awww, mom

"Hey, Mom, let's play space!" he announced, arriving in our room with his space helmet and his classroom pointer. I replied, "I'm thinking of going to bed early to get ready for our school orientations tomorrow." He asked, "what's the fun in going to sleep? I think we should play space!". Tomorrow is a big day for both of us: he'll learn all about his new class (though he's been hanging out with Mrs. Nancy on and off for a couple of weeks now, watching her get the room ready and doing some toy and dress-up play), and I will meet all my new students and their parents and show them around our classroom and the preschool. I'm nervous and excited about it, and I'm praying for a good year for the children and myself!

No wildcat sightings today! No word that he (she?) has been caught yet, either. And I am two days away from a perfect gym record (every weekday for 4 weeks!). Gone are the lazy days of summer, for sure. I think it might take us a bit to get readjusted to our new busy-ness!

in the wild

In the mornings, I can discern the slightest hints of fall approaching. Breezy, cooler air reigns for just those precious few morning hours. Dennis often asks to go for a bike ride, but we've gone to the preschool every morning lately for me to do all the things I have to do to prepare for the school year. Fall is my favorite time of year, but it's also that time of year when something about the house becomes very Discovery Channel. In the back of my mind, I wonder if it will be (as in years past) a baby copperhead headed for the kitchen trash can, an unusually large invasion of spiders, or a houseful of those nuclear sized ants fighting each other to the death and littering our floors with the crunch of their large, dead carcasses. This year it's something new, something much larger and more predatory. It seems that a tremendous mountain lion has escaped from local (very local) captivity and has made a home in our woods. According to several different neighbors, it's maybe 200-250 lbs, sustained on a diet of neighbor chickens. It's been seen crossing the road every morning just before dawn, and it shows up down the street sometime after lunch. Dogs have been wounded (not our dog), and the cat tried to break into an older lady's home by tearing up the siding and damaging the window on the bedroom where her grandchildren were sleeping. I'm scared to even walk to my car, even more afraid for Dennis. We won't be playing outside until the cat is caught. Cows in the driveway, that was kind of fun, but the wildcat I'm not so much a fan of.

Dennis' room looks like the site of a many megaton toy bomb detonation. He wants to clean it but is overwhelmed and cries in frustration. We tell him to put away all of one thing and then go to something else. This morning he said "guess what I've been doing!" and I asked if he'd been cleaning his room. He replied, "not so much, no," and forgot whatever it was he was going to tell me. He reported, "cleaning my room is just killing me to death!". I expect we'll spend some time in there tomorrow, reorganizing and paring down, and he'll be a happy room inhabitant once again.

Maybe I won't dream about giant wild animals tonight. And maybe I'll never see the thing (sure would prefer not to). Scary times.

new sport!

Dennis had his first Taekwondo class tonight, a free sample to see if he liked it. He did, indeed, and we've signed him up for a couple of months of it. He learned to bow with respect, to follow instructions, to always say "yes, sir", and to pay attention. He learned punches and kicks, different defense positions, ran an "obstacle course" several times, and swore an oath at the end of class thar he would not use what he learned to do bad (the teacher was very specific about what and who he could not hit or kick and made him repeat a long list!). The highlight for Dennis was breaking a board with his fist. He got to bring the broken board home, and he had to show it off to everyone as we left the gym and to Gran and Pop at their house. He goes back on Thursday and he is very excited about it.

cast your worries aside

"Don't worry! Underwear Man is here!" he told us. He was wearing a pair of Transformers underwear and a superhero eye mask and had a red kitchen towel around his neck. This is after he and I performed several rescue missions earlier today (right after we got home from church, as a matter of fact) dressed as Batman and Supergirl. And now, he's in his pajamas, standing at the doorway to give me a "Toy Story Puppet Show". He's making Rex and Buzz have a fight on my bed. He's talking for them and also pushing their buttons that make them talk on their own. He dressed this evening in black pj pants, a red shirt, his knight helmet, shin guards, knee pads, elbow pads, and red rain booths and came in to tell us "I am Optimus Prime--I'm not afraid of ANYTHING!". I hope this is true--he's climbed into our bed at 5 a.m. the past two mornings because of being afraid of things. Never a dull moment around here!

little funnies

Dennis had to stay home from the baby shower today and he was UPSET about it. He came running out to the car in tears as we were leaving, so I walked him back inside and turned on a show for him. David reported to me later that he fell asleep with his arms crossed and his lip poked out and slept for quite a while with his Mad Face on. He was thrilled to get his piece of cake that I brought him.

