A Christmas Catastophe…

almost. My heart is still pounding a bit faster than normal. I didn’t realize that this mattered to me so much. I estimate that I avoided a Christmas catastrophe by less than ten seconds. I have been replaying the final scene in my mind over and over again. It was so close to going so wrong.

The last two years I have been given the task of taking Santa toys to the office and wrapping them there. Today was the day for this transportation to occur. I packed them up this morning before the boys woke up. I drove to work (a rare occurance but I would look a bit strange pedaling down the street with a big bag of toys on my back). The only problem was I forgot to take all of the stuff out of the van when I got to work. Oops. That problem was compounded by the fact that I was supposed to go home a little early for lunch to take Daniel to the store to get a present for Sammy. You can all see where this is going. I pull up to the house, the boys are out front playing with Suzy. Daniel sees me, and starts heading for the van. I shut the car off and look behind me to see which side Daniel’s car seat is on. OH NO! PRESENTS EVERYWHERE! ABORT! ABORT! ABORT! I quickly jump out of the car to head Daniel off and say I changed my mind. Suzy, naturally being very confused, starts asking why. I mumble and mumble and finally get her aside to say the problem. Yikes. That was a close one. The boys, sensed something was wrong, but were distracted with playing. I asked Daniel if I could take him to the store before dinner tonight. I bet you all can guess the first thing I did after getting to the office.

On the tenth day of Christmas...

...Daniel gave to me one blaaaack eye.

Yep, Daniel gave me my first shiner and let me tell you it hurt real bad, still does.

No, Daniel didn't punch me or hit me, well actually he did hit me, just it was with his big head.

Daniel and I have a nighttime routine. After Dan has finished reading bedtime stories I go into Daniel's room to read him some poems and tuck him in bed. Daniel likes to hide under the covers before I come into his room so he can surprise me. Do you see where this is heading? So, Sunday night I head into Daniel's room as scheduled and do my 'Where could Daniel be?' routine. Only this time when I bend over to peel back the covers Daniel decides to jump up from the bed. Big head smashes into right cheekbone. I knew it was bad when I finally opened my eyes and realized the bump was interfering with my line of vision.

I was hoping against hope that I wouldn't get a black eye, it being the holidays and having parties and lots of pictures taken, but sure enough Monday morning I was sporting a holiday shiner. This year I wanted to do a family shot for our Christmas card. So if I look a little strange in the picture, and you finding yourself wondering if maybe my makeup smeared or something, just remember it is just the black eye Daniel gave me on the tenth day of Christmas.

Instant Action Dad

Knock, knock, knock. You spring out of bed. Actually, I lie there for a few seconds to see if Suzy moves around. No such luck. I roll out of bed and manage to make my way to Daniel's room.
'Hey, buddy, what do you need?'
'I had a bad dream.'
'Okay, let me tuck you in.'
I tuck him in, and calm him down and he is asleep before I leave the room. You never know what kind of situation you are in for as a parent. You could be sleeping blissfully and the next moment you are called upon to perform some heroic deed. A few nights ago Daniel was having a coughing attack that he couldn't calm down from. I sat there, rubbed his back, told him it would be okay and he fell back asleep.
A few months ago, early in the morning I heard Sammy having a problem. At the time I was worried about him not being quick enough getting to the bathroom, so I hustled out there to see what was wrong. Mind you it was probably 6 AM, and I was fully asleep. You go from REM to Instant Action mode. With Sammy the circumstances are usually... interesting. This particular morning Sammy was saying something about a lego, and his nose. A combination that led to an immediate soberness on my part. I plopped him up on the bathroom counter, told him to sit there and not move (good luck with that one). I went to find the tweezers (a tool that as a parent I use fairly regularly). I came back to find that Sammy had listened well and was sitting just where I told him too. I peered up the nose and sure enough I saw the culprit. A tiny little lego, red if I recall correctly. I am pretty sure it is one the smallest lego pieces they make. Well, all you can do is try. Up the nostril the tweezers went and after a few misses I snagged that sucker and saved the day. Another crisis averted for Instant Action Dad.
What will my super powers be called on for tonight? Stay tuned kids, and don't forget to drink your Ovaltine!

Shaggy?

Daniel has always been a 'phase' oriented type of kid. When he gets into something he really gets into it. We had a Thomas phase that was unbelievable, and that lasted a pretty good amount of time. Spiderman, Thomas, Batman, Legos. Those are some of the things that he has immersed himself in during his brief, but entertaining life so far. Recently Suzy has been recording some Scooby Doo videos for the boys to watch. Nothing too strange there, yet. The boys like them, not too surprising, Suzy and I liked watching them when we were growing up. This is where it gets a little askew, Daniel's favorite character in Scooby Doo is... Shaggy. Shaggy? Yup, that's right, it is Shaggy. To the point that he has asked Suzy to make a Scooby Snack box that he totes around with him. Last night he changed into a Shaggy outfit, green shirt, khaki pants. After bath he wanted his hair combed like Shaggy. His hero right now is Shaggy. Hopefully this phase won't last too long, because, no, I would not like another Scooby Snack, thanks for asking.

Pound Pound Pound

Two days ago my wife gave me wonderful news. She took the door lock off of Sammy's door. I completely understand why you are wondering why that is wonderful news. Who cares? The progression is this: Sammy wears a diaper all of the time -> Sammy wears a diaper only while sleeping -> Sammy doesn't wear a diaper at all, but has a door lock on his door so he has to knock if he needs to go to the bathroom -> No door lock, he can go when he wants to. We implemented stage three with Daniel (putting on the door lock) because after he stopped wearing the diaper we were afraid he would come out of his room for no reason at all and wander the house at all hours. The door lock is a pain, though, because whenever they need to use the facilities (no matter the hour) you hear POUND, POUND, POUND! Since your child has just recently started the art of not peeing on himself, you want to rush to the scene since he probably hasn't quite mastered the art yet. So that leads to 5:30 AM pounding sounds waking you up. When Suzy told me she removed the door lock that meant that no more pounding. It makes you a little nervous for awhile, this is Sammy we are talking about, but overall I am very happy that my little guy is on his own now for taking care of his business.
Now if I could only get him to wipe his own rear...

