The Beginning....Take 2

It took a little time but I'm back up and running.  Most of my current readers will know that I started to blog about 2 years ago when Q, or Bubble, was about 17 months old.  I did it for several months then stopped when I ran into, what I guess you could call, writers block.  I wanted to start again so many times but life just got in the way.  I actually have a partial blog written from the end of last summer but right around that time I became very ill with morning sickness.  Unfortunately it ended up to be a completely nasty pregnancy all the way through.  I had my head in the toilet for months.  Luckily I was rewarded at the end with what I would say was one of the quickest deliveries on record.  We delivered little girl 'Bean' at home and thankfully I managed to hold out until the midwife arrived.  Just barely though, as she didn't even have time to take her coat off.  

So anyhow, lots of ‘life’ has happened over the last year + since I wrote about Bubble.  We now have an additional family member - our sweet little Bean - but sadly, on the heels of finding out we were to have another child, we lost our beloved kitty, Miles.  Life goes on though and we are enjoying being parents to the two cutest little munchkins we know.  

Bubble continues to amaze us with his grasp of language and his understanding of the world around him.  He is imaginative, busy, industrious, and well...ummm...tyrannical or Spirited (as my friend aptly called him the other day)!!  He says things that make us laugh every day - although most often lately I have to hide my face and laugh.  Unfortunately for me (and Bean probably) he is having lots and lots of very loud tantrums lately and is throwing things I say to him back at me.  Lobbing out phrases like "Change your behaviour mommy”, or "I don't like your attitude"...all during time out and shouted at me at the top of his lungs.  I absolutely have to laugh (in private) to keep my sanity and to keep from shouting back at him.  


Yes, having a spirited 3.5 year old has proven to be VERY challenging, especially now that his daycare is closed and I am home with him full time.  I never believed I was cut out to be a full time stay at home mom, but that is what I am right now and although it is very challenging, it is proving to be a very good lesson in patience and self discipline for me.  For the first few weeks after Bubbles daycare ended, I admittedly fell into a nonproductive pattern of shouting and getting angry at him for his misbehaviors, but I have now realized (through discussions with other parents and parenting books : )) that my own behavior has been part of the problem and I need to revise my parenting strategy.  From the first time I ignored his tantrum and walked away without shouting or reacting, things started to change…ever so slightly…but the tantrums are getting a little less intense and frequent.  I of course make sure he is safe and check in on him and hug if necessary, but I am making a big effort not to give in to his fit and get angry now.  Getting angry and trying to reason with a raging 3.5 year old doesn't work...even though I want to rage at his rage sometimes.  

Anyhow, it's not all bad.  It's just a little challenging at the moment.  In all fairness though, he is home with me full time aside from 2.5 hours of preschool, three days a week, and he doesn't get that stimulation time with his friends at daycare anymore.  He misses them all I think.  I am pretty sure playing with your pals and going outside and having lots of activity is much more fun for him than staying home watching me tend to Bean, make lunches, clean, do laundry, yada yada.  He also has mother hen at him for every little thing he does now.  At daycare there are 8 kids but at home, I only really have him to watch and I see every move he makes.  It doesn't help that it is difficult to get out of the house sometimes with 2 kids, naps, feeding etc. so, he gets bored, does things he shouldn't, won't listen then tantrums...bah..  Anyhow, he still remains a sweet little boy aside from this current issue.  His favorite thing right now is the Cars movie and he pretends to be the characters…and gets quite miffed if you call him his name instead of Doc or McQueen.  We are also at the “why” stage and are driven to insanity with the “why” loop sometimes.  Currently he is also obsessed with cigarette butts and points EVERY one of them out as we walk to the park.  Today at a restaurant he stared, open mouthed, at a gentleman who walked by us with a toothpick hanging out of his mouth.  He thought it was a cigarette and was loudly asking me what the man had in his mouth and why it was there…He didn’t get the whole toothpick thing and was still convinced the man was smoking.  

There are so many things he has said over the past year and a bit that I wish I would have written down.  Lots I have forgotten – which really sucks.  I am hoping to document our little Bubble and Bean as much as I can.  I will try not to edit myself to death because that was my downfall before.  I worried that I wasn’t writing with correct sentence structure.  I worried about content.  I worried about putting info on the web….etc. etc.  I am not going to worry.  I am going to share.  I am going to post photos.  I am going to talk about my hobbies.  I am going to enjoy this and make it a positive outlet for me and interesting for you....I HOPE : )  More next time.

Love me