Psychotomy

So, I sent that email about Super Why! to PBS Kids on the 24th. On the 28th, I saw that Super Why! Volume 2 was on iTunes now …

Well, on Monday I went to the Word World site and submitted an email to them commenting on how DK likes Super Why! and Word World, and how the former was on iTunes and asking if they had plans to put the latter up.

On the 4th (Wednesday) I got email from the Word World folks. It’s great that your son likes WW, toys and DVDs at Target(tm), and starting on the 17th you’ll be able to find Word World on iTunes …

I must use my powers only for good!

Posted in: DK by attriel /
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So, DK’s sleep schedule is all whacked out.

He was going up between 8 and 9, leading me to bed and laying down to sleep. That lasted maybe two weeks, and it was GREAT. Then he missed a nap one day and we haven’t quite recovered the schedule.

Right now? he’s being tired ~7 and yawning and kinda trying to lay down on my lap until I take him upstairs. ~8:30 or 9. I was going earlier, but …

Then we brush our teeth and read a story, he likes listening to Dr Seuss. I’ve kindof decided to not try showing him the pics and words right now, just read it. We’ll move to looking at what we’re reading later I think. At least at bedtime. Anyway, he’ll wander the room or lay down on the bed while we read. Then it’s sleeping time. And that’s where things fall apart.

I turn off the light, he pops up to turn it back on. I try to curl up with him, he does the stiff as a board thing, even bowing his back to make it hard to hold him. He pushes off my legs for leverage if he can reach them. He’ll grab my hair to pull himself up. Or pull me up to move me. Flailing, squirming. Screaming bloody murder the whole time. And getting worked up more and more.

That usually goes on for half an hour or so, before I decide a) I’m tired of torturing my son, and b) he’s so worked up he CAN’T fall asleep now. So we’ll go back downstairs for 30-60 minutes. And back up. And it repeats.

Tonight he went down the second time. Monday night, Kiir took him up after my second attempt and he went down reasonably. Not immediately or quietly, but not too long. If I take him up earlier than 8:30, we just end up with a third cycle on me.

Then this morning the boy woke up at 3:30 :( No idea why, he just was suddenly wide awake. We came downstairs until he seemed like he might go down again, and we went back to bed at 6. Kiir talked me into ignoring my 6:30 alarm and going back to sleep for a little bit. Barely made my train, but the extra two hours of sleep was probably worthwhile.

I just wish I knew what the problem was and why we can’t sleep earlier anymore :/ Because I really don’t like making him scream for half an hour at a time :/

Posted in: DK by attriel /
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Today we took DK to the gym for swimming (again). We only go 3 or 4 times a week. Tend to miss Thursday right now for Gymboree open gym, while our membership is still active, and then usually one of the weekend days when he goes to my parents for us to clean.

But we went earlier and dropped him off at the Children’s Center. had some awkward questions when I was trying to figure out what we needed to know about dropping him off, told them that as long as they don’t have a problem with it, then WE don’t have an issue with him going to the climbing structures and ball pit and hamster tunnel net maze thing. They said that as long as they’re not too busy he can go. He’ll love that ;)

So we dropped him off, I changed and went upstairs to work out some (side note: they have the back extender (seriously, I used it for 2 years at columbia assoc, and i found it today, and I don’t know the real name? wtf?) yay!) and just generally get an idea of whats up there. The major plan was to drop him off for about half an hour so we could try it out make sure he was OK.

He was kinda pissed when we came to pick him up. Because, half an hour? seriously? I am SOOOO not done here people!!! C’mon! lemme stay!! ooh swimming, Ok , we can go i guess!

Apparently I can work out now ;) The next issue will be to determine if he has an issue with going to play and NOT swimming after. Then I could take him the two evenings that the pool doesn’t have open swim in the evenings.

Posted in: DK, fitness by attriel /
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So, DK generally gets to watch 4 shows at home.

• PBS Kids Word World
• PBS Kids Super Why!
• Disney My Friends Tigger & Pooh
• Disney Handy Manny

Tigger & Pooh we found one (maybe two?) disc last year. Then we found them on iTunes so we just bought the rest of the eps there. We haven’t quite decided what to do about the few we have on DVD. We haven’t bought them on iTunes yet, but I’m tempted to just so they’re all in the same format :o

At Thanksgiving he decided he liked Handy Manny, so when we got home we picked that up for him too. Because a little bi of variety is nice.

Word World we’d found earlier and have 4 discs of shows. Maybe about half hte first season at this point I think. They put out a disc every 3-6 months with three more eps on it. Slow. And a little behind the show :/

Super Why! They had on iTunes when Kiir was looking around and she thought it looked good for him. He enjoys it, dances and interacts, yeah. Ten eps at the time. They haven’t put any more eps in since then. It’s been over a year :/ They seem to have put out one disc last year. So there are now 2 eps on disc.

I’m thinking about checking that huge antenna that’s been in our attic since we moved in, see if it does anything. If I can pick up PBSKids I may start recording off the air. But I adamantly REFUSE to pay for cable so I can record PBS shows!!!

(I did send an email on the contact form for SW! asking about the iTunes content … I may put one in for WW too ; since we got the appleTV it’s just so much easier to have things in iTunes instead of always changing discs)

Posted in: DK, general by attriel /
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So, I was folding laundry and DK was wandering around upstairs playing around and climbing on the futon we just moved up there. When I went to collect some stuff from his room to take it to the dirty laundry, he was standing there.

