Uses for a Little Brother

Footstool!

You Lost WHAT?!

If this post had a soundtrack, it would be a certain song by Genesis. Song to be revealed at the end of the post.

This morning Wesley burst into tears as I was trying to get him out of the house. Big, fat tears were rolling down his cheeks and he wasn't just crying - he was yowling! Just standing on the porch screaming.

Mommy: Wesley! What's wrong?
Wesley: I lost my balances!
Mommy: Your what?
Wesley: My balances! I lost my balances!
Mommy: You mean you lost your balance?
Wesley: Yes. I lost my balances. And now I can't dance.

What?!?! I didn't have the heart to tell Wesley he dances like a stereotypical white boy, even when he knows where his "balances" are. Instead, I told him that maybe his balance was at Grandmas and we should get in the car to go check. That child cracks me up!

Did you guess the Genesis song that would be the soundtrack for this post? Yep! The ever popular "I Can't Dance."

Snow Day

Today is a Snow Day! YAY!!!! Of course, truth be told, if the library hadn't closed, I was going to take a vacation day. As soon as I looked out the window this morning and saw the entire neighborhood looking like a sheet of ice, I decided there was no way I was taking the kids out.

We've spent the day on the computer and looking at books and playing with toys. I've been trying really hard not to have the tv on too much. But my punishment for that is listening to a three year old try to tell jokes. Check out these gems:


What Bunny can hop all the way? The North Pole!

What kind of mouse of can leave the house? Because he messed up the house!

Why does the ladybug have no hair? Because she's playing tag!

And here I was starting to wonder why I am developing a headache.

Brotherly Concern

Apparently Wesley understood Ryan's surgery a little more than I thought. Wesley spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa P. last night so no one would have to get up at the crack of dawn to take care of son #1. When Wesley got out of bed this morning he pretended to answer the phone. This was "conversation" Grandma and Grandpa heard. "Hi Mom. (pause.) OK. (pause) Ryan's good? OK." How cute!

Of course Wesley had the true boy reaction to Ryan's stitches when he got home. I immediately showed him where the doctor took Ryan's lump out. Wesley reached out to touch the stitches and said "WOW!!" What a boy!

Oh! And when I asked Wesley if he missed me last night he said, "No, but I missed Ryan." Maybe there is hope yet.

No More Lump

Today has been absolutely exhausting - just like we knew it would be. We set the alarm for 12:30 this morning and got up to give Ryan his last bottle of formula before the surgery. Poor little guy wasn't sure why were were waking him up, but once he realized there was food involved, he was OK with it. We repeated the routine at 4:45 this morning, substituting pedilyte for formula and were out the door to the hospital by 5:20. Check out the patient this morning before we left. He didn't have a care a in the world!

Ryan kept being Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky at the hospital and charmed everyone there! He grinned and babbled and spit (it's what he does when he's happy right now.) He was the first surgery scheduled and the nurses could not get enough of him. We heard comments like "Oh! He's beautiful." and "Wow! What a happy boy!" and "You make coming to work on a Monday not so bad!" and my favorite, "I could just take him home with me!" He was great while the nurses checked him out and the anesthesiologist checked him out and the surgeon checked him out (and drew a little purple circle on his head."

The staff wheeled him off before they did anything to him, so we didn't have to watch the IV or the anesthesia or the breathing tube (thank goodness!) And I have to tell you all, I was so very very impressed with every single person we encountered at the we encountered at the hospital. They took wonderful care of all of us and guided us through every step of the day. They even gave Ryan a toy!

We were back in the recovery room before they brought Ryan in. The procedure only took about 25 minutes and the rest was recovery. They carried him to us wrapped in a blanket. He was crying and sucking his fingers, but just fine other than that. We gave him a bottle of pedilyte and hung out for an hour while he rested, but after that we were clear to go home. Here's his little incision. Nothing major and the stitches will dissolve.

We've spent the rest of the day cat napping and eating. I cannot believe how much food this kid is putting away today! We bought a four pack of the pedilyte yesterday and every drop of it is gone. He is plowing through bottles too. Maybe his throat hurts from the tube, or maybe he's just trying to stock up from a couple missed meals, but I have never seen him eat like this. I can barely keep up with him! I"m going to take it as a good sign though.

Thank you for all your good thoughts and prayers today. We knew you were thinking of us and it really helped us get through the surgery.

