Stubborn Standoff

Tyler VS. Dallas

Who will win the battle of wills?

Since birth we have had a stubborn and FIESTY little toot. He has fought to no end. As he has gotten older his stubborn ways have not changed. In fact they have put us to the test more times than I care to count ( or recall OR blog for that matter) but this one was kind of funny. ( Probably because it had nothing to do with me!)

Since Tyler was little we have FOUGHT to get him to eat. In general it turns into something that resembles a Chuck- a - rama and me be being a short order cook. I have, at times, made him 4 different things, all of which goes to waste. He tends to eat in front of the TV and eat really bad food because he won't eat anything else.

Since we have decided that for the school year we were going to try extra hard to sit down and eat. We made a menu and all things this week are items that he will eat. We aren't sure if he will eat them together but on those days cooking some chicken nuggets is not a big deal.

Tonight I made baked ziti. Super easy, yummy and all things he will eat. (Noodles and cheese!) We had corn on the cob which he loves and applesauce. Pretty well balanced if you ask me.

Ty is learning ( yes I know a little late!) to eat on his own but his hands don't rotate correctly. He is also getting a crash course in drinking from an open cup. ( generally we have straws in this house!)

We sit down to dinner and Dallas brings over the garlic bread. Ty eats that and applesauce and won't touch anything else. I offer it from my plate which generally does the trick. It didn't work. Dallas eats his meal and encourages Tyler to eat. I finish my meal and encourage Tyler to eat.

( don't judge my kitchen. My house keeping skills are NOT up to par but are not a hoarder house yet! and YES that is a shot glass. He is learning to drink from a cup)

NOTHING is working so we start taking away the things he LIKES in an effort to get him to TRY the main dish. No more drinks or bread till he has ONE BITE!

He was so upset.

He would reach for me because he figured I would " Save" him from the wrath of Daddy. I was NOT getting involved. I would have just offered him some oatmeal and be done with it. BUT, daddy was having none of it.

The face off started. Dallas in his chair armed with an IPhone to pass the time. Tyler on his chair with his head down being sad.

I went about my mother/maid business and did the dishes and they sat.

After Ty would reach out for me to save him I finally decided I needed to walk away. 25 minutes into it I decided pictures would be great!! They sat for another 15 after that.

I came up stairs to wait out the fight. I was SURE D would not cave.

A few minutes later I hear T and D coming up the stairs. Tyler in tears and his dad ALMOST in tears. You see, D is a softy for all things T. He can't STAND the idea that Ty is upset. Tyler is not allowed to play or splash in the water and taking his medicine on a somewhat empty tummy means faster action. The worst punishment, the Mickey Mouse Movie he was going to watch all cuddled up in my bed was canceled.

We got his bed stuff ready and Dallas, the softy, offered 2 books to be read before we went to bed.

So the winner.............................

Tyler!

Like always!

When you are spoiled and as amazing as he is, ( oh and the ONLY kid in the house) one can't help but see how stubborn he is and smile. It is why he is here with us!

PS. His grandfather was the MOST stubborn man I have ever met in my LIFE. I am SURE it skipped a generation from my mom because I am not stubborn.

Genetics don't lie. D and T might look alike but Tyler is a LOT more stubborn

"They" Say kid wont starve themselves

We have all heard the saying " They say" or "They" do this or I have heard "they" say this... who exactly is this THEY!

Well "They" say that kid won't starve themselves. I am telling you "THEY" are wrong. As previously posted Tyler is a VERY VERY picky eater. Since he was little he has had eating problems and gaining weight has always been an issue. We brought home our 40 week gestation baby at almost 5 pounds. He is almost 5 and dropped to 28 pounds (AGAIN) after his tonsil surgery. He eats about 5 things regularly. He doesn't really feed himself. ( Though yesterday he did feed himself applesauce and ketchup) He also takes a REALLY long time to eat. Like over 30 minutes. For those who are not aware after 30 minutes they start burning calories when eating.

Because he is constantly moving and his muscles are tight he tends to burn calories more than a typical kid. So ( sadly) when he does eat because he takes so long it burns off faster. He is also not a fan of many fruits or veggies and due to texture issues he won't drink juice. He drinks soda ( GASP!!! I KNOW!) He hasn't had milk in over a year and juice. Um no.

When we were introducing solids we were power packing and adding calories so we were adding things like Butter, fat and calories. Sure makes sweet potatoes YUMMY when it is packed with fat. When it isn't pack with fat he won't touch it.

So, we hear they won't starve themselves and today ( for the millionth time) we put his hunger to the test. He didn't ask for lunch so I didn't give it to him. I offered. He said no on everything. I ate and offered again.

We had to run to home depot ( my new favorite store) and he was SO stinking crabby. He was hungry. I knew he was hungry. I asked him if he wanted anything to eat. He said no. We stopped for a yummy crushed ice Cherry coke ( cause who doesn't' want one of those) and he still said he didn't want anything.

A HUGE meltdown in the driveway and I asked AGAIN if he was hungry. He said no. I made him a pizza. Still crabby and sad but he is eating it. ( and chips but food is food.... isn't that what "they" say!)

Ty is not as bad as other kids. Sometimes he eats and eats and never stops. Or he eats when he is bored. Probably not the best combination. But for sure I think the trigger to say he is hungry is not quite right.

