Happy Halloween!

What a great day we had today with our little fireman. Temple Assembly of God in Clanton put on the best little carnival in the middle of town with a moon walk and lots of different games ('fishing', digging through hay for candy, lasso the prize, ring toss, bean bag toss, apple bobbing, cake walk, etc.) and Dennis had the BEST time there winning candy. He got to trick-or-treat at the police station and visit the fire trucks at the fire station and then we headed up to the Gallmans' place for a fabulous Halloween party. Everyone had great costumes and the Pumpkin Bowling was very fun. Dennis and Chloe made sure to roll (throw) pumpkins after everyone's first turn, ensuring that we all scored spares! It ended when they began spiking the pumpkins and one burst all over the pins. We especially loved being at the Smith twins' first Halloween party where they starred as Slimer and the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man with Ghostbuster parents. Too cute! We were especially surprised and charmed when Dennis looked at Katelyn and said "I want to hold the baby, Mommy" and did just that. We missed the photo op though because he quickly handed her back as she began to cry. Chloe held her next, and it was so sweet watching the wonder in both their eyes as they looked at the tiny baby! It was a magical night!

he told me!

I told Dennis that he needed to start working on his potty training, especially since we are going on a cruise in May. I told him that he wouldn't be allowed to swim in a swim diaper there on the ship. He told me "I'm not planning on swimming, Mommy". He sounded so serious and so grown-up that David and I did our best to stifle our laughter. To be fair to him, though, he has made 2 semi-attempts at the potty. The first was when he was alone in his room--he took off his pants and diaper and then peed in his playhouse. He told me about it when I came in there to see why he wasn't taking his nap. The second happened today when I put him down for his nap (I'm sensing a trend--avoid napping by going potty) and he told me he wanted to poo-poo in the potty. I fell for it, of course, and we went into the bathroom and I put him up on his potty seat. He sat there a while and then said "the pee-pee and poo-poo not coming out, Mommy, why not?". This I consider an actual effort, and I told him I was proud of him for trying, but then I made him take his nap.

pumpkin train

What better way to enjoy a beautiful sunny fall day than to ride the Pumpkin Patch Express? We picked up Uncle Denny and met up with the Gallmans in Calera at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum and then waited in line to board the train while Dennis cried "I want to ride the train" again and again and again. He and Chloe jumped and played and ran around and looked out the windows and had a great time on the train. Dennis pretended to take all our tickets ("Tickets, please!") and pretended to stamp them just like the conductor did when we boarded. He and Daddy picked out a super pumpkin at the patch, one we'll actually carve this year. He and Chloe enjoyed the inflatable jumping structure and the hay ride and the snacks before re-boarding to head back. A good time was had by all, but this was only half our big day today. We dropped Uncle Denny back off and then headed to Dothan for Grandmother's funeral tomorrow.

Dennis loved getting to see the family and gave hugs all around, but mostly he was glad to see Nate (my 11 year old cousin). Nate loves Dennis and has been so good to play with him ever since he was a tiny baby. Gran and Pop had bought a new fire truck to surprise him with at Aunt Louise's and Uncle George's house, something to occupy him, and Dennis played with the fire truck and Nate to the exclusion of everything and everyone else. He took it over to show Granddaddy a few times, and he spent time hugging Granddaddy and Uncle George. He skipped dinner in favor of playing. And back at our hotel room, Dennis did NOT want to go to bed without the fire truck but finally relented and went to sleep. It was a nice day in preparation for kind of a tough one to come. Dennis won't be attending the funeral (or it would be The Dennis Show, as I told Hadden last night), but he'll be with the family before and after. David will care for him while I go.

As a side note, we have replaced our internet air card and it was not as expensive as we feared, so we are back online. That, and our hotel has high speed...

a weekly report

There are extenuating circumstances. Number one: our internet air card has gone missing--we have not seen it in 2 weeks, so it's WiFi only for us until we get a new one. Number two, the more serious one: my Grandmother is most likely going to go to Heaven today, and it's been a bit of a tough week for the family. We did have a wonderful vacation and made it home safely Monday night, and since then Dennis has done a number of cute and wonderful things worth reporting, several of which I've been keeping up with on a scrap of paper in my purse.

