2011 ends

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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...