Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Alexander or should we say Xander the great

My gosh how a little encouragement goes a long way. We have been really encouraging Alexander, Xander as he calls himself now, to "use his words." This has been a huge step in the right direction for him since for so long now he hasn't talked.

These past few weeks his language has exploded and while we have to remind ourselves not to use his words, wawa aka water, he also reminds us sometimes its better for him if we do. I.e. the Xander thing. The last few days he has been correcting us when we call him by name, Alexander, or nickname, Bubba and says, "NO! Me Xander!" This not only is a reminder to me he is catching up with his lack of speech, but also a reminder my cute little baby is becoming a handsome little man.

So much has changed in the last 3 weeks with his language, we find ourselves trying to forget "Alexander language." Now we just have to simply listen and he tells us as if he has been saying it right form the get go.

I cannot expressed the joy this brings to me because for so long I thought he would always be behind. This worried me greatly with him starting school in the fall, I didn't want him frustrated and hating it. I want it to bring him joy like it brings to Natalia. No parent ever wants their child to struggle, but I'm having a hard time watching both of them sprout up and take off before my eyes!

One day my kids will be independent. They wont need their mommy or daddy to give them a glass of milk, they will get it themselves. They won't need us to carry them to bed because we will be there long before they turn off the lights. So even on the hard days when Natalia is being her tuddy self and Xander just walks behind us whining all day "want you mommy!" or "want you daddy!" we remind ourselves, I will miss this when it is gone.

But I will enjoy every second of their lives!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

watching her grow, loving her so. (and having a panic attack!)

Most of you may laugh and find this post silly but for me its life:

Yesterday was a dose of reality for me of just how much my little Natter Bug is growing up. We were running late for school I had playfully mentioned dropping her off at the door like most of the other parents do so she made it into chapel before school started. (I have all three kids right now so just getting them out of the car takes a few minutes) To my surprise Nat thought this was a great idea, "I can do it mom, I am a big girl." Thanks for the reminder kid, but I didn't need it. I know she is getting big, I am just not accepting it!
As I pulled up to the drop off I was thinking to myself "will she go straight to Mrs Thompson or book it else where?" There were no other cars so I thought I could stand there and watch her go in. I let her out of the car explained to her to go straight in to Mrs Thompson and let her know she was there. But again I said, "I can just run you in quick" "No, love you mom!" as Nat bolted into the worship center, straight for our friend Stacee and down the aisle...There was a car behind me now so I couldn't watch to make sure she didn't walk back out of the worship center. For all of you who know me know my anxiety got the best of me so I looped through the drop off one more time to make sure she wasn't out playing in the foyer then drove home. I immediately called John, "Please tell me I have nothing to worry about, she will go straight to Mrs T." He assured me she was a big girl and she would. "But shes only 4! I just dropped a 4 year old off and expected her to go where she needed to!" What was I thinking?!?!?
When I got home, I couldn't stop thinking about how Mrs. T had once said to me, "since I know you walk her in, if I don't see her I assume she is home for the day" So that got me thinking, what IF she DIDN'T see Nat! ARG! I text Stacee: "Good morning! Are you at school by chance this morning" She text me back, she was for a bit but not long asks me if everything is ok. I explain to her about dropping Nat off and I worry about EVERYTHING! THANK God she saw Nat said hello to her and saw her run straight to Mrs. T! Thank you Stacee for relaxing me. (and Mary as I called her in a panic too!) Mrs T told me that afternoon when I picked Nat up she had asked Nat if she came in by herself this morning. Nat had said yes. She told Nat she was a big girl and did some extra praising. Mrs T and I were thinking: This might just be the answer to our issues of her throwing a fit when I drop her off in the morning as she always wants me to stay and hang out with her at school.
So now that you are bored and laughing at me: Yesterday was a pretty big milestone for us. Our little 4 year old is our big 4 year old! It has been nothing but joy, even on the hard days, watching her grow but man it has gone by far more quickly than I ever thought it would!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

A tube is out! Well, ALMOST

When Alexander saw his allergist a few weeks back he had mentioned the tube in his right ear was ready to bail! This is a good thing, means the tubes are working like they should. Well this last week he would not leave his right ear alone and then began telling me it hurt. "me ear hurt!" LOL I love the language of small kiddos! I took him in to his pediatrician yesterday, she confirmed the right tube did fall out of the ear drum but of course, nothing can be simple for Alexander and the tube is stuck in his ear. Its not a big deal, just have to put drop of hydrogen peroxide in it to loosen wax and it should fall out. It was just one of those, "of course it would be stuck, it's Alexander!" moments.