We came home from the mountains with bad colds, and Tuesday morning I lay in the bed miserable. Dennis came in and said "What's wrong, Mommy?" and I told him I was sick. He said "you sick? Wait right here, I go get my doctor bag--I make you all better." Wednesday I put him down for his nap when he did not want to take one and as I leaned down to kiss him as usual, he snapped "don't you kiss me, Mommy, you go to time out right now" and pointed that demanding little finger toward the door. Later that day I surprised him with a new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse puzzle from the Dollar Tree and he told me "what a beautiful puzzle, Mommy, thank you!" and then handed it to David and said "here Daddy, this is to you--it's your puzzle, it's Mickey Mouse".

Today when I got the report of Grandmother's imminent passing away, I cried buckets, and Dennis was doing his best to comfort me. He said to me "what's wrong, Honey?" and "you call Daddy and talk to him, he will help" and then "it's okay, sweetheart, I love you". This did, of course, make me feel much better. So much better, in fact, that I went up to the pumpkin patch with Dennis and Janet to get out in the sunshine of this beautiful day. It was a nice distraction from our tragic thoughts. I'll write again as soon as I can!

last vacation day

First thing I heard this morning: "I'm a t-rex-a-saurus, Mommy, ROARRR" followed by "no, don't put your head back down, Mommy, no go to sleep" and then "put your feet down" (this last said as he dragged my feet from the bed to the floor to 'help' me get up). We had a super fun day today, beginning with a little hiking in the Greenbrier part of the national park. We rode the trolley to town, strolled the strip in Gatlinburg, rode the aerial tramway up to Ober Gatlinburg, rode the chair lift and alpine slide, walked and took the trolley back and then came 'home' for supper. Dennis loved everything we did today. We got to the Greenbrier area this morning and as we were parking, he excitedly chirped "we go hike in the woods, hooray! I LOVE hiking in the woods". He was very sad to leave the woods until we promised a trolley ride, when we heard "that's a great idea, Mommy, I LOVE riding the trolley". We pointed out the snowy peaks from the tram and he said "Cool. I LOVE snow!". Riding the chair lift with him was pretty exciting for me (read: scary), but he was very good and didn't wiggle around. He loved helping me control our speed on the alpine slide (which was really really fun), and he didn't want to leave Ober until we promised him another trolley ride. We were walking back to the trolley stop when he said "I ready to eat. I LOVE hamburgers." We looked up and noticed that we were in front of McDonald's, so we got him a happy meal, or rather, he ordered himself a happy meal and we paid for it. He kept wanting to go shop in the stores we were passing, and he let us know this by saying "I want to go in Wal-Mart" and pointing to the store (note: every store is Wal-Mart to him). He was sad to leave the trolley station and fell asleep hard in the car on the way back. He napped and then ate supper, and he colored pictures until bedtime. It's been a wonderful trip, and we are already mostly packed to leave tomorrow. Dennis does not want to leave--we told him we were going home tomorrow and he said "NO! I want to go to 'cation in the mountains". It IS hard to leave a vacation and return to the real world, even for a little guy!

