Stopping to read

The other day I took Elijah to the heart doctor for his yearly checkup. Let me just say that there is a HUGE difference when I take the boys someplace together and when they are separate. When we only have one, they are perfect little angels, they hold hands, they listen, they walk, they sit still, they are quiet when they need to be quiet, etc. It really sucks that when you put these two angel toddlers (are they still toddlers?) together, they become little tasmanian devils.

Anyways, we had to wait about 45 minutes and I brought along Elijah’s little computer that he could play with. That entertained him while I sat and knitted. Then we went in for the EKG, and I told the lady that his heart is on the right side. And she said “really? are you sure?” And I was so confused as to why she would ask if I’m sure. I mean, I’m his mother, I would know something like that! But I guess my confusion made it look like I wasn’t sure if his heart was on the other side, so she made a call to check. Elijah was the perfect model child, taking interest in every little sticker that was put on him, not pulling or fussing at all, wearing it very proudly. This is not normal behavior for him. Everything was good and then the nurse gave him a little packet of gummi bears that was really great to get him to lie down. That was the only thing he didn’t want to do, but give him a gummi bear and he’s down.

Then the doctor did the ultrasound and boy, ultrasound has come a long way since 2 years ago. I could actually see stuff really clearly and could tell what it is. Usually it’s just a blob moving around, but on this machine, you could clearly see the heart and all the chambers pumping. Elijah liked looking at the “TV” too. He layed down and didn’t fuss AT ALL, I am so proud of him.

The great news that we got is that he is no longer at risk for a heart transplant!!! All this time we’ve been thinking he has a 25% chance of a heart failure, but his heart has since grown strong and while the doctor can’t completely eliminate the transplant scenario, he said the chances are really really low. The only thing he is at risk for at this point is his heart slowing down. His normal heart rate is 120bpm, and it could slow down to 50bpm. He will tire easily and become lethargic. But he said even that, the risk is low, but it is a risk he will have the rest of his life. If that happens, he will have to get a pacemaker put in, but hell, I could certainly live with that! So all in all, an excellent visit and I couldn’t be any happier or prouder of my sweet Elijah!

Other than that, the boys have learned the alphabet and we now have to stop at lots of words we see and they spell it out. It is so awesome to see! I am also doing some word spelling and games at home. Elijah has the alphabet down. Rowan still has trouble with some of the letters, but has it for the most part. It is really exciting to see them point at a word and spell it!

Speech therapy hasn’t been happening for the past month and I’m getting worried at this point. I really want to have it every week, but it’s just not working out that way. We’ve started seeing the therapist from last August, and we’ve had maybe 4 or 5 actual therapy sessions. So frustrating! I am alloted a time slot and if there is a holiday or the school is closed or she is on vacation or we are on vacation, we just skip it, no rescheduling. The therapist told us to just talk to them a lot and repeat things after they say it so that they can hear it correctly pronounced. But I am taking it a step further by making them say words properly before giving whatever they want to them. Elijah will say “nook” for “milk” and I don’t give him milk until he says it right. It is REALLY hard for him to say “milk” properly, but Rowan now says it correctly. I think it is helping. They are actually really patient and will keep trying to say the word no matter how many times I repeat it, and usually they will get it right after several tries. They are able to repeat after me pretty easily, it’s when they are on their own that is hard. Even “elijah” is hard - I let them get away with saying “sha sha” too long, but Rowan will now say “lai-sha”. I’m even considering calling him “ELI” just so they say it!

As for potty training, well, it’s there. It’s more frustrating for me I think. I don’t know if they are just refusing to go in the toilet or if they don’t know they went. I now give them a choice of wearing underwear or diapers. Rowan almost always chooses diapers and Elijah is choose underwear 1/2 the time. BUT, the last time Rowan chose underwear, she told me he had to go and we ran to the toilet but right as I was pulling his pants down, he went. At least he told me 2 seconds before, that’s progress! When he has his diapers on though, he doesn’t say anything.

Elijah hasn’t told me he has to go, he will just pee wherever. But, he does stay dry a long time. I always ask him if he has to go, and he always says no. I make him sit on the floor or on a blanket on the couch when we’re in the living room, poor thing! The last time he was playing around my desk and he likes to climb into my chair and sit or stand behind me. Then he peed all over my back and chair and said “wet wet wet!”. Thanks a lot!

