playing "museum"

Today after preschool, Dennis asked to go to the airplane museum at the airport. I wanted to wait until at least tomorrow for 2 reasons: David will be off work tomorrow AND the price of a membership for the rest of the year drops from $30 to $20 tomorrow. Dennis wasn't so thrilled and cried that he wanted to go today. He was completely exhausted and this enhanced his sadness, escalating to a near unbearable cry-whine-snot deal that I had to think fast to solve from the front seat. Cries turned to giggles and smiles when I suggested that we make our own airport museum at home and set up his new cash register to charge people that are coming to look at all his toy planes. That's what we did, turned our living room into an airplane museum with exhibits on every couch, chair, and ottoman. He charged me $38 for my first visit and guided me through the exhibits, explaining about each plane or section of planes. As the day progressed, more fire fighting equipment worked its way into the museum and the tours got more elaborate. The last visit cost me $131 but he let me use his play credit card to cover my expenses (and he handed me a toy $50 bill and some change). He used his toy keys to lock the museum after each tour. When David came home for lunch, Museum Curator Dennis pounced on him at the door (his cash register booth was set up right inside the front door, hard to miss) and offered him a tour. David was thrilled to accept and enjoyed seeing all his exhibits. I have toured the museum 7 times now, I think, and we just locked it up for the night (he stands in front of the room and turns the key in the air and makes a locking sound). He had more fun with that than he would have had at the museum--he was completely in charge. I so enjoyed his narration "and what we have here is a Little People airplane" and "this is a water-shooter plane" and "we call this a jet" and "if you'll look over here you'll see an aircraft carrier" and "thank you for visiting airplane museum--we'll open again in 30 and a half hours". He works up a serious southern accent (like his cowboy accent) to give the tours. He's completely charming! It was an awesome play day!

fun with Granddaddy

The highlight of today was a visit to Granddaddy (along with Uncle Michael, Caedmon, and Mirella). We all enjoyed chatting with Granddaddy and he enjoyed visiting with all his great grandkids, watching them play, and reading them books. It was a day full of smiles and laughter, hugs, and joy. Hard to beat that.

We lunched at Chick-Fil-A and turned the kids loose in the indoor playground, and when it was time to go, Dennis burst into BIG tears. He gave hugs to his cousins (reluctantly, because giving hugs means they have to go, so he usually resists), and when we got a mile down the interstate, he started crying big time, wails, tears, snot, the works! He whimpered sadly "I didn't want Caedmon and Mirella to go!". He had a hard time pulling himself together, but he managed. We took him to Dick's Sporting Goods where he learned a new fun trick: going up the Down escalator (hilarious, sure, and fun, but I was afraid he'd hurt himself, so I found that I had to go part way up the down escalator as well). Back in the car, he remembered that his Daddy had bought him some Peeps this morning after his doctor's appointment (we are waiting on some test results on that score, but he seems fine), and had packed them in his lunch box and sent them along with us. He asked for some, and I complied, and soon we heard from the back seat "hey, this Peep can't see anything!" and I looked back to see that he'd eaten the eyes off of it. We all laughed, and soon we heard "and THIS Peep can't think" and it was because he'd eaten the top of the head ("where his brain is"), and then one couldn't talk... It was Peep torment day! And it was a LONG day. Dennis barely made it through church and asked "hey, why don't we put our pajamas on?" as soon as we walked in the door. I read him the excerpts of his choice from the Lego catalog and the Transformer story of his choice, and he fell asleep quickly and easily. What a wonderful day!

pancakes pancakes

It was pancake day at preschool, at least for Dennis' class. See why I want to work there? Pancake day, gingerbread man day (also today, different class), cookie factory field trip, dinosaur 'digs', painting, crafts... What a fun place to be!

Tonight we were putting Dennis to bed, and he had been complaining of a stomachache. David thinks the stomach trouble may be a bit of carsickness. A new Lego catalog arrived in the mail today, and Dennis was so busy reading it that he actually asked me to lift him out of his carseat and carry him into the house so he wouldn't have to put down the catalog. He was reading it in the car tonight on our way home from the lake and probably made himself a little sick doing so. I asked him just before tucking him in if he felt bad, and he said (softly) "yeah". I asked him what felt bad and he said "my brain--it feels like it's stuck". I hope he's just tired, but we'll probably take him in to the pediatrician in the morning, just to be sure everything is okay.

three is more fun

Today we found ourselves on a hastily planned road trip to north Alabama for the funeral of the grandmother of my sister-in-law. We knew her as a very special lady, and we are so close with those in-laws that they are absolutely as family to us. And, since Dennis' cousins were going to be just two hours away, he was thrilled to be going even though he knew it was a funeral. He seemed unaffected by the knowledge that we were going to a cemetery for a graveside service--he was quite matter of fact about it all, telling us "we are going to the place where Aunt Kristin's grandmother is getting buried" and then "she is in Heaven with Jesus". You never know what to expect, I guess, but we prepared him for what was going to take place. What we didn't count on was him finding the cemetery such an appealing place to frolic with his cousin Mirella. They "put out fires" all around the graveyard until the service started, and David and I held them for most of the eulogy. They didn't pay all that much attention to what was going on, but they were pretty well behaved until the end when they were cold and a little bored. Also, they had hatched a plan to put Dennis' carseat in the car with his cousins' seats so that they could all ride together. Mirella cleaned out the space between her seat and her brother's, saying "I am making it pretty for Dennis and his seat to go in here". He 'measured' the area with his hands, tried to sit in it, and assured us that the seat would fit. When the funeral ended, the two of them were sitting in the car chatting with each other, staying warm on a very surprisingly cold morning. We ruined their plan when we saw that his booster seat would not, in fact, fit between the car seats, and much disappointment ensued until he discovered that he could see their car all the way back to Nana and Poppa Jim's house. He was happy that they would get to play together more, and that's what they did for hours, even concluding our day with a long play session at an indoor McDonald's playground (where Uncle Michael and I both proved ourselves in the 'hamster tube' area). Dennis loves his cousins, and of all his cousins, Mirella is both the closest in age (I think this is true, but Silas may actually be a couple of days older than Mirella and therefore the tiniest bit closer--both cousins were born in July) and the closest in personality by far. Or at least their personalities mesh particularly well--they REALLY enjoy each other. When we first got together today, Mirella ran right past Gran, right toward Dennis, and they caught each other in a giant bear hug, so cute and heartwarming to see!

