I miss

Allen has been telling me, "I miss you," a lot. So much that I've realized that he doesn't actually understand what the word "miss" means. I think he thinks it's interchangeable with "love." So what, you're probably saying. Well, it helps to know this when I tell you the following story.

Lately, Allen's been wanting to "answer in the microphone" at meetings. But he doesn't want to answer what we prepare for him. He wants to answer something else. Last night, he wanted to say "I miss Jehovah ... and H and O and P."(well, he said their entire names, not the letters). He was whimpering about answering, so I let him raise his hand, and hoped he would say what I wanted him to ...


He raised his hand .... Papa (who was conducting the Congregation Bible Study) called on him ... the microphone was brought to his little mouth ... and he said ... nothing. Not a word. Then he whispered to me, "I want to say something else."

At least he didn't say what he told me he wanted to say, right? But then, the poor guy cried in the back for 10 minutes. I felt so bad for him. I didn't know what to do ... I know he wants to answer, but he can't just say anything ....


So I'm reaching out to my friend P ... how did you help H learn how to answer at the meetings? Did he struggle with wanting to say random things? Anyone else have any advice for me?


xoxo,
AHC

Darling Boy

Allen is displaying is boyish-ness lately. Potty humor -- check. Running around like a crazy person -- check. Sticking his fingers up his nose -- check. 

And in spite of our best efforts to tame him, he still finds it hilarious to talk about pee-pee and poopy and to chase Murphy around the house and to shove his fingers up his nose like there's candy up there.

So the other night we're in the midst of our bedtime routine. Allen is in his pajamas and on my lap, and we're getting ready to say a prayer. But the finger is up his nose. Again. 

"Get your finger out of your nose," I say.

He takes it out.... And then he wipes it on my cheek.

My jaw drops, shocked at such behavior. Brian falls over laughing.

How do I respond to that? 

Tell me, friends, do you have experience with "boy" behavior? How do you handle potty humor? How about fingers up the nose? Please, share your suggestions!


xoxo,
AHC


P.S. He cried tonight at the meeting because he didn't get to "answer into the microphone." He also told me he wanted to say "dinosaurs" and "I like to eat candy" for his answers.

Happy

We tagged along with my parents today, and visited Hilton Head congregation where Dad gave the talk.

Allen was dapper in grey pin-striped pants and matching vest.

And he was over-the-top good for the entire meeting.  Sat down, got his "Bible Book" out, and found his favorite pictures (Jonah and the Big Fish and the story of David killing the bear and saving the lamb).

We accepted hospitality and had a scrumptious lunch at Truffles (side note: I totally typed scrumptious before I even looked at the Truffles homepage ... weird, eh?). I had the Portabella sandwich which was heavenly.

Allen was alternately amusing and atrocious at lunch ... he entertained himself by talking to himself in the mirror behind us, wielding the fork dangerously (and trying to get the steak knife), and "waiting" under the table. He also announced that he had "pink eyes," but that he was all better now. He agreed that Mommy took good care of him while he was sick.

Since we were in the Bluffton area (shopping mecca for us Beaufortonians), we had plans to go to Target, Kroger, and World Market. As we discussed where to go first, I said, "We'd better go to Target first to make the kid happy." To which Allen replied:

I am happy.

Jehovah [God] makes me happy.

Hearts immediately melted. He made out like a bandit at Target.

In the car on the way home, Nana was cleaning off his hands (he had been eating Funions ... he has a strange love-hate relationship with them), and when she was done, he said:

Now I'm good to go.

Too much. Just too much.

Now I sit in bed in a Benadryl haze with the Eagles game on, and my husband next to me watching very animatedly (he talks to the television almost non-stop, and occasionally gestures or dances around ... depends on how well the game is going).

I'm going to go to bed now because I'm getting up to workout with my personal trainer at 6:00 a.m. (yes, I am that crazy).

xoxo,

AHC

The show

The title of the post doesn't really have anything to do with the topic ... I just really like the song by Lenka, and it was playing on Pandora when I started typing.

