Another Chuckle

Thane was sitting in his x-chair swing in the living room when I moved to the couch to get a good view out the window (waiting for Braeden to be dropped off -- someone actually gave me half a break today). Thane stood up and farted.

“What was zat? Di ya hear dat? Did you hear dat?” (He likes to correct himself these days.)

I said, “Yes, you farted. Now you're supposed to say `excuse me’.”

“No! Did you hear that? It was the sound of a poopy in trouble!”

Then he started grunting and pushing.

Anyone who watches “Go, Diego, Go!” may recognize the script adaptation . . . it just was a poopy in trouble instead of an “aminal.”

An OMOM friend asked what Diego might have in the Rescue Pack to help a poopy in trouble – maybe a laxative? Dave’s suggestion was that since Rescue Pack can convert into whatever is needed it could turn into a potty.

I’ve been meaning to mention the x-chair that took over the living room. We have learned that if others sit in it, they must expect to be sat upon because Thaney has taken total ownership.

Thank You, Thane

Braeden and I got a bit of a chuckle today. Thane was in rare form early this afternoon. Braeden had to physically save him from smacking his head on the corner of the kitchen cabinets. Why did he have a fit? We told him he could not have a “wemilly [lemon] ice” before he finished his waffle that he was having for lunch (Braeden was enjoying a gluten-free waffle too – score!).

Within 5 minutes, Thane finished his waffle and I said he could have the lemon ice. Braeden got one of the freezer, opened it, and gave it to Thane. Thane is usually very polite, but he didn’t say anything. I said, “Say `thank you,’ Thane.”

He walked off and said, “Thank you, Thane.”

He paused and shook his head. He seemed slightly irritated and confused. Clearly he echoed what I said, but then realized it didn’t really fit the situation.

“No! No thank you, Thane! No!”

“Oh man!” in his best Swiper the Fox voice (scripted from “Dora the Explorer.”)

Speaking of his backward flop, I have to say that something about the behavior resurfacing figures. I think this boy is much cleverer than the therapists and case manager give him credit for being. After we discussed this type of worrisome tantrum with the behavioral analyst for suggestions on how to cope, he said we should chart the seat drops and full backward falls as well as whatever seems to lead up to them, Thane stopped doing them and there was nothing to document. Then after I told the case manager there was nothing to document so we need to put off more consults until we normalize into a fall schedule, Thane’s started doing again. It’s hard not to feel like he manipulates the world to conform to his liking.

Voices

It is very intriguing how Thane can manipulate his voice. Here we have a child whose original speech can be quite difficult to understand, yet when he copies something it can be with amazing precision.

Thane likes to ask something as soon as I take a drink.

“Mama? Mama?” he asks with no pause in between to let me swallow.

I replied, “Thane?”

“What?” comes spewing out of his mouth in a way that really sounds like some kind of old hag on bad day.

We had the same conversation many times today.

I think anyone who could manage to spend a day at our house would leave feeling as if we’re all crazy. I decided today that I definitely am losing it – and the worst part of that is that I am totally aware of the fact that I am sinking into insanity. Why am I saying this? Well, we break out in song at weird times around here. For example, Braeden and a friend were getting into a conflict in the pool. I said in a sing-song voice, “let it go, let it go” . . . to which he replied “This is smaller than you know. No bigger than a pebble lying on a gravel road” from Great Big Sea. We both burst out laughing and it totally diffused the situation.

Not Supposed to Laugh

There are these things that happen that one really shouldn't laugh at, but I seem to have lousy self-control.

One of the things that I have laughed at a few times, is that Thane likes to say, “Wait a ja fa minute.” We all interpret in a way that maybe it isn’t meant, but it seems so close to, “Wait just a f---ing minute.”

Along with this perhaps inappropriate language was something I definitely took to be swearing, though without understanding. We use an orange cap and a pink cap that each hold about a half cup of Epsom salts to give to Thane in the bathtub. He loves his “snow!” Anyway, the cups were chatting with each other, back and forth, saying:

"Fa you.”
“No, fa you.”
“No, fa you.”

He probably heard it from his parents, which makes it doubly bad doesn’t it? Dave uses those words with inanimate objects all the time. I am more prone to saying, “oh fffffff-uck” when I drop something. I grew up in a house where swearing was common, but it didn’t tend to leave home. I appear to be too old to retrain.

It reminded me so much of an incident with a friend’s child at daycare. The father arrived to pick up his daughter and she was talking to a little boy. They were going back and forth saying

"You’re an asshole.”
“No, you’re an asshole!”
“No you!”

I wonder if Thane’s preschool teachers take the “Wait a ja fa minute” the same way we do? It appears to be part of one of his more common scripts.

Birch Point

We actually went to the beach for the first time this summer – considering that it is past the middle of August, that isn't too impressive! I got mostly what I consider memory pictures – not great quality, but fun to look at. I chose this one because there is just something very sweet about having two 9-year-old boys holding hands with the 3½-year-old. They were swinging him and including him in a lot.

Thane is one of the more popular younger siblings among Braeden’s friends. I think it is because he doesn’t generally follow the kids around all the time, but he will occasionally engage in play. I think sometimes they find him kind of humorous too.

“Ouch!
Are you okay, Faney?
Yes, I foine.
Thank you.
Thank you much!”

It is rather cute that he has the whole conversation himself. Dave and I also think it is funny that he seems to have a Brooklyn accent when he speaks certain words. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, but I don’t have the accent (well, unless I am stringing together choice swear words).

A Card

Today's cute dialog, after finding a cloth tag from a stuffed toy:

Look, Mama, it’s a card.

A card!

A card!

Look!

A card!

A card!

A card!

A credit card!

Stinky Chicken

Some chickens visited preschool yesterday. I guess one of them decided to poop and Thane called it a "stinky chicken" repeatedly. I think it is funny, but at the same time it draws my attention to the fact that he repeats himself a lot and I am not sure it is fully acknowledged by his therapists. During DT on Monday he kept repeating "I don't swim." He wanted to swim, but it has been a cold July and our pool has been giving us fits.

He did get to swim today, and I took 594 photos of the guys in the pool. Unfortunately, I missed the best picture . . . I blew up an inflatable duck ring for young children after having chosen a duck since Thane adores them. Thane whipped off his diaper, wrapped the duck around his middle, and started running around the living room saying "I don't swim. I don't swim." I blew up a yellow swim boat and then he was running around naked with a duck around his waist and a boat in his hand repeating "I don't swim." He was so excited to go swimming. It's hard not to be charmed by his enthusiasm.

I also found it cute that he decided to hoard pool toys. Check out this face . . .


We also got a taste of what the teenage years with Braeden might be like.


These pictures were taken at near 8 p.m., hence the iffy lighting.