Returning to normal

Dennis made it to school today, thank goodness. It apparently exhausted him beyond measure to be there--when we saw Daddy on his lunch break, Dennis couldn't keep still. It worsened when we went to Gran's for a cookie break. And he'd almost expired when we stopped by the library to get books. He played with the trains there for a while before crashing into one of their super nice beanbag chairs to read a Little Einsteins book. I've forgotten to record that show for him, and I should do so more often to influence his musical education. He enjoyed learning about composers and instruments back when we occasionally watched it.

After a long nap (for him and myself), we had a very nice visit with Uncle Denny. Even though it's a struggle to get him to cooperate and endure the eye drops, he's starting to feel better and maybe get well. I certainly hope he will soon be restored to perfect health!

so discouraged

Dennis had a stellar morning at Gran's house with 4 hours of nonstop play. When I came to get him after my work at school, he greeted me at the door in a clown costume (the same one that Michael and I dressed in as children and the generation before us as well). Lunch was ready when I arrived, and it sure was a treat to have grilled burgers out in the garden (Dennis' idea) on this beautiful day! Dennis wasn't happy to learn that we were going to the pediatrician after lunch, and I wasn't happy when we waited and hour and forty minutes to see the doctor. Dennis amused himself with my phone, playing a Lego game, reading along with The Cat in The Hat, and watching a Netflix movie. Thank goodness for technology! Not only did it keep him entertained, but it also kept his hands off the waiting room toys that were being played with by children with horrible coughs and red faces. Bad news from the doctor: his ear infection hasn't cleared and we've been sent to an ENT to discuss having tubes put in. I don't have my appointment date as of yet, but I already hate the thought of my precious little one needing surgery, even as commonplace and minor as that procedure is. His eye troubles might be the result of allergies. We have new drops (two types), and we are to restart him on allergy meds. I just want him to get well and stay that way. He told the doctor "I think it's the wintertime that makes me sick--I've been sick all winter!". Yes, he has. It's heartbreaking.

He did have some great fun this afternoon. He played in the dirt for an hour upon our arrival home. His friend Maddox (and Maddox's sister Mattie) came to his bring-a-friend night at Taekwondo and they all had a great time together. When we got home, we all 3 snuggled up in our bed and watched Finding Nemo. Immediately afterward, we put one tired little man to bed with no protests. It has been a VERY long day.

future blogger

Dennis has 2 pink eyes tonight. He asked if Gran can babysit him in the morning, and she has agreed. He had an easy day of lounging around--all 3 of us did. And when I asked him what he'd been doing, he replied "lying on the couch with Dad, you know, just hanging out." He seemed to feel okay, other than the drippy eyes. Tonight we put him to bed, and he didn't stay there too long before he appeared at our bedside, saying "I'm scared of being alone in my room." He wanted help finding Froggy. When David went to search, Dennis said "guess what I've been doing in my bed. I was writing your blog." I asked him if he was writing on it his (toy) computer, and he said he was. I told him I couldn't wait to see what he'd written, and he said "oh, no--I already shut my computer down!". I asked him if he'd just tell me what he'd written, and he said "QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ. That's what I wrote!". Yep, that was his day!

re-pinked

Just when we were beginning to think we were healing from our plagues, I happened to glance at Dennis and notice that his left eye had turned an angry red. A couple of hours later, it began to ooze nasty looking stuff. We still have about a third of the bottle of his antibiotic eye drops (it's only been 2 weeks since this happened the first time), so we started him on those right away. He still hates the whole eye drop process. I can't figure out if he picked this up from his toys or from handling a shopping cart somewhere. He had completely healed before. I imagine we'll be visiting the doctor on Monday to see what we can do for him and to make sure his ear infection is gone. Again, we'll be missing church, which I just hate. I was supposed to teach Sunday school. I just want poor Dennis to get well and stay well!

more than ready for bed

When I went in to check on Dennis last night, to give him the last hug and kiss for the evening, he was apparently extremely tired. When I walked in the door to his bedroom, he asked (grumpily) "why are you disturbing me?". I told him I wanted to give him a goodnight hug and kiss. He said "okay, you can have one more hug and kiss, but then you have to go to bed, Mom." He sounded just like us! We often have to tell him the same thing! I was happy to give him the approved hug and kiss and leave him to fall asleep. He was one tired little guy!