Dennis has been very anti-Daddy this week (this happens when David works many days in a row and Dennis gets used to my company only, and it usually remedies itself on David's off days). Tonight in the car, just before he dropped off to sleep, he announced, "I changed my mind. I think I like you now, Daddy," which is such a refreshing change from the more negative remarks he made earlier. It was nice to be together today, the three of us (well, four actually, since Gran was our driver and companion), and even nicer to see the family and watch the three cousins play together. Dennis fell asleep shortly after 7:00 (after supper, before we left Decatur) and will probably sleep all the way through the night. He did not wake up when we transferred to our own car, and this was after sleeping all the way south. And David and I are suffering a big case of the sleepies as well, now that I think about it. *yawn*

a comic, tragic loss

Leaving church tonight, Dennis announced that he was now Optimus Prime (he has discovered the Transformers). He ran around, striking superhero poses, clearing our path of any evil that might have been lurking. We were attempting to herd little Optimus safely through the parking lot to the car. David yelled for him to stop as he was running full speed toward the road. He stopped abruptly, right when he got to the ramp off the sidewalk and struck a pose. He looked both ways and ran across the street and stopped in front of our car. I asked him what was going on, and he replied "my listening ears broke." Not that they were always reliable, those listening ears, but I will certainly miss them! Perhaps we can find a new pair.

Dennis learned about "Zacchesus" (Zacchaeus) this morning at Sunday School and told us all about how he climbed the tree to see Jesus. He presented us with a sheet of paper with a very large "Z" drawn on it and told us the story. I'm glad he retained that knowledge long enough to tell the story to our dining companions this evening at church (because we spent the afternoon reading the Transformers book and I was afraid his brain was full of Autobots and Decepticons). He's such a boy!!

weather lesson

I was awakened with a knock this morning and a sad little voice saying "Mom, Chloe won't get up and play with me!". Chloe, much like us, is not a morning person. Dennis, however, is very much a morning person and he woke up, noticed his buddy was still here at his house, and was ready to get up and play IMMEDIATELY. She eventually joined him, and we breakfasted together on her requested meal of cinnamon rolls (a delicious choice). They costumed themselves as Iron Man and Jessie (Toy Story) and remained this way for long enough that it occurred to me that attempting to get them dressed to leave for the lake was not all that necessary. After all, Iron Man and Jessie are just as portable as Dennis and Chloe, and so we headed out, costumes and all. They got a real charge out of marching into the house and surprising Gigi with their costumes. And oh, what a fabulous day we had! We feasted on hot dogs, enjoying a meal on the screened porch while it was still gorgeous outside. Then we painted some drinking glasses (which will remain at Gigi's house for use there). Chloe and Dennis really let their artistic abilities show, Chloe with an inspired use of color and brush technique (beautiful glasses!), and Dennis with his planning a subject and following through (he painted one glass as a fire truck and fireman and another as a fire, and they are recognizable as such). They moved on to cookie baking after that and then playing on the porch until Dennis was stung by a wasp. Gran and Gigi came to his rescue, Gran with a borrowed cigarette from a neighbor that she turned into a tobacco compress for his arm wound, and Gigi with a wonderful distraction: a new Transformers book that went along with the Transformers Band-Aids on his arm. His tears dried immediately as we read the book to him and Chloe while they ate cookies and drank Coke Zero. And then, just as it was naptime, a hailstorm arrived, perhaps the fiercest I have yet experienced. We let them out of bed to come and see the hail falling on the deck and, more interestingly, into the lake (making big splashes all over). It was scary loud and bigger than golf balls (biggest I've ever seen!). The kids were fearfully impressed and were happy to stay inside under the roof! It stopped very soon after it started, and Gigi went outside to fetch some of it to bring in for the kids to see and touch. Sure, it's ice, but I'd never looked that closely either--it looks like there's a core with rings around it inside the hailstones. We all looked and touched (and Hobbs even sniffed and licked one, which I guess is Dog Scientific Method) and learned. And they napped gloriously long naps and woke subdued and calm. We enjoyed Chloe and were sad to see her go back home when her parents arrived to pick her up.

Dennis always takes a while to get used to playing alone again after he's had company of any sort (church, school, slumber party friends), and I was catching up with David this evening when Dennis kept running in and asking me to come and see various things "right now". The last was a monster named Figaro who was hogging his Smart Cycle (and who I promptly kung-fu-kicked off Dennis' bike). He gave up (Dennis, not Figaro) when I again returned to our bedroom to chat with David, and he decided to join us there and bounce all over the bed while we talked. He snuggled all into my neck and named all his friends and then asked me if I knew who he liked best of all. I asked who (and caught David smirking with the knowledge of what was coming next) and Dennis said "you, Mommy, I like you best of all". I love that kid. He knows just what to say to me!

zoo date & slumber party

We began our day with a preschool field trip. We saw a traveling production of Hansel and Gretel by the Birmingham Children's Theater, somewhat adapted from the book of the same story we read last night. Dennis liked it all except, of course, for the mean old witch who wanted to cook and eat the children (he covered his eyes a lot), but this particular version wasn't all that dark. The mean old witch ended up in jail--she was deathly afraid of vegetables and the children (all the preschoolers in attendance) shouted out vegetable names to scare her into submission, whereupon Hansel and Gretel captured her and got themselves safely back home.