So I don't care what "THEY" say. I am thinking "they" are wrong.

Valentines And Preschool

Tyler is a lucky kid! He gets to have 2 parties for school. You see there are 2 sessions on the special people preschool. Depending on what you qualify for and need depends on when you go. A majority go 2 days a weeks ( generally Tuesday/ Thursday because those are speech days) But our luck and incredibly handsome MIRACLE and HERO goes to ALL 4. He gets to experience PT, OT, Speech, adaptive PT and vision. So every single person who comes to their class for extra therapy is there for Tyler. So really the other kids are getting MORE for the time :) So Our kid is REALLY delayed that we have him chuck full of people to *help* him be better. And all the other kids benefit to!

Anyway, valentines is coming up so the Tues/Thurs class is having their party and on Friday the Wed/Fri. are having theirs. We belong to both so double team the valentines.

We decided to do something homemade along with the cards so we made red rice krispie treats shaped as hearts.

In pictures :

I make my rice treats in the Microwave instead of my mom's way of on the stove. There are several reasons. One, it takes longer and 2 I don't know how to do it that way without burning something. 2-3 minutes in the microwave with half a stick of butter and a bag of marshmallows. Stir after 2 minutes or so and put it back in for the remainder of the time. It will be boiling. I PAM ( she is my best friend) spray my spatula so it doesn't stick to anything. Add your red food coloring to the marshmallows to your liking.

Add six cups of Rice krispies to your bowl and mix, mix, mix till it is done.

Put in a MEDIUM sized cake pan. Medium because the regular size makes the treats a little thin and who wants to eat thin when you can eat YUMMY more. I chose the dark red cutter because it is metal and I used Pam once again to help out! ( Pam and I are FRIENDS!)

I put them on a clean pan to keep them out of the way and allow them to get hard. Only Rice Krispie with JUST butter and marshmallows will harden a little. I have another recipe that I will be making tomorrow for the rest of the family that have Peanut Butter in it. School isn't the safest place for PB!

I found these amazingly cute zip lock baggies at the dollar store all ready decorated with the cute hearts. It saved me some time by having to tie a ribbon and make a label. So in they went. One batch using the medium pan made about 17 hearts. Larger cutters only yield about 8.

And the end result is enough for both classes. We sent off Max and Morgan's but they didn't get the rice treats ( they got scrumptious other stuff) and we will have to see if we can deliver the rest. It might be nice to have Tyler give service by giving to others.

So that is our Valentine day! What did you do? We also have cute mickey mouse cards coming.. So beware!!!!!

*For the Labrum's in my hormonal state of being I sent 2 packages on purpose but I may not have gotten the right name on the package. They are the same but a Fast Mickey card swap might be in order... please forgive me.*

Yes, he is ok!

Whenever there is a surgery and his little brain is involved I always wonder about what personality changes or "damage" is or has been done. If this is the time that we will see a change in personality.

Well, to put every one's worries at ease... Ty is doing great.

Here are some photos of the last few days. It is easier viewed than to find words.

This is Ty the morning after we got home. He had a good night in his own bed and woke up a little sore but happy. I love his face!

We have found him on the couch a lot. He is a monkey and climbs up on it. But he does sit down and just hang. It is so cute to come in on him just sitting and singing.

After we got home from Therapy today Ty was in singing songs with his dad. Seriously, how could you not fall in love with this face.

He has not let that balloon out of his site He loves it.

What kid doesn't love Thomas. Though he doesn't love him as much as Barney, Thomas is a new fixture in our house.

Even Thomas needs kisses.

A few exciting things that we have noticed. First is his eating. He has increased his appetite ten fold. it has slowed down a lot but when he is hungry he is HUNGRY right now. Just like he was a baby. Like zero to STARVING.

Second, is his babbling and signing. Ty signed sleep and pointed to a blanket in Dallas car today when he was upset. He pointed to the store we were at and signed food. He ate when we got in there as well. He babbles all day and he sings so much. Meaning he actually tries and mimics the sounds that they make and if he can't get them just right he makes sounds that sound like the sound. ( that is a lot of the word sound.. but it I hope it makes sense.)

We are very proud of him and very proud of how brave he is.

Honestly, Miracles Happen....

The Loner

I often wonder what is going on the head of my 3 year old. There is no words that come out of his mouth ( at least not understandable ones) yet he has so much to say. He has an opinion of what he wants but can't tell me what it is. He even has ideas of what he wants to do but can't tell me.

But he can show me.

Since he has a mind of his own he sometimes gets to run the house. I try to let him have access to outside and he LOVES to open the door and to get in and out on his own. If he wants me to come with him he comes over and takes me by the hand and points and off we go.

On Thursday he was in one of those busy boy moods. He wanted outside. He wanted to play.

It got quiet as I was going about my mom business and this is what I saw :

Notice that he has on no shoes. Well he doesn't like shoes. And even though we have rocks ( and no grass, like everyone in Arizona) he doesn't seem to care.

An idea of how far he got out there :

Yep. He scooted on his little but and used his BARE FEET.

All so he could do this:

THROW ROCKS!

At the end of the day he gets to relax, eat some cheetos and sit in his chair.

All in the day of the lone rock thrower.