Please Don't Go

November, you can't leave yet. I'm not ready. I've only got the spirit for holiday music. I don't have the desire to think of gift ideas and go shopping. And I haven't taken a good picture of the boys for the Christmas cards. Plus a germ has invaded me and is threatening to take over.

Thanksgiving 2009

There are so many things to be thankful for. Like waking up before 7 am to watch Handy Manny. And then Adrian finds a place that's open. Like Starbucks. We lounged around the family room to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We played a few games on the Wii in which I beat Adrian's top scores on the ski jump and the hula hoop. And I've played enough on WiiFit to earn more games that no one else has, so I totally own the top scores on those too. But I'm not competitive, really.
We got some things done around the house sporadically. The downstairs bathroom which I'm sure had major health code violations was scrubbed down. A couple of loads of laundry passed through. Video game systems were rearranged. And most importantly, some cooking took place.

Nicholas loves to rough house with Uncle Jared. Travis wants no part in the activity. I am still fascinated by the wayward Yankees and their tendencies to wear shorts year-round.

We really love some carbs up in here. This is dinner after everyone made their first pass. The leftovers are going to be awesome. I'm looking forward to reheating that macaroni and cheese.

And here is dessert. Jared really likes to bake. He brought enough cookies and brownies for an army. And there is my pumpkin tart - recipe courtesy of the 5 ingredient lady on FoodNetwork. There's an itty bitty apple pie from Whole Foods.
So now that I'm totally carb loaded and won't need to eat for a long, long time. I need a nap. Tomorrow I should probably go for a good run in an effort to burn off of some of this. The average Thanksgiving meal is 3000 calories!

Thanksgiving Eve

I took Travis for his hearing test with an audiologist. There is fluid in his right ear that keeps his ear drum from vibrating. He did pass the hearing test just fine. At his age they don't do the headphones but he could still tell which side of the booth the noise was coming from. The fluid in his ear could be from his current cold, or it could always be there. We are scheduled to go back in a month to see if the fluid has cleared up and go from there.
It was a work day for me so I had to put some hours in working from home. Adrian did his best at keeping the boys occupied. He took Nicholas to Target and Snoopy's (the local hot dog stand). They took pictures of Christmas ideas to email to Santa later. ;) Travis is pretty mellow on his own so it wasn't bad having him while I worked.
After I logged off the computer we drove to Cary to pick up Thanksgiving dinner. We were so impressed with our Whole Foods meal last year that we decided to do it again. We have 4 pounds of turkey breast and all the sides: sweet potatoes, homestyle potatoes, macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole, and apple pie. I feel that I have to make something of my own for it to be a real Thanksgiving meal. I am making stuffing, crescent rolls, and a pumpkin tart. And don't forget we have vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. Any pie or tart would be incomplete otherwise.
We invited our good friend Jared to join us for Thanksgiving so that he is not spending the day bachelor style. And he will help make sure that we have very little leftovers.

That Powder Fresh Feeling

We had plans for Saturday, big ones. Adrian was going to take Nicholas to Home Depot, get hot dogs from the vendor outside, and then do some work around the house. I was going to take Travis to Target and Trader Joe's. Some one-on-one bonding time. Love it.
I was upstairs taking a shower and getting ready. Adrian was down in the family room watching grown up TV. This left the boys without close supervision. This is their house too and everything is safe and kid friendly. What harm could there be?
I heard a few noisy runs up the stairs, not unusual. They often "urgently need" a toy from their playroom or Nicholas is in a super hurry to get to the bathroom.
I came downstairs to see if Travis was almost ready to go. Travis had a small bottle of baby powder upside down in his gumball machine toy. And the big bottle of baby powder in his hand. I couldn't even take it all in. There was a powdery fog clouding my view.
I sent them downstairs straight away. They were disrobed and put it in their chairs.
Carpet, upholstery, curtains, window sills, all tables and chairs, TV, and select picture frames were coated. Some areas just had a light dusting while other spots got extra helpings. I am not sure why only certain pictures were dumped on. Toys were not spared either. For the most part I think he used the "hold the bottle and shake it up and down violently" technique.
Nicholas witnessed and indirectly participated, and failed to report the crime to authorities. He learned what it means to be an accessory to a crime. Your punishment can be equal to the one who committed the crime. His trip to Home Depot was canceled. Watching his TV shows was revoked for the day. And favorite toys of theirs were put away and will have to be earned back (legos, Bakugan, play doh for example). The living room has been upgraded to TV viewing only. Toys have been evicted.
I spent a good hour or more vacuuming, wiping down, dusting, and windexing. And then I went to Starbucks and Target all by myself. Later that afternoon Adrian went to Home Depot all by himself.
They will never hear the end of the great powder incident of 2009.

