Time has been limited for me, but I \will try to stay on top of providing information since this has been a help to me. I'd like to take the time to look at what's been going on to make me laugh or doesn't drive me insane.
The Smurfs still drive me up the wall at times. We (the whole family) have been home together for 11 days. That's 11 days of crying, whining, running, jumping, breaking, Christmas, toys, and relatives. It's rough when 1 and 2 are together because they're at the age where they've learned how to work together to do the things they're not supposed to do. They've figured out how to operate the car keys to open the doors; combine that with being able to reach the locks on the front door and move like ninjas when they want, and i've got two kids that need bells around their necks when near the front door. To me it's funny because the rest of the time that they're awake it's hard to not know where they are. Both of them are so loud when together that i'm always pre-planning trips into the store with them. I do the classic "If you do this then you will feel the WRATH OF DAD" speech, which occasionally works. Add Smurf 3 into it, who is becoming more vocal and wanting more stimulation, and it turns into a "fun" outing at the grocery store. We're at the point where I have to keep telling them that I will not be buying any toys at the store; they can look but nothing goes home with us. They have so many toys (and with Christmas recently behind us) that I can't take anything else coming into the house. It is nice to see them playing with each other's toys and creating some colorful stories. My son will sit there with the strawberry shortcake house with the girls riding hotwheels cars while my daughter has one of the castles or the firehouse having cinderella slide down the pole to ride a motorcycle.
Scooby-Doo has become a recent mainstay on the t.v., and I actually like the older shows of it (I watched them all as a kid). Once I was able to explain that the "ghosts" are people in costumes, they love watching the episodes. The new version appears to be scarier, so we avoid those. However, it's to the point where Smurf 3 will watch the t.v. when it's on, and then he gets mad if we stop it before it ends.
What I am enjoying/loathing is that my kids are not indoor kids. Even though they have their t.v. shows they like to watch, it's not something they spend all day doing. They begged and pleaded to go outside to swing, play in the leaves, dig up stuff, climb trees, go to parks and playgrounds, and take walks. Even Smurf 3 preferred to be outside rather than inside. I just wish I could find more places with climbable trees at parks so they could have more fun. I've wanted to take them to practice putting since they like it, but it's hard to do with Smurf 3 because he gets bored easily now and the wife doesn't like golf. They all seem to be into collecting rocks, finding nests, etc.
I get to be a stay-at-home dad for another month, then I have to switch jobs and spend time in an office. Smurf 3 will have to go to daycare at that time, and to be honest i'm dreading it. We were able to eliminate 2 of his meds and reduce the ones remaining but he's still small and delayed. However it seems that the more stimulation he receives the faster he's developing, but it's hard to keep up with him in what he wants to see or do. I've been able to get him to roll over from his stomach to his back, but not the other way around. He's definitely trying though, and will get mad if he can't turn the way he wants. He does like watching his siblings, even when they are in his face and become too rough with him. Right now i've got him in a swing and the others watching Scooby-Doo, but they're also playing with a castle and Strawberry Shortcake House/figurines. Smurf 3 is asleep in the swing, giving my wife time to rest from the craziness of us all. Happy Holidays.