After the play, we met the Gallmans at the Birmingham Zoo and did zoo-type activities for a while (train rides, elephant viewing, predator admiration, etc). Most interestingly, we saw a sea lion show and (best of all) fed the lorikeets (which is what Dennis is doing in the photo). Chloe came home with us after a dinner at Cracker Barrel with Gran and Uncle Denny and Pop, and the kids have been playing "camp-out" since we got home. They are staying up way too late, of course, but that's what you do at slumber parties. We have some fun stuff planned for their tomorrow. I thought they'd have run out of words by this point, given the amount of chatter I heard in the car on the way home tonight! Chloe was singing her preschool songs to us and gave us a "dolphin show" in the backseat. Dennis was naming animals that started with the letter I said when we were playing "What Animal am I Thinking of?" (Chloe was very good at guessing the animals from the clues, and Dennis was very good at naming animals that started with whatever letter I announced, so this was a FUN game!). We also rhymed words and spied colors, all fun car games!

Dennis told me this morning that he didn't like girls. I told him that I was a girl, and he replied "yes, and I've been hoping God would change you into a boy". Wow! Let's hope THAT doesn't happen. It has sure been a fun day, great to see the kids having fun (and ensuring once again that I'm certainly glad I only have one child)! Can't wait to see what they come up with tomorrow!

cleaning lessons

After watching Dennis make hand and nose prints all over the glass door at the lake, I decided to create another 'teachable moment'. He was instructed by Gran on how to clean a window! He was given the spray cleaner and a paper towel, and he went to town scrubbing his marks off the door. He loved it, loved being allowed to spray a cleaner by himself. We weren't meticulous about it, didn't teach about streaks or lint or any of those atrocities the Windex commercials warn us about, and he did a pretty decent job. We had to make him stop, actually.

I am thrilled to report that I will be an official, for real, actual preschool teacher in the fall. The committee apparently approved, and I'm thrilled to have a job that still allows me to raise my kid (and gives me summers off to boot). Dennis will go with me (but to his own class) on the two days I teach the 2 year olds (yes, the 2 year olds--please remember me in your prayers next school year!) and will stay with me on the afternoons when I keep afternoon care (the few kids who stay til 3:30), 2 or 3 days per week. It couldn't be a better arrangement for us, and if I keep on working there after the upcoming school year, my hours will perfectly coincide with his school days in kindergarten and beyond. What a blessing that God put me on this path! I get to teach little ones about Him and His creation and so many other things while still having lots of time for my own little one!

first huddle

The soccer practice looked like an actual soccer practice today. There were cones for the kids to line up behind for kicking drills and dribbling drills. They seemed to enjoy that for a little while, but then they all kept dispersing to get water, visit their mommies, or play with a piece of cardboard trash on the field (which was Dennis' personal favorite diversion). So then the coach recruited an older kid to help out, and the two of them challenged the kids' team to take the ball from them and run it in for a goal. The kids LOVED this! Dennis giggled hilariously the whole time. After they started to lose interest in that, the coach had them running races back and forth across the field, which they also loved. Dennis high-fived the coach every time he kicked a goal (after he first pumped both fists in the air and jumped up, yelling a testosterone-laden "YES! I scored!!"). He and the other kids are attempting to come up with a team name. Their uniforms are royal blue, so Dennis wanted to be called the Stingrays (after his first choice of "Team Dennis" was not taken seriously). We'll see what they decide in a future practice (maybe next week). After their practice, the kids huddled up and put their hands in, yelling "TEAM!" after a three count by the coach. Dennis was so pumped up with his athletic prowess, so full of team spirit and enthusiasm, that it was difficult to get him down off his 'high' to go to church tonight. But he settled down just fine once we got there and his good buddy Grace spotted him and decided to sit with him at supper (he's a sucker for a pretty blonde!). I'm so glad he's excited about soccer, happy with his school and church life, and just generally pleased with his life. His happiness is contagious-- it affects the rest of us positively as well!

the bat party

Today was the school birthday celebration--Gran and Pop came to join me and Dennis' class for his snacktime party. He had a fabulous time, and all the kids loved the Batman decor. I heard one of his friends tell him it was the "best party ever", and he got lots of hugs from his preschool friends. Preschool is a super fun place, and I'm thrilled that it looks like I'll be working there for real next year. I've been volunteering and substituting this year, and if things work out like we talked about today, I will be teaching my own class of 2-year-olds in the fall (2 days a week), and I couldn't be more excited about it! Dennis will be there in his own class the days I'm teaching, and this is the kind of job where I will be free to be with him whenever he's not in school (especially once he's in elementary school). And I get summers, weekends, holidays... What a blessing!

Tonight, we were telling Dennis how tired we were when he said "Do I need to put you to bed, Daddy?" and began marching David toward our bedroom. He is overly tired himself and has been going around red-eyed, so I think we are officially reinstituting the afternoon nap in a shorter version. I imagine we'll have a fight about this tomorrow, but I think it's going to be necessary, especially for him to make it through soccer practice!

soccer of a sort

It was a bit like teaching soccer to cats, I think. The four little guys at the first team practice today seemed to understand the part about kicking the ball into the net, but they're having a hard time with that whole not touching the ball with your hands thing. Dennis didn't really touch it much with his hands, but he did tackle and lie on top of the ball to keep anyone from getting it away from him. I'm pretty sure that little move isn't allowed. The most hilarious thing was their extremely short attention spans! Kick the ball for ten minutes, run off into the woods, swing on the net, kick the ball some more, sit down in the middle of the field, go get water, kick more, tackle the ball, have a meltdown because someone else got the RED ball and the one we're supposed to be using is BLUE, kick some more goals... I can't wait to watch their first game! No one on his team has any experience, including the coach (who might be in college but who I strongly suspect is high-school age). Should be the most entertaining sports event ever! As long as Dennis is having fun, then I'm going to love every moment of it.

