Timeouts and Chores

Bei's chore is to re-load the toilet paper container and put the plastic bags into the garbage containers. Honestly, we aren't breaking any child labor laws. He likes to help us do stuff, so we call those "Bei's chores". Curly locks came over this morning while Bei was doing his chores and they played tug a war for a while about who was going to do it. Now we all know by the time these two are even pre-teen's any type of help in the house is going to be foreign concept to them. "What help? Aren't I entitled?"

Bei met a new friend this weekend, named Ellie. He loved the attention she gave him!

Guess who came over wearing this get-up? Yep, you got it, it could only be Huckleberry!

Let me explain the above picture of Bei and I together. He had gotten a hold of my camera and was taking pictures around the house...which consist of at least some portion of his fingers which are covering the lens...ugh! So instead of ripping the camera out of his hands, I suggested to him that I take a picture of Bei and mom together. He was all up for the idea. And I got control of the camera again with no meltdown and put it away. He is getting the message with the camera and the computer, I say "it is not a toy". He touches both and say "toy". I think he wants to say it isn't a toy, but can't get it all in one sentence.

Bei was given a Curious George stuffed animal by our friends John and Leslie. And as most of you know George is a naughty little monkey. So when we first got him, I would toss George up in the air and say "George, settle down (toss again) come on George, George, George, you need to settle down or you are going to get a time out". Well, Bei latched right onto that and George gets about 100 time outs a day from Bei. Poor George! Bei will say "George (emphasis on the "r" in George to make it sound very british), come on...time out". Then he will say, "George crying" and go give him a hug and kiss after his time out." Today, I gave Bei a real time out. He threw his cup of gold fish, so I told him to go pick it up, that we don't throw food around. He was very tired this morning and he wasn't willing to pick up the food. So I said you need to have a time out. Crumble to the ground, crying hysterically...hey, aren't I suppose to put you somewhere in time out?...this is great if all I have to say is "time out" and you're down for the count...this is easy! Honestly, his time outs last less than a minute because he just meltsdowns and I feel that he gets it...for now.

Overall he is such a happy and joyful child, we are just crazy about him. He and I have a rhythm during the day that I would say is overall pretty quiet. So it is so funny to see Bei when Dan comes home. He cranks it up about 20 notches! He calls Dan, "Dadya". And it just starts the minute he walks in the door "Dadya, Dadya Watch! Watch!" The volume in the house just goes up along with the action! Dan is so exhausted many days after work, but you see this energy just come alive in him with this little boy jumping around demanding his attention. It is so sweet, I just love my boys!

Reality Check

On Thursday, I took Bei to Toddler-Time at the Community Center. Toddler-Time is an hour and half of play time for infants to 5 year olds. The Community Center supplies all the toys and activities, but it is free time for you and your toddler to spend however you want. Now that Bei is all fixed up, I thought it was time that we finally got involved in some of the activities that the community has to offer. What an eye-opener it was for me. Let me share our experience...

Bei loved this tent in the form of a bus. He could walk around in it and carry it and be the bus driver. He loved it! There were a ton of balls, he loves to throw balls! They had one of those full size blow up jump in things, he thought it was fun, but didn't want to do it for very long. Anyway, we were playing for about a half an hour when Bei spied this area that you climbed into and had a bunch of balls that you can throw. Let me preface this with the fact that another little boy or as I refer to him as Bully #1 had spent most of his time in that area, but had recently left. In climbs Bei and he starts picking up balls to throw when Bully #1 comes charging over the wall with his hand up like he is going to hit Bei...yikes!!!! I could see the Headline News..."Crazed mom drop kicks Bully #1 out of Community Center Gym". Luckily his mom stepped in and spoke to him and Bei and Bully #1 played nicely together. Thank you other mom! Next thing Bei wanted to play with was a T-Ball Set that you hit the ball off of. He had hit the ball maybe 5 times, when this little wisp of a demon, with the most angelic face, came over took the ball off the T and ran away with it. Okay, she gets a pass, first of all, she was so darn cute and secondly, the ball was pink, we needed to find a more manly ball anyway. The other thing that Bei played a long time with was one of those tube tent things that you crawl through. I would lay at the other end and cheer him on. Bei had just gotten into the tent when Bully #3 came running over, he was one of those kids, that I could tell is going to spend the his life like a bull in china shop. I knew that he would not wait for Bei to get through tent or wait behind him. Sure enough, before I know it he is trying to pass Bei in this little tube, however, Bei just sped up and wouldn't let him pass. Good to know that this little guy can hold his own when needed. Our last Bully experience was at the Kitchen Set, a little boy was playing with all the plastic foods, can goods and other items, when Bei ran up and snatched a pot from the little boy's hand and tried to push his way up to the stove...oops...I guess my kid is the bully now!! My realization is that this was all very normal behavior on all the children's part, and the bubble that Bei has been living in, which mind you is a wonderful bubble, needs to be burst or at least I need to let a little normal air in it. It has been a wonderful 6 months with our guy!!!

