Interesting Night

The day started normally, at least normal by our latest standards.  I was up and out of the house to work at 5:00 AM, trying to get some catch-up time in before the weekend got too crazy.  Mandy had planned a 2:00 PM session with a local photographer to capture some good quality photos of Elliot's first birthday, and hopefully some good ones of the two interacting together, and by "interacting", we mean ones that didn't involve taking toys away from the other, hitting and crying.  It went surprisingly well - pics to follow later, I'm sure.

Afterwards, we headed to Mandy's parents' house, with a stop off beforehand in the smokiest cafe/drugstore that I've ever been to - Tara's Cafe, located inside the Dryden's Drugstore - to load the kids up on sugar and ice cream.  It's ironic that one side is selling the patch, and other "quit smoking" aids, and the other side is openly flaunting that philosophy. 

We spent a few hours at the boys' grandparents' playing and eating, and then I left for home around 7:30 with the boys so Mandy could stay and visit.  I spent most of the ride home trying to keep Elliot awake, and was anticipating a pretty smooth bedtime routine.  I stopped at the intersection that our house is at, and as I started turning right I noticed movement off to my left.  Looking over, I saw three police cars coming down the street, lights off, and one coming from in front of me, lights also off.  

Police patrol presence in our neighborhood has been beefed up quite a bit lately, due to a serial rapist currently being actively sought.  Initially I thought they might just be patroling.  As my feeble brain was trying to process it - "...but four cars?  ...lights off? - I was already moving, so I hit the gas and turned into our driveway and into the garage, keeping an eye out for whoever they were keeping an eye out for.

As the door closed, and I started getting the boys out, I heard our dog barking - something he never does just because we come home.  I knew something was up, so I flipped the dvd in the van back on and left them strapped to their seats, went inside and locked the garage door in the kitchen.  I walked in cautiously, moving towards the front of the house and flipping on lights as I went.  It was then I saw four policemen walking up the driveway that separates our house from the neighbor's. 

I walked outside as they started running towards the back of the house yelling loudly.  I went back inside, to the kitchen window where I could see them pointing their guns at a guy in a t-shirt sitting on the roof of my neighbor's garage.  About 30 seconds later, there were about 10 cops all over the place, yelling at him to get down.  He politely declined, and about 10 seconds later two other cops appeared on the roof from behind him and tossed him off into the hands of about six others, who proceeded to dogpile him, cuff him and lead him away.   It was then I noticed about eight or ten other police cars parked out front.  One neighbor said they counted 12.  Keep in mind this all happened in the span of a few minutes. 

Once all that was over, I got the boys out of the van and brought them into the house, where Elliot started playing with toys and Noah started watching his movie.  Between the police coming to the door, dogs barking and all the police lights going, neither one even noticed. 

Our neighbor across the street had seen him hiding in our front yard, then take off running towards the back, and called the police who responded in just a couple minutes. Turns out it was some 25-year old from out of town who had gotten smashed at a nearby pub crawl. Guy was probably walking home and looking for a jacket or something to keep warm in the freezing cold, if he was even coherent enough to feel it, and picked the wrong neighborhood and wrong point in time to go wandering around people's houses at night. 

That guy's certainly going to have some regrets about his entanglement with the legal establishment tomorrow morning, but for me, it was a highly entertaining end to the evening.  Like watching my very own "Cops" episode, a show that, much to Mandy's chagrin, I will stop and watch every time it comes on.

He wants to be bigger than me

Noah really wants to be bigger than me. He is obsessed with how big (tall) people are and that "someday" he'll be bigger than me. He likes to climb up on things and announce when he is bigger than me. Today he sadly said "I'm not bigger than you mom, but I want to be bigger than you" and sadly walked away :( I told him he will be when he's a teenager. He said he wants to be bigger than me NOW! I feel kind of sorry for him. He was pretty bummed about it.

Cool mom

I worked late tonight.  As I walked in, I smelled pancakes, and saw this:

Pancakes and  frozen yogurt.  Noah decided he wanted pancakes for dinner.  Had that been me, or his mom, as kids, I don't think this would have gotten very far, but Mandy doesn't sweat the odd requests, but embraces the fact that means they'll at least eat something.