I'm not sure how we will handle soccer on his new nap-free schedule. He was so tired he was nearly delirious by the end of practice, and he was completely exhausted tonight way before bedtime. He didn't even want a bath, and afterward we told him to put his pajamas on. We heard him singing the Clean Up song and went in to find him cleaning his room. He was completely naked. He barely made it through Goodnight Moon before falling asleep.

So his Total Guy gene expressed itself this morning while we were watching Spiderman 2. There was a long scary part followed by massive explosions, and I expected him to have his eyes covered (a usual thing when he senses scariness or difficulty coming up). Instead, he was riveted to the screen almost, and when the fireball went up, he grinned and yelled "COOL!! That was SUPER AWESOME!". And he cavorted around my bed pretending to shoot webs and swing from them for quite a while. He has a new hero, right on the eve of his Batman party happening at school tomorrow. Oh, well. I don't think Fisher Price makes any Spiderman stuff, and if they do, it couldn't be any cooler than his Batcave. It's fun for me, though. Spiderman was my favorite at his age!

and then there were 2 (sort of)

Dennis invented an imaginary little brother today, a one-year-old named George who "is very nice and shares my toys and we don't have to fight except sometimes we do." He strapped "George" into his booster seat tonight and then apologized to him for accidentally pinching his finger. He and George were playing "tank" tonight, so when I said "go brush your teeth, tank commander," he replied "no, George is the tank commander--I am the tank driver!". How silly of me to get that wrong. George has a bed on his rug, he says, and they will share his room now. I asked him if he really wanted a little brother and he told me "no, just an imaginary one." Works for me!

Soccer practices begin tomorrow afternoon, hence the imminent beginning of my career as an actual "soccer mom". Parts of me shudder to realize what I've become, but most of me is thrilled.

ad man

Tonight Dennis gazed at the messy parts of my room, the ones that haven't gotten much attention as of yet, and gave me that raised-eyebrow gaze of his while quoting "Bissell: we mean clean!". Yeah, yeah, I know. He's so meticulous these days! I caught him earlier putting his clean sheets on--he called for help making his bed, and I went in to find him spreading out the top sheet and asking for help tucking the corners. He sleeps in a day bed, certainly not an easy bed to make, so I was amazed he'd accomplished what he had. I told him how grown up he was getting and he said "yeah, it's great to be 4."

farewell, my afternoons

It looks like Dennis' afternoon nap might soon be extinct, I'm sad to say. He's had some insomnia lately, staying up til midnight or later after trying valiantly to lie quietly in his bed and go to sleep. This is most noticeable on days when he's had a nice long nap. Today, he had agreed to nap, was actually in bed and being read to when I suddenly decided he should skip his nap. When I told him, you'd have thought he won the lottery! He did a happy dance on his pillow and asked "can I really get out of bed?". He agreed to play quietly in his room for an hour so I could get some things done, and he mostly held to this promise.

We played outside twice today, before lunch and before dark. He spent lots of time in his sandbox along with some quality time playing fireman in his play tower (he sure loves his new metal roof!) and on his swingset. Tonight, I was cleaning my room (which completely missed out on the cleaning frenzy last week), and he wanted a playmate or a movie or something. Desperate for some time to work, I discovered a secret weapon: the Moon Sand Construction Site that we bought for our Disney trip hotel time and hid when we got home. I spread out a big trash bag, opened the sandbox, and let him at it! We had left a set of Tonka construction vehicles in the kit last year that I'd forgotten about (excavator, backhoe, steamroller, crane, bulldozer, etc). He played with it for 3 nonstop hours, happily building roads and tearing them apart to rebuild. He played with it so long that his legs cramped from sitting on his knees on the floor, and he cried a little when he got up. He sat on a pillow for the last 15 minutes or so.

He went to bed easily. We cleaned his room together, and then I read him 1 story and he read 2 to me. He did ask if he could skip bedtime the way he skipped his nap earlier, but he laughed as he did so. He hugged me and said "Mommy, you're lucky. You get hugs 7 days a week!". I certainly agree with that! I'm sure going to miss the nap if this is truly the end of it, but him going to bed earlier will give me some time with David in the evenings. But there goes my alone time, my special cave time that I could use for whatever... Sigh... At least he stayed in his room playing alone for almost an hour, and that's some consolation for the 2.5 hour naps he was taking!

16th Anniversary

Just the basics: Dennis felt GREAT today, as evidenced by his super activity level. All that resting up yesterday must have made a big difference to him! He did go to the doctor today and (though he attempted to break the otoscope) we discovered that his ears are perfectly clear. We'll need to have allergy medicine on hand for him to prevent further troubles.

David and I had a lovely date afternoon, nearly six Dennis-free hours in which we ate a meal out (because we got an anniversary gift card for a restaurant--how awesome!) at Chili's. We didn't have to say "SIT DOWN IN YOUR SEAT!" for the entirety of the meal. Imagine! We did shop for Dennis though, inadvertently, because World Market had 2 things we thought he couldn't live without. He got a red stainless steel kid's water bottle to go with his new hiking pack, and he got a set of Buddy Learner's Chopsticks (there's a little silicon man at one end, keeping the sticks together but the correct resistance to teach him how to use them), like the picture (only his are blue). Truly neat! He's ready to go eat Chinese food again. And, wonder of wonders, David spent his birthday money on the first new pair of tennis shoes he's had in over a decade. Thanks, Mom & Dad, for the birthday money and for the anniversary meal gift card AND babysitting (and the cookies and cupcakes)--we certainly feel spoiled!

We hear Dennis got into a bit of mayhem at Gran's. He played Fireman in the garden with a real hose (and sprayed everything including himself) and an axe (but he was caught before anything terrible took place!). He ensconced himself in his room as soon as we got home tonight, happy to be reunited with his toys.

We enjoyed our anniversary, marveled over the fact that we've been married for so many years--16 seems like a lot to us! Dennis called us when we were on our way to get him, saying he was sad without us, but when I told him we were bringing a surprise, he was all happy again.

