Bad Dream Remembered

For a while, Braden was waking up crying, and sometimes yelling/screaming.  He was inconsolable!  I'm not even sure he was truly awake.  His sleep/dream pattern has changed somewhat now.

This morning, after getting up and getting a Yoohoo and yogurt for breakfast, he told me he had a bad dream.  I asked him to tell me about it, so he did!

• B: It was SCARY!  The wind blow me like this - whooossssh (arm outstretched with hand flying overhead).
• H: Where did the wind blow you?
• B: It blow me in the dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark.  (with each "dark" he crouched lower and lower)
• H: Oh, goodness!  I'm sorry it was dark.  What happened next?
• B: A bear in the street!  Big bear (standing with arms outstretched and on toes).  Him have big arms, and big eyes, and big hair, and big mouth, and big nose, and big neck, and big head, and big shoulders, and big tummy, and big legs, and big butt.  (he touched each part on himself as he named it)  Him chase me fast, fast, fast, fast, faster.  (arms pumping while saying fast)  Police car come to chase bear away.  Tie him up with rope (arm circling overhead like holding a lasso then wrapped imaginary rope around own arm) and take him away.  I safe now (hugged self).
• H: WOW!  That's quite a dream.  I'm so glad you're safe.
• B: Yes.  (off to play cars now...)

I couldn't believe how animated he was!  I like this kind of dream, even if it was scary, much better than the ones where he wakes up and is inconsolable.

Braden Favs 2012

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Braden Favs 2012

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Summer Fun!

We have had quite the summer!  We've been to Sea World and 6-Flags in San Antonio, Moody Gardens and Schlitterbahn in Galveston, and all over Houston!

We started our summer with a trip to 6-Flags Fiesta Texas over Memorial Day weekend.  After returning to Houston we had regular trips to Jaycee Park, HMNS, the Zoo, Studio Movie Grill's children's movies, and swim classes.  We went to Sea World with the Berg's and had a blast!  We attended the World's Largest Swimming Lesson at Schlitterbahn Galveston and spent the rest of the day playing in the water and checking out Morticia (Corpse Flower) at Moody Gardens.  We went to Moody Gardens and Galveston beach for Father's Day weekend and made it to Discovery Green for Dock Dogs the following weekend.  Grandad and Uncle Wyatt came to visit over Daniel's birthday.

I took a little break from all of the go-go-going and did a little planning for school.  After a couple of weeks of that, it was time to go again!  As soon as swim classes were over we were off to Gran's!  We went up to Gran's for Nannie's birthday.  While there we painted the garage and I painted a bathroom - surprise Mom!  While we were away from Houston, Daniel was in an auto accident.  (He's still recovering...)

Since returning, Braden has enjoyed his gymnastics classes and he's now signed up for gymnastics for the year!  We managed to fit in an Astros game the last weekend of July - they won!  The first weekend of August I decided to hit potty training hard!  We're now on day five.  Eleven hours into the day and NO ACCIDENTS!!!  It's now nap time, so back to disposables.  Cloth trainers (and bribes) are the way to go for sure!  (Of course, the first few days were spent cleaning accidents...)  The bribes that seem to work for Braden are peanut butter cups (or any other fun size treat) and new Cars characters.

This upcoming weekend will be a boys' weekend - I'm off at our annual CSA retreat.

Braden: He is still Mr. Outdoors.  When he's forced to stay inside to avoid the mosquitoes or heatstroke he likes to play with his cars, puzzles, dinosaurs, and iPad.  When Mommy has to work, Braden likes to work too - he works on "his" iPad while Mommy works on her computer.

Over the summer, he has become MUCH more articulate!  Some words are still troublesome, but he gets the message across!  

On Wednesday I took Braden to get his hair cut before school starts - when we got home he found his doctor kit scissors, handed them to me, and said, "You cut my hair."  Of course I complied.  I noticed today that Braden is losing his baby fat on his wrists.  I guess that goes along with his vanishing leg fat.  His legs are getting so long and muscular.  He is growing up SO fast...  I cuddle and snuggle with him every chance I get!  

Daniel: As I mentioned above, he was in an auto accident mid July.  His ankle has been hurting and just doesn't want to heal!  He's been to the doc several times and even had a CT on Monday.  We should get those results back in the next day or two.  Other than that, he's been hard at work (aside from the week he was off after the accident) and has joined us for a couple of weekends of fun.

