Miracles

I was picking up Sydney from nursery today after church and was reminded once again of the miracle that our family has encountered this year. Her teacher, with tears in her eyes, went on and on about the amazing transformation that she has seen in Sydney. "The screaming has stopped. The discomfort has stopped. And she is so happy and delightful, never making so much as a whine in class..." She went on reminding me of the days where Sydney just screamed and couldn't ever be consoled. "I felt so sorry for you Brit, we all did" she said. And again with tears she said, "It is amazing. I am so happy for her, and for YOU. You have to know that this is nothing short of a miracle."

I do. Believe me, I do.

Just yesterday Dylan ran her over Syd with his toy car. 6 months ago this would have resulted in 30 minutes of blood curdling screams, but yesterday only resulted in about 2 minutes tops. I find myself saying, "well, there it is" (expecting a screamfest) when little things happen such as her milk spilling, her toy being taken away, or her shoe not fitting right. But it has stopped. Almost completely. She only cries now when it is really warranted, and it does not last long when she does, she can be consoled now. Yesterday she got hurt and came running to me. I rocked her in my arms in the rocker and she layed quietly, head on my shoulder for about 20 minutes. She hasn't let me do this since she was a baby. I cried of course, like I always do when I am reminded of her progress. She is an amazing little girl, and now that the screaming has stopped, and the sleeping has begun, I have more patience with her and I am able to see all the wonderful things that she has to offer. I find myself all the time saying, "isn't she great?", "she is so cute and so much fun!" Sadly, with everything going on, I could never see through her, I never really knew how great she was. What a miracle indeed!

Monetize

Quotes of the day

Here are a few recent Dylan quotes and events.

Dylan has a favorite song, called the Bong song. I turned it on for him today on the way home from church.

Dylan: I know where they made this song mommy

Me: Where?

Dylan: At my baseball field

Me: Why do you think that?

Dylan: Because there are a lot of people cheering at the end of the song

Last week Dylan gave his first prayer in primary. I asked him if he needed help and he very bluntly said no. I went and stood in the back and watched. It was amazing. The best prayer I have ever heard! He prayed for about 5 minutes, no joke, thanking Heavenly Father for everything including his sisters and their toys, school, church, school, for mommy and daddy, friends, and school, his teachers, his cousins, school, etc. He then went on to ask for blessings, to be good at school, be nice for mommy and daddy and his sisters, to feel the spirit, to repent, to be good at school, to be happy, oh yeah, and to be good at school. He went on and on and surprisingly had very neat things to say in between all the school talk. At one point I was wondering if he remembered how to end the prayer because he just kept going. I wanted to run up and say, "Amen" but I couldn't. He just kept going and going and when he was done, all the teachers looked at me in amazement and two people turned and said that was the sweetest prayer they had ever heard. One even said, "and that is why I love primary". It was sweet. I am not trying to brag about it, I just thought it was so neat how it was his first time and he was so comfortable and open and vulnerable. I was one proud mama!

On the way home from church today Dylan saw a small house on the side of the road.

Dylan: Mommy I just saw the smallest house in the world. It's as wide as our family in a row.

Me: Really? How many people do you think live there?

Dylan: Maybe just two, but they don't have so much things. Should we give them some of our things? I have some toys that I don't ever play with anymore.

Me: That is a great idea! Maybe we could make some cookies and go over there and see if there are any kids that would like some toys.

Dylan: Yeah, and I have two coins. I could even give them one of them and I can keep one. That way we could all buy some things. They can have the quarter and I'll keep the small one, (a nickel). They could even buy a new house!

Me: Oh we would have to give them a lot of money to buy a new house. They are very expensive.

Dylan: Well maybe I can just get a job like daddy. You could even help me get a job, even maybe work too!

Spring is here!

Spring is here which means baseball has begun! This is Dylan's first year playing coach pitch (not t-ball), and boy is it tough. I don't know who it s harder on, Dylan or myself. I have come to realize that I am not the parent that can just sit by at and watch. I have to help. It is really becoming a problem. A BIG problem. I can't stop myself from yelling out tips and reminders to these kids. I can tell that the coaches are annoyed. Am I really becoming "THAT" parent? UGH! I'm not negative in anyway, let me be clear of that, I am just overstepping my bounds. I just want to help in every way possible. I have been playing softball for as long as I can remember. It is my sport, my best sport, the one that I have spent the most time playing and practicing throughout my life. I love it and I honestly feel that I know everything there is to know about it, (at least the technical stuff for young kids). So, when there are parents just making up drills and trying to pass time, I want to run out there and show them how its done right. Is that so bad? Yes I know, i should have just signed up to be a coach, but i didn't and now I am stuck! (Which means I have to coach next year, or at least be an assistant. Cameron has already let me know that this has to happen.)

