A daily dose of Dennis...

eye drama

2012-02-10T18:40:00.000-08:00

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

2012-02-08T21:09:00.000-08:00

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

2012-02-06T21:25:00.000-08:00

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

2012-02-05T22:01:00.000-08:00

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

2012-02-02T22:34:00.000-08:00

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!

Returning to normal

2012-01-31T23:39:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-30T20:18:00.001-08:00

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

2012-01-29T20:33:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-28T22:24:00.000-08:00

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!

orange ninja

2012-01-26T19:41:00.001-08:00

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

2012-01-25T21:51:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-24T18:31:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-23T19:32:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-21T23:11:00.000-08:00

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?

2012-01-20T20:40:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-19T21:52:00.001-08:00

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

2012-01-18T22:00:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-17T22:33:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-16T13:09:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-15T19:49:00.001-08:00

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

2012-01-13T21:54:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-12T21:26:00.001-08:00

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

2012-01-11T19:28:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-09T18:38:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-07T21:03:00.001-08:00

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

2012-01-05T20:54:00.001-08:00

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

2012-01-04T19:32:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-03T21:11:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-02T20:15:00.001-08:00

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

2012-01-01T18:40:00.000-08:00

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!

2011 ends

2011-12-31T23:55:00.000-08:00

All day we've been fielding questions about why the year is ending and what that means and is it going to be summer soon because he hates summer... We let him stay up late. We watched the celebration in New York City on television and I elected not to tell him it was a different time zone. I thought I might get him to sleep before midnight. I was wrong. But we blew our noisemakers and wore our silly hats and wished each other a happy new year at 11, and David went on to sleep. Dennis was up until much later!

Dennis resolves "to do great stuff and eat candy" in the new year. Sounds good to me!

A major ouch

2011-12-30T23:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I stepped on a Transformer toy in our living room. Dennis has absolutely run out of space to play in his room, and all his new stuff is still in our living room. I believe it was a Dino-bot that I stepped on, and when I checked the bot for damage, I didn't see any. I never thought to check my foot, but it hurt for longer than it should have. And it woke me up this morning, throbbing, and I thought that maybe I should have checked it before being on it all day yesterday. I hobbled to the bathroom and tried my best to twist the bottom of my foot toward the light, trying to focus my bleary just-woken-up eyes on what was apparently a small puncture on my sole. I saw what might have been a black sliver of something or what might have been the beginning of a scab or a line of dirt. I cleaned it, and when I prodded it with tweezers, clear liquid gushed out, sending me into the kind of faint feeling low blood sugar moment that I get every once in a while when donating blood for tests or for needy people. I managed to apply antibiotic ointment and a big band-aid before hobbling to the kitchen in search of sugar. I really thought I might pass out, and I was scared for Dennis. I must have looked terrible because he hovered around, asking me what happened. When he found out it was a Transformer injury, he apologized dozens of times and gave me many hugs. I got over it soon enough, rested with my foot propped up for a while, and then carried on as normal. We worked some in the den, putting all our board games into our new cabinets flanking the fireplace (a hand-me-down from Granddaddy), and then we played outside, shooting hoops and exploring. We spent a nice half hour sitting on our porch and chatting, waiting for David to come home. I love our new porch!! We all do, even (maybe especially) the dogs and cat. Dennis rode around on his little ATV. Somewhere in his room he found a whistle and played coach. He directed me on our basketball court, blowing his whistle to tell me when to shoot, when not to shoot, when I scored, when Lemonade rebounded the ball for us... So it's really no surprise that I had a major migraine tonight. Whistles are SHRILL. But after all our playing, all my work in the den, when David got home, Dennis announced "Mom cut her foot on one of my Dino-bots and she had to be in bed all day long!". Grrrr. He remembers what he wants to, I suppose. I guess he's like my Mommy Time Clock, keeping track of the times when I'm not completely at his beck and call. Good thing he isn't in charge of payroll.

Hoops!

2011-12-29T21:44:00.000-08:00

We spent lots of time yesterday clearing off a decade's worth of leaves and debris from our side patio, which is really just a large concrete slab extended from the side of our house outside our bedroom and the library. Dennis got an adjustable basketball goal for Christmas--actually it was a gift for all 3 of us--and David assembled it. Dennis will, I hope, play Upward Basketball at church next fall, and as a kindergartner, he will use a basket height of 7 & 1/2 feet. So after we cleaned off the slab that is now our family basketball court, we set up the goal (at that particular height) and shot hoops for a while. We all enjoyed it, playing outdoors together, relishing in a family day at home. David had an off day, and he did lots of projects around here. The fireplace is nearly finished. The grout is on but not sealed. The den is halfway rearranged. Dennis has a mailbox installed on his play tower. We've taken down all the Christmas decorations, and we watched Dennis ride for hours on his 4 wheeler and his bicycle (with its newly installed horn and bike bag).

He asked me today if I knew how much he loved me. I asked how much, and he told me "I love you 12 million kisses worth!". What a sweetie! I love him at least that much.

on holiday weight gain

2011-12-27T23:42:00.000-08:00

The weather has taken a bit of a cold turn the past couple of days. As such, I've been hanging out in big cozy sweatpants and sweatshirts. Dennis was observing me in the checkout line at Walmart (along with the much thinner woman in front of me) and remarked "Mommy, you're not very straight. You're kind of bumpy." He was gesturing with his hands so I would be absolutely sure what he meant, not that I had any doubt. Time to head back to the gym!

best Christmas yet

2011-12-26T19:31:00.000-08:00

We've had a few days filled with family togetherness and fun, worship of our savior's birth, and much Santa-related anticipation and joy. On Christmas Eve, we all attended the service at church and then gathered at Gran's for a family meal. We baked a birthday cake for Jesus and even sang to him (something new this year that I hope to do again). We opened a pile of gifts at Gran's house and enjoyed the company of Gran, Pop, Gigi, Uncle Denny, Grandma and GrandBob. We sprinkled Magic Reindeer Food on the lawns at our house and Gran's, and if you're wondering, Magic Reindeer Food consists of oats, deer corn, and silver glitter all mixed together (brought home from his preschool class). And then, once we returned home, we began the long and laborious process of getting Dennis to fall asleep (it finally happened at 12:15, whereas David had fallen asleep by 10:00). I got in bed with Dennis, telling him that I knew it was hard to fall asleep on Christmas Eve, but he replied "not for me! Now be quiet and go to sleep, Mommy, or Santa won't come."

Dennis awoke at a nice, respectable 7:44, not so early as to promote parental misery. He came straight to our room rather than checking the tree first, so we were able to see his reaction to the box that was easily five times the size of himself (wrapped, of course, and containing his new battery-powered 4 wheeler). He opened it last, prolonging his own anticipation. Of all the Rescue Heroes, Transformers, knight costumes, clothes, book & movie, Gyro Bowl, snow sled, and games (and more!) that he received, all have gotten play. I think the Rescue Heroes and their vehicles are the absolute favorites, but he's spent lots of time with his new dragon castle and knights as well. He had a GOOD Christmas. And it isn't over yet-- there are eleven more days of (small) gift giving to come.

Imagine Dennis' delight at finding a boot print in front of the new fireplace along with the cookies on Santa's plate gone except for a few crumbs. Neely apparently caught his ride back to the North Pole as expected, and he took his pajamas and sleeping bag with him. His last bit of mischief was to sit with Toy Story Jesse under the mistletoe. We found them kissing on Christmas Eve morning. Also, we found a sleigh bell outside where we'd sprinkled the Magic Reindeer Food. Dennis is certain that it came from Dasher's harness. He says he'll keep it forever.

We spent our Christmas evening in Birmingham with the Dennis family, meeting two fiancées soon to join our ever-expanding family, and wished our congrats to Alan and Melinda and Austin and Kacey. And we finally made it home late last night and just crashed into bed. We are still so exhausted even today, possibly even more so since David worked all day and Dennis and I hit the after Christmas sales with Gran. We had a low key evening at home, playing with his castle and knights and playing Candyland (the gift he opened today). It's been wonderful, and the blessings just keep coming!

where mischief abounds

2011-12-23T23:57:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness! Dennis totally took advantage of my not feeling well today. All the mischief he's thought of and yet restrained himself from for the whole of his existence showed itself today. Drowsily, I rested under my covers, trying to keep warm and stop coughing, and the intermittent bouts of silence concerned me. He was supposed to be playing in his room and cleaning it. That didn't happen. The first thing I found was that he'd discovered a roll of yellow streamer paper. He wrapped and tied it around table legs, the piano, the buffet, the front doorknob, and the ceiling supports in the front room (holding up what's left of the ceiling, which is soon to be ripped out and replaced--the next phase of our Great Remodel). The main living areas of the house looked like a giant crime scene. I thought it was funny and creative, and so I left it up. There were police figures and police Lego trucks patroling the area as well, and I hated to disturb their investigation. I notified Dennis that it was now naptime, and I read him a story and tucked him in. I dozed off, woken a short while later by the sound of running through the hallway. He told me he'd sent Gran a text message. Since I was in possession of my phone and his phone doesn't text, I asked him how he'd accomplished this. He told me he'd used my computer, which I will no longer leave running. I saw there on the screen a notice thanking me for extending my trial of Office X5. I wonder if this cost me anything... I've gotten no emails or anything, so who knows what he typed in! I didn't know I even had this product. He told me he clicked on the calculator icon, and that was for Quattro (and I have no idea what it does). Scary. So I tucked him back in, feeling miserable (and now a bit worried), and when he assured me of his tiredness and willingness to nap, I fell asleep again. Dumb, dumb, dumb. I heard crying soon and ran into the bathroom, where he was sniffling and applying a Band-Aid to a scrape on his thumb (no blood, thank goodness). I asked him what happened, and he replied "oh, nothing!", knowing he was supposed to have been sleeping. He finally admitted "I was trying to recycle those boxes in the living room." I went to the living room and found the shipping boxes that arrived today (that I didn't know about, since Dennis greeted the mailwoman at the door this morning and received the packages on our behalf--he set them on a chair in the front room and neglected to mention their arrival). I saw my keychain Swiss army knife open, carving a flap off a box. Thank goodness he wasn't hurt worse! This was my final warning, I'm sure, so I didn't attempt to nap again. He clearly had no nap plans himself, and I feared what else might happen. Soon David arrived home, and I saw Dennis run through the house carrying a roll of red duct tape. I warned him not to use it. David and I went to change clothes for the Christmas party with our friends tonight, and Dennis loudly announced "come see what I did with the red duct tape!". David replied "you'd better not have done anything, because Mommy told you not to!". Whatever he'd done, he quickly undid, bringing us a mostly intact roll of tape with a mangled strip attached to it. There were other things, like his bringing me a (dirty) sock filled with matchbox planes and cars because he was playing Santa, but I believe that hits the highlights. Oh! Wait! His invention! I nearly forgot about that. We went into the bathroom and found his cup, the one he uses to rinse when he's brushing his teeth, rubber-banded sideways to the handle of my water spray bottle. David asked him what it was, and he told us "that's my invention. It's a 46 Poop Sprayer--it sprays poop!". We didn't question further. The water inside still looked clear.

