sneaky, sneaky

Dennis has been practicing his sneaking lately. As we were leaving the bank yesterday, I heard him giggle and turned to see him holding my wallet! He'd opened my purse and grabbed it while my head was turned. He happily turned it over to me, proud of his prowess and stealth. Tonight I went into his room about a half hour after we tucked him in. I was pretty certain he'd be asleep or close to it but was surprised to see an unusual glow coming from his bed. He was lying on his stomach with the covers pulled up around him, playing a game on the iPad with the volume turned very low. More sneakiness!

He's brewing another ear infection, and we get to fight him 3 times a day for the next 10 days as we treat him with ear drops. I hope he clears up soon!

music lessons

Dennis talked about learning about the harp in music class today. Uncle Denny gave him a more thorough lesson on his own instrument--the clarinet. Dennis was delighted to get his hands all over it, learning how it's assembled and cleaned, what the parts are, etc. I bet he will always remember what a clarinet looks like. The other highlights of his evening included a reading of The Lorax (read by Uncle Denny) and hearing the first two chapters of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (the newest book we are reading to him at home--we finished the first Harry Potter last night).

Dennis has been loud and wild today--my ears are enjoying the break now that he's finally in bed! And speaking of ears, his seem to be suddenly unable to hear. He will be seeing his ENT tomorrow afternoon. I hope it's nothing to worry about, that maybe a simple solution will help him.

the moving man

Dennis was a very big help tonight, carrying box after box of Gigi's stuff to the storage building as we all worked to empty the moving truck. We are storing lots of her stuff until she gets a storage building erected at her place. Dennis chanted about being a moving man and he delightedly ran up and down the ramp carrying the lighter boxes.

He just came in my room to apologize for lying to me about having cleaned his room. I accepted his apology and then he said "you seem to be acting like you are a robot." He pulled out from behind his back a red soccer training cone and said "I think you need some oil from my special oil can. You take red oil." And he pretended to squirt it over me. Perhaps this will soothe the muscles that ache so much after all the lifting and the moving and the tree planting and the other rigorous exercises that I have tasked my recently sedentary self with. I have been sore for days!

My date with Dennis

As I'd been promising all week, Dennis and I had a special evening out tonight. We dropped Daddy off in Hoover so that he could go have his "guy night" (he and Jason went to a concert), and then we did whatever Dennis wanted to do. We dined at Chick-Fil-A, both of us enjoying kids' meals, before spending well over an hour exploring Toys 'R Us. He checked out everything, and it was like he was on sensory overload. His eyes whirled as he tried to look at every Lego set! He saw Rescue Heroes toys and Batman toys, checked out Power Wheels Jeeps and go carts, tried on a Darth Vader mask... He completely enjoyed his time there. Next we went to pick up an apple tree and fig tree from Home Depot at Gran's request. We bought a Pink Lady apple tree, not what Dennis wanted ("Mom. I hate pink!"). It is so big that it stretched from the back of the Trooper to touch the dashboard between the front seats. Dennis wanted to go to the bookstore next, and we snacked at the snack bar there and played in the kids' section. I read 12 or 13 superhero and Transformer and Lego books to him and watched him play. We were headed back to get closer to the Walmart where we would retrieve David when I noticed that the 'Hot Doughnuts Now' sign was lit at Krispy Kreme. I took Dennis inside to watch the doughnuts travel along the conveyor belt on their cooking journey (he loved this) and then let him choose one to buy and eat. He chose a chocolate glazed with sprinkles but decided to save it. He did love wearing the paper hat they gave him!

While we waited for Daddy, we chatted and laughed in the car. He asked me if I knew what a "henway" was. I told him "no, what's a henway?" and he replied "oh, about 2 or 3 pounds!". Oh--"henway" is "hen weigh". I totally fell for it, and he chuckled big belly laughs at his joke. He pronounced our date "a real beauty" and was delighted to have a special evening dedicated to himself. I really enjoyed his company! I always do, but he's such a little grown up when we go places, talking to people, asking questions to cashiers... Tonight he asked the bookstore cashier "why is your sink so crazy?" as he held up his shirt sleeve that had been well soaked by its unexpected wild spray. She assured him they would check into it and fix it, and he told me on our way out the door, "see--I always know how to get my questions answered!". He's right. He went up front to ask for the restroom key all by himself (I ran after him but couldn't keep up) when he decided he had to go. He told me he'd go get the key because he was faster! He was right!

