St-st-st-studious

Last night I was getting Harper's stuff out for bed and I hear him yelling, 'I need my crayons!' He's all settled in the dining room chair, ready to do his homework. I got out his crayons and asked him if he knew what to do. On one, he had to trace the letters 'T' and 't', then write them freehand. On the other, he had to color the squares marked 'T' green, and marked 't' brown. You can see he takes his studies very seriously. So cute that he colors the actual letters 'T' and 't', and not the full boxes. He's got it down, though. He colored the letters the right colors. Taking a step back to check out his work. He's got the big T down. Before long, he'll know to stay in the lines. Right now, I'm just thrilled he's writing a 'T'! I'm having a harder time getting him to understand when I say 'big T' or 'little t'. He thinks I mean to make the 'T' big or make it little, not lowercase. If there was a picture on the page, he HAD to color it. Here's a short video of H making his T's.

Another Trip to the Doctor

H's school called me about 10:30 this morning and said that he'd been going to the bathroom a lot. He'll go in, come out, and go right back in again. Was he doing this over the weekend? Naturally, he was with his dad, so I had no idea. Jody said that yes, he'd say he had to go, but nothing would come out. I know a bladder infection when I see one, so I called the doctor's office to tell them we were coming in and ran out the door to get H from school.

He was playing outside when I got there. It took him half a second to register that it was me standing there as he was running in my direction. I swooped him up, talked to his teachers for a minute, then we headed to Dr. D's. H informed me during the car ride that it hurts when he tee tees. Lucky for him, we're on our way to get it fixed.

At the doctor's office, he thought it was pretty funny that he had to pee in a cup. I held the cup, while he went potty. When he was done, he said, 'Okay, now let's flush it!' I said, 'No sweetie. We give this to Nurse Sharon and she's going to run tests on it to find out why it hurts when you tee tee.' He thought that was pretty silly.

Dr. D poked and prodded H's kidney and bladder area to see if he had any discomfort. The test on the urine came back clean, but he's going to run cultures on it overnight to make sure there's nothing he's missing. He said if anything is growing on the cultures, then it could be a kidney infection, but he won't know until tomorrow. If there are negative results from the culture, he'll call me in the morning. If they're clean, he won't call.

He said H definitely has a bladder infection, but they're different for boys than for girls. For girls, it hurts constantly. For boys, it hurts when they pee. The constant need to go is the same, that's why he keeps saying he has to go. Dr. D said to give him cran juice (any variation) and it will regulate the ph balance of his urine and help it go away faster. But it will run its course in four to seven days. If it's not improving by Thursday, to call him and let him know. He also said H can take the azo tabs that turn his pee orange, and ease the need to go so much. I don't know if H will take them, but I'll pick some up and try both starting tonight.

We got back to school just in time for lunch. I told Miss Anna that he has the bladder infection and she said she'd put his cot next to the bathroom for naptime, so he can get up and go when he needs to. He was a big boy, though. He gave me a kiss and hug, then ran to the table and sat down to eat.

The Goodbye Boy

Well, it's finally come! For the last three days when I drop H off at school, he doesn't whine or cry for me. He's becoming such a big boy!

Tuesday and Wednesday when I took him, he walked to the breakfast table, sat down and gave me a kiss. He actually forgot to even say goodbye! He realized this when we were home both evenings, so this morning, he made a point to hug me and kiss me and tell me goodbye. Miss Kristina asked him if he'd help her get the table ready for the other kids and he followed her to get the chairs. He didn't even look back!

Snake Oil

Mimi bought Harper some snake golashes at Target on Sunday. They were victims of the Trouble Box, so he didn't get to enjoy them like he wanted to.

Fortunately for the boots, unfortunately for us, H was sick today. He had a runny nose Sunday, and by the time he was in bed, he was stopped up and coughing. When he woke up today, his cough was really chesty. So I made an appointment and took him to see good ol' Dr. D.

