All The Ladies

Silly Ben strikes again! Tonight on the way home from school I told Ben "Guess what? I weighed in at Weight Watchers today and I lost 3.2 pounds last week! That means I have lost over 5 pounds now, isn't that great?!" Ben said "Awesome! You are going to be so skinny...but not as skinny as me." I said, "Well that is good, I don't want to be as skinny as you." Ben looked offended and said "Why not? I get all the ladies!" HA! That kid cracks me up!

Poison Control

Short Story: I had to call Poison Control this morning because Joey ingested an unknown quantity (at least 1/4 of a bottle perhaps as much as 1/2 a bottle) of children's acetaminophen. He is fine. Long Story: I have been sick for about 10 days with a sinus infection and bronchitis. I am feeling much better now (on round two of antibiotics) so I can't really use my prolonged illness as an excuse for my poor parenting but watch me. Joey started feeling sick yesterday and had a fever and cough again when he woke up this morning so we headed into the pediatrician. His illness was pronounced as viral and we went home with a "prescription" to snuggle on the couch watching movies and use Tylenol and/or Motrin for fever control. Upon our return home, I dosed Joey up with Tylenol and we made a bed on the couch and got comfy. Perhaps too comfy since I fell asleep. I vaguely remember at some point Joey saying he wanted more medicine and I told him that he already had medicine and couldn't have anymore yet. I woke up at some point later (no more than 15 minutes) and got up to make Joey lunch. I noticed the (closed) bottle of Tylenol on the counter with a chair pulled over to the counter in front of it. The bottle was nearly empty and though I could not recall how full it was two hours earlier, I was positive it held much more liquid then. I asked Joey if he took any medicine and he said "yes, four times....I'm sorry." I thought there was no way he could have opened the "childproof lid" that I struggle with at times so I handed him the bottle and asked him to show me what he did. Sure enough, he opened it right up and then showed me how he basically poured himself shots (4 times) of medicine into the medicine cup. Yikes. I called Dean and paniced to him and then more calmly called Poison Control. They were very kind and after asking me his weight and then assuming that he ingested about a half bottle of medicine, determined that he was fine. She said he would have had to drink an entire bottle of the medicine in order to be sent into the hospital for a Tylenol level. Again, I am not sure how much he drank but I know for a fact that I have given at least five doses of medicine from that bottle so I feel confident that it is not possible that he ingested more than half of the bottle. I feel a little bit better, but not really. Joey seems fine and is napping now (which doesn't do much to help my nerves). I moved all of the medicine from the cabinet in the kitchen where it is normally stored onto the top shelf of the hall linen closet...not terribly convenient but at least I know my little houdini can't easily reach it now. If you need me I will be polishing my "mother of the year" award and googling all of the horrible things that can occur when a child overdoses on Tylenol.

Knock, Knock

Knock Knock jokes are big in our house right now. Big. The boys are very into telling them, hearing them, repeating them, and learning them. It seems that the more nonsensical the joke the better. A popular one today: Knock, Knock. Who's there? Underwear! AHAHAHAHAAHAH. And this weekend Joe would giggle with wild glee whenever he told this joke: Knock, Knock Who's there? Chickadee! AHAHAHAHAHAAH. This afternoon, however, we reached a joke-telling milestone when Joey properly delivered a knock knock joke to Benny's best buddy Nathan while we were all at the table after school enjoying a snack. "Nathan. I have a berry, berry good one." Knock, Knock Who's there? Boo Boo Who? WHY YOU CRYINNNNNNN? Joe literally fell out of his chair with hysterics over this one. I love hearing my boys laugh...and I love that it is so easy to make them laugh.

And It Begins.

I am not known for my math skills (and that is putting it mildly). I have a college transcript somewhere to prove it (a 5 hour D in calculus my freshman year did not start the old GPA off on the right foot). I knew at some point in my tenure as a parent my skills were going to be tested and one or likely both of the boys would end up bringing home math homework one day that I could not begin to help them with. I never, in my wildest dreams however, expected to be surpassed by a kindergartner. Gesh. The following conversation took place tonight while I was making dinner and Ben was at the table doing his homework. Me: "Ben, guess what? Joey knows all his shapes now, isn't that great?" Ben: "Cool. Does he know parallelogram? How about trapezoid? Does he know rhombus?" Me: "Ben, I meant triangles, circles, etc. I don't even know what a rhombus is." Ben: "It's a diamond, Mom. Duh. I can see you were not in Mrs. Carlson's kindergarten class." Ouch.

