very thankful

Another day, another trip to the hospital. I haven't written about what's been going on because I've been so worried, but today we are very thankful that Uncle Denny has come through major surgery just fine and seems to be recovering well. Hopefully soon he will be coming home to begin a long recovery process, and we pray that it will go well. We are just happy that we'll get to have him around, and we hope that he'll be with us for a long time yet.

Dennis was not allowed in the ICU to visit but sent a picture that he colored and a video of himself playing. He has been asking for Uncle Denny quite a bit and we hope that he'll be in a room soon where Dennis can go and see him.

Thank you, Lord. What a miracle You gave us today!

In other news, Dennis pinched a girl tonight at the mall and nearly got David slapped. I get the impression that David was pretty embarrassed. Dennis, of course, was not.

a little prank on Mommy

"Mommy!"

"Yes, Dennis"

"Hand"

"I see your hand."

"Hold hand."

"You want me to hold your hand?"

"Want hold hand"

"Okay, I'll hold your hand." (grabs hand, notices hand is wet, remembers seeing him emerge from bathroom moments earlier) "Did you have your hand in the toilet?!"

"Hee hee hee"

"Nice, Dennis."

"Great job. Great job. Bye Mommy"

how to get your toddler dressed and ready for the day

1. Gather everything you will need beforehand, diaper, wipes, clothes, socks, and shoes. Prepare to be a mobile dressing unit.

2. Apprehend your toddler. Be stealthy. Place him on his back quickly (or position of your choice) for pajama removal.

3. After you remove the pajama pants, gather your diapering supplies from under your leg, where you stashed them when you sat down to change him.

4. Chase down and re-capture your toddler and bring him back to the designated changing spot after he got up and ran from you while your head was turned.

5. Change the diaper. Clean the diaper area. Resist kicking feet and firmly hold him in place while cleansing. He will be wiggly.

6. Apply new diaper. Quickly grab him when he gets up to run. Tell him he needs to get dressed. Try to reason with him when he asks to wear the "fire truck shirt" for the fifth day in a row.

7. Put on the second favorite shirt (the one with the helicopters on it) and pants and offer some sort of bribery (a cookie maybe?) to convince him that he'll be happy in the helicopter shirt.

8. Gather his socks and shoes and follow him to the far end of the house with them. Wrestle him down (disguise this as a hug) and put on the socks. Put back the shoes he refuses to wear and grab the Thomas the Train tennis shoes from his closet.

9. Find him and show him the Thomas shoes and be patient while he shoves the wrong feet into them. Once they are on correctly, grab Froggy and the diaper bag and run out the door to strap him in the carseat. Kiss him on the cheek and thank him for cooperating (lie if you must). Now, keeping an eye on the car at all times (and this won't work in the summer months unless you've pre-cooled the car and won't work at all in many neighborhoods), go back in and get the cell phone you forgot and your purse and keys. Get the car in motion as soon as possible to prevent him asking for random toys that are still in his bedroom.

If you're lucky, you might get out the door and down the road without having to turn around and come back too many times (it helps if you've remembered to brush your own hair and teeth before you attempt to get your toddler ready).

fun with Ju-Ju and Steve

We stayed at home as long as possible today to let Dennis recover a bit from this very exciting week he's had. He took a very long morning nap, but as soon as he woke up, he was demanding "want to go to lake house, want to see Ju-Ju Steve, want to see Gran Pop, want to see Judy Don, want to go see Grandma Bob, want to see Uncle Denny". (need to teach him how to say 'and')

So of course we went to the lake house to see everyone and Dennis enjoyed a boat ride and some fishing with everyone. We had a big fish fry supper and Dennis was so anxious to eat it that he danced around the place telling everyone "ready eat" or "ready to eat". Waiting for everything to be cooked was tough on the little guy. Supper was late enough that he was sleepy, and that of course means he was completely wired. He ran into things and tripped and fell, and at one point, he slammed into his rocking chair and turned and said to it "I sorry, know that hurts". It tickles me every time he apologizes to inanimate objects! Every time Steve brought in a new platter of fish or hush puppies cooked next door, Dennis piped up "thank you, Steve".