We caught the elf roasting mini-marshmallows over a candle, though the flame must have gone out on him sometime during the night. And the dogs gifted us with a diaper (no, not a fresh one) from somewhere in the neighborhood. Luckily, we got to the Christmas party at the Gallmans' house safely, and the rest of our evening was fairly mischief-free (unless you count when Dennis and Chloe climbed up in her loft bed and began hurling toys all over the room from their high vantage point), and he fell asleep on the way home. When I put him in bed, he whispered "I want to play some before my nap" and I told him that was fine and brought his brand new toy Jake Justice Rescue Hero (and his motorcycle) and set it on the pillow next to Dennis, who promptly rolled over and fell asleep. How will I ever make it another 24 hours, with all this Christmas excitement and hyperactivity?

an interesting conversation

2011-12-22T21:58:00.000-08:00

Dennis was supposed to finish cleaning his room today. I was in bed most of the day with fever and cough, and he promised me he was going to finish up. But I wasn't too surprised when he popped out of his room late this afternoon and said "I was having a conversation with my bottom just now. Guess what it said?". I presumed his bottom told him not to clean his room. He told me "My bottom said that instead of cleaning my floor, it wanted to poop on it!". Nice. I think his bottom might be a bad influence.

In other news, Dennis found his elf in a sleigh hitched up behind a reindeer ornament. And tonight, he got up to go get water in the kitchen and caught Neely hanging out of the dog food container. Dennis made me get up to go see as well. The instructions he came with said to feed him crackers, but I don't know that he finds those to be substantial enough. Dog food? I guess if you're hungry enough...

the longest night

2011-12-21T20:51:00.000-08:00

Today was the shortest day of the year. And if Dennis continues to get out of bed and come into our room and ask for stuff, it will most assuredly be the longest night of the year. We were home all of today. David finished putting the slate tiles on our fireplace (grout tomorrow!) and I spent most of the day trying to cough out a lung. I sure would like to be well by Christmas. Dennis seems to be lots better and even cleaned up most of his room today. By himself, even. Without us asking. I am very pleased!

He wants to sleep in our bed, and he's been negotiating to do so. When I told him that I didn't want to cough on him all night, he said "you can just turn your head the other way and cover your mouth, like this--it's easy!" and he demonstrated for me. He and David spent part of the day fighting a fight that I was sure was still a few years down the road. The volume of his radio was rather significant, and David yelled at him to turn it down, and he would for a while. Then they'd repeat the cycle ad nauseum. In fact, they just did it again while I was typing that. He loves those Little People Christmas songs!

We caught the elf tangled in a small string of battery powered Christmas lights this morning, apparently attempting to festoon our toilet lid for the holidays. Yesterday we found him camped out in the bathroom in his new sleeping bag, having drawn all over the bathroom mirror with dry erase markers. Whatever will he think of next?

5 more days

2011-12-20T21:45:00.000-08:00

We've been warned NOT to peek at all the presents Dennis put under the tree today. He spent most of his day with Gigi, and she took him shopping and out to lunch and then to her place to wrap gifts and play. They both said they had a wonderful time! I'm so glad. That's a special relationship, and he's already asked me if she can come over and play with him tomorrow after he cleans his room. I'm excited that there are gifts under the tree that I didn't purchase! I love a surprise!

I ran all over town doing errands while Dennis was with Gigi, and I'd like to think that I'm done. There are gifts in the mail to his cousins, and I finally mailed the Christmas cards! I've done lots of wrapping, but there's still more to come. I don't have any plans for the next two days (hooray!), and then we'll have a weekend of celebrations. This is the best time of year!!!!

toy insomnia

2011-12-19T21:08:00.000-08:00

We happened to catch a brand new show on TV this morning: Transformers Rescue Bots. I didn't tell him I saw it on the listing, I just happened to turn on the correct channel before it came on. Oh, boy, did that spark a new obsession! We've been seeing the Rescue Bot toys at Walmart but didn't know what they were about. Now we do. I'm glad there's a Transformers show that isn't about fighting bad guys (less violence is GOOD). By the time David came home from his lunch break, Dennis had lined up Transformers all over the place and had been conducting imaginary rescues for hours. With David's arrival came the mail, and in that was a card to Dennis with some Christmas cash. He knew just what he wanted to buy and I could not get the boy to Walmart fast enough. I'd point out a house that was decorated on our way and he'd say "if we keep looking at Christmas lights, we'll never get to Walmart!". I'm proud that when we got there, he wanted to put all his money in the bin for needy children, but I let him know that even though that was the right instinct to have, he could spend his Christmas money on himself if he wanted to. He carefully examined each Rescue Bot set (we had to return to the toy section twice), but he got two Rescue Bots and the action figures that go with each one, and he has a little bit of money left. Those toys has been his entire focus for hours. I just had to go into his room and make him turn off his light (it's 11:00!) because he was so busy arranging and rearranging his toys on the pillow beside him in bed. The joy on his face was unbelievable. No one loves a new toy like Dennis does! He had to show them to Gran, Gigi, Uncle Denny, Pop, and Daddy, and each had to play with him with the new bots. He's too happy to sleep. And it's not even Christmas yet.... This makes me wonder if we ought to give one toy a day so he's not so overwhelmed. But I guess being overwhelmed is part of the fun.

In other news, Dennis caught Neely rearranging the star on top of the tree. Gran made a new sleeping bag for Neely today, and Dennis happily put him in it tonight. And, while in the car together, Dennis and Gran apparently sang a whole repertoire of "poop carols". I hope I don't hear them at the Christmas Eve service...

Dennis in the sermon!

2011-12-18T20:22:00.000-08:00

I was surprised to get a call from our pastor last night. I had sent an email to a friend at church about Dennis taking money from his piggy bank on a day he knew we were going to Walmart and how I had thought he was planning to buy a toy and he told me it was to put in the "red bucket to help the people who don't have enough money." My friend forwarded this on to the pastor, and last night he called to have me tell him the story again to get it, as he said, fresh in his mind, telling me he'd like to use that particular anecdote in his sermon. We were proud to hear about it, as proud as we were when Dennis actually did it, and it was a blessing to hear the pastor tell the whole congregation that they needed to get to know Dennis because "he is a real treat, a very special young man". We agree! The message was about how we should help those that need their basic needs met, as that's what Jesus told us to do, rather than buy into the extreme commercialism of the holiday. Dennis' heart is in the right place, and he is teaching us to be the same way!

new animal

2011-12-17T20:51:00.001-08:00

We went to a Christmas lunch with David's family today. Dennis had an excellent time sitting and chatting with his cousins and an even more excellent time opening and playing with presents. He asked Uncle Steve out of the blue "Why don't they put wheels on surfboards?" and he answered that fish would hit the wheels with their fins and tails and slow down the surfboard. This answer satisfied Dennis, though he looked skeptical and had a good laugh over it. Another excellent Dennis-ism happened in the car on the way home. He is now able to play the alphabet game with us, and we were doing animal names and then got to the letter "U". He thought for just a second before he said "U-ah-pus". Later tonight he revealed that "they don't really live, Mom, it's just a word I made up. Sometimes I like to make up words." Yes, he certainly does!

He's been happily playing with his new remote control police car, his Green Lantern action figures, and his Lego police van since we got home. He gets very focused on new toys, but he gave them all equal attention tonight, hours for each new thing!

This morning Dennis discovered Neely the Elf kneeling in front of his nativity set, his hands clasped in prayer. He ran to find us, telling us we just had to come and see what Neely did (as he does most mornings). We ambled bleary-eyes to the living room and Dennis announced amazedly "Neely is worshipping the baby Jesus! Isn't that wonderful?". We agreed that it was. I'm so glad the true meaning of the holiday is important to Dennis. At school, Mrs. Nancy asked each student what he or she would give Jesus for his Christmas birthday. She cut out large squares of wrapping paper and attached a gift tag and bow to each. She wrote their replies on the gift tags (which read: to Jesus from ...). Dennis' tag read "I would give him myself. That's what everyone should do!".

pjs and a movie!

2011-12-16T20:45:00.000-08:00

This morning, as I was sitting in the tub and washing my hair, I heard a small noise and turned to see Dennis plastered against the shower door. I wasn't expecting to see anyone standing there, so I let out a little scream. He was pleased and laughed maniacally at his scare surprise. He came into the bathroom later, after I was dressed and fixing my hair, so that he could toss a handful of cold water on me before running away giggling. He's quite the little joker these days!

He spent his day with Gran while I went out and had lunch with the teachers to celebrate our Christmas break. Gran and he designed and made new pajamas for Neely the Elf. I had to stop by Gran's house on the way home to get Neely's other clothes from out of her washing machine where Dennis had tossed them earlier "because his clothes are very dirty". This morning Neely decorated our kitchen chandelier with snowflakes and snowflake garland and with himself. He was quite the sight!

Gran and Uncle Denny took Dennis to watch the Polar Express at the local community center. He wore his pajamas (and I presume Neely did as well) because it was a pajama event! He apparently had a wonderful time. I can't wait to hear more about it. He was too busy wrapping Christmas gifts tonight to talk to me about his day. He did a pretty good job!

Christmas break has arrived!

2011-12-15T21:07:00.000-08:00

I'm delighted to report that I taught my last preschool class of 2011 today! I got a bunch of sweethugs and Christmas wishes from my students, and though they've been a bit trying as of late, I might actually miss the little buggers. Dennis seemed very reluctant to leave school today, very sad to walk out the door. But we'll be back before we know it. And he had a good send-off. His class, and ONLY his class, had Breakfast with Santa this morning as their party. The music and science teachers stayed in my class for a little while so I could visit at Dennis' class party, and I was tickled to see their reactions when Santa arrived! Dennis was first to volunteer to sit in his lap, and he went back to show him things and tell him various Dennis-isms during the party. The other moms remarked about how much Dennis loved Santa! Some of the kids were afraid, but not mine!

I enjoyed my class party as well and was amazed to find myself student-less at 10:30! Since Dennis wasn't ready to leave, I stayed around and organized my planning folders, putting all my December templates and plans away neatly for next year. And then we said our farewells and left. I'll see all the teachers tomorrow, as we have a staff Christmas luncheon, but this was it for Dennis. He has a fun day with Gran planned for tomorrow.

This morning we caught Neely the Elf sitting amongst the patterns I was cutting out last night (for my kids to make paper angels in class today). I left all my white paper and scissors sitting out, and it must have been too much for him to resist, because there he sat with my scissors in his hands, a beautiful paper snowflake resting on his lap.

It was a long evening. I had a child care shift at the gym and no children came. Those were three very long hours, especially after Dennis left me to go to Taekwondo class and then went home with his daddy. And I learned again how Dennis has inherited my own love of the absurd. David and I were watching a show when Dennis came bounding into the room with a pillowcase on, sack-race style, giggling the whole time. I thought it was hilarious. All David could see was a now-germy pillowcase. I admit that it's good to have a serious person in the house, and every now and then, that person is me, but David is much better at it. I absolutely could not parent (much less teach two-year-olds) without a healthy sense of humor!

Oh, and Dennis snuck his magician cape and magic wand to school today. I wasn't expecting to pick up a magician from the playground, but that's what I did!

oh, the anticipation!

2011-12-14T21:03:00.000-08:00

One more day of school until Christmas break! I can hardly believe it! I'm more excited than the students are, for sure! Dennis is excited about Christmas but not about being out of school. He loves school.

We've caught Neely the Elf doing some fun things lately. Yesterday, we found him hanging on to the beater in the stand mixer. Dennis wondered why in the world he would do that, so I turned on the mixer for a few seconds. He watched Neely whirl around like he was on a carnival ride, elf hat bobbing all over, and then he understood. This morning, we caught him dangling by one pointy shoe from the stocking hanger on the mantle, his belt stuffed with 3 lollipops. Dennis laughed at his Christmas stocking impression and then handed out the lollipops, one for each of us. We were very appreciative. And after school today, we found him on the couch, snuggled up with his arm around a small stuffed dog and his other hand resting on the tv remote. They were watching the Christmas music channel.

