Author: Melissa

We’ve been working on teaching Monkey the letters in his name and how they go together. I recalled that I had these letters that I’d bought ages but never hung up anywhere.  I pulled them out and he’s TOTALLY got this down now.

He knows each letter and will hand it to me upon request and as soon as he hands a letter to me he will clap for himself and say “Waaayyyy! Waaaaayyyyy!” (Monkey-speak for “Yayyyy!” lol) I put them together so it spells his name.  Yesterday morning he handed me the next letter a couple times without my asking for it so he’s clearly remembering the order a bit too.  I’m so excited!

I really wanted him to know this before he goes back to school.  I want the school to really step up to the plate when it comes to setting new goals for this year and I think they will be impressed by this, I know I am!

Yesterday, an hour before dinner, Monkey brought me a yogurt and a spoon from the kitchen.  This was his not so subtle hint that he wanted a snack.  Since he’d already had a snack and we were only an hour from dinner I told him “No, put that away.”

Monkey wandered off toward the kitchen and I heard the refrigerator door open and then close.  Imagine my surprise when he came back a few moments later with a yogurt and a spoon.  “No!  It’s almost time for dinner.  Put that away!”

Once again Monkey wandered off toward the kitchen.  I heard the refrigerator door open and then close again.  Then I heard Duhdee say “Monkey, put that away, it’s almost dinner time.”  Duhdee then came out to the living room shaking his head to tell me that although I probably thought Monkey had been ignoring me, he hadn’t. 

When I told him to put the yogurt away, he did.  The yogurt he brought back was a different yogurt, lol.  When I told him to put that one away he went back to the kitchen and was trading it for a third flavor.  Apparently he thought I was just rejecting that particular yogurt in his hand, not the idea of a yogurt, lol. 

I do have to admire his persistance and his creativity.

Monkey achieved a milestone this morning.  Remember this post where I bemoaned the fact that Monkey is not independent?  I speculated that his double dose of the lazy gene was holding him back?  This morning Monkey did something so very normal and brought tears to my eyes.  Again.

We’re getting ready to take our power walk.  We ate breakfast and I got Monkey cleaned up.  Then I picked out clothes for him to wear.  Monkey was sitting on his changing pad on his dresser (yes, still using the changing pad even though he’s twice as long as it is, lol) and he was watching me pick through his clothes.  I pulled out a pair of warm up pants and was looking at t-shirts when he started telling me “No, no, no!” and signing “open”  and pointing.  I got him down and he immediately closed the shirt drawer and opened the drawer with his pants.  He picked through his options and chose a pair of silky basketball shorts.  Woah!  I helped him put them on and then went back to choosing a t-shirt.  Nope, no go.  Monkey wanted to pick his own.  He considered the ones I suggested and rejected them all.  He finally settled on one and happily put it on.

Duhdee came in and looked at our decidely mismatched child and I had to point out that Monkey had picked his own clothes.  He thought I’d dress him like that?!?  Men!  I walked from the room with tears in my eyes…tears of pride of his new found desire for independence and tears of sadness…my baby is growing up.

In mismatched clothes.

For a very long time we’ve wished that Monkey could tell us what he wants to eat.  We can offer items at home and he will reject them one after the other until we either give up or figure out what he wants.  In restaurants we just have to guess and hope he’ll eat what we order.

Recently Monkey has started using an alternate method of communicating with us and it’s pretty effective!  One afternoon, at snack time, Monkey brought Duhdee the peanut butter, a paper plate and a loaf of bread.  Woo hoo!  Snack = peanut butter sandwhich, done.  

Not all of our food items are available in this manner though.  There are still a couple of shelves in the pantry that he can’t reach and he can’t reach the freezer either.  This has limited his choices a bit but yesterday he was able to figure out a way to use what he could reach to ask for what he couldn’t.  He brought Duhdee two items and the two items planned our entire dinner. 

He brought Duhdee the ketchup and the honey mustard.  🙂  We had homemade fries and chicken nuggets and Monkey ate every bite on his plate and then asked for more.  What a cutie.

So, given the fact that Monkey is now finally figuring out ways to communicate with us regarding what he wants to eat, you’d think Duhdee would be happy.  Nope.  He was put out (mildly) because he wasn’t feeling well and he was hoping for something less labor intensive for dinner.  Poor guy, lol.

Monkey and I have been reading Dr. Suess’s ABC at bedtime for the last couple of weeks and my boy is really soaking it up. 

He knows that “H” comes after “G” and he loves “H” so he starts giggling before I’ve turned the page.   He tells me that “I” comes after “H” and that “T” comes after “S”.  Last night, he told me “Wee” when I turned the page to “V.”  He was very serious about this and took the book from my hands so he could point at the letter “V” while telling me “Wee” repeatedly.  I guess he wanted to be sure I  was following along. 

After we finished reading the rest of the book he opened the inside back cover, which has all of the letters on it, and he located the “V.” Once again looked at me, pointed and told me “Wee.”   So, I guess there is no doubt he knows “V” now we just need to work on the other 25 letters 🙂

Monkey’s sleep has been disrupted for the last week or so, understandable given the fact that he has not been feeling well.  He’s been waking up several times during the night and seeking me out.  I normally escort him straight back to bed, lay him down, cover him over and then return to my bed.  Sometimes this will happen multiple times in a single hour.

Since I have been sick too, and sleep deprived (stress and sickness and Monkey’s interruptions) I’ve been asking Duhdee to take a few turns.  Ever since Monkey was an itty baby, I’ve always done night wakings.  Duhdee is just not at his best in the middle of the night.  When we’ve gone through rough periods like this in the past I do them as long as I can and then will ask for help and he does help with limited grumbling (he never remembers grumbling, sometimes doesn’t remember me waking him up!)

Last night Monkey came in and woke me up around 1, he was scared (I have to assume a bad dream b/c he can’t tell me.)  In these situations I let him crawl into bed with us for a while.  I was so tired last night that I just gave up my spot, tucked Monkey in and went to take a nap on the couch, lol.  I returned to bed at 2:30 and he was sound asleep.  I took him back to his bed and then it started.  Every 15 minutes he was back in our room.  Argh!  At 4:30 I asked Duhdee to take over, I have to work today.

For the next couple of wakings Duhdee walked Monkey back to his room and tucked him in.  Then Duhdee did something that has NEVER crossed my mind.  When Monkey walked into our room Duhdee said “Go BACK to bed.” very firmly.  With wide eyes I watched my little man turn right around and go to his room.

“Aren’t you going to check on him?” I asked.

“Nope.” Duhdee replied and then he promptly fell back asleep.

I lay there for quite some time listening for Monkey, I expected him to return at any moment.  He didn’t though.  Little man had gone back to bed, covered himself over then fallen asleep.  Why, in 4 years, has it never occured to me to just TELL HIM TO GO TO BED?  I’m totally going to try this the next time!

Yet another rough night last night but this time I could have slept if Monkey had let us.  He had an upset tummy yesterday and his skin is so sensitive that he had a slight diaper rash bloom.  Last night it woke him up and he was sad and tired and in pain.  Five hours of back and forth between our room and his room.  He was miserable, I was so sad for him.  Now I’m so sleepy.  Hopefully, he’s enjoying his day off to veg with Duhdee!