The best of times, the worst of times

It's the best of times ...
- when Ben is rested, fed, in a great mood, and wants to help with Oliver.
- when the boys are making each other laugh.
- when they are playing together without fighting.
- when they are playing separately but both content.
And I say, "What fun these boys are!"

It's the worst of times...
- when Ben is tired and whiny and takes his frustration out on Oliver. Then Oliver starts crying. Then we put Ben in time out for hurting Oliver and he gets furious and really starts crying. (I told Ben he could not have juice last week and he turned and started choking Oliver with two hands around his neck.)
- when they both fall asleep at nap time in the car (or jogger) on the way home, but don't sleep long enough, and they both wake up crying and crying and crying.
- when they are both feeling needy and neglected by mommy but mommy doesn't have enough arms or lap space for both of them and they fight over me.
And I say, "Calgon, take me away!"

Headline: Oliver sleeps through the night!

Let it go on the history books:
On September 12, 2010, at the age of 16 months and a half months, Oliver Albert Enlow Waggoner slept through the night. He slept from 8:00 pm until 7:00 am without waking.

A big thank you goes to Grammy, who began the tortuous nursing withdrawal process. She slept with him for three nights while I was with Tim in Leadville. Then we went on a week-long camping vacation and regressed. Then Tim began the process again on September 6 (Oliver woke up pretty furious about 5 times), and six nights later, he slept the whole night!

He has woken a few times since then, but he seems to be on his way. Yay! Thank you Grammy and Daddy!

Ben's new class, sibling rivalry, and Benglish

At Wee Creekers, they split the preschool class into two new classes because they were overflowing. I know they put some thought into which kids went into which new class, but I felt irrationally depressed when I saw who was in Ben's new class. I know it isn't true, but it seems like all the "popular" kids are in the other class (Zachary, Maya, Gavin, Clarkson, Teagan, Melissa, etc) and I hope Ben doesn't feel left out. He seemed fine after school and excitedly told me he had a new cubby and that "all his friends" are in his class. I don't need to project my own social insecurities on him already. He's fine and adaptable!

Several times lately when Ben is frustrated at Oliver (and when he is frustrated in general), he vehemently screams "I not like him!" I hate to see that kind of sibling sentiments already. I don't know how to handle that. I remember irrationally not liking Tessa, but it seems she was just a convenient target for my wrath, not really a true target of dislike. Hopefully that is what it is for Ben, too, and we'll have to work on ways to handle frustration.

And some more words Ben still mispronounces cutely:

rubberband = bubberrand
yogurt = yogret
cereal = siri

Conversations with Ben

Driving home just after twilight,
Ben: "Look, Mom, the moon is following us!"
Me: "Wow, you're right. It does look like it is going with us while the trees and houses stay where they are!"
Ben: "He wants to come with us. He loves us!"
Me: "You think the moon loves us?"
Ben: "Yes, he do."

Driving home from Wee Creekers,
Ben: "I love you too, Mom." (he often starts with 'I love you too')
Me: "And I love you, Ben. I love you so, so, so much."
Ben: "And I love picking [can't understand]"
Me: "What? You love picking?"
Ben: "Yes, I love picking boogers."
Ewww! What is he, a 3-year-old boy??!

Norton Carnival

We had a wonderful time in Almena with Grammy Pat, Grandpa Darrell, Aunt Wende, and Uncle Ron. We went to the Norton carnival and Tim and Ben went to the stock car races. Ben played for hours in the sprinkler, little pool, and with the hose. It is nice to be able to play with water, since we really can't at our house.

I think I heard Ben call Ron "Grandpa Ron" and Darrell "Aunt Darrell." Gettin' close!

Oliver again melted in the heat - outside he would lose all his energy and inside he was almost hyper. He had to warm up to each new person who appeared. The second time he saw Wende's friend John, he walked over to him and asked to be held and cuddled in John's lap for a long time. He also took a nap on Aunt Wende.

At the carnival, Ben wanted to run up and down the grass hill instead of ride any of the rides.

Ben slept with Grammy and didn;t get homesick.

More later!

Random updates

Yesterday morning Ben sat on the back of the sofa and said, "I just sit up here and smell the breeze" (from the front door).

One of Oliver's favorite activities is picking up imaginary things and handing them to the nearest person with a smile.

My friend gathered a few of us at her house to practice triathlon transition. As we finished putting on our bike shoes and sped off on the bikes, Oliver screamed and cried because Mommy was leaving, and Coltrane the dog barked and howled because his mommy was leaving.

At lunch after transition practice, Ben was feasting on fruit until there was one piece of fruit left on the communal plate. Ben picked it up and gave it to Liz. How sweet!

I always ask Ben how his day was at Wee Creekers. He always says, "Good." Then I ask him what he did and he says "good" again. Finally one day a few months ago, he said, "And how was your day, Mom?"

I hurt my wrist and Ben takes my arm and tells me he is doing something (can't understand him) "softly, softly," and he rubs the splint/cast. I asked him if he was ready for bed and he told me he wasn't finished with this process, whatever it is. I also told him I couldn't chop food with my hurt hand and he took a butter knife out of the kitchen drawer and said, "This how you do it, Mom" and he used it like a hatchet. Which is exactly what I had to do with my left hand - just chop like a hatchet willy nilly instead of holding the celery still and chopping neatly.

Ben hates to shampoo his hair most of the time. One time when the boys were watching me take a bath, I rinsed my hair with the shower hose and told Ben, "If you look at the ceiling like I tell you, you won't get shampoo in your eyes. See?" He then said, "Why you make that face, Mom?" and made a face with eyes scrunched closed, which I took to mean, "If you are telling me you aren't getting shampoo in your eyes, then why do you look like you are deathly afraid of the imminent danger of getting shampoo in your eyes?"

Oliver seems so much more happy now that he is mobile. He still wants me to hold him too much, though. If he is in one of his frequent, extra-clingy moods, he cries and screams if I walk 5 feet away from him. When I go to work on Monday and Tuesday afternoons, he stands at the screen door and wails. It really seems like he thinks I am abandoning him forever and I don't know how to convince him that I always come back.

I think Oliver looks like a chimpanzee when he walks, the way his shoulders kind of roll with each step. We need to work on sign language with him because his two modes of communication are high-pitched screams and whiny grunts. He knows what he wants, that's for sure. Ben tortures him so much and takes every toy away from him, so he has started to scream his high-pitched scream as Ben approaches him, in preparation for being tortured. We don't know how to handle this sibling rivalry that has surfaced already. Any advice?

One of Oliver's Wee Creekers daily reports says, "Oliver's sweet smile makes me melt." And Ben got a sweet card from his new best friend, Zeb, thanking him for being such a good friend this summer. We haven't met Zeb, and it sounds like he is going to kindergarten this fall, but Ben says he is his best friend.

Sorry for typos - I'm gimpy!

Two new videos of Oliver!