Day 4 and the end of the first week

Another day of no nightmares or panic when I woke up :-) However, it was a rough night with Cohen...and by rough, I don't mean I have a newborn baby rough..just that he was moaning and whining in his sleep more than usual and he woke up at 5:30ish which is earlier than he has been. He was getting up at 4 but we started eliminating that feeding until he got sick. After he was over the Roseola, he eliminated it on his own and started sleeping until 7ish. I sent Chris in this morning to put him back to sleep but he was up again before 7 which didn't give me time to take a shower or start getting Braedon's lunch ready.

I had promised Braedon we would go earlier so he would have time to play so the goal was to leave about 7:40 when we had been leaving at 8. Our morning was as it had been the last couple days-Braedon ate breakfast and got ready fairly quickly and was able to play with some toys for about 10 min before we left.

When we got to school, there was only 1 other child there and no teachers so we waited a few minutes. Once everyone started showing up, I was waiting for the teachers to say it was ok for them to go play since they've been re-painting near the playground. I also wanted to see who his friend were and maybe see who he is getting in trouble with it. Before I know it, I was about to tell him bye and he ran up to me and punched me in my arm-hard. After he did it, he just looked at me like he hadn't done anything wrong. He flipped an attitude with me when he appologized and didn't seem to care that he had hurt me and that it was wrong to punch someone. I pulled him aside and told him that he hurt my feelings-which he didn't care and just kept asking if he could go play yet. I told him that if I got another bad report from his teacher today then he would NOT be allowed to watch Transformers when he got home nor would he be allowed to play with his toys or do anything fun. He's had a bad report for 3 days and we didn't punish him; just talked to him.

You'll have to scroll down for how his day went. But for now-more pictures of my handsome dude :-)




So are you noticing a trend here??

Yes-I do LOVE Braedon in plaid
Yes-he does have a "few" shorts in this very handsome plaid print-7 to be exact
Yes-I did count them :-)
Yes-he does pick out his clothes the night before
Yes-I do set out said outfits and let him chose which one he wants to wear
No-he hasn't selected a "non plaid" shorts outfit
Yes-it has been an option
No-I don't influence which outfit he chooses of the one's I've laid out
Yes-he does know how absolutely handsome he is and in fact, when he's picking out his clothes for the next day he says "I think I'll look handsome in this".

And now for how his 4th day went which also concludes his first week. Today, I went straight to Ms. Jimenez when I saw him dragging behind the class and not wanting to approach me. She said he did really great-much better than yesterday-UNTIL 11am when he punched one of his friends in the back. She said he called it a super punch. When I asked him about it, he said that this friend had a ball that he wanted. I asked him if he asked him for it and he said no, he just punched him. The problem we had today is that was 2 punching incidents and he doesn't seem to care or acknowlege that it is wrong and it hurts. He just kept saying "it was a super punch" or "it was just a punch in the shoulder". Apparently he doesn't know the difference between real and fake. The "super punch" line got me thinking about the Bolt video game he plays where Bolt has super powers one of them being a "super bark". Chris and I decided that he needs to lay off the video games because once we thought about it, all of them have some sort of reward for punching, kicking and knocking things over. He has a few that we will let him play like Boom Blox which is like a Tetris meets Jenga? Steven Speilberg created it so he had something to play with his kids. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this. I think we are going to take him to see a psychologist so he has someone to talk to. Maybe someone that is trained in behaviors can get to the root of the problem and help him figure out a way to control his anger instead of getting rid of it by hitting, kicking, etc.

I'm really going to buckle down this weekend with him. I've been "picking my battles" for a while because sometimes it's just not worth it but we've tried everything and it's not working either. I am going to concentrate on positive reinforcements and praise when he's good. I hope we have a better week next week.

And now a couple pictures of Cohen from dinner tonight.

What are you lookin at?



Do I have something on my face??

