The cool and not so cool

We got the word at the pediatrician's office today - Andy's long-running ear infection is refusing to clear up after three rounds of antibiotics. Based on his ears' performance refusing to clear up last spring when colds were less common and now that we're going into cold and flu season, she says it's time to get the surgery to put in ear tubes. Everyone I've talked to whose child has them raves that it has made all the difference in both their kids' temperament improving because their ears don't hurt and then the kids avoiding being sick going forward, but it's still something I was hoping to avoid. Rats.

I called the surgeon and we're booked for December 10. It sounds like a quick procedure. They said he's put under a general anesthetic delivered through a mask. Then we leave the room and about 10 minutes later, we're brought back into the recovery room where he wakes up minutes later. Our pediatrician said some kids are able to take a nap and go to daycare in the afternoon, but I don't think we'll test that. Now I've got to figure out some of the follow up stuff, like do I have to plug his ears for bath time and swimming? He refuses to put his head under water in the bath or pool at the moment (as you can see, he prefers "cooking" instead), but I imagine that won't last forever.

Meanwhile, my earlier post on men refusing to give up a seat to a pregnant lady at the OB's office got me a shout out over on DC Blogs. I feel so famous. Thanks to Chris for telling me about it.

Just ignore the pregnant lady

I went to the OB's last week. It was a regular 28 week check-up, complete with glucose test (to my surprise, the orange drink didn't taste so bad.) It was a Friday so I had Andy with me. The doctor's office was unusually full. There are probably eight chairs in the waiting room and all eight chairs were occupied -- two by men. I checked in, noticed there was no seat and had to stand there with Andy for about five minutes before one of the guys had his cell phone ring and he got up and left. Apparently being great with child and with a toddler doesn't get you a seat any more.

Seriously, guys, it's an obstetrician's office! I know you're not there because you're the patient. Plus, both of you were probably 30-years-old or so. I appreciate that you're nice enough to go to the doctor with your wife/girlfriend, but being a little less self absorbed would be a good thing. I was also surprised one of the wives/girlfriends didn't nudge a guy out of his seat.

When I went back to the exam room, I mentioned to one of the nurses that they ought to get more chairs. Her reply, "Or one of the men could GET UP." That made me think about how awesome it would be for one of the big black nurses to burst through the door and make a skinny white guy get out of his seat.

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Andy has been a darling this week. I don't know if his ears feel better or if he's just in a better place, but I haven't felt like smacking him once in the past few days. Well, I take that back. Monday night he decided to wake up every 15 minutes and scream for one of us. That wasn't so great. I don't think he's having night terrors since he seems more or less awake when one of us goes in, but they might be scary dreams. I think he's really starting to dream and sometimes he wakes up and in confused about what's going on. I have tried to talk to him about what dreams are and seeing things in his head/eyes when he's asleep, but I'm not sure it registers.

Despite his (and our) lack of sleep, his language continues to pick up. His new word is dangerous. Bjorn and I are both impressed since it's three syllables and he seems to use it properly. He can also spell a few words, like stop signs, "S-T-O-P means STOP!" Bjorn even taught him that T-A-R-G-E-T spells Target. I took Andy over the weekend and he spelled and then read it to me. I was most impressed that he was really reading until Bjorn said they'd practiced it. Still, he's making progress. It's pretty exciting.

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Today is our nine-year wedding anniversary. How crazy is that? We looked at pictures from the wedding over the weekend. My, how young we looked.

The one where "throw-up" enters the lexicon

Andy threw up last night. It was an impressive move really, he was sitting in my lap in the dining room as I tried to get him to eat some apple sauce while he complained that his tummy hurt. Then he let loose. All over my leg, all over himself and the floor (thankfully, we'd taken the rug up in the dining room last year). Andy hasn't thrown up in a long time, probably a year, so he didn't really know what was happening.

"It came out my face!" he said, somewhat proudly after we all calmed down and cleaned up. The one shot seemed to improve him quite a bit. He was cheerful and playful almost immediately afterwards, which was good since we had reservations to go out for our anniversary (nine years!) and Mark was already lined up to babysit. Fortunately, Bjorn talked me out of immediately calling to cancel our reservation because within minutes Andy was seemingly back to normal. The cause, we decided, was that Bjorn only fed him gummi bears earlier in the day at Mark's football game and by the time they got home, Andy was tired and cranky so he just put him down for a nap without anything better to eat so when he did eat something, it didn't sit well. Lovely. The good part was he was fine the rest of the evening for Mark and we did end up getting out for our anniversary dinner.

The funny thing, though, is he keeps talking about how he threw up "yesterday last night." He also has discovered that we jump through hoops when he tells us his tummy hurts so he's been saying that a lot today whenever he wants anything. The kid's not stupid, that's for sure.

Tomorrow is Veteran's Day. I've never worked for a company that has the day off, but Andy's school is closed so I'm taking it off anyway. If I were smart, I might get a jump on Christmas shopping. Or better yet, a jump on cleaning up the computer room in preparation for the big computer move in 10 days. I have a feeling neither is going to happen.

Who says dancing in a circle while singing isn't cool?

This video cracks me up every time I watch it, partly because of how ridiculous it is and partly because being 2 3/4 means that running in a circle chanting nonsense is fun. I should point out that his hair is particularly awful though. He had picture day at school and in getting his cowlick to stay in place, they put a little product in it that apparently had a chemical reaction with the Santa hat, causing it to stand straight up.

Merry Christmas

In cleaning out Andy's closet, I came across a Santa hat that I believe was Bjorn's growing up. My mother-in-law found a box a couple of years ago when she was moving full of 40-year-old baby stuff and, being the pack rat that I am, I have been trying to salvage whatever of it I can, including this hat. Andy put it on a few nights ago and proceeded to dance around the room. I have some hi-larious video to upload later when Blogger speeds up a bit of him dancing to his own song as he prances around the room. More blackmail material it's so cute.

What I like about this picture is he's naked except for his diaper, his Santa hat and all the spaghetti sauce all over his face (it was right after dinner and just before bath time). Well, that and he's just got a great smile that makes me smile looking at it.

BGB seems to be cooking along nicely. I swear she can kick me in the hip and in the boob at the same time, making me think she's 20 inches and 10 pounds already. The movement is cool and always reassuring, but there are some times (like when I'm trying to get comfortable in bed) that I want her to pipe down in there. I'm also really started to feel like a whale, having trouble getting in and out of bed, and dropping stuff constantly. It scares me to think that I have 10-12 more weeks of this when I'll just get bigger and more uncomfortable.

At this point, it's sort of a toss up. I know having a newborn is going to be tough, especially with an active (and often cranky) three-year-old in tow. But the backaches, muscle aches, leg cramps, weird dreams, water retention, clumsiness and enormous belly are all making me anxious to get to the next phase.

Mom?

In the last two days, Andy has gone from calling me "Mommy" to calling me "Mom." It's fine; I really preferred "Mama" over "Mommy" anyway. But now that he's doing it, it seems so grown up somehow. "Mom" is what teenagers call their mothers, not nearly three year olds, right?

