Deja Vu All Over Again

My mother frequently reminds me that our middle child is so much like me, and from the sound of her voice, I don't get the feeling that's such a good thing.

Actually I've noticed it myself. I realize so much of my frustration with him often lies in the fact that I know how it feels to do what he does and I just want him to "get it" without having to learn the hard way.

We were at a picnic the other night and someone asked him what happened to his eye. He replied, "Daddy hit me." Though just halfway listening to the conversation, I immediately turned around and stared. I had said the same thing (only it was my mother who inflicted the wound) when I was his age. In reality, I had fallen down the steps; in his case, Doug accidently hit him with a frisbee.

I beamed with pride Saturday morning, however, when he made the following request: "I want a peanut butter sandwich and pickles." He's his mother's son! Though his was soy butter and the pickles were on the side, it reminded me of the delicious sandwiches I shared with Her-too when I was little.

I take comfort in the fact that he's enthusiatic, charming, and just so darn cute. Hopefully all that energy can be focused into constructive channels.

Five Months of Fun

From helpless babe to almost-sitting - Matthew has survived another month in this crazy madhouse!
He's discovered those wonderful digits that open and close and move around and sometimes even land on a fun toy.
He's taken to sucking his lower lip and has even produced a self-inflicted hickey.

He's still a good snuggler and loves to be near his rowdy brothers.

Double Whammy

I got the call I've been dreading.

A few weeks ago we had skin testing on Matthew to determine if he had any food allergies that were causing his eczema. The results led to a further blood test that showed he is severely allergic to wheat: my worst nightmare come true.

Knowing what a bread-lover I am, this is devastating. On one hand it is nice to know the cause of the problem, and hopefully we will see some improvement in the next couple of weeks. On the other hand, I love making and consuming all manner of wheat products. Meal planning should be interesting.

We've suffered another tragedy, too. It seems that for some reason the Moonpie company has decided to launch a new product that requires peanuts to be introduced into the manufacturing facility. Now, I am not one to deny the heavenly match of chocolate and peanut butter, but it has been so nice to be able to buy a special treat for my egg-milk-peanut allergic child. We can only hope that Rice Krispies stay peanut-free.

The good side to of all of this is that Stephen's blood test showed a significant reduction in his allergy levels. While he still remains severely allergic, there is hope that eventually he will outgrow them all.

Reunion

We joined my two old friends and their kiddos in Nashville yesterday. It's pretty easy to tell everyone apart: Clara (far left) has the asian kiddos - Alena (1), Gabe (4), Mya (2); Sarah (middle) has all the girls - Bonnie (4), Cora (2), Callie (7 mo), Madeleine (6); the boys are mine - Matthew (4 mo), Andrew (4), Stephen (2).

It was surprisingly calm considering there were 10 kids aged 6 and younger, and the gals enjoyed catching up on babies and birth, crafts and kiddos, and all those other important girly-topics.

According to Sarah's always-accurate calculations, she and Clara have known each other all their lives; she and I have known each other 24 years come August; and Clara and I have known each other 22 years. That's pretty amazing.

Stephen immediately took hold of a mini-real hammer which he carried everywhere. We did have to intervene when he tried to initiate a sword-fight with an unarmed-Mya; somehow she didn't appreciate being hit with a foam sword. Andrew was most impressed with Clara's white bread (whole grain with calcium). We did our part in introducing the others to Moonpies (what deprived children); of course, they were a big hit. Gabe said, "I really like Moonpies!" Clara may hate us now!

Rockin' at Riverbend

The Scenic City hosts a nine day music festival called Riverbend each June (it just so happens to coincide with the wilder Bonnaroo just a little farther west). Our neighbor Joe "Dixie" schedules all the acts and was kind enough to give us passes, and against our better judgement, we headed out Saturday with all the kids in tow for the final night of festivities.

It turned out much better that I ever expected. The kids were in awe of the sights and sounds, but unfortunately, carrying Matthew and exerting a firm grip on Stephen's hand prevented me from recording what we saw. Here are the highlights:

• An aerial lift with the American flag and flashing lights from a talk radio station


• A Jacks Links Beef Jerky truck with flashing lights and continuous play of a "Messin' with Sasquatch" commercial (Andrew told us over and over about "the Japanese who were playing with an animal")


• An overweight (and probably drunk) male wearing a bikini top and dancing


• My favorite of all: A Red Man booth offering free samples with ID (only in TN!)

We didn't last for the amazing fireworks show at 11pm, but the boys had a fun time.

To Daddy With Love

"Now the serpent was craftier..."

but Stephen may come in second.