Sleep

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don’t have one - Leo J. Burke

When you make that happy decision to have kids, what doesn’t cross your mind is that it may be years before you sleep well again, and what a miscalculation that might be. As I write this, at 2:45 in the morning, I can hear Elliot crying upstairs, and feet padding across the room to take care of him. This has been week four, five maybe, of Operation No Sleep - our kids’ plan to rule the house by rendering us ineffective through sleep deprivation.

The feeling of sleepiness when you are not in bed, and can't get there, is the meanest feeling in the world. ~Edgar Watson Howe

For no reason we could determine, E was up most of the night. Noah got up several times as well, maybe because of Elliot, but more likely because that’s just what he does - he tends to want to get up and “play” around the 2:00-4:00 hours, and then again around 5:30 or 6:00. I’d let Noah do his thing if it weren’t for the prospect of being the next father they were discussing on the morning’s news whose toddler they found 3 miles from the house wandering around in bitterly cold temperatures.

Without enough sleep, we all become tall two-year-olds. ~JoJo Jensen, Dirt Farmer Wisdom, 2002

There are 9 hours between 10 PM at night, and 7 AM in the morning. If you count those last miserable days of Mandy’s first pregnancy, when our air conditioner couldn’t physically get cold enough and no amount of pillows made her comfortable enough, it has been nearly four years since we slept those hours away uninterrupted, and there were many nights when one or more of us slept fewer than three of those hours.

There was never a child so lovely but his mother was glad to get him to sleep. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

We’ve probably mentioned somewhere in here before, the nights of Noah’s first 15 months of life were hellish. I know everyone goes through it – those initial days of sleeplessness are what everyone trades war stories about – but until you’ve experienced sustained sleep deprivation, it’s hard to appreciate its effects.

There were nights that literally faded into days, and we couldn’t tell much difference. Fortunately, and God only knows how, he was the happiest of babies while he was awake, which recharged us - enough, at least -to make it through the following night.

At some point, a year and a half after he was born, Noah slept just enough for us to regret our decision to sell every baby thing we owned after a couple of months, and for Elliot to be conceived. Those last days before he was born, I was honestly dreading living through that again. We were pleasantly surprised to see how the other half lived. E slept for seven hours at a stretch a few days after bringing him home. Over time he woke up more, but everything’s relative, and relative to getting three hours’ sleep a night, five or six hours is like winning the lottery.

The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night's sleep. ~E. Joseph Cossman

Sleep deprivation is a wicked thing. At the very least, it causes you to lose hope that things will ever get better, and at its worst - well, let’s just say we never got to the true breaking point. In the midst of it we’ve flirted with depression, danced with anger and regret and said things we never meant.

Mandy has a higher breaking point than I do - not that its any less painful for her, but she complains less and pushes farther when it comes to her kids. Fortunately, she has a husband who feels bad if she’s up for too long, and feels obligated to participate in the misery rather than rolling over and going back to sleep (ha!). I’m willing to get up and help if I can. Unfortunately, what she doesn’t have is a husband who won’t bitch about it during or afterwards. Because it doesn’t do her much good to hear how miserable our lives are at that moment and experience it too, she tends to keep after it until long after I would have called for a break.

That we are not much sicker and much madder than we are is due exclusively to that most blessed and blessing of all natural graces, sleep. - Aldous Huxley

When your kids are up at night, and for several hours at times, it’s easy to lose sight of how fun this experience should be and to focus instead on how miserable you feel. It is times like this that I really appreciate my wife, and her ability to make me smile and refocus on the positive. Like picturing her sitting there, more likely wishing desperately for a nap but instead doing art projects with Noah, making this card.

I'm older!

Lately Noah & Hudson have had arguments about who is older. Last week I heard them yelling at each other back & forth about something. I went up assuming it was over a toy. Hudson was very upset telling me his version of events "Noah says he's older than me!" Hilarious! (Noah is about 3 weeks older -- not that he even knows that).