My darling angel child has been back today. Sure, he's still clearly 2 3/4, but his mood has been lighter, the fits less frequent and generally he's a joy to be around. We spent the evening moving an old dresser from Mark's room into Andy's. The dresser Mark had needed repairs, plus the drawers are annoyingly small for a grown up. For a kid, they're great. I managed to have enough drawers to segregate the pajama tops and bottoms by sleeve and leg length and still have tons more drawers so it's actually somewhat practical with a kid this age. And for Mark, Bjorn got him a taller dresser with four really big drawers that not only works better, but is a lot more useful. There is one short dresser that we moved from Andy's room into into BGB's (Baby Girl Bennett) room. We're getting close (well, 2 1/2 months) to needing to have the room set up. Yikes!

Persistence

Andy is getting more an more persistent about things, which is surprising, charming and annoying all at once. Here's a recent dialogue:

Andy: I want to watch Thomas.
Me: After breakfast, you can watch one Thomas. Then you can help me in the yard.
Andy: NO! I want to watch Thomas NOW!
Me: Holding back a laugh. Why don't we have breakfast first?
Andy: NO! I want Thomas first!

This goes on and on until we come to some agreement or one of us wears down. Charming, eh?

To the right is a not very good picture of Andy wearing his new blue blazer. My friend Laura works for Macy's and scored us a great discount on a blazer so now he can look just like his father and brother. Plus, now I have something dressy for holiday stuff. The kicker though is just how darn cute he looks in it! It's a 4T so a bit too big still and I need to find the right shirt to wear underneath (a Child's Place sells plain white Oxfords, but I want to find one that's permanent press as ironing a shirt for a kid seems senseless).

Last year I had good luck at Wal-Mart of all places that sold a permanent press shirt complete with a tie that Velcros (Velcroes?) at the back of the neck. I looked a few weeks ago, but at the moment I think it's too early in the season for the holiday wear to be out. Then again, all the stores here have taken down their Halloween decorations and gone straight to Christmas so maybe now is the time to shop after all.

What's scary is I'm having this much fun dressing a boy. Imagine with a girl all the fun I'll have with Mary Jane's (apostrophe or not? I struggled...), tights and velvet dresses. So long as it's not pink.

Antibiotics here we come

It's official - the never-ending ear infection is back. We went to the doctor's today who confirmed that he still has an ear infection and that's probably building up infection in his sinuses, causing the eye goop. Way better than pink eye, but it does mean we're back on this treadmill again. When asked about tubes, she said that the infection may be starting in the nose and sinuses, but it can't drain through the ears properly which is why he's still sick. The plan is to try another round of antibiotics (this time amoxicillan/Augmentin) and see if we can't clear it up without surgery. But she did say that this kind of perpetual infection this early in the cold and flu season doesn't look good. Sigh. One more thing to worry about between now and the end of January.

The only good news is that apparently his ears are so red, she said they most certainly hurt. And that's good because it means my kid is not the demon he has been portraying lately, he's just uncomfortable and I can help alleviate that.

Meanwhile, check the porn shot I posted. He really wanted to wear his boots the other day as I had him undressed for his bath. He looked so funny clomping around that I took a couple of pictures. I found I actually had to delete one that showed his boy parts because it just looked so, so wrong somehow -- naked except for yellow rain boots and posing. So I made him put Jeff on his lap to at least cover the money shot. I still think this will be properly humiliating when he gets older. I see rehearsal dinner slide show written all over this one.

Happy Halloween

I rushed home from Los Angeles to celebrate Halloween to find that Andy's sinus infection (or goopy eye, running nose and cough) appear to be back, putting him somewhat in a cranky mood. We didn't tour the neighborhood, but Bjorn was able to get him into his costume and the boys sat on the porch and handed out candy. I already had a follow-up doctor's appointment scheduled for the afternoon so we'll just go to that to have his symptoms looked at again. Of course, I'm already worried that this means we'll be going through another series of ear infections that will ultimately lead to getting tubes in his ears. I know, I know, there is nothing wrong with tubes, it's just if we can avoid a surgery - however minor - I'd prefer to do that.

Video

I'm heading out of town (and, naturally, toward the blazing wildfires of southern California) so I'm posting this video mostly for me. He's been having a week of monster temper tantrums so it's actually quite nice to see video evidence him acting like an adorable and reasonable little boy here rather than a kid willing to throw himself down in the school parking lot screaming that he does NOT want to go home.

After this trip, I'm home for the duration. I am about to hit my third trimester (finally!) and the countdown is almost under the three-month mark. Sure, that's still many, many days left; days where I'm only going to become more and more enormous, but it's nice to see the finish line appearing ever so far off in the distance. Once I get back, I need to spend some time cleaning out the computer room in preparation for moving all the equipment down to the basement and turning this into the nursery once again. I'm rather looking forward to it. Well, right now anyway.

Meanwhile, I tried in vain last night to get Blogger to upload this successfully, but it turns out it's not good at videos over a few seconds so I had to go back to YouTube. Let me know if you have any problems.

What Would Miss Manners Do?

Recently, Andy was invited to a birthday party for a friend of his who will be turning three next month. Shortly thereafter, I got an e-mail from the hostess to the guest list telling us that the party location is relatively small and therefore other siblings (mostly youngest) are not invited. She copied all of us so that we would know who else was invited to make babysitting arrangements.

Having only one kid, it didn't really occur to me about not inviting the other siblings, but upon thinking about it, I did recall a friend complaining that her four-year-old daughter's party at the Little Gym ended up costing $200 extra because parents brought other siblings and they went over their allotment of kids at the group rate.

The whole thing was interesting and made me wonder what Miss Manners would do. I know for adults, the deal is you put on the invitation the names of who you want to invite. So if Bjorn and I are invited to a party and Andy is not, the envelope would be addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Awesome, not Mr. and Mrs. Awesome, Mr. Andy Awesome.

But for kids this age, obviously the parents have to be invited, too. Do you get that specific on the envelope? And what if you know the kid, but not the parents? I'm glad this isn't a problem we've run into, but it made me think. You're thoughts?

On the mend

Amazing how a course of antibiotics can do a body good. After Andy got his first course Saturday afternoon, by Sunday morning his eyes were goop free and even his nose had started to clear up. He was still a little ornery, but generally his symptoms were much improved. What a relief. I'm still washing my hands every 15 minutes to make sure I don't catch anything else, either from him or life.

Going into the marathon that is work for me for the next week, I know that working 16 hour days is tough enough without getting sick. And of course, being 6 months pregnant is going to make me tired enough as it is. I just can't wait for it to be November 1 and this busy season is over for me for another year.

Infection: 39, Maternal Instinct: 2

Once again, my maternal instincts have been trumped by the all-knowing infection family. Turns out Andy didn't just have a cold, he has a massive sinus infection complete with two ear infections. Although he first showed signs on Wednesday, the only thing particularly notable about this cold was the fact that his eyes seemed, for lack of a better word, goopy. At first they were really watery, but that turned into eyes full of "sleep," in fact, so full that we had to put warm compresses on his eyes to get the goop to soften and come off.