Happy (Chinese) New Year

We're back from the celebration at the Chinese School. We ate a lot of great authentic Chinese food. My favorite this year was rice that had some kind of sauce of ground pork, mushrooms and egg. You know it was good when Sho ate two entire bowls of it all by himself. I also discovered some kind of sweet bread that has red bean paste inside. I liked it so much that I bought an extra to bring home. Mmmmmm....yummy treat for me later.

Wesley was not in a party mood when we first got there and refused to do anything but hide in the coats and on grandma's lap. He got over it after a while though and ate some cake and played some games.

That's Kei hiding behind his tickets

And that's Wesley hiding under the coat

THERE'S Wesley!

Aunt Cathy took Ryan around and showed him off to all her friends. He was a riot! He really watched all the people and sat up in his car seat whenever there was a performer on the stage. Cathy said that whenever she introduced Ryan to someone he would zero in on their food! I'm telling you, thing kid is going to be an eater! He also found himself a little girlfriend who was 4 months old. You can't tell by the picture, but just before this, Ryan and the little girl were actually holding hands. It was the first time Ryan had seen a baby (other than that one in the mirror) and he was quite infatuated. Maybe that's a good sign for the year!

Surgery Countdown

Yesterday was the day we found out more about Ryan's upcoming surgery. Duane and I have to have Ryan at the hospital by 5:45 Monday morning. Yep folks, that's 5:45 AM. His surgery is scheduled for 7:30 and I doubt it's going to take very long. I mean, all they are doing is removing a cyst. Like I keep saying, it's not the actual surgery that bothers me, it's the anesthesia, but at least will get a chance to talk to the anesthesiologist before the procedure.

We have to go buy some apple juice or pedilyte for Ryan today. He isn't allowed to have formula after 1:00 AM Monday, only apple juice or pedilyte until 5:00 and then nothing until after the surgery. When he wakes up from the surgery he can have clear liquids. Considering the child has never had anything in a bottle except formula (Hello! He just turned 6 months today!) I'm a little nervous about it. I'm afraid he's going to turn into a juice head if we give him apple juice and won't want his formula any more.

Wesley is going to have an overnight with Grandma and Grandpa on Sunday night so no one has to get to our house at 5:00 in the morning. That's a lot to ask of someone.

Oh well, to keep my mind of it today, we're going to a Chinese New Year party at Sho and Kei's Chinese school. Wesley is busily making pretend cookies and cupcakes to take with us. He also informed me that Kai-Lan (the cartoon character) would be at the party. I doubt she'll be there, but I'm sure he'll find an equally pretty little girl to follow around.

Long Winter

As I was shivering in the cold on my drive to work yesterday, I decided to try to think of something positive about winter. The trees along the freeway were coated with frost and it actually looked quite beautiful. "Look at the trees, Wesley. They are all white." Wesley looked out the window and sighed, "I only like green trees." I hear you, buddy.

Sing a Little Song

I have starting singing this song to Wesley (to the tune of "Mandy")

Oh Wesley,

You're the best-ly

Even when you make a big mess-ly

Oh Wesley.

So he sings back to me

Oh Mommy

You're the bomby

Oh Mommy Mommy Mommy

I've always been a sucker for a guy who can sing!

Snow Mountains and Green Eyed Monsters

It was snowing when Wesley woke up yesterday and in true kid fashion, the first thing he said was, "I want to play in the snow!" We managed to convince him to wait until after church, but as soon as lunch was over, he was ready to roll.

Even though Wesley is three years old, he's never really played in the snow. First of all, we don't get all that much snow in central Ohio. Then you need to factor in that Duane and I aren't exactly snow enthusiasts and the fact that we don't have much of a yard to play in. I'm explaining all this so my next statement will make a little more sense to you. I have never really dressed a child to play in the snow before. Good grief! That is a lot of work! He had jeans, socks, and undershirt and a sweater on when we started. I added snowpants, boots, mittens, and a coat. I tried for a hat, but he only wanted his hood. I was sweating by the time I had him ready to play outside (and extremely happy he was wearing a pull up!)

Wesley and Duane had a great time playing outside. They made a snow mountain and threw snowballs and all kinds of fun stuff.

