July's Account Thus Far

At the end of June, Emily and the cousins arrived. They stayed until after Em's birthday (the fourth). We spent some part of each day with them. The cousins swam, went to McWane Center, ate meals together, and went to the zoo. It was a lot of fun and nice for the boys to have something to do each day.

Jonathan got strep the weekend of the fourth. Jonathan is often sick and at inconvenient times. We were disappointed. While he was contagious we took turns staying home with him and sending the rest of the family to hang with the cousins and grandparents. On Saturday I thought I might have strep so I went to the Doc in the Box and got a prescription. I have already had it twice this year (at the same times Jono has had it) and didn't need it again.


The next week I was on the phone with my mom. I walked into our bedroom and found pills everywhere. Jonathan had climbed onto our toilet, opened the medicine cabinet, and opened pill bottles (supposedly with childproof caps). He threw the contents everywhere. The pills were Tylenol and ibuprofen and I could not figure out if he ingested any and how much. So, Poison Control sent us to Children's where Jamie sat with Jono for five hours. Four of the hours he was monitored. Apparently, ingesting too much Tylenol is lethal but it takes four hours to determine the level in your blood. After four hours, they took blood and then took an hour to return to say he had almost no Tylenol in his system (I had seen one chewed up tablet and that must have been the extent to which he consumed any).


Jackson started Gymnastics Camp with his friend, Brooks, last week and finished this week. He had fun but it was tiring. If Jackson had his way, he would stay home and play in the house, in our yard, and with friends. He is a homebody for sure. This week we have nothing to do but pack for the beach next week. I think Jackson could use some down time so we will probably hit the pool some so we aren't scorched at the beach.


Wednesday we see the behavioral psychologist for Jonathan. We hope to gather up all our research and come up with a plan. Keeping up with the Jonster is exhausting. He enters a room, sniffs it out, and typically locates what he shouldn't within seconds - and I am not kidding. It is uncanny how he can find something you never dreamed and use it as ammunition to destroy a room. It must be a gift - one that we don't yet appreciate but are sure there must be some reason for:)... if not just for our sanctification alone. We hope to soon have answers on how to most effectively discipline, help Jackson respond to Jonathan, and how to eliminate these unwanted behaviors. We shall see...


This week Jonathan figured out that he could drag a chair to the fridge depress the water button, flooding the kitchen. I walked into the kitchen to find water everywhere (we have hardwoods in the kitchen). I felt immediate fury and had to calm down. I called Jamie to "talk me down." These are the kinds of things I don't know how to combat. The therapists say to simply put him in time out and to act as if nothing happened. Dealing with Jonathan's aftermaths seems to be revealing, yet again, sides of myself I would rather not see.


Each week gets better with Joel. I am not too tired and Joel is sleeping through the night most nights. If he feeds frequently throughout the day, that usually bodes well for a good night. I am so thankful that he is an easy baby. I thank God for that!


Please pray for us as we try to figure out the best tactics for parenting. One friend mentioned wanting to parent with her heart and not with her flesh. Please pray the same for me!


Julie
juliewarren73@charter.net






Jonathan enjoyed building a fort with Uncle Ryan over the holiday weekend. Is he praying?

Which one is Jackson and which one is Joel? Both of these were taken when they were five weeks old.

Daddy and Joel.

Joel in Jayne's pajamas.


Daddy made a Shrek Pancake Pie on Saturday.

One night, when we checked on the boys before we went to bed, we found Jonathan in Jack's bed. Sometimes Jonathan can't sleep and will cuddle with Jack to calm down.:)

Joel after his bath. Maybe he will be a future Furman Paladin...

Jackson does not like for Joel to cry and has mastered the art of pacifying his brother.

This is Jamie giving Joel a bath in our kitchen sink - he is too big for the bathroom sink. At this point, it would be too awkward to put him in the tub.

Here is Joel "talking"again. With Jonathan, he learned that one key to developing language is to repeat movements and sounds. So, we are in the habit of doing that and you will hear me repeating his sounds.