Kids say the sweetest things & Mama's a clutz

So Mama got sick for Christmas - a horrible cough and very hoarse and just didn't feel very good.  But Ethan & Alex were both healthy (or on the mend anyway in the case of Ethan) so I didn't complain too loudly.  I never had a fever or anything - possibly a sinus infection but too much to do to make Christmas extra special to stop for a doctor visit so I'm slowly recovering and the cough is lessening.  This could be due to the frequent check-ups Ethan is giving me with his new kit.  Or it could be due to the sweetest things he says sometimes.  The other night we said prayers - I think this was Christmas Eve actually and at the end we said the "God bless Ethan & Alex..."etc part and at the end before he said "Amen" Ethan said "& help Mama to get better."  He said it and smiled at me and said "Amen & kisses Mama"....he is such a sweet boy - that was so sweet.  The next night he said it again and since he coughed in the middle, he prayed for him to get better, too.  That boy is just too cute.

Alex tends to fall over when he gets tired...he totally comes by that naturally and today was total proof....after naptime, Steve fixed the outlet in the living room so the lightswitch would again work the lamps in the room.  Then I tried to run an extension cord to the other lamp & in doing so, I bumped the corner shelf on top of which stands our 2.5 foot tall unity candle my dad made for us.  I realized this only after the candle fell on my head. 

Christmas with kids is so much more fun than any other Christmas

Surely anyone with young kids has to agree.  It is so much more fun to enjoy Christmas with & through the eyes of your child.  Let's start with Ethan and what he wanted for Christmas.  He told everyone he wanted a guitar for Christmas.  The first I heard this was when he told some of my co-workers.  Steve told me his mom had been mentioned something about his nephew having a guitar so we thought that's where this came from so we kept asking what he really wanted thinking it wasn't really a guitar.  Then we went to see Santa at Steve's work.  Ethan went right up to him and gave him the books we brought (new books for Santa to give to other children) and sat on his lap for all of 60 seconds - long enough for a picture and to tell him he wanted a guitar for Christmas.  I had wanted a picture with both boys together but Ethan was having no part of going back to Santa's lap - he only wanted to tell Santa what he wanted and he'd done that so he was DONE.  When asked what Alex wanted, he told them - "Owix wants a drum."  Mama kept disagreeing with this because we already have electronic drumsticks - but Ethan was insistent.  Then as we start to leave, Ethan says, "but where's my guitar?"  I had to explain that he just told Santa what he wanted and Santa would bring it on Christmas Eve.  We head out and Steve & I discuss amongst ourselves how we can't believe he really wants a guitar and we need to try to get him hooked on something else & that a drum is NOT happening....Then a few days later a package arrives from Nana.  Steve says something like "I wonder what's in it?" and Ethan states quite matter of factly, "It's my guitar."  OK - so now we're resigned to the fact that Santa will definitely have to bring a guitar for Ethan.  Ethan told every person who asked, everytime they asked that Santa was going to bring him a guitar.  When he was sick last weekend and we were waiting around Walmart for his antibiotics, we saw the very guitar he wanted but didn't buy it because that's the one Santa was supposed to bring him. 

Oh what a weekend...

Note to self: Never brag that one of your children has only been sick once or twice - it will bite you in the butt...HARD.

Friday evening I arrived home to an Ethan I'd been previously warned was whiney and didn't feel well. He'd been getting hoarse for a couple of days and apparently Friday is when it hit full force. What I wasn't forewarned of was that he had a slight fever as well. He didn't want to eat dinner and since he was coughing a bit and I happen to know he has a bad gag reflex and didn't want to clean up dinner from the floor, I didn't make him eat (sorry for that visual guys and a little warning, there will be more of that in this post). Instead, as Steve left for work for the night (not due back home until 3:00 or later), I proceed to look for a thermometer, Ethan sits in "my" chair watching Phineas & Ferb (or however you spell it) & Alex proceeded to antagonize his ailing big brother. I can't tell you how many times I heard, "No, Owix...Mamaaaaa" in a very whiney tone this weekend followed by a whiney cry.

Thermometer found - very low grade temp - 99.5. OK - no problem, "Ethan, you want a popsicle?" E: "Uh-huh." Excellent. Alex gets a cookie & Ethan gets a popsicle and we sit down to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas special that Daddy bought last week for the boys. I call Steve to let him know that Ethan does have a fever, even if low, to which he responds something to the effect of "Oh." - Note the lack of concern at this point in his voice. That will change as the weekend progresses.

So far behind....let's try to catch up

I'm so far behind in blog posts now I think I'll never catch up.  We've had a very hectic few weeks and I'm completely exhausted.  I'll have to skip the specifics on several things I was going to go into detail on but here goes:

1)  Our trip to Illinois on Black Friday to see Steve's high school win the state finals in football.  The boys had fun visiting with Grandma and Richard & Jewel and a few of Steve's other friends from Morrison.  Alex wasn't too thrilled with not having naptime on time - that boy really wants his sleep and he has told us when naptime and bedtime should be and is none too please when the schedule isn't met.  At one point I took him out of the stadium area into the snack area to warm up a bit (really windy and very cold - thankfully we had plenty of layers & gloves & hats).  There were TVs showing the game in the refreshment area and 3 likely high school boys were laying on the ground watching one of these sets...until we came in.  Barb (Grandma), Ethan & I were all with Alex who was thankful to be running around instead of strapped into the car or stuck in seats in the stadium.  He had a small football and went right up to the boys and tossed them his ball.  He then grunted at them until they got the point and played catch with him for about fifteen minutes while Ethan helped, giggling his little head off.  Ethan went back in with his Daddy after a bit and then I took Alex back in and went to get hot cocoa.  When I got back, Alex was done with Daddy...apparently because Daddy can't put him to sleep in a sitting position.  He can rock him in the recliner or lay down with him but when it comes to sitting straight up, Alex wants me to put him to sleep cause I can recline him better into myself and sort of hum and rock him to sleep.  I have to assume that really was the problem because 5 minutes of me doing that and he was out and Steve had been going longer with Alex fighting it the whole time.  Totally rotten.  But we all had a great time, went for good Chicago pizza after the game and then headed for home where we arrived safely, if exhausted around 1:00am.

Thanksgiving / The 1st Birthday

I have several blog posts to catch up so I'll try to do one a day for the next few days to catch everyone up on our last couple of weeks....now on to this story.

Flashback
Last year I spent Thanksgiving day in the hospital with my brand new baby boy.  Uncle Keevin and Uncle Shannon visited that morning for a short time and then Steve & big brother Ethan arrived and, of course, Aunt Katie, who had stayed the night before with me while Steve stayed at Eileen's with Ethan, was there as well.   We put Alex in a cute little outfit with his adorable little "Gobble, Gobble" turkey bib and, of course, sent pictures via text to Nana and a few others who can accept that type of message. 

I had wanted Ethan to have a good turkey dinner (and I wanted left overs, too) so Steve took Ethan to Eileen's for dinner with the gang just as Megan arrived to see us.  She had been to her in-laws for dinner and then sped to Frankfort to see her newest nephew (and me, of course).  Megan had planned to stay and with us while everyone else was at dinner.  She played with Alex and visited with me for a bit and Becky, Ani & Brian came up (with something yummy for me to eat but I don't quite remember what - pumpkin cheesecake maybe?).  I think Megan may have brought banana bread, too, because as I write, I'm tasting her yummy banana bread and, quite frankly, salivating for some. 

First Birthday Party Recap

Anyone who has ever visited me when I'm not having a special event at my house, like a birthday party, knows that I do not keep a clean house.  The big problem is clutter - Steve & I are both pack rats so rather than actually throw stuff away, we let it pile up, on every surface so that things that should go on a shelf, end up in the floor because the shelf is full of crap.  For Ethan's birthday, we cleaned the house - downstairs - as it was summer and a lot of people stayed outside; we had had pool stuff for the kids and sprinkler and sort of made it an outside event.  The upstairs, however, remained very cluttered.   For Alex's birthday, it's November - outside is not an option.  So we had to clean a bit better to ensure the kids could play upstairs to give more space.  I won't say that the place was spotless because I'm sure by other people's standards, it wasn't.  By my standards - the place finally looked great.  Now, if we can keep it that way - and finally start throwing stuff away instead of accumulating, that is the goal.

House was fully clean by noon Sunday (party @ 2:30), we put the boys down for a nap and I took a shower so I could go get the cake.  Alex is interested in one thing (other than Ethan) and that is balls of any kind.  I think I've mentioned this before but I don't think I can say it enough to give you the full picture of his like for balls.  So his party theme?  Balls - sports - football, baseball, soccer, basketball.  We had seen a few months ago at Kroger a cake that had a huge dome in the center which we went in for a closer look at.  Turns out the dome was a basketball so we talked to them and they have several different kinds of balls and yes, they could put a big ball in the center and then smaller balls around and mix and match them.  I ordered his cake Friday night (I meant to go sooner but just didn't get there).  They had a big football (we have more footballs than any other ball so he carries them around frequently and maybe it's just because it's what we have most of, or maybe it's because I, myself, am partial to football, but I think footballs are his favorite) - perfect - but only had footballs & baseballs to put around the edge as they were out of stock of the rest.  No biggie - I ordered that combo with blue as the highlight icing...chocolate cake, of course; it wouldn't be a first birthday without chocolate cake.  I picked up the cake and honestly, it was the cutest thing ever - it was perfect!  Home with the cake to start fixing finger foods and get this show on the road. 

