Help Jack give up the bottle
I finally added some links... these are blogs that I check daily... my husband (who is a LITTLE overdue to update his), my oldest friend (meaning I've been friends with her for twenty-three years... not that she's 90 years old or something), and my very funny cousin who is also the mom of a little boy.
Well, today was better, until a major meltdown due to Jack asking for some milk and me telling him he could only have milk from a cup. Well. You'd think I'd ruined his life.
We've been trying (sometimes harder than other times) for over a year to get him off the bottle... and nothing has worked. He still drinks a bottle in the morning and one at night. During the day, he might sip juice from a juice box or water from a straw, but that is it. He won't drink from a juice box or a straw, we have to either squeeze the juice box while he has the straw in his mouth or we deposit water or juice from a straw into his open mouth.
This obviously has gotten very frustrating and very old. We've tried cutting him off completely and he is so damn strong willed that he'd sooner dehydrate himself than drink from a cup. We've tried rewards... he just doesn't care. We've tried "bottles are for babies, cups are for big boys"... doesn't care.
Any thoughts/ ideas?
Sting!
I hate it, I hate it, I HATE IT when Jack is sick. I don't think I hate anything more.
Jack had been doing better going into the weekend, but then... I don't really know what happened but the weekend turned out to be... shitty. Jack's antibiotics are doing a bad number on him regarding his poor stomach and it has made him very irritable. I don't know how many time outs he had this weekend, but it was a lot. And I felt bad giving a sick kid a time out, but oh well... the incessant screaming and throwing of toys just got to be too much. I've had two breakdowns so far... one on Friday night and one yesterday. I don't know how people with more than one child do it. I really don't.
Today has been a busy work day for Keith and I both and we are planning to go on vacation next week. I hope we see some improvement in Jack or it will be a very very long car ride to North Carolina.
I hope tonight Jack sleeps through the night so neither of us have to get up and watch the PBS special about Sting singing old Irish songs with a lute. That probably doesn't make any sense. Keith tivoed this special about Sting, and something about the music and the singing is very interesting to Jack (and calming, too) so when he wakes up in the middle of the night, we put that on and he watches it for awhile and eventually goes back to sleep. Thank goodness for Sting... but it's getting very old.
I just want some sleep and to have my sweet happy boy back.
I'm praying that the God people will leave us alone
Wednesday evening, we took Jack to a very nice walk in clinic and got the news that Keith expected to hear: ear infection. Since then Jack has been on antibiotics and Tylenol for his fever and is slowly improving. I dare say that this is probably the best he's felt in several days. We are all very happy about this. Hopefully this will continue into the weekend.
In vacation news...
We are less than two weeks away from our big family vacation to Amelia Island and North Carolina. We are getting excited...
In solicitor news (hence the title of the blog entry)...
This morning some religious folk came to the door, wanting to share a scripture from the Bible with me. I told them that there is a no soliciting sign at the front of our neighborhood, in case he missed it. He said, "Well, we're not selling anything, we're sharing a scripture." ARGH!!!! Are you kidding me?!
I had put my own personal note back on our door but it blew away in a summer storm. I guess I'll have to remake one because at least that note included that we do not want people talking to us about their religion! GOD! If I wanted to know about Christianity (and I already do), I WOULD ASK!!!!!!
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
I definitely have a mild case of PTSD (as us mental health people call it) when it comes to Jack getting sick. Jack woke us up with a scream this morning and felt warm when i got him out of his crib. I took his temp. and it was at about 100 degrees. I immediately felt anxious and depressed all at the same time because all I could think about was the last time he was sick, which was the week of 105 degree fever and the chaos surrounding it (antibiotic shots in his legs, is it viral? Is it an infection, etc, etc).
Well, after a dose of tylenol, the fever has dropped, but he still looks and seems to feel... cruddy. No other symptoms and he's napping now, so please everyone, keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't turn into anything.
We cancelled swimming lessons for today. Bummer.
