LAIEN TODAY- BRIGHT, RELIABLE & CURIOUS
It has been fun watching him learn and grow each day. He now talks and I mean TALKS like he is a six year old. He LOVES it too!!! We can pretty much have a five minute conversation until he decides to ignore me because he has said enough or tells me to STOP, SIT & WATCH TV. Ha ha He sure is not afraid to voice out his opinion and say it how it is. I love my boy. As much as I like this kind of personality, I try my very best to teach him that there are border lines and he should never go beyond that. For example, one day he was opening the TV stand cabinets and I said, "Laien, NO NO NO!" (with my pointer out waving it back and forth) Well, Laien is bright as the noon day sun, very observant and has an outstanding memory. So a couple of days later, I went to open the cabinets and he said, "MOM! (with this very loud and stern voice) NO, NO, NO!" (while waving his pointer back and forth at me) How can you keep a straight face from that? I busted out laughing because I thought it was hilarious. But I had to explain to him that mom is in charge and because of that-- mom get's to tell Laien, No No No when he is not supposed to be touching. He kind of got it, I think :/
Here are some of his favorite words/conversations we have:
Me: Laien, are you going to church tomorrow?
Laien: NO!
Me: Why?
Laien: Why?
***Repeats the same question back just to end the conversation. Smart fellah!***
***Repeats the same question back just to end the conversation. Smart fellah!***
NO & I DON'T WANT THIS- he says no and I don't want this even if he wants it. We are working on saying Yes! (He has started saying yes, but pronounces it YAS and Uh Hmm)
When asked: Laien where's Raskullz? An automatic reply of "Raskullz Bad"
Besides talking, he loves to help or maybe more like try out things. He would say, "I try!" every time he sees us doing something that he is curious about. I have been letting him try it out and it has been fun seeing him explore and learn different things. He loves helping me with laundry. He would try to fold his clothes and will put them back in his drawers. I am so happy that he can take responsibility and will get it done when asked to. Oh he thinks its the best chore he gets to do. He definitely got his mother's genes in him because we have the same OCD problem. Everything needs to be straight or folded just right. He will sit there and fold and re-fold until it looks right. I am glad he has my cleaning gene cause I need a helper around this house. We have also discovered that folding is what Laien does when he is tired and ready for bed. Besides doing laundry and folding clothes his other favorite chore is feeding Raskullz.
Folding his clothes!
Putting his clean laundry away :D
He takes good care of his fury brother. Raskullz just
eats...he does not drink water -_-
eats...he does not drink water -_-
He loves helping us cook. And he will not stop
asking, "I try!" until we let him.
BIG BOY STAGE
One of our goal this year was to get rid of the binky. Because he was sick a couple of times in January we ended up holding off on the binky for a few weeks until we were able to discard it. Laien did really good and it was so easy to wean him off. I told him he is a big boy now and he does not need his binky anymore. I told him there were babies that did not have a binky and we needed to share his binky with them. The first night he woke up twice asking for it? And I had to remind him of what we did with it. He said, "Mom, I try and find!" Which was the cutest thing ever as he turned his pillows around looking for it. He went back to bed right after that without it. The next day he asked for it a few times and after each time, I would again remind him where the binky went. He would simply say, "Ok Mom!" and go on with whatever he was doing. That was the last time he asked about it and I was a proud momma. I thought it would be so hard to wean him off. He was 20 months and has used it his whole life. I was so afraid of even trying just thinking that he will be freaking out and it will be difficult to calm him down. He was so attached to that thing! But I am grateful that it was a really smooth transition and went very well. I strongly believe that a big part of it was introducing the situation to him first. A week before we got rid of the binky, I talked about it with Laien. I told him exactly what we had to do and because of that-- when that day came to take it away from him, he was prepared and was already expecting it. I believe that communication is key. And I am not perfect with this. But with Laien, I have been very good with it and it has been a learning experience for myself as well.
GOODBYE BINKY...
