back to sweetness

I don't think Dennis got in trouble at all today. What a refreshing change that was! He was very sweet and very well behaved (and very fun!). I enjoyed his quirky sense of humor when he brought me this Lego tower constructed entirely from legs. We also played cowboy some, him riding his pony and singing "yippie ky hee I'm on my way to Texas!" (complete with exaggerated cowboy drawl). He threw in some "oh yeah"s for good measure. He also cleaned his room several times and insisted I come and see it each time (which I gladly did).

He asked me this afternoon why we'd taken the mistletoe down after Christmas. He said he missed it, that he had liked giving us kisses under the mistletoe. I love that he's still cuddly, huggy and affectionate. I love it most of the time, I should say, because sometimes he's a bit aggressive in his enthusiasm and wallows all over us to the point of injury! But I will certainly miss all this cuddliness when he gets too big to want all these hugs.

litterbug

Well, today we joined the ranks of parents who have watched in horror as their kid tossed something from the car window. Dennis had asked for his window to be rolled down, and I did it for him. I heard a crash just moments later and checked the rear view mirror to see his snack bowl bouncing and breaking. I asked (yelling) "Did you just throw your BOWL out the WINDOW?". Ellen, who I happened to be on the phone with at the time, collapsed into laughter (which is what I would have done if I had been on that end of the conversation myself). I turned quickly into Psycho Mommy, ranting at him about what he'd done, probably blowing it way out of proportion. I had a migraine this morning, a pretty bad one, and since the Blazer has significant parts OUT of the engine compartment, we had to share the car. David drove the Tracker to work and came home for lunch. We drove him back to work so we could have the car tonight (I went to a class at church, an Alpha course, very cool) and it was on our way back from this that he committed his crime. I guess I was post-migraine, but I remember shopping for that little melamine bowl with the cars and trucks on it, part of a set with a plate and cup that was his first ever dining set. And littering of any kind is a real pet peeve to a tree-hugger like myself. So I got a bit hysterical and Dennis was quick to inform me "God doesn't like it when you get mad at me like that." I apologized later, much later, and he apologized as well, telling me "you have bought me lots of other bowls and they are at home--I can just use those."

Also on his rap sheet for tonight: jumping on Gran's outstretched finger (she was holding an ice pack on it when I picked him up tonight) and jumping on their couch that resulted in him falling on his head. He's been impossible all week, multiple time-outs at school, lots of back-talk... And he took over the head of our table, usurping David. When I mentioned this to Mom tonight, she said he did the same thing over there tonight at dinner, insisting on the seat at the head of the table. I don't know who elected Dennis head of the household (or king of the world, or whatever it is that he thinks he is). I do know we're in a rush to take back the power! We have made it clear that WE are in charge, but I have a feeling it's going to be a lesson that will be oft repeated in the coming months and years.

And now the good stuff: he cleaned his room twice today without us asking him to. It's been cleaned every day before he leaves it or goes to bed. I'm so proud. And he spontaneously told us this joke in the car this afternoon: "What can jump higher than a house? Anything! Houses can't jump!". Cute!

twisted fun

Somehow the whole day has gone by... Dennis was so charged up last night that he didn't fall asleep until very late, and he slept very late this morning! He's been kind of taking it easy today, but he's been all over us. He wanted to help David fix the water pump on the Blazer today and wanted to use every tool in the box to do it. He was so anxious to help that he took forever to go down for his nap (afraid he'd miss out on the mechanic-ing experience), and once he did fall asleep, didn't stay asleep very long. I took the opportunity to scrub the kitchen floor on my hands and knees a la Cinderella today (I'm only half done, but wow it looks better) while he was asleep. I had to slide the dog around to clean--he kept me company by lying beside wherever I was cleaning. Dennis woke up and was delighted to see that I'd scrubbed the area of the kitchen where his play kitchen resides--he went right to work making us a pretend pizza. He took his bike and helmet outside shortly after that, planning to get in some good driveway riding while I went to walk with Gran. Instead, he saw David still working on the car, tools everywhere, and decided to spend his outside time 'helping' Daddy. He wouldn't even play on his swingset. Tonight he's watched me Zumba (and critiqued a bit), hurrying me along so we could eat supper and have a family fun night. We taught him how to play Twister tonight (now that he reliably knows his left from his right and knows his colors), and it was hilariously fun! We each played a couple of rounds with him, but his favorite was when he manned the spinner and David and I did the Twisting. He didn't want to put the game away--he LOVED being in charge and telling us what to do! We've been noticing how he's taken over where we've let him. Somehow the big nice chair with the arms at the head of the table has become Dennis' chair. David used to sit there, but now Dennis runs to it and has installed his booster seat in it. We just gravitated to the other seats, but tonight we wondered exactly when he'd accomplished his takeover. He'd probably plan everything we do, every place we go, if we'd let him!