Bite Wings and Blue Bucks

A couple of years ago I was trying to find a dentist for Nicholas. There was only one pediatric dentist who was in-network for Adrian's dental plan and the office was about 30 minutes away. She was also the dentist with the really cheesy and bi-lingual commercial on TV. Yo quiero blue bucks. Hablamos espanol. Obviously it was well done if it stuck in my memory. Children are rewarded with "blue bucks" if they are cooperative during their visit and at the end they trade the bucks in for small toys.
Now there are several dentists we could choose from but things are going fine where we are. And Travis was ready to start going too. The dentist cut back to part time because she keeps popping out babies so she brought two more dentists into the practice. Today we saw Dr. Betsy. She was very personable and also has a two year old child. This makes her awesome.
Nicholas was first. He had bite wing x-rays taken and I got to see his 6 year molars hiding below his gumline. It's hard to believe he's going to have 6 year molars one day soon. He sat there while his teeth were cleaned and counted. The hygienist even got to spray water and use the suction machine. (I hate that thing) The dentist pointed out a stain on one of his molars. I already knew it was there, but I'm happy it hasn't progressed further to become a cavity.
Then Travis was up. His first dental visit ever! He sat in the big reclining chair like he was an old pro, well, aside from wearing the sunglasses upside down. The hygienist was able to clean his teeth just like she did for Nicholas with no protests from Travis. Double awesome. The dentist showed me that he has a 2 year molar erupting. The other three aren't showing any signs of erupting yet. They will probably all come in all at once and make him very miserable.
In the end, the boys combined their blue bucks and selected a few stickers and a small can of generic booger color play dough.
When I picked up Travis from school his teacher said he had his best day in weeks. They didn't have to talk to him about hitting or biting at all today. And he even said some words. I offered to take him to the dentist everyday if that's what it takes.

Nod If You Can Hear Me

Travis moved to the 2 year old classroom on his birthday last month. It's a much larger room with more kids and different teachers. He seemed to transition very well in the beginning. In the past few weeks his attitude has changed. He prefers to hit and bite his friends, express great frustration, and not listen to his teachers. They would call his name and get no response. And when they sat him down to talk about not hurting his friends he didn't indicate that he was listening and often looked around at other things. The teachers also said he doesn't talk at school, which is odd because he's a chatterbox - well, one word at a time. He doesn't string words together well just yet.

I had a conference call with one of the directors. She recommended a hearing test just to be sure nothing is going on. It's plausible that hearing loss and the inability to communicate would lead to physical and emotional outbursts. It's also plausible that he is utilizing his selective hearing skills and doesn't want to hear what they have to say. The new classroom could be a little overwhelming for him and he doesn't know what to do.

I also gave the director some feedback on what I thought might be leading to his behavior. Travis got plenty of attention in his old classroom. And those teachers let kids sit in their laps during circle time activities, gave out hugs, and were generally warm and friendly. The current teachers seem overwhelmed and spend a good deal of time monitoring the kids rather than getting down to their level and interacting. This is the age when they should be developing away from parallel play and the teachers can facilitate that by getting involved.

To comply with their recommendation I took Travis to the pediatrician today. He didn't understand what to do when the little machine beeped in his ear. I explained everything to the doctor including his occasional fits of rage where he clinches his fists, grits his teeth and growls. She gave us a referral to an audiologist. They have a sound proof booth with child-friendly methods to encourage them to respond and indicate if they hear sounds. I am still not sure if this will work on a two year old.

The next appointment is scheduled for next Wednesday. I'll post the outcome.

As an added bonus, he scored an H1N1 vaccination while we were at the doctor. They happened to have it available, but only as a shot not the mist. He took it like a champ and didn't even cry. He did quickly try to pull up his pants to prevent any more needles jabbing his other thigh. As a reward for his bravery I bought him a chocolate milk at Starbucks, and I bought myself a Caramel Brulee latte.

They're My Weirdos

If you ever think your kids are a little strange or do goofy things, come back here and look at my kids. You will feel much better. My boys do the weirdest things. All outfits were selected by them. It's usually for their own entertainment and it cracks me up.

Halloween 2009

Everyone took advantage of Halloween falling on a Saturday this year. Our celebration lasted three days. Thursday the boys wore costumes to school. There was a costume parade in the morning for all the class rooms. Then after school was the Annual Fall Festival. It's always a lot of fun. Nicholas loves the bouncy house, Travis not as much. There was bean bag tossing, knocking over cans, and cookie decorating. And a lot of other activities in the classrooms. Before we left we hit the parking lot for trunk or treating.

Nicholas as a knight.

Travis as Spiderman.

Friday the boys had classroom parties. Then I picked them up early to go to Adrian's work for office trick or treating.

Travis went as a firefighter and Nicholas was a knight again.

Then finally Halloween came. We cleaned up the garage and set it up to serve the goblins and princesses. The front door and entryway were out of service (see a future post). The boys ate dinner and I took them out for a short trick or treat. When they get older maybe we'll go farther. They had enough candy from the previous events anyways. We went to the houses of people we knew on our street. Then around the corner to the man who loves to decorate for holidays. He had music with synchronized jack-o-lanterns, lights, and fire pits that shoot flames 8 feet in the air. It was very impressive and the destination of people on foot and in car.

Nicholas as a lacrosse player and Travis as Ironman.