He's such a sweetheart

Little Bit wanted to wear his sling for a few days, even though his arm was better. That was fine. It reminded them at daycare to be extra careful. DH talked with the daycare director and the teacher responsible. The teacher was just crying and so sorry it had happened. She said that she had taken hold of his hand since he had been hitting other kids. He threw himself down on the ground because he didn't want his hand held. She held on instead of letting go, and that's when his arm got pulled. She didn't realize it had happened. I know it was an accident, but I'm still mad it happened. However, Little Bit isn't holding a grudge. DH told me that as they were leaving daycare on Friday that Little Bit told that teacher, "Bye! I love you!"

I feel so bad that his self-esteem took such a beating last week though. The whole thing about being consolidated in with the "babies" after getting his arm hurt really kicked his feet out from under him. He said several times over the weekend, "I baby. I no big kid," even though he'd been so proud to be in the big kid class last Monday. He really needed extra TLC from us over the weekend.

Pissed off

I am so, so pissed right now at daycare. At one of the teachers there. Little Bit was favoring his left arm, holding it close to his body in his right hand. When we tried to examine it, he cried and said it hurt. After asking him about it, we found out that apparently he had been climbing (something, not sure what) yesterday, when Miss So-and-So grabbed his arm and hurt him. Several bruises have appeared on that arm. "I in trouble....I in baby's room." The sad thing is, since they consolidated the Twos and Threes by the end of the day as kids left, Little Bit felt he was being punished by going back to the "baby's room." He said, "I no big kid. I baby." Oh, man, if that woman said something like that to him...It. is. on. As it is, she fu@#$ing grabbed my baby roughly enough to at least sprain his wrist and leave bruises.

DH is at the ER with Little Bit now to get Little Bit's wrist/arm looked at and x-rayed. I have to be here at work instead of with my baby. Little Bit is really being a trooper about his arm. You can tell it really hurts if it is moved. He didn't want to move his left hand or arm at all. He said this morning, "I go doctor for my boo-boo. No go school."

I'll update later when I hear what the doctor says.

Update: The doctor at the ER confirmed that it was "nursemaid's elbow, a dislocation of the elbow caused by a jerking motion on the child's arm. He said it's the most common pediatric complaint because the ligaments are still loose in toddlers. The doctor took some scans just in case, but saw nothing unusual. He popped the elbow back into place and gave Little Bit a sling. I met DH and Little Bit at the local bagel shop so I could see my baby and see he was ok. Between arriving at the bagel shop and staying long enough to eat, Little Bit's arm was obviously feeling much better. He had straightened the arm out so that the sling has slipped partially off, and he was using it.

Wordless Wednesday: Is it ironic to buy 3 (used) books about clutter clearing?

Simplifying

Over the last few months, I've been thinking about and reading about several topics that feel interconnected to me -- decluttering my life/my possessions and taking control of finances. I want to pass on good habits to Little Bit. I want him to have the things he needs, but to also know that "things" aren't the goal. I want to have saving, investing, and living well below your means to be a part of our lives.

I have been a bit of a pack rat for awhile, so it's going to take some time and work to declutter. Things that can stay have to be useful, beautiful, or loved. Those criteria will help me decide what to keep or what to get rid of. I know that there are some things that I won't be able to part with yet, even though they aren't used. It will be an ongoing process. It only took me about 10 years to get rid of some notebooks full of class notes from college!

As part of keeping the clutter out of our house, we can decide not to buy frivolous things and not to buy on impulse. That will help with the financial goals as well. We have a list of purchases that we are budgeting for in the next 4-6 months. A little fun money every month for each of us will be a good idea, too. That way I can pick up a few books at Half Price Books without feeling guilty.

I started decluttering in my closet this past weekend. Everything that I do not love went into the charity donation box. Things I haven't worn in months (or even years!) went into the box. I did keep a few things that don't currently fit me, but I'm going to limit how many I keep. I still need to drop the box off at Goodwill, but I already feel a little lighter for having let go of those clothes.

The front room which we use for a music room and Little Bit's playroom works so well right now. There isn't too much stuff for the room, and everything has a place. We have Little Bit play "pick up!" often, so it doesn't get out of control.

Updated: Monday, Monday

Starting a few weeks ago, in the middle of the evening, for no reason that we could discern, Little Bit started stuttering his words. He gets moved around a lot during the day at daycare between different rooms. He's bored with the Twos, but not fully potty trained so he could be with the Threes all day. When the Twos teacher is late getting to work, he ends up in a third classroom. (Yes, DH is going to talk to the center director about all the switching classrooms during a day.) DH and I wonder that he's feeling stressed and unsure. I hope that other kids don't point out the stuttering. We don't. We just patiently wait for him to say his thought. Sometimes he stutters more than other times, and not every sentence is stuttered.