Oh, time to cut this short--David has just brought me a homemade chocolate ice cream and Thin Mint cookie milkshake! Yeah, he rocks.

a family date

We have been looking forward to it all week--an evening when David didn't have to work until 9 or later. We thought we might all three do something together, a family date night. We decided on Prattville because the little person in the family has been making noises about visiting Bass Pro Shop. We took him to CiCi's Pizza for supper, a place that he has also been asking to visit. All-you-can-eat pizza, pasta, salad, and dessert was delicious and rendered us a family of blimp-like objects, stuffed and occasionally letting off some air pressure. And sometime during the meal, we became the parents of That Kid. You know the one. He screamed uncontrollably because his cup was GREEN and Daddy had a RED cup (kids cups are green and have LIDS--very important for dining out), and it almost ruined his evening. He was flapping his arms in protest, red-faced, and he managed to flap the slices of pizza off the plate I was holding for him. Grrrr. When faced with the choice of lemonade from the green cup or water from my clear one, he got over it and the big tears rolling down his face slowed to a stop. This is the first time we've had this big a public meltdown, especially over something so small, and we had a serious talk with him (and seriously considered cutting our evening short). And then we noticed all the other kids his age in the place, many whining, lots of tears, and just about this time, the 4 year old behind us threw her (green) cup onto the floor and it exploded Sprite all over (some on me). The Dad was busy apologizing to me as I caught a glimpse of Dennis flailing in David's lap--his flailing knocked another kid's plate of pizza out of his hand as he walked by us and landed a couple of slices of pepperoni on the floor. Sigh. We decided we couldn't leave soon enough, and rushed Dennis to the car as he tried unsuccessfully to zip his jacket correctly.

He was good in Target except for the shopping cart acrobatics and the pretending to be a shark that lunged in to fake bite one or the other of us. And he wanted to go to Ross to look at more toys, so we went there briefly before concluding our evening in Bass Pro Shop. Here he ran straight to the toy section and hum-laughed loudly as he explored all the stuff, practically vibrating with exhausted silliness. We spent time climbing on the boats with Dennis opening each little hatch on each vessel, checking it all out. He worked the throttle on each boat as well, pretending to navigate us around some precarious rocks in whichever body of water he was pretending we were in.

Leaving Bass Pro, he kept asking when we'd get back to Alabama despite us repeatedly explaining that we'd never left our state. Then he insisted we were in Clanton rather than Prattville, and then launched into a series of "are we there yet?"s. He sang some of his preschool songs to us and then asked again if we were there yet, following the question immediately with "I'm really tired. Can I go to bed soon?". And though I thought we'd be home free when we indeed got home, he talked to himself loudly after we put him to bed. I went in to check on him and he said he was just really afraid of bad guys getting in his room to get him tonight. So he came to lie on the couch and watch me work out for an hour. He conked out between the two workouts, so I carried him back to bed.

In retrospect, it was a nice time together. Even though he was completely amped up, he was fun, and it was special for the three of us to be somewhere together. I can't wait for our next night out. Well, I can, I guess, since I could probably use a few days to get over this one!

nagging to help

"Mommy, what are you doing--I hate the vacuum cleaner; it makes my ears feel bad.". But he was the first to stretch out on the freshly cleaned rug to play.

"Mommy, will you stop cleaning and play with me?". I did, for a bit, and we played board games (on the clean rug).

"Mommy, you still have some things to clean off the pool table--you're not done."

"Mommy, will you read me a story, fix me a snack, pour me some lemonade..."

"Mommy, this closet is a mess; you need to work on it. And there are still some screws on the pool table. Oh, and can you come and help me find a Lego man helmet for this scuba diver?".

"Mommy, you forgot to put my spoon in the dishwasher."

Wow. I taught him to keep his room clean and created a monster! I ran in circles all day, I think, cleaning and caring for. He asked me for a second supper while I was working out and then sat and watched the workout video and voiced some 'helpful tips' about my own performance ("Mommy, your arms are supposed to be up higher" and things like that). He's just been an all around helpful little darling today. So helpful, in fact, that I'm kind of glad he's gone to sleep!

catching the big one

Gran and Granny took Dennis fishing this morning after he begged long enough. I hear that he's as expert caster these days, and I also hear that he made a very big catch this morning. Apparently he caught Granny! His hook caught her pant leg and required some real work to get loose.