I am pretty open with Laien and I do everything with him around. Not that I want to, but with Ethan gone for work at least 2-3 weeks a month, I sometimes need to use the bathroom and still be able to look after him. He enjoys being in the bathroom with me while I do my business and would try and assist me with everything I do. At times it is fun and enjoyable, but of course-- there are times I'm just like REALLY?! Give me some space and privacy. Not possible when you become a mom. Privacy? What is that?! Because he is present all the time I talk to him during these very moments about being big boys and girls and how we need to use the toilet to poop and pee. He would then offer to wipes mommy's but, which I had never nor will I ever let him. But I would let him help by tearing toilet paper for me. It is with these experiences that he is having that Laien decided all on his own yesterday to walk in the bathroom while I was straightening my hair and asked to use the toilet. I thought he needed his diaper changed at first cause he kept telling me mom I poop. He then pointed to the toilet bowl and said he needed to poop. Without any hesitation I put him on the toilet and he happily told me to move and to let him do what he was supposed to be doing. A minute went by and I thought he was probably just sitting there pretending to be mommy. It FINALLY happened...HE DID IT! Laien finally pooped all on his own using the big boy toilet. I was so proud that I had to take a picture and film it all. It was an exciting day for both of us. As I praised him and clapped for him, he was doing the same, shouting 'good job Laien'd!' (He has a thing with past tense forms...yes he adds a 'd' after his name :-))
Now that he has been told he is a big boy, he tries to fulfill that to the best he can. He has been trying out things on his own-- like putting on his clothes all on his own, brushing his teeth, throwing his diaper in the trash, and of course letting me know when he needs to be changed. I told him one day that he needs to be a big boy and let mommy know when he needs his diaper changed so he does not get "awies" on his butt. I told him once and now he makes sure he lets me know every time. Another score!!! And it has been with every thing that I talk to him about. And I rarely have to repeat myself. I do not have to remind him to brush his teeth. He loves doing it and could spend an hour brushing those little cute teeth. And I love watching him :D
Brushing his teeth is a routine and he does such a good job!
Happy Day for us...DAD & MOM were so
proud :D
HE GOTS THE BRAIN
Because it is so obvious that Laien has a very quick and active mind, I thought--why not start teaching him and prepare him for pre-school. We have been learning our alphabets, numbers, different animals, colors, shapes and many more. And he enjoys it for a good 10-20 minutes. So we have at least an hour each day to learn something. We start of by learning something (color, alphabet, etc.), do an activity like craft or paint and then play time. Thanks to Pinterest, I have been able to find a lot of great teaching tools, activities and curriculum to try and use. I have found one on Pinterest that I just love and I am currently using right now. You can check it out here.
Learning the letter "A"
A for Apple
WE love our puzzles. They are expensive as I have been
looking to purchase ABC's & 123's. The one's that
he currently has were all found at yard sales for
maybe a $1 a piece. YES! WE love yard sales.
looking to purchase ABC's & 123's. The one's that
he currently has were all found at yard sales for
maybe a $1 a piece. YES! WE love yard sales.
Learning the color Red & Green
We love Play Doughs, but it
contains wheat :/ His hands
were pretty itchy after. Need some
gluten-free play doughs.
Painting is NOW a favorite as you
can see from that smile & wink :)
Speaking of favorites-- Laien has a few favorites now a days. His top three favorite things to do are:
He roars like a Lion :-0
We love our turtle. He wears diaper too :P
2. Outside!!!- He loves being outside! I am not kidding. I love that he enjoys being outside, except the part when he refuses to come back inside. If he could stay outside whole day, he is a happy kid. We now need to spell it out so that he does not hear that word. Because when he does your done. He is a very persistent boy and he will keep asking. And I am a sucker...I give in pretty quick! And he knows that about mom so I am usually the target :-p
-Outside is fun...but going to the park is even better!
