Ethan (Monthly Update)

Poor Ethan hasn't had an update in three months! I even missed his half-birthday last month :( Ah well, it won't be his last sacrifice for the newest addition to our family :)

On to the update: Ethan was 2-years-and-7-months-old yesterday! The last three months have brought much more independence in Ethan's world. He still does his best to keep up with Caleb in every way. Caleb is buckling and unbuckling his booster seat harness now, so Ethan insists on latching the top of his harness by himself. Caleb is bathing himself and brushing his teeth independently now, so Ethan insists on doing the same. And, my absolute favorite of the new independent activities: Ethan can take himself potty completely on his own now! He's been potty trained for more than six months, but he has not been tall enough to pee standing up without help (and has staunchly refused to pee sitting down). So, for the past six months, somebody (usually me), has had to take him upstairs, help him get his pants up and down, and let him stand on my feet to give him the extra inch he needed. Thankfully, about two weeks ago, he mastered getting his pants & underwear up and down alone. He also figured out how to stand on his tippy toes and lean over the toilet so that everything goes where it is supposed to. Since then, the shout of "MY PEE-PEE IS COMING!!" is no longer the trump card that forces me to drop what I am doing and rush to the bathroom with Ethan. Now he just goes on his own and comes to me to get his pants re-snapped or re-buttoned. HOORAY!!

Another change since my last Ethan update is that Ethan does not spend nearly as much time at the craft table as he used to. All the dry erase markers dried out from so much use, so I bought another package. When those too dried out, I was too sick to go to the store for more, so the writing letters kind of died out. Both boys lost interest in coloring around the same time, and I just didn't feel well enough to get the paints and scissors and glue out. Since I've been feeling better, painting and play dough have made a big comeback with Ethan, but not so with writing, drawing and coloring. He and Caleb spend most of their play time at home having elaborate adventures, mostly centered around their superheroes and Disney figurines.

Another change is that Ethan got over the orange Tinker Toy stick that he was so attached to. He always has some favorite toy, and the next toy in line was a little plastic Superman. (I bought an extra one to help us through the endless searches of that phase.) Superman phased out just a couple of weeks ago, and his successor was a little 4-inch LED flashlight that we bought for camping, but Ethan is IN LOVE with it. Just like the other toys, he carries it around everywhere, sleeps with it under his blanket at night, and searches for it frantically if it goes missing. Thankfully, we have three identical flashlights in the camping bin (one for each of us), should an emergency arise :)

One of my favorite things about Ethan at this stage is the way he substitutes every initial "kuh" sound with a "tuh" sound. When he wakes up in the morning, the house is "so TOLD!" When he is hungry, he wants me to open "a tan of torn". Mommy's "toffee is yucky," and my personal favorite: "Dis is my brudder, TA-LUB." The reason I love these little substitutions so much is that the majority of his articulation is so accurate that he often doesn't even sound like a 2-year-old. I never correct his "kuh" sounds because this aspect of his speech is a pleasant reminder to me that he is still a very little guy :)

Ethan is still generous and loyal to a fault. If he and Caleb have some conflict and Caleb does something to him, he is often still crying at the offense while begging me to give Caleb grace and not send him to his room. He almost always shares his treats with Caleb and anyone else who is around. The other day at the barber shop, Ethan had just gotten his hair cut and he was eating his treat from Mr. Mickey while Caleb got his haircut. I had been chatting with a friendly older lady in the chair next to Caleb, and she teasingly asked Ethan if he would share his lollipop with her. I know she was certain that he would say no and hide the treat. I laughed out loud when he said "Yes I will!" and immediately came over with an outstretched hand. She was startled and had to back down, since she really didn't want any part of his sticky lollipop, but her face was hilarious!

