serious naughtiness

We were happy to discover that Dennis does not, in fact, have pneumonia. We finally heard from the pediatrician today. He's just suffering from an upper respiratory infection and the antibiotics he's already taking should clear it up. He's a coughing machine, though, and he had a tough day at school today. His teacher told me he was fine as long as he was sitting, but when he started getting up and moving around, the coughing took over.

We lunched with Gran and Pop after school. Dennis has been asking to go all week to see them, so I dosed him up with cough and cold medicine and we headed over there. I wanted to help Gran with the rest of her outdoor Christmas decor, and Dennis got busy stringing garland along the chairs on her balcony. He brought out Pop's collectible army jeep and figures and asked if he could play with it out there. I told him he could as long as he sat at the table. He did this for a short while before begging to be allowed to drive it along the floor of the balcony. Gran asked him to be extra careful while doing this. It never occurred to me what was going to happen until, moments later, he walked over to us and said "I need to go get something; I'll be right back." Suddenly, I had total clarity. He drove the jeep over the edge of the balcony and down to the ground below. I asked him if this is what happened, and he said it was an accident (this part I'm still not sure about--I think the temptation of watching the jeep and passengers soar through the air was just too great). Amazingly, we found the jeep and figures unharmed, deep in the shrubbery below, but it took some major searching and digging through wet vines and leaves. I took him home then and put him to bed where he stayed for three hours, not feeling good enough to go to his Taekwondo class. He spent the rest of his evening playing in his room and with us, and he actually asked "will you come and tuck me in now and read me a story? I'm really tired!".

Neely the Elf was very busy while we were asleep and away. This morning, Dennis found him in the toilet paper roll, apparently rolling around the bathroom and leaving a trail of paper. After school, we found that he and Buzz Lightyear had rigged up a climbing harness from rope and a tiny keychain carabiner. We caught him rappelling from the ceiling fan while Buzz held the belay rope on the floor. And Lemonade got into his own mischief, returning from an outside romp with a belly that looked like he might have eaten a tire. He was round and uncomfortable but soon barfed up half a crateful of grossness, so he seems to be on the mend. I'd settle for a day with a little less mischief tomorrow. Even the kids in my class were wild and naughty today, so much so that I posted this note on my door before pick-up: "Mrs. Christi's class will not be receiving progress reports this week--Santa knows what they did!". I just couldn't bring myself to write six notes home about bad behavior, though I did send prizes home with the two kids who I didn't have to correct all day.