Winding Down…

Last night was a little adventurous. Folks who live in the area almost got called in for a sleepover. Four contractions in about 40 minutes. I was “one more” contraction away from getting David up and going to the hospital, but after the deep breathing exercises and constant prayer, that “one more” never came. However, since these were completely different than the usual “false labor” contractions I have been experiencing over the last two weeks or so (totally normal for this stage on a second timer, I’m told…) you might want to get your bids in on the due date pool. As I’m a little more fatigued today, too, I’m hoping this doesn't become a pattern until d-day.

Silly, silly, silly.
One of Adam’s favorite words lately is “silly.” Almost everything is designated “silly” though, after Sunday, I’m thinking that it’s more of a term of endearment to him than what it usually means to us. On Sunday, his lesson in Nursery was apparently about the Holy Ghost. He proudly told me that the Holy Ghost helps him to remember to pray and be good. He said that the Holy Ghost was a “big guy” (which we’ve come to understand as either powerful or good). His very next sentence was “silly Holy Ghost!” I’m really not sure how to address this, since it was really said with as much reverence as a two-and-a-half-year old can muster. I’m just concerned that if I set the record straight, he’ll figure out what I really mean when I tell him he’s being silly (during a crying fit when I don’t give him ice cream for breakfast, etc). It might be just as good to leave this one alone…

Such tender feelings…
Last week was a week. Oi was it a week. In retrospect (and even somewhat at the time), I knew that it was largely because of the adversarial bombardment David was receiving. However, it affected all of us, and in spite of my best personal efforts to keep things from coming apart at the seams, it really did take the guiding hand of God to keep it all together. It seems that Adam was affected right along with David and I because for about 3 days straight, my darling angel was replaced by something I hate to even think about my little boy becoming – a brat. And, of course, my deepest concern was that he might be developing traits that would make him a certifiable one and I spent a lot of time in prayer (and him in time out) trying to keep that from happening.

In the meantime, during his episodes of ultra-assertiveness, I needed to make a phone call to a friend. Typically, I can distract him with his puppy dog toy or just reason with him that he needs to let mommy talk and I have no problems. However, on this particular day, nothing was working and rather than having the talk I needed to with this friend, he was using his most loud voice and was in constant need of my attention (though when I would ask him what he needed, he would say “nothing” – ARGH!).

Finally, out of desperation, I locked myself in the bathroom and turned on the fan so I could focus 5 minutes on the phone call. He knows how to open the door and when determined enough, will do so. Having locked it, though, he was even more upset when it wouldn’t open. I finished my call and when I emerged from the bathroom, he tearfully (and forcefully) let me know that what I had done had “really hurt [his] feelings…”

Thankfully, my little angel was back on Friday. He’s really becoming aware of the world around him. He’s getting more excited about his baby sister. Mostly that is. Last Thursday, I visited my old office because I had agreed to go to lunch with a friend of mine. There are several therapists who work out of that office and one of them is a part-time savvy grandmother type. She asked Adam if he was excited about his baby sister. In one of the clearest voices I’ve heard him use he told her that he was “really worried.” She offered her card to him and told him to call her anytime he needed to talk.

We’re also struggling with getting him to be potty trained. He’s just plain terrified of the toilet. Most mornings I get him up with a dry diaper and he knows when he needs to go – he just won’t sit on the toilet. As much as it grosses me out, we’re going to try a separate potty chair rather than the special smaller seat that goes on the regular toilet to see if that helps. I’d REALLY like to have him trained before we’re buying diapers for his little sister, but we’ll see how that goes. I did get him to sit on the toilet for all of three seconds one day before his terror kicked in and he literally jumped off and into my arms. And, no – no amount of promises of ice cream and candy did anything. He only sat there for three seconds when I promised a bubble bath if he did.

I’m in really big trouble…
I’m always impressed with Adam’s memory. He can sing a song literally once or twice and he’s got at least several lines of it memorized, if not the whole song completely. I don’t hardly work with him at all on reading or the alphabet or printed numbers at all, but he knows them on sight. When we had a “Winter Weather Warning” flashing across the bottom of the TV screen a couple of weeks ago, he excitedly told me every time he saw a ‘W’ – and he was right! He’s pretty solid on ‘B’s and ‘S’s, too. He also remembers events that happened weeks or even a month ago. I’ve always known he was too smart for my own good, but now I know I’m in big trouble with a memory this solid!