The Dr. listened to his chest and was making funny faces, so I knew my instincts to take him in were good. He said he could tell that there's something going on, but he's not sure what, so he wanted to run a test. The nurse came in and pricked Harper's finger so they could run his blood. H was so good when she did it, he didn't even wince! Dr. D came back in and said that normal blood counts are between 6,000-10,000 and H's were 17,000. He said it's normal when your body is fighting an infection. That infections usually start in your nasal cavity, then spread from there, to become strep, or bronchitis, or pneumonia. However, I'd caught it so early, he didn't know exactly what kind of virus it was. He prescribed an antibiotic and told us to stay home for the day. He also said if his symptoms aren't obviously better by Wednesday, to come back and see him. He's never said that before, so I don't know if it's because it's too early for him to treat a specific virus, or if he thinks it could be something worse. We'll just pray his symptoms improve so we don't have to go back in.

You'd never know he was sick. He was so sweet and silly all day.

Here he is wearing his boots for the first time:

Oops, we got medicine on the white shirt, so on went the New Mexico shirt:

A bedtime dance:



I told you he wore them all day.

Trouble Box

Today was difficult. To say the least... Part of it was my own fault, I admit it. Hindsight, it could have been worse. Deep breath... here goes...

H woke up in a great mood. He wanted Mimi to feed him oatmeal, like she did when she was home with him during the day. Then we played with trains in the living room and he said he wanted to watch a show. So I asked him if he wanted to watch 'Ice Age' or 'Doctor Who?' semi kidding. But he said he wanted to watch 'Doctor Who?'. His daddy is going to hate me for introducing Harper to sci-fi. I can't help it. I didn't do it on purpose. One day, he was taking a nap, and I was watching DW. I didn't hear him get up and walk into the living room, but before I knew it, we were cuddled on the couch watching David Tennant do his thing.

Anyway... we needed to go to Target for a bit, so I fed H lunch at 11a and we headed out the door. I didn't think we'd be gone that long, so I didn't worry about the time. But H was really whiny when we were there, so we just headed home. When we were in the car, I saw the clock said 1:30p! Holy cow... NO WONDER he's whiny! It's past his naptime! Ugh... I'm such a dope.

So we get home, Mimi goes to work and I lay H down. He fought it so hard. At one point, I thought he was asleep because he was being so quiet, but it turns out, he was just being quiet. About thirty minutes went by and I heard his doorknob jiggle. I went to investigate and he's standing at the door, no pants, no pull up, but with wet underwear and wet shorts in one hand, and a handful of wet kleenex in his other hand.

Me: Where is your pull up?
H: In the drawer.
I walk to the drawer and pull out a wet pull up and put it on the floor.
Me: Where are your shorts that I put on you?
H: Over here Mommy.
Me: What happened?
H: I peed on the rug.
Me: You wha...?

I was completely dumbstruck. I had him sit in his chair and I just called Jody right away. 'What do I do?!' He's never ever ever done anything like that. Ever. J suggested that I have him help me clean it up, so I did. Harper had already tried to, hence the wad of wet kleenex in his hand. Jody said H had done this at his place once, and that's what he had him do.

Here's what I think happened: He had already gotten in trouble several times for getting out of bed. I told him that I didn't want to hear him again... to go to sleep. He had to go potty, so instead of telling me he had to go, he went in his pull up, which obviously, is fine. But he didn't want to continue wearing it (can't blame him), so he took it off and instead of getting another pull up, he got out underwear, and thinking his shorts would be wet, too, he got out new shorts. He puts them on, but he still has to potty, and he thinks he can go like he did in his pull up, so he goes. But this time, it gets all over the rug. He knows this isn't good, so he tries to clean it up. When he goes to leave the room, I hear him and walk in right in the middle of the recovery effort.

It makes me more sad than mad. I've decided that from now on, I'm going to put his potty chair in his room during naptime. Then he can get up and go when he needs to.

Also stemming from today is the 'Trouble Box'. I'm so tired of the whining and the back talk, and the open disobedience, that I've decided to start taking stuff away. The rules of the TB are simple. Any back talk, whining, pushing, or disobedience results in one toy going in the TB. It's gone for the rest of the day and he can take it out the next morning. If it goes in at the end of the day, he has to live without it the whole next day, then he can take it out the following morning. Today I started with newest toys first, then I went for the most important one: Thomas. He had five toys taken away from him in two hours today. That's a lot. But it worked. The last toy was taken away at 5:15p and it was Thomas. Boy howdy, he was good after that.

Busy Bees

Today was such a busy day! And thank goodness H was in good spirits.

