Sunday, December 20, 2009

Just put the boys in their room for morning playtime. Artist kept pointing out the window at the snow, then pointing to the TV, and jabbering with a syllable in there somewhere that sounded like 'ow man'. So I asked 'Do you want to watch Frosty the Snowman?' First he cheered and clapped for me because I figured it out, then he proceeded to hum a toddler version of the Frosty song while DOING A PERFECT IMITATION OF THE FROSTY DANCE--the part he does during the 'down through the village' portion of the song. He even held an imaginary broom while he did it! There are days I wish I had 24 hour nanny cam on the boys, just to catch moments like that.

December 19, 2009

Family movie night--Patrick Stewart's 'A Christmas Carol'. Five minutes in, Fighter had bit and pulled Artist's hair at least a dozen times and we separated them. Twenty minutes in, Superhero and Fighter were both sleeping, with Artist curled up on Daddy's lap trying to watch the movie. Fifteen minutes later, Artist fell asleep, too, so John & I watched the rest of the movie with the boys sleeping around us. It was very peaceful.

December 18, 2009

Today was Superhero's preschool Christmas party. I had originally intended not to go, because I didn't want to expose the twins to a preschool class full of germs (they're not 100% healthy yet). I just couldn't leave, though, especially knowing the class was doing a performance. It was a nightmare--Fighter, especially, was incredibly poorly behaved, and at one point I just put the twins (in their stroller) in a room across the hall from the classroom and closed the door so that I and the other parents could hear the preschool performance. I was glad I had stayed, though, when it came time for Superhero to see Santa. He had talked about nothing else all week, but once the time came for him to sit on Santa's lap, he was horribly nervous. There were a handful of other children uninterested in sitting on Santa's lap, so I didn't really think anything of it. I kept trying to talk to Superhero about what was going on, until finally, he looked at me with tears in his eyes and said "Mommy, I'm just afraid Santa knows how naughty I've been." I was heartbroken--Superhero's behavior has been rather ... exceptional lately, but John and I have ALWAYS been very careful to separate his BEHAVIOR from HIM--in other words, we never tell him he's been 'bad', but rather focus on inappropriate behavior that needs to change. Worse, another little boy overheard and spoke up, saying something to the effect that Superhero should be worried, because he was always bad. I tried to tell Superhero then and there (along with the other little boy, whose mother seemed a bit annoyed that I dared to call him down for his rudeness) that he was a good child, with a good heart, and while he sometimes behaved inappropriately, that was ok, because he was still learning how to be the person he wanted to be. However, I think Santa had more impact--he talked to Superhero quietly for about five minutes (after a minute or two, even managing to get Superhero onto his lap). I didn't hear the entire conversation, but I heard enough to know that Santa told Superhero he understood how hard it was to be five, and how hard it was to be a big brother, with your little brothers always looking up to you and expecting you to do the right thing, and that no one could do the right thing all the time, but it was important that we try our best in all things. I am so sad that Superhero seems to have inherited my own overactive sense of guilt, and ticked off that the biggest thing he seems to have learned from preschool is how 'bad' he is. He has the body of an eight year old, the brain of a ten year old, and the emotions of a barely five year old--it cannot be a fun combination :(

Saturday, December 12, 2009

I tried to get the boys to tell Daddy happy birthday today. None of them would. The twins just ignored me, while Superhero explained to me that we needed a decorations, presents, and a cake first. Superhero eventually told his Daddy happy birthday (while I was out of the room--he's quite possibly more stubborn than I am), and later he wrote daddy a happy birthday note--it was even mostly legible.

Artist discovered a bag with a couple of wrapped presents in my mom's closet. He walked around for five minutes with it slung over his shoulder, saying 'O, O, O. O, O, O'.

Fighter has a new method for getting his snuggles--he just walks around making kissing sounds until someone comments on it, then runs to them with arms spread wide so he can give the kisses to them.

Health

It's been a horrible six weeks or so. At the beginning of November, all three boys were sick. It wasn't severe, so we didn't go to the pediatrician, though we did call them several times. By mid-November they were better, then John got horribly sick around Thanksgiving--a viral upper respiratory infection that he's still not completely over. Then Superhero & Artist started coughing and running a fever, so we called the pediatrician. After we walked through the doors, Fighter started coughing a bit, too, and running a low grade fever. He had the mildest symptoms, but was the sickest of the three--While Artist & Superhero seemed to be coming down with a cold, Fighter had an ear infection and had lost over four pounds in a month (he had also grown an inch in that time frame). So, Artist got steroids to strengthen his lungs, all three were given Mucinex DM for their cough, and Fighter got antibiotics for his infection, an iron supplement, and Pediasure to help get his weight up. Fighter and Superhero seemed to recover well from that, but Artist kept getting more and more congested. Last Monday, I woke up with a raging fever and a sore throat--I had sinusitis AND strep throat. The next morning, John had to take off from work to take Artist to the pediatrician again--his lungs were MOSTLY clear, so she suggested we switch to a decongestant (instead of Mucinex) and use a nebulizer. He used the nebulizer that afternoon and evening. Tuesday at midnight, he was having trouble breathing, so I gave him a nebulizer treatment. John gave him another at 4:30. at 6:30, I woke up to his extremely labored breathing, so after it took me ten minutes to wake him, I gave him another nebulizer treatment while John called the pediatrician. He was in respiratory distress, and got another breathing treatment as soon as the medical staff arrived at the office, went to the hospital for blood tests and x-rays, then got another breathing treatment at ten, along with a steroid shot. Wednesday night, Superhero spiked a fever, and both he and Fighter started coughing. Thursday morning, Superhero added a sore throat to his list of complaints. So the wonderful pediatrician saw Artist to check on his breathing, then prescribed some Orapred and antibiotics for the other two, as well. I'm pretty sure we've paid for a pharmacist's kids' next college semester, but everyone is finally on the mend. Fingers crossed.