Halloween (and Fall Festival)

The boys and I had to do Halloween on our own this year, since the most important annual radiation oncology conference took place over Halloween (again). Last year, he skipped the first day or so of the conference so he could do Halloween with us, but this year is job-hunting year and he really needed to be there the whole time. So Marcus departed for sunny California before sunrise on Saturday morning. That morning, the kids and I went to Caleb's soccer game and that afternoon we attended a Halloween party hosted by some church friends. The kids had fun playing with their friends and painting pumpkins in the thoroughly-bedecked and very spooky basement of our host's home.

On Sunday afternoon, the kids got their costumes on again and we went trick-or-treating at the Hoover Library and then to a Trunk-or-Treat at the Riverchase United Methodist Church. The Trunk-or-Treat was great: the boys loved looking at the other kids costumes, and especially enjoyed the adults dressed up as Snow White, Bert & Ernie, and a few others. The highlight for Caleb was a HUGE blow-up slide that made me nervous just to look at. At first, I didn't think I was going to let Caleb do it, but I watched lots of kids younger than him shimmy up that huge ladder and fly down, so I let him go a few times. (In the picture, he is the little red speck in the bottom left corner.) Ethan was very disappointed that he couldn't go on the huge slide, too, but he was easily consoled with a little bag of Skittles from his candy bucket. For Ethan, the highlight of the evening was petting and talking to a big Labradoodle: Ethan can never get enough of the animal kingdom.

(We did go to our church's Fall Festival last weekend, but we were so busy following the kids around that we forgot to take any pictures.)

Old Baker Farm

Two Saturday's ago, after Caleb's soccer game, we spent the day at Old Baker Farm. We started out by making our way through the cornfield maze. The kids enjoyed it, but it wore me out. It just went on and on and on. I can see why farming mothers feared losing their young children in the cornfield: the corn stalks are taller than a man and it would be virtually impossible to find a lost toddler in acres of corn. We finally found our way out (thanks to a couple of "shortcuts" by Daddy), and then got in line for the boys' first horseback ride. Caleb had been on ponies before, but this was his first time on a horse. The boys rode together and they loved the way the saddle bounced up and down as the horse walked. (I loved the beautiful pictures of them on horseback with corn fields and cotton fields in the background.) Next we headed to the cotton bounce. The cotton-picking festival at Old Baker Farm had taken place the week before, and a lot of the cotton collected had been piled into an enclosed wagon. It was like a cotton bounce house, and the kids loved it.

The barn and the farm animals were our next stop. We saw turkeys, ducks, chickens, goats, pigs and even petted a fluffy rabbit. Next was climbing and sliding down the huge haystack. We stayed there until Caleb's 5-year-old friend took a tumble from the top and all four parents agreed it was time to move on. We took a bathroom & snack break before boarding a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch to choose our pumpkins. Just like last year, Marcus went to the furthest corner of the huge pumpkin patch, believing that the "pickin's" would be best in that untraveled area. He found a nice big pumpkin that he liked, while the boys and I chose smaller ones closer to the center of the field. We hopped on the hay wagon for a ride back to the main farm. Ethan and I were wiped out by now, but Daddy and Caleb had enough steam to close out the day with some fun in the hay maze.

It had been a full day when we finally headed home around 5:00 pm. The boys hadn't napped, of course, so they fell asleep immediately in the car. It was a 40-minute drive home, and when we got home, we gambled and lost: we tried transferring the boys into the house when we got home, hoping that all the sun and activity would render them tired enough to sleep the night through. Alas, neither of them transferred, so we had two very tired and grumpy boys for the next few hours. We made it through baths and dinner and finally all collapsed into bed.

"Say It With Me"

No pictures today, just a quick funny Ethanism: Lately, we've been working with Caleb to help him pronounce the "s" sound and the "th" sound that he sometimes leaves off of words. So we often say things like, "Say it with me, Caleb, 'Th-th-thing' or 's-s-stop'." Ethan, always wanting to be a part of everything going on, has misunderstood the purpose of these little lessons, but is using them nonetheless. Whenever he wants my attention, this is what I hear, "MOMMY! Can you give me some MILK! Say it with me, Mommy, 'S-S-S-MILK'!" or "MOMMY! I made a WALL! Say it with me, Mommy, "S-S-S-WALL!" Apparently, Ethan's impression is that there is a missing "S" on almost every word we use, and he is doing his part in helping it be rediscovered. :)