I saw Dennis after this--I met up with everyone at Gran's and found Dennis spraying out pretend fires in her garden with a real hose (and real water). We enjoyed picnicking out there before heading to the park for a walk. Dennis refused to walk farther after he'd gone 2/3 of a mile, and Granny sat with him on the park bench and told him story after story while Gran and I got in some more mileage. He was thrilled about this and didn't want to leave when it was time to. He sure did enjoy Granny's visit and told her he didn't want her to leave. He was so excited about seeing her yesterday that he rushed me out of Walmart, first saying that he'd sit in the car while I ran in and then grudgingly agreeing to accompany me inside "but just to the bank, Mommy, we can shop for the other stuff later--I just want to go on to the lake now." What a change! He didn't even want to take time to look at the "boy toys"!

hard lessons

It isn't easy to watch another kid tackle your child and hold him on the ground by lying on top of him. It also isn't easy to watch if your child is the one doing the tackling and pinning. Dennis was a bit aggressive on the playground today and learned some lessons from his teacher about playing a little less rough. Let's hope he remembers. I stood back and let her handle it (and I was busy with my own class at the time). We don't watch shows with Dennis about cops and bad guys, but somehow that's the game he always wants to play. He neglects to inform the other children that they are suddenly "bad guys" and they are surprised when they are tackled or sent to "jail". When his teacher asked him why he tackled Brody, he told her "I am a policeman and I thought he was a criminal." We have some work to do in this area for sure! Most of the time I am proud if his vivid imagination and constant role playing, but it might be nice to remind him that we can still have fun playing as ourselves in Reality Land.

gone hiking

It was breezy today and the thermometer informed us that the temps were in the high 70's. I had just put Dennis down for his nap and he had gotten quiet when I got the text message from Gran inviting us to go hiking at Oak Mountain. We were out of the house, gear packed, and at our meeting spot (Winn Dixie) just 30 minutes later. Dennis told us to be quiet in the van because he was going to finish his nap, but this only lasted 10 minutes before he announced "I'm all done with my nap now" (which means, of course, that he never got one).

We had a spectacular hike from the North Trailhead, taking the White Trail to Maggie's Glen and returning on the Yellow Trail. Dennis assumed many roles during our 2 hours in the woods. He was a ranger, a fire ranger, a trail guide, and a fireman. He was desperate to climb a tree so Gran put him up in one. He began yelling for a fireman to rescue him and get him down. He played Troll at the bridges we crossed, and he spotted a number of imaginary bears on the trail. The Yellow Trail from the glen rises very steeply very quickly, so much so that Dennis insisted he had to crawl up the hill. He talked nonstop for our entire hike (therefore he was the only 'wildlife' we saw), and we all had a wonderful time. He walked 3 miles and then happily endured some shopping on our way back home. He is completely exhausted and has been repeatedly yelling various ridiculous things. I imagine he will go right to sleep, or I at least hope that he will!

health food?

I think we made the most of this spring-like weekend! We saw a parade yesterday and we played at the lake today after church, going for a walk and hanging out on the porches. Dennis got to roast hot dogs and marshmallows over a campfire with the neighbor girls (before they went inside to play with the wooden train tracks they laid out yesterday across the entire living room!). David got our electricity problem in the bedroom fixed and now we are sleeping in our own bed again! And the radiator in the Blazer is patched and setting, ready for coolant in the near future! Things are looking up. We are so thankful!

Dennis said to me as we were leaving the house this afternoon: "wouldn't it be something if it turned out that French fries were good for you?". I agreed that it would. It would be a great something, as a matter of fact!

Dennis has kept his room clean for a week. Friday, he earned his first ever allowance money, $3 that I gave him for keeping his room clean for 4 days. He used it to buy his own snack at the gas station/general store when he was on his way to the lake with Gran and Gigi. He was so proud! He knows that if he keeps his room clean until Friday, I will give him another payout. He says "I can do that!". He's gotten a little OCD about it--he cleans up every toy before he leaves his room. He and David are in there now building a big Lego creation, and when I peeked my head in the door, Dennis said "Daddy is building a big submarine, but he made a big Lego mess all over my rug!". I didn't intend to pay him to keep his room clean, but it so happened Friday that I caught him cleaning up when he hadn't been asked, and I was so proud that I gave him snack money (because he'd been consistently doing same for 4 days). He took that to mean that he earned it and asked me if there were any big jobs I could give him to earn money. So I think he'll eventually have money-earning jobs that are separate from the everyday chores that we'll expect from him, but for now, he understands that keeping his room clean makes him and us very happy. He loves to just dance around in all his clean floor space! He still spreads out his toys to play, but he puts one set of stuff away before getting out another. Now if only I could learn same... I've got to organize the rest of the house as nicely as we organized Dennis' room so its easier to keep clean!

party gras

We let the good times roll today! We had a great time at the Prattville Mardi Gras parade. Dennis procured a significant quantity of beads along with some candy and a Moon Pie or two, and he had fun seeing all the floats and horses. After the parade, we headed to the lake house and had our party--good company, delicious food, lots of fun! The girls from next door came over and played in the beads and masks, and Dennis and Chloe spent time playing over at their house with them while the adults hung out (for a short time) in a kid free house! Everyone had fun, and I don't know that I'll need to eat again for a few days.