I did the unthinkable tonight--I cleaned out my car, or most of it. Much vacuuming is still needed. When I came back in the house, I saw Dennis run through the house wearing a Scooby Doo pajama top, Transformer underwear, and full Batman facemask and cape. I laughed and he got mad and demanded to know what was so funny. I told him seeing Batman in his underwear was funny. He said " I'm not Batman. I'm Pajama Shirt and Underwear Man. The cape is my disguise." My mistake!

Muppet fun

2011-12-13T20:35:00.000-08:00

What a treat! Uncle Denny treated us to a showing of the new Muppet movie, and it was surprisingly wonderful! David and I enjoyed it at least as much as Dennis did, possibly even more. There were lots of references to our generation's growing-up years, lots of 80's gags. It was a fun movie for sure!

Dennis learned a new colloquialism tonight. After hearing Uncle Denny use it once, he correctly used the phrase in his own sentence half an hour later. We were almost to Alabaster when Dennis announced that his eyeballs were about to turn yellow. Uncle Denny knew immediately who to blame for this and told David where Dennis had learned it. And we had to stop at the next exit for him to go to the potty. Nice. That and some talk about picking his nose to make booger ornaments made me realize I was truly hanging out with the guys. They learn to appreciate the weird and disgusting early in life!

Claus fan

2011-12-12T20:04:00.000-08:00

"Dennis, are you ready for bed? Do you need to brush your teeth or go potty?". "I already brushed my teeth and in the middle of brushing my teeth, I went potty. I was brushing my teeth and I stopped to go pee-pee and then I finished brushing my teeth." So now that he's done that, he's ready for bed. We just finished watching The Santa Clause 2, having watched the first one recently and discovering that Dennis loved it. He loved the second one as well, but I had to periodically pause the movie to answer random Christmas related questions (i.e. "Why was Rudolph born after the other reindeer?).

He's very excited about Christmas. Extremely excited. He wears Santa pajamas to bed every night. He wore an elf hat today when we took Uncle Denny's toy donation to the police station to add to the other donated toys beneath their tree. He asked about whether kids in Africa needed toys, too, because he knows our church has been working hard to raise money to build two wells in a village in Zambia so that the people will have access to clean drinking water. We've been hearing about it, about the village that our church has personally sponsored, watching the videos they've sent to us, all coordinated by a missionary who visited us months back and who is now there in Africa organizing the well project in many villages. Today I learned that we reached our goal, raised $11,000 plus some, and Dennis and I were so elated to learn that our church will help save many lives this way. But he thinks we need to send toys to the village children as well. He says toys are almost as important as food and water and shelter.

always good for a chuckle

2011-12-11T21:58:00.001-08:00

The preschool kids performed at church today, all six classes of them. They sang six songs and played handbells to one extra song. Every time I chanced looking away from my class to see Dennis, he was singing every word and smiling. But I couldn't look away too often--six of my two year olds were busy on the front row, staring, playing hide-and-seek by ducking down behind the altar rail and then popping up, waving to their parents, or, in one case, bopping another child with a bell at random, clearly premeditated intervals. I loved every minute of it. I can't wait to watch the video.

David installed our "chimney" tonight, cutting the hole in the roof for the metal pipes that extend up from our fireplace unit. Naturally, it started to rain just a tiny bit after he finished, and he has more roof work to do around the pipe, but we stayed dry. Soon he'll cover the rest of the enclosure with cement board and then we'll put on the slate tiles! He has already hung our stockings from the mantel, a fact that delighted Dennis, who happily praised his Daddy for installing Santa's gateway to our home. We are all getting excited about it!

Dennis caught Neely the Elf hiding in the refrigerator in the box of Capri-suns that we put in his school snack boxes. And tonight, we had to make a special bed for Neely out of a camp pillow and a basket. Dennis fixed him a snack and tucked him in before having the same done for him. It's been such a nice, quiet, home weekend that we hate to see it end!

girlfriends rule!

2011-12-10T23:45:00.000-08:00

Tonight was the choir Christmas program and supper at our church. We met Gigi, Uncle Denny, Gran, and Pop there, anticipating that we'd enjoy a meal and some beautiful music together. We did share a meal, but Dennis asked to go to the nursery rather than stay for the choir and orchestra performance. You see, Grace was in the nursery along with her baby brother, and Dennis can't give up an opportunity for time with Grace! We've already been passed over in favor of the girlfriend! I thought we weren't due for this particular situation for a few years yet, but I was wrong.

We had a quiet evening at home afterward, each one of us kind of doing our own thing. Dennis made great strides in his room cleanup, thank goodness, but he still has a ways to go. One of the things on his computer Advent calendar shows an elf cleaning up a bookshop, and he announced last night "I sure could use an elf to clean up my room!". Neely must not have heard. He was busy climbing our Christmas tree.

our day off

2011-12-09T23:00:00.000-08:00

Dennis and I stayed in today. He woke up at 6:15 for some awful reason--he doesn't wake up this early on school days even and I often have to drag him out of bed. Not today! He visited me periodically but came to the conclusion that I had no intention of getting up that early! I made sure he had breakfast and then he entertained himself in his room for the majority of the day. He assures me he will clean up tomorrow. I insist he doesn't wait that long. His room had been looking so great, but he decided to get out everything at once, and now I can't even walk in there!

He spent a good half hour with his computer Advent calendar (thanks to Nana Gaynell and Poppa Jim) this morning. He's always anxious to click on the new date, and then he likes to start it over and do days 1 through whichever day we're on. He did this several times this morning. He tried to negotiate his way out of his nap, which I didn't allow, and in his anger, he pulled his wall hanging off his wall. I got angry, of course, and then he wanted a hug. I've assured him that we still love him even when we're angry or upset with him, and he wanted to test this. I happily hugged him, and he said "you really do still love me even when I do something bad!". Later, he got up and told me how much he loved me, even when he was mad at me. Then he gave me a big hug and told me I was the best mom he'd ever had. Love that kid!

This morning he found the elf with his legs sticking up out of the box of Cheez-its. I had to apologize for forgetting to feed him last night!

serious naughtiness

2011-12-08T23:46:00.000-08:00

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.

x-ray fun

2011-12-07T18:42:00.001-08:00

I got called in to substitute teach this morning, and David took Dennis to the doctor to get his ears taken care of. He complained of bad ear pain a few nights back, but he hasn't complained since. We knew he'd just had an ear infection, so we thought it would be prudent to get them checked, especially since he's stopped being able to hear anything we say the first time we say it. I expected Dennis to arrive at school soon after his appointment, but instead, I got a text saying that the doctor wanted to take a chest x-ray to make sure he doesn't have pneumonia. The bad news? We're still not sure if he has it or not. When we called to get the results, they told us to call back after 4. When we did, the doctor had left and no one could find Dennis' file. The nurse seemed to think that we'd have heard already if it was bad news. So we're leaning toward the belief that he doesn't have it. What he does have is a raging bilateral ear infection, so we're on for 10 days of antibiotics. He feels quite good, though, and has danced through his day, happy as always (but with a gross cough). He never did get to school, but we plan to take him tomorrow if he's up to it.

Though I was worried about my little guy having to go to the hospital and get an x-ray, he apparently had no trouble. David said that he thought the whole x-ray experience was really cool, and he loved that it wasn't scary and didn't hurt. He told me all about it. The other highlight of his day was finding Neely the Elf riding astride Bullseye (the horse from Toy Story), holding a rope with which he'd apparently lassoed a stuffed sheep. Dennis had a good cackle over this.

joy from St. Nick

2011-12-06T19:47:00.001-08:00

Oh, the delight in this household early this morning... We left our shoes outside of our bedroom doors last night in honor of the custom of St. Nicholas Day. We woke to find our shoes filled with candy, but Dennis had a little something extra. His candy-filled Crocs were resting against a toy Rescue Hero named Roger Houston. Dennis came to wake me up, yelling "you gotta come see this, Mama!" in the most incredulous voice. He's been joyful all day long, carrying his newest treasure wherever we went. He helped to get Uncle Denny ready for Christmas, decorating his tree tonight, sharing a round of Reese's peanut butter trees with him (and me). We had a family supper together tonight, all 3 gathered around our table, Advent wreath candles lit (2 of them now). And we snuggled together on the couch to watch a Christmas special that we'd recorded. Dennis went to bed early. He's exhausted and fell asleep in the car tonight on the way home. He woke up when we arrived and was perky by supper time, but he's got a major cough and doesn't seem to be feeling his best.

Question of the day, asked by Dennis in the car on the way to the lake while we were discussing Lemonade and his siblings: "Mom, do dogs lay eggs?". I feel that it won't be too long before the hard questions come. He tells me that he knows that mommies go to the hospital to have babies cut from their tummies, which is indeed how he got here. Luckily, baby Ian arrived that way as well, so if he should ask, we're covered!

another 2 in 1

2011-12-05T22:09:00.000-08:00

I don't know how I keep running myself so much that I'm not blogging as often, but there you have it. Last night I was completely exhausted! Not that yesterday was so big of a day, but Dennis was up Saturday night crying of ear pain, so he slept in our bed. He seemed fine yesterday morning, and so we went to church. He had a last choir rehearsal to attend, and he also came into the service at the end of it to take communion with the rest of the congregation. We lunched at Burger King with the family after church, and I made Dennis take a nap before his choir musical last night. As always, watching the preschool choir is a joy, always humorous. Dennis didn't hug Grace mid-performance (like last year), but he did chew his fingers, take some lint out of his pocket, lift his shirt up to show his belly a couple of times, and (his best move) nearly knocked a kid out after the choreography that required him to wave his hands in the air vigorously. We heard gasps and giggles echoing through the sanctuary. And we realized that we probably shouldn't have given him cold medicine right before the performance.

Today we helped Gran put up and decorate her Christmas tree, and then Gran and I went shopping out of town while Dennis and David went to Taekwondo and then came home. I got the sweetest phone call from Dennis when on my way home, and he told me good night and that I needed to put out my shoes for St. Nicholas Day (which is tomorrow). The shoes are out. I caught Neely the Elf waiting by Dennis' shoes. I hope he doesn't eat all Dennis' candy that St. Nicholas will bring... This morning Dennis found Neely in his underwear drawer, wearing a pair of Dennis' undies, two unmatched socks, and one of Dennis' ties. I heard Dennis exclaim "What in the world? You CRAZY elf!!!". This is better than when we found him Sunday morning, sitting at my computer, looking at Jingle Claus the Elf on Facebook. What was so disconcerting is that Jingle is an elf fashion designer, and we found my debit card and wallet on the computer--I wonder what Neely might have been ordering...

Dennis' Deep Thought of the Day: "What do you think Christmas was like a long time ago?". I asked him how long ago he meant, and he asked "well, how did the Indians celebrate Christmas before the other people got here?". Gran and I speculated that they might not have even known about Christmas. He thought that the Pilgrims would have told them about it, and then he wondered how the Pilgrims celebrated. Good food for thought!

Tree wishes

2011-12-03T20:30:00.000-08:00

I was up so late hanging out with Jim, Jackie, and Zoe and Dave, Ellen, Chloe, and Ian, that I never did get to blog last night. We had a house party! The Carons came down and joined us at the Clanton Christmas parade (where Dennis came home with more candy than he did at Halloween), and then we headed home. The Gallmans came by soon after we arrived at our place, and we chatted and watched the baby and then played the board game Battle of the Sexes while Dennis and Chloe and Zoe played all over the rest of the house. Anytime you have a trio of 4-year-olds running amok in the house, things can get a bit wild, but they more mostly well behaved. Dennis watched the girl antics for a while, but we later found him vegged out on the den couch watching TV while the girls were playing kitchen and restaurant in his room. This was such a play on adult roles that I had to laugh. The Gallmans spent the night with us, and the Carons left after midnight, and much fun was had by all!