Super Man Costume

Over a month ago, Ethan was sitting on my lap when I selected and purchased a Superman costume from an ebay seller. He helped me pick it out (at least, he thought he did), and he was very excited when I explained that it would come in the mail in a few days. This explanation sunk in deep, because he proceeded to accompany me to the mailbox every single day for the next three weeks. After about a week, I got back online to see how much longer the package was going to take. During that session, I realized that the costume was shipping from Hong Kong (that's why it was so cheap!). After about two weeks, we got one of those little postcard slips in our screen door saying that an attempted delivery had taken place and now we could go to the post office to get our package. (Don't you love those things?) I tried sending the card back in with a request for a redelivery, since I hate, despise and abominate going to the Post Office, but that didn't work and instead I got a "FINAL NOTICE" saying I'd better come pick up my package or it would be sent back to Hong Kong. So, a full month after originally placing the order, the boys and I braved the Post Office. They were extremely good that day (the boys, not the postal workers), and Ethan was ecstatic when I opened the package and showed him the costume. He put it on right then and there and wore it for the next two days straight. And now, finally, I can go to the mailbox each day without comforting a disappointed little boy.

Swimming Party

We went to a birthday pool party this weekend, and it was a lot of fun. It was from 6:00 to 8:00 in the evening, which is my favorite time of day to swim: we can be outside and the temperature is perfect and nobody has to wear sunscreen. Caleb was willing to wear his goggles for the first time, as well, so he spent more time underwater than he has before. He is still doing very well keeping himself afloat in the water. He hasn't worn any flotation help all summer, and he is getting more and more comfortable handling himself in the water. Ethan, armed with his swim vest, is a little fish. He absolutely loves the water and has no qualms about going completely under. He loves his goggles as well. He is so comfortable in the water that he may be swimming on his own next summer. Enjoy the pictures!

Potty Seats & Pull-ups

This past week, the boys have said two big goodbyes. The first goodbye was to the two Baby Bjorn potty seats that Ethan has been using for the past six months. He is big enough to use the "big" potty all the time now, and I am tired of emptying/cleaning the small ones. So they have enjoyed one final thorough cleaning and have been retired to the closet with all of the other baby/toddler things we don't use anymore.

The second big goodbye was to Caleb's nighttime Pull-ups. This happened more by accident. We ran out of 4T/5T Pull-ups and I didn't realize it until a couple hours before bedtime. He had been complaining about wearing Pull-ups at night for a while, but since he is still wet 2-3 times a week, we had been making him wear them. So, since we ran out of them, I decided to give nighttime dryness another try. (We tried this almost a year ago, and he was wet half the time, so we went back to Pull-ups.) I stripped the bed of all bedding except the cotton mattress cover and Caleb's little "blankie," so there would be less bedding to wash. It has been a week without Pull-ups, and he has been dry four times. The trick seems to be to wake him up about an hour-and-a-half or so after he falls asleep. He seems to be emptying his bladder at the end of his first sleep cycle (about 90 minutes into his sleep). If we catch him before that happens, he stays dry all the rest of the night.

Writing & Numbers

Lately, Caleb and Ethan have both been really into writing their letters. We have these Kumon Write-and-Wipe dry erase cards that they can trace each letter on. Both boys seem to be right-handed. Caleb can write his name without tracing, but he still likes tracing the letters. Ethan absolutely loves it. I am amazed at his attention span. He writes all 26 letters five or six times a day. He traces all the cards, goes back through and erases each one, and then starts over again. He likes tracing his name on handwriting worksheets, too, and he is trying valiantly to write his name on his own without tracing, but he's not quite there yet.

Last night, Caleb finally understood how to recognize numbers higher than 20. He did a connect-the-dot picture with 60 dots, and while we were doing it together, he figured out the pattern. We have explained it to him before, but this time it clicked.