Tonight in true boy form, he heard me pass gas as he walked by my room. He immediately fell to his back and played dead. Nice. Who teaches boys these things?

fashion icon

Today a giant box arrived in the mail and it was addressed to Dennis. It was full of clothes from Caedmon, and Dennis was DELIGHTED to get all of it. Dennis spent today at the lake with his Gran getting ready for a visit from Ju-Ju and Steve, and David and I took the box there so he could open it and show off his stuff. I didn't know we were going to get a fashion show! He tried on nearly everything, running out to show off a new outfit every few minutes. He's so proud of everything, so thrilled to get it!

noggin trauma

I was taking some things upstairs at church/preschool this morning, and the children's minister stopped me for a chat. Soon I heard terrible crying downstairs in a very familiar voice, and I went running to see what happened. His playmates had left, and Dennis had run to the bathroom. He ran back to his science teacher's room, and she asked him if he'd flushed. When he was running back to do so, he ran into a wall corner (concrete block wall) with his forehead. I arrived as the science teacher was putting some ice in a bag for him and the church secretary gave him a paper towel to put around the bag. He held it to his head for a while (pretty unusual for him to do that) and sat and calmly looked at books until it was time to leave. The big purple knot on his head is about 3/4" north of the fading yellow bruise from last week. He needs a helmet for daily wear, I'm beginning to think. Because of the head bump, he got to skip his nap again today, and I told him to play quietly in his room. After a while, it was TOO quiet, so I went to look for him. I found him sitting at our library table, happily watching a DVD on David's computer. I was flabbergasted and asked him how he knew to do that. He said "you just push the button and it opens and you put in the DVD and close it and it plays the movie." Sure it does. How did he know where the opening button was? How did he get off the DVD start menu and get to the movie? How did he adjust it to play full screen and not in a window? I think he's just wired for technology!

AWANA fun

It was Family Fun Night at church, a night of toss games, inflatable bouncy houses, pizza, Roller Racers, and face painting, all in the cool of the gym. All the kids had a wonderful time and David and I might have as well if we hadn't been working the Roller Racer area, having to time the rides (loosely) and tell kids to get off so others could ride and having to maintain order in the line of waiting children. For two hours. Dennis had a spectacular time, he says, and he looked happy on the rare occasions we saw him go running by or take a turn on a racer. We had to bring his pizza home with us because he couldn't stop playing long enough to eat at the event. He even got his face painted (not something he usually does), happily sporting a red Autobot symbol on his cheek. He did NOT want to leave. I had tentative plans for a Walmart run afterward but it didn't happen. I told Dennis it was because he was too whiny to shop. He said "I'm not TOO whiny; I'm just a LITTLE whiny!". But that was a little too much for us. Now we are getting ready to end the day, and I'm so proud that Dennis washed his face paint off all by himself with water and a rag--with no prompting from us. We did catch him trying to wrap a box with gift wrap and duct tape a few minutes ago, and I'm thinking I'm going to let him wrap the Christmas gifts this year. That'll be something, for sure!

school year preview

We spent four hours at school this morning. Dennis played with Maddox (a 3 year old, grandson of the teacher whose classroom I share) while Jean and I bleached a roomful of toys, scrubbed shelves and cubbies and baseboards, and generally began the process or organizing our classroom for another year of school. I left exhausted, and Dennis left whiny (probably a big contributor to my exhaustion). He whined his way through his Happy Meal luncheon with Daddy and then all the way home and up to the point where he decided that maybe he really DID need that nap I kept insisting he take. He woke from his nap with a stuffy nose. I don't even want to think about what it might be. Surely he didn't get sick from being at preschool before all the other children came (except Maddox). Surely not. The nose explains the whining problem, sure, and he was terribly mad when I told him that he wouldn't be going to child care at the gym this afternoon ("But Mommy, I PROMISE I won't put my fingers in my mouth and then touch toys--I PROMISE!"). I went without him, left him at home in the company of his Daddy, while I bought him some vitamins and tissues and rented him a Redbox movie and went for my workout. I presumed David would go to the gym when I got home, but I arrived home to discover that the two of them had done laundry and cleaned the kitchen and cooked supper while I was gone. David is such a better wife than I am!

