the witching hour

There is that time of day, the late afternoon, around dinner time, when kids get cranky.   My mom calls this the "witching hour."   K and JJ get cranky and then some at times.  They are tired and hungry, and don't want to wait for dinner.  This is the same time of day that "Sundowning" sets in with the dementia residents.  Maybe they too are tired and hungry.  Maybe being tired and hungry makes the elderly dementia resident's confusing level increase....  but I know its not that simple.
Often when they are tired, the boys hit melt down mode.  And you never know what will set them off into a complete frenzy.  There are times when I just have to take a step back and laugh.  (of course never in front of the boys as they are crying!)  My favorite tantrum was when K was younger, and he was hungry.  I gave him a piece of bread, he threw it on the floor, and proceeded to throw himself on the floor just far enough away that the bread was out of his reach.  He was laying on his stomach on the floor crying "Mommy, I can't reach it!"  over and over.  It was like he was in a desert crawling to the oasis and couldn't just make the last few inches.  These are usually the times I have to either walk away or put K upstairs in his room to calm down.  Usually if we ignore him, he will get over it and switch gears back to normal in a few minutes, like nothing happened. 
JJ is just starting to show more of his temper and to throw a few tantrums.    So far any tantrum he has had  have been very short and his is easy to distract.  But... he certainly has a bad temper at times.  He is much calmer overall than his big brother, so it'll be interesting to see what happens in the next few years as he finds his way, and strives for independence!

Say What?

 My little guy,JJ will be two at the end of the month.  Wow, those two years went fast.  He is of course, learning to talk, starting to put words together and all that. But, his speech really isn't that clear yet.  It is impossible for Daddy and I not to compare the boys.  K. was much more advanced in his language skills at this age.  It had me worried for a while that JJ was so far behind, but I think now that he is just normal.  Sometimes I really don't know what he is saying.  Tonight at dinner I thought he was asking for more rice and he was saying "there it is." I only figured that out, because he wasn't pointing at the bowl of rice, he was pointing at the front door, and  "there it is"  was part of a game he and K were playing earlier.
He is getting there, but I certainly am guessing at what he is saying at times.  At least he is expressive and does a lot of pointing so we can put two and two together and figure it out.  Plus, he is still only saying two words or short phrases, nothing complicated.  So usually we can decipher what he is saying, usually.
  Yesterday, when at work and talking with one of my older friends, (she is at least 93), I couldn't understand what she was trying to tell me, and I felt bad.  She was obviously getting frustrated with herself for not being able to get the words out the right way.  She had recently had a stroke, and with her expressive aphasia, it can be very difficult for her to talk to others because the words get stuck in her head and different words sometimes come out which make no sense.   I try my best not to just pretend I know what she is saying, because that won't help her, and she knows that I don't know what she said..
Now, I am by no means comparing here, but as one who listens, you do learn to decipher language in a unique way that is helpful in both situations. I think having a child with poor pronunciation, has helped my ear to listen to others who do not speak as clearly, and vice versa.

Anyone interested in expressive aphasia, should look at a blog by someone who has had it... read expressiveaphasia.blogspot.com.
Pretty cool.