an unexpected delight

We had read that this weekend was a good opportunity to see peak fall color at the high elevations in the national park. We had also read that this is when everyone else knows this and to expect big traffic, so we had planned to delay our park tour until Monday. We loaded up and went to visit the Gallmans at their campsite and the kids enjoyed playing in the camper. The plan was to take the kids to the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, close to town, easy to get to, not as many people, and several old homesteads and farm buildings where they could play. We headed that way and stopped at Ogle Place, an old farm cabin and barn located just before the start of the motor trail. While there, a family pulled up in their car with steam billowing from under the hood, and of course the guys wanted to talk about radiators and other man-such things, so we hung around until they got out of their car. The gentleman was unconcerned with the steam, said he was aware of a pinhole in the radiator and everything was fine, but had we seen the snow on Newfound Gap Road this morning? SNOW? After walking around the Ogle Place in the mud and rain, we decided snow sounded like a much better option. We headed into the park and stopped at my favorite visitors center for a pit stop and some shopping, and then we ate our lunches in the car while driving to Newfound Gap. We enjoyed the spots of fall color we were seeing and then suddenly it was snowing. And then we crossed some elevation line and there was snow EVERYWHERE, a few inches on the ground and on the trees. We stopped to walk around in it and take pictures, but Dennis was asleep. He woke up after we'd been there a few minutes and was crying pitifully. We asked him if he wanted to get out, and he said he did, but still he whined. He saw the snow and was still crying until David asked him if he wanted to go throw a snowball at Ellen. The tears disappeared and were replaced by big giggles. He did indeed throw a snowball at Ellen through her open car window and when she screamed, he giggled and then said "sorry, Ellen", and then he happily tasted the snow and played with his Daddy with the snow-laden tree branches. It was magical, really, because I had been wishing to see snow this winter, and I knew that after getting snowed in twice on vacations last winter that David would not be participating in any winter vacations that held the remotest possibility of snow. This was enough to make everything beautiful, bright fall colors on the lower mountains against sugary white evergreen trees on the higher peaks. But it didn't snow down lower where our cabin is, and it didn't mess up any roads, and we have plenty of food, so snow today was just a wonderful surprise instead of an inconvenience.

Though it doesn't compare to our morning, we also had a nice evening shopping in Pigeon Forge, and the kids both ended up in the Gallmans' van. They chatted and sang and we had a wonderful time, Ellen and I, driving them around the outlet places and back up to the cabin. They will go home tomorrow, and we have sure enjoyed vacationing with them. The kids' enjoyment of this wonderful place was certainly heightened by the opportunities they had to play together.

Click on the movie below (play button below picture) to watch Dennis' commentary.

riding the trolley

It feels like we did six million high energy activities today when really we didn't do much of anything. I suppose taking two two-year-olds anywhere would feel like an expedition (we all thought of Hadden and Jennifer many times today). We only got Dennis away from downtown Gatlinburg yesterday by promising a trolley ride today and we made good on our promise. We rode the trolley into town from City Hall to go eat at the Pancake Pantry. Dennis excitedly reported these planned activities many times until we actually completed them. We got in the car and he said "Mommy we are going to ride the trolley" and then when we got on the trolley he told Chloe "Chloe, we are going to eat pancakes!". He did stand up briefly on the trolley and attempt to walk the aisle, all while repeating in a singsong voice "tickets, please!" to the other passengers.

Brunch was exciting, of course, and then we took them shopping around for a little while. We had hoped this would wear them out enough for naps, and for a few glorious moments, Dennis slept in the car. He woke up immediately upon our arrival at the cabin, though, and did not go back to sleep. Instead, he spent an hour and a half having two-sided conversations in his pod. We heard that Chloe actually had a very good nap back at their camper. They enjoyed playing together tonight while David cooked Ellen's birthday supper, but things weren't as harmonious as yesterday (the magic has worn off some), and we had some sharing issues and a few pushing episodes, like they are subconsciously in some canine-type territorial battle over Little People or Thomas trains. They did enjoy a bath together in the huge jacuzzi with their Mommies joining them in swimsuits, and they sacked out afterward while we spent some time out in the cold weather in the hot tub. Nice. I question how one outing could wear me out SO much, though! Must be all the cold and rain here. One more day of that before it gets nice out (which should happen just before we head home).

The trolley was the hit of the day today, for sure.

strange logic

Dennis loves the cabin here in Gatlinburg. He has spent much of the day running his feet and running his mouth at full speed. He gave us cabin fever at around 2 today, so we took him to the aquarium. He loved it and talked to the sharks, and it wore him out sufficiently so that he's napping hard now.

Around mid-morning, we attempted to get him to take a nap. None of us got a whole lot of sleep last night because we were on the road so late, and Dennis doesn't know how to sleep in (I've got to figure out how to teach him this important skill). We put him down for his nap and he babbled (loudly) for an hour. He told us "I can't sleep. I can't lay down and go to sleep." I asked him why not and he said "because I have a finger." When I repeated this back to him ('you can't sleep because you have a finger?') he said "Yeah, and I have a hand." I don't know what this has to do with sleep, but he was right. At the time he could not sleep, though whether it was his finger's fault, I couldn't tell you.

going on 'cation'

