Pacifiers, Powder, Pepperoni & Planes (& 2 new Pics)

If it's not one kid it's his brother...

You may get tired of hearing about the sleep habits of everyone at our house. But seeing as how it plays a very large role in how we start and end each day, it's a big deal! Yesterday Alan actually slept until after 7, but Dale was up not long after 6! Just when you get one to sleep in, the other decides to be an early riser! And this morning? They were both up by 6:15! What is with my kids??!

It doesn't pay to procrastinate!

The other day Greg and Dale went to Walmart and picked up 2 packages of new pacifiers for Alan. We had been meaning to do this for a while, since we only had 2 that he would take, and they were getting harder and harder to keep up with and be able to put your hands on one when you needed one. So even though they had bought the pacifiers, we hadn't opened them and done the whole 'sterilize in boiling water' thing. Yesterday morning Gerg was at work and I was in the shower (not a great idea leaving the boys unsupervised, I know, but see paragraph 1....kind of narrows my options for shower times!). Anyway, I was toweling off when Dale says throught the door: "Guess what Alan has in his mouth? I gave him one of his new orange pacifiers." I didn't want to get onto him for doing something nice, so I said, "oh thank you - I need to wash that first, though." (meaning 'sterilize in boiling water')

Dale says, "oh"

Next thing I hear is a dining chair being scooted to the kitchen sink...water running...and then Dale says through the bathroom door: "I washed it and gave it back to him".

I figure that boiling water thing is just a precaution, right? :)

Powder Trick

Dale has been loving his sandbox his Daddy fixed up for him. I never knew! Greg has accomplished with a simple sandbox what I have been trying to do for weeks: get Dale to play outside.

The only thing is, as you may know, put a kid sticky from summer heat into a sandbox and he comes out looking like a piece of sandpaper! But I remembered a trick a friend of mine told me about when she was working at a daycare: baby powder! Just give him a little rubdown with baby powder when he's ready to come inside and the sand falls away like magic! :)

Planes & Priorities

We went out to eat at CiCi's last night. I think it was Dale's first trip to a buffet, at least in his recent memory. He did great, even avoiding the classic buffet mistake of loading his plate with more than one can eat. He picked out 2 pieces of pizza - both with pepperoni, of course! When he was done with that he was ready for some dessert pizza, so I went back with him. They were just putting out a new pan of hot, buttery, cinnamon rolls, perfect combination of soft and the tiniest bit crispy at the edges, just the right amount of icing.....

Ahem - back to the subject: I put 3 on a plate thinking Dale and I would share, but one by one my little buddy at all 3 rolls! Lol! Can't blame him...they were that good. (Smart boy, leaving room for dessert) ;)

Cici's has a game room with 5 or 6 arcade games...no way were we letting Dale blow quarters on those. They also have a ride-on train, but it is right against a row of tables that had people at them. :( They also have a crane machine that is full of candy and little plastic toys and is "Play 'till you win". Okay...that one is a sure bet; that one we can do. Dale caught 3 or 4 little packs & pieces of candy. There was one in the drop spot where you retrieve your goodies that he couldn't reach, so I got it for him. When I reached in I was amazed at how big that space was, so I ran my hand around and ....ha! ...found a little green airplane at the front where you couldn't see it. :) Dale was thrilled. :)

Well...I'm off to get my shower while Greg is here to supervise!


Little man is getting good at sitting up!

Dale loves his new "men".

Reading, rotting, and taking-a-dip

Sniff. Smell that? Kind of...rotten?....spoiled? I can identify that for you in one word: Alan! Lol. Yes....we've done it to ourselves. Mr. Alan Hold-me-all-the-time Devine. And don't just hold me - keep me moving; give me variety! :) We sat him in his high-chair at supper tonight, right up to the table with us. He was happy there, but not for long. Pretty quick he was whimpering and whining, and lost interest in his sweet potatoes after just a few bites. (But boy did he keep watching Dale!) Moved him to his 'usual' place in Daddy's lap, and Wow! - was he happy! Slapped the table, leaned in for every bite of sweet potatoes. And that was when I knew - yep ... we've spoiled him. *Sigh* Oh well....it's easier at this point to keep doing what we're doing that try to undo. There will be plenty of time for 'doing it right' when he's feeling better. :)

Does this face really look like it could be spoiled?!?
(notice The Tube is missing...stinker pulled it out Saturday night! We took the opportunity for lots of pics.) :)

AND....can't believe I didn't tell this first.....Dale can READ!!! :) We've been seeing it coming, but that boy is really really reading! It's so exciting! Of course, he is at the very earliest stages, but he is off to a great start. :) He was tearing up Hop on Pop this evening before bed. I'm so proud of him! :) We had kind of slacked off on reading to him in the last couple of months, then a few weeks ago I decided it was important to re-start our reading time. Then with the start of the summer reading program at the library last week, things are definitely taking off.

