At 26 weeks pregnant I started this blog for my son Rooney. The plan was to document feelings, body changes and eventually to share pictures of our son with friends and family. 4 years later, with the addition of Rooney's little sister, Ailbe, we are now sharing the lives of our 2 kiddos. I'm not sure how long this blog will go on for but as long as people are reading we'll keep posting.
(In this picture Rooney is creating a visual representation of just how high those bouncers are)
Rooney and I are busy everyday. We have tons of fun together and get to do some pretty cools things. However, since Mike works during the week and Roon and I are off doing our thing the weekends are generally spent doing things that need to get done (i.e. chores). We would be very hard pressed to call the weekends family time so we really felt we needed a day to do something fun as a family. So of course Rooney and I took Daddy to our most favorite place...The Bouncy Place! Woo hoo!
We really had a great time and it was so fun for Rooney to show Dad the ropes and show off all his new climbing skills. Now that we have gone a few times Rooney can climb almost all the bouncers by himself and is even learning how to use a rope to pull himself up.
Rooney enjoys this place so much that frequently when it is time to leave I am chasing after him with one shoe on because he keeps trying to jump back on the bouncers! Scoundrel. Sometimes, when he's down for a nap, I can hear him reminiscing with Cheesie about it. All details are not clear but he can say "The Bouncy Place" like they were his first word(s).
We had such a fun day with Dad we can't wait for him to play hookie again!
This will just be a short post to showcase a few new things that Rooney has learned to do. The first is a sweet little video that I was able to take on the 1st try. Over the last couple of weeks Rooney has fallen in love with the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. I had never heard of this book before Rooney, but since having Roon I have read in several places that it is a classic. I purchased it after Christmas and up until a few weeks ago it sat on his bookshelf for quite awhile. While looking for another book to add to his nightly reading list I ran across it, saw that it was short and it became a winner! It's a silly book that really doesn't have much meaning but it talks about/uses the letters of the alphabet and it seems to help kids because familiar with the letter and the upper and lower case versions. Since reading the book Rooney can now recite his ABC's because we sing them twice every time we read the book. With no further adieu, here is Rooney singing his ABC's:
Rooney is becoming such a big boy now. He is learning his alphabet, sitting on the potty (occasionally), learning to write (here's a picture of his first letter...big, fat "W". He told me that was a "W", I didn't just circle a squiggle) and learning to dress himself. In the following pictures Rooney put his own pants back on after sitting on the potty. He got them all the way on but maybe you can figure out what went wrong...
Keep looking...
Looks like a Full Roon tonight...oops...I mean Moon!
As you may remember I have written briefly about issues we've had with Rooney hitting/pushing other kids. Since he has started really talking we don't have as many problems but there are still times when his best communication tool is a foot to someones face. As you can imagine that does not go over very well.
For awhile there it seemed Rooney was constantly in a time out at indoor playground or we were leaving because it was just too much. I started to realize that 1. he's a toddler and he is getting frustrated and cannot express himself 2. he's a boy and he needs to be more physical 3. that he was generally not being malicious and that all these time outs were really just for the benefit of the other parent. It seemed to make the victim's parent feel better and I decided I am not punishing my child to make someone else feel better. Rooney will still get an occasional timeout (although almost never at home) but now it is for reasons such as blatant disobeying and outright malicious behavior.
Now I am focusing on trying to teach him empathy and show him the consequences of his actions. For instance, if he pushes down a kid who he thinks is trying to get a toy he's playing with, and that kid gets hurt, I want him to see that his action of pushing and knocking that kid over hurt the other kid. I know that his intent was not to hurt the other kid but was trying to get that kid away from him. I also know that he doesn't really get that he hurt them yet but I think he is starting to. He is saying "No" more now or "Get Out" (which he picked up from the dogs). In addition to being able to verbalize his desires better we are finding a way for Roon to verbalize his emotions as well.
I think my sister started this and it seemed like a great idea to me. She was doing different faces with Rooney. Happy Face, Sad Face, Mad Face etc. While doing the faces Roonster really reacted to them and was upset when Annie did the Sad Face. Now Rooney will tell me if he has a Sad Face or a Happy Face. After being hurt and had been crying he will often tell me "All done Sad Face. All done crying" and then he will be back to his usual happy self. I love this! I really think it is a great way for him to express that how he is/was feeling and that he can decide/verbalize when he is done. I have also been using this to let Rooney know if he is doing something that is upsetting me. I can tell him that he is giving me a Mad Face. He tells me "No, Sad Face". It seems he knows that Mad is the extreme and it is better if I just get a sad face. Generally he stops doing whatever it is though regardless if I have a Mad Face or just a Sad Face.
Sometimes we just use the faces as a game. He really enjoys doing the Happy Face and seems to excel at that one. I think because he is generally a pretty happy kid and it is hard for him not to smile. Below is Rooney making all his faces for me.
No fooling around. Rooney's got to get on the dance floor
Beside being in touch with his emotions now Rooney is also grasping his artistic side. As you've seen in previous videos Rooney can really cut a rug. In this latest video Rooney now has a dance partner, Kaibre.
