The Thatcher Life: September

Sawyer

The month of September brought a lot of progress for Sawyer as far as school. He was still panicking and throwing up for drop off until one day, while getting ready, I told him to practice breathing with me and we did some deep breaths together. Then as we walked into his classroom, he started to cry but I reminded him to take deep breaths and it calmed him down enough that he didn't throw up. After that, he didn't cry OR throw up and by the end of the month he was walking in without being right next to me and cheerfully waving goodbye as Dawson and I left. It was such a relief that I cried all over again, but happy tears this time. I'm so glad he has such good teachers and TAs that have helped him feel safe and that he figured out that I will always come back for him. School is something he looks forward to now and we are so glad.

He's been going through this hitting phase when he plays that I don't love. He hasn't hit anyone out of anger but when he gets wound up and crazy, for some reason he thinks slaps and punches are the way to interact? We've had a lot of talks about how it's not nice and people don't want to be friends with people that hit so hopefully it lands soon.

Gymnastics has been up and down. He loves to go but has a hard time doing what he's told. And if he finds something mildly uncomfortable or difficult, he just doesn't do it. Then I get frustrated because it's like, why are we even there? He can sit on the floor at home ha. The last time I took him, it was really rough and ended in tears for him and frustration for me. So gymnastics is now a Daddy and Sawyer activity which is better for everyone I think.

Dawson

Dawson wants to collect every.single.rock he sees everywhere we go. "Rock! Rock!" he screams and insists on picking it up and pocketing it, then he moves on to the next one. He frequently calls for Dillon and calls him.. Dillon instead of Dad. I would correct him, but it's hilarious. He usually says dad the first time, but if Dillon doesn't answer because he's in a different room, or he just didn't hear, Dawson goes in a full lunge position, throws his head back, and yells, "Di-yon!" Dawson is my kid that is constantly taking his shoes off- in the car, at the dinner table, whenever he decides he's tired of them. It drives me crazy.

Sometimes, when he's in a rage, Dawson gets little time-outs in his room to give everyone (including himself) some time to breathe. One of the most recent times, I put him in his room and shut the door. Once I could hear he had calmed down, I went to open it and discovered that he had locked himself in. I tried to unlock it from the other side with various little tools, none of which worked. Then I spent some time trying to coax Dawson to just "play with the door handle again, buddy." He kept giving it a jiggle and then screaming for me to let him out after being unsuccessful. The boys and I all started to feel a bit frantic when nothing was working. And then I remembered that I could pry off the window screen to Dawson's room and hope that I could get the window open from the outside (tricks I learned from Devan rescuing me when I was locked in the bathroom... good times). So Sawyer and I went out and grabbed the ladder, used a hammer to pry off the window screen (which was not as easy as I thought it would be) and successfully opened Dawson's window. There was nothing for me to ease myself onto in Dawson's room to get from the window to the floor. So once a got myself in the window, I basically had to do the splits against the wall and dangle as far down as I could before dropping myself in (praise be that I've retained at least some of my flexibility from my dancing days). I grabbed Dawson, unlocked the door, and hurried to the backyard to get Sawyer before he had a freak out and all was well. Never a dull moment with the boys around here.

Dillon

Dillon had another spell of not feeling well again and experienced the exact same symptoms as the other couple of episodes he's had this year. The only thing we both can figure is that it's something to do with spicy food. It seems like anytime he eats spicy food consecutively (or something that's just extremely spicy), his body literally freaks out and gets sick for 24-36 hrs after. So hopefully if we avoid that, the poor guy won't get sick like that anymore (at least for that reason).

He's been playing fall softball with his same men's team that he's been on for a couple years now. He really enjoys it. The boys and I haven't had a chance to watch him yet because his games have been starting at 8:30 or later and it's just not worth dragging two ornery boys out to a game that late. Hopefully we'll get to go soon!

DaNae

I've been really frazzled and impatient with my boys lately, which has resulted in a lot of yelling on my part and I've been feeling really bad about it. They both are in some trying stages but I really want to do better at being calm with them. So I've started to repeat the words, "Be their port in the storm" in my head to help me remember that I want them to know I'm a safe space for them. Sounds cheesy I'm sure, but it's helped. There's definitely been less than stellar moments on my part but I'm making progress. I wish I was one of those calm "pick your battles" but also... "don't pick a lot of battles" moms. Maybe one day I'll get there.

I'm so glad that fall is here and things are cooling down. It's been much more pleasant to be outside with the boys and to walk to school to pick Sawyer up. I'm just going to soak it in before the weather decides to abruptly switch (which it usually does) and be wintery cold.

Making a store run, just the two of us, while Sawyer is at school. Dawson's loving a little one-on-one time.

Squeezing in another pool visit while the weather is warmish. This is how Dawson often spends his pool time at the aquatic center.

And Sawyer just runs wild.

A little snuggle and get warm break with mom. Perfect for some silly selfies.

We went to Delta over Labor Day weekend. The boys love to go and visit family there. Dawson was really loving Mason's ball and thought he should sleep with it.

Papa Steve made both boys some glove balloons and it was basically the coolest thing either of them had ever seen.

Visiting the newest puppies at the farm.

Sawyer's nightmare.

Tractor rides!

He was in heaven playing in the mud.

On our way home from Delta Monday morning, we stopped at Iron County's County Fair. Sawyer and I went on the Ferris Wheel and spared Dillon (since he hates heights) but Sawyer really didn't love it too much either.

Dawson's face when he kept getting left behind and couldn't go on the rides. He's too short according to their regulations.

But then a carnival worker was thankfully indifferent to her job and said she didn't care if he went in the fun house as long as we stayed by him.

We brought some treasures back from Delta that Mason had set aside for the boys. Dawson designated this ninja turtle blanket as his and thinks it should be with him at almost all times.

Sawyer, "I want to hold brother!"

This is what I found after breaking into Dawson's window. A little boy with tear filled eyes, holding tight to his teddy bear.

Ready to play!

I told him that this coat used to be Mason's and that made him not want to take it off.

When I was desperate for any solution, I tried to bribe Sawyer to not throw up at school by telling him he would get a toy. I just wanted to test the waters and see if that had any effect at all. The poor kid tried his hardest to choke it back when we got there. I could see him struggling. He wasn't able to hold it in and while I was helping him get changed, he cried and asked, "Can Sawyer still have a toy?" So then I felt terrible and told him yes because mommy shouldn't have bribed him in the first place but was proud of him for trying so hard. So he got this robot toy and he loves it so much he sneaks it kisses when he thinks no one is watching.

A picture was absolutely necessary to document that he had made it a week without throwing up at school.

Ready to embrace Halloween festivities.

While Sawyer and dad went inside for gymnastics one week, Dawson and I went for a walk around the block. He found this kitty and was so delighted that it let him pet it. He loves kitties so much.