Snapshots

No, not actual photos. Instead, let me give you a mental image of some of our more interesting moments.

One morning last week, at the ungodly hour of 5:15 (sleeping in vanished shortly after the jet lag from our west coast trip wore off), I hear the stampeding of little feet into the bathroom. Then a brief scuffle over who had to pee first. Followed almost immediately by, "MOM! Kemper's peeing on the floor!" And you thought your alarm clock was bad....

The weather has been mild here this week, so the boys have spent a fair amount of time playing outside. They're finally old enough that they'll stay in the back yard instead of wandering down the driveway and into the street, so I just leave the back door open so I can hear them. Usually they ride their bikes, play in the sandbox, build airports (or so they say), etc. Well, the other day I was working on dinner when I heard the sound of raucous laughter coming from the yard. They were clearly having a great time. The cackling continued for quite some time. It suddenly occurred to me that I should probably see what was so darn funny. Yep, you guessed it - they were definitely up to no good. Our neighbors have some tomato plants that hang over onto our side of the fence, and the kids had picked a couple of partially ripe tomatoes to throw at the house. Repeatedly. The back wall of the house was covered in tomato pulp.

And no matter how hard I try, I can't get them to stop climbing the back porch railing and hanging from the clothesline.

On the other hand, I was able to give away their outdoor playhouse without incident. They decided they wanted to give it to someone younger who really wanted it, and so far there has been no regret as far as I can tell. I'm pleased, since they weren't playing in it anymore. No, they were climbing up onto the roof, making me eternally nervous. At least this worked out well for all of us.

Leaps and Bounds

Well, it has finally happened. My children are old enough to sit for a reading from a real book. You know, one with chapters and everything! They even ask me several times each day to read from it. I can't tell you how excited I am about this. Yes, it means they'll be demanding more of my time, but it's just so great! I read, they ask questions, we review what happened last time we read, and with rare exception, they sit quietly and listen. Wow.

I started with Stuart Little, since we have it and they like mice. Morgan had been trying to read Winnie the Pooh to them, but they weren't ready to sit still. I'm guessing he'll go back to that now that we're in this new phase. Of course, we're wondering when they'll be ready for The Hobbit or The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. It's hard to say if they'll be too frightened by some of the stuff in these. Maybe I'll give one of them a try and see how it goes.

Anyway, I'm thrilled about this development.

Necessary Evil

This morning Rowan had to have a medical "procedure" on his penis. This was a follow-up to the hypospadias repair he had done when he was 7 months old. It was a fairly quick procedure, though they did put him to sleep for it. I suppose I should feel honored that he wanted mommy to go back to the prep area with him (leaving poor daddy in the waiting area with Kemper, who was perfectly content to watch Playhouse Disney), but man, was it hard. Not the whole thing - he was actually very brave and well behaved the whole time. The hard part was going into the operating room with him until he was asleep.

I put the mask on myself first (it was obviously disconnected from whatever the sedating air is called) to show him it was okay, but when they put it on him, he looked absolutely terrified. He was clearly trying his hardest not to lose control - his eyes teared up, and his whole face tensed up - but I could see it all in his eyes. The anesthesiologist assured me he was already asleep at this point, and that his body was simply trying to catch up. Also that he wouldn't remember any of it. I'm not sure I buy that.

He survived though, and had a rather brief stay in the recovery room. Came to bright eyed and bushy tailed; his first act was to remove the hospital gown and examine his penis. There isn't really anything visible except for a little sore spot, which I think surprised him. I suppose it would after the simplified explanation we had given. The procedure is called a meatotomy, which we had described as having a really small balloon put into his penis and blown up a little to make the hole bigger. I think he had an image of the typical balloon - you know, very large and round. It was probably quite a relief to see that his penis wasn't like that.

So I (we?) survived the hospital portion of the day, only to be faced with painful urination at home. I had to put the poor kid in the tub to pee the first two times, as he just wouldn't go on the toilet because of the stinging. Not that the bath made it hurt less, but the warm water relaxed him enough that he would go. During the second bath, he started the following exchange:
"I'm sad that they did that." "You mean to your penis?" "Yeah, they ruined it", he replied. Wow. Talk about breaking your mother's heart.