Surely it's just allergies, brought on by all the dust we stirred up in the classrooms this morning in our frenzy of cleaning. Surely that's all it is.

fun with Uncle Denny

The adventure started this morning when Dennis asked us to "download a Star Wars game on your iPhone so I can play it." David looked and discovered a Light Saber app and loaded it onto both phones. They apparently work through Bluetooth somehow--all I know is that the two of them were suddenly in a big iPhone-waving, light-saber-sound-effect-producing battle on our bed. Dennis would occasionally grab his stomach and fall over to play dead before resuming the fight. It was great fun to watch! It was so much fun that he couldn't wait to take the phones over to Uncle Denny's to battle with him.

Uncle Denny introduced a new concept to Dennis tonight: bubble wrap. Dennis has popped bubbles on a bubble wrap app, but tonight he was given actual bubble wrap. For a few minutes, I thought he was going to pop bubble wrap to the exclusion of everything else, but the two of them soon got busy baking brownies and watching episodes of Garfield.

David was telling Dennis to stop doing something this morning (something about power tools, I think--sounded dangerous to me). Dennis kept right on and soon I heard (exasperatedly) "Dennis, what part of STOP do you not understand?". Dennis replied "the 'stop' part!". We distracted him with some other fun things to play at the time.

planning his month

Dennis is getting extremely excited that school will start soon. He's helping me plan what's coming up. This afternoon, we were making plans for Labor Day weekend, and he informed me "and then school will start, and then, a few days after that, it will be Talk Like a Pirate Day and I'll say ARRRRRRRHH all day long." Yes, we return to preschool officially the day after Labor Day, but my work has already started. I've made classroom charts (the job chart, the schedule chart, and the locator chart), and I've had Dennis check my work. My class will be comprised of two-year-olds, so my charts have pictures of all the things we'll do or the places we'll be, and Dennis helped me get the right pictures for all the things, letting me know he could identify all the places on the locator chart by the pictures (gym, playground, music, science class, etc). We'll be in and out of the school a good bit starting this week, getting my room ready and preparing for Parent Orientation a week from tomorrow and Student Orientation 3 days after that! Luckily, the teacher that I share my classroom with (she teaches on MWF and I'm Tues/Thurs) will be bringing her grandson when we work this week. Dennis is excited to make a new friend!

This afternoon Dennis attended a United Methodist Women's meeting and painting party. Gigi came to show us how to paint glassware, and Dennis painted a candy dish. It's red, of course. He's very proud of it. He also told the ladies at the meeting "if anyone is through painting and gets bored, I've brought some Transformers for all of us to play with." He finished painting first and spent the rest of the meeting hovering at elbows and asking "who's ready to play with me?". He didn't want to leave the church but was very excited to go to Gran's for supper and swimming (and some great time playing with Pop). It was easy to get him to bed tonight!

cupcakes in the park

"Mom, what would you do if there were two of me?" he asked. "I would be insane," I replied! He said, "Really? You'd run all over the place and scream 'HELP!'?". Yes, I believe I would! This conversation was prompted by a couple of things. The first was the table of whining children next to us at Burger King. The second was that we attended a birthday party for twins Hadden and Katelyn today, celebrating that they are now two! Dennis and Chloe had a wonderful time running around together at the playground where the party was held, and we had a great time watching Hadden open all the presents and play with the two Star Wars figures we got him. Katelyn was too busy holding court on the playground to open her gifts. I respect anyone who has two children (or, gasp, more), but I stand in awe of Jennifer and Hadden parenting twins! A highlight of the evening: watching Dave coaching Dennis and Chloe as they raced each other on side-by-side elliptical machines!

