Bumped Heads Always Available Around Here

With little kids, especially two so close in age, we easily have several bumped heads a day. Makenna's are usually from falling (or me bumping her head into a door frame earlier). Kyle's are from his tumbles off the couch or just raising his head up too fast and bumping me--ouch! And then of course there are the head bumps that come from "Opportunity-Strikes-for-Pushed-and-Bumped-Baby-Sister."

I prefer not to leave a room with Kyle and Makenna alone, event for a minute. This morning they were both loose in our front dining room (a room they are rarely in). I was bustling around getting Kyle's lunch ready for preschool, so I was hoping that no calamity would occur while my back was turned. Too late. I heard my wrought iron stand with the Madeleine Hurricane tumble over and Makenna screaming. I rushed in, picked her up, and immediately began blowing on her face so she would not pass out, as she tends to hold her breath when crying hard. I noticed Kyle crouching in the corner, guilt written all over his 3-year-old face. I knew what had occurred, but I chose not to say anything and continued to comfort Makenna. Within seconds, the Great Confession occurred.

Kyle confesses to everything. He even has taken to confessing misbehavior at school which never occurred. His teacher always looks puzzled and she'll correct him and say someone else pushed so-and-so or someone else threw a toy. I personally think he's identifying with the perpatrator and misplacing blame on himself. I'm not sure why he does this, but a friend recently told me that Kyle has an ability to strongly empathize with others, so maybe that's what he's doing.

The Great Confession: "I hurt her head. I pushed it over on her." Oh, sweet confession...what a total joy it is when your child confesses a wrongdoing without any prompting. I once had a friend tell me that children are born with knowing the feeling of guilt, but that they must learn the feeling of grace. I fully believe it. We come into the world, tainted with original sin. By nature we have the guilt of sin upon us and know the feeling all too well. This is why children are 'dying to confess' when they've done something. I can remember as a child, agonizing all day over a wrongdoing until finally exploding in tears in confession to my parents.

Kids want to unburden themselves. (So do adults). They are looking for grace, although they don't know that is what they are searching for. In fact, I have witnessed Kyle hurting Makenna and then acting out against me when rebuked. I believe he acts out against me because he feels guilt but does not know how to consistently ask for forgiveness, so instead that frustration comes out against me. I don't think it is that he wants to hurt me too, or even that he wanted to hurt Makenna. I know the acting out is from jealousy or from a feeling of needing 'space' from her, etc. It's simply Kyle feeling emotions that don't make sense to him yet and an inability to articulate them and process them properly.

Because we address misbehavior with consequences, I sent him upstairs to play by himself. He can choose his room or the playroom, but the rule is that he needs to be away from "the group" for a few minutes to get himself 'reset' and able to function with us again in a way that is acceptable in our home. As I opened the gate of the stairs for him to go up, he called out that he needed to clean up. I returned to the dining room and there was my little guy taking responsibility for his actions, cleaning up the mess he made (chunky potpourri pieces on the floor). It was completely unprompted. Because I was still dealing with my own emotions from the mishap, I didn't fully appreciate how he confessed his guilt so easily and so readily cleaned up his mess without me asking him to. Wow is all I can say. I know I told him I forgived him and thanked him for cleaning up, but in reflection, I wish I had been far more expressive to him and taken him in my arms too. My kids then kissed and made up and all was well in our home again.

Our pastor recently said to our bibly study group how when we confess to God, without Him having to 'pressure' us, we are that much further on the road to reconciliation, than if He had to push us to 'fess up.' How true that is. And what I feel encouraged by is Kyle must know grace in our home because he confessed without fear. He knew from past experience that we would forgive him and show grace to him, which is my job as a parent, to teach him grace so he can understand his Father's grace. It is encouraging to me since I often worry that Kyle doesn't receive grace from us consistenly enough. But I suppose that is because David and I both have the same flaw Kyle has--brokeness from sin.

These are bright moments for me. And sometimes the Dark One is too present in my flesh, so to speak. But these moments are wonderful and I'm so blessed today that the Holy Spirit spoke all this truth to me in these few minutes of just one of many 'brew-ha-has' that occur here each day.

