Friday, April 18, 2008

Warm weather

The weather has been pretty crazy here of late. Things seem to be swinging wildly between winter and summer missing spring entirely. I still have not put away the long sleeved shirts and am debating if I should get the shorts out full time. Because of the sometimes nice weather we have been getting reacquainted with the parks in the area. It is kind of fun coming back to them after such a long time away, although I know that after a few weeks of this I am going to be tired of them all again.

Does anyone have any tips on curing the afternoon grumpies? Harry has been awful in the afternoons for some time now. It is frustrating to say the least. It is almost like he needs a longer nap, but he just will not go back to sleep once he is up. I have tried snacks in the hopes that it was a hunger issue, but it did not help a bit. I just want to be able to make dinner in peace with out having a sobbing two year old at my feet.

We had a pretty exciting moment yesterday evening. We have metal doors to the outside, so I have all sorts of magnets on them and treat them as extensions of the fridge when it comes to art work. They boys had been coloring and I asked them if they wanted to put their pictures up on the door. All on his own Evan held the picture against the door with his left arm (the one affected by the stroke) and used his right hand to put the magnet on the picture to hold it up. It was so exciting to see him on his own with out any sort of prompting from me use his affected hand in such a constructive way. It gives me hope that maybe some day he will be able to do a lot more with his hand.



"I see you!"


"You want me to what?"


"Tee hee!


"I am the coolest kid on this playground."

10 comments:

Vicky said...

I Like Evan's shirt! Pretty cool.... Now that my boys are bigger, the really cool T-shirts are getting harder to find.

Anonymous said...

Great photos!

Afternoon grumpies ... ugh we get them too, especially when I want to cook dinner. So I throw on some fun music (Dan Zanes rocks for cooking/baking music) and we jump around the kitchen. I am sure the old lady downstairs braces herself for witching hour!

Valerie said...

When Aden was younger, he would start getting grumpy right around when I needed to start cooking dinner. You have probably done this (I think I have seen you post about it)but fill up the kitchen sink and give the children some soap and let them "wash dishes". I was always amazed at how water can sooth their soul.

Zephra said...

Nope. Zakary is a but old grouch in the afternoon. just a phase...i hope.

spice2116 said...

hey tootse!!! i like those cool pictures. so much color!!

as for the grumpies i like the music idea, or maybe you can have a special toy that only comes out at that time. good luck!!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful pics! And the t-shirt Evan is sporting is awesome! :-)

Elizabeth-W said...

Ahh...the witching hour....
When mine were little that was high chair and playdough time. They were in the kitchen with me, and I could interact with them while I made dinner. Best of luck. It does get easier the bigger they are, and more they can do on their own.

Tama said...

Addressing the Grumpies--Have you tried giving him some snuggle time with just the two of you for 15-30 minutes? Sounds like he wants some mommy time.

Really cute pictures!

Diana said...

A protein snack helps me through the afternoon grumpies.

That is encouraging news about Evan using his left hand.
Diana

Damselfly said...

Great shots!