In the larger scheme of things, I'm sure it is for the best. But having your 3 1/2 year old son think his penis has been ruined is pretty hard to handle. I mean, what must he think of us for putting him through such a thing? I know, I know, I'm overreacting, and I'm sure in the morning he'll be almost completely over it, but still. It was a tough day.

So Grown Up

Kemper and Rowan had their second tooth cleaning appointment recently. They did such a great job. Unlike the first time, they each sat alone in the chair while they hygienist did her job. Neither moved, both opened wide when asked, etc. They were apparently more tolerant and obedient than many adult patients! When it was time for the dentist to look them over, she checked Rowan first. Kemper got in the chair for his turn, and she said, "Your brother has 20 teeth. How many teeth do you think you have?" To which he replied, "Well, I'm missing one, but I still have all the rest." Too cute.

(In case anyone is reading who didn't already know this, Kemper had to have one of his front teeth pulled at 18months after knocking it all the way up into his jaw when he fell at a friend's house.)

Alone Time

We've been trying to spend some one-on-one time with the boys, and have been successful the past couple of weekends. A recent Saturday found me picking peaches with Rowan, while Morgan took Kemper fishing. A good time was had by all. Kemper caught one fish (and released it, since the Charles river isn't as clean as they say), and asked if sometime he could keep what he catches and bring it home for mommy to cook. Rowan ate some good fresh peaches and nectarines, then drove the old tractor on the farm's playground before we headed home. Mom and dad have it easy, with only one kid to keep track of. We miss out on family togetherness, but in the end it usually is worth it.

Out and About

Last week I had no daycare or summer camp scheduled, so in a very uncharacteristic moment, I planned ahead and got passes to the Science Museum from our local library. I was a bit nervous, as the last time I tried going there on my own with the boys, it was a disaster. They were just too young. But this time, it was a smashing success.

Not that they really did much other than press buttons and listen to the prerecorded information at the displays, but they had a blast. Boston's museum has a Van de Graaff generator, and they put on a live lightning show each day. It's a pretty cool thing, but loud and dark. I was worried it would scare the boys, but it was their favorite part of the visit! That and the replica of one of the Apollo capsules.

We left after 3 1/2 hours, not because the boys were acting badly, but because the parking fees are outrageous and I was getting worried about how much that was going to cost. But this was definitely a record for our little group.

It was such a success, I joined for a year. We'll definitely be going back.

Over The Hump?

Lately it seems like we might be leaving the terrible twos behind. Sure, my boys are now 3 1/2, but I can assure you that they have been terrible well past their twos. But in the past few weeks, there have been little indications that they're really becoming little boys instead of toddlers.

Kemper, picky eater extraordinaire (I'm sure that came from me), has been very brave and tried pretty much everything we've presented. He's gone from eating only pizza, tortellini, macaroni & cheese, and chicken fingers to salmon, lentils with rice, quiche, ham sandwiches, clam chowder, lo mein, and baked ziti. In short, it seems my days of cooking two dinners each night are becoming a thing of the past. What a relief! Of course, it's always most successful if we eat as a family, which can be tricky during the week when Morgan is working. But we're trying.

I can actually convince the boys to clean up their toys. Sort of. And with lots of nagging. But they're starting to get it. Kemper occasionally says, "Mommy, I think I'll go clean up the living room." What mom wouldn't be thrilled at this? I hate nagging about something so unimportant, though, so I've enlisted the help of the House Fairy. It's silly, but it works. (If you want more information about her, check out her website: www.housefairy.org)

Bedtime is usually a breeze. Aside from the occasional tussle over how many books we'll read, they're ready to get to bed most nights. The last time we had a sitter, they had a good nap during the day but still asked her if they could go to bed around 7, then did so without any fanfare. Sometimes Rowan still sneaks out of his room to ask stalling questions. "Mommy, about what time are we going to wake up?" "Mommy, I'm sweaty so will you check on me later and put my blanket back on me?" Or similar things.

There are, of course, still tantrums and occasional bad days. But those will last forever, I think. I keep running into parents of older kids at the grocery or similar locations, usually when I'm being stern with the boys about not listening, and they universally say, "Oh, it just gets worse, you wait!" Hmmm. That may be, but at least now they can reason somewhat, and can finally be trusted (most of the time) not to run away from us when we aren't looking.