Sickness in the Thornell Household

Well, we have our first official cold of the season. We've done really well and haven't had one at all yet, but both are sick with one (and of course Abby's surgery is Friday; although right now they're still going to proceed since she doesn't have a fever, cross your fingers she doesn't get one!). Cold/Flu/RSV season is technically October thru March and so we've been very lucky not to catch anything. But late last week Jake started having a little cough. Then by Saturday night (of course at my SIL's house while we were celebrating my hubby's grandparents 60th anniversary), Jake came down with a fever. Hopefully he didn't give it to anyone. He had the fever all day Sunday too, but on Monday he was back to his old self. We stayed inside and didn't do much Monday to make sure we recovered fully before getting back out but then on Tuesday, both were coughing with runny noses. Nap times have been tough, but luckily we haven't had too much trouble at night. I've been using Vick's on their feet and have a humidifier running in their room so I think that really helps the nights. Hopefully we'll all recover quickly, but I have a feeling the cough will linger. They always do!

An Extra Prayer for Abby

This Friday, Abby is having a little, very minor, surgery. I won't go into the details of the surgery on my blog, but she should be out for no more than 10 minutes and the toughest part of recovery should just be from the anesthetics. Please say an extra prayer for her and the doctors this week. Even though it's minor, it's still scary to put your little ones under. Thanks!

Don't forget the keys

Well, today was a first for me, but not the first for mom's everywhere (at least that's what I was told). This afternoon the kids wanted to play outside after their nap. It's been chilly the past few days and today wasn't too bad since there wasn't any wind. So, I decided to go in the backyard and clean everything up before letting the kids out. I was about halfway done cleaning up the backyard when I heard the door. Yesterday Jake had figured out how to open the back door (even with the baby guard on it) and work the deadbolt. I quickly ran to the back door and it was locked! How could I have forgotten he figured this out yesterday! The blinds were open so I was trying to direct the kids back to the door and ask them to "turn, turn turn" the lock. Abby isn't as good as opening the door, but she wouldn't let Jake try. She kept laughing at me outside, saying "hi" then she'd try to turn the knob, but wouldn't touch the deadbolt. I tried to get her over to the kitchen window to give Jake a try, but that was a no go. So, I returned to cleaning up the backyard thinking, they locked it trying to get out, maybe they'll unlock it in their own time. I finished everything up then tried to get them to open the door again. Again, no luck.
I finally figured it was time to find a phone and call someone to come help. I trekked over to my neighbors hoping it wasn't her day to carpool the kids home from school. I knocked on the door and waited patiently. Yeah! She was there! I told her what had happened and she laughed. She said I wasn't the first mom to be locked out of the house by her kids and got the phone. I called John and told him what happened. He said he'd pack up and be home as soon as he could.
I returned to our backyard to keep an eye on the kids and continue to try and get them to open the door. Finally I decided to try and open the dog door from the outside. You aren't supposed to be able to do that, but God was watching and it easily slide up. Abby jetted out the dog door upset that I hadn't let her out sooner. I reached up through the dog door and unlocked the deadbolt. Finally! I was in the house. Jake ran out to play as well. I called John and told him I made it back in the house safely, but he was already in route.
I let the kids play outside for a bit and when John got home, we headed back inside for dinner. I've always said we needed to get an extra set of keys to put in the garage, but now it looks like we'll need something for the back door too!

Lazy Days

Saturday was one of those lazy days where we all stayed in our PJs all day (or at least wanted to). The kids and John did manage to stay comfy all day (but he did do some work - he put up the last of our xmas stuff in the attic). I got dressed for a bit to get a massage first thing in the morning, but then it was back into sweats as soon as I got home. Thursday and Friday had been fantastic so when the cold weather blew in Saturday morning, we all just wanted to bundle up on the couch. And that's what we did!

Tearing Down the House

Yesterday evening we had our first major "incident". I was making dinner and the kids were running around crazy. I think they know I can't focus on them 100% during this time and so they always get into stuff during this time period. Anyway, one of their favorite past times is to pull out the drawers in the kitchen (the ones that aren't baby proofed) and hang on the them. Bet you didn't know that drawers were insta-swings did you. Well, they are. And when they do this I pop their hands as they hang on the drawer and say "no". Jake usually cries and then pulls out a new drawer. Abby just looks at you and then slams the drawer closed. When they both get going you feel like you're playing Whack-a-Mole at Dave & Busters. It can get crazy!
Well, between trying to cook on the stove and making sure dinner didn't get burned, I was turning around and popping their hands on the drawer to try and get them to stop hanging on the drawers. When I turned around again to tend to the stove, I heard someone fall to the ground. I looked and there was Abby and the front of our drawer. She was fine - stunned, but fine. Rather than yell at her, I told her she broke the cabinet and was going to have to tell daddy what she did. I also re-enforced that hanging on the cabinets was wrong. She'd point to the cabinet and say "broken" or "I broke" and then look at me. We talked about the drawer for a bit and then sat down to eat. She at all her dinner without fussing (Jake decided to play) and for the rest of the evening she was on her best behavior.
I contemplated calling John to warn him, but finally figured it would be best to just let him come home and discover the drawer. I was actually hoping the kids would be in bed before he got home as I didn't want John to punish the kids again/"over" what I had done. He came home and Abby ran and hugged him. He then walked into the kitchen and I told him what happened. Abby had a very solemn face on. He said he could tell she knew she did something wrong and didn't fuss at her once about the drawer.
I'm not sure how we're going to fix the drawer, but needless to say, time-outs have increased around our house. I had been using a little chair with a buckle to keep them in place for time outs, but Jake has mastered climbing out of those, even buckled in. And I just don't have the energy to teach them to stay in one place right now. So, I caved and am using their crib for time-outs. I hate to do that as I don't want them to associated their crib with punishment, but hopefully they'll be able to tell the difference. It works really well for Abby, but Jake was in time out 4 times last night between supper and bedtime. Not sure what I'm going to do for him.

Jake Graduated!

Yesterday, Jake "graduated" from the ECI program. He's been in it for 6 months for a communication and adaptive behavior delay. We re-evaluated him yesterday and he's right on track with where he should be now (actually he was still a month behind in adaptive behavior but that was just for potty training readiness and I really don't care to even think about potty training yet). He's coming up with new words everyday and communicating better and better. He also understands a lot more than he did when we started out. We still have a ways to go to catch up with Abby, but we're making great strides. They gave us a list of things to tackle so he stays on track and we immediately started working on them yesterday.

Our next few goals:
* colors (I started this before the holidays, but took a break with all the craziness. I guess it's time to get back to it. Right now all we know is blue!)
* shapes (we know hearts, circles and stars, now we're working on the rest. I got a great puzzle yesterday evening that Jake's already mastered, now we just need to learn the names of the shapes and transfer those from the puzzle to other objects)
* counting and understanding the concept of 1 (we understand the concept of zero, but not 1 yet, no fear - I got blocks today from a friend and we'll start on this ASAP)
* putting 2 words together (Abby and I are modeling this for him like crazy)

I'm guessing it will take us a couple of months to get these down, but after we conquer these, we'll tackle the alphabet and letters and drinking from regular cups (I'm really waiting for warmer weather with this one so we can practice outside vs. in my house!)