Monday, July 28, 2008

Still here. Just tired.

So I haven't blogged for a while. But I have an excuse, of course. Steph was gone to a work thing for four days. I gotta say, I have newfound respect for single parents. It's just plain hard to not have another adult coming home at the end of the day to give you a break.

And yet... there was something oddly enjoyable about it. First, there was a certain novelty. As sad as it seems, it kind of felt like an adventure -- like the boys and I were roughing it and somehow proving our survival skills. And second, it freed me from all pretense of a schedule. I didn't have to worry/think about whether Steph would be home late and/or what she would want for dinner. When we got hungry, we ate. Truth be told, mostly we got hungry and ate at a restaurant -- I gotta have some luxury when I'm roughing it, after all. As tiring as it was to do everything for the boys myself at night, I missed her the most after they were asleep. That's when we get to talk/veg out in front of the TV. It's just not as satisfying to watch TV by myself -- even if when Steph is here she's only half-watching as she works nonstop on her laptop.

It was a brief change of pace that wasn't too bad. But I'm glad she's home. Maybe now I can actually get something done besides just keep the boys alive. As if.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Adding a little edge to a dental appointment.

I had to have a filling replaced yesterday. Whine, whine, whine. I found out my dentist DOES offer nitrous oxide -- aka "laughing gas" -- for a $20 charge. I decided to try it, since the boys get it (well, so far just Eddie) when they need dental work done.

I'm sure it had nothing at all to do with seeing this headline on the Seattle PI's web page just before I left for the appointment.

Anyway, I felt nothing from the gas except annoyance that I'd paid extra for it. This was even after they turned it up for me. This is the same thing I recall from my last experience with it -- but I was in high school then and I thought maybe I wasn't remembering right.

Oh, and my tooth is still sore. Whine. Whine. Whine.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Amphibians with a death wish...

As I grilled a couple of ginormous steaks tonight, I noticed a small frog had hopped up on the table at the side of the grill. The boys weren't right there, so I quickly shooed him away before they could see him and demand his capture.

Seriously, the frogs around here seem either despondent or just really stupid. First, it's a hot grill. Not the sort of thing a frog should be hopping on to or even nera. Second, there are two 5-year-old boys in residence. You should know what happened to the last frog who ventured this close. Sheesh.

Not quite "Mobile Home Disaster," but close...

The other day a couple of neighbor kids came traipsing through the house. I was in the bedroom when I overheard this assessment from one of them: "Your house is messy... But it's awesome!"

Now, when a 7-year-old boy notices your lack of general tidiness, well, there's no real positive spin you can put on it. But the second part was as nice to hear as the first part was hard to.

He's right, of course, about it being messy. On any given day, there is a miniature Nascar race reinactment paused somewhere in the living room. We're not talking one or two cars -- we're talking two or three dozen. (To be fair, they are often lined up quite neatly... just on the floor.) You will alsofind books strewn about anywhere someone might have felt like plopping down to read for a few minutes. I swear, some public libraries have fewer books than our boys -- but the libraries do a better job of keeping them shelved. You're also likely to find an easel out and/or some artwork or project drying somewhere. The dining room table is either in the process of being cleared so we can eat, or defiantly covered with someone's crafty project -- my scrapbooking (rarely) or the boys' you-name-it.

The walls? Well, at adult eye level, it's a photo gallery of a certain set of twin boys you may have heard of. At kid-level, the walls are covered with the original artwork by those same boys. I don't keep every single thing they draw, paste or otherwise create. But I sort of feel like if they make it, well, it deserves to be displayed for a little while at least. So the walls are a constantly rotating exhibit of their work.

So messy? Yup. Guilty. But to be honest, I kind of feel bad for kids who don't get to live with a little bit of a mess. Because life is messy. And fun. And you ought to have the things you love -- whether it's books, homemade art or tiny race cars around you and out where you can enjoy them as much as possible.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The Tooth Fairy has been here at last!