The Next Day...

Here's the follow-up to the events of yesterday's blog:

1)  Ethan woke up shortly after his daddy got home and came in to again ask to sleep in our bed.  I couldn't deny him again so let him climb in.  But he forgot his bottle (sippy cup that he still refers to as a bottle) and needed a drink.  I'm tired and not going to get it for him which makes the lip quiver.  For some reason his daddy thought I should go get it but was more awake than I was and wouldn't go get it himself...oh well, Ethan can get it.  So Ethan climbs down and then hovers at the end of the bed looking into the hall.  I had told Steve about the ghost conversation at this point.  Steve tells Ethan, "it's ok; nothing is out there, Ethan.  The light is still on in the bathroom so there's enough light and there's nothing to be afraid of."  Ethan quickly responds, "Ghostez are nice, Dad.  Dey are God's friends; dey help people."  OK so apparently our discussion sunk in a little and I have to say, this was super sweet to hear him say.  Steve replies that yes, Ghosts are nice.  I think Ethan then told him that they were outside, not in here and they help people (repeating that part).  So Steve told him to go ahead and get his cup and come back.  Ethan did and we all went to sleep.

The going to bed at 7:30 thing came back to haunt us this morning though.  While Ethan really didn't go to sleep till his normal time, he was still in "rest mode" by 7:30 if not fully asleep until a little after 8:00.  So this morning, my alarm goes off and I look over and Ethan is staring at me and says, "you phone, Mama." in his stage whisper (cause I use the alarm feature on my phone).  He's been awake already and saw the light on the phone come on before the sound even.  I turn it off and roll over for my 5 more minutes on snooze and Ethan continues to stare.  With someone, even my child, staring at me, it was hard to get my quality snooze sleep in so I got up as the phone went off the second time.  Ethan follows me to the bathroom and says, "Owix is awake, Mom."  Nice try kid, I can see Alex's bed and he's nowhere near awake.  Me: "No he isn't and you better not wake him up.  Be quiet."  E: "I want to take a shower with you, Mom."  (way to change the subject; smart boy because he knows just the talking will wake Alex at this point anyway).  I close the door and he continues to talk....I was too tired to really notice last night, but I bet he even talks in his sleep.  We take a shower and then head back to the bedroom, me telling him to whisper the whole time.  Turn on the light in our room cause Steve is going to have to get up now anyway since Ethan's awake.  Steve dutiful deals with Ethan while I get dressed and then I head downstairs and take Ethan with me so Steve can sleep a bit more. 

What a day...and night.

Well Alex is sick just in time for his birthday. Poor baby. He was a little whiney earlier this week but otherwise no symptoms. The hoarse voice (which is completely pitiful on someone who can't talk yet) came on yesterday evening, the cough (even more pitiful than the hoarse-ness) today and a low grade fever this evening. So now I get to call first thing tomorrow to try to get him in tomorrow. We were just there and he was fine. It was such a nice weekend though, we played outside which he thoroughly enjoyed and he did wear a jacket but I think it was probably too much for him. This fall weather is tricky - feels great but there's an underlying cold to it.

In the past when he's been hoarse like this, he's had an ear infection. In fact, all but one of his ear infections were diagnosed after he woke up hoarse with a low grade fever and we took him to the doctor. The other one was diagnosed at one of his well baby checks – that one apparently was mild and likely had just started. Had he not been hoarse the other times, we may not have even known that he was sick because he still smiles & laughs and gives those super sweet looks. He’s still happy as a little lark or seems to be – just a little more clingy than normal. He did have a little fluid in 1 ear last Friday but looked clear, not cloudy so no meds needed. However, since I’m not the doctor, I’ll reserve final diagnosis to her. Who knows, it could be something else – even a regular cold. We’ll see.

Our Weekend

Yesterday Steve worked a split shift so shortly after he left for work at 10:30, the boys & I headed out for some errands. First on the list was to go to the Party Store where the Police Department was again doing the free Kid Print Ids. We had told Ethan we were going to go let the police take his picture which he thought was really cool. Since it was at the Party Store, I thought I could get some supplies for Alex’s birthday party next weekend as well….”thought” is the operative word there.

When we arrived, there was a big sign out front saying it’s their anniversary (15 years I believe) so they had several things going on. This sign sported a giant dragon which I somehow missed while trying to park. Not Ethan…”Mama! Look! A dragon.” Me (not enthusiastically as I was trying to park and as per usual, he’d been talking since we left the house anyway so I barely even registered what he was telling me to look at this time): “Yes, honey.” Ethan (not amused by my lack of enthusiasm or the fact that I hadn’t actually looked): “NO, Mama! LOOK! It’s a dragon.” I have now parked so I looked, sure enough, there’s a dragon. I become slightly more animated and say, “Yes honey, it is a dragon. That’s where we are going to the Party Store.” E: “For the police to take my picture?” Doesn’t miss a beat that kid. Me: “Yep.” E: “I don’t want to the police to take my picture, I dust want to see the dragon.” Me: “How about if we see the dragon while the police take your picture? They’ll give Mama a picture card to have for you and for brother just in case we ever need it. Will that be ok?” E: “Well, ok. But I dust wanna see the dragon.” Me: “OK, we’ll get the picture, see the dragon and get stuff for brother’s birthday party.” E: “OK, we’ll get stuff for my birfday party, too.”….that’s a whole other argument we’ve been trying to explain so I just pretend I didn’t hear it this time.

That's Dust Not Nice

Last night we took the boys to play at the mall play area after dinner.  Ethan loves it because he can play with other kids and run and jump on "furniture" without getting into trouble.  The last time we went, Alex was just starting to take a step or two so mostly crawling to the various play things and pulling up and checking stuff out, taking a few steps and dropping to his knees so as to better be able to get around without the other kids knocking him down.  Last night, he was one of those other kids - running (ok, waddling) everywhere checking everything out.

There was a little girl there (super cute) who was just his size and likely just walking or maybe a month ahead of him in walking.  He followed her around and then would try to hug her.  This was fine at first but when he "caught" her for that hug (which really was cute), she was right next to the fence so in order to hug her, he was basically pushing her into the fence which she was fine with her for a short hug, but the minute long bear hug was a bit more than she bargained for.  She was quick to let it be known that she'd had enough.  She was ok with being "friends" but wasn't into being sandwiched between him & the fence long term.  We got him to back away but then he just followed her around waiting for the next opportunity.  Someone jutted between them distracting him momentarily and he was back to waddling around checking everyone out and screeching at the top of his lungs to show how excited he was.  It's almost like he's saying, "WOW!  Check it out!  This is AWESOME!....WOW!  That's great, too!  OOOO! & check THAT out!  WOW!"....all in the form of a screech that I really think could be marketed as a way to shatter fine crystal.  I know it does a fine job of shattering my nerves.  Sheesh - I'll regret this I'm sure, but I can't wait for him to talk so he stops screeching and just flat out says, "WOW!  This is AWESOME!" or whatever it is he wants to tell us....I just hope he has a better "off" switch than his brother.

Sweet Nothings from Monday

Monday: Steve was originally scheduled to work a split shift. That means he drops the boys off at daycare mid-morning, they play, eat lunch, take naps and then it’s time for Steve to pick them up. He’d then go home with them and when I get home we can do “family dinner” before he has to return to work for the 2nd half of his shift – usually a 4 hour break midday and then he goes back about 7:00-11:00ish. His work had another plan – he called me around lunch to tell me they’d just switched him to a straight shift meaning the boys would need to stay at daycare and I’d pick them up when I get off and he’d get home around 7:00 instead of going back at 7:00.

OK, no problem – Alex had at least enough formula for one bottle as well as enough juice for a couple bottles and then he can have water, too. Normally, he’d have that formula bottle at lunch (he had) and then would get more formula around 4 or 5 to tide him over till the last formula bottle at bedtime but he could wait till I picked him up and have formula while I fixed dinner. Daycare was fine with this plan so we’re all set.

The Wizard of Oz

This was the best date I've ever had!  I'm almost positive.

For those who don't know, yesterday my wonderful boss told me that she had tickets to The Wizard of Oz at the Lexington Opera House tonight but wasn't able to use them and offered them to me cause she thought Ethan would enjoy it.  So I called Sarah, my wonderful cousin, and she agreed to watch Alex so Ethan & I could go as Steve had to work.  So when I got home from work, I told Ethan about it - that we were going to see a play today and it had a scarecrow and a lion and a wizard and a tin man and a witch and even a little doggie, too.  He thought that sounded like a great thing to do.