It is SO FUN to see them learn new things. Yesterday was one of those days that I really wanted to ditch the idea of school and teach the boys at home. I just wish there was some way to do half-and-half. Like half a day of school, in which all the subjects I don't like are taught, so I could teach everything I love at home :)

Little Teacher

While cleaning up the dishes from breakfast, I heard this conversation:

Ethan: Ca-web, will you share your fruit snack with me? (Caleb's reward for waking up dry)

Caleb: Yes, I will, but you need to wait until after I finish my waffles.

(a few minutes later, while both boys are eating waffles)

Ethan: Ca-web, please give me some fruit snacks?

Caleb: I will give you just one fruit snack now, Ethan. I wanted to give you two, but you didn't listen to me and wait until I was done with my waffles, so you can only have one.

Hi-lar-i-ous :)

Imaginative Play

Caleb and Ethan's imaginative play has really been something else lately. Many days, they play together for hours, with virtually no conflict. The seven hours of morning and early afternoon that used to be full of going to the zoo, the science center, etc, are now filled with creating elaborate imaginary worlds in the play room. Caleb's imagination seems to know no bounds, and Ethan is becoming just as creative as his brother.

In the midst of whatever story/situation they set up and play-act in, they are usually pretending to be some character from a book or a movie that is completely unrelated to the current scenario. For example, Superman (Ethan) and Ursula (Caleb) will be orchestrating a pirate adventure in which the pirates are kidnapping animals from a zoo and selling them on the black market (in their words "selling them to ugly guys for lots of money"). Usually, they take on a "main" persona for the whole day, and even like me to call them by that name. (Sometimes I oblige them, and sometimes I don't.)

Ethan almost always pretends to be one superhero or another. His current favorite is Wolverine (though he has absolutely no knowledge of Wolverine, other than a page in his superhero coloring book), though Batman, Superman, and a pirate are frequent favorites as well.

Caleb, at the moment, is on a Disney Princess kick. He was"Ariel" for about four days in a row, and yesterday he pretended to be Aurora (from Sleeping Beauty) all day. Before the princess kick, his favorites were Aladdin, Spiderman and Venom.

I let them pretend as much as they want at home, but they do have to shed their persona's and answer to their given names when we go out. This is not accomplished without resistance, but, when it comes to a conflict of wills, nothing much is :)

Ethan (Monthly Update)

Sorry, little Ethan, that your monthly update was overshadowed by the July 4th chaos last month. I'll make it up to you today :)

Ethan is 2-years-and-4-months-old today! He seems so old these days...much more like a little boy than a toddler. Ethan is devoted to his big brother. Caleb can talk him into just about anything. Ethan will wake up dry in the morning and we'll go downstairs to pick out his treat. Ethan will excitedly select a big marshmallow as his treat, but then Caleb jumps in and says, "Ethan, don't you want to pick the gum drops so you can have three of them and give one to me?" Ethan changes his choice without hesitation and delightedly hands his brother his choice of gum drops. Then he plays with the other two gum drops for a little while and leaves them on the counter, because he doesn't even like gum drops. (Once in a while, Ethan stands his ground, and I make Caleb back off without a second request.)

Ethan's generous spirit carries over to all his interactions with other kids, too, as long as they ask him nicely. As a rule, he will give anyone anything they want, as long as he is approached politely and respectfully. If someone tries to snatch something from him, or even reaches for it before he has replied, he will shout "NO!" and run away (still a vast improvement on the side swipe the offending child would have received four months ago). As long as he is given a choice, he absolutely loves to make other people/kids happy by giving them what they want.

Ethan's voracious appetite has slowed down some in recent months. He still eats very well, but he doesn't ask for food ten times a day like he used to. Because Caleb practices writing his name every day, Ethan has decided he wants to write his name. For the past two weeks, I've been printing out a handwriting sheet from http://www.handwritingworksheets.com with Ethan's name on it each day, and he traces the letters of his name. He has gotten very, very good at it, and I may start teaching him to do it without tracing. He still loves to color and draw. He thoroughly colors at least three pictures every single day, and sometimes as many as seven or eight.