We plan to have a repeat date night if he gets birthday money to spend. We are already looking forward to it!

Planting the orchard

Dennis was a big help this afternoon as we planted a peach tree, 2 cherry trees, and 2 plum trees. He is very excited about having his own farm, and he even helped dig the big holes. He fetched garden tools, helped water, and played on the big dirt piles with his construction trucks. He cleaned up the empty plant pots, even. He still retained his Dennis-ness though, asking me if it was okay to climb up and jump on the dirt piles. When I okayed it, he jumped up and yelled "I'm the king of the mountain!". Apparently no one has to teach this game to boys--it is instinctual.

While we were digging one of the holes, Dennis asked "how about if we take turns? I'll dig first and then you dig second." I said that sounded good, and he dropped his shovel and said, "What? You mean you agree with something I said? It's been years since you agreed to one of my ideas!". Comical, yes, but untrue! He has great ideas! He did sound an awful lot like his Dad when he said that, though, and I think his Dad has great ideas, too. Somehow I've been misunderstood. Sure, I often have great ideas myself, but I'd like to think I'm open to theirs as well...

an unusual request

"Mom, could come to the bathroom with me? I'm going to need you in there." "Really?" I asked, "What for?". He replied "I want company while I poop." I laughed, of course, even though he was totally serious. And then I went and sat in the hallway outside the bathroom while he relieved himself. He chatted with me and then thanked me for my company and dismissed me to return to whatever I was doing.

This morning, after I'd peeled him from the bed, he assured me he would get dressed quickly. Nevertheless, as I was gathering backpack, lunchbox, and car keys, he came running into the living room. He was completely naked. He leapt onto the couch, twirled around, jumped off, and as he was running back to his room, he shouted "hahaha... I'm NAKED MAN!". Fortunately he got dressed promptly afterward. Naked Man made us late for school!

Just now he came running in the room (he was supposed to be brushing his teeth) and announced "I know how to make soap water! First you put soap in the cup and then you add water and then you shake it up and that's how you make it. And then you pour it out!". Then he ran back to brush his teeth, saying "I am a scientist!".

a wormy issue

I remarked to David tonight that we need to get the dogs flea treatment and worm medicine soon. Dennis wanted to know why they needed worm medicine and had lots of questions about worms that live inside dogs. He wanted to know if the worms eat dog food while they're in the dogs' tummies. After explaining it all to him, I should not have been surprised at what he told me a short while later. I asked him why he was so quiet at church tonight, and he said he was just shy. I told him that shy was kind of an unusual state for him, and he said "well, it just felt like there were some shyness worms inside my tummy." Great. I wonder if the vet sells a remedy for shyness worms.

unwinding

For a sick kid, he sure had some intense periods of hyperactivity today. It could be the decongestant, I suppose. His mouth was busy every second he wasn't asleep, chattering the day away, reciting character names that he found in his Lego catalog. My ears really got a workout today! He was so bouncy at supper that his Dad told him he needed to unwind. Moments later he was standing in the middle of the kitchen spInning in circles and chanting "unwinding...unwinding".

He asked me about pyramids today and if they were real, so we spent some time learning about the ones in Egypt and looking a pictures of them. He's decided he wants Egypt to be the next country for our international meal. This means we are going to ALL learn together about Egyptian cuisine, because I know nothing about it!

a miracle cure

After church, we rushed to downtown Birmingham to a birthday party at the McWane Center. I got lost trying to find the way into the parking deck and we missed the first part of the rocket demonstration, which I couldn't feel more terrible about. Luckily, one of the kids recorded it on an iPad and showed it to Dennis while he enjoyed his cake. After the party, we rushed through the extremely crowded museum as I tried to let Dennis experience as much of it as he could before we had to head south. He enjoyed many exhibits and the gift shop before we rushed back to town in time for my bible study. He was quiet and tired and didn't complain about his short time in the museum, though I did promise him we would go again soon and spend more time there.

