Bite o' Toe

My mom loves to play a game with her grandkids where she has them give her a "bite o' toe." And of course they all love it. Now Blake is at an age where he understands it and plays along, and it is too cute. Observe:

Mamaw says, "Gimme a bite 'o toe!"

Blake lifts his foot up in response. Mamaw bites the toes.

He also loves to play along with Peek-a-boo, Patty Cake, Horsey...and he mimics us sometimes (dadada, mamama, etc.). His brain is really starting to make connections. That makes me proud. And sad.

Double Vision

Josh and George have pink eye. Josh contracted it yesterday (Happy Thanksgiving!). It came on fast and furious - I had no idea goop could accumulate so fast in an eyeball! Eww. We promptly got the special drops and began using them last night. And we launched an all-out assault against the potential spreading of this nasty virus. We are washing hands every 5 seconds, it seems (and those little hands are chapped - so now we're trying to manage that problem as well), trying to disinfect as we go, and really trying to make sure nobody touches anyone else's face or hands or stuff. It is not easy.

And this morning, George's left eye appeared to have a sty on it. And later on, the other eye started getting a bit of goop.

Now with regards to administering the drops, I have to use two totally different approaches. With Joshua, I have to tell him that he cannot have any more drops right now, but that he will get more another time (he begs for them). With George, we have to cajole, plead, bribe, threaten and finally hold him down by force (which it takes both of us to do) to get one drop in. And he freaks out the whole time. So it ends up being a process that takes a very long time.

God knew which kid would be able to handle a broken leg and all that that entailed. We call Josh our "good little patient." George on the other hand? Not so much.

Monday Musings

Blake said his first word today. And not just any word, either. The word was "agog." Isn't he a genius?! I learned that word in vocabulary class in high school, so when he said it I of course had this mental dialogue going on: He just said his first word! What a brilliant baby. Most adults probably don't know that word. And so on. He even used it in the proper context! Okay, so he really didn't mean for it to be a real word, but it was still too cute.

For those of you who are not familiar with this term, please allow me to enlighten you - compliments of Webster's Dictionary online:

Main Entry:
agog
Pronunciation:
\ə-ˈgäg\
Function:
adjective
Etymology:
Middle French en gogues in mirth
Date:
1559
: full of intense interest or excitement : eager [kids agog over new toys]

Now here's the other part of this scenario. Yesterday we witnessed him pull up for the first time (it was not actually THE first time, as he fell out of his crib a couple of days before that, indicating he did in fact possess that ability prior to our knowledge of it - but that is another post). He was trying to get into a box of toys that I was getting ready to take down to the basement. He got onto his hands and knees, reached up and grabbed the box with one hand, then steadied himself and grabbed with the other, then scooched up with his little knees until he was close enough to balance well and then he stood up! It was a bittersweet moment. I am so not ready for him to be standing/walking! He's moving too fast. It's all slipping away, this sweet babyhood of his.

So. Back to the brilliant baby story. Tonight (as he was refusing to sleep and since the vultures were in bed), we played on the floor for a while. And he was just so happy to be given some freedom to roam (this kid is dying to get MOVING) - that's when he said "agog." So you can imagine my amusement and delight (word nerd that I am - and hey! that rhymed!) with the whole thing. I guess it's the kind of story that perhaps only English teachers can truly appreciate (and if any of you readers are English teachers, please overlook my grammar missteps - this is blogspeak here, not research paper worthy writing, obviously). Mrs. English would be so proud. Yes, my English/Vocab teacher's name was Mrs. English. How utterly apropo (another word learned in her class).

So what if he followed it up with "gagagagagaga." He has learned a new skill. AND said a new word (even if only in Mommy's mind). And about these things, I am agog.

A New Trench

A new chapter is about to begin. Chris got offered a job in Knoxville, Tennessee, and he accepted. We will be relocating there. His job will start December 15th, which means he is going to go down alone while the boys and I stay here to sell the house. Most likely, the kids and I will move in with my parents so that the house can be clean and ready to show at all times. Chris is looking to rent a room or apartment (or if we can find someone who knows someone who would be willing to open their home to him, that would be fantastic), and we will be apart for a while.

God is orchestrating the details of this process. We are trusting in Him to work it out (otherwise I would be a mental case - even more of one, that is). And coming off of the Women's Retreat, I definitely feel that I have come closer to Him and can lean on Him more. So it will be an interesting few weeks, months, and beyond, as we move down South - away from my family - and start a new life there. But God has a plan, and there is peace in that.