Wesley is so proud of that snow mountain. We had Aunt Susan, Uncle Kirk and Grandma & Grandpa P. over for dinner last night. Wesley wanted to show everyone the snow mountain, but the only window it is visible from is the bathroom window. Luckily, no one minded going into the bathroom to look out the window at Wesley's masterpiece.

I'm really glad Duane spent a little one on one time with Wesley. Poor little guy is starting to get more and more jealous of his little brother. Maybe it's because Ryan is starting to be more interactive and not just a lump, but it's getting a little hard for Wesley to take. When I was getting Wesley's boots on him, he noticed that Ryan was chewing on the tail of one of Wesley's stuffed animals. Wesley raised his hand and said, "I'm going to give Ryan a 'don't play with my toys!' " EEEKKK!!! I took the toy away from Ryan and explained that it belonged to Wesley, who didn't want it chewed on. Thank goodness that satisfied Wesley.

Then we had the little incident this morning. I buckled Ryan into his car seat and handed him his Bobo Monkey (his version of Stinky Bear) and a sweet little blanket that is just his size that his Aunt Susan made him. In fact, as I was handing him the blanket, I said, "And here's your special blanket that Aunt Sus made just for you!" Then I looked over at Wesley. He had the SADDEST look on his face, like he was going to start crying. I rushed over to give him a hug and asked what was wrong. "I like tiny blankets too," he answered. Let me tell you, my heart just about broke right then and there. Luckily, Aunt Sus made Wesley a blanket and a smaller matching blanket when he was born. I was able to find the smaller blanket (no small miracle) and handed it to Wesley. He was much happier then. I have to admit, these jealous moments just kill me! Will someone please remind me that I did not do lasting damage to Wesley by having another child?

Hello, Short Hair

Got my hair cut off today! I feel so free!

I Hate Winter Part 2

Now that I've calmed down some, I can write a real post about the many reasons why I hate winter. It didn't really start until I became an adult and had a job. See, when you're a kid winter is the greatest. It's all about sledding and snowball fights and making snowmen and drinking hot chocolate. You are oblivious to the big pain in the tush that winter truly is.

As an adult all you know is that winter means extra drive time (it took me 70 minutes to get home last night - usually a 20 minute drive). It means scraping the car. It means looking out the office window and wishing you could go sledding or build a snowman. It's wishing a full fat hot chocolate with whipped cream was on your diet. It's digging through the closet looking for your kids mittens and finding three different mittens belonging to three different pairs. It's wanting to spend a day in front of the fire, wrapped up in a blanket and reading a book, but having to go to work instead. It's having to shovel the drive and sidewalk. See, it's just not as much fun as an adult. And if it isn't kind of fun, I don't have to like it!

I HATE WINTER!!!

'Nuff said!

Let's Go Jackets

We just got home from taking Wesley to his first ever hockey game. I've been dying to take him for a year now, but we finally decided he was old enough. Well, that and we had free tickets so we figured if we only made it through the first period, it wouldn't be a big deal. We did only stay for the first period, but we had a great time!

Our seats were in the very last row of the upper bowl. Grandma H. did not do so well with the height, but it didn't bother Wesley at all. He plopped in his seat to watch the warm up. I don't think he was sitting there for more than a minute before he said, "Mom! I want to skate like hockey!" YES! Junior Jackets, here we come!

Wesley spent the first period, chanting "Let's go Jackets!, " clapping and dancing. Oh! And munching on hot dog and french fries. I think my favorite part was when he put his top half in his seat and shook his lower half in time to the music. He looked at the scoreboard and asked us to "rewind the tv" when he missed something. He saw the blimp and the parachutes with coupons drop from the rafters. We only stayed 5 minutes into the second period, but it was well worth it! I can't wait to take him back!

Happy Belated Birthday Aunt Sus

The big news today was the belated birthday party we had for Aunt Sus. Grandma H. made cupcakes and her WONDERFUL homemade hot fudge sauce, Duane made spinach and feta stuffed flank steak, Parmesan asparagus, I made mushroom risotto and Cathy made fried chicken. Needless to say, we all ate until we were ready to burst!

Ryan tried on the glasses from Wesley's doctor kit. I think they make him look more like a baby Harry Potter than any kind of doctor.

Ryan and Grandpa H. had some quality play time.

Wesley set the mood with a little music

Grandma H., Ryan, Aunt Sus and Aunt Cathy check out some pictures

The little dictator and his servants. Someone said this about Grandma and I when Wesley was this age. How right they were!