Anywho ... didn't my kid look dapper tonight for the meeting? We discovered this awesome store while in Illinois. It's called Zara, and it has some rockin' kids clothes. Sadly, online purchasing is not an option, so I will have to shop while in Illinois visiting my sister, or while in Atlanta during Market (because I have so much spare time then).

So tonight at meeting, Allen wanted to answer. So, during the part on using Good News for People of All Nations (paragraph 2 to be exact), I suggested he say, "We love everyone." (The paragraph was discussing how we imitate Jehovah's impartiality). Allen was called on, and he said (quietly, but not whispering):

"I love everybody. "

 How cute is that???? Boy do I love my kid and all of his sweetness. Frequently I wonder how I was so fortunate to be given this fabulous child. You better believe I thank Jehovah every day for that little man ...

Weekend in the Craig household

It was chilly here this weekend. Not cold, but chilly. Yesterday, I think it got up to about 65, but today didn't even break 60. It's was a beautiful weekend anyway, though. And we took advantage of it, and got lots of stuff done.


Yesterday morning, I awoke bright and early (for a Saturday), and was dressed and ready to go at about 8:15. Allen looked at me from bed, and said, "What are you doing with me today?" I replied. "I don't know, what would you like to do?" To which he answered, "Go to school and play with my kids." I explained that he didn't have school on Saturday, but that he could go back Monday.
We decided to eat breakfast at a cute little place called Fryed Green Tomatoes (yes, they spell it wrong), and then head down to Target to pick up a few things. I was able to get Allen some cute casual clothes for school, plus a bunch of bins to organize his toys.

We had a great lunch together, and all in all it was a good day with my boys.

This morning, I was up bright and early again, so we actually made it to meeting on time (shocker). Allen was quite handsome in his suit from Aunt E. Here he is after lunch and dessert of chocolate ice cream.

I'm still here ...

I apologize for being so remiss in my posting of late. Things have been very hectic, and my brain is kind of on overload. But, the kid is still doing tons of hilarious and bizarre and ridiculous things. So I figure I need to get back to posting so I can share them all with you.

As many of you may know, McDonald's recently had Ice Age 3 toys in their Happy Meals. Allen got the squirrel with the nut with me, and then he got it again with Nana a couple days later. As soon as Nana got the Happy Meal, Allen began demanding the toy. So she give him the squirrel. In reply, Allen began yelling, "Give me the nut! Give me the nut!" Poor Nana had no idea what he was talking about, since she's never seen the Ice Age movies and had no idea that he had the toy at home already ... in any case, it made for an amusing story.

He rediscovered the squirrel and his nut this evening, and kept shooting the nut across the house (and down the stairs). The first few times, he would launch the nut, and then say, "I'm sorry," to the squirrel (for losing his nut, I suppose).

Here's a cute picture of him and the squirrel ...

We had just gotten home from the meeting, where Allen was a pretty good boy until the very end. He started screaming, "DON'T CHANGE MY DIAPAH!" Unfortunately, it was so stinky that Mommy didn't have much choice ...

Daddy had a talk tonight. He did a wonderful job. Allen and I listened (and timed) him while he practiced before the meeting. Each time Daddy would introduce a scripture (by saying "turn with me," or let's look at") Allen would say, "OK, OK." Very cute.

Not at all related, but still quite adorable, are the following pictures I discovered when uploading the pictures of Allen that I took tonight. Aubrey took these while I was at Market last week.

Here's my precious nephew Elijah sleeping against his MomMom.

And here he is awake, wearing the hat that his Mommy got at the Beaufort Water Festival.

A close-up of the hat she bought. She got one for Owen too. This great vendor was at the Craft Show embroidering custom-making hats for kiddos. How cool!

Aubrey is a budding photographer. She has the eye for great photos. And the talent for taking self-portraits (I do not have this talent. I can never hold the camera just right). I love this picture of her and Allen goofing around at our house!

They're definitely related!

So much more to share with you ... but since it's after midnight, I think I'll take a break to sleep, and finish up this weekend.

xoxo,

Sweet Boy Sweet Day

We had a great day today. Allen slept in his bed all night last night (which means we all woke up happy). We got up early and studied our Watchtowers. Daddy made breakfast (yummy egg-in-a-hole). We were only a couple minutes late to meeting. And besides one "take him out" incident, Allen was fabulous at meeting.




