Shoes

uh oh! Payton seems to LOVE shoes!! I keep her shoes in a drawer in her dresser, as soon as she wakes up, she runs to the dresser and pulls out 2 shoes, and every single time they are matching shoes! She carries them to me and holds her foot up. If I don't put them on, she gets so upset, lol! (Don't worry, I put them on her) I think we're going to be spending a lot of money on shoes!

Challenging

I think this is a great word for Garrett right now, he is "challenging", me and everyone around him. I thought maybe he was acting out because he's wanting more attention. It's true Payton gets a lot of attention and because of her age, it's almost always positive attention, whereas Garrett seems to be getting in trouble a lot, so he's getting a lot of negative attention. I noticed that he's been crawling into my lap more and "acting like Payton", as he says. So, I made a very serious effort for a couple days, made sure I praised him for his good behavior, made sure I wasn't texting or using my phone when he was around, so my attention was focused on him. well, it didn't work, lol! I'm not giving up, but the extra attention had no effect on him at all. This morning, he stood in front of me and screamed no in my face when I told him it was time to get dressed for school. He got put to bed early, last night, for doing the exact same thing. When he screams in my face like that, I very seriously want to spank him, but I gather patience from some leftover reserve and very calmly tell him that is not how you talk to me, then I get up and walked away. I was so angry my face was hot. He stomped and sighed all over the house, up until we got to school, then he was fine. But, this morning, as it's been for a while, I literally counted the minutes until he left for school. I am finding myself dreading summer break, and that's not how I want to feel. I am finding myself down in the dumps, I can't tell if this is why G is acting out or if I feel like this because he's acting out so much. But, something has to change.

Struggling

Garrett & I are just struggling to get along right now. I don't know if our personalities are just too close, or what, but we are constantly fighting right now. It is wearing me out! He is extremely defiant and just plain ornery. He doesn't want to do anything I suggest and if we don't do what he wants, he's started to throw these fits. Now, he's 4, I thought we were well beyond this stage, so I'm not sure what to think. He whines constantly and it drives me nuts! I am trying really hard to limit the amount of tv he watches, but the first thing he asks for when he wakes up is to watch Dinosaur Train or Dino Dan. The rule is he can't watch any until we eat breakfast and Payton is awake, so his immediate reply is he's hungry and thinks we should wake Payton. Garrett wakes between 6:30 & 7, Payton not until 8, so he does have to wait a while. The second rule is he can only watch one show, then it's either time to get ready for school, or to go outside and play. This now results in a total meltdown, often with time outs, spankings, or being put in his room for being SO bad. Then, he's usually fine for a while, he either plays nicely for a while or is at school. After school is another fight, he rarely eats his lunch, so he's terribly irritable when I pick him up. I try so hard to be patient and understand that he's hungry and tired, but within the 7 minute ride home he whines and cries so much, I've almost lost it when we walk in the door. Some days it's a fight getting him to go to the bathroom, some days it's just a fight getting him to lay down. Once he's in bed, he relaxes and we read and sing songs, some days this goes fine, other days he throws a fit and wants to read more then 2 books. Then I breathe a huge sigh of relief once he's asleep. I literally start tensing up when I know i need to wake him, the whining starts IMMEDIATELY. Some days we have to eat and get out the door for tball, other nights, like yesterday, I let him lay on the couch and watch one show, just so he can wake up.

I really don't know how to handle this new behavior, it's going to be a long summer if we can't come to some understanding about the tv, and what's acceptable behavior!

He was so bad after tball on Tuesday, he was spanked twice just to get him to leave the park, he cried all the way to the car and all the way home, I made him go to bed right after we got home. It was barely 7:30! Yesterday, he behaved pretty well, today has been horrible! I dropped him off at the shop around 9:15, I needed a break and maybe Matt can talk some sense into him.

I just hope whatever "phase" this is passes soon!!

Eye Dr

At Garrett's 4 year well visit, they did an eye exam and he did not pass. I started wearing glasses when i was around 3 or 4 and Matt started in elementary school, so we figured Garrett would need them too, I just was hoping it would be later on.

Today we had his eye Dr appt. It was a long appt and it was so boring for a 4 year old, he did great until they put the drops in to dilate his eyes, then it went downhill, fast! He did not like the drops. But, in all, his eyes are healthy, he needs corrective lenses for both eyes, but the right eye is worse then the left. He has an astigmatism in both, but the right is more prominent (I think that's what she said).

He will need to wear glasses for school, watching TV and reading books, but not for playing outside.

We are going this weekend to get him some frames and lenses, I'll post a picture once he's got them.

Harvey Little League

Yep, it's started, we have entered the exciting world of t-ball!

Opening ceremonies were on Saturday. It was a crazy day. We had to be at the field by 8:30, we had pictures at 8:45, opening ceremonies started at 10 and their first game was at 12. We didn't leave until about 1:30. Whew, we were all exhausted, we all napped after the game! Payton had the hardest time, since she missed her morning nap, which ended up resulting in the cuddliest baby ever, so I didn't mind too much. She only cried if she couldn't see me (she has separation anxiety pretty bad!). Garrett did great, he had one minor meltdown before opening ceremonies, another team had some donuts and he wanted a donut so bad and couldn't understand why he couldn't go have one of theirs or why I couldn't just go get some. But, a little diversion and he was right back on track.

The game was hilarious! The kids had so much fun. Of course, they ran all over and the balls were rolling all over the field. With so many parents yelling they couldn't hear who was to run to first or second, so it was pretty funny. A few kids picked flowers, but it's boring in the outfield, so who blames them?!?!

In Harvey Little League T-ball, every child gets to hit the ball in every inning, so an inning takes a little while. They get 3-4 pitches and if they still don't hit it then they hit off the tee. We made it through 2 innings, lol! We do not keep score, since there are no outs. It's all just for fun and from what I could tell the kids had a ton of it!

Lullaby

Every night, since Garrett was born (and every nap I'm with him), I sign Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and You Are My Sunshine to him. Payton, on the other hand does not enjoy rocking and singing. I can't really complain because putting her to bed is about the easiest thing I do all day. But, the past few nights Garrett insists on helping me put Payton to bed and it's ADORABLE!!

I'll put her in her crib, she'll grab her paci and her monkey blanket and get ready to lay down and Garrett will clear his throat (I'm not kidding, fist to his mouth, even!), then very quietly sings Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star to her. She just sits and stares at him through the crib. Then he grabs my hand and we quietly walk out, I always say, "I love you, Payton", and he does too, then he blows her kisses and says sleep tight.

It is absolutely precious!

Payton, 1 year

Some of Payton. Taking her picture was much harder, she just did not want to sit still. I have great ones of the back of her!!

Garrett, 4 years

Here are my favorites of Garrett:

Pictures

Lindsay helped me take 1 & 4 year pictures of the kids, I think we got some great ones! I'm going to post them in separate posts so I can post more. I'll post my favorites of them together here: