My little man has become SO independent recently. I thought he was before. No- that was nothing compared to the last week or so! (Now, I think some of it is because this last week was so hectic for him, maybe he wanted SOMETHING HE could control. But no matter why...)
First of all, we have a laundry chute in the bathroom. I never let him throw clothes down there because I'm worried he might start throwing other stuff down the chute, or fall down in (he's small enough so he fits right in the opening), and almost never let him see ME throw clothes down there either. But the other day when I was waiting for him to finish on the toilet, I threw a few clothes from the floor down into the chute. He burst out crying. I didn't realize why at the time, so just helped him get off the toilet, pull his pants up and go to the other room. It finally dawned on me what the problem was, so I asked him if HE wanted to throw clothes down the chute. He didn't answer, but got quieter, so I picked up a pair of socks and a towel from his floor and brought them into the bathroom and let him climb up on the step (cover to a kids potty chair) to throw the clothes down. He was much happier.
I don't remember if it was the same night, or the next night, but he knew it was bedtime, was playing in his room for a few minutes, then I turned off his overhead light (we have a low-level light on for him at night) and went to gather him up for reading his bedtime story. He burst out crying. I told him that he KNEW it was bedtime, and had been good about it before, so I didn't know what the problem was. He still continued to cry. Finally I asked him, "Did YOU want to turn off the light?" He slowed down his crying. So I carried him over to the light switch, let him turn the light on, then off again. No more tears. He was so much happier and went to bed like normal.
A few days ago, Terry changed Gavin's diaper (and for months now, he has asked Gavin to throw away the wet diaper afterwards--it's kind of Gavin's job), but either Terry or I carried the diaper out and threw it away. Gavin was so distraught, he started crying, then ran out to the trash can, opened the cover, and tried to reach in and get the diaper (so HE could throw it away.) But the diaper was too far down, and Gavin leaned in too far, and got stuck! (I TRIED to get a picture, but wasn't fast enough!) Anyway, we took the diaper out and gave it to him so he could throw it away. All was right with the world then. He had completed HIS job.
What a big boy he's becoming! That he actually gets upset when he doesn't get to do HIS "chores" (nothing formal yet) or take part in running the household. Like I said, I think it's actually because he had such a stressful week, but whatever the reason, he feels very strongly about helping out with some things. So of course we're going to let him. I think it's important that kids help out with the household if they can, it makes them feel important.
We all went for a walk (including Jasmine) last weekend, and we let Gavin hold the dogs leash. He was so thrilled! He ran with her, stopped when she stopped, and only had to drop the leash once, when she was sniffing around mailboxes for a long time. He was so proud of himself! So I've started realizing he really is ready to take part more in helping run the household.
2 nights ago, I realized I needed to run to the store for more drinks for him (before bed), so Terry was going to read him his books, give him his bottle, then put him to bed. Gavin looked at Daddy in his chair in his room, and said "Daddy, GET UP!", while still crying and holding onto me. SO, I took my customary place to read to him. Now, he's sometimes allowed Daddy to start the bedtime process, but not this night! I think he was just still wanting his Mommy, because he didn't let go of me for the longest time. Too much stress for him this week (between feeding therapy, starting one class, and doing age testing for preschool services), and he needed comforting. Which, of course, I feel sorry for him, but I also know it's typical development for his age! Poor little man. It's a rough transition for him, but at least I'll be there for him every step of the way!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Walking the dog
It was raining this morning when we took Gavin to his first "group" feeding therapy session, so we didn't stop at the park afterward. I didn't think anything of it, until this evening when we were eating dinner, Gavin said he wanted to go outside. I realized that except for walking to the car, he hadn't gone out at all today. So I said I'd take him for a short walk. But since I wasn't planning on going far, I thought we should try taking Jasmine too. So Terry came along to help out with Jasmine and Gavin. He handed Gavin the retractable leash for Jasmine, and off we went. Jasmine stopped a lot to pee, each time, with Gavin indicating "Jasmine go pee", (except he can't say "J" so it sounded more like "Davin go pee.") He held the leash the whole time, even breaking into a run sometimes when he felt like it, or when he needed to catch up to Jasmine. He had such a great time! The last time I gave him the leash to hold was several months ago, and he dropped it after just a couple of minutes. Watching him tonight, I was struck by how fast he's growing up, and how he can do so many things that I don't realize! For that matter, he understands a lot more than I realize, and remembers things that we don't think he would.
I know we need to give him things to do so that he feels like he's an important part of the family too, and that's what I learned tonight, is that I can ask him to do things I wouldn't normally think of, like hold Jasmine's leash so we can take her for a walk at the same time we go. I never used to take them out together, because it's just too much work for me to try to keep track of them both at the same time. But he did so well, I think we're going to start taking Jasmine with us more often. It just seemed to me like Gavin was such a big boy while walking the dog tonight. Guess he's growing up faster all the time!
I know we need to give him things to do so that he feels like he's an important part of the family too, and that's what I learned tonight, is that I can ask him to do things I wouldn't normally think of, like hold Jasmine's leash so we can take her for a walk at the same time we go. I never used to take them out together, because it's just too much work for me to try to keep track of them both at the same time. But he did so well, I think we're going to start taking Jasmine with us more often. It just seemed to me like Gavin was such a big boy while walking the dog tonight. Guess he's growing up faster all the time!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
County Fair 2010
We went to Isanti County Fair today (and Friday also.) Gavin could only handle it for 2 hours this time, compared to the 4 he did the other day, but that's certainly plenty! I took him on the Spinning Strawberries ride (like Teacups, but moved just a little slower probably), and then stood by him while he rode a horse on the Merry Go Round. I TRIED to take him on the Ferris Wheel, but apparently he had to be 36 inches (even if I went with him), which he isn't. My boy's too short to ride with a parent on the Ferris Wheel? Really? I guess there's probably a reason, like he could slide through and fall out or something. Guess we'll have to try for next year.
He seemed to enjoy the 2 rides I did take him on though. Plus, he had fun dancing in front of the H3 that the Army had there. Daddy would crank up the music and Gavin would dance on the ground in front of the speakers.
He seemed to enjoy the 2 rides I did take him on though. Plus, he had fun dancing in front of the H3 that the Army had there. Daddy would crank up the music and Gavin would dance on the ground in front of the speakers.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
farm in IA
We went to Terry's friends house in Iowa over 4th of July weekend. We left after he got out of work on Thursday, arriving there about 10:30 pm that night. His friend had an RV they let us use for the weekend so we had some privacy. A bonus was that it confined Gavin to a small area, and we didn't need to use a baby gate to keep him out of anything!
He had to sleep between his Mommy and Daddy, so nobody got quite enough sleep, but did pretty well. He especially liked their black Labs, and the chickens that ran around the yard all day. Gavin chased them somewhat, but not into a frenzy. He did quite well with them, and even talked back to them a few times. The rooster would crow, or a hen would cluck, and he'd "talk" to them. He had a great time seeing the chickens.
Saturday night, we got to ride one of the horses. Not for a long time, but it was still nice. Gavin went around on the horse with me first, then since he wanted to go again, Terry switched places with me and took Gavin around a couple more times. He still didn't want to get off the horse, so Gavin got to ride the horse by himself, while Daddy walked beside the horse, and Josh led the horse around. Gavin had a great time, until it was time to get off the horse so it could be put away for the night! He wanted to keep going!
The next day it rained the majority of the day, so we stayed inside a lot. Fireworks were postponed till the next night, but we had to leave during the day on Monday so missed them. We never did get back on the horses there, but Gavin found another source of amusement. He climbed in the front seat of the RV and pretended to drive (he even informed me that "I drive!")
It constantly amazes me how much stuff he knows, when he says something like that to me.
We gave him a bath the first day we were there, and he asked me about bubbles (as in, why weren't there any?) I told him we didn't have bubbles there, but we would for his next bath at home. He turned to Terry and said he wanted bubbles, so Terry told him that no, he didn't need bubbles right then. Gavin turned to me and said "Tell Daddy I need bubbles." It was so clear that we both started laughing. Of course, we were both pretty impressed at his being able to verbalize like that, plus, it was such a normal kid thing to say!
The next night while Terry was taking a shower, Gavin spilled his juice box on the table and himself, so I said "geez, you should just go take a shower with Daddy." I got some napkins to clean up the table, then heard Terry asking from the bathroom, if I let Gavin in there. Gavin had understood what I said, and thought I was telling him to take a shower (even though we've never given him one before), so he headed in to join Daddy. He had a pretty good time playing with the water falling from above!