Mom and I each had a call we wanted to make after the meeting, so we went in service for almost an hour. I started a Bible Study with the woman I met a few weeks ago at Big Lots (neat story ... but it's a little long for a blog post). Allen was great the whole time, and when my call came to say hello, he said "Hi 'Mommy's call'" (he said her name, but in the interest of her privacy we won't share). And what was most awesome is that despite my call's physical disfigurement, Allen did not react at all. So that takes one of my concerns off my mind. I'll keep ya'll posted on the progress.



After service, we had a great lunch at Plums (he didn't spill any straws this time), stopped at Lulu Burgess (to pick up some hair accessories for me), and went home. During the majority of this time he was great (one minor meltdown at Lulu's).



By the time we got home it was about 3:30, so we decided to forgo the nap. He watched Cars and played with his cars until his bedtime. And while he was not happy about bedtime, he could barely keep his eyes open during the stories. By the time I got to the ABC song, he'd lost the battle and the eyes were closed.



And here's my sleepyhead now ...

Such a sweet boy today ...

xoxo,

Delicious, chocolate-faced dancing boy

As I mentioned in an earlier post, this week, Allen's new word is delicious. I wanted to share with you just how cute it is when he says it.

Isn't that the cutest thing you've ever heard?

Also, if you have been reading my shop blog, you noticed my chocolate-y face the other day when I dipped into the supply of our new chocolate bars (seriously, ya'll, this chocolate is awesome. I don't normally like dark chocolate, but I'm quite smitten with this company's dark. Their milk chocolate is delicious too).

As I was preparing myself for the photograph (yes, it was staged), I wondered how in the world my child gets chocolate all over himself in mere seconds when he's just eating a Hershey's Kiss. So I watched him the other night as he ate one. I'm still not sure how he does it, but here's an adorable picture of him with chocolate lips.

He also decided to entertain us with his new found dance moves. Here's a still shot of it ...

Dancing seems to be an ongoing new thing with him. He's been showing off his skills throughout the week, like tonight when we were getting ice cream. He was sitting with Nana on a bench, and "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" was on the shop's radio. Of course, I was dancing while standing next to him, and Nana was bopping around and singing too.

Suddenly, Allen says, "I need to get down," slides off the bench and starts dancing. We stifled laughter, as Nana asked, "Who taught you to dance? Papa?" Fortunately, he provided me with a brief reenactment tonight before his bath ...

Some other cute stories from the week ...

He went to Miss "S's" house Wednesday, where he played a piano for the first time. Miss "S" played the ABC song for which he gladly sang along. That evening, as we were leaving the grocery store, Allen said to me, "I need to practice my song." I asked him what song that was, and he started singing his ABCs.

After the meeting last night, Allen walked/ran his laps around the Kingdom Hall several times. He was having a grand time, so when I picked him to take him home, he began screaming and crying. As I'm carrying the screaming/flailing/rigid child out to the car (while everyone is staring), he starts yelling, "I need to go back in the meeting!" over and over again. It's hard to be frustrated with him when he expresses himself that way. I figured we should just be grateful that he wants to be there, right?

This afternoon, I was looking at a book about budgeting. Allen kept trying to turn the pages, and look through it. Then he says, "Read ponts atime!" I'm not sure how I knew, but I said, "You want to me to read, 'Once upon a time?' "Yes! Ponts atime."

I think those are the highlights of our week. What are you all up to for the weekend? I'll be painting a pirate ship for most of it. Can't wait till I can show ya'll pictures.

xoxo,

Cabin fever

It was miserable here yesterday. It poured rain from about 11:00 a.m. until well after we went to sleep last night. So poor Allen was cooped up all day. No park, no walk ... nothing. Until we went to meeting last night. Everyone could tell that he had cabin fever because he was a maniac during the entire meeting.

I thought he was going to be good at first. As the meeting started, he took his songbook out, and sang with us (by this I mean he sang random words and phrases ... people's last names, "I love you," etc.). It was all I could do not to laugh out loud. But it was all downhill after this ...