Fun in the Sun

I realized I had not posted some swimming shots of the kids yet for this summer. They both love the water although Kyle is not keen on deep water yet, but loves playing in it. These pictures are from the Coles' house a few weeks ago. Our nieces and nephews had fun pushing David into the pool and "attacking" him in the water. Kyle became quite upset, thinking they were hurting him. He became very demanding that Daddy come to him and that they were hurting him. He kept saying that they pushed him and it must be very confusing when he knows pushing is wrong, but this was 'okay pushing.' I had David come over to him to assure him he was okay. Kyle was not happy one bit about seeing Daddy 'pushed around.' We couldn't believe how protective he was! I personally enjoy seeing Makenna's fabulous legs! Too cute! She also enjoyed the homemade ice cream that Granddaddy and the kids made. It was delicious! Good family tradition!

Playscapes Always Cleaner After We Visit

One day Kyle will somehow appreciate all the blogging I did about his potty training years. Notice I said years. Yesterday I hurriedly put him in the car after his nap for a quick playdate at McDonald's. I didn't have him go to the potty--big error on my part! So within minutes of him being in the playscape, while I was ordering us a snack, his friend announced to me that Kyle had had an accident. I remembered right then the error of my ways. So I scurried back to the play area, thinking it was just on the bottom step or the ladder area, a structure of platforms that make their way to the top. I'm sure some of you know what I'm talking about.

My friend offered to get someone to clean it up. I declared that I'd clean up after his own mess--I really think it's my responsibility when he has these accidents in public after all. And naturally, being the loopy-prepared lady, I had my humongous Sam's-sized Clorox wipes with me. I use them on the table but of course they are handy when I must handscrub a playscape or two. So I began cleaning. And slowly realized it was dripping from an upper level. So I began my way up. It got worse as I climbed.

Meanwhile kids are clamboring up too and Kyle is wanting his own Clorox wipe to use. Sweet kid. By the way, these playgrounds are designed for kids, not us 'big kids.' I was contorting my body just to get to the next level. It was like I was stuck in a Super Mario brothers level and couldn't find the door that opened. Where is one of those fireballs when you actually need one? Nevertheless, once I mounted the top level, I saw a puddle the size of Lake Michigan, which I've never actually seen in person, but well, it's a Great Lake, and this was well, a Great Lake.

By this point, I'm peering through the slats in the playscape, hollering at my friend to get me napkins because my poor Clorox wipes were just not 'man' enough for the job. An employee brings me a mound of napkins which we inch through the slats. McDonald's might be getting stingy on their ketchup and oh-so-famous dipping sauces, but not their trademark napkins. I finally get everything cleaned up and begin my descent as I pick up all the wipes on the way down. And Kyle's still running around in wet clothes. And he is totally unphased by this whole episode.

I sat in silent (and frustrated) amusement while I cleaned, as it brought back fond memories of a recent trip to Chick-fil-A when I had to do the same cleanup on the playscape there. However, Kyle had not had 3 liters of milk to drink before napping and he was not on the top level of a twenty foot tower. Further, I fondly reminisced about how recently we were with these same friends at their neighborhood pool and Kyle chose to have a 'serious' business accident in his Huggies swimmer, which led to the pool shutting down that area he was in. As we left the pool, the cleanup company was there with a big sign posted "Wading and Beach Area closed due to contamination." Contamination???? He had a swimmer on for crying out loud. Isn't that what they are for anyway? There was nothing floating in the pool either...

As I laid hunched over on each level, amused and frustrated, I thought again how my situation is not everyone's situation. But I know there is a band of Moms out there who also have a child or have had a child who has accidents in playscapes, pools, and every day, a 'serious' business accident in their skivvies. I never thought I'd wash so much underwear in my life! (I forgot to mention how Kyle also marked his territory at a restaraunt at Sea World, while at the same time, Makenna had an explosion in the high chair next to him). These are the moments when I come out of my body and just watch in amusement and have to laugh at the Groundhog Day movielike-aspect of my daily life!

Oh, my little man Kyle. All I can say is thanks to Kyle, the playscape at the Hutto McDonald's has never been more disinfected and the playscape at the Round Rock Chick-fil-A was cleaner after we left. Oh, and of course, let's not forget the neighborhood pool--it has experienced contamination from my child. Whatever shall we do? Kids do their easy business in pools every day and we are none the wiser. Didn't we all do it at some point as kids?