We wore our green shirts today, the same ones we wore last year when we were all together at Cheaha State Park. This anniversary was considerably lower budget but very special all the same. I love our little family, love being part of it, love when we all spend time together, and I love when we every once in a while get some grown-up time.

strange answers

Dennis was decidedly puny today. He stayed in his footie pajamas all day long and asked me if we could just stay home. He is sniffly a bit, and after we asked him if he felt bad and he said he did, we gave him some medicine. I frequently asked him how he felt throughout the day. One time, when I asked "how do you feel?", he grinned slowly and said "powerful!". And after his nap, when he came pink-cheeked and rubbing his eyes to find me and plop onto the couch and put his head in my lap, I told him "I'm so sorry you feel bad." He replied "if I was a reindeer, I would grow antlers." He told me he heard squeaky sounds in his head, and since we are due for a follow-up doctor visit from his last ear infection, I presume we'll be paying the pediatrician a visit tomorrow.

just tell that, why don't you?

New by Fisher Price Imaginext: it's a four-year-old in a box! Fun for your whole family! It says unexpectedly rude or embarrassing commentary at inopportune times and is sure to add fun and drama to your daily routine. Special phrases include telling Grandma "you are the yuckiest person in the world and I am going to throw you in the dumpster" and announcing loudly at Walmart "MY WHOLE FAMILY DOESN'T WEAR UNDERWEAR!!!". Please note that the previous phrases work only in Nap Deprivation Mode (when your model's batteries are drained). When properly recharged, four-year-old-in-a-box is often helpful and complimentary, and frequently amusing and delightful. I give this product 5 stars and recommend one to everyone!

Holy Birthday, Batman!

Dennis made a new friend today, a daughter of an old friend of ours who is moving to Alabama very soon! We are so excited about their move, and Zoe and Dennis got along famously (she turned 4 in January). He'll have a new playmate to add to his group of friends (i.e. now his group will consist of 2 friends: Chloe and Zoe, plus school friends and church friends). We had a great luncheon with them at Cracker Barrel and then the kids played some before their family had to head west again. We had thought we'd have them sing Happy Birthday to him at the restaurant, but knowing his Dad, I thought I'd better ask Dennis. He said "no, I don't want them to sing to me at Cracker Barrel--they might laugh at me and I'd be embarrassed" and so I let that idea go. Apparently, while I was in the bank, Dennis told Gran "Mommy and I had a talk at home and I decided that I didn't want them to sing to me at Cracker Barrel", so he SERIOUSLY did not want the fanfare. When Gran came over for supper tonight, we lit a candle and sang to him after supper--his face glowed with pleasure and then he happily extinguished the candle before eating some leftover birthday cake.

The highlight of Dennis' day was the trip to Walmart to spend the birthday and allowance money he's been saving. He has very much wanted a Fisher Price Imaginext Batcave (look it up--it's as cool as it sounds) for a few months now, and he used his very own money to purchase it today. He's been busy imprisoning The Joker, Penguin, The Riddler, and Mr. Freeze today or letting Batman and Robin cruise in the super cool motorized Batmobile or on the two bat motorcycles.

Dennis told us today about Spring: "the flowers are blooming, baby animals are being born, and the trees are starting to get their leaves back--that's what happens in the Spring!". He told us lots of stuff about everything, of course, all very informative and correct, spoken in extremely grown up language, and he asked very thought-provoking questions. He sounds like a little college student. We had a brief conversation about tornado danger: "could a tornado start a fire?"--"well, it could if it caused a gas line to rupture"--"oh--and that would cause a fire to start? And then it would mean that a rescue truck would have to come and take care of the fire?"--"yes, I suppose so, Dennis!". He's using adjectives and adverbs, words like 'most' and 'some' in correct context ("MOST trees don't have spikes, but some trees, like cactuses, do have them"), saying "antibiotic" and knowing what it means (sadly, this came about as a result of his latest ear infection). How did he get so fluent, so eloquent, just so darn good at conversation? His pronunciations are better, his enunciation greatly improving by the minute, it seems. He's a talented little talker!

He's been asking everyone "can you believe I'm already four?". And tonight, he learned to surf the internet and look at Fisher Price toys. I got distracted while I was helping him, and when I turned back, he was using the touch pad to scroll up and down on the screen (something even I'm not so good at), hitting the back button on the browser to return to the menu screen, clicking on what he wanted to see next, clicking to enlarge the picture, scrolling through the different pictures, clicking the 'x' to close the zoom window and return to the previous screen... He said "don't worry, Mommy, I figured out how to do it". Just wait until he discovers Google! I wonder if he'll even need me any more!

He did stay up last night until past midnight to welcome his birthday. We sang to him at midnight (we were tucking him in then), and when we asked him one last time what his favorite part of the day was, he replied "being with you, Mommy" and giving me a tackle hug. I just melted, of course, and in my mind, I was ready to go out and buy him a car or something equally huge and wonderful. David smirked as he heard Dennis say it, and told me after we left the room "man, he's GOOD" (at pushing the right buttons, I suppose) "and I haven't even had to teach him how to do that!". And so another birthday has passed, and here's where I would normally wax poetic about parenthood or write some mushy stuff about how much I love him. I feel all those things; I appreciate fully the gift he is. But I'm not clued in to my gushiness tonight, so you'll have to just take my word for it. It was a wonderful day, it's been an incredible year, so on, so forth, and good night!