BEFORE we had the house party and BEFORE we went to the parade (and one day I'll learn to think more chronologically while I'm writing), we made a trip to Neely Choose and Cut Christmas Tree Farm, our third consecutive year to do so. We chose a lovely pine that David and Dennis sawed down, and it was shaken, wrapped, loaded up, driven home, and put in its stand with water within 45 minutes of it being cut down. We even had time to have hot cocoa and socialize a bit at the tree farm.

The Christmas parade was a big hit--we did our tradition of parking at Gran's and walking over a couple of blocks to see it. She had ordered pizza for us all to share, and the kids loved the parade. We had seen all of it and walked back before a half hour had passed. I have officially decided that I really do love small town life, all these special things we can do so close to home, seeing so many people we know all around. And the 7 minute commute to my job, well, that can't be beat!

We decorated our tree tonight. Dennis was beside himself with excitement, helping with the lights and garland, eagerly grabbing up the most fragile of ornaments and running to the tree with them. Nothing has yet broken (though Lemonade has not yet discovered the tree), thank goodness, and all our ornaments are up. As we were hanging the first of the things on the tree, Dennis would periodically dance and exclaim "it's just looking so beautiful!" and "I'm so glad we decided to pick out a Christmas tree!" (as if we wouldn't?). He lost interest before everything was up, but he was happy to admire the finished product. And even happier to have his Daddy lift him up high to put the star on top.

Speaking of stars, he spied one outside and asked us if he could make a wish. He wished for "a tree that grows lots of toys". That sure would come in handy around Christmas and birthday events...

Neely the Elf stole a bunch of my socks and bound them all together with twist ties to make a swing to hang from our living room ceiling fan last night. Dennis and Chloe found him happily swinging on it, and he'd apparently decorated our bare Christmas tree with the extra socks that he didn't use. I'm sure he'll be relieved that we've now decorated the tree. Who knows what 'elfcapade' we're in for next?

a special delivery

2011-12-01T21:46:00.001-08:00

Imagine Dennis' surprise and delight when he opened his backpack after school and found a delivery from Santa. Santa sent Neely the Elf to be Dennis' friend and companion from now til Christmas Eve, when he'll return to the North Pole. We read the special letter and instructions that Santa sent along with Neely. Dennis has them memorized already. He is to be put on the kitchen counter at night with crackers and ice water (crackers are crunchy like North Pole ice, ice water reminds him of melting ice back home), and we've been warned that he might get into some mischief now and again, especially after we sprinkle him with North Pole Magic Snowflakes at night (Santa sent a jar of these along with him). Dennis instantly fell in love with his elf friend. He told everyone about it, took him everywhere that he went today, and was almost too excited to sleep for wondering what Neely would be up to during the night. Just before bed, Dennis came in to the bathroom and handed me a set of elf clothes, telling me that Neely had played hard today and needed his laundry done so he'd have clean clothes for tomorrow. He dressed the elf in a robe that Gran gave him, a robe that a teddy bear had worn. Neely is reclining comfortably on the kitchen counter in his crimson and gold robe, or at least he was when we went to bed...

Neely is an Elf-Magic elf, not an Elf on the Shelf (because the latter kind aren't allowed to be touched or played with and they spy on kids to report to Santa), and Dennis has already remarked that he's sad that he will go home with Santa on Christmas Eve. That was a fast attachment that he formed!

Tonight, Dennis and David joined Gran, Pop, and Gigi at the town Christmas tree lighting ceremony, and then had dinner at Gran's. I joined them there after my shift at the gym. I'm falling more and more in love with small town life, and I can't wait til the parade tomorrow night. Nineteen years ago, David and I had our first date at the Clanton Christmas parade! We love sharing it with Dennis!

November's end

2011-11-30T19:36:00.001-08:00

I am thankful that Dennis was fine today, eating like a champ, running and playing at school. His eyes looked tired and a bit red, and he was a trifle quiet, I think. Those who know him well asked if he'd been sick or if he was feeling okay. But he really was fine, he kept insisting, so we treated him as such!

We filled in the last pocket of the Thankful Tree tonight, with Dennis saying he was thankful for "my school, my family, my cousins, and my school friends." He asked where pockets 31 and 32 were. I explained that we were now finished with the tree, and tomorrow we'll start the Advent calendar. He's already been using his Santa counter to count down the days until Christmas, turning the blocks each morning at breakfast and today happily informing me "there are 25 days til Christmas, that means tomorrow it will be 24 days." And "what if there were twenty-hundred days until Christmas? That's way too long!!". I agree! We are noticing the Christmas lights going up all over town, and he's delighted to point out new ones each evening. It's the best time of year!

little sickie

2011-11-29T20:06:00.001-08:00

We were getting ready for school when a sad little man wrapped himself around my legs and whined "I don't feel good, Mommy; my tummy hurts." This was immediately followed by him running to the bathroom and throwing up a couple of times. Then he said he felt better. Gran came over to watch him so I could go teach my class, and he mostly just dozed on the couch while she was here. He never threw up again, but he had bouts of pitifulness for the rest of the day. He has been able to eat just fine, thank goodness. Tonight he told me he was thankful for me. So sweet.

He was delighted that we all watched Christmas shows together tonight, snuggled up on the couch, enjoying the Grinch and some classic Mickey and Donald Christmas cartoons. His little eyes are red and he is exhausted, and he's climbed into our bed to sleep (a sickie tradition). I hope he's better in the morning.

Something I forgot to mention happened yesterday. He knew we were going to Walmart after school, so I saw him loading his pockets with some change from his piggy bank. I asked him what he was doing, and he said "getting money for when we go to Walmart." I wondered what he was planning to purchase. And then, before I asked him just that, he said "it's to put in that red bucket for the people that need money for Christmas." Sure enough, later when we arrived at Walmart, he reached in his pocket and dug out his change and put it all in the bucket. I'm humbled by his generous spirit, awed at his thoughtfulness. What a blessing he is!

taekwondo buddies

2011-11-28T20:52:00.000-08:00

Ellen and Chloe and Ian came to visit us this afternoon! We had an awesome time, so awesome that it's turned into a spend-the-night party! We happened to remember that it's Bring A Buddy Week at Dennis' taekwondo class, so Chloe put on Michael's old karate uniform and Dennis' white belt and joined him in class. Dennis is often the only one in his class, so it was nice for him to have someone else in class with him. And Chloe has some incredibly high kicking power! They had their moments of silliness, of course, but were mostly very good. We took them out to McDonald's afterward and came home for more playtime for them (and baby snuggle time for me--Ian is a total cutie!). They got along wonderfully today, happily destroying and then cleaning up Dennis' room. And they actually played enough to go on to sleep instead of staying up giggling half the night.

Tonight he told me he was thankful for Chloe. I'm thankful for a day of catch-up time with our best friends!

Advent ninja

2011-11-27T21:29:00.001-08:00

We didn't make it to church this morning, this first Sunday of Advent. Neither Dennis or I were up for it. It was rainy and cold and we were sniffly and exhausted. We snuggled in, took naps, and spent a lazy day at home. We lit the first candle in our Advent wreath tonight at dinner and talked about the hopes for the coming of the Savior, about the meaning of the season, the prophecy of His coming.

Dennis treated us to a ninja demo tonight, dressed in dump truck pajamas, a camouflage ninja head covering/eye mask, and boots: one brown cowboy boot and one black spider rainboot. He did some rapid spins and martial arts moves before running off to his next project. Just about bedtime, he told me "I need to shake my body now!". He put on his reindeer slippers, his superman ball cap, his batman sunglasses, some strands of Mardi Gras beads, and several rubber wrist bands. He told me to play "Rock Your Body" on my iPhone and set it on his ottomans. He danced and danced, some breakdancing, even, and indeed shook the heck out of his body for over 10 minutes. And then he had trouble getting to sleep. Tomorrow morning I'll have to peel him out of bed!

Tonight he is thankful for "every firefighter in the whole universe."

grooming revelation

2011-11-26T21:21:00.001-08:00

I was trimming Dennis' nails tonight when I noticed that he'd been biting them. I asked him why he'd done that, and he replied "because I needed something else to eat, so I ate my fingernails." May I just say "YUCK!". I guess there are just so many Thanksgiving leftovers a person can eat.

Tonight he's thankful for Santa and for penguins. I'm thankful that we had a day together, just the three of us. We worked around the house, David building the framework for our fireplace, Dennis and me putting up Christmas decorations, Lemonade and Tabasco hanging out and keeping us company. Great day!

bargains!

2011-11-25T22:06:00.001-08:00

No, we don't do Black Friday. I have never liked Christmas shopping in crowds and years ago began avoiding malls after Thanksgiving rolled around. And I really don't care to observe humanity at its worst at the beginning of what should be the most joyous time of the year. But I was offered a nice bargain today. Dennis told me "if you can go all day without yelling at me, I promise to clean my room tonight." I mentioned how rarely it is that I actually yell, and he clarified "I mean if you can go all day and not get mad at me." I think he was attempting to make the deal with both of us. I don't remember yelling at him, but I did ask him to sit down and finish his meal about 85 times (over the course of three meals). He was so wiggly and squirmy today! I overheard him trying to rush Granny this morning, demanding to know "why aren't you outside playing with me yet???" as she was getting ready. Oh the drama! He was either whining at me or kissing me all day long, and I'm hoping a good night's sleep will reconstruct the less whiny persona we've been working so hard to cultivate. And I hope it banishes my grouchies as well!

so very thankful

2011-11-24T22:24:00.001-08:00

Another wonderful holiday shared with family and friends! We are so very blessed. As a matter of fact, I was delighted when Dennis said to me "when it's my birthday, I have a secret wish. I'm going to wish that my family will be all around me." Heartwarming, isn't it?

He woke up and said "this is a very special day: I love Thanksgiving!". He gave me a sweet hug and kiss and kept me company while I was cleaning house. He later dressed as Spiderman and asked if he could play outside. I told him he could, and when I happened to glance out the kitchen window, I saw Spiderman's head pop up over the top of my car, and suddenly Spiderman was all the way on top of my car. I watched him carefully climb back down, pull off his mask, and grin hugely. He ran in to tell me "you'll never guess what trick I can do!". I told him I'd seen him, and I told him his Daddy would be home soon and not to let Daddy catch him on top of the car. He agreed that this was wise. Of course we told Daddy about it later, but it would have given him a great shock to have seen it!

