Tale of Two Tobys

My mom has a shih-tzu named Toby. Toby is a very nice dog, but honestly, he doesn't seem that intelligent. He spends most of his time dancing on his back legs, begging for crackers.

Bill's mom has a large, fluffy gray cat named Toby. Toby seems resentful. Perhaps it is because when Bill's mom adopted him, she was told that Toby was a "she", so Toby spent his first months with the name "Sophie". I don't think he's ever forgiven the world for that.

Anyway, tonight Bill and I had an evening out (mmm....Uccello's!) and Bill's mom watched the boys at her house. My children identify their grandmothers with rather unusual characteristics. My mom is referred to as "Grandma Grandma" or as "The Grandma over here"--nearest to our house. Bill's step-mom, Cindy, is "Grandma Cindy who builds forts". And Bill's mom, well, the boys can't get over her cat. She's "Grandma Ellen with the crazy cat". Toby seems to hate all children. As soon as they walked through the front door tonight, Toby (who was sitting on the couch a good 20 feet away) started hissing at them. The boys never go near Toby. They just stare at him in fascination, and fear.

Toby marched indignantly down the stairs right after the boys arrived. Several hours later, when we were packing them up to head home, Toby reappeared. Sam was utterly captivated. He is definitely afraid of Toby, though, as he will only speak in whispers when Toby is around. He kept giving us updates. "Toby is by the front door." "I see Toby." "Toby is mad." No kidding.

Bill put the boys in the car then came back inside to say good-bye to his mom while I finished packing up their bag. Toby waltzed up to us and Bill scooped him up. We both were able to pet him. He is the softest cat I have ever known. And not one hiss. My poor boys. They would have been so envious. I can't figure out why that cat dislikes them so much.

Monday, when they go over to my mom's, Toby the dog will be prancing around excitedly and will most likely knock Nolan over at least once.

Note to self: never name a pet Toby.

Easy as Cake

TJ has a new phrase he likes to say. "Easy as cake." He has combined the phrases "Easy as pie" and "Piece of cake". I never knew cake was easy.

We dog-sat for Puka last week. She belongs to some friends of ours. TJ loves having Puka over and was very disappointed when she went home on Monday. On Tuesday night, however, he told me, "Mom, it's okay that Puka went home. She needs to be with her mom and dad sometimes, too."

He can be a handful, but my little boy has a big heart.

***

TJ has a bladder infection. I did not know boys could get bladder infections. Interesting. Poor kid has been trying to avoid using the bathroom though, since it hurts. He'll have his second dose of antibiotics in the morning, so I am hoping some of the pain will subside by afternoon.

Honestly, though, I wish he'd stop telling me his 'wiener' hurts. I did not teach him that word. I stick with the anatomically correct words. Sam refers to it as his 'squirt'. That makes me laugh, and it doesn't sound nearly as crass.

***

This afternoon, Sam observed me putting a band-aid on TJ's finger. He had caught and torn a fingernail, and it was so short it was painful. Sam commented, "You'd better give me a band-aid before I hurt myself." Preemptive bandaging?

***

Nolan, at only 22 months of age, has developed a resistance to amoxicillan. Dandy. He had a double ear infection last Friday, and was still not acting right, so he went to the doctor yesterday. Both ears were still infected. He's on a stronger antibiotic and we are following up with the doctor in two weeks. I'm afraid of tubes (due to the trauma TJ experienced while under anesthesia) but I am very concerned about Nolan's resistance to antibiotics. He's been on them 6 times in 14 months for ear infections. Not good.

I need spring.

The next Steven Spielberg? Or Ron Howard? I think not

For his birthday, TJ received a kids' digital camera from Papa Steve and Grandma Cindy. I thought this would be a good gift for him, as he was showing interest in our (brand-new!) digital camera, and I really didn't want him to use that yet.

At first, TJ had fun taking the occasional picture. You can put funny cartoon accents on the picture or you can distort pictures (think fun-house mirrors). He didn't play with it a whole lot, but he was enjoying it.

Then...he discovered the camera can shoot videos. Oh boy. The kid shoots probably an hour of video everyday! He keeps showing the footage to Bill and I. It all looks and sounds the same to me! His favorite thing to do is to mount the camera on top of one of his toy cars and then drive it around.

I combed through a few videos that Bill saved to our computer. Here's one that will only make you mildly dizzy. You also have to listen to me give a brief lecture on TJ's behavior at school (for those of you who are wondering, I know exactly when TJ taped this, and he did have a great day at school!).

Enjoy...or not...don't blame me! (If you see the video skipping or hesitating, that's not his fault. That happened when I uploaded it. If the camera is spinning or waving all around...that's entirely his fault).

Upset Tummy?

Last night, we celebrated my brother Eric's birthday and my sister Brianna's birthday. Nolan, who is recovering from a double ear infection, was not well enough to join the celebration at my parent's house. So, Bill and I took turns (boy, is it convenient that my parents only live 1/4 mile away!). Bill took TJ and Sam over and had dinner and visited for awhile (he also took a moment to bring me some Subway). Around 7:30, he came home, and took over with Nolan and I went over to join the party. I got some one-on-one time with my niece Charlotte. She was pretty grumpy when I put her in her pajamas. Amanda said she'd been fussy for a couple of hours. I sat with her in a rocking chair and started patting her back. Eventually, she calmed down and started studying some of the lights in the room. I put her on my lap so she could look around better. Suddenly, her little bottom vibrated. I laughed and commented that if my tummy was upset, I would be grumpy too. Her little bottom vibrated again. I shifted her up and over to see if that would help ease her discomfort. One more vibration...only it wasn't coming from her! Turns out it was my phone vibrating in my pocket! It wasn't Charlotte at all!