Therapy...perhaps???

Bei gets up in the morning and looks over to where Dan had been sleeping and he always says "Daddy Work". He understands Dan well! Bei loves his daddy time at night!

Every night when I get Bei ready for bed I think to myself, if this kid ever realizes what we put on him for sleeping, he is going to be in need of some good therapy in the future. Bei is obsessed with these motorcycle pants that are faded and too short already. Anybody who has had the pleasure of talking to him on the phone knows how much he loves his motorcycles pants, because it usually, is the second thing he shouts into the phone "mototycles", right after he shouts "I Bei". But then we put him in this oversized striped shirt and snap it around his pants. I must add here that neither Dan nor I are sadist, we love this little guy, but we have a kid on our hands that refuses to have any blankets on him. None! Unfortunately, Bei was adopted by two people who like to live like Eskimo's. I LOVE my house cold in both the winter and summer. Just ask my nieces who when they come to visit walk in the door and say "Aunt Liz, where are the blankets?" Rest-assured we have adjusted our thermostat to be more comfortable for Bei. And we have created this little get-up to keep him warm at night. It is long sleeved and we have a t-shirt under the beautiful red shirt. Now, most people would say why don't you just put him in one of those one-piece pajama's with the footies. Remember, his obsession with the mototycles pants? We haven't found a pair that he likes yet!

Bei Update

We bought this little drum in China and you roll it between your fingers to play, which Bei now has figured out how to play.

Helping mom rake the leaves!

Cutie Face!

Yesterday was Bei second post-operation appointment. The doctor said he looks great, his x-ray was perfect and they took him off of the diruretic. Every morning he would say "Medicine"...oh yeah, thanks for the reminder little guy. This past week, he would still remind me, but no longer wanted to administer it himself. Unfortunately, I had to strong arm him to get it down the ole gullet. So, for that reason alone, I'm personally glad that there is no more medicine.

He is such a silly kid in alot of ways, he now calls me mom mom and every now and then he'll call me mommy. He refers to himself in the third person, so he'll say things like "Bei do it", "Bei Bei's turn". He is really in to taking turns. I'll be on the phone or what he calls the Doe Doe and after about 5 minutes, he'll say "Bei Bei's turn"...no, Bei I don't really think the cable guy wants to talk to you. Another fun thing is that Aunt Jeannine's stay with him obviously has captured his heart. He refers to the bed that she slept in, which is suppose to be Bei's bed, as Aunt Jeannine's bed. Every morning we make our bed (Dan's, Liz's and Bei's) and Bei always says "Aunt Jeannine's bed, so we go and pretend to make the bed again, even though it is still made from when she left. From day one, I would say to him that he is "Mama's Bei Bei". I thought it would be a way to bond and that he would understand that we are connected forever. So now when I say it, he corrects me and tells me he is "Aunt Jeannine's Bei Bei"...little rascal! Lastly, the big kicker for me is that when I kiss him he would wipe his mouth and say "yucky"...thanks alot kid! So I told him he should say "yummy" when I kiss him. This morning, I went to kiss him and up came his hand over his mouth, so I kissed it and he said "yummy". Don't worry, through out the day I bribe him to kiss me...I know the things that he really wants and sometimes he has to give his mom a kiss to get them and not one of those fake-0 hand ones either!