He was all about testing the limits. We threatened, we talked, we disciplined. Twice as we picked him up off the floor, he bumped his head (just a tiny bit). But because he knew that he was going to be disciplined, he yelled "I bumped my head!" in a tearful voice all the way to the back of the hall. He yelled for Mommy. He climbed on chairs and stood on them. He was crazy! It didn't get any better after the meeting either. He pretty much ran around the hall about seven million times.

But, at least he looked cute ...

He was still pretty wired after we got home too ... his tie got "stuck" on his head while I was getting him undressed, and he decided he was a "piyate" (pirate).

He also decided that Mommy and Daddy were "yions" and we were going to get him. The only way to stop us was to sing the song "Bushel and a Peck." See how well it worked?

Some other gems he uttered last night (some of these he's been saying for awhile now, but I keep forgetting) ...

• That's a big rain! (it was pouring outside and he got wet on our way into the house)
• I want funder and yightning to seep with me.
• Get you me (this means get me)
• If he's looking at, say, rubber ducks, he'll say, "And another one duck, and another one duck ..."
• I'm so sweet
• I'm so silly (I tried to type silly the way he says it, but it would be too many Ys)
• What's home? (he says this when Mia starts barking at the door or window, instead of who's home)

Oh, and in other news, look at the awesome tights I was rocking last night. Aren't they fabulous???
xoxo,

You'll shoot your eye out, kid

Tonight Allen and I were at the meeting without Daddy. Poor Daddy is still recovering from his cold and was just beat. So Nana picked Mommy and Allen up for the meeting and off we went.

I don't know what Daddy said to Allen while he was getting him dressed for meeting, but Allen was in a fantastic mood! He dropped his cars and went right to Nana's car (we don't bring cars to meeting). He was excited about going to meeting. And for the first half of the meeting, he was pretty darn good!

He did start to get a little fidgety about half-way through, which is to be expected considering that the meeting starts at Allen's bedtime. But he did really well for the most part. We went to the back (to the Ladies' room) once to talk. I made the mistake of putting Allen down while I was talking to someone, and he managed to lock himself into a stall. Thank goodness they make those stalls easy to break into!

We went back to the seat, and Allen got ahold of Nana's glasses. This is always touchy with me because glasses are supposed to be a no-no (given that Mommy and Daddy need their glasses to see in general), but Nana usually gives into Allen's request. Anyway, Allen gets Nana's reading glasses and launches into the "hello" game. For those of you who have not had the joy of witnessing this, the "hello" game is something I came up with at a restaurant once when Allen was getting fussy. Allen was playing with my sunglasses, and I pulled them down, looked over them, and said, "Hello" in a silly low voice. Then I pulled them up above my eyes, and said "hello" in a silly high voice. Allen has never forgotten this game, and plays it ALL THE TIME.

Anyway, back to my story ... so he launches into the "hello" game in the middle of the meeting! In a normal voice (we only whisper during meeting). So here I am trying to yell at him, when he basically looks like the pictures below (these photos were staged at our house after the meeting).
I almost lost it! Doesn't he look just like the little boy in A Christmas Story??

Well, it's almost midnight and the monkey is now in bed with us (requesting yellow crackers ... don't ask ... I don't know what it means either), so I'd better sign off.

xoxo,

The smartest kid ever

I am not biased. In the least. My kid just happens to be a genius. Don't believe me? Watch this (and keep in mind that he's not even 2 1/2 yet) ...

See! I told you he's a genius. Smartest.Kid.Ever. Seriously. It gets better, too (well, sort of ... I have not gotten successful video of this yet, so you just have to take my word for it). By the day after this video, he was including the letter "E" and he stopped saying, "H, I, J, I'm OK" and just said, "H, I, J, K." Granted, he started saying, "Oh no P" afterwards. But he quickly moved on from that an says, "N, O" pretty clearly. We're now missing L and M. But I'm sure he'll get those very shortly.

Some other cute/smart things he has said or done this week ...

