We do love our lazy Saturdays! We completed our first week without Daddy by barely leaving the living room. M and I got in some great cuddle time while Liz was watching TV or on the computer.

While Liz and I cleaned up in the living room and vacuumed M got into some mischief. Of course, he didn't view it as that. We don't usually have soda cans in the house so he must have thought these were new toys!

I love his new found interest in lining objects up and organizing. He experienced a bit of frustration a few times during this. He would try and pick them up and only put them in one box. They wouldn't all fit and he didn't think to put them in the other box. He would yell a bit then give up and make a new row. After awhile he lined them up the other direction (bottom left). Then he would take the last one on the right and moved it to the left. Except, every now and then, the cans would roll away. While he was working on this last one, after I finally stopped taking pictures, I cleaned up the cans behind him and put them in the pantry. When he noticed we had another fit to deal with :) I left him 4 cans to play with but they quickly got boring. Later, when Liz and I decided to actually drink a can he got so excited and tried to take it. Now, we can only drink from cups it seems. :)

TDY days 3-5 - Getting By

The last 3 days have been pretty uneventful. Tuesday M had his audiology appointment. To sum it up - He didn't cooperate. We knew he wouldn't so it wasn't much of a surprise. He is now being referred to Nashville's Children's Hospital (Vanderbilt) for a sedated hearing test. Hopefully it won't take long for this appointment to get made. We are anxious to know how well he hears. 


My daughter has been home sick for the past two days and will be tomorrow as well. She does not do well with spring pollen season here. Her allergies are awful. We've done a lot of laying around. 

Michael has been a lot cuddlier (real word right?) than usual. He has always been a big lovey Mama's boy but even more so now. We think he's clingy because he is missing Daddy. He's been Skyping with him every day. He really loves it. He watches Matt and responds to him. He discovered where the camera is and likes to get really close to it. I think Matt has gotten some good screen shots that I'll grab when he gets home. 


Food of the week - Mashed Potatoes! I can mix anything in them (meat, veggies, stuffing...) and he devours it! He gets on these little kicks from time to time. Keeps things interesting!

Survival Mode - TDY day 2

At 7am my alarm and Elizabeth's went off and woke M. Being tired from the night before I hit the snooze once before getting up. By the time I got to M (about 10 minutes later) he was already a bit of a wreck. He was better (since he got a great night's sleep) but crying already. The crying, however, had nothing to do with being sleepy and more to do with being wet and knocking his mattress off his bed again. I guess the diaper trick just wasn't enough but its only the second time in about 1.5 weeks that I've had to change the bedding. Much better than daily!

He was very helpful and removed the sheets before I got there. Less work for Mommy! Notice the wetness going up the back of his shirt? The whole right side of him was soaked. Even though that spot was very wet, the rest of him wasn't, which is an improvement. Normally its a head to toe type of soaking. 

After he left the room, still grumpy from his uncomfortable awakening and having to change into clothes immediately (he prefers to be lazy in pajamas) he walked into the living room, right into the nice surprise one of the cats left for us (don't worry, no pictures!) 

So today became about just getting through it with as little drama as possible! When his sister left for school he wanted to go out. 8am walk for 20 minutes, stop by the park for an hour and another walk home?? SURE! It was chilly but he wasn't complaining! That's what fleece-lined pants and jackets are for!

He wasn't thrilled with the park swings though. They are higher up than the ones at home so his feet couldn't touch the mulch to stop himself. After a couple pushes he wanted to be done and head back to the slides. 

When it was time to go back home he wasn't happy at all. But he was getting to the point where going up the steps seemed to be taking a lot of effort and he only wanted to go down the one slide that was still flooded with water from our weekend rain. He pouted the entire way home.

But it's such a cute pout!! 

