Wolverine

 Tonight was Trick or Treating in my home town of Oakwood.  You got to love that Oakwood will do their Trick or Treating on Beggar's Night depending on the day of the week that Halloween falls on....this leaves the opportunity for Parker to have two night in a row of free candy.  It was a fun day that started with making applesauce.  A couple weeks ago at school, his class made applesauce with about 4 different kinds of apples.  They made it and then tasted each kind and graphed the opinions of which was the best according to the students.  Since then, he has been talking about making it at home every time we buy apples at the store.  What a better day to do a very fall thing then on a very special fall holiday!  It was fun, he had a great time using the food mill to mash up the apples.  My produce guy at work was gracious enough to give me about 25 pounds of Golden and Red Delicious apples, so we had plenty to work with.

Then it was time to get my car back from the long need windshield replacement and head to Oakwood for Trick or Treating.  We walked from my Dad's to my Mom's....very convenient for us that they live about 7 blocks apart from each other....but before we were even half way to my Mom's, Parker was tired and his candy was too heavy....silliness!  Every one loved Parker's Wolverine costume, and I have to admit, out of the 3 Marvel superhero's he has been the past 3 years, this is definitely my favorite one.

Spider-man 2008

Iron Man 2009

Wolverine 2010

         (I kinda hope that he sticks with the Marvel heroes and doesn't switch to DC anytime soon)


While we were out I purposely stopped by one of my childhood friend's parents house in hopes that she would be there with her new baby and I was right!  I haven't seen Lauren in years and through the wonderful world of facebook I followed her pregnancy and tonight I got to meet and hold her beautiful daughter Olivia.  It was neat to see her and her family.  Another joy of the small city of Oakwood, chances are you can run into someone you have known since you were 5 years old.  When we told Parker that we met each other when we were his age, he made his "that is crazy" face.

So now, on the actual Halloween date, we will see if Parker can handle another night of Trick or Treating Cincinnati style.

I know someone who died today.  I didn't know him well.  He was an employee of the store that I transferred to after my store closed.  My old GM Val hired him a couple years ago.....I know she is torn up over this, she always cared for everyone she hired.  I only worked with him for about a week before the company decided it would be better off without him as part of the team.  Knowing that I was a part of that decision makes me feel bad right now.  He was a good kid, very nice, and from what I can tell, he was very well liked among his coworkers.  I want to say more, but I can't.  It is an odd feeling when someone you are acquainted with dies but you are not necessarily close to.....I know how to feel when a close friend dies...but I don't know how to feel now besides sad for his family and his close friends.  My thoughts are with you.

They're baaaaaaaaack!

Two years ago last month Parker and I started our lives away from Dayton.  I moved into the apartment about 1 and 1/2 weeks before Parker.  There was a lot of traveling between Dayton and Cincinnati for transitional purposes and also because I hadn't found a daycare in Cincinnati right away.  Then Jennifer and Eric married at the beginning of October, so really two years ago now-ish, Parker and I started our lives and routine in Cincinnati.  I remember coming home that first Sunday after their wedding and thinking that it was time to relax and get used to the city I love......we walk into Parker's green room and there on the walls are wasps.....yes, multiple wasps.  I think I killed 6 that day.  Called the landlord, he came over and helped me kill some more.  This went on everyday for months.  My landlord, although a very nice guy, has no idea about managing properties or the responsibilities that fall on his shoulders nor does he believe in chemical based pesticides.  We went through so many different types of treatment for the wasps.  Did I mention they were only in Parker's room?  You can imagine how bed time was for about a year after that.....that's right, a year.  Actually, it took over a year and harsh chemicals to finally get rid of those little fuckers.  No one could figure out where they were coming from, I still think that they are living in the walls, but no one listens to me!  The last treatment we had was about 10 months ago and it has worked!  In the past 2 years they have shown up in the fall and spring....well, it was working. 

Today I started doing the dishes and Parker called from his room....I walk in and there are two wasps, one flying and the other one walking.  Parker said, "You thought you done with that crap."  Although inappropriate for him to say, he said it perfectly.....I totally thought I was done with that crap!

Proud Mama Thursday

Last week Parker had a short week at school.  It was the end of the quarter and a teacher in service day, so he was done for the week on Wednesday.  I found a phonics workbook in his backpack last Wednesday.  With it was a note from his teacher saying that once it was completed, he would get the blue one.  Now, this is not a hefty huge workbook, but for Kindergarten and a 5 year old, it seems like it may take awhile to get through. (It would be really cool if I could tell you at this point that he finished it already....that would totally blow your minds!  But come on!  He is 5!  Some realistic expectations please!  Ha).  Because he has to get through it in a timely fashion, I decided that he would have to do 1-2 pages a night starting this past Monday. 