Then today they were going to play hide & seek. Noah wanted to hide first and have Hudson count. Well Hudson wanted to hide first and have Noah count. Noah had what he saw as the only logical solution: "I hide first and you count, because I am the oldest!" I told them that they are the same age: three. Hudson said "I'm not three! I'm three and a half!" They are so funny!

Paul does it right

This is how you are supposed to feed babies. How else will they ever learn to feed themselves if you don't let them just do it and deal with the mess? I let Noah do this all the time, but I am so bad about feeding Elliot anything that's not a finger food. I just don't want to deal with the clean up. Paul was a good Dad and just let him go to town this morning. Or maybe he was just too tired to feed him? Either way, I have got to start doing this more.

Bouncing boys

Nursing a one year old

Looks a little something like this...


Elliot still nurses 1-2 times during the day, and if it's not sleepy time, he does gymnastics. It's at once annoying and hysterical. Especially hysterical when he puts his butt up in the air. Haha! I love that Paul got this picture!

My helpers in their car

I know it's a low quality cell phone picture, but there is something so cute about my two boys sitting in the grocery store car cart together. They fought half the time because Elliot kept messing with Noah's steering wheel instead of his own. But, Noah is always genuinely happy to have brudder ride with him.

Bathtime fun

It's been awhile since we took bath pics of our boys. Noah, who normally refuses to cooperate was hamming it up tonight smiling big ........ so big his eyes disappeared, but still cute nonetheless.



He looks so big here
He is so mean to his brother sometimes....
I don't blame you for being mad, Elliot!

Hot & Spicy Cheez Its

Elliot's day wasn't all bad. He found a box of Hot & Spicy Cheez Its first thing this morning, emptied them all over the floor, and devoured as many as possible before I cleaned up the mess. What baby likes Tabasco flavored cheez its? I guess Elliot does!

Poor beat up little dude

Poor Elliot had a rough day. First of all this afternoon he got his first shiner. I was just getting ready to leave to run errands and he was in the playroom with Noah and Claire (our babysitter). I heard him crying hard so I went to check on him before leaving. He was playing/climbing around the slide and somehow fell on the window ledge. Not sure exactly how it happened, but it's already bruising up :( Noah also got a black eye on the window ledge when he was 9 months and just learning to walk too. Poor thing :( I made it all better before leaving him.

Then when Paul came home, he immediately cried/whined for him and demanded to be carried around by his dad like he does daily. He is such a daddy's boy! I heard him doing his painful cry from upstairs when Paul took him up to change out of his work clothes. Evidently Paul had put Noah's bed rail down and Elliot climbed up on it and somehow hit his mouth on the corner of the bed. That bed is dangerous. (I can't even count how many times Noah's hit his head on it in the middle of the night. We now have 5 pillows in bed with him so he won't do it anymore.)

After his bloody/fat lip he was no longer Daddy's boy for the night. He wanted me and only me. Poor kid.

Dancing Fools

We took this video quite a while ago, as you can tell by E's short hair. We post this simply to showcase the awesome dancing machine that is cousin Charlie. You've gotta admit, the boy's got some rhythm.

Thanks for offering

Lately Noah's in one of his stages where he doesn't want to eat dinner. Most of the things I cook (even things he has always liked) are "yucky". It's very annoying and challenging, but I know it's a phase.

Well tonight we went swimming at the Y and he was definitely starving. I made spinach chicken croissants (an old favorite of his and current favorite of the rest of us), and I hoped he'd be starving enough to eat one. Well we sliced him an apple while he was waiting for it to cook and he scarfed it down and asked for another. I sliced him up another and was trying to get him to try a bite of his croissant once it was ready. Usually he would cop an attitude and tell me it's yucky and he doesn't want to eat, yada yada yada.

But, he said in the sweetest tone "Thanks for offering mom, but I'm OK. I've had enough." He thanked me for offering like three times, so serious and casual and cool about it all. Worked like a charm. He had 2 apples and cheese for dinner.

Runs in the family....