This morning I'm giving kisses as I'm leaving for work and Ethan says, "I want to go to the play Mama."  I told him that we would go later tonight.  He said, "but I want to go now, Mom.  I want to see the scarecwoe."  I said, "Honey, Mama has to go to work and you are going to go to Kay's [the babysitter] and then Mama will pick you up and we'll come home and eat dinner and Sarah will come and watch Alex and you & Mama can go."  E:  "But I dust want to go now, Mom.  I don't want to wait."  I told him we couldn't, that it wasn't on now, it would be later tonight.  E:  "They are closed?"  Me:  "Yes, honey.  They are closed but they will be open later tonight."...This is apparently what I should have said in the beginning cause now he was fine and gave me kisses so I could go to work.

A few notes about Alex

1)  He can find many ways to occupy himself - including conducting experiments.  His current experiment is to determine exactly how gravity works (maybe the fascination has to do with figuring it out so he doesn't fall so often - poor kid doesn't realize that he has my genes so the falling thing will continue for some time).  His experiment goes something like this: 
Lay on the floor sucking juice out of a bottle
Sit up, take bottle out of mouth and stare at bottle
Hold bottle upside down and see what happens
 - Observation reveals that even without sucking on the bottle, if he holds it upside down, the juice will, in fact, drip out onto the floor.
Turn bottle right-side up - dripping stops
Turn bottle upside down again - dripping resumes.
Hold hand under drip and get hand wet.
Put hand back on bottle, juice does not go back into bottle....lick hand.
 - OK, enough observation....lay back down and finish drinking bottle.

2)  He thoroughly enjoys climbing the stairs....only when he's not supposed to.  When it's bedtime and Mama gives permission to climb, it takes him much longer to make it up than when Mama says no.  Even if he tried 5 minutes ago and Mama said no and he was Speedy Gonzalez with it; 5 minutes later when Mama says, "it's ok, go ahead," he becomes Pokey Joe.

Daylight Savings What?

I don’t recall having this issue when Ethan was an infant or even last year. But neither Ethan nor Alex get this concept of daylight savings time (let’s be honest, I don’t really get it either but I do know that I was supposed to get extra sleep last weekend….NOT).

So Sunday morning I had hopes of sleeping till at least 7 – which was really 8 before time changed. Nope, Alex was up at 5:20, 6:20 before the time change….that’s still early for him so we tried to get him back to sleep. He was having no part of that even though he’d been up late the night before with trick-or-treating. We finally get him back to sleep at almost 7 (the original time I thought he’d wake me up). He’s in bed with us at this point in hopes that he wouldn’t wake his brother. 30 minutes later I hear Ethan wake up to go pee and expect him to come wake me which is his norm. Nope, he goes to play. Fantastic.

He does sometimes play a bit on weekend mornings before waking his brother and then coming to tell me Owix is awake. This morning, Alex was in bed with me so Ethan couldn’t wake him so I thought I’d get another 30 minutes to an hour. I could still hear him in my half sleep phase and it sounded like he was in his room playing. About 30 minutes later, he comes in with a pack of Whoppers and says “Mama, I can’t open this.” I open my eyes now and there he is trying to climb up in the bed with a pack of candy in his hands. His speaking woke Alex anyway so I say in my best chastising voice, “Ethan Tanner Waters, have you been eating candy?” He says “yes” and I ask how much. He says, “One….two…two pieces.” “No more candy until after lunch…you do NOT eat candy first thing in the morning.”

The Week in Review

I already told you about the fun game of “rotten boy” Ethan & Alex enjoyed Monday evening. Here are a few things from the rest of our week.

I got a very sweet voicemail this week from my guys. Steve was on his way to drop the boys off at day care and as usual, they called me on their way. I hear Steve saying “tell her, Alex. What did you want to tell Mama?” Then there’s Ethan saying “he wants to say Ma-ma-ma.” This action repeated twice and then as Ethan said “ma-ma-ma,” I hear Alex chime in “Ma-ma Ma-Ma-Ma.” The cutest thing – I love hearing his little voice through the phone. As I did when Ethan was that age and started to talk, I saved the message so I can replay it at my leisure.

The boys got a package from Grandma on Wednesday. The UPS guy is kind enough to hide them for us and leave us notes as to the location. Ethan was expecting this particular package cause “Ammaw” had told him a few weeks ago she had a Diego book she was going to send him. So when I saw the note from UPS, I put Alex down and before Ethan could get his shoes off, told him to come help me find it. I took him over to the side of the house (it was behind the big blue recycling can) and asked him to look for it. He looked around at all the items right in front of him…he hasn’t yet learned to look behind or under things without prompting, something I’m hoping he grasps soon as it’s about to kill me. “I don’t see it, Mama. It’s not here.” “Yes, it is honey. Just look, you’ll see it.” “No, Mama. I dust don’t see it. It’s dust not here. It didn’t come yet.” I’m standing right beside him and looking at the package in the clear plastic bag which is right behind the can that is RIGHT in front of us. I said, “stand right here with Mama and look…I bet you’ll see it.” As he moves, he says, “Mama, I dust don’t think it came yet. It’s dust….OH!” He found it. Such excitement in that little “oh.” “I dust didn’t see it but it did come, it is here. Look Mama it’s my package from Ammaw. Let’s open it.” (said while walking with said package to the front door).

We get inside where Alex was still patiently waiting for us and I’m barely in the door when he’s begging me to open it. I asked him to wait just a minute so we could take our jackets off yet and I could get Alex a bottle. He’d been patient while we found the package but usually when we get home if I’ve picked them up from day care after work, he’s more than ready for a bottle and if he can get it in before dinner, a 30 minute cat nap to get him through till bedtime. Tonight the nap wasn’t going to happen but he did need the bottle. Ethan not so patiently waited while excitedly showing Alex the package and then as Alex took his bottle and started guzzling, I started on the package. I had Ethan throw away the wrapping as I cut into the tape on the box and he comes running back, “is it my book? Is it my Diego book? Ammaw sent me my book.” I, by the way, had completely forgotten we were going to get a package much less what it was supposed to contain (other than something for Halloween) but Ethan has a mind like a steal trap. If you want to surprise him with something, don’t say it to him ever or even whisper it in his presence cause he’ll hear you and he’ll remind you, repeatedly. Package open, sure enough it’s his Diego book – Diego’s Halloween Party. And a book for Alex about his first Halloween and a couple of other things which I can’t remember right now but I’m certain if I woke Ethan up, he’d tell me what they were and exactly where they are right now.

So now that Ethan has his book and other items and Alex is trying to eat his book because the bottle is gone, I head to the kitchen. Ethan and Alex play well in the front room while I cut up hot dogs for beanie weenies (which both boys love). Steve should be home shortly as he is only working 4 hours this day because a very nice co-worker traded 4 hours Wed for 4 hours Saturday so that Steve could be home for Trick-or-Treat. Dinner is ready when I hear Steve come in but I need to cool Alex’s and get it on the table so need about 5 more minutes so I told Steve to read the book that Ethan was excitedly telling him about. I now know why I read to the boys more than Steve does. He doesn’t seem to have the patience for it and I put more animation into it. Then again, he had just gotten home and wasn’t even fully in the door when both boys ran to him (and then as he walked past Alex to put his badge & phone on the shelf, Alex cried cause he didn’t stop to pick him up first) … so I guess that could have played a part in his lack of enthusiasm for the book.

Thursday I was scheduled to work a half day as a co-worker from our Cebu, Philippines, office was visiting not just the Lexington office for the first time but also the United States for the first time and so we planned to go to Keeneland for the afternoon to give her a taste of Kentucky Horse Racing. She’s the Admin Assistant my group works with in Cebu so the other AA that works with her a lot and I had planned this afternoon out. Steve & I had an errand to run before I headed to Keeneland so he was on his way to meet me and called to tell me Ethan had asked if he was going to get to go to the horse races again and Steve had explained he’s have to wait till the Spring season. But I thought about it and realized I could take the boys if the other two AA’s didn’t mind. I asked and they didn’t mind and thought it would be fun so I let Steve know the plans were changing and called daycare to let them know we wouldn’t be bringing the boys that day. This time I told Ethan all the possible colors for the horses and then asked which one he liked since he does get to pick the color from now on….he still said green for him and purple for me and there was no budging off that. The first race we won $4.80 on one horse; the second we won $15.80 on one horse … all in all, we bet a total of $44 for the day and won most it back as we were only down $27.50 for the day and that includes admission and food (I did the math – we lost $21.50 to food and admission which left only $6.00 we lost on bets). Alex ended up spending most of his time in the stroller because he wanted to walk EVERYWHERE and as we were on a bit of an incline, he couldn’t do that very well and I didn’t particularly want him to crawl. I think the other girls enjoyed Ethan & Alex’s company – they were fairly well behaved considering neither had a nap. Ethan was especially excited when he got to pet some of the Keeneland work horses a few times between races when they’d come to the rail. Alex seemed to enjoy most playing with his brother’s sippy cup. Another good Keeneland day and both boys passed out in the car on the way home.