Day 3

Third day is a charm, right? I guess we'll see when I pick Braedon up but so far so good :-)

I did NOT wake up in a panic this morning LOL! Braedon actually woke me up! He came into our room shortly after Chris got up to get ready. I'm not sure what time it was but it was still dark. Next thing I know, Braedon is waking me up: "Mommy"---"Mommy"---"yes?"----"Mommy, it's 6 o'clock"---"Ok bud, we're ok if it's only 6"---*I better check the time since he's still learning to tell time" Well, it was 6 *something* heehee It was 6:58 and he doesn't know that that really means it's almost 7 and we really need to get up. "Ok bud, it's time to get up. Mommy's going to get in the shower but I'd like for you to stay in here so you don't wake up your brother"---Yes, today yet again, Cohen was still asleep at 7. It didn't make me as nervous as yesterday but I still went and checked on him. He's taken to sleeping on his tummy which he's ALWAYS hated! I swore he was never going to crawl because he would just scream and scream if I put him down for tummy time and once he learned out to roll over, he was NEVER on his tummy.

So we followed the same routine this morning: took a shower, made Braedon's breakfast and lunch, nursed Cohen, got them both dressed, hair done and brushed their teeth and off to school we went...not late today since we sort of have the car problems temporarily fixed. We got to school a little after 8 so Braedon would have some play time before school started but apparently they were heading in early and had already lined up to go into the classroom. ARG! I guess we'll have to leave earlier tomorrow so he can play.

And now I leave you with this mornings pictures (yes I'm crazy-I mean seriously, what Mom takes a picture every day to mark the first week of school??) and I'll update with how his day went a little later today.


He's just too handsome and cool for words-but I'm biased ;-)

For Uncle Colby

And here's a couple of Cohen playing after dropping Braedon off:


He definitely still has Chris' skintone-though my mom and Colby have the "olive" tone as well-but MAN! his hair is getting so light! You'd think the dark hair would dominate but I guess I'm winning that one :-)

Update:

The boys are playing-Cohen misses him for those 3 hours-so I have a quick second for an update. The 3rd day was NOT a charm though Ms. Jimenez said he was "better". I knew something happened immediately. He came around the corner dragging his lunchbox, shoulders flopped over and his head hung but he wouldn't tell me what happened. As soon as he saw me, he sat down on the ground, buried his head in his hands and when he looked up, he had tears in his eyes. I don't get it-he knows when he is doing something wrong, he knows he will get in trouble for it, he knows it will make Mommy and Daddy sad...and yet, he still does it. We give him attention, we praise him when he's good, we give him *most* anything he wants when he's good (within reason of course) we warn him before we punish him and even tell him what the punishment will be if he continues but he still does it.

So today, he decided it would be *fun* to fling his lunchbox around hitting other kids while they were walking to the cafeteria and then refused to hold her hand when he wouldn't stop. She said he also *sulked* when he had to sit out for 5 min of playtime as a punishment. They also use a red, yellow and green light for behavior. She warned him that he was *on the verge* of going into yellow (but not there yet) which he did NOT like and she said he threw a fit about it. GREAT...She gave me some comfort when she said he was definitely better, she's seen a lot worse and she's confident that he will be fine "We just need to nip it in the butt now".

Ah, we shall see what tomorrow brings :-)

Day 2

Oh what a day it was! I woke up in a panic AGAIN but not because of nightmares LOL! It was almost 7am and Cohen hadn't been up yet. He's usually up between 4-5am, so 7 was a stretch. He must have been pretty tired-poor baby.

So we got up, got ready, I made Braedon lunch and breakfast and packed his bag. Braedon got ready faster this morning-he must've been excited-so we were still a little early. I let Braedon play in his toy room for a few minutes before we left. So now it was time to leave, I loaded up the kids into their carseats, made sure Braedon had his backpack and lunch, turned the car on, tried to put it in reverse....and it wouldn't go! It was like it was stuck so I turned the car off and back on..still nothing. I called Chris in a panic. Braedon's 2nd day of school and I had no way to get there. After almost 10 minutes of panic, the neighbor across the street-that I hardly know-came out so I ran over to ask him if we could get a ride up to the school. It turns out his youngest is starting kindergarten as well so he was headed up there..whew!