Dennis acted subdued and sleepy until we were almost back at the lake. At that point, he asked me to play "Rock That Body" (Black-Eyed Peas) on my iPhone. He put on a silver bead necklace, turned his ball cap sideways, used his arms to push down on his carseat armrests, and lifted his bottom up out of his seat so he could shake it for all its worth. He kept this up until we arrived and then went inside to put on his dance show for everyone. He's really got some moves! Someone pointed out that a few of his moves look a good bit like Zumba moves. Perhaps they are. I think we're all learning how much fun it can be to shake our stuff!

fishing buddy

Apparently Dennis perfected the art of casting today. He spent the afternoon with Gran and Gigi at the lake and did some real fishing. I heard he even had a few nibbles on his line! Look out, fish! When I got there, he ordered all of us onto the pontoon boat and took us on a pretend ride to "Camp Mitchell Island". He was the captain and warned us not ti sit in the driver's seat. Gigi and I provided boat noises when he cued us and stopped when we were told to. Then he held the door and ushered us off the vessel. As we thanked him for the cruise, he said "my pleasure!". He loves time at the lake, and this was a beautiful day to spend by the water.

It looks like soccer will actually be a reality for Dennis. We're signing him up and hoping for Monday practices and Saturday games. I love that it's a short season but lets him have real team sport experience. He won't have his first game for a month, but he's already inviting people to come and watch him play.

evening frolic

We had an hour to wait for David to get off work. It's a beautiful night, perfect weather...why not spend the hour playing outside, I thought. I let Dennis choose which track, which park, and he wanted the track at City Park. I had thought (erroneously) that we could walk laps together, but he wanted no part of that. Instead, we got the soccer ball out of the car and walked through the trees bordering the track and found a soccer field. We played a vigorous 20 minute game. He beat me 7 goals to 5. I didn't know he could play, but there he was, running like mad and kicking that ball exactly where he wanted it to go. He even stole it from me a couple of times! He wants to be on a team so much, and though registration is going on now for ages 3 to 5, I'm afraid the time slot for practice will conflict with the swim lessons we've already scheduled for April. Such a dilemma. But, at age 3, should he really play organized ball? This is a kid who cheats at Hungry Hungry Hippos! Game rules aren't that important to him at this point.

We spent the rest of our outdoor hour running races across the football field and awarding each other pretend trophies. We frolicked in the grass, him turning somersaults and me doing cartwheels (a skill I thought I'd lost or maybe never had). We giggled lots, tackled each other some, and actually did a lap or two on the track. It was so much fun!

Quote of the day: "Mommy, can we make a sandwich with real sand?".

smarter than the average bear

Here's Dennis, blissfully blowing bubbles on a warm afternoon! He would blow a bunch and then he would chase them and Tabasco would sniff them (very funny doggy expression when they popped on his nose!). Speaking of popping, Dennis tried his first Pop Rocks today. He said he wasn't sure if he liked them. At first he thought the noise was cool (and he insisted we try them out on ourselves first), but they popped so long in his mouth that his face changed to a kind of doomed expression. He said they kind of freaked him out (his words).

He's taking care of his seatbelt all by himself now (and doesn't appreciate help). I told him he needed to put it on first thing when he got into his seat. He asked why and I explained about accidents. He said "but if the car gets on fire then I would take too long to get out!". What do you say to that? I just made a noncommittal parent noise and changed the subject.

He kept his room immaculate today. I went in and saw that his table was housing Cranky the Crane and some Really Useful Engines instead of the nativity set. Imagine my surprise and delight when I saw that the nativity set had been neatly stored in its box and the box had been returned to the low shelf in his closet, all without me saying a word about it today! He got a huge hug for this, and he was so pleased that he put away his toys himself every time he finished playing with something. I'm so proud! Now if only he'd nag me to do the same with the rest of the stuff in this house, we'd be all set!