Jack's current faves
Jack likes:
Brownies
Trains
Trucks
Music
Making up his own songs
Playing the guitar
Selling us french fries out of the window of his rocket (which is a giant cardboard box with a window cut out of it)
Bike rides with his Daddy
Watering the plants
Playing in mud
Swimming lessons (a little bit)
Story time at the library
Seeing Miss Helen at the park (the little old lady who comes to the park everyday to watch kids play)
Angie
Grammy
Sunny
Zip
A black matchbox car that he carries around and calls "Jackie's car"
Counting
Taking a bath
Black beans
Getting squished by Daddy
Playing with Mommy's hair
Puppy and blanket
Employment wanted
After some long talks about a week or two ago, Keith and I both made the decision that the time has come for us to both be open about finding new jobs. This is a hard realization, but I think it's time, for several reasons:
- We need to be making more money. Part time doesn't pay well, obviously and we live thrifty, but not thrifty enough. Plus, at any time, one or both of us might need a new car, and it would be smart to get ourselves financially ready for that.
- The fact that we both work for a teeny tiny non profit agency, which after about four years (for Keith) and five for me, we really aren't making any more money than when we first started. The depressing thing is, we're actually making less. This is because the "raises" and "bonuses" we get do not come close to matching or exceeding the rising cost of living in Florida.
- Interoffice politics/ power struggles with our supervisors. Over time, I am liking working for them less and less.
- Work stress... the normal annoying stresses that come with both of our jobs. Keith's especially, can be extremely emotionally taxing.
So, the searching has begun. I updated my resume and applied for one job... a long shot, but you never know. Keith is working on his, too.
New jobs would mean big changes for us... the biggest would be that Jack would be going to a daycare for at least some of the week. This is a change that ultimately could serve him well since he's not around other kids much, but would still likely be very traumatic in the beginning.
Also, these jobs would be hard to leave for sentimental reasons. Keith and I met through working here together, and many people that we worked with then, we still work with now. Despite their faults, our supervisors have always been extremely flexible and understanding regarding Jack, which is something I don't know we'll find elsewhere. These are people who supported me through a divorce, a remarriage, a pregnancy, and being a new mom... hmmm... what can I say... it's a tough call... but I still think it's time.
Close quarters
We live in a neighborhood of townhomes that are VERY close to each other. Many times, Jack has woken up in the night, and I've worried about the neighbors hearing him. Well, last night, our neighbors who are usually very quiet had a friend(s) over, two young men (maybe 20) that sat on their back porch, smoked and talked for hours. Sometimes during their talking they did a little freestyle rapping. Kind of funny, not a big deal, when it's 9:30 at night.
But when I woke up at 2:30am in my bed and could still hear them, outside on their own patio, talking, I was pissed. Not ten minutes later, Jack woke up very angry and demanding some milk. I took him downstairs while Keith opened our window and very assertively (my word for the month, I guess) told them that , "My son just woke up". Well, thankfully, the guys "got it" and went inside after another minute. They were quiet after that, and I should know since I laid in bed for about another hour, unable to fall asleep.
At least Jack went back to sleep. Ugh. I'm a little tired today.
House Arrest
Jack and I had many plans for today... music class, Father's Day shopping, a trip to Wal Mart, story time at the library... we've done none of it as of yet.
I have no car seat. I forgot to get it out of Keith's car before he left for work this morning. Luckily, Grandpoppy is coming over at some point to drop off their car seat... so we can at least get going this afternoon.
Jack is getting bored and so am I. It's too hot to play outside.
Come on, Grandpoppy!!!
This is what happens when both of your parents are therapists...
Just now, Keith was getting Jack ready to get in the bathtub. As Jack often does at this point of the day, he threw a huge fit about walking to the bathroom to get into the tub. Keith knelt down beside little naked Jack and said, "Jack, stop screaming. Do you want a time out?" (We've been doing time outs to get a better handle on some of Jack's unpleasant behaviors). Jack said, "No." Then he took this huge deep breath and blew it out really slow. Too funny!!