David met me at church and took Dennis home, and when I arrived after the study, David had cooked a spaghetti dinner for us. Dennis didn't feel like eating (very unusual), and was lying on the couch looking glazed and pitiful. Later, he fell asleep in his bed while holding his cup of water. We found him that way before any spill occurred, thank goodness! He felt feverish to us, so we woke him up and medicated him and brought him to bed with us where he soon started a dreadful cough. He coughed on and off for the next hour, trying to sleep between coughs, and we gave him cough medicine when it got so bad he was nearly choking and gagging with each spell. He had tears in his eyes but didn't really complain, poor fellow, and I held him and tried to prop him up to see if that would help. I prayed quietly and earnestly and when he asked me to pray for him out loud, I did so. That's when the cough stopped. It might have been the medicine or the water or the Coca-cola, sure, but Dennis and I know that the prayer was what ended his misery. He's been sleeping peacefully for two hours, cough-free, and we have Jesus to thank for that. How much more sickness will my little man have to endure? It's almost enough to make me want to keep him home for a month (and myself as well) so that he can fully recover, not that it's an option we can feasibly consider. Prayer and diligent housecleaning and hand washing are the routes I'm going to keep pursuing. And lots of rest for him when he can get it and will do it!

we let some good times roll!

Despite miserable cold rain, we had a nice turnout at our Mardi Gras dinner party tonight. As always, we enjoyed some super delicious food brought by everyone. Uncle Denny's jambalaya was my favorite, but everything was so good! Dennis had the best time showing his toys to Uncle Denny before the party and also loved all the wild, rambunctious play with Zoe and Chloe. They wore costumes, they ran around and around in the house, and they were generally (delightedly) loud and boisterous. Dennis needed his cave time a few times and occasionally snuck off to take a moment. He told me "sometimes I just need some quiet!". He's most assuredly a little David!

As we were making our party preparations, David was brewing tea for everyone, a couple of different kinds. Dennis asked what he was doing, and he told him, and Dennis replied, "Well, you can't have a party without tea!". We are raising a southern kid, for sure. He helped bake homemade biscuits for breakfast, the same recipe Uncle Denny taught me years ago in preparation for my marriage to David! This is good because he came and woke me up and said "I've decided I want biscuits for breakfast--will you go make me some?". I gladly agreed to do it, especially if he would help (he's never asked me for biscuits before), and soon he was standing on a chair in the kitchen, rolling dough into balls in his little hands. He tasted a bit and pronounced it delicious and happily ate more than his usual half biscuit at breakfast (probably enjoying the fruits of his own labor).

he has a pain

I don't know who this grouchy little tyrant is that has suddenly taken over the body of my sweet Dennis. This little guy is whiny, doesn't want to get out of bed in the morning for school, and has a bit of an attitude about everything. Occasionally spots of Sweet Dennis would appear, times where there were spontaneous hugs and kisses, but they were spaced few and far between. He was excited to go to child care at the gym, but he didn't want to put on his Taekwondo uniform and when it was time for class, refused to walk to that part of the gym alone (and he usually does walk himself when I'm working). I had to call someone to stand in for me so I could carry him there. He complained and whined, telling me "I have a pain, Mom, and I don't want to go." I asked him where his pain was and watched as he rolled his eyes skyward and tried to think of a reasonable location to have a pain. He settled on his head. David came in after his class started, and Dennis told him about the pain. Even though I KNOW he napped (I checked), he says he didn't. He told David the bad dreams he had while he was trying to nap gave him the
pain that made him not want to go to class. He had another fit when it was time to leave. He wanted to stay with me at child care, and David was planning to take him home and feed him supper. I wanted to do a workout after child care closed, and I couldn't if he was there with me. Again, he was carried away, crying. He did go to sleep with no trouble, though. Maybe he's overtired. Maybe he's not yet used to the way his ears are feeling now. Who knows? I hope it passes quickly! His pain was giving me a bit of a pain!

after Valentines

We had a very happy Valentine's Day yesterday. Dennis surprised me with a cookie cake he decorated himself, and his Daddy brought me flowers and petit fours. We had a party at school, and we had another little party at Uncle Denny's last night. Dennis got LOTS of notes and candy from his friends. I told him he was a special treasure, and he replied "Mom, how you call me a treasure when you didn't dig me up?".

He also gave us a biology/zoology lesson. He walked in and found David and me in the den and said "did you know that the remipede has lots of legs, lives in caves, is blind, and has a really great sense of smell?". He's right. I looked it up. I had not previously heard of the remipede before!