This is what happens when you try to get a picture with four boys, all ages 6 or younger. This really was the best shot!

Aunt Sus and Kei getting ready to dig into cupcakes!

One of the rare pictures of Duane and I together without kids.

Wesley post cupcake

Need I say more?

Wesley and Uncle Kirk take a book break.

I wish I had had my camera on when we were getting ready to leave. Kirk took Wesley's bear and put it in the hood of the little guy's coat. Wesley went in circles a few times, trying to get a good look at Bear and trying to figure out at angle at which he could grab it. When Kirk finally removed Bear from the impromptu backpack, Wesley sternly told his uncle, "You NEVER do that to Bear!"

It was a great evening, now if only I could settle down enough to sleep.

Stay Off the Sidewalks! Seriously!

Just Like Great Grandpa

I often feel a little sad when I think about my grandparents and that they never got to meet Wesley and Ryan. I know my Grandma P. would have thought Wesley was a hoot! She would have gotten such a kick out of him and the things he says. I just know they would have been great friends. And Ryan has a habit that reminds me so much of my Grandpa M. (my mom's dad) that it makes me laugh.

My grandpa would get up at the crack of dawn every morning. He'd get dressed, the go downstairs and make himself some breakfast. Actually, it was the same breakfast every day. Every day he'd have a bowl of oatmeal and some burned (on purpose) toast. He'd read the paper and by the time anyone else came downstairs, he'd be asleep in a chair. I used to think it was the craziest thing, but Ryan does the same thing in his own baby way. He gets up at 6:00 almost every morning. Sometimes it's 6:30, but it's always early. He eats a bottle, then spends a little time playing before falling back asleep for an hour or more. I can't help but think of Grandpa every time he does that!

But I'm not the only person Ryan reminds of their grandpa. My dad (Grandpa P. to the boys) says that Ryan has hands just like his Grandpa Hall (Wesley and Ryan's great-great-grandpa.) Apparently Grandpa Hall had some big ol' mitts! My dad has a picture of the two of them together and Grandpa Hall's hands are definitely the hands of a farm man! Ryan's the same way. I wonder what other family traits are going to appear over the years?

Talk About Major Surgery

I'm trying to prepare Wesley for Ryan's surgery at the end of the month by talking to him a little bit about it. Yesterday I pointed out the lump on Ryan's head. Today I told Wesley that the lump could hurt Ryan, so Mommy and Daddy were going to take him to the hospital where the doctor would make a little cut in Ryan's head and take the lump out. A few minutes later Wesley told me, "Today I turned Bear into a baby and he ate a lump and it went on his head and he went to the hospital so they could take it out and it took FIVE YEARS!"

My Two Sons

Ryan was in an especially sunny mood this morning. He even figured out how to use one of the cat toys to play with Gus!





On the other end of the spectrum, we have Wesley who is all three-year-old and trying to find ways to sass and backtalk without really sassing and backtalking so he won't get in trouble. Tonight he hissed at me, so I sent him to sit on the stairs. He got very quiet very quickly. When Duane went out to check on him, Wesley was in this position saying he was tired.


Hummm....maybe it will be another night of 8:00 bedtime for both boys.

OUCH

I don't know exactly what happened, but somehow Wesley really hurt his eye tonight. He was just walking across the family room when he suddenly screamed, clamped his eyes shut and burst into tears. He was holding his left eye and all he'd say was that it hurt and that he couldn't open it. It teared up a lot, but he still couldn't open it and wouldn't let me or Duane touch it. I finally got him to calm down a little bit by laying on me and I wiped his eye gently with a damp cloth. Every now and then he'd say, "My eye is broken!" and I'd have to reassure him that it wasn't broken, just hurt. He eventually fell asleep in my lap.

Duane carried him up to bed and messed with his eye a little bit. It looked like he got some eyelashes trapped under his eyelid. Wesley screamed bloody murder, but once Duane was done, that little eye opened again. Poor guy.

Happy New Year's Eve Recap

We had a wonderful end to 2008! The library was closed on the 31st, so it was just me and the boys most of the day. I don't know what possessed me to run errands with the two kids, but that's what we did. And do you know what? It went super smoothly! So smoothly, that I felt like super mom!