The pediatrician said that his child did the same thing at Little Bit's age and to just not make a big deal out of it, that he would grow out of the shyness that is probably behind it. He sounds so shy when he stutters out his sentences and questions. It breaks my heart; it's so sweet sounding.

My little boy is going to be three years old in just over two months. I can't believe it. Where did my little baby go?!

Updated: Yesterday, they officially moved Little Bit up to the Three's room. Little Bit was so happy. He told us very proudly, "I with the big kids now!" How cute - the three-year olds are the "big kids".

"I not in baby's room."

He didn't stutter last night, and he seemed more happy in general. We'll continue working on the potty training.

"Hello, Kitty!"

(what Little Bit said to our cat as he looked at it upside down)

He's already trying to negotiate out of bedtime

Yesterday evening was so nice outside that we sat on the back patio for awhile after eating. Little Bit was sitting on the ground playing with his cars, while DH and I sat on the outdoor loveseat. When it was time to think about going inside, DH said to Little Bit, "It's time to go inside, and you can watch some tv, have some nah-nah, and then go to bed." (Nah-nah is nursing.)

Little Bit said, "No! TV...nah-nah...play!"

DH explained again, emphasizing each word by touching a different spot on his leg. "Play. TV. Nah-nah. Bed." Then I joined in, smiling as we copied the whole Dora-the-Explorer-repeat-three-times-thing.

Little Bit smiled and repeated with us, except for the bed part. "No bed!" Then he wanted to say it all by himself. He copied his dad by touching a different spot on his leg with each word. "Play....What next? (TV) TV....What next? (Nah-nah) Nah-nah...What next? (Bed) No! No bed!"

Then, he switched legs to see if he could get a different answer from us by pointing at his other leg!

(Oh, yeah, you see that band-aid on his forehead above? He hit his head again at daycare, in the same spot on his forehead. This time he hit it while on the slide outside, instead of on a bookcase inside. *sigh* It's been about six weeks since the original wound happened, but you could still see a pink scar there, even before he cut it enough to bleed again the other day.)
----

Later, as we sat on the couch together inside, Little Bit made some observation. I don't remember what it was, but I commented proudly to DH, "He's so smart!"

Little Bit said, "I smart!" I nodded. Then, shaking his head, Little Bit said sadly, "Maryann not smart." D'oh! I laughed at the unexpected observation, even though I knew I shouldn't laugh. (Maryann is a made-up name for the real name of a girl in his daycare class.) We'll have to make sure to teach him to keep such observations to himself when he's not at home, or he could hurt somebody's feelings or get in a fight!

I know I've said it before (and I am his mom, so it may seem like bias), but he is *so* smart. He has a very big vocabulary for his age and picks up on words and concepts quickly. As it is, the daycare teachers have told us that he gets bored in the 2-year old class where he is, so he'll start hitting the other kids or throwing toys, etc. He has much more fun in the 3-year old class. They let him stay with the 3's part of the day, but they won't let him transfer over until he's completely potty trained. I guess our laid-back attitude to potty training needs to change so he can move up.

The cranky saga continues

I told my manager yesterday that I had a medical diagnosis for what's been going on - PMDD. At first when I said "PMDD", he got the hint of a smile, like maybe he thought I was kidding. I continued on seriously, that the difficulty concentrating, the migraines, the debilitating symptoms every month were all symptoms. Looking back, it really pisses me off that maybe he at first thought I was joking. Like, ha-hah, I've got really bad PMS. No, it's not a fucking joke. Has your wife gone through menopause? Then you should effing know what hormone imbalances can do to someone.

The other thing that pisses me off is that yesterday he suggested we look into finding me another position to rotate into, since I'm on our lead's "list". What the hell?! We just finally got an intermediary on our side of things to help "translate" what the lead wants. This intermediary has been a huge, huge help the last few weeks. The intermediary told me that he thought any reassignment for me was on hold, pending how things work with him interfacing for us and translating. I'm pissed that it sounds like my manager is no longer in my corner. At least, the intermediary is in my corner. Maybe he can convince the lead to wait and see how things go. I don't know what will happen. I just need to continue to produce.

Yesterday afternoon, I was overwhelmed with a flood of despair. It all seemed to be too much, too big. I wanted to go home and curl up on my bed, in a dark room, and hug a stuffed animal, and try to sleep. To disappear. But I don't have the "luxury" of doing that right now. So, I concentrated on one thing at a time -- open the file I needed to work on, start copying and pasting info from another file. One thing at a time. It worked. I was able to get a decent amount of work done. And I felt a bit better this morning, having gotten some work done.