tooth quip

We had a marvelous day beginning with preschool and the Valentine party and ending with a movie night out with Uncle Denny. Dennis informed Uncle Denny on our way to Prattville to see Yogi Bear in 3D (Dennis' first 3D experience) "I am going to get popcorn and Sprite and gummy bears!". Uncle Denny asked him what would happen if a gummy bear stuck to his tooth and pulled it out. Dennis didn't hesitate long before saying "my baby teeth are ALL going to fall out and then I'll just grow new ones!". Can't fault his logic there! He also insisted all the way down that he wouldn't need any glasses for the movie, and he messed with them for the first quarter of the film. Then he got used to them but kept having to move them up as they slid down his face (do they make kiddie 3D glasses?). At one point, he looked at Uncle Denny and me and observed "we all have our glasses on and we all look super cool!". It's nice that he tells me I'm cool or that I rock. I know those days are VERY limited!

successful excavation

A few days back, I was telling Uncle Denny a story (in Dennis' hearing) I'd heard about Dennis' cousin Caedmon wherein Caedmon was pretending to be a very specific stinging insect (and I'm afraid I don't remember which one). He was walking up to his parents and 'stinging' them by putting his butt up against them. I mentioned that in prelude to this: at dinner tonight, Dennis put both his hands straight up in the air, close together, and announced "it's noon!". David said that it was actually eight, and Dennis replied "but my hands are pointing to twelve" and we had to agree that he was right. He suddenly said "hey, Daddy, want to see what my bottom can do?". He jumped up from his seat, backed up close to David, wiggled said bottom vigorously and said "briing, briing!". We were puzzled and he said he was being an alarm and acting like Caedmon. I had to laugh. And I had to tell him "no, Caedmon was acting like a BEE and saying 'sting sting'." But we did agree he was being a very good alarm! I also had to explain why Caedmon was using his butt to sting, telling Dennis that a bee's or wasp's stinger is on its bottom. He immediately began stinging us.

We finished a three day project tonight. His room has been excavated and reorganized to make cleanup easy. He is THRILLED! He ran circles around his clean room, telling us how wonderful it was, and then he remembered that I told him over a week ago that he could play with his nativity set if he cleaned his room. He reminded me of that fact, so I got the Fisher Price Little People nativity set box down from the top shelf of his closet and let him set it all out. He couldn't understand why we'd removed the batteries, and I told him it was usually a Christmas set. He told me we learn about Jesus all the time. The set stayed out. I put the box on a low shelf and offered him the option of putting it away whenever he decided he wanted his table emptied for other projects.

new energy source?

We were hanging out at Gran's house when she asked Dennis what type of batteries they needed (she had asked him to remember that she needed "C" batteries). We were both surprised when he said "umm... ocean batteries!". It took us both a second to realize that he'd heard "sea" batteries instead of "C" batteries. Pretty smart way to remember, I think, and oh-so-cute when he said it! We assured him that he was correct--the ocean and the sea are the same (and if someone is thinking of correcting me here, remember that he's 3 and for his purposes they are the same thing).

I went in his room to see if he was ready to start bedtime preparations. I was very surprised when I was greeted by a vampire! He loves his dress-up box, for sure, but I'm fairly certain I put that vampire costume away in his closet for next Halloween. He must have retrieved it to add to his collection of daily wear costumes.

ni hao!

We began the first of our International Dinners tonight. I didn't prepare for it quite as much as I had intended to, but it went pretty well. Uncle Denny had volunteered to cook Chinese for us, so he made shrimp fried rice. I stopped to get egg rolls, chopsticks, fortune cookies, and an order of Chinese doughnuts on our way down to his house. Once there, we talked about Chinese facts (Dennis knew that "ni hao" means "hello"), Uncle Denny showed him a wok, and I printed some activities for him to color (thanks to Kristin for recommending enchantedlearning.com) and complete. When I handed him the papers, he chose the dot-to-dot outline of China to do first. He likes the flag (it is mostly red) and already knew that the giant panda is from China. He even corrected me when I told him pandas live there ("Mommy, do you mean GIANT pandas?"). He also told me they weren't just black and white but could be red as well. He colored a bit of the panda page and saved the flag to color later. When I handed him the page on how to write Chinese numbers, he nodded and began counting in Chinese. Kudos to Nick Jr television! His panda knowledge is from Diego and his Chinese info came from Ni Hao Kai Lan (I like that there aren't commercials on that channel as well!).

Uncle Denny showed him where China is on the globe and looked up pictures of the Great Wall of China to show him. He told him about Chinese New Year and how their calendar is very different (and I happened to know that this is the year of the rabbit). He learned about rice and chopsticks, and he ate some of everything (though we had to work hard to remind him that he does indeed like shrimp). I'm very pleased with how it all went. He was pretty interested much of the time (and took some breaks to play with his construction set), and he loved watching Uncle Denny cook. He wanted to help so much!

