David Weekly, #36, Halloween Edition

Happy Halloween! For Halloween this year, David was an elephant. And his costume was a hit! Amanda made the trunk and a friend of mine did the ears. And his shirt and pants were gray. Everywhere we went to get treats, David would say, "Trick or Treat, I want candy"...No matter how many times I told him it's just "Trick or Treat," he would say his thing. So I let him, it really wasn't a big deal. People got such a kick out of the trunk and ears, and then he would always surprise them with his "elephant noise", consisting of his lips put together, and then forcefully blowing air out from between his lips. People laughed, and just thought he was great! He's a very polite child, too, saying "Thank You" each time he got candy. We had gone to maybe 10 houses and decided he was done, and wanted to go home. I convinced him to go a little longer, which we did. He didn't like being scared, though! We went to one house where the people had put on the music from the original "Halloween" movie, and this by itself was too much for David, as he was whimpering how hed didn't want to go to that house! But I told him was safe as long as he had on his costume, which he frequently did not want to put on. It was still a struggle, but he was brave. :-) At another house I told him that if HE's scary, then the things he's afraid of will be afraid of him instead. So he chased one man around his yard (who played along quite nicely), until he "got" him. And then it wasn't so bad. After we got home, we watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." There's a scene where Lucy is bobbing for apples, and gets one...on the other end of this apple is Snoopy, and she says, "Blakch, ach, poison! Dog Germs! Blach, Ach" and then David says, matter of factly, "It's just Snoopy." I remember last year we watched this special and he got too involved in the Snoopy fights the Red Baron part to where he was crying! This year, he just watches, and says, "Snoopy -- TouchDOWN!" Basically, this is Snoopy landing his "plane."

After the show, he went down to bed pretty easily. He was yawning when we were out and about. Strange thing this year: not as many houses with lights, and not as many people out trick or treating. This is the second year that the time change is AFTER Halloween, but it doesn't seem like it. I don't remember last year's Halloween being with more light, but I suppose I wasn't so focused on that.

I realized that last week I forgot to mention that David went to a wedding, to watch Jesse, the lady who watches him on Saturdays, get married. It was not a concept he understood very well. But he enjoyed all of the activity. We had a pretty good night. He wanted to be in as many wedding pictures as he could. Or as many as they would let him in, and every time they would snap a picture, he was so excited! He would shout, "I took a picture, daddy!"

More recently, this most recent Saturday we went to a Halloween festival in Zephyrhills with my mother, sister, and her kids. David was calling it Halloween, as in, "We're going to Halloween, daddy!" And my reply was, "No, Halloween is a holiday." And he says, "It's a Halloween, not a holiday!" Okay, so it's a Halloween. He's a funny kid, even if he doesn't mean to be. Sunday I was more diligent in potty training David, by going to the potty every so often, and having him without his diaper/pullup on...but this child is very resistant to this process! I joined a Meetup.com single parents group, and went to the Aquarium as there was an event there...and met up with other single parents and their kids. It was very crowded, so it was hard to get to know anyone, but a few of us went to dinner afterwards, and that was nice. It was good for David and for me, because he got to play with the other kids a bit, and I got to be a bit of a grownup. We will attend more of these events, and I've been assured that they are fun, and safe.

A few tidbits: I asked David the other day if he was cold, on our way to Dot's, and he said "No, I'm windy." Very funny child. He now says, "Oh my god!" But I don't know where he got it from. Today he said, "You're funny, daddy," with a big smile on his face. He counted his fingers on both hands: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 fingers on one hand, and 1, 2, on the other. He's also able to really express emotion: "I'm so happy!" or "I'm sad." In the second case, it's because I wasn't driving faster. He's able to express what he thinks makes me happy or sad, too. And he's able to explain why when I ask him why: because I want to, or because there's a cat out there, or a noise I heard...David has lately been coming into my bed in the middle of the night, and rolling on me, laying on top of me...and this has not been a good thing. So I'm telling him either to go back to his bed and sleep, or at least lay on the other side of the bed and be still. I don't know what's going on with him lately, to cause this...It's definitely having a bad impact on my sleep...we played a live version of Blues Clues, because in the back yard he finds a maple leaf (several now, actually), and from there we start trying to find the tree that it goes with, and not much success. But the process of finding a matching leaf has been fun. And he calls it a clue leaf. :-)

So here's hoping that you find whatever it is you're looking for.

