Chuckie Treat

We had Trick-or-Treat from 6-8pm. Chase was going to be a skeleton, but ended up going as Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. We were just going to go on our block, but only five houses had their lights on. So we had to venture out further. Chase was so excited. He rang the first doorbell and I told him to say, "Trick-or-treat." He said, "Chuckie treat." It was very cute. He was having a hard time getting the trick to come out. He then switched to, "Happy Halloween!" After an hour of being out, he finally was able to say trick-or-treat. We kept working on it. It was a beautiful evening, and we didn't even need a coat. Before he went to bed he said, "I want to do this again tomorrow night." I had to break him the bad news. He would have to wait another year. He took it pretty well.

Tigger and Buzz Light Year

Night Eyes

Saturday, October 29th we got our fill of Halloween activities. First we went over to the community center for a Halloween party. First we went to the craft room and made pumpkins. Then we played bean bag toss. Then we stopped for a snack, and then downstairs to the gym. There were a bunch of toys and things to climb on. Anthony fell asleep and I watched Chase and Sarah run around. Then at 1pm we went to the zoo for Night Eyes, a merry, not scary trick-or-treating. However, Chase still got freaked out. I have discovered that he is afraid of adults in costumes. We saw the Hawaian punch character, a curdoroy bear, and a mouse. As soon as he saw them he started crying and wanted me to pick him up. Here I thought he was only afraid of clowns. I finally got him to walk on the other side of me and look away, and we were able to continue on. We made it through all the stations and then there was a play area. They had all these inflatible activites, most of them jumping. Chase and Sarah had a blast. We got there right when they opened, so it wasn't too busy yet. They were able to go through the mazes 8 times and then they went on the jumping ones 3 times each. I had a great time watching them, and seeing them have so much fun.

Chase has a Sleep Over

Chase had a friend sleepover Friday night. I don't know if Sarah and Chase planned it out, but I found it quite humorous how it all played out. I went to pick up Chase and Tony from Julie's. I hear Sarah ask Julie if Chase can stay over. Julie says not tonight. Chase then looks at me and says, "Can Sarah spend the night at our house?" It was perfectly timed. He has asked many times before, and since we didn't have anything going on, so I said yes. I then said to Sarah, "Are you sure you want to spend that much time with Chase?" originally Sarah was going to be with us on Saturday to go to a party and the zoo. She said she wanted to come. Most of the time Sarah and Chase play well together, which is odd since he is 3 and she is 9. However, Chase tends to get bossy and doesn't take turns doing different things. If Sarah has an idea, he tends to say no and he starts to cry, because they aren't playing what he thought up. Then Sarah has to give in and play what he wants. However, Chase did not cry when he didn't get his way on Friday, and they played really well together. There was a lot chasing and screaming on Chase's party. He was really enjoying himself.

We painted a pumpkin, ordered pizza, watched a movie and played hide and go seek. Anthony and I were a team, and Sarah and Chase were a team. We had a lot of fun. Then it was time for bed, and both of them got their pj's on, brushed their teeth and were sleeping by 9:30pm. I couldn't believe it.

Cookie Monster

Monday night Chase and I made Halloween cookies. We baked bats, ghosts and pumpkins and then decorated the them. Tuesday we came home and Chase asked to have a cookie. I said he could have one before dinner. I then went to nurse Anthony. Eric made dinner and then I went to get Chase from his room. On his bed is the cookie container, and it is empty! He just looked at me and smiled. He had sneaked into the kitchen and pulled it off the counter. I didn't even hear him in the kitchen. Eric thought it was funny. I did not see it that way. Chase ate at least 10 cookies! No wonder he told me he didn't want to eat supper. Needless to say, Chase went to bed early that night as his punishment.

A Night Out

I was so excited that we were able to have a night out. Miranda said she would babysit the boys Saturday night for us. We told her to bring her laundry. (I know seeing the boys are reason enough, but I wanted to make the deal sweeter.) She had a birthday party to attend, but if we were home by midnight she could just go and make an appearance. We went and picked up Melissa and Tom. We haven't been out with them together since April. Normally we get together, and then spend an hour trying to decide what we are going to do. However, Saturday night we were on the ball. We immediately decided on Park Ave. Pub and away we went. They also serve food, so we didn't have to go to a restaurant first. Eric was concerned about having to be home by midnight. He wanted to make the most of the evening. Melissa said they have wonderful food, and they did. I had a Pub Steak sandwich with grilled onions and sweet peppers. Eric said his cheeseburger was almost as good as Famous Dave's burger, that is really saying something! We had a great time catching up with Mel and Tom, and really enjoyed our night out.

