Category: Ryan

Categories
Parenting Ryan

The Great Escape

Now that I have stopped shaking, and calmed down a bit, I just had the most terrifying thing ever happen. 

Ryan got out of the back yard and was wondering out in the front by himself!

 We have an 8 ft. fence around our entire yard- the gate is a big door, with a lock on it, but we have another gate that swings open with a bar lock.  Last night, Joe took Ryan outside w/ him to pull in the trash cans, and he must have seen how it works.  I am wrapping up a present for my sister’s shower, and had just seen him outside on his scooter.  I finished wrapping the gift- maybe took me 5-7 minutes, and I looked out the windows, and didn’t see him.  I went to the other windows, and still didn’t see him in the back yard, so I opened the door, and called him- and nothing.  He usually answers me if he is back in the corner of the yard, and then I turned my head, and saw the recycle bin pushed up to the gate to reach the bar, and the bar off the gate, and the gate open! I grabbed my shoes, and ran out yelling his name, and I didn’t see him, and he didn’t answer me.  I was one second from losing it, and calling the police.  There was a girl walking on the sidewalk, and I asked her if she had seen a little boy, and she said yes, on the other side of the house, on the driveway (which is our front yard.) I don’t think I have ever been so grateful to hear someone say “yes.”

I ran around the corner, and Ryan was standing in the driveway, crying and scared.  I somehow managed to keep calm, and soothe him.  He said he had wanted to go out side to “bust up the ice,” and “get the mail”, but mommy and daddy weren’t out there with him.

I just hugged him over and over, and told him he is to never open that gate again!  I don’t know who is looking out for us, but I am so lucky, he got scared and didn’t wander off- we live by the train tracks, and near a very busy street, or someone could have just grabbed him in a second.  He was also out in the back yard playing, while I put Cole down for his nap, which took me like 15 minutes.  I don’t even want to think about what could have happened if he had gotten out then, or even what could have happened in the 5 minutes he was out there by himself.

I paged Joe and he is bringing home a lock tonight. It is amazing how much a child can learn by watching something once in the dark.  I think we are done playing outside for today. 

After talking to Joe, he suggested I take Ryan back outside and show him how to ring the doorbell.  He knows how to do this anyway, but I took him out and told him if ever is in the yard by himself, with out Mommy or Daddy, to ring the doorbell.  I don’t know if he would remember to this, but I guess it can’t hurt. Hopefully we will NEVER have another incident like this.

Categories
Family & Friends Ryan

Some Valentine Advice

I know Valentine’s is over, but Ryan & Cole’s grandma got the cutest card from her daughter, for Valentine’s.  I am not sure if he saw Grandma read it and then laugh, or if she read it to him, but it is the cutest thing- Ryan will “read” the entire card- he has it memorized- and then when he opens the card for the punchline, he says it, and then starts laughing hysterically, and says, “Oh Brother!”  He will carry this card around with him for half an hour at a time, reading it over and over.  Grandma let him take the card home, he is enjoying it so much.   The outside of the card says: (You can double click on the picture to see it bigger)

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(If you don’t want to click on it, it says),

Some Valentine Advice: Don’t kiss your honey, When your nose is runny, you may think it’s funny…

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 (but it’s snot)

It is pretty interesting what a 3-year old finds funny; this is big entertainment around here.

Categories
Cole Family & Friends Mothering Parenting Ryan

Mama Said There Would Be Days Like This

I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off today!

I am trying to finish a shower present for my sister this week, for her baby shower on Saturday.  Ryan has come down with the same cold, Cole had and thankfully, he doesn’t have it as bad, but his nose is running constantly, and I am constantly wiping his nose.

I thought I could make some progress on my project, this morning, when Ryan tells me that baby Cole spilled his cereal on the floor.  After cleaning that up, I go back to my project, and a few minutes later Ryan says that he went pee in his potty (good thing), BUT baby Cole was playing in it, (bad thing).

After cleaning up and changing Cole, a friend called me who had a situation they needed to talk about, so I spent an hour on the phone with her. 

A few minutes after I hang up, Ryan tells me baby Cole spilled his (Ryan’s)  apple juice.  More cleaning.  After that was done, I finally thought I could start working on my project.  It was not to be.  As soon as I sat down to start, Ryan says he went pee on the potty again (good thing), BUT he had a little accident, and his pee sprayed all over the living room, (bad thing), and boy did it ever!

I think I went through every towel and rag we had this morning cleaning up snot, pee, juice, and milk.  Needless to say, my project is still sitting here, and I don’t have enough time to start on it now before dinner, so maybe I’ll get lucky and have some time tonight, when the boys are sleeping.  🙂

Categories
Cole Family & Friends Mothering Ryan

Spending The Night

Ryan did it!  He spent the night at his grandparent’s house, last night. 

Joe and I got to go on our Valentine’s Day (belated) date, with Cole.  He was still pretty fussy and clingy, and we didn’t want to leave him with Joe’s parents, only to have him cry the entire time we were gone.  We had a nice dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, and Cole did great.  He sat in a booster seat next to me and didn’t cry the entire time.  He ate some cereal, baby food, and chewed on the bread. 

Meanwhile, Ryan was having a ball with his 6 year old cousin, K, and his aunt, who had come up for the weekend. We got back to the house around 8 pm, and Ryan came running out to ask us, “Did you bring my jamies?”

His cousin was in her nightgown, and of course Ryan, had to be in his PJ’s too.  So Joe got him ready for bed, and then it hit him that we were leaving.  He looked a little nervous, but I could tell he was trying to be brave.  Ryan was sleeping in a bedroom on an inflatable mattress, with K, sleeping on the bed.