Rusty

Kidism

"David, are you cold?" "No, I'm windy."

Counting his fingers

David counted his fingers this morning. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 fingers on one hand, and 1, 2, on the other...sigh. He's a bit more aware...And he's turned into a parrot...repeating everything I'm saying...and he's expressive! He told me he's sad that we can't go fast in our neighborhood. He also will lay in bed with me, and he'll say, "I lwove you, daddy."Or, "I'm so happy!"

Today has been cold, in the 40's...and we went shopping today. I hate hate hate clothes shopping especially for him, but we got a few things, 3 sets of jammies, and a shirt, and something else...I remember it was 5 things...

And two quick hits: I asked him what he's doing, and he says, "Pooping" and I'm like, "Right now?" And he says, "yeah"...so we went to the potty, and he pooped in the potty! And then promptly reminded me that he gets 5 candies! I laughed at that and gave him his 5 candies. Woohoo!

The other thing is that we played a live version of Blues Clues today, because in the back yard he finds a maple leaf (several now, actually), and from there we start trying to find the tree that it goes with , and not much success. But the process of finding a matching leaf has been fun. And he calls it a clue leaf. :-)

David Weekly, #35

David is sick today, Friday...He woke me up at 5 AM, crying. Poor kid. I gave him some cough medicine, and we went outside to watch the rain. It made him feel better. But he wouldn't stop coughing so we went inside to give him another nebulizer treatement. He was mad when I told him to go back to sleep after that, though, because he didn't want to! And he knew that it was night-night time because it was stil dark outside. Eventually, I set him up with Finding Nemo, and he fell asleep on the floor in a few minutes. This is the second time this week that he's done that. This time it's simply because of the hour, and that he's sick. We've done the nebulizer for two days now, and he's getting better about taking it again. I say that because has good days and bad ones for taking it. Partially it's because he doesn't do it that often. Earlier this week he fell asleep in front of the TV just watching one of his shows. He never does that. I should have seen the sickness coming. Maybe it's a week's delay from the flu shot? I'm not totally sure.

As I review the week in my mind, I think about all the things that David is, and does. His speech is more and more clear, every day. We went to the park the other day, and a bigger kid ran into him...this is the park next to the elementary school...(it was an accident, too) and he said how it hurt. So I told him he should stay away from the bigger kids, because there more of them, and they aren't so careful of littler kids like him. So he learned his lesson and stayed away from them. We still had lots of fun, and played for a while.

Also, the Tampa Bay Rays are in the World Series! One night after bringing him home I wanted to watch the tail end of the first game, and he saw that the TV was on, which is not our usual routine when we get home, so he asked if he could watch the game with me. So I said sure. And we watched about two innings or so of the game, just him and me, two guys on the couch watching the game together. It was a wonderful thing. Of course, him being so young, he didn't really sit there for two innings, but kind of came and went. He was really excited to see the guys hitting the ball with the bat, or just swinging it!

And lately, David's entered another stage: Collecting things! Like rocks, or sticks, or acorns. He just carries them in his hands, puts them in the house, or in the car, anywhere convenient...

So this is a short weekly, but that just means things are well, and that he's just being the little boy that he's supposed to be.

Rusty

David Weekly, #34

This has been quite an active week!