Haylee: I've been working hard this summer to make science this year easier.  7th grade science has been revamped and is ready to go!  We had our last meeting (before officially being back at work) yesterday.  I guess my focus once we're officially back will be math.  I mainly need to check dates and make sure any blocked dates are ready for double or no math.

I have not made any progress on interior painting this summer...  I did get Daniel to replace some boards that needed it when he re-caulked the windows - I painted those.

I opted to cancel our lawn service this summer too.  I purchased a push reel mower and have been having at it for a month now.  It only takes about 30 minutes to mow the yard each week.  I edge every couple of weeks - this takes about 15 minutes.  Not bad for saving ~$100 a month - I think I deserve a raise. 

Growing up way too fast! Already 3!

Now that Braden is 3 years old it's time for a growth update:
Height = 34 inches; Weight = 28 pounds

Party time:  We had a small party at Gran's Easter weekend where Braden and Mackenzye beat up a pinata before we had cupcakes.  Here at home, we had a super hero party the weekend before his actual birthday.  I made capes out of t-shirts and swords out of pool noodles (cut in 1/2) for all the party guests.  They had the run of the fort, trampoline and sand table.  A few adults joined in on the trampoline too!

What he's up to:  Now, Braden likes coming home and playing doctor or going fishing - at least until he realizes there is enough daylight and not too many mosquitoes out yet so he can go play outside.  He really wants to try out his froggy floater, but he'll have to wait until the next pool party!  When he must be inside, he likes to spend indoor time coloring, watching movies with Daddy, or playing with dinosaurs, castles and cars.  Oh - he's also recently discovered that the ottoman opens into a storage bench.  Of course, all contents are now regularly removed and replaced with Braden.  :)

Demands of a 3-year-old:

• No! My dood it!
• No! You dood it! 
• No! My help!
• NO!
• No!  You help me!
• No!  My help you!
• NOOO! (at top of lungs and face turns red)
• No!  I don't want to!
• No!  I want that!
• No!  Don't want that!
• No!  Don't want walk!  My hold you!
• No!  Want walk!

Do you see the theme?

Duties of a 3-year-old:  I'm milking this whole "Now that you're 3 years old you are a BIG BOY!  Big boys..."  Some of what I've used this for (so far):  

• sleep in their own beds.  (He starts there but wakes up between 11 and 3 and wanders into our room unless one of us sleeps with him in his bed.  We're working on it.)
• don't use pacis.  Only babies use a paci. (Stopped asking for it after 3 days.)
• walk from the car to school in the morning.  (We're working our way up to walking the entire way.  We're 1/2 way after 2 days!)
• try a little bite of everything on their plate.  (His first attempt involved licking his food instead of actually chewing to try it.  When we got him to chew, his attempt at chewing broccoli was hilarious!  He pretended to chew for about 3 minutes before he actually chewed (torture).  He finally swallowed with some tea to help wash it down. *This boy will eat spinach like chicken, but broccoli and carrots are just awful evidently!*)
• I've GOT to come up with more!  I'm sure I'll make it up as we go along - as necessary.  I'm also open to suggestions!  (^_^)

Now that there's no paci in the car, Braden tells me about his day while we drive home.  When that's over, we either listen to the radio and sing along - which means I'm told, "Mommy, no sing!" - or he watches a movie.

The rest of us:
Daniel is busy working on getting some paperwork together for work - trying to make inspections easier.  He's taking his new role very seriously.

I'm trying to survive STAAR week!  On Monday we had our annual carnival before this week of testing.  This year a few of us braved the slime dumping booth (not dunking) and had cold green slime dumped over our heads every time a kid hit the target!  I managed to brave 7 buckets by myself before one of my students came to sit with me and we shared 5 buckets of slime.

Oh - I've managed to get the west 1/2 of the house painted inside.  I've still got the hallway and bedrooms left to finish.

Almost 3...

Well, it appears I'm not very good at keeping up with this blog this year. Here we go:

Haylee:

• We survived our first week of STAAR testing. Now, we get to wait until May for results.
• I picked up the spring cleaning bug evidently. About a month ago I decided to clean out the kitchen, pantry, breakfast, study, and laundry areas. I managed to evacuate 8 bags of trash that weekend! Once that was accomplished I made up my mind that I was going to paint the house - inside only. Since then, I've managed to paint the entry, living room, dining room, kitchen, breakfast, laundry bath, den, and the laundry room and hall - ceilings only so far. (I had planned on getting the hallway done this week in the evenings, but Braden and I fell ill.)