Remember when Noah was a baby, how he sometimes reminded us of Chris Farley?

Well, Elliot is of much smaller stature and until now, we didn't see it. But, well, you can't fight genetics. It runs in the family.

Sweet

Pooped out after Charlie's pool party this past weekend. We just moved Elliot around and this is the first time both boys were asleep together. You know me and sleeping pics. Love em. Take them at every opportunity.

I'm sorry, but I ordered the extra large bag

All this cold weather lately has me excited for summer. Paul & I hate our pool bag. So I ordered this extra large one. It is equivalent to 3 paper grocery bags - haha! It is HUGE! I'm excited! Room for 4 towels, snacks, water bottles, diapers, dry clothes for kids to put on, sunscreen. NO PROBLEM!

Yeah, I know it's only February.

Close call this morning with Elliot

I had something very scary happen this morning with Elliot. My hands were shaking for about an hour afterward. First, some background information.

When Paul & I were remodeling this kitchen (before kids, actually before marriage even), we didn't think about child safety. There are three things we would do differently. Two are conveniences: put in a mudroom, put microwave up higher out of the kids reach, and the third is a safety issue. Get a oven/stove that has child-safety features (locks) on it.

About 3 years ago when Noah was learning to crawl I hired a child proofing company. They came in and evaluated our entire house recommending everything needed to make it safe for a toddler. There was one thing we couldn't child proof though. Our oven! First, of all, how is it that cheap ovens have locks and this one doesn't? Just does NOT make sense to me at all.




Unfortunately the locks on the market are crap and don't work well. The adhesive breaks down in the heat and they were not recommended. Also the knobs are too big for knob covers. Because we have two over sized entries into our kitchen we didn't gate it off either. Instead I've just been very vigilant for 3 1/2 years. I teach them "HOT!" at a very young age when around the oven/stove. I keep them out of the kitchen as much as possible if something is cooking. If they are in here, I'm carrying the baby or he's in a highchair. When we get near the oven I always point and tell him "HOT!".

Well after 3 1/2 years I guess an accident was bound to happen. I was baking oatmeal bread this morning (something out of my usual routine). I had to go to the bathroom and left the kids playing (E was in the playroom, Noah was in the living room). I can move the couch to block E in there, but didn't do that, not thinking about the bread in the oven.

As I was in the bathroom I suddenly heard a blood curdling scream. The kind of scream that tells me E was in pain. I run out and find him lying flat on his back, in front of the oven, gripping it with 4 fingers on the INSIDE (right where I'm pointing in this picture).


The oven was heated to 350 degrees. I immediately scooped him up and assessed his hands, but there was no sign of a burn. I felt the spot he had his hand on myself and somehow it was warm, but not hot. I have no idea, but I believe it must be a miracle. I always pray for God to protect my kids. Thank you, GOD! I really thought we'd be on our way to Children's Mercy. Poor baby was just crying from falling on a tile floor. OUCH! But, no serious harm. I try to be a good mom and watch my kids carefully, but sometimes we all screw up. I'm just SO glad that my Curious Elliot is not hurt.


Please, when buying oven/stoves consider their child safety features. Even if you don't have young kids, at some point they will be in your home. I am writing to Viking to tell them this, too.

And since I'm on a PSA roll, I want to add that in addition to gates on stairs and electrical outlet covers (obvious), make sure you tether furniture to the wall that kids can climb up on. And TV's are a big cause of injury too. Protect those babies!

Industrious little fella

When we went out to play in the snow, Noah immediately wanted his "shobel" so he could get to work. You don't even have to ask. And it doesn't matter how cold it is, he'll do it as long as we stay out there with him.

His other job he likes is using his digger to plow the snow and dump it.

This snow was so pretty. Big, fat and wet snowflakes.

Don't you wish you could look this cute when you first wake up?

Keep trying!

Today Noah wanted a Popsicle for breakfast (a frozen squeezable yogurt). As I was putting the box of them back a bunch fell out on the floor and I made a frustrating "ARGH!" noise of some sort. Noah starting singing the Yo Gabba Gabba song to me "Keep trying, keep trying, don't give up, never give up...." and then I put it up and it stayed. He immediately stopped singing and said "Good job, Mama!"