I took Pilot Dennis to church tonight. He insisted on wearing his flight suit, and it was just fine with me that he did. He got lots of compliments on it, but when he walked into his class, they asked him if he was a pilot and he stuck his hands on his hips, rolled his eyes, and said "no, it's a costume of course!". He's such a sassy pants sometimes!

post surgery

Dennis' surgery went very well this morning. He scored a surgeon's special cap, a pair of grippy socks, and a breathing mask to bring home. He raced his doctor to the operating room in his grippy socks. He came to quietly, feeling a bit out of sorts from the anesthesia, but he knew to expect that and was okay with it. I heard him talking to his doctor about frogs (because Froggy accompanied him to the OR), and his doc wanted to know if there were purple frogs. Dennis told him there weren't. The doctor asked him about yellow frogs, and Dennis said "those frogs are reasonably poisonous."

After we left Shelby, Dennis wanted to shop at Target, so we looked at the toy aisles ("only the boy toy aisles") until he found a Spiderman web shooter. When I told him I'd buy it for him, he insisted that we leave right then (before I changed my mind, I guess). He and Gran played with it in the backseat, practicing with loading the "web" strings into it, but he kept insisting that he couldn't shoot it in the car (my rule) despite Gran encouraging him to try it. He was able to shoot it freely once we arrived at their house, and once we got home, he donned his full Spiderman costume and stalked and webbed me. He even felt good enough for some Taekwondo tonight, a light session since his teacher knew he was post surgery.

I was amazed by how smoothly everything has gone today, how good he's felt, but I became alarmed when I heard a terrible coughing and choking spell coming from the bathroom. David and I ran in there to find Dennis in front of the mirror. We asked if he was okay, and he said "oh, yeah, I was just working on my coughing and seeing what I look like in the mirror." Lovely. The only bad part of the day: the ear drops that he LOATHES. Much screaming about those, but they are necessary for 3 days.

little cupid

Tonight, after his bath, Dennis interrupted his room cleaning to chase me with his bow and arrow. He shot me with a suction-tipped arrow and said "Now you'll fall in love with cleaning!". If only it were that simple!!! He told me I'll have to clean my room every night like he does. Good advice, that.

Tomorrow morning very early, he'll go to the doctor's office for his ear tube surgery. He's not nervous at all, and I'm not so nervous myself. He gets to take Froggy in with him. They said he could bring a toy, and I had to convince him NOT to take a Transformer or fire truck. I hope he reacts well to the anesthesia, that he won't be sick afterward. And I hope he's soon able to hear better. He says he'll have super hearing after his surgery, and he asked me to make him a new Super Hearing Man cape ("it needs to have a big ear on it, Mommy") for his new hero role.

Tonight he called me after my meeting at church to ask me to stop and get him some chocolate ice cream ("from the gas station") on my way home. He was very specific about what he wanted, and when he'd imparted the message, he said "okay, bye" and promptly hung up the phone. He greeted me at the door with "did you get my ice cream?". Of course I did! He's having surgery tomorrow!

a stern warning

I have not had the pleasure of Dennis' company much today. I left very early for a day of teacher training in Montgomery, and I came home completely exhausted from that and a poor night's sleep beforehand. I stared into the fire David made for us to warm this cold night for only a few minutes before I fell asleep. I napped until suppertime and napped on and off after that, roused only by the occasional and sweet "hug visits" from Dennis (who wanted to know why my teacher trainings always last "a million hours"). I did hear him tell David as he was trimming Dennis' nails before bed, "you know, Dad, if you cut my little toe off, I'll have to go to the hospital." He was spared that awful scenario. His little toe nails are difficult to trim, sure, but his toes are not in any danger!

eye drama

Yesterday I took Dennis to school with a red eye. Recently reassured by the pediatrician and the ENT that his eye troubles were allergy related, I wasn't very concerned about it. It worsened as the day progressed, and we found ourselves at the eye doctor discovering that he has viral pinkeye. Very contagious viral pinkeye, that is. The school has been notified and disinfected, and we've been washing and spraying Lysol on everything. He looks tons better today thanks to new steroid eye drops.

