Raise your hand if you're tired (if I could raise my hand any higher, my arm would fall out of the socket)!

So, hello bloggy friends! I guess I am averaging one post every 2-3 weeks these days. Summer is busy with Max being out of preschool. I am trying to find activities for him everyday so we don't all go insane. HOWEVER! I am going to try to write every day this week! Starting today (I meant to start yesterday, but I was busy doing something, although I'm not sure what and I will probably never remember).

So, today is all about updating everyone on Max. Tomorrow, I will update everyone on Harry and all his physical ailments (if I can remember them all). After that, we will just have to see what flies out of my brain.

Ah, Max. My sweet, sweet 2 year old who is about to turn 3 next month. The terrible twos have definitely proven true with him. Someone told me the other day that age three is just the terrible twos with more words. I almost fell down in the grass and rolled myself into the street. I was hoping for a break when he turned three. I am going to keep holding on to that dream!

The past three weeks have actually been easier with him. He has seemed more balanced, less anxious, not quite as hyperactive. He has been playing independently more often and has been less aggressive toward his brother. He still has trouble with social play with other children - he has no boundaries and assumes they don't either. He acts as if every child should automatically play with him, while other children are a bit more apprehensive with people and children they don't know.

Max does everything with gusto and aggression. He is always smiling, he is NEVER in a bad mood, he is pretty much always playful. He approaches life with passion and I hope he always does. He can scare other children with his aggressive approach to play and his desire for attention - he will reach out and touch other kids while they may not appreciate his way of saying hello. Max is a pretty awesome kid.

And while the past 3 weeks have seemed easier, this doesn't mean that he hasn't pulled some of his typical 2 year old boy antics in the last few days.

On Saturday, my husband was cleaning something with Pine Sol and he left the FULL bottle sitting on the living room floor while he went into the next room. And naturally, being a 2 year old boy, Max took the fully concentrated bottle of PineSol and dumped it out all over our living room floor. LUCKILY, he missed the rug and only spilled it on the fireplace tile and the hardwood floor. But anyone who has smelled concentrated PineSol knows how strong the smell is - today is Tuesday and we still can't get the chemical smell out of the house.

Also on Saturday, while I was trying to put Harry down for bed, Max took a red magic marker and drew all over the back of our couch! I think he was jealous because I was holding Harry in order to put him to sleep, so when I left the room, Max acted out for attention. Little stinker!

Now food. Max has stopped eating breakfast. And I have stopped trying to force him to eat. Since he started eating solids 2 1/2 years ago, I have tried to force him to eat. He just isn't an eater. His sensory issues really come out with food. And until recently, every meal and every snack he ate ended up on the floor. EVERY TIME. Three meals and two snacks a day ended up on the floor because he didn't want to eat and he was acting out. I was CONSTANTLY cleaning up the floor and the walls around the table. Some days, I just didn't bother. I was too tired of it.

Well, 2 or 3 weeks ago, Max's developmental therapist's supervisor came to our house to observe and she was wonderful with her advice. She helped me so much. She told me not to feed him until he was really hungry and cut out his snacks. If he doesn't want breakfast, no big deal. And the first time he throws his food on the floor, say, "If you throw your food on the floor, that tells Mommy you are finished." And then take his plate away and make him leave the table. Since I started doing this, it has worked like a dream! Food hardly ever ends up on the floor now unless it is an accident (with me, anyway - he still does it with my husband). The first time I threaten to take away his plate, he begs me not to and is very careful to keep his food on the table.

I guess I just needed permission from someone - someone to tell me it is okay for him not to eat sometimes. To discipline him by taking away his food. As his mommy, I have always stressed about his eating because he has never eaten well. His texture issues with food have kept him from expanding his food horizons and it has been a constant worry of mine. This woman gave me permission to not worry about it which in turn has helped me teach Max the proper way socialized people eat at the table! I am so grateful!

He has eaten gluten-free waffles and two bowls of frozen bluberries everyday for lunch for a week and I am not stressing about it!! :)

This has turned into a longer post than I intended, so I'd better skidaddle!