partying his way to 4

Bliss! Here we sit on the couch in our clean house, all the guests gone, Dennis happily playing in his room with his new birthday loot... Nice and peaceful, some excellent relaxing after a week of intense party preparation! What a wonderful day it was! Dennis LOVED every present he got, yelling "WOW COOL!" each time he opened one. This morning (after Sunday school, before the party) Dennis helped complete a project he's waited a long time for: his play tower now has a wonderful metal roof! That was the actual construction that took place at the Construction Party. If you ask Dennis what his favorite part of the day was, he'll tell you "opening my presents!". He made short work of it, tearing through his gift bags and jumping up and down. He had wanted to play outside until he opened his toy cash register, and then we set up a play 'store' (cash register on TV tray, toy shopping cart full of toy food items to scan and put in a reusable shopping bag) which was so popular that it took us quite a while to make it outdoors! Dennis used the attached microphone to occasionally call "I need assistance, please!". He took the play money or scanned the play credit card and thanked us for shopping. I think all the kids took turns with it. Dennis did invite all his classmates and every church member he's seen this month to the party today, but (since I didn't tell anyone where we live or a party date or time) it was just family and close friends. His three cousins were here and so were Chloe and Katelyn--the adults outnumbered the little ones (which is a good thing!). We all had a great time watching them play inside and outside and all around. Dennis got his first pair of roller skates today (along with knee and elbow pads and gloves) and he donned his protective gear and helmet and quickly learned to skate! He's actually quite good at it, and I'm happily surprised by this given the amount of klutz that we know is present in his gene pool. After his first skate, the party kind of concluded with a round of sandbox play, some climbing and sliding on his playground, and a brief round of soccer with his new goal.

We are happily exhausted. Dennis is attempting to stay up until midnight to celebrate turning 4 (thus sleeping late in the morning, we hope), and we don't have much longer to go. What a wonderful day, what a special weekend spent with the people we dearly love! And soon, very soon, we'll be the parents of the most incredible 4 year old ever!

rock logic

Dennis and Chloe were playing together tonight with his Fisher Price construction toys. In this particular structure, boulders fall through trap doors and into trucks. Chloe announced that the red trap door was going to be the potty for the construction workers. This freaked Dennis out, and he told her repeatedly that the door was for boulders only and was NOT, in fact, a potty. He got more and more adamant, and she just calmly replied, each time, "no, it's a potty." Instead of blowing a gasket, Dennis came running to me to tell me that she was playing wrong, so we had one of those conversations about everyone playing differently and about creativity and getting along and blah blah blah...you get the picture. And then I posed this question: what if the BOULDERS needed to go potty?(because I like to pose weird theories like that occasionally to spark a reaction and induce outside-the-box thinking). Without missing a beat, he gave me that 'oh, Mom' look and said "boulders don't have penises." And he's right. And I have nothing else to add, other than to mention the extreme party anticipation. I finished the cake (pictured above) BEFORE midnight, so I let him get out of bed to come and see it. His face just shone, lit up by a tremendous smile, and he said "it looks wonderful" and hugged me and said "thank you, Mommy!". As I carried him back to bed, he thanked me for getting him out of bed to see it, and then said "I prayed to Jesus to help me talk to Chloe right." He's awful mature for almost four!

the boss has spoken

I've been so busy today, cleaning the house to Dennis' exact specifications. It seems that I have been working on it forever now, but I feel that the end is near! We are such a family of stackers, and stacks of every conceivable thing were all over the house. I am the one that sorts the stacked items and puts them away, and it just takes forever!

Dennis spent a large part of his afternoon with Gigi and Gran at the lake, checking out the construction on Gigi's place (he took a hard hat with him). He apparently sanded some furniture while he was there--he was delighted to tell me about it when he got home, proudly showing me the dust on his jacket.

Tonight I was sorting all of our arts and crafts supplies and learning tools in our library when Dennis started in again on me. "Will you please play with me, Mommy?" he asked, and I explained that I was cleaning the library so that our weekend guests will have a place to sleep. I showed him how I'd organized our ongoing projects and supplies (pottery wheel, solar system, paints, clay, etc) and how his work table was now clean. He pointed to the main table in the room and said "well, you need to clean THAT table, too." I should have let him clean his work table himself, I suppose, but I wanted to reorganize everything (which is what I've been doing to the entire house). He left me alone then, and when I went to check on him in his room, it was quiet and clean--he'd turned off his music and was looking at his books, all his toys put away in their places.

I wonder when he'll get to the age where I can have bathroom privacy without him either banging on the door and yelling or (worse) NOT hovering at the door because he's up to something. Today I heard lots of scrapes and bumps and exertion noises, and when I got to his room, he'd brought his wagon in and had loaded it up with firefighting equipment (and was dressed in full firefighter gear). He was trying to screw the bolt back into the handle (apparently he had some difficulty maneuvering it through his doorway--it's a big wooden wagon, after all). It's a Daddy job because the place that holds the bolt got pretty bent in the process (and I don't know where he hides the tools). It appears entirely fixable, thank goodness! I believe the wagon was his gift from us for his first birthday, and he's had some good times in it (beach, winery, campground, pumpkin patch, parades, lake house rides...).

spring break begins

It's official: Dennis is out of school until Tuesday the 22nd (and so am I!). The day we return to school is the day Dennis' school party is scheduled. He has chosen a Batman theme for that party.

We are heavily into party preparations around here. Dennis pulled me aside for a talk a couple of days ago. "Mommy," he said, "I think the rest of the house needs to look as good as my room does." And I agreed with him. But just because he thought I should clean it didn't mean that he appreciated that I was busy and couldn't give him my undivided attention all day. After I finished an Everest of laundry and reorganized the medicine cabinet, I asked him if the bathroom looked better (the bathroom is also our laundry room). He replied "no, you still need to sweep and get the trash out." So I did that, of course, and plenty of other things that needed doing. David fixed the Blazer and burned a room's worth of cardboard boxes that had accumulated, so things are looking up!

Tonight Dennis organized a play table in the living room for his younger party guests (and happily played on it himself). Then the three of us sat at the table and made some art for the party. Dennis and I water-colored some construction truck pictures (while David used his favorite colored pencils), and sometime in the middle of our art session Dennis said "I know--how about if I have a police birthday party?". This was after I'd gotten construction party favors and after he'd set up a construction table and after we'd painted construction pictures. I told him all this and he said "well, all you have to do is paint some police pictures now." I reminded him that we'd already assembled the construction favor bags at his insistence (and who in the world ever came up with the idea of favor bags???) and therefore could not return stuff and could not change the theme. He laughed then, letting me know that he was kidding, just trying to get a reaction out of us. It worked.