He was happy to have a brownie for dessert, munching happily and saying "hot chockey cake, thank you Daddy" with his chocolate encrusted smiling mouth. David took him home immediately after supper and he kept pulling on me and trying to get me to come as well, but I stayed long enough to finish my supper and visit for a last evening with our guests. Tonight Dennis patted me on the shoulder and said "sweet girl, Mommy". I took it as a compliment even though that's what he says about the dog! He was full of sweetness and cuteness all day--all week, really. It just makes my heart full to bursting seeing him so happy.

my day with Thomas

I am one of those sucker parents now--I took Dennis to the big Day Out With Thomas event at the local railroad museum. That's a big moneymaker for sure! But I must admit, for the amount of joy he got from his train ride, it might have actually been worth it. I could have just gone to the event and not bought a train ticket and he would have seen Thomas and had his picture made and had a balloon animal made and watched the movies and heard the storyteller and met Sir Topham Hatt. But when we arrived this morning at 8:52, there weren't many folks there and I went right to the ticket window and we were on board the 9:00 train (even after having our photo made). Dennis said "Dennis ride train" and "choo choo" and "ride Thomas", and he danced in his seat and waved at the conductors and had a generally wonderful time. We were on board a wonderful old car built in 1910 (the Frisco Coach). The Cahaba lilies were in bloom all along the low areas in the woods--Dennis pointed them out saying "look that" and "white floweys" (his word for flowers). It was cloudy and cool this morning but not a bad morning at all for a train ride. And as soon as we got in the car afterward (after he said "thank you Tommy" and "bye bye Tommy" to the train as we were leaving), he said "lake house Ju-Ju Steve" and that's where we headed.

This afternoon, Dennis went for a ride in Uncle Denny's new golf cart. He LOVED it. We had the most difficult time getting him out of it after three trips around to the marina. He wanted to drive it and even put the keys in the ignition after we'd gotten out while looking over at his Gran and patting the seat beside him and saying "sit down, Gran". He went fishing today, too, and is now FINALLY napping. I don't know what he's going to do next week after all the excitement of this week, what with the zoo trip and the train ride and the Ju-Ju and Steve visit. I hope life won't seem too dull for him back at home with Mommy! Maybe he'll be excited to rediscover his toys after being away from them for a few days.

rain boots!

Steve and Julia and Judy and Don came to visit us at the lake today. Dennis was so excited to see his 'Ju-Ju' and Steve again, and since he knew they were bringing his birthday gifts, he had been walking around and saying "Ju-Ju present" all day. He sang happy birthday to himself a few times and LOVES his gifts, a pair of Cars rain boots and a dump truck that also converts to a shovel for his sandbox. He was so ecstatic to see everyone that when I asked him if he was happy, he said "happy Dennis".

Here he is modeling his new boots, which he insisted on putting on immediately. It's raining now, so we'll have to go find some puddles to tromp through later. He'll be delighted!

zoo fun

Happy April Fool's Day. We didn't play any tricks around here--everything I could think of was too cruel. And David was running a chainsaw all day, so I appreciate him abstaining from ER humor as well.

Dennis and I visited the Montgomery Zoo with my friend Allison. It's a beautiful zoo and we had a great time. Dennis loved the giraffes and elephants and the black bear and otters, and he especially loved the giant playground. He happily pointed out animals to us and talked to them ("bear come back" and "hey, otter"). He liked riding the zoo train but tried to jump out when we passed the playground. And when we left the zoo, there was a fire truck in the parking lot and they appeared to be training new firefighters on how to raise and lower the ladder. We all enjoyed watching, but Dennis was especially excited to see it. We couldn't have programmed a better day for him.

He accompanied us shopping after this and a saleslady greeted him and asked how he was doing. He replied "E-I-E-I-O". He also helped us shop for footwear, pointing at all the boxes and saying "nice shoes". He slept hard in the car and slept even harder once he got in his bed. It was an incredible day, and I can't believe he was so good all day long. What a lucky Mommy I am.