• "Shoo bugs ... stinkin' bugs." In response to the gnats we have blessed with here lately.
• His new favorite thing -- thanks to Miss "S" is picnics. Apparently they don't lunch when she's here. They picnic. So much cooler ...
• We recently got him these Cars juice treats. He loves to bit the tires off the cars, and then say (a la Cars the movie), "Oh no! [insert car name here] blew a tire!"
• Singing, "Yay yay yay" when he knows Miss "S" is going to arrive soon.
• He finally got to "give people tacts" out in service Tuesday. He was very happy about it and proud of himself (and so were Mommy and Daddy of course).
• "Murphy, yet go of that tail!" He yells this to Murphy as he tries to grab his tail and drag him around the room.
• "I was being naughty," he told us as we left meeting Thursday night. And he was right, he was pretty naughty that night.

That's all I can think of for now. Hopefully I'll get a nice video of his current ABC skills soon!

xoxo,

Sweet Sweet Boy

By some freakish series of events, we were actually up on time this morning. And, Allen was being really good while Mommy and Daddy got ready! In fact, when I went to check on him, I saw him reading his Cars book to himself. What a sweetheart!

So to continue the freakishly good streak we were having, we got to the meeting about 10 minutes early (which is huge for us). Then, Allen was wonderful during most of the meeting. He did have a couple issues towards the end of the Watchtower (he was choking Mommy with her necklace and being too noisy), but overall he was really fabulous.

I was happy enough with that, but it actually got better! After his nap he was a sweetheart while Mommy and Daddy worked on filing; ate his dinner like a champ; and went right upstairs for his bath. He actually thanked me for washing him! And then hugged me while I was drying him off, and said, "Yuv ou Mommy." What a sweetheart!

It's days like these that make the terrible-twos bearable.

xoxo,

Orangeburg, Craziness

Hello my loves! I'm sorry it's been so long since I've posted. We no sooner got back from Atlanta than we had to trek to Orangeburg for our Circuit Assembly (OK we had about five days in between, but those days don't really count).

Sadly, because I was feeling so overwhelmed and disorganized, I neglected to pack our camera for the assembly. Which is truly a shame because the kid looked so flippin' cute! He wore a suit each day, and was so proud of his handsomeness that the cheesy, self-important smiles were very much in abundance.

Allen flirted with everyone. I mean every single girl. We went to Ruby Tuesday on Friday night, and he struck up a conversation (sort of) with two girls in the booth behind us. Within five minutes, the waitress was holding him, and he had to give each girl in the booth a hug before he left.

He was also quite smitten with a little girl named Jasmin who sat in front of us at the assembly yesterday. And Allen is no dummy. He decided he needed to make friends with her daddy too. He leaned down and put his chin on his shoulder and chatted him up the entire day.

Yesterday we sat near our circuit overseer, Brother Campbell. Since we just had his visit, Allen was able to recognize him quite easily. Each time he was on stage throughout the day, Allen said, "Campbell!" including during the closing prayer yesterday. Just as he began the prayer he said (loudly), "Bwutha Campbell!

Allen also has a new friend, Hunter Smith. Since Allen has been practicing his full name -- "Ayen Huntuh Cwaig," he assumed that Hunter's last name was "Cwaig." We worked with him for awhile, and how he understands that his last name is "Sniff." Allen spoke constantly of "Huntuh Sniff" this weekend. It was very sweet.

More to share tomorrow, I hope.

xoxo,

Where to begin?

I apologize to my loyal readers ... I have been a bad blogger the last few days. We had the CO's visit and company, so it's been a bit hectic. I don't really know where to begin, so I think I will just start with the random "gems" (as I have taken to calling them) from Allen. These are in no particular order ...

• "Noah in the ark" he announced last night at dinner. I don't know why. We were not talking about Noah or about the ark. We were at Saltus restaurant, which is on the water and always causes Allen to think of boats though.
• Exclaims, "We are Penn State!" (even though they lost the Rose Bowl).
• Thursday night he was only disciplined once, and today he was not taken out at all, except to be comforted when he started to cry when our family left the meeting (they had to leave early to get ready for their flights). Way to go Allen!
• Tonight he helped give Micai his bottle. He kept saying, "Cai sit in my yap!"