Big Boy Bed: Part Two

About a month ago we decided to move Sammy into a big boy bed since he was climbing out of his crib. The whole transition went very smoothly and having Sammy out of a crib has not been as terrifying as I thought it would be. But it definitely has been interesting and quite loud.

Sammy is very good about staying in his room during naptime and at night, but the problem is he tends to get in trouble while in his room. He has probably done every possible thing you can do in his room. He jumps around on his bed, chair and any item/toy possible and his room is right above the pot rack in the kitchen so when he jumps around he rattles the pots and pans. He used to like to lie in front of his door and pound the door with his feet, but I quickly put a stop to that. He yells, sings and talks. I often hear him by the door yelling 'Is anyone there?'. He especially likes to sit in his closet doing something I probably do not want to know and slams the closet door repeatedly . He likes to pull the stuffing out of his pillow and put little balls of fuzz in different places. One day I left a foam sword in his room (bad, bad idea) and when I went to wake him bite sized pieces of foam were scattered all over his room and all that was left of his sword was a handle.

The funniest thing that has happened was the time I went in his room and found him asleep under his bed, and the most maddening moment was when I discovered he had ripped a couple of his books. There was even an event that involved a Lego up the nose, but I will leave that up to Dan to write about.

So Sammy's room is slowly becoming quite empty as things are being removed for safety's sake. We now have a rocking horse, two toy storage bins, a trash can and some toys in our hallway. At this rate all Sammy will have left in his room is a mattress by his birthday.

Hopefully Sammy will adjust to his new found freedom and I won't have to wonder what surprise awaits me each time I open Sammy's door. Although this is Sammy we are talking about. Trouble I tell you, just plain trouble.

The End of Innocence

You would think that going to the zoo with family would be one of the pure things left in life. Fun, laughter, just a happy day. Well, that is what I thought, but no more. It all has ended, it will never be the same.

I was standing watching my niece Leina. She is a joy to watch, enthralled by the animals, just enjoying the moment. Little did I know that at that very moment she was being stalked. Down she bent to get a closer look at one of God's amazing creatures, when she was grabbed. Grabbed from behind by this, this, ANIMAL. There was a pause from her. Her panic was not instant, but when it started it did not stop. There was no pause in me. I leaped to her defense instantaneously. I knew that seconds counted.

My counter attack was two pronged, first protect Leina at all costs. I grabbed her and was in an immediate battle for possession. I had a hold of her with my arms, and then decided that the best defense was a good offense. Kick? Punch? What would be most damaging to this assailant, this BEAST. I decided that I could pry little innocent Leina from the clutches of this attacker, secure her safety and then deal with the animal once she was safe. I pulled, I strained, I tugged. Finally she was free. Relief, joy, and exhaustion was balanced by Leina's panic, still manifesting itself in blood curdling screams. I knew the screams would pass, because she was safe now.

The attacker, the ANIMAL, what became of him? Well, that goat continued to just sit there in the dust. The keeper came by and said to keep your eye on him, he likes to grab clothes and chew. Lesson learned for little Leina, innocence lost, she will never trust a goat again. And to you vile attacker. I will have my eye on you when we go back to the petting zoo. Never again will I allow you to so wantonly attack the children. I will defend the kids till my last breath.

Big Boy Bed

For the first time tonight we tucked Sammy into a bed instead of his crib. Yes, it is very sad, but it had to be done. I am a big supporter of keeping your kid in a crib for as long as you can, and Daniel did not graduate to a bed until a couple of months after three, but it was definitely time for Sammy.

For awhile Sammy has been able to climb out of his crib, but he would only do it when someone was in the room with him (at least I think so). But this morning when I gathered his animals and blankets from the crib I uncovered a small fleet of Lego planes. 'Uh, Sammy... where did you get these toys?' I asked since I knew he did not take them into the crib with him. Sammy then went on to explain how he had climbed out of his crib, got the from the desk and then climbed back into the crib. My heart sank as I realized it was finally 'time'.

After nap we pulled out Daniel's old Spongbob toddler bed and set it up. After book reading Sammy told Dan the he didn't need rock-a-bye, a nighttime ritual when we rock him while singing Rock-a-bye Baby and then put him in his crib. He walked into his room, climbed into bed, we tucked him in, said good night and closed the door.

I guess my little baby is a big boy now. I can't believe that we are done with that crib. Was it really five years ago that we first bought that crib for our first child? How did my babies grow up so fast?

I just peeked in a Sammy and thankfully he was asleep on the bed, not on the floor or in the crib with no mattress. We put a baby lock on the door handle so he can't get out, but it will be interesting tomorrow morning when he wakes up to freedom. I am a little scared. Naptime will be a whole different story.

So Sammy is out of his crib and boy am I in a lot of trouble.

The Missing Cousin

After rereading my last blog, I realized that I had left out a small but very important and very cute part of my trip to Oregon, KULIA! Yes, we visited TWO cousins on our trip up North, but sadly Kulia did not make it into my first post. It's not that we didn't enjoy our time with Kulia, it's just that Sammy was not so hot on his younger cousin.

Kulia, having just turned one year old, was a typical toddler and Sammy was not too thrilled with her. She wanted to be a part of everything Leina and Sammy were doing, but of course in the eyes of Sammy she was just a nuisance. Poor Kulia just had to sit too close to Sammy during book reading to elicit complaints and when Auntie Chrissie asked, 'Isn't Kulia sooo sweet?', Sammy got a sour look on his face and stated, 'Not so sweet!' At one point he even called her a 'Poo-Poo Girl'.

The funny thing is, is Kulia is so much like Sammy. Sammy was just like Kulia at one year old, driving Daniel nuts, and still does sometimes, well a lot of the time actually. And Kulia wasn't even trying to be a bother, while Sammy intentionally antagonizes Daniel.

