Henry was fighting napping big time today, and Kevin, still recovering from surgery, was slightly under-equipped to handle Henry's exuberance. I stepped in to take over and Henry cried that he wanted his Daddy. I informed him that he lost that opportunity, and he replied with,
"I want that opportunity back!"
Well, I thought, what can I say to that? How many times have I thought the very same thing in my life?

State of Suspended Animation

Posted by Kevin.....

Today it was cold.

It's 27 degrees below zero. But the wind is calm, so it only feels like MINUS TWENTY SEVEN DEGREES!

The last time it was this cold, a family of woolly mammoths was calling Bridge Square home.

I see a single bird sitting on the powerline out back, but he has been in the same spot for about 2 and a half days now. So I'm pretty sure he will be there until spring.

The sky is so blue today. It's luring me outside as if to say, "Come outside and see how beautiful the day is. Don't worry about the cold. They say it's like falling asleep....."

Yack Fest

It's been a veritable yack fest here in our household as my lovely eldest woke up this morning at 6:10 announcing that he was "hot and needs medicine". Not long following, he began purging all the liquid he had consumed within the past 12 hours. Copious amounts of liquid. He commented on the "snot water" (I'm going to let you use your imagination here rather than explain...), and thought that it was funny. But then later, after experiencing it another 5-6 times within the next 3 hours, he refrained from comment, became much more serious about it, and became, well, exhausted of it all. As I was. As I still am.

Prior to nap he perked right up, started running around, ate a little dry wheat toast (he's currently on the BRAT diet), drank in "little bits" as instructed, and all was looking up. Then, after nap he put his head in my lap and whimpered before it all started all over again.

Is it wrong to assume that there is a child at daycare who started all of this hell? Is it wrong of me not to care if that's fair or not and go ahead and villify some nameless, sick child? It's too late to be asking these questions as the damage is done. I just pray that I don't get sick as I have 9 clients tomorrow and another 3 on Saturday.

I'm going to bed before the next round begins.

Henry has a toy in his mind that he would like to have for his birthday, and while I was at first on board, I now find that he is probably too young for it and believe that he is too hard on his toys overall for him to receive this new toy - which a., is expensive, and b., could be damaged if treated too roughly for extended periods of time. Anyway, he talks about the toy incessantly, and now informs everyone that he won't be getting the toy because he isn't gentle with his other toys - a fact he announced to a woman today upon meeting her at church.

The other day, prior to our agreeing that he would in fact not be in receipt of the toy, this was our conversation:
Henry: I'm going to get a Woody doll for my birthday tomorrow.
Mama: You're birthday is coming up, not tomorrow though, and I'm not going to give you a Woody doll if you are hard on your toys.
Henry: I want to be gentle with my toys.
Mama: Well, if you are gentle with your toys, we will talk about getting you a Woody doll.
Henry: That's nice of you.
I started to laugh.
Henry: And that's nice of me too.
I laughed harder.
He's still not getting a Woody doll.

Walt nose better.

Posted by Kevin....

I took Walter to our doctor today because the amount of a fluid being released from his nostrils was quickly exceeding the local grocer's ability to restock the cases of Puffs I was bring home.

Since I was in charge of the boys today, Henry was along for support. But as we entered the parking lot of the clinic, Henry announced, "I might get a shot today" It was almost as if he was looking forward to it. "Oh, not today Squirt. We are here for Walter's leaky nose."

Everyone in the clinic commented on how Henry was a good helper. Walter, for his part, was all smiles as usual despite a cough that would make a Phillip-Morris executive cringe.

While the doc was examining Walter, he gave Henry a small box of stickers and asked Henry to pick one. Henry took the box and sat in the corner carefully examining each one....presumably for its "Collector's Edition" value.

The doctor diagnosed Walter with "nothing" and prescribed a "saline" sprayed into each nostril before bed. I'm not sure why making my son feel like he almost drowned at the beach is going to make him sleep better, but hey I'm not the doctor.

We spent the next 10 minutes talking about cross-county skiing and bike racing. I then noticed both of my children showed signs of losing consciousness! But the doctor assured me this is normal. I agreed, as I often notice my wife seem to "fade" from the here and now as I talk about cycling. Although her symptoms consist of rolling eyes followed by a subtle shaking....of her head.

She will usually cross her arms to steady herself.

Mom Stuff

"Funny" things I never did/thought/bothered with/said/cared about before I was a mom:

1. Stayed in an increasingly uncomfortable position for fear of bothering another human being before, but now, if a child is trying to fall asleep it seems everything hinges upon that one "little" thing. So what if my neck has a crick that might not come out until 2013, by god, I'm not moving a muscle.
2. Said (and hope never to again after all the potty training is completed), "Pee in the potty, and then I want to see it."
3. Rocked, swayed, jostled, and did deep knee bends to coddle another until body parts began falling asleep, and then well beyond that.
4. Repeated myself 5-8 times in a span of 5 minutes, wasn't that bothered by it, and planned to continue.
5. Agreed to 3 books before bedtime and then wound up reading 9.
6. Knew that the thing that mattered most was holding my kid in my lap, kissing his head, and getting hugs and kisses from him.

and a whole lot more.

Replacing Banished Words

Posted by Kevin....

Lake Superior State just released their list of overused words and phrases that should now be banished from everyday use in 2011.

However, I would like to offer my suggestions for some replacement words, so we can get an early start on overusing them as well.

1. VIRAL: infectious
2. EPIC: Biblical
3. FAIL: failed
4. WOW FACTOR: impressiveness
5. A-HA MOMENT: epiphany
6. BACKSTORY: history
7. BFF: bud
8. MAN UP: stand up
9. REFUDIATE: (this word should stay, but only one person can say it.)
10. I'M JUST SAYING: with all due respect
11. FACEBOOK or GOOGLE as a verb: internettin'