Those were the exact words one of Nikolai's little friends mouth. She is a sweet girl that my good friend babysits. My friend couldn't figure out what this little girl was talking about. She thought she was talking about a toy that Nikolai was playing with. The little girl kept pointing to his hand...
(it is hard to see in this picture, but, it is the left hand. He kindof has it curled up in that pic)



Finally, she got it. She understood. The little girl saw how Nikolai's hand looked like a "claw" to her because of his Amniotic (sp?) banding syndrome. His 3 middle fingers are fused together and he uses that as one and then he uses his thumb and pinky. He can pick up things that you wouldn't believe. So, this sweet little girl wanted a hand just like his because it was cool and it could do so much. I thought that was so precious!! I know kids can be cruel, but, kids can be so sweet and honest and not even know it.

We plan on having his first round of surgeries on his hand this year. They wanted us to hold off a little bit until he put on more weight. With the anesthesia, they wanted him to weigh more. The doctors tell us that it will be a series of operations probably up through 1st grade. It terrifies me for him to have surgery. I have had operations and they have hurt, but, I do not want any of my babies to ever experience that. So, I am very prayerful about it.

Labels: Amniotic Banding Syndrome, life

Well, I knew it would happen. But, maybe I thought that I would get a little lucky.. S bypassed the terribles, and M got it at around 3 years old...she still has it. Nikolai is right on track. He read the book on temper tantrums, put the book down and put it to use!!

So, I am in a whole new world with him. What worked for S does not work for M or N. Nikolai is very good with this whole time out thing. He obeys very well. Now, he goes kicking and screaming. But, we tell him why he is in time out and we give him 2 minutes. Usually, he is screaming "NO TIME OUT!!" or banging his head on the stair rails (which scares me to death). Then, right about 2 minutes....he stops and he is quiet. He is ready to say "I sorry" and we move on with our day.

It is in public that I am not sure what to do. The stage that we are in right now is the stage where if you don't give him what he wants at the exact second that he wants it....fury happens. He kicks, screams, and grits him teeth because he is so mad. When you are with 3 kids in the store and he does that. There are not many things to do, other than leave. What I did the other day was take us all back outside and made everyone sit on the bench. I put him in time out there, instructed the girls not to play with him. He threw what my dad likes to call it " A hissy fit!!!" Then, he was tired. I asked if he was ready to go back....he said he was. He said "I sorry" So, we went back in with no problems.

But, the looks you get are terrible sometimes. He likes to scream "Ow!! OW!! OW!!" when you pick him up and hold him while he is in the middle of a tantrum. I can't figure it out for the life of me. I think what it is....he is screaming "OW" because he just doesn't want to be picked up. But, the public doesn't get that....it makes an entire store turn and stare at you with cell phones in hand ready to call 911.

I think about calling Nanny 911 sometimes. I wonder if she has a direct line. With 3 children going through so many emotions and stages in their lives..it is hard to know what the right thing to do all the time. I do my best and I think I am a good mother. I try. I really do.

Nikolai and I took a nice stroll downtown where we live. We stumbled upon a Russian Art Store. I decided to go in. There we met Olga. She was from St. Petersburg. We talked and talked and talked. Nikolai seemed to be drawn to the dolls and other Russian toys. She was so sweet to us. She bent down and gave Nikolai a matryoshka doll.

I know that Nikolai barely remembers the Russian language. But, when she started talking...he was very drawn to her. It was a nice surprise on a sunny day while we were waiting for M.