I heard him in his room talking around 6:30a, but I didn't get him up til 7a. We snuggled for a bit and watched some Backyardigans... but it's Saturday! That equals donut day at our house. So by 8a we were at the bakery, stuffing our faces with chocolate long johns, donut sticks, glazed twists and sprinkle donuts.

From there, we filled up the car with gas and picked up Mimi in Sapulpa. She was killing time at Atwoods waiting on us. When H and I got there, I took him inside so he could see the baby chicks. I wish we could have held them, they were so cute!

We headed to Bristow from there so we could meet Uncle Steve and fam. Uncle Steve breeds dogs (Great Danes and Mastiffs) and he's looking to expand. So we went to look at the female puppy he wants to get so he can start breeding Euro Danes. This is the biggest dog I've ever seen in my life.
The kids had fun playing on the swings while Uncle Steve talked to the owner of the Euro Danes.
Check out Stevo's hair. I've not seen it this long since he was about three years old.
When we were leaving, Kenzie saw the car, ran up and hugged it and said 'Oh my car! It missed me.'
We asked if there was a nice local restaurant we could go to for lunch, but the guy said 'Nope.' So we set out on our own to explore the town. All we found (so I guess he wasn't kidding) was one Mexican restaurant. The salsa was good, but the chips were stale. The food was okay. The water was horrible. I actually ordered a pop instead. And they didn't even have Sprite. All they had was Pepsi, DP and Root Beer. Gag. Harper had trouble sitting in his chair, but what should I expect? He's 3 1/2! Overall, the kids were good and the company was great.
Here's a video of the kids singing 'Ring Around the Rosy':

Harper sang and talked the whole way home. When we passed the turnpike entrance, he said, 'There's a peep!' Because the pike pass makes a peeping sound when you enter and exit. We got home in time for Mimi to go to work and H to take a nap. Which he didn't. He fell asleep, but was up in 20 minutes. I laid him back down and he slept for another 20 minutes. I struggled with him to nap, but I guess a powernap was all he needed. He was being good and in a great mood, so I just let it slide.

It started raining just as we were heading out the door to go to Jack's for dinner. While we were in the car, I offered H a piece of gum. He took it, chewed it for a few seconds and said he didn't want it. I asked him why not and he said, 'It's kind of disgusting.' Okie dokie then. You can't argue with that. The boys had a really good time. I wish I would have taken pictures. They miss each other so much. They got in trouble a couple of times for jumping on the bed or throwing stuff, but mostly they were great. H ate a great dinner of spaghetti noodles (no sauce), garlic bread, corn on the cob and I caught him picking carrots out of the salad. I'd definitely say that having him in school is paying off nutritionally.

When we left to go home, it was almost 8p and it was pouring outside. I took my stuff out and went back for H, but I had to lean over to buckle him in and my back felt like I'd been standing under the shower head. Harper asked if the sun was down, which it obviously was, and I said, but we can't see the moon tonight because of all the rain. He then repeats it, but in a way to clarify that he knows what I mean, 'We can't see the moon because it's raining. But we can see it when it's NOT raining! Right Mommy?' Right, little man.

He was SO tired by the time we got home. It was way past his bedtime, he'd been up since 6:30a and only napped for about 40 minutes. We got settled in to our chair, drank some chocolate milk and read some Thomas stories. When we were done reading and starting to rock, he nestled his face into my neck and I could hear him smelling me. I told Mimi that night that I can only imagine what my scent will be for him. When I smell Halston, I think of my mom when I was little. When I smell Oscar de la Renta, I am transported to time spent with my Aunt Net. I don't wear much perfume, so all I can think of that will be associated with me is Proactiv. At least it's a nice clean aroma, I guess.

Cutie Patootie

I just snapped a couple of pics of H while he was sleeping last night...

... and in the car on our way to school.

Itchy, itchy eyes

Just kidding! I'm awake, Mommy.

Caught him here in a giggle. He wasn't being cheesy... I just captured that beautiful smile!

'Oy Mom. Put the camera away!'

I was going to take some with his teachers, but it was Miss Anna's day off, and she's his favorite. So it will have to wait til tomorrow.

Do you like his hair? He won't let me fix it. He constantly thinks it's 'crazy' and nothing I do to it helps. I know he's a boy, but we may have to spend some time playing beauty shop so I can figure out how he wants me to fix his hair!

