So...I called David today. He can speak pretty well, and has a clue about what's going on around him, and can report it as such. It's pretty cool. He wanted to come home, but didn't have the vocabulary for it, exactly. He just said he wanted to go by daddy. Amanda and I both ignored this request and just talked about something else. He said he went to the zoo, and was telling me all about it, like the penguins and their belly sliding. H really thought that was cool. I imagine that they went to the zoo in St. Louis. It's a lot easier to talk to him on the phone now, he volunteers so much, and Amanda just has to translate. I feel bad that I didn't really talk to Colleen or even really try to talk to her. I still don't know how to handle that, exactly. I feel embarrassed about it, I guess.
It's easier, too, because I know he won't cry...I remember at Thanksgiving he cried when we were on the phone...and I knew why. That was hard. He'll be back in 11 days. I'm counting them down. I do miss him.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
No David Weekly
My computer hard drive died last week, so I wrote the David Weekly newsletter from another machine, using mostly material I had already written.
Amanda called me (surprise!) to tell me how the boy has been, and she sends me text messages every so often to tell me what's up. While on the phone, David did the same thing with me that he does with his mom: holds the phone up to what ever he sees and "shows" it to me, as if I can see it, too. He tells me about it, which is sooo cute. Amanda was correcting him the whole time -- "Daddy can't see it. Use your words" -- but he was using his words. It wasn't necessary for her to do that. Her text message was telling me to teach David not to run away from me...but I let him, up to a point, but more than she wants, it would seem, but it's up to her to teach him what she thinks is important while she has him...
Amanda called me (surprise!) to tell me how the boy has been, and she sends me text messages every so often to tell me what's up. While on the phone, David did the same thing with me that he does with his mom: holds the phone up to what ever he sees and "shows" it to me, as if I can see it, too. He tells me about it, which is sooo cute. Amanda was correcting him the whole time -- "Daddy can't see it. Use your words" -- but he was using his words. It wasn't necessary for her to do that. Her text message was telling me to teach David not to run away from me...but I let him, up to a point, but more than she wants, it would seem, but it's up to her to teach him what she thinks is important while she has him...
Thursday, July 17, 2008
This week so far
I taught David how to use the camera. He's not quite coordinated enough to be able to point and shoot the right way, so he too a lot of pictures of the ground, and of the tree, and different things. It's interesting to see pictures taken from that perspective.
He's so excited to see his mom. I told him he has to take a bath the other day and he went to the kitchen, and when I asked him where he was going, he told me that he was going to walk to Missouri to see his mom. Every day he asks to see her, and his sissy.
I think I've figured out the potty thing, too. He's said he's afraid of it, and he's worried that it's going to 'catch' him. So I thought, what if he catches it instead? He liked that game, and had no trouble sitting on the potty. Nothing came out of course, but at least he's not afraid of it.
We went to the zoo this morning, and yesterday I made the mistake of telling him we were going before we went, and so he woke me up at way too early in the morning to get me to go.
He likes to wear red. He's like his mother in that regard. Very take charge and "let's go!"
He's so excited to see his mom. I told him he has to take a bath the other day and he went to the kitchen, and when I asked him where he was going, he told me that he was going to walk to Missouri to see his mom. Every day he asks to see her, and his sissy.
I think I've figured out the potty thing, too. He's said he's afraid of it, and he's worried that it's going to 'catch' him. So I thought, what if he catches it instead? He liked that game, and had no trouble sitting on the potty. Nothing came out of course, but at least he's not afraid of it.
We went to the zoo this morning, and yesterday I made the mistake of telling him we were going before we went, and so he woke me up at way too early in the morning to get me to go.
He likes to wear red. He's like his mother in that regard. Very take charge and "let's go!"