Never fear--I'm here for Kyle more than ever, to clean up whatever needs to be cleaned up and I fearlessly will disinfect any public play area that needs my handy attention. I come armed with Clorox wipes and I might just start wearing a tool belt full of cleaning products so in a moment's notice, I can whip out a Mr. Clean product or a trusty toilet bowl brush...who knows, I might just bring along the chrome polish and polish the public restroom's faucet. Goodness, if only I could be on wheels like the robot cleaning lady on the Jetson's--then I could really move fast! Now I know why I worked in the fast food business as a teenager and cleaned motel rooms one summer...it all is coming full circle...

Makenna Walking More!

We visited friends today and Makenna must have been inspired by her 1-year-old friend Kaylee, who is toddling everywhere! She took over ten steps from the playscape to walk to me. I was so excited! Kyle and William are the same age and so are the girls, so it's a perfect match! I loved watching all four of them crowd around their new kitchen--they were so busy!

Priceless Moment

Ella came over to play today and Janie and I gasped when she looked out the window and saw Kyle and Ella praying before their meal, totally unprompted by us. It was the most precious thing ever! Of course I had to grab the camera and ask them to pray again! And they did! How the Holy Spirit moves the smallest of His children. My prayer continually is that the Holy Spirit would tie Kyle's heartstrings to Jesus. And day after day, as we face the battle within Kyle (the law of sin versus the law of the Spirit), as well as the same battle I have within me, it sometimes feels like the law of the flesh is winning too often...and then moments like these happen, and I see again that God is good as always and despite this daily inner struggle, Jesus is real and is living in Kyle's heart--and Ella's. I can only boast in the LORD...

Down the Drain...

So today I flushed a pair of Kyle's Diego underwear down the toilet. Kyle continues to choose doing his 'serious business' in his underwear, much to my frustration, although last Wednesday night he decided to choose the potty instead during his bath. Thank you for not doing it in the tub! We knew it was probably a once-in-a-blue-moon occurence, but we're still hoping it happens again sometime.

Of course kids love to do things right when you're headed out the door. I was rounding him up from playing outside, just before we were loading up the car to go to preschool. He told me what he had done, so I proceeded the clean-up process. Yes, I do this at least twice a day. We just keep cleaning the underwear. Today while I was cleaning it in the toilet (don't worry--I keep careful contact between my pincher finger and thumb and the dry edge of the underwear), I had done a couple of courtesy flushes (as David calls them). On the third flush, I lost my holding-on-for-dear-life grip to the underwear tag. As I watched it start swirling with the water, I yelped and couldn't seem to find a dry spot anymore to grab! And I just wasn't fast enough to dive my hand into to the toilet and swish! The underwear went down the drain. I was as surprised as Kyle.

I thought Kyle would just be perplexed by the whole episode, but instead, he totally flipped out, having one of the largest meltdowns known to 3 year olds. He kept crying for me to get his underwear. He looked at the toilet like it was a big gaping mouth--images of the opening scene of Aladdin rush through my head right now. He was a mess--tears everywhere, snot coming out the nose. It was a zoo! I liken it to the agony of the climber who has to go down the mountain before ever reaching Mt. Everest, except in this case, the toilet was the Grand Canyon. He kept staring at that toilet and all I could think about was how far was this gonna set us back with the potty...

I was able to distract him with the fun plans we had for today and that worked. He kept telling me he felt sad and wanted his underwear. I took it as an opportunity to talk about how if we never get our underwear dirty, I don't have to ever put it in the toilet and it was an accident and that I was very sad too. I then reminded him of the underwear we have had to throw away because it's so nasty and I can't clean it in public. I guess since he never has the trauma of watching the toilet suck it into the black abyss underground, it's never bothered him.

So hope for all of us that the toilet is not feared now. I know he won't forget the whole episode--maybe it'll turn out in our favor...

4th of July Fun

We had fun on Friday at Bobby and Cari's annual 4th of July party--good brisket as usual and desserts everywhere! I think yesterday at my spin class I worked off only a third of what I consumed in desserts! Eek! Kyle and Jake (Jason & Belinda's 2 year old) had fun in the water while Makenna was just enjoying toddling around, holding on to my finger of course! She is so close! She can "walk" amazingly fast when holding on to one finger. I guess when she finally lets go, she will be in a full sprint already!

Girl Stuff is so FUN!