Sorry I have been really terrible about posting videos as well! But here are 3 to make up for it!

Here is Elijah, sitting on the toilet and playing with his computer. They can only play with the computer when they are sitting on the toilet, so they go often and for a long time. We had one victory a few days ago, but he really didn’t know what was going on, so we haven’t had any more since then. Oh well, it’ll take awhile!

Here is Rowan doing “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and it really shows his speech delay (but it’s still cute!). He has improved quite a deal since last year, but there is still a long way to go.

One of their favorite things to do is sing Happy Birthday to themselves and blow out a candle, we do it over and over and over. and over.

Hey, just thought I’d let you know that Elijah pooped in the toilet yesterday! Woohoo! I never thought I would be so happy to type that sentence. EVER.

We haven’t really been pushing potty training, we just take them to the toilet at almost every diaper change and just make them sit on it. I instituted a new rule - I took away their “computers” (the cheap $20 ones that teaches them letters/numbers) and let them play with it when they are on the toilet. Elijah is totally hooked on this computer, so he always wants to go to the toilet. And when he’s there, he wants to sit on it forever. So yesterday, he said “doodoo coming” but he says stuff like that without meaning it so I didn’t really take notice. I had him sit down as usual, and then let him be. I checked back every couple of minutes to make sure he’s ok. He always sends me away. Then finally, maybe after 10 minutes, he said he was done. When he got up, I saw that he pooped! I don’t think he even knew he did it too. I was really surprised and pleased and praised him without going overboard. He just wanted to play with his computer.

I hope this is the beginning of the end. It’s really hard to train them since they’re not home all the time, but I’m trying to watch them for signs that they are pooping. They usually poop in the morning while at school, so that makes it hard. And a lot of the times when I see it, it’s too late to do anything. I was also worried that he would freak out about pooping in the toilet, since I heard that some kids think it’s a part of their body. But that is not the case, at least with Elijah.

So overall, the computer reward has been good for them. It makes them want to go to the toilet and it makes them sit there for a long time. I was going to reward them with gummi bears, but then someone told me not to always reward them with food, so I’m glad that this is working!

Wow, it’s been awhile since I posted here. I am back in Germany after a 6 week vacation in Texas/Hawaii/Seattle. The boys really enjoyed the trip this year, they are able to see and do more. They have really grown the past few months as far as maturity and it’s not so chaotic/traumatic taking them places.

In Texas, we visited with Michael’s mom for a week. It was a little cold, colder than I thought it would be and it was also a little empty without Tom. The boys really enjoyed playing with Raggs and Sydney, Michael’s mom’s two dogs. We didn’t do much though. We went to Huntsville almost every day and played in the park. The boys did very well sleeping in a regular bed together (as opposed to two toddler beds) and they only needed a day or two for the adjustment. They didn’t nap well though and while traveling, we let them nap wherever they wanted to - usually in the living room. Rowan does this really funny thing where he gathers up all the blankets in his room and brings them out to the couch for him to bury himself under. He always looks so cozy! They also participated in their first Christmas tree trimming, where Michael and his mom put the tree together (it’s a fake one) and then they hung the ornaments on the bottom. Michael’s mom also had them decorate a gingerbread house as well as some cookies and they enjoyed doing that too.

I was able to sneak away for a day to go into Houston to visit some of their fine yarn shops as well as attend a knit group. It was so nice to finally go to a really nice and well stocked yarn shop, but it was very painful on the wallet! I just went crazy! The knit group was also very fun and a large group it was! In Munich, sometimes there are 4 people, sometimes there are 10. But this one had 15 to 20! Very impressive! They were very welcoming too and I felt right at home.

The visit was over too soon and then we headed over to Honolulu where we it was nice and warm. It is so nice to go to somewhere so warm when it is cold back home! We are always required to go to Kozo sushi where I immediately load up on my favorite Ebi sushi! The boys really enjoyed Hawaii - being able to go outside without having to put on a jacket, socks, shoes, mittens, hat, etc. It was hard to control them going in and out, but they were pretty good about not running into the street. There was so much for them to do in the yard - they really enjoyed the swings - my dad had to replace one of the seats. They also liked petting the dog and examing the plants and strange animals. We also tried to take them to the beach a lot, but they rarely went in the water. Just as well, it’s much easier to pick up and go for a few minutes, then come back. They sure did like running around in the sand! We also went to several of the school and district playgrounds.