We started our errands by dropping something off at Daddy's work. Duane showed Ryan off to his adoring fans, while Wesley played on Daddy's computer (he was still going through serious computer withdraw at that point). After we said goodbye to Daddy, we headed to Target. Wesley walked right next to me and the stroller the entire time and helped me pick out a couple of new sweaters (I wanted green, but he insisted on yellow). Wesley was being so incredibly good that when he asked if we could go to McDonald's for lunch, I didn't hesitate a moment in saying yes.


Wesley wanted to eat inside the restaurant instead of taking food home. I was a little nervous about that, but since the day had gone so smoothly, I decided to give it a try. Wesley was an angel. He stayed with me and Ryan while I got the food and then picked out "the perfect place" for us to sit. He ate remarkably well and chatted away to me like a little man. In a surprise twist, the host at McDonalds brought us over a complimentary bag of cookies. I couldn't help but smile because, my Grandpa Martin used to be a host at a McDonalds and that's just the kind of thing he would have done. After lunch, we went to the grocery store where Wesley helped me pick up the last minute things for our New Year's Eve party.


Okay, "party" might be a strong word, but we had Kirk & Susan, Ray & Krystal, Kate, Greg, and Colin over so it was a party in my book. We ate lots of yummy appetizers, played video games and chatted. Kate, Greg and Colin took off around 9:45 when Colin got tired and Krystal left about 10:00 since she had to work early in the morning. The rest of us rang in the new year with a toast at midnight. It was the nicest New Year's Eve I've had in a long time.



Attempting to crawl into 2009








Happy New Year from Ryan








Kate and Ryan. Kate, are you sure you don't want another?










Colin sure seemed to like Ryan









Wesley, Peeve and Colin








Wesley rocked out to Guitar Hero











He made it until 11:05 before passing out on the couch

Christmas Recap 3 - The Big Day

December 25th: What a totally exhausting and perfectly lovely Christmas we had! Since we had three Christmases to cram into the day, we had to stay on a bit of a schedule - which meant I think we are the only house in Ohio that had to wake up the resident three-year-old on Christmas morning! Duane had a plan to make sure Wesley woke up in a good mood. He thundered up the stairs and jumped onto Wesley's bed yelling, "Wesley! Get up! Santa came! Santa came!" It was pretty effective.

Wesley LOVED his kitty cat camp! I knew he would!

Checking out the view master

Mommy and Ryan. The jammies I am wearing are Ryan's favorite. He tries to take the graphics off.

A yummy lollipop from Santa.

A great big chocolate kiss from Santa.

After we opened gifts and enjoyed a yummy breakfast of Praline French Toast Casserole (another Paula Deen recipe) we packed up the van for our other two Christmases. The first stop was Grandma W.'s house. Wesley entertained everyone by pretty much reciting the Charlie Brown Christmas special. This kid has watched it so much he knew it by heart! He kept asking people if they would like to be the director of his Christmas play. He'd sit at the organ and have people tell him to "set the stage with a little mood music." He opened his cash register (gift) and asked for "tens and twenties" and even pretended to write Santa a letter while totally quoting Linus. It was a hoot!

Uncle Mark and Ryan

I know Wesley is under all that paper somewhere

At the cash register waiting for "tens and twenties"

Too much excitement for the little one.

After Ryan's nap, we loaded up the van again and heading for Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa P.'s. Wesley fell asleep in the car and ended up taking a good two hour nap on Grandma and Grandpa's bed. When he woke up, he was a bit cranky, but not NEARLY as antisocial as he has been on past Christmases.

Aunt Susan made Ryan his very own baby sized blanket. Ryan thinks it's perfect for chewing on!

"Grandma" Sandy had some quality Ryan time. She loves to sing to the boys.

Out cold!

Aunt Susan, Ryan and Uncle Kirk

My nephew Mike and Ryan

Wesley's new car. Yes, I did say car. I didn't get a car until I was 18, but my three-year-old has one. We're leaving it at Grandma and Grandpa's for fear Wesley would get car-jacked in our neighborhood. Wesley can drive this thing himself, or an adult can use a remote control to steer. Uncle Stacey has a friend, Jason, who is a police officer. Jason stopped by that evening and Wesley ran up to him saying, "Officer, come see my car!" Jason saddled up to the car and very calmly asked Wesley for his license and registration.

Needless to say, we had a very very merry Christmas!