-Picking up rocks is hard work. But it makes us happy :D
"FALL SEVEN TIMES, STAND UP EIGHT"
As active, spirited and developed Laien is...he too has challenges like everybody else. Eight months ago, I blogged about our Eczema Struggles with our very brave young fellah. Well it has been a while and so I thought I'd give just a brief update of where we're at with this never ending illness. On my last post, I blogged about a steroid ointment that our pediatrician prescribed to us and an allergy medication. They have helped a lot when his rashes flares up and are pretty inflamed. The steroid ointment helps clear up the red patches, while the allergy medication helps with the itching. We are so grateful that we were able to find a solution for that part of the eczema. Although these two prescriptions have helped a lot during times when Laien is uncomfortable and irritable, it still comes back and he is still fighting. Hence, the sub heading which best describes how I feel about his eczema. And I am sure Laien feels the same way as I see the frustration in his eyes when we have our bad days.
As great of an obstruction it is to Laien's life, this very miserable illness has not stopped our toddler from growing and exploring life. He is not a QUITTER and I love seeing him persevere through it all. His courage and bravery helps strengthen us as we watch him triumph over this trial he faces. It is during those difficult days when my heart crushes into pieces and at often times feel the need to break down and cry. Instead of letting him see and feel my aching heart, I try my best to shake it off and try to soothe him with my very best. It is a parents worst nightmare to hear their sweet child's crying voice say, "Mom I am itchy and it is awie!" And there's really nothing you can do other than lather him up with the ointments and pray that the allergy medication will kick in and help relief the itch. You probably saw one of his pictures above where he is sleeping with his hands tied. Yes! This is another scene that breaks our heart as he still can't sleep with his hands free. On good days, I let him sleep with his hands free. But most of the time, e is tied up to prevent him from scratching and also for him to get a good and long enough nap or sleep.
The season changing from winter to spring is a bad time of the year. Laien's skin was so dry and the itching was unbearable. He itched all over especially on the creases of his arms and legs. It is at this point where we needed to get back to our "wet wraps". This seems to be the only method that helps with his eczema when it's at its worst. As much work it is for him, his willingness and attitude towards it makes it so easy for the both of us. He thinks putting multiple clothing on is just awesome. If you have not read my post about what wet wraps are, it is no fun. It usually starts of with a 20 minute oatmeal bath. I usually pulse just regular oatmeal in a blender until it is very fine and pour it into the lukewarm water. He soaks for a while in the bathtub and then we lightly tap him down and lather him up with organic coconut oil. Then comes the first layer of damp clothing with a dry footsie over. He thinks it is the coolest thing-- most of the time. But there are days where he is just over it. Those days can be difficult and mommy has to put in all the effort to make it all work. It is challenging and can get pretty frustrating. But after each wet wraps we see amazing results and our boy is happy.
From this....(the pictures are not as clear, but its dry and
there's red patches all over)
Wet Wraps (Such a tough boy)
Clear Skin=Happy Camper
I know now why we decided to name him Laien. Just like the large usually tawny-yellow cat, Lion-- our boy is brave, courageous and has great strength to defeat any obstacle that comes his way. We can see that through his lil' Laien roar and with him fighting this eczema battle. He has endured well and continues to push along no matter how difficult it can be some days. We are proud of him and enjoy every moment with him. He teaches me everyday the importance of prayer and why I need to do it. I am so grateful that he was born into the gospel and already has that desire to live his life how His Heavenly Father wants him to. He loves his Heavenly Father (Lebenly Pah-der- how he pronounces it) and Jesus Christ (G-sis Cry-st). What a joy it is to live life with this angel and to learn and be taught by him.
As Mark Twain once said,
“It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.”
~This defines our roaring Laien~
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IMAGES MAY NOT BE DOWNLOADED, MANIPULATED, OR REPRODUCED WITHOUT PRIOR CONSENT.
THIS IS FOR THE PROTECTION OF ME AND MY FAMILY.
COPYRIGHT IS A LAW.
