fresh baked

Best field trip EVER. Never was there a better day to be a preschool parent! We arrived at Bud's Best Cookies at our appointed time, which (happily enough) was 10 this morning. Since it was an hour's drive, it was nice to have plenty if non-rush-hour time to make the trip. Dennis has been anticipating his "cookie factory trip" all weekend, and it exceeded all of our expectations. We were handed hair nets and empty cups and herded onto a train. We were driven past giant mixers and giant ovens with nifty display windows. We saw conveyor belts and cookie shakers and two super cool packaging robots lovingly labeled "Lucy" and "Ethel". We learned that the ingredients and boxes and labels are locally made, and we saw empty tractor trailers backed up to the building waiting to be filled. We saw millions of cookies all boxed up and ready to go. And we were stopped during the tour so that our empty cups could be filled to overflowing with warm vanilla wafers just out of the oven. Mmmmmmmmmmmm! The place smelled heavenly, and we were given packages of vanilla wafers and chocolate chip cookies. There are over a dozen other flavors, so we stopped to buy butterfinger cookies and chocolate sandwich cookies with peanut butter filling along with some oatmeal cookies for Gigi.

David further increased Dennis' sugar high induced joy by turning the car north a couple of miles to Toys 'R Us. He looked at hundreds of toys, sang their theme song, tried out some bicycles (he wants a new 16" bicycle for his upcoming birthday along with the kids' treadmill he's been asking for), picked out a guitar he'd love to own (red with chrome flames), and selected a new tool set for his Daddy to get for him. We've been hammered and socket wrenched and pliered and pipe-wrenched nearly to death now. He's been asking me to assign him 'projects' all day, and he's decided that we need to build a new dog house (a red one, of course) for Tabasco. He said to David "I'm going to need you to get some wood and a can of red paint tomorrow."

Today was a fun one!

hangin' with the girls

Oh, what fun Dennis had today! We went to church this morning, and as Dennis was being greeted by a number of church members, he told each one "my friend Chloe is coming to play with me today!". Indeed she did. Dave and Ellen came down to give us a hand with some things, namely help installing a new part on the Tracker. We had lunch and the guys went to work on the cars while we took the kids to the playground and let them run wild for an hour. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the lake. We had every intention of putting the kids down for naps as soon as we got there, but Mary Beth and Laura from next door came over to play with Dennis and Chloe. They had toy My Little Pony stuff and Disney princesses and costumes strewn from one end of the place to another (Dennis found it fun and different to play with all the girl toys, but he learned to dress the dolls and ponies after a while), and they ran laps through the house screaming and chasing and "playing tackle" (as Dennis and Chloe called it). When Gigi arrived, I'm embarrassed to say that all 4 children were piled onto the king-size bed in the master bedroom, wrestling, bouncing, and screaming. We were just letting them go wild! Gigi was happy to see them, seemed happy to be entering the melee, thank goodness. We toured her house and the kids all went next door to play at the Halls' while I started our dinner cooking. We shared a nice meal together, the Gallmans, us, and Gran and Gigi, and then had some nice chat time while the kids played some more. It was a wonderful day spent with loved ones. Those are just the best days!

This morning, our teaching experience at the preschool Sunday School class went very well. We talked about praying, about talking to God, and we went over the Lord's Prayer (which Dennis helped us say). Then, when we picked up Dennis from his children's church service, he was wearing a construction paper headband with giant ears stapled to it. It said "speak Lord, I am listening" and I thought it was very cool that our lesson was about talking to God and the lesson they got immediately afterward was about listening to God.

Car update: the Tracker is home. It isn't cured, but it isn't in the church parking lot anymore. So we've made progress, and the next part that we need for it comes in tomorrow. We'll see what happens after that. And the Blazer got a visit today and a strategy for radiator repair (which we hope can happen soon). We have yet to take a look at Dennis' jeep, but maybe that'll come soon. I hope it's a cheap, easy fix. We apparently need a vehicle healing ceremony at our place.

seizing the day

Dennis and I spent over four consecutive hours playing outdoors today. It was a sunny and breezy 69 degree day here, and I made the executive decision to ignore the mountain of housework and projects that need my attention in favor of exercising my kid and myself (and, as it turns out, my mother). Dennis played for two hours at the city park playground with many other children also out enjoying the day. He joined a gang of them and helped build this giant sand castle/volcano surrounded by a rubber-chip moat/ring of grass (depending on which kid you asked). The other kids taught him how to load his shirt with rubber chips and carry them across the playground to their construction site (in the sand under the swings). He quickly joined in the fun. He ran and climbed and played and I had to bribe him with a picnic to get him to leave peacefully. We picked up some food from Sonic and picnicked at the table of his choice at Goosepond Park. Then he got in his stroller and I walked four miles. Gran joined us for the walk. Dennis complained for the first half of the walk and napped in the stroller for the second half. He says I can sell the jogging stroller now. He's probably right. I'm going to have to find a better way to get in my long, fast walks. He suggested I use the Wii and do Walk It Out (and promised to do it with me). I told him we would when it rains out.

We ran errands with Gran this afternoon, two home improvement stores, and after the second one, I met Dennis and Gran at the car. I got in and heard "Mommy, I put my seat belt on." I said "wonderful!" and he said "that's not what I thought you'd say--I thought you'd ask me why I put my seatbelt on and I would say it's so you wouldn't say 'Dennis put your seatbelt on RIGHT NOW'" (this last said in a very convincing parental growl). We all had a good laugh. And he learned a new word today--"nagging". I told him it was nagging when he asked me the same question over and over and over after I'd already answered (I got some heavy nagging this morning: "can I take my bike to the playground" asked over a dozen times in a row). Tonight we were at Gran's, cooking supper and getting ready to Zumba, when Dennis said he wasn't going to Zumba. He said he was going to do "the Dennis exercises" with Pop, and he couldn't wait to get started. Then he suddenly yelled "Pop, stop nagging me--you're going to have to go to Time Out if you keep nagging me!". Pop had been relatively silent, trying stealthily to avoid whatever "Dennis exercises" that Dennis had planned for him. We don't know why that was considered nagging to Dennis! If anything, Dennis was the nagger of the day. He must have had a ten million word quota that he was trying to meet.