Today he failed to take his nap. He did try to nap, but after an hour or so (and him asking me twice if he could get up yet), I heard much noise from his room. I walked in to find him lying in bed and holding the string that controls his window blinds. He was letting them up and down repeatedly and chattering about light and dark. I let him get up and play with his Legos. He would almost rather do that than leave the house, but when a supper invitation came along, he insisted we go and meet the family at San Marcos. I'm glad we did. He was so wired by the time we headed out that we skipped our planned Walmart trip in favor of getting him home. We had a Family Movie Night, watching A Bug's Life and cuddling together on our couch. I bet he goes to sleep easily tonight, too!

orange ninja

Today Dennis told me "I am a Lego artist" as he showed me a submarine and a helicopter that he built. He's right. He's making increasingly elaborate creations all on his own. I'm so proud! I'm also proud that he earned his new rank tonight--he's now an orange belt! He celebrated by swimming at the gym (after the dinner ceremony at the gym) with Gran & Pop.

Tonight on the way home, I tried to call David. Dennis told me "Mama, you're not following the law of the road. You are not supposed to make any phone calls while you are in a car and driving. And you should never yell real loud in a car because that might distract the driver!". He's right. But the road was blocked on the way home by an accident, and I wanted to make sure David had made it home from the gym earlier. Dennis said "he's probably home sleeping. Or maybe he isn't answering the phone because he's busy building you a love present and he wants it to be a surprise." If only... But we were happy to discover him safely home when we arrived. And then I was able to yell at him for the infraction Dennis told me about in the car as he was buckling his seatbelt. He said "I couldn't get my seatbelt to buckle on the way here, and I told Daddy but he wouldn't help me--he just told me to be really still." Grrrr. Bad anytime, but ESPECIALLY today when the roads were covered in water from heavy rain. Thank goodness nothing happened. It still doesn't diminish my irritation that he couldn't take one minute to help Dennis get safely strapped in. It made me wish I'd brought him to work at the gym with me instead of letting him come later with David. He's too precious to take chances like that!

not this, too

It isn't the best way to wake up in the morning. When your kid runs in crying and whimpering that he feels like he's going to throw up, you pretty much throw your plans for the day out the window. He spent the morning on the couch instead of at preschool. By lunchtime, he was completely better. And, incidentally, (fortunately) he never threw up. I know there's a virus going around, and I feared we'd been hit, but he ate well and played for the rest of the day. Maybe we dodged a bullet (we seem to be blessed that way lately).

We had some nice cuddle time this evening. I love when he comes up to me and says "Mommy, you're the best mom I could ever have" and "Mommy, you're my favorite!". He's sure a lovable little guy. I hope he feels better in the morning. David and I are STiLL trying to recover from whatever it is that's causing the cold and cough misery that's been plaguing us for way too long! I can't fathom dealing with stomach ills on top of that!

an uncomfortable preview

Today at various times we were treated to a sampling of teenage type behavior from our beloved four year old. Doors were slammed in our faces. He stomped off with full mad face, arms crossed with angry purpose. And then there were tears after each episode. He was angry at having to take a nap, so angry that he pushed, kicked, and hit me while screaming at me. When he woke up (after THREE hours), he told me "That was just a pretend fight before. I really did need my nap." Clearly he did. Tonight, David was headed in to play Transformers in Dennis' room with him when the dog ran into his room and ate the pizza he had taken in there to finish while he played. Oh, the tragedy. He was very mad at Lemonade and mad at us for having no sympathy (really, he took the pizza in there TWO HOURS prior to this incident. I think he'd have eaten it in that time if he'd really wanted it). He slammed his door in our faces. Then he followed me to the bathroom and grabbed that door and slammed me in there. He lost his playtime with his Daddy as his punishment, and he cried like we'd broken his heart. I hope he's just having an off day. I'd really hate to have to deal with facing that temper (CLEARLY inherited from me) more often. He's been very emotional, and it could be a little bit attributed to the very real fear from yesterday's storms. I miss my easygoing little happy person today.

I should note that, in between his sessions of mad, he needed (and got) lots of hugs and snuggles. He asked me this afternoon to pick him up and hold him, and when I did, he said "oh yeah--that's what I like!". And this morning, he awoke (in our bed) and told me his legs were having their own birthday party today as he wiggled them all around in the air. His sense of humor is still intact!