It was a pretty good trip. Gavin got a little overwhelmed a few times, but the experience was great for him. We might even try to go back again sometime.
He had to sleep between his Mommy and Daddy, so nobody got quite enough sleep, but did pretty well. He especially liked their black Labs, and the chickens that ran around the yard all day. Gavin chased them somewhat, but not into a frenzy. He did quite well with them, and even talked back to them a few times. The rooster would crow, or a hen would cluck, and he'd "talk" to them. He had a great time seeing the chickens.
Saturday night, we got to ride one of the horses. Not for a long time, but it was still nice. Gavin went around on the horse with me first, then since he wanted to go again, Terry switched places with me and took Gavin around a couple more times. He still didn't want to get off the horse, so Gavin got to ride the horse by himself, while Daddy walked beside the horse, and Josh led the horse around. Gavin had a great time, until it was time to get off the horse so it could be put away for the night! He wanted to keep going!
The next day it rained the majority of the day, so we stayed inside a lot. Fireworks were postponed till the next night, but we had to leave during the day on Monday so missed them. We never did get back on the horses there, but Gavin found another source of amusement. He climbed in the front seat of the RV and pretended to drive (he even informed me that "I drive!")
It constantly amazes me how much stuff he knows, when he says something like that to me.
We gave him a bath the first day we were there, and he asked me about bubbles (as in, why weren't there any?) I told him we didn't have bubbles there, but we would for his next bath at home. He turned to Terry and said he wanted bubbles, so Terry told him that no, he didn't need bubbles right then. Gavin turned to me and said "Tell Daddy I need bubbles." It was so clear that we both started laughing. Of course, we were both pretty impressed at his being able to verbalize like that, plus, it was such a normal kid thing to say!
The next night while Terry was taking a shower, Gavin spilled his juice box on the table and himself, so I said "geez, you should just go take a shower with Daddy." I got some napkins to clean up the table, then heard Terry asking from the bathroom, if I let Gavin in there. Gavin had understood what I said, and thought I was telling him to take a shower (even though we've never given him one before), so he headed in to join Daddy. He had a pretty good time playing with the water falling from above!
It was a pretty good trip. Gavin got a little overwhelmed a few times, but the experience was great for him. We might even try to go back again sometime.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
He's growing up so quickly
Or at least it seems so. Tonight, I was reading one of his favorite books to him before bed. The book is "Biscuit goes to the farm." Biscuit is a puppy, and is the main character of a series of these books. He loves Biscuit books, even though we only have like 3 of them so far. So I was reading it to him, and on one page, it showed a piglet along with Biscuit. So after I read the words on the page, I pointed to the pig first and said "here's the piglet, and there's the puppy." He pulled the bottle of pediasure out of his mouth (I've found recently that he's drinking better if I read to him while he drinks), pointed to the puppy and said "that's Biscuit." Like he was just making sure I knew that was the puppys name. I just thought it was cute, but also realized at that time how much he seems to have grown up recently.
2 months ago he was barely saying any words, now he interrupts his bottle to make sure I'm reading the book correctly. He also takes the bottle out of his mouth just to read a specific page in the book (well, he doesn't READ it, he remembers what it says after we've read it to him so many times.) It's "Woof woof, Oink oink, Honk" since it's the puppy speaking, then the piglet, the the geese. Pretty easy for him to remember those words since he knows what sounds the animals make. Anyway, he does it EVERY time I get to that page. He loves "reading" the book to me. It's like he's so impressed with himself that he can do it too!
Let's see. What else. Oh, he can count to 11 on his own now. He could only count to 8, then to 10, now it's 11. We keep telling him 11, 12, but so far he's just gotten the 11 part. Not a problem. He doesn't even turn 2 1/2 for a few more days, and he says those on his own while running around or whatever. He can say most of the alphabet on his own, but tends to forget a few letters. What he DOES say, though, is in order. It's cute. He used to love pointing out the letter "E", but when he says the alphabet, it's A,B,C,D,F,G, etc. And "F" is pronounced "Epp", unless it's in a word, like "flag." Kind of like, he can pronounce the letter "M" in the alphabet, but when he refers to me, I'm "Bobby", like what it might sound like if he had a cold, except that he doesn't. I don't mind, except I do wonder how I went from "Momma" to "Bobby." Not a big problem at this time though.