sugar fueled long day

Dennis had a sweet tooth and a half today. I don't even want to think about all the sweet things he ate. Luckily, he also finished his real food and expended some serious energy during the day. We left the house at 10 this morning, and basically just got home. Despite what the blog post says, it's 10:05 pm (I don't know what time zone blogspot exists in). During that 12 hours, we drove to the church to have some copies made (because I am now 1/3 of the teacher for Dennis' Sunday School class--I agreed to teach it every third Sunday starting this week, found out Wednesday). Then on to Sylacauga to pick up Uncle Denny's van from the repair place, with a few stops for bathroom, lunch, CVS shopping, and this really super cool playground. There was a pack of children running around and Dennis quickly inserted himself in their midst. He climbed higher than he's yet gone on a climbing wall (all the way to the top) and slid down a couple of VERY tall fireman poles. He joined all the kids on a tire swing and went around and around, him the smallest one in the group. It really made for a great day for Dennis, for all of us really (even Hobbs) because it was so beautiful out!

We spent the late afternoon and evening at Uncle Denny's place, and Dennis got to hang out with his Grandma at the lake for a bit. She took him to feed the ducks and to fish a little bit and he was just thrilled! He napped while I did some cleaning, and that took a couple of hours at least. Supper and grocery shopping happened next, and we are finally finally home. David just asked Dennis to put his pajamas on, and Dennis just appeared in full firefighter ensemble, complete with rescue backpack, toolbox, and blanket. David asked him again to go and change and Dennis began hammering on the floor with his toy hammer. I tried a different approach. I told him what a super fireman he was and how impressed I was that he brought all his medical gear and his tools and even a blanket. I assured him that we would go outside and play fireman tomorrow and that we could do lots of rescuing. I thanked him for all his hard work. He smiled and said "anytime, ma'am" and then went off to change. Sometimes it's all in how you word things. Everyone likes to be acknowledged and appreciated sometimes!

once and future camper

Dennis and I had a whole lot of fun together today. I was the substitute teacher for his class this morning, and we had a great lesson about dinosaur bones and fossils. In his cubbyhole this morning, there was a calendar for February and a note about Tuesday's upcoming Pajama Day. He needs a sleeping bag, pillow, flashlight, toy to sleep with, pajamas, slippers, and shoes to play outside. Wow! I knew that I needed to get the sleeping bag TODAY if all parents got the idea that I did. After all, there aren't many places to get child sized sleeping bags here in town, and Walmart was sure to have a limited supply (since 2 classes have already had a Pajama Day). A sleeping bag for him was actually on the Christmas list (my list, not his) but got forgotten in the scores of other purchases. Gran and Pop called from Walmart while I was home and he was napping, and we had almost settled on blue camouflage. After all, that would grow with him and was cheaper, but in the end, I caved and went for the big thrill: the Buzz Lightyear sleeping bag. Gran and Pop picked it up for me and bought him a red camping pillow themselves. He jumped up and down when he saw them and spent the evening in his sleeping bag. He cried buckets when we left their house, wanting to go camping and not home. I set up our old backpacking tent in his room, put down a thick comforter, and we set up his new bag and pillow. Oh the joy! I actually got a "Mommy, I just love you--you ROCK! You set up a good tent!". He might sleep in it all night, who knows?

We are also heavy into our Valentine's Day preparations. We looked at cards and he picked the Toy Story 3 ones that come with pencils (big surprise), but he said that "Valentines are supposed to be red hearts!". So we are making some. Well, actually, he is making them. I traced a big heart shape onto red paper and that's all. He cut it out ALL BY HIMSELF (two of them so far), glued on his classmate's name and picture (the teacher sent these home for the purpose of labeling their Valentines), selected and glued on a Toy Story Valentine with pencil, signed his name, and added stickers. After he finished the first one, he said "Wow! I'm so proud of myself!!". We also made some pink sugar cookie dough for heart cookies (his idea). He stood over the mixer and added all the ingredients. He saw me sifting salt and flour together and said "I've never seen that before. I'm not sure how that works." He mixed everything, though, and was thrilled to taste the dough when it was made. It's been chilling in the fridge and will remain there until we have free time to roll it out. He can't wait. He's already lined up the rolling pins. He insisted we wear our aprons during the mixing process (good idea, actually).

He wants to camp outside tomorrow. And eat heart cookies. I think we'll plan a camping trip pretty soon, maybe tents in our very own woods. Cheap, convenient... Perfect!

appropriate gear

We were getting ready for a big day of shopping with Gran. Dennis couldn't leave the house until he put on what he called his "safety equipment". This is what he thought he needed for shopping: helmet, chest armor, sword... Now if we were Christmas shopping at a big sale the day before the holiday, I could totally see this being appropriate! I thought we'd be driving to Birmingham with a knight in the car, but when I looked in the back seat, I saw a fireman in a gas mask! He found his toy fireman mask at Gran'a before we left and abandoned his Sir Dennis persona in favor of the ever popular Fireman Dennis. He came upstairs while we were doing our Zumba workout tonight (he was in costume) and said he smelled smoke. I (half) jokingly told him my legs were on fire, and he observed them in motion for a few seconds and confirmed "yes, Mommy, I see the smoke coming from them." He ran to get an imaginary hose to spray them down, thank goodness! It must be all the fat melting away...so, technically (and forgive me--it's late) would that be a grease fire? I'll have to tell Fireman Dennis to use special precautions next time.

why even clean?

Let me apologize for the brevity of this particular entry. I taught the 4 year old class at preschool this morning, and I don't mean that I volunteered or helped out, I mean that I was the substitute teacher. Do you remember the special treatment we gave subs back when we were in school? Yeah. Karma. Not that I ever personally tortured a substitute, but I can't say I never took advantage of a situation that involved a more permissive (more clueless) instructor. So I am mentally and physically wiped out tonight and have been since I lost control of the kids at 9:25 this morning. I did regain the control (a few times) but it was an epic battle. I won. Crafts got done, the room got cleaned, no one got injured, and only one cried. Success, of a sort. I hope one of them might have even learned.