So I got him to school but I wasn't sure how I would be getting him home. I called my mom but she was going to be gone at that time, I called Namma but she had doctor's appointments. Great-stuck! Chris did some research and found out there is a plastic peice inside the shifter that is known to break in my car....FANTASTIC! While Chris was researching it from work, I called the dealership to find out a price to fix it. They told me exactly what it was but they couldn't fix just that peice; They'd have to replace the entire shifter thingy (I don't talk cars, can you tell?) and after parts and labor it would be close to $300...FANTASTIC!

Leave it to my husband to find an answer for cheaper :-) I love him! There is a company that makes just the part that broke but instead of plastic, it's metal so it won't keep breaking. The only problem is, we have to order it online and wait for it to come in. Why couldn't this have happened last week before Braedon started school. I was trying to figure out how I was going to get Braedon to school and back until we could get it fixed when Chris called with something he found. Someone figured out how to rig it to at least get you home or to the dealership and posted it online so he walked me through it. It will work until we can get the part in so I was able to pick Braedon up from school but I had to laugh because I had told him this morning that we may have to walk home. Once I picked him up, he didn't see my car and thought we had to walk-he was not happy LOL!

In other news, Braedon's day wasn't as good as yesterday. His teacher told me that he had some problems listening. She said he wanted to do what he wanted to do and wouldn't do what he was told. I told her about the problems he had at daycare and we are having the same problems at home. Right before Chris was laid off last year, Braedon was constantly getting in trouble for not listening. If the class was doing something he didn't want to do, then he didn't do it and proceeded to do whatever he wanted. Hopefully his teacher will be able to get him to listen better than the daycare and better than me for that matter. He gets sent to timeout at home and then continues to throw a fit getting him in more trouble. I don't know why he acts this way but I'm hoping for a solution soon.

A few more pictures from this morning-before the car trouble



Such a handsome boy--don't you think??

Oh and these were taken yesterday while I was making dinner. Apparently it was a rough day for Cohen having big brother at school LOL!

First day of (Jumpstart) kindergarten

The last almost 6 years have been leading up to today and it was just as emotional as I thought it was going to be.

Friday, the boys and I went shopping with Namma and Gamma for Braedon's school clothes. We went to Penny's and had WAY too much fun and spent WAY more than I had planned on. Chris and I had different views about the whole new school clothes thing for Kindergarten. I always looked forward to buying new clothes and I remember how good I felt going to school in new clothes. Chris thought Kindergarten was too early and we should wait until he starts first grade...needless to say, I won that battle. As I said earlier, we had way too much fun but Penny's was having a really good sale in the boys department. He got about 10 pairs of shorts, probably 15 or so shirts, shoes, socks, undies, Transformers backpack and Bumble Bee lunch box. After 2 hours of shopping and trying on-a lot for a boy of any age :-) -we headed to Peter Piper Pizza for lunch and some running around time for Braedon. When we got home, I got busy cutting off all the tags so they could get washed. I cleared out the clothes that were too small and replaced them with all his new big boy clothes. I also seperated school clothes from play clothes. I hated this as a kid but it isn't until you are a parent that you understand and appreciate what your parents did.

Yesterday morning, we got a newspaper to look at all the ads and headed to Wal-Mart for some basic school supplies. The secretary at the school said he would get a supply list on his first official day of school but we would be safe picking up the basics before school started. We picked up some Transformers portfolios to hold all his papers and homework, glue, stick glue, crayons, pencils, coloring pencils, erasers, pencil sharpener, ruler, markers and a Bumble Bee spiral notebook. I don't know how much the notebook will get used since he's still learning how to write but he wanted it. Last night, we loaded up his backpack, picked out his "first day" clothes and headed off to bed early for a goodnight's rest.