He was such an angel last night, and again this morning. I am a very lucky Mommy... even when I'm growling about owies on teddy bears and I don't have the right 'bear medicine' and we have to call Nana at 7:30 in the morning to find out what she uses when Happy has an owie at her house. (BTW the only kind of 'stick' anything I had? It was Aveda antiperspirant. But it worked! He didn't complain again about Happy.) He's a lovely boy with a great imagination and I can't remember life before him. He truly makes me a better person.

Mimi's Cafe

H and I had dinner with Mimi Tuesday night. They both hate not getting to see each other every day. But Mom has worked out with a co-worker to come up for an hour once a week and relieve her so she can spend some time with us. She treated us to dinner in Sapulpa at Cafe USA. I don't know who had more fun, Harper or Mimi.

Isn't he getting good at coloring? He stays so close to the edges!

Harper relaying a story about school to Mimi. It must have been an exciting story!


On our way home, the moon was half full and high in the sky. Harper saw it and said, 'Look Mommy! There's the moon! It's broken in half."

Wrong Side of the Bed

Oy. This morning Harper slept late, so I had to wake him up. At first, he was fine.

But when I fixed his hair, he SOBBED that it was 'yucky! It looks weird!' He hadn't even looked at it.

Then he's sobbing and throwing a fit because I had him wear jeans and not shorts. 'They're too big!' (Because they're longer than shorts, he says they're too big.)

THEN he's hacked off because I told him he could wear his crocs or his tennis shoes. He wanted to wear his Thomas sandals. I said no way, it's too chilly outside and they're too small anyway.

This went on for 30 minutes.

I don't want to spank him, so I told him to stop crying, or I was going to leave Happy (teddy bear) and Bobbies (blankies) at home. Then I hear him, through tears, 'Bye Happy... I love you so much...' over and over. My heart was breaking. Seriously. I didn't want to leave his lovies at home! So I didn't. I packed them, but he didn't see me do it.

He cried the whole way to school for us to turn around and go get Happy and Bobbies. I knew they were in his bag, so I just kept asking him to stop crying and I'd get them. He would't stop. He gagged four times in the car. Ugh...

So we got to school. By now he's been crying for 45 minutes. He calmed down a little bit when we got there, but started up again before I left. I told his teacher what was going on. I told Harper, if he would quit crying and eat breakfast, I'd go get Happy and Bobbies and bring them to school. I told her, regardless, he can have them at naptime. But I want him to quit crying before he gets them this morning.

I'm so torn on this. Is it wrong for me to withhold his lovies when he acts like that? Or is it appropriate punishment? Part of me thinks that he might have calmed down if I'd given them to him, but the other part of me thinks that it would be rewarding bad behavior. Because it's not like he was just crying. He was screaming and throwing a fit, and talking back to me. It's inappropriate behavior and he needs to learn, he's not going to get what he wants by acting like that.

I called the school when I got to work and spoke to one of the assistant teachers. She said he quit crying and asked if she could give him Happy and Bobbies. I said definitely! He did what I said he needed to do!

I think he just didn't get his sleep out. I'm sure he'll be fine when I pick him up today. I don't like it when my baby bear is sad. :(

New Heights

I measured H tonight and he's 41 1/2 inches tall! According to my calculations, that boy grows 1 1/2 inches every six months.

So he's 3 1/2 years old and 3'6" feet tall. Not too bad.

Internet height predictors (webmd, pediactrics.com, parents.com) suggest that H will be between 6' and 6'3". That's not surprising... I just wonder how soon he'll hit it! At the rate he's going, he'll be 12 years old and 6' tall.

School is in Session

Harper officially likes school! He told me so on Friday morning. He's been MUCH better about going... he still clings to me and begs me not to go, but he's not crying or sobbing for 20 minutes before we leave the house.

He's started talking about the kids in the class and his teachers. I think this is an excellent sign.

Also, I laid him down the other night and he was in bed telling stories to his stuffed animals and pretending. He does this every night, but usually he talks about trains. This night I heard him having a 'conversation' with someone from school. This is, verbatum, what I heard:

"'Do you want to have dinner with me?' said Harper.
'Sure!'
'At my house?' said Harper.
'Okay!'"

So cute!

My Hero

Harper's latest thing is to take the towel I keep on the oven and either drag it around and pretend to be Linus, or he pretends he's a superhero. So I pinned it around his neck so he could have both hands free to save the world.

