All Gideon All the Time

This is the "eyeball book" where we count down dinosaurs from 10 to 1. Gideon LOVES to be read to.

He's also gotten better about bedtime. We can rock him and read to him, then tuck him in. He often asks for a song. We pray with him at night. We have to stay nearby where he can see us if he looks around. If we leave, he will get up and follow us. He is currently sleeping in the "bonus room" - a little pass through room the size of a walk-in closet. There is about 2 feet of walking space between his bed and dresser, which face each other.

 He sometimes still wakes up screaming, but it’s less and less often. This usually just happens at naptime. During the night if he wakes up, he just climbs into our bed via the chaise lounge.

Gideon thinks he can fit in anything. (Natalie did when she was two also.)

Gideon has recently decided he's not afraid of baths, so we have shower or bath as an option now.

 Monday is Park Day. We walk there (about 30 minutes), play for an hour (hope some friends or strangers show up to play), and then walk home (about 30 minutes). It's an hour or more of PE minutes for Carolyn. It's social time and active time for Gideon.

 One of the first park days, he couldn't wait on science to end for naptime, so he just fell asleep playing in the den.

Gideon loves everything cars and trucks. This showed up behind the church parking lot last month and Gideon had to go see it!

He also likes tools.

He’s in this new phase of “Mommy do it” where he only wants things done by Mommy. We try to indulge him, but sometimes, he just has to hear “no”. I often do read to him for bedtime and naptime, but sometimes Daddy reads to him. (He used to be such a daddy's boy. I hope it's a phase.)

When he's not being cute and smart, he's exploring. It's easy to call it that when it's not in the middle of the disaster. My entire liter of water got dumped on the bed for fun. We got to bed late as we had to wait on the mattress cover to dry.

Baby powder and bathrooms have always fascinated my children.

I'm not sure because I might be looking back through rose colored glasses, but I'm pretty sure no one loved the bathroom as much as Gideon. We have found him standing in the toilet, playing in the toilet, and dipping a graham cracker in the toilet. (We tried to stop him from eating it, and we almost did. But he licked it.)

His tantrums really aren’t improving significantly, but his potty training is. He basically refused in the summer when I was finally ready to help him learn (this skill he started in January on his own). Now that school’s back, he’s ready to try again. (Of course) I’m not one to take a child 20 times a day and offer juice to increase need and get it done in 3 days. 

When he asks, I help him go. When it’s convenient (first thing of the morning, right before bath or sleeping, etc), I offer. Otherwise, I don’t bother. Some days he goes several times. Some days, once. If he would wear a pullup, I might offer more, but he only wants to wear a diaper. He can open the toilet and climb up unassisted and hold on without falling it. He cannot get his shorts up/down, take the diaper off (and definitely not put it back on!), nor can he wash his hands properly. We’ve been working on this since January, and he still can’t remember the order or what to do. (I chant, “Water, soap, ABCs, …[sing]) He still grabs the soap first and forgets the water, or gets distracted and never rubs his hands together and just splashes in the dirty water, or uses 5 pumps of soap until I yell to stop pumping! For such a smart kid, I don’t understand why hygiene method is so hard to remember??!?

Potty training can get more serious when he’s learned to wash hands properly and pull off the shorts without help!

 He likes to "help me" do laundry. I hand him little bit of clothing to load in with me. He also likes to unload the dryer into the basket.

Once a week he gets a coloring sheet with the letter of the week.

Gideon's food list is very short. Chicken nuggets (specifically the dinosaur shaped nuggets) are near the top of the list. We try to estimate the amount of ketchup he will need because when he is finished the nuggets, any remaining ketchup will be scooped out with fingers and consumed...until we catch him and take the ketchup away.

I love little jon-jons on little boys. (Rob's family got some for me at the annual children's consignment sale. I was sick and slept most of the weekend.)

My other kids learned their days of the week slowly over time as we had a regular schedule, so I'm trying to make some time to be the mom for Gideon I was for the others. Sometimes he just gets dragged through whatever is on the agenda for everyone else though.

Preschool activity
Gideon attends a preschool class at the co-op Carolyn attends. (I teach the music hour. Another mom teaches the hands on hour. Gideon was digging out bugs from the web. The theme was "Itsy Bitsy Spider" this week.)

We don't like yucky bugs, but we do like butterflies. The twins have been studying them at school and presenting on them, so Gideon has heard about butterflies a lot lately. He was excited to find this one climbing up our screen door.

We have also tried out story time at the library. Preschool was hard enough; we are still trying to learn how to sit and listen or get up and move with the group. So far, we have only accomplished not climbing on the tables. Story time was worse. We spent most of it outside waiting on him to stop pitching a tantrum. (He was running around wild, and on our way out - me hauling him like a kicking football - he kicked hard and lost both rainboots. One went flying and landing roughly in another mom's lap.) After the running, anger at mom for being restrictive, the kicked lady, the tantrum outside, Gideon did calm down and go back in, apologize to the lady, and take his seat in time for bubbles.)

The puzzles are his favorite part about the library after the books. (I like that he gets weekly puzzle time, and I don't have to keep up with pieces at home.) :)

Oh boy, TWO is an adventurous year. I think we'll survive it.

Gideon quotes to lighten your day:

Gideon said in the car seat one day, "I don't eat salad" then "I don't eat leaves"

Note: he's been going to sleep without pacifier and doesn't hold our ears anymore. He now gets into his bed after books and prayer (and reminds me to stay in the red rocking chair near his bed).

"I have sad in my eye"
(He either meant tears or just sadness. Post fight with Alee.)

He declared his love for Mom and then Dad. Do you love Alee? (After same fight)
" I love both everybody."

Gideon: they have to get baptized
Carolyn: they have to...? They are cars...?
Gideon (insistently): thEy haVe to geT baPtiSed
Carolyn: ...okay then

Natalie: What did you do today?
Gideon: "I make a mess"

(About Seth's hair cut)
"It's man hair"

I convinced Gideon to let Rob take him to the bathroom at the church building (not at Sunday meetings) by telling him it would be cool to use the "man potty". It was an experience! haha
Rob was "done" with that activity and took Gideon directly to the van after the bathroom. Gideon did successfully stand up to use the bathroom for the first time ever! (He stood on the rim of the bowl.) HOWEVER, after the hand washing (because he can't do it independently), he went to the urinal that he really wanted to try out, picked up the blue disc inside it, and squeezed it...then "finger painted" the blue dye on the urinal. LOL
I wish I could have gotten a video of Rob telling us that story in full detail.

After posting this, I must add one more Gideon Quote:
Rob gave him a big marshmallow. We had already given him one while Rob was taking a nap. Gideon asked when he brought us the bag of big marshmallows "Can I have just one?" So we gave him "just one." He wanted more, but we had agreed just one. So, when he brought Rob the bag a while later, and Rob gave him one too, Gideon got the biggest grin, and with squinted eyes announced, "I love sugar!"