A new milestone for today: the telling of (bad) knock-knock jokes. You have been warned. Today's best of the bad lot went like this "knock-knock; who's there?; macaroni; macaroni who?; macaroni and cheese, of course." Oh goody. I remember very clearly when my brother went through this stage, and I still remember his favorite creation, but I'll spare his ministerial dignity by keeping it to myself.

floods and ashes

Flood conditions abounded today. We noticed as we drove David back to work after his lunch break that the creek by Goosepond Park was way up and rushing quickly along. They have built a new concrete sidewalk under the bridge connecting this park to the one on the other side of the road, and the new sidewalk was completely submerged. I thought this might be a 'teachable moment' so after we dropped David off, we drove there to look at the water. We stood on the pedestrian bridge and watched the water rush by, and Dennis observed that the park was largely underwater as well. He jumped in a few puddles then stood in the center of one and announced "look--I am flooded too!".

Tonight we attended Ash Wednesday services at church. Dennis' class ended before the service did, so I crept out to retrieve him while they were blessing the ashes. We had explained to Dennis about what the service means and where the ashes came from, and he seemed interested, but when he saw what was going on, he informed us that he did not want that on his forehead. Soon it was our turn to go to the altar rail and kneel for our ashes and blessings. After trying to escape without success, Dennis hid from the pastor, flattening himself against the bottom of the altar rail until the bucket of ashes had passed us by. Then Dennis climbed up onto the rail to check out our foreheads and watch the rest of the people getting theirs. He was interested, sure, but he didn't want it touching him! He wasn't as solemn as the rest of the congregation tonight. When we were all reading prayers, he had the pew bible open and was marching around with it, his own little Ash Wednesday parade. I'd like to think he derived some meaning from it, somehow.

a milder Mardi Gras

I'm not sure why I'm experiencing such a downturn in my health lately. Today, the first day I've been able to breathe through my nose in a month, I had a migraine. I missed preschool, but Dennis got to go. When asked about his day, he recited "Baa Baa Black Sheep" (the nursery rhyme they heard today--it's nursery rhyme month) and then said he got tired from singing too many songs in music class.

At home, he read a new BOB book to me, one he'd not read before, and he sounded out the unfamiliar words! I think this qualifies as actual reading, doesn't it? I'm so proud! He also learned how to sharpen pencils in an electronic sharpener, something he thought was extremely cool (hey, even I still think it's cool!). He used his newly sharpened pencil to finish a preschool workbook with no trouble at all.

There were weird comments, of course. I had a difficult time getting him to hurry and get in the car to pick up his Daddy for lunch break. He couldn't find the shoes he wanted, so I scooped him up barefoot and carried him to the car--he protested mightily. I told him it'd be fun, that he could stick his toes out the window or something. He spied his Crocs on the seat next to him and quickly put them on. I didn't think any more about it until we got home and he said later "if I had put my toes out the window, my feet might have gotten cut off and that would have been bad." I asked him if he knew anyone that had their feet cut off and he said "well, Brody did a couple of times, but they sewed them back on" (Brody is a classmate, one who has 2 feet). I asked him to think hard and he said "Uncle Denny did! I hope he grows some more." I mentioned the "robot feet" and Dennis said "but those don't have any toes, and Uncle Denny needs toes. Can we get him some toes?". I just looked at him while he took a breath and then said "I know! We can get him some WITCH toes!". I was confused, of course, until he walked across the room and picked up a Halloween witch fingertip and put it on and wiggled it at me. I wonder if he'll have me shopping for fake toes this Halloween so that we can give them to Uncle Denny!

We have done no Mardi Gras celebrating other than to finish off the king cake we had in the kitchen. I had more to say, but Dennis has just called me from his cell phone (from his bed) 4 times, and I can't answer without losing everything I've typed (learned that the hard way). And now he's left a voicemail, which I'm sure will be hilarious. Happy Mardi Gras! It looks like we will soon be a 2 car family again, thank goodness, just some minor work left to do!

snuggler

I'm so glad Dennis likes to cuddle. He came in to find me in bed a bit early this evening, and he jumped up to climb in with me. He burrowed into my side, wiggling closer and closer. He wrapped his little arms around me in a bear hug and said "I love you, Mom!". I told him how much I enjoyed all his hugs and asked him if he was going to get too big to cuddle one day. He said "silly Mom--I'll always like snuggling with you and giving you hugs even when I'm big like Dad." Wouldn't that be amazing?

We repaired his bedside lamp. Now we can't get him to stop reading in bed. He is most definitely us, just like his parents who occasionally have to blunder sleepily through a day because they stayed up reading too late the night before!

church day

My charming son and I spent a great deal of time at the church today. He accompanied me to the ministry lunch (briefly) before heading off to play with the other children while I sat in on a planning meeting. We came home after that but didn't stay long--back out to get David from work for his lunch break and buy groceries for the Women's Circle meeting tonight, then returning David to work, then back to church, etc. Dennis helped me set up tables and set up the buffet before the meeting and then ran off to watch the puppet team practice. I heard him a while later leading a pretend marching band of kids through the hallway (loudly), and then I heard the kids being set up with a DVD in a neighboring classroom. He checked in with me again as I loaded the car and prepared for the Alpha class tonight, and the last I saw him, he was headed into the elevator with some other preschoolers and one parent. Just after I finished loading the car with leftovers from my meeting and just before I settled in for supper with the Alpha class, I got the feeling that I should check on Dennis. I found all the children in the room Dennis was hoping to be in, "the yellow wall classroom" he calls it (which happens to be the room where I teach preschool every week when I volunteer in the two-year-old class). I heard him before I ever got to the room, saying "this is a hammer and here's what you do with it!". Scary, I thought, so I quickened my pace, but the nursery worker smiled and said they were all having fun with play-doh! This is so much better than what I imagined. When class ended later, I returned to pick him up, hoping that seeing Gran (who is taking the class with me) would encourage him to leave happily, but he was lying on the floor immersed on a book and barely glanced up at us. She deduced that he was afraid she was taking him home, so we assured him that wasn't the case and he left willingly. The nursery worker told me that he was the most fun kid--he'd decided that they would all play "Never Land" and he pretended to be Captain Hook and she was deemed Tinkerbell. I'm just thrilled that he willingly played a villain for once! And I'm excited that there will be new roles to play other than fireman or policeman (the current favorites).

