He has his Dad's Wit

Tanner with is Daddy summer '03

11/21/09

We decided to bring the boys to see the movie A Christmas Carol. We first went to the BIG theater but then realized we missed the show by a 1/2 hour. Then decided that maybe there is a showing in our little small town theater. Sure enough it was playing and at perfect timing.

The small ride we took from one end of town the other put our Cole to sleep. We walked into the small theater and asked the ticket teller if we would have to pay for Cole's admittance. He paused on his answer. While he pondered on his answer to us, Tanner piped in, " if we have to pay for him then we can just leave him here with you and you can babysit him." To this the ticket teller's response was, " now your threatening me?" (with a smile on his face and a chuckle) He then said Cole can come in for free.

Funny Stuff

I went out with my students to do a little shopping and some enjoyment of a sitdown restuarant. My coworker and I went into the restroom. I came out of my stall, washed my hands, then waved for the papertowels to come out. Nothing.. nothing...nothing... My coworker stated that it's broke and the one behind me works. I had to laugh and laughed harder because it reminded me of a time two years ago....

I was in a bathroom stall with Cole. He was potty training and I was in a public bathroom, I was with him, he went to get TP and started waving in front of the TP dispenser expecting TP to start scrolling out in front of him. It was so funny... I had to laugh out loud and just thought to myself... "this is a child born in the 21st century, for sure. "

Video Thursday

Boys playing

Aug '07

Assertive

Cole placing his bunny in his basket above his cubby

at his new pre-school Sept '09

That is my Cole ~ Assertive~

Cole was in a home daycare from 3 months of age up to 18 months. He then had an Au Pair for the next 18 months of his life. Dane and I made the decision get out of having Au Pairs once Tanner was in Public School. We moved Cole into a private Christian Pre-school during Sept '08. Seemed like a logical thing to do, he was turning 3 and fully potty trained. We made the mistake to just throw him in full-time. It broke my heart each morning that I would drop him off and bucket of tears streamed down his sad little face, tears would drop from my eyes too as I drove to work. We decided to move him to part-time (two days a wk) that January; however, his difficulties with this place didn't diminish, tantrums and BM accidents ensued. I was heart broken.

Side note~ Cole has the MOST blood curdling scream, anyone close to us that knows Cole's scream can vouch for him, that his scream should be in the Guinness Book of Records. Not only did he scream at things that he was upset about but he would also spend several hours throughout the early (2am) hours and for several hours. Tests were ran to try and figure out why he has this awful scream that would make any person's hair raise, not just his mom's. He had MRIs not only for the screams (maybe migraines?) but the daycare reported possible seizures, hearing tests and speech tests as everyone thought maybe he can't hear very well or express himself via proper communication that is appropriate for a toddler. All tests came back normal. This was still not consultancy to the Pre-school... he must leave their program. :o(

March '09~

Dane and I decided that he would leave the able pre-school and will have to go back to his infant childcare taker's home full-time. He is usually well behaved with our dear Patty on his days with her. From March - September, Cole blossomed tremendously. The screaming was less frequent and his communication was picking up to normal w/ complete sentences and expressing his wants and needs without much drama.

September '09~

We decided that Cole needs to be back in a pre-school part-time to get used to the whole school setting and get more social skill and pre-school knowledge. We found this amazing pre-school that seems to be taking Cole under their wing and are motivated to work with him. I believe his little self-esteem feels it too.

October '09~

Cole loves his "school" and talks about being a big boy going to school like his brother. He protests going to Patty's home because he is not a baby anymore. Every drive to Patty's home was listening to Cole behind me upset and demanding that I drive him to school. My usual response to this was, "Cole honey, I know you want to go to school like Tanner, I know you are a big boy, I will talk with your teachers and I will work on getting you there everyday, but right now I need you to go to Patty's, we need to wait and see if your teachers are ready for you to be there everyday." This usually mellowed him out enough to get out of the car and walk up to Patty's. This protesting went on like this every Tues and Thurs in October. It was eating me up that I couldn't make my little boy happy and the worry and wonder if he is really ready to be in pre-school full-time. Is he going to regress again? He got fully potty trained again and his screaming is becoming less and less, I don't want to go through all that hard work again. Yikes!