Last night, Eddie was finally willing to part with his teeth. Or rather, with most of them. He wrote her a note asking if he could please keep just one. Being an enormous sucker, she agreed.

This morning, both boys were in bed with moms when Chas woke up and ran back to their bedroom. Eddie was still sleeping soundly. A minute later, Chas was back, the familiar sound of coinage clinking in his little hand. I asked him what he had. "Money! It was under Eddie's pillow!"

I explained that Eddie would probably like to find it for himself and instructed him to go put it back, which he did. Then he came and woke up his brother. Eddie was quite pleased to get $12 in gold coin. (Dollars, but he thinks they are pennies. And he's still thrilled. Hmm.) He also kept one of his rooty teeth AND had a note from the Fairy thanking him for his manners in asking nicely to keep a tooth and congratulating him on his excellent oral hygiene while gently suggesting that he work a bit harder at it.

There was also a sprinkling of "fairy dust" left at the site, which Chas dismissed. "Well, I see some blue glitter," he said when it was pointed out to him. Eddie didn't care -- he was busy counting his coin. And losing one already.

It's now safely in the piggy bank. Oh, and the first point of his second adult tooth is now through the gums. Steph and my sister Cathy insist that they can tell that his first adult tooth has already started moving forward now that the baby teeth are gone. But I'm dubious.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Breaking the Tooth Fairy

While we were at Sea World last month, I noticed one of Eddie's adult teeth had broken through -- behind his baby teeth. Hmm. Today, we saw the dentist.

I broke my usual insistence that he go back alone. I had questions. He had questions. Well, actually, he had question. "Will it hurt?" So I went with him. He got nitrous, but just a little because Bad Mommy didn't think to have him avoid eating anything beforehand. Oops.

Anyway, x-rays showed some serious crowding, so the dentist said he was going to have to take four. F-O-U-R teeth. I had expected 2 at the most. I was in a little shock, but I didn't let it show.
So some nitrous, a series of shots (He only whimpered during the first few, his eyes filling with tears. Mine didn't -- but only because I was concentrating so hard on staying cool and relaxed for him.) and a few hard twists of some very shiny plier-type instruments and voila! Four baby teeth on the gauze, four nasty-looking holes in Eddie's mouth.

He's sleeping now, bloody gauze clutched in his mouth. He was exceedingly brave and very sweet about it all. And he expects some serious love from La Tooth Fairy tonight.

So here are the before and afters -- with a real after to come after he wakes up. Notice that only one of the baby teeth had a dissolved root. I guess we need to start saving for the orthodontist now. Sigh.


Last smile with a full mouth of baby teeth. (Poor kid doesn't

know what's gonna hit him.) And, as promised the new, holier grin.



The not-so-fantastic four


Sleeping it off...

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

SNUGGLES!!!!!!!

Last night Eddie's dry spell ended. This is bad because it's literal. In other words, he wet the bed. Then he crawled into my bed. And onto me. Once I sensed the dampness (and the pleasant odor) I pulled off his pants, changed my night shirt and decamped to the living room to spend the night on the sectional. It was a good plan. He hadn't actually wet in our bed, so it wasn't worth waking the whole family over.

About 15 minutes later, I hear his feet hit the ground and a scream much like Mel Gibson's "FREEEEEEDOMM!" in "Braveheart." But it wasn't freedom he was yelling for. It was "SNUUUUGGGLES!!!!" I yelled myself and told him to snuggle Mama. "MOOOOMMMMMMMMMYYYY SNUGGLES!" So I called him in. As he crawled onto the sectional with me I told him it was just for a minute and then he'd have to go back to bed. "OK," he said as he snuggled down between me and the backrest, sound asleep.

So that's how we slept: Side by side on, essentially, a couch. It actually wasn't too bad. I had almost as much room as he gives me in our King sized bed.

A Victoria's Secret catalogue writer he ain't...

Discussing their new favorite movie -- Wall*E in the car the other day, the boys were giggling over the best parts when Chas came up with this:

"Remember when he had his eyes covered up with one of those booby things our moms wear?"