Friday’s entertainment is compliments of Steve’s status updates on Facebook. The first one he posted said something to the effect of don’t leave big brother’s old sippy cup lying around – Alex had picked it up and from the look on his face it was sour milk in it and that was enough to make Steve dry heave (he has a very bad gag reflex). Apparently, it was one of the sippy cups we hadn’t found in a day or two and it was nice and curdled. I think Steve may have had a worse reaction to it than Alex. The funny thing is though that Alex has his own sippy cup but will have nothing at all to do with it. He takes great pleasure in picking up his brother’s cups to enjoy them but if we give it to him, like with something he should drink in it, he doesn’t want it at all. This doesn’t bode well for the years to come – I can see him now doing exactly what we tell him not to do and if we do give permission for something he wants to do, not doing it just to spite us. A later status update from Steve said that Ethan & Alex were entertaining themselves at the coffee table my dad made for me. Ethan was filling cups (not sure if they were real or pretend cups) with pretend stuff to drink and both boys were drinking it. Alex, not even a year old, will pretend like this with his brother simply because Ethan tells him to. One day a while back, Steve & I were in the kitchen making breakfast or dinner (don’t remember which) and Ethan and Alex were at the gate. Ethan had a wooden spoon and was pretending to feed Alex who was happily eating whatever Ethan had on the spoon…happily that is until he realized he really was hungry and that pretend food wasn’t very filling.

Boys are such fun and they have so much fun together. Stay tuned for our trick-or-treating fun next.

Trick or Treat

Ethan was a dinosaur and Alex was a lion but what was Mama going to be? I had originally planned to be a clown because Ethan liked Ronald McDonald so much but then last week at Walmart, Ethan started seeing costumes and telling me I should be that. So I kept asking what he wanted me to be. He had it narrowed down to a ghost, a scarecrow, a clown (with pink hair) or a witch. I told him I didn’t have a hat for the witch so he kind of dropped that one and then slowly the ghost stopped being mentioned also. But he kept waffling between scarecrow and clown. So today we finally head to Walmart to get whatever I’ll need to do whichever costume it is to be. For a scarecrow, I needed some hay which I had planned to use the Alfalfa we get to line the rabbit cage (which he eats also) since I could use it for the rabbit later. For the clown, I need the white make-up and spray for my hair. We’re in the aisle and Ethan is still waffling…until he sees a clown wig with pink, green, blue & orange hair. “You gonna be a clown, Mom.” OK that’s settled. What color hair? Orange, Blue, Green, Pink? “Green, Mom. You need green hair and I need green hair, too.” No baby, you have your dinosaur costume, you don’t need green hair. “But I do, my dinosaur needs geen hair.” OK, we’ll color the front of your hair green for your costume. “OK” We got the glow lights Ethan wanted for he and Alex and off to home for naps.

Ethan, Alex & I took a good nap together in my bed (a rarity these days) and Steve slept in Ethan’s bed. Alex woke up before I was ready as I had a massive headache and Ethan was still out, so like a good Mom, I put him off on his Daddy (smile). I took him into the other room and deposited him with Steve so I could come back and lay down. My plan wasn’t really to sleep for another hour as I thought Ethan would be up any minute. I just needed to lay down on my other side to try to aleve the headache which pounding. However, since Ethan did sleep another hour, I did, too. This put us a bit behind when it came to getting costumed up but who cares – naps are awesome.

“Rotten Boy”

We frequently refer to Alex as “rotten” or “rotten boy” because … well … I think I’ve mentioned before he’s a rotten little imp. He knows it, too. Well, apparently Ethan knows it now as well.

Last night I was in the kitchen making a cake for a co-workers birthday. Ethan told me he wanted to help (which is often the case) but I told him I really needed him to stay in the front room and play with his brother so I could get it done faster since it was almost bedtime. No more coaxing needed – I gave him a really enjoyable alternative as he loves playing with his brother so he said “OK!” in a very excited tone. I put the gate up between kitchen and living room and let them play.

I’m mixing the cake (really all I do is open the box, add what is says and put it in the pan so it’s not a very time consuming task) and hear from the front room the following…E: “Come here rotten boy.” A: giggle…E: “Come here rotten boy” … the sound of scurrying followed by A: giggle….one last “Come here rotten boy” followed by fits of giggles from both boys. Ethan finally caught the rotten boy. He was chasing Alex around and they were playing with a blanket and hiding in the blanket. Some of the “come here rotten boy” comments were Alex getting away from him under the blanket. Some of it was Alex getting free entirely. The fits of mutual laughter were generally when Ethan caught Alex but Alex turned and “caught” Ethan by falling over on him or something so they’d both get tangled up. I know this because this process continued for about 15 minutes so I had time to watch the action when I got the cake in the oven before they were aware.

The giggling continued until they got a little too close to the end table and one of them bonked his head and in doing so, head butted the other…laughter stopped by wasn’t really replaced by crying. It just made them look around and they noticed me so decided it was time for a new game…see who can reach Mama the fastest. I think it would have been a tie but I sidetracked Ethan by asking him to get me his sippy cup so I could get his drink ready for bed since it was that time.

Such fun they have when they play together – just them, not with toys as no sharing is necessary this way. Oh the fun of having a brother…

Keeneland & Carving

Keeneland
It was a gorgeous day to go to Keeneland so we decided to treat ourselves.  We're on the way there and Ethan tells us what horse he likes best..."the green one."  When asked what horse was Mama's horse, "the purple one"...Daddy's horse?  "the green one like me."...ok then, now we know what horses to bet.  Honest to God, betting the 5 horse, which was marked by the green blanket under the saddle, and the 10 horse, which had the purple blanket, in every race (we were there for races 4-9), we won money in every race except one and we actually came out a few dollars ahead I think.  Or I should say, Ethan did.  In the last race, we even had the win, place & show horses.  If we'd bet them to win, we'd have been a bit more ahead but we're not greedy.  Ethan, for future reference, will be choosing the color of the day before each adventure to Keeneland.  It was great. 

So the parents had fun cause we won the races.  Ethan doesn't really know much about that but he still had a ball....there were tractors on the race track and he got to pet a horse.  What more could a 3 year old boy ask for?  Alex, you may ask.  What about Alex?  Oh yeah, he had a big time....he got to walk around and try to run away and play with the rope (the rope behind the handicapped seating in the reserved section) and flirt with all kinds of people (a favorite passtime of his) and he got to eat....all day...he thanked us for this by puking down my leg, an indication he was a bit too full cause he did it while laughing and continued right on.  Oh well - they were blue jeans and I had wipes - no biggie.  He also puked on his Daddy while Mama took Ethan to the bathroom...since Daddy doesn't handle puke very well, this was fun for Mama, too.  I'm evil, I know.

Carving Pumpkins
Home from the races - time to eat dinner and carve the pumpkins the boys & I got a Walmart last night.  I had to leave them and the carving tools in the car last night to try for the "out of sight, out of mind" aspect for Ethan.  From the time we picked up the carving tools last night at the beginning of our shopping trip (a mistake I won't make again), all he wanted was to open them and dive in. 

So dinner is done and Mama has straightened the kitchen (I definitely didn't clean it - it's been a long day and Ethan can't wait another day to do the pumpkins so straightening to make space to carve, is about all we've got time for).  I tell Ethan to tell Daddy it's time to carve the pumpins.  Mr. Excited tells Daddy, "I'm gonna get my knifses and make faces on the punkins...I just gotta get my knifses...come on Daddy, we gotta get my knifses."  So now we're in the kitchen flipping through the book to see what we should carve.  Daddy is going to help Ethan and Mama will do Alex's pumpkin.  Ethan decides his pumpkin should be the ghost that says "boo"  and Alex's pumpkin should say trick or treat.  No matter how hard Mama pushed for the skull (which looked much easier), he was adament that Alex's pumpkin should be the trick or treat pumpkin.  So now to the carving...

Alex is sitting in his high chair with a couple of nilla wafers watching the action.  Ethan is content to hold the "scraper" tools while Mama & Daddy first punch holes to be able to do the connect the dots carving technique then do the actual carving because "the knifses are sharp?  I might hurt myself?"  Yes, they are dangerous.  "Daddy, those are dangous.  Caresul, you don't hurt youself."  (spelling errors on purpose for pronunciation effect).  Ethan is quite litterally running from one side of the table to the other monitoring our process.  Alex is less enthralled and, as it's now 8:00 (bedtime), less and less willing to sit patiently. 

