When I needed to do a whole lot of laundry, and my kids get pretty restless after a whole day of being at home, I came up with the perfect solution. A winter swim in the jacuzzi.
But somehow, it didn’t stay in the jacuzzi. These crazies kept swimming in the “big pool” that was about 59 degrees. It was so stinking cold, that when I felt the splashes of their kicks, I would get the chills.
The good news — it did the trick. They loved every second of it, and they are sleeping like dead logs at the moment!
The Master of Disaster strikes again! This baby of mine is notorious for spraying while he is being changed, pooping immediately after he has a clean diaper on, and now this! We were at Carruthy’s newly-painted office, and I told him of a little blood in his stool. So as he checked it out, Dash went to town at the opportunity. He sprayed Dr. Carruth, himself, and the new paint above his head. I was cracking up as I was fumbling to find something to cover the culprit. Unfortunately, it all happened so fast that I wasn’t very successful. As I was apologizing, all Dr. Carruth said was, “Wouldn’t you know it. The first patient in our newly painted office, and this happens.” So I just told him, “Sorry, but we really like to leave our mark wherever we go.”
And as calmly as any seasoned doctor would do, he calmly picked Dash up, and moved him down to the only dry spot.
The beginning of the appointment was a little less eventful, but held really good news. Carruthy walked in and immediately said, “Wow…he looks great!” He was really happy with Dash’s color (paleness is a byproduct of anemia), and was really pleased with his weight gain over the past week. (He now weighs 10 lbs 9 oz — up from 9lbs 11 oz only six days ago.) He then went over some concerns I had. The blood — probably a fissure, and a very minor problem. A facial rash — a common rash of one month old babies, and a very minor problem that will go away on its own. A goopy eye — probably a clogged tear duct, and a very minor problem. So when I asked if he was going to take “real deal blood”, or just prick his heel to get a small sample, Dr. Carruth said he felt like we were out of the woods enough to bypass any blood work at all. I couldn’t believe it, and was so excited! And then Carruthy said that in his entire career, Dash was only the second patient he has ever had who needed blood through a transfusion. While he was expressing his happiness with Dash’s progress, I told him that I was glad he hadn’t told me that before his transfusions.
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I am SO grateful for doctors who are so knowledgeable and calm when big things like transfusions are needed or little things like a baby potty spray down occur!
My kids have been really into crafts lately. So we picked up a few Christmas crafts, and the kids were pretty into it. Although I will say that Scout has a bit more stamina than Icka.
At least he does in the crafting department. When it comes to the naughty department, she is like a Duracell battery.
She keeps going, and going, and going…..
Scout and Navy both have a good crop of jobs they are responsible for. But a few months ago, I added “setting the table” to the list, and they have gotten pretty good. Icka has to go through a few warnings, but when she finally gets on board, she is a good little worker. Scout is game from the get go, and is really good, but does ask, “Why do I have to do EVERYTHING around here?” When I was pregnant, that used to grate on me, but now I just laugh it off and give him more jobs. That way, he’s at least telling a partial truth!
The sweetest, cutest and nicest little boy turns one month old today!
We have discovered a whole lot of things about this baby in this past month.
Here are some I can think of off the top of my head.
-When he sleeps, he has his fingers at attention until he is in a really deep sleep.
-His hair is all still there, and his eyes are still blue like his mom.
-He has the most kissable lips.
-His little lip quivers all the time like he is cold.
-He smiles at his Mama, and only uses the right side of his face — perfect to show off his one dimple.
-He follows my voice with his eyes when I talk to him and move around.
-He coos in the cutest little high-pitched voice.
-He has this perfectly round head with dark hair on the top.
-He focuses in on me, and follows my voice when I move from side to side.
-He sleeps the very best in Mama’s bed, cuddled right next to me.
-He is focusing in on things, and I can tell he can see more than the angels.
-He is my hardest nurser. But even so, he is really pretty good at it. His brother and sister were just amazingly easy.
-Sometimes, he sneezes in triple. I have always sneezed twice, but he goes for three quite often. We’ll see how this pans out in the future.
-He is a really loud breather.
-He has big facial expressions, and squishes his entire forehead up all the time.
-He’s the “Master of Disaster”, and messes his diaper moments after I change him — every time!
-He is perfect in his car seat, or at the mall, or out to lunch, or about anywhere.
-He can take a lot of action from an overly eager sister, and a really caring brother.
-He is a fighter, and is pleasant the whole time he isn’t feeling 100%.
-He is literally the perfect baby so far, and only cries when he needs a little milk. We still don’t know if he is so good due to lack of energy, or just an angelic disposition.
Scout has been talking about how he is the best runner — better than his dad and Jake — for over a year now. So it was time to put his money where his mouth was. His first race ever took place on Thanksgiving Day 2011. He was in the “Gobble Wobble” kids race that was one mile long. He was a really big talker the entire week before, so I was really interested to see how the whole thing panned out the day of.
Look at Mr. Cocky before lining up.
Also, look at the amazing family photo we got.
Nonnie bought Scout these running shoes for the race, and when he found out that his dad also had orange and blue shoes, he was stoked! Somehow, Icka thought her shoes needed to be represented too.
We met up with NayNay who was volunteering at the race because she is the Vice President of the Dana Point Youth Board.
Here is the first heat of kids. Scout was in the third heat which was the 5 and unders.
Icka was a great support system while she did the booty dance for the runners.
And then she got really fancy.