He is comforted by the fact that no family members suffered much damage from the tornado. He was a little concerned about Uncle Denny not being able to open his front door (which we imagine is swollen from water/humidity). He said "I bet there's a troll on the other side of the door, holding it shut. That's why he can't open it!" Many giggles accompanied this statement. Surely tomorrow will be a better day.

surviving the storm

It was a near miss, an extremely close call. Those pictures you might have seen on the news of the trailer park decimated this morning? Not even a mile from us. We lost trees. The greenhouse roof was torn off. The tree right outside Dennis' window blew down (thankfully away from the house and just inches from the car). I watched the weather reports almost all night. When I started to doze off, I gathered Dennis from his bed and brought hm to ours. Fifteen minutes before the storm was scheduled to arrive, the three of us were huddled together in our hallway under a futon mattress. We were scared, sure. Dennis was playing a game on the phone, and when the power went out, we activated our mobile wifi and searched the Internet for information. Texts came in from friends wanting to be sure we were In our safe place. We heard howling wind and felt a breeze blowing around us. We pulled down on the mattress, huddling together. Tabasco climbed in with us, anchoring us further with 100 pounds of scared lab. Lemonade cowered in his crate. The sound really is like hearing a train. We weren't sure when it was over, when we could emerge, and so we huddled for quite a while. We shone flashlights around the house, finding that our side door had blown open but seeing no other damage. We napped for a bit before David got up to head to work. He came back in to tell us what damage was visible with the rising sun. As scared as I was while it was happening, seeing all the destruction around the house terrified me. Yes, it was a tornado. Yes, it hit our place. Our attic vents on either end of the house were blown out. Dennis' play tower was picked up and flipped upside down. The tops of oaks and pines were snapped off and lying all around. Trees are twisted, limbs are everywhere, and our house is still standing, our cars unscathed, our lives spared. Thank you, Lord, for the miracle of being alive and sheltered tonight, even with the comfort of electricity returned to us. Oh, we are blessed!

gross humor

Dennis ran excitedly to me, jumping up and down, asking "Hey, Mom, would you like to hear the grossest, pootiest, baddest joke ever?". I said I would (bracing myself). He grinned and enchanted me with this incomplete tale: "Once there were two poo-poos and two pee-pees. That's all I've got so far." Thank goodness! Then he asked if I'd like to hear the "pee-ist" joke ever. I told him I'd pass. Most of the time we are pleased and delighted by his sense of humor. He's mastered sarcasm and his delivery on comments is flawless. But every once in a while, he regales us with these little gems that remind us that yes, he's still a small boy!

drops of what?

He marched around the house this morning yelling "Cover everything carefully! I don't want to see a drop of paint anywhere but on the wall!". Since we are not, in fact, painting anything, I asked him what he was talking about. He said "I heard it on my Rescue Heroes movie--they were painting the station." Oh. Laughing, I headed to the bathroom (the paint lecture having woken me up). I wasn't in there long before he burst into the room, dancing wildly and saying "hurry up, hurry up! I don't want to get a drop of pee anywhere but in the toilet!". I hurried, of course. I was somewhat hindered by how hard I was laughing at the joke he made!

oh the horror

Our son can certainly grow some fingernails, toenails, and hair! His hands always look as if he's been working under a car somewhere. Tonight I told him he needed a manicure and pedicure and then had to tell him what those were. He submitted to the fingernail trimming easily but was a bit fussier about his toes. He doesn't like to have the nails on his little toes trimmed. I understand his reasoning. Those nails are about as thick and tough as the hard plastic case I keep on my iPhone. We don't particularly enjoy trying to cut those nails. We'd already dealt with rabid screaming and thrashing while attempting to put in his eye drops. More ensued for the toenail clipping, but, even worse, we found a splinter in the top of his foot. It's a good thing we don't have close neighbors. Oh, the screaming! David and I are still traumatized. And scarred. His thrashing and kicking made us hurt ourselves with the implements of extraction (tweezers and needle). I was able to pull out a long shard of something fairly easily. For over a week, he told us it was just an ant bite on his foot. I knew it should have healed by now. After all the screaming was over, he admitted that it had been hurting him to wear shoes. He hadn't wanted us to know because "I HATE having to get splinters taken out." Yes, we know. The dogs even commenced to whining at all his protesting. We explained that we weren't trying to hurt him, and he told us he thought we were hurting him on purpose. So the three of us sat on the couch, nursing our hurt feelings and battle scars, until I had the idea to look at tree house plans. He perked up, of course, and has decided he wants a tree house painted all his favorite colors, "this tall so all 3 of us can be in it" and "with a zip line to my playhouse." All this happened shortly before his bedtime. I hope he's dreaming happy treehouse dreams.