Dennis quote of the day: "hey, Gran, do you know what I love about my room? I love dumping out all my toys everywhere, all over the floor, and being MESSY!.". Not that this was any surprise to me. Moment of the week: Dennis spied a Christmas decoration I missed. He told me "let's stand under the mistletoe, Mommy, and I will give you a BIG kiss." I did, and he did, and we both left smiling. I almost hated to take it down.

my emergency "checkup"

We were reading a book about firefighters today, and he asked me to identify each piece of equipment that was in the picture of the truck. He disagreed with me that one item was a blanket--he didn't see why firemen would need a blanket. I told him it was for emergencies, to warm up people who were hurt and to help people in shock. He seemed to take it all in and then went on to take his nap. When we woke up, he came out of his room in full firefighter gear. He asked to go outside and play again (we spent time out there this morning). He pretended that his play structure was a fire station and climbed up the ladder. There he took off his jacket, helmet, and boots and arranged them very carefully. An imaginary fire bell rang and he suited up quickly and slid down the pole. He jumped in his jeep, and that's when we discovered that a THIRD car of ours had broken down. Unbelievable! Undaunted, he switched to the Cozy Coupe, but I don't think it moved fast enough for him. He ran around the yard, putting out 'fires', checking his equipment, yelling directions, and waving his stop sign to stop traffic and keep them from entering the fire area. We did this until sunset and then came in to eat in the firefighter kitchen and talk strategy.

I told him that I needed some "mommy time" and sent him to his room to play, and he gave me an hour! He appeared then, dressed again in his gear, carrying a tiger striped backpack and a blanket. He said "I have to make sure you're okay after the fire, Mommy." He covered me with the blanket and got out his stethoscope. "First," he said, "I have to check your heart. It's making a weird noise like this: eee eee eee. Now I have to check your tummy. It's making a vrum vrum noise." He put his stethoscope away and got out his blood pressure cuff, saying he was going to check my arm. He reported that my "arm was 20 inches". Is that normal blood pressure? He pulled out an otoscope and checked my ear and reported it "really stinky" and then said "now for the final test: A SHOT!!!" and gleefully poked me in the chest with his syringe. He put away his gear, took the blanket, and left the room.

As I was putting him in bed tonight, he complained that his head was feeling sick (the newest bedtime excuse). He seemed warm, so once I confirmed via thermometer under his arm that his temperature was normal, I pulled off his socks. I told him his toes needed to be happy in the fresh air, and he replied "my toes have a lot of friends!". He pointed to his big toes and named one Mommy and the other Daddy, named the next toes as their kids, and then identified his little toes, saying "and these are their babies." That's a big family of toes!

addendum

Sometimes it happens that I write the blog too early and something hilarious happens. Tonight, it was two things. First, just after I published the first entry, Dennis was playing some educational games on the Nick Jr. website. He suddenly jumped up and announced "I need to go potty really really bad!" and RAN to the bathroom. We all of a sudden heard him singing the Hallelujah Chorus (nearly the entire run of 'hallelujahs' before we heard a flush). I guess it was sweet relief!

And then, just now, I was lying in bed with him, trying to calm him down for sleep. He was a bit wound up from sheer exhaustion, and we were talking about all kinds of things, why we had a baby, why Dave and Ellen decided to have Chloe, etc., etc. He asked me for some Airborne (I am always a sucker for this, and he knows it) because he felt "just a little bit sick". I am never sure if it's a ploy to stay awake or if he really feels bad, and he knows this and uses it to his advantage. I could hear him laughing all the time I was walking to the kitchen and preparing it. As he was drinking it, I started making funny faces (I don't know why), and that turned into a funny face competition, which further descended into a fart-noise competition. We got so rowdy that David appeared in the doorway to see what was going on. We were collapsed with laughter, practically howling with it. I don't know what happened, why I suddenly reverted to six-year-old level, but it was raucously good fun. And now we both have to calm down enough to sleep!

ego boosts

I overheard the following this morning while I was still lying in bed: "Daddy, why is Mommy's tummy getting smaller?". Excellent news!! I might have to post that on the Zumba website. And tonight, while we were waiting for supper to finish cooking, we talked about the possibility of doing a little baking. All the cookies that Dennis wanted to bake required eggs, something we're out of, so David said he might go out and get some eggs later. Dennis said "Daddy, you're a genius!". While we were eating our supper (macaroni and cheese and corn dogs, guess who picked it), I proposed the idea of doing an international meal each week. We'll pick a country, cook some foods that people eat in that country, look at their flag, find it on the globe, and talk about their customs. I'd like to broaden Dennis' culinary horizons, because they have certainly narrowed. He is still willing to taste new things to see if he'll like them, so now is the time. I asked how he felt about sushi (which I love but David is very dubious about), and he said "I don't think so, Mommy, it might make me a little sick." Keep in mind that he does not know what sushi is. I asked him how he felt about Thai food, and he said "no, I don't think that would be good enough for me." Yes, it's time to start introducing new cuisine. He likes cajun food, and he LOVES Mexican food, so the potential is there for creating an open-minded eater. We'll see how it goes. Anyone who'd like to volunteer to host an International Meal, feel free to call!