Dressing Guide

Today, I went in to check on H during his nap and he was already awake. He was on the side of the bed trying to put on a pair of jeans. He had wet through, just a little bit, and had taken off his shorts and pull up and was trying to put on clean pants. I couldn't help but beam as I helped him pick out clean underwear and shorts.

Tonight, when it was time for bed, he picked out his jammies and grabbed a pull up from his drawer. I walked him through it, but he put on his pull up, pj bottoms AND his shirt all by himself! He was excited and I was SO proud!

Labor Day Weekend Fun

We broke out Harper's pool for one last hurrah this weekend. Afterwards, we indulged in some pizza for lunch and just enjoyed being around the house and with each other for a couple of days.





I let him watch one of his Elmo videos while he ate (another sign of vacation weekend). Boy... who knew Elmo was so scary? He had to hide behind me so I could "protept" him.

First Homework Assignment

I bought a book on tracing for H a while back, but we've never used it. Naturally, his first homework assignment involves tracing and connecting the dots.

He did pretty good connecting the dots, then he wanted to color the rest of the picture.


I helped some with the letter tracing. It's pretty obvious where.


Still, he did a good job. He was mad that we had to give it back.

Go Ahead, Try To Tell Me My Kid Isn't Adorable

Last night, we were eating dinner, and I was asking him about school.
Mommy: Did you play with any boys or girls today?
Harper: Yes.
M: Was Isaac there? Did you play with him?
H: Yes.
M: What about Gavin? Did you play with him? (These are the only two little boys' names I know.)
H: No. He's kinda naughty. There's something not right about naughty.
M: You are definitely right, Little Man. There is something not right about naughty. Are you good? Or are you naughty?
H: (look of shock) I'm *good*!
***
After taking a shower, he was standing on the bath mat and I was about to clean his ears. There were only two q-tips left in the canister.
H: We're almost out of q-tips!
M: I know. I have more, I just need to put them in there.
H: I can get you some.
M: You can? From where? (Thinking he knows where I keep them...)
H: Daddy's house. Or Nana's. They have a bunch.
My little clepto. Always thinking...
***
While putting on his jammies
H: If Hayden isn't nice, my Nana will beat him up.
M: I seriously doubt that, but she might give him a serious scolding.
***
We had finished reading stories and I was attempting to rock and sing to him, as is our nightly ritual. He wouldn't settle down though and was so giggly and cute. He was super kissy and would say, 'I'll give you Mommy kisses.' Then he'd kiss me all over my face and crack up laughing. Then he'd say, 'I'll give you a small kiss.' Then he'd kiss me ever so lightly on my lips, then lean back and say 'Aww'. So adorable.

Bad News for the Bakery

This morning Harper woke up and said, 'Can we go to Krispy Kreme today?'

Now I'm one who likes to support local business, and we usually go to the bakery by our house, but I have to agree with H, KK's doughnuts are amazing. I told him we'd have to wait until Saturday, then we'll endulge in the deliciousness that is known as the "original glazed doughnut".

Yum!

Playdate

Yesterday after school, Harper and I met his friend Emily, and her mom (my friend), Angie, at Cici's and went to a splash park to play. They had so much fun! They hadn't seen each other in a while, but they weren't overly shy... no pushing was involved... just good old fashioned fun! I was so pleased.

The funny thing was, he kept calling Emily Ella. I can see how it happens... it was just funny. Then he'd do it and say, 'El.. noo... Emily!' He laughed about it the whole way home.

Harper enjoying his brownie at Cici's:

Emily watching H devour his brownie:

Harper's crazy hair:

Emily's crazy hair:

H and E under the snake:

Emily under the rainbow:

Captain Wetface:

The only picture with me in TWO MONTHS! You can tell he's thrilled:

A video of my breakdancing buddy. I don't know where he gets his moves, but he sure is smooth:

Doctor Who?

Harper said this morning he didn't want to go to school because he didn't feel well and needed to go to the doctor, then he'd feel better.

He's hated going to the doctor his entire life and now he wants to go there instead of school? This is major desperation.

When it was time to leave the house, he kept saying, 'I want to go back to bed!' Because if he's in bed sleeping, it's not time to go to school.

