Same ol' same ol'

There was a lot about this week that was the same as last week, the week before and the week before that. There are things to complain about and there are things to marvel at. I think I will skip the complaining, because why complain if there is not a whole lot you can do about it or maybe you just might have to get off your butt and do something about it. Yoga is good. I have a friend to go with now. We go twice a week. Plus, I get a piece of dark chocolate AND a foot massage [I would go just for the massage!]. TJ is understanding that letters make words. He is doing a great job of pretend play with his trains.  Which reminds me, he seems to like staying at home or my apartment playing with his toys rather than going somewhere.  I'm sure that will change and change back again.  TJ is so well with his numbers that we have introduced o'clock to him.  Up at 7 o'clock - breakfast at 8 oclock - etc.We have been singing and reading about the days of the week. "Cookie's Week" is a cute book with lovely pictures.  No wonder 'english' is so difficult to learn, there are TWO or more words for almost everything........... trash/garbage - street/road - DVD/video/movie - oops sounds like complaining.

Page 22] Feb 19th 1999

You luv trains, engines and especially the 'rods' on the wheels of the steam locomotives. We play trains with 'legos', play dough and art. We buy and watch 'train tapes' [VHS]. You luv your 'Thomas the Train' movies. We make trains out of chairs, tables, dominoes, couches and everything. One of your first pretend games when you were 1 year old, was to line up your letters on the floor. GG asked, "what is that"? Mack said, "train". It was amazing to watch your mind work. You are very concerned with other children crying. You will put your arm around them and ask, " are you all right"? Yesterday we were in the kitchen playing with 'play dough' and Mom was on the computer upstairs. She sneezed and you yelled " Bless you Mom." She said "thank you Kenzie" You replied' " you're welcome Mom." Then she sneezed again, "Bless you Mom."
Feb 28, 1999 YOU ARE 3!
Today is your birthday party. I'm going to take movies. Yesterday mom cleaned house while you and I spent time together. You looked at your side of the bedroom and said to your Mom, " Mama, you cleaned up". When you go pee or poop in the toilet I say, "thank you Kenzie, and you say, "oh you're welcome Grandma". You like me to take the back lid off the tank so you can watch the water go down and the flapper come up.
These are the things that you say to me everyday...... 1] Let's go to Greenfield Village, 2] Let's go to the farm and see pigs and ducks [too wet-too cold], 3] Let's go to Diedra's school and find her [what school?] and 4] Let's go to Rekha's and see Uncle Craig's big ENGINE!'

My Hunny Bunny

Jes asked TJ, "do you love Mama?" No answer. She asked, "do you love Daddy?" No answer. Then Jes asked, "do you love GG?" ................. "TJ loves grandma," he said. I guess I rate.

Such a cutie.

With both his Mom and Dad exercising all the time, TJ enjoys 'exercising'. He does 'jumping jacks' 'push ups' rolls, and everything they do. He even enjoys lifting weights. So even I was surprised when he stuck his feet under the back cushion of the couch and proceeded to do 'sit ups' 'crunches' from a position of his head hanging over the seat cushion! Amazing!
We are talking about being a good listener. Giving him 'kudos' when he listens well.
TJ asked Tom for a sucker. Tom said, "what color do you want?" TJ answered, " lavender". So Tom gave him a purple sucker [no lavender ones]. TJ can't resist teasing Lily dog, and stuck the sucker in front of her face, pulling it back just in time. Until..he didn't pull it back fast enough, and Lily was very happy dog. "WAAAAAAA", cried TJ. We had warned him that if he teased Lily with the sucker, she might get it. He did get another sucker AND he resisted teasing Lily with it.

oops..............

TJ pooped in the bathtub yesterday. The poor baby was mortified. Jes said, " it's ok TJ don't cry, I'll just clean you up." While Jes was cleaning his little poopy bottom, TJ said, " Mommy's trying to put poop back in." LOL
More and more TJ seems to be grasping the concept that different letters together make a word. He understands that d-o-g spells/means dog.
Today, while on the deck outside in his diaper only, he said, "diaper off please, so I can pee on bush." [We have been encouraging peeing on the bush.] A naked TJ peed on the bush 'twice' in the morning.
He used to love being outside, but I think the mosquito bites make him want to be in. He is playing out scenes from his 'Thomas the Tank Engine' DVD's with and without an audience [me].

Never look back.