This was a big day for us. We went to the pancake breakfast at church this morning after Dennis had accompanied David on some errands. They had attempted to visit David's paramedic friends so that Dennis could get the ambulance tour he's been asking for, but they had to go out on a call and the truck wasn't there. After the brunch, Dennis and I rode with his Grandma to his cousin Jeff's 2nd birthday party. There were lots of kids and toys to play with, and I had to drag Dennis away crying when it was time to go. He napped just a little on the way back and was ready to party with Uncle Denny tonight. He told Uncle Denny "my birthday is coming up soon and you are invited to my police party--be sure to bring presents!". He's told me today he wants a CARS birthday party (like Jeff had), a construction party (what he's said for the past month), and a police party. I'm going to give it a couple more weeks to see what he wants most and to figure our a location.

I can't wait for our next International Dinner! It isn't planned, but I have some ideas. What a fun way to introduce other cultures!

last minute snow fun

Well, it's mostly melted away, but we savored the last moments of the snow. It was still everywhere this morning when we left for preschool, but the temperature was rising and the sun was shining. We weren't at school long--I was just there to teach one science class--before we headed home. He had to make a last snowman, of course, possibly the best of the lot. And tonight he made snow ice cream with his daddy (1 big bowl of snow + 1 can sweetened condensed milk + 1 tsp vanilla = yumminess!). We had a wonderful snow experience! And we had a pretty cool lesson on gravity at school today.

Tonight we delivered the Valentine cookies we baked and spent time excavating Dennis' room. It was time for a furniture rearrangement and toy redistribution, and even though we worked for hours, we have more to do later! We are trying to thin the herd a bit, especially since his birthday is rapidly approaching. He's asked for a new bicycle (he's grown into a 16" size according to his toy store test drives) and a kid-sized treadmill and exact replicas of the toys his cousin is getting tomorrow at his 2nd birthday party. And we still have a month to go.

hooray for snow!

Best snow day EVER! We got home last night after picking David up from work, and the grass at home was already covered up in snow! I left my Good Parent skills in a closet somewhere and took my sick-with-a-cold self and my sick-with-a-cold child outside to have a late night snowball fight. David snuggled up on the couch and shook his head, not a big fan of snow (and, as he pointed out, recovering from a 12 hour shift). Dennis and I headed out around 10 or so, and I fear we might have awakened the neighbors with our exuberant giggling (and screams of laughter as our snowballs found their targets). Dennis is a pretty good shot, as it turns out, and we had an excellent battle and a nice long walk in the snow.

It has snowed every winter, real snow, since Dennis was born. That first time, just before he turned 1, he sat in the snow in his snowsuit and didn't do much. Then he fell over and cried. The next winter, we spent Christmas snowed in up in Washington and Dennis got to ride on a sled and tromp through deep snow. Then we were snowed in the next month in Gatlinburg, and then it snowed in Alabama, so he was pretty used to it. He learned that winter how to sort of toss a wad of snow at us. Last February, we had a great snow and he caught snowflakes on his tongue, worked on his snowball skills, and learned about snow ice cream. This year he was like a real 'big kid', frolicking, rolling around, making snow angels, playing 'steamroller' as he rolled down a hill, nailing us with snowballs, and making a makeshift sled out of a plastic storage bin lid. He made two snowmen today, one dressed as a fireman and one as a knight with chest armor and helmet. He plans to make a scuba diver snowman in the morning. He has already set out fins, mask, and floaties but hasn't found his snorkel yet.

I had SO much fun watching and listening to him playing today. He would periodically burst into song, random lyrics he invented on the spot, all about loving the snow. And, oh, the giggling! Big happy belly laughs rang out loudly and often. He knows how to have some serious snow fun now, and I hope the coming years will continue to provide the opportunity for him to hone his skills. Today was just magical. Thank you, Lord, for sending enough snow to create beauty and fun but not enough to cause havoc on the roads. Awesome!

Tonight, he wore a swimsuit, floaties, fins, and mask around the house for hours. I guess now that he's had his snow experience, he's ready for summer! David walked in and saw him and said "it never hurts to be optimistic, Buddy!".

snow moment

We are now home. Forgot to mention the time at Winn Dixie that Dennis spent with the window rolled down, head stuck out and mouth wide open to catch snowflakes from our parked car. He waved to passing shoppers and yelled "snow, snow, isn't it GREAT and beautiful?" and giggling loudly.

waiting for accumulation

We are sitting in the parking lot at Winn Dixie (no, this isn't another iPhone commercial, but it is great to be able to blog from anywhere), watching the snow pour down from the sky. We are waiting for David to get off from an unexpected 12 hour shift so that we can all go home. Preschool will be closed tomorrow, so all those red heart sugar cookies we rolled out and baked this afternoon won't get delivered. Luckily we took a few to church tonight for one of his teachers.

