Pip, our beautiful little Boston Terrier!
Awww...
Seth is thinking, "Wait...is she dead or just playing?"
"Hmm...what do you have now?"
Yes, I know what this looks like! It's Seth favorite way to give Pip a hug though.
Ben's like, "That last picture makes me want to throw up!"Ok, so here's the BIG update on everyone!!!!
PIP: We'll start with her first since I don't think I fully went into what a pain in the ass this dog can be. We've had a real problem with her and the kids and biting at their shoes and pant legs. Normally what happens is when we're outside, the dog is inside and vice versa. It seemed the easiest way to keep the peace, but at the same time, not at all what we got the dog for. Lately we've been thinking it was the absolute WRONG TIME for a dog and we should have waited 5 more years!! I know, right? Determined not to let this go down like some other pets I've owned (Sorry Stewie the rabbit for the ear mites and your untimely death!), we enlisted the help of a dog trainer who came to the house today. In my gut I knew she was going to tell me we weren't spending enough time with the dog and bing! bing! bing! I was right! (Should've played the lotto today!) She asked me how often I walk the dog. My reply, "Well, never." She was like, YOU DON'T WALK THE DOG? Umm, no...I thought we had a pretty large yard and it's a small dog and even the books said you don't have to walk it! AHHHHH...I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!!! Will start walking routine - pronto! Apparently our problem is that Pip is bored. She's craving people time and isn't getting enough exercise so that's why she's literally all over us any time we're near. Makes sense, probably didn't need to pay an expert to tell me that, but it did SINK IN a little more. She went over a few other training techniques with me but the big lesson of the day was, "You cannot just look at the dog. MUST PLAY". Oops, sorry Pippy, we really do love you.
CAL: He's totally into kindergarten. The kid loves it! On the first day, after prompting himself to yawn so that he might get TV after school, he told me, "That didn't seem like such a long day!" And then proceeded to tell me that he likes kindergarten better than preschool and he likes his teacher better too! Ok, well...SWEET! Yesterday was a "late start" day. Instead of a half-day where they release the kids early, they start them two hours later. Guess it makes sense in the winter when you might start late anyways but kind of sucks since you can't tell a 5-year-old to sleep late! When I told him he wasn't going to school until later, he panicked. He told me he "didn't want to miss any learning"! I assured him everyone was going later, not just him, and he was happy. The first couple days he came home and played with Ben like they hadn't seen each other in years. By Thursday and Friday of that first week though Cal was TIRED but refused to admit it. We had a couple meltdowns and it continues to be touch and go as he builds up his stamina for the "not so long day". He'll say to me, "Stop it Mommy, I just got home from school." Ok, doesn't mean you can be a maniac though.
Cal just started town soccer. It's the first time he's done this where they actually try to play a 6 v 6 game and let me just tell you, I was in hysterics. It is SO funny to watch them running in a little dust cluster to get the ball. LOVE IT!
BEN: Contrary to what I thought, he doesn't miss Cal all that much. Ben has actually been VERY good with Seth which was a big fear since toward the end of the summer they were NOT the best of friends. Spending more time with Ben without Cal around has been fun and funny! Benny's little personality has been shining through these last couple weeks and he really is a riot. Did I mention things are quieter? Without Cal dominating the conversation, no one has to speak up any more and in fact, I have to ask Ben to YELL in the car since he's taken to talk so softly now I can't hear him all the way in the front! We just had orientation for Ben's preschool today. He starts on Monday! I think it's going to be fun for him to do something all on his own without either brother!! He seems excited and ready to get back into that routine.
SETH: The child is still a constant terror. Although he's funny and cute too, actually that's probably what keeps him alive, he's a constant challenge. Meals times have now become a friggin' battle zone. The other night I had to rush dinner after getting home late from Cal's soccer and needing to leave in less than an hour for a preschool meeting. I get home, throw some food together, and get them all at the table to eat. In a matter of minutes, Seth has thrown cottage cheese EVERYWHERE, the bowl is flipped over onto the floor and the spoon is on the other side of the table. His milk sippy cup is under the table, now leaking, and he's dumped the rest of whatever food was on his plate on top of his head. I had no time to force him to eat so up he went and into PJs. I couldn't pick up the dining room either so when the sitter came I just warned her not to go in the dining room, it might scare her.
On the bright side, despite not much food entering his mouth these days, Seth somehow managed to gain FOUR WHOLE POUNDS since his last visit to the doctor 6 months ago. This is a miracle for us. I'm always semi-anxious for these visits. I'm kind of waiting for them to say, "We're sorry but we think your child is malnourished and we're diagnosing him with XYZ." I know this a fairly irrational train of thought but he is so scrawny looking! He also grew 2.5 inches and continues to be in the 10th percentile for height and now even made the 3rd percentile for weight!! Good news all around.
Seth just started his own playgroup for 2 year olds at the Richie McFarland Center. This is the facility where Ben got his speech therapy and mostly the children Seth plays with have some sort of delay (speech, etc) or are on the autism spectrum. They also like to have what they call "community kids" like Seth, that are just your everyday, run-of-the-mill kids. Seth LOVES it. Parents stay and watch the kids play, interact, eat snack, and do projects through a one-way mirror and it's so cute to watch! He played happily for the whole hour and didn't even care that I wasn't there.
