I Yuv You-oo Too

July was so much fun!

 

 

Above: Shopping with some friends, Eating a taco while spending time with Daddy (his appetite has been huge this month!), swimming, Captain America time (this costume has gotten a lot of use this month), flour art, chilaxing after swimming, and showing us the marks of his first big bike crash (got up and kept riding right away, as you'll see in the video below).

 

Considering the month's biggest holiday, we decided to work a little on Atticus's patriotism.  Here's his second time, ever, saying the Pledge of Allegiance.  You'll have to forgive me- we don't have a real flag quite yet.  

It's amazing how much he can remember, having only done it a few times!

We celebrated Independence Day with some of our favorite friends.   Highlights of the evening were swimming, eating amazing brownie batter cheesecake, face painting (wish it had been my idea!) and watching a very few small fireworks.  Atticus went back and forth between running away from them to yelling at the fireworks to "Shtop!"

 We went through a similar  tough guy-scared guy routine when we experienced his first thunderstorm.  There wasn't a ton of rain (or thunder, for that matter!) but Atticus was excited and we went outside with his swords to go and hit the lightning and "funder."  This was a step in the right direction, seeing as minutes before he had been worriedly saying, "I want Daddy stop funder."

One thing we have loved this month has been his spontaneous utterances of, "I  yuv you!"  Up until July we'd always have to prompt him.  Often, he'll even skip the initial phrase and go straight to, "I yuv you-oo too!"  Melts our hearts every time!  He is just getting so sweet (most of the time).

In fact, one day we were sitting on the stairs and he wanted to play with my hair and rub my back!  I was nervous, thinking it would be a traumatic experience, but he was very gentle!  So, even with all his roaring and tough guy acts, he's a little sweetheart deep down.

Another sign of his sweetness has been his singing.  I've probably mentioned this plenty, but he is singing and humming to himself all the time!  I love how he'll splice songs together.  Just a few days ago he started singing "Edelweiss," and even sang it to his friend Bowman to help him go to sleep.  Here he is singing "Countin' Sheep" from a Disney lullabye that he likes.

We also started (and abruptly ended!) swim lessons.  The instructor, Heidi, was great, but I'm afraid we overestimated Atticus's readiness.  Basically, he cried every second he was in the water and was saying hundreds of times a day, "I don't want to go to Heidi's house!"  In fact, every time he woke up from a nap he would barricade himself in a corner behind a pillow, trying to convince me we shouldn't go.  So, we completed the week and called it quits.  Maybe he'll be ready next year.

A very visible development this month was his haircut.  Inspired by Dane's sudden decision to shave his head (yes- if Napoleon Dynamite came to mind, you're 100% correct!), Atticus wanted to cut his hair.  There was one condition, however: "All by myself!"

 

He ended up needing a little help, as it happens.  I definitely don't love either haircut, but it is a great way to stay cooler.  Thank goodness hair grows back (at least, Atticus's will! 😉)

We're still not potty training (we just don't think he's ready!) but we did have one day that A went 7 times!  I'm pretty sure it had something to do with the fresh candy I had gotten at a baby shower, ha ha.  Once the candy was gone, so was his desire to be a big boy.

Our baby boy is doing well- we'll get him checked later today, as it so happens.  I could actually see him kicking on July 23 and Atticus and Dane can now feel him kicking, too.  It's so fun to have it feel more real.  Atticus even woke up one morning and said he had seen the baby in his dream (he has the name we've chosen down!)

As per usual, our biggest obstacle this month (especially last week!) was sleep.  Atticus LOVES reading (seriously, he can read the same book again and again 10+ times if you're willing!)  and started getting out of bed to read.  We're talking for 2+hours.  While I love the idea of his loving books, his naps and mood were suffering, so we started problem-solving right away.

We think a large reason for this behavior could be his nighttime fears.  He LOVES the idea of ghosts and monsters (loves to read about them, dress up as ghosts and scare people-- see below) but then... he also worries about them.  He has crazy, vivid dreams (he screams and talks in his sleep fairly often.)  For example, when I went in to check on him after I heard him yell out I heard him sleepily mutter, "I don't like candy canes!"  He was even telling me each morning that an alligator or a crocodile was under his bed for a while there.  And at night he still tells me that he doesn't want a ghost (or a lion, dinosaur, etc.) to come and wake him up.

I'm very open to suggestions on ways to help children with vivid imaginations.  So far, we've got stuffed animals, pictures of family on his wall, and I've even started spraying "monster spray" around his room on especially scared nights, with positive results.  The most helpful tool we've recently started using is Dr. Weissbluth's "Sleep Rules" list,  so we are optimistic that the worst may be over.

There are, of course, sweet moments involving sleep.  One night I could have sworn I heard him praying over his monitor.  My heart melted!  Of course, we've told him many, many times that he can pray and Heavenly Father and Jesus will help him to be brave and will keep him safe, but it's hard to know if he gets it.  In fact, one night we were going through this again and decided to make it more of an interactive, fill-in-the-blank explanation.  After telling him that he can pray and ask to be brave and strong, we asked him, "Who can protect you from everything?" we asked.  Atticus thought for a minute and then, with a huge grin on his face, said, "Bobba!" 😂

Good answer, little man!