Ethan is much more opinionated about his clothes than Caleb has ever been. He likes to pick out his own shirts and pants every morning, but, the problem is, he always wants to wear the same shirt and the same shorts. Obviously, the Superman shirt and the "soft" (cotton) shorts that he loves are usually dirty, but he still insists on looking through all his shirts and shorts for them most days. And after he is convinced they are not there, he laboriously sifts through what is there until he makes a decision. About half the time, I tell him that Mommy is going to choose today, and he can choose tomorrow.

Ethan's two favorite toys right now are his Superman figurine and a long, orange Tinker Toy stick. These two toys sleep with him, go on almost every car ride, and even sit on the floor next to his chair during meals. The Tinker Toy stick functions as as sword or a "shooting gun", depending on the play at hand, but it is ALWAYS with him. (I am forever reminding him that he is not allowed to jump off furniture or run with the stick in his hand.) The stick gets confiscated for one reason or another at least once a day, but it is back to being his constant companion as soon as priviliges are returned.

When Ethan was a baby and he cried so much for so many months, I worried about how difficult he might be as a toddler/preschooler. Those worries were like most worries: a big waste of time. He is an absolutely delightful little boy, full of overflowing affection, hilarious antics and unmitigated joy.

Disney Books

Nothing like having our video camera stop functioning to make the kids do the cutest stuff :). Several times in the past week, Caleb has offered (to Ethan) to read Ethan a book. Ethan eagerly accepts, and the two snuggle down into my big brown recliner. Caleb picks one of the Disney books from the library pile (Aladdin, Snow White or Bambi) and "reads" it to Ethan, page by page. Caleb has heard these stories so many times that he can actually recite sentences from every page verbatim. It is hilarious to hear him bust out with complete sentences like "Jafar, adviser to the Sultan of Agrabah, was searching for a magic lamp hidden in the Cave of Wonders." He never uses that many words in a sentence conversationally, but he has memorized so much of this book (from hearing it 3 or 4 times a day for weeks). Last night, just before bedtime, Caleb "read" Aladdin to Ethan for more than 20 minutes. I joked to Marcus that this is how people have families with 10 kids: the older kids take care of the younger ones.

Sleep

Marcus and I are a little worn out this week. Part of it is that we're both getting over a cold, but the other part is that the kids seem to need so little sleep these days. For at least a month, maybe longer, Caleb has only been taking a nap once or twice a week. He's gone on nap strikes many times before, but the BIG difference this time is that he is still staying up until 9 pm or so on the days that he doesn't nap, and HE'S NOT WHINY OR TIRED in the late evening. It is looking to me like he doesn't need any more than the 9-10 hours of sleep a day that he has been averaging this month. The problem is, if he keeps going to bed at 9:00 pm and getting up at 6:30 am without napping, my child-free down time is pretty much over. According to my favorite child sleep "expert", Elizabeth Pantley, a 4-year-old should be sleeping 11-13 hours in a 24-hour period. Until this year, Caleb's sleep patterns have matched up with Pantley's chart very well, but for some reason, his sleep needs seem to have taken a dive, without any negative behavioral side effects.

Ethan, as well, is sleeping much less than Caleb did at 26-months. He has always been a more erratic sleeper than Caleb, but it does rather amaze me that he goes to sleep with Caleb at 9:00 pm (or later) and consistently rises right at (or before) 6:00 am. He does take a 2-3 hour nap every day, but that still puts his overall sleep at ~11 hours a day, on average. (Pantley says that 13-13.5 hours per day is average for a 2-year-old.)

So, for whatever reason, both of my kids seem to need about 2.5 hours less sleep each day than the average kid their age. This could be genetic, since I generally need much less sleep than the average adult, and was always a very early riser as a child. Or, it could be our lifestyle, which includes a couple of late nights each week. If the kids spent more of the day being whiny and irritable, I would be more inclined to buckle down and get them to bed earlier; but they are usually pretty good-natured and content, especially between 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm (which are the extra hours I would be trying to get them to sleep), so I don't know.