We had a truly horrible pediatrician visit this morning. He was at first excited to be going to see the doctor because lately he's been pretending to be a doctor. He puts on his little stethoscope and comes in and says "I am Dr. Dennis. What's wrong, Mommy? I fix it". So he got into the waiting room, sat down at the little table and said "I am Dr. Dennis". When we FINALLY got back into an exam room 45 minutes later, he had almost reached critical meltdown. Since we were there for his flu shot, you can imagine how things escalated once the needle-bearing nurse came in. At least we were in the exam room with the fire truck exam table, the one with the fun chicken cuckoo clock, and the one with Firefighter Mickey painted on the wall (all Dennis favorites). He screamed and screamed as we held him down for a less-than-one-second injection. Much later tonight I got my own flu shot, and I regret now that I didn't take him in with me to see me get a shot, too.

I spent much of the day loading the car for our trip to Gatlinburg. Dennis happily announced repeatedly "we are going to the mountains--we going on 'cation". He couldn't wait. He wasn't overly thrilled with the six hours of driving plus stops, but his smart Mommy had filled a DVD with episodes of his favorite PBS shows, mostly episodes he hadn't seen. This kept him happy for a few hours and gave Daddy and me a little sanity break. There's only so many times you can sing the six or eight songs he sings along with us, and there's nothing to point out in the dark to talk about. Now we are here and ready to enjoy the mountains for a long weekend. He's excited that Chloe will be arriving with her parents tomorrow!

the order of the day

I may be reaching the point in my life where I need a memory assistant. I am hoping for an iPhone for Christmas, and my current phone has a feature that lets me schedule things on a calendar and it beeps to remind me of appointments. I need a little something to carry around to make lists on, and I have a big calendar now that helps me keep track of stuff (otherwise I swear I wouldn't know what I have done every day). I think it's Mommy Brain, added to the fact that I have to try and think during all the talking I hear constantly every day (usually sentences or declarations or questions that all begin with the word "MOMMY..."). But even though I don't have my iPhone yet or a Blackberry, I do have something almost equally useful, a Dennis 2007 Toddler Assistant. This morning, I told him we had a big day ahead of us and I told him step by step what all we had to do. He seems to be happier when he knows what his day holds, so I thought I'd try something new and tell him what was up. I told him we'd be going to Gran and Pop's place to check the mail and then go to the bank, then we'd go pick up Ellen's birthday present, then stop by and drop off some stuff for Ellen, and then we'd take some baby stuff up to Jennifer. He halfway paid attention to this. Imagine my surprise as we were leaving Gran's place and he piped up "now we go to the bank" and after the bank, he said "now we go to pick up Ellen's birthday present" (in another town) and then said "now we go see Ellen" (even farther up the road) and finally "now we go see Jenn-fer" (nearly two hours after we set out). I was so proud that he remembered everything in the correct order after just hearing it the one time!

This picture is of a Google search that Dennis did when I stepped away from the computer for a second. Luckily it didn't bring up anything.

the whys are here

Dennis grabbed David's precious Nintendo Wii Guitar today and told me "I going to play some music, Mommy". I hated to stifle any creativity, but I'd also hate to replace one of those guitars, so I took it away from him and told him no. He said "why not, Mommy?" and I had to explain that it was Daddy's guitar and Daddy might not want him to play with it. He said, again, "why not, Mommy?". I called his Gran to report this new development and she warned me that now was the time to begin cultivating the phrase 'because I said so' for when I can't give satisfactory explanations for the things he asks. I feel like I've graduated into a new phase of parenthood.

excellent help, really

The potty training is going nowhere, I think. We put him in some regular underpants and station his potty close at hand, but all he's doing is peeing and then telling us about it. Maybe this is progress of a sort--he knows what he's doing, at least after he does it. Today he came into the kitchen and said "Mommy, I made a big mess, come look at the big mess. Come on, I show you, hold my hand". He took my hand and took me into the den. I looked and didn't notice anything. I asked him what it was and he said "I poo-pooed and made a big mess" and then I dreaded what he was going to point to. He led me over to a tiny wet spot on the floor and said "it's right here, Mommy" and I clarified that what he actually did was pee. Then I said "okay, we'll clean it up". I went after a towel and when I came back, Dennis had obtained my water spray bottle and was diligently spraying his pee spot with water. I had to smile. He said "I clean it, Mommy, I help". It was certainly a good try!

