Random doings and sayings

I love this photo of the boys snuggling, despite Elijah looking quite wiped out.



Sammy loves his new orange Crocs that I got for him in Colorado. He wants to be wearing them constantly. If one happens to fall off, he yells, GOCK! GOCK! GOCK! until we put it back on.

Elijah has always had little quirks and unique sensitivities. Since he was a tiny baby he has absolutely hated the sun shining in his face while riding in the car. He still hates it. So every time the sun is shining in his face, which happens often because that's what suns do, we get to hear, THE SUN IS SHOOTING ME! (Repeat until the sun is no longer "shooting" him.) Just recently he has been extra sensitive to wind, as well. If we are walking outside when it is windy, he says, THE WIND IS BLOWING ME AWAY! (Again, repeat until the wind has stopped blowing him away.) No drama or anything!

That leads nicely into this topic. We have decided to put Elijah into occupational therapy, as well as physical therapy. We are hoping that will help him with some of his fine motor skill delays and also self-care and some sensory issues that still linger from when he was a baby. He will hopefully start that next Monday. I hear that his new OT has all sorts of activities lined up for him!

Lately Elijah has been asking me about his scars. He points to his big one and asks what Dr. Moga did. I explain that he had to cut an incision to get into his heart, and he seems to understand that. Then he points to his chest tube scars and asks where they came from. Those are a little more difficult to explain, but we are honest about why they are there. We have talked a little bit about his upcoming heart cath, and he seems to know what to expect.

The boys have a game they play with me lately that makes us all giggle. When I ask for a kiss or a hug they will say, "NOOOO!" and laugh and run away. I chase them and say, "You can't deny Mama Kisses!" Once I get my hands on them they get assaulted with Mama's kisses! Thankfully they both love getting smooched by Mama.

The potty troubles are still present. I would say there is a teeny improvement in that arena. Just teeny. At least now we see him trying to hold it instead of just going wherever and whenever. We do still have our share of accidents, though. And we still get sassed when we ask him to go. Overall, the sassing has made slight improvements, as well. Dan and I have stuck to our guns and have not backed down ONCE with discipline/consequences. He is learning that we aren't tolerating manipulation, which is good!

Sammy has this funny thing that he constantly does where he will take family inventory. MAMA? Yes, I'm Mama. DADA? Daddy is at work. UH-YA-YA? Elijah is at school. Then he will pat the top of his head. (This is a funny thing because he has never once attempted to say his own name. It's always a head-pat when referring to himself.) Yes, you are Sammy. He does this about 900 times per day. Then he will point to his toes (or any body part) and grunt (grunting is his way of saying, "Look!"). Yes, those are Sammy's toes. Then he will point in Dan's direction and grunt. Yes, Daddy has toes. Then he will point at me and grunt. Yep, Mama has toes, too. Then at Elijah. Elijah does indeed have toes. And on and on.

My favorite recent word of Sammy's is his word for JAMMIES. He calls them BEEZ-BEEZ. :) He has also been saying a string of nonsense words that never fails to make Elijah and I laugh. It sounds like blub-blub-blub-blub-blub-BOP!

Last weekend Elijah got to spend a night with Auntie Lissa and Uncle Dan and two of his cousins! He adores Auntie Lissa's house, and he had a blast with them, as usual. I love this photo of him and his cousin (and puppy) sleeping. Sshhh, please don't tell Emma I posted this!



And he even got to ride the lawn mower with Uncle Dan!



Elijah woke up this morning with a tiny cough and runny nose, so we will be on croup alert tonight. Other than that, and our boys' silly antics, not much is going on with us. We have been outside a lot, enjoying this beautiful Minnesota weather! Which reminds me, happy spring! Thanks for checking in.