Finally the carving portion is done and it's time to scrape the inside of the pumpkins.  This is the part Ethan has been waiting for, right?  Steve tells him to stick his hand up in there and grab that stuff out and put it in the bowl.  The look on his face was priceless....he looked at Steve like "you're kidding right?" and Steve said, go ahead, put your hand in there.  E:  "no, it's yukky"  S: "you want Daddy to do it?"  E:  "uh huh."  Mama is still carving at this point.  Steve says ok and starts to do it.  Ethan wants to get on the table (a no-no) and so Steve continues to try to tell him to get the guts out in an effort to keep him off the table.  There is now a huge pile of gunk in the container on the table.  Steve tries to show Ethan that inside the pumpkin is harmless by telling him to stick his hands in that bowl and feel it.  Ethan tries to use the scraper and dig around.  Steve tells him no, do it with his hand cause he can't feel it with the scraper.  Ethan gets this look I can only describe as a prissy little girl on the playground at school who has just been showed a really disgusting spider or lizard or possibly has just had a worm put down her shirt and does that full body shake....it was so funny we were almost in tears...he said (almost in tears himself), "it's dirty, Daddy, it's yukky"....this from the boy who has never met a mud puddle, dirt pile or anything remotely dirty outside that he didn't like and try to jump into with his whole body.  Knowing this, Steve put some of the guts of the pumpkin on Ethan's arm - you'd have thought he wiped puke on Ethan....he almost melted down...but when assured it would come off with soap, he calmed down.  Priceless. 

Alex, at this point, has given us all the patience he had in his tiny little body and is done with the "I'm almost done" promises.  He's now whining a tone that says, "I don't care if you are almost done, it is past my bedtime, I've been good all day, get up, get me a bottle and please, if you love me, put me in bed."  We didn't respond as he was hoping - Daddy did say "I'm almost there, Aggy, Daddy's going to get you a bottle."  However, Alex saw no movement on our part so the "please" left his tone entirely and the whine did, too, replaced by a demand in the form of outright crying.  Ok, we got it...Daddy was done anyway so he got up and started making the bottle.  The fact that Alex didn't have it yet, though, made the cry not stop.  I think he thought if he stopped, we wouldn't think he was serious.  I had finished carving around the time Ethan made the face that had us all in tears and had begun scraping.  Daddy is almost done with the bottle (had to find one first) and Mama is done scraping but I had to wash my hands first - Alex got louder because I had the audacity to get up and walk past him without picking him up.  I washed my hands and redeemed myself by picking him up from the highchair just as Daddy finished the bottle.  He gave me the look of "finally, it's about time and don't do this again" as I put the bottle in his mouth and rocked him a bit. 

I continued to rock Alex who was sleepily drinking his bottle as Steve found candles but....where's the aim 'n flame?  It's upstairs on the shelf in the boys' room from when candle aroma therapy became necessary after an especially explosive poopy reaction to a new medication Alex was taking.  So I take Alex up, deposit him and his bottle in the crib and get the lighter.  Back downstairs, we head outside with Ethan, both pumpkins and 2 candles.  We took some really cute pictures of Ethan sitting on the step between the 2 pumpkins saying "cheese pizza" (Happy Halloween is apparently unexceptable to him).  Pictures done, it's bedtime.

We really had a fantastic day.  No one really got in trouble - considering Ethan had no nap, he listened very well.  Don't read that as he listened all day; he didn't - but considering the lack of nap, he did really well.  The pumpkins turned out great (as usual, pictures to be posted later) and tomorrow we'll try to get some with both boys.  Though I didn't actually try, I'm pretty sure Alex would have said "absolutely not" had I tried to get him involved in that tonight.  All in all, a great day was had by all.

Mastering the Basics

Alex is not just walking a little bit, he's just about mastered it.  To hear Steve talk, when Alex & Ethan are playing and he gets excited, Alex will even run across the floor.  He still wobbles a little but for the most part, he has mastered it and I think he's a couple weeks ahead of schedule as Ethan wasn't to this stage until our first wedding anniversary which was 3 weeks shy of Ethan's 1st birthday (and we're currently about 5 weeks out from Alex's 1 year mark).  Then again, Ethan wasn't really trying to catch anyone.  Alex is constantly trying to catch his brother and do exactly what he's doing. 

Alex often wakes up before Ethan in the mornings so I'll get him up and bring him to our bed.  On a weekday, I make him another bottle and give him to Steve who, on a good day, gets him back to sleep until Ethan wakes up on his own.  On weekends, he tends not to want to go back to sleep (maybe cause Mama is still home so he knows it's the "play" day).  However, it's not me or Steve that he wants to talk to and play with.  Nope - that was when he was still a baby...now that he's toddling around, he spends those wee morning hours looking for his brother.  We'll lay him down and try to coax him into sleeping and he'll pop back up and gurgle around and keep checking the door.  He's totally looking for his brother.  When Ethan does wander in (it's almost like Alex telepathically calls him to the room cause he's not all that loud), Alex instantly starts laughing and smiling.  Ethan crawls in and Alex is all over him.  For the rest of the day, Alex wants to do everything with his brother.

I am always cold so I have an extra comforter downstairs that is referred to as "Mama's blanket."  Not sure if it's because it has my scent on it or because he likes the feel of it, but Alex loves to play in and around this comforter.  A couple of nights ago, Alex and Ethan were taking turns rolling around in it and covering each other up and playing peak-a-boo.  It was the cutest thing.  They play really well together like that. 

Tonight when Steve was getting ready for work, Ethan came up to take a shower, too, and then take a bubble bath.  So I had what I thought would be quality time with Alex.  I say "thought" because he had other plans...he would let me hold and cuddle and kiss him for about 30 seconds at a time then he'd be down and toddling across the floor to find something more interesting.  So I started reading the mail.   We had cookies for dessert tonight and Ethan had dropped a piece of his chocolate chip cookie which I'd set on the toy box for him to eat when he came back down.  I failed to notice that's exactly where Alex found it - Alex, who isn't allowed to have chocolate just yet.  He didn't seem to mind that he wasn't supposed to have it.  He came and sort of plopped on me with the paci in one had, chewing with chocolate all over his mouth.  I looked and sure enough, the cookie was gone...I told him how rotten he was and he just popped the paci back in grinning.  As "punishment" for eating the chocolate chip cookie, he let me cuddle and kiss and have my quality time for about 3 minutes...then back to the floor. 

It was almost 6:30 which is Alex's normal 30 minute nap time - one last boost of energy to get him through till bedtime.  So now he's down on the floor and he looked like he was looking for something.  He was; he was trying to find just the right angle to pull the blanket and get it off me completely so he could curl up in it.  I had been on the couch and what I didn't realize is that he had already positioned a little pillow right beside the couch (it hadn't been there when I laid down but somehow missed him dragging it over there - probably around the same time he'd gotten the cookie).  When he managed to get the blanket off, he then pulled it just into the right spot (it's a big blanket and when all piled up, a little heavy for him), he laid his head down on the pillow, popped the paci back in his mouth and then turned to look at me - dimples shining - and when I said "rotten to the core," he grinned behind the paci and hid his face in the blanket.  Such an imp....He didn't actually get his little power nap cause Daddy came down and he got all excited trying to give the goodbye kisses and then he & I headed upstairs to monitor big brother in the bathtub.

So now we welcome our weekend on a good note, walking all over the living room being all imp-like before snuggling in with Mama to fall asleep while big brother enjoys a rare bubble bath by himself (more room to play with all the toys that way and no sharing necessary).  Of course this was at 7:00 that he fell asleep and when he awakened at 7:45 (in his crib where Mama sneakily deposited him without his knowing) it was basically bedtime so he got a bottle and night night kisses for bed....this likely means he'll be up around 6 in the morning.  His brother went down at 8:30 - though he fought it, wanting to sleep with Mama even playing the "I'm sick" card (and I'll apologize if he turns out to be really sick) - he should sleep till his normal 7:30-8:30 wake up window...maybe I'll get lucky and Daddy will take the early shift if the imp does wake up at 6:00 so I can sleep in....maybe

Ethan's best friend....Ronald McDonald

Since Ethan enjoyed Ronald so much the first time and keeps talking about him everytime we pass the golden arches, I had promised to take him to McDonald's around the corner yesterday cause Ronald was supposed to be there.  I was exhausted as it was a really long day at work yesterday, but I promised, so I did (not that he remembered cause he knew we were going but doesn't know what the days are so I could have just not mentioned it but I did anyway).  So this McDonald's went all out....this place was insane and VERY crowded.

Ethan couldn't wait to see Ronald again.  He did wait until I could get Alex in a high chair to make it a bit easier and then he snuck through the people to get up there to see Ronald again.  Then he saw an empty chair in front of me and came back and climbed up so he could see over everyone.....then it changed....Grimace showed up.  I, myself, don't think I've ever seen Grimace before.  I mentioned before that we weren't sure how Ethan would take to Ronald because he usually doesn't do meetings with "characters" well.  Turns out Ronald is awesome cause he's an actual person who just looks weird....Grimace on the other hand was this big giant thing in a big costume and not at all "person-like."....he was petrified....he started climbing out of the chair and I thought it was to get a closer look.  Nope.  It was to get more people between he and Grimace...he came around behind me and that wasn't far enough; he got in the corner (right behind where we were) and pulled Alex's high chair in front of him so Alex was like a shield....by this time, Grimace had gotten to the front of the room.  So now what?