I have been so totally swamped with work (which will end, more of less in two weeks, thankfully) that I couldn't get him to the doctor yesterday. In fact, I kept looking at him, gauging his demeanor and figuring it was just a cold. By last night though, I finally got a chance to Google "mucus and eyes and cold" only to find about four dozen entries on pink eye, which apparently can be caused by a cold or other infection. "Great. Just friggin great," I told myself. "Now not only is he sick, but he's got something super contagious. Is my eye itching?" It would be just my luck with this pregnancy to end up with the stomach flu, strep throat AND pink eye.

Bjorn took him to the doctor's this morning. Apparently they have sick only walk-in hours from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturdays. The diagnosis was a sinus infection with a double ear infection with the possibility of conjunctivitis (she wasn't going to do a culture because apparently the treatment for both the sinus infection and the conjunctivitis is antibiotics). So he's now on Supramax to the tune of $50 for a 10 day supply (damn my new Aetna insurance bites if antibiotics cost that much). The doctor expected that by the third dose, he would be much, much better although we have to come back in two weeks to get the ears looked at again. I just hope this doesn't turn into another string of ear infections that we just can't cure like last spring.

The Patient

Andy is still sick today. He did sleep better last night, as did I since Bjorn got up with him twice while I slept through the whole thing. Poor guy still has fever, runny nose, goopy eyes and loose stools, but generally he's in pretty good spirits. Bjorn stayed home with him most of the day until I got home about 3 p.m. so Bjorn could head to the office. Fortunately, he has a few retail clients that are open until 9 p.m. so we both ended up having a mostly full workday despite Andy illness.

Meanwhile, if you're familiar with the Thomas the Tank Engine toys and shows, you will likely get a kick out of this. More proof that to me that wine and children do mix.

Figures

It was bound to happen. After I have had the stomach flu and strep throat and Bjorn has had a sinus infection, odds are Andy would be the next in line to get sick. Naturally this comes during the busiest season of the year for me at work so in addition to stressing about him not feeling great and waking up every half hour last night, I was worried about my schedule. Sigh. It's never easy, is it? I haven't figured out how this is going to work with two yet.

Also, my digital camera is acting weird and I'm taking that as an excuse to start looking for a new one. I have a Kodak EasyShare that I have liked, the second generation for me, but now I'm looking for a pretty small camera that I can more easily put in my purse. Heaven forbid I not have the ability to whip out the camera and take adorable kid pictures. Like the TiVo, this is required gear for a new baby, right? Anyone have a camera they can recommend?

Burke Fall Festival

We had a blind date of sorts yesterday, meeting a friend of Andy's from school and her mother at the fall festival at the Burke Nursery. The kids are BFF and play together quite nicely at school, but her mother and I don't know each other that well so it felt a little blind-date-ish, although clearly we have a lot in common. It was nice talking with her and definitely made me think more outings like that would be fun in the future. Plus, the festival was way more fun when I had an adult to talk to while he had a friend to play with.

It was a nice day to be out -- the weather was sunny, but cool. Plus the festival wasn't that crowded in the morning. It was better for us than Cox Farms this year in that it was smaller and more geared toward the younger crowd with more short slides and climbing stuff than lots of big tall slides. Not to mention the exciting hay ride that doesn't have any hay either on the tractor or the bed (why not just call it a tractor ride?) I figure Andy has another year at this festival before he's totally bored with it

Welcome Tivo 2.0

Sure, with a new kid on a way we have lots of reasonable things to be spending money on, like baby clothes and supplies. Heck, maybe some bedding and decor. Perhaps a stroller than can accommodate two. But rather than do any of that, Bjorn so kindly bought me a new Tivo. He is clearly a sweet, kind man who will be honored now and in the afterlife. Sure, he bought it partly to make up for all the hours and hours he's spending reffing youth football. And sure, it turns out my love and forgiveness can be bought (although sad that the price tag is so low).

In any event, I wanted one that we could use upstairs. Andy loves watching Thomas and Friends that we have Tivoed downstairs since it comes on during the day. Letting him watch one Thomas before bed is easy since they're only five minutes, but afterwards, he pitches a fit about having to go to bed and I'm getting too big and he's getting too heavy to carry all the way upstairs. This also means I can record the programs that Bjorn would mock me for recording on our communal Tivo (namely anything on SoapNet).

The new system installed like a charm although my cheap Trutech TV from Target won't work with the Tivo remote so I have to use two remotes, one for Tivo and another for power and volume. I was also surprised to realize that we have to pay separately (on two bills, oddly) for each Tivo in the house. The new deal is only $6.95 a month, but still...it's irritating after already sending them $12 a month. I do love it though.

Penises

In addition to showing more interest in potty training, Andy is showing more interest in his penis. It makes sense really. That's where pee comes from and it's got to be pretty cool for him to be figuring out how all that works. Of course, now we're getting into the awkward gender stuff.

Andy: Daddy, you have a penis?
Bjorn: Yes, just like Andy.
Andy: Like Andy...And Markie, he has a penis?
Bjorn: Yes, Markie has a penis, too.
Andy: And Mommy has a penis?
Bjorn: No, Mommy is a girl. Girls don't have penises.
Andy: Girls don't have penises?

So naturally that set up a whole list they had to go through of who had a penis and who didn't. This is all good. He's learning about his body, he's using the proper terms. The only bad part is now he feels the need to announce a random times, "Mommy, you don't have a penis?" It hasn't happened yet, but I feel sure the time is coming when he asks that during check-out at the store.

Oh my

See the picture of the playground to the left? It's a public playground in McLean called Clemyjontri and all I can really say about it is, "Wow." It's a park that is built to be handicapped accessible, but it's just so darn awesome that half of Fairfax County was there at 10 a.m. this morning even though this is virtually no shade at the park and it was nearly 90 degrees and humid, even that early.

The problem with the park though is it's, well, too big. There was so much to see that Mo and I spent most of the time trying to keep an eye on where the kids had run off to so we didn't really get a chance to visit. Course, it was hot and sunny so there really wasn't a good place to sit and visit.

We did go on the carousel in the middle of the park. Andy quite adamantly said he didn't want to go, but I did force him to sit on the seat with me. After initial protests, he did like it, but I am growing tired of being the lady forcing her kid to try the moon bounce, the slide, the pool, the carousel, etc.

This is bringing me to a bit of a dilemma. I want Andy to feel comfortable and not force him into situations that scare him. But at the same time, I find myself wanting to just make him try something before he decides it scares him. I know, he'll get there at his own pace, blah, blah, blah, but I find myself irritated as I watch all his friends just jumping right in with both feet, so to speak. I appreciate his caution; it certainly makes for fewer trips to the emergency rooms at the moment. I just hate to think he's missing out on something his peers are doing just because he doesn't want to give it a try.

