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.