03.21.13

Front Entrance - Before

Front Entrance - After

"Helping"

My front entrance project is complete.  Looks much better, doesn't it?  We painted the entrance last Saturday night, and then Sunday we painted the hallway. Saturday night, Josh asked, "Why do we always paint at night?" Sunday afternoon, his question was answered when Paige backed into a wall of wet paint. Plus both kids were seriously unhappy about not using the hallway for about an hour while it dried.
I wanted to paint a feature wall in Paige's room as well, and attempted that today. It turns out I didn't really have the desire or the energy (or enough paint!) to finish it, so I have one base coat on. Oh well, it'll look great whenever it gets done. :P

3.16.13

After supper today, I started painting our front entrance - we (I mean, I) decided earlier this month that either we finally make this house ours or we burn it to the ground. I was getting quite tired of beige walls - especially a beige I didn't even pick. It used to have weird gold glaze feathers on it, which we attempted to paint over with the beige base coat, but when the sun shines in, you can still see weird feathers.
Anyway.
I bought paint today, and decided that if I didn't start today, it probably wasn't happening. While Josh was trying to watch the Jets game, I got started. And the kids both wanted to help, it got a little hectic, and the picture above was Josh's solution. ;)  Not that I need to defend myself, but they are both playing an app called Monkey Preschool Lunchbox and it's a great learning app for toddlers. I'm amazed at how quickly Paige has picked up on it!  It's also ridiculously adorable that they are sitting so close and not hitting each other.

3.14.13

Life has been a bit of a struggle over the last few months, and the last few weeks have been the worst. Wyatt's been having some mind-boggling tantrums, I've had the worst insomnia I've ever experienced and we're all just so, so tired of winter.  Soon enough we'll be playing in the backyard, swatting mosquitoes, making s'mores, going for long walks, splashing in the puddles, swinging in the hammock...we just have to carry on for now.

03.06.13

And now, without further ado, a short series of photos in which my children appear to be enjoying each others company:

2.27.13

Paige's tantrums are hilarious. We shouldn't laugh, and most times we try to hide the fact that we're giggling. For example, Josh brought the kids home from daycare today, Paige stomped up the stairs, walked right past me, laid down on the floor behind me and started rolling around and whining.  What is that? 90% of her tantrums involve walking off, laying on the floor and wailing. She's quite the actress.

2.24.13

Paige had a particularly long nap on Saturday - which is good, she is still a little out of sorts after a bout with a nasty stomach bug. Wyatt wanted to help me go get her when she woke up, so for no good reason I stuck him in the crib with her. They both loved it! They read a few books together, jumped up and down like tiny crazy people, and at one point I think Elmo and a teddy bear were having a WWE style cage match. It's nice to see him showing some affection towards her - only took about 21 months (he must be slow to warm up to new people).

2.23.13

Wyatt at 8 months.

On Tuesday I had a chat with Wyatt's doctor about SPD. Somewhere along the way in rushing to get referrals and appointments, I never bothered asking his opinion. Nothing life altering, it just would have been good to get his point of view too. I still believe that Wyatt has sensory issues. But the more that we learn, the more I see myself in him. I've had to leave our lunchroom at work because the sound of people chewing food is so distracting that I can't even eat my own lunch. I find loud sounds like sirens and certain toys beyond annoying - my ears literally hurt after hearing certain noises. I don't like wearing socks or jeans because I don't like how they feel on my skin. I cannot and never in my entire life have I been able to do a somersault. Forwards, backwards...nope. Hate being upside down. Hate the idea of festivals/carnivals/rides/etc. And you know what? That's okay. I can't think of one thing that those "issues" have prevented me from doing (that I've wanted to do, that is). I think I'm successful - I may not have a degree or fancy initials after my name, but had I wanted to pursue that type of education, these issues would not have stopped me. Nor do I think any of Wyatt's sensory issues are going to stop him from being a happy and successful person.
The thing that IS bothering me is that he doesn't seem happy now. And it seemed to be to be something separate from SPD. I didn't (and still don't) know if it was a larger issue, a different issue...so this is why I talked to his doctor. I explained that Wyatt seems to be far to anxious and upset to enjoy "normal" kid things. Everything these days is becoming an ordeal, with lots of talking beforehand, explaining, discussing what will happen, what won't happen, etc. And Wyatt's been doing a lot of copying - not with words specifically, but with behaviour as well. It's as if he's afraid to be his own little self. His doctor thinks he may actually have an anxiety disorder. I haven't done much reading up on it, because I'm currently suffering from "disorder" burnout, and don't want to overwhelm myself again. But from what I have read, it does make sense, and it seems to fit the issues we've been having lately far more than SPD. We have a referral in to a child psychologist (yikes!), so we'll wait for that appointment and take it from there.
In the meantime, we'll finish up his OT session, and then I think we'll cut out any appointments for a while. The weather will be warming up, we can enjoy the fresh air and hopefully Wyatt can enjoy being Wyatt.