For months we have been struggling with a certain speech pattern I thought would not arise until the teenage years. At first it was the occasional, "Poot - hee, hee, hee!" Then in April, he told Nana we were going back to "Poop-a-nooga." This was immediately followed by telling Papa, "Goodbye, Poop!"

No amount of glares, ignoring, or punishments have worked to squelch this awful behavior, and as the elder son has also picked up on it, I feel like I'm living with middle-school boys. If it continues I can only imagine what Matthew's first word might be.

So we have enacted a new strategy to "clean" up the potty mouth.

Here comes the serpent-like bent of the human heart: Stephen has quickly come up with ways to cover up his slips-of-the-tongue. "Poo....Pooh Bear is a nice thing to say" or "Pee...'P' is a letter. Pizza. Popcorn. Potato." Poor Andrew is not quite so quick.

The Two Greatest Things I've Heard Lately

I pulled into the drive-thru of a local bank to make a deposit, but of course I didn't have a deposit slip or know my bank account number. As the bank teller sent the slip thru the drawer, she began to ask about the cacophany coming from the van. "Yes, I have three kids." She was amazed and declared, "You don't look a day over 20!" Oh, how wonderful! Shortly after we were married, I was mistaken for being 12 which was pretty disturbing in a number of aspects; everyone assured me the day would come when I would appreciate this kind of comment. Everyone was right.

After I laid Stephen down to rest, Andrew said, "Can you please leave me alone?" This coming from the child who stays within my sight pretty much all day long. "Sure, dear; I'd be glad to."

He's Fast

I knew this boy would have to learn to hold his own, but I didn't realize he had figured it out so quickly.

We were merrily playing on the screened porch this morning, Matthew watching the big boys with their Matchbox cars and friction-powered tow trucks. Realizing Stephen was engrossed in towing a tow truck, Matthew made his move....
and snatched the beloved car transporter.

A Hodgepodge of Pics

Nothing clever or cute; just life with little ones.

An abandoned duck egg we brought home...

and then broke to see what was inside. You've got to be on eye-level with the vehicles...

Matthew hanging out in his newest toy (he loves being upright)...

A picnic in the front yard (no crumbs to clean!!!)...

Maff-a-yooou being his sweet self...Seeing as it was 90+ every day this week, we headed to a local park with fountains. Andrew ventured in a few times, but Stephen was glued to my side eating all morning.

A dear friend came over to babysit the kiddos while we went out to celebrate our ninth anniversary. "Here's to us. You used to say, 'Here's to us!'"

The family photographer was occupied with activities at church today while Doug and the big boys headed to the tow truck museum. Apparently in addition to numerous real tow trucks, there is a large room full of toy tow trucks. I think the boys imagined having them all to play with. I'm sure visions of tow trucks danced in their heads tonight as they went to bed.

Evening Battles

Fortified with a full meal and "even kazert" on occasion, the boys of the home sans Matthew retreat to the bedroom to do battle. The untold stories of the Israelite soldiers & Goliath are brought to life every night in our home. It seems that though unrecorded in the Biblical account, Goliath was a good snuggler. Who would have thought? Apparently Goliath has more lives than a cat as he repeatedly and miraculously recovers from decapitation. And even though the Israelite army is few in numbers (two to be exact), they are always victorious (maybe it has something to do with modern technology such as trains and chain saws). Through the shrieks and squeals and shouting, I overhead Andrew's sweet sing-song voice as he looked for the enemy, "Where are you? I want to kill you."

Scrapes & Snakes

Stephen didn't fair too well with his first attempt to catch a Frisbee (thanks, Daddy!). He was granted a special dispensation and was not required to close his eyes when we prayed "because it hurts."

Saturday was exciting. I was merrily nursing Matthew on the porch while the boys helped Doug clean the fence. All of a sudden I heard Andrew exclaim, "There's a snake!" I figured it was a small black snake, but when I looked down, this is what I saw.

Of course, I screamed but then said, "Wait, I've got to get the camera!" Doug was going to shoo it away by squirting it with water, but I didn't relish the thought of the boys having a snake as a playmate. He kept trying to tell me that it was not poisonous, but that did nothing to calm my fears. Finally, he traded the hose for a hatchet and chopped off its head. The boys weren't scared at all. Andrew waved to the snake, said hi to the snake, and blew kisses to the snake (I'm sure it appreciated the loving gestures as it expired). Stephen was most impressed that daddy scooped it up with the shovel and threw it in the ditch. I was just glad Doug was around to kill the 5 ft+ reptile.