PIP: We'll start with her first since I don't think I fully went into what a pain in the ass this dog can be. We've had a real problem with her and the kids and biting at their shoes and pant legs. Normally what happens is when we're outside, the dog is inside and vice versa. It seemed the easiest way to keep the peace, but at the same time, not at all what we got the dog for. Lately we've been thinking it was the absolute WRONG TIME for a dog and we should have waited 5 more years!! I know, right? Determined not to let this go down like some other pets I've owned (Sorry Stewie the rabbit for the ear mites and your untimely death!), we enlisted the help of a dog trainer who came to the house today. In my gut I knew she was going to tell me we weren't spending enough time with the dog and bing! bing! bing! I was right! (Should've played the lotto today!) She asked me how often I walk the dog. My reply, "Well, never." She was like, YOU DON'T WALK THE DOG? Umm, no...I thought we had a pretty large yard and it's a small dog and even the books said you don't have to walk it! AHHHHH...I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!!! Will start walking routine - pronto! Apparently our problem is that Pip is bored. She's craving people time and isn't getting enough exercise so that's why she's literally all over us any time we're near. Makes sense, probably didn't need to pay an expert to tell me that, but it did SINK IN a little more. She went over a few other training techniques with me but the big lesson of the day was, "You cannot just look at the dog. MUST PLAY". Oops, sorry Pippy, we really do love you.
CAL: He's totally into kindergarten. The kid loves it! On the first day, after prompting himself to yawn so that he might get TV after school, he told me, "That didn't seem like such a long day!" And then proceeded to tell me that he likes kindergarten better than preschool and he likes his teacher better too! Ok, well...SWEET! Yesterday was a "late start" day. Instead of a half-day where they release the kids early, they start them two hours later. Guess it makes sense in the winter when you might start late anyways but kind of sucks since you can't tell a 5-year-old to sleep late! When I told him he wasn't going to school until later, he panicked. He told me he "didn't want to miss any learning"! I assured him everyone was going later, not just him, and he was happy. The first couple days he came home and played with Ben like they hadn't seen each other in years. By Thursday and Friday of that first week though Cal was TIRED but refused to admit it. We had a couple meltdowns and it continues to be touch and go as he builds up his stamina for the "not so long day". He'll say to me, "Stop it Mommy, I just got home from school." Ok, doesn't mean you can be a maniac though.
Cal just started town soccer. It's the first time he's done this where they actually try to play a 6 v 6 game and let me just tell you, I was in hysterics. It is SO funny to watch them running in a little dust cluster to get the ball. LOVE IT!
BEN: Contrary to what I thought, he doesn't miss Cal all that much. Ben has actually been VERY good with Seth which was a big fear since toward the end of the summer they were NOT the best of friends. Spending more time with Ben without Cal around has been fun and funny! Benny's little personality has been shining through these last couple weeks and he really is a riot. Did I mention things are quieter? Without Cal dominating the conversation, no one has to speak up any more and in fact, I have to ask Ben to YELL in the car since he's taken to talk so softly now I can't hear him all the way in the front! We just had orientation for Ben's preschool today. He starts on Monday! I think it's going to be fun for him to do something all on his own without either brother!! He seems excited and ready to get back into that routine.
SETH: The child is still a constant terror. Although he's funny and cute too, actually that's probably what keeps him alive, he's a constant challenge. Meals times have now become a friggin' battle zone. The other night I had to rush dinner after getting home late from Cal's soccer and needing to leave in less than an hour for a preschool meeting. I get home, throw some food together, and get them all at the table to eat. In a matter of minutes, Seth has thrown cottage cheese EVERYWHERE, the bowl is flipped over onto the floor and the spoon is on the other side of the table. His milk sippy cup is under the table, now leaking, and he's dumped the rest of whatever food was on his plate on top of his head. I had no time to force him to eat so up he went and into PJs. I couldn't pick up the dining room either so when the sitter came I just warned her not to go in the dining room, it might scare her.
On the bright side, despite not much food entering his mouth these days, Seth somehow managed to gain FOUR WHOLE POUNDS since his last visit to the doctor 6 months ago. This is a miracle for us. I'm always semi-anxious for these visits. I'm kind of waiting for them to say, "We're sorry but we think your child is malnourished and we're diagnosing him with XYZ." I know this a fairly irrational train of thought but he is so scrawny looking! He also grew 2.5 inches and continues to be in the 10th percentile for height and now even made the 3rd percentile for weight!! Good news all around.
Seth just started his own playgroup for 2 year olds at the Richie McFarland Center. This is the facility where Ben got his speech therapy and mostly the children Seth plays with have some sort of delay (speech, etc) or are on the autism spectrum. They also like to have what they call "community kids" like Seth, that are just your everyday, run-of-the-mill kids. Seth LOVES it. Parents stay and watch the kids play, interact, eat snack, and do projects through a one-way mirror and it's so cute to watch! He played happily for the whole hour and didn't even care that I wasn't there.
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