He had a truly awful day yesterday. He was sad from a hard week at school (more friend drama), he found out he has pinkeye, he didn't get to go to Taekwondo or to swim, and later in the day he developed a toothache (in his front tooth) and then a headache. He cried in pure pitifulness, and we attempted to cheer him with pizza and episodes of How It's Made. I surprised him with ice cream and finally got a smile. He was so worn down from his day that he fell asleep on the couch (sitting up) at 7:40. We carried him to bed where he stayed until he crawled into our bed at 6 AM. He felt much better today, thank goodness!

He's had some nice anatomy lessons this week learning about the parts of him that arent doing so hot. He loved playing with the model of the eye in the eye doctor's office, and he's learned much about how his eyes and ears work (and will soon work better, we hope). I miss my happy little superhero/pirate/magician/fireman/policeman. I hope he's all healed very soon.

party planning

Last night, on the way home from a fun night out with Uncle Denny (our Japanese night!), Dennis told us he was carsick and we gave him some of his medicine. He soon closed his eyes and laid his head against his pillow and got very quiet. David and I started discussing (very quietly) which of us had ever been carsick or seasick and when. We were basically murmuring this conversation almost under our breaths so as not to disturb a sleeping Dennis. After 5 or 6 minutes of this, we suddenly heard a very loud vomit noise from the back seat, followed immediately by gales of laughter. Yep, he got us good. He's gotten way too good at faking puke noises, and his timing on this one could not have been more hilarious.

Last night, he couldn't sleep for talk of his upcoming birthday. He enumerated a list of tasks for me. "Number one: clean every room in the house, and clean them really good so we can set them up as different Rescue Hero stations. Number two: make a Rescue Hero cake, chocolate and vanilla and red velvet and white cake layers in a big round cake on top of a big flat cake with some of my Rescue Hero toys around it. Number three: decorate the whole house with Rescue Hero stuff. Number four: send invitations to my friends (and he listed them) and tell them to dress like a Rescue Hero and to bring a Rescue Hero. Number five: decorate outside the house. Number six: set up a tent so we can go in and put on our rescue gear and be Rescue Heroes. And that's all, just six things, Mom." Whew! Good thing I have 5 weeks! He's even told me how to make the invitations (which is genius and what I'm actually going to do!).

Today he came home from school with a rock in his hand, and he held it as he prayed out loud for his friends to start playing with him at school. He talked a lot about this last night, about how no one would play with him, so I asked his teacher about it today. One kid (who was a good friend to Dennis last year) is now the ringleader of violent play on the playground, and the others follow him. Dennis doesn't like the way they play, so he doesn't join in, and he is sad that he can't get anyone to play his way (rescue heroes or superheroes). He does have kids that play with him, they just don't all follow him anymore, and this has all just happened. Anyway, during his chapel class today, he learned that he could pray about his troubles and that God would help him. Good lesson. Applied immediately and correctly. I'm so proud! And I'm sad for his sadness, but I (and Mrs. Nancy) reminded him that Brody plays with him every day, and he was cheered by this reminder. He gave Brody a big hug as we left school. And his mom and I made plans for each to attend each other's upcoming birthday festivities.

We saw the ENT today. Dennis will have surgery on Monday to get tubes in his ears. The doctor was showing me a diagram of the ear and I noticed Dennis cranng his head and trying to see, so I picked him up and held him in front of the poster while the doctor explained what the tubes will do and where they will go. He understood and asked pertinent questions about the ear picture. He seems glad his ears will feel better after he has the procedure. He listened to every word and asked me on the way home about the gas they would give him to go to sleep. He seems intrigued rather than nervous! I'm just a touch nervous myself. Maybe I'll borrow his prayer rock.

moving right along

I'm amazed at Dennis' memory. Tonight we went to the gym for Taekwondo, a mommy workout while he played with friends in child care, and a swim with Gran. Now that he's an Orange Belt, he has to learn a new form with 17 steps. He learned the first 10 steps tonight. And he demonstrated the steps he had to learn for his current belt again and thus earned 2 stripes on his orange belt. Tonight was his first real class since the testing. Last week was the bring a buddy deal, and he acted as assistant instructor. He was back to his class of one tonight. I'm so proud of how well he's doing!