gotta go build something

Today was a busy one. First thing this morning, we dropped Gran and Pop off at the airport to fly out to Washington to visit Dennis' cousins and their Mommy and Daddy. Dennis understood that we were going to the airport and was very excited about it. So excited, in fact, that he barely tolerated the detour of stopping by to see Grandmother and Granddaddy, insisting that we were going to the airport. We had a nice but brief visit with them and then headed on, and I cannot describe how crestfallen Dennis was when he found out that he was not going to be getting on an airplane. I heard about it for half the way back home. I pacified him with a stop at Wal-Mart, telling him about it 15 miles before we got there so he'd have something else to anticipate. He's a big fan of shopping at Wal-Mart these days!

After our airport run, we went over to Dennis' Grandma's house to enjoy a nice fish fry/cookout lunch with the extended family. Dennis' cousins Laine, Emily, and Jeff were there and he had such fun playing with them that it was like torture to get him to stop playing and eat (until he saw that his cousins were sitting at the table eating). They played together mostly harmoniously for a couple of hours and I wondered how I'd get him out of there peacefully. He solved this problem for me--he picked up his plastic hammer, slid it into his pocket, and announced "I've got to go to the building site--I go say bye to everybody". I told him we couldn't go to any construction site without his diaper bag, so he went and got it. Then he hugged everyone and announced "bye everybody, I've got to go to the building site!". We got out the door with no fuss, which was WONDERFUL given his problems with leaving places lately without major drama. He told me all the way home about going to the construction or building site (he alternated words for it), and I just agreed with him. He was miffed to find us turning into our own driveway, of course, and started to protest big time. I happened to notice a box that UPS delivered sitting on our front step and I told him about it. He 'helped' me open it to find the rain boots that were my birthday present from the Gallmans. He was as excited as I was about them and insisted on trying them on (though I did it first), and he was not put off at all by the large pink polka dots on them! As a matter of fact, he tried them on so many times this afternoon that I was forced to stow them up out of his reach. They were over thigh-high on him, and he kept tripping and falling as he tried to put his whole legs into them. I'm very excited about them, myself, having wanted a pair for a long long time. Can't wait to go splashing in puddles with Dennis!

the opposite of promoted

I was doing my Wii workout today, EA Sports Active (the new game David got me for my birthday) when I heard Dennis wake up from his nap and say "Hey, Mommy, what you doing?". I told him I was exercising. He said "come get me" and I asked him to wait a few more minutes. He said "hurry Mommy LET ME OUT!" and I told him no, and he yelled "MOMMY YOU'RE FIRED!!". I have no idea why he knows what that even means. He also told me today "I'm a superhero, Mommy, I can fly" and I warned him to be very careful with the flying because it was harder than it looked. As if that wasn't enough, he came to me and announced his stinkiness. I changed his diaper, and while I was cleaning him, he looked at my face and said "Mommy, there's a tomato on your face". I checked the mirror for pimples but didn't see anything. Wonder what he was thinking!

In case you wondered, EA Sports Active is an EXCELLENT workout. I thought I'd try the Easy 20 Minute Workout, knowing I'd just breeze through it, but I broke a sweat in a big way. Lots of lunges and cardio in that one. I was very impressed and very surprised. Since I am also doing 30 days of Jillian Michaels' Shred video now (and going to Curves), I'm getting fit very fast! The Wii game is great--I'd say it's the equivalent of going to the gym for sure. I can see my collarbones now and they've been submerged for a few years!

it almost happened

Yes, it almost happened, that thing I've been dreading about rearing a child, one of the reasons I've lost nearly 80 pounds--I almost had to climb up into the 'hamster tubes' at the indoor Chick-Fil-A playground to fetch Dennis. He didn't have the nerve to climb all the way up the stairs to the tubes at first, but an older girl gave him a hand. Then he spent 20 minutes up there running around and yelling. I could hear him bossing the other kids around: "come here now, sit in the airplane with Dennis" and "hey everybody let's play". I couldn't see him at all, just the bottoms of his little feet making shadows on the base of the tubes. I gave him a while and then began telling him to come down the slide but he wouldn't. He did stick his head out over the stairs and tell me to come up and play: "climb up the stairs Mommy, come drive the car, you can do it, Mommy". With a restaurant full of people watching, I didn't quite have the nerve to explore the tubes today. Eventually, he stuck his head back out over the staircase and announced "I all finished, Mommy" and he came down, thank goodness!