Saturday night after work, David and I went to the park, and walked along the boardwalk that follows the shore of a lake. Because David introduces randomness to my world, we met up with some people who were also walking along the boardwalk. One of the adults mentioned to me about remembering being that small where you can just weave in and out and under people who are in your way, which is what David was doing...so we struck up a conversation. When we got to the end of the boardwalk, the father (whose name is David) was telling me how there was a trail that we could follow along...since I'd never been, I asked if they minded if I tag along, and they were open to it, so off we went! It turned out to be a 45 minute walk, with me holding David most of the way. It was really wonderful, though. He enjoyed being around the other kids (7 in all, plus one other adult, and then him and me for a total of 9 people all together), and the walk was refreshing. After we got back from the walk, I introduced myself to the father's wife (oddly, I never told any of the people I was with my name...it never came up), and she said that her father-in-law's name is Russell...so by this odd coincidence, I meet a man named David, whose father is named Russell. What are the odds??

Sunday, we went to a soccer game...I'm considering joining the league, and I wanted to check it out...David of course has no interest at all in this activity...so we end up at the playground instead. It was still a good Sunday.

Monday was a doctor appointment with Dr. Sams, and he still weighs 35 pounds, and is 39 inches tall. The purpose of this appointment is to get his flu shot. We talked a bit about his eczema, since he had several different places on his body that looked like ringworm...but she told me to use the prescription hydrocortisone cream that we have, just to see if it would respond or not...and it did. The little patches went away rather quickly. Then he got his flu shot. I told him that it would hurt for just a minute then be done...so when the nurse came to give him a shot, he was a little bit afraid, and he knew it would hurt, but not over the top scared or acting too upset. He got the shot in his leg, and it hurt...later on as we were checking out he saw the nurse again and said to her, "You hurt me!" She said she was sorry, and offered him a sticker. He then demanded a sticker, but I told him to ask nicely: "May I have a sticker, please." The doctor said his speech is perfect. I asked her about potty training and she said that her own son didn't do it unitl he was three and a half, so I'm not feeling so bad. Other parents I've talked to say that boys are harder than girls, and they just have to want to do it. David does not. Dot says he goes for her, but somehow I just don't know if I believe her.

He asks why all the time now. At one point on our walk he was asking why for everything, and I was throwing out all the big words I could think of, just to expose him to them, but he accepted as an answer to why as, "Because it's academic." I really got a kick out of that...how it made him stop asking why, and he says, "Oh." Too funny.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were school days...he eats all of his lunch there at the school. Thursday, though, he at all the lunch there and then was begging me for more food when he got home! Wednesday we had a strange night after I got off work. First, he wakes up at Dot's and comes running to me (which he always does if he wakes up), but then he wouldn't go back to sleep! I usually stay up until about 1 AM or so, and he stay up with me. I tried everything I could think of to get him to go to bed, and go to sleep, but that just didn't happen! So, to help him get into a bed time rhythm, he asks me to help him clean up his room...so I'm reluctant at first, but then I agree to help...and a fairly large spider comes running across the wall! So naturally I have to kill it -- can't have a spider running around my kid's bedroom, even though it's harmless -- the cool thing is that David didn't freak out. He was very upset when I wouldn't let him hold the flashlight, though. I needed it to find the spider! However, he was a big help, since he was looking for the spider, too, and saw it before I did...he's short and small so he can see where I can't...so I got the RAID and sprayed the poor thing until it died. I told David I don't like killing spiders, but in this case, because of how fast it moved, and how big it was, I had to. At this point, David was yawning, so I put him in my bed, and he went to sleep...at about 1:30 AM...it was a long night. Then he woke me up early Thursday morning...at 7:30 or so. He's not liking how he wakes up at the same time in the mornings now, but it's still dark outside. I'm telling him not to get up until it's light outside, and that's no fun for him.