Obviously, these are not all the "gems" Allen provides us with each day, but these are the ones that I can remember at the moment.

xoxo,

Guilt Trip

So, my sister guilt-tripped me today ... complaining that I hadn't posted in *gasp* three days! But then I went and looked at her blog, and she hasn't posted recently either. So ...

Anyhoo ... we've been very busy down here. Nana, Papa, and "Gamma" arrived Monday evening. Doug and Heidi arrived last night ... it's been family central here in Peanut-land. So I have no pictures to share at the moment, but I'll pass on a few little gems ...

• Allen decided that his meeting entertainment last night (during the CO's visit, no less) would be to choke Mommy with her necklace. He sat in the seat next to me, and pulled as hard as he could on it. And then looked at the sister behind us and grinned (this was done repeatedly).
• After the closing prayer last night, yelled, "Amen. It's over!"
• He looked at me this morning, and said, "Nana, Papa, Gigi, Gamma, peese!" indicating that he wanted to go see them at Nana's house (mind you, we were all still in bed at this point).
• Allen decided that it would be fun to kick Zoe's legs out from under her, and then laugh as she collapsed onto the ground (for those of you who don't know, Zoe is Nana's 14-year-old dog who is deaf, blind, and has a spinal cord injury). Now, to prevent hate-comments from animal activists, please know that Zoe is a small dog, and that my son is not kicking hard ... more like a gentle tap with his foot. Also, please know that Zoe's legs give out numerous times in a day, and she collapses frequently. Apparently, my son finds this humorous and decided to help her along. Obviously, he didn't realize that this was mean. We did tell him that it wasn't nice, and he stopped, though.
• He said "Uncle Doug" all by himself (he never says Uncle or Aunt, so this was pretty amazing).
• Allen and Doug were playing with his blocks, and then Doug started talking with the adults. Allen didn't like this too much, so he started tapping Doug on the leg, and said, "Doug. DO IT!" OK then ...

More stories to come, I'm sure. Including pictures of Allen's rearranged room (which he absolutely adores).

xoxo,

The sweet, the hilarious, and the naughty

My own version of the good, the bad, and the ugly ...

It's been an interesting couple days ... and a really rough night. It's after 11:30, I'm on my second glass of wine, and I'm still stressed out ... but more on that later.

Since I'm so exhausted, I'm just going to post a list of the "gems" we've heard or seen from Allen over the past couple days:

The Sweet

• Called all his loved ones this morning and talked with each of them (except for Kissen who was having her brunch today). Told Papa "yuv ou" unprompted. That's the first time he's done that with anyone other than Mommy or Daddy. Also told everyone else "yuv ou" I think.
• Talked to "baby" Owen, and laughed each time Owen said something. Then said, "again" every time he said anything. Also loved talking to "Aubey." Having no cousins myself, I'm thrilled to see that he already loves Owen and Aubrey so dearly.
• Finally said "No thank you" instead of just "NO."
• Talked to the people sitting in front us at the movies before it started (also talked to them during the movies, but that falls somewhere between sweet and naughty). Introduced Mommy and Daddy and told them about the "chocate cookie" he was eating.
• Said, unprompted, "Mommy pretty. Mommy sweet."
• Says, "Awwww, Mimi."
• Told us that "Hovah" made the moon.

The Hilarious

• "Mommy, pinch hiney peese!" This is what I heard last night while Daddy was getting him ready for bed. And at other times since (particularly when changing his diaper).
• "Nana in the potty," he informed the people sitting in front of us at the movies today.
• Pretended to take mommy's temperature by sticking the thermometer on my butt (thank goodness I was wearing pants).

The Naughty

• Slammed his head into the chairs along the row we were sitting in at the meeting (knocking a couple off their back legs).
• Walked down the row to talk to the people sitting at the other end.
• Ran away from me (after being disciplined), taking off for the other side of the kingdom hall (during the meeting) which forced me to run after him trying to grab him and resulting in me tripping him and causing him to fall on the floor.
• Screamed "NO" several times during the meeting.

Thus, the two glasses of wine needed after the meeting.

xoxo,

Be Happy

First of all, thanks to everyone (all six of you) who participated in the poll. We tied for Stellaluna and Goodnight Moon. Hopefully Kristen and I will have an exciting announcement along the lines of this poll soon, so stay tuned.