On a completely different side note, Andy and I took a walk last night and ran into a neighbor that we regularly see on our walks. He's a nice enough guy, is about my age and has two kids under four, much like we will have eventually (all though not soon enough is this heat!) As we talked, I mentioned that I was 5-6 months pregnant. His answer, "I thought you had put on a lot of weight."

Seriously, I know I've gained weight, I really do, but was that necessary? Asshat.

Fall Festival

We went to the fall festival today with Andy's playgroup where, luckily, our friends Mo and Mia were going as well with Mia's school. It was unusually hot for October in Virginia (high 80s) and you can tell from how sweaty we were. Andy is proving to be a careful sort -- he didn't want to ride any of the slides "too scary" making the visit sort of a waste since a lot of the festival is riding the slides. I did force him against his will onto the hay ride, which he did like once we got moving, but it took some convincing. His favorite part was driving the tractor and climbing up hills, well, the ones that weren't "too high."

Spiderman

Behold, the cutest Spidey ever. Well, on our block anyway. It took a few days of talking about the costume and touching it before Bjorn was able to convince him to finally try it on (over his pajamas, hence the bulky look). Since then, he hasn't stopped talking about it. There is a mask that goes with the polyester jumpsuit, but I don't believe he's going to be putting that on his face. I can't say I blame him though. I tried it on to get him interested and it's hard to breathe in that thing.

Also, my doctor called today to say I did have strep throat, you know, a week ago. Turns out going to your OB for a strep test isn't the right place to go since I just found out about it now, but hey, they did give me the antibiotics and I did recover so that's good. My ailment this week is back pain. I'm so far attributing it to sleeping funny as I'm in denial that I'm pregnant enough to have this already. Not that I'm not ready to go ahead and not be pregnant anymore, but I have more than 120 days left of this (hey, I was in a really, really long meeting and somehow counting back from February 2 seemed like a good idea at the time).

Say cheese

Andy loves to get his picture taken. Although I'm not sure if he likes getting the picture taken as much as he likes to see himself on the screen of the digital camera more. Lately he's been quite obsessed with taking my camera out so he can look at the pictures saved and take more (of course, it also gives me a good reason to take more pictures, like getting out his Spider Man costume that my mom got him for Halloween last year to see if it fits and take his picture in it). Now that I've figured out how to upload video to Blogger, I wanted to take some video of him on my camera, but the little bugger can only stay for about 20 seconds in front of the camera before demanding to see the picture so not the highest quality video shoot.

We're still working on potty training. He's not waking up and asking to go, but when we remind him at night, he will sometimes go. He will go often enough in fact that I've had to switch to smaller cookies. Andy's not going at school really yet, but they do put him on the potty there as well and I think eventually it will sink in. Certainly before third grade starts, I imagine.

Video testing, one, two, three

Potty training procrastination

This potty training business sure takes a while. The frustrating thing for me is now that he's got the idea of it, he wants to try to go all the time. But he doesn't really have to go, is the problem. He just likes the extra attention and excitement that comes with it. What's frustrating for me is telling the difference between the 40th time he has said he wants to sit on the potty only to get there and spend more time running around and doing anything but sitting on the potty and the time that he plans to sit down and get to business. I imagine this is a learning process for both of us, but could we speed up the learning curve already? I know the 20-30 minutes I spend trying to get him to be serious about this will eventually pay off, but in a hurry, I can change a diaper and get moving in five minutes without all the hassle.

In fun development news, Andy's imagination is really taking off. We now spend a lot of time handing each other make-believe food from his kitchen and other things. Whereas six months ago he would have been frustrated not to have the physical, now he seems to relish in the game of handing me green pancakes and other strange things that he thinks of.

In not so fun development news, I fear the afternoon nap is on the way out. It stinks because at this stage in my pregnancy (or heck, anytime for me really), I can really use the nap and the break. But lately, the nap is shorter if it happens and occasionally not at all. The hard part is knowing which day will be which since some days when it seems he really needs the nap, he rallies, but not so much on other days.

Note: I was trying to upload a video of Andy trying to use his potty because it's just so darn funny, but the Blogger video upload feature isn't working so you'll have to settle for this picture of a cow my sister picked up at a veterinary conference that is now a regular in our bathtub.

Pants off to Andy

After two or three days of missing out on successfully using his potty, Andy did manage to pee in the potty tonight. I asked if he wanted to go (his diaper from school was mostly dry at about 8 p.m.) and he said yes. He sat down and immediately said, "I hear it. I hear it coming," which must mean that he feels it inside. And viola, he peed in the potty. Bjorn promptly came upstairs with a cookie and we both said how proud of him we were. He was so proud of himself, though, that afterwards he really didn't want to get off the potty and dressed, even though it was clearly bedtime.

In other news, I now use the word "potty" in my daily conversation, whether it's Andy using it or when I have to explain to him where his father or brother are (he asks a lot of the same questions over and over again so naturally, I get to say, "He's in the potty" again and again). I haven't yet said that at work, but it's bound to happen. And it scares me.

Potty training

After Andy rocked the potty training world on Saturday, he hasn't been quite as successful. The good news is that he's now quite interested in sitting on the potty (those cookies sure must taste divine). The bad news is that he's never interested at a time that it could do some good, which usually makes him mad that he doesn't get a cookie for trying. He's got the interest though so I imagine sooner or later he'll get the timing down. It's going to be an adjustment for us though to leap whenever he says he's ready, but I figure we'll get it down eventually.

We're all sick here. Again. Seriously, what is up with that? After having the stomach bug just a few weeks ago, I've now developed a really painful sore throat that hurts to swallow, breathe, eat and sleep. Lovely. I have an appointment today to see if it's strep or not. I did call the doctor's last night who prescribed Tylenol 3 with Codeine to help with pain and let me sleep until I could get in today. Apparently Codeine is safe in pregnancy. Who knew? It did help me sleep a bit, but my throat still hurt pretty bad last night.

Bjorn is also still sick (poor guy) and has an appointment this afternoon to see about his sinus problems that have been bugging him for a couple weeks now. He has been quite sweet taking care of me the last day or so with my sore throat by going to the all night pharmacy to get my prescription last night and taking care of Andy while I try to rest. Hopefully, we'll both get some good antibiotics and we'll start feeling better sooner rather than later. Of course, Andy did wake up with a cough so probably we'll get well in time for him to get sick.

Update: Bjorn has a sinus infection and some killer (and expensive) antibiotics. No word on if I have strep or not until the test comes back later this week, but I have some penicillin to take for the next seven days. I'm already feeling a little better and Bjorn is well enough to still at work at 8:30 p.m. so hopefully the rest of the week will be better.

Special cookies

Breaking news - Bjorn got Andy to pee on the potty twice today, both times resulting in the special cookies for the boy. Both father and son (and mother) are delighted with the progress. This is the first time he had repeatedly gotten on the potty and the first time with any success. Those Chips Ahoy cookies are quite a draw.