Mama & Dale reading Cat in the Hat a week or two ago.

We got Dale a little back-yard swimming pool this weekend. He took his first swim Sunday afternoon. By Sunday evening Alan was wanting in on the action...and he loved it! (and this is the same baby who doesn't like baths!) We started him sitting on the edge of the pool with his feet in the water. He'd kick and splash and wiggle, and we kept moving him down until he was sitting on the bottom of the pool, water chest-deep. He kept kicking those feet, slapping the water with his hands. That would splash his face - he'd be startled for a split second then get excited and do it all over again.



Daddy went out today and bought the smaller-size pool to fill with sand for Dale to have a sandbox. Dale has been loving that as much as the pool. :)



Alan is still in his 'early-riser' phase, so I really, really, really need to get to bed! 6:00 keeps coming earlier every morning! :)

The ealy bird catches the sneeze..or something

Thought I would do something different today and go for the 'early a.m.' blog, since Alan has become such an early riser. 6:00 a.m. anyone? I can tell already that the problem with this is going to be the truthfulness of the phrase, "I've slept since then!"

Let's see what I can piece together...

For starters - Greg came home yesterday!! We were all very glad for that. The boys & I picked him up around 3 yesterday afternoon - smelling of 24-hour old sunblock. :p Lol. Of course, like any good traveling Dad, he came bearing presents. Dale's is already broken, and I'm seriously considering sending Disney a letter. ('Is this the only taste of Disney you want this little boy to have?') I've always thought it, and now after Greg having been there with a Dad's perspective, I know: I have no desire to do the Disneyworld thing. Beaches, shows, sightseeing, shopping - I can do all that...just not a big themepark person. (I'll be sure and leave that out of my Letter to Disney!)

In other news (lol) Alan has cut another tooth! That's two now! And he is not a graceful teether, bless his heart. This one gave him fits last night. And just when we thought we could go to bed early...HA!

Dale and I played NASCAR Monopoly, which turned out pretty well and amazingly resembled the actual game! I rounded off some of the prices and dealt mainly with $100 bills, but we basically followed the rules. Dale did get a little upset when Alan got into his money, but that is the 'typical' daily life sort of stuff that just warms my heart. :)

We all know that the sounds of puking, something breaking, and strange silences can all send a mother running, but living with the tube has added another 'alarming' sound....sneezing! Yes boys & girls, beware, a baby pulling out his tube will often sneeze like he's got a long-haired cat up his nose. So these days a sneeze can send me running as fast as any of those other tell-tale sounds!

Well....my little morning buddy says a.m. writing time is up. Happy Friday, everyone! :)

Night shifts & road trips

Whew! Hectic evening, as far as all things Alan. He only had one nap today, and even though it was a good one (over 2 hours!) he was still super tired tonight. He fell asleep without getting his evening meds and before I could get him started on his NG feed. But ahh, the beauty of the tube. :) I felt like one of his night-shift nurses, quietly and busily bustling about in the dim light. All I needed was a blue LED pen light hanging from my name badge and a smart set of scrubs and I would SO be 'in'. :) Now....so long as he doesn't wake up again or puke from getting meds and feed so close together!

Dale is spending the night with Mimi & Gramps. Just sort of happened, but worked out great w/Alan being such a handful tonight.

Greg is on his way home - YAY! I told him he can never ever leave on a trip again, even if it means changing professions. He should be home by suppertime tomorrow night.

I did a big 'oops' and have run out of Alan's formula. I finished it up tonight. Our pharmacy has to special order it and it takes a day to come in (thank the Lord it's only a day!), so unless we can find some in stock somewhere tomorrow, it looks like Alan will miss a feed. I really hate that. I just thought I had another can put away!!! For now that falls under the category of worrying about tomorrow's troubles tomorrow. (and learning a lesson for the future!)

Do you regular bloggers take notes during the day or what? I'll have a thought and think "This will be good/funny/interesting to share in my blog", and then by bedtime I've forgotten it. Huh.

Dale loves corn on the cob. There. A random tidbit. :)

'Night All!! :)

Brownie bliss

Okay....this is getting old....you can come home now Greg...really!


Florida - day 4. I dont see how single moms and military families do it. I've had plenty of help and great company, but it's just not the same as having my partner by my side.



Alan woke up at 6:00 this morning!! And I woke up with a cold. :( You aren't supposed to get colds in June!! And we have had so many this year! I feel pretty certain Dale is bringing them home from Sunday School, but I feel pretty jipped since we are being so careful about germs and handwashing, and yet we are still getting colds. :( And ...I think Alan has one too.



