Teancom's Fingers

March 2007

Our little buddy has been sucking on his fingers since he was 2 days old.  Rob wasn't a fan of that, but you can't control little ones!  So he sucked on those fingers and was SO happy.  I think sucking on his fingers (while also rubbing his ears - it had to include the ear rub!) was his favorite thing to do in the whole world.  Fortunately he is also a very amiable child who aims to please.  So we slowly weaned him off those trusty fingers.  He couldn't do it in public places.  Then only in his bed.  Then only in his bed AND at bedtime.  He was not happy with all these changes, but his inability to break rules kept him on the straight and narrow.  He never once cheated.

Aug. 2007

This habit of his has had some negative consequences for him, though.  For many years, his hands have become painfully dry during the winters.  I realized pretty quickly that it was because he sucks on his fingers for half the night.  We bought stronger and stronger lotion for him, but alas, nothing helped much.  His fingers still cracked and bled everyday for months.  This last year, his hands became scarred.  If you looked close, you could still see the discoloration through the Fall months!

March 2008

So when it started getting colder and drier in late November-ish, Tank started complaining about his hands.  I had a little talk with him and explained that the only way to stop the pain was to stop sucking on his fingers.  He listened and then we dropped it.  Those fingers are his friends in a way that I don't understand.  I don't want to force him to stop:  There are lots of things that aren't the best for me that I don't want to give up.

Jan. 2009

So imagine my shock and surprise when just a few weeks ago, during a long and boring car ride, I suggested that Tank could suck on his fingers if he was bored, and he said to me, "No."  That boy has NEVER turned down an opportunity to suck on those delicious fingers.  I asked him why and he said, "I don't want to."  Later on, I asked to look at his hands (staying on top of lotion application has been a winter ritual for years), and they looked great.  I told him so and he said, "It's because I stopped sucking my fingers, Mom."

Aug. 2009 - he'd been stung by a bee

WHAT?!

I was amazed and so, so proud.  He was able to see the long-term benefits, decide that it was worth it to stop a nearly 8 year long habit, and then he did it!  Do you know how hard that is to do?!  And he just quietly, happily, did it.  All on his own.

Those are the best parenting moments:  When your kids do all the work, and you get to just celebrate with them.  Happy day!

May 2010

FYI:  If you're in need of great lotion, try out Burt's Bees Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Creme.  Great stuff!

Christmas!

The tree went up, and happily Rob found the PERFECT spot for it.  Finally.  It only took us 9 years of living in the same exact house to figure it out.

We didn't get a good picture of it, but you can kind of see it in this one taken Christmas morning:

It's in front of the archway.  When Rob suggested that spot, I was skeptical.  Take away the beautiful archway that we just uncovered?  No way!  But it was GENIUS.  Every morning I got to walk out of my bedroom and immediately see a Christmas tree.  What?!  I loved it.

Some Christmas picture love:

That's the old wheelbarrow that Rob got from his Grandma when he was like 6.  I know a guy, and he re-did it.  This is what it used to look like:

Isn't that amazing?!  I LOVE the results.

New pajamas!  The kids are getting so old.  Miciah and Elijah opted to pick their own this year.

Miciah made this marble course for the boys.  It's SO cool.

And while these aren't formal pictures of Before and After house projects (trust me, there will be those - probably after all the home projects are done (are they ever done) come March-ish), doesn't the new carpet look great?!  We paid extra for the top quality pad and super crazy soft carpet that I would like to sleep on.  Worth it.  Our house is small enough that re-carpeting the whole thing really wasn't much of an expense.  One more reason to love a tiny house.

I'm super excited that this is the last year of the Santa Claus thing.  I mean, we'll always have Santa in our lives, but not like this, with the kids thinking Santa is maybe a real person.  I'm happy to be done with it.  I wasn't raised with Santa, so I think it's a strange tradition that's slightly condescending and deceptive.  I've learned to love the Santa that Rob has chosen to give our kids.  I've come to think that Santa Claus is a gift.  I should write about it, actually, because it's been an interesting journey, learning to love Santa Claus.  I even dreamt about him.  Anyways.  ...  That is my Christmas gift to myself next year:  Being done with Santa Claus.

A funny Christmas story:
Elijah really wanted this game called Lazer Maze.  We told the kids to not expect too much above and beyond our homemade gifts, but that they would likely get one or two things, so they needed to choose carefully.  Also, I told them it needed to be some sort of educational type toy.  Cause we're nerds like that.  Elijah picked out Lazer Maze.

It was out of stock everywhere we looked, on-line and off, not to be back in stock until March (birthday gift?).  At one of the websites where it was miraculously still available, it was selling for almost $100!  That's crazy talk.  It's a $20 game.  So we had to tell him on Christmas morning what happened, why he didn't get the one game he wanted, and how we would get it for him when it was available.  He was a little sad, but understanding.

The funny part is what follows:  We skyped with Rob's parents on Christmas afternoon.  Rob's sister was there, visiting from Utah, and she had picked out a single gift for each of her kids.  Each of the kids showed us what they got, and when it was the 11-year-old boy's turn, he said, "I got this weird game called Lazer Maze."  We just started laughing.  Chiara had found the last game available at an educational toy store, and bought it on a whim.  Ha!

Sometimes life is like that, right?