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Breakfast, Part II
Today, we're having pizza for breakfast. One of the great things about single-parent-hood is that you can have whatever you want for breakfast, and not have anyone look at you funny. Today, the boy looked in the freezer and decided that he wanted pizza! I'm like, sure, why not? Cheese (dairy) tomato sauce (fruit/veggie) pepperoni (protein), crust (bread/grain). 4 food groups in one bite. And the added benefit of the boy learning patience, because the pizza has to cool down, and he can't/won't touch it until it does cool. And he really wants it! :-)
Monday, July 14, 2008
Breakfast
The best breakfast is whatever the kid wants for breakfast. Today, it was crackers. Yesterday, it was a cookie. Sigh. I think I'm burning out a bit on the whole morning routine where every day is Saturday morning. I could write a song about that, I bet.
Okay, so yesterday I let him have a cookie first thing in the morning, rather than fight with him, but later on in the morning we had bacon and eggs and toast. And Orange Juice (aka "Gold Juice"). I'm sure in a little while I'll make sure he eats something better than just crackers. He's already had milk, which is a better start.
Okay, so yesterday I let him have a cookie first thing in the morning, rather than fight with him, but later on in the morning we had bacon and eggs and toast. And Orange Juice (aka "Gold Juice"). I'm sure in a little while I'll make sure he eats something better than just crackers. He's already had milk, which is a better start.
Friday, July 11, 2008
David Weekly, #25
From: rhires@earthlink.net
Subject: David Weekly, #25
Date: July 11, 2008 11:49:26 PM EDT
To: hireslx@netscape.net, ceilteach79@yahoo.com, rlamanati@yahoo.com, nkenney@archstl.org, rhires@earthlink.net, kmmmhires@yahoo.com, fkenney@archstl.org
Here we are at about halfway through the year, as we're on Weekly #25...we're missing a few weeks in there when David went with his mother and I didn't write about him, and another week I think I used the same weekly # as the previous week.
David hasn't been as busy this week. I'm lately trying to link he behavior to larger goals, like going to the park. I wanted him to eat his cereal, and he just refused...and I told him if he doesn't, no park. So, no park. This was on Wednesday. I figured out that he was coming down with something by Thursday because on Thursday his nose began to run, and run and run and run...like a marathon! Wednesday he was clingy, whiney, crying a lot, generally unhappy, and would not let me be for a second. And not hungry. But he didn't feel hot, or exhibit anything that would make me think he was sick. Most days he's content to have my attention for a little while, or just have me near him for other times when we're just hanging out. He had very clear ideas on where I was supposed to be and what I was supposed to be doing when he wasn't feeling well. And that was doing nothing.
For his birthday he got "A Pup Named Scooby Doo" -- all 13 episodes of it, on two DVDs. Oh the joy. He loves "Scoob-doo" a lot, and identifies each of the episodes by the color of the monster. So we have the green monster, or the red one...because they are all some definite primary type color. There are a couple of exceptions, though: Dr. Coker (spelling on that one?) and "Ice Monster" . But even then he says "Purple Monster" or "White Monster". He also wants to watch these two DVDs more than watch "Super Why!" which drives me crazy. It's also a problem because he'd rather watch these than do just about anything else, such as play, or read. If I redirect him to some other show he will play or read or whatever, but I have to be careful to not allow him to watch Scoob-doo first, because he'll just watch it all day long, and I can't have that. One of the "redirects" is Finding Nemo, but he will watch that one over and over, too. Ugh. It's better with PBS kids on, because he doesn't get so lost in the shows, and they aren't so repetitive. Super Why! is still the king of the shows, though, because we still do things on the PBS kids website that are reinforcement activities for letters, numbers, and words. Actually, he is a fan of Dr. Seuss, which I have a DVD of the Sneetches, the Zax, and Green Eggs and Ham, which after watching that last one he'll have me read to him from the book. I like that, in spite of the very repetitive nature of it.
On Thursday, the light fixture in my carport spontaneously fell out of the ceiling, with a loud crash. David and I were inside at the time, so we're okay. It's that we went to the store to get a new light fixture that David's personality showed up: that boy is not shy. He told the two or three people that helped us at Home Depot that the light fell out of the ceiling and crashed. Loudly, too. With no prompting from me. And he said it in a way that they could understand it.