out of the mouth of Dennis

There were lots of lost things today, much searching and eventually finding, and much of it for the same items. He took a gray plastic tote with a host of airline toys (new playset from Granny, complete with plane and all ancillary airport vehicles, signs, streetlights, etc) over to Gran's and Pop's house today. Gran and I have started our newest fitness regime: Zumba, which we do while Dennis naps in the afternoons. This was Day 9--we finished the 7 days of Basic and now are on Day 2 of Accelerated Fat Burning (and here's hoping it does exactly that). Dennis at first resisted going over to their house, not because he didn't want to, but because he was in his underwear, in his room, happily playing with his toys. Whenever David and I would go in there to nag him about getting dressed, he'd hold up three fingers and say "I just want to play for three more minutes, then I'll get dressed." And this might have worked if he had a clock and knew how to use it. He used this particular stall tactic three times before we moved into Advanced Threatening and then he capitulated. When we got to Gran's and Pop's (after dropping Daddy off at work), we ate the lunches we brought with us and then Dennis played with Pop for a bit, working on some hidden picture puzzles. I put him in bed for his nap, and he got up, so I put him in bed again. After he'd been in there a good ten minutes (but was still singing and talking), we decided to proceed with Zumba. He got up when we were about halfway done with the first workout, and we just let him stay and watch. He stood between us and rocked back and forth for a minute, intrigued, but then he saw a doll over on the couch and went to get her. She's an 80's model doll, dressed in a workout leotard complete with yellow legwarmers (she showed up in the hallway at Gran's last night as a result of a Hobbs-the-Dog caper--he'd even removed her legwarmers), only Dennis isn't clued in to the name or purpose of legwarmers (not that I really am, either, but I was alive back then, and--gasp!--actually owned some rainbow-striped ones). He found the legwarmers beside the doll and put them on her arms and brought her to me to show me her "swimmies". He pretended he was taking her to swim class, and where we were doing our Zumba moves happened to be in his imaginary pool. He called out warnings to us to be careful not to get too wet in all that water.

We eventually finished our workout and had collapsed onto the floor in Gran's room when he came in to see what we were doing. His airport playset was upstairs but its carry tote wasn't. He had loaded it into Gran's "treasure chest" and hauled it upstairs. I offered him a choice: he could pack it back into the chest and take it downstairs, or he could go downstairs and get the tote and bring it upstairs. He loaded everything into the chest and then complained of the heaviness of it all. We all eventually got downstairs, toys as well, and I was attempting the always Herculean task of extricating Dennis from their house. He couldn't find his airport toys. He was running to and fro, looking for the tote full of them, when he suddenly darted behind Pop and asked "is it in your butt? No, it isn't" and then ran off to another room before we'd even contemplated what he'd said. It was so shockingly funny that Pop and I had a good laugh (Gran didn't seem to find it quite as funny as we did--she had THAT look on her face). We eventually made it home, stopping to pick up David for his lunch break on our way.

On a side note: I sure will be glad when we have one or both of our cars back. The Tracker's problems are belt related, and the part that came in this morning was not the one we needed. It lacks a pulley, which will hopefully be in on Monday. The Blazer needs a hose or a radiator--we'll learn which tomorrow. It broke down just before our very long period of illness, and neither of us was up to going to fetch it. Since then, we've just been too busy. Thanks so much to Gran and Pop for the loan of their vehicles. Dennis keeps asking if the van is ours now, or if the Trooper is ours now (he really hopes so--he LOVES the Trooper). He's figured it out. He said "it'll be ours until our car is fixed and then it will be Gran's again, right?". Yes, I hope so, and I hope that's a short time frame (even though I love the Trooper, too!).

wish fulfillment

We were able to do lots of playing at home today, and we were so glad. He complained about taking his nap but fell asleep just seconds after I closed his door. When he woke up from his nap, I told him we could go outside and play. His face lit up and he jumped up and down. He said "oh, thank you, Mommy. You're the best Mommy I've ever had!". He gave me a big hug and told me he loved me. We only lasted 15 minutes or so outside. It was just under 40 degrees, and we learned that it's really hard to slide down a fireman pole with gloves on. Fortunately there are no major injuries to report.

eternal why

I just can't figure out why parenting one mild-mannered, easygoing three-year-old is so absolutely exhausting. Every night this week, I feel drained to oblivion when we get home, inundated with a desire to go crawl under a rock (a soft, warm rock). I guess it's the fact that I am trapped in a never-ending, stream-of-consciousness type conversation. I'm happy to be there, am frequently delighted by the witty observations, poignant queries, and downright funny quips that I am audience to. Days like today and yesterday (which is about as far back as I can remember--oh, yeah, and Tuesday, too), where we don't spend much time at home, well, those days just clobber me, especially when there are several in a row. At home, we get an hour, sometimes more, sometimes less, of solitary play in his room, a couple of times per day. I think we need this cave time, all of us, but we don't realize it until we aren't getting it. We exhaust each other in constant company. He's asked at least a dozen times today if we could just go home so he could play in his room. It just so happened that we couldn't but will be able to in just a short while. We can't wait!

He's car-napping in this picture, en route to a shopping experience with Gran and Gigi and me. I'm pretty sure we had some real fun, and when I get some quiet and rest, I'll remember! As I write this, he is chattering away with a multitude of questions, many of them beginning in "why". I am answering each one. And I'm happy to do so. And I'll be happy to rest my brain when he finally falls asleep tonight. I love him so, even though he deemed me the Wicked Stepsister in his role playing today. He sat on his pink throne there in the store and said "I am King Dennis, now you must bow down to my cute little feet." I elected not to. Gigi was his princess, but Gran and I were the Wicked Sisters. Gigi was the hero in all our scenarios today, and rightly so. We love our visits with her!

hello, home

We went on a little road trip today to have lunch with Granny. Dennis was delighted to descend on her toy stash and merrily play. And, get this, he actually put away stuff as he finished with it before moving on to the next things! We praised him, of course, and he told his Dad about it as soon as we arrived back home. Speaking of our arrival, Dennis was looking around when we exited from the interstate and happily asked "is this town? Are we back in town? Are we home?". We told him we were indeed back, and he said "yay! I love coming home!". He also said "when we leave our home, we get sick sometimes." I wonder why he thinks this, really. We have had some miserable colds this winter, but I don't know what made him connect those with germs from the outside world.

Quote of the day, from Dennis as he was waiting on me to get my stuff together to get out of the van: "Mommy, you caused confusion and delay!". I promised to try to stop.

origins

We had a bit of a biology lesson at Uncle Denny's tonight. We talked about mammals and reptiles and tried to help him make the differentiation. We taught him about 'ingredients' labels, because he's forever asking "what's in this?". For my efforts, I was rewarded with a particularly neat bit of Dennis Wisdom. I asked him if he knew where eggs come from. I can't recall if it's ever come up, so if it has, it hasn't been a recent conversation. He considered for a long moment and then said "eggs come from egg hides". I'll admit, it took me a second to process what he might have meant. I clarified, asking him if he meant that eggs come from Easter egg hunts, and he looked relieved and said "yes!", glad that I understood what he meant. Egg hides. He does love to find hidden Easter eggs, and I suppose that's as good a place as any to get your eggs. I'm surprised he didn't say Walmart or Winn Dixie, actually. He didn't seem surprised when I mentioned chickens as an egg source. It must be time for another farm visit, at any rate.

