Ian's Gum Lesson

Today Ian had such a great lunch that when he asked for a 2nd piece of candy for dessert, I said yes.  Then I walked out of the room.

When I came back, there was a scrambling from the kitchen, a crunching of wrappers, a gurgling/coughing sound, and it wasn't long before I put it all together.

And while I stepped away, that little stinker unwrapped 7 pieces of that pink sugary bubble gum from Porter's birthday party, and shoved them ALL in his mouth.  He had this giant wad of sticky, slobbery gum filling up his entire oral cavity- so much so that he couldn't manipulate it and move it around so he could, you know, swallow.   Or breathe.

So he is gagging on it, and then spits out the globby mess into his hand.  At this point, I am trying to direct him to the sink, and while I do that, he puts it back into his mouth and wipes his hand on the floor, the chairs, the counter, and then finally makes a giant pink, sticky swipe down the front of his shirt.

Oh, and he is drooling.

Gah!

I end up making him spit it into a napkin- well, not really making him; he couldn't breathe!- throwing it away, and giving him a lecture on "Why Eating Seven Pieces of Gum is Not a Good Idea, Not to Mention That I Told You That You Could Have ONE More Piece of Candy, Not All the Bubble Gum in the Bag."

He got really upset at me for throwing out his gum, but was surprisingly accepting of my reasoning (this is your consequence for not listening).

Then he explained to me that he only did it because one of the big boys at the party did it and he wanted to try it, too.  I felt kind of bad for him, he plead his case so well.  

When Bryan came home, Ian told him what he learned about gum:  "That you can't put all the gum in your mouth at the same time because it turns into a sticky mess and Mommy will make you throw it away."  

DSAC Easter Egg Hunt

Our birth-3 group hosted an egg hunt a few weeks ago for all ages in the DSAC.  We had a music therapy session, singing, dancing, eating, and egg hunting.

Highlights:
*Ian and I went early to help hide the eggs.  I love doing stuff with him.
*Chase discovering his love for foil wrapped chocolate eggs (and Bryan teaching him that he can unwrap them prior to eating them).
*Chase joining in on the singing and dancing, even walking up to Mr. Nigel to help him play his guitar.
*A chance to wear my bunny ears.

Spring Miracles

We have a visitor on our porch.  A robin decided to build her nest in the upper corner above our rocking chairs a few weeks ago.

Every time we would open the door, she would fly away, and then stalk around on the ground close by, or watch us from a nearby tree until we vacated the premises.

Then, early this week, she stopped leaving when we disturbed her, choosing instead to ruffle her feathers and stare down at us from atop her nest.  Tiffany and I figured that she had finally lain her eggs.

But come to find out, she had laid them much earlier (14 to 16 days ago- I looked it up!) and they were hatched!  Ian and I have seen 2 baby robin heads peeping out, opening their little beaks wide in anticipation of the meal that their mama will be bringing back.

I must say, although the miracle of life is amazing, those little baldy-head birds definitely aren't the cutest offspring ever.

Showing Off

We did a thousand 4 things yesterday.  It is spring break, so I don't have any daycare kids.  That means that I have the freedom to run all of my errands before 3pm with only 3 kids in tow.  Watching 2 extras really puts your own busy-ness in perspective.

Anyway.  We hit Sam's Club,  McDonald's, the park, Target, and the dollar ice cream stand.  We had actual things to do, and I threw in McD's, the park, and ice cream in for funsies because I felt bad that the kids' spring break was filled with doctor appointments and my things-to-do list.

We took Happy Meals to the park, the kids ate and began monkeying around on the playground equipment.  Ian was all over the place.  And so was Chase.  We started on the toddler playground, since it is fenced and I could finish feeding Gavin while they played without the fear of Chase running away.

Then Ian brought up a really good point ("Mom, it's not fair that I can't go on the big slides.") and we headed over to the giant play area.  I figured that Chase would kind of wander around, perhaps climb some stairs, and probably go down the smaller slides.  We get there, and I should have known...Monkey see, Monkey do.  Chase follows Ian all the way to the top of the biggest slide out there (think:  those super-fast straight slides at the water park.  Ok, it wasn't THAT tall, but I imagine that to Chase that is what it looked like.)

And do you know what he did?  He sat down and launched himself right down, smiling (almost, except for that split second of what-the-hell-did-I-just-do?! look of sheer panic) the whole way.

Then he did it again 4 more times.  And once he climbed up the completely vertical ladder to get to the top instead of using the stairs.

Everyone at the park was watching him.  I don't know if it was because of his complete joy of being allowed to be a big boy, or because they were terrified for him.  But I realized that there was a time when I didn't want people to look at him.  I wanted to protect him from the stares and the questions, and I would take complete offense to the questioning looks.  I thought every person looking at him was either pitying me or him.