I just watched an old movie called 'The Big Chill'. A bunch of late 30's former college friends throw together by the suicide of one of the group. All spending the weekend, telling each other how much they miss 'the good old days' of college and friendship. What a sad bunch. Maybe I'm missing something here, there is no time in my past life, that I would like to revisit. I like the past to stay in the 'past'. I live in the here and now. As long as my life has purpose, I will be a happy woman. My grandchildren are the frosting on the cake. I was too young when I had my children, and didn't do every thing right. I'm grateful for the chance to be an awesome 'GG' to my children's children. I found 'the fountain of youth' 'immortality'..... offspring. Everyday I have left in this life is 'The Big Kahona"!

Catch!

Seems like throwing things is getting out of hand with my 2 year old Hunny Bunny [TJ]. I made TJ worry about my being mad at him, when I scolded him for throwing his red wooden stool. I certainly don't want that little boy worried about my love for him. Scolding seems like a loss of llove to him. After I reaffirmed that I loved him, TJ said "are you happy now?" A better way to handle throwing things, is to just remove the projectile and let him know that tossing anything besides a ball is not acceptable; all said and done without a hint of crossness. Anger is never a good option. The crazy thing is that I DID remove the 3 lbs hand weight that TJ was chucking [ it even made a dent in the faux wood floor] and put it up on the mantel where it was out of harms way. GG, " you drop that thing on your toe, and you will cry for a long time." I should have just removed the stool [and the truck] as smoothly as I removed the dumbbell. I have even been keeping Lily [my dog] away from TJ, because he can't resist pulling her tail. He loves to hug her, but it leads to pulling on parts of her that she doesn't want pulled.

as told to me by Jes....

Last night TJ bit his Mom. Jes was very crabby and gave TJ a time out on the couch. TJ crying hard, " Mommy loves TJ, Mommy loves TJ, Mommy loves TJ. Mama puts TJ on the couch. Daddy puts TJ on the couch. GG doesn't put TJ on the couch, GG loves Hunny Bunny."
Today I took Hunny Bunny to get his hair cut. "Not today...thank you," said TJ. "Yes today TJ, it doesn't hurt. [He doesn't like the cut hair all over his face.] "No, thank you" said TJ. BJ has cut his hair 4-5 times before. He knows that BJ cuts his hair. "No, thank you". I sat TJ on my lap and BJ started to cut. Arms, hands and a head were flying all over with much crying. You would have thought BJ was pulling hair out one by one for all the drama. If there were any 'no thank you's among the crying, I was oblivious to it with just trying to get TJ's head still. After his hair cut BJ gave him a sucker. TJ told his mom later, " not a very good sucker."

Page 21) Feb 4, 1999

[Mackenzie almost 3]. " Kenzie, who is my best boy?" ...... "ME!"
Yesterday we played 'hide and seek'. You put your head on your hands, closed your eyes and counted to 10, while GG hid. You let Kelli look first, while you stood behind her. You are a great baseball player and quite a good pitcher. You are not even three yet, and can do your 'Thomas the Tank' puzzle all by yourself. It has 24 large pieces.
You like trains the best, and baseball, dancing, you sing everyday, movies and french fries. You can shut down the computer correctly....no small job.
February 5th.
Tom had to go to the bathroom [we had just woken him up]. He started to pee. Kenzie on the hall side of the door, "Tom are you peeing?". Tom, "yeah buddy". [Pee hitting the water loudly].
Kenzie, pushing the door open, "are you sure?" Tom laughing, "very sure buddy".
One of your 'Barney' tapes has kids saying their alphabet in French which is similar but different a little and you are repeating the 'French' way.
February 5th.
We were walking to our car after visiting the Henry Ford Museum', I saw a very short 'stop sign' just off the curb and said, " Kenzie, go and touch the cute stop sign" "OK GG" You were the same size as the sign. "P-O-T-S; STOP" you said.
February 19th.
Soon you will be three. You are a very special and smart boy. You sing all the time. "I love you, you love me, we're a very happy family. With a great big hug and kiss from me to you. Won't you say you love me too", Recited as plain as day.
Also...."Go to sleep my baby, my baby, my baby....you're so beautiful to me; can't you see. You're everything I hoped for. You're everything I need. From 'The Little Raskels' movie.
'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.......'ABC'......You can recite word for word the three books Mom reads to you before bed.'
Your favorite color is 'green'.