Friday was our visit to the Shriners. The appoint was 2:30, and we were there early...They took xrays of his hand, which I've attached below...he was afraid of the machine until we told him it was a camera, then it was all okay. The pictures are from my cell phone from a computer monitor. Not sure how to get the originals, but at least you have an idea...the doctor that looked at his hand was very impressed with his mobility and utility, and really said that there was no issue with it...we have another appointment for 2 years from now. Most of the questions I have aren't age appropriate, such as tying his shoes, or some social aspects, but the doctor was also liking how comfortable David is with his hand...when the doctor was leaving, he shook my hand (Dr. Hess, by the way), and David insisted that the doctor shake his hand, too. "Shakes hand!" he said. Everyone liked how not shy he is. Very expressive, very full of energy, curiosity, and willing to talk to anyone. He was talking the other kids in the waiting areas, too...he doesn't ask names, he just says, "Girl" or "Boy" when addressing them. I tell him to ask their names, and to say his...which he does. He just forgets.

So this has been a busy week. Tomorrow we go to Jesse's wedding, the girl (now 22 years old) who babysits on Saturdays is getting married...of course, David asks why...I again, get a kick out of this. So in consideration of this wedding, I hope that your life is full of bright hopes, and lots of promise.

Rusty

Insomnia! and Spiders!

So last night was fun. I go to pick up David like normal, and he's wide awake! I get him home, like normal, put him in bed like normal...and he does not go to sleep like normal. Instead, he keeps getting out of bed, wanting to hang out with me, and this goes on for over an hour...but then, as part of him going to bed he wants to clean up his room. Talk about a delay tactic! So we're in there, cleaning up, putting things away, and a spider pops out of nowhere! And runs across the wall, really fast! I think it was a wolf spider, and it was big! So I get the bug spray, and a flashlight, because it ran behind a shelf...David was really great about the whole thing. He helped me look for the spider, but was unhappy when I wouldn't give him the flashlight, since he didn't understand how serious it was to kill the spider. I told him that I don't want to kill the spider, but in this case I had no choice. It moves too quickly for me to catch it for one thing...so I spray it, it runs, and I can't find it, but David saw it, and pointed it out, and I sprayed it again. The cool part is he didn't freak out, and he was not afraid. Of course, I acted pretty calm and cool myself, so hopefully it was him being cool all by himself, and taking some example from me.

He would not sleep in his bed, and would not sleep in my bed, and he just wanted to play! After the spider episode, he went to sleep in my room, that at some point he went back in his bed...he likes to switch back and forth once in a while. He's not overly fond of my bed, but it's nice for him to be there sometimes...though it's easier for me when he doesn't sleep in my bed.

I asked him to kiss me, you know, put your lips on my cheek, and *smack*...and he did it! Yay!!! But then he decided to kiss me on my lips. Ick. So I tell him only the cheek. I kiss him on his head, or his forehead, and he says, "NO! You're not supposed to..." He's so funny. He really makes me laugh. I can't imagine missing all of this. I'm so glad I have him here with me.

And he's reaching that point of "Why?" for everything. I ask him why and he says because...but if he asks me why, no explanation is good enough...though one time I told him, "It's academic." And that was acceptable. I was using all the $5 words I could come up with to answer his Why questions. Philosophical, tyranical...anything I could come up with...feed him vocabulary...lots of new words. He'll hear them, but so what if he has no idea of their meaning. The other thing he does is if he wants something, and I say why, he says "Because I want it"...sigh. What a great kid.

Reminiscence

About 4 years ago, or so, David was conceived in the basement of his grand-parents' house. Too bad the sex wasn't that good, and too bad we didn't have a lot of pregnant sex, either. Amanda was spotting, and we freaked that she wouldn't be able to keep this baby...9 months later, or so, David was born to the world. I guess it's the time of year. The world series is soon...the reason I'm thinking about this I suppose. Middle October, baseball's "high season" as it were. The playoffs, divisional series...all that. St Louis won the year I was in St Louis, making a baby, in the basement. And not having any fun doing it. And the weather changing...It was a beautiful time we had up there. Just not the sex part. Every year around this time, I'll look at David, a few months after his birthday, and remember a trip to St Louis, to see Amanda's parents...and all the details that go with it.