inventions & plans

Dennis picked up his tiny trash can. It's like a small pedal can, only he'd removed the liner/bucket. The bottom of the outer can features 4 cutouts like squares. Gazing through it from the top, it would look like you were viewing someone with a target on them. He aimed it at me and said "this is my Face Dyganner--whatever face I look at through it turns into a robot face." I thought of Calvin from the comic books and inwardly cringed. It's not too big a step from "Face Dyganner" to 'transmogrifier'. Oh boy!

We were telling Dennis our schedule for the day, and he said "no, let's don't come back home for dinner after we go to the gym--we can go out to dinner at WHATABURGER! I'm so smart!". Once we explained that the price of a Whataburger dinner was equal to about 3 Transformers, he was all for coming home to eat. He FINALLY has memorized my phone number, and we rewarded him for such with whatever he wanted from the Dollar Tree. He chose a Transformer coloring book. I'm also extremely proud of the swimming he did today in the pool at the gym. He's getting better and better! But it was a bit embarrassing swimming with the older ladies when Dennis decided to ride on a white pool noodle and suddenly put his hand up to his mouth like a microphone to announce (loudly) "attention--this is my police car--I'm on the lookout for Daddy so I can take him to JAIL!".

Coming home tonight, Dennis negotiated with me for time to spend playing with Gran. I told him he could have 2 or 3 minutes. He said "how about 5 minutes?" and I agreed that was fine. Then he asked "how about 6-7-8-9 minutes? I know! I want TEN minutes--TEN! Because 10 comes after 9." I laughed and agreed and he replied "you knew I'd figure that out, didn't you?". He didn't get any time playing with Gran, though, because he fell asleep in the car. He'll be sad about it tomorrow.

He also told us today about his big plans for Chloe's soon-to-be-born baby brother. He said "will he play with us?" and I told him it'd be a year or so before he could walk, and maybe 2 years before he could talk. Dennis said "that's okay--we'll (meaning he and Chloe) teach him to walk and we'll teach him to talk. I'll even teach him to DANCE!". What a good quasi-big-brother he'll be!

rewarding excellence

Dennis accompanied me to the preschool staff meeting this morning. We were both under the impression that another child would be there, but he didn't come. Dennis was very disappointed and didn't want to eat with us (the teachers). Mrs. Linda D, his science teacher, went and fetched the super cool magnets and blocks from the science room and Dennis spent the next 2 hours happily playing by himself (not quietly) in the next room. We had a very productive meeting! For his excellent behavior, I took him to Walmart and we added another Transformer to our collection. It's like an infestation here. He likes to line them up on maneuvers in various household locations. Just when you think it's safe to sit at the table, you notice Optimus Prime and his loyal Autobot followers standing guard in a perfect line. At least the Decepticons haven't invaded the bathroom yet--it still seems to be safe.

Getting up from his nap, Dennis came to ask me for a "night-night drink". Since he hadn't yet napped and this was the 10th time he'd invented a reason to get up, I got a little angry and told him "no". He replied "if you don't get me a night-night drink, I'll just keep getting up and bugging you ALL DAY LONG." Worked for me. He got a drink and went to bed. I got some work done. I appreciate his honesty.