Terry's company had a picnic yesterday at the Veterans Rest Home right outside of Forest Lake. Gavin had a pretty good time. Not so much in the beginning, but he liked it better as time went by. He tried to play soccer with the bigger boys, and had a great time dancing to the music playing on the car stereo. Then he laid down on our blanket and played with his cars a lot. There was a little girl there that kept trying to play with him, that he didn't care anything about, but when we brought him over to the beach (his first time!), he played a lot with the little girl over there. She had a ball that they threw back and forth (kind of anyway!) in the water. He seemed to like her, and I think she wasn't much different age than the other girl, but whatever. Maybe it was because the first girl didn't speak at all, and the 2nd one did. I don't know, but everyone is like that. We like some people, and don't care as much for others.
He liked walking in the sand, both dry and wet (I figured he'd object to it because of his sensory issues), and loved watching the waves come up and splash over his legs. It was kind of chilly, so he didn't get the upper part of his body wet, but we are definitely going to have to take him to the beach more often, now that we know where one is. Of course, I'm hoping there's one closer than that to us!
2 months ago he was barely saying any words, now he interrupts his bottle to make sure I'm reading the book correctly. He also takes the bottle out of his mouth just to read a specific page in the book (well, he doesn't READ it, he remembers what it says after we've read it to him so many times.) It's "Woof woof, Oink oink, Honk" since it's the puppy speaking, then the piglet, the the geese. Pretty easy for him to remember those words since he knows what sounds the animals make. Anyway, he does it EVERY time I get to that page. He loves "reading" the book to me. It's like he's so impressed with himself that he can do it too!
Let's see. What else. Oh, he can count to 11 on his own now. He could only count to 8, then to 10, now it's 11. We keep telling him 11, 12, but so far he's just gotten the 11 part. Not a problem. He doesn't even turn 2 1/2 for a few more days, and he says those on his own while running around or whatever. He can say most of the alphabet on his own, but tends to forget a few letters. What he DOES say, though, is in order. It's cute. He used to love pointing out the letter "E", but when he says the alphabet, it's A,B,C,D,F,G, etc. And "F" is pronounced "Epp", unless it's in a word, like "flag." Kind of like, he can pronounce the letter "M" in the alphabet, but when he refers to me, I'm "Bobby", like what it might sound like if he had a cold, except that he doesn't. I don't mind, except I do wonder how I went from "Momma" to "Bobby." Not a big problem at this time though.
Terry's company had a picnic yesterday at the Veterans Rest Home right outside of Forest Lake. Gavin had a pretty good time. Not so much in the beginning, but he liked it better as time went by. He tried to play soccer with the bigger boys, and had a great time dancing to the music playing on the car stereo. Then he laid down on our blanket and played with his cars a lot. There was a little girl there that kept trying to play with him, that he didn't care anything about, but when we brought him over to the beach (his first time!), he played a lot with the little girl over there. She had a ball that they threw back and forth (kind of anyway!) in the water. He seemed to like her, and I think she wasn't much different age than the other girl, but whatever. Maybe it was because the first girl didn't speak at all, and the 2nd one did. I don't know, but everyone is like that. We like some people, and don't care as much for others.
He liked walking in the sand, both dry and wet (I figured he'd object to it because of his sensory issues), and loved watching the waves come up and splash over his legs. It was kind of chilly, so he didn't get the upper part of his body wet, but we are definitely going to have to take him to the beach more often, now that we know where one is. Of course, I'm hoping there's one closer than that to us!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Do books need food?
Gavin has started (occasionally, while sitting on our laps), trying to feed his bottles to the characters in his books. Today, it was Lightning McQueen from the "Cars" book. A lot of times we start reading to him before he drinks his bottle, to calm him down so he doesn't get stressed over it. But I'm not sure what is the deal with feeding the cars his bottle. It's cute though. So what if he doesn't pretend to feed stuffed animals? He pretends to feed his book characters. Isn't that pretty much the same?