Although Kulia was not a big hit with Sammy, the adults could not get enough of her. Her sweet innocence, big slobbery kisses and chubba-chubba legs were enough to win any adult over. Although Kulia did let me hold and kiss her, her favorite by far was Papa. She would just sit on his lap contentedly, whine for him to pick him up and give him big hugs and kisses.

I know Sammy will enjoy playing with Kulia as she gets older, and I think that he does like her deep down inside. And I think she is so sweet, even if my youngest doesn't think so.

Oregon Adventure

Sammy and I just got back from our annual trip to Oregon for Leina's birthday. Once again Sammy proved himself a great traveler. He was perfect waiting in lines, going through security, waiting for the plane and sitting on the airplane. This time I didn't even bring a stroller, so Sammy had to walk/stand the whole time. Besides a 45 minute delay on the way out, the flight couldn't have gone better.

The real fun began when we arrived at my sister's house. Leina was so excited to see Sammy and play with him and boy did they have fun together. Besides a few minor squabbles they were best buddies. Although we were only there for three full days we crammed in a lot of fun, going to the park and playing in the water, Leina's birthday party, OMSI (Oregon museum of Science and Industry), slip-n-slide and dinners outside on the deck. We made so many great memories in such a short amount of time. One of my favorite memories would have to be listening to Leina and Sammy talking to each other at night. They would talk and sing to each other for an hour or an hour and a half before dozing off to sleep. One morning I was listening in on their conversation and it went something like this:

Leina: Sammy, those are my books!

Sammy: (silence, since he is in reaching distance to some books I am assuming he has grabbed some books)

Leina: Those are my books, Sammy!!

Sammy: (still silent and probably trying to ignore her)

Leina: Sammmmmy, those are MYYYYYY BOOKS!!!!

Sammy: (still not a peep)

Leina: Sammy? Can I have a book?

And another night after Chrissie went in to tell them to stop talking and sleep:

Leina: Sammy, no more talking! It's time to sleep!

Sammy: (quiet)

Leina: Sammy? Are you asleep?

We finally decided to sleep them in separate rooms for naps our of fear that they would just talk the entire time.

The best memory by far, which basically wrapped all the fun we had together into one statement, was when Leina, after blowing out her birthday candles and being asked what she wished for, replied, without prompting or hesitating, 'I wish Sammy could stay here forever!'

Saturday Plans

Yesterday I had planned to take the boys up to our swimming pool for the morning so Dan could get some stuff done around the house that has been itching to get done. It has been so hot and the boys love the pool so it seemed like a great plan, until it starting to rain around 8:30 a.m. Well, not really rain, but heavy misting. Enough to dash our plans of swimming the morning away while Dan finished painting the trellis in the back yard, planting two boxes of ginger on our slope and cleaning out the gutter.

Dan decided the clean the gutters anyway and the boys vegged on the sofa while I knitted. Not exactly what I had planned, but is it ever? There's always next weekend. I'll have to start making plans.

Dan cleaning out our neighbor's gutter

Daniel and Sammy watching 'George Shrinks'

Me working on one of my many knitting projects.

The two boxes of ginger that are still sitting in our garage.

The Games we Play

When I was growing up my sister and I invented all kinds of games to play to keep ourselves entertained. I especially remember three games that we played quite often and that kept us entertained for hours. Our favorite by far would have to be 'Waitress'. We would find as many toys and objects that could be used as food and one person would be the waitress and the other the cook. The waitress would go around to tables and write down orders on a piece of paper. The paper would then get handed to the cook who had to assemble the taken order. Then the waitress delivered the order. As the game progressed the orders came in faster and faster and the food came out faster and faster. I don't quite know why, but we loved this game.

Close behind 'Waitress' would have to be 'Spider Web'. Preparation for this game required a thorough search of our house for any string like items. Once a big pile a webbing was acquired we became spiders and began spinning a web all over our room. We would leave some space in the back that was our lair so that we could melt crayons on a lamp or do other things we didn't want our parents seeing. We made sure we could get quickly back to our lair, but made the web dense enough that an adult could not. Very cool game.

Another top favorite would have to be 'Blind Chase'. Now this sounds pretty dangerous, but actually it was quite safe. My Grandmother had made these little pillows for us that had a pocket on the front for putting stuffed animals inside. This pocket happened to fit over a child sized head perfectly, thus the invention of 'Blind Chase'. My sister and I would put these pillows on our heads so we couldn't see and would wander around the house trying to find/hide from each other. We would also carry long sticks so we could feel our way around. The pillows acted as a blindfold and cushioning in case we walked into a wall.These were just a few of our favorites, we probably invented hundreds.

Now that my boys are getting older they are starting to invent games of their own. I love it when they do this because not only it is fun the watch, they have so much fun doing it. Yesterday my bed was covered in three loads of clean laundry and the game 'Laundry Diving' was invented. Using colored pencils as diving sticks the boys would throw their stick into the waves of clothing and then dive in and retrieve the sticks. Who knew unfolded laundry could be so much fun?

It will be fun to see all the crazy and fun games Daniel and Sammy come up with in the future. Hopefully it won't involve any of my craft stuff. I will definitely have to keep the 'Spider Web' game under wraps. Since they are boys, I know that their invented games will probably lead to more bumps and bruises than my sister and I, but hopefully they will look back and remember these times with fond memories.