Rich old men

Why can't Target have a gathering of 'Rich Old Men'? Say near the 'hardware' section. Rich old men need companionship too. I'd pick the one that smelled the best. We could watch a movie together or play cards. I'm not looking for dinner out or material things, but not worrying about the bills or where I will get the money for my next car would be nice. Sorry, I don't cook, but maybe the man will. Back scratches would be a bonus. As would being funny. I notice that 'personal' ads seem to stop at 55 or so. My mother remarried at 74 after being single for 45 years. I'm not sure she would recommend remarrying at that late age, but her kids can see that it helped ground her mentally to have someone to care about. I'm not lonely, just thinking. I love to read and take of my 7 birds [three cages], one dog and a cat. I like my freedom to go/do as I please. I like being 'needed' for TJ. "Looks like an upside down letter 'i'," said TJ, looking at an exclamation point. Maybe Starbucks should have a senior hour.....kind of like a 'happy hour' at a bar. LOL

If you can't find TJ, head for the park.

My friend and I did 'breakfast' today. It was very nice to listen/talk to an adult that is NOT your family. Friends have other interesting things to talk about besides diapers/poop. So once in a while, I get the chance to have adult time. This time I have away from TJ, recharges my battery. TJ is 26 months old and can pedal a tricycle, if there is a gentle decline to the cement. His dad wants him to ride a 'balance' bike. The balance bike is very short, has two wheels and no pedals. Kids just 'walk' with the bike in between their legs. TJ loves it! Today I put him on the tricycle, but he was frustrated on the inclines. I took him into the garage to get the 'adult push' tricycle, so I could stand up straight while pushing him from behind. He wasn't having anything to do with it. He chose to straddle the balance bike and wear a helmet. He walked/straddled, up the street to the corner. "TJ do you want to turn around and go home", I asked. "No, TJ going to the park", he answered. We turned left. At the next corner, "TJ, do you want to go home?" " No, TJ going to the park" At the bridge, half way to the park. "TJ do you want to turn around and go back?" "No, TJ riding to the park". I'm thinking about the long walk back to the house, with a tired kid and a small black bike. I'm sure TJ wasn't thinking about the return trip. The bridge is over a small stream and it's down hill to it and uphill after it. The walk/bike ride down was just a matter of not letting gravity rip the bike away. The uphill was daunting. TJ, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can" over and over until we were on top of the incline. During this 'no turning back' moment of the walk, I texted Jes to come and rescue me after her hair appointment. Thank goodness, this adventure to the park was AFTER her normal work hours. TJ just kept on trucking until we finally reached the park and................... I could push him on the swings. He knew EVERY correct turn/street to get to the park. [He did the ride/walk with Tom last Sunday]. "GG climb up the stairs?" There was a double slide that TJ wanted me to slide/race down with him. I won once, he won twice. I'm 62 years old/young. I'm tired. Thankfully just as TJ climbed back on his bike to return home, Jes pulled up into the lot. Did I mention that I had already pushed TJ on the neighbors swing and had been 'pushing' him [bent over] on his trike. I'm tired.

The Mapmaker's Wife by Robert Whitaker

Well the title gives you an idea why I haven't blogged recently.......it's a VERY interesting book. A true story with lots of historical background. I'm not a 'fiction' fan. I like stories based on truth. In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote; that kind of stuff. TJ's favorite books are; 'Things That Go', 'Train Song', 'Clifford the Big Red Dog', 'The Piggy in the Puddle', 'My Little Train'. Back to my book.

Thinking about the future

TJ wasn't well at the beginning of this week, he had a fever and acted sick. By Thursday he was feeling better so I took him back to the YMCA for his 'Play Room' time [about 45 minutes]. Two year olds play in the 'Red Room' and 3 years olds are in the 'Blue Room'. TJ went into the Red Room where Miss Sarah watches/plays with the 2 years olds. On Friday Miss Sarah said, " TJ is too mature for the 2 year old class, I moved him over to the 'Blue Room". I had asked Sarah the first day, if she would move TJ to the older class if he seemed too old for her class. I'm glad she did. And I'm sure TJ feels more comfortable. While TJ is playing in his "Play Room' I'm riding the stationary bike in the fitness room. So................., about the future.......TJ will probably need a different kind of learning then the 'Charlotte Schools' can offer. Their school rating is not very good. I can see private school or a move to a better school district in his future. That is the nice thing about 'renting' a house, flexibility!