a minor quake

Dennis is sporting another goose egg on his head tonight. He and I went to the gym, and as we were headed inside, I noticed that he was having a rather extreme spurt of clumsiness. He was attempting to tightrope walk on the concrete parking curbs and kept slipping off. He never fell down, though, and soon we were safely indoors with me checking him into childcare and then doing my workout. I retrieved him from childcare without incident, and we spent a half hour in the pool swimming and playing. We came home to discover that David had cooked our supper, and immediately after that, Dennis went into the den and set up our exercise mats and insisted that the two of us do Pilates. He complained the entire time (even though it was his idea), and after it was over, I was doing a little work on the computer in our library. David was playing a game, and Dennis was flying Buzz Lightyear around the house. Suddenly we heard a loud smack and Buzz went hurtling through the air. Dennis sprawled out on the floor, crying big time. We ran to his aid. He had been running bent over, flying Buzz, and he flew right into the arm of the futon where David was sitting. He banged up his forehead pretty good, and David, trying to distract him while we applied an ice pack and ointment, told him "I thought it was an earthquake!". Dennis wailed "Nooooo---I was flying my Buzz, and I FORGOT TO TURN! And my head really hurts." That was an hour ago. He's got a nice bump, but is now in a cheerful mood, watching a movie while playing in his room (the movie is Cars, and I hear occasional belly laughs coming from him along with random happy Dennis sounds). It's a good thing he's got such a hard head.

pant-icipation

Dennis' new puppy-to-be was born last night. We got the news today, and Dennis gets first choice of the litter of seven. It looks like we'll be owners of TWO Labrador retrievers near the end of September. I bathed the elderly lab this afternoon and thus far have successfully kept him from rolling in mud. It takes some work to wash a big solid animal! Here's hoping he imparts some wisdom and manners to his soon-to-be little doggy brother (or sister if Dennis chooses a girl, which I seriously doubt). I can't wait to hear what he's going to name his dog. So far, the main contender is Optimus Prime Mitchell. That seems like a big mouthful to have to say to call a dog. Other names he's considering: Hiccup or Chuck. I can't wait to see what he decides.

making lemonade from lemons

"But I don't WANT to go home," he whined. Often. I wanted to squeeze in a workout before the gym closed. He wanted to play at Gran's. Gran was going to be busy, so I had David arrange to come and pick him up from Gran's when we got back from Birmingham. "But I don't WANT to go with Dad--I want to play at Gran's and workout with her." She wasn't planning to work out. That was Mommy's plan. Much whining ensued. And then... "hey, I have a GREAT idea! Daddy and I can have a Men's Night and you can have a Girl's Night--how does THAT sound?". Sounded great to me! David apparently took him out shopping while I pounded out today's Couch-to-5K training run on the treadmill (I'm in week 3, and what a great app that is!). It certainly helped me get through the last run of the series when I got a text message that Dennis had insisted on buying me chocolate. What a great incentive! I gave him a big hug when I got home to see the Hershey bar on my pillow and he said "I know, why don't you share it with me?". So I did. I appreciate that he's learned at such a young age the importance of chocolate for women!

understanding Walt's vision

Tonight in the car, Dennis said "I just wish the whole world would be just like Disney World!". We asked him to elaborate. He told us "I would be Mickey, and Mommy, you would be Minnie, and Daddy would be Goofy, and Pop would be Pete, and Bob would be Pluto, and Uncle George would be Donald Duck, and my great great grandfather in Heaven would be another Donald Duck." We asked who Gran would be, and he said "she would just be a regular girl, and Uncle Denny would be another Goofy." He laughed at his world vision but got mad at us for laughing along with him.

we heart the lake

Oh, the bliss of a lazy summer day, 2 hours in the water hanging out with Jim, Jackie, and Zoe (and Gran and Gigi). We swam, canoed, rode the pedal boat (with the kids "fishing" off the back), and ate the usual spectacular burgers-and-dogs-from-the-grill meal. Very very fun. Dennis even took the canoe for a spin all by himself (David was helping in the water up against the side where Dennis wouldn't see him). Tonight I asked him what he did today that was memorable as I prepared to write. He said "you mean me, the cutest one?". Yep. Memorable.

holy roller

Dennis has picked up the sayings "oh, God" or "oh my God" lately and says them for anything, or at least he did until I had a serious talk with him about the 3rd commandment. He has almost nipped the bad habit in the bud. In fact, while I was out getting one of the rental properties ready to show this morning, he stepped outside to watch the neighbor kids doing bicycle tricks. He came in to inform me that he was busy watching the bike show and that I should come out and see it. The next time I went outside, he told me "that kid said 'Oh, God!' and I told him he broke one of the Ten Commandments." I agreed with him and said "maybe we should have told him a little more nicely." I have quizzed him about what movie he was watching when he learned this phrase, but he couldn't tell me. Tonight, when I was relaying this story to his Daddy, David replied "oh, God." Aha. Culprit identified and redirected. I am guilty of this one myself but it's something I'm working on. It's a mighty important and holy name to toss around lightly, especially with a negative connotation.