Secret Agent Man

It started when he found a pair of Pop's sunglasses on the desk. Immediately he put them on and assumed a crazy, wide-legged crouch, saying "I'm Secret Agent Dennis." He gave some secret agent style hands gestures (okay sign, thumbs up, finger gun, etc) and then jumped up and turned and landed in another crouch. And then he rolled forward into a somersault, hopped up, and took off running. At the doorway, he gave a jump spin, landed into a crouch, gave us a thumbs up, turned another somersault, and then headed in another direction. I have no idea where the inspiration for this came from, but suddenly there he was, in his very own episode of Mission Impossible. I even started to sing the theme music. I gave him a mission: find and put on his tennis shoes in 30 secondes. He took so long crouching and spinning and sneaking that he was a little late in his accomplishment of the task. We were trying to get him out of the house and into the car so we could leave Gran's and Pop's house. It took a few "missions" to get out the door, and watching him stalk and sneak his way to the car, striking poses every few steps, was absolutely hilarious. We had to retrieve his sunglasses from my purse so that he'd leave Pop's pair behind. It was full on dark outside by this time, but that didn't deter our little agent. When we got to Arby's for supper, he had morphed into a regular hungry little boy... until we got inside. There he found a 'game room' with a sit-in flight simulator game. It was all we could do to get Pilot Dennis to stop and eat before he was off to pilot another commercial flight.

Tonight during his bath (after he played "oil spill" with a cup of bath water that was pretend 'oil'), he told me "Mommy, you're the best Mommy I've ever had!". Best compliment ever!

playground wars

After over a month apart, Dennis and Chloe reunited this afternoon for a play date and Christmas gift exchange at a McDonald's with an indoor playground. I knew there might be trouble when we arrived and saw a sign on the playground door announcing that the room was reserved for a birthday party. The children inside were a good bit older than Dennis and Chloe. We kept them out for nearly an hour while we ate and talked and they opened gifts, and then we sent them in to play. We'd driven a half hour each to get to this particular location with the indoor play area, and we had every intention of letting them wear each other out with vigorous play, especially after the long cold-weather-and-illness spell we've just been through. Of course no one complained. They might should have. We opted not to sit in there with them (hot, loud, need I say more?), but we sat where we could watch them through the glass. They pushed and shoved each other some, not enough to warrant intervention, but then we noticed shouting and pointing and some light shoving between them and all the bigger kids. They were holding their own, maybe even going beyond holding their own when Ellen stepped in to take a look and listen. I saw Dennis jump off the play structure while roaring at several kids, even pushing at one of the girls. Chloe and a bigger guy were shouting and waving fingers at each other, and he climbed up onto a pipe where they couldn't get to him, so Chloe and Dennis climbed up the staircase thing and yelled at him through the mesh barrier. The big kids apparently decided to block them from getting into one part of the playground, shoving them back and surrounding them, until one of their parents intervened. Then Dennis and Chloe took over that area and the bigger kids went to the other side. Our little guys did a victory dance for a second until they realized that they were alone, and that's when they decided to climb up after the big kids. A giant wad of children came out the tunnel after we sent Chloe up to fetch Dennis. He was the last one out. I'm unclear whether Chloe demanded they all get down or if they were all in Dennis' way or if they had just decided en masse to exit the structure just then. We collected our two little hotheads and took them to Walmart to shop. Dennis told us "they said we were losers and they wouldn't let us play with them. So we said THEY were the losers." I guess things escalated, but they did have a fabulous time. And they bonded together in their time of adversity as well as burned off a good bit of energy. All in all, a successful venture.

When we got home, we played Hungry Hungry Hippos (one of his gifts, a HUGE hit). I always wanted that game growing up. It IS as fun (and as loud) as it looks--I always knew it would be! Later tonight, Dennis put a pair of pants on his head and let the legs trail down over his shoulders. "Look," he said, "I'm Rapunzel!". Never a dull moment here, even when we occasionally wish for one.

taking prisoners

I don't know where Dennis got his love and knowledge of the intricacies of police work. He really ambushed us tonight, grabbing my leg repeatedly to "take me to jail", but even I didn't get the treatment that poor Gran got! She was his prisoner many times (because she borrowed the dustpan and I didn't have it when I needed it). She was wearing imaginary handcuffs and taunting Officer Dennis just a bit when he told her she couldn't say those things because she was in handcuffs. For some unknown reason, she told him she could talk because he hadn't gagged her mouth. He then put a pretend gag on her, just as Uncle Denny mentioned duct tape. He was kidding, of course, but imagine Dennis' excitement when he found a roll of scotch tape. He actually taped her mouth. In this picture, he's taping (cuffing) her hands. She was a great sport about it, laughing through her bondage, and Dennis was so pleased with himself that his cheeks flushed bright pink in pure delight. I can't imagine when he's had a more willing playmate than Gran, so much so that he said he didn't want to come home tonight but wanted to go stay with her instead. Uncle Denny acted as police car and driver, shuttling Dennis around on his super cool electric wheelchair and making siren noises. Much fun was had by all.

unusual request

Dennis was really "on" today, on full blast, actually, with much talking, movement, eating, talking, playing, and talking. And talking. I didn't see him until lunchtime, and it's as if he had to cram all the words from our usual entire day together into the latter half of today. My ears are tired. And when I told the dog to go out, I actually expected him to ask "why" and I was even prepared to answer! I try to answer every "why" that Dennis asks--good teaching opportunities--unless I know that he knows the answer. In those instances, I turn the question back on him. Sometimes I want a t-shirt that says 'Google'.

