Honor had to get his leg brace and his shoe insert yesterday. I bribed him with a new batman toy so he did pretty good when he was getting it fitted. (It’s actually sort of cool how it works. It’s all soft and held together with velcro. Different straps pull his leg into the right position.) With his brace and his shoe inserts his feet line up perfectly. Now we just have to get his muscles trained to do that on their own.

He got to take them off for his nap, but when we had to put them back on he totally freaked out. It made me so sad! Poor baby! I know he’ll get used to them, but I feel bad that he has to have them. It will be worth it though, he already can run without tripping.

On the bright side, Honor did get some cool new shoes out of the whole ordeal.

edit: I wrote about his needing the brace here and here.

And the winner is… A tie! Tish and Joelene. They both gave him three days. Email me with your address Tish (I already have Joelenes) and I’ll mail you out your prize! Here’s a hint, it will be something in the yarn department!

Honor decided that he need to smear foot cream all over my bedroom carpet and my bed. Then he went to the bathroom to wash his hands IN THE TOILET. Then, just for kicks, he dumped the whole roll of toilet paper in the toilet.

I think Joelene’s prize will be HONOR. If I ship him next day air, he should make it just fine…

Yesterday I caught Honor coming out of the kitchen with a handful of butter. Do you think he intended it as a snack or finger paint for the carpet?

I’m pausing from my “sword” fight with Honor with plastic knives (how safe is that?) to post a few pictures.

First! I woke up this morning to big, fat snowflakes! They’re still coming down!

I just finished knitting this Ballet Tee from Loop d Loop and I whipped up some little leg warmers to match with the leftover yarn. I added a garter stitch border at the hem and also picked up stitches and added a border for the neckline too. Does anyone know the washing instructions for Cotton Fleece?

Eden was none too pleased to be modeling for me today, hence the grumpy face.

EDIT: I forgot the most important part, a big FAT thank you to Leanne for the yarn! You’re such a sweetie!!!

Me: “Eden, are you glad that you were obedient and got your car?”
Eden: “Yes.”
Me: “Do you like your car?”
Eden: “Yes.”
Me: “Do you think you’ll keep being obedient?”
long pause
Eden: “Mmmmm…. Maybe.”

That’s what Honor kept saying when I took this picture.

He’s been dragging all these little toys around. He usually stuffs a few in his pockets and I discover that he has all these little things when we’re out somewhere. It’s funny how I treasure whatever he does. These are my treasures too.

I had a long talk with Eden before she layed down for her rest yesterday. And when she got up, she told me that she “thinked” about it and she’s going to try and get her star tomorrow. I asked her, “So you’re going to be a big girl?” “Yes, when it gets dark and then it gets light again. In the morning.” “So will you say your verse?” “Yes, in the morning.” “Why don’t you say your verse now?” “No, I can’t. Sometimes girls just like to wait to say things until tomorrow.”

So it seems that bribing motivating Eden is not going to work. For a few days it worked, she has four stars on her calendar, and now, she just doesn’t care. I’m not really sure where to go from here. Usually she is so passive and obedient, but when she gets something in her head, she will not budge.

When I was talking to Jim about my frustration, he just said, “You’re underestimating the Jim in her.” And while I can SO see that, it doesn’t help. Our biggest fight with her is always when we want her to say something. She won’t say, “Thank You.” or she’s supposed to be memorizing a memory verse for my mom who does Bible school with her every week. She knows the verse, but she won’t say it. This is the kid who I have to ask to stop talking once in awhile just for a moment of peace.

sigh.

Weren’t they supposed to come with user guides? Maybe I lost mine at the hospital when she was born.

I’ve been having the most terrible time with Eden lately. She’s been in this phase where she thinks she can’t do anything for herself. We’re talking things that I know she can do for herself, like getting dressed. So, in a moment of desperation I tried bribery. I told her that if she could be big girl and do things for herself for a whole week, that I’d buy her a new groovy girl. She said that she wanted the groovy girl car and I said fine (little did I know the car cost FORTY dollars, eeesh!)

I printed her out a calendar and taped a picture of the car on it and she gets a star every day that she can be a big girl. This means no significant fits or that she straightens up after a gentle reminding about her car. So far it’s working fantastically, she’s got two stars on her calendar. Motivation is a powerful thing. And mommy has learned that she shouldn’t promise toys until she realizes how much they cost!

Don’t forget to sign up for the scarf swap spectacular, there’s only a few spaces left.

Over the last week Honor journeyed into the land of sleeping without the walls of his crib, again. And again, it didn’t work out. I’m just getting used to the fact that he’s going to be sleeping in his crib until he’s 10.

I think he was most tempted to get out of bed at nap time. One day he got up, climbed up onto the dresser and got the lotion, two kinds of diaper ointment and Eden’s princess lip balm. He then preceded to smear all of it all over himself, his sheets, and his friend that was napping in the port-a-crib. He also took every single wipe out of the wipe box. And that was just what happened one day.

We thought we could stick it out this time, but there is only so many times you can wipe diaper ointment off his slimey face or refold an entire box of wipes. So he’s back in his crib again. Maybe we’ll try again in a few months… maybe.