Oh yeah, I haven't posted about it, but.........

Noah is fully potty trained. He actually trained fast when I got firm and did boot camp. It was a few days before New Year's Day that I told him his diapers were gone and he had to wear underwear. It only took a few days and he learned it wasn't pleasant to go in underwear. And that was it! I swear he was so stubborn, I didn't think it'd work. For a few weeks we were still astonished everytime he went potty by himself. We didn't post because we were sure we'd jinx it (as we had LAST time I posted months ago about him pooping in the potty). So yep, he finally did it. I have to say it is the best parenting accomplishment EVER!

Paul the plumber

Twice in one week Noah has managed to clog the toilet. And no, this has nothing to do with his GI bug he's been fighting for almost a week. Last Thursday night we had our babysitter come over at 5:45. We were going to do an early dinner out alone after a stressful week and let the sitter feed the kids and get them ready for bed.

Well I was JUST getting ready to leave and say my goodbye's and meet Paul out when Noah yells from the bathroom that the water was coming out of the toilet. He filled it with a TON of toilet paper! I frequently remove toilet paper from the bathroom and apparantly I should just do that all the time. Paul came home and unclogged it and mopped up the floor quickly before we headed out. Noah wants to do everything by himself, but I convinced him he HAS to let me help him wipe from now on. And since then, he's been good about calling out for help.

Well today I was upstairs and came down to find Noah naked from the waist down (not uncommon as he doesn't get himself dressed after going potty). I tell him to go get his undies and pants. He brings me his pants, but not undies. He keeps saying "But, I don't see them." He obviously had gone potty so I went to the bathroom and they weren't there. He just stared at the toilet and gave me a "look". Then came the confession. He flushed them down the toilet.

Paul is in there right now with a wire hanger all straightened out trying to fish out the Diego undies as I type this.

Is this normal?

ETA - Paul did not retrieve said Diego underwear. I have to call the real plumber tomorrow. This is a little embarrasing.

Pimpin' da blog

YAY! I finally figured out how to put a cute template up and some other things to make it less generic. I really, really wish I could get a decent family picture at the top. Poor Noah is getting the shaft on that one, but 3 out of 4 is considered good for us.

I added a gadget that you can see all the labels/tags on the right. If you click on any of them it'll bring up whatever posts are in that subject. FUN! I particularly enjoyed reading a post Paul did when I clicked on "Good Old Fashioned Hillbilly Fun". Hope this is more pleasant to look at now :)

Sweet dreams...

Lately, I've taken to reading Noah asleep.  It seems faster than cutting him off at three books, then fighting him to go to sleep for about 20 minutes while he begs to play/eat/watch a show.  This is not entirely different than what my co-workers look like after I talk to them for this long either, so I'm not sure if it's because he's so tired, or I'm so boring.

Inexplicably, whenever I go out of town Noah seems to miss me quite a bit.  So I "mail" him letters that he can read while I'm away, which usually makes him feel better.  Typically I write them before I leave, include a photocopied picture of us in the body of the letter and let his mailmom deliver them on the appropriate days.

The last time I was out of town, I included an extra picture of us and told him to hang it by his bed, so I could watch over him while he slept.  Mandy told me he reached over and touched the picture each night before he fell asleep, and it still hangs there today.  He usually makes some comment about it each night before he falls asleep.  Tonight he said, "Daddy, I sure am making a funny face."

Jellyfish

Noah brought this to me the other day and said "Look, Mom it's a jellyfish!" I think he's pretty good myself. He knows more about animals and their habitats than I do. He says he learns them from Diego :D

I always post pictures Noah draws on this small magnadoodle. He calls it his "draw-er thing" and is very protective of it. He paints and colors on paper, but only draws on this thing.

Still sick.

You know it's bad when you fall asleep on the toilet.

Then after waking him up, he says "I'm not done yet, Mommy".
Elliot is no better. No puking for almost 24 hours in the house though.