Tonight, after playing Pizza Delivery Man, driving around in his plastic storage crate/delivery van, I finally got him to be still long enough for me to zip him into his coat and get him out the door at Gran's and Pop's. We picked David up at work tonight because the car that broke down last week is still at the property where he was working. We're hoping that one's a cheap and easy fix, because the other one is making the most bizarre noise I've yet heard a car make. Dennis said tonight "um, are you sure we're going to make it home?" (Side note: we covet your prayers for a couple of sick Chevrolets--thanks). When we did arrive home, it was after 10 minutes of silence from the backseat. Dennis asked David if he had missed him last night (he stayed with Gran and Pop), and David told him yes and answered the resulting "why did you miss me?" with a "because I love you." And then there was silence. We noticed that he looked VERY relaxed in the backseat, as in nearly comatose, and asked him if he was tired. He said he wasn't, but as we were putting the stuff from the car away, he was following us around, wringing his hands anxiously, asking "will you please put me to bed now? I need to go to bed. Will you help me get my shoes off? Will you please carry me to bed?". I presume he hit the point of total exhaustion, because he usually resists bed rather vehemently. He asked for a movie in bed, so we turned on Thomas, but when I checked on him a few minutes later, he was down for the count. May he sleep peacefully and, hopefully, late!

big demolition job

What a great Dennis day! When I woke him up this morning, I whispered his name and he said, eyes closed, "What?" very matter-of-fact. Then his eyes opened, his face lit up, his arms shot up in the air and he yelled "SCHOOL!". I wonder how many years that will last. Later, when he was about to nap, I went in to check on him. He wasn't sleeping but was lying there quietly, idly drumming his fingers on the quilt. I asked what was on his mind, and he replied "I'm just laying here, waiting for the snow." I hated telling him that no snow is in the forecast right now. He again expressed his extreme desire to go tobogganing!

Tonight, we headed to the lake to celebrate the purchase of Gigi's lake house, right next to Uncle Denny's place and right across from our parents' places. Dennis is one lucky little guy to be growing up with a little family compound at the lake, grandparents and godparents right across from each other! We started some celebratory demolition at Gigi's tonight. Dennis pried off the old paneling with a crowbar and also pried up the old floor tiles. He worked hard, and he was THRILLED! He's breaking a shelf loose with a hammer in the picture. He loved having a job to do with real tools, and he was so serious about everything. He called for a dinner break after he'd been at it awhile, and we all headed to Gran's and Pop's lake place to share a meal. Tonight he's spending the night at their place (in town) and he just called to tell me they were having a pajama party and playing Cootie and were about to make a chocolate cake. He's had a stellar day. Apparently they made snow in his science class this morning, and in his computer class, they did an activity about firefighting. So, a day of snow, firefighting, demolition with real tools, and chocolate: just another perfect day in the life of Dennis!

spinning things

We actually got out of the house today, a first for the week, and I think we are slowly improving in health. Thank goodness for that!

Today was characterized by spinning things. First is the solar system we are building at Dennis' insistence. He has been asking to do this for quite a while, and when I was making out a shopping list, he listed some things of his own that he thought we needed. A solar system, paint for the planets ("just red will be fine"), an Auburn football complete uniform with helmet and jersey and white pants, and orange and blue pompoms, those are the things he absolutely had to have. Oh, and rounding out his list: a spinning toothbrush (the second 'spinning' thing important to today) which we bought for him, a Thomas the Train model. We also bought spinning brushes for ourselves, so tonight we are a family with very clean teeth! Imagine the face he made the very first time the spinning brush touched his teeth: priceless!

Oh, and he conceded to painting the sun and Saturn yellow. We'll be adding color stripes to Saturn, and some rings, but he's most excited about painting Mars. Red is his absolute favorite color. Nothing else comes close!

is that in the dictionary?

Check out the spaceship that Dennis built tonight. In our refusing to build for him, he's learned to construct things for himself. He asked me all day to build various things, and I didn't, so he built an assortment of structures (diving platform, play tower, spaceship) and presented them for my raving approval. I think he's learning that the fun of Lego is building what you imagine, not having your parents build a new toy for you to play with and then get upset when it falls apart. Though he did surprise us with a funny thing tonight. David and I were snuggled together on the couch when he came to find us and tell us "Daddy, you are a Lego Recator." We had never heard the term 'recator' before, so we asked him what it meant. He said "a recator is a grownup who builds whatever a kid tells them to build." Now that I've typed it out and looked at it, I think he might have read the words 'Lego Creator' on the box and botched the pronunciation a bit when he came to tell us about it. After he gave us this definition, he pointed his finger at us and said "and if you don't do what I tell you to do, you'll go to jail." We told him the couch was jail and that we were already there. He decided to build his own spaceship at that point, and we were so proud of his effort!

I just went to look in on him and turn off his lava lamp, and he's sleeping peacefully with his hand stretched across the bed. His outstretched hand is resting on Buzz Lightyear. So sweet!

BIG little fan

Late, late, late night! Dennis was winding down, about to go to bed, when he found me on the couch, sweating my way through the BCS Championship football game. We had given him several 10 minute warnings about bedtime, but David was stretched out in bed playing on his computer and I was too caught up in watching and looking away and watching the game to tuck him in and read a bedtime story. Dennis wanted to know what I was doing, so I told him Auburn was playing a game. He immediately asked "can I watch too?". I chose to see this as interest in the team and game rather than a ploy to stay up, plus I wanted the company. I got out the chips and dip and we partied together on the couch. He jumped up and down on the couch when it was warranted (and sometimes when it wasn't), and we happily enjoyed the game. David joined us for the final minutes of the game and got frustrated with Dennis while I was out of the room (tense moments in the game too nailbiting to watch). I came in to find a tied score and a crying kid, not good at all, so I scooped up Dennis and took him to his room to tuck him in (mumbling to David to go back to what he was doing while the team was winning). We read a story and I was headed out to get his medicine when David spoke up with "2 seconds left, setting up for field goal" and I detoured to the den to hold my breath. When the kick was good, and after I finished jumping up and down, I yelled for Dennis to come out and celebrate with us. He happily did so, jumping and yelling "war eagle" and "I love Auburn" and then telling his Daddy that he wants "some Auburn pom-poms, an Auburn shirt and white pants, and an Auburn football helmet." We partied around the den for a few more minutes, watching the band play, watching the players celebrate. Dennis' shirt features the number 02, so he was especially interested in noticing the quarterback.