hot dog supper

I was saddened that he learned how to correctly pronounce hot dog buns today. I had loved him calling them 'hot dog butts'. He ate tons of supper tonight with all of us at the lake house. He insisted on dressing in firefighter costume again and wanted to go 'put out fires' on the screened porch with the garden hose. He aimed it right at me and said "I put out your fire, Mommy" and I thanked him for saving me. I wasn't aware that I had been on fire. Thank goodness he doesn't know how to turn on the hose yet, or it wouldn't be nearly as cute.

Granny's visit

Dennis was delighted to see Granny today--she drove up from Dothan for a visit. She asked him what he'd been doing, and it really tickled her when he thought for a long time about it and then told her "I went to the pumpkin patch". He was very proud of going down the big slide and had to tell her about it and show her his pumpkin. He partied with his toys at the lake house, dressing up in his firefighter ensemble and pretending to put out fires with the hose on the screened porch.


When we put him down for his nap, he continued to shout "come back here, Mommy, here is your pillow right here, you need to go sleep too". He finally went to sleep without incident. Our sleep troubles are beginning now, but at least he still stays in the bed!

sorry, Mommy

Lots of morning mischief today. I heard a big crash and turned to see my tumbler of ice water falling to the floor. Dennis said "Uh-oh. I broke Mommy's cup. I help clean up". He helped me pick up the ice cubes and put them in the sink. In the car, he pulled his insole out of his rain boot and was looking at it when I noticed and asked him why he did that because it was not a good thing to do. He said "I sorry, Mommy, it was a accent" (instead of accident). It wasn't, actually, an accident, but I had to laugh.

For supper I heard the funniest thing. He had a hot dog and called the hot dog bun a 'hot dog butt'. When I laughed, he told me "that's not funny, Mommy". Oops. For dessert, he begged us to stop at Cracker Barrel (I begged too--they have Double Chocolate Fudge Coca-Cola Cake now and it will be around for a whole year this time, so I had to go in and begin supporting their decision to do this immediately given all the times I've emailed this request to them). We enjoyed our chocolate experience immensely, and he especially loved playing with the pirate sticker book set that Gran and Pop picked up for him there. Kept him happy in the car for a LONG time. Not bad for $1.50. I loved hearing the pirate conversations: "Arrrrgh. Hi, nice to meet you, where's the pirate treasure (said in a growly voice)".

thirty four

I was greeted this morning, after getting to sleep blissfully late, with my door opening and Dennis shouting "Happy birthday, Mommy, I got you a card! Surprise!". He climbed up into bed with me and gave me the card that he 'signed' himself. Daddy was right behind him with another card and a gift, a new Wii fitness game (EA Active). What a wonderful way to start my 34th birthday!

We visited the local pumpkin patch and met up with the Gallmans and Allison--the guys didn't join us as they were moving furniture into Uncle Denny's place. The kids had great fun at the pumpkin patch riding the hayride, picking pumpkins, and most of all, playing on the giant inflatable structures there (something Dennis will probably do a couple of more times this month while the pumpkin patch is open). We certainly enjoyed hearing Dennis and Chloe talk to each other. They had actual conversations that were so cute. The one I missed but Ellen heard: Chloe asked Dennis "Where did your Mommy go?" and Dennis replied "she went to the zoo" (I was walking to the car at the time).

We partied at the lake house with cake and a delicious supper followed by s'mores pie (made especially for me by Ellen because I am so crazy about s'mores). Dennis and Chloe dressed up in his firefighter costumes and played around for a while. They both wanted to wear the same pair of boots (Dennis' Cars rainboots) and compromised by each wearing one of them. They split his pair of cowboy boots also. They played and ran and yelled and carried on for hours, and when we decided it was time for them to calm down, I set them up in the bedroom watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and they happily cuddled up together and we could hear them talking about the show.