He tests for his next Taekwondo belt on Monday night. I can't wait to see how he does!

penguin day

Dennis was able to rejoin his regular class today in time to learn all about penguins. He has educated me about how they slide on their tummies and how they eat fish. They heard a story about a penguin that wanted to learn to fly, a story he apparently really loved, and when they came to the science class I was teaching, his entire class waddled in like penguins. In science, they played Don't Break the Ice, which as it turns out is a hugely popular game for preschoolers! I also had them try to stick a penny to their cheek and then add a drop of water to the penny and try it again (since the water forces out the air between the penny and the skin). They were happily amazed.

Tonight Dennis and David went to church while I stayed in to rest up my immune system (which is still losing its battle with this cold or whatever that I have). Dennis has been jumping around in vigorous health today, and his eyes look perfect. He hates the eye drops that he is supposed to take 4 times a day. The drama increases with each dose. We might have to get one of the dogs to lay on him by the time we get to day 7!

isolation at school

No, our little social animal isn't experiencing any ostracism from his friends. He went to school with a disgusting looking eye. His doctor assured us he was able to go to school today, but his eye was still oozing a bit and he felt the need to rub it often. Since I had my own class to teach, we decided to set him up with movies and toys in the science classroom next to my class. We checked on him often, and he peeked into my room during story time. His teacher came in to do his special projects with him while the rest of his classmates were in music class. He was fine but needed a few hugs as the day went on. He helped himself to all the coolest science toys, so I had a good bit of Lysol-ing to do after our day was finished. All the teachers spoke to him. We all hated that he had to be alone so much, but he understood why. Later this afternoon, his eye began to improve rapidly. It looks mostly normal now, thank goodness. I wish mine had healed that fast.

Tonight he helped me do some cleaning at Uncle Denny's house and listened avidly to If I Ran the Zoo by Dr. Seuss. He made up some interesting animal names of his own on our way home that I wish I wasn't too tired to remember.

difficult lessons

Last year on Martin Luther King Jr Day, I debated what to tell Dennis about who he was and why he was important. It's not that I didn't want to educate him about a man who worked so diligently to right some very grievous wrongs. I didn't want to tell him that people were ever treated differently because of skin color. I was debating it again this year, and we were headed out to the pediatrician when he asked me why we didn't check the mail and then why it didn't come today (" it's Monday, Mom"). I told him it was a holiday. He said "okay" and we probably could have ended the conversation there, but I forged ahead. I told him it was a day to celebrate Martin Luther King. Dennis wanted to know if he was the King of America and did I ever meet him and did he come to Alabama... I told him that Martin Luther King taught us that we should love each other no matter what color we are, that we should respect and treat all people with kindness. He said "you mean people didn't do that? Jesus said we should love each other, and God made all the colors of people and loves them all." I told him that some people didn't respect people that were different colors. He asked what it meant to not respect them. I told him it would be like being mean to Grace because her hair is yellow or being mean to Daddy because his eyes are brown or treating Zoe badly because her skin is brown. He agreed that would be terrible and said "God wants us to all love each other even if some people are pink or brown or purple!". I told him that's what Dr. King was famous for teaching. And then we arrived at the pediatrician's office which happens to be right beside City Park. That's when we noticed that a parade was lining up. Dennis stood outside and waved and watched it go by and didn't want to come inside the office (he has an eye infection AND an ear infection, poor thing), and I told him that if the doctor visit didn't take too long, we'd go find and watch more of the parade. We caught up with it downtown and he waved and smiled at everyone (and wanted to march along but didn't feel good enough). When we got to Winn Dixie to drop off his prescription, he excitedly told everyone about the Martin Luther King parade and how we should be nice and love everybody. I'm glad he got the message. He asked me how I learned about MLK, and I told him it was in school. I wonder if he'll be as horrified as I was when I learned how bad it really was. When he's older, we can talk more about it, but I think he got just enough information for someone his age.