Keith said, "Sometimes we just need to stop and take a deep breath." Jack nodded and walked with him into the bathroom. We both cracked up shortly thereafter.
Take that, Terminix
Keith has taught me many things... one is to be ASSERTIVE. And today, I was. The doorbell rang and it was a young, strongly accented young man (some kind of German or Dutch accent) from Terminix.
Wait, must back up. I had posted a not so friendly No Soliciting sign on our door during the JW fest and only recently took it down when we noticed No Soliciting signs at the front of our neighborhood.
Anyway, so there's Mr. Terminix. He immediately begins his speech about wanting to sell me a package deal for pest control, telling me that he's seen roaches, ants, and spiders in our neighborhood. Uh, Mr. T? Duh, we live on a swamp in FLORIDA.
Not even addressing the No Soliciting sign at the front of the neighborhood, (and kicking myself for having taken my own one down) I try to explain that we are renting the home and are not at liberty to arrange for pest control because we don't own the house. He then tries to argue with me saying that this is not pest control for the home, it's for my own safety. That's a creative one.
I mentioned the accent before because this entire exchange is going slowly and painfully due to neither of us being able to understand each other.
I again tell him that I'm not interested in services and I go out on a limb for him and say if he wants to leave a card, I'll give it to my landlord next time I see him. Mr. Terminix says he forgot to bring his cards. Too bad for you, Mr. T.
Well, this keeps going on where he just keeps trying to argue with me so I will buy the pest control service and ends with me saying, "I'm done with this, I'm closing the door on you, please leave."
Now's when I get really assertive. I called 1800TERMINIX and got the local branch's phone number. Then I called and told them that I was just harrassed by one of their employees at my own home and I live in a neighborhood that does not accept soliciting, etc, etc.
And, I'm not a bitch or anything, I tell the woman I don't want this kid to be in trouble or anything, he's just doing a really bad job and someone needs to work with him. The woman knew who I was talking about right away and said she would be talking to her manager about it.
Will she actually do anything? Who knows. Will this kid go to a customer service training or get fired or something? Who knows. All I know is when I hung up the phone, only then did my blood pressure return back to a normal range.
Good for me.
Thank you, nasty chicken
This is my 200th post!!!
About thirty minutes ago, Keith took some chicken out of the refrigerator to cook for dinner... only to discover it spoiled early. Gross! The result? He took Jack with him to a quick Publix run to buy more chicken. I've been awarded thrity minutes of total alone time in my house. I can't even believe it really.
What a gift. What an amazing man I married. Truly.
Jack, the lil tadpole
OK, so Jack's swimming... sort of? He is screaming and crying and saying "Uh-oh" amidst his sobs... but he's learning? Maybe?
The swim teacher is GREAT and I have no doubt that he's going to be swimming for real soon and probably really liking it. He's just not liking it YET. But... He's gone under and has held on to the side of the pool and everything, so we're off to a good start.
It's very... emotional, obviously. We have to restrain ourselves from jumping in and "rescuing" him from the evil swim teacher. I just about had a breakdown the first time she put him under the water. Then, I missed the second day because I couldn't get out of work early enough. The guilt from that was probably worse than the guilt felt from watching the actual lesson.
I'd like to think that he will learn to swim and love it and most importantly, be able to get out of a pool if he inadvertently falls in one, but who knows right now?
One funny result of swim lessons... there's been a resurgence of Jack using the phrase, "I sorry." He says it during the lesson whenever Trish, the swim teacher does something he doesn't like. Now he's saying "I sorry" just about every two minutes. If he accidentally brushes against your hand while walking by you, he says, "I sorry." If he drops his blanket, "I sorry". It's getting to the point of insane repitition, but yet, still funny.
Tonight we went out to dinner at the worst barbeque place I've ever been... and there was a deer head on the wall. Jack thought it was a zebra. Hee hee.