But it is very different now, and I didn't really realize it until Bryan and I were talking to some new parents over dinner the other night.  Now I delight in other peoples' stares...because I believe usually they are in awe over what my little man can do.  I want him to show off.  I love that Bryan lets him ride on top of his shoulders and that he says hi! everyone from his perch.  I love that he climbs to the top of the slide and waves from the top.  I love that other people underestimate him and then get proved wrong.

I feel like every person that he passes and waves to may be the next person who chooses or knows someone who will chose to keep their unborn baby with Ds.

He is just such a little rock star, and I am so SO proud to be his mom. :)

Easter 2010

We had an awesome Easter...

We began with the official egg hunt this morning (after the Easter Bunny dyed eggs last night at 9pm because Ian reminded me that we had forgotten to dye them on Saturday!  Doh!).

Chase was not so interested, except to throw a couple of them on the floor.  He would rather watch Yo Gabba Gabba with only one eye open and eat a banana.

Gavin slept in and missed the fun.

Celebrated at church with an amazing service at the Time Warner Arena with 11,000 people attending:

We have been blessed to be a part of this church and the good, good things that it is doing for the city of Charlotte.  It is something that we would have never believed that would become such an integral part of our lives, but today we celebrated whole heartedly the Risen Lord and the miraculous way He reaches out to those who need Him.  Yay!  *end crazy Christian rave*  :)

We did brunch at this really really cool French bakery, Amelie's, in NoDa with the Gallers.  I ate many many pastries, as did everyone else.  Yum.

When we got home, Ian tried out the new helmet and bell that the Easter Bunny brought him this morning. Doesn't he look gigantic on that teeny bike?  Methinks there will be a new bicycle coming next Christmas before his knees start hitting the handlebars when he rides...

 Chase and Gavin were exhausted, so they took a nap...and SO DID I!  Heaven.  Bryan took Ian out to do guy errands (Lowes) and do bee stuff in the backyard:

I got up before Chase and Gavin and had some time in the kitchen to myself and whipped up some roasted sweet potatoes and bakers with caramelized onions, roasted asparagus, and balsamic marinated baby bella mushrooms.  I love cooking.  Wish I had more time to do it...

After dinner we had some daylight left, so we tried to get a picture of the boys in their Sunday finery.  I love those kids.  Seriously.  Love 'em.  

Outtakes:

Notice Ian is still smiling in this one...and Gavin learns a new trick.

Look alive, Chasey!

Chase is done with this picture thing and is asking to go on the swings now.  You know, the ones right there.

Hope you all had a very happy Easter!

April Fool's

I rocked April Fool's Day today.  Rocked it.

When Ian came downstairs in the morning, I handed him his juice (in a cup with a straw) but HA!  I had filled it with lemon jello the night before :)  He thought it was pretty funny.  After he figured out that it wasn't the straw that wasn't working...

Then I poured him his cereal.  I had put a couple drops of blue food coloring in the bottom of the bowl, then poured cereal on top of it, so when I poured the milk on it in front of him, it magically turned blue!

Ian was so into April Fool's day.  He soon figured out that he could pretend just about anything and make it funny by shouting, "April Fools!"

Ian!  Get dressed!  You are going to be late to school!

No, Mom!  I'm not ever going to do that!!  ...APRIL FOOLS!!!

*sigh*

He kept asking me if I had any more pranks to pull.  I (of course) kept telling him that I was all done for the day.  He and Chase went to school, and I proceeded to make a bunch of teeny tiny peas, carrots, corns, and potatoes out of Starbursts and Airheads.  I mixed those with vanilla pudding, baked a pie crust to fit the pan, and laid it on top.

Then I had to wait for like 6 hours before I could serve my Chicken Not Pie for dinner.  And I couldn't even Facebook about it, because I didn't want Bryan to find out.  Torture.

Finally, dinner came around, and I had to make a big show of taking my pie out of the oven, pretending that it was hot, and dishing it up.  I may have cracked a smile during this, and perhaps stifled a giggle, because Bryan became suspicious.

It took Ian a few bites to realize there was something amiss.  He ate some crust first, and exclaimed, "Mom.  This is the BEST dinner!"  Then he took a bite of filling, chewed for a bit, and asked (with a giant grin on his face) if I put jelly beans in the pot pie.  Bryan and I played it off, like ours was perfectly normal, and he took another bite.  He began raving again at how good it was (Well, yeah, I just served you candy and pudding for dinner- of course it is good!), and then it clicked that it really wasn't dinner at all- and he was pranked again :)  Oh, and he also thought the whipped cream instead of milk was awesome.

Chase just about cleaned his plate.  Except he left his "veggies"- I think they were too chewy.  Funny- he will eat real green beans and corn like they are going out of style, but he spits out Starbursts.  I don't think I will ever figure out that boy of mine.

We had dessert next- wild rice and red beans :)

Water Table

It feels like August here today.  I filled the water table up yesterday and the boys loooooooove it.  Love it.

Oh, and this is Chase's new cheese face that he puts on every time I take the camera out.  Nice, right?