A Bike Ride

I am cruising pretty well. 22, 23 mph. Look out Tour de France. I like this stretch of road, not too many lights, mostly flat. I can really get some speed up and maintain it. Hey, there goes Suzy and the boys. On their way home from the zoo. I hope they had a good time. I'll see them at home in about four minutes at this speed. There's the new library, it is looking good, not too long now until it opens up. Lousy construction, blocking the bike lane. Have to go out in the street, check for cars. Okay, nobody close here I go. Alright, I am moving good. Bike lane is almost back, get ready to move on over. Here we go, oh, too far, oh, forgot they removed the gutter for construction. Uh oh, this isn't good. Stuck in here, can't get out, I think I am going down. Hold it for a little more, too late. No time for thought, just don't hit your head, why oh why are you falling face first. Ground coming up fast, can't do anything about it. Whip, crack, oh that is going to hurt. Hey, that didn't hurt too bad, ow, that did. Whew the worst is over. Okay, pull your bike onto the sidewalk. Sit and catch you breath. Anything broken? Doesn't seem like it. Too much bleeding? There is a lot from that arm, oops, that one too. Legs look pretty good. Drip, drip. What is that dripping? Oh, my face must be cut up pretty bad. They always say that head wounds bleed a lot, and it appears that they are correct. Drip. Drip. Alright, something is not right on my chin, but, it doesn't appear to be critical. Check out the bike. Handle bars askew, I can straighten them out. Drip. Right hand brake is bent up, test it out. Seems to work still. Chain is off the gears in front, I can pop that back on. Drip. Check out the helmet. Hey, where's the front part of the helmet? Oh, there it is in the street. Wow, the helmet has some good dents. Thanks God, for making wearing my helmet my obsessive/compulsive manifestation. Hey, where are my glasses. Drip. There they are, in the bike lane. Try to put them on. Oops, they seem to be pretty well scratched up and bent. Stuff them in your pocket. Drip. Alright. Suzy is probably getting worried 'cause I should be home by now. Take a deep breath, calm down a bit and get back on that bike, you gotta get home. Drip. Alright that isn't so bad. Test the break again before I get going too fast. Seems pretty good. Drip. Okay, not too sore, I can make it home easy. Drip. There is Hampton Place. Home sweet home is right around the corner. Suzy is going to freak out when she sees me. I wonder what my face looks like. I know this shirt is a total loss, blood and dirt all over it. Drip. Let's see what Oxy Clean can do with that! There's Suzy, she doesn't look good. No, I am fine. I need to get cleaned up. I don't know if I need stitches, I haven't taken a look yet. I am going to jump in the shower to clean some of these abrasions off. Hi Daniel. Yes, I fell of my bike. Sorry buddy, I can't play legos with you right now, I have to go stop bleeding first.

That was last Thursday. I am mostly fine now. A couple of hours waiting in the emergency room encouraged me that the triage nurse didn't think that I was dying. Eight stitches and a tetanus shot by the doctor furthered that opinion. I am a little sore still, and with lots of road rash on my arms, the stitches should come out at the end of this week. If I wasn't wearing my helmet I may not have died, but I certainly wouldn't have been able to ride away. Always, always, always wear your helmet.

Summertime Fun

I have been playing with Movie Maker tonight. Suzy asked for a movie of our summer so far. The file is a Windows Media player movie, so if you don't have Media Player then you are out of luck. Enjoy...

Summertime Fun

(Editor's note: we seem to be having some difficulty with the movie abruptly ending in the pool with Tutu and Papa. Our technical staff is working on the problem. Please excuse the mess...)

(Editor's latest note: after working all night our crack staff has proclaimed victory. The movie should be up. Let us know in the comments if you have any problems.)

Who moved the bike seat?

There have been a lot of things that I should have blogged about recently. For example, I wanted to give my perspective on the train wreck that was our 'vacation'. That wound is too fresh and raw still, probably will be forever. Suzy wanted me also to write about the 'graduation' ceremony at Daniel's preschool. While the whole thing struck me as ridiculous I felt that it would be bad form if I mocked it this year, and next year when Daniel was one of the graduates I wrote about what a meaningful thing it was, and how I will always cherish the memories.

So why am I blogging? What momentous event has removed the laziness from my fingers and sent me to the computer? A simple question. 'Who moved the bike seat?' That is a question that Daniel asked Papa and me today before their bike ride. Daniel and Papa were going on a ride before we all headed to the pool, and Papa and I were getting the bike ready, which consists of getting the kid's seat on the back and attaching all the straps. I popped Daniel in his seat and his knees rested up against the back of the bike seat. That was when he asked the question. Nobody moved the bike seat, buddy. You grew. That kid barely fits in the seat anymore. I don't know when it happened, but it did. When we first got that seat he was swimming in there, but now he barely fits in it.

Suzy and I were just saying the other day that he seems to be at another level. Mentally, physically, emotionally. He is just becoming a functional member of our family. Tutu and Papa were down this weekend and I think that they noticed it too. From the fact that all of a sudden he can swim by himself, he can calm himself down when he is upset, he dresses, eats, does pretty much anything, all by himself. He plays with Legos and builds cool spaceships. He has discovered a love of drawing that is incredible. He draws these complex cartoons, with lots of action, Spiderman jumping from this building to that building, and here is the ladder, and here are the bad guys, etc. His drawing skills led directly to more evidence that he has some of his mother's artistic skills. Suzy can picture something in her head, and have pretty much total recall of that memory. Daniel seems to be the same way, he drew a picture of his trip to the Coronado ferry with his class with amazing detail, and also a picture of our trip to the Nationals game, that included walking through a tunnel. Obscure details remembered and accurately put to paper. I could never have done that.

So what is the event that makes me want to blog? It is my son, Daniel, and the miracle that is his growing up.

Daniel swimming to Papa with his Nemo fish

Tutu and Papa with the boys

Last day of school

Yesterday was Daniel's last day of preschool. Most of the kids are coming to summer school, so it wasn't too sad, although I did have to say goodbye to one boy (who I really liked) and his Mom. We pulled down pictures and artwork and all the little details that made the rooms unique to this group of children. Next year there will be new names on the cubbies, as well as some old, new name tags, new snack placemats and new memories. I will definitely cherish and remember many of the moments from the past year, the funny things the kids said during circle time, seeing Daniel making friends, doing art projects with the kids, playing, reading and sometimes comforting.

Daniel really had a blast in his first year of preschool. He absolutely loved learning about space, harvesting, the holidays, Antarctica, the rainforest, springtime and the ocean. He loved his teacher, Teacher Laurie, who is an amazing person and loves all the kids as her own. He was surrounded by a great group of kids and their parents. Daniel learned how to wait in lines by himself, raise his hand before calling out an answer, make friends and be independent from me for a whole morning. He really has grown and matured so much since that first day.