If Only I'd Gotten a Picture...

Yesterday, I came down with a bit of a cold that dear hubby brought home from his trip to El Salvador. (I have to mention the origin of the bug to justify why my normally-stellar immunities failed me: who could expect them to be prepared for foreign cold viruses?) Anyway, I wasn't feeling well, so, when Ethan went down for a nap and Caleb didn't seem tired at all, I put a movie in for Caleb, got a few chores done, latched all the external doors (to make sure Caleb stayed housebound), and then went upstairs to sneak in a 45-minute nap.

When Ethan woke up, he immediately came to my room and woke me up, demanding that I get up "right now" and get him some food. To hammer home his point, he insisted that it was "9:00 o'clock" so I "have to get up!", which I guess in his little mind is the universal waking up time.

Anyway, he dragged me out of bed and we went downstairs. The hilarious sight that greeted us in the kitchen was Caleb, sprawled out with his blanket on the kitchen island, fast asleep. All I can guess is that, when his movie was done, he went into the kitchen (toting his blanket) to eat the snack that I'd set out for him at the bar. I guess he got tired while eating the snack, and, seeing his blanket where he'd put it on the island, just crawled up there to rest his head on the blanket. Next thing he knew, he was fast asleep. Ethan, always quick to state the obvious, exclaimed "LOOK! Bubba asleep on the table!" Stifling a laugh, I ran to get the camera, but the blanket dangling off the island was too tempting for little Ethan, so he pulled the corner and Caleb woke up before I could get a shot. Based on how groggy and disoriented he was when he woke up, I'd guess he was at least 15 minutes into a nap.

Homebodies

For the past few weeks, our days have started out with this conversation:

Mommy: Well, guys, what do you want to do today? We can go to the pet store and then get some groceries, or we can go to the pool with John & Ava, or we can go to the McWane Center, or the Rec Center & the library... What do you think?

Caleb: I just want to stay home.

Mommy: You want to stay home? Don't you want to go to any of those fun places?

Ethan: I do! I want to go!

Caleb: No, I think I just want to stay home. Staying home and playing with toys is more fun.

Ethan: I not want to 'tay home! I want to go to the pool!

Caleb: But, Ethan! Let's just stay home and play! We can build a fort with a blanket and make a giant train track. And we can do puzzles and color and dress up like spider man and you can be a pirate. And we can fight all the bad guys and look for monsters!

Ethan: Okay, we can 'tay home and do all dose t'ings.

Mommy: Are you guys sure? You don't want to go anywhere?

Caleb: We're sure, Mommy. We just love staying at home and playing.

And that is the end of it. We've been spending 3-4 weekdays each week at home, ever since we got home from Florida three weeks ago. I make the kids go out with me once a week for grocery shopping, and once or twice a week so I can work out, but other than that, we've spent a lot of time at home. We've foregone play dates, story hour at the library, and mornings at McWane Center, all in favor of uninterrupted imaginative play at home. The only time Caleb voluntarily leaves the house is when we are going to his gymnastics lesson or going to a friends house (where he can enjoy uninterrupted imaginative play with more people).

Part of Caleb's shift to being a homebody is the heat, since both he and I prefer not to be outside when it is warmer than 80-85 degrees, so that eliminates the zoo, all the parks, the botanical gardens, and any hiking. But the rest of it is just that he and Ethan have a lot of fun together at home these days. And Caleb definitely delivers on the exciting plans he sells to Ethan each morning. We build forts, throw parties, set up superhero wars, create animal jungles, play Memory & Candyland, dress up in costumes, construct train track mazes, build zoos and farms with the Legos, do puzzles, read books, and play chase, tickle & hide-and-seek, not to mention the hours each day that they sit at the craft table: drawing, painting, coloring, writing, stamping, cutting and glueing. I guess maybe I can see why Caleb likes to stay home :) And as long as they are getting along and busy doing & learning, I am a happy camper.