In honor of today's specialness, he added a clip-on tie to the front of his long-sleeved and hooded t-shirt. The colors weren't even remotely compatible. He was very proud of his high fashion look, and he received lots of compliments on his tie. It was almost as much fun as taking Flash Gordon to Walmart earlier this week (in red cape and mask). I love his creativity and individuality and try to encourage it wherever I can! How many other kids (age 4) ask for a zip line for Christmas?!

the supervisor strikes again

2011-11-23T23:10:00.001-08:00

Procrastinator that I am, I didn't start work on cleaning my house until today. Company is coming tomorrow. Tomorrow I will be scrambling to finish, as I ran out of energy at 1:00 (that's AM). Dennis would periodically come by and survey my work and make helpful comments, as in "it's looking so much better in here, Mom. But there's still a bunch of stuff over there that needs cleaning." Yes, I know. Our house has been under construction for a year now with the front room remodel, and we've been so busy working on the outside that the inside has been majorly neglected. Dennis' room is the biggest job I have to work on tomorrow. He's promised to help clean the den (his mess, mostly) if I help clean his room (which is ALL his mess). Luckily our family meal isn't until afternoon! I should be finished bulldozing by then.

almost pitiful

2011-11-22T20:49:00.000-08:00

Sad faced, head hung low, Dennis said "no one wants to tuck me in." He walked away sadly, bound for his bed. I followed him, of course, after waiting the usual 5 seconds to see if David was going to get up and do it. David, as usual, waited for me to make the first move and then got up also and said "I was going in there." We do this same dance very often. It isn't that I didn't want to tuck him in. I love to tuck him in. I did it this afternoon, twice, when it was time for his nap. I got him out of bed this morning. I read him bedtime stories tonight in my bed. I have been with him all day long. Again, I love to tuck him in. But I worked hard all day today, and I'm tired, and I didn't jump up as quickly as I should have, didn't rush to seize the opportunity to tuck him in as I should have. I know these days pass quickly. I will never regret tucking him in, only not doing so. And, I only waited a few seconds before I went in to tuck him in, enjoying the reward of his sweet hug and kiss. He said "you were only kidding when you weren't going to tuck me in, right?". I said "I'm tucking you in, aren't I?". He said "aren't is not a word--you're supposed to say 'an't I' (and no, he did not say 'ain't', which I HATE)". I said "no, it's 'aren't', I promise." He asked "Aren't I cute?". I told him he was, and that was the correct way to ask. He was proud.

witty Dennis

2011-11-21T19:40:00.000-08:00

This morning, he pounced on our bed, somewhat later than usual, and announced "I've decided to switch to a Sleep Number bed." When asked why, he said "I just sink into my mattress!". Yes, all 42 pounds of him, I'm sure. At CVS, he picked up the Gyro Bowl he's just been dying to own and upon careful examination of the package, said "Mom! It's dishwasher safe!". Amazing! Later, I was recounting these things to his Daddy, even remembering when he held up the Pajama Jeans in Walmart and said "Mom--you need these. You'll LIVE in them!". He said to us both then "I don't like regular, normal commercials. I only like info-commercials." We can certainly tell.

He was wonderful at Taekwondo, obeying his instructor and doing some incredible kicks! He's really getting good at it. He'll test for his next belt in January. Afterward, we did some shopping, and though I'd told him he could pick out a little something, he elected to wait until we go to Prattville next and get a toy Rescue Hero (they don't sell them around here). Nice that he can delay gratification at age 4. We stopped at McDonald's for supper (Dennis' choice), and he ended up taking some food in the car with us after we finished (he is a pretty slow eater). He complained to us "Hey, I can't eat in the dark.... (long pause) .... or CAN I?". He's got excellent comic timing, I'll give him that.

Just now, as he was supposed to be brushing his teeth, he was stalking David in the hallway with his "spray eliminator", his "new invention" made up of my water spray bottle with my deodorant rubber banded to it. He came in to demonstrate its operation to me. He said "watch this--you spray it on someone's neck and they are eliminated." He sprayed his neck and fell to my floor, tongue lolled out. I love this kid more than I ever knew it was possible. I knew I'd love my child, but I had no idea I'd be so entertained by him!

my little performer

2011-11-20T21:03:00.000-08:00

Dennis sang along with the Preschool Choir and Children's Choir this morning during two church services. I dropped him off at the gym for practice for his first performance, and somehow he escaped after the practice, crossed the street, and came to find me in his Sunday School class (where I had to teach and couldn't watch his first performance). Scary! He got to walk BACK across to the gym for his performance, this time escorted by the Children's Minister. He'd thought he was all done after they practiced and somehow missed the fact that he had to stay and actually perform during the service! I did get to see him sing at the Traditional Service, and he was making his customary joyful (loud) noise. He sang every word and did every hand motion. I'm so proud, especially since we've missed so many practices with the illnesses lately!

We treated him to lunch at Whataburger, where he asked the profound question "is there a cloud machine up in the sky?". He was treated to a more scientific explanation and paid attention to every word. We rushed back to church for the "hanging of the greens", a tradition we participated in last year for the first time. Dennis loved it, so this year, we invited his friend Marshall and his family to join us. Marshall is also age 4, and those two guys had a rip-roaring good time decorating the tree, pretending to give church announcements into the microphones, playing a duet on the piano, having free roam of the sanctuary and balcony, and eventually playing "superheroes" all over the church. Dennis wanted to distribute peppermints to the others there for the decorating, so we'd stopped to buy a tub of the soft ones to give out. Marshall followed him around, and Dennis would announce "here's a peppermint for you!" and Marshall would pipe up "they're the GOOD kind!"--they did this to every person present, more than once. They were so funny! They also helped me prepare the altar, cleaning off the Thanksgiving decor, packaging up the fruits and nuts that were in the cornucopia (and eating all the grapes), and helping me hang the purple banner to signify the season of Advent (just a week away!).

This morning in Sunday School, Grace brought her shiny pink diary and shiny pink feather pen over to me, turned to a blank page, and asked if I'd write "I love Dennis" in it. I was happy to do so. She was happy to show Dennis afterward. He was very cool about it, too, not making a big deal about it. She asked him to sit by her at the older children's musical performance tonight, and we took him there just so he could. And we watched a number of the children we've gotten to know perform in their show--SO much talent! Who knew we had so many little violinists? And we were so surprised by Dennis' friend Laura (neighbor at the lake) and her beautiful solo of Silent Night! We baked sugar cookies for the kids' Star-Studded Social for after the peformance (star-shaped, of course), and Dennis socialized with all his good friends at church (from age 2 to age 80+ as he's a pretty popular guy!). What a blessed day it was!

missile launcher

2011-11-19T18:06:00.001-08:00

Dennis leaped onto our bed this morning, waking us up by delightedly announcing "I'm a missile launcher! Push this button right here" (pointing to his belly) "and see what happens!". He then spit a plastic missile at us, one from his happy meal toy launcher.

Later, he was helping Gran mix some mortar for the stones for the front of our house. As he was mixing it, some of the mortar got on his Shrek watch, down inside on of the ear stalks. He studied it for a moment and then told Gran "hey, Shrek has an ear infection!".

He's thankful for Jesus and thankful for the world tonight. Me, too.

giant storybook

2011-11-18T20:44:00.001-08:00

Dennis tried his hardest to keep my attention on him today. It mostly was, but I also had a big project to work on. It's that time of year when I like to put my Christmas playlist on my iPhone, and due to problems with a computer virus, I hadn't synced the thing in six months. I also thought I might as well update the operating system while I was at it, and this turned into a 24 hour ordeal (and is still going). Ugh! While I was continuously restarting my iTunes every time it stopped responding, Dennis was running in and out, telling me things, doing tricks, asking for food, you name it! He tried doing somersaults in the hallway in front of my doorway, and said "I can't do that anymore--this floor is kind of hard!". I offered his KinderMat, resting neglected in my bedroom since we discontinued afternoon care at the preschool. He delightedly spread it out and rolled across it many times. Then he folded it, accordion-style, and carried it around. He brought it in and told me "this is my giant storybook--it has over 60,000 stories in it! Would you like me to read you some?". I agreed, and I heard "this is story 61,008: it's about a silly robot that disobeys." It was a short story. He danced back out of here after telling it to work on cleaning his room. I'm feeling the pressure of the upcoming holiday just a bit. I've got some big housecleaning to do this weekend, so I'm pleased that Dennis has started on his own stuff. We are spending the daylight hours working on the outside of the house, and the inside is looking REALLY neglected, but I'll be able to pull it together.

In other big news, Dennis got mad at David during lunch, and he disappeared to his bedroom. After 20 minutes of intense quiet, David checked in on him when he was on his way back to work. He'd put himself down for his nap. Very surprising. He's had a two hour nap almost every day this month! I guess he's been needing his rest.

earning more stripes

2011-11-17T21:55:00.001-08:00

Dennis is on the mend, we think. Tonight he went to the bathroom without his panicked "I need to go poop!" cry yelled out beforehand. He was happy to inform us "it was mostly solid this time!". And he's been a hungry bear for two days, constantly asking for food.

Tonight at Taekwondo (where he went by himself as I was keeping child care kids at the gym tonight), he apparently did very well--he came back to me with two stripes added to his belt! He's really working his way up through the ranks, and we're so proud. Lots to be thankful for tonight! Dennis fell asleep before we did our Thankful Tree tonight. I wonder what things he'll come up with tomorrow.

blessing a home

2011-11-16T19:40:00.001-08:00

I am thankful that the tornadoes of today passed us by, causing no damage other than making our pets a bit mental! Dennis said he was thankful for his toys! He took his bicycle helmet to school today and wore it when the tornado siren sounded and all the children were shuttled to the hallway. His choice. I'm glad he's protecting his brain! He came home singing "I'm glad I'm not a turkey this Thanksgiving!", a funny little number he learned at school this morning.

We took him to the doctor this morning, trying to discover how we can remedy his intestinal woes. We didn't get much help in that department other than to be assured that we are doing everything right and that it should run its course soon. We are still awaiting the lab results from the weekend. We did discover that he has an ear infection, which was a surprise. The dilemma: how to treat the ear infection while not exacerbating the original problem. Could be an interesting few days coming up. The doctor told us to keep him home, and I asked "why, is he contagious?" and she said "it isn't that--if he has an accident, it could really embarrass him." He spoke up then and said "no it wouldn't! I'd just change my clothes! I have spare underwear in my backpack!". So we returned to school, and he played superheroes with his friend Maddox while David watched (while the teachers had our staff meeting). I came out to see the Flash and Green Lantern flying around the playground in their capes. So fun!

We attended Gigi's house blessing this afternoon, a very special service by the priest and deacon of her local church (same priest who blessed Lemonade). Afterward, she served us a super gourmet soup meal--SO delicious! And then we headed to church. Dennis pretended to be a robot during his lesson, and he even stood and blinked rhythmically and moved his arms robotically during their song time. He didn't sing. "Rescue hero robots don't sing!" he said. He announced in robot voice a number of times "I. Am. Irv. I. Am. A. Rescue. Hero. Robot." to anyone who would listen. So we didn't watch Rescue Heroes tonight. And we talked about paying attention to the teacher. He did take in everything that was taught tonight, though, and proved it by reiterating the lesson to me! Love that kid. He's got the most sparkling personality!

open house fun

2011-11-15T20:02:00.001-08:00

I didn't write yesterday because I just couldn't bring myself to write about poop again, and that's really the only thing of consequence that happened yesterday. Lots of times. There was much crying and whining, and my heart just broke for him, for his misery. He did go to school with me and took care of himself there with no trouble. He did the same today, and I'm troubled to report that he still isn't better. We will consult the pediatrician as soon as we can get an appointment.

Despite his GI tract woes, he had a good day. He helped me at school this morning, getting ready for our open house and art show tonight. He enjoyed a lunch at the newly remodeled Burger King (and tried out the brand-spanking-new indoor playground!). And he was thrilled to show his artwork to his family members--lots of them came to see it and then take him out to dinner (while I was still working at the open house). It was his special day, he said. He even read me a story when we got home. If only his tummy would clear up he'd be an even happier camper.

closer to a diagnosis

2011-11-13T21:30:00.001-08:00

We've crossed yet another threshold of parenthood. We left the hospital yesterday with instructions to bring back a sample. They had enough poop for the in-house lab tests, but there wasn't quite enough to send out for more tests. Though we waited all day yesterday, no more was forthcoming (which was actually a relief, given the morning he'd had). We had a few almosts today, and then tonight, during his bath, he yelled for both of us. The hospital sent us home with a tray for over the toilet and a specimen jar and biohazard bag labeled with his info. Without getting any more graphic, let's just say that I had a very gross job to perform and I'm glad there were disposable gloves on hand. David handled delivery of the grossness to the hospital immediately afterward. Dennis observed all from the tub where he returned after the Main Event, making the necessary "ewww" sounds to help my job along. He said "wow, I guess I am still a little bit sick!". Not that you'd have been able to tell--he played outside all day long and ate and drank normal stuff. He wasn't whiny or pitiful and was full of his customary energy. Perhaps his rear end will soon get the message that he's well. At any rate, I'm glad there will be tests to make sure it was nothing really bad, despite what had to happen here to ensure that the tests could be performed. This was way more disgusting than a diaper change!

