So this morning we had a leisurely morning, though sadly I think I got down on the floor with Tate for 10 minutes to play. Where does the time go in the mornings? What do I do that keeps me from hanging out with my son? Sigh... Anyway, we got loaded up in the car, sue-y and hippo in my purse along with snacks and water. We were at the Galleria just after 10am. We stroll over to Build-A-Bear, where a party is just getting started, so it's loud and lots of screeching little girls are running in! Tate is busily munching away on his cheerios and is not wanting to be distracted to choose a bear. I give him several choices before I decide on the Allergy and Asthma Bear which he agrees upon. I convince him to get out of the stroller by taking his hippo and his sue-y out of my purse. The very nice worker, Daniel, has been informed of what is going on, and is very kind and sweet to Tate. We walk over to put the stuffing in our bear along with the sue-y which Tate is gripping with superhuman force. Daniel fills the bear's head up with stuffing and then asks Tate to put his sue-y in the bear, for then he will always have his sue-y with him. Tate refuses and runs behind me, between my legs and the tears begin. I squat down and try to convince him to no avail. Finally, I sadly tug his little green sue-y out of his hands and place it into his bear. A bit anti-climatic (and I got no photos as Tate was so upset). Tate wouldn't help fill the bear up by pressing on the button, so I did it for him. Then Daniel offered Tate two hearts to put in his new bear and to make a wish with a kiss. Tate sweetly kissed the hearts and I wished for good sleep and into the new bear they went. We went and made our bear's birth certificate and named her Sue-Y.
Initially Tate wanted nothing to do with our sweet bear. He did request that I 'open it' meaning open it and take his pacifier out of it, but other than that the bear was ignored.
We checked out after procuring a birthday outfit complete with shoes and cell phone for Katherine's birthday present and headed out into the mall with me carrying the bear and Tate noshing on his Cheerios in his stroller. A quick stop in my favorite children's clothing store garnered Tate a very cute pair of Christmas pajamas for next year! And then...
We rode the Galleria Train!!
JOY!! JOY!!
HAPPY!! HAPPY!!
Tate wanted Sue-Y Bear out of the box so she could enjoy the ride, which we did two times!!! And hippo had to join the festivities as well. He held onto both in the stroller on the walk back to the car and happily played with Sue-Y Bear on the ride home. Once home, he grabbed Sue-Y Bear and as he was running up the stairs with her, he told the bear "Now Mommy can open it!"
Lunch was given and naptime commenced. I had decided I would rock him or lay down with him or whatever he needed these first few days for sleep time, knowing I get frustrated after 20 minutes or so of him flopping about etc. And flop about he did. There were no tears, no whining, no pouting about going to sleep with just hippo and Sue-Y Bear, but he refused to lay in my arms, refused to put his head on my shoulder. I rested my head in the rocker with my eyes hoping he would get the hint. Finally, after 25 minutes I just put him in the crib and went downstairs. 15 minutes of him throwing everything out and having loud conversations with anyone he felt could hear I went back up and got him out of the crib. We picked Sue-Y Bear and hippo up off the floor and I sat back in the rocker with him. And again with the tossing and turning, but within probably 5 minutes he laid his head on my shoulder and finally drifted off to sleep at 12:54. I opted to just hold him while he slept. At 2:35pm we were sweat drenched and awake. And he immediately hopped off my lap and stood by the chair crying. Not out and out crying, no screaming, just sad little crying which did escalate to whining. I offered everything from his hippo and Sue-Y Bear to yogurt raisins, to his trains (and he is pissed at his Henry train for breaking after he insisted upon taking that poor electric train into the pool during swim lessons yesterday, but that's a whole other post) to cheerios, to watching Thomas on the tv, to playing on my phone. Nothing worked. He just wanted to cry. I gathered up our stuff and made my way downstairs knowing he would follow which he did. I put together snacks for our ride out to Susan and Dan's and got his bear and hippo. He refused to put on his pants and shoes, so I backed off that immediately and said he could go as he was...shirt, diaper and socks. (It's in the 70s here). He didn't want to go even when I reminded him he could play with Katherine and Alex. So I made my downstairs telling him I would go without him. He quickly maneuvered the stairs to join me. Still didn't want to put on more clothing or really go out to the car, but he believes that I will leave him as a few weeks ago when he was throwing a HUGE tantrum I got in the car, started it and locked the doors. He got in the carseat willingly enough, all the while still a boo-hooing. He boo-hooed all the way there...about a 30 minute ride. Certainly there were long spells of sad quietness, but if I asked if he was ok, or wanted to hear a certain song the crying commenced. We arrived at 3:40 and he stopped crying immediately and walked into the house clutching Sue-Y Bear and his hippo.
