Golden Pig Tales

A couple of weeks ago, the Subaru started to get sick - so I told Ezra we might need to start looking for a new car. Ezra said he wanted a red car. Once the mechanic gave me the verdict of failing head gaskets, I knew it was probably time for a new car, so I told Ezra that the subaru was too sick to drive a lot, and that we would have to get a new car. “A red one?” he asked. “maybe,” I said.  But first we got to drive around in Grandpa and Grandma T’s camry. “I like this car,” Ezra said, “but it’s not red.” I told him that sometimes it’s hard to find the right car in the right color, but I think he was pretty convinced that the right color would be red.

And so we got a new car this weekend (it’s a black 2006 Nissan Murano). At first, Ezra was displeased when he saw the car I pointed to, because it wasn’t the red car he had requested, and it wasn’t  grandma T’s that we had been driving or a car like it. However, once he got  inside the new car, he started to like it, and I think he started to like it even more after his first ride in the car to the car store where they also had a whole box full of toys for him to play with while mom and dad filled out paperwork and waited for the car to be bought. It’s a bigger car than the subaru so he gets to sit up higher and see more, which I think he likes. It also has a arm rest cupholder tray that pulls down next to his carseat, and he’s started requesting 2 drinks to take with him for his car tray. I’m glad he decided to like the new car, because I really really like the new car : )

After waking, eating, talking, reading, car riding, playing, fort building with Ezra all day long. After having built one chair fort for most his toys and many couch forts for Ezra, and after reading books, and after eating. After ABCs and counting. After watching Caillou as we sat on the couch and ate a heated frozen pizza, Ezra smiled and said, ,,I like you, dad.”

One day you’re liked because you help build forts then the next day you are not liked for some unknown reason. Tonight Ezra liked mom and the cats, but not dad. And for no apparent reason other than I was not mom or the cats because I was being a good dad as -v- said and offering to build forts, help him with puzzles or read him books, but nothing I could do could change Ezra’s mind. At one time, I was Bad To The Bone like the song that Grave Digger plays before he begins to do the freestyle over the stadium floor. But unlike Grave Digger, I was unable to please Ezra in anyway tonight, which didn’t make me feel bad to the bone, but was kind of sucky. He was tired, so I can understand. I reason that he was just preparing me for his teenage years.

Saturday, I introduced Ezra to building forts with sofa and chair cushions. We built our first fort using a chair and its two cushions, four sofa pillows and a blanket. Sunday, we built more forts. Today, we built another fort before bedtime after telling him this during morning that couldn’t build a fort before pre-school because we didn’t have time.

We are perfected our structures though Ezra does have a tendency to find joy in taking down the forts to build a new one. I find the joy in building forts with Ezra.

Ezra is in bed…not sure if he’s sleeping.
Tonight he didn’t want to stay in his room,
at least not at first. He said his bed was bad,
his room was bad, he was hungry, he wasn’t tired…
So after a trip downstairs for a slice of bread and butter
we went back upstairs and he started looking a
little tired but every time I thought he was sleeping
he was not. Eventually he let me leave the room but
I still don’t know if he’s sleeping

Washing Ezra’s hair use to be an event of pain and suffering for everyone. Ezra would suffer because he hated water being pouring over his head and having any chance of water getting on his face and eyes. We would suffer because would have to make Ezra cry and fuss as we poured water on his head to clean hair and scalp and rinse them.

We tried things to help with the hair washing fuss. We tried special water hat that diverted the pour of water from his face. We tried pouring water only on the back of his head. We tried covering his eyes and pouring water over his face. We tried jumping around and making faces, so he would look-up as water was poured over hair. We tried only using a wet rag.

None of these things worked at the time. Well, they haven’t worked for the past couple years. But now. NOW. Thanks to trust and imagination, Ezra doesn’t have much fuss with the hair washing because he doesn’t fuss much when a rag is put over his eyes. And he looks-up with the rag over eyes when -v- asks him to look-up and asks him what color a plane he sees. Last hair wash, the airplane was yellow. And his hair was cleaned without fuss or crying.

Ezra is at Grandma and Grandpa T’s with -v-, and he wanted to call me. He called and told me where he was then gave the phone to -v-. I believe it was the first time Ezra talked with me on the phone.