Princeton parade
I brought Gavin to the parade in Princeton (MN) the other night. Daddy was going to be driving the H3 (Hummer), and I didn't want Gavin to miss it. We sat on the ground next to a couple who lived right in back of where they were sitting. They had 2 kids, one of them a 3-4ish year old boy, the other was a baby, maybe 8 months old. We watched the floats, Gavin liked the honking of the fire trucks and such (he loves saying "Beep" right now). His favorite thing though was the music. He loved the bands. Even when the other musicians weren't playing, he loved listening to the drums, and danced freely on the sidewalk and on the side of the road by where we were sitting. He was (as my father would say) "A big hit!" He danced and made sure to clap when the music was done. People watched him dance and I could tell they were smiling while watching him.l A kid he was sitting next to, started whispering to him something about "time to dance", so I guess that kid got a kick out of watching Gavin also. The kid was maybe 7 years old, or so.
Every time one of the parade entrants would go by and throw candy, Gavin TRIED to run out and get some. He wasn't really fast enough though, so I tried to help him as best as I could by jumping out and grabbing a few pieces of candy, like lollipops. He likes those, and we'll let him have them, whereas we don't let him have the hard pieces of candy. Anyway, one of the kids right near us jumped in front of everyone else to get to all of the candy when it was thrown. Because Gavin wasn't able to get to the candy before the other kids got it, the little boy we were next to walked over to Gavin and handed him a lollipop. I thanked him wholeheartedly (because it was such a nice thing for him to do, NOT because Gavin needed any more candy!), and his mother praised him for doing so well. He came over later on and gave Gavin another piece of candy. I thanked him again.
An hour or so went by, and we continued watching the parade, and I tried to show Gavin how to run out and get the candy with me, but it was usually gone by the time we got there. No problem. He didn't seem upset, and I didn't think he needed more candy since he already had a lollipop in his mouth. A little girl (from the other side of us) came over and handed Gavin a piece of candy, asking me "would he like a piece of candy?" I replied that "I'm sure he would love it. Thank you so much." I was just so impressed that in a situation when most kids are all about running for the candy and eating it before they get home, 2 kids came over to give Gavin some of the candy they had collected. Their moms should be proud that they have raised good empathetic kids.
One of Terry's coworkers was walking beside their vehicle handing out flags. Gavin loves flags so he was pretty excited to receive it. So excited, that even though Terry was only about 10 feet away and yelled to Gavin, Gavin didn't even seem to notice him. So, I picked Gavin up and carried him over to the H3 to show him his Daddy. (His face lit up then when his saw his Daddy then!)
Anyway, Gavin had a good time at the parade. I can't wait to take him to another one!
Every time one of the parade entrants would go by and throw candy, Gavin TRIED to run out and get some. He wasn't really fast enough though, so I tried to help him as best as I could by jumping out and grabbing a few pieces of candy, like lollipops. He likes those, and we'll let him have them, whereas we don't let him have the hard pieces of candy. Anyway, one of the kids right near us jumped in front of everyone else to get to all of the candy when it was thrown. Because Gavin wasn't able to get to the candy before the other kids got it, the little boy we were next to walked over to Gavin and handed him a lollipop. I thanked him wholeheartedly (because it was such a nice thing for him to do, NOT because Gavin needed any more candy!), and his mother praised him for doing so well. He came over later on and gave Gavin another piece of candy. I thanked him again.
An hour or so went by, and we continued watching the parade, and I tried to show Gavin how to run out and get the candy with me, but it was usually gone by the time we got there. No problem. He didn't seem upset, and I didn't think he needed more candy since he already had a lollipop in his mouth. A little girl (from the other side of us) came over and handed Gavin a piece of candy, asking me "would he like a piece of candy?" I replied that "I'm sure he would love it. Thank you so much." I was just so impressed that in a situation when most kids are all about running for the candy and eating it before they get home, 2 kids came over to give Gavin some of the candy they had collected. Their moms should be proud that they have raised good empathetic kids.
One of Terry's coworkers was walking beside their vehicle handing out flags. Gavin loves flags so he was pretty excited to receive it. So excited, that even though Terry was only about 10 feet away and yelled to Gavin, Gavin didn't even seem to notice him. So, I picked Gavin up and carried him over to the H3 to show him his Daddy. (His face lit up then when his saw his Daddy then!)
Anyway, Gavin had a good time at the parade. I can't wait to take him to another one!
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