torture Chuck E style

Today was not the first time Dennis attended a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese, but it WAS the first time that I had to attend! Clearly, I love children. I spend hours with them every week, on purpose even. Children at Chuck E Cheese are not at their best. And there are HOARDS of them packed into every square inch of the place, fighting for turns to do the attractions and games. Wow! And Dennis had such a wonderful time that he's asked for a party there himself (not going to happen). It was too loud in there to even carry on one word conversations. I had to bribe him with a trip to the Lego store so we could leave without tears. Zoe and family met us at the Lego store and we took the kids afterward to let them wear themselves out on the McDonald's playground. Dennis had an awesome day. I'm almost glad I didn't feel well. I was too tired to care about being sandwiched in amongst what Dennis said were "two hundred thousand kids" at Chuck E Cheese. I've been sick for so long,and I do wish so hard for wellness. My eye is still kind of gnarly looking, bright red (but not oozing anything today, hooray!), and I'm hoping this might be the end of the pinkeye relapse. Dennis started sniffling and sneezing today, so there's no telling what might be coming next.

He and Grace had a temporary falling out. He had told me "Grace said she isn't my girlfriend anymore because I can't hula hoop" but apparently things are okay again because he says she's his girlfriend again. I don't think he's her only boyfriend, though. And he has Zoe and Chloe in his own repertoire.

Tonight he told me he wants to go to our house tomorrow. Me, too. That's where we are at the moment and where we plan to be all night. He says "tonight we are staying in this hotel room, but tomorrow we will go to our real home." I asked him where our real home is and he replied "in the trees!". I loved this answer! I'd love to live in a tree house!

I'm adding his school picture, which I just love!

living with a Gangsta

We left school today (I taught the science classes today to make up for being out), and Dennis asked if we could go out for lunch. We met up with Gran, which he loved, and on the way home, he asked "can I put on shorts and a short sleeve shirt when we get home so I can be one of those dancing guys?". I couldn't think of a reason not to, so I agreed to it. We got home, and he changed into his shorts and tee while I changed into a sweatshirt. It was COLD today! He asked for sunglasses and a bead necklace, donned a ball cap, set my iPhone to play hip hop music, and entertained the heck out of himself (and me) for the next 15 minutes. Such moves I have not seen before! And oh, what a break dancer he's become! He took an excellent nap afterward, so I'm pleased with his choice of activity.

Tonight we sat together on the couch and made up stories about Toe Spies and Ears on a mission to find their list drums. We giggled lots and snuggled just as much, and we all decided to go to bed kind of early. Bliss!

toasty toes

Tonight at Taekwondo, Dennis broke 5 boards, 4 with his hands and the 5th with a side kick. His instructor had been wanting him to break one with a kick, and he finally insisted he try it. He and his teacher appeared at child care (where I was working) with a stack of broken boards, each labeled with the move he used to break them. Dennis was a bit teary-eyed, and I correctly guessed that he objected to breaking the board with a kick. I'm pleased that he was talked into it and now knows he can do it.

After his lesson, he stayed with me in the child care room for a while, and then Gran came to take him swimming. I think they had a great time. He did swallow too much water and threw up in the pool, I heard, and Gran told me afterward he said delightedly "I'm swimming in pizza!". That's not only completely disgusting, but it's also what he begged me to pick up for supper on the way home. I can't believe he wanted pizza and I can't believe I consented! We ate together and then curled up together in front of the fireplace. He stuck his feet up on the hearth to warm them, and he curled up beside David as I read aloud from The Hobbit (which David began reading to him on January 1, and which he loves).

I am completely exhausted. I was worn out after teaching this morning, even though only 5 of my students were there today. And tonight at the gym, there were 16 at any one time, ranging in age from 10 months to 14 years. January is a BUSY time at a gym! I was nearly overwhelmed by the number of kids in that small room, much less the noise and worrying about keeping the little ones safe while the bigger ones played! So I'm going to be very happy to go on to sleep, just as every other legally allowed creature in this house has already done. (I don't presume to know what the moths or whatever else might be sharing our home are up to). The guys (human and canine) are snoring away!

playing hooky

Having been sick for what seems like forever, I was happy to feel as if things might be improving today. My eye is about 90% better, my throat doesn't hurt as much, and other than exhaustion, I've felt pretty decent. When Dennis told me he wanted to stay home from school today, I let him. He told me he hadn't had enough Mommy attention lately, and he's right. We spent our morning snuggling or playing. It's hard to be Supermom when you're sick, and it was nice to feel good enough to play with him this morning. Tomorrow I plan to return to reality, both of us going to school in the morning. It almost feels like a Big Event, even though he did go to school yesterday and I didn't.