Lucky me. Tonight while I was recovering from my FIFTH GYM WORKOUT OF THE WEEK (yay, me), David and Dennis were in their respective kitchens working on yumminess. Dennis served me a platter of faux-microwaved plastic fruits and vegetables while I pronounced delicious! And David made chile rellenos. Mmmmmmmmm.... Good thing I worked out first! Afterward, my newest and most favorite exercise buddy and I boxed with the Wii for a while. Dennis is quite the little exerciser. He came into the den a couple of nights ago and caught me about to do my Pilates video (trying to stretch out these achy muscles that aren't used to running PERIOD much less doing it daily). He got out his brand new Kinder Mat and joined me. He did every exercise and did it well, and he was just so darned cute doing the roll ups and stretches and leg circles ! After we were finished, he informed me that he needed some new workout clothes and he absolutely had to have a sweatband. Yep, just like me. Try something new, get new GEAR!

telltale tail

Yesterday Dennis said "if I eat too much, I'll grow a tail, right?". I told him he'd be more likely to grow a belly. This morning he came out of the bathroom, hopping, with both legs in one leg of his pajama pants and the empty pant leg dragging behind him as he had the pants on kind of sideways. He told me to check out his tail (the empty pant leg that he was dragging behind him). We had a fun giggle over that.

Dennis and I left the house to start our errands for the day, and when we got to the foot of our driveway, we saw the lady at the house across the street standing on her porch and gesturing wildly. We looked and saw two cows nearly on her porch, loose cows from who knows where. We laughed with her (but didn't get out of the car) and talked about renegade cows for a while in the car and then didn't think any more of it. When we arrived home, we got out of the car and turned to walk into the house when we heard "MOO!". Guess what was standing 10 yards behind our car. I have no idea how I drove past them and didn't notice, but there they were, a black cow with horns and a black and white cow without, VERY large animals. We all stared at each other for a few comical seconds before the cows turned and headed off into our woods (they must have deduced that a butcher lives here). They might still be there. I have been entering and leaving the driveway very carefully the rest of the day! Dennis and I quickly entered the house, and 5 seconds later, so did the dog (he wasn't a big fan of the cows). We've had chickens, deer, and now cows in our driveway. I hope no buffalo live nearby.

sarcasm

Tonight we pulled up at the Dollar Tree and Dennis said "are we all going in? Is the whole family going inside?". We answered affirmatively, and he began to attempt to unbuckle his seatbelt. David and I were standing outside the car watching him try to get out when he muttered "well, the littlest one isn't going inside--he's going to be stuck in the car forever!!!". We helped him get unbuckled and giggled over his comment.

Also charming: he said a nice prayer for Uncle Denny tonight that went like this: "God, thank you for helping Uncle Denny's surgery and help him to come home safely--umm, Mom, is he coming home tomorrow? (no, Dennis)--and help him to be safe. Amen."

the joy of clean

Since his room was clean today and all the toys were organized, we couldn't pry him out of there! He did, however, insist on company, so I spent a good portion of the early part of my day in his room with him, playing Transformers. He took so long setting up his front of Autobots (good guys) to fight with my Decepticons (bad guys) that my Megatron (uber bad guy) shot all his guys before they were ready to battle. He was not happy about this and ordered me to STOP and leave the room until he was all set up. I did so. When I returned, he'd moved his Autobots into the dollhouse we just brought home from Grandma's, the one he appropriated for his new Autobot Headquarters. I surrounded the house with Decepticons, but we couldn't penetrate his defenses. It was naptime when I left him there, and after he lay still and quiet for an hour and couldn't sleep, I let him keep playing but insisted he stay in his room so I could do Zumba without him underfoot and needing things. He did so. We had a prearranged meeting with his Daddy at the gym, and when I reentered his room to make sure he was ready to go, I saw massive toy carnage. He told me "the Indians and cowboys were fighting, but the Army came in and took out everyone." At least he's somewhat historically active! The really great part? I left him with instructions to get ready to leave, and when I returned, he was indeed ready and his room was once again clean. We met David at the gym, worked out, and went and had a great visit with Uncle Denny in the hospital. We used up our gift cards to Olive Garden on a very nice dinner with a surprisingly well behaved Dennis. The kids at the next table were so awful that I think he began to understand some things about restaurant behavior!

membership!