In the time being, I have to swallow my pride and let it all go. Our team is not going to be good, and my son is not going to be the best, or even close to it. It kills me! I know Dylan is young, but they all are, and he just doesn't seem to have the coordination yet. It is so hard to watch everyone else pass him up on skills while he struggles with the "easy" stuff. He might get it, or he might not, but I was surprised by how it took such a blow to my pride though. It makes me laugh thinking about it because I never thought that I would feel that way, but seriously, the first game when Dylan didn't touch the ball on the field or at bat, I was in a serious funk. (He didn't know that, but Cameron did...he just laughed at me, as I did myself later on.) I just want him to love it like I did, and you know what...he does. He is all smiles after the games. So I need to just LET IT GO! Let it go. "Goosfrabba".

Here he is in his uniform, the Yankees. Could I be any prouder of this kid? Athlete or not, he is the sweetest kid on the planet. I love him to pieces!

Dylan didn't get any hits his first game (he was only up to bat once, and three pitches he was out). Here he is in his second game. He struck out the first time and then got a hit to third base on his last at bat. Check out his stride, and that enormous smile on his face! Who cares if he is the next Babe Ruth, he is having a ball and this picture just makes me grin from ear to ear. I am so proud of this kid!

Quotes of the week

-Dylan saw that my back was really hurting yesterday. When I started to cry he went downstairs only to return with two of his favorite toys (power ranger motorcycle and transformer) saying, "mommy, you can have these two toys for a whole month ok? Will that make you feel better?" Throughout the day he continued giving me toys that he didn't play with saying, "you can even have these toys for two months, but can I still play with my motorcycle even though its yours now?"

-Sydney has been potty training this week. I know when she has an accident because she squeals, "oh no, a poop on the floor!" (She calls everything poop)

-Dylan has been having a hard time on the bus these days due to a boy that he is not too fond of. The other day he came in upset and said, "the bus driver wouldn't even write me up, I don't even know why... I was being so bad".

-Sydney calls grandma "bamma" and grandpa "bammpa". I love it! "I wanna go to bamma's house", or "Hewow bamma?" (Meaning she wants to talk to grandma on the phone.)

-Macey is all laughs these days. She laughs at a look, when the dog licks her face, and when she is about to eat. (That laugh more of a grunt of excitement though, her body even shakes because she is so excited!. )

A Forger at 5

"Mommy, the bus driver didn't believe me that this note was real!"

(FYI, Dylan and I had a talk the day before this happened about possibly having his friend get off the bus with him...when he got to school and found no note from me, he had thought that I had forgotten to send one, and so, he decided to write one up himself (with spelling help from his big buddy of course)).

Baby Van Gogh

Here are a few of Dylan's most recent works of art. He's turning out to be quite the little artist! Make sure to pay attention to the detail such as water bubbles, and motion wind lines...they are very impressive!

A submarine

An Airplane

My favorite, a purple octopus or"puuwple happlepis"as Sydney would call it. Dylan thought this one up on his own. I thought it was so creative.

Dylan's expressive "angry" art has become a bit more advanced too. I have asked him not to talk to me about these drawings anymore because they hurt my feelings, but he still can draw them when he feels the need. Here, he was mad at because I took Sydney and Macey to the aquarium without him (while he was at school). He wasn't very happy.

A Few of my Favorite Things

Being 11 months old is tough. I have to sit in my feces all day, crawl on the floor (that I'm not even supposed to eat off of), let my sister run over me and take my toys, and deal with the dog licking me all the time. Dumb dog! I can't wait till I wont be a baby anymore, Momma says this is going to happen in 5 weeks! I should be walking then too, I have taken a few steps here and there, even 6 at one time last week. I sure am getting big (even though everyone keeps telling me I am so small for a Mount. Whats a Mount?).

Anyway, I thought I would just let ya'll know what I have been up to lately. Here are just a few of my favorite things:

Toys! I love toys, but my mommy only gives me the dumb baby ones that rattle. Those are not toys! I keep throwing them away from me so that she will get a hint, but she just keeps putting them back in my mouth.

Here I am trying my best to get a hold of the "good" toys in the high part of our toy bin. Mommy hides those from me for some reason, (but I learned how to get them out, shhhh, don't tell).

My mom get so excited when I do this at dinner time. She keeps saying "peek-a-boo" like we are playing a game or something, but I don't know what she is talking about. I just like eating the food off my bib.

This is my new favorite place to play. Its like my very own water park! I get to get my hands and feet wet, and suck on lots of hard toys covered in yummy food. Its so much fun! My mommy gets really mad when I play in here though. She doesn't let me do anything fun.