November '09~

The boy is continuing his protests. Mommy makes the call and speaks to the directer of the pre-school that we would like Cole with them full-time. The request got approved* and Cole will be graduating out of the Patty's and full-time into the wonderful pre-school. Cole will start full-time with them, the start of December. I'm so proud of Cole for advocating for himself. Maybe his assertive personality that started out as a whole lot of screams is a good trait to have. Maybe he will go far with that.... we will have to wait many years to find out. Until then, I'm praying that this will be a good move and that he will continue to blossom.

*Maybe it helped that Mommy had mentioned to this pre-school how pleased she is with their patience and kindness and that she plans to keep him in their school for a long time. ;o) (This christian school goes up to 10th grade)

Productivity

*Tanner with some of his toys Spring '03

*Tanner Summer '03

What possessed Tanner and Cole to clean their playroom? I have my suspicions. For months now my Tanner has approached me and asked for friends to come over and play. My response to that request has been, " Is your playroom clean? Would you clean it?" This was always followed by an, "awww.. " and away he would go.

Tanner and Cole (together as a team.. gasp!) decided to do a clean up the playroom. First they summoned their father to witness this completed task. Dad entered w/ expectations that their cleaning was done like their mother's own hasty cleanup style, everything shoved into drawers, closets, shelves or whatever the closest compartment is with no order. To Dad's surprise, their mommy's gene didn't pass down to the boys (at least not this time). The trains and tracks where in their respected drawer, the robots/transformers in their drawer, Imaginext in their drawer, Cheveron Cars in their drawer, large item toys lined up like soldiers on the big shelves, books on the big shelves, and stuffed animals in the chest.

Mommy came home from running errands (shh.. Christmas shopping), as soon as I stepped foot into the door, the boys led me to the playroom beaming with pride. The playroom looking spectacular, not a toy on the floor everything appeared tidied up. I had made the assumption that they must have shoved the toys into whatever placed seemed to be the best "fit" and didn't inspect things further. I couldn't find it in my heart to critique their work and just moved on congratulating the boys for such a fine job. ** Hugs, Kisses, Great Job! It looks great in here!!**

Later that evening Daddy pointed out that the toys were really in there respected spots. You see... I'm not always a "shove it away" person, I have always shown my boys how to clean their playroom the proper way and I'm so proud of them that they actually do watch me when I put away their toys, they really do. Now, I hope they are not paying such attention to the other areas of the home so much.

I will be picking them up from their schools now and I will have to see if I will get the, " Can so and so come over and play?"

* I just loved that hat box, we took it everywhere. It fit his favorite toys perfectly for going away trips.

Up! Birthday Party

Cole's first "movie theater" movie was Up!

He's had a fondness for this movie since his first viewing of this movie, so much so he often imagines that his toys are flying in the air by balloon power. It seemed like the most meaningful theme for his birthday party. Only one small problem, there is no party supply store that carried the Up! theme.. so we improvised and it turned out to me great fun.

paper covered fish cracker cartons shaped like little homes

(white paper around the sides and a red roof)

All of the kids enjoyed this activity. Once finished they would run to me,

show off their creation, and eager to get their balloons attached.

Little Joey was the first to finish his.

Tanner seems to be the life of the party and enjoys taking the spot light.

Someone placed a party hat on Cole's rocking horse.

This sweet horse is having a celebration of his own,

he will be going into retirement soon. However,

I'm sure Cole will have a few more rides as he just loves his horse.

Most of the party kids, I was able to get a group shot

before everyone left for their homes. This party was so much fun!

My Halloween Treats 2009

Tanner (the mummy) at school before the parade
Trick-or-treat
The boys with their loot

Halloween was Spooktacular. Tanner was a mummy and Cole was a lion. It was a short trick-or-treat jaunt, shorter than last year. Tanner's costume was itchy and he complained that he was tired. I think we made a visit to about 20-30 homes. It was interesting to see Cole get creeped out over cut off arms dragging across the driveway or remote control spiders walking across the front porches. His reaction to such gore was of silently backing up and away from the creeping objects. Dane and I remember Tanner used to have a more vocal and physical reaction. It is always interesting how different the boys are.