I still can't believe how fast the school year flew by. And it really scares me to think the next school year could fly by just as fast, if not faster, because too soon Daniel will be off to kindergarten and my heart aches just thinking about it. But now it is time for summertime fun. Playing in the sun, swimming, relaxing and just enjoying my boys.

Memorable Weekend

Well, this will definitely be a Memorial day weekend we will remember. This weekend Dan and I had plans to leave the boys with Tutu and Papa for four whole days. Yep, four days and three nights all to ourselves. The first real vacation since Daniel was born more then four years ago. One of my roommates from college got married on Saturday up in Santa Rosa. Dan and I had reservations at the Case Ranch Inn, a cute little bed and breakfast in the beautiful wine country. Our plan was to drive up to L.A. on Thursday and then take off early Friday for our getaway. Well, what we planned and what actually occurred didn't quite match up.

It all started Monday night right as Dan and I were climbing into bed. We heard Daniel crying in his room and when we went to see what was wrong we discovered that he had vomited all over himself and his bed. We cleaned him up and put him back in bed only to be roused 20 minutes later with the same thing. Finally at midnight the evil cycle had stopped, probably because Daniel had nothing left in him, and we all got to sleep until 6 a.m. when we awoke to Daniel crying again and more vomiting.

Wednesday morning Dan called our pediatrician since Daniel still could not hold anything down and we were worried about him getting dehydrated. The doctor told us to only give him liquids and if he vomited anything before 5 p.m. call back. Daniel held all the fluids down that day, but just as luck would have it he threw up at 4:45 p.m. We called the doctor and he called in a prescription for an anti-nausea medication. Either this particular medication is rare or lots of people have been using it because our pharmacy and the next 5 pharmacies we called were out of it. Finally Dan tracked down a Longs Drug store that had it in stock that wasn't too far from home. At 7:00 p.m. I threw Sammy in the car and went to pick up the prescription only to find out that we had called the wrong store and my prescription was at a different Longs. I didn't think that day could get any worse. We got home threw Sammy in bed, gave Daniel his medicine and prayed that he would feel better the next day. I called my parents to give them an update and we decided to change our plans. My parents would drive down on Friday, assuming Daniel was doing well, and stay at our house with the boys and we would drive up. It wasn't quite what we planned, but sometimes you have to be flexible.

Thursday morning Sammy woke up crying and covered in vomit. Thursday evening Dan came down with it. The stomach flu had officially ruined our romantic getaway.

Sammy and Daniel on their towels with their spit-up bowls close by.

Poor Sammy was so sick all he wanted to do was lie down and be held.

Friday was not too bad as Daniel was starting to feel better, but Saturday was the worst of all when Sammy and Dan both hit rock bottom. After a particularly disgusting diarrhea incident with Sammy, Dan proclaimed that he had just experienced one of the worst moments in his life and likened it to torture. Yep, it was pretty bad.

The sickos

Sunday was our first vomit free day and I was able to strip the couches of the towels and put the spit-up bowls away.

The boys are still very tired and recovering from this awful bout of stomach flu. I am praying that I have been spared because I would not wish this upon anyone.

I have gotten over the disappointment of missing our vacation and seeing my friend married, but I am just glad that the boys are feeling better and eating again.

For Nana

Work of Art

I have been spending the last few weekends painting a huge mural for our church's vacation bible school. I have turned the conference room at Dan's work into my studio and paint for about three hours during the boy's nap.

Last week's progress

After seeing the enormity of the project I was quite intimidated by the whole thing and thought maybe I was taking on more than I could handle. Now that I have gotten started painting, I am so glad I took on the challenge. I really haven't painted since college, almost ten years ago. (Yikes! Has it really been that long since I graduated?) I has been so much fun pulling out all my old paints and brushes and throwing paint onto a blank canvas. There is nothing like seeing a painting coming together. You start out with a blank canvas, sketch out your idea, start laying down the color, add details and shadows and before you know it you have a work of art.

This week's progress

I can't wait till it's done. I just need someone else to commission me to do another work of art to keep me going. Anyone?

The troops are on the move

For the last three days Daniel has been fighting a war with the stomach flu or some similar sickness. He has been plagued with high temperatures that even Tylenol and Advil do not seem to alleviate and woke up this morning at 4:30 am throwing up. Daniel has spent the last three days basically rooted to the couch watching 'Chicken Little'. He can now sing most of the songs in the movie and it is quite funny hearing him singing out 'I am the champion' and 'I will survive'. Daniel's favorite song is a song by the Bare Naked Ladies called 'One Little Slip'. He now knows the words to almost the entire song. The amazing thing is he sings the correct words and this is not a simple song to sing. For example here is the start of the song (Daniel can sing this part):

It was a recipe for disaster
A four course meal of no sirree
It seemed that happily ever after
Was happy everyone was after me
It was a cup of good intentions
A table spoon of one big mess
A dash of over reaction
I assume you know the rest

One little slip, One little slip
It was a fusion of confusion
With a few confounding things

I guess maybe Daniel has watched 'Chicken Little' a little too much.

But I think the end is in sight. He seemed much better today and only had to take Tylenol once. He even ate half of a hamburger for dinner. And this morning Daniel told me, 'I think my white blood cells are winning the battle'. Hopefully the battle will be won soon.

There's no place like home

The Walls' family had quite an adventurous and fun filled Spring Break last week. Sammy and I spent the week with Tutu and Papa, while Dan and Daniel flew out to the East Coast to stay with Uncle Jeff, Auntie Cassi, cousin Alex and Hannah.

Dan and Daniel flew out of LAX the Sunday before Easter and spent the week in Virginia with Dan's brother and family. Daniel was perfect on the plane rides and had a lot of fun playing with his cousin Alex. They got to see Papa Walls, go to the Aerospace museum and Washington D.C., went to a Nationals ballgame, visited Great Granny Fisher and relatives in Baltimore and much more. I will have to get Dan to write more about the trip and all the fun stuff they did out there.