Marshmallows & Shark Tanks

We were driving home from church small group last night, and, about five minutes down the road, Caleb pipes up with, "I've got to go poo-poo." He has this habit of "having to go" a few minutes into every car ride, even if I ask him just before we leave. We were still about 20 minutes from home, but I asked him if he could wait until we got home. He said no emphatically, so I brought out the big guns and offered him a marshmallow if he was willing to wait. He quickly and cheerfully agreed. Without missing a beat, Ethan cries urgently from the backseat, "I've got to go poo-poo!" I knew he didn't have to go, but he had me in a corner, so I promised him a marshmallow, too. I've got to give the kid props for making the most of every opportunity :)

The other story happened at the McWane Center on Friday. I hesitate to even post this because it is hard to describe exactly what happened, but here's my best shot. The McWane Science Center has a touch tank that contains stingrays and bonnethead sharks (follow the link for a picture). Children stand on a sloped step that is flush with the tank, lean over a little, and reach into the tank to touch the rays and sharks as they swim by. My kids have touched these sharks and rays many times since the exhibit opened about a year ago. I always keep my finger looped into Ethan's back beltloop while his arm is in the tank, just in case he loses his balance. I never expected that Caleb would be the one to tumble in.

It was just a bad combination of Caleb being too tall for where he was standing and the step underneath him being a little wet and slippery. He leaned a little too far forward to touch an approaching shark and his right foot slipped out from under him. His waist was too far above the side of the tank, and his center of gravity quickly shifted and caused him to tumble forward. I was standing right behind him, but my right hand was tied up holding Ethan's belt loop. I grabbed Caleb's left arm with my left hand, freed my right hand, and grabbed Caleb's flailing leg with that hand. The poor little guy was literally parallel with the water, with all of his upper body hovering over the shark tank, his hips resting on the side, and his legs sticking out behind him.

I pulled him off the tank and was amazed that only the left sleeve of his shirt had gotten wet. I was with a friend, and we were both pretty stunned by what had just happened. We'd both heard that a kid had fallen in there once, and now we finally knew how that could happen. Caleb was a little shaken up by it all and he cried a little bit...I think more from embarrassment than fear. I was a little shaken up too, but mostly just glad that I was able to catch him before he went all the way in. (As well as grateful that I hadn't inadvertently dumped Ethan in the tank while trying to free my hand from his belt loop :)

Nanna’s Visit

My mom (the boys’ Nanna), came into town for a few days to help out while Marcus was out of town. Sadly, in the chaos of our electronic degeneration, I never took the camera out, so I don’t have any pics to post. While Nanna was here, we went to the library, church, the McWane Center, and Caleb’s gymnastics lesson. We also spent a lot of time hanging around the house, watching the boys play. One night, Nanna put the boys to bed for me so I could go out for a late dinner with a good friend who is moving to New Hampshire this week. Deb and I had a great evening together, and I'm so glad Nanna was able and willing to help out like that. Another afternoon, Nanna and Ethan enjoyed some one-on-one time at home instead of going with Caleb and me to a birthday party. The two of them invented a really fun game where they both sit at the craft table and roll a little ball back and forth, as fast as they can. Ethan loved it!

I was happy to see that Nanna's health is better than it has been in years. She doesn't use a wheel chair or a cane anymore, and her walking is just a little slower than the average person's. She's weaned herself from most of the drugs she used to take for MS, and she says she has more energy than she's had in years. She is still working full time as a school counselor, and this is the first year that she finished the year with enough energy that she was sure she could return to work again at the end of the summer. Even the gastroparesis she was diagnosed with over a year ago has improved a lot: she can eat a lot more variety and in greater quantities without adverse effects. I am very glad she is doing so much better physically.

