December 9, 2011 ~ First Soup

When I picked Billy up from daycare today he didn't immediately run to me like he usually does. In fact, he was avoiding the the teachers too. Why? He had swiped some stickers from the older kids and was kidding them for a time to eat them when no one was looking. Well, adults are sneaky and we got the stickers away from him, silly boy.

Billy and I had a big argument today. The TV is the problem. He wants to touch it, bang on it, shake it, etc. There are Billy hand prints all over the screen. This is an ongoing problem. I can't just turn off the TV- he continues to attack it and, besides, he has to learn to listen to Mommy. I had to bum smack again today. Fortunately, that worked this time, after multiple failures with "no!" and hand smacks and distracting him. I would prefer not to use a bum smack and I'm a total No Go on true full-out spanking... yuck! At least the bum smack worked. He let out a fake cry (because there's no way a light rap through a diaper hurts more than feelings) and then went to get his school bus and push it around. Ugh.

For dinner he got to try homemade soup- the first soup he has ever had. I sent it with him to daycare and he refused to eat it, but I got him to eat it at home. True, I added sour cream and pepper as a garnish to help it go down. That's how I like it, and he liked it too. Clearly, soup is not his favorite, but it's a new texture and flavor to him and it doesn't contain sugar, so I wasn't expecting fireworks to go off on the first try. He hated peas for a long time and loves them now. Same with corn. The fact that he ate half of his bowl suggests I can get him to eat more tomorrow without fuss.

After dinner he played tug-of-war with Buddy. The two of them are becoming better friends. Buddy knows that Billy is always willing to share his snacks, much to Mommy's chagrin. And Billy has learned how to encourage Buddy to play, so they play together now. They played for 20 minutes with Buddy's snake. Billy would grab the tail and run away and Buddy would grab the other end and pull. Buddy is sweet too. He doesn't pull very hard so that Billy has a chance to hold on. When I play with him Buddy puts his whole weight into it and I can barely hang on. So I know Buddy is looking out for my Lil Man. That's pretty cool.

Billy also got to learn about the heater today. Blown air is a great toy.

And I'll leave you with this picture from this morning. I'm so proud.

December 8, 2011 ~ Santa Left Me a Big Present!

It has a Billy inside!

Billy went back to daycare today. He is still sick, but not so sick to stay home. He has a bad cough and in the morning some light wheezing. My biggest concern with going back to daycare is exposing the other kids to this illness. But apparently it will be in his system for another two weeks, and I just don't have two weeks of vacation time laying around to stay home with him.

When he got home he was tired but wanted to get into everything.

Here he is in his little fort that he made between boxes and furniture that are still in the process of being moved in. (Aka- hey Daddy, get on this stuff!)

Billy and I had a big fight over the television. I didn't turn it on until after 7 to watch the national news, but Billy was very interested in it regardless of the programming. We're trying to keep him from toughing the TV. It's large and not attached to the wall. The bigger he gets, the harder he can smack it. He's either going to crack the screen (like when he took a swing at it today with a plastic wrench) or he's going to topple the whole thing onto himself (like today when he shook it). I tried "no!" He thinks "no" is funny. I tried the hand slap. No Go. I tried directing him towards his toys. No Go. He just kept touching the TV. Time out? Tried to bite me for that one. Finally, I resorted to the bum slap. I'm not for spanking. But sometimes you have to let them know who's boss. There's spanking- bare bum, over the knee, counting one two three. Then there's the bum slap- one to three slaps to the clothed and diapered bum right at the scene of the crime. He's got to learn to listen somehow and I'm at my wits end trying to get him to stay out of things.

The footstool cube was a big hit today. Hiding behind it, hiding in it, and here's Billy...

Falling asleep on its lid.