Money Saving Mama!

Meet Bei's cousin Morgan
"Bei, give me that camera"

Bei mini golfing this summer!

The pictures above are from Bei's perspective, he has enjoyed taking pictures in the past.

Now that I'm a stay at home mom, I'm really trying to cut corners financially in every possible way. I had my latest revelation for saving money while grocery shopping! Bei has been a tentative shopper, he usually will sit in the cart through the produce section, but by the time I get to the first can good aisle he wants me to carry him...ugh...so I prop his non-existent butt (I call him "Bei Bei no butts"...the kid has absolutely no butt!) on the handle bars of the cart, he wraps his arms around me and I wrap my arms around him and try to push the cart. Then of course when I reach for the food, he is in my arms and it is a juggling act. I finally gave in the othe day and put him in one of the fun little cars that is attached in front of the cart, (not good for someone like me with depth perception issues...oops sorry sir, was that your ankle? Oops, sorry ma'am did I run over your first born?) Anyway, my hesitation of doing that was that I was worried that he would want to get in and out and would be able to run around. Let me tell you, I'm very perceptive because that is exactly what happened. However, there was hardly anybody at the store, so he would get out and he would say "I run!" and down the aisle he would go, giggling and laughing. He would stop at the end of the aisle and I would throw open my arms and he would run back into my arms and I would squeeze him and hug him. Sounds like fun? Well it was! So my thought was "who needs to pay for tumbling classes and gymboree,? We'll just come to the grocery store and he can run and play and I will save $30 to $60! Great plan! Fast forward to the next time that we go to the grocery store, it was busy, they had lots of paying customers, but guess who didn't want to sit in the cart or the car? Guess who said "I run, I run!"? I let him out of the car of the cart for a little while and let him "run" and it was pretty clear that other mom's who children were sitting perfectly either in the cart or little car, had no time for it, but thank goodness for the the old people, they thought he was darling! My mind keeps going back to the book that I read called "Toddlerwise". It said something about being very careful about that first time you say "yes" to something your toddler wants, because they are going to expect it all the time and undoing something is alot harder than saying no upfront. Maybe they should of used some examples...

Treat More!

Mommy and Bei trick or treating. At first, he kept saying "hooome" and after about two houses, he caught on real quick and kept saying "Treat More"!

Bei is excited to visit his daddy at work.

Bei loved his Larry the Cucumber costume. What Cucumbers don't have legs or antenna?

Carving Pumpkins

It was a beautiful sunny day, but "warm" is not a word that you use to describe the weather today. He refuses to wear a stocking hat, hence I need to bundle him in a blanket to keep his little head warm.

Bei "helping me" out by putting all the inards back into the pumpkin

Bei surprised at all the fun stuff in the pumpkin!

Bei is recovering really well! Last night he had his first bath in two weeks! He was so exhausted tired that he didn't even mind that the water wasn't up to his neck, like he usually likes it. What was so cute about giving him a bath was that I noticed that he is getting a Buddha belly. The heart surgery is working its magic on him. I thought that his eating habits might change once his heart was fixed, because he wouldn't need all the calories, but he is still an eating machine. I am amazed at how much he eats. Yesterday, I had to cut him off because he wanted to eat three Honey Crisp apples! They are absolutely delicious, but I was worried that number three would put him over the edge and give him a tummy ache or worse (I won't spell it out for you).

Today, Bei and I spent the morning carving pumpkins. It was really fun. Being the Felix Unger that he is, he didn't want to touch anything inside of the pumpkin. He took the pumpkin inards and seeds, separated them into a zillion different tupperward containers and then would dump each one back into the pumpkin. He thought it was quite fun, I on the other hand, thought it was quite messy.
This afternoon we went to the library and I let Bei play over in the toddler area. There were several other mom's there with their kids and their kids names were Hensley, Huxely and Bruno (serious!). And I was inwardly rolling my eyes and thinking to myself, "doesn't anybody name their kid a normal name any more? Like...B...oops...I guess as a mother of a child named Bei, I need to keep my mind open and trap shut!