Wacky Wednesday....

So... this morning kicked off with Scott getting up at 5:00 am to spin. I stirred a bit and knew he got up... but easily fell back to sleep. So interesting the times I can and cannot fall back asleep. Wake me from the hours of 2 am - 4 am and I can't get back to the land of nod.  Wake me and five and I'm instantly out? 

Never fear... my sleep was not long enough... for at about 5:22 am... Luke decides to scream "I'm hungry!!!"  WTF?? Why are you UP!!??  I tell him to go back to sleep.  He fights me and says he wants milk. I refuse to give him milk because that is a slippery slope.... leads to him waking anytime to ask for milk. No way big guy.

I assume he goes back to sleep. I go back and lie down and wait for the coffee maker to go off.... I get my coffee and as I'm about to get in the shower, Luke yells for me again. Okay. Apparently he's up for the day.  Before 6 am. Lovely.

I put him in my bed and tell him I have to shower... he lies down and watches whatever is in the Disney channel... I shower.. Scott comes in after his shower and says "do you know there's a kid in our bed?" Yup. Well aware.  Give him some milk please....... every morning Luke has two cups of milk. I'm sure I've shared this.  :-)

Luke is grumpy. Nothing is quite right. He doesn't like the show on TV. He doesn't like his milk. He doesn't like us. He's mad at the world.  I would be too if I was three and I woke up two hours earlier than I normally do for a school day... almost four hours earlier than I do for a stay at home day! 

Ally gets up... must be something in the air. She's grumpy too.  It's picture day and, even though SHE CHOSE the dress she is wearing, she decides it doesn't fit and it's not what she wants to wear. Sigh.  I am gonna be really honest... I don't care much about school picture day. I care much more about our family pictures and the session we have with Nicole... who captures my children better than any LifeTouch photographer can. Sorry. It's the truth.  ;-)

So... I'm pretty calm. Tell her she can wear whatever! I don't care! We compromise and I tie the back of her dress together so it fits better.... she's just so petite on top... things fit funny. I understand this. I like things to fit nicely and look good too. She seems contented by this action... but then, she gets grumpy again and finally admits she wishes I was driving her to school. Any little thing can throw her off and make her act out... and if she would just tell me (which she has GREATLY improved at!) we can usually make one another feel better.  I smiled and told her I understood but that Daddy was taking her and I would see her after school. That was that.......

Our therapist would be so proud.  I didn't take away her disappointment... I made her deal. Even the littlest things... like preferring that I drive her to school over Daddy need to be handled correctly with her.  We have been told (encouraged) to make Ally flex that muscle of disappointment as often as we can. To say no more often. To not always give in and give her, her way because it's easier on us... cuz long term, we do her a disservice.

It takes practice on our end too. It's hard to look at someone you love more than anything in the world.... and knowingly let her down... espeically when you COULD simply give in. I could have taken her to school.... but that wasn't the plan and she knew it... and she doesn't dictate what happens..... so she needs to deal.

Baby steps.

On that front... Ally is doing so, so, so well. She is able to express herself and her feelings more clearly these days and our lines of communication are amazingly open and flowing.  She has more patience with her brother... and I'm not unrealistic... I know they are going to have issues... and siblings will be siblings... but she is much more tolerant of him on a regular basis now.

Yesterday after school.... they both chatted in the back seat about their days.  She asked who he played with.... that's Ally. School is about friends and socialization!  ;)  I get that! Luke said he played by himself.... and then proceeded to tell her what he and some others did... so she says "See! You did play with other kids Lukie!" This is obviously very important to her... maybe moreso than him.  ;-)

This week's them at school is "All About Me" and they made these life-sized outlines of themselves.  I said to Luke "WOW! That must have be a really big piece of paper!" To which he responded "Not that big Mommy cuz I just little!"  :-))))))  He was so proud to talk about his day though. Yesterday he was really pumped up about his day!  More animated than he was just last week.  It's really awesome to see him come out of his shell with others and to hear stories of how he interacts with other kids and the adults in his room.

One thing I was really concerned with was that he might not ask for help.  Like, if he had to go to the bathroom, or if something was hurting him or wrong.  Yesterday the straw for his milk didn't work right, and he told Ms. Joann... and I'm really impressed he did! He got a new straw and was thrilled to tell me it was better anyway cuz it was blue and bendy!  ;-)

These little developmental growths are so much fun to watch. I feel that I notice and appreciate them more than I did with Ally... and that makes me a little sad... but at the same time, I understand that she was our first... and as such, she taught us how to be a parent and we are learning more and more... and the with the second, you must get more right maybe.  Or maybe it's simply because our lives are not as frantic as they were when Ally was three and in preschool.  Who knows.  Or maybe I just have mom brain and I don't remember!  :-))))  Probably the most likely option. 

I think I am so proud of Luke's social development, because I was so scared for him for a while there...  and while I know he's okay, he is on the quieter side and life will be a litte more difficult for him because it will take more effort to interact in the world.  Ally, like her mom, thrives on interacting with the world and gains energy from it.  Luke will have to learn how to balance his world... and we need to balance his time in social situations and his alone time.

Well, this post has droned on longer than I thought......  ;-)  Tonight, Ally has gymnastics from 4-6 and I have a Girl Scout meeting with the other troop leader and the past troop leader after that. Scott and I will do the kid shuffle at 6 at the gym.  I cannot imagine how we will do it all when Luke has after school activities too....... Ally will so be getting a car at 16 to help out.  :-))))))))