I tried asking if we could go get something to eat until Grimace left.  NOOOOO ... didn't want to be near Grimace but didn't want to leave Ronald either.  So the manager started taking pictures of each kid with Grimace & Ronald.  I tried to get Alex out to do this - Ethan almost had a meltdown, as if I were handing his brother over to a monster (which in retrospect, I guess Grimace kind of is).  So now I'm trying to get the manager's attention because Ethan won't move until he can talk to Ronald and get a picture.  I tell her the issue; she asks if we could just come back another time when Grimace isn't there.  I explain, I've tried that and can't get him out of the room.  She understands completely....most of the crowd has now had pictures and have dispersed a bit to get food and tables...she gets Ronald's attention and let's him know there's another "friend" in the back of the room.  Ronald looks up and says, "Oh that's my friend!  We've met before last week." (what a GREAT! Ronald)  I tell Ronald, yes, but that he's afraid of Grimace.  Ronald looks at Ethan (who is grinning ear to ear now) and asks, "really?  you don't like Grimace?"  Ethan shakes his head and the fearful eyes return.  Ronald has an idea.  He says very loudly to Grimace:  "OK Grimace.  I'm going to go over here for a minute with my friend and you're going to stay right here out of trouble, ok?"  Grimace shakes his head yes....all is well with my world. 

Ronald comes over and says, "I remember you, you've got a motorcycle - a Harley" (Ethan had on the Harley coat at the last visit and both boys had the Harley do-rags).  Then he says, but help me remember the names Mom.  I said, this is Ethan & Alex.  And Ronald on purpose reversed the names.  I say, no silly and put the order right.  Ronald looks at Ethan and says, "what's your name?" Ethan - now smiling again - says "it's Ethan".  R: "and you've got a motorcylce, right?  a Harley?" E: "yep"  All smiles now - couldn't be happier and buddying right up to Ronald.  I get Alex out of the shield, I mean highchair, and stand him up next to the now crouching Ronald in front of Ethan.  Ronald is amazed: "wow, he can stand now, huh?"  E: "Yep, he takes steps, too"....I'm standing trying to ensure Alex doesn't hit this hard floor so didn't get to take the picture on my camera but will go back and get the copy the restaurant has. 

Picture over, Ronald tells Ethan that Grimace is just funny, isn't he.  Ethan looks over at Grimace (on the other side of the small room) and starts giggling, hand over his mouth almost sheepishly and says yes, still giggling.  Too cute.  Ronald then says we should eat (thank you, Ronald) and he's going to draw some prizes.  We go get food and then find a table where Ethan can pretend to eat while watching every move Ronald makes....Ronald moves to a different area and Ethan catches sight of Grimace and proceeds to watch him like a hawk from the safety of his spot between Alex and the bench where Grimace can't get to him.  Dinner is now over (we've been at McDonald's for roughly an hour and 15 minutes), Ethan has played with other kids a bit and it's time to go.  Ethan goes over to Ronald and tugs at his pocket saying "Ronald, Ronald" but Ronald doesn't hear cause it's very loud, Ethan's tug isn't very forceful (and he's probably used to kids tugging on him) and he's talking....so Ethan goes around front of Ronald and stands there staring up at him saying "Ronald"....Ronald looks at him "well, hi there Ethan" and Ethan says "bye Ronald, I have to go" and gives him a hug.  Totally cute.  I love that kid.  We then are leaving - it's still insane in there and Ethan wants another picture.  I had to break his heart and tell him we just can't and that I promised I get the one we took earlier from the manager another day. 

Things I learned on this adventure: 
1.  Do not under any circumstances take both children to McDonald's to see Ronald without 2 adults.  Without help from the manager and some other employees, I couldn't have maneuvered both of them in that crowd in that small area
2.  It's time to start getting Alex his own chicken nugget happy meal.  He ate 4 of my 10 nuggets, almost all of Ethan's fries and some of mine as well.  He'd have continued to eat if I'd let him...another reason it was time to go.  We really do feed him but he can't seem to get enough things in his mouth.  I kept checking the floor and his seat and nothing was there, it was all going in his mouth.  He almost go Ethan's cheeseburger a time or 2 as well.
3.  Before attempting to go to any other Ronald showings, call ahead to confirm if any other characters will attend as they don't go over quite as well.
4.  Ronald McDonald is awesome - he really did remember the boys - maybe not their names, but he remembered without prompting the Harley jacket and do-rag (he asked Ethan where his Harley hat was). This made Ethan feel like the most important kid in the world.

The Pumpkin Patch

It was a gorgeous weekend and perfect weather to visit the pumkin patch.  We decided this year to try a different one I'd heard of from a friend so started out around 4:30 this evening headed to Baldwin Farms in Richmond.  This place was perfect for little kids and all of it is free - you only pay if you buy a pumkin or something else and those prices are pretty much the same as any other patch I've visited. 

Ethan had a ball - they had huge round hay bales made into spiders (which Ethan now thinks are really cool) and even a giant caterpillar of hay.  There was a haybale along the driveway with legs sticking out and Ethan said "he got stuck, Mom?"  Too cute.  Wegot there and Ethan wanted to take off instantly - there were ducks running around afterall.  He checked out the ducks, then noticed the pen with goats.  The lady let Ethan and a couple of other kids in the pen to pet the goats with her - Ethan even fed them.  Then out to check out the pumpkins.  Not sure where they grew the pumpkins cause all we could see were pumpkins EVERYWHERE - not piled in one little area but spread out all over this really pretty farmThey had a couple of hay bales in the field made into characters as well - another spider, red plastic on one that we assumed was a tomato, orange on another - the giant pumpkin.  We took pictures on the spider then put the boys in their costumes and got some great pictures on the giant pumpkin and in among the scattered pumpkins as well.  Even a shot of Alex walking in his little lion costume through the pumpkins.  Ethan still gets so excited when he see Alex walking - "he's taking more steps...Owix is taking more steps" in the most excited voice you've ever heard.  Ethan didn't want to take off his dinosaur costume until we reminded him that he might get it dirty back up where the goats were.  Then he decided he would take it back off. 

Back up where the goats were is where the caterpillar was as well as some cut outs to put your faces in - Ethan had fun with all of those as well.  There was even a haybale maze perfect for Ethan.  He guided me through it and then decided he's go again, backwards (he wasn't bothering anyone else as we went in the evening and it was pretty slow).  We really had a great time - even though Alex does have a horrible mother who let him fall off one of the haybale spiders when we were trying to get a picture.  Ethan broke his fall for the most part and there was no blood involved and Mama was able to sooth him so overall he was fine and since he sang to us all the way home (litterally from the time we got in the car until we got home, he hummed a little tune only he knew the words for), I'm sure it didn't leave any permanent damage.  He's my child - it's not the first time he fell, nor will it be the last.

I'll add some pictures to this tomorrow because words can't describe the cuteness of those boys or the fun they had which their faces clearly demonstrate.  In the pictures when you notice Ethan (or me) talking in the shot, it was usually to say "Happy Halloween" while the picture was taken.  All in all a truly fantastic fall weekend.

Friday's Sweet Moments

I think the cutest thing I've ever heard Ethan say is "he's takin' more steps, Mom [or Daddy].  Owix is takin' more steps."  Well, I thought that was the cutest until tonight.  See he's been saying this in a very excited voice for a couple of days.  Tonight he did it again and when I said, "I know, Honey.  Good job Alex - you're doing so good."  Ethan said the absolutely SWEETEST thing - he patted Alex's head while saying "I'm so proud of you Owix.  You did a good job."  It was such a sweet "brotherly love" moment.  Ethan really is a great big brother and very supportive.

About an hour later, the boys and I went to get groceries so I can make a nice big pot of vegetable beef soup and some banana bread tomorrow (with Ethan's help, of course).  We pass a McDonald's on the way home and Ethan wants to know if Ronald is there.  I told him not today but he'd be at the one around the corner from our house on Monday.  Ethan thought that would be ok but just had one question:  "Is Ronald going to bring his Mom so I can meet his Mommy?  I really just need to meet Ronald's Mommy."  When I explained that I don't think Ronald brings his mom to work with him so she probably wouldn't be there.  He then tells me in the most matter of fact way "I've been good Mom so I think we should go to Ronald McDonald's house to see his Mom."  Not only is he a bright kid, but he doesn't forget anything - that'll teach us to answer "where's Ronald's mom" with "she's at Ronald McDonald's house" rather than simply saying "I don't know."

Lastly - bedtime is 8:00; though Alex would gladly go most nights at 7:30, I don't usually let him because when I do, he gets up at 5:00 and that just doesn't work for me.  Well, I'd actually like to sleep in tomorrow so didn't worry about having the boys to bed late because of grocery shopping - and we left to go grocery shopping at 7:30 when Alex was already exhausted.  He didn't cry or fuss at all the whole time we were shopping.  He sat right in the cart (with his paci) and grinned and hugged on me while Ethan sat in the back and helped me put everything in just the right spot in the cart with him.  When we left, Alex didn't fuss being put in the car seat and was asleep before I even got in the car after putting Ethan in and then the groceries.  So when we got home, I expected him to wake up and start crying as I carried him in (which is what usually happens).  Nope - he resituated his head on my shoulder all the way to his bed and I put him down then did Ethan's prayers and tucked him in with kissed and turned to leave.  That's when I saw Alex had stood up in the crib and was patiently waiting for me to come give him his kisses before he went back to sleep.  I started towards him and he popped out the paci and grinned at me and after his kisses, he popped the paci back in and let me lay him right back down.  It was really sweet - he didn't get his good night kisses when I put him in the car seat at Walmart (oh he got kisses, but those aren't goodnight kisses) so he made sure he got them before snuggling in for the whole night.