Monday he opted to do the workbook pages first before he played or took a bath, the first page was a challenge.  It was crayons with the colors written on them, there were no instructions so I told him to read the color and then color the crayon with the proper color from his crayons.....I wasn't really thinking about the fact that he is at the beginning of reading aka sounding a lot of stuff out aka most color names are not easy to sound out.  So it was a challenge and he got really frustrated with him self.  Eventually he got them all, but I couldn't imagine him wanting to move onto another page.  My little trooper was frustrated with himself but moved on and the next 2 pages were a breeze for him!  There was an image, for example, a cat then under the image was __ A T.  So obviously you fill in the missing letter.  He flew through that page.  Sitting there.  Naming the image.  Saying it slowly to hear all the letter sounds that he was saying and the figuring out which sound and then letter was missing.  It is astonishing to watch and hear him figure these things out on his own.  I don't remember not being able to read and taking the time to do every small stage of each word and all the connections you have to make between letter sound and letter recognition.  He amazes me.  He did 3 pages all together that night.  We skipped Tuesday but the pages he did last night we more difficult than Monday's.  The words were missing two or more letters.  He sat at the table and I watched him kitchen, image recognition, letter sounds, and knowing which missing sounds went into each missing space.  I went over to check his work and every "a" he had written was backwards.  I calmly and gently told him that and immediately he was upset with himself.  He strives to do it right the first time and it is hard on him when he doesn't do it right the first time.  He gets mad at himself.  I told him that he was fine because lots of 5 year old who are just learning how to write there letters tend to get "a's" backwards.  His frustration shows that he takes pride in his work.  He will have that trait for the rest of his life and will demonstrate it every time he tries to do something right the first time.  Watching him do his work in his workbook, hearing him figure out the problem on his own and witnessing the time and care he puts into it is my proud mama moment of the week.

When he turned 5 and we started preparing for Kindergarten, I was very nervous about the changes that lie ahead...parents start to lose influence over their children when they reach school age.  But, now that we have adjusted to the changes of this fall, this age is so much more than I realized it would be.  Yes there is way more attitude already (which will just get worse) but the intelligence and independence out weighs the attitude.

Last week he also got all E's and all :) for work and behavior at school.

Me and My Jumbly Brain

I can't formulate a complete thought.  I have been trying for about a week to write about something.  I have some pretty lame half assed posts sitting in that little box that tells you what is published and what is not.  This is frustrating.  It's like I have nothing on my mind because I have a billion things on my mind.  I can't focus on any one thing long enough to make a complete thought!  There is mr. and the fact that we spent 5 days together recently without Parker (because Parker had no school so he spent the 4 day weekend with Grandpa Jeff).  It was amazing!  I thought for sure that I or he would be bored by Saturday, but Sunday came too fast.....I know....that was stomach churningly cheesey.  Goddamnit!  I want to talk about him and what we did and how much fun it was and how much I can't admit I like him....but, there it is.  I can't admit how much I like him.  Not to me.  Not to him.  Not to Nikki.  Not to Jen.  Not to Rob.  Not to anyone.  Which brings me to thing number two that is on my mind.  You can imagine how thing one and thing two circle round and round with each other until I get so irritated with myself that I feel like I am being a silly high school girl!  I have bigger issues to think about!  I have a business to co-run and a son to raise!  Those are the things that should be on the fore front of my mind!  Ugh......which leads us to things three and four that get thrown into the brain swirl with thing one and two.  But Parker is amazing overall right now!  I am not going to get too much into a proud mama rant right now because I am saving it for Proud Mama Thursday (which no one has caught onto yet....)  But he has developed over the past few weeks and it is astonishing to see.  I am excited for Halloween too, even though he wants to be Avatar....he is obsessed.  Thing three I don't really care about right now.  I mean I care about it but it is not comsuming like it has been in the past.  For such a long time it has been JJ and Parker....Parker and JJ....maybe every now and then I would think about other stuff, but not for long.

So that is all I've got!  A brain jumbled up with things one, two, three and four!  Where is the Cat in the Hat when you need him!

Proud Mama Thursday

So I have decided to start Proud Mama Thursday.  I don't know how many people will follow suit, but I am going to try!  Every Thursday I am going to try to post something specifically to a Parker-achievement of the week.  Here is the first one.