I am so proud of Dennis for climbing up the BIG slide and going down twice! This was a GREAT day and I got GREAT presents and I couldn't be happier. Dennis was happy all day too. I think we all were. Thanks everyone for everything--it was WONDERFUL!

Princess Mommy

I am nightgown shopping, and I had bought the one that I've been eyeing for a month since it got reduced to $7 at Wal-Mart. They didn't have my size, so I bought one bigger, but it was too big when I got it home, so I returned it today. I thought I'd try the smaller size on while I was there, and Dennis came into the dressing room with me. I got it on and he said "Mommy, you look like a princess!". He grabbed my shirt off the bench and put it on, and when I asked him for it back, he said "No, you wear that. You are Princess Mommy". I didn't end up buying it because it didn't fit quite right yet (though thanks to the new killer workout DVD I'm doing right now, it won't be long--thanks to Jillian Michaels for kicking my butt these last 4 days). But I did enjoy being called a princess by my kid--I didn't know he knew the word.

Tonight we're watching the Auburn game, and Dennis is kind of bored with it. He picked up a kitchen towel and began fake sneezing and coughing and pretending to blow his nose. He said "oh, NO! I getting some cold" (read: I'm getting a cold) several times, and I offered him an Airborne and he said "yes, good idea". But then we told him if he was coming down with a cold, he needed to go to bed, so he changed his tune.

The picture shows him in Firefighter dress, which he wore all morning. He put his second hat on my head and "Now you can be a firefighter just like Dennis". I think I'll be scouring the post-Halloween sales for costumes for him to play dress-up. He's interested in pirates and superheroes, too.

I feel good!

Nothing like a little baby James Brown to wake you up in the morning! That was the first thing I heard shouted from his room: "Mommy, I FEEL GOOD!". If only I were the morning person that he is. When we were getting ready for our day, he said "let's get dressed, Mommy" and I asked him what he wanted to wear. He said "a dress". I asked him if he really wanted to wear a dress and he said "no, I wear pumpkin shirt", so that's what he wore.

We met up with Allison and Gran and Pop and Grandma at the Mexican place, and Dennis ordered his own lunch from the waiter. After Allison ordered, Dennis said to the waiter "I want chicken please" and he asked if he wanted beans, so Dennis said "I want chicken and beans please" and then I asked if he wanted a quesadilla, so Dennis said to him "I want a chicken quesadilla and beans please". And that's just what he got! He wore his full firefigher ensemble to the restaurant, complete with little toy dalmatian. I asked him what the dog's name was and he said "this is Worm the dog".

We went to the Bass Pro Shop in Prattville and Dennis enjoyed playing on the four wheelers, which is what he's doing in the picture. He also ate and enjoyed a Moon Pie and talked about his "yummy woon pie" for a half hour after he finished. He ate some of Allison's pretzels as well and after biting on of the sections of pretzel off, he held the pretzel up and said "look, Mommy, it's eyes" (which is, in fact, what the pretzel looked like). And then, after hearing some weird panting noises and seeing him working his tongue in and out, I asked him if he was having some kind of fit. He said "no, Mommy, I sounding like a dog". The final thing that really tickled me was when he began coughing and choking pretty violently (he was faking it and I knew it). He finally choked out "say are you okay" and when I finally asked him if he was okay, he stopped and said "Yeah, I'm okay, thank you". He just wanted me to act concerned enough to ask.

new nap excuse

I heard a new one today. Lately he's been protesting naptime and bedtime (and meals) because he is too busy playing to stop. Today when I put him in bed for his nap, he sat up (rubbing his eyes) and said "but I can't sleep now, Mommy, I have to play toys". And then "I can't sleep". I distracted him by singing a verse of Old MacDonald that I made up: 'and on that farm he had a Dennis, E-I-E-I-O, with a 'NO NO!' here and a 'NO NO!' there'... He thought this was hilarious.

He has spent the rest of the day insisting that we play with his toys with him. "Come play toys, Mommy" and "Come play camper toys, Daddy" and "Come play toys right now, Gran". He's incessant, refusing to stop verbalizing his demands until we someone plays with him, the little tyrant.