Back to the Blog

So...I'm back. It's been brought to my attention (this is for you Gina!) that it's been a few days (weeks perhaps) since I've posted anything, but well, I just really haven't felt like hearing my own voice (or reading my own words as it were). Plus - my mom always taught me that "if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything nice at all". That being said...here I go!

The past few weeks have been quite rough in the Johnson household. There have been tantruns galore. And no, that's not a typo. "Tantrun" is my new word for the tantrum that is done while on the run! Most parenting books will instruct helpless parents to ignore a knock-down drag-out tantrum, and at times that means one must walk into another room. That, of course, means the tantrumer loses his/her audience and thus must follow the tantrumee, and typically at a quick pace! We have also been subjected to endless whining, outright disobedience, disrespect and talking back. I know, I know. Welcome to parenthood! :( We have had several nights where Nicky has gone to bed without any books, while screaming and crying with either Kris, myself, or both of us sitting outside his room wondering "why is this happening?!" Of course, once we stopped wondering "why" and started to realize "it is what it is, and he's 3, so just deal with it because you're the parent and it's your job", well, it got a little better. We formed a plan, we're on each other's side and we're sticking to it. No more chances and Nicky's learning that there are consequences to his actions! Who knew?! These books I'm reading actually do have some good advice and it's working!!! Yeah!!! There is some light at the end of the tunnel and I can now go back to writing about good things! :)

However...there is one last thing. I went to pick Nicky up from school yesterday and saw the dreaded "incident report" hanging from his clip by the sign-in/out sheet. I figured he had been bitten again (this one little girl really really likes him!) Boy was I wrong...

Apparently Nicky was pushing a car thingy outside on the playground at school and he fell...on his face!!! OWIE!!! :( His teachers said he handled it like a champ and was more upset by the cold ice that they applied after he fell, than the actual incident itself! The little fella hanging out with Nicky is "Jack Bunny" - he's taken over for Mr Frog as Nicky's trusty sidekick...he hasn't put him down since Easter! Newsflash...I am the mother of a little boy and I am learning all too well that these types of incidents are to be expected! Poor little guy! :( If its not one thing, its another...like I said...welcome to parenthood!

From the Motherland

This was just too good of a story, I had to post about it, plus it felt relevant given the Russia connection!

5 cm. fir tree removed from patient’s lung

Wow! That's one way to cut back on some of the costs at Christmas...grow your own tree! No thanks - I still prefer to get mine at Target or some other supercenter!

THE Croup

As if parenting weren't tough enough already, we're posed with the additional question "when do we take our kid to the doctor?" We know the obvious ones of high fever, constant vomiting, persistent ear aches, etc. But, what if you have a child that doesn't have any of those symptoms and isn't otherwise complaining? Nicky doesn't really know the words "I don't feel good", although we've tried to teach him variations of that phrase after his first bout of strep throat. Anyway, the past couple of days he has been coughing more than usual and we've figured that he's never experienced Spring in North Texas, so seeing as though our allergies are acting in accordance to the weather, his must be doing the same. Last night we decided to give it another day before rushing him to the doctor, after all, they can't do much for a cough. Bright and early as I was getting my first kiss of the day, I was greeted with an upper lip crusted with snot (ew, gross, sorry!) and the bark of a seal. Time to go to the doctor!!! I figured it was another case of strep, since that was the only symptom he had the last time (well, that and he had a crazy, wonky, swollen eye!). He didn't have a fever, but as soon as he coughed and I asked him if it hurt (with a frowny face and sad voice), the drama began "throat owie", "doctor candy!" (because, why else would one go to the doctor?), "juice please" - hey, at least he's using his words, asking for things and making connections!!! I don't doubt it hurts him, don't get me wrong, but just before he let out a big whopping cough, we asked him if his throat hurt and he told us, confidently, "no". Whatever the case was, Kris took him to the doctor and the doctor said, "no more monkeys jumping on the bed!" Oh - sorry - read that one one too many times! Seriously though, he doesn't have strep (whew), but he does have The Croup! (sidebar - when Dave Letterman had "The Shingles" he made a joke and said something to the effect that "did you ever notice that any time the word "the" is in front of an illness it becomes more ominous and serious?!" now I put "the" in front of everything for added drama!). The doctor gave us something to help soothe his poor little throat and said it's a virus and that it would just have to work itself out (in about a week). They told us it's not contagious, however, everything I've read, seems to state differently: "Croup is contagious, and it is usually spread by airborne infectious droplets sneezed or coughed into the air by infected children. " Hmmmm...I'm guessing it's safe to bet there are a few other kids in one of the schools he attends that have the same symptoms. And I just hope that they keep those little infectious droplets there at school and they don't make there way to Momma and Daddy! That's all we need...a whole house full of sick Johnsons!