They really make my heart melt...I forgot to mention that as I gave Ethan his kisses after prayers, he said "you forgot to tuck me" and I had to explain that I hadn't forgotten, I just hadn't done it yet because I was in the process of reaching for the blanket when he "reminded" me anyway.

The Force Field

Alex is quite a trooper. He gets sick – he smiles and laughs as long as Mama or Daddy are close by. Even spitting blood with Acid Reflux (it came to that before he was diagnosed most of you probably know) couldn’t keep the smile off his face…the little twerp thought it was funny when I freaked out about it. We progressed past that and every “well child” visit he’s had, it seems, has ended in the discovery of another ear infection. We couldn’t tell it by him cause he acts like he’s just fine, if a little more clingy than usual. So now we’re waiting him out to see if the fluid in his ears at the follow up from his last ear infection clears up without a new infection forming (diagnosed at 9 month check then follow-up ear check at 10 months during 2nd flu shot visit showed infection cleared up but new fluid in his ears). I say waiting him out but really the doc prescribed a new antibiotic that’s supposed to help prevent the infection while it dries up but it’s so infrequently ordered that no one (including UK) has it and it’s on backorder longer than the month we need it. So we wait….meanwhile, I’m pretty sure he’ll be going back to the doc in a few days as I’m pretty sure he’s got an infection – not from tips from his attitude, mind you, but from the green snot that is getting more frequent. He’s happy as a clam though…not a care in the world.

This brings me to his “force field” – that item he has that we’ve noticed makes it so that even if he falls down and probably does get hurt, he looks at us and then goes right on. The paci – we aren’t normally paci people. We used it initially but Ethan was done by about 3 months – only wanted it for the “popping” sound he could make pulling it out of his mouth (ok, maybe that was 4 months). Alex wanted it a bit longer which we think may have been his “self medicating” method – when he sucks, he gets slobber which soothed the reflux (yeah, I know – reading too much into it). Then he gave it up – cold turkey – didn’t want it – had no use for it. Until about 2 weeks ago when his brother found one and gave it to him. Alex looked at him and looked at the paci and kind of shrugged that look of “well, if my big brother gives it to me, I’ll take it” and took it. He now puts any paci in his mouth that he sees (which is a great improvement from picking anything else up and putting it in his mouth which was the case before the paci re-emerged). So he can walk a few steps then fall and hit his head on a hard toy or chair leg or anything – create a huge red spot on his head and look around to make sure we saw it and then go right on….IF the paci is in his mouth. The same thing happens without the paci and there’s no looking to see who saw, it’s instant tears. Somehow the paci in his mouth creates a force field making it impossible for him to be hurt – like some super hero that can only fly with his cape, Alex can only be hurt if he doesn’t have the paci. He doesn’t even necessarily HAVE to have it but if it’s there, he’ll take it.

So since these recurring ear infections may mean tubes are in his near future (almost a certainty if he currently has ear infection #5), I’m ok with him having that force field...of course if he really does get hurt (he is a rough & tumble boy after all), it's also nice to know that his small "blankie" with the satin backing can almost cure anything....the paci AND the blankie - well that's better protection than any superhero ever had.

McDonald's

Last weekend we took the boys to one of the many McDonald's in town, cause we had seen a sign that Ronald himself would be there.  The first few times Ethan saw "characters," he thought they were cool.  However, from about a year old till apparently this past weekend, he wanted to be near them but didn't want them near him...wanted to watch them like a hawk but didn't want them to speak to him.  So we weren't sure how seeing Ronald would go but thought we'd give it a shot.  He not only LOVED Ronald but he talked to him and stood with him for pictures and everything.  The only thing he didn't do was eat cause he was too busy trying to find out where Ronald was and why he was packing up.  We explained Ronald had to go home.  Ethan:  "He has to go home to see his Mommy?"  Yes, he's going to see his Mommy.  E: "At his house?"  Yes.....

Fast forward to today...I was late leaving work this evening so picked up the boys at about 6:00 and rather than go home, cook and have us eating dinner at 7:00 (& fighting through it cause if we try that late, he's too tired to realize he really is hungry and likes what's on his plate), I opted for the easy choice...McDonald's - yes there are healthier options and if you'd like to bring them to me or sit with Ethan to get him to eat them, have at it...I wasn't in the mood...

So we're sitting in the world's longest drive-thru line because Alex was sleeping (in the 3 minutes it took to get from daycare to McD's) and the unstoppable questions of the 3 year old begin....E:  "Is Ronald here?"  No, he's not here.  It says he'll be here next Monday though.  E:  "He's at his house?"  Yes, he's at his house.  E: "With his Mom?" Yes, with his mom.  E: "Where is his Mom?"  I don't know, honey.  E:  "I want to see Ronald's Mom.  Can I see her?"  I don't know where she is babe.  E:  "She's at Ronald's house?"  Probably.  E: "Let's go to Ronald's house so I can see her.".....ok so how do you argue with reasoning like that....you change the subject....What do you want to eat - chicken nuggets or a hamburger?  E:  "A hamburger.  You get a hamburger too Mom?"  No honey, I'll get chicken so Aggy can have some of mine.  E: "I'll get a hamburger and you get one for Daddy and Aggy will eat your chicken."  No honey, Daddy is eating at work.  E:  "He's at work?"  Yes, Daddy's at work.  E:  "He's eating his hamburger at work?"  No honey, I think he has something else to eat.  E:  "So you'll get my cheeseburger with pickles" (statement, not question)  OK honey, I did, I got pickles on your cheeseburger.  E:  "OK, pickles and mustard."  Well I didn't get mustard honey, just pickles.  E:  "Well I need mustard." (note:  we haven't gotten to the pay window yet - I mentioned the long line, right?) Well honey, I just got pickles.  E: "Owix's sleeping."  Yes honey, he is - don't wake him up. (apparently, he'd just noticed)  E: "OK, well I need Ketchup with my cheeseburger."  (I'm now paying so didn't respond right away) ... "Mom?  I need ketchup?"  Honey I only got pickles.  E:  "OK, will I get a dragon?"  (current toy is some sort of dragon transformer type thing or a guy that goes with them or this ball that transforms...a better mom may know what they are called, that's not me - I know Disney & Sesame Street & PBS and these things don't qualify)  We'll see honey.  If they don't have a dragon will a ball be ok?  It'll be ok, don't you think?  E:  "Yeah.  That's ok.  A transformer ball."  OK good. E:  GO MOM!  (note: car in front of me not moving yet) Honey, I have to wait for the car in front to move first.  E: "Oh...did I get a dragon?"  I don't know yet honey.  E: "Oh, now we can go?"  (the car was moving)  Now we can go (get food from server) E: "My dragon?"  Let's see....no honey, sorry it's a ball.  E:  "Oh - they didn't have a dragon so I got a transformer ball" (again, a statement and note: apparently, Mama doesn't call it the right thing - it's not "just" a ball....it's a transformer ball).  You'll have to eat your dinner first.  We'll eat when we get home.  E: "Ok.  I got a cheeseburger with pickles and mustard."  No honey, Mama didn't get mustard.  E: "Oh, just ketchup?"  No honey - just pickles (yes, this is a repeat - such is the life of a mom with a 3 year old or probably a 4 year old or just about any age I'm guessing).  You can eat it with just pickles.  E:  "yeah.  but I need mustard."  Well honey, we have both ketchup and mustard at home so if you need it, we can add it there.  E:  "Oh, Ketchup has a home?".....at this point I'm 1/2 mile from home and about to turn a few times and as, I have to pee already, I'm thinking laughing at this point could pose a problem so I had to be honest....Honey, Mama really needs you to be quiet for a couple minutes cause I really can't drive well right now with you talking.  E:  "Oh.  OK Mom.....so, we're almost home now."  ......so much for "OK Mom" 

Last note:  While typing this and explaining to Steve, he tells me...oh yeah, he wants mustard now.  I said, yeah, well that would have been good to know before.  So he says from now on, instead of pickles only - it's just no onions on little man's burgers.  Good to know....

Bath Time

Steve posted a comment on my last post and it's pretty cute so I thought I'd just post it so you can all see in case you miss the comment itself.
From Steve:
She has forgotten to tell te story of self bathing these days. She has began to teach Ethan how to give himself a shower, it is taking a little bit of coaching but as usual he is catching on quickly. He needs a little bit of help to wash his hair but then he rinses it out good. Next I gave him a wash cloth with their soap and told him to wash himself up and I had to tell him what part of the body to wash, he washed his arms all by himself then I told him to wash his armpits he looks at me and ask "what are my armpits?" I showed him and he commensed to wash both of his armpits. then I said wash your pp and so he did and then he washed his legs and feet all by himself. Lastly I said wash your butt and he did then he stood under the "rain" since hes not one to really like a shower but playing in the rain works for him to rinse all off.