Whining and crying

Andy is really starting to perfect the temper tantrum. Worst of all, he's now throwing them about totally stupid things, like when he breathlessly shouts through tears, "I...don't...want...the...monkey...cup!" Yes, folks, the thought of the monkey cup over the Sponge Bob cup is worthy of 20 minutes of tears. I'm doing my best to ignore it when possible, put him on the time out step when it seems appropriate and try to keep my wits about me when he manages to push my buttons...just right.

Course, the bugger will be obnoxious for an entire day and then it comes bedtime and he comes at me wanting more hugs and I just melt.

We've been talking to Andy a little about the new baby. The only concept that has seemed to stick is that sometime around his birthday, we'll get a new baby from the hospital that will come home to live with us. So now he keeps saying, "I'm getting a baby for my birthday." Not quite right, but he's thinking about it.

I'm still on the hunt for decent maternity clothes. I have had some luck with cute pants from Target and Gap Maternity. What I'm struggling with now is tops that are at least semi-work appropriate. I have started branching out to look in the Women's sections for some stuff. It's not quite right, but there seems to be a much larger selection of better items there sometimes than in the maternity section. At least it's getting cooler so I can start layering and wearing sweaters. Sigh. Is it February yet?

Baby Names

Now that we've narrowed the naming process down to only one sex, we need to spend some time thinking about names and doing our due diligence. And by due diligence, I mean you can't name your kid Marc Anthony and then be surprised to learn he was also a historical figure who killed himself over Cleopatra.

To help with this process, Betsy sent me a rockin' Web site located here with great ideas for what not to name your kid. It's awesomely bad. Plus, the site already gets some street cred with me for this first item. I can personally vouch that Love Seamon was a real person as I remember her going through rush at Emory. I remember hearing she was a nice girl, but dang, that's a really unfortunate name.

It's a....

girl! We went for the big sonogram (ultrasound?) today and the baby is healthy, measuring as it's supposed to and almost certainly a girl. The technology was amazing -- they were able to see the four chambers of the heart beating, the spine, the hemispheres of the brain and even fingers and toes (at one point, she was even waving to us, or flipping us off for waking her up, one or the other). They were even able to tell the direction of the fluid flowing into and out of the umbilical cord and bladder to see that things looked as they should, which was a great relief. The tech even got a fabulous crotch shot of the baby and confirmed not on the absence of male genitalia, but could even identify the labia. Rather amazing for a person that barely weighs 12 ounces.

This further confirms my suspicion that the baby has been secretly trying to poison me with all her estrogen over the past 4 1/2 months, which is the reason I've been so nauseated for so long. Now if only there were a way to let her know that if she makes the next 4 1/2 months relatively pleasant, there will be lots of treats on the other end for her. I'm not above a little bribery here.

Andy, the ripper

Normally, Andy is pretty good about not destroying things. Well, I should say normally. Until now. About 6-8 months ago, Andy ripped part of a library book. We paid our fine, he made his "I'm sorry" to the librarian, and since then I remind him when I put him in bed with a book, "Remember our deal, Andy?" "No rip the pages."

Last week, I came in after a nap to find that he had ripped the cover of a paperback Thomas book into several large pieces. To be fair, he didn't rip the pages, just the cover. We talked about how that made Mommy sad and then had to trek to the library to buy it (it was a strange bargain actually, buying the book cost $3.20, but there was a $3.00 processing fee. Whatever.) Then yesterday, I woke up early on a Saturday for us, about 7:15, to hear a strange noise. He had taken off the lamp shade by his bed and torn out the reflective inner lining, ripping it to many small pieces. What the? Bjorn and I have been going back and forth about whether we want a boy or a girl (for the record, either is great so long as it's healthy) although after this, I turned to Bjorn and said, "A girl would be fine."

I asked Andy why he had done it, but so far, he doesn't seem to understand the why question. When I ask him why he did anything, he usually says, "Yeah," or something similar over and over again until you stop asking. I'm okay with him not knowing why since I imagine we've got years of that in our future, but it's frustrating at times like this where understanding his logic would go a long way. That said, if this keeps up, he probably is set for a career as a White House press person since it's clear he doesn't mind not answering the question at hand.

My son, the diva

Should I be worried that my son seems to have an eye for fashion? Every so often, I'll show up to his school wearing a skirt or looking particularly well put together and he'll take a moment to look me over and say, "You look good, Mommy." Then last week I was out shopping for maternity wear and he was freaking out when I tried on a couple of outfits because he hated them so much. He was right, they did look bad (course, it's maternity wear so it IS mostly all bad), but where does he get it?

I do love the compliments, but it surprises me a bit. It's not like he hears Bjorn saying that in the morning so I wonder where he gets it. I certainly have no eye for fashion so he's not getting this from me. He does remind me a tad of Justin from Ugly Betty, which cracks me up and scares me a little.

Ugh!

As if the regular "morning sickness" that still seems to hit me every few days wasn't enough, now I have a stomach bug adding to the mix. It started Sunday morning and has been going through today. My doctor prescribed Zofran, an anti-nausea medicine, to help stop the vomiting, but now it has pushed all the problems, er, lower. I called in sick today and yesterday - the first time since Andy was born that I've called in sick for just myself. He went to school like a good boy and I've been home trying to sleep. Unfortunately, it's tough to get a good rest when I'm up every hour or so.

Andy has been a precious darling though. When I was sick on Sunday, he offered to get me a band-aid. "You sick, Mommy? You need a ban-baid?" is that adorable kid way. He genuinely seemed sympathetic which was sweet to hear as well.

I went to the doctor today and the good news is everything is fine with the baby. I just need to let this, "run it's course," which is not what I want to hear after three long days and nights of this. Fingers crossed that running it's course actually means immediately. She did weigh me when I was there and was pleased that I haven't lost weight. I was stunned at the number (which I won't tell you) because I swear I have lost weight the last few days. Imagine how high the number would have been otherwise? Scary. Still, I'd take the weight gain over this bullshit.

Also annoying is the "What to Expect When You're Expecting" book. I have generally found it informative if a little bland, but in this case, they have a whole section on coping with food poisoning/stomach bug and cap it off with something about how if I would just eat better, I could avoid it. I loathe hearing "I told you so" anyway and this seemed particularly annoying on a sick stomach. There is also a part about stretch marks that I came across that got me riled up. It said if you eat right, you won't get them. Horseshit. And a nice way to make folks feel bad that they're getting them because of something they ate.

Rant over.

Fire trucks

Today we went to the Manassas Park fire department for a tour and to check out the trucks with some of our friends, including one who lives in Manassas Park and organized the event. The tour was interesting for me, but Andy and the other kids were less interested in seeing where the fire fighters sleep during their 24 hour shifts and more interested in touching and "driving" the firetrucks.

Andy liked the hoses and stuff fine, but really all he wanted to do was sit in the driver's seat and man-handle the steering wheel. Such a boy sometimes. Some of the girls were very interested in safety. Molly, for example, sat in all the seats and tried on all the seat belts to make sure they worked properly. As you can imagine, that was less interesting for Andy who would rather flip the switches and rock the steering wheel than bother with that stuff.