Joe and I decided to stick around for a while to make sure Ryan would be okay.  A few minutes after K, and Ryan went down, K got up to talk to her mom.  They went back into the room a few minutes later, and then K’s mom told me Ryan wanted me- he was crying.

I went to him, and his little pillow was wet from his tears, and he was curled up in a little ball on his mattress.  I felt bad for him, and just hugged him and sat with him for a while.  We think he got scared when K got out of bed, and left him in the room by himself. 

After a while, Cole was crying for me, so I left Ryan, and Joe went back to sit with Ryan for a while.  Well, he was so wound up at that point, we almost decided to take him home with us, but Grandma came to the rescue.  She got ready for bed and went to sleep in the room with Ryan, and K.  She said they talked for a while and he finally fell asleep around 10:30.

It was weird walking past Ryan’s room last night, and seeing the door wide open, and him not in his bed.  I missed him and realized he is slowly but surely gaining more independence away from us, which is a good thing, but it still pulls on my heartstrings. 

We ran some errands this morning and then went back out there at lunch.  As soon as Ryan saw us, he said, “I need to stay here ALL day!”  He wouldn’t let Joe or myself even hug him- that is how much fun he was having.

Far from us to ruin a three-year old’s fun, so after lunch we went home, while Ryan took his nap.  Then K.’s big brother and sister, and their dad came over, and when he woke up, I was told that Ryan was finally asking for me, and was almost in tears, I wasn’t there.  His older cousins soon had him occupied and we came back out for dinner.

I thought we would have a major tantrum on our hands when it was finally time to go home, but Joe talked to Ryan, and I think he was SO tired from trying to keep up with the older kids, that he just went and got his shoes, and brought me my shoes when it was time to go.  No yelling, tears, or stalling.  WOW!  I wished the cousins lived closer. 🙂

As I climbed in the car to go home, Ryan reached out for my hand, and kissed it.  He said, “I missed you, Mom.”  I guess my little boy, isn’t quite so big yet that he didn’t miss me at all, and for right now, I can’t help but be happy about that.

Categories
Cole Mothering Parenting Ryan

The Workings of a Three-Year Old’s Mind

We have been working with Ryan for about two months now on being gentle with his baby brother, Cole.  Ryan gets upset a lot of the times when Cole crawls near him, plays with his toys, or is just in the same room with him.  Ryan usually resorts to hitting, kicking, pushing, or yelling at Cole.  We have told him numerous times that he can’t treat Cole like this, and he should call for Mom or Dad when he is getting mad at Cole, and we’ll help.  We have tried using time-out when he does hurt Cole, but it hasn’t been getting through.

I remembered something today from when I used to watch Dr. Phil, and he said that every child has their price and or bargaining tool, and you just have to find it.  Well, Ryan’s aunt got him a ukulele (but he calls it his guitar) for his birthday, and this is Ryan’s favorite toy by far, currently.  I told Ryan this morning that if he hurt Cole, I would take his guitar away. 

He did really well today- no problems.  Cole is really sick too, with a terrible viral infection, has only slept about 10 hours total since Sunday, and is in a very bad mood.  When it was nap time today, I told Ryan he was a very good boy for being so nice to Cole and he said, “I get to keep my guitar.”  How is that for motivation?  More on this in a moment

Lately Ryan wants to come sleep in my bed with Cole for his nap.  I usually don’t mind, but after a visit to the doctor today, he said it was okay to give Cole some Children’s Benadryl so he could sleep, and Cole finally conked out, and I didn’t want Ryan to wake him up, so I told him he needed to stay in his own bed and go to sleep.  I left his room, and went to clean up the kitchen from lunch, and went back to check on Ryan.  He was out of his bed, standing on the glider chair, trying to turn a lamp on, that’s on his dresser.  I asked him what he was doing.

He turned around, and looked like he couldn’t quite believe I knew he was out of bed.  He said he needed to stay on the chair all day.  I helped him back to bed and told him, “Mama always knows what you are doing.  You can’t fool Mama.”  Without missing a beat he says, “I can fool Daddy.”  I tried not to laugh and told him, “No, you can’t fool Daddy or Mama.  We always know what you are doing.” I am not sure if he bought that or not.  🙂

Back to the guitar- after dinner, I was cleaning up and I heard thunk, and Cole screaming. I knew immediately that Ryan had probably pushed him, and Cole had hit his head on the wood floor.  I went in the living room, and sure enough, Cole was on his back, crying his eyes out, and Ryan was standing there with the guilty look.  I asked Ryan if he had pushed Cole, and he said yes.

I picked up Cole, and calmly told Ryan I was going to take his guitar away now, because he had hurt Baby Cole. The tears and crying started right away, as I put the guitar on the closet shelf.  I explained to him again why he was losing his guitar, and told him he could have it back tomorrow, if he didn’t hurt Baby Cole anymore.  He kept saying, “I’ll be a good boy.”  It was really hard not to give in to him, but I didn’t.  He kept crying and Dad took him upstairs for a talk, which went like this:

Dad: Why are you crying?

Ryan: Mom put my guitar on the shelf.

Dad: Why did she do that?

Ryan: Baby Cole started to cry.

Dad: Why did Baby Cole start to cry?

Ryan: He fell on his head.

Dad: How did he fall on his head?

Ryan puts hands on Dad’s shoulders and says,

Mom put my guitar on the shelf, because Baby Cole was crying.

Dad: What did you do to make Baby Cole cry?

Ryan: I pushed him.

Finally!  As I was kissing Ryan good night, he hugged me and told me in the morning, he gets his guitar back.  So we’ll see how this works.  I am hoping once is enough, but I won’t count on it. 🙂