We are not die-hard football fans. Whole seasons have gone by without me even turning a game on, remembering on Tuesday to ask those who truly care what the outcome of the previous Saturday's game was (or Googling it in an attempt to hide my utter disregard). I don't know why I picked this year to tune in to my inner rabid Tigers fan, but it sure was a good year for it! I watched many of the games this year, all stomach clenching, nail biting struggles. Some may say that's exciting, but I think it was just plain stressful! But I persevered, and more importantly, so did Auburn, and I watched and not-watched all the way to a national championship. Excellent! And now we have an even more dedicated little Auburn fan in the house, delighted to join me for some time on the couch with game food. It was fun explaining the game to him (and how did that job fall to me?), and watching how thrilled he was over the win! I can't believe I wrote a whole blog post about football! There's some 'Bama belle in me after all. Who would have thought?

War Eagle!

'sno hope

So we went from expecting 2" to 4" of accumulated snow, which we wanted very much, to expecting 1/4" of ice, which we didn't want at all. Who knows what we will wake up in the morning to find?! Right now, very cold rain is falling, and we have a lovely, rather lethal-looking, crop of icicles hanging from the roof.

Dennis wanted snow so badly that I heard him say the following prayer: "Dear Lord, please make it snow. I really want snow here--please don't keep all the snow in heaven." I think we're going to have to take him to a snow resort before winter ends. He came running to the window after I put him down for the nap he never took, asking excitedly "is it snowing yet?" and when I replied that it wasn't, he crossed his arms and stomped his foot, saying "oh, NUTCRACKER! I wanted it to snow." Amazingly, I did not laugh. Nutcracker as an expletive? Good one, Dennis. Seasonally appropriate, not offensive...

This is a picture of him standing with his self portrait. The first picture he drew was two faces with big "O"s for mouths. He explained that it was the two of us, him and me, and we were screaming at each other. Sometimes we do scream for fun and recreation around here, but only when Daddy's not home.

cabin fever, I think

Not a peep out of Dennis this morning, not one request or visit. David heard him get up, go to the bathroom, and then return to his own room without speaking to either of us. Highly unusual! No breakfast request, no "time to get up and play with me because the sun is up". I didn't see him til lunch time, when I was on the phone with Ellen. He'd had no time for me at all until I was on the phone, and then he was all over me with demands and requests for food and company. I am feeling marginally better, but I know I've spent probably 22 of the last 24 hours snuggled under covers on the sofa in various stages of recline. I can't remember the last time I could smell.

Tonight, Dennis was running rampant, stalking the couch and shooting us with his 'bazooka' (his tee ball tee, unscrewed from its mounting). He was desperate for us to play with him--he rescued all his Fisher Price Little People from the storage bins they've been in for a couple of months. He is happy to be reunited with them, and his room never looked messier. I wish I felt well enough to deal with it--he has even attempted to clean some himself because the mess is getting to him!

So, it's time to get well so we can LEAVE this house, at least once, before we get snowed in tomorrow night as predicted. At least we have already bought milk and bread.

pants-less wonder

Dennis has been so wonderful today. I am sick, SICK, sick today, fever and full cold symptoms (guess I've been fighting it so long that I finally succumbed). Dennis was so very sweet, visiting me on the couch, tucking me in, patting my head, kissing my cheek, all the time telling me to "get some rest Mommy and you'll feel better." He was patient and let me get lots of needed rest. He didn't destroy anything or cause any mayhem--he either played quietly in his room or brought things to the den to let me watch him play. I think he had a continuous showing of "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command" playing on his DVD player, pretty much all day, but I can't say I mind too much.

I love that he brought in puzzles to assemble while I watched (and praised) from my sick nest. I have been serenaded with Jingle Bells played on his PVC pipe "tuba" and I've been offered various Lego "Christmas presents". He loaded up his toy 18 wheeler with Mega Blocks ("boxes for delivery in the BIG mail truck" he called them) and delivered some to me. He took back the "empty" boxes on his "recycling truck" (same truck, just traveling a different route). He fixed his own drinks today, and he took his dirty dishes to the sink. I can't complain a bit--he didn't complain when I did such a bad job taking care of him today! I appreciate his thoughtfulness and understanding. But I have no idea why he took off his jeans early this afternoon and refused to wear pants for the rest of the day. He's still hanging out in a fire truck long sleeved shirt, orange socks, and Handy Manny underwear (I had to insist on the socks), but no pants. And he's so happy about it!

salute!

It's the Feast of the Epiphany, and we did have a nice meal this evening followed by a king cake! We talked about the three kings' visit to the baby Jesus, certainly something to celebrate! Gigi has come to town and we enjoyed an afternoon with her after we both went to preschool this morning (surprise news at 7am--they needed me to substitute). I got to step in to the last few minutes of Dennis' class, just in time to see his first show-and-tell experience. He showed the class Woody and Bullseye from Toy Story and talked about them. His teacher asked if there was anything else he wanted to mention and he said "I got a Buzz Lightyear and he is the COOLEST TOY EVER!" while jumping up and down and gesturing wildly. So cute!

We were eating lunch today and Dennis' bottom and the chair bottom were apparently magnetic opposites at the time. He couldn't stay seated. I warned him and started counting out loud, and he jumped back into his chair, looked up at me saucily, and saluted me as he started eating. It was so hard not to laugh. I don't love this streak of defiance we've been seeing lately, but sometimes he's quite hilarious about it!

re-entry

This is Twelfth Night. I had intended to serve a nice family feast, followed by the removal of our Christmas decorations. Dennis was happy to open his 12th day of Christmas gift this morning, a set of 4 matchbox planes to go with his aircraft carrier and airport. I wonder how it will be for him to not get a gift every day after this... Here I sit beside our still fully decorated tree, nursing my headache of 4 days' duration. I haven't been in constant pain, but I have had an on-and-off headache for quite a while now. I had a taste of re-entry into the real world today--church Wednesday night classes resumed tonight, and I was the only teacher for my group out of the usual 4 that came tonight, and if they hadn't called me yesterday to warn me and ask if I'd be there, I'd have stayed home as well. Dennis was happy to go back out into the world after the long Christmas break, and he's thrilled for school to start back tomorrow. I suppose I'm ready to get back to everything. I'd be more ready if my health would perk up a bit. Dennis, on the other hand, seems to be doing so much better. He's still hanging on to a cough and still seems to miss some of the things we say to him, but his energy and appetite are at their usual high.

