And let me tell you... I could get really used to this!
Even though there's always a little drama (and some time outs too!) The other day I snuck upstairs for just a moment to get something and he got really quiet downstairs. I thought I heard water running, but I knew my dishwasher was running so I didn't think much of it. Pretty soon I hear footsteps running upstairs and a little voice "Mommy! Mommy!" He came over to me like this... soaking wet, with a huge grin on his face. He just giggled and smiled. I asked him why he was all wet, before I connected the fact that I heard water running. I immediately rushed downstairs to find the bathroom looking like there had been a water fight. It was splashed everywhere, all over the walls, mirror, floor, etc. Andrew thought it was quite funny. All I could think of was that I just can't take my eyes off this kid for 2 seconds! Ha! His excuse was that he was "washing" his Peter Pan toy. Now how can you argue with that?
This day I was cleaning up dishes and not paying much attention to what he was doing (but I was right near him! Ha!) Next thing I know, he's dragging his stuffed animals from upstairs and surrounding them around a pretend "cake" he made out of his Yo Gabba Gabba hat. He informed me that it was monkey's birthday and he was very excited. All of monkey's "friends" were eating cake!
I asked him how old monkey was and he said "He's one, and two!" After they ate cake, they opened presents. I just couldn't help but think how imaginative this was... I just had to stop and take his picture! He is so good at pretending and using his imagination when he plays. It is fun for me to watch. I have to remind myself to stop what I'm doing sometimes and just pay attention to the things that he is doing and learning. If you blink, you just might miss it. I put the dishes down and stopped to join the party! And it was totally worth it.
Love this picture of Andrew's classic "stinker face." We get this look several times throughout the day. Even the lady at Great Clips got this look when she cut his hair last week. Then it was followed by "You're a mean lady!" Yeah, I wanted to crawl under the chair. He's been pretty fiesty since his surgery. His behavior has taken a toll on this mama! But we are working hard on it, and he's getting much better. Going to preschool a couple times a week has helped him get back into the routine of "following directions" again! Ha!
Andrew is holding "mean guy," which he named so cleverly. He is the villain from the movie The Incredibles. Andrew is obsessed with this movie. I have been on Ebay finding McDonalds toys to bribe him to go potty. Because, you know, we had to potty train him all over again after this last surgery. It has not been fun. But he wanted "mean guy" most of all (after he saw it online) so I ordered the whole set and told him he had to wait until it came in the mail. He did go number two on the potty shortly after and said "Mommy! Mommy! I did it! I went poop on the potty and now I can get mean guy!" I couldn't help but chuckle, to which he responded, "YEAH! I CAN!" Like my laugh meant that it was all a big joke. Ha! I had to remind him he had to wait for it to come in the mail. And let me tell you, when it arrived, we had one extremely excited little man!
Little does he know, I ordered the whole set and I'm so glad I did. Now we've got the potty training "round 2" back under control, I knew it was time to start tackling the sleeping in our own bed at night problem.
So putting on my teacher hat, I came up with this idea. I just made a little chart like this. The first night I thought he needed some instant gratification so I let him get a toy after one night of sleep in his own bed. I set Mrs. Incredible out up high on his shelf and showed her to him before bed. He wanted her right away (of course), but a grin spread across his face when I told him he could get her in the morning if he stayed in his own bed. Let me tell you...it worked like a charm. Now he has to sleep two nights in a row before getting the next toy. Then we'll move to every 3 nights (because let's face it, I'm not going to be buying McDonald's toys on Ebay for the rest of my life!) This morning we had some tears when he picked out his sticker and didn't get a prize. I had to remind him he has to do it TWO times now, because he's a big boy. So in the morning if our lucky streak continues, Mr. Incredible will be making his appearance. And since we've had a good night's sleep the past couple nights, Craig and I are feeling so refreshed and well rested it is unbelieveable! I am just praying it continues, and if it does...I'll be saying I can't believe it was that easy. But I'm not going to speak too soon just yet.
Something else fun came in the mail for mama the other day! Our very first BLOG book, hard copy! I ordered it from blog2print.com. I just love it so much.
It was my plan all along to print this blog so we can always treasure it, and pass it down through our family. I have a little journal of my mom's that she kept when she was pregnant with me and I always loved reading it when I was a little girl. It was one of my favorite bedtime stories. I pray that this scrapbook of our memories will be bedtime stories for our kids for years to come. It is just a beautiful way to cherish our families journey. (For those bloggers who want more info--there is one downside, it only holds a certain amount of photos, which for me, is a problem! Ha! So I had to split a year in half or so and get two books in one year. My original plan was to print one off per year. But apparently I take too many photos! Ha!)
An onto the heart news from Andrew's cardiology appointment last week... everything looked great! We didn't have an ultrasound since he just had one before coming home. Dr. M said that ultrasound looked great and he said he was "pleasantly surprised" with how the surgery went and the pressures his heart showed afterwards. I was surprised to hear this, since we were never really told anything in Iowa City as to how his pressures were coming out of surgery. I understood that we would know more over time, as the PA's are now bigger and more blood flow can get through to the lungs. But I knew there had to be an initial "reading" coming out of surgery. I guess they didn't want to tell us to get our hopes up? I don't know. I do know things can change. As the heart mom of a four year old, we've definitely had our share of ups and downs on this roller coaster. But seriously? Sometimes you need to hear something positive to shed some light on a dark situation. So Dr. M did just that for us. He said it gives us reason to be very optimistic that things will continue to improve over time. So there you go. The good news we've prayed so hard for. Could it change? Yes.
But for now, we cling to that hope.
"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him." Psalm 62:5
