How its going

When we were in Ohio, Lori came down with the flu (H1N1 flu to be exact) and upon our return, Ken got it. He's been out of comission all last week and until last weekend wasn't able to touch or come near Kieran or I. He's fine now, starting to mend. I'm travelling for work this week, whirlwind tour of Chicago, and Ken's getting to do the Dad & Kieran thing.

We've had our house shown a decent amount and from the information our realtor sends, a lot of houses are selling in our neighborhood. If showings drop off then we'll have to go from there, but for now, woo hoo for us.

Kieran is doing OK, he had a great few nights after coming back from Ohio and then started something that I'm hoping will stop soon. He's waking up at 4 AM and crawling into bed with us. I don't know if the house was just too cold for him (our house is much colder because the house next door is open to the elements while they work on it) or if he just woke up. He'll curl up with us for about an hour and then be wide awake at 5. Yeah, so not me. I'm actually excited to be away from home tonight just to get one night of uninterrupted sleep. Sad, isn't it?

He's a little hit or miss on being nice to his friends (pun intented, just becase I love you Ken). He's still hitting and kicking though not as much and not as often as before. We've started a sticker chart for good behavior and he understands it a little bit. If he gets 20 stickers in a week he can pick from the bag of mystery each week. Everything is simple "No hitting", "Feed Ochi", etc. and we review it every night during dinner. He tatles on himself which is kind of funny. Yesterday, for example, I was told that he hit one of his friends, but no kicking. At dinner he said he had kicked one of his friends and he wouldn't get a sticker because of it.

That's about it. Hopefully while I'm gone Ken will find the cable for our new camera and we can post crazy amounts of photos. (hint hint). Love to all, blog again sometime...

On Our Way

House goes up on the market tomorrow. We'll be on our way to Ohio at that point, Ken & I are keeping our fingers crossed on what we might be able to get.

Kieran continues to be amazing, wonderful and full of himself. I'm trying to say no to him more often simply so he does not always get his way. He's becoming a bit too bossy for my taste, though he will always change a demand into a question if you say "Are you telling or asking?".

OK, just a quick post today, hopefully more photos to come soon. Love to all, and somebody please BUY OUR HOUSE.

Boobies, Batman and Behaving

So, we're apparently at that stage where Kieran is fascinated by boobies. Yes, I do understand this phase will never end. Kieran continually points at my chest and says "Boobies" making Ken and I snicker as quietly as possible. I'm working with him on what is "fresh" and what is OK. The other night he pointed at my chest and said "One, two. Mommy has two boobies." For a moment I was caught. Do I congratulate him on good counting or talk with him about things that are fresh? (I opted for "good counting!")

While Kieran is all about his Batcave (thanks to Grandma) and loves his Batman jammies, we have had to curtail his cartoon watching. He's been hitting again at school. He had a really bad day earlier this week where he actually kicked another kid who was laying down as he walked by. Ken had a talk with him that night and told him that if Ken heard that he was hitting at school again that he would not be able to watch Batman again for a long time. The next day Kieran hit another kid on the back with a plastic peach. Ken told him no more Batman for awhile. He does understand even if he doesn't like it. I think maybe its OK to play with the figurines but not sure he understands the difference between defending yourself (what Batman does in the cartoons) and just hitting people.

Last night was the first night in a LONG LONG time that Kieran went to bed without coming out of his room again. I'm not sure what we did differently but I'm hoping we can repeat it. Ken & I are also going to start with a star chart for small chores and behaving well. Enough stickers will get him selected treats (going to the Science Center, maybe a Bag of Mystery with stuff from the dollar store, who knows, we'll think of something). As he grows older (OMG he's nearly 3) and understands more, I want to be sure he contributes around the house. He can help me pack his bag a little bit. Yesterday he asked "Mommy, did you pack my fruit strip?" I had been forgetting to pack it every other day (FYI, that day I had forgotten). Anyway, I'm thinking that with a little help from me, he can pack his own lunches and do small things like feed Ochi. We'll see how it goes. I'm really excited about it. OK, back to work. Love to all.