Breath for Less Lunacy!

Jonah had to go on breathing treatments in August of 2010.  His pediatrician was kind enough to offer us a "Breath for Less" Savings Program card, which I (arrogantly) thought we wouldn't need, given that I have such good insurance.  I lost track of the card, before I learned that even with insurance, Xopenex is exceptionally pricey medication.

After purchasing our first supply of nebulizer goods, I turned the house upside-down, looking for that dad-blasted discount card, which I knew I hadn't actually discarded altogether.  One day, I finally found the paper that it had been attached to, but the card itself never came up, despite multiple attempts to locate it.  I intended to ask his pediatrician for a new card during every visit, but repeatedly forgot....until a couple of weeks ago (a year-and-a-half LATER), when I was in with Lexi for an upper respiratory infection.  Of course, Dr. Capra was kind enough to give us another card, which I was determined to keep stashed safely in my purse until we need to refill the Xopenex.

So, last week, you can imagine my surprise when I pulled all of our Christmas goodies, organized and stored safely in newly arrived Amazon boxes in our office, out for wrapping, and I found my Xopenex card, no longer attached to the paper it had come on.  I felt a little perplexed, as I had felt absolutely certain I had made it a point to leave the card in my purse, and the kids aren't allowed in the office, especially during Christmas time.  Besides all that, I keep my purse out of reach of the kids, because....well, I'm not a dummy!  So, I didn't think little fingers could have been the culprits.  Nevertheless, I took the card, which appeared flawlessly brand new, back to its safe return in my purse, only to find this:

Lost Breath for Less card.  Found 16-months later intermingled with brand new Christmas goods/boxes

Seriously!  How ludicrous is THAT???

Santa DELIVERED!

Santa TOTALLY DELIVERED this year!

Jonah got his TELESCOPE:

And, Lexi got....

a kitchen??

(Note to Self: Dollar Store Kitchens are cheaper for a reason!!)

And, they BOTH got, what APPEARS to the NAKED eye as a mini-trampoline:

 

But, what EVERY TRAINED THERAPIST (aka: Mommy) KNOWS, is REALLY a giant THERAPEUTIC DEVICE...

 
...in EXTREMELY CLEVER disguise!



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
What a lovely Christmas we had this year! I think this was the most relaxed and enjoyable season of Christmas festivities I've had, since becoming a mother. Maybe the "magic-making" gets easier with time and practice. Maybe it's a matter of giving yourself the freedom to spread out the joy over the entire season, rather than feeling pressured to cram EVERYTHING (and everyone) into a day or two. Maybe it helps to let go of some traditions, while creating or embracing new ones. In any case, it's been less stressful than ever before. The most important thing is remembering the reason for this holiday season, the birth of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, which truly helps keep things in perspective!

Chico, Candy CANS, and Keckup

Elf on the Shelf:
Mommy: Jonah, this is your new elf! He's here to watch and go back to tell Santa whether you're naughty or nice. You get to pick his name. You can name him ANYTHING you want. What would you like to name him? Jingles? or Buddy? or maybe Sparkle?
Jonah: Uhmmmmm, Chee-Ko!
Mommy: What, honey?
Jonah: Chee-Ko!
Mommy: Chico?
Jonah: Chee-Ko!
Mommy: Okay!  Well.  Chico, it is!!
Daddy: Chico?  Did he say CHICO?  Are you sure he didn't say Cheetoh??

Candy Cannnns:
Jonah: I need a candy can.
Daddy: Candy CANE
Jonah: No, it's a candy CAN.  I need a candy CAN.
Daddy: Candy CAAAAANE, Jonah.  It's a candy CANE.
Jonah: No, Daddy!  I want a candy CAN!  It's called a CANDY CANNNNN!!!
(This is but a MERE sample of the types of routine arguments that occur between Jonah and his Daddy)

Keckup!!:
Lexi(with ANY meal whatsoever): I need KECKUPPPPPP!!!!!
Apparently, "keckup" goes with everything (including grapes, goldfish, and burritos!)

I TUCKKKKKKKK!