We haven't had too much excitement around the Craig household this weekend. I fell in love with a Ben Folds song, but other than that and the normal cuteness of "the kid" I don't think there's been too much that is "blog-worthy."

We had a low-key day today. We were going to go in service, but the temperature dropped, ohhh about 40 degrees, between yesterday and today, and since Allen didn't yet have a winter coat (it arrived today), we decided to stay inside. We played and read books and watched the Noah DVD and did laundry and went to meeting ... it was pretty uneventful. But here are a couple highlights (sorry, no pictures).

Allen loves to help me with the laundry. When he hears the dryer door open, he calls out, "I'm comin' " and runs to help push the laundry into it. Then he likes to close the door "tight" for me. He also helps put the dried laundry into the basket for me to fold. It's very sweet.

We bought a spray bottle to use to train Mia not to sit up on the back-cushions of our sofa anymore (it's working beautifully by the way). Well, Allen enjoys getting sprayed in the face with it. At one point today, he was soaked from Daddy spraying him with it. He also likes it when Daddy sprays the water into his mouth (strange child, isn't he?).

I was impressed by his listening capability today. After having a time-out for not listening to Daddy about something, he changed his tune completely and obeyed each time we asked him to clean up one toy before bringing out another. Very impressive, considering his recent behavior.

Allen ate lunch before Mommy and Daddy, and was onto his dessert of Gummy Bears (because he sat at the table at ate his lunch so well) by the time we were eating. But he came over while Daddy prayed before our lunch. He closed his eyes right away and held my hand. During the prayer -- with his eyes still closed -- he reached into his little bowl and snagged a gummy bear. Brian and I lost it.

We watched the Noah video this afternoon as our "meeting practice." He did really well with it. He was mesmerized by all the animals and the ark. We were impressed and thought that it was a good sign for book study tonight. So we practiced an answer.

Dinner was good. We got in the car OK. He was excited for "meeting" when we arrived at the Kingdom Hall. And then it all just fell apart. He was pretty much awful for the entire meeting. Except for when he answered. He went right over to Daddy and sat on his lap while the paragraph was being read. He raised his hand before "Coni" asked the question. Fortunately, "Coni" saw that and called on him right away. He gave his answer (to paragraph 16, for those of you who want to know): "Be happy." He said it loudly (but not too loud) and clearly. And then he went back to being terrible. So terrible that he did not get any gummy bears tonight.

I think that's all for now. Goodnight my loves. Oh, and to answer your question, Kissy, rest assured that you are always among the list that he rattles off to us.

xoxo,

You Gotta Have Faif

You saw my posts on bribery/positive reinforcement and how well it worked for me. And you know that I am desperate for suggestions to help Allen behave at the meetings. I have done some research and a lot of praying, and Brian and I decided that we would "play" meeting today while we studied for book study, and that we would not mention the potential reward until after he exhibited the good behavior.

So we studied for the meeting together. We had some disruptions, but eventually he sat on Mommy's lap and was pretty quiet. During the preparation, I asked him if he wanted to answer, but he declined to do so.

However, after a reward, a hearty dinner, and a bath, he decided that he did want to raise his hand at the meeting. We had discussed two possible answers, and he decided that he wanted to say "faith" (or, as Allen says it, faif). We said OK, and then we didn't push it too much, because we don't want to put more pressure than necessary on him.

We got to the book study, and while he was not angelic, it was a drastic improvement from last Monday. When we got to the appropriate paragraph, I asked him if he was ready to raise his hand. He didn't really respond, but when he heard the brother read the word "faith" he whispered it (twice). So as we neared the end of the paragraph, we sat him on Daddy's lap, and told him to get ready (this also provided some distraction for him from the inappropriate behavior he was starting to display).

When "Coni" asked the question, Daddy helped him raise his hand, and Allen waved his little fingers. Right away, "Coni" said, "Allen" and Allen whispered, "faif." We whispered, "Say it out loud." So he whisper-yelled, "Faaaif." Then we told him again to say it loud, and he said (kind of yelled), "FAIF."