I do hope they reset everything before they go on duty next. I would hate for them to rush out to a call only to find the truck stuck in reverse, all the blinkers on and the oxygen masks turned off. That could be problematic.

I'm famous

I'm famous. The story ran on CNN.com. I'm quoted talking about vaccinations. Just think how lucky you are to have known me back when. I'll be signing autographs later.

Alright all you Luddites out there complaining that can't find the story. There are three tabs on the page I send you to, then click the middle one about "vaccinations" and you'll see my charming mug. See? That wasn't so hard.

Breaking news

With all my blathering on with school and travel, it occurs to me I haven't mentioned the big news in the house which is I'm pregnant. I know, I know, I swore I wouldn't do it again considering how much I didn't much like being pregnant the first time and how hard I thought having a tiny baby was, but apparently time really does heal all wounds (and memories). We're excited although I vacillate being really looking forward to seeing my own tiny baby again and all the things I'll do better this time and fear at how in the world I am going to handle two when one seems pretty impossible some days. I'm due beginning of February, but in my mind I've already backed that up a few weeks. That somehow makes the time ahead seem less daunting.

I've been casually floating to Andy questions like, "Would you like to have a baby like Baby Emma?" And he usually says, "Yes. Get a baby." He them seems disappointed that we can't pick up one at Target right now. He hasn't asked about why mommy is so big yet, but I'm sure that's coming. It will naturally happen on a day that I haven't slept and feel huge, I can feel it.

What's amazing is how totally different the two pregnancies have been. After having no morning sickness with Andy, I found myself completely sick for about six weeks and even now I will find myself throwing up randomly some days if I don't seem to eat just right. It seems bizarre to me that not having a full stomach actually makes me sick, but I've already decided that Mother Nature has a pretty wicked sense of humor.

My sister returned my maternity wear and I've done a little shopping with my mother to supplement that stash, but I still find myself every night going through what I have to wear to work tomorrow and getting stressed out. Because my body is constantly changing, I find that the pants that fit last week, are now a little too tight while some of the shirts in my closet are still way too big. Sigh. Only four and 1/2 more months, that's no time, right?

One day of school down...hundreds more to go

Andy survived his first day of school in his new "big boy class" as we're calling it. However, poor Bjorn had to drop the sobbing guy off this morning and I think it might have been harder for him carrying that image around all day. Sure enough, moments after Bjorn left, Andy went over to play with his first girlfriend, Soren. Fortunately, about half of his old class moved up to his new class with his so while it's new teachers in a new room, the kids are mostly the same. Apparently there was a lot more demand for the 2-year-old room and less demand for the 3- and 4-year-old rooms so they have combined some of those classes to make room for some younger kids.

When I went to pick him up today, we went and checked out his new room together and I let him show me where he sits at lunch, where his cubby is and point out other parts of the room. Then for being such a big boy, I took him to a special dinner (to the ever-exciting Fuddruckers) and then to play in a park on the way home. He seemed rather pleased with himself. And after all the drama of the morning, when we got home, he said he didn't want to go home, he wanted to go back to school. Figures.

Pants?

Before bed, I usually sneak into Andy's room to check on him, you know, one last time. Last night when I went in, I noticed something unusual. He had taken off his pajama shorts and was sleeping in just his shirt and diaper. Lately he's been going through a phase of wanting to nap in just a diaper, sometimes with shorts, sometimes with a top, but minus one article of clothing. I'm happy to indulge him on these things, plus I find it somewhat amusing. The removing an article of clothing thing is a new one for us though.

This morning when he got up he kept talking about how he didn't have any pants. "Where are my pants, Mommy?" He didn't seem to have a good answer as to why he had removed them, but still he seemed surprised they weren't on him. Rather funny actually.

Tomorrow is a big day as Andy is starting school in a new class. I'm a little uneasy about it only because all summer Andy was having trouble crying at drop-off and now a new class might start that all over again. I'm sure he'll do fine. He sees all the teachers already and the class is right next door, but it's hard not to worry, even just a little.

2 1/2 year check up, one month late

Today we had Andy's 2 1/2 year check up a solid one month late. I called about a month or so ago figuring I could just get in, but with everyone going to the doctor to get physicals for school, I had trouble getting a well appointment on a Friday. He weighed in at 32 pounds and is now 36 inches tall, making him a solid 50th percentile on both height and weight, further confirming Bjorn's suspicion that Andy is not going to be that tall and Bjorn she start training him to be a point guard now.

She was pleased with his verbal skills even though he was playing shy and wouldn't talk too much for her. She also confirmed my suspicions that he's getting two new molars. That was a relief as I was worried his recent ornery behavior was related to an ear infection, but the ear check came up clean. I just wish the diagnosis would stop the constant whining and fake crying he's doing lately.

I asked about potty training. She said not to sweat it because most kids of normal development around 3ish will decide they don't want to wear diapers anymore and that it would be a waste of time to try to force him into it now if he's not interested. This kid has no interest in the potty at the moment. He sits on it occasionally at school, but rarely at home. It's good to know our approach of offering without forcing is the right one although some days after the fourth poopy diaper in a row I really think otherwise.

In other news, a reporter from CNN contacted me about an article she's writing about new mothers. How cool is that? I gave her some quotes and a picture. She asked for a picture of me and Andy and looking through the last year, it turns out I have like three pictures of just the two of us that are remotely presentable. There are lots of cute ones of him and Bjorn, but apparently I'm the one always taking the pictures. I sent her a sampling of photos for her to pick which one is best. That should be interesting. If only she's promise to photoshop me and make my teeth perfectly white and shave (at least) 10 pounds off me. The story is supposed to run Thursday on CNN.com and is a column on empowered patients or something like that. And to think you knew me before all the fame and fortune.

Pictures

It's been a crazy week coming off travel so I haven't had much time to devote to this, what with paying bills, doing laundry, etc. Here are a few cute pictures from the weekend. My dad reading to Andy.

Mom fixing Andy and Megan's shoes at the pool.

The obligatory bathtub pictures. As you can see, they hated it.

We've arrived

Andy and I are back after our whirlwind weekend trip to Dallas. It was a lot of time in transit and no time to contact old friends (sorry Susan!), but fortunately the weather cooperated and American Airlines treated us fine. The only thing negative really was I noticed getting off the plane in Dallas that the other passengers were courteous to the woman traveling with a small child and offered to help me get into the aisle and help with my bags. On the way back, I was practically trampled trying to get into the aisle once we landed at Dulles. In fact, I had even waited 4-5 minutes after my aisle had left waiting for a calm opportunity to launch ourselves into the fray. I put Andy in the aisle and proceeded to grab my bag to have a woman snidely say, "Excuse me" and try to get past me in the two foot aisle. Nice.

