Monday, May 29, 2017

Things to Remember








Now that I hardly ever post, I notice things that I want to remember about the boys, but never get a chance to write down. I'll have to start this post and add to it, or just periodically post with the same title, Things to Remember. My friend Patricia once told me that her boys loved hearing details from their early years, and I notice Tyler lights up when we tell him things he did that Tyrien does now.

So of course, now that I have a chance to type without Tyrien climbing all over me and jabbing at the keys, I'm drawing a blank...

When Tyler was younger, some of the cutest things he used to say, due to his pronounciation, were "proyect" as in, "I want to do a proyect", and "instruccshuns", as in "Let's look at the instruccshuns for this lego set."

Tyrien has something adorable that he says now, that causes us to reminise about proyects and instruck juns. And now I can't think of what it is Tyrien says. Maybe I will in the next few minutes.

Oh, yes. Bike-y-bol. "Where's my bike-y-bol?" He is referring to his tricycle. Bike-ee-bole.  Melts my heart every time.

Despite his propensity for either bronchiolitis or asthma attacks, Tyrien actually has a good set of pipes. During Tyler's school play, The Sneetches, Tyrien stood on Grandma A's lap, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Brother! Brother! Brother! Brother!"

Tyler loves to watch TV and play videogames. So much so that we worry. We set limits, of course. We're not looking for advice. It's just a constant struggle. When he maxes out his time, he tends to hang out in the living room waiting for any opportunity for screen time. My plan for the heat of the summer is to have a new rule, that they have to play outside for a few hours, in the early hours of the day, before the TV can be turned on.

So far, Tyrien loves to be outside. He also loves to be barefoot. Outside and barefoot doesn't go well in Tucson. When he was one and  a half, he stepped on a huge mesquite thorn, it looked like it went halfway through his foot. Amazingly, it came out easily with tweezers and didn't get infected. Right in the soft spot of his foot. You'd think he'd learn from that.

Oh, the other adorable thing Tyrien does lately is to say, "I want a yummy" when he wants something sweet. "I want ahce keme" (ice cream) is also adorable. Clearly, he gets more sweets than Tyler did at this age, a product of early exposure to them. Good thing he loves being active!

As Tyson points out, everywhere Tyrien goes, he is running. He climbs, lately on top of Tyler's bunk bed, where he gets stuck because he can't get down by himself. Surprisingly, he has not yet climbed out of the crib. He alternates between sleeping in his crib and in the lower bunk. We can balance a water cup for him in the crib, so we prefer the crib. Why did we never figure that out with Tyler? We constantly had to bring Tyler water in the middle of the night. But, I suppose that was once per night, and Tyson was happy to do it, so it wasn't overwhelming. Whereas Tyrien, he really wants milk at all hours of the night, so the balanced water cup was an act of desperation, and it does usually work, now that he has tubes in his ears. Now if he's crying for milk in the middle of the night, I know he has an ear infection.

Yeah, he hasn't weaned yet. Not looking for advice on that either. I regretting weaning Tyler before he wanted to wean, even though he was over two. I did it because of the stupid Time Magazine cover - a four year old was standing on a stool to nurse from his standing mother, and there was a huge backlash. Suddenly strangers were asking me how old Tyler was when he weaned (which he hadn't done yet), and sharing all kinds of judgemental comments about the woman in the article, women in la leche league, etc. I weaned Tyler when I had the opportunity, and then I regretted it, because he was constantly sick for the next six months. And I weaned him in May, so it's not like it was the cold/flu season. Tyrien's colds turn into concerning breathing patterns, so no way am I forcing him to wean right now. He's not even down to once a day yet, or at home only. After two years of never sleeping through the night, I'm willing to nurse whenever and whereever he wants during the day, just so long as I can get my six or seven hours of sleep at night!

Oh my gosh, do I miss Vader. The boys have taken over the dog bed that looks like a miniature couch, and somemtimes, I see movement on it out of the corner of my eye, and think it's Vader. It's always just one of the kids, wearing a dark shirt. I hear neighborhood dogs barking so much, and think about how I used to get frustrated with Vader for barking too much. He didn't bark as much as these dogs. And I don't feel annoyed by these dogs, so maybe the neighbors weren't annoyed by him, either.

I mostly miss him in the middle of the night, I definitely did not realize how often he was checking on me in the middle of the night until after he was gone. I think anytime I woke up, he came to sniff me and get petted. He had taken to sleeping in the bathroom, on tile and against the wall, even in the wintertime, instead of on his dog bed next to me. But he still listened for me to stir and came and sniffed me each time.

Back to the living.







In January, I finally started taking Krav Maga classes. For three weeks. I didn't love it. It was hard, it hurt, and I felt lonely. Then abruptly at the end of the month, the teacher announced that they weren't renewing their lease and didn't have the new studio locked in yet. So I tried a different gym, and loved it! The first exercise reminded me of being in a mosh pit. A couple days later, I tore my left calf muscle running on the treadmill at work. I rested for four days, then gingerly returned to Krav Maga and seemed okay, so long as I stayed on my toes on that leg. Loved the class. Two months later, in the class, shortly after the initial warmup, I performed a ball-groin kick, followed by a knee to the groin. Which actually, is a motion quite similar to running. I felt that same rubber band snapping feeling in my right calf. I immediately sat down, asked for ice, and iced it for 20 minutes. I stood up to resume the class, and realized there was no resuming the class.

One week later, it looked like this.


Two weeks later, my ankle was bruised and swollen, and I still couldn't put weight on my right heel. I went to the doctor. "Yeah, with all that bleeding, I would not expect it to heal in two weeks. It'll be at least a month."

I finally got to start physical therapy four weeks after the injury. The physical therapist's response upon examining it was to periodically announce the Lord's name in vain. He asked lots of questions, performed lots of tests, and proceeded to give me a series of exercises that have nothing to do with my calf muscles. Clamshells and fire hydrants and leg abductions. Along with stretches for the hamstrings, hip flexors, and gluts. Only one calf exercise. I compared notes with my former running partner who is being treated for an IT band injury. Same exercises. I've been three times now, and can walk quickly again, but still have not been cleared to run or go back to class. I think I actually miss the class more than the running! Who knew that getting punched in the face would be so fun.

Tyson pointed out that I can still ride a bike, so I've been doing that. Funny enough, I've owned my bike for two decades, but have hardly ever ridden it. I have a lot to learn.














Tyler finished the school year. On the last day of school, we rode our bikes. He was so proud of his bike! He joyously strutted through the schoolyard with it as we walked over to the bike rack to lock it.



Here's another favorite from the end of the schoolyear:


Fierce!

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