Sammy got a rare treat for the week; the exclusive attention of Tutu and Papa. It was quite strange having only Sammy around with Tutu and Papa. Although Sammy caught the stomach flu bug right before we left and spent 3 or 4 days sick with high temps and then got in one of his molars, we still had lots of fun. Sammy especially enjoyed his time with Papa having confetti fights on the bed (throwing that Easter basket grass at each other). Sammy must have really had a good time because when it was to leave he said he wanted to stay at Tutu and Papa's house and he bawled as we drove away.

Although we all had a great vacation, it was so nice to come back home. We got home yesterday and at naptime Daniel fell into his bed and said, 'There's no place like home.' I had to agree.

The End is in Sight

After more than four years of being intimately involved with dirty, stinky and wet diapers, it appears the end is in sight. It seems like just yesterday I was writing about Daniel's potty training accomplishment, and now it is Sammy's turn already.

For the past week or so I have been leaving Sammy's diaper off whenever we are at home and I have the time to watch him and help him use the potty. Without a lot of encouragement Sammy was good about telling me when he had to go shi-shi (pee) and had no problem getting on the potty, holding his penis down and letting loose. Then on Wednesday he had his first poop in the potty. It was only a small amount, but boy was I excited. Then on Thursday when Sammy was sitting on the pot and seeming to try and poop I asked him if he wanted to be left alone (I remembered that the key to getting Daniel to poop on the potty was to give him privacy). Well, I didn't give Sammy total privacy because I wanted to see what he was doing, but I hid outside the door and peeked in. Sure enough Sammy pooped and this time he was just about as excited as me, and I don't think it was just because he gets a Hershey kiss each time he uses the potty. I think he was really proud of himself.

Fast forward to Friday night. Dan and I had our Lenten bible study, so Nana was watching the boys. As Nana tells it Sammy was sitting on the potty in privacy and then ran out excitedly yelling, 'I made plops! I made plops!', and then sprinted back to the bathroom saying, 'I'm gonna make more plops. Big plops!' Yep, that's my boy!

This weekend Sammy continued to use the potty and even kept his diaper dry during a nap and told me he had to shi-shi when I went and got him. This whole potty training has taken me completely by surprise. I didn't really expect for him to potty train himself so quickly, I was just getting him geared up. I guess my little baby is growing up. The only downside to Sammy getting potty trained is I will have to move him out of his crib once he is wearing underwear for naps and nighttime. Hopefully that will not be for a while because Sammy not confined to his crib is a scary thought. But not having to change another poopy diaper might just be worth it.

Catching Up

This past month has been a whirlwind of activity in the Walls household. I still haven't yet caught my breath, but I will try to catch up a little bit before another month flies by.

A Hotel Stay in LA

My sister, Chrissie, and her two girls, made the trek down to the parents house to enjoy some Papa and Tutu time and mostly sunny weather. Since my parent's house was already packed with the addition of Chrissie, Leina (2 1/2 yrs.) and Kulia (10 months) we decided to stay at a nearby hotel. I have to admit I had my doubts about staying in a hotel with the boys, but it was terrific. The boys loved staying at our hotel (they called it our house). They did well sharing a room for the first time, although they giggled, laughed and played for an hour and a half before taking their naps. The hotel was really nice. It had two bedrooms, a nice breakfast buffet and was close to my parents house.

It seems like each visit with my two nieces gets more and more fun. This was definitely the best visit yet. Sammy, Daniel and Leina truly enjoyed running around together and playing, and Kulia did her best to keep up with the pack. The conversation between the three was priceless. We crammed so much into those three days, and wished we could have had more time. The memories that stand out most: taking the kids to the beach, having dinner at a little pizza place, going up to the park and Sammy skinning his knee running downhill at full speed, going to the farmer's market, the kids playing race while waiting forever for our takeout lunch, Leina's sad face each time we had to leave and her excitement each time we came back and watching Daniel interact with Kulia. What a perfect trip we had and how hard it was to say goodbye.

A Visit from the Tooth Fairy

This month has been the month of the dentist. Between Dan, Daniel and myself we have had five visits to the dentist just this month! If you ask me that is five times too many. It all started when Daniel started saying his tooth was hurting. At first I though he was just kidding because our neighbors were losing teeth and we had been talking about Sammy's teeth hurting because he is getting his molars in. Well after more than a week of saying his tooth was hurting I decided to take him to the dentist to have it checked out and since Dan and I had not been to the dentist for a while we decide to have check-ups too.

Dan took Daniel to the dentist and everything was going fine. Daniel was a perfect angel getting x-rays taken and having his teeth cleaned. Then the dentist came in to look at his teeth. It turned out that the reason Daniel's tooth was hurting was because he had an abscessed tooth that we think resulted from a crack in his tooth. So last Thursday Daniel went in to get his tooth pulled out. The whole event was extremely stressful and traumatic for Dan and I, but Daniel handled it better that most kids or adults. He didn't whine or cry once throughout all the probing and pulling. The worst part was he got a giant canker sore on his lip from chewing on it while it was still numb. And today, while in Costco, I gave Daniel and Sammy a tic-tac and told them to suck on it not bite it. Sammy of course asked 'Why?' and I replied, 'So you don't crack a tooth'. Daniel added, 'But that's ok because then you can go to the dentist and he will pull it out and you can put it under your pillow and the tooth fairy will come and leave you money'. Sammy seemed to agree. So now my kids actually want to go to the dentist and get their teeth pulled out.

A Visit from Papa

Last weekend Papa came for a short visit. Of course the boys were excited to play with Papa, and I was excited because we were planning on pulling out the disgusting, peed and pooped on carpet in the downstairs bathroom. Well we installed about 3/4's of the floor before running out of planks. This was no big deal since the day before I had Dan call Costco to make sure they still carried the color we had. Well it turned into a much bigger deal when we went to Costco the next day and discovered that they had informed us wrongly and actually did not carry the color we needed anymore. The upside is Papa left his cool tools so I could finish the job without him and that certainly means I get to keep them too, right?