One of the best places we went to was the Arizona Memorial. Even though they are too young to understand what it is, they sure did have fun! It is completely free too! I think we will do this every year. It included 2 short boat rides, 1 short movie, an amazing bit of history and did I mention it was free? They also had a bunch of really large guns from the ships as well as part of a submarine that the boys enjoyed playing on. They just loved all the buttons and knobs and dials.

As far as the boys go, they are growing up. The trip was really good for their speech and they are speaking a lot more. Not in full sentences yet, but it’s getting there. Rowan used to be the one we were worried about more, but now it’s the opposite. We have a hard time understanding Elijah, especially when he says new words. Speech therapy really hasn’t been doing much, mostly because we haven’t gone on a regular basis. Between her schedule and our schedule and the room availability, we have like one session a month. It’s pretty frustrating, but I’m also hoping that they will start talking on their own and she would be there to track their progress.

Ever since they turned 3, they have gotten easier to go out with. They listen a lot better and can walk a lot more. We hardly use our stroller anymore. I can go shopping without it being a total nightmare!

We are also introducing them to the toilet. We’re not really pushing it at this point, but figure we have to do more than we are since they are the only ones in the kindergarten who are not potty trained. Whenever we do diaper changes, we sit them on the toilet and pretend to go to the bathroom. Then whenever they’re done we put a diaper back on, or if we’re really gutsy, we’ll put underwear on. They haven’t ever told us they need to go to the bathroom, but they are requesting diaper changes more, so I think we’re heading in the right direction. I can’t wait for diapers to be over!

Also, Rowan is done with his separation anxiety, thank goodness! It took a week of him crying, but then one day he was fine. It has been about a week since he last cried and every day he says “school fun”. They also can both count to 10 in German, which is really amazing and the other day, Elijah said “aufräumen!” (clean up) Elijah seems to be picking up German easier than Rowan.

I guess that’s all for now. I started this post about a week ago, so I should get this out. I’ll try to be better about posting!

We’re 3!

This happened last week, but am only now getting around to writing about it! I have so much to do and arrange before we leave for the states! We had a birthday party for them on the Sunday before their actual birthday and it was only a small one. De and her boys came over as well as Riki, Arne and Frederik and Evangeline and Victor. I was going to have it at Frederik’s kindergarten, but since it wasn’t going to be as many kids as I thought, I decided at the last minute to have it at our house. And it worked out really good. It was a really fun party, with very little stress. I wanted to make chocolate cupcakes but they were all out of chocolate cake mix!!! So I had to settle on carrot cake, which was ok, but not as good as the chocolate. Elijah is into opening gifts now, but Rowan will focus on the first gift and not care what else there is.

On their actual birthday, they had a little birthday party for them where they got their birthday crowns. I was really surprised that they didn’t take it off immediately. They got an advents calendar from one of the other kids and also they got to pick out a gift from the treasure chest. They picked out a large marble egg and a polished rock. I also made cupcakes for the kids and we sang happy birthday.

The last few days Rowan has had separation anxiety when going to kindergarten. I don’t know what it is. He was fine for 3 months and now all of a sudden he cries whenever we leave and does everything in his power to make us stay - more hugs, more kisses. I thought it was maybe just with me, but he does it with Michael too now. Whenever we leave, he cries for about 5 minutes or less, and then he’s completely fine the rest of the day. It is really hard to hear him say “mama mama mama no go!!!!!”

Rowan has also been talking a lot. When I ask him what his name is, he’ll say “my Rowan” and point to himself. It is so cute! He says that because I always say “you’re my Rowan!” And then he says “my mommy, my daddy, my elijah”. Too funny! The other day he said “Wow! Look at that!” which is way beyond what he normally says. And then when he was rummaging around upstairs, he found a toy and said “nice!” just like his dad. Elijah has been more stubborn, even at speech therapy. Since he likes to do everything himself and doesn’t want anyone “helping him”, the therapist is having a hard time trying to talk to him or get him to talk. We’re trying different things though. I’m hoping that whenever we go back to the states and we’re in an all english environment, it will help them out a lot. Of course, I don’t know if you can consider Hawaii an “english” environment.

