Life As the Pomettos Know It

**I found this post in my drafts that never got published.  When I read it I had to publish because so.funny.

I think it's high time for an update.

We are having a busy, crazy, awesome, summer.  We have been traveling a ton, seeing lots of friends, enjoying the beauty that is Wisconsin in the summer.

We started the summer with Judah breaking a bone in his wrist (he fell off the monkey bars over Memorial Day weekend).  He, as usual, was a tough guy about it so we didn't even take him in for a couple of days.  Just take a moment to bask in my magnificent mothering. (There was no swelling!  No bruising!  He was using it normally!)  But finally after he hit his wrist on something and was in serious pain again I decided to have it X-rayed...you know, just to rule out a break.  He got a sweet Spiderman cast - that he could wear in the water (thank you, Jesus!) - and we carried on with summer fun.

We took a fantastic vacation to the Outer Banks with Joe's family.  Super fun.  We have been to Iowa twice to visit family and to celebrate the baptism of our adorable god daughter, Kate Caroline.

We spent a weekend at Notre Dame celebrating Angie - she now has a Masters of Arts in Theology.  Kind of a big deal.

And now here we are.  It's almost August.  We have been having so much fun but I just want summer to stay and slow for a while.

Big news in the Pometto fam is that Roman will be attending school this fall.  Our parish has a school and he's just ready.  I will miss having him at home all day but I am excited for him. And I am excited to have a little more one-on-one time with Judah as he starts Kindergarten at home with me.  Of course Silas and Nora will be there too  :)

Other than that, here's what each kiddo has been up to:

Roman:

• still super into music.  We have been to a couple of concerts this summer - basically heaven for him.

Judah:

• when he got his cast on he was just kind of grumpy for a couple of days.  I get it.  It was on his right hand.  Had to be pretty annoying.  He's already kind of overstimulated by too much touching and this was touching him all the time.  He was getting into the van one day and he was just being kind of growly and had this scowl on his face.  I said "Judah, why don't you use your words to tell me why you're frustrated."  Through clinched teeth he says "I want to buckle my seat belt by myself."
• Judah has started using his words more often when he's frustrated which is great progress!  We are proud of him!  But, I'm going to be honest, it doesn't always feel like progress.  When he is frustrated he really takes it out on the family via his words.  For example:

Me:  "Judah, it's time for lunch"

Judah:  "Why are you so mean to me all the time?"

Me:  "Judah, it's time to come inside"

Judah:  "You are so very mean"

Me:  "Judah, please put your shoes on so we can go"

Judah:  "Stop talking to me"

So....yeah.  But words are better than not words!  They are better than aggression and pent up frustration.  Hopefully we can start refining the words ASAP.  :)

• He is so aggressive and yet fiercely loyal.  This kid fights with Silas/wrestles him to the ground all day long.  Then he tells me that some other kids were being mean to Silas at an event we were at.  There happened to be childcare provided, so I wasn't in the room at the time.  I asked Judah if he had told one of the "teachers" that someone was being mean to Silas.  His response:  "No, I don't need to tell a teacher.  I need to smash them."
• This same child will be so sweet and give the best compliments when he's happy.  When we get ice cream or go swimming he almost always announces "This is a great day!"  My personal favorite though, is when he tells me "You're my best mother".  
• One of Judah's favorite games to "go to work".  He will put on a button down shirt and a tie if he can find one, grab a bag that looks like a laptop case, and go to his "office", which is usually located in the playhouse outside or downstairs.  He really enjoys getting a hug goodbye and then coming in the door to a warm "Judah!  I'm so glad to see you!  How was your day?"  Adorable.  One day I was asking him more about what he did at his office and he was having trouble telling me exactly what he does there.  I said "What does dad do at his office?"  Judah said "he watches movies and colors".  

Silas:

• is still our pokey little puppy.  He is a dawdler which can be pretty frustrating but it's always a good reminder that we don't really need to hurry most of the time.  He notices all the little things we miss.
• He and I were looking at a picture of Saint George, the Dragon Slayer, the other day.  I was trying to get him to make some observations so I asked "What do you notice about this picture?"  He said "I notice the pretty dragon".
• We were all sitting at the dinner table one night when Silas stood up and looked like he was in pain.  "What?", I asked "What's wrong, baby?"  He replied "My feet are sparkly!"  So funny because I knew exactly what he meant.  That's probably the best description I've heard of that horrible feeling when your foot falls asleep!
• See!  He's so sweet, isn't he?!  He's always walking on his toes and laughing and he's the most excitable child.  But there is a dark side.
• I don't even know how to tell you this story.  We were playing at a friend's house one night and the next morning as I was helping Silas get dressed he said "I'm wearing Peter's underwear."

Uh....

This is how the rest of the conversation went

Me:  Why?  Why are you wearing Peter's underwear??

S:  I don't know.

Me:  NO, tell me why you're wearing Peter's underwear.
S:  Well, I pooped in mine.
Me:  .... (deep breathing)
S:  So Peter game me some of his

Me:  Silas, where are YOUR underwear?
S:  I don't know.

For.the.love.  This will be on the next episode of Unsolved Mysteries because the underwear in quesiton were never found.  Ever.  Jess and I have discussed all the options (did he flush them?  throw them?  Will we find them when they move out of that house?)  We laughed and lamented over this many times.  That's a real friend.