The other night after I got home from Dot's, David woke up enough that he was able to make out the letters on his wall that spell out his name. I told him that that was his name. He was just checking out the letters, and noticed that there were two D's, and I told him his name and he said it. He whispers when he's saying something/learning something new. Actually, he's lately waking up when I bring him home from Dot's but only for a few minutes. And he wants me to give him milk.
The other morning, David just said, "I love you" all by himself, and for no advantage to himself. It was very cute. He says all kinds of things now, especially things that he doesn't want, like going to Dot's, or leaving the park. It's hard to hear "I don't want to go" in a full sentence, when before it was much more simply "no Dot's" or "no leave park". He's filling in all of the extra words that normally make a sentence sound complete. It's an amazing transformation.
Today we went to Lowry Park Zoo. David still wasn't himself, because he was crying and whining about everything, when normally he's pretty agreeable. He likes playing in the water usually, but I asked him if he wanted to play in the water and he said no. Very unsual! He was really coughing a lot, and at first I just thought it was post-nasal drip, because his nose has been running (clear) since Thursday. But then I realized that he was breathing pretty hard, and his heart was racing. We ended our trip the park a bit early, so we could go home and give him a nebulizer treatment. The nebulizer is like magic! Within a minute of the mist getting breathed in, his coughing stopped. He had about three quarters of the dose and he tells me he's done: "I'm better, daddy!" Some of his cough really is from his runny nose, but after the treatment his coughs were deeper, and sounded like stuff was coming up, instead of the really shallow coughs he had been making with almost every breath.
So that was the week that was. David's going to see his mom next week, but I don't remember exactly the time. He'll be up in MO for 3 weeks, learning how to swim, and spending time with the other half of his family.
I hope you've had a good week, and I hope you seize the moments you get to spend time with the ones you love.
Rusty
Subject: David Weekly, #25
Date: July 11, 2008 11:49:26 PM EDT
To: hireslx@netscape.net, ceilteach79@yahoo.com, rlamanati@yahoo.com, nkenney@archstl.org, rhires@earthlink.net, kmmmhires@yahoo.com, fkenney@archstl.org
Here we are at about halfway through the year, as we're on Weekly #25...we're missing a few weeks in there when David went with his mother and I didn't write about him, and another week I think I used the same weekly # as the previous week.
David hasn't been as busy this week. I'm lately trying to link he behavior to larger goals, like going to the park. I wanted him to eat his cereal, and he just refused...and I told him if he doesn't, no park. So, no park. This was on Wednesday. I figured out that he was coming down with something by Thursday because on Thursday his nose began to run, and run and run and run...like a marathon! Wednesday he was clingy, whiney, crying a lot, generally unhappy, and would not let me be for a second. And not hungry. But he didn't feel hot, or exhibit anything that would make me think he was sick. Most days he's content to have my attention for a little while, or just have me near him for other times when we're just hanging out. He had very clear ideas on where I was supposed to be and what I was supposed to be doing when he wasn't feeling well. And that was doing nothing.
For his birthday he got "A Pup Named Scooby Doo" -- all 13 episodes of it, on two DVDs. Oh the joy. He loves "Scoob-doo" a lot, and identifies each of the episodes by the color of the monster. So we have the green monster, or the red one...because they are all some definite primary type color. There are a couple of exceptions, though: Dr. Coker (spelling on that one?) and "Ice Monster" . But even then he says "Purple Monster" or "White Monster". He also wants to watch these two DVDs more than watch "Super Why!" which drives me crazy. It's also a problem because he'd rather watch these than do just about anything else, such as play, or read. If I redirect him to some other show he will play or read or whatever, but I have to be careful to not allow him to watch Scoob-doo first, because he'll just watch it all day long, and I can't have that. One of the "redirects" is Finding Nemo, but he will watch that one over and over, too. Ugh. It's better with PBS kids on, because he doesn't get so lost in the shows, and they aren't so repetitive. Super Why! is still the king of the shows, though, because we still do things on the PBS kids website that are reinforcement activities for letters, numbers, and words. Actually, he is a fan of Dr. Seuss, which I have a DVD of the Sneetches, the Zax, and Green Eggs and Ham, which after watching that last one he'll have me read to him from the book. I like that, in spite of the very repetitive nature of it.