Other than that, we’ve been busy, busy, busy trying to get the Litterbox done and Christmas gifts. Christmas to us is in early December since we need to have almost everything before we leave. Online shopping is our friend. We are really looking forward to going back and the boys especially will have a good time. I think this year will be really fun since they will really experience everything.

Walking down the street with our lanters

Everyone is singing songs

Our kindergarten

Our morning circle

The boys had their first Laternefest - St. Martin’s day. According to history and legend, St. Martin was a Roman mercenary who encountered a beggar one freezing night. He had nothing to offer him, so he cut his cloak in half to share with the beggar. His tale of compassion spread throughout the country, and later Martin was nominated Bishop of Tours. The celebration commemorates St. Martin and marks the beginning of the winter season. The lanterns that the children carry through the street are meant to protect them from the darkness of winter.

Last week, in the afternoon, we made the lanterns. The boys didn’t really do much. Rowan just raided the food cart and Elijah did help a little with punching the holes. But I’m glad that he at least did something.

Then this past Monday, in the evening, around 5pm, we met back at the kindergarten and marched out to the English Garden and it was cold, cold, cold! The boys were troopers though and marched along. They didn’t want to let go of me though, and needed help holding up the lanters. Occasionally, it would blow out and Elijah would get so upset over it. It was hard to go out and sing songs because we were all freezing. The songs we practiced during the music class with Michael was “Ich geh mit meiner laterne”, “Laterne laterne sonne mond und sterne” and “Sankt Martin”. We only sang one or two songs and headed back. Then there was lots of food and drinks and the boys sat very nicely waiting for everyone to come in so that they could get cookies. They were so cute and well behaved, I couldn’t believe it was them!

I talked to several parents and all of them say that their kids always talk about Rowan and Elijah, I was really surprised. I wonder if because they don’t talk or say weird English words that they’re all mysterious or something. But it is really great that the other kids really like them, I was so worried about that.

I also included some pictures of the kindergarten so you can see what it looks like.

The boys will be 3 in less than 2 weeks, where does the time go? I wanted to have their party at Jogoli, this indoor play place that they really like, but I found out that it was 13eur per person!! So it would be outrageously expensive. So we’re going to have it the same place as last year, Frederik’s kindergarten. It is a really nice and big place with lots of things for the kids to play with, just perfect!

It’s starting to get really cold and has been snowing on and off the past week. I hope the winter doesn’t last as long as the first one when we got here! So I had to buy the boys gloves because the mittens I bought were too tight around the wrist area that it was hard for them to get it on. I bought 4 pair as well as a bunch of long sleeved shirts and pullovers. One of the parents told me that they should wear undershirts and stockings. Ummm…yeah, they won’t put up with that. They do, however, put up with sweaters. They are size 104 now, wow, so big. But they haven’t really grown much since August.

Other than that, we’re looking forward to our trip to the states, don’t know what to expect on the plane this year!

Today Elijah and I went to the movies together, just the two of us. We know we should do this more often, but we usually don’t have the energy to leave the house! Last week we all went to see Ratatouille but Rowan just could not sit for more than an hour. He was running up and down the aisle, climbing under the chairs (yuck!) and just was not interested. Also, I think the movie did have a lot of dialog, so that could’ve made it boring for him. Elijah loves movies, and he could’ve sat there awhile longer. We had to leave about 3/4 in, which I was so frustrated with. I hate paying for something and you don’t see the end, but we clearly couldn’t sit there very longer.

So yesterday, we decided to do something separate with them. I decided to take Elijah to the movies again, to the same movie (I had to see the end, dang it!). He is so well behaved when he is by himself, a total angel. He is extremely competitive and always have to have “it” or “be first” or whatever. So when Rowan isn’t around, he sits and doesn’t fidget, he listens and talks. I think Rowan is the same way, but not quite as extreme.

Elijah doesn’t like theaters, I think it’s the combination of dark with loud. We have to spend a lot of time convincing him to come in. He usually stays by the door or stays in the back and almost always refuses to sit down. Last week wasn’t too bad. Today, he spent 1/2 the movie at the door and I tried to get him to sit in a chair that was maybe 8 feet from the door. Wouldn’t do it. I even had gummi bears and popcorn, but still, didn’t want to. Finally he got tired of standing, so he sat down and then one of the theatre people told him to sit down. So he reluctantly sat on me and for the rest of the movie it was fine. For some parts of it, it was too bright and hurt his eyes so he would shut his eyes every once in awhile. But we did see it end (thank goodness!) and after it was done, Elijah clapped and said “yay!” And as we were leaving, he said “bye TV” and I told him it was a movie and he said “bye movie! bye mouse!” So cute! I really enjoyed going to the movies with him, just the two of us. But I’m hoping he will get over being scared of the theatre soon.

