Not Much Happening

Well, as the title reveals, not much is happening in the Curtis household. I've been busy with work this last weekend with my shifts and a couple of meetings that I had to attend, but now I get some time off until my next rotating weekend comes up. The older kids are off track and out of school for the next 2 weeks. I am finally getting motivated to get my house cleaned and my life back in order, but I guess we'll see what the next couple of weeks have in store for me. It might have to wait until the kids go back to school.

Ethan has been staying very healthy. He got over his cold and is doing well. However, I am starting to get worried about his physical development. He hasn't been behind on any normal developmental goals thus far which is a real blessing considering what he has been through. He is now 8 1/2 months and he is not crawling yet. He will sit unassisted where you put him down, but he can not get into a sitting position by himself. He also seems to get "stuck" when he is on his tummy. I realize that his upper body strength has been a little lacking since we haven't had as much "tummy time" due to his surgeries. I've really been trying to work with him but he also is a very relaxed and mellow baby and doesn't seem to have a real drive to push him. He also has the unfair advantage of following Gavin who was scaling furniture at 7 months and full on walking at 10 months. I shouldn't worry too much, I know he will get there. I just hate to see him fall too much behind if there is something that I can do to help him. If any of you have any suggestions, PLEASE share. I would love to hear any ideas or exercises that you may have. (He is also starting to do more weight bearing and loves to be in his "Johnny Jump Up".) He does have another well-child visit in about 3 weeks and I will check with the Pediatrician to see if he is now in need of the Early Intervention program. ( The last time I had inquired about it he was meeting his goals, so I will check again). It is so hard to know what is heart related and what is personality driven. He is doing much better with eating (he has been fairly picky with his flavor choices recently and will throw up if peas even touch his tongue) and is beginning to self feed. He really likes his little star shaped fruit puffs.

Moving onto Gavin, he will be 3 in March and is flat out refusing to go potty in the toilet. He has done it in the past, just not consistently. But now he tells me that he wants to go "poo poo" in his diaper. He will also refuse to say that he is a "big boy" because he knows that the next sentence is that "big boys" go potty in the toilet. He has underwear that we've bought and he's had zero interest in them since day one. We've pointed out that his hero "Hercules" goes potty. And he has also recently seen his boy cousins ( similar in age) wearing "big boy underwear" and then just says that he wants to wear diapers. He is not motivated by treats or rewards. In fact, yesterday morning when I was changing his diaper I asked him if he wanted to try and go potty in the toilet for a fruit snack (which he will usually do anything for). He told me NO! and then did his business in his diaper just a few minutes later. I am not sure if there is some competition with Ethan and that he doesn't want to lose his place as my "baby" anymore? I don't know. Just in case, I did have a talk with him that even when he is a "big boy" he will always be my baby. But this too did not seem to effect his decision. He obviously has a mind of his own and can be fairly stubborn. Again, if any of you have any suggestions than what I've already tried, PLEASE let me know. I am not sure if I should drop the subject completely for a while, keep it mainly on the back burner but continue to offer the toilet as an alternative, or if I should keep working at it and make it a daily issue. Let me know what any of you think.

If nothing else, wish me good luck! Thanks in advance!

---Allison