Then he turns, runs over to the nursery door and points to the strip we have running along the middle of the wall. One finger on Tigger, and one on Pooh. And then he says “Tigger!”

He was having trouble with “Pooh” though, and “Eeyore”, who was next to Pooh, I think he was trying to say but was just coming up short on consonants to work with :o

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So, yesterday when I took DK swimming, I was carrying him to the deeper end where we could paddle around a bit, and I was holding him on the water.

And I looked over and realized suddenly that he was kicking his legs under the water like we keep telling him to do !!!

Then today when we were going to the gym, kiir asked him if we were going to kick kick kick, and he starts kicking his legs :o Of course, I was carrying him, so basically he just kept kicking me in the stomach ..

Posted in: DK by attriel /
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Or: I’m a toddler!

So, DK hasn’t been interested in eating much the last two days. I mean, other than he tried to eat a can of vaseline last night, he tried to eat a bag of screws we were buying this morning. And various things like that :o

He threw his rice on the floor last night at my folks. Then threw a second plate later. HE tossed his Mac&Cheese at lunch. Then at dinner. He threw his snacks around. Not to say he didn’t eat yesterday, just that in comparison to his massive intake the last couple months, he didn’t eat much.

Well, since we got back from swimming (incidentally, he tried to drink the pool, guess he was thirsty?) he’s had three round-cheese, a mozerella stick, two bowls of blueberries, and now a bag of freeze dried apple slices.

Aparently it wasn’t that he wasn’t hungry. He just wanted to go swimming more!

Posted in: DK by attriel /
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So, it’s important to know that DK hates hates hates getting water on his head and down into his eyes. He is seriously opposed to it. When we go swimming we have to hold him forcefully while we rinse out his hair after.

And washing his hair has become an endurance battle, and frankly I’ve just accepted that washing his hair ends up with wet floors and me needing a new shirt. He’ll hang his head over the side of the tub so that, in order to pour water into his hair, you’re basically pouring it on the floor. Beyond that, he almost never raises his head, so there’s no chance of pouring it down the back to keep it out of his eyes. And if I make him stand, he’ll grab me and bury his head in my chest. Meaning I get soaked (and the floor still gets wet) in the process.

Anyway, today before swimming, we waited a bit and jumped in the shower before getting in the pool, because I can never remember if you’re supposed to do that or not because it was always rather hit or miss when I was a kid. Some places required it, some places didn’t care. Some places required it AND didn’t care. But I decided to hit it today, and he went BALLISTIC as soon as water started hitting him.

Then we played in the pool, yadda yadda yadda. Afterwards in the family dressing room, I turned on the shower so we could rinse off and he was standing off to the side when I started. Imagine my surprise when I turned it on and found out he was right in the spray :o It has a high/low slider, and it was all the way at the bottom, so it wasn’t spraying where he anticipated :o He actually didn’t get as upset as I thought, but I grabbed him pretty quickly and soothed him. I tried to get stuff ready and then carried him kicking and screaming into the shower, rinsed him off quickly and decided to forgo washing his hair, because I wasn’t sure I was up to fighting that fight. Turned it off, and while I started trying to dry off a bit, he went back and started pointing and crying … so I turned the shower back on …

He splashed and played and had a hell of a fun time while I dried and dressed. He threw a huge fit when I turned it off again and started trying to get him ready to go. Squirming, screaming, kicking, flailing … Apparently he likes the shower fine as long as he can come and go as he likes :o

Posted in: DK, fitness by attriel /
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So, DK has been being tired but not sleepy the last few days. As in last night he was exhausted but completely unwilling to lay down to sleep :/

This morning we went to gymboree and actually hit the level 4 and followed with the level 5, figuring maybe if he runs down a bit he’ll be able to sleep more readily. He made it a little over halfway through the second class before deciding he was done and wanted to go. Stopped to get gas on the way home, and he was waving at the attendant out hte back window and happy.

By the time I got home he was quiet and not visibly tossing around any. But when I craned around in the seat I could see him blinking so I brought him inside. We’re doing lunch now :o

I was sure he’d fall asleep on the way home :/ And I swear he was /almost/ there. But not quite. Didnt have any real errands to run, though, so I couldn’t really just keep driving. Well, I could, but I figured I’d feed him an’ stuff.

Posted in: DK by attriel /
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So, before DK was born, we were all intending to not let him watch any TV until he was at least two. But we had decided that I could still play on the game consoles with him around and that wouldn’t count (yeah yeah, but it was limited at least)

But he’s been getting to watch a little bit most of the summer, and when Kiir got pregnant and was exhausted a bunch he got to watch more. When we went to India, we figured we’d wean him off. What with there not being any TV for two weeks. Then he kept waking up at 2am and I kept handing him the iPod to watch tigger & pooh off itunes. Meaning he was probably actually getting MORE tv in India than at home.

Today we decided he wouldn’t watch ANY tv until after nap. Including games. So I played with him on the floor (although a lot of that seemed to be me playing with his toys while he wandered around). Then we ran out for an errand, ate lunch, and he went up for nap. And wanted nothing to do with it. So we went to the gym for swimming and he fell asleep in the car, so I sat with him while he napped again, and we went a few hours later after napping. Woke him up for it, actually. Then home and he finally got to watch something about 5:45 when I turned on the Wii to load up a website for him to click on like he does with Kiir’s second computer. Or makes her click on.

Then he escaped out to the main menu and was just watching that, so I turned it off and gave him his dinner :o I think we’re going to be watching SOMETHING after dinner. Kiir’s playing one of her new xmas games now, for instance

Posted in: DK by attriel /
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