He had a great time playing with the big kids, mostly Katherine. They drew and colored and played some matchbox cars. Alex was doing some sort of video game that held Tate's interest for about 5 minutes :) Strangely enough about 30 minutes into our visit Tate came downstairs with his right eye red and swollen. We have no idea what he got a hold of, but I gave him some Benadryl immediately. And I must say I had grabbed the epi-pens and Benadryl off the counter on the way out as an afterthought today. They were on the counter because last night I had a sitter for Tate, so I had put them out there for her to use if needed. As I was putting stuff in my purse this afternoon I cannot believe I actually debated leaving the stuff behind. I just thought to myself, Susan is well aware of Tate's allergies and we're not going to eat anything while we're there, why bother? Then I thought 'Are you serious? Why bother? What a stupid thing to think? Grab that stuff!!' Soooo very glad I did. Into Tate at 410 went 12.5 mg of Benadryl. His eye was still a bit red at bedtime, so I may need to give him another dose in the middle of the night. I certainly hope not.
He had his snacks on the way home, so dinner was pretty much a bust, but he downed his favorite, plain Greek yogurt and a bit of applesauce and about 4 oz of milk. He was sure to tell his grandparents on skype "I had fun with Katherine today."
Bedtime went fairly well after lots of tears for yet again no reason I could ascertain. He never once asked for his pacifier when I asked over and over what he wanted or needed (as I did this afternoon). I told him he didn't have to sit on the potty and the didn't have to take a bath. This seemed to appease him a bit and he happily hopped up on the bed and got his pjs put on and his teeth brushed with his favorite ice cream toothpaste (note to self...put that stuff where he can't reach it...he was eating it earlier, thank goodness it's fluoride free and all natural!). He read me 3 stories..."Green Eggs and Ham" "No More Pacifiers for Piggy" and "Christmas in Wellsworth" and quite well I might add. I then turned around and read the same 3 to him with Sue-Y Bear and hippo in his hands. Tonight the trains were not invited to the party. I rocked him to sleep and put him in his crib at 7:28pm.
I have no idea what the overnight holds for the 2 of us, or what the next few nights and days of naps hold. He didn't cry once tonight for his pacifier, but he clutched that precious bear.
Maybe he gets it? Maybe having something to replace the sue-y is what he needed. He hasn't tried to suck his fingers either. I know very well tomorrow is another day. And as thrilled as I am to have the next 2 days home with him, I'm stressed and worried about what happens when he realizes the sue-y is still in the bear. He's been really great the past 2 weeks, not searching for the hippo and pacifier when he's upset. He's figured out how to calm himself. Which in and of itself was so strange, but then again my fault as prior to his surgery in October I didn't let him have the pacifier except at sleeptime. After the surgery I let him have it when he simply could not calm himself down after 10-15 minutes of throwing a fit. But live and learn.
I still have the Thomas pillow pet, as well as a Henry pillow pet, and ummm yeah a Thomas blanket in the trunk of my car. Ok and 3 Thomas books in the pantry.
Yes I need crutches. We'll see if any get saved for Valentine's or Easter or his birthday....
And on the love front. My sweet sweet boy....
January 21, 2012 I love listening to my sweet little boy read his books out loud. I sit there in amazement and awe that he can read even the longest books with the most words so very well.
January 21, 2012 Today I have 2...I loved that this morning after I changed his diaper that he threw his little baby boy arms around my neck, pulled back and looked at me and said "Thank you for changing my diaper, Mo-mee". Then he gave me a sweet kiss on the lips then skipped off to his trains. Completely unbidden by me!!
January 20, 2012 I love that though he didn't want to do swim lessons that he did them anyway and only cried for about 3 minutes.
Off to hopefully an uneventful blissful night of sleep!!
1 comment:
I hope his Sue-y Bear does the trick!
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