Yesterday, I was in the kitchen cooking dinner, when I heard Lexi let out an unusual cry.  I could tell it wasn't her typical "fuss," but that something wasn't right.  When I went into Jonah's room, I discovered that she had managed to wiggle her way between his toy storage chest and the wall, but she couldn't get out, due to the molding along the door frame.  The moment she set eyes on me, she began yelling, "I TUCK!!!  I TUCKKKKKKK!"  OH SO CUTE!!!  This girl knows SO MANY WORDS!  I didn't even know she knew what it means to be "TUCK!!" 

Of COURSE, I rescued her.....as soon as I gained my composure.  I would have taken a picture, but she may have been traumatized if I'd laughed AND just left her there to go get my camera!!

A Year of Catching UP???

WOW!  So, I'm officially a bad blogger!  (Haven't I said this BEFORE?)  My kids have done so much in the past year, and I've just missed all the awesome opportunities to update, aside from the multiple daily FB status updates, which people love to tease me about relentlessly!

So, where are they now?  A year later?  Well, as a pair they are the perfect blend of sibling love mixed with sibling rivalry.  Those two will most DEFINITELY get into mischief together, I can just SEE it coming!  They love on each other and hug each other and dance together and do jumping jacks, and whatEVER Jonah does, Lexi follows RIGHT BEHIND to do herself.  ALWAYS!  And when Jonah is sad, Lexi is sad (notsomuch the other way around, necessarily).  But, I cannot leave them in a room alone together for ANY length of time without this scenario:
Lexi: [screaming and crying]
Jonah: [darts out of his room] "Sorry!  Sorry!  I said I was SORRY!"
Mommy: What did you do?
Jonah: Yexi just....
Mommy: What did YOU do, Jonah? (and so begins the interrogation to figure out what happened)
Who knew SIBLING RIVALRY could begin at such a young age??

But, how about their individual milestones?  I can't cover the whole year.  But here's where we are now.

Lexi

Well, Lexi is 18-mos-old, and speaks entirely in sentences now!  We've gone from being able to understand her, back to the lovely phase of having NO IDEA what she's saying most of the time, even though she CLEARLY knows what she's trying to express!!  She knows most of her primary colors, animals, vehicles, well - it's actually hard to say what things she DOESN'T know.  She has a giant book of "Baby's First 100 Words," and she can name essentially every picture in the book, and she recently surprised me when she counted to 10.  In other words, she is following exactly in her brother's footsteps, which we did not think was possible, with how verbal he was so early on.

Some of her FAVORITE games to play and things to say are:

Lexi: BOO!!!! (pronounced BYOO!)
Anybody: [startle as big as possible like she has scared the daylights out of you.]
[repeat]
[repeat]
[repeat]....it never gets old!

Mommy: Aw, are you tired?  Go night-night!  Close your eyes!!
Lexi: [cutest pretend sleep, eyes squinted, impish grin on the PLANET!]

FAVORITE SONGS:
The "Ibby Bibby Pider" (mostly motions)
"Teetew Teetew" (mostly motions....who KNEW Twinkle Twinkle even HAD motions!)
Ring Around the Rosies:
Lexi: Ashie, Ashie, aw paw DOW!!!! (once you start this one, be ready to play forEVer!)

Baby Bumblebee:
Lexi [cutest EVER!]: OW! IT tuwwy! (with motions, of course!)

The Barney Song:
Lexi [tirelessly]: "I wuh yoo, Yoo wuh me, Ee a happy wamiLY...[indescriminate singing in correct tune]"

All songs proceeded by a hearty hand clap and "YAYYYYYY"

Wonderful little Sentences (that we can ACTUALLY understand):
No has evolved into "NO!  I NOT!!!"  As in:
Mommy:  Are you sleepy?
Lexi: No, I NOT!

Mommy: Do you want to go see Santa Claus?
Lexi: No! I NOT!

Mommy: Can you share your toys?
Lexi: No!  I NOT!

"I want [milk, wawer, eat....etc]."
"I need [milk, wawer, eat...etc]."
"I don't want [wawer, car....etc]."  As in:
Lexi: I need mo miw! (I need more milk)
Mommy: How about water?
Lexi: NO! I don't WANT WAWER!  I NEED MIW!!!"

