sitting outside and reading. My most favorite thing to do. I actually think I got a little color - although it probably won't do me any good for our trip to Arizona this weekend. I'm going to blind all the senior citizens with my paleness. Anyways, after nap, Jack and I went to Target and then came home and Jack and Blue played in the backyard while Jeff and I relaxed on the deck and grilled steaks.
So, anyways, my grandma fell on Saturday afternoon and ended up breaking her wrist. She was in the emergency room on Saturday night and they tried to set her wrist. They weren't successful, unfortunately, so she's probably going to have surgery later this week. Jack and I went to visit his Gammy and Gampy on Sunday morning. We had a long talk about how Gammy had an owie and we needed to be very gentle with her. And boy, was he a sweetheart. He brought Gammy a blanket, covered her up with it and was very liberal with his hugs and kisses. When we were leaving, he kept saying, "Bye, Gammy's owie! Feel better!"
This is actually a development in him that I only recently noticed - it started after our trip out to New Jersey a few weeks ago. I had made a book for Jack a while back with his family pictures in it, hoping he would recognize the relatives he doesn't see on a regular basis. Well, I have no idea where the book is now. But Jeff has been going through pictures with him on this blog and on Facebook, talking about everyone in them. Mostly, I've kind of been under the impression that Jack sees people and then promptly forgets them - but I think he's at the point now where he's really starting to identify people and put them to memories. He's had his Nana, Boppa, Auntie Anne, Cousin Wim and Baby Bash down pat for a while - mostly because he sees them all the time. I was actually surprised when I heard him calling out his Grandma Jersey the other night and he got really excited over his Auntie Kate and Unkie Chris' picture as well. And yesterday, when I was telling him that we were going to see Gammy and Gampy, he actually knew who I was talking about. So, I actually think he's starting to develop some longer-term memories and associating positive experiences with people.
After we visited with Gammy and Gampy, we came home and I turned around to run out and hit a few garage sales. For whatever reason, I've got it in my head that I need a double stroller. But, I don't want to pay full price for one. They get kind of pricey! So, I was hoping that I'd stumble upon one at a garage sale, but there was no such luck. So, I came home and did a few things around the house and we went down to the U of M to watch Uncle Alec graduate - magna cum laude with distinction. We didn't stick around though. Jack would absolutely not sit still. Plus, the ceremony was held in a hockey arena which boasted steep cement steps, so Jeff and I just walked around the concourse during the ceremony. And then it was time to come home and go to bed. In short, it really was the perfect weekend.
Anyways, coming up this week, we're going to Arizona on Friday night. We'll stay there through Wednesday. We don't have any big plans while we're down there, other than to visit with Jeff's grandparents. I'm sure we'll get lots of time outside as well, which will be nice. Other than that, I'm still working on getting the baby's room ready. I realized this morning that I've got less than ten weeks to go, which may seem like an eternity to some, but I know it'll fly by.
I've also put a few other pictures of Jack below - there's no real story behind them. He's really become quite the Daddy's boy, which pleases me to no end. Jeff really is an amazing dad and Jack has opened up this side to him that I didn't really know was there. My heart absolutely melts every time I walk into a room and see them snuggling or napping together. And Jack wants to be just like his daddy - the other day, he wanted to wear a tie to school, so Jeff helped him put one on and Jack kept walking around the house, as proud as could be, talking about how he was wearing his daddy's tie:
Seriously, look at how proud he is of himself. And look at what a cool dude he is too.
He's a happy kid - even if he's going in a million directions at once. Still, I figure we must be doing something right.
No comments:
Post a Comment