Dr. Appt

Dr. Sams says it's okay that David hasn't potty trained yet. He'll do it when he's ready. Amanda says it's "my fault" that I insisted on him potty training, but she means that I chose the hard course, not the fun course, because I'm the custodial parent.

sollust1: so the doc thinks it's eczema, not ringworm

sollust1: and he had a flu shot today

ceilteach79: then why is the ringworm medicine making it better when regular lotion did not?

sollust1: sigh...she said try the hydrocortisone first

ceilteach79: ok

sollust1: she said it's "tubular" eczema

sollust1: eczema in circular form

sollust1: maybe not that word

sollust1: I'll have to look it up

ceilteach79: ok

ceilteach79: well, as long as it can get cleared up

ceilteach79: it definitely itches him

sollust1: exactly. His ear is a lot better

ceilteach79: good

ceilteach79: brb again

sollust1: and his urine is good they said

sollust1: ok

ceilteach79: ok, so you got some?

sollust1: yeah...at almost the last minute, too!

ceilteach79: from him wearing the thing or sitting on the potty?

sollust1: wearing the thing

ceilteach79: cool

sollust1: Dr. Sams says her son didn't potty train until 3 years and 5 months

sollust1: almost where David is right now

ceilteach79: yeah, no there's no rush

ceilteach79: but he has to get comfy with it first, and he's not. and with everyone doing something different, it's not going to get better

ceilteach79: the things i'm talking about are so he can potty train in the next 6mos to year

sollust1: it feels more urgent than that...no pun intended

sollust1: sigh...this is hard

ceilteach79: yeah, that's what you insisted on

sollust1: did I?

ceilteach79: yeah by insisting on being the custodial parent

ceilteach79: that's the part. the non-custodial gets to be the fun one

sollust1: Oh I don't care about that

sollust1: you have all the fun you want

ceilteach79: i know, but you want to have fun and not do the hard things

sollust1: what's important is that he's loved and well raised.

sollust1: You're right. But it's what I chose.

sollust1: I'm willing to do the hard stuff. And I'm getting better at it

sollust1: David told the nurse who gave him a shot, "You hurt me"

sollust1: it was cute. She said she was sorry.

ceilteach79: what did he say after she said she was sorry?

sollust1: he was done...he didn't really say anything. She told him to get a sticker, so he went and demanded one

ceilteach79: did you make him ask nicely?

sollust1: yes!

sollust1: they thought it was great that he could change his tone like that

Hike

So I'm at the park w/ David yesterday after work...He can make friends with other kids now, sortof...really he can just interact with them...when he's going up the ladder for the slide he asks if the other kids are coming with him...at some point we decide to go on the boardwalk, and it just so happens that a small group of people (it turns out to be 7 kids, and two adults...who seem to be part of a larger group)...so we're walking along the boardwalk, and David, being a little kid, squeezes himself through the two adults walking, and the two adults and I start talking a little bit about the boy, and when we ourselves were small. We get to the end of the boardwalk and the dad says that there's a trail...and I've never heard of this trail, so I'm wanting to go along with them on the trail...and I've ingratiated myself to them enough that I ask if I can go w/ them, and they say sure...so we go on this trail...and it turns into a 45 minute walk! It was really interesting, though! The trail was nice. The people were nice. And they didn't think I was a weirdo! Of course, I had David. That helped. Actually, without David, I wouldn't have been anywhere close to that park...The kids pretty much accepted me, and David and I brought up the rear of the group. A couple of the younger kids said they were scared, lost, etc...and we three adults helped calm them down, as we say, "We're not lost..." and I talked about being Boy Scout and such. That helped. I tried to say things that would be seen as helpful, useful, and make me seem "safe". It would be strange if I was part of a group and some strange guy just showed up the way I did. I felt extremely accepted by them, though. We had a blast on this little hike. And after we got back to the park, some of the other members of the group began talking to me, too...I never did ask how they all knew each other, or try to get to know them more. Hmmm...gotta work on that. This was a chance to make real friends. The last thing is that I find out the dad's name is David, and that his father's name is Russell. Wow. They were all impressed by that. I had no idea...I just introduced myself to David's wife, and she says, "Oh, that's my father in law's name." Wow. It was a great day out at the park. I don't have to keep so close a watch on David anymore...he's much more self sufficient.