Michael took Rowan to the Transportation museum where he looked at cars and trains, his favorite things. He had fun exploring everything and especially enjoyed a big slide that they have there. I haven’t been yet, so I’ll have to go sometime.

We are going to try to do this more, where we take one child each and do something special. It’s just hard to muster up the energy to go out especially when it’s cold and rainy outside.

We had another speech therapy appointment, and it’s coming along. We’ve only had two, so it’s hard to tell. The hard part is that I have to entertain the other person and there really is nothing to do. We can’t really go outside because the doors lock so we just kinda roam the halls and that gets boring fast. I’ll have to take a few more toys with me next time. This week we have to work on making more eye contact and speaking in 3 or 4 word sentences. It’s hard to do!

Other than that, things are pretty normal. The boys will be 3 in a couple weeks and can’t believe how fast time flies!

The boys loooove riding their bikes. They are “laufrads” where they don’t have any pedals and it helps them with getting used to balancing on two wheels. So when they actually make the transition to a real bike, it won’t be so hard.

So I was giving the boys a bath, but when we got to the tub, there was a dead moth in there. We all looked at it and I got rid of it (washed it down the drain). No big deal. And then it was time to bathe and Rowan refused to get in the tub. When I put him in there he was screaming to get out and I had no idea why. He just said “out out out” and cried the whole time. I washed him quickly and got him out. It was only then that he said “bug” and I realized that he was afraid of the bug coming back and kept looking at the drain and pointing and said bug. I don’t know why he didn’t say that when he was in the tub. He never had that reaction to any kind of bug before, he is usually curious and trying to get close to it but it flies or runs away. So I don’t know that the fact it was dead and went down the drain freaked him out or just that it was a bug. Every time he sees the tub, he says “bug”. I hope he’ll be ok for the next bath.

OK, so the sucky part about living in a place where there are seasons is that you need so many shoes. Well, for kids at least. I am the kind of person that can make do with 2 pairs of shoes. I have my boots for hiking, very cold days, and for anything wet. And then I have my trusty moccassins for everything else. OK, I also have slippers for when I go to Hawaii, but I usually use my parents’ ones, so that doesn’t count.

I’ve been applying the same philosophy to the boys, and I already thought that I had to buy a lot just to keep up with their growing feet. But since they started kindergarten, oh. my. god. I have to buy a ton of shoes. House shoes that they wear inside, rubber boots for rainy days, regular shoes for outside, and then now I was told I had to get winter boots, which will replace the rubber boots. Keep in mind, I have to buy two pairs of each. AND I have to buy everything again when their feet grow. I have a never ending stream of shoes to buy. Thank goodness for ebay where I can get things for a few euros. If I had to buy everything in the store, it would be at least 10 euros per pair. That’s a lot. This is in addition to their clothes which include their regular clothes, their mudpants, their snow suits, regular jacket, heavy jacket, hats, mittens and the list goes on. I am buried when it comes to clothes and shoes. Now I understand why relatives always give clothes to us as kids and I welcome any and all gifts, especially SHOES and JACKETS!!! At least I am thankful that they can share clothes, but that doesn’t reduce how much I have to buy as a minimum.

Now that the boys don’t have a bottle at night, they fight going to bed. It is so funny watching them with their stalling tactics. First they scream “NOOOOOOOOOO!” Then I read them 3 books of their choosing. Then all of a sudden every single toy is the most interesting thing in the world. I brought down thick blankets that my mom gave them when they were born to use as a cover and they LOVE it. They like rolling around with it and being covered. That helps some. They still like their green blankets too, but it’s almost as if the green blankets were tied to the bottles. But once their in bed, they fall asleep and don’t wake up until 8am.

Yesterday the boys were farting so much, I don’t know why, it could’ve been what they ate for lunch. After Rowan farted, I asked him “Did you fart?” and he said “all gone fart” and I laughed. So then he said it over and over and he was so proud that he could make me laugh. His speech has a noticeable improvement from a few months ago.