Even so, we all felt pretty good this morning:







Went to the library later for summer reading stuff. Dale's is the blue boat that looks like it's about to float into his ear. He has just passed the buoy marked '5'. He loved his little flip-flop eraser for passing 5 books.




Alan pulled out his tube around lunch time. This was 30-45 minutes before I was expecting our home health nurse anyway, so I just let it dangle until she got here. It was still taped to his face really well, so she washed it and poked it back in.






Had a short nap while the boys slept. Watched Rachel Ray. Her theme for today was cooking a meal even when you are 'under the weather'. It was a vegetable soup and an olive fritatta. Mmmmm....I really wanted that




Mom, Dad, & Kristin came over for a late supper. Alan pulled out his tube - again. He was sitting in his high chair and I saw it just as it happened, so I didn't even stop to think about it - just poked it back in ... again. M, D, & K helped me get the boys to bed. They probably hadn't turned off our street yet when Alan woke up. Another 20-30 minutes and I had him down again. Let's just hope it sticks this time!




And now I'm sitting at the computer eating a pint of "chocolate brownie overload" right out of the carton - the quintessential picture of a stressed woman. What can I say? I fit the bill.




So...two more days and my sweet darling will be home. :) Exhausted I'm sure, from 4 days of making sure 63 people have the trip of a lifetime, happily & safely, bookended by 24 hour rides on a charter bus. Ah well....the glamorous life of a band director! :)




And, yes - the chocolate brownie overload is wonderful: chocolate ice cream with hunks of brownie, nuts, & marshmallow. Mmmmm....It's Blue Bell. Good luck finding yours....mine is all gone. :)



.

Bookworms & earthworms

Well! I got to sleep in this morning (haha)....Alan didn't wake up until ten 'till 7! :-) I brought him to bed with me and Dale joined us within 10 minutes. We all got up around 7:30 and began breakfast, one by one. Cereal for all, but Alan's variety was different from ours. :-)

Dale rode his tricycle some - it was a beautiful morning outside! - while I did some things inside. (Including laundry, as usual.) Mid-morning, Alan went down very nicely for a nap and Dale and I had peanut-butter/jelly sandwiches and then read his library books over and over.

After lunch we went out. First to WalMart, then to the library. Dale got his first 3 books recorded (Gumdrop, Clifford, & a dinosaur book) and picked a blue sail-boat shape to set sail on the bulletin board sea. Picked out three more books (thankfully he didn't ask for another Gumdrop...I think those are tedious!)
Left the Library and went to see Nana & PawPaw. Seems like we stayed a long time...it was an hour or two I think.

Dale had a late nap, and Alan should have, but I didn't have the energy to get him asleep enough to stay asleep. So...I 'let' him stay up. That decision could have cost me, but he was a good baby all the rest of the evening, so it worked out ok.

Dale has really gotten brave lately with bugs. He caught a 'butterfly' the other day (actually some kind of moth, but... hey). We think he probably injured it in the process, because it never flew away, but it wasn't malicious on his part.
Since then he has held snails, earthworms, and roly-polies. I just hope this new-found bravery doesn't come back to 'bite' him...no pun intended!

Thinking about my boys

Wow...long time w/out a post. Definitely been busy.

So....Greg's in Florida tonight. Seems really weird. His truck is here at the house....Dale wanted to know how Daddy was going to get home. I said we would pick him up, meaning we would pick him up at the school when he got back. But now Dale thinks we are going to Florida to pick him up. Oops.

I thought without Greg here tonight I would go to bed early, since we usually stay up later than either one of should just because it's nice to have that time alone together. So I thought that without him I would fall into bed early...but here I sit.

Dale is excited about the summer reading program at the library. I took him Friday and got him signed up and checked out his first 3 books. So tomorrow we go back...we'll record his books and get 3 more, and he gets to write his name on a cut-out of a sailboat and put it on the bulletin board. I"m not sure how clearly he understands the sailboat thing, but he's been talking about it lots. It will make more sense to him when he sees it, I guess.

We've taken Alan out in public a few times now with his tube...nobody has asked us about it, and few have acknowledged it. What do you say, I guess? Sometimes I look at him and I don't even notice it, and sometimes I look at him and hate that it is there. I do love shooting those meds down it though! :)

I really really really need to make my list of things I want to pack when Alan 'gets the call'. In my mind it seems a long way away. Either I'm right, or I'm going to get a big shock!! No predicting that one! Either way...I better get that list posted if I want to get out the door in plenty of time and with all the right stuff! :)

Maybe tomorrow. Now I really am going to go to bed.