Papa also made me three canvases for some painting I volunteered to do for our church's vacation bible school. And these aren't just any old canvas, they are enormous. They are over seven feet tall and when put together span thirteen feet. I am suppose to paint a beach scene on them to use as a backdrop for the skits. Now I am wondering what I have gotten myself into. I have never painted anything on this scale, although I am quite excited about getting out my paints again. The hardest part is finding a place to put this monstrosity. Right now the canvases are in our room. We have to scoot them back and forth so we can close the door or get into our bathroom. What I really need is my own art studio...

And More

Nana has recently started up a knitting group at our church. We get together once a month and knit together and talk. Right now I have three different knitting projects going on and am really enjoying it. Dan and I have also been going to a Lenten Bible Study at our pastor's house, thanks to our great babysitter, Nana. I also have a handful of other sewing, scrapbooking and gardening projects going on.

So, as you can see I have been very busy. Hopefully the dentist visits will lessen, although Sammy is next to get his teeth checked and cleaned. Dan and Daniel have a trip to the east coast to see Dan's brother and family coming up and Sammy and I will spend spring break with Papa and Tutu. The weather is warming up and I am looking forward to spring and starting my vegetable garden up again. So much to do and so little time.

Talk, Talk, Talk

It has been over eight years since I stood up in front of our church and took our wedding vows. Eight years is a pretty long time, but I still remember so much about my wedding day. I can still remember the panic of my sister being half an hour late to pick me up for my hair appointment and the relief of finding her wandering around my apartment complex desperately calling out my name because she didn't know my apartment number (this was before we all had cell phones). I remember the excitement of getting dressed with my bridesmaids and standing with my Dad as we waited to walk down the aisle. I remember the shock and hilarity of seeing my Auntie Bev and Pastor Strand dancing to 'I wanna rock and roll all night' in the middle of the dance floor. I will never forget pacing the floor of our hotel room after the reception waiting to hear word if my Dad and Mother-in-Law were able to recover my backpack, which had my identification in it, from the closed up church, so I would be able to go on our honeymoon early the next morning. I remember the news of Princess Diana being in a fatal car accident. What I don't remember well is our wedding ceremony.

I remember walking down the aisle and my Dad handing me off to Dan, but after that it all becomes a blur. I think the pressure of remembering what to do in front of all our friends and family made me forget most of the ceremony. But one of the parts that I do remember was part of Reverend Strand's message to us. He told us that three of the most important things in a marriage is to 1. Talk, 2. Talk and 3. Talk. He said that studies have shown that married couples talk less and less each year and some end up talking only 20 minutes a day. Since being married I have realized how important communicating and talking really is. And since having kids I have realized how hard talking and communication can be.

Being a mother of two small children I have three opportunities for uninterrupted time during a typical day; before the boys wake up, while the boys are napping and after the boys have gone to bed at night. Trying to get even the simplest thing done while the boys are around can sometimes be near impossible and downright frustrating. I often find myself being bombarded with requests, questions and things to do. Trying to carry on a conversation with kids around is quite laughable. Poor Dan has to suffer through me asking him the same question three times because I either forgot I asked him the question or I was too distracted and didn't hear his answer. Dan and I have learned to wait until the boys are in bed before attempting any serious conversation, but it can be quite hard to limit conversations to certain times.

But now that the boys are getting older and playing with each other (and not constantly at odds) Dan and I are finding more time to engage in uninterrupted conversation. Tonight we actually had a continual conversation throughout our entire dinner, with only minor interruptions from the boys. Although last week as Dan and I enjoyed some time together talking while the boys played upstairs, we found a half naked Daniel staring at a pile of toilet paper and wipes he had put in the toilet in an attempt to get his bottom clean and Sammy standing on the bathroom counter with his hands in the Vaseline jar from the medicine cabinet.

I still haven't decided if the clean up was worth the half hour of uninterrupted conversation with my husband, but I do know that the more you talk and communicate the better off you are.

The Games People Play

Recently I read a blog over at defective yeti about games that he recommends for playing with your children. I read it mainly while day dreaming about the day that I could play board games with the boys. It is probably one of those unrealistic parental fantasies that we would all sit around happily playing board games and enjoying each others company. Well, be careful what you dream for...
Tonight before we had dinner we four were sitting in the family room fooling around. The Old Maid deck of cards was laying around from a few days previous when we had played it with Maracela, our seven year old neighbor. Suzy or I, I can't remember who, asked if anyone wanted to play it, and Daniel jumped right in. Parental Fantasy engaged! Daniel was on Suzy's side, and Sammy was on my side. Daniel would pick a card from my deck and Sammy from Suzy's. Somehow, we aren't quite sure how, Daniel knew that picking the Old Maid was bad news. Well, you can see where this is going. He picked the Old Maid card and the reaction was instantaneous. Shrieks of anguish, desperate attempts at shoving that card right back at me, to the point that he ended up prone on our floor wailing. Those of you who have observed my parenting skills (or lack thereof) know that I usually take a pretty hard line with this type of behavior, but in this instance all Suzy and I could do was laugh. A lot. Thankfully Daniel didn't notice since you couldn't hear much over his shrieking. After five minutes or so of wailing/writhing on the ground Daniel finally recovered his dignity. Suzy and I had finished the game by this point and were getting ready to play again. Half heartedly we asked if anyone wanted to join us, and Daniel said yes. Can you see where this is going? Yes it wasn't long before he picked it again! With a somewhat quivering lip Daniel calmly placed the Old Maid in my hand (he was on my side for this game) and said, "And I didn't cry this time." Way to go buddy. We are proud of you.

Feels like Summer

As I sit here and type I am wearing shorts and a short sleeve shirt. Why am I attired in such clothing in the middle of February? Because it is 82 degrees outside right now! For the past couple of days we have been having a Santa Ana. While it makes for chilly nights it also makes for warm dry days. Normally Santa Anas come in the summer and are not so welcome, but when they come in winter a Santa Ana is a treat. It is a little glimpse of what is to come.