And then what some might call obnoxious!
Mr. Cocky got quiet really quickly when he was officially lined up.
But once the horn blew, he was off. The cutest part was how he was looking down at his watch for the first ten yards while he started the timer. It was exactly what Micah does every single race! Micah ran the mile with him, and encouraged him along the way. Our little star did turn out to be a good little runner. He ran the entire mile without stopping (minus the drink of water the volunteers gave him). He ran and ran and ran, until at 12:30, he crossed the finish line.
His favorite part of the race was EASILY getting medal “just like Jake gets”.
Look at him checking it out.
And then celebrate!
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Nice work Handsome!
When I got a call from Megan that they wanted to frequent Knott’s Berry Farm on one of the days of their Thanksgiving break, I was totally in! But since my kids are on a naughty streak (mostly teasing each other and not doing what I ask very quickly), I decided to tell them that I thought a “special date” would shape them up. So we got in the car, and we went “exploring”. Wherever we saw that was really cool, we would stop. So I was sneaky and put on a movie in the car, so they wouldn’t look up until we were getting off the freeway at Knott’s and they could see all of the rides. Once they saw them, they begged to go there. So when I parked, Scout asked the attendant, “What is this place?” When he heard Knott’s Berry Farm, he was thrilled!
This was their reaction when we parked and I told them, “Okay, fine! If this is the place you want to go, let’s go!!!”
Scout is a kid after my own heart, and waited in the next line over to see which line moved faster. Icka joined him, but I was the victorious one! Too bad kids!
I don’t have the reaction, but when we walked in and met up with the Brockbanks and Cliffords, the kids thought they were in heaven!
This was the first ride of the day. Scout and Icka were both a little nervous, but came off as ready as ever to tackle all of the other rides.
This was my two in line at every ride. They just climbed and climbed, until it was their turn. I love it, because I remember doing the same thing when I was little.
After a few kiddie rides, we headed to the Log Ride. Scout was adament he wasn’t going on it, but I just picked him up and carried him into the seat with me. Luckily my plan was okay, because he said, “Can you believe I went on the biggest ride here? I wasn’t even scared except on the big part.”
Mid day we stopped to wait for the other kids, and these two did a show for the people passing. They were total hams, and their cousins were loving it.
The airplanes were a hit.
(Every time Icka went around, she made a new silly face, and came off asking to see all of the pictures.)
I could barely get pictures of this guy since he just like to be high in the sky the whole time.
We headed back to their favorite ride, and Icka was quick to follow directions — hands up until the bar comes down.
Since the cousins weren’t there this time, Icka looked to her brother for comfort.
Too bad, the tough guy wasn’t having it.
But the best ride of the day — the roller coaster. Scout came off thinking he was a cool dude, and just like all of his cousins who went on all of the other roller coasters.
Props to Megan for putting this fun day together!
On behalf of lightening my load, and for the sake of the two older kids to feel like they are participating, each do three “Baby Favors” a day. Like in the above picture, Scout was in charge of keeping the plug in Dash’s mouth. And a few minutes before, Navy did her first “Baby Favor” when I asked her to get me the pink striped blanket so I could swaddle him. Notice how the plug is exactly where it is supposed to be. Also notice that Dash is in a green blanket. Some kids are just more interested in doing a job correctly.
I love this picture. Doesn’t it look like Dash is telling Navy to STOP!
And maybe he is — because she is know to get her kiss on with that sweet boy!
After we got to church, I immediately had to nurse the baby while Micah helped Scout fill out a tithing slip. So by the time all had settled, I was too humiliated to walk in to Sacrament that late. So we went into the primary room and listened to the speakers there. There was an excellent talk on gratitude, and I wanted to make sure Scout was hearing the message. So I asked, “Scout….hey, are you listening to this talk? She is talking about gratitude. Do you know what that is?” He made a scoffing noise and said, “YEAH! I know what it is!” (The attitude along with it was — duh mom…do you think I am an idiot?) So I said, “What is it?” His response was, “It’s when you jump up in the air, and you just fall back down.”
Micah and I rolled!
I told him that was “gravity”, and that gratitude was the same as being thankful.
Who’s the idiot now?
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Speaking of idiots — let tell you a very non-idiot move of Scout. Lately, every time I do something nice for him (like give him an applesauce when it isn’t meal time) he responds with, “thank you Mom…you are the beautifulest girl in the whole universe.” Or when I tell him we are going to do something fun for the day (the park or Auggie’s house, he says, “Mom….do you know what? You are HOT!” Somehow, even though it is out of the mouth of my four year old boy, I am still flattered!
When I went downstairs to leave for church, I was really surprised to see Micah in this outfit. This is the guy who is always dressed in a suit on our Sunday mornings. But then I remembered that this was a really big day for Scout, and I figured out the mystery.
Today was the day for the first time ever that Scout wasn’t going to wear shorts to church. Nonnie took him shopping and told him it was about time that he “classed it up”. So after buying him a few shirts and some slacks and even a tie — Scout feels like he is a pretty cool dude, dressing like the big boys and all! And come to find out, he went into Micah’s closet and hand picked Micah’s entire outfit to look just like his. I was impressed that they did a good job matching — even down to the Sperry’s.
I’ll admit that I didn’t want to see the shorts go. I love keeping him young and childlike. But when I saw my big boy shake the hand of my really big boy, I saw the beauty in it all.
Scout even showed his tie off to the new little guy in town.
Like father, like son.
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