My poor kids

For Christmas, Nolan was given a 'Boogie Board'. It's like a Magna Doodle, but it has an LCD screen. You draw on it and when you are done, you hit 'clear' and it erases the board. Nolan enjoys drawing on it. And more than once, I've left him silly notes or funny drawings, which he gets a kick out of. 

Bill got a hold of the board last night. And wrote in C# code on it. Something about Nolan needing to keep his room clean. It was totally bizarre, but Nolan wasn't the least bit phased by it. 

I think the odds of my children growing up to be weird adults are pretty good. 

He gets it!

This past weekend, we took the boys on the Amtrak to Chicago. From there, we took the Metra to New Lenox and went to the DeYoung family Christmas party. Taking the train turned out to be a brilliant move, as the roads were awful. Eric's family and Amanda's family didn't even go, the roads were so bad. 

But my boys were beyond excited. They loved every minute of the Amtrak ride and were excited about the Metra because there is an upper level. I agreed that we could sit up there. I had been up since before 5:30, and we had been traveling for about 7 hours at this point. I was exhausted. Nolan, my seat mate, was still going strong. In fact, he was literally bouncing out of his seat. I finally asked him if he would PLEASE just settle down. 

Nolan gave me a knowing look and said, "Why? Am I being annoying again?"

Soccer and Strange Rewards

Neither Bill or I see Nolan being a great athlete.  In addition to his physical challenges, his parents aren't graceful or athletic.  But we don't want Nolan to go through life saying, "I can't do that."  We want him to TRY.  We don't want him to miss out on fun things in life simply because he doubts his abilities.

So....we enrolled him in a 6-week soccer class for kids his age through the South Lyon Recreation Authority.  This organization is pretty cool.  I could have signed him to ride a horse, take self defense classes, learn to swim, or play soccer (among many other activities).  We chose soccer because Nolan's good buddy Will also signed up, and we figured he could help encourage Nolan.

Week 1 was hard.  Nolan initially didn't even want to leave my side.  He was hesitant, tearful, and he did NOT want to be there.  Will was adorable.  He did everything he could to cheer Nolan on.  Nolan eventually got out on the gym floor, but he still wasn't too sure about this soccer thing.  I was really wondering if I had made a big mistake.

Week 2.  Someone has kidnapped Nolan and swapped him out for a lookalike.  But this little boy ran into the gym full of giggles, energy, and excitement.  He even volunteered to help Coach Jo show the kids a new move.

It is so much fun to watch Nolan's confidence grow.  I told him he needed to do two things during soccer.  He needed to TRY and he needed to HAVE FUN.  During the first week, he was so afraid of messing up he forgot to have fun.  This week, he is starting to discover that he can have fun even if he isn't perfect.  the neat thing is, Nolan's actually pretty decent at soccer.  His coach is fantastic...patient, funny, and compassionate.  She is perfect for Nolan.

After soccer practice tonight, I took my mini David Beckham to the grocery store to get some buttermilk for Bill, who was in the midst of a baking project.  Bill initially asked me to stop by Wenches on my way home.  It took me a minute to realize he was talking about Busch's the store, not some club for wayward women.   Anyway, I figured if Nolan requested a treat, I would buy him one, since he did such a great job at soccer.

We walked in the store and Nolan was chattering away.  Suddenly, he stopped.  He saw IT.  The thing he wanted.  Was it donuts?  Chips?  Candy?  Cake?  Nope.  It was a jar of pickles.  That was all he wanted.  So I agreed pickles was the perfect thing to buy.  Then he was concerned that I only bought one jar.  He was afraid I'd eat too many of his pickles.

So there!

When it comes to assisting Nolan, I have discovered I have to keep a well-defined line of helping him when he genuinely needs it and when he is just feeling lazy.  Things like buttoning, zipping, etc. are things he needs assistance with.  Putting on his shirt, pants, and socks are things he can do on his own.

The other morning, Nolan was carrying on that he needed me to help him with his socks.  I flatly refused.  He got upset.  I still refused.  He got defiant.  I refused to budge.  Then, he decided to play dirty.  He watched me walk into my closet and pull out a pair of shoes to put on.

He yelled at me, "You are NOT the best mom ever!  And those are not beautiful shoes!"

I ignored him.  He finally gave up and put his socks on.

For the record, I liked the shoes I was wearing.

Story time

The boys and I spent a few days in Grand Rapids earlier this week. This allowed me to go to work while my mom watched the boys. On both Monday and Tuesday, Amanda and her crew were at my mom's as well. My boys love playing with their cousins. Even baby Henry. During lunch preparation, baby Henry had been placed in a bouncer. Sam sat next to him on the floor and read him a book. He even made sure to show Henry the pictures. I asked Amanda what her two-month-old thought of that, and she said Henry actually seemed to be paying attention.

On Monday night, Charlotte had a sleepover with Sam and Nolan, since Amanda would be back first thing Tuesday morning to take Charlotte in for her annual doctor visit. I prayed with the kids but Sam wouldn't let me turn out the lights until he read them a bedtime story. So I waited while Sam read. Nolan and Charlotte listened attentively. They both love to be read to. 

Once the book was finished and kisses were given, I flipped the light off. Charlotte immediately was concerned at how dark it got. Sam was reassuring. "It's okay, Charlotte. Your eyes have these things called pimples and they get bigger when it's dark. You'll see better in a minute."

I asked Sam if perhaps he meant to say 'pupils'. He agreed that was probably the right term.