hair

I'll be the first one to admit that I'm not the best at taking care of Ezra's hair (it was so much easier in the summer when we could just buzz it off).  But his 'winter' fro is quite a bit more labour intensive.

I tried twists for the first time this morning.  I learned how from youtube (same place I learned how to use my serger, cook, and most other things--if I can learn something in less than 4 minutes, I'm up for it!)

 

The video said it could stay in for up to a week.  And like the video told me to, I used lots of conditioning stuff and combed it really well so it wouldn't be knotted.  I am, however, worried that after 1 or 2 sleeps it will be soo knotted we'll have to shave it off!   

 

 

Sooooo, if the next picture you see of Ezra is with a shaved head, you'll know what happened :(

I had to try.

I hope it stays in long enough for Shawn to see it on Saturday morning when he gets home.  It's too much work to only stay in for 1 or 2 days!!!

 

 

Liam made it very clear that he did not want me to do that to his hair. 

No problem Liam!

 

 

.... just two more day until Shawn comes home. 

I am so counting down the hours!

 

 

Forgetting How

I don't know if it's just my Ezra, but every month or so, he forgets how to play by himself.
Yesterday I did tot school with him and another little boy and he had a blast.  We went outside for a bit, the boys watched a bit of tv, and I read him books... we had lots of 'face time' and it wasn't just a boring old day.  But when it was "Ezra alone play time" he couldn't do it.  He would wander around and seek more attention until I told him he had to go into the den and play with his toys.  He then would either just wander around the den aimlessly or just sit on the floor in front of his toys and wait for play time to end.  Honestly, there is only so much attention I can give the child.  Shawn and I have put him to the test in the past to see how long he would just sit and wait for play time to be over rather than amuse himself... it was remarkably long!
When we first had Ezra, he was pretty good at alone play time, but then when he realized that it was more fun to be entertained by an adult it was funny how quickly he lost the ability to play--seriously acted like he was fully incapable of playing by himself. 
Shawn and I just expect it every few weeks and can just laugh at the absurdity of it BUT Shawn is away this week and the days are looooong.   I was expecting a little regression because of Shawn's absence and so far it hasn't been too bad (just forgetting how to play and speak properly... not bad!).
Fortunately we have a little routine we go through when this happens to help encourage him to 'remember' how to play.  So today we are working on this and have had some improvement!

 

Now, if I could only find out the source of the pee smell I'd feel a bit better.

 

Well, that's new

We experienced some new behaviour today... but first the fun stuff:

 

This winter has been a blast so far.  The snow brings with it so many fun activities... so far we've had snow forts...

 

tobogganing...

 

and then yesterday we went skating. 

I have to admit that holding a 3 year old up on skates for 40 minutes has given me a great awareness to certain muscles the 'day after'.  So much fun!!

Now onto the new behaviour... stealing food.
We had some leftover timbits on our counter from a church meeting  last night.  I noticed that Ezra had some suspicious crumbs on his face and started questioning him.  If there was any doubt, his sweet sticky hands and missing timbits revealed the truth.
I think we've been lucky up to this point to have gotten away with mild food issues (Ezra's inability to know when he's full and always wanting more food).  I hope this just ends up being 3 year old boundary testing and not something bigger  *fingers crossed*
It was interesting that for about an hour after dealing with this, Ezra would bring up comments about going back to the orphanage--almost looking disappointed when we told him "no more orphanage" and that Jesus gave him to us to stay with us.  It's still hard to explaining 'big' things to a 3 year old with limited language and comprehension (don't get me wrong, he understands a lot, but some concepts are beyond the comprehension of a 3 year old).

I so badly want Ezra to know, really know that we love him.  I want him to know that we will always love him.  I hope that we can show our love to him through loving discipline followed by tons of hugs, kisses and smiles.