Andy had a great time seeing my family, especially his cousin Megan. He even liked seeing my new niece "baby Emma" even if he did complain that she cried occasionally. My folks have inherited some great kids toys from friends with older children and grandchildren. The hit of the weekend was a train table complete with some trains and Matchbox cars that the kids eagerly played with. We also went to the pool and Andy even swam in the "big pool" and didn't freak out (he's not especially enamored of the deep water). There was also lots of book reading by Grandmother and Pop, which both Andy and Megan adored. In between it all, we even managed to get a couple hands of bridge in.

Unfortunately, Andy and I have both come home with colds and Andy even has a light fever. Yuck. I'm looking forward to the three day Labor Day weekend to recover from my vacation!

The saga of the bed, part 3

I am loving the new bed. Sort of. I love that Andy loves it. I don't love that I haven't figured out how to not smack my head when I try to sit on the bed. I changed his sheets tonight and must have knocked myself 2-3 times before I finally figured out how not to do it. I'm obviously not very bright.

He does love it so, and that makes up for a lot. The tunnel in particular is a huge hit. The last two mornings I have come in to find him already awake and under there. This morning he'd even brought his dogs and his binky with him. I check on him at night so I don't think he's sleeping there, but I know he's thinking about it.

We're off to Dallas tomorrow for a whirlwind weekend trip mostly to see my new niece Emma. Andy is particularly excited to see my older niece Megan. It's not a vacation per se, but it will be great to catch up and it's certainly not work either.

The saga of the new bed

The new bed is turning out to be quite a dramatic element in our house. Last night I spent an hour or so showing Andy how it could be flipped upside down to put the bed on the floor or on the top bunk. He loved it, but he sorely missed the "tunnel" (space created when the bed is set up as a twin as the guard rails for the top bunk shield the space under the bed so it can only be accessed through the hole left in the ladder) so I then had to move the bed back. Fortunately, it's not heavy, just awkward to move in a small room that is fairly crowded.

Then tonight, I went in to check on him after putting him to bed only to find he had crawled out of bed. Fortunately, before I had a chance to panic, I heard him say, "Mommy, I'm sleeping in my tunnel." Otherwise, I would have freaked wondering where in the world he had gone to and probably convinced myself he'd been kidnapped or something else horrible.

Photos are stock shots from Ikea, you know, how it would look if the house was organized and color coordinated. The left one is how it would work as a bunk bed though as I could put a bed on top and then underneath as well. Unfortunately, Andy didn't like the bed like this. At least this week. Bugger. With the right photo, you can see the space left by the ladder. When it's flipped over, there is plenty of room for a 2 1/2 year old to wiggle underneath and disappear.

Wow

So Andy slept through the night not realizing he was sleeping in his new bed so we heard him when he woke up saying, "Wow! Wow! Wow!" as he examined it, complete with starry tent. He was quite excited. I love that he loves it.

The only drawback is with the new bed we went ahead and took off the guard rail we had because the new setup makes it hard enough to get in and out of for adults without that there. Unfortunately, he did fall off the bed during his nap today and never quite got back to sleep after that. Bjorn is ready to give away the guard rail, but I thinking we should hang on to it for a few weeks just in case.

New bed

The bed Andy's been sleeping on the past six months was actually a hand-me-down from my friend Liz. I think it might have been hers growing up. We have loved it and used it off and on as either a primary bed or a guest bed. For Andy, I tried to spruce it up by painting it white, but I did a terrible job and it has been really bothering me. I had been doing some research and found a cool loft-esque bed that we finally settled on and bought today. The cool thing about it is it's a low bed or a high bed. For now, it will be a low bed with the fun tent over it. When he gets older, we can flip it over and create a little play area underneath.

Bjorn was a champ and put the whole thing together mostly by himself over what seemed like three hours. In the excitement coming home from Ikea, I suggested we install it immediately, thinking it wouldn't take longer than an hour. But about the hour and half mark, Andy actually cried, "I'm tired," so I put him to sleep in my bed where he actually went to sleep.

Afterwards, it was late so I just carried Andy into his new bed. I tried to talk to him and let him know about his new bed and not be scared, but he refused to budge. Fingers crossed the night is uneventful.

Yesterday

Andy has learned the word yesterday and he uses it all the time now. Sometimes he's right, yesterday he did go to school or yesterday he had gym. Other times, they're wild fantasies, "Yesterday I went on a plane to Texas with Mia." Oh? That's news to me. Because I think yesterday you went to school and then we played in the backyard.

He is really so verbal now. It's really amazing to listen to him in full sentences declare his like or dislike for something. He also now has reasons for liking and disliking things, like certain songs are "scary" and some things are "too noisy." It's amazing how he's learned to process language and even use pronouns properly.

I'm also amazed by what he remembers. As a baby, it was easy to distract and move on knowing he wouldn't remember I promised ice cream or something. Now, however, he remembers in great detail what I said about a certain subject. He also has vivid details about some of his friends, like Mia, and what they did and when they'll see each other next. It's really pretty cool.

Pictures

The whole clan, inclduing Andy who is in a phase of chewing on his hands. I would guess it was teething, but I think he has all his baby teeth, according to Dr. Spock.

Chrille, Kina and Jennifer toasting. We even had good champagne and not crappy Cook's. I don't much care for champagne, but I really loathe really bad champagne, which I consider a hangover in a bottle.

All the present grandchildren (minus two in California): Jennifer, Margareta (complete with tiara that we made her wear), Nicole, Mark holding Andy, and Ryan.

Singing happy birthday (we kept having to make her put the tiara back on).

Keyed entry

My friend Viv recommended we get a realtor-esque lockbox like they use in the business. She assured me they had them at Home Depot and she was right. For about $30, we know how a permanent combination key box. Now if only I can get an alarm that goes off with the user fails to put it back after a few minutes. It is a nice piece of mind now that Andy is increasingly getting bold putting and turning knobs and locks.



We've had an exciting weekend filled with family who came in from California and Sweden to surprise Bjorn's mother for her XXth birthday. She was thrilled with the whole thing and there are lots of good pictures to share. Unfortunately, our digital camera is currently missing is action with all the activities going on between her house and ours, but I'll upload them as soon as it materializes.



Andy has been having a great time singing happy birthday all weekend and eating birthday cake. He's somewhat obsessed with birthday cake in general (whenever he cooks in his kitchen, he's always making birthday cake and wants to sing once he's done) so this has been a great few days for him.

Opposable thumbs

Andy has figured out the locks on our doors. Sadly, he has figured out how to lock me out of the house as well. Yesterday I had started boiling some water on the stove and stepped outside for 2 minutes to turn on the water to try to revive my plants that are melting in the 100 degree days with 70 percent humidity we've been having all week. Andy said he was content playing in his kitchen although as soon as the door closed apparently he changed his mind because seconds later, I tried the kitchen door and it was locked. From the inside. Where my house keys and cell phone were. D'oh.

Fortunately, after about 30 seconds of coaching he figured out how to unlock it, but those were some pretty tense 30 seconds.

I've been saying for some time we need to find some type of permanent hide-a-key for the carport. We've tried it over the years for Mark, but he would use the key once and lose it so after a while there simply weren't any extra keys to hide. I think Andy is telling me I need to revisit this idea.

