Loving the Life I have

I can’t believe I’ve been absent from this blog for a month! October is gone, and before I know it, November will be also. How about a quick McCullah family update.

Daddy McCullah is working on his last college class before he graduates with his AA. If all goes well, he will graduate in January. Yay!!

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Mommy McCullah is getting ready to host the family for a BBQ celebrating a visit with her #2 brother, who is graduating next week from his training school in the Air Force. And she is also planning on having a jewelry party to sell her handmade jewelry, sometime in December.

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Baby McCullah is getting so big! As a matter of fact, today someone asked if he was 2 1/2. Here’s what he’s been doing lately. While seated at the table for a meal (it doesn’t matter which one) he will push his chair away from the table, and then put his feet up on the table. He seems to get a kick out of seeing his toes where his hands usually are. No, he did not get this habit from either parent; and yes, we are trying to break him of it.

 

He has also found that it is more fun to eat by bringing his plate (or bowl) up to his mouth and eating from it that way. What a mess. Speaking of eating, I had left an apple on the kitchen island. He found it and decided to start eating it. Sensing that a mess was in the near future I set him in his chair to watch a video until he was done munching on the apple. He at the whole thing, but did stop short of eating the core. Smart boy.

 

He as also been doing really well with "Room Time". If I need to get something done around the house and would rather not be distracted as he makes three messes for every one that I am cleaning up, I put him in his room with the baby gate up. He will them occupy himself for 30 to 45 minutes. I am really glad that I have this option, however there is one drawback. He occupies himself by (of course) tearing his room apart. Anything that is not tied down or too heavy is fair game. Oh, well. At least the mess is localized. One such day I peeked in to see how he was doing…and I didn’t see him anywhere. I was totally bewildered for a few seconds, until I saw him over by his changing table. He had pulled the blankets off of the lower shelf and was laying on them and under them. He thought it was funny that I didn’t see him right away.

 

He also amazed us last month by putting on one of his sandals all by himself. He even got it on the correct foot.  I expected him to put the other one on as well, but he was happy as a lark walking around with only one shoe on. And then there was the time that I was sitting at the computer and suddenly smelled nail polish. It took me a second, but I did finally realize that I wasn’t using nail polish. I jumped up to find Jonah. He was sitting in my bedroom studiously painting his big toe. EEEK! I had to laugh. Fortunately the mess was confined to his toe and hand. So I did what any mother would do. I took pictures, and took away the nail polish. Being a mother is such an adventure!! I love it.

The “I have no energy” conundrum.

 

"There are certain days, like today, that I happen to have less than half of the energy that I usually have. This is usually the result of a very long day, followed by a long night, a very late bedtime, and a very early wake-up call. Anyway, on these “lack of energy” days I usually grab a book or sit in front of the computer. I am doing something to keep myself awake so that I can keep an eye on my “I-got-plenty-of-sleep-and-have-tons-of-energy-to-prove-it” son. At this point I must admit that I am also more lax on these days. I allow certain things that I would normally not allow because I don’t really have the energy to deal with them appropriately. Now here’s the rub; in the end it can take more energy to ignore things than to deal with them right away.

 

Let me illustrate. Today, as I already pointed out, is one of those days. I was sitting at the computer, and had given Jonah had some cookies and crackers. He is usually really good with those, so no problem. He decided to dump his snacks into a saucepan that he brought out to the living room. Sort of okay. Then he got a spoon out of the silverware drawer. Not okay. I don’t let him help himself to silverware. But because of my lack of energy I just let it go. Well, he decided to use said spoon to pound some of his crackers and cookies into powder. Again I let it go. Big mistake. His next move was to dump said saucepan, full of said snacks, onto the floor in said living room! So much for saving my energy. I had to pick up all the cracker and cookie chunks, clean off the diaper bag that was covered with crumbs, and then vacuum the rest of the mess. I ended up expending more energy that if I would have just taken away the spoon, and kept his snacks in the kitchen." 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow, when you fall off of the blog "horse", it sure is hard to pick yourself up and get back on. Marty and I are working on getting a lot of different things organized, so hopefully that will help me in this area. Jonah was sick two weeks ago, and now I am getting over what he had. Teaching children to share is good, if only we could teach them not to share their germs.  This is the first time in my life that I had an ear infection. They are downright horrid! But I praise the Lord that it went away on it’s own. Jonah is such a big boy now! Not only in size (26 lbs., 33 3/4 in.) but also in development. He puts his hands together when we tell him we are going to pray for our food. But then while we are praying the hands find other things to do, and he starts talking. So we have some things to work on. He is understanding so much now. Just today when he was in the bathroom with me I told him to close the door. He looked at me with a smile, and walked over and closed the door. I was really suprised. But I shouldn’t be. He has been closing cupboard doors on command for a while. I just didn’t think he would understood that the bathroom door is a "door" too. Earlier today he was trying to get his sippy-cup of water off of the table. He moved the two chairs that were in the way, but still could not reach the cup. I came to help him, and after I gave him the cup, he pushed one of the chairs back up to the table. It just blew me away that he even thought to do that. Wow, time flies so fast!! My little baby is now a little boy!!