On Thursday, the light fixture in my carport spontaneously fell out of the ceiling, with a loud crash. David and I were inside at the time, so we're okay. It's that we went to the store to get a new light fixture that David's personality showed up: that boy is not shy. He told the two or three people that helped us at Home Depot that the light fell out of the ceiling and crashed. Loudly, too. With no prompting from me. And he said it in a way that they could understand it.
The other night after I got home from Dot's, David woke up enough that he was able to make out the letters on his wall that spell out his name. I told him that that was his name. He was just checking out the letters, and noticed that there were two D's, and I told him his name and he said it. He whispers when he's saying something/learning something new. Actually, he's lately waking up when I bring him home from Dot's but only for a few minutes. And he wants me to give him milk.
The other morning, David just said, "I love you" all by himself, and for no advantage to himself. It was very cute. He says all kinds of things now, especially things that he doesn't want, like going to Dot's, or leaving the park. It's hard to hear "I don't want to go" in a full sentence, when before it was much more simply "no Dot's" or "no leave park". He's filling in all of the extra words that normally make a sentence sound complete. It's an amazing transformation.
Today we went to Lowry Park Zoo. David still wasn't himself, because he was crying and whining about everything, when normally he's pretty agreeable. He likes playing in the water usually, but I asked him if he wanted to play in the water and he said no. Very unsual! He was really coughing a lot, and at first I just thought it was post-nasal drip, because his nose has been running (clear) since Thursday. But then I realized that he was breathing pretty hard, and his heart was racing. We ended our trip the park a bit early, so we could go home and give him a nebulizer treatment. The nebulizer is like magic! Within a minute of the mist getting breathed in, his coughing stopped. He had about three quarters of the dose and he tells me he's done: "I'm better, daddy!" Some of his cough really is from his runny nose, but after the treatment his coughs were deeper, and sounded like stuff was coming up, instead of the really shallow coughs he had been making with almost every breath.
So that was the week that was. David's going to see his mom next week, but I don't remember exactly the time. He'll be up in MO for 3 weeks, learning how to swim, and spending time with the other half of his family.
I hope you've had a good week, and I hope you seize the moments you get to spend time with the ones you love.
Rusty
What was I going to write about?
Nemo. Finding Nemo. I'm beginning to hate the spellcheck on this browser. Finding Nemo makes me cry in various places when I watch it. It's all about a father looking for his son. It resonates so strongly with me. I love my son sooooo much. Marlon is so much like me, except that I'm not THAT bad. I cry when he tells the story about how he's trying to find his son, and I cry when they repeat it a couple of other times in the movie, too. I would want to be that heroic and brave if something should ever happen to David. I pray every day that nothing does.
Friday, July 4, 2008
David Weekly, #24
This has been a busy week for David. We had his birthday party on his actual birthday, which was Sunday. We had lots of people show up, and he got lots of car related stuff, like a box for carrying 100 Hotwheels cars. And he got a couple of ramps for the cars to go down, but no track to go with the ramps. So I'm sure I'll be out getting track for his cars. I did buy him a year-round pass to the local zoo (Lowry Park Zoo), so we took advantage of that on Tuesday, and saw the tigers, and elephants, and kangaroos, and monkeys, and various other animals. He got really scared of the birds in the aviary!