When David got home from work, he and Dennis watched a Mythbusters special about superheroes. We should not have been surprised when it was time for church and Dennis appeared in his Flash cape and boots, wielding his Jump Rope of Justice. David was a good sport and let him wear his cape to church. The jump rope stayed home. Tonight as it drew near to bedtime, we saw an elaborate rescue scene in progress. The jump rope was tied to both ends of his bed and various Rescue Heroes dangled along its length from their grappling hooks and special ropes. I never did find out if it was real danger or if he was running them through another training session. He's a good little team leader!

plague house

Who put a pox on our house? I was too sick to go to church yesterday and too sick to work at school this morning. I had a sore throat and ear pain and fever. And it looks like I'll be having a day off tomorrow as well, thanks to an increasingly worse case of pink eye. My eye is oozing yellow gunk and hurts pretty bad.

Dennis is healthy and happy to the point of irritation to those of us who don't feel as good. He's been waking up singing, playing jokes on us, jumping on us, laughing maniacally at random intervals... He's been a real barrel of fun. He did clean the living room some so that he could set up an airplane museum. He brought me a ticket to my bed and told me I'd need to bring the ticket and a quarter if I wanted to visit his museum. Then he told me he was on lunch break, and then he said "I had to close the museum--there were too many people there!".

That's my boy! He recently told me he hated Walmart because there were just too many people. He doesn't hate Walmart. That's a direct quote from his Mommy's mouth! I don't do so hot shopping in a crowd.

a new manipulation

We were in the car on our way to Dothan yesterday when Dennis decided he was hungry. He'd had a snack and Granny was fixing our lunch, so I told him he'd have to wait to eat any more food. He whined "but my blood sugar is getting low--it's dropping and I need something to eat!". I have never heard him use this particular argument before, and I have to wonder if he has associated it with Granny. I'm prone to low blood sugar sometimes, so I could be the culprit, I suppose. He tried the same ploy tonight when it was time for bed, telling me "my blood sugar is too low, and I need a peppermint." We asked him how he could tell, and he said "my stomach told my brain--that's how I know!". The peppermint seemed to solve the problem (the imagined one), thank goodness!

no laughing matter

We were sitting at lunch today, the three of us, when Dennis suddenly announced "you should never try to fly on your bicycle, Daddy. It's very dangerous." David smiled a bit and Dennis said "it's not funny, Dad. I'm serious." I still had a straight face, but David was starting to lose it. Finally fed up with our disrespect, Dennis slammed his hand down and said (angrily) "this is no laughing matter!". And then, for me, it totally became a laughing matter, but I disguised it well. I agreed that he should never try to fly on his bicycle. And maybe he shouldn't watch America's Funniest Videos with us anymore. Flying bicycle, indeed.

funny little diner

We took Dennis out to lunch today after school. He picked 7 Place Cafe, a place we've been wanting to try but hadn't. The food was superb! After we'd finished our meal, our server told us she would be right back with our 'tickets'. Dennis said "great! Tickets to where?". We explained what she meant by tickets. He seemed to get it. The greatest part was when we were leaving and David was leading us to a different door than the one we entered. Dennis was having none of that. He walked to the familiar door and announced "you do whatever. If you need me, I'll be in the car." And he walked on out the door. I followed him rather than David, laughing to myself and making sure he got safely to the car. He is such a little clone of both his parents!

dog training by Dennis

I don't know why I haven't remembered to confiscate and hide the New Year's noise makers. Yesterday morning, I awakened to the sound of one being blown repeatedly. After he blew it (and thank goodness he was on the other end of the house) a couple dozen times, I heard a new pattern of noise emerge. Honk--howl--honk--howl... He was blowing the noisemaker horn and Lemonade was howling along, eerily singing the same awful key as the noisemaker. It started off as irritating and yet slightly funny, and after the dog joined in the noise party, I was laughing hard. Dennis was giggling too, and it was a cheerful start to our morning.