I was talking to Jen the other day in my room and I could hear Parker making letter sounds.  A couple minutes later he came running in my room with a sheet of paper held high telling me to look at the words he wrote.  The first one was b-o-and a backwards g.  The second one was supposed to be octopus, but it only had 4 letters.  But the third word was very clear and perfect.  B-o-x.  Box.  He had thought of the sounds, made the connection to the proper letter and then successfully translated it to paper.  I know, it doesn't sound like much, but think about how huge that is!  He has written words before, but they were words he has memorized like Ohio, Parker, Mom....simple words that he has known for a while.  But this is new!  And he knows the letter X, which is harder than most of them.  I can't even express how proud I was/am of him when he did that....I think it is amazing!  Then about 1/2 hour later I heard him rummaging around with toys.  We have a policy about toys in the living room, he is only supposed to get out one kind of toy at a time.....you can imagine how unsuccessful that is most of the time, but anyway....I heard him getting stuff out so I headed to the living room to remind him of the rule.  And there he was, floor cleaned up.  He looked up at me and said, "Don't worry, I picked up all the Lego's before I am getting my cars out."  He got his star sticker for that night early......so proud :)

20/20

Last week Parker brought home a sealed envelop with "To the Parents of Parker Green" written on it.  This was the same week that his listening ability was an all time low, so naturally I was slightly nervous.  It was a form from the school with the results of their vision screening recommending that I take Parker to the eye doctor for a full exam.  I knew that I would have to take him this year after I learned that astigmatisms (my biggest eye issues) are hereditary and can be seen at birth.  So I made the appointment for Saturday.

With the proper amount of prep, he went for the visit.  We get in there and he sits tall and proud in the exam chair, fully ready to go.  The doctor pulls up the chart and asks Parker to cover one eye.  The giant letters are on the wall and some how Parker has confused the letter S and A.  We try the next line.  There he is confusing letters with each other again.  Row after row after row.....wrong letter after wrong letter after wrong letter.  The doctor stops, turns to me and asks "Is he good with his letters?"  I was conflicted between the thought that he was lying to get glasses or that he is as blind as my sisters are......but really if he was that blind, wouldn't someone have noticed by now?  The doctor continues the exam and puts the big metal, lens changing apparatus up to his face.  Still......incorrect letters.  In fact, he got more wrong this time.  The doctor hops up and moves the apparatus away from his face and declares that she is going to try something else.....she leaves the room and enters with a pair of non prescription glasses from the rack, she winks at me while she hands them to Parker.  Excitedly, he puts them on and reads row for row from the giant E all the way down to a smaller type than I can read without my corrective lenses......my child just wants to wear glasses.  After a while longer, the doctor explains to him why he doesn't need glasses just yet, he still claims that he is blind. 

Liam got glasses last spring and now Parker believes it is his turn.  Five years old and my son wants glasses....so strange!  I remember distinctly NOT wanting glasses when I had to get them at the age of six.....I hated them and would tell my teacher that I didn't really need to wear them, that it was optional for me.  I lied to the teacher to get out of wearing them and my son lies to the teachers to start wearing them.....what a crazy boy!  Luckily, he has amazing vision....and I hope/want it to stay that way, if only he knew how amazing it is that he wakes up in the morning and can see.

Oh Tooth Fairy!

Parker lost his third tooth last night.  One of the upper big ole front ones....he is going to have quite the experience the first time he bites into something today!  So it was really really wiggly last night and when I felt it, it bled a little bit.  We headed to the bathroom.  I told him to hold on to it real tight with some toilet paper to make it stop bleeding....he did and then I was like "BOO!"  He was totally supposed to pull it out on his own....that didn't work.  He was so cute during the whole thing, he wanted to be really brave but he was so apprehensive about the idea of pulling it.  He was laughing but in a very uncomfortable way....so not cute, but it was totally cute.  Anyway, the tooth didn't come out.  The old scare the kid and they pull their own tooth didn't work and it was bleeding worse.  I felt really bad then, so I am holding onto it to make it stop bleeding when I realized that I have never held onto another person's tooth and pulled it out.  I was immediately grossed out and couldn't do it.  I told Parker to hold onto it so I could go get him a cup of water to rinse his mouth.  He did.  A few seconds went by and he pulled the toilet paper away and there was no tooth!  I gasped and he was like "What Mommy!?!?"  Your tooth is gone!  "What!"  I showed him in the toilet paper and he ran to the mirror and started making ridiculous faces in the mirror at himself.  What a ham!  Then I decided it would be good to rinse the blood off the tooth before displaying it for the tooth fairy.....as I turned on the water, I thought, "This is a really bad idea because you are going to drop it"  Yup.  I dropped it down the sink.  So Parker laid down in bed and Allyson played plumber.  I got it though! (and the sink isn't leaking!)   And I checked on it this morning, the Tooth Fairy totally came (I knew she was real!)