We Met the New Babysitter

Friday night we went to meet Delana, our new babysitter, and her husband Dale. We also met her niece, Brooklyn and great-niece, Audrey who were visiting. Everyone was super nice and we had a lovely visit. She has a very warm and inviting home. Chase brought along his Thomas trains, so that gave Delana something to ask Chase about. He named all his engines and showed her how they went together. Delena held Anthony for the whole hour we were there. He was content as could be. They also have fish and a gerbil. So Chase got to check that out. We asked Delana if she had cable. Chase was very concerned about getting to watch, "Go, Diego, Go!" This is a new cartoon on Nick Jr. Diego is Dora's cousin. Eric is very happy that there is now a boy version of Dora. Chase now puts on his backpack, and calls it his rescue pack, just like Diego. It teaches Spanish, counting and reasoning just like Dora does. She said they have a dish, so all is well there. When we left, Chase was laughing and playing with her, and being silly. I was relieved he warmed up to her so quickly. Julie is taking them back over there on Thursday, and then we will go back on Friday, Nov. 3rd. Monday, the 7th is still going to be hard, but hopefully not as bad.

Giving it a Rest

We have decided to back off the hard core potty training. I don't want to emotionally scar Chase for the rest of his life! :) He uses the potty all day at Julie's, it was when he was coming home that he wasn't wanting to use it. So now when we get home, Chase puts on a pull up. We were getting tired of cleaning up dookie out of his underwear. Chase knows what he needs to do, he just needs to do it on his schedule, not ours. So we are trying not to get on his case when he chooses to dookie his drawers. When we were really pushing, I found that I was trying to guilt him into using the toilet. I would say, "Chase you are big boy. Big boys don't poop in their underwear." He would say, "I'm not a big boy!" That was not the result I wanted. When I Google "potty training," so many different sites come up. I can find 5 articles supporting gifting the child and 5 discouraging it. There are tons of ideas, we just haven't found one that has consistently worked for us. So, we will give it a rest for a few weeks. Maybe without any undue pressure from us, he will do his thing.

Tony -15 Weeks Old

So Much for Incentives

Well the train de-railed yesterday afternoon. Yesterday Julie took the day off to take her daughter to several doctor appointments. Therefore, I had to find alternative childcare for the boys. In the morning they went over to Ashli's. She is my neighbor to the east. Chase and her daughter McKenna are pretty good friends. So Chase was very excited about getting to go there yesterday. Then in the afternoon, Stephanie came over after she got done with her classes. Stephanie kept asking Chase every 30 minutes, "Do you need to go to the bathroom?" Everytime he said no. Then a few minutes later he would be crossing his legs and she would ask again. Chase would flip out and say, "Don't look at me!" I have discovered that when Chase says this, he has already had an accident. He messed his underwear three times yesterday afternoon! He went both #1 and #2! He then insisted on wearing a pull-up. He said to Stephanie, "Mommy tells me I need to get the hang of this pooping thing." It is clear he knows he should be using the toilet. I just don't know what we are going to do in order to get past this. Just when I think we are making real progress, we totally backslide.

11 Weeks Old

Tony Starting to Fall Over

Bob the Builder to the Rescue

I hate to say it, but we finally had to resort to bribery in order to help with potty training. Chase has been doing great going #1 on the toilet, but he just won't go #2. He is wearing real underwear now, no more pull ups during the day. I have a really hard time cleaning his underwear up after he has an accident. Chase knows what he is doing. He won't go when he is at Julie's. He waits until he gets home. Then he goes off in a corner or away from me. When I see him, I will ask him what he is doing. He will tell me to get away or not to talk to him. At this point he has already gone. We were getting really frustrated.

So I made up an incentive sheet. I went on-line and printed out all the different Bob the Builder characters. I cut them out and put them on a sheet. I then wrote out four objectives. Chase will get a little ball to put in a cup, everytime he goes #1 or #2. He will also earn a ball for picking up his toys and getting dressed all by himself. After he earns 5 balls he will get a sucker. After 10 balls he will get a twinkie. ( He really likes them, and is always asking to have one.) After he earns 15 balls he can pick out a Bob the Builder toy. Target has small versions of all the characters. They are a little bigger than Hot Wheels. Chase really wanted a Scoop.