Serenity Now!

In my quest to be a "better parent" and to educate Kris and myself on the latest and greatest in the world of parenting advice, I currently have on my nightstand:

(I especially love that the mom's hair is all out of whack and her eyes look all frazzled and you know she's at her wit's end in the picture...I could really relate to this some days! Not to mention, my late Aunt Sharon recommended this line of books to me and said they were a God-send to her.)

As I've mentioned before, we knew it was going to be hard work (being a parent that is) and we knew our lives were going to be completely changed. What we didn't really think about was that our personalities as we knew them would be fundamentally changed upon becoming parents. Or at least, to be more effective we would need to make some changes (i.e. I would need to learn to be more patient, as would Kris as we have recently found out!). The books are great at giving information, and general guidelines, but they don't quite give set examples of what one should do in each and every scenario (I'm guessing that throwing pants across the house or saying "I'm over it" are not proper responses to situations...both long stories you'd have to hear in person to fully appreciate!). My hope is that by reading these books, we will be better prepared for the craziness this little guy can throw at us at times and that we will not feel like we are alone. Sometimes that's exactly how I feel. Like we're on this parenting island - like no one understands what we're going through, or can imagine what we're talking about because Nicky is so cute and can be so amazingly charming and loving...and he is, don't get me wrong! But man - when he flips out and we have to step up and (um, do "our job", what we're supposed to do, of course) be "the parent", it can be really (for lack of a better word) hard to keep our cool at times! So - what's my point here? Well, for all you Seinfeld fans out there... "Serenity Now!" That's what we're praying for! Serenity Now! Every time I feel my blood pressure is on the rise (i.e. at the dinner table when Nicky is "chewing" his milk and playing with his macaroni like it's a flute), Serenity Now! Say it with me folks, and pray that it brings some hope, help and resolve!

Nikita Paper!

Here we go folks, another post about ocaccalo! I figured it had been a while, and many of you had been wondering how Nicky was doing in that department, so here is the official update! Are you ready? Are you on the edge of your seats? Are you over the moon with excitement and just can't take it anymore?! Ok - so it's not that exciting, and quite frankly, the topic is pretty gross, but we all do it, so whatever. No, Nicky is not "solid" yet. Yes, each and every time is still explosive (yuck!). The difference is, I have figured out his "schedule" and have come to realize that as long as he gets his probiotic each morning, then he will go each morning. So, that's what we do. Every day his day begins the same - with a nice long communal on Momma and Daddy's potty! It seems to work quite well. We don't have to deal with the throwing away of the pajamas and bedsheets and the morning shower and Nicky gets "tew treats" for being a "big boy" and going on the potty!

Saturday morning began just as every other morning with this ritual, however, Momma had to run back upstairs to Nicky's room to retrieve his Nemo vitamin and a different shirt to wear. By the time I had returned, Nicky had decided to help Momma in a (bless his heart) dreaded way. By wiping himself. I returned to find a sweet, angelic face, smiling up at me, with a handful of toilet paper (the other end trailing into the toilet), saying "Nikita paper!". It was then that I looked around him and noticed the (brown) smears all over the walls around him; on the toilet seat; the toilet itself; and down his own legs and up his arms. All I could do was sigh, take the toilet paper out of his hand, and clean up the mess. I told him thank you for trying to help Momma, but next time to wait until Momma was there to make sure he didn't get too much paper. Needless to say, the toilet was clogged the rest of the day (Daddy was at the fire station and Momma don't plunge!). Oh well...just more proof that Nicky is teaching us parents far more life lessons than we ever would have learned without him!

That being said, one year ago today, we officially accepted Nicky as our "referral"...hard to believe that it's only been one year! Here are the pictures we received from our agency when they first told us about him...he's changed quite a bit, that's for sure! These pictures were taken in the "music" room, which was also the room in which we first met Nicky. (He had just turned two.) Along with these pictures, we received a brief (2 page) medical history, which really didn't tell us anything but his age and his measurements, along with the few ailments he had previously had (cold/cough, rash) and that he was living in St Petersburg.

I found this picture (below) from the Russian adoption registry. Nicky was probably at least 14 months old when it was taken...it's the closest thing we'll ever have to a "baby" picture of him.