What's new this week -- August 31

This week we had our first trip to the ER. I put Kyler on a bench and he fell off face first onto a rock path. Blood and crying everywhere. It sure was ugly and actually made me feel rather queasy; but he stopped crying after about 15 minutes, was playing around in the ER, and fell asleep just before they glued the cut together (slept right through it). So besides the ugly glue and possible scar (should be minimal and high enough to be covered by hair), me feeling pretty bad about it, and Kyler having dirtier hair than normal (I don't want to get the area too wet so I'm avoiding frequent baths), we made it through the experience. You can kind of see the wound in the upper left of the picture below, but the dirty hair is kind of covering it.

In other news ...

Kyler had been just biting pieces out of books, so I finally put all of the books with paper in them out of his reach -- it was driving me crazy that he would pull all of the books off the shelf (making a very "slippery" surface for him to stand on) and then start crinkling, eating, or ripping pages. Now the only ones available are board books, and he is enjoying them very much (maybe it helps that I don't have to get him in trouble anymore). He loves to look at the pictures and is starting to have favorite books. He brings them to me during his wanderings and is so excited to point to the pictures and make noises. He will also climb into my lap and spend considerable time turning pages and pointing to things, looking for his favorite pictures. This is unusual for a kiddo who seems to move around constantly.

This week I've actually seen Kyler try to imitate things a few times, which is also new. I cleaned his nose on his shirt (hey, there wasn't anything else available at the moment besides my shirt), and then he started lifting his shirt to his nose. He also tries to put his finger to his mouth and say shhhhh. And tries to blow on food to cool it down. But he still doesn't listen to me very often.

Kyler is starting to understand possession I think. When Kinsey tries to take away a toy (which of course happens more than often), he will hold on and even start to yell in frustration. And when Kinsey tries to "trade" he usually does not want to anymore which causes some tugging and yelling on both sides. I try to tell Kinsey to put the toys out of reach that she doesn't want Kyler to get, but she inevitably puts them on the couch ... where he can reach, or on the table edge ... where he can reach, or on the bookshelf ... where he can reach. She definitely understands possession i.e. it's mine if: I've every played with it, or if I want it, or if you have it and I like it. This is a hard mindset to change with a little brother around.

Kinsey had a moody week. Yikes. Either she was picking up on my mood, or she's getting to be more dramatic and whinny to get what she wants cause she knows it works by driving me crazy(hopefully just a phase, although she has the tendency to be whinny at times). Or maybe she has been bored or over tired or something. Anyway, lots of crying over impossible things like a cd that I had already returned to the library, or having to leave Andrea to go home from church. She often says "I'm sad" and looks so heartbroken; although, one time when she was upset/sad, we let her watch Dora to calm down and so the next day when she said she's sad, and I asked her what she needed to be happier, she said "Dora." Smarty-pants.

Kinsey has reverted back to wanting to be feed instead of eating her food by herself. This can be super frustrating when I'm trying to feed Kyler and myself. She will take a bite; then, when I'm ready to give her another bite, she holds up a finger, shakes her head, and then points to her mouth. So polite, such a slow eater, and so funny. She went back to hardly eating anything by the end of this week. How active kids survive on so little food when I feel like I'm eating all day, I just don't understand.

But on a happier note for Kinsey, this week she went with Andres to the play center at the grocery store for the first time (they have what is basically a drop-in daycare center I guess for their customers -- secure with attentive workers and tons of great toys). We had stopped by a few times and she was too scared to go in without me, but her friend Andres came shopping with his mother and she marched right in and had a ball for an hour and a half (yes, Amy and I were shopping very slowly -- though our other two kids aren't old enough to go in yet; if they were, I'd go shopping everyday). The lady in the playarea said Kinsey was like a little cruise director which I assume means that she was supper chatty and trying to get others to do stuff with her. She so absolutely loved it. We went later in the week by ourselves, and she loved it then too. I think she'll like it more than the free cookie she can get at the grocery store ... and it's much more healthy.