Family First Friday Post #2--Spike, Spike turns two!

Spike Spike turned two on Tuesday!!  I cannot believe he is two already.  On Monday, I was reviewing how difficult his pregnancy, birth, and first year were for me.  I am glad that is behind me.  I love this little two-year old.  He is the most difficult child to date.  Each of the other children's 'most difficult quality' he has---all in one person!

Slim--anaphylactic nut allergy---which runs in a triangle and means you are probably also allergic to shellfish and legumes on some level.  Spike Spike has this allergy along with a host of others, some known, some unknown.

Spanky---biting.  Although Spike Spike does not bite, he does throw things at you from close range (and he has an arm), hit you (in the face or anywhere else), and head butt with force.  He can be a brute.

Scuff--not sleeping.  Scuff is allergic to corn, corn meal, corn starch, corn flour, corn oil, corn syrup, etc...  Whenever he had something with corn, he would not sleep.  That was for the first two years.  Then his allergic reaction changed.  Instead of not sleeping, his behavior became unruly.  He would hit, scream, yell, bite, kick, be disobedient, unable/unwilling to reason, argumentative---it was ugly.  Spike, Spike does not sleep when he eats something he is allergic to.  We went to Tammy's potluck on Saturday and that little boy did not go to sleep until after 1 a.m that morning.  That was after I gave him Benadryl at midnight.  I am still not sure what he ate that did that.  It was awful.

Sport--picky, picky, picky.  Spike Spike is so finicky!!  He has to have THIS cup (the green one).  It cannot be wet or even have condensation on the outside.  If he is teething, he will not eat.  He picks his own clothes and will not wear things he doesn't like.  (This changes from day to day.)  The only consistent article of clothing he will wear, dirty or clean, is his 'Uperman shirt'.  If he ate something yesterday, he probably won't eat it today.

hdwpapers.com

Speedy--super emotional.  Spike Spike also reads social cues.  That should be a good thing right?  Well, Spike Spike gets his feelings hurt when he recognizes that you are not happy with him and then, there is little you can do to console him.  The other night, he would not rest.  At 2 a.m., we are laying in my bed.  I am trying to get him to go back to sleep.  "Milk?......"    "Milk?......."   "Milk?........"   " Milk?........."  Frustrated, after many sleepless nights, I finally said, "FINE! We'll get your milk," and scooped him up rather abruptly.  At this point he started crying, head in hands and all.  I headed down the stairs, and into the kitchen.  I got the GREEN cup and filled it with milk, dried it off, and handed it to him.  He threw it onto the floor and started really screaming.  Not exactly a conducive situation to have a non-emotional and reasonable dialogue with a two-year-old.  It took more time to control my temper, soften my voice and smooth his feelings than it did for him to actually fall back asleep in his own bed.  SHEESH!

Sun---drama.  See the above example.  That's all I am going to say.

Shorty--blood sugar issues.  Shorty will just get busy and not eat because he is playing or doesn't like what we are eating.  Then he is super emotional and obnoxious because his blood sugar is too low.  I had to teach him that when he chose not to feed himself, it was like asking his car to work without putting gas into it.  He needed food.  So when he was emotional and obnoxious, instead of disciplining him, I would have him recount what he had eaten.  He always needed food.  Spike Spike is like that.  He just won't eat if he doesn't like it or has another agenda (or is teething).  I usually have to sit and feed him or assign someone else to do it to ensure he is eating enough.

Smiley---attitude.  I am the baby.  I am the king.  My way or the highway!  Serious, serious attitude issues in our littlest boy.

There he is, in a nutshell.  On the positive end, he is bright!  Wow!  And fun!  He has the best faces I have ever seen in a little person.  You can read his thoughts by the expressions on his face (sometimes that is not good, other times it is hilarious!).  He says 'please' and 'thank you' appropriately.  He loves books!  And he loves Jesus.  Mom kisses make every booboo better.  His favorite song is Book of Mormon Stories, which he chooses to sing every Family Home Evening.  His favorite show is Blue's Clues which we have to rent from the library.  His allergies---food, pollen, grasses---are horrible and he already has asthma issues.  But he has that great Norwegian, stand-up, blonde, curly hair and bright blue eyes.  He gets completely frustrated when we do not understand what he needs/wants, but he has gotten much better as his language skills have improved.  His vocabulary has exploded in the last four months.

Now it is time for him to meet his missionary brother.  Spike Spike was born just 10 days before Spanky entered the MTC and the day before his father was set-apart as the Bishop for the second time.  Two very busy years!!

We love you Spike Spike!!  Happy Two Year Mark!