Tonight we went swimming. What else do you do when it's 30 degrees outside? As it turns out, Gran decided to join the gym where we go, and tonight we met her there and enjoyed a nice swim in their very warm indoor pool. Dennis brought along some toys and conducted some "water rescues" while sitting on the pool step after he'd had enough swimming. He moved to the end of the pool (where a shelf/ledge/seat runs the entire width) and happily scooted along until he reached one of those spouts where filtered water renters the pool. He apparently sat just right because his eyes got big and he announced in an incredulous way "my butt is getting sucked up by the pool!". He wasn't worried. He was intrigued. He wiggled around to actually try to get "sucked up".

Fortunately after his return to school (where we both had a really great day) and swimming, he fell right to sleep without all the usual drama at bedtime.

warm & cozy

We enjoyed our first fire in our new fireplace on this extremely chilly evening! David sat down on the end of the couch in front of it and gazed at it for awhile before he dropped right off to sleep. Tabasco wandered in and settled right in front of the fireplace as if he'd FINALLY found where he was meant to be. The fire is out now and we're settling into bed, and Tabasco elected to sleep in Dennis' room. We don't know why. David and I have both stepped on him in the middle of the night on our way to the bathroom, and I suppose he figures that being stepped on by Dennis will hurt less.

When we lit the log in the fireplace, Dennis reeled off a long list of fire safety rules. After a half hour, he wanted to go outside and inspect the chimney. Since I remembered (too late) that we are under a fire weather warning, I accompanied him outside and we checked everything out. No sparks anywhere. He also wanted us to put the fire out after an hour or so, saying that we'd had enough and we needed to make sure it was out before bedtime.

We return to school tomorrow. Dennis is so ready, and I am technically prepared but maybe not mentally so. My break from 8 two-year-olds bought me intense one-on-one time with one four-year-old. He talked nonstop for our whole break! He needed constant attention and me or David as his playmates. I'm glad he will see his friends again. Maybe if I hadn't spent a good 2/3 of the vacation sick, I'd be more anxious to return to work! I admit that I'm excited about seeing my class again!

Dennis told me tonight "you're a pretty hot-looking person!". I suppose this is his way of calling me a hot mama, and I thanked him profusely and kissed him into fits of giggles. His giggles are the best sound in the world!

welcoming 2012

Dennis slept until 10 this morning. I guess we partied too long last night! In an attempt to reset our sleep schedules for the impending return to preschool, I declared today as No Nap Day. He was in full support of this choice. He did have to "just lay down for just a minute" a few times, but he never went to sleep. He's at the very end of his staying awake rope now, and he's marching through the house blowing his noisemaker horn from last night. He won't make it too much longer.

We didn't go anywhere or do anything until supper tonight when Dennis' Grandma hosted our traditional New Year meal. We enjoyed black-eyed peas and hog jowl, greens, cornbread, corned beef and cabbage, and a super delicious chocolate cheesecake that Gigi brought. Our contributions were grapes (one sweet month for each grape eaten!), tea, and a hatful of New Years resolutions that I made up. We drew for our resolutions, and it was pretty fun to see who got what. Dennis will make a new friend, plant a tree, memorize a bible verse, and not pick his nose in public this year. David will get more exercise, be more patient, and read his bible more often. Pop has to take a barefoot walk, play more, catch a fish, and eat delicious chocolate. Gran will sing out loud, read 5 books, and be silly more often. I will create something of my own design and write someone a letter. Gigi will dance, Grandma will paint something red and play outside more. Bob will thank God often and with joy and will do something special for someone. There were others, but those are the ones that came to mind! Seems like there was a donation to a good cause (Gigi) and telling someone how special they are (Gran), and my mind fails to recall the rest. We had some good laughs and fun fellowship together. Dennis built and played in pillow forts. He walked around with a peppermint stuck in his cheek and tried to sneak a second one in as well. David wouldn't let him, and Dennis protested, saying "I need two so I can be a squirrel!". We didn't want him to have any more sugar, so we denied his request to stuff both cheeks.

The holidays aren't over yet. We're observing the 12 days of Christmas, and we'll end our festivities on Epiphany (January 6). And then we'll begin coordinating the major birthday event that Dennis is already planning.

Happy New Year!