This is where I sleep. Look at the blanket that great grandma made me and just sent last week. Isn't it pretty? Anyway, I just started to like sleeping again. I can sleep for 12 hours straight! I think this makes my mommy very happy because when she comes to get me in the morning and I have soaked through my diaper and everything is wet, she is nothing but smiles and coos. Hot dog! (I'm not allowed to eat those.)

I can eat food that is yummy! Here grandma is even feeding me frog eye salad. I wonder if they really are frogs eyes, but they sure are good...much better than that green and orange mush I get all the time. I am even using my hands to eat now, I can pick up bread and pasta, and lots of little foods. It's fun not only cause I get to play with my food, but because I get to be naked every time I eat. Is there a onsie shortage around here?

Try and Try Again

In the last week, Dylan has learned how to ride a two wheeler bike, and, roller skate. This is huge for Dylan. He tends to want to give up on things that are hard for him, as do many kids, but somehow, (with the instance of his parents) he perservered through this.

Cameron had the day off on Tuesday so he was home to see Dylan when we took of the training wheels. Dylan was excited to try it, and get this, the first time Cameron let go of him, he took off riding. He only fell a few times that day, (mostly as he was trying to stop when cars were coming and such). He picked it up so fast, and now he is a fiend for his bike. I feel like I am in a Dr. Suess book, can I ride my bike "here or “there? Can we ride it everywhere?" I am so proud, especially for the cape that he decided to put on while learning. Classic.

Because Dylan was on a high from learning how to ride his bike, we, (I), thought it would be a idea good to push the skating thing so that he would be reminded that hard work pays off. He has gone skating a couple of times recently, and has showed interest in doing it, he just hasn’t had a lot of patience for it. Last time, Dylan was pretty tired and just laid on the floor because he “couldn’t do it”. So, we wanted to take him again this while it was still fresh in his mind, and remind him that once we learn something, it is a lot more fun to do (just like riding the bike). We cannot give up or we will miss out on so many things in life. I don’t want to pat myself on the back too much, but I do have to say, this worked. He fell, and fell again each time with longer intervals in between, never once stopping to lay on the floor and give up. After about 20 minutes, he had it. He did it! By the end of the night, he was skating just as well as a lot of the 10 year old kids. He made it around 6 times before falling (and only because a girl fell in front of him and he was going to fast and couldn’t slow down). I was so proud. He never gave up, and he was having so much fun! I'm still smiling just typing about it.

I sadly do not have any pictures of Dylan because my battery died after I took a video of him. I did get these of Syd though. Could her little skates be any cuter? They are so tiny!

Syd likes to skate along the carpet when she's not screaming for us to hold her on the main floor (as her feet drag along the ground). That is really fun for all involved.

$50

Dylan: I found some money under Grandmas bed.

Me: Oh really, how much is it? (thinking its 3 cents)

Dylan: I don't know.

Me: Let me see.

Dylan: (pulls out a stash in his pocket)

Grandma: It's 50 dollars! Did you get this out of my purse Dylan?

Dylan: No. It was under the bed.

Of course, "it was from Grandma's purse" (Dylan later admitted). Dylan started lying these last few weeks and I am at a loss. I keep thinking that things get easier as children get older, but I am sorely mistaken. Things are just hard in different ways. Ugh. So, back to the lying. Dylan went through a little lying phase at about 3, it lasted for about two weeks, and then passed. I was so excited that this developmental stage came and went so quickly. But...nope. Now, its back, in full force in the form of stealing, exaggerating, and full on lying about accidents that "supposedly" happend at school. He is such a good kid, he just down't quite understand yet...iv'e got some work cut out for me!

MIlestones

-Macey took 6 legit steps this week! (she is 11 months)

-Macey slept through the night

-Sydney read aloud (memorized) her first book. Brown Bear Brown bear.

-Dylan started coach pitch baseball this week.

DD Date day!

Last Friday I took Dylan out of school to take him on a date with me to the Children's Museum in Atlanta. We went with my close friend Lisa and her son Jack (who consequently is Dylan's best friend). We had a good time together. I don't get much alone time with Dylan these days, so if I have to take him out of school to do it, I will. Thanks for babysitting the girls Grandma!

Don't look too excited boys.

Dylan has become quite the little artist! He is so creative, and focused when he paints or colors.

When I was a kid, I remember a few occasions when my mom took the day off work to stay home with me and do puzzles together. I loved it and have always cherished those memories. I was one of five kids, and still, she took the time to have one on one with me, and only me. It made me feel so loved and special, and I told myself as a mother that I would try and do the same with my kids. So it begins...