Daniel:

• Daniel is now a Lead in Training at HBS. With any luck, he'll be finished with his training by summer.
• I've been keeping Daniel busy at home. Along with my cleaning spree came some discoveries of things in need of fixing. We found an overloaded circuit, an ungrounded dimmer switch and roof supports in need of additional support. Daniel moved a dedicated outlet to where I put the microwave to help with the overloaded circuit. He then began shoring-up the roof so we don't have a collapse with the next wind gust. Once I purchased a new dimmer switch, Daniel properly installed a grounded dimmer in the den.

Both:

• We've been working on cleaning the back yard up. This involved de-spidering the fort - yuck! We got the back porch and furniture cleaned off, the trampoline has been swept and inspected and we installed new components on the fort - after de-spidering.

Braden:

• Daycare: He tells me he is going to see his friends during the drive to school in the mornings.
• Superhero phase: After bath time, he wants to wear his towel as a cape and socks as gloves. He runs around the house saying "Superhero!" while pushing one of us away from the other.
• Braden is also really into dinosaurs right now. This will mean many trips to the Houston Zoo this summer since they have a dino exhibit here for the summer. (I guess it's a good thing I renewed our membership.) If anyone would like to come with us, our membership lets 10 people in at a time! :)
• We just had Braden's 3-year check up. He weighed in at 28 lbs & is 34 inches tall. His blood pressure was 76/43 - I forgot how low kids bp can be! He had a hearing exam - no raising your hand if you hear a sound now-a-days. They have a fancy hearing tester that does it for you. His test came back a "refer" on both sides... Dr. G checked it out and said it's probably wax buildup interference.
• Potty training has stalled... He knows when he needs to go, just he chooses to not sit on the potty right now. I know this is a totally normal phase of potty training - and I am choosing to not fight it. We'll try again after his birthday - when he's a BIG boy! We're also going to work on "losing" paci after his birthday. :)

2012

Now that we're 3 weeks into 2012, and the boys are still sleeping at 7:30am on a Sunday morning, I've got a few minutes to update. :)

CSA - I'm finish my 7th year here! Returning to school and starting off the first 3 days back with a Passion Based Learning project was a success! I've been looking at incorporating YacaPaca! into my lessons for the last week or so - it looks promising so far. I'm also looking ahead and thinking about the planning that needs to happen this summer for our science transition AND the math TEKS updates...

HBS - Daniel is still at HBS working as an A&P. He recently found out that their GM will be moving. It'll be interesting to see who is appointed as interim and who ends up as their new GM.

Bear - Braden adjusted back to daycare fairly quickly - about a week.

At Home - We started focusing more on potty training last weekend. So far we're successful in getting him to sit on the potty willingly - it was a struggle before. Stickers and the "potty timer" (that he picked out) are wonderful tools! Braden has also made the transition to a full-size bed. This transition certainly is more comfortable for Mommy and Daddy to help him get back to sleep in HIS bed after a bad dream.

2011 Holiday Update

Christmas:
We had fun at the Carroll Family Christmas in Weimar. Braden loves his Mr. Potato Head! The adult gift exchange was entertaining.

Braden and I traveled to Gran's the week before Christmas. We got to help finish wrapping gifts and relax a bit before additional travel began.

• We had Christmas with Grandad on Christmas Eve. Braden gave Wyatt some puzzles and Braden received a rocking chair that Grandad painted.
• We opted to only take gifts to Nannie & Papa's for those that were not going to be at Gran's after Christmas (and a couple for the kiddos). Our side ended up staying at N&P's while Teri's clan went to church on Christmas Eve - flip! Christmas morning seemed rushed. Everyone hardly had time to wake up and get a drink before gifts were being piled in front of us - annoying. Braden loves his puppy guitar and dump truck! We ended up finishing the gift opening quickly. As we were preparing to leave, Shanna and Clayton called to let us know they would be stopping by so we stayed to wait for them.
• After traveling back to Gran's Christmas day we had dinner and resumed gift exchange. The kids made off like bandits - of course. Braden now has a fairly complete band set-up: kitty piano, puppy guitar, bongo, drum pads, and other miscellaneous hand-held percussion items = a seldom quiet house! :)

After Christmas, we opted to stay at Gran's through New Year's Eve. We came back on New Year's Day so we would have some time to unpack, organize, and relax before returning to school.

I would say that the Winter Holidays were a success!