I am loving girl toys! Makenna is having fun with her new stroller and baby dolls. Yesterday she started handing me toys to play with which is very exciting to see her reach that milestone. Tonight she was amusing me by picking up everything from railroad track pieces to a Lightening McQueen car to her doll and putting them in her stroller. So funny! We gave her a kitchen for her birthday and I just picked it up today from Wal-Mart (site-to-store is so cool), and I can't wait to assemble it so she and Kyle have a fun creative play toy to share--"share" is our goal of course, every parent's dream...we can dream...I know they will have fun with it and hopefully I'll have some pictures up soon of them cooking something together. I had no idea I would have so much fun showing Makenna how to play with her dolls! Now I totally understand why David was excited last summer when we gave Kyle a wooden train set. It all makes sense now...

Allergy Central Around Here

I suppose we're becoming one of those "allergy families." Kyle had skin testing done last October for multiple allergies, after battling two years of nasty, runny nose issues and constant coughing/congestion, including three trips to the ER for wheezing. To me he was the "perpetual runny nose" kid that every classroom has. You know the kind!

He tested positive on the skin test for all sorts of environmental factors like bermuda, ragweed, molds, pollen, as well as Pecan (which is all tree nuts too), dog, cat, dust mites, etc. (the initial blood testing showed allergy to just about every single food out there, but we have since found out that the skin test is the most accurate, as well as how you react when injesting the food). He actually was negative for Cedar! And he also was negative for Peanut--glory day since he loves peanut butter! We have since discovered David reacts to cats as well. And we had a cat for two years! Anyway, Kyle does Pulmicort Respules breathing treatments every night and that took care of things and have kept him healthy and breathing well. But now Makenna is joining the ranks of kids with allergies.

I had given her eggs on Thursday night and she was totally fine. Our Pedi encourages babies to hold off on things like eggs, fish, peanut until 1 year since those are the most common food allergies. So on Saturday I decided to give her a PB&J with Kyle. She seemed fine. I saw two little bumps on her leg but she also has eczema which flairs up from time to time, so I didn't think anything of it. I left for Janie's baby shower. David called my cell phone which had been turned off and once Janie and Carole's phones were ringing with his name on the caller ID, I was alarmed. Two hours after eating peanut butter, Makenna reacted strongly to the peanut and had a rash all over her body. I rushed home and was alarmed at how bad her skin and puffiness was. Her ears reminded me of Hitch's ears in Hitch when he eats shellfish. She just looked swollen all over but continued to play as happy as can be. David said she looked better too, that she had also had bumps all around her mouth and on her neck at first. She really did not look like Makenna.

The Benadryl kicked in and within a few hours, she looked completely fine. There was no wheezing which is awesome but we'll be staying away from peanut obviously. Food allergies can be mild one time and the next time, can be deadly. Kyle always has an epipen with him but hopefully we will not be on that road with Makenna. I'll be checking with her Pedi to determine if we should already take her to our allergist for futher skin testing.

So please keep all peanut away from Makenna. We're teaching Kyle that peanut butter can make Makenna very very sick and we would have to go to the doctor and she could stop breathing. He understands what those things mean. She does not appear to have an allergy to the oil in the air as Kyle has always eaten his PB&J next to her and I eat it right by her too. But make sure she doesn't have access to it when you're around her. And make sure all the kiddos around her know too. Hopefully she does not have other food allergies, but I already have an inkling she has an allergy to bermuda grass.

If your child seems to always have a runny nose, consider pressuring your Pedi to refer you to an allergist before they are two years old. We "wish" we had taken Kyle in earlier but we just didn't know. We thought it was just environmental things and not a big deal, something normal for kids. And there we were living with a cat and he had so many issues that we could have handled with Pulmicort and saved him much suffering. And the cat would have been 'bye-bye' right away! Pulmicort doesn't prevent allergies, but it keeps the lungs healthy and open, preventing Asthma symptoms. Kyle takes Benadryl every night and Zyrtec every morning, so that assists in allergy-control. We were not vigilant over the weekend and after a full day on Sunday of playing in the grass, Kyle's suffering this neglect with a nasty runny nose. Knowledge is power, especially when it comes to kids. We're now "all about" cutting allergies off at the pass and dealing with them proactively now and we are so grateful that the FDA approved the medication after a decade of testing in Europe. It's especially designed for children. It brought control to this ongoing condition and provided much relief and comfort to all of us.