And still I dream...

I don't know why I'm dreaming about Cinnamon and her husband, and children, but I am...in my dream I live in some kind of condo w/ a stone wall like at a pool, and on the other side of this wall is a pool that starts very shallow and gets very deep, but in the pool is some kind of marine life that people can interact with in some way, though most people just walk through the water and splash around a bit, on their way somewhere else. So I see Cinnamon and company going through from my house, but I don't say hi. Not sure what that would accomplish in doing that. Another thing is that this turns into some kind of loop, where I see them more than once. But they're on vacation, having fun...I think at some point Marty recognizes me, asks Cinnamon about me, but she isn't really hearing his questions. I lose track of them at some point, and I follow them I think into a restaurant lobby/hotel lobby dining room ish area, lots of chairs and tables and space but not a lot of people at that moment...again, not sure why I need to be there, except that maybe I'm chasing David...

David Weekly, #33

So this week has been a half week for David, from my perspective. He got home from Amanda's on Monday night, at about 11:30 or so. Tuesday I had to work from 9 - 5, so it was hard taking him to Dot's so early in the morning on his first day back...he really cried and cried...but he was better when I got back at 5:15 or so from work. We took our usual long way home walk when I pick him up on afternoons when I work during the day. These are rare, so it's a special treat for us to walk back home the long way...and along the way we saw a ring-neck snake...but it was tiny! It was in the road, and I began by chasing it off the road, so it wouldn't get run over. David thought this was cool, and did some chasing of his own. Eventually the snake disappeared into the grass, but David wasn't done: he wanted to be the snake, so he got on the ground and wriggled like a snake. That kid can be entertaining!

While he was in Missouri he got some mini-pumpkins with some faces drawn on them (I think Tait did the drawing) and so he's assigned different voices to them. One says "Boo!" Another says, "howhowhowhow," and the last one says, "hahahahah." I just love that he's assigned the different voices to them.

On Wednesday, we went to some kind of resort with my sister and my mother, and played in the water there for a while. David made a sand castle at the park that's in the same general area as the lagoon...David played with his cousins, Avery and Jared...and had a grand old time. He tells me about TV shows now...We stayed until Friday night...

Not a whole lot to report. David is turning into a normal kid...who likes to dance. Today we were at the pool, and they play music...and he was so happy to dance! I've really got to do something for this child as it relates to dance. He was so happy to dance.

He has a Shriners appointment on Friday, and a regular doctor appt on Monday. We'll let you know how it goes.

Rusty


PS I was really tired when I wrote this. I'm sure more happened than I said...

David's Home

A recurring theme here...Matt and Virginia brought him all the way here for Missouri, two days early. I'm not really complaining. ;-)

Today I had to take him to Dot's early (at about 8:30 AM), since I had to work from 9 - 5 today for training. He did not take that well at all. Poor kid. When I picked him up, it was all better. He was telling me he's Sponge Bob again. Amanda made a knitted little elephant trunk for him, and I guess I'm supposed to do the rest for his Halloween costume...mask, make up (??), grey clothes...he wants to be an elephant. He has 3 mini-pumpkins that have little faces painted on them that say different things: boo, or ohohohooooohohooooo or I'm not sure what else. But each is distinct.

Today when I picked him up we went for our normal around the block walk (when I pick him up during the day, we usually do this)...along the way we saw a tiny ring-neck snake. I chased it out of the road so it wouldn't get run over or stepped on...and of course, David wanted to act like the snake, so he gets on the ground and wriggles like the snake. And he's a chatterbox, too...he did not stop talking the whole time! It's always strange for me to see him after a brief period of him being away, because I see how much he's changed in just this little bit. He's not the boy that left two weeks ago...he did something else cute, and it was only a little while ago, yet I can't remember!