Maybe we'll get some real accumulation this time! Let's hope so, for Dennis' sake. We get to sleep late (and we're going to make sure Dennis gets the message ahead of time) and hopefully get some good snow play in the morning.

Quote of the day: "mommy, you're my sweet bamboo". He's been watching the Charlie Brown Valentine special, and I presume he meant "sweet baboo" (Sally's pet name for Linus).

sassy sassy fun

Have you ever had one of those mornings where you wake up before the alarm goes off and you get that blissful realization that you still have time to sleep longer? Just as I was settling back in for another half hour, the dog commenced howling to either go out or come in (I can't remember which). I took care of that, and then Dennis came to find me. He asked for breakfast and said something about his Daddy. I asked what Daddy was doing (as I headed to the bathroom) and Dennis said "well, unfortunately, Daddy is still sleeping" (and the way he pronounced "unfortunately" was pretty darn adorable, and I must admit to being pleased that he knows the correct usage of the word). As I was washing my hands, I heard him yelling "WAKE UP DADDY! WE HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL AND I NEED BREAKFAST!". Poor David--I had intended to take care of everything, but Dennis wasn't having it!

After school we went over to Gran's and Pop's house to have lunch (and Gran and I had a Zumba date), and Dennis kept asking if he could go to Wal-Mart after we ate. I told him he couldn't, and he said "I'm not asking you, I'm asking Pop--I want to go with Pop." I informed him that I was the one making those decisions for him today, but I heard him go and ask Pop to take him to Wal-Mart anyway. I also heard Pop ask him what his mother said, and Dennis said "you have to ask her or Gran can ask her." Yeah, I knew this time was coming, but it caught me by surprise anyway. We didn't fall for this trick, but he got me later. I was trying to get him to leave their house (always a major event), and he KNEW he was going to home to get a nap and DID NOT WANT TO. He said he wasn't going home and delayed by heading upstairs, taking a long time to put his coat on, and finally asking for chocolate milk. Gran poured some for him, and he drank half of a very small glass and then put it back in the refrigerator. After he'd complained and said his goodbyes, he announced that he needed more chocolate milk and escaped from my grasp to run to the kitchen and take one more sip. He was asserting his independence and I knew it. Sometimes he needs to control some part of his day, but this was a tough day for me to accept that. Sometimes I need to feel like I'm in charge, especially on a day when I've taught sassy and stubborn preschoolers that had listening disabilities. I think preschool was also why he wanted some control over his day--he doesn't really get to control anything at school (and this is a lesson he'll learn again and again in the coming years).

We drew with chalk when we got home, and we read tomorrow night's lesson and Bible verse for church, and THEN I put him to bed. I had to physically lay him down (he kept popping up and complaining), but he went to sleep before two minutes had passed. He's fighting a cold and needed the rest. When he got up, he felt positively animated. He had a terribly nutritious supper of chicken fries, popcorn, and a lollipop (I tend to pander to him when he is under the weather). I did let him have lemonade instead of water, and while I was pouring it, he jumped up and down and said "Mommy, you sure look cute today!". Then he ran into the living room and began yelling at Tabasco "YOU ARE SUCH A CRAZY DOG!". Right now he's standing on the seat of my recumbent exercise bike, gazing at my Coca-cola collectibles and trying to convince me to let him play with the aluminum pick-up truck. He's telling me I need to share it with him, that it's not nice to not share, that he promises to be extra careful with it and not break it like he did last time. And now he's grabbed a red Sharpie and says he needs to sign his name on some things, so I will quickly conclude here.

mini ninja

I asked Dennis a few weeks back if he'd like to take tae kwon do classes, explaining that it was kind of like karate. I think he'd be old enough to start sometime this year--classes start at age 4 and are offered locally. He didn't seem all that interested, so I let it pass. Today he must have remembered our conversation because he jumped all over the kitchen and gave us a variety of karate poses, hands in full chop, one leg in the air, mouth making appropriate karate noises. I asked him where it had come from and he said he was going to learn it in karate class. I'm going to let it go again, at least until he's a little more mature and won't continually attempt to karate kick us into doing his will (which he did today).

He's fighting a cold, the same cold that I'm almost over, and his little eyes are so red that I told him he needed to head to bed. He said "no, my eyes are green and that means I can stay up!" (I am presuming he was thinking of red light versus green light). David said "no, your eyes are blue, but my eyes are brown and that means you have to listen to what I say!". I just decided not to play this game any further.