Tonight we watched a show that talked about talent, which they defined as "something you are good at and like to do", so Dennis said his talents were "playing and eating". Yes, he's very good at those things! Dennis also learned the meaning of the word 'distraction' I think. I asked him if he'd had fun playing with his Daddy while I was gone, and he said "yes, but Daddy and I got distracted a lot." Though I tried to get him to expound on this, he couldn't, but he did ask me what it was to be distracted. I told him that a distraction was something that took your attention away from what you were doing, and I gave him a couple of examples ('suppose you told me to look at something that you were holding, and I was driving, but I turned to look--you would have distracted me from driving'). I was surprised when 'distraction' was the lesson my group of 5th and 6th graders learned in their large group session tonight! Dennis is ahead of his time.

Here's hoping I feel great tomorrow, that I muster up the strength and energy to get the things done that need to be done, and that Dennis has a wonderful day at school. We shall see what transpires.

home in Alabama

I'm home safe, and though I felt great all day, I suddenly find myself completely exhausted. Dennis was surprised and happy to see me when I picked him up from his Grandma and GrandBob. He was expecting David. I got a big grin and a big hug, always great to come home to. I love that little guy. He says he had great fun with Daddy and GrandBob, but he didn't have fun playing with Grandma and she is not his friend anymore. She told me they had a disagreement over who would be cleaning up all the toy airplanes, a disagreement that she won, and she said he got so mad that he took a much needed two hour nap! I'm sure all will be right with him tomorrow. He's like me, not able to stay angry for long despite wanting to sometimes!

And now it's time for some sleep so I can prepare for going back to work tomorrow! I'm back in my Mommy role, which I of course adore, but I must admit that the sleeping late and doing what I wanted to do and looking at stuff that was not in the toy department of stores, yeah, that was all a nice brief respite! And now it will be all about Dennis again, and I'll be thrilled and delighted by him every day.

my Daddy rocks!

I've been keeping up with the Dennis news today via phone and text. He has had a rather fabulous day, pooling his piggy bank money to buy a special airport for his Matchbox planes (to send them on missions to the aircraft carrier, I suppose). He watched his new Buzz Lightyear movie tonight and played with David all day. I talked to him on the phone a couple of times. David texted me when Dennis told him "I love it when you play with me, Daddy--you ROCK!". And Dennis told him the following joke: "Daddy, did you know that Santa's phone is a Cranberry?". Took me a minute, but I suppose it's the holiday version of a Blackberry. Pretty funny!

We're in Biloxi tonight, returning home tomorrow. We've seen some bayous, done a little shopping, played some penny slots at the casino. I put in one dollar, got a free drink, played for nearly an hour, and cashed out six dollars. Nice! I usually hate gambling, but penny slots were right up my alley!

I am looking forward to seeing my guys tomorrow!

back in Texas

It's so quiet in our hotel room! Mom and I just went for a swim and are winding down after a very long day of travel. David and Dennis dropped us off at the airport just before 5:30 this morning--we are on a mission, so to speak. Uncle Denny bought a van through eBay, and the van was near Houston. We flew to Austin where Michael and Kristin and the kids met us and drove us to Brenham, Texas. We picked up the van and played at a playground for a while before parting ways, us to the east and them to the west. It was great to hang out with them even for a few short hours!

We drove on, stopping to split a meal and dessert at Cracker Barrel before the last hour of driving to the hotel. I have had intermittent Dennis reports all day. He's still a bit sick, still no appetite. This morning before we arrived at the airport, Dennis suddenly teared up and said "Mommy, I don't want you to leave, I want you to come home with us now." So heartrending, I know, but I assured him he was in good hands and that I'd be back soon. I reminded him that he has lots of good stuff to look forward to this week: my return on Tuesday, Gigi's arrival and church classes starting back Wednesday, school starting on Thursday... I left him happy, and he got TWO trips to McDonald's today with his Daddy. I 'mommied' him a bit over the phone and suggested that he might partake of a chocolate milkshake if he wouldn't eat, and the report I got after the McDonald's supper visit validated my efforts. He nibbled at his burger but finished the shake, and we all feel better knowing he has something in his stomach besides juice.

Dennis spent the parts of the day he was not at McDonald's watching a new Mighty Machines movie from the Redbox, cheating and winning at Cootie, and playing Army Men with Daddy. I got pictures of everything, and this last was my favorite. It came with a caption that read "Dr. Dennis' diagnosis: we miss Mommy!". I miss him, too. I talked to him twice on the phone today (I love when he calls me!), and I sent him pictures of airplanes. I hope he's having tons of fun with his Daddy. Daddy really knows how to play!

welcome 2011

Quiet day (except for the horn Dennis blew every once in a while), not much fanfare at home to welcome a new year, new decade. We were drained from our emergency room visit last night, all 3 of us. Dennis felt pretty good this morning, not stellar, but not as bad as yesterday. He didn't eat anything at all this morning, had a half a grape and a few bites of mashed potatoes at his Grandma's house (she fixed a superb New Year's feast for us), then maybe a cup of popcorn much later. He says it's hard to hear out of his right ear, and he has told me a few times that he felt "just a little bit sick". He had a big antibiotic shot last night, and tonight he had finally perked up enough to run and jump (which unfortunately resulted in a big coughing fit). I hope he gets better soon. I'm going for a follow up visit in a couple of weeks just to make sure his ears actually clear up this time.

We played a nice family game of 'Cootie' tonight at home (this was his '8th day of Christmas' present). Michael and I always loved that game when we were kids, and Dennis loves it equally well and is able to follow the rules and really play it, not like the Chinese Checkers that Uncle Denny attempted teaching him that turned into T.E.G.W.A.R. (The Exciting Game Without Any Rules) rather rapidly. Dennis is quite good at Cootie, and, well, he's really good at TEGWAR as well.

I'm so looking forward to watching him grow in body and knowledge, personality and ability this year!