Joshua's Gems

So Josh was sitting on the potty the other day, and I was in his room picking out clothes or something. George was somewhere else, and I hear Josh call from the bathroom in a little sing-song voice (think of the commercial for Ricola cough drops) "George-ua....George-ua!" Chris and I will sometimes call Josh like that - Josh-ua - so we just cracked up hysterically. So of course then he kept doing it since he knew we thought it was so funny. And when I went in to check on him he said "I'm silly. Right, Mommy?"

3..2..1..Cast Off!

OK, so I know that was cheesy, but I don't care! It's gone! Here's the story (from a Facebook note I wrote).

***

Hallelujah! It's gone! And my son finally smells good. I need to post the pics and video clips that I took to document the process. Maybe soon. Anyway...

We went in this morning, and the x-rays showed that he had a lot of new bone growth (yay!), so he got the OK to get the cast off. The doc told us that even though Josh might be excited to get the cast off, he would probably get angry once it was actually coming off (it seems that many children scream during the entire removal process). He also said that he would be really scared to use his leg(s) - probably wouldn't even want to try for 2-3 days. And that it would take about 4 weeks before he was able to use his legs normally (and might still be walking with a limp even then). So I won't be calling to have them come pick up the wheelchair tomorrow or anything.

So the nurse (tech?) comes in and shows Josh the cast cutter, and you could tell he was really nervous. Once she started cutting, he cried for just a minute. But once he realized it really didn't hurt at all (and actually kind of tickled), he watched, fascinated. He had a few moments of concern (when she was cutting close to the diaper area), but overall he did really awesome. The nurse was really impressed with how calm he was - she said the last kid she cut a cast off of screamed the whole time. My Joshy, such the good little patient. There was another kid who came into the room next to us as we were getting Josh ready to go, and he started screaming from the get-go.

When we got home, he sat on the couch for a while. Then Chris gave him a hair cut and my overachieving, energetic child decided to try and walk (with Daddy's help). He had already been moving his leg some in the car on the way home as well. He took a nice long bath, and after that he was scooting around on the floor for a bit (like when he was in the cast). At one point he ended up rolling over and getting up on his knees, but that hurt him pretty good. I was afraid he'd try to do too much. He took a long nap, and enjoyed the evening sans cast. He still wants to sleep on his back and have extra pillows in the bed (he usually is a tummy sleeper), so we're just trying to make him as comfortable as possible with getting him back on his feet.

Thanks to all who have prayed us through this - God is good!

***

And now for pictures:

Today's the day!

If only I'd known he could fit in his little chair a few weeks ago...

He was determined to get around - by the last couple of days he was trying to walk (with assistance, of course. Well, mostly.)

The last time having to wear the cast in the car seat.

Wheeling him in...

He wanted to play on the floor of the Dr.'s office immediately.

The X-Ray:

Feeling really nervous now...

The tech demonstrating the blade to show it won't hurt.

He cried at first...

But once he realized it didn't hurt, he was fine! It actually tickled him.

Now he's watching intently. Plus she just cut off the dowel rod, which he got to keep as a souvenir.

Now for the pliers.

And step two - cutting through the cotton.

Look Mommy! It's my foot!

Ewwww.

The remains. We could have taken it all home with us, but I thought a picture was enough. And the souvenir rod.

The lollipop reward.

The result of 6 weeks worth of no lotion:

Here's a better look.

Daddy gave him a hair cut post cast removal and pre-bath. Isn't he cute? He even tried to stand up and take a few steps. Already!

Can't get enough of the walking - so he used Mamaw as his walker to get him to the bathroom.

Just look at that face.

The Pumpkin Patch

So a MOPS friend of mine has a U-Pick Pumpkin patch that she and her husband run, so we went there a couple of weeks ago. There's just something special about picking out a pumpkin from its home on the ground rather than a store shelf. The boys had a great time, and we ended up with a nice family of pumpkins.

The pumpkin stand (so cute!):

The hayride that took us out to the patch:
Can you believe I forgot to bring jackets? I had only one (Josh's), so my mom used it to cover the baby's ears. He was perfectly content in the carrier because he loves chewing on the strap.

George really wanted to pick up a big pumpkin, but it proved to be more difficult than he thought.

What do you think of this one?

The wagon pulls double duty.
Despite the lack of pumpkin picking ability, Josh was delighted to find that there was something he liked even better.

Couldn't see it? It was this. A bug. What could be better?
A family photo op. And the boys with their pumpkins, back at home.
My pumpkin carving prowess on display (don't be too impressed - I actually messed up on it and a couple of days after carving we had an evening with strong winds and the face fell out of it. Oops!)

We enjoyed some toasted pumpkin seeds from this pumpkin as well. I would show you the other pumpkins, but we did not end up carving them as planned (Chris' was going to be Larry the Cucumber and the boys' would have been the French Peas - hadn't figured out Blake's yet). Maybe next year we'll do a better job of planning the pumpkin carving activities.

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