He has spent the last half hour sliding across our wood floor on his knees. David and I were sitting in the couch in the den and I had to laugh the first time Dennis came flying across the opening between the living room and den. David gruffly told him to cut it out, so I reminded him of what he and Michael and I did right after we installed that hardwood floor. Thick socks, no furniture--we slid ourselves crazy. I think of that when I find myself sliding across the floor every once in a while (just because it's fun). Dennis has just discovered the joy of sliding, but he slides on his knees. I'm guessing we won't be passing on many size 4 pants.

movie date

Gran took Dennis to see Tangled this afternoon at the theater in Alabaster. He tells me he loved it except for the part with the bad guys (something that he dislikes in most Disney films). He also reports that he had Sprite and popcorn and that Gran took him to the bookstore afterward. He was sad that the train table was gone but happy to get a brand new truck play set. In fact, he announced "Mommy I got a new play set!" before he'd even gotten a toe inside the house tonight. He says going to the movie theater was the best part of his day. Thanks, Gran. Dennis says "Gran ROCKS!". We agree.

Mr. Fix-it

I was even sicker today. I apparently have contracted a very fast moving cold--today it's all down in my chest and I just came down with it yesterday. I hope that means it will go away fast. Dennis told me he hoped I would get better soon and did his best to avoid touching any germs. He appeared after we'd both had a long nap, dressed in jeans, a fleece shirt, and his hard hat, and he was carrying a box of tools. He told me he was going to fix me right up. Poor little guy--I just felt too wretched to play today. His Daddy did a great job (before and after work) of spending time with him. The highlight of his day was their late night run to the gas station to get chocolate ice cream and bug juice.

sweetness and fun

After a 10 minute bout of what seemed like constant sneezing, I spent the day reclined and under covers hoping my nose would stop running so profusely. So far it hasn't. I'm rethinking the idea that teaching preschoolers was such a hot idea. Apparently I'm immune to nothing they have! I don't feel all that bad, and I hope it will pass soon.

Dennis was very considerate of me today. He told me he didn't want to get sick again and have to go to the hospital. He told me "that long wooden thing that they stuck way up my nose really really hurt." He was referring to the nasal swab to check for flu, and I assured him that doesn't happen all the time. He was pretty imaginative today, bringing David the jar of peanut butter after he'd told me "I said I wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a sprite, but no one is making it yet." He held the peanut butter up to his ear and said "I think I hear bees singing in there!".

I went in to his room today and saw that there were Band Aids all over the floor. I wonder if he misunderstood when I told him it was a bamboo floor (and not a boo-boo floor). Who knows? He spent his evening creating lots of Lego scuba divers and was delighted when I made the suggestion that he play with them in his bath tonight. He couldn't wait for his Daddy to get home to see all his creations. He is bathing right now with his divers, several Lego sharks and an octopus, the fire boats he built, and lots of swimming firemen. He couldn't be happier!

iron man attack

I called for Dennis after supper and instead got Iron Man. He joined me in the library and tackled me (his evil nemesis Rust Woman). Iron Man had forgotten his boots, though, and was quickly subdued when I found his weak spot and tickled his bare feet. He body slammed me wrestling-style a few times and somehow while he was climbing over me, his iron elbow dragged across my eye socket and nearly turned my eyelid inside out. Ouch! Then he walked all over my hair on his way to jump off the futon and run for his Super Boots. When he reappeared, he was wearing his fireman rain boots, only he said they were "Iron Man Power Boots with the power to freeze you into ice!". He had to lie down so that he could aim his boots at me. Too bad we can't play outside for a few days; I think he could use the running!

Right now, he is stringing wooden beads on colorful shoelaces (still dressed as Iron Man). He says "I am making a necklace for Daddy; it will remind him of God. It's a very special necklace." David is suitably appreciative, but it didn't seem to matter. Dennis just aimed a boot at him and said "And now I just froze you dead!". He climbed on David's back and choked him, and then said "sorry Dad; was that Super choking?".

I think it's going to be a long, long night...

interview part 2

The complete poster--we brought the pictures to go with it today.

interview

Dennis is his preschool class Student of the Week. He was interviewed today. This is what he told his teacher about himself!

pajama day

School was a pajama party today! Dennis wore his pj's and slippers and took his new sleeping bag and camping pillow. He had his flashlight and Froggy and was all set for fun. His teacher greeted him in her one piece blue fleece pajamas with rubber duckies on them, complete with drop seat in the back. All the kids were so cute in their jammies! Since I was busy with my own class, I don't know what all transpired, but I hear that they curled up on their bags and listened to stories, shone their flashlights in the dark, ate cereal and milk... And they all went to the playground and played hard in their pajamas. It sounds like a good time was had by all!

We visited Gigi at the lake this afternoon and observed the demolition to her house (in the rain). Dennis marched in, put down his umbrella, and looked around. He said "so this is what happened to your house!". We have no idea what he meant, but he said it several times!