The boys didn't want to take Nanna back to the airport early Wednesday morning, but I assured them that Christmas would come quicker than they thought :)

Paddle Board Adventure

One final story from our trip to Florida, and then I promise to move on to more current news :)

Marcus and the boys had a little adventure the morning that we went to the Sebastian Inlet Tide Pool that I think deserves a post of its own. Marc's dad met us there and brought one of his paddle boards along. Marcus took the paddle board out for a little spin, and then he let me go out on it. I have never been on a paddle board before, and I thought it was pretty fun. After I came back, Marcus decided to take Caleb out on the board. I was a little nervous, since Caleb did not have a life jacket and he and Marcus were going out into a pretty strong current, but I knew that Marcus is a superb swimmer and experienced life guard, so I held my tongue. They paddled around for a while, and then came back in to give Ethan a turn. I was even less excited about this, since Ethan couldn't even swim alone, but I handed him to Marcus and reached to take Caleb off. Marcus stopped me and said he was going to take them both out. I told him that I thought that was not a good idea and I would rather him just take one at a time. He still wanted to take them both, so I let it go, not wanting to embarrass him with an altercation in front of his dad.

As I watched them go, I bit my lip and prayed that neither boy would fall off the board and everyone would get back safely. Everything went smoothly for the first few minutes, but then I heard my father-in-law (who has the guts to deliberately touch jelly fish and surf amongst sharks), mutter "This is really not a good idea...really quite dangerous..." That was all I needed to hear, so I called out to Marcus and waved my arms toward shore. A moment after he glanced up, someone lost his balance, and all three were dumped off the board and into the water. I dove in and swam out toward them, but (since I am not a superb swimmer) I knew it would be a minute or two before I could get out that far. Marcus had told the boys beforehand that, if they fell in, Caleb was to swim to the board and hold on, and Marcus would go after Ethan. That is exactly how it played out. Caleb surfaced and grabbed the board, and Marcus scooped Ethan out of the water and put him back on the board. By the time I arrived, things were under control. (Other than Ethan repeating, "Daddy, don't ever, ever, ever, ever do dat again.") Marcus wanted to take them back out so they could end on a more positive note, but my nerves had had all they could take, so I vetoed that and we all headed back to shore. If I have anything to do with it, there will be no more boarding ventures into the ocean without life jackets for many years.

Bad Choices

We are always talking about good and bad choices around here. Caleb and Ethan are very good at differentiating between the two. When I pick them up from one thing or another, I ask them if they made good choices in their class, etc. Usually Caleb assures me that he made all good choices, or he'll tell me about "just one bad choice" and tell me what it was. Ethan usually has to count his bad choices on his hand. "Ummm... I made 1...2...3...4... I made 4 bad choices." Last week, I picked Ethan up at the Rec Center play room, and here is how our conversation went:

Mommy: Did you make good choices in the play room with Miss Margaret today?

Ethan: No. I made bad choices. 1...2...3...4....5. I made five bad choices. I sit in time-out 2 times.

Mommy: Well, I am sad to hear that, Ethan. I wish you had made better choices. Did you do anything fun at the rec center today?

Ethan: Yes! I just tell you that! I made 5 bad choices!

Touche, little guy :)

Breakfast

Caleb and Ethan are so funny first thing in the morning. Caleb wakes up ravenously hungry (since he rarely eats any dinner). He sits in his chair and eagerly requests cereal, oatmeal, some fruit and a cup of milk. I fix his giant breakfast and put it all in front of him. Ethan asks for all the same things that Caleb is getting. But since I know that Ethan doesn't wake up with much of an appetite, I fix him much smaller portions. Usually, Caleb gobbles down everything I fix while Ethan arranges his bowls and cup in a neat little cluster and talks happily about how yummy everything looks, without taking a bite. Ethan is often sitting in front of his untouched food when Caleb finishes his feast and heads downstairs to play. Now Ethan's dilemma is this: desert the food that he has been given (which goes against his very nature), or miss out on minutes playing with his brother downstairs. Usually, he solves the problem like this: "Mommy, I going downstairs to play with Bubba. You NOT take my food away, okay? I eat it in a little bit, okay?" He is always hungry about an hour later, and from then on he out-eats his brother all day long :)