After we came back home we got Daddy on Skype! Yay! When Matt was deployed last time the biggest reaction we got on skype or the phone was Michael giggling when he heard his Daddy. This time around he is a little more aware. At first, when he heard his voice, he just giggled and ran around. Then Daddy called "go go go" which is what he says when he is chasing Michael around. It triggered an immediate response and Michael ran the circle around our kitchen and living room. He'd stop by the couch and wait to hear the next "go" then run again. After awhile he joined me at the couch to listen to Matt some more. He was playing bashful, smiling but burying his face against me. He'd sneak at peek at Matt now and then and then hide again. Finally he really made some eye contact and started being silly with Daddy. He was copying the motions Matt was making with his mouth, clapping with my assistance while Daddy was. It was great. Then he tried to find Daddy. He kept looking behind the monitor. When the call was over he was a big grump, wanting more time with Daddy. 

To calm M, I attempted lunch. Meals are tricky on a good day but on a grumpy day they can be awful. So I just kept trying different things. Cheetos, mashed potatoes and cinnamon rolls with some grape Kool-Aid. If that's what it takes...go for it!

Happy boy now! 

There was no nap again today but he did calmly lay in his room for about an hour. It seemed to make him happier, rested. He sat back down at the table for afternoon snack and I gave him the rest of his uneaten Cheetos. Instead of eating them he turned them into a game! I was too thrilled with his deep concentration that I wasn't going to stop him. 

He lined them up, sorted them into piles or different bowls and stacked them. It wasn't until now, 2 hours and one outside playtime later, that is he actually eating them. 

When his sister got home from school we all went outside. She tried to get some homework done while laying on the grass and M and I played chase. After awhile he needed his sister to help with the game!

Daddy even called while we were outside and got to hear the giggles. 

Dinner went off without a hitch. Elizabeth had a lasagna meal she had picked out awhile ago and forgotten about. For Michael I gave him more mashed potatoes and chicken. Neither kid finished their plate so their leftovers were my dinner. Okay, maybe not the healthiest way to go about it but there was no rejection and no fits! He is now calmly running his nighttime laps around the kitchen/dining room and winding down for bed.

He took his meds and got ready for bed like a pro. Here's a picture of the overnight diaper and the plastic undies over them. He looks so thrilled to have them on huh? :) That's Daddy Bear on the dresser. We decided to use it for the bedtime routine since Daddy is working night shift and won't be able to call. So far, so good though. He is quiet in bed, hanging out with his favorite seahorse toy.

Tomorrow should be uneventful. He has school in the AM, a doctors appointment then we'll head to Liz's tennis. Hopefully Sunday was the only crazy day!

Daddy's on TDY - Day 1

Michael's daddy left for TDY (training) for 2 weeks. We had to wake up at 2am to see Matt off and it took Michael awhile to fall back asleep. So between very little sleep, having a cold, and not having his daddy....M had a rough day!

For our first attempt at calming Michael, we put him in the bathtub. It was about 9am and he had already refused breakfast and was a beast. He didn't feel the absence of his daddy yet, since he is usually at work at that hour, but he felt the effects of little sleep and his cold. 

But bath was very short. I don't think he even moved from this spot. He had fun putting his hand under the running water then putting it to his face but as soon as the tub was full and the water turned off he cried. He drained the tub and we tried one more time but it was another short lived bath.

Our second attempt was outside play! Yay....usually. 


He was pretty grumpy in the yard so I had to carry his crying, pouting self to the park before he realized he still liked the swing. Today's swinging had more of a love-hate feel to it though.

He did recently discover that he can touch the ground now so he loved having me push him then he would stop himself. Then we'd do it again :) 

After returning back inside we attempted lunch. At first, I thought he would reject it. I went for a comfort food that is almost never rejected: peaches and strawberries 'n' cream oatmeal. I also made myself a frozen lunch of chicken and potatoes. Because he always loves to surprise me...he ate BOTH! He hasn't eaten much meat in probably a year. It is always nice when we get some in him so I gladly sacrificed my meal. 

During lunch he really looked like he was ready to finally pass out. 

But of course, that would have been too easy. Instead, we spent the next few hours pouting, crying and fighting sleep. And yes, I said WE. I'm sure I did quite a bit of pouting too. 

Does this face not say "I'm exhausted!!"? Sure does! But never once did he sleep. 

Liz and I decided to try a car ride since he kept running to the car every time we went outside. It worked! We drove for 90 minutes, with a brief stop to pick up a chocolate banana shake from Sonic for the kids to share. We drove and drove and drove and he never fussed once. We returned home and it was looking promising while I was cooking dinner. The dinner he never ate. The dinner that seemed to remind him that he was cranky. 