Happy New Year...Already??

Another year has come and gone and I, for one, am shocked by the way the days turn into weeks, and into months, and before you know it another year has begun. I had barely gotten used to writing 2010 on my checks and here it is 2011 already. Good grief!

We had high hopes of ringing in the new year with a Pacers game followed by a party with friends but due to some (ahem) gastrointestinal distress experienced by the Joe Bug, our plans were derailed. We did make it to the Pacers game (though Joey and I only lasted half of the game) but then decided to call it a night and hang out at home. The good news is Joey wasn't sick, just suffering from a challenge in titrating his MiraLax dosage. It's feast or famine when it comes to poor Joey's bowels. He either can't go for days or is a volcano of poop all day long. Too much information?

Anyway, Jarin and Adam came by to hang out for a bit on NYE and the boys decided to have a sleepover in Ben's room so they retired early. Dean and I attempted to watch a movie but both hated the one we selected so we ended up watching mindless TV while waiting for the countdown with Dick Clark. I woke up Dean at 11:57 p.m., we kissed at midnight, and that was our wild and crazy new year celebration. Happy New Year!

We did celebrate a New Year in a big way on January 1, however, by getting rid of Joey's crib and changing table and introducing his new big boy bed!! YAY!

Joey is sooooo excited to have a big boy bed (he got Ben's bed and Ben inherited Uncle Craig's old trundle bed). The following day, both boys picked out new bedding. I have no pictures of the new bedding but I assure you the purchasing decisions were very carefully and thoughfully made ("no cartoons" was Ben's requirement before settling on a brown comforter with orange and blue stripes and blue sheets and Joey fell in love with bright orange sheets and a sports themed comforter).

I am amazed how "big boy" Ben's room is now. I think it will pretty much look as it does for the next 15 years. Ben also inherited Uncle Craig's old desk. I can find him at the desk at any given point during the day creating masterpieces...I caught Jack watching him hard at work the other day! Joey's room, obviously looks a lot different now too. He is ready for a new coat of paint on the walls, but he really loves spending "quiet time" in his room now and laying on his bed reading books.

The trundle bed has been a big hit....even with Jackson!

The boys attempted a sleepover the first night and Ben fell asleep with no problem but Joey eventually opted to sleep in his new bed.

Joe naps great in his bed and sleeps well...once he falls asleep. His new freedom is just prooving to be too inticing right now so he gets up and down....and up and down...for about an hour and a half before giving in to sleep. He also has been waking up at 5 a.m. and coming in to get Dean, who graciously goes and lays in Joe's bed, where they both fall back asleep for another hour or so. And then another day begins at 6:30 a.m. We are NOT sleeper inners.

Four days into 2011, it looks like it is shaping up to be a decent year. The boys started back to school this week (which we were ALL ready for) and it is nice to get back into our normal routine. We did pack in a few playdates last week, including a bowling trip with the Matelics.

Ben also participated in Billy Keller's Basketball Camp at the Fishers YMCA. He had a blast.

So cheers to a new year and cheers to a return to scheduled days. Routine is not boring, it is a welcome friend, whom I am so happy to have back in my life.

Back Off Girls, He's Mine!

Tonight I stumbled upon Dean and my wedding album while looking for something for Benny. Ben and I snuggled up on the floor in the family room and looked at all the pictures. It was very fun, at least for me, and Ben enjoyed laughing at all of the pictures and "ooooooing" at the ones showing Dean and I kissing. Very gross, according to Ben. Joey was half paying attention and would come over every once in awhile to check out a picture that elicited a particularly large giggle from Ben or I. Right before bed Joey started running around saying "I getting married. I getting married!" When I asked him who he was marrying, he at first said "Bubby!" but then quickly decided "Mommy!" would be the better choice. Joey and I had a brief ceremony that featured us holding hands while walking across the family room. We then held hands and faced one another and I said "Joey, do you want to marry mommy?" "YES, I DO!" Joey proudly squealed. I then said "Mommy, do you want to marry Joey." and replied "Yes, I do!" We then kissed and Joey ran around saying "I married. Wahoo!" Several minutes later, when the groom was going potty in preparation for bedtime, Ben jumped on my back while I was sitting on the floor. Joey came into the room and said "Hey! Get off my married!!" It was a sweet memory and I know I will flash back on this day when Joey really does find his true love and gets "married...wahoo!"