Even my plants think it is summer. I have sweet ripe strawberries hanging from their pots, blueberries blossoming and forming fruit and even one of my tomato plants I just planted sent out some flowers. Just like the plants I am tempted to pull out my sun dresses and tank tops and bask in the sun, but I know that the hot weather will probably not last and soon the cooler temperatures will settle back in. But for now I will soak up the heat of the sun and dream of the warm days to come. Swimming anyone?

Whoever heard of strawberries and blueberries in the winter?
The word 'dormant' is a foreign word to my plants.

Sammy enjoying the warm weather and wearing my sunglasses.

Four Year Checkup

Yesterday Daniel had his four year doctor's appointment. This appointment was quite different than any of his other appointments. Of course they did the standard items like weight ( 36 lbs., 50%) and height (38.5 inches, 25%) and taking his temperature, but Daniel also took an eye test, hearing test and got his blood pressure taken. The other big difference was the doctor asked Daniel a lot of the questions and not me. Daniel was asked to name the colors of the clothes he wore (Daniel also pointed out that his shirt was striped), if he could dress himself (Daniel also told the doctor that this morning he was even able to button the very top button of his shirt), if he brushes his teeth every day, if he can ride a bike and wears a helmet, if he could stand on one leg and if he could copy a letter T that the doctor drew.

Daniel actually really enjoyed the doctor's visit and didn't mind being poked and prodded and asked question. But what impressed me the most was his handling of his shots. When the doctor told me Daniel would be getting four different injections I was shocked. I don't think I would even be willing to get that many at one time. So before the nurse came in I explained to Daniel what was going to happen and told him that the shots might hurt a little bit, although in my mind I was thinking they were going to hurt like a mother.

Daniel sat bravely on the table as the nurse jammed four different syringes into his little arms, two on each side. His didn't whine, whimper or cry. When the nurse was all done he said they didn't hurt at all. The nurse was so impressed she gave him three toys and two lollipops. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised because Daniel has always risen to the occasion and surpassed my expectations.

Another highlight of our visit was when the doctor was going over a checklist with me of issues and concerns. When he came to the topic of discipline he said, 'I can tell by your boy's behavior that we don't need to discuss discipline.' That is music to a parent's ears.

So Daniel's four year appointment was pretty darn perfect. We didn't have to wait too long, Daniel and Sammy behaved perfectly (although Sammy did trip and fall on his face and cried for a while), Daniel is growing both physically and mentally and is healthy and happy. That's about as good as it gets.

Busy busy busy

Wow! I can't believe that it has been over two weeks since I last blogged. The reason - I have been busy, busy, busy. Ever since the new year I have been on a major organizing kick. I don't quite know why and no I am not pregnant. I guess it all started when we bought a new mattress for our bedroom.

Up until a few weeks ago Dan and I slept in a double sized bed. After talking to my sister, who recently got a new queen sized bed and has loved it, we decided to also move up. Dan's feet stuck off the side of our old bed, the mattress slid around and wouldn't hold on the sheets and the old bed frame squeaked and moved so much that you couldn't move around or get out of bed without waking the other person. So we purchased a new queen sized novafoam mattress from Costco. Well that also meant I needed to get a new bed frame, comforter and bed sheets. And that is what set it all off. Since I had furniture that matched the bed frame downstairs I decided to move the matching bookcases into our bedroom, which meant that I had to make room and move the furniture in our room somewhere else. For a while every day that Dan came home from work something was in a new place.

Pictures of our bedroom in complete chaos.

On top of moving around heavy pieces of furniture I decided to paint walls, change cabinet hardware, organize cabinets and drawers, hang curtains, pictures and lights, install hooks and put up shelves. Although the house was in complete chaos for a couple of days, it is looking quite nice now. I think I am happy with the current status although I may change my mind at any moment.

So I have been neglecting the boys, housework, crafting and blogging while I organize and decorate. But things have calmed down, so hopefully I will start blogging again. This weekend Tutu and Papa came down to celebrate Daniel's 4th birthday, which was quite an experience. Once I catch my breath I will definitely let you in on all the excitement of the Spiderman birthday party and Sammy's Costco cake moment.

Well, I think there is a drawer somewhere that needs reorganizing.

And Pretzel makes Six

Unlike Daniel who was never interested in stuffed animals, except his dog Spot, Sammy loves them. Not only does Sammy hug and carry around his stuffed animals, but he loves to have them in the crib with him while he sleeps. And when he wakes up all his animals and blankets must come out of the crib with him. Well, this wasn't such a big deal when he just had two special animals and one blanket, but his family of favorites has rapidly expanded.

I think the original two stuffed animals were Rabbit and Pooh bear. When we traveled to Portland to visit Leina for her first birthday, Sammy acquired Elmo. A while after that I showed Sammy Cuddles, my little bear when I was small, and Sammy quickly added him to the pack. For a long time these four animals made up the core of Sammy's favorite stuffed animals.

Then came Sammy's birthday and Leina picked out a soft, white lamb for Sammy's present. Of course, Sammy took one look at that sweet stuffed animal, hugged him tight and the pack became five.


Now carrying a very heavy 2 year old, five stuffed animals, anywhere from one to three blankets and sometimes milk, up and down stairs can be quite cumbersome and treacherous. Dan uses the technique of stuffing all the animals and blankets under his shirt, but I go with the blankets over my left shoulder, Sammy in my left arm and all the animals in my right arm. This seems to work pretty well unless I drop one of the animals. Bending over with that load can be quite tricky, especially with Sammy squirming around and pointing out the animal that went overboard.

Well I guess Sammy wanted an even number, because last week he admitted another stuffed animal to the club, Pretzel. While at Ikea Sammy picked up Pretzel somewhere and dragged the little blue dog around the store hugging him and saying he loved him. I think under normal circumstances I would have drawn the line at five stuffed animals, but Pretzel is so cute and soft even I couldn't resist him (and at only $1.99 he was a steal).


I hope that Sammy does not fall in love with any more stuffed animals because my arms are full and Dan's shirt is stuffed.