Tonight he's thankful for his family and "for all the drinks!" (the latter said while admiring his large bottle of blue Gatorade).

the hospital cure

2011-11-12T20:35:00.001-08:00

Dennis was so sick this morning that he actually asked to go to the hospital. I feared that we weren't, after all, going to escape the stomach virus. He had diarrhea a few times last night, and when he woke up this morning, he yelled "Mommy, I feel like I need to throw up!". No words could get me awake and out of bed faster than those. I flew to the bathroom, and just as I reached out to hold him, he grinned up at me and said "I'm just kidding!". He must have been. He never did vomit or even claim any nausea. He did have very bad stomach pain and horrible, frequent diarrhea, so off we went to the emergency room at his request. We were there over 3 hours, and he continued to be sick until they decided they wanted a sample. He was only able to provide them with a small one and then he downed a Pedialyte (slowly) and kept it down and felt GREAT. He danced all over the hospital room after that, happy to be feeling better, 100% different from the child I brought to the ER hours earlier. He asked everyone who passed if we could leave yet. They presume it's a virus that's running its course quickly, so he was prescribed rest and a liquid diet. He wasn't supposed to eat food, but I kept catching him doing just that, and he's had no more trouble today. In fact, he even played outside all afternoon. It's supposed to be nothing we can catch from him, but we'll have test results in several days that will let us know what it really was. It's just amazing to me how he went from completely pitiful to completely better while we were at the ER. He wasn't given any medication at all, just an electrolyte drink that had magic of some sort in it. I'm glad to have my Dennis back.

He's thankful for pigs and horses, he says. I'm thankful for his health!

Seuss surprise

2011-11-11T23:18:00.000-08:00

After playing outside for much of the early part of the day (and riding his bike and scooter), he fought me big time about taking a nap. When he got up, he was very excited to go and see Uncle Denny. But first, he had a prank to play on Pop. He found a huge black rubber spider and held it behind his back as he crept toward the woods behind the greenhouse where Pop was working, humming innocently as he walked. When Pop wasn't looking, Dennis tossed the spider onto the ground in front of him and yelled "oh no! Pop, LOOK!" as he pointed to the faux arachnid. Pop let out a yell of surprise before he laughed, and Dennis dissolved into big belly laughs, delighted with the success of his joke. David tried to hide a smirk of pride at his antics!

We took Lemonade with us to see Uncle Denny, and he whined in the car a good bit on the way down. I admit to feeling a bit disappointed--we've never had a dog that didn't love car rides! Dennis felt the need to inform me "Lemonade is crying again" whenever there was a whine (so helpful). When I stopped for gas, I bought Dennis some cheese puffs. At the next pitiful puppy moan, Dennis fed him a cheese puff. There were no more whines, not even on the drive back! Who knew that a cheese puff would be the solution? Now I'm hoping we can take him more and more places! On the way to the lake, though, Dennis did tell me "Lemonade has to go potty really bad!". Since I heard no whining from the crate, I asked "and how do you know that?". Dennis replied "because he's holding himself!". I cracked up laughing, but Dennis said "hey, I'm serious!". Oops.

Uncle Denny had a special surprise for Dennis, a book of the lost stories of Dr. Seuss. Dennis told me on the way home what a special day this was and how Uncle Denny made it special. He is so appreciative of everything we do for him, and I'm sure he's realized that just makes us want to do more things to delight him! I love that kid!

batman's misdeeds

2011-11-10T20:21:00.001-08:00

Dennis came running to my classroom after school got out, and he promptly informed me "I was really bad today." I already knew this. I'd walked by his classroom twice and glanced in to see him in action during the day. The first time, I caught him pounding a kid's ear with a toy hammer. I yelled at him from the hallway and his teacher promptly took action. I saw him again during his snacktime, and I walked by just in time to see him lightly smack the kid next to him. I sent him my "I'm very disappointed" glare and called him out on it. His teacher told me later that he just couldn't keep his hands to himself today, that he wasn't malicious per se, but he was pretty physical. He confessed this to me and David AND to his Taekwondo teacher (who gave him a stern talking to and extra push-ups). He's lost his opportunity to see Santa again this weekend. He cried a good bit and promises to be better. He also asked me tonight if he could apologize to Mrs. Nancy and his friends. I will remind him of this next week at school.

Once we got home from school, Batman came out to play on the playground. He performed his death-defying stunts on the swingset. His Daddy stopped him from jumping out of his climbing tree and removed his cape before it could get hung. He's just a mess of sneezing and snot, and I hope that when he gets better, his violence might also improve. We've cut all violent cartoons, have for a few weeks now, and though we wonder about the Taekwondo lessons, he learns nonviolence there. And the stuff I saw him do was definitely not learned in Taekwondo, looked nothing like it. I heard him say to his preschool teacher "but Mrs. Nancy, I didn't mean to hurt them--those were just love taps!". I don't know where he got that particular terminology from, but we don't do 'love taps' or 'love hits' or 'love kicks' (all his words)!

biker dude!

2011-11-09T19:31:00.001-08:00

I'm happy to report that his confidence on his bicycle has been restored! After I picked him up from school today he rode the entire driveway again and again, often with Lemonade running along beside him. I'm so proud! He fell a time or two but was not hurt or scared about it.

David and I took Lemonade to school today when we picked Dennis up (as a surprise), and Dennis was ecstatic to see his puppy coming toward the playground fence! All his friends saw and petted his puppy--he was proud to show him off! Mrs. Linda was happy to see him as well--he's grown a good bit since he left her house 6 weeks ago.

Tonight after church we stopped at Winn Dixie so Daddy could run in and buy more cold medicine for me (this illness keeps going and going!). On our way home, Dennis saw the local rescue training tower and asked "do the policemen use the training tower, too, to go in and get bad guys? And do they throw the bad guys out the windows?". We assured him that they didn't, and he said "oh, so they carry the bad guys out, like firefighters carry people out of a fire?". We enjoyed the mental image of bad guys being tossed out windows, but we decided that truth was a better option for Dennis!

He just walked into our room clad in his t-shirt, socks, underwear, sporting a shoebox over his head. He'd drawn a face on the shoebox, and came in giggling. He said "I fooled you! I drew my face on the box so you would think it was me!". Funny kid! He told me he was thankful for gummy worms, and then said "well, just write that I'm thankful for food!".

rolling around

2011-11-08T23:32:00.000-08:00

Having been blessed with some gorgeous and very un-November-like afternoons lately, we've been spending some serious time outdoors. Dennis has been playing on his playground, and today he asked to roller skate. He skated a bit and then rode his scooter all around. We bought some brand new training wheels for his bike. He'd been falling a good bit because the training wheels were so small and flimsy, so we bought a new set today. I installed them (which took some doing) and he rode it just a little bit to test them out. He says they're better, and I'm glad because he'd stopped even wanting to ride his bike because he was scared. Even today he would pedal and then brake, never building up any speed to speak of, and I hope his confidence will soon return. After all his rolling, he took a LONG nap. After that he alternated between cleaning his room and coming in to tell me new items for his Christmas list. He's been appropriating catalogs from the mail and searching them for ideas. He reviews the Walmart Toy Book one daily, and he's added a new Optimus Prime (fortunately the $15.97 one and not the $59.97 one) to the list. He really really wants the new Rescue Heroes Billy Blazes Fire Truck ($36), and I told him no more fire trucks were coming to this house until he got rid of some. He said, "well, I hate to do this, but I can donate one to Mrs. Nancy's class, the one with the really long ladder." I approve of his choice--I got that one for $3 at a flea market. But I'm not in any hurry to go out and get the new (very large) one. His poor Billy Blazes figure can continue to straddle his current fire trucks (he doesn't fit inside any of them) unless someone else surprises him with that particular truck. He also wants a bike basket that fits his bike (and it's hard to find a small and masculine bike basket!) and a mini pillow pet panda and about 15 other things. Whew!

Tonight he's thankful for policemen. He said he wanted to grow up and be a policeman ("the kind of policemen that sleep at the police station").

snowball fight

2011-11-07T21:30:00.001-08:00

Dennis was in such a funny, giggly mood tonight that it drew a most immature response from me. Our tickle fight evolved into a chase-each-other-and-hide-and-pop-out-and-scare-each-other fight, and we followed that up with a 'snowball' fight with wadded up bits of (clean) toilet paper. David looked at us as if we'd lost our minds, but he had a tiny half-smile on his face. After our snowball war degraded to a "let's throw dirty socks at each other" war (which I'm ashamed to admit that I initiated), my parent gene finally kicked in and we settled down to read bedtime stories. I think that I got so tired from working and having this awful cold that I just got a bit delirious and possibly a touch hysterical, but I'll bet I'm firmly cemented in Dennis' mind as "the fun parent" tonight! Sometimes it's just fun to be silly.

Yes, the exhaustion is total. I was called into work to substitute in a 3 year old class today, and it went very well, but I didn't get the rest I'd planned to get today. Dennis stayed home with David, and when Dennis napped, David and I worked on the house, then we all went to Taekwondo, then grocery shopped, and then I baked a couple of cakes for the church fundraiser tomorrow! I attempted to shut myself off in my room for a little downtime, but the little person that lives here kept beating on the door and asking to be let in (and that's when our evening of silly craziness started).

Last night we watched The Great Muppet Caper together, and Dennis loved it! I was reminded of watching Muppet movies with my favorite uncle when I was growing up. So I was surprised and excited to see that a new Muppet movie is coming out in theaters on Thanksgiving! Now that Dennis has seen and loved a Muppet movie, it'll be fun to share a new one with him AND the favorite uncle. I think Dennis has finally learned to say "Miss Piggy" instead of "that pig lady" or "Lady Pig".

Last night, Dennis said he was thankful for our church, and tonight he's thankful for Jesus and what He did for us. Powerful stuff. That's the best thing we all have going for us in this world, and I'm thankful that Dennis reminded me of what I myself should be most grateful for.

seriously busy Sunday

2011-11-06T23:25:00.000-08:00

I got called to substitute teach the Preschool Sunday School class, and though I had planned to sleep in just a bit, Dennis is still set for Daylight Savings Time. Even so, he didn't force me out of bed until 7:45. He visited me several times prior to then, but 7:45 is when he insisted that he was starving and just had to have his breakfast! He didn't eat much of his breakfast, and so he and the others in his class reached a point where they nearly staged a coup, demanding for me to go and get them a snack because they were SO hungry. I held my position, though, and I heard later that when they got to their children's service that the teacher rewarded them for good behavior with Skittles. I bet they worked extra hard for those, given that they were so hungry!

I dashed out between Sunday School and church to get snacks for our function afterward, and I made it back just in time for the service. I dashed out again to collect Dennis from his children's service in time for Communion, which he'd asked to attend. I opened his classroom door and he hopped up, asking "is it time for Communion?". Then he RAN to the sanctuary, threw open the door, and dashed to the front pew. He sat there beside Uncle Denny and folded his hands in a prayer position as he listened to the Communion readings and prayer. He solemnly walked up with me and took the elements. When we returned to our seat, he whispered conversationally "the blood tasted like wine today!". Though I assured him it was grape juice, he repeated "well, it sure tasted like wine." To my knowledge, he's not tasted wine, but I know he's smelled it.