He also told me, as I was pulling out of the neighborhood, to go 'that way', which was the opposite direction of school. When I wouldn't turn left instead of right, he told me to keep driving past his school.

I know he's just avoiding. But it gets harder, not easier, every day to leave him.

Confidence

Well, Harper still had a crying fit this morning going to school. I sincerely hope he snaps out of it. Personally? I like his school. It has grown on me and now that the official school year has started, it's less like a daycare and more like a school.

The regular kids are in there and the room smells so nice and clean when I drop him off in the mornings. There have been two teachers there every day (with the exception of the first couple of days he was going). And he finally has a cubby of his own! When H and I get there, at least four little girls run up to see him every time. Now, this could be because he's so sweet, funny and handsome, or it could be because he's throwing the biggest fit they've ever seen in their lives.

This morning when we got there, Jeff, the owner/director was in his office and he witnessed H sobbing. He said, 'Is everything okay?' I said, 'Oh yeah. He just hates going to school.' I took Harper into his room and was attempting the drop off and Jeff came in. He saw what we went through and walked out with me. He asked if it was hard to leave him when he acts like that. I replied honestly, no. I mean, I feel bad for him, because I know he's sad, and would rather be home with me, Daddy or Mimi, but I know he's in good hands at the school. He's been there long enough to bond with other kids and teachers. And I know that in a few minutes he'll be fine.

As we stood at the front of the school, I could hear Harper crying from the back of the building. After a couple of minutes, though, I couldn't hear him at all. I know that he'd gotten distracted with donuts, bananas, and toys. I usually call up there around 9:30 and they always say the same thing, 'He had a rough start, but he's doing great now!' And I sent a picture of me with my phone number on it, so he can hold 'me' and call whenever he wants.

This is good for him. He needs to experience life outside of the house and a mother's day out program. He'll be in kindergarten before you know it and he needs to be somewhat adjusted. He's going to be great, I know it! Now if I can only convince him...

Mmm... Popcorn

Yesterday, after H woke up from his nap, he wanted to watch 'Toy Story'. Again. So I made him some chocolate milk and popcorn, and just for fun, I sprinkled some M&Ms in the popcorn bowl. Oh man... you would think that the Angels were singing on high, because his little eyes just lit up when he saw what I had done.

As he was eating his snack, every now and then he'd look up at me with this dreamy expression and just say, 'popcorn', or 'I love M&Ms'.

I've always heard it and now I know it's true, the way to a (little) man's heart is through his stomach.

Life Lessons From A Three Year Old

Whenever H and I are cross with each other (which, let's face it, happens), he always says to me, 'But I love you Momma. I just love you so much.' To which I reply, 'I love you, too, Angel. I just need you to [mind me, pick up your toys, take a shower, get dressed, insert action here]'. And when he says that and I reply that, both of our demeanors change and we're suddenly not cross anymore.

Friday night was our slumber party night. Basically, my only rule is, you have to watch the movie while laying in bed. Lay properly: head on pillow, legs under covers. Well, we were laying in my bed watching 'Toy Story' and suddenly, his head is at the foot of the bed and he's wallering all over the place, not really paying attention to the movie. I told him he had to lay in bed properly and pay attention, or I was going to turn it off. Before you know it, it's a battle of wills and the t.v. is turned off. No more movie. Just time to go to sleep. Then he's whining and crying for me to turn it back on, and I realized that when I replied, it got worse, or louder, or BOTH. So I quit. I just laid there and let him whine and fuss and before I knew it, he was done. Then he says, 'Hold me Momma. I just love you and need you to hold me.' *Melt* So I snuggled up next to him, wrapped my arm around him, kissed him on the forehead and he was asleep within two minutes.

I think he thinks if we're cross with each other, that I don't love him anymore. He needs to hear me say that I love him, or hold him, (especially when we're cross) to reassure him that I still love him. Maybe Paul McCartney is right... All you need is love.

SM Part Deux

Well, I picked H up from school yesterday and he was smiling! He said he had fun and when I asked if he liked his lunch he said, 'Oh yes!' That's great!

But when he was getting in the shower last night, it started again... 'I don't want to go to school. School is yucky.' *Sigh* Imagine me, head down, shaking it in silent agony. He agreed not to fuss about school anymore last night, since he didn't have to go again until the morning.