Oh my poor little bear. He destroyed the shoe rack. He was even laying down with the shoes by the door. He can get a little dramatic at times but it was over the top today. I think at this time of night he was realizing that Daddy had not made an appearance. So I made his medicine and Liz and I put him to bed. We attempted to recreate the bedtime routine that Matt and I usually do. Liz was great. We're very fortunate to have such an amazing, caring daughter. She has her normal disagreeable kid moments but not when it comes to helping with her brother. 
Can you tell he is ready to sleep?

Sadly, he didn't seem to know it! It still took about two hours, a stripping act, a poop, the mattress being pushed off the bed a few times, a phone call with Daddy, a lot of crying and cuddling and Daddy Bear (the kids' talking bear with Matt's personal message to them) to get him to sleep. 

But he's finally asleep :)  We can only hope that if he gets a normal night sleep he will have a better day...until he realizes he still has 12 more without Daddy.

More Stacking!!

Michael woke this morning, insisted that his plastic diaper be removed immediately, then headed to the floor to build with his blocks. We love his interest in toys now! He still prefers the non-toys (organizing my silverware, looking through different colored objects and running laps around the kitchen/dining room) but he is seeing toys for what their intended purpose is. He gets mighty frustrated when the blocks fall and refuses to play with them for awhile afterward (like they're having a fight!) but he is doing so much better with them!

Mission: Fixing the leaky overnight diaper!

Michael is no where near potty training. Since he learns through observation, potty training is going to be a long road. We sit him on it quite a bit and sometimes, after a long sit, he will actually pee. We cheer, clap, do a little dance and hope he realizes why we're doing it and might repeat it someday. But, again, it will take awhile. 

So we've run into the problem of him outgrowing diapers. He wears a size 6 and they do fit great during the day. We change him every few hours. At night we put him in overnight diapers. For the past few months he has woken up SOAKED every morning. I mean, head to toe, all his blankets and bedding. That's a lot of laundry! Every...single...day. 

We figured he needed a larger size diaper. Sadly, 6 is as big as they go. We tried pull-ups. Since they are designed for children who, more or less, know how to use the toilet but might have an accident, they do not hold much liquid. (Side note: HE LOVES PULL-UPS! :) Mostly, because he can pull them up and down!) I've been reading online different ideas people have come up for this same problem. (Good to know it is not just us!) Some bought adult diapers but most were too big. Some doubled up on diapers. A couple even put sanitary napkins inside the diaper for extra absorbency. We are trying a different route. 

I purchased these Waterproof Training Pants this weekend. Now the size on them says only up to 33 lbs and Michael surpassed that awhile ago. But when Liz and I opened the package in the store they looked huge. Sure enough, they fit great! I remembered trying these with Liz when she was potty training and hated them. I did not enjoy carefully pulling the pee filled plastic diaper down her legs, along with soaking wet undies. Thankfully, she figured out toilet training quickly so I got to throw them out!


But Michael's scenario is different. Since we put these over the diaper and the diaper still traps most of the liquid the Waterproof pants aren't soaked. They are wet but not dripping. Now when we get him up his clothes and bedding are dry! We just have to wipe out the diaper (in the sink or with a wet wipe) and let it dry for the next night. SO much easier then doing a load of laundry.


Now I don't think I'll be getting a picture of him wearing these any time soon unless I take a sleeping picture. They're confusing to him because they make noise. So we slip them onto him after he falls asleep. Yay for having a deep sleeper! We just take off his pants, slip these on, redress him and we're done. Hopefully soon he will keep them on when he is awake. As it is now, we put them on at bedtime then go check on him a few minutes later and his pants and the Waterproof pants are off. At least he leaves his diaper on! :)

Michael's New Table

Michael's Grammy bought him a new table for Easter. He WAS sitting on the bench nicely until his bubble machine got blown over by the nasty wind we're experiencing this weekend. By the time I got over there with my phone to take pictures he was on the table playing with the bubble solution. But he does LOVE the table. He has such a fun backyard. He got some play time in with his sister while Matt and I did some much needed weeding and mulching.