We used our family gym membership today for the first time. David came home from work and we put on our workout clothes and packed our swimsuits. Dennis spent an hour playing with the other kids in child care while David and I sweated it out in the cardio room, and then all 3 of us hit the (indoor, heated!) pool for a nice family swim. David took advantage of the hot tub to soak his worked muscles, and Dennis and I played with the aquatic dumbbells and enjoyed some swimming. This is the kind of routine I'd like us to establish maybe 3 times a week--good for all of us! Now, Dennis and David are excavating his room. He's not been consistent with cleaning up this week and a big mess happened. I can see we're going to have to start policing it every night before bed. I'm hoping we're all sufficiently tired to go to bed early and sleep well. Tomorrow is a big day. We'll be going to see Uncle Denny in the hospital in the late afternoon if he's up to it and then hanging out in Alabaster afterward for some family fun (I have restaurant gift cards!).

Quote of the day (at 8 pm) "But I don't want to clean my room tonight, I just want to go to bed. I'm TIRED!". I wonder how early he'd get up if he went to bed at 8 when his usual time is 10. I bet he wouldn't sleep until 8 in the morning (which is what we're currently used to)! Just 4 more weeks of that schedule before preschool starts back up, though, and we'll have to rearrange him (and me) by an hour or so. Summer has flown by so fast! Now that my job is on the school year schedule again, I'm certain I can expect summers to always pass quickly! This is a nicer alternative than wishing the hot weather would go away and fall would come, which I usually start doing in early July. Now I'm savoring every precious (hot) minute!

me too

Tonight he informed us "you know, I really like the sound of the rain!". But the sound of thunder has him snuggled in our bed tonight! He had a great day at church and at Laine's birthday party, and he appropriated a dollhouse from Grandma's house to use as a new Autobot headquarters. A good Dennis day over all, I think.

shear terror

I cut his hair today. He hated it. He kept demanding to be taken to a barber. I think he hates the way the cut hair feels when it falls on him. Big drama in our bathroom tonight!

In other news: he baked cupcakes, played Army Ninja, and accompanied us on a trip to Walmart (oh the horror) where we had to buy a car battery and a birthday gift for Dennis' cousin. The car battery seems to have fixed the Tracker's problem, amazingly enough, and we are again a two car family as long as we add water to the radiator in the Blazer every day! Lucky we don't travel too far these days! I'm so glad that we are about to be a two income family again, and I'm so blessed that my jobs are ones that I can take Dennis along! This week I started working for a gym, doing in house afternoon child care every other Thursday afternoon in exchange for a family membership. I see fitness in my future again along with use of an indoor pool to keep Dennis swimming all winter long. What a blessing!

attached

As I walk through the house every day, I can't help but admire the flotsam left throughout, evidence that an active little person shares our residence. I sometimes find the mess a trifle overwhelming, but most of the time, coming across a random small shoe tossed off in haste just makes me smile and remember whatever it was that he was hurrying to do. He has marked this house (and the others he frequents) as his. And he has marked us as well, with kisses and hugs and desire for our attention and conversation. I revel in the chaos that is home--I absolutely delight in it! Each day brings another something wonderful, a new thing learned and shared, a new and poignant observation... Parenting is just incredible!