"At's MY baby [car, etc etc etc]!"
"Where Bubba [Mommy, Daddy, Geewy, etc...] go??" (asked, always, with appropriate gesture of both hands out to her side and shrugged shoulders)
"I want/need my DADDYYYYY!" (especially when she's sad, which she unDOUBTEDLY learned from her Bubba).

JONAH

Jonah is now 3-years-old, and the kid NEVER ceases to amaze us with his sheer intelligence.  He has the rationality of someone well beyond his years.  Jonah knows all of his colors, letters, what sound every letter of the alphabet makes, how to spell his name, bizarre shapes, such as a trapezoid and octagon.  My favorite recent development about him these days is that he now tells stories, by cutting his eyes up and to the right or left, and cocking his mouth over to the side of his face.  He remains "all boy," and is currently in Occupational Therapy for Sensory Integration, due to PROPRIOCEPTION SEEKING.  For those who don't know what that means, it basically means he will be a phenomenal football player someday, as he is rough & tumble X 10!  He loves to push on people and things, and he pushes his matchbox cars so hard that he breaks the wheels sometimes.  We've been challenged to find activities that meet his proprioceptive needs.  Jonah calls for CREATIVE PARENTING!  He's too darned smart for his own good, plus has some sensory needs, and he keeps us on our toes.  Some of his favorite "fun" activities are to do jumping jacks (which I have GOT to get on video), hopping around the house, pushing his giant dump truck in circles around the house, and playing with Cars (as in, matchbox cars The King, and Chick from the movie CARS, which he still calls RaceCars).  I never noticed, until my brother pointed it out recently, that Jonah is very LITERAL, to the point that it is amusing.  For instance:
Gary: You want a KNUCKLE sandwich??  I'll give you a KNUCKLE sandwich!!
Jonah: No, we don't eat our hands.  We don't eat knuckles.

Mommy: Jonah, do NOT throw that baseball in the house.  You can ROLL it.
Jonah: But, we don't ROLL baseballs.  We throw them.
Mommy: Not indoors!  You may ROLL it indoors.
Jonah: [looks around and up & down, very perplexed, then matter of factly]: But, I not in a door?

And, if you bring up a subject and/or word that Jonah DOESN'T know he quickly tells you:
"Oh.  I don't know [unknown word]."

Jonah is about as cute and charming as they come.  He's got his Daddy's argumentative genes, which is HILARIOUS to watch because his Daddy gets so frustrated with it.  I just sit back and grin and say, "Honey, he IS his father's child."  (I don't know if he appreciates that much, but it amuses me :)). 

We recently asked him what he wants Santa Claus to bring him for Christmas, and were astounded at his VERY matter-of-fact reply:


Mommy: What do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas? (expecting a pause to think about it, or maybe even process the question, but no...)
Jonah: (without hesitation) A telescope.
Mommy: A TELESCOPE? REALLY?
Jonah: Yep. A telescope. So I can look at the moon.
Of course, in some ways this SHOULDN'T surprise us, since Jonah has always been fascinated with the moon. He began pointing it out in the sky, as one of his first words, "Mah!" before he was even a year old, and to this day, EVERY SINGLE DAY that it is visible in the sky (without exaggeration), even if it is the tiniest sliver of a crescent, faint in the sky, not even noticeable to most people in the middle of the day, he will point up to the sky, and declare, "There's the MOON! DO YOU SEE THE MOOOOON?"


Perhaps my favorite EVER recent mommy moment was when Jonah took the initiative to pray over me:
Jonah (randomly, out of the blue): “Mommy, is your head hurt?”

Me: “Well, I don’t know, honey? Would you like to pray for Mommy’s head?”

Jonah (instantly, and without hesitation jumps into my lap and places both hands on my head): “Dear God, please protect us.”
Daddy: “And, what do we say at the end of our prayers, Jonah?”
Jonah: “No! Mommy, you have to repeat after me, okay? Dear God, please protect us.”
Me: [Repeats]

Jonah: “And make Mommy’s head better.”

Me: [Repeats]

Jonah: “In Jesus Name we pray, [enthusiastically] AMENNNN!!!!!!!!”

Me: […..cries]
Perfection.