After the service, I was in charge of the Christmas ornament painting party, and Dennis helped me host (when he wasn't busy painting). And then he helped me clean up our Sunday School classroom and do my Walmart run. At Walmart, we were passing the floral department when he said "those are sure pretty flowers--I think we should get some for Gran. She's been sick, and I want to get her red roses to help her feel better." He picked up a big bouquet (expensive), and I had to downsize his thoughtfulness just a bit. So he chose a small bouquet (and gave it a sniff test). We got a text message from Gran that she was at Walmart, so we quickly paid for the roses and Dennis ran out to present them to her. I love his thoughtfulness!

We spent the rest of our afternoon resting! It was a BUSY day!

Surprise! It's Santa!!

2011-11-05T21:07:00.001-07:00

When we received the circular from Bass Pro Shop that announced Santa would arrive on November 5, we made plans to go. We didn't tell Dennis. This morning I told him we were going to visit someone very special and that it was going to be his surprise. He asked us all the way there who it was and where we were going. When we got to Prattville, he asked if we could stop at Bass Pro Shop on the way to his surprise, and we were happy to tell him yes. When we got to the door, he asked if he could see the toys, and I told him that he needed to walk to the back of the store first. When he arrived at the back of the store and saw Santa's Wonderland all set up, he began jumping up and down and said "THIS is my surprise!!". He was so right! We played with trains, remote control cars, race cars, bows and arrows, toy rifles with targets; he wrote a letter to Santa and dropped it in the special mailbox and then colored a stocking. He had his picture made with Santa and looked at all the toys he wanted to look at. And then he was treated to a dinner of his choice, which turned out to be McDonald's (mmmmmmmmmmmm.... McRibs for us, Happy Meal for him). He made some friends on the playground, and he was rather amazingly well-behaved during the whole evening!

He chose a collar and new toy for Lemonade at PetSmart, and we went shopping at Target where he looked at all the toys and scored a super cheap Ironhide costume (his second favorite Transformer) and a new Billy Blazes action figure (leader of the Rescue Heroes, his favorite show). He said (even before we went into Target) "this is a very special night!". He chattered excitedly all the way home, playing with his new toy. He's been bouncing around the house delightedly since we got home. It was a really fun night for him and for us as well! We have another Prattville trip tentatively scheduled for next Friday, this time with Lemonade along. There's a free puppy class at PetSmart, and we are going to attempt a photo with Santa with Dennis and his puppy.

Tonight he's thankful for our dogs. I am as well. I spent a happy couple of hours romping with them this afternoon. Lemonade took off after a neighbor chicken but stopped and immediately returned to me when I called his name. I'm so proud!

surviving the week

2011-11-04T19:51:00.001-07:00

We did it. We made it through 5 school days in a row while suffering from bad, bad colds. Dennis and I came home today with a big desire to sit around and do nothing, which we were happy to indulge. After his nap, we snuggled together on the couch and watched movies. We played with the dogs, and we laid around. It was fabulous! As my cold is beginning to wane, Dennis' seems to be amping up. And he's been complaining of a number of tummy aches lately, so many that we might make a trip to the doctor on Monday. From his description, it sounds like it's just gas, but I'm beginning to think it's time to be sure.

Today he said that he was thankful for God. And he wants his Gran to know that he's thankful she takes care of him when Mommy has to go to meetings.

And he told me, upon noticing that I had removed all my toenail polish, "hey--it looks like you have Daddy's feet!". I assured him I would repaint them tomorrow. He was glad.

new rank: yellow!

2011-11-03T20:07:00.001-07:00

Dennis was presented with his brand new yellow belt tonight at Taekwondo. He's so proud of himself--he worked pretty hard and tested in front of judges to earn it! We're proud of him, too!

He was very speculative tonight in the car. He posed the questions "what if all the grownups in the world were kids and kids were the grownups? And what if all the dogs were cats and the cats were all dogs? That would be weird!". We got in the car tonight and he noticed the rain, and he said "is it raining all over the world?" which led to an interesting discussion on weather. Then he said "are there pizza restaurants all over the universe?", to which I answered "probably" and he replied "probably so, and probably there are McDonalds all over the universe, too. And Walmarts." Again, I had to agree!

After we watched an episode of his new favorite show, Rescue Heroes (the first television he's seen this week!), I told him it was bedtime. He laid himself across my lap and said "I'm too tired to walk to bed, but I'm not too tired to climb." I informed him that it takes a lot more energy to climb than it does to walk. He promptly replied "I only have a tiny bit of energy--just enough to climb and to wallow, but not enough to walk to bed." I carried him giggling to the bathroom to brush his teeth, and he was suddenly revived (or so I pointed out when he walked to our room after cleaning his teeth). He said "I drank some water--it revived me!". Tonight he is thankful for "being upside down", so I carried him thusly to the Thankful Tree hanging in the kitchen entrance so we could write that down put it in today's pocket. He crawled back to his bedroom, saying he was a little crane and I was a big crane. When we arrived at his doorway, I lifted him (crane-style, with appropriate mechanical noises) deposited him in bed. I am thankful for the hundreds of smiles he brings to my face each day!

is that Spiderman on the swingset?

2011-11-02T21:11:00.001-07:00

"Dennis, don't wipe your nose on the bottom of your shirt!". "But, Mom, that's what YOU do!". Busted. His Daddy hastened to my defense, remarking that Mommy wouldn't do that if there were tissues or napkins or any available alternative! But yes, I've been known to do such on a hike or in desperation on the playground (though it's not the bottom of my shirt!).

After our super fun day at school, where we painted with dried corn on the cob, dug for acorns and peanuts in a giant tub of dried beans (because I was the super awesome Discovery Zone substitute teacher today), and joined herds of children from all over town to watch the Birmingham Children's Theater production of Cinderella in our school gym. Again Dennis was tired enough for a 3 hour nap, but not before he donned his Spiderman costume and played on his swingset. I looked out to see him standing on top of his Dad's old Mazda (our lovely lawn ornament), and I told him to get down. He yelled "I'm sorry, Mom, but I'm Spiderman, and Spiderman has to climb things." He did a stint as Batman, too, but that ended when David told him to stop throwing sticks and hitting things and he answered "you can't tell Batman what to do." Batman was stripped of his cape and promptly escorted to bed. He CLEARLY needed a nap!

Tonight we had a family project to work on, decorating a paper turkey feather with things we are thankful for this year. We had great fun working on it all together. He will turn it in to go on his class turkey, and I'm excited to see how all the feathers turn out! For his Thankful Tree today, he said he was thankful for the cat.

better than Black Friday

2011-11-01T20:57:00.001-07:00

This was my first day to be free of afternoon care. Though I will probably stay a few minutes late many times in the future (to do lesson prep and such), Dennis and I got out of there at 11:59 today. We were in a terrible hurry to get to Walmart to buy discounted Halloween costumes (the day after Halloween being our favorite shopping day!). We were unsuccessful getting a Green Lantern one, which he really wanted, but we did score a Spiderman costume and a Batman Dark Knight costume for cheap! He giggled with glee as we put the costumes in the shopping cart, giggling the whole time he was touching the packages, and did some serious giggling while trying on the Spiderman mask. He wore the Batman mask and cape in the car. He put on the full costume upon our arrival home, whereupon he flew around the yard until Gran arrived to admire his super-ness. He did NOT want to remove it at naptime, but I insisted. When I got home tonight from my errands, Batman and David were watching guy shows together on the couch (and David happened to find the Looney Tunes episode where the coyote wears his Acme bat suit, which is almost as good as my all time favorite, the one with the earthquake pills).

It's November now, so we hung up our Thankful Tree. Dennis said "today I am thankful for Gran and Pop" so I wrote that on a slip of paper, and he happily found the pocket with the number "1" on it and slipped the paper inside. I am thankful for his Grandma who made our beautiful Thankful Tree!

He played a prank on me this morning. I went to wake him up, and I opened his door to find his light on and him lying face down on the floor, eyes closed, very still. I thought that he'd gotten up to play in the middle of the night and had fallen asleep amongst the scattered Legos, and I just felt awful that I hadn't checked on him in the middle of the night (thank you, Nyquil, for a great night's sleep!) and made him more comfortable! I yelled his name and crouched down as he opened his eyes to giggle at his joke, telling me "I heard you coming and I got down here and pretended I slept here all night." He sure fooled me!

trick-or-treat fun

2011-10-31T19:25:00.001-07:00

Happy Halloween! We've had a couple of days of big fun. Last night we had our family & friends Halloween party at the lake where we ate spooky foods and toured a crashed alien space ship (complete with a Probe Room). This scared Dennis a good bit, even though he knew it was Gigi's house and not a real ship, even though we assured him it was all make believe, even though we all wore tin foil on our heads so the aliens couldn't invade our minds. Dennis quizzed us about extraterrestrial phenomena and its possible truthfulness all the way home. And he ended up sleeping with us because all he could think about was aliens coming to get us.

Today he toured the pumpkin patch again on his midday date with Gigi and Gran. They picked him up from school early and took him to have some fun. They had so much fun that he took a three hour nap before Transforming into Optimus Prime to go trick-or-treating tonight. This was his first year of honest-to-goodness, actual house-to-house trick-or-treating (and yes, I've now officially hyphened myself to death). We've done the trunk-or-treat before where you go from car to car, and we stopped at one of those at a local church before heading to the subdivision most popular with kiddos on Halloween night. Things have changed. We didn't march house-to-house and ring doorbells. Instead, all the homeowners sat outside to greet passing children, HUNDREDS of passing children, and hand out candy. We saw tons of people we knew, people from church, people from Preschool... We admired costumes and enjoyed watching Optimus run up to houses to give his greetings and thanks, shopping bag slung over his shoulder. He scored some serious chocolate. I hope he shares. We did some serious walking!

infestation of love!

2011-10-29T18:19:00.001-07:00

Dennis has been visiting me often as I lay in bed over yesterday and today, having finally succumbed to the cold that I've been fighting for weeks. He is still fine, thank goodness, but I have a very nasty and painful cough that I hope will be gone by tomorrow morning. This morning, Dennis stuck his hand up my sleeve and crawled it along my back. He asked "do you feel something?" and I said that I did. He laughed and said "it's a shirt bug!". He was about to be a pants bug as well, but I stopped him.

heroes on parade

2011-10-27T20:37:00.001-07:00

It's been a long, full, fun day. We began our day with the trick-or-treat downtown with three of the preschool classes. This is a major cuteness fest, 30 or so small characters of all kinds marching through banks and businesses and the courthouse, holding out bags and saying "trick or treat!" and "thank you!". Dennis had many classmates that were also superheroes. And later, after the three classes of Halloween-ers left after the big party, Dennis was playing with the kids in the 4 year old class who will go tomorrow instead of today (so none were in costume). The boys followed little Captain America all over the playground, and in sweet generosity, he loaned out his cape, his mask, his shield, and his star to 4 different kids so they could all be superheroes together. After a while, he got tired of keeping track of who had what and for how long, so he brought it all to me to put away. He was so good today. He and the other kids in afternoon care even napped today (and we stayed at school long after the others left so he could finish his nap).