Well, he did great on the peeing, picking up his toys and getting dressed all last week. He had 15 balls by the end of the week. However, he continued to poop in his drawers all week. So my incentive program wasn't working like we had envisioned. So Eric suggested he lose 2 balls everytime he goes in his pants. Chase was mad, because he did do what we asked of him, just not all four. So then Eric and I talked and said that if Chase went #2 over the weekend, he could get his Scoop. Sunday morning Chase woke up and said he had to go. He sat on the toilet and made a brown bomber. We were so excited. Sunday afternoon I ran to Target to get him a Scoop. Now he wants Muck. We told him he has to go everyday this week in the toilet. So far he hasn't had to go yet. We are crossing our fingers that we have finally turned the corner.

Too Cold

We were looking forward to heading back down to Eddyville last Friday night. Eric's car is fixed and he thinks it is running the best it ever has. However, a few hours before we were going to leave, they called the races off. They said it was going to be too cold. The actual races don't start until 10pm and go into early morning. The weather map was calling for low 30's. Eric said it would have been ideal racing weather for his car. So we are hoping for this Friday. They are predicting low's in the mid 40's.

Changes

Sunday we received word that Julie is no longer going to do daycare. Her last day will be November 4th. I was just about in tears. We had just gotten the boys settled back into a routine. They have been doing great, and now I will have to rock Chase's world one more time.

Julie gave me several reasons for the change. She and her husband want to sell their house and buy a farm. Therefore she needs time to get the house fixed up and ready to sell, and it is kind of hard to do that when the kids are always there. However, it seems the biggest reason has to do with the mother of the other two children Julie watches. Julie has known her since middle school, and she has watched her children since Quinton was born. He is now 9. Well, Beth just told Julie last week she is pregnant again. Julie said she panicked. Beth is not an emotionally stable person and not much of a mother. Julie has pretty much raised her two children for her. After each pregnancy she had severe post-partum depression and wanted to kill herself. Julie would keep the kids until it was time for them to go to bed. Julie said the thought of raising another one of her children was too much. She just couldn't do it again. Both children have had emotional and behavioral problems. Jarred is going to be 4, but you might guess he is two. He just started talking within the last 6 months. Julie just got him off of his bottle less than a year ago. So between those two things she needed to make a change. She told me she loves Chase and Tony dearly, but she needs her life to take a new direction.

The good news is, her brother's mother-in-law is going to start doing daycare again. She use to do it, then she became a florist for the last 6 years, and has now decided she wants to do childcare again. She said she wanted to be a grandma again. Julie told her all about the kids and told her I would be calling. I called Delana today, and she said she has gotten a lot of calls, but she was holding two spots for the boys. She will also be watching two other boys, ages 1 and 2, and in January she will be watching her great-niece who is 3. She lives less than 2 miles from our house and she said she would charge us what Julie was. Julie charges us $75 per kid, which is a steal. I was elated.

My biggest concern is having Chase meet her, and having him spend some time with her prior to the change. Eric and I will also go and visit with the kids on a weeknight, and then spend some time there on a Saturday with Chase and Tony. Julie also said she would go over and Chase could hang out and meet the other kids she will be watching. I am hoping that will help when that first morning comes, and he has to be there. He can bring his toys, so we will pick out ones that he really likes, and hopefully that will help the transition as well. Just talking to Delana made me feel better. She sounded very warm, kind and loving. She said she just loves children and is excited to start watching them again. God does truly provide, and I am richly blessed.

The Weekend Wrap Up

Eric and Jody had a wonderful weekend of male bonding. They made it there and back safely, Bruiser behaved and didn't cause any problems. I think he knew Eric had a trunkful of tools! Eric and Jody met the president of the car show event Saturday afternoon. They hung out and drank some beer and talked cars. On Sunday when they showed up for the main event, the president had reserved a spot in the front row for them. He also made sure they won a door prize, a $25 gift card for gas. So all in all, it was a great trip.

Saturday, I took Chase to the public library, and he got his first library card. We had a lot of fun picking out some books. He picked out a Bob the Builder, a Clifford, and The Three Little Pigs. I don't quite think he understands that we will be giving these books back in three weeks. So that might be interesting when it is time to return them. Apparently, I have been telling Chase a water downed version of "The Three Little Pigs." I read him the book, and did not remember the the wolf eating the first two pigs, nor the third pig making a tasty stew out of the wolf at the end. Chase had a lot of questions, since my story and this one didn't jive. :)

Sunday, we went to church. I had nursery duty. Then later in the afternoon we watched the Chiefs give up an eighteen point lead and lose to the Eagles. I read Chase his Bob the Builder book and we played. Then came the unexpected news from Julie.