Back to the party...David saw all of the decorations and said "Look at my party!" So, to his mind, the party was all the decorations, and not the people that were there. The next day he asked me to go outside and look at the party again. Oh, and he calls the pool the warm pool, and the hot tub the hot pool. It's very cute. David was so funny since when we sang him Happy Birthday, he cried, and wanted all of us to stop. He liked having everyone over, I think. He was good about the presents, because each time he opened one, he wanted to play with it. What he got for his birthday: a camping play set, a case for HotWheels cars, a little RV type thing that holds a couple of cars and turns into a cool ramp, another little ramp/repair station set for his cars, a shirt, a book with little flip windows, a backhoe toy that's remote control, a remote control police car, a car that makes noises and drives itself forward. He also got a Scooby Doo DVD set, of the first season of "A Pup Called Scooby-Doo." And he got a horse ... it's a little stuffed horse head on a stick. The kind you ride on for pretend. I'm sure I'm missing one or two things. And the theme of the party was Sponge Bob Square Pants.
Anyway, we spent the day swimming, going in the hot tub, eating cupcakes, and fruit salad, and ham and cheese sandwiches. It's amazing to me how much he can go and go and go on so little food. I left him with my sister for the first part of the day so that my mother and I could set up the house for the party. I asked him what today is, and he said, "My Birthday!" He knew, after I told him once or twice. It really was a special day. :-)
Tuesday we went to the zoo. He played in the fountains they have at the entrance to the park after we were done seeing all the animals. I carry him on my shoulders most of the time. It gets us around quicker, and doesn't leave him so tired. We went on the carousel, and he wanted to ride the elephant. So he got on, but when it began to move, he held on to my head, rather than the pole, and so I'm having to go up and down and up and down with my very scared son practically choking me! Other parents thought we were a riot. It was pretty funny.
Wednesday we went to the bookstore, to buy a DVD for David, for his birthday, since he got a card and some money from a lady I work with for a DVD. We got Finding Nemo. He also got a card from the Kenney grand-parents, and one from his aunt Marissa. He liked the cards a lot!
Thursday we went to Target to see about buying him a 4th of July shirt, but he wasn't having it. He didn't like any of them, so we didn't get one. Maybe next year. I also got my hair cut. At various points I'd have him sit on my lap while my hair was getting cut. One of those times he was looking at himself in the mirror making faces at himself, sometimes smiling, sometimes furrowing his brow, other times showing his teeth. It was really a fun thing to watch!
On the occasion of David's birthday, I remember how he came into this world, and I see how much he's changed, and I'm amazed by it. He's beginning to do some kid things, like making his whole body limp when he's upset and I'm going to put him in time out. Another thing is that he is not shy. He says hello to whomever it is that gets close enough to say hi.
Today, on the 4th of July, we went to a small parade here in Temple Terrace, a small incorporated city next to Tampa, and watched floats, and firetrucks, and the various other things in a parade. He had a great time! We then went to my sister's, and he played with Avery and Jared, my niece and nephew. They had a pretty good time. We all went swimming, and we jumped on the trampoline. And then after all of that we went to watch fireworks! David liked the fireworks, but only for brief periods. He would say, "Wow!" every so often, or make some other comment, like "It's pretty!" He also lost interest other times, and just wanted to play with the glowsticks we brought with us. They were useful to have since he would run in one direction, and because of how dark it was he would have gotten lost quickly, but having those things kept him well within range, just a few feet, but still.
Lately, David wakes me up with a whispered "Good Morning" and when I wake up he says, "Awake?" He's been doing this at 6:30 each morning, which has been hard for me...The other night when I picked him up from Dot's he says in his sleepy state: "I missed you, Daddy." That's quite a thing for a newly minted 3 year old to say. I never say anything like that to him, and it's never something I've heard him say before.
In two weeks David will be up in Missouri to see his mom. Actually, David says, "Mommy and Sissy see me?" I tell him yes, even though he's the one going on the plane.
So on this Independence Day, I hope you celebrated a little, remembered why we're independent, and held a little hope for the future.