I have never been so proud in my entire life. It was heart-warming. He was proud of himself. The book study group was proud of him. We were proud of him. And I know Jehovah was proud of him.

I've learned a lesson in all of this, (or rather, been reminded of something). If you have faith, Jehovah can help you with anything. Allen may not have been perfect tonight, but he was much better than usual, and he answered!!!!

On that fabulous note, I bid you goodnight.

xoxo,

I hate Gummy Bears

So remember my Bribery post from a couple days ago? How excited I was by my brilliant plan to use bribery (or positive reinforcement) to help train Allen to behave at meetings? Well, we tried it today at the meeting. It didn't work so well. In fact, the whole plan kinda blew up in my face.

We spent the entire first half of the meeting sobbing. Daddy tried to calm him down. Mommy tried to calm him down. Nothing worked. Finally Allen decided that he could go to the seat and sing the song. So I gave him a few gummy bears since he calmed himself down. Then he lost it again because he wanted the rest of the gummy bears. It took me another 15 minutes to calm him down from that episode. When we finally got back to the seat, he had missed his opportunity to raise his hand to answer "Noah." Though when someone else did, his eyes lit up, and he look at me and whispered "Noah!" At least he was listening.

For the remainder of the Watchtower he did pretty well. But then during the final song, he started messing around in Nana's purse. Therefore, during he prayer, he was not behaving (and was making noise opening and closing her eye glass case). As soon as we tried to pull him away, he screamed. I had to practically run out of the auditorium into the bathroom.

Needless to say, I was exhausted after the meeting. Utterly exhausted. So, loyal readers (all four or five of you), do you have any suggestions for how we can help Allen behave during the meetings? I welcome -- even plead for -- your suggestions.

xoxo,



P.S. I apologize for the lack of photos. I tried to post them, but Blogger is not letting me.

People Wait! Boogie Night

Before I post about the Peanut, I'd like to say that I don't like any of your responses to my puppy post. C'mon guys, I want a new "baby," but I'm not ready to have one of the human variety. Support the need ... is it really that much more expensive to have two? (that's not a sarcastic question ... I'm serious. I've never really noticed the expense of having Mia. Is it noticeable with two dogs?). Though, I have to say that with four negative responses, my confidence is wavering. Anywho ...

Tonight, my child was atrocious at the meeting. I can't even begin to explain how bad he was. Testing limits ... yelling ... I don't know what came over that child, but I was at my wits' end. It didn't help that Daddy is still sick and stayed home tonight. But I don't think that was all it was. That child deliberately did things I told him not to do. It was awful. Even Nana was surprised and said, "he's testing you." If she says something negative about the Peanut, then you know he was naughty.

Two positives from the meeting though ... 1) he said "Amen" really loudly and enthusiastically at the end of the meeting (we were in the bathroom for the first prayer because he was throwing a fit, so maybe he said it super loud to make up for that); 2) when the first two people walked out of the Kingdom Hall, he yelled, "People, wait!" and continued to yell that for the rest of the time we were there. Except for when he was rolling around on the floor ... oh and on the stage too (see what I mean about being naughty?)

Also, we discovered today that he now says, "I got you man (or I got chew man)." I'm not sure where he learned this, but it certainly is amusing.

Now onto more positive things ... dinner with the Todds during our Pennsylvania trip. Allen and Ava were hilarious. Here are some shots at dinner ...

Uncle Brian taught Ava to stick her tongue out (I'm sure her Mommy and Daddy are forever grateful for that one)

Contemplative Ava

What a cutie!

Even cuter close up!


Allen wearing Ava's barrette

As hard as I tried, I could not get one single nice picture of the two of them.


I think Ava grabbed Allen's butt ...

Once we got outside and finished the supposed "posed shots," the kids decided to dance. Tony provided the "beat" ...

Ava getting down!

The two of 'em groovin'

And groovin' some more!

He moves like such a white boy ...




And hugs at the end of the night (I can't wait to display this picture at their wedding!)

XOXO my loves, I've got to go to sleep now!


P.S. I'm only five viewers away from the big 500! Let's hope I get five more new viewers in the next couple days!