This morning I woke up in a panic. I had nightmares, which I thought were only reserved for kids. Apparently there's a whole new set of nightmares when you are the parent of school age children. I dreamt (is that a word?) that we were late, he didn't make any friends-yeah right if you know Braedon LOL, kids made fun of him, he sat alone at lunch, and last but certainly not least; he couldn't find me when school was out and vice versa. There were a lot of kids just running around looking for their parents and he was stuck in the middle of it and I couldn't find him. Man! Dreams are crazy and I woke up sweating and shaking thinking I had missed the alarm..but it was only 6 and he didn't have to be there until 8:30. I just stayed up to make sure I didn't miss the alarm. I took my time getting ready, packing his lunch, making sure his clothes weren't wrinkled and made him breakfast then woke him up.

I was doing OK until we got to the school. We took pictures in front of the house and I was fine. It wasn't until I took a picture at the school in front of the gym that I just about lost it. I held it in and stayed strong though I had 3 more urges before we even got to his classroom. Once we got in the classroom, I signed him in and let them know I would be picking him up while he put his backpack away and sat at a table with some kids putting puzzles together. I bent down to give him a hug and kiss; say goodbye and tell him to have a GREAT day. I was hesitant to leave and felt like I needed to stay and watch but there weren't any other parents in there and I could feel the teacher looking at me telling me with her eyes that he would be ok and I needed to leave. I turned around to walk out the door and just as I was opening the door, Braedon turns around and yells "Mommy!"---"Yes bud?"---"I'll miss you!"---"I'm going to miss you too bud"---insert tears here---I held it in until I was out the door where I met several other mothers letting their tears out too. I didn't feel so bad :-)

It was a long 3 hours for me but when I picked him up, he said he had fun. They didn't let them out where they said they would and I had told Braedon I would pick him up at the flagpole unless his teacher said something different. When I was walking toward him, he hadn't seen me yet and he kept looking at the flagpole for me. He looked a little nervous but he was fine once he saw me. I also noticed he didn't eat very much lunch so I'm sure he was nervous and excited all at the same time. He'll get better at this as the school year goes on...as will I, I'm sure.

9 month pics

All American boys:


Cohen standing by himself without help for the very first time! The photographer snapped it quick:


Family shots:

Waterpark fun

Yesterday we ventured out to the local aquatic center. It was our first visit there but it is next to the Library so we've passed it several times and Braedon had been asking to go. It was a LOT of fun though I got REALLY sunburned :( I was more concerned with keeping the kiddo's covered, I forgot myself. Anyway, the aquatic center had a splash pad area for younger kid's, 2 slides, 2 diving boards, a main pool area that was around 5' deep for free swimming, a whirlpool and a fairly large area that was 3-4' deep for the kids to just hang out in and play. Braedon had an absolute BLAST riding the slides more times than I can count and showing off his mad diving skills on the diving boards. I think even the lifeguards were impressed by his abilities in such a small body LOL! Cohen hasn't really taken to the water-other than his baths which he LOVES. I think it is because it is too big and he can't reach the bottom. We started our day with Braedon riding slides but Cohen was getting splashed a lot so for the most part, in the beginning, he was cuddled up on my shoulder. He finally got into it when we went over to the deeper part where it was quieter and watched big brother jump off the diving boards. Then he had fun on the steps while Braedon was riding the slides and in the whirlpool. All in all, it was a good day aside from my sunburn. I will definitely be more careful next time. Here are a few pictures. I couldn't take too many because I was worried about the camera with all the splashing.



Stopping for a water and sunscreen reapplication break






Having fun in the whirlpool



Going down the "scary" slide



Finally having fun :-)






Oh and Happy Birthday to me :-) 28, gulp!

I'm a little teapot..

short and stout..you know the tune. Chris has been working with Cohen teaching him the song and he LOVES it. I took video last night since he has mastered it. Cohen "shouts" on cue and Daddy is so proud :-)