His comments to me today were cute. He saw me in my church dress this morning and said "wow, Mommy, you look pretty!" and my heart turned to mush. And then, when I forgot to stop at the gas station and turned around, he said "didn't we just come from this way?" and I explained about missing my turn. He said "Mom, you're so crazy!". Well, yes, that's true!

teacher stuff

I had a preschool teacher workshop to
attend today in Birmingham, and while I was there, Dennis attended his first Methodist Men's meeting (it was also David's first). I hear he was fairly well behaved, thank goodness. I'm certain he was the youngest Methodist Man present!

After his early afternoon with Gran and Pop, I picked him up and he was asleep before we ever got home. He might have slept on through the night if I had let him, but I didn't. We spent the evening painting pictures and having another Important Staff Meeting, this one taking place in our library and involving the USA map and his brand new pointer (he was mapping routes from Alabama to "forest fires in Canada that we need to go put out"). We ended the meeting with the reading of The Great Muppet Caper, a book that we learned was a gift to me from Uncle Denny in 1981 (thanks to the inscription in the front cover--awesome!). Oh, and then we had some physical training. This means that Dennis and I jumped around doing random martial arts poses (and noises) and faux-attacks on each other. And then we danced ourselves silly until just before David arrived home. It is so disgustingly late and Dennis is still wide awake after 11 pm (chattering loudly in his bed), and I wonder if I learned anything at all in the workshop I went to this morning (section 1: kids need SLEEP for proper brain development)! Note to self: MUST institute a real bedtime, effective immediately!! Though, I admit, we sure did have fun together tonight!

staff meeting

Fire Chief Dennis invited the crew into his room/fire station for what he deemed "a very important staff meeting". We assembled on his rug and he addressed some important fire business. He told us about the five schools that have requested a visit from the fire truck (one was the American Ballet School, and I haven't a clue why that was in his mind), and he talked about the long drive we'd have to take and the provisions he was packing ("carrots, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, pizza, Capri-sun"). In other important business, he was paid for keeping an orderly fire station (clean room) all week.

Seuss fun

Tonight on our way home from some errands north of town, Dennis quizzed me on who my friends are. I named a few and he kept asking me who else, so I found myself kind of searching my brain for more names! He asked if Daddy was my friend, and I told him that Daddy was my best friend. I asked Dennis if he was my friend and he said "no, I'd rather be Daddy's friend." He's at the age where his fellow preschoolers are making and breaking 'friendships' constantly ("you're my friend...no, you're not my friend anymore"). He told me tonight that he was best buddies with Michael in his class, and he proved it tonight when we got to the preschool Family Fun Night tonight. They spotted each other in the parking lot and ran to exchange hugs. When Mrs. Linda aimed a camera at them inside, they put their arms around each other and mugged for the camera.

Family Fun Night was a blast! The theme was "Seuss on the Loose" and there were different activities all around the gym, each associated with a different Dr. Seuss book. There was a fishing booth to fish for bags of goldfish crackers (One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish), a (Little Debbie) Cake Walk (Happy Birthday to You), a booth to make animal masks (Put Me in the Zoo), an egg on a spoon race with green plastic Easter eggs (Green Eggs and Ham), a bouncy house (Fox in Socks), a Twister game section (The Foot Book), and a section to ride the scooters (Oh the Places You'll Go). Dennis loved every minute of it--all the kids did--and when we stayed after to
help clean up, he toted boxes and cones and art supplies and insisted "I can help, too!" as he grabbed a chair from me and carried it across the street.

I love preschool!

medic in training

Super Daddy turned this into a pretty special afternoon for Dennis. He took him first to the pediatrician and found that he has another ear infection. Then David stopped by to visit some friends from his paramedic days and scored a full ambulance experience for Dennis. He played driver, put David in a neck brace, took blood pressure, explored the truck, talked to a fireman--and he had the undivided attention of an actual ambulance crew for quite a while! They sent him home with a strap and a couple of carabiners, and he's been playing fireman ever since. We kept him home from church tonight because of his infection, but he seems to be feeling much better than he did this morning. It's probably the adrenaline!

red pancakes anyone?

David was coming home for lunch break when Dennis asked "Daddy, can you make me pancakes?". David said he didn't know if we had everything we needed to make them and Dennis said "we have lots of eggs and we have that pancake sugar box" and David remembered that he'd bought a box of pancake mix. Dennis said "okay--I want you to make me a red pancake!". David did just that, made a batch of red pancakes, and they enjoyed them for lunch. Dennis wanted so much to help him and dragged over the step stool, right up to the stove! David was a bit exasperated and somewhat worried, so he told Dennis that he would make the pancakes. Dennis said "it's not all about you, Daddy." We stared at him in shock, of course! Luckily he changed the subject quickly and began role-playing. He donned David's work hat and announced that he was Daddy. David and I took turns playing "Dennis". David asked Dennis-As-Daddy to read him four bedtime stories, and Dennis said "if I read you four stories, you'll just want five!". We had a big laugh at his cleverness. When it was my turn to be "Dennis", he held his little hand up to my neck and told me "I think you have a fever, and you need to go to bed" and he led me to the library and gently pushed me down onto the futon and covered me up, told me to have a nice nap. I did take the opportunity to ask him "are we there yet?" a whole bunch of times. And he enjoyed the chance to quote his Daddy's most often said phrases. It was a fun hour!