Resume writing 101

I have to hire for a position at work. It's a job that requires a lot of writing and editing so finding someone who can put together some sentences is key. What is stunning is how many people apply for a job requiring writing who can't write or proofread.

Here are tips for those applying for writing jobs to help you land the interview.

5. Pay attention to the funky symbols. Monster.com and the like all can insert weird characters into your resume that you're cutting and pasting into their system. Seriously, spend the 15 minutes making sure your bullets aren't question marks. Yes, someone really does care. Yes, it really will keep you from getting a second look if it's not right.
4. Get a friend, relative, coworker, random stranger to read your resume. Typos happen, sure, but this is your five minutes of fame. Spend the time to make sure it really is perfect. I got a resume today for someone who allegedly teachers grammar at a local high school whose resume was full of typos. (This may explain something actually...)
3. Explain yourself. If you don't live in the area or have taken time off work, explain it. Don't make me guess why you're living in Denver and applying for a job in Washington. Because that's one heck of a commute.
2. Proof your cover letter. If you're going to bother personalizing it for every place you apply, remember to actually personalize it for each company and position. Half the resumes I see are actually addressed to a different company for a different position.
1. Check your e-mail. I love that folks include their personal e-mails on resumes now since it's so easy to contact people that way. What I don't understand is why you would put "sexysusie69" on a piece of business correspondence. In this day of free Yahoo! and G-mail accounts, spend the $0 to get "susiesmith2007." I can't tell you how many e-mail addresses I see that are practically porn names.

Stepping off soapbox slowly and checking the spelling as I do.

Edited to correct the typos my darling husband and mother found for me. See, I'm not immune to typos, I just have good editors helping me.

When toothpaste attacks

After school last night, Andy was a little cranky so he suggested he go to bed for a little bit. Usually 15 minutes of being quiet, chilling in his bed, flipping through Thomas books helps him settle down into being his adorable self again. Last night, I was in the basement listening to him and he was quiet, like sleeping quiet, for nearly half an hour. I took the silence to mean he really needed the break. I went up after a bit to see if he was ready for dinner only to find him covered in sticky, clear stuff on his face. He'd had a bit of a runny nose so I started to clean off his face only to realize he had taken his toothbrush and toddler toothpaste and squeezed it all over himself and his bed. It was lovely.

I gave him a bath and eventually put him to bed in new sheets. This morning, unfortunately, I discovered that he'd gotten it on a part of his bedspread and one of his dogs, too, so now I get to wash all his bedding and perhaps the new sheets as well. Curious little buggers, aren't they?

The deathy hallows

I've been really busy this week - reading the 7th Harry Potter book "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." Not to worry, no spoilers here. Overall, I liked it. It had a surprising and satisfying ending. My only complaint was that it was really long. There were probably 200-300 pages in the middle that probably could have been cut in half and still told the same story.

Funny, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get a copy, but I just walked into Borders last week and bought one on sale for 40 percent off (still $20 for a hardback, but better than $34). They seemed to have hundreds of copies. By next week, they'll probably be selling them for $10.

The good news is that I'm done with it now so I don't have to worry that someone will accidentally tell me the ending. The only problem is now that I'm done, I need to find another good book. The history of Texas book I've been reading is good, but it's hardly the same kind of page turner.

A bunch of queens

We went to check out our friends' new place yesterday for dinner. The kids had a great time and insisted that we sing happy birthday with crowns as we ate our brownies. The men looked pretty good in their crowns, surprisingly.

Hiding from monsters

The favorite game in our house is hiding from monsters. He must pick this up from the other kids in school, because we don't normally discuss monsters around here. Well, unless they come in the form of bills, the temperamental lawn edger or killer mosquitoes. Here we are hiding from the monsters under the covers, which is actually pretty darn adorable. Well, except on the 36th time in 20 minutes he screams, "Gotta hide from the monsters!" and takes apart whatever else we were working on.

Fish out of water

I woke up about 4 a.m. last night to the howls of one of the cats who had been left outside. Apparently she'd done all the whoring around that a spayed cat does at that hour and was ready for dinner and some sleep. On my way back to bed, I checked on Andy out of habit. Little guy was asleep at the foot of his bed with his head, chest and arms on the bed with his legs hanging off the side. Neither of us woke up to him crying so I can only imagine at some point he got up to get something, perhaps another Thomas book, and fell asleep on the way back. He wasn't upset, but I went ahead and moved him into his normal spot so it would feel more normal when he woke up.

Crazy little guy. The bed is completely blocked off on three sides yet he still manages to fall out somehow. I can't quite explain it, but I'm somewhat impressed by this.

Date night

At the concert on Friday, some friends came along and brought their daughter, Mia, who is apparently Andy's love interest. Check out the way he laughs at her jokes here as if it's truly the funniest thing anyone has ever said. Rather precious and perfect for later for embarrassment.

Andy is truly smitten with her (she's six months older and clearly more mature as well). He spent the evening following her around even when that involved bad ideas like running down a hill, which remarkably she can handle in flip-flops, but he could not in shoes.

My friend also brought lollipops for the kids, which was a huge hit. Andy carried his around all night even after he dropped it on the grass. Twice.

Swedish sensibilities

So my dad e-mailed us this week to ask if we'd ever heard of the band ABBA. Apparently they're Swedish, he said, so Bjorn being of Swedish descent may have heard of them. My dad is apparently helping select entertainment for the Dallas Symphony and HAIR cancelled so they're offering him ABBA. Here's a slightly exaggerated account of our conversation.

Me: Dad, you've heard of ABBA. They had a bunch of hits in the 70s.
Dad: I don't think so. What kind of music do they sing?
Me: Pop.
Dad: But is that folk? Rock?
Me: No, it's pop. It was disco music. Fun and peppy. I swear you'd recognize their songs. They now play them during baseball and hockey games at intermissions and such. Besides, and more importantly, there is no way ABBA is touring and a venue for them is the Dallas Symphony. They are huge. Think Simon and Garfunkle reunion huge.
Dad: They told me ABBA. Just like I said in my e-mail.
Me: Well, the four members -- all with names beginning with letters that spell ABBA -- were married and now they're not. That was like 25 years ago. They don't like each other and are not touring. This would be bigger than the Spice Girls reunion.
Dad: Who? Maybe it's like the Kingston Trio and only one member of the band will be there.
Me: (Now sad that I know so much about ABBA) Dad, I really don't think so. One of the women moved back to Sweden and doesn't speak English any longer. The two men went on to be famous producers, including a Broadway musical, Mamma Mia. Maybe that's what this is, the music from Mamma Mia?
Dad: No, they said ABBA.
Me: Seriously, this would be huge news if ABBA was getting back together. Besides, they have cover bands, like Bjorn Again who we like, who routinely fill 3,000 seat venues so I think the Dallas Symphony might be small even for them.
Dad: So what you're saying is I need to ask some more questions?
Me: Yes, I think that would be a good idea.

The whole dialogue was so funny, it made my day. My dad cracks me up sometimes.