I especially loved the ghost stories he told tonight after it looked like a storm was coming--he insists on turning off the lights and shining a flashlight up from under his chin as he tells of scary things. Tonight the ghost was gobbled, swallowed without chewing, and pooped out by the people of the outlying caves. Another highlight: Dennis and Uncle Denny made like mad scientists and created some particularly gross red slime. The best part? They had to laugh like mad scientists do as they stirred their concoction. Dennis has one heck of a mad scientist laugh!

power struggle

Most of the time I enjoy being the "fun parent" but today wasn't one of those times. He tried his darnedest to run all over me, tried twice to get his way with screams and pushing. He made his demands, but I held firm to mine. Sometimes it makes me just want to cry myself when he gets so sad over not getting to buy a new toy or go out to eat (today the meltdown was over not getting to go to Burger King). But on these days I do my best to hold my position. I guess he understands. After all our struggles today, he came in and insisted "let's kiss under the mistletoe" and we did (on cheeks, of course) I have a fake sprig of it that I missed putting away with the rest of the holiday decor, and he likes to surprise me with it now and again. Right now he's yelling "MOM!" and "I want a night night drink" repeatedly from his room and I am doing my best to ignore him. He's an assertive little guy, that's for sure. Good thing there's lots of sweetness in the mix as well.

if only

We had a wonderful time in Dothan and now we're safely home. It's so lovely to spend time with family, learning more about where we came from with each story told. Tonight Dennis was feeling especially magnanimous and said "I love every person in the universe and I hope nothing bad happens to any of them." If only everyone in the universe felt the same way he did!

visiting our roots

After our inaugural swim in Gran's new pool (and my appointment to set up our new gym membership--hooray!), Dennis and Gran and I hit the road to head south to Dothan. We stopped at Blue Springs State Park on our way down and frolicked in the cold, refreshing water. Dennis made friends with a family that had waterguns, and they shared with him (much to his delight). He was a frozen, chattering lump by the time we left, and I had to scoop him up and walk out with him. He changed clothed in the back of the van, and he kept yelling "I NEED PRIVACY! DON'T LOOK AT ME!!". He didn't nap, of course, and blabbed pretty much nonstop for the journey.

He was delighted to arrive at Granny's house, and he was so anxious to play with the toys here that he told her we'd already eaten supper. He sat, tortured, and ate supper, and when Granny pointed out the Dennis-sized piece of chicken she had for him, he announced "I want an adult-sized piece." He almost finished it, just left a couple of bites. He played so long afterward that he told me "I need to go to bed now." He seemed a bit unsettled and got back up, so I let him watch a Disney Channel show for a half hour. When I went to check on him, he said "turn that off so I can sleep." I was happy to do so. We spent the rest of our evening looking at old photos and telling stories. So nice to share and enjoy the memories!

pumped

Reunited with an old friend--what a pleasant way to spend a day! Jim has recently moved back to Alabama, bringing with him a lovely wife and 4 year old daughter. She (Zoe) and Dennis quickly established their friendship, and we followed them through the mall today as they checked out those things that 4 year olds like (Lego store, toy store, build-a-bear shop, carousel, McDonalds). We were all set to take them to the dollar movie theater when inspiration struck. I checked and yes, it actually happened to be 'drop in and play' time at Pump It Up, a kiddie warehouse of fun (filled with inflatable jumping, climbing, sliding, and obstacle-course-like structures. It was totally worth the $5 to let them exhaust themselves and get some real physical play without suffering in the near-100-degree hear (ah, August). We took in a dollar movie as well, Kung Fu Panda 2, and Dennis was totally done in after that. You see, he started his day with his 4 year checkup at the pediatrician, getting 4 shots in his thighs (NOT his finest hour).

Two interesting quotes from Dennis today. Zoe likes to be loud in the car (like Dennis) and she was yelling "Bring it on!" very loudly, right in Dennis' ear. He turned and said to her "no, bring it OFF!" and covered his ears. The second quote: "hey--the boo boo on my finger has turned GREEN!". And yes, it actually had. Wish he'd notified us of this when we were at the doctor's office! We are treating it with what we have on hand tonight, but we might make a record-breaking second consecutive day doctor's visit if it looks bad in the morning. I love lime green, but it's not such a great color on skin. He has a tiny lime green dot of infection on the finger he's recently taken to chewing in times of stress or exhaustion or boredom. Yuck.