As we were changing out of our swim clothes, he saw the t-shirt I'd brought him to wear. It was his Camp Carnival shirt from our cruise (almost 2 years ago). He said "Mom, I'm ready to go on another cruise. And I want to go back to their child care thing, I think it was called Camp Carnival. Can we do that again?". It sounded good to me and I told him so. Then he said "I don't think there is a cruise ship in Mobile anymore. Where will we go to get on the cruise ship?". I named some other nearby ports, and he seemed satisfied. I'm left wondering how much he remembers about the cruise and how he remembered that the ship no longer docks in Mobile. I've always been I pressed with his memory, but it was nice to hear his Taekwondo instructor tell him that he was a very smart, very cool kid.

Tonight I got an email notifying me that I'd won a contest that I entered. We'll be getting a package soon with 4 new figures from the new Space Toy Story line along with Buzz Lightyear's Command Center. Dennis is very, very excited. He already claimed my prize for himself. He saw me looking at the picture of Woody and Buzz in their astronaut gear, and he told me he wanted them. I told him that I had won them in a drawing from Disney, and he jumped up and down on our bed for 5 minutes singing "I'm getting new toys!". I told him that I was the winner so why aren't they going to be mine? He laughed and told me that his birthday is the closest to when they are coming (it ships in the next 2 weeks). And then he told me I was "the best mom anyone could ever have, ever." Yep, he's a charmer. And he'll be getting my prize. After he fell asleep, David went in to check on him and noticed his toy rocket ship in bed with him, all ready for a mission. I suppose he's brushing up on his space play before the new toys get here. I love that he does that kind of thing. He's so meticulous about his playing that it's often comical (but I don't let him know this). And, he cleaned his room tonight without being asked. I caught him in the act and praised profusely! Now I have to figure out where the new toys are going to fit in there...

monumental task accomplished

Dennis has been subdued but sweet this weekend. We haven't been out of the house, he and I, since Thursday. Well, we've been outside, but not away from home, I should say. He's had more eye troubles, just itchiness and redness, and he's been super tired. He asked me if we could just stay home today and watch TV. We stayed home, yes, but we didn't watch a whole lot of television. We finally excavated his room. It was necessary so that we could reclaim our living room. His floor was such a mess that he was bringing all his toys to the living room to play where he had space to do so. We didn't see him for hours after his room was cleaned and reorganized! And it was wonderful to go in and tuck him in and kiss him goodnight and NOT step on Legos in the process. I'm hoping he doesn't get more giant toys for his birthday. There are 2 Rescue Heroes he doesn't have, and we have a place for those to go. He REALLY wants an "Optimus Garage" (which is what he cals the Transformer Rescue Bots Optimus Fire/Rescue Station), and that will require more shelf reorganization for sure! I'd like him to get money for soccer since he's been begging me to play it again this spring. He is counting down the weeks until his birthday, which I believe is the single most important social occasion among the preschool set. He'll have his party at school on his actual birthday, and I need to start planning his big party, and I will begin to thnk about that after our Mardi Gras party next Saturday night. At least it's good motivation for cleaning house!

Sensei Dennis

It's still bring-a-friend week at Taekwondo, and tonight, Dennis ended up as assistant teacher to 3 of his friends. He was so funny standing beside his teacher, facing his group. When Mr. Sean would explain something, Dennis would strike a teacher pose and wag one finger at his friends, as if to emphasize the point. He was a cute little instructor, that's for sure.

The groundhog has predicted 6 more weeks of winter. Dennis was sad and asked me to pray to God and ask him if spring could come early. I told him he was welcome to pray himself, and he said "I did, Mom, I just wanted you to pray it too." I also told him that the county's peach crops need lots more cold hours if we're to have peaches this year, so all those farmers are praying for cold weather to come again. He seemed a little concerned but still wants spring to come now. I wouldn't mind a snow day, myself. This hasn't been much of a winter.

Tonight at the gym, his swimming skills increased tenfold. He found a plastic stick like toy and asked me what it was. I explained that it was a diving stick, that the object is to swim down and collect it from the bottom of the pool. Naturally he wanted to try it. We submerged the stick on the lowest step, and he pretended to be a Rescue Diver. We (Gran and I) had to call him and sound an alert, and he would splash into the water and swim and grab the stick. He did it many, many times, and each time he would hold it up triumphantly before tossing it in again and scrambling up to the edge of the pool and pretending to nap as he waited for the next rescue call to come in. He did great, and as an added bonus, fell asleep tonight very easily and even admitted to his own tiredness!