So Ezra poops and pees at Pre-school into their toddler sized flushing toilets, but does not poop and pee at home in either of his toddler sized non-flushing toilets. He sometimes sits down on the toilets at home, but only because he happens to be in the bathroom because he is brushing teeth or washing hands. We ask him through the day if he needs to poop or pee and if he wants to sit on the potty, but the only time he responds is if he had pooped or peed and wants a new diaper (because he doesn’t always want to change his diaper even after pooping and peeing). We  have tried a toilet for Christmas, so he thinks it a gift. We have tried letting him make the toilet his own by letting him put stickers on it. We have explained to him that he wouldn’t need to change his diaper as often as we do if he didn’t poop or pee in it. He has wanted to wear underwear and not diapers, but still doesn’t care that much to poop and pee at home to make the transition to underwear. We reason at least he poops and pees in toilet at preschool, but it wouldn’t be nice if he did it at home for we, like Ezra, don’t enjoy changing the diapers of a fussy Ezra.

It was nice and sunny today!Ezra and I wet to the Sellwood park.We hadn’t been there for weeks and weeks.It was fun but really muddy.It was weird to see how some of the thingsat that park that used to be kind of bigfor Ezra are now not too big at all!

Ear infection for the month is gone. The last of the Amoxicillin has been injected into Ezra’s mouth by Ezra. Things are good and happy. We are sleeping, playing, smiling, hugging and talking with only a little bit of fussing.

Ezra has began a habit of calling things bad by saying, ,,That’s bad.” I ask him why a particular things is bad, and his only answer is, ,,Because it’s not good.” Not many things have been bad. Usually only when he is fussing a bit then something is bad, but bad hasn’t been an issue during the past days because there has been a lot of good, which has reminded me there is more good than bad during life with Ezra.

For months and months, -v- and I have been having few to no issues getting Ezra to brush teeth, but that tooth brushing was Ezra sort of moving around a tooth brush in his mouth while he sucked off all the tooth paste then asking for more tooth paste. Ezra’s cleaning was followed by Valerie or me trying to help Ezra actually brush his teeth. This forced attempt to help Ezra brush his teeth only succeeded in making Ezra fussy and making Ezra tense up.

For a month now, -v- and I have had no problems helping Ezra brush his teeth after we have shown him the fun of making bubbles with the tooth brush and teeth. Now Ezra is more than happy to open his mouth before a mirror while -v- or I brush his teeth to create bubbles.

There was a point last week when Ezra was fussing and not wanting to take his Amoxicillin for his hear infection. It was morning or night, I can’t remember. I do remember hearing Ezra tell me that he would take it if he could to it. And by it he meant injecting the syringe full of Amoxicillin into his mouth.

Now everyday, he has been taking his medicine. Which makes me part proud as a father to see he can take his own medicine, but also sad as a father to know he has had so many ear infections that he has learned how to take is own medicine.

When Ezra is in a good mood, the whole house is in a good mood. When Ezra is cranky, we get cranky. I’m not sure that’s a good thing? Anyway, tonight was fun. Ezra even sat through all of Wall-E!

The day alone with sick and fussy Ezra was more work than my hardest days of money job. I said fuck four times. The forth fuck was a holy fuck that was said when I was starring out the window while sitting on the sofa mindless having had lost the mind talking with Ezra, playing with Ezra, trying to calm Ezra, feeding Ezra, changing Ezra, soothing Ezra from ear infection pain, convincing Ezra mom will come back and all during a few minutes.

After a night of sleeping with Ezra as he tossed, turned and kicked me then ask for milk, water and juice to drink to hydrate his fever warmed body at 3:30 in the morning, I feel like I need to sleep.

Ezra is sleeping now. His snotty nose and ear infection not giving him cause to wake. That is good. I need the rest.

Nothing could satisfy Ezra today except being attached to -v-. Even that had issues a couple of times when he wasn’t satisfied with the method of how he was attached to -v-. It is true he’s got a cough and a snotty nose. It is true the ear with the ear tube still inside was oozing fluid, so it’s not like its not without cause or reason. But still, I have to write that it has been a long time since I have felt this relieved that Ezra has finally went to bed.