Good and Bad

I can't decide if I should start with the bad or the good.  

I think I'll start with the bad, so I can end on a good note :)

This afternoon I loaded Tate up and we headed to Carter's for their big doorbuster's sale (a big bust for us...all the cute stuff online is only online).  These days I undo Tate's carseat buckles and he climbs on out himself.  I have no idea what went wrong this time.  

I undid his buckles and went around the back door to open the passenger front door after telling him to get out and that he could bring his hippo and Mickey Mouse (a new favorite as of Friday) in the store with him.  All of a sudden I hear him crying hysterically.  I go back to him and he has somehow entangled himself in the carseat straps.  I don't realize what a problem this is initially as I try to get his arm out for him.  He's thrashing about and becoming increasing hysterical and I realize he has somehow got it around his neck as well and it's looped over and he CANNOT GET UNDONE.  I start to panic because I can't get him undone either because it is so damn tight.  He starts turning blue and purple and I'm frantically trying to get my hands slid under the strap as I recall somewhere in the recesses of my mind how to flatten your hand and slip it between the cord of a baby's neck if it's wrapped around to get it off the baby as it's being born.  He's still thrashing about making it so much more difficult, and it's 90 degrees out and noone seems to see us struggling.  

Finally, finally, finally I got the strap from around him.  This was probably 30-60 seconds of absolute torture for him and for me.  My poor, poor little guy.  I grabbed him out of the seat and just held him.  I sat him on the trunk of the car and looked to see what if anything was hurt, bleeding or bruised.  He had the definitive marks of seat belt abrasion :(.  But he said he was fine.  I decided we needed to get on into the store so we could be in the air conditioning.  I promised him he could watch his steam trains on my phone the entire time I shopped.

We got inside Carter's and cooled off.  I got him situated with my phone at their play table and I shopped.  I was shaking and just out of sorts.  I bought a few things, but my heart obviously wasn't in it.  We left with our purchases and made our way home.  

He seems just find minus the bruises and abrasions.  He also seems to have popped a few blood vessels in his face when he was having difficulty breathing.   Tonight I will definitely be bringing him into bed with me in our room when I go to sleep instead of sleeping downstairs like I normally do on work nights.  I can't bear to be away from him.

He was a great mood though when we got home.  He even got in his carseat with no problems for the drive home.  This little guy takes a licking and keeps on ticking.  (remember falling off the train...he still loves riding it, though he does always want me near).

And from now on not only will I unbuckle him I will remove the straps from around his arms and be sure they have cleared his body.  I suggest everyone do the same.
Here are some pics...

 

So for the good news.  We had a pretty good weekend my little guy and I otherwise.  We had music class yesterday and Tate had a ball.  He just loves going and has really come out of his shell while we're there;  well as long as his new love M is there!

We ran a few errands then came on home for lunch.  I finally got him down for a nap and about an hour into it I saw him sitting up and stirring on the monitor, so I ran upstairs and cuddled him and we fell asleep together for another hour.  Fantastic.  We hung out here when he woke, though it was 3 when he woke. He will not go to sleep until 1 these days for his nap.  And ideally he needs to be up by 2 to go to sleep easily.  I also think he needs at most an hour of sleep, but he was awake yesterday at 5:15am and we had a party from 5-7p to go to.  (and yes, I was less than pleased with the lateness of the hour for a 3 year old's party, when we start bedtime routine at 630/645).  But we persevered.  The party was at ChuckECheese, our first visit, probably our last unless there's another party.  I called the managers to be sure I could bring cake in for Tate that was egg-free and they gave me such a hard time about approving it I wanted to scream.  I finally spoke to the general manager who hemmed and hawed and finally said 'I guess it'll be ok'.  Ok, so you want my kid to die?  Do you realize how hard it would be to watch all his friends eat cake and he not be able to?  How do you explain that to a 3 year old?  In addition, Tate hates pizza, so I knew he wouldn't eat any of that.  I wanted to bring in some of our egg nuggets for him.  I opted to not ask about that and just loaded up my purse with his yogurt and cheese sticks for dinner.  Sigh.  But he had fun and that's all that matters.  I'm also really glad we went because there were only 2 other kids there for the little girl's party.  It was last minute notice, so I know people were busy.  There was a HUGE football game yesterday (A&M v LSU) so lots of people made the trek to College Station for that and it's pumpkin patch season, so more than 5 days notice probably would have helped.  Anyway, the sweet mom also invited her cousin who has 7, yes 7 kids.  And they did not show up.  Not at all.  I have no idea if they called or texted, but when we left at 6:45 they were not there and cake had been eaten, presents had been opened and games had been played.  I was just infuriated for the mom.  However, it's her family, and I'm sure she's dealt with them and this sort of thing before.  Tate had fun.  The birthday girl was happy.  We got home around 7:25 and I threw Tate in his pajamas, brushed his teeth, read him 2 stories and had him in the crib a little after 8.

This morning we got up, laid in bed a bit as he was up at 6 after waking at 2:30am for reasons unbeknownst to me. I put him in bed with me at that point with no complaints from him.  We got moving a little before 7, got him some breakfast and then went grocery shopping at our favorite store, Whole Foods.  Ran home and I threw the cold items in the fridge and we met a small portion of the tribe for breakfast.  (well snack for Tate, breakfast for the rest of us!)

There were 7 of us adults and 3 kiddos.  The girls are both almost 2; in fact one was the little girl he hung out with Friday late afternoon!  After breakfast Tate and I headed to the playground where he ran amok and had a great time.  He is a bit more clingy these days wanting me right beside him or in clear view when he's at the playground.  A bit difficult at this one as it's big and sprawling, but he had fun.

Oh and it was about 88 degrees.  At 10:30am.  On October 21, 2012.  Ugh.

We came home, he had lunch and I tried putting him down for a nap.  This did not go well today.  It was not pretty, and I'm very ashamed of myself for yelling at my sweet boy (well he's not always so sweet), but I yelled in his face to calm down and quit wiggling about.  The thing is I KNOW he's tired. I know he needs to get some extra sleep in.  He just cannot calm himself enough to do so and it drives me bonkers.  Add in the fact that his sleeping or lack there of just worries me greatly because of all the literature out there about overtired kids.  And I know, I know he may just have less sleep needs than most kids, but isn't that what those parents say too. the ones of the overtired kiddos?  Anyway, after he cried in horror and hurt feelings, and I made him throw away two of his favorite books he finally went to sleep in my arms.  I felt just awful and opted to just hold him while he slept.  He slept almost an hour and woke up smiling.  I even let him watch about 40 minutes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and gave him a popsicle to atone for my bad behavior.  (funny huh?  I won't use food to praise his good behavior, but I'll use it to to make him feel better about my bad behavior)

The Texans won!!!  We beat the Ravens 43-13!!  We are now 6-1 and we are the leaders in our division!  I love me some Texans football...I always have and I always will.  Here's Tate and his feelings, ok mine, on the win!

That's when we left for the ill-fated trip to Carter's.

We made it home and Aunt Lindsey stopped by for a quick chat.  Always love hanging out with her.

So it's almost Monday.  The worst day of the week in my opinion.  The day we have to be separated.  But I'll be sleeping with him near me in just a little while (I intend to put him in bed with me!).  So I'll end this with the happy face he had at bathtime tonight!