Then morning comes... Huge tears, sticking that bottom lip out... 'I want to go back home! I will run away and go to your work.' I was sure to tell the teacher that one. They need to keep a close eye on him, because I have no doubt that my little one would try to sneak out. Geez... I have a panic attack just thinking about it!

We're going to try something new next week. I'm going to make a poster board look like a calendar and buy some stickers. Then at the end of each day, he can put a sticker on the board and he'll get some kind of prize if he's a good boy when I drop him off in the mornings. At the end of the week, if he has a sticker on every day, he'll get a big prize. I don't know what that is yet... could just be going to Cici's or a dvd that I've been saving to give to him. We'll see. Hopefully it'll help.

Chef Gone Wild

Harper came home from Daddy's/Daycare Monday afternoon with a stuffy nose and a bit of congestion. I sent him to school on Tuesday, but that night he coughed a lot. Wednesday morning, he woke up crying and coughing around 5a, so I gave him some medicine and he crawled in bed with me. I sent my boss a text to let him know I'd be staying home with a sick buddy.

H was in good spirits, but that cough was really bothering me. I made him a doctor's appointment (potentially as bad as being dropped off at school) and we got ready for the day.

I told him we were going to the doctor, but he wouldn't have to get a shot. I told him what the doctor was going to do (listen to him breathing, weigh him, etc) and he was totally fine with it! He was really good at the office and didn't cry one single time! Small prayer for the day answered. We learned that he weighs 39 lbs and he has a throat infection. Poor guy! He shook the Dr's hand and said "It was nice to see you!" and we headed out to drop of his prescription.

For the record, generic medications are supposed to be less expensive. I don't know who it is that thinks $47.90 w/insurance is inexpensive?... but they're insane. I guess I balked at the pharmacist when she said the cost, because she said she'd write off $17.90 and charge me $30 instead.

Anyway... Harper was just not himself yesterday. He would be in a great mood, then be really argumentative and flip out, then be fine again. It took him forever to go to sleep for his nap. Then I had to wake him up because it was his day to spend the afternoon with Daddy. He was hacked off that I woke him up. (Well... if he'd gone to sleep when I'd laid him down, he wouldn't have been so mad when it was time to wake up.) Jody got there about five minutes after he'd gotten out of bed, and H had just settled in to watch an episode of Thomas. So they hung out for about ten minutes, then headed to Jody's place. My phone rang 15 minutes later. Harper was screaming and crying that he wanted to come home. I told him and Jody both that he's been talking about spending time with Daddy for two days. If he comes home, he'll regret it. I would be there, and of course he can come home, but try to settle down and have some fun. Sure enough, five minutes passed and I got a text from J saying that everything was fine. Then when J brought H home, he didn't want him to leave. He's called Jody about ten times since he came home last night.

Normally, we start bedtime at 6:45ish. Since H slept a little late (not LONG, just late), I told him he could watch a couple of episodes of Thomas, while I got his bed ready and jammies out. He wanted chocolate milk and I said no way, because he was going to drink some in a few minutes and I didn't want him to wet the bed. We went around and around and I finally told him if he argued with me any more, he wasn't getting any at bedtime. I then went into the utility room to swap out the laundry and get his clean pjs. I was only gone for about 60 seconds. I came back into the kitchen and he's walking fast towards me saying 'I'm sorry Mommy. I'm so so sorry.' I'm thinking, 'Oh man! What did he do?' When I get in the kitchen I see water spilled on the floor, the half gallon container of milk (that's half full) has something brown and sticky on the outside and towards the top and some on the inside and it's not the creamy white that milk should be... it's brownish colored. The sugar free chocolate syrup container (that was half full) is now empty and laying on it's side next to the milk. There's a blue spoon in the milk and his chocolate milk cup is sitting next to it. Hmm...

Here's my theory:

Harper wanted chocolate milk. He opened the fridge, pulled out the necessities and couldn't get his cup open. So he got his cup of water that I'd made for him minutes earlier. He set it down, but accidentally knocked it over. He picks up the ice, and puts it back in the cup. Since he can't get into his purple cup, he'll pour the syrup into the milk and stir. Oh shoot... the spoon fell in there. Oh no! Here comes Mommy!