Rusty
Back to the party...David saw all of the decorations and said "Look at my party!" So, to his mind, the party was all the decorations, and not the people that were there. The next day he asked me to go outside and look at the party again. Oh, and he calls the pool the warm pool, and the hot tub the hot pool. It's very cute. David was so funny since when we sang him Happy Birthday, he cried, and wanted all of us to stop. He liked having everyone over, I think. He was good about the presents, because each time he opened one, he wanted to play with it. What he got for his birthday: a camping play set, a case for HotWheels cars, a little RV type thing that holds a couple of cars and turns into a cool ramp, another little ramp/repair station set for his cars, a shirt, a book with little flip windows, a backhoe toy that's remote control, a remote control police car, a car that makes noises and drives itself forward. He also got a Scooby Doo DVD set, of the first season of "A Pup Called Scooby-Doo." And he got a horse ... it's a little stuffed horse head on a stick. The kind you ride on for pretend. I'm sure I'm missing one or two things. And the theme of the party was Sponge Bob Square Pants.
Anyway, we spent the day swimming, going in the hot tub, eating cupcakes, and fruit salad, and ham and cheese sandwiches. It's amazing to me how much he can go and go and go on so little food. I left him with my sister for the first part of the day so that my mother and I could set up the house for the party. I asked him what today is, and he said, "My Birthday!" He knew, after I told him once or twice. It really was a special day. :-)
Tuesday we went to the zoo. He played in the fountains they have at the entrance to the park after we were done seeing all the animals. I carry him on my shoulders most of the time. It gets us around quicker, and doesn't leave him so tired. We went on the carousel, and he wanted to ride the elephant. So he got on, but when it began to move, he held on to my head, rather than the pole, and so I'm having to go up and down and up and down with my very scared son practically choking me! Other parents thought we were a riot. It was pretty funny.
Wednesday we went to the bookstore, to buy a DVD for David, for his birthday, since he got a card and some money from a lady I work with for a DVD. We got Finding Nemo. He also got a card from the Kenney grand-parents, and one from his aunt Marissa. He liked the cards a lot!
Thursday we went to Target to see about buying him a 4th of July shirt, but he wasn't having it. He didn't like any of them, so we didn't get one. Maybe next year. I also got my hair cut. At various points I'd have him sit on my lap while my hair was getting cut. One of those times he was looking at himself in the mirror making faces at himself, sometimes smiling, sometimes furrowing his brow, other times showing his teeth. It was really a fun thing to watch!
On the occasion of David's birthday, I remember how he came into this world, and I see how much he's changed, and I'm amazed by it. He's beginning to do some kid things, like making his whole body limp when he's upset and I'm going to put him in time out. Another thing is that he is not shy. He says hello to whomever it is that gets close enough to say hi.
Today, on the 4th of July, we went to a small parade here in Temple Terrace, a small incorporated city next to Tampa, and watched floats, and firetrucks, and the various other things in a parade. He had a great time! We then went to my sister's, and he played with Avery and Jared, my niece and nephew. They had a pretty good time. We all went swimming, and we jumped on the trampoline. And then after all of that we went to watch fireworks! David liked the fireworks, but only for brief periods. He would say, "Wow!" every so often, or make some other comment, like "It's pretty!" He also lost interest other times, and just wanted to play with the glowsticks we brought with us. They were useful to have since he would run in one direction, and because of how dark it was he would have gotten lost quickly, but having those things kept him well within range, just a few feet, but still.
Lately, David wakes me up with a whispered "Good Morning" and when I wake up he says, "Awake?" He's been doing this at 6:30 each morning, which has been hard for me...The other night when I picked him up from Dot's he says in his sleepy state: "I missed you, Daddy." That's quite a thing for a newly minted 3 year old to say. I never say anything like that to him, and it's never something I've heard him say before.
In two weeks David will be up in Missouri to see his mom. Actually, David says, "Mommy and Sissy see me?" I tell him yes, even though he's the one going on the plane.
So on this Independence Day, I hope you celebrated a little, remembered why we're independent, and held a little hope for the future.
Rusty
David's Party
David's birthday party was a smashing success. We had kids and adults and we all went swimming and in the hot tub. David calls the hot tub the hot pool, and the pool the warm pool. We had cupcakes, with little SpongeBob characters on them, and all the kids wanted the cupcakes with Patrick the starfish on them. I have no idea why. The played "Pin the jellyfish on SpongeBob's net", and Avery, David's cousin, won.
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