Grace & Prayers

We're trying to develop good family habits.  Now that we have a nice family dinner table (thanks to a beautiful hand-me-down from Aunt Katie), we try to have everyone eat meals together in the kitchen (rather than in front of the TV - the old norm for us) - when the work schedules permit, we even get to do this for dinner.  We also want to say Grace before we eat.  We did this twice, holding hands, before Ethan started saying as he sits down "say Grace, we got to say Grace."  OK, so we're off to a good start on that habit.  So then it comes to the decision - what do you say as Grace that a 3 year old (and younger) can understand and say.  So rather than the "Bless us, oh Lord...." or "God is Great..." we mostly use a shortened version we came up with ourselves as Ethan doesn't quite have the attention span to do something long nor can he easily remember it.  We start by holding hands (in Alex's case, we hold his high chair tray if we can't reach his hands) and then Ethan looks expectantly at us.  He wants to start but needs the first word before he can get it together...here's what we typically say:  God, thank you for this food and for keeping us safe today.  Amen.  So I'll start (looking at Ethan)
Me:  "God"                                                             Ethan:  "God"
Me (or me & Steve):  "Thank you for this food"           Ethan:  "thank you for food"
Me (or & Steve):  "and for keeping us safe"
All together:  "Today.  Amen"
Ethan basically does repeat after me version until the end where he leaves off "and for keeping us safe" and chimes in on "Today, Amen" - really cute.

Now let's review the bedtime routine.  As most nights (all but 2 nights a week really) Steve (aka Daddy) is at work at bedtime (which I have somewhat firmly dictated as 8:00pm), this is pretty much my routine.  I make Alex a bottle and get Ethan a cup of milk or juice then give Ethan both his and Alex's drinks and he carries them upstairs while I get Alex and carry him or let him crawl up the stairs (depending on how tired he is).  I turn on the light and put Alex in his crib with his bottle and he lays right down and takes it - when we first started this process, that part worked until the bottle was empty and then the screaming began.  Thankfully, we're over that stage.  Then I turn to Ethan - do you need to pee?  "No"..."go pee anyway" (all parents know he really had to go and 2 seconds after I leave, he'd come back out and have to go)....Now we're back in his room and he's back in bed having peed cause yes, he did have to.  He lays down and we say prayers, similar to dinner - he looks at me expectantly for that first word.
Me:  Now I lay me...........................Ethan:  Now I lay me
Together:  Down to sleep.  I pray the Lord (pronouced Yord) my soul to keep.  Angels watch me through the night, till I wake with morning light.  God Bless Ethan and baby Alex (which used to be pronounced Aggy and is now pronounced Owix), and Mama & Daddy & Amma (Grandma) & Paga (Grandpa) & Nana & all my aunts and uncles and all my cousins and baby pete (the bunny rabbit) and everyone I love, Amen.
Now if he wants to stay up or stretch this, he'll start naming other people, too which usually goes something like this:
Ethan:  and Aunt Megan, and Uncle Dermy (Jeremy) and Kenzie &....
Me:  and who else
Ethan: and Dackson & Dylan &
Me:  & everyone else you love
Ethan:  & everyone else I love
Me:  Kisses (he gives me kisses - which is sometimes followed by blowing kisses to all those named if he's really not tired enough yet, which thankfully wasn't the case tonight as Mama was tired enough)
Now Ethan has added something new - I'm not sure where he picked it up but if I forget, he's quick to remind me (even if it means coming out of his room to say):  You forgot sweet dreams Mom!  After kisses on the lips, I have to give forehead kisses and say "sweet dreams" so he can say "sweet dreams, Mom".  If I forget to say "thank you baby, I love you, good night" - he repeats himself thinking I didn't hear:  I said Sweet Dreams, too, Mom. As I leave and turn off the lights, he's saying "love you too Mom" ... Gotta love that little boy - even if a lot of it is a ploy to stay up even 30 more seconds, it's  still so cute I can't stand it. 
There has been a time or 2 when he's in trouble and is sent to bed, no tucking in.  He will cry a bit and then when he thinks enough time has passed that Mama won't be mad anymore, he comes out saying "we forgot to say pwayers"....so he'll come in here and say them and reluctantly go back to bed.  So it seems we're off to a good start on nighttime prayers as well.

Walking...

Alex is definitely getting this walking thing down.  He's taken 2 or 3 steps at a time before but mostly it's one step and then the others are just what happens when he's trying to land on his butt instead of his face.  Tonight, he took a step, started to stagger and then caught himself and carefully took 2 more steps, again caught himself and then one more and then just gave up and sat down.  All this was while carrying his bottle and trying to drink it so not only is he really trying to get this walking thing down, but he's multi-tasking, too.  That's my boy.... (I promise I will post some pictures of this soon and if I can remember to try to get video, I'll do that also.)

My other boy - his thing is to say "I'm ok, Mom."  I'm sure most of you do this but when your child falls down you either tell them "you're ok" or if they might have really hurt themselves, you ask "are you ok."  Ethan has caught on to this.  If he trips or tries to do something and something falls (not necessarily on him - it can fall anywhere in his vecinity), he is very quick to say "I'm ok, Mom"..."I'm ok, Dad" - not Mama or Mommy or even Daddy - Mom & Dad.  If he actually is hurt, that's when he calls me Mama or Mommy.  Otherwise, it's pretty much, "Can I have some milk, Mom?" "where are you going, Mom?" "whatcha doin', Mom?" "you going to work, Mom?"  If he was calling me "Mom" cause someone told him to, that would probably tick me off cause I really wanted to be "Mama" - but somehow since he's developed this all by himself, not only do I not mind, but it's really, really cute.  Sounds very "big boy" of him and that makes it even cuter cause he's soooo not a big boy yet. 

Definitely Monday

Great way to start the day (sarcastically speaking of course)...changed a poopie diaper and started to pass Alex off to his Daddy after giving him kisses...he puked on me.

OK, so now while I was going to be a little late anyway, I'm going to be even later. Then go outside to the Camry to find my badge so I can take the Corolla and leave Steve with the "good car" since he's off and could take the boys to play at the mall or something (we try to cart them around town in the "good car" which really just means the bigger car anymore cause they are both fairly decent cars). Can't find the badge - it's in there, just not sure where. So I get in the Corolla and start trying to call Steve on the Bluetooth as I drive to work to ask him to please find it and bring it to me at lunch.

I called about 6 times (both home phone and cell) on the way to work and then proceeded to call multiple times after getting to work - no luck. No answer. I know he's there - he didn't have time to leave between when I drove off and called him first. However, he wasn't feeling well. So I, of course, have drummed up all kinds of bad scenarios in my head (I'll stop to say everything is fine before you freak out at my thoughts). Steve wasn't feeling well either, so maybe he fell in the kitchen and hit his head - both boys crying for 3 hours....better yet, he tripped on the pile of laundry just over the gate inside the kitchen, hit his head on the floor, passed out, blood everywhere - Ethan (who does now know how to open the gate) can't get the gate opened cause he's crying and can't do it and his crying makes Alex start sobbing (Alex doesn't like anyone to cry alone but otherwise rarely cries)...then Ethan gets into the kitchen but can't wake up Daddy so is sobbing harder and probably making himself sick doing so....about this time, it's been 3.5 hours of calling and I'm now trying to get someone to cover my phones at work while I go home to find out what's really happening that he hasn't answered any of the 30 calls I've made (minimum). Yes, calling the police had actually occured to me but I thought I'd get there before they would. I'm on the phone with a co-worker when a call beeps in - it's Steve cell #. OH THANK GOD!!! I didn't even say hello, I just started in with - don't ever do that again - even if you are mad at me, you call before now in the mornings - what is going on. Turns out, we had "camped" in the front room this weekend (meaning Ethan still wants to camp out but it's too cold outside with he & his brother both fighting getting sick already so we blew up the air bed in the front room and slept there watching movies Saturday night - this satisfies the need for a 3 year old anyway) and had deflated the airbed but hadn't put it away yesterday. So Steve deflated it the rest of the way using the loud electric pump so hadn't heard my first calls while doing that. Then he promptly started rocking Alex back to sleep and took a nap with him on the couch (since Steve wasn't feeling well either) while Ethan watched cartoons. Alex wouldn't have slept 3.5 hours had I been home but somehow, Steve can get him to do that. In fact, Alex only woke up after Steve finally called me. Ethan had told him the home phone was ringing (it was bothering his cartoons I guess) so Steve listened and heard his cell going off upstairs. He sent Ethan up to get it and called me back. The home phone downstairs is apparently dead and so not ringing and he couldn't hear the cell or upstairs phone.

OK - so all is well and my panic was for naught but it's now 2 hours later and I'm just now calming down. Sheesh - way to start the week.