THE SCENE OF THE CRIME:

THE SPOON:

THE FINISHED PRODUCT:

I had to turn my head so he wouldn't see me laugh. You have to give him an A for his initiative! Of course now, I only have VERY chocolaty milk. No regular. He doesn't seem to mind. ;)

Spider Monkey Chronicles

Well, Harper's introduction to school was no indication of how actually going to school was going to be. He *loathes* it. From the time I pick him up in the afternoon, to the time I drop him off the next morning, he cries and says "I don't want to go to school! I'll stay home with you! Don't go to work! School is yucky! School is dirty! I don't like the boys and girls. I don't want to play..." etc etc. *Sigh* This is grueling for me, since I'm the one who has to drop him off everyday. When I do, I get the huge tears, "Mommy! I NEED you!", spider monkey (wraps-his-arms-and-legs-around-me-so-tight-a-teacher-has-to-pry-him-off-of-me-with-the-jaws-of-life grip).

I wasn't that thrilled with it last week, either. There are a bunch of kids in the class. So many it makes me wonder what the teacher/student ratio is supposed to be in Oklahoma. When I dropped him off the other day, there were already 25 kids in the class and two teachers! He doesn't have a cubby, so I have to haul his stuff back and forth everyday. A couple of times when I dropped him off, there was just one teacher and the breakfast lady. I was assured that the next teacher would be there in a few minutes, so I begrudgingly left him there. One of the little girls announced that her dad would be out of jail after Christmas (to which, sweet Angela reminds me that daycare is probably the most stability some of the kids may have).

The upsides of the school are that the teachers are SO nice. They have a phone in the room, and encourage me to call. I usually call once a day, just to make sure he's settling in. I've only talked to him once. When I did, he repeatedly said, "Come and get me Momma". They serve really good food for breakfast, lunch and snacks. Harper is learning to eat the new food, which is transitioning to home. He's trying so much more and *liking* it! Paranoid Mom that I am, though, I pack a peanut butter sandwich and pretzels, just in case he doesn't want what they're serving. Sometimes it comes back, sometimes he eats it. Hey, as long as he's getting some nutrition, I'm happy. The teachers always give me a report (verbal, not written) and let me know how's he's done during the day, what he's eaten, etc.

We'll see how it goes. I actually toured another school with him (major mistake). Now all he says is "I don't want to go to my new school (meaning his current school)! I want to go to the other school (the one we toured together)!" I hope he gives this school a chance. The teachers are nice, they sing songs and read stories. They even have sprinkler day on Fridays in August! If he doesn't calm down after a couple of weeks, Jody and I have agreed to reevaluate and decide what to do. It doesn't matter how much *we* like a school, if he doesn't enjoy himself while he's there.

So please pray that he settles in and starts to enjoy himself! I hate to think of my baby being miserable all day while he's away.

Slacking

I know, I know... I've been really bad about posting the last few days. I do have some stuff to put up here (H and how he *really* feels about daycare, and his chef skills at making chocolate milk - unsupervised - without me knowing it). I promise I'll do it Thursday!

Finding Nemo

Harper's current favorite movie is Finding Nemo. Here he is settling in to watch it for a slumber party with Mommy.

Introductions

This morning I met Jody and Harper at his new school so we could get aquainted with his future teacher and classroom. He starts on Tuesday and will be going 8-5 M-F! It's going to be a major adjustment.

Normally, Mimi takes care of him during the day and he's home. However, Mimi had a really good opportunity come her way, so she's going to give it a shot.

Harper has most recently been in a two year old Mother's Day out program at the church near our house. But honestly, we didn't care for the director of the program, so we didn't enroll him for the fall. But that program is just two days a week... I'm really curious how H is going to handle going five days in a row.

He surprised both of us when we got there. The school had hooked up some sprinkler in the outdoor play area and all the kids were running around in swim trunks and having a blast. The first thing H said was, "I want to play in the sprinkler!" So we're definitely off to a good start.

We talked to Miss Kelly, the head teacher of his class. Now, he's going from a two year old class to a Pre-K class. She said he won't be the youngest one. The kids' ages are from 3-5. So that was a big relief.

He was excited to see a train table in his classroom and we had to pry him away from it when it was time to go.

I hope he's this excited about it on Tuesday when I drop him off. It may be a different story when both Mommy and Daddy aren't standing right there. Fingers crossed and prayers to God that it's a smooth transition!