After school, we had child care duty at the gym, and Dennis had his Taekwondo testing. I hear he did great, and 6 people told me he was the cutest thing they'd ever seen. Then the classes went out to eat afterward to celebrate. Dennis sat at the table with the kids and instructors, and David and I sat with the parents. I heard him inform the others that he had some "private business to discuss with Mom" and he walked over to whisper in my ear "this is important private business: I love you!" before returning to his seat. He's the best!

exhaustion has set in

2011-10-26T19:18:00.001-07:00

If we can just make it through tomorrow, everything will be alright. Today I substituted for Dennis' teacher AND for the science teacher. I loved it. I got to know Dennis' classmates, and I learned how his class operates. We did a couple of neat graphing projects today, as it was Rainbow Day in his class. Each child told me his or her favorite color, and we put his or her name on that color paper crayon then he or she found that line on the graph and added the name to it. In the end, we counted the named for each color and found that red was the most popular. We also graphed Skittles. Mrs. Nancy has special graphs made up with circles in columns marked by colors. The kids arranged the Skittles on the graph, observed which color their snack sized bag had the most of, and then ate their Skittles. Very popular project. And they all did a great job graphing them.

I didn't even attempt the nap with the afternoon kids today. We did the Prayer Walk that the church has set up for this week, we played on the playground, and we came inside and played board games. There were three happy guys today, and they were mostly well behaved, and I spared my own mood by not fussing at them to nap when they almost never do.

Tonight I taught the church preschoolers, and I have been with Dennis nonstop today save one hour and fifteen minutes (total over the course of the day) when he was in a different class. I had thought that he'd finally be satisfied that he was getting my attention, but he still had to act out once or twice (push a kid in class). And when we got home, he wallowed all over me and followed me around nonstop. I'm so glad that I won't have to do the afternoon care anymore, that he won't have to share me with other kids, that I'll only be teaching my class when he's busy in his own class and it won't matter to him so much. We'll have this last precious year of afternoons together before he has to go to school all day long.

Tomorrow is a BIG day. Lots to do, and we'll be away from home for 12 hours with school and gym work and Taekwondo! He tests for his yellow belt tomorrow night, and then we're coming home to bed!!! I love all the things we do, and it's a good tired, the kind you get when you're accomplishing things. But it's tiring for sure, and lately I'm falling into bed worn out completely, which I am about to do again!

bullying the bully

2011-10-25T21:54:00.000-07:00

Dennis pummeled a kid today, jumping on him and kicking him in the back until he cried. This does happen to be the class bully that he walloped, but it was still inexcusable behavior. I put him in time out on the playground for a long time, long enough that his victim said "he's been in time out long enough, Mrs. Christi; I already forgave him." So I gave him another chance and he pushed the other two boys out of the playhouse. As explanation, he said "it's my shop, and my shop is CLOSED." So he lost his playground privileges. And after the other boys whined me to death: "he won't share (did you know that 'share' can have three syllables?)" and "he won't play with me" (these times not referring to Dennis who was on the Time Out Bench), I made everyone come inside and stretch out on their mats, where I sternly reminded them repeatedly for an hour to STOP TALKING and close their eyes. This part of the job I don't love. I love teaching a class, LOVE IT, but Afternoon Care makes me feel like a worn out hag and is greatly increasing my gray-hair-to-brown-hair ratio. But this is the last week of it!!!!

the longest week

2011-10-24T20:49:00.001-07:00

Day 1 of the long week ahead is complete! Dennis (Captain America) spent his morning with Gran while I worked at the preschool (he doesn't have class on Mondays). They had great superhero fun, and when I arrived to pick him up, he was in full Captain America dress. Gran had cut out a white star for his chest and rigged him a red and white striped belt (which is awesome because now I won't have to). What was even more awesome than that was that Gran and Hobbs were wearing white stars as well, Gran's taped to her shirt and Hobbs' taped to his head. I could tell that some serious fun had occurred, and they told me about their picnic and playing on the playground, which happened at our house while they were supervising the laying out of materials for the pouring of our new porch (tomorrow!!).

Dennis and I both took afternoon naps before going to Taekwondo class, his last before he tests for the next belt on Thursday. The rest of the week will be filled with preparation for the Halloween festivities that will happen at the end of the week, a parade through downtown and party at the preschool and a family party over the weekend. We have three afternoons of afternoon care at the preschool (our last three!), and a long night at the gym on Thursday, and trick-or-treating on Monday. And I'm so tired just reading this that I think I'm ready to go on to bed. Though Dennis assured us "I will NOT go to sleep unless you read me another book," he is indeed asleep.

the superhero with the achy tummy

2011-10-23T21:35:00.001-07:00

Dennis was just not himself today. He slept very late and was whiny and clingy at church (weird for him). He cried when I picked him up, refused to speak to anyone, and complained of a tummy ache. He ate when we got home and said the ache was "just a tiny bit" after that. He also convinced me to get him the Captain America mask and shield that had been marked clearance at Walmart (the last of each item in stock). He tried them on and played a little, but then he asked for Sprite to help his little tiny tummy ache. I wonder what's going on with him. I hope it's nothing major. I just hate it when he doesn't feel well.

proprietary

2011-10-22T20:05:00.001-07:00

Dennis seemed to feel just great today. He played outside all day. When I returned home from my teacher training around noon, he was wearing a hard hat, one of my old t-shirts tied up in back, and a ripped up pair of blue jeans. He waved me in and announced "welcome to the construction site!". He'd been painting and hammering and shoveling (we are busily trying to finish up the front of the house so we can put on the stones before the weather gets too cold). He decided to play in the dirt in front of the house after I'd been home a while and after asking me "are these okay clothes to wear for playing in the dirt?". I assured him they were and before long he was shouting "I just love a good dirt shower!" as he threw handfuls over himself. I think he had more fun in the dirt than he does in his sandbox! He dug a hole and then went inside to fetch his pirate ship, pirates, and treasure chest. He buried the treasure chest a few times (using a toy front-end loader from the sandbox) before telling me "I really need some gold. Do we have any gold?". I cut up a gold string of Mardi Gras beads and we filled the treasure chest with those, and he buried it and marked it with an x made of driveway gravel. Lemonade came over to help him dig holes and they had great fun burying and digging up pirate treasure.

He had to take a bath pretty much immediately after coming inside, and later, he was playing in his room while I cuddled with Lemonade on our bed. Dennis caught me and said "I'm jealous, Mommy." I asked him if it was because Lemonade is his dog and he replied "no--it's because he's in my spot. I wanted to snuggle with you!". So I we snuggled and talked for a bit and soon he was off to build a "tree-mobile" out of Legos. He came in to show me a contraption that had "two shovels and three axes for cutting down trees."

After he brushed his teeth, he came in to kiss me goodnight and said "I sure am glad my teeth didn't turn into robots. Then they might walk out of my mouth!". Yes, it was another typical Dennis conversation!

embracing laziness

2011-10-21T20:13:00.001-07:00

I don't have much to report today. Dennis and I never got out of our pajamas! We are fighting colds, have been for a couple of weeks, and I noticed that he had red eyes today and was just exhausted. We might be about to finally succumb to the scratchy eyes, scratchy throats, and runny noses that have been threatening us (and that we've been battling with vitamins). He did tell me tonight as we snuggled in to watch a movie "Mommy, you look like a big comfy couch" and promptly sat on me. And he wiggled. He's getting a bit heavy for that, and his knees and elbows are like daggers these days! But I cherish our snuggle time, knowing it's limited to his very young days.

enough already

2011-10-20T20:02:00.001-07:00

He's starting to wear out the "just sat there and picked my nose" bit. Today was Share Day in his class. I asked him what all his friends had brought to share (he took 2 Transformers). He told me, and then stopped in the middle of the telling to ask "do you know what everyone did with their toys? They turned them into nose pickers!". Very nice.

favorites

2011-10-19T20:04:00.001-07:00

Tonight he told me "you're my favorite Mommy and Daddy is my favorite Daddy, and I'm my favorite self!". Earlier we were grocery shopping and he said "I'm going to be your shopping helper--give me the Dennis list." He insisted on getting "the shopping cart with the steering wheels" and I incorrectly assumed he planned to "drive" it. Instead, he hopped into the basket and said "there--I'm your first grocery!". He put all the items on our small list into the cart, and he checked the eggs before he put them in. And when he arrived at the checkout line, he placed all of the items on the conveyor belt and counted them (all six things) before announcing to the cashier "I'm the grocery helper tonight." She gave him a special sticker for his efforts. He even swiped my debit card, and as I tried to quietly point to the numbers in my pin, he spoke them aloud as he pushed them. He said "hi, Daddy's boss" to the store assistant manager on the way out! He loaded up the groceries into our car and announced to some church friends in the next car that he'd been the grocery helper. It was definitely one of the more fun grocery shopping excursions with Dennis!

spying

2011-10-18T19:46:00.001-07:00

So I was sitting around the lunch table with the 4 year olds today, and I asked what they learned in their classes today. No information was forthcoming. In fact, Dennis told me "I just sat there and picked my nose." So I asked him what the other kids did in his class today and he said "nothing--we all just sat there and picked our noses. Even Mrs. Nancy just sat there and picked her nose." I'm sure that's exactly what happened. I decided on our way out this afternoon that we'd make a detour into his classroom so I could see what he really did. He was happy to show me this very intricate spiderweb he'd made on black paper using glue and white iridescent glitter. His spiderweb looked much more like a spiderweb than the others I glimpsed there on the drying rack alongside his. I presume they sang about the Itsy Bitsy Spider as well because he sang it off and on all afternoon. I'm so glad I work there so I can observe what he's really up to when he tells me he picked his nose all day.

4th degree white belt?

2011-10-17T18:42:00.001-07:00

Dennis earned his fourth stripe in Taekwondo tonight, which I presume means he is soon to be promoted to a yellow belt. Earlier today, he was scheduled for his flu shot. We'd been playing outside when I came in to check on him. He was "hiding" in the den in front of the television, hunkered down into a smallish Dennis ball. I asked him what he was doing. He said "I'm way too involved in this TV show to play outside, and I'm afraid I'm going to have to miss my flu shot." Ah. I mentioned that there's a new thing out now called FluMist (which he's had before) where you inhale a mist in your nose rather than a needle in your arm. This was how I got him in the car. He checked the mail for us on the way to the doctor's office and was thrilled to find the Lego holiday catalog addressed to himself. I was thankful for it as well, especially when we arrived and the doctor's office and saw the sign posted that they were out of FluMist and had only the injection available. I didn't tell Dennis. I just read his Lego catalog to him until they called us back, and he only realized that he was getting a shot as it was headed for his arm. He cried just a bit, but it was pretty much over before the first tear was out. Then he was very impressed with himself for not having screamed his head off and for being big enough to get shots in his arm and not his legs ("or my bottom--those really hurt!"). He earned a special sticker and I got him pizza for lunch as reward for his bravery. He drank some Sprite with supper and is currently zipping around the house with legs and lips both moving at light speed. It might be a long night!

party flash

2011-10-16T23:34:00.000-07:00

If my electronic devices had worked properly today, I would have had a great picture of Dennis dressed as the Flash to post. You'll have to use your imagination instead. He was wearing his Flash cape from Six Flags. He was also wearing a sleeveless red shirt turned inside out, to the front of which I pinned a white felt circle and a big yellow lightning bolt. I made him an eye mask out of a strip of red plastic tablecloth, and he wore red shorts and his black Nikes with the red stripe and yellow sole. He looked super cool and he was so proud. He took his Flash persona to the Fall Festival at church where he jumped in bouncy houses, participated in a Cake Walk and a Coke Walk, played video games, shot a bow and arrow, fished at a fishing booth, went on a hayride, and rolled around in one of those giant inflatable balls that people walk or run in (life size hamster ball, I think it said). He was very hot and sweaty and completely happy to be there. He was equally happy to go to the lake and show off his Flash duds to the family. Flash did a little fishing and a lot of eating and storytelling before we dragged him away crying. He went to sleep almost immediately in the car. Big day for The Flash.