The watermelon slice

Denis surprised us by taking the day off so he could go with us to Nikko's last day of playgroup. We got to the clinic on time and dropped a crying Ronin off in the daycare. Then we turned the double stroller around and went into the playgroup room. The kids today were Nikko, Andrew, Brandon and a girl Reagan. Overall, Nikko wasn't very attentive during playgroup today, probably because it was his last day and maybe because Denis' presence was different. Niko didn't sit very well during circle time, but he was able to hold a tambourine and tap it with his hands somewhat to the beat of the circle time song. He didn't sit for the hats or the story book, and maybe we were running late so Shirley omitted the Wiggles song about body parts. Nikko bopped around the bean table a bit but he didn't really play with anything substantial except for holding a plastic banana and using the phone on the play kitchen. He took the banana and held it up to Denis, waiting for him to identify it. I was impressed because he does that with the picture of the banana, too. He hasn't done that with any other pictures yet. During craft table time, Nikko was still struggling against me to sit in the chair but I managed to get his attention by giving him a bottle of glue and HOH squirted glue onto a half-moon shaped green paper. We then put red slices of "watermelon" on it, dotted seeds with black marker, and made a watermelon slice. For some reason, Nikko became attached to this slice ALL DAY. He rarely let it go out of his sight. Even later on, at home, when Ronin tore it from his hands and ripped it, I got some scotch tape and taped up the tear. Luckily, Nikko was satisfied with the patch job. Back to playgroup, Nikko refused the fresh watermelon slices for snack time but welcomed the Cheetos. Before parachute time Shirley gave Nikko a certificate of completion and he sat long enough to take a picture. He sat looking confused as we sang Happy Birthday to him because that's the song I usually sing to the boys while brushing their teeth. I sing it 3 times so that's how long the toothbrush stays on their pearly whites. Generally. We picked up Ronin from daycare and headed home where Peter met us and we started Ronin's speech therapy. Denis took Nikko downstairs and that was the end for Ronin. He wanted to go too, it was 11:45a and he was cranky as all hell, and he did NOT cooperate with us. Speech was a bust for Ronin.

Some time after lunch we all went outside to play. The weather was perfect, sunny and cool. Too bad we can't get it this cool inside our house w/o using the air conditioner. The boys saw Denis on top of the roof cleaning out the gutters and they were impressed. We (I) drew on the driveway with sidewalk chalk. I think I enjoy it more than the boys do, since I'm the one who ended up drawing the sun, airplane, tree, helicopter, watermelon slice and a street. Nikko didn't go into the swingset, but opted to hold his watermelon craft and chill out on the plastic table benches. Later he joined Audrey and me on the banig mat, until Denis came out with some snacks. We went inside to have a formal snack time around 4p. The Disney movie Cars was on TV and I wanted the boys to watch it since we haven't seen it yet. Ronin was very interested, but Nikko fell asleep. When he woke up from his nap, Nikko was crying really hard during a diaper change. I was asking him what was wrong for the longest time, but he couldn't tell me. I saw him turning the watermelon craft over and over and figured that it might have gotten bent in the middle. He pulled me toward the nursery, knew it was the wrong room, and redirected me to his room where I originally got the scotch tape and patched up the slice earlier in the day. I got more tape to put on it, and he was briefly satisfied. He soon plied me for even more tape and I got agitated because there was nothing wrong with the slice. Finally I gave up and tore a few pieces for him to add to the slice to his liking, then announced that the tape ran out so no more tape. I finally got to a level which was acceptable to him and he left. Nikko's getting frantic about certain things and it's worrying me. Kind of OCD-ish. Tomorrow is the last day of speech therapy with Gloria. I'm not looking for a miracle, I just hope he has a good session.

Something I forgot to note: Nikko has been showing more aggressive behavior during some of his tantrums. He's been pounding his chest, stomping his feet, and occasionally throwing himself onto the ground. Obviously he's frustrated that we're not giving him what he wants and that he can't express what he wants as well. He's also been figuring things out around the house to get what he wants, by dragging the ottoman over to the TV stands to retrieve a Hi-5 DVD or dragging the kitchen stool over to the counter to get something he shouldn't. That brain is working, I swear!