Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Rough and Tough

Gary is gone for the day helping his brother paint. It's a good trial run to see how it'll be when he goes back to work. I have to say that there is something nice about getting back into routine ....going to the park, making dinner, cleaning the house etc. I know I'm spoiled having a husband at home for 2 months, and one that can cook too:)

Koen has been going to bed at 7:30pm each night. This is awesome. The only problem is that he wakes up at least 3 times a night. I feed him at about 10:30pm and then when he wakes at 2am, I send Gary in there to put him back to sleep. Then, I feed him at about 5am and he sleeps til 8am. Gary is so ready to just let him cry at night and not have me go in there and feed him....I'm thinking that I'll wait until he's 9 months old and then I might stop feeding him at night (unless he really needs it of course!). I would say that in the past week or so, those feeds seem to be just more comfort to him than need. I wish he sucked his thumb like his brother did!!!

We bought a black leather love seat last night, love it!! It makes the area look more grown up and it is soooo comfy! As you can see in the pictures, Koen follows Kai all over the place. Kai is pretty good with him but we def. have to watch him when he decided to give Koen a `squishy super hug'. I don't think he has the best intentions then:)

Kai loves playing `Guess Who?', running around outside, and still, helping out in the kitchen. I'm a little concerned about Kai's desire to be rough and tough. I understand that for some kids, it's just in them. Kai would love to wrestle and tackle every single person he meets. He usually just tackles bigger kids, but still, they don't always want it! He does get a lot of his energy out throughout the day but he needs to get that desire to be aggressive out. He will come up to me and tell me he wants to hit something and be rough. I don't want to suppress it and make him be gentle all the time because it's just part of who he is. He does get to wrestle with Gary each night but I don't know what else to do. It is very opposite to Gary or I so maybe its just the 3 year old stage? Maybe a punching bag? Sign him up for karate or something? Does this stage ever pass? Any tips? He loves it when we punch the air doing the `30 Day Shred' DVD:)

Football has started again which is exciting. We have our first game on Saturday and I'm nervous about it already. I also got to go see `The Time Traveller's Wife' with Maria VB and it made me cry. I love when a movie makes me cry. If you haven't read the book, do it. I'm currently reading `The Botany of Desire' which I'm really enjoying so far. Gary and I are planning on doing a hike tomorrow morning sans kiddos, we'll see how that goes!


So strange that school is starting for Gary next week and I won't be returning until December. I have to admit I am not eager to return. The idea that I will be teaching Chemistry is not the most enticing:) I'm hoping that by November I will be so ready to get out of the house to do something different....

Reminder..any tips for boys who need to get their aggression out?

7 comments:

  1. I'm so glad your Koen is getting to bed at a reasonable hour (and not 10 pm!) so that you can get a few hours of downtime in the evening. I'm glad for you.

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  2. Aunty Nut3:39 PM

    Go football go! Good luck Trouble:)
    I remember that orange sweater Koen is wearing w/ the sunglasses... use to be Kai's. He's growing up so fast!

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  3. I LOVE the photos of Koen with his sunglasses on (what a big boy! :) ), and of Kai and Koen crawling together!!! So cute!!!

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  4. Good luck on Saturday! Umm..maybe Kai can tackle some of the opposition to get his aggression out?

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  5. aha! boys! i have some experience here!!!

    exercise them.
    exercise them.
    exercise them!

    wrestling with daddy is good--i wrestle too, especially if they really need it and daddy is not around.

    brothers are AWESOME to feed this need--Koen just needs to grow!

    give them boundaries WITHIN their need to be physical--you can wrestle without punching, hitting in the face, biting, or spitting, for example. Wrestling on the bed is good.

    give them opportunities to move very physically and in contact with another person; tackling your raised leg while you lie on the floor, repeatedly running into your feet and being tossed backwards, bum slapping tag, tickle monster, chase, and soft sword fights with foam swords or paper towel rolls or something. If you clearly delineate that they MUST ASK before playing like this, and if you clearly dileneate that they MUST NOT hurt you, it will help them learn to be physical and be safe at the same time.

    minimize sugar intake, minimize food dye intake, minimize naps, stick to a routine, lots of protein and complex carbohydrates.

    lots of opportunity for imaginative play.

    hope that helps! you probably already do most of it!

    p.s. inspired by your pick up/put down method success! I might be copying you!!!

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  6. Anonymous2:34 AM

    Karate, karate, karate. It made a huge difference for my nephew.

    Check this out:
    http://www.langleykarate.com/Tots.html

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  7. Sorry, no tips on boys. I do, however, quite enjoy that photo of Kai thinking hard while playing "Guess Who".

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