It's a good thing it was just Bill on the phone, considering how hard I was laughing when I answered. Poor Charlotte!

It Would Have Been Funny If It Didn't Involve Vomit

Sam and Nolan have terrible colds. They are both running fevers and have nasty coughs. TJ had a milder version of this over the weekend. Anyway, as is common with Sam, once he starts to cough, it's all downhill. He starts wheezing and is miserable. Dinner tonight was a trip. Nolan's fever had spiked, so he was sitting in his high chair staring blankly at his food. Sam was coughing incessantly, but was in a fabulous mood. He and TJ giggled through dinner. Bill was on his way home from Detroit, so I was flying solo.

After dinner, things got tricky. Nolan just wanted to be held. Sam was coughing so hard he couldn't breathe. I gave Nolan some Tylenol and snuggled him until he was willing to sit in the recliner by himself. I got the nebulizer set up and handed it off to Sam. Then I put Nolan in his pajamas. Then I ran back to Sam and helped him finish his treatment. Eventually, I sat on the couch and snuggled with both boys while we watched TJ play the Wii. Suddenly, Sam was coughing so hard he started gagging. I jumped off the couch and rushed him down to the bathroom. He seemed to calm down a little, so I went in his room to grab his water bottle to see if that would help. Bad move. He started vomiting as soon as I stepped out of the bathroom. I grabbed a trash can and managed to catch a portion of it. But Sam, the rug, the floor...what a mess. Sam was in a panic. I think it has been almost 3 years since he last vomited and he didn't know what to do. And he didn't like it. He kept flapping his arms, shaking his head, and gasping, "No! No! No!", as if that would stop the puke.

During all of this, Nolan has followed us down the hall and is sobbing because he doesn't like the chaos and he wants me to hold him. TJ came down the hall, proclaimed it "disgusting" and returned to his game. I did what any good Mom would do. I called my Mom and asked for help. I just needed someone to hold Nolan while I dealt with Sam. She came and Nolan calmed right down. I got Sam and the bathroom cleaned up. Sam commented to me after it was all over, "Well! I am not doing that again!" I managed not to laugh, because I was hoping he could actually make that prediction come true!

He is still coughing even though he is asleep. It breaks my heart to listen to him. He has had a nebulizer treatment, I gave him prescription strength cough medicine, I put Vicks on his chest, I plugged in his humidifier. What more can I do for him?

Sidebar---a note to the grandparents: TJ is in an anti-hot dog phase. Do NOT feed him one. He will make you regret it. I gave him a hot dog on Sunday night, and he kept complaining he didn't like them. I did not give him any sympathy. So he puked it up on my dining room floor. I haven't dealt with puke in over 2 years, and now I have had it twice in 48 hours. And neither child was actually sick to his stomach.

The Lesser of Two Evils?

Sam was just in his room playing with a Koosh ball. He had thrown it up on TJ's shelf and nearly knocked down one of TJ's model trucks. I told Sam he was not allowed to throw the Koosh ball, because he might break something. About five minutes later, I found Sam on his bed, trying to reach the top of TJ's dresser. On the dresser was the Koosh ball. I asked him what he was doing, and replied...

"Picking my nose."

He WAS doing that while he climbed on the bed. And he knows he is not supposed to do that. But he was attempting to distract me from the Koosh ball. Apparently, nose picking is the lesser of two evils in this case.

Today's Laugh

This actually happened yesterday. I just forgot to blog about it.

I bought donut holes as a treat for the boys. They each had one for a snack after nap. Apparently, it made Sam thirsty. He said to me, "Mama, I need a drink of the sink."

Apparently, that's how Sam asks for a glass of water.

February Funnies

Yep, the blog has been neglected for a couple weeks. What can I say? It's been crazy busy around here lately!

Tonight, the entire family went to the chiropractor (ahhhhh...back feels so much better now!) then we went to Turk's for supper. Turk's is the local restaurant in Nunica. Anyway, each of the boys had place mats to color while we waited for our food. Bill picked up a crayon and started coloring Nolan's place mat. When he finished, TJ complimented him. "You did a really good job staying in the lines, Daddy!"

TJ loves the Wii, our family Christmas gift (which I still have not played even once). TJ has gotten particularly good at Lego Star Wars, which Bill got as a gift from his mom. Bill was watching TJ play last week and was muttering at how TJ has gotten further in the game than Bill ever has. I don't know what he's complaining about. I can't even figure out how to activate both controllers.

Sam has suddenly given his Buddy (his security blanket) a personality. I have to kiss it and tell it good night when I tuck Sam in bed. It's a little odd to be talking to an old rag.

I kiss TJ and Sam good-bye when I leave for work in the mornings (and Bill, when I remember to). This morning, Nolan watched me kiss Bill (I remembered!), then Sam, then TJ. He started yelling from his high chair "Me too! Me too!" I walked over to him, and his lifted his face like he was going to kiss me. But he held his lips about half an inch from my cheek. Apparently, that's how he gives kisses. It was still really cute. And yes, I did kiss him. Typically, he isn't awake to say good-bye to Mommy in the mornings.

This evening, while I was changing Nolan into his pajamas, he passed gas rather loudly. He laughed and then said, "Burp!"