An Open Letter to Mom.

Dear Mom,

Hey! How are you? I just thought I'd drop you a quick note about what's been going on around here lately.

Sooooo... my sisters are gone. I don't know where they go, or what they do, but now it's just you and me, mano-y-mano, all day long. I'd appreciate it if you'd just carry me around now, like, all day, since you're not doing too much of anything else.
And what the heck is going on with my mouth? It just hurts all the time, like something is poking up through my gums or something. Weird. But just so you know, that's one of the reasons why I've been waking up at all hours of the night. It hurts.
Of course, I've also been waking up because when I sit up and cry in my crib, you come get me and then we lay down on the family room couch together and snuggle and sleep. Good times. You're like my own personal mattress. And it doesn't seem to matter when I do it- sometimes I get up at 1am, sometimes 3am, sometimes I get up at 10:45pm and you still come in. You don't seem too happy when I get up at 10:45pm, though. Maybe you should get a little more sleep. You'd feel better.

I hear you and Dad talk about this thing called Ferber-izing me but I don't know what that means. Hope it's something good.

Please stop changing my diaper and getting me dressed. I think I've made it pretty clear by the kicking and crying and screaming that I don't enjoy it.

And what do you think of my stairclimbing? Pretty good, huh? I've been working at it as much as possible when you forget to close the darn gate. Why are you always trying to foil me? I'm safe on the stairs... I even stop at the bottom and make noise so you know I'm about to go up. And I always turn around and look to make sure you're right behind me.
And I love how you cheer for me when I get to the top. I also love, love, love standing at the top railing and looking down on the hallway below. Super cool. And when I stick my foot in between the spindles... is that awesome or what? It's like I'm trying to step out into space. I'm an astronaut!! Sorry if that freaks you out a little.

And seriously, you have GOT to ditch giving me those baths. They are HORRIBLE. Can't you see that the whole time I'm trying to climb out of the tub? I mean, I fight you as hard as I can. I know, I know, most kids love the bathtub, love to "play with the water", love to "splash around", but I hate the whole thing. From the time the water starts running to when it's all over and you're getting me dried off and dressed, it is just heinous. HEINOUS. I don't mind being smelly. Really. I'm just more of an "au natural" kind of guy.

Other than that, life is pretty good around here. I'm enjoying the "big boy" food... the pasta, the peas, the puffs, the cheese. Mmmm. I do love that cheese. And the waffles and Cheerios. I love playing ball with you, I love dancing to music (I've got pretty good rhythm, eh?), love swinging on the swingset. You guys are fun to be with. One thing- could you maybe give me the phone and computer to play with a little more? I love jamming my fingers on those glorious buttons and you're always taking that away from me. But I like you. You're good people.

We've had a good first year.

Love,
Alec John

PS- No matter how many times you try to feed me those disgusting pureed green beans, I will never eat them. Give it up already. They're gross.

First Day of School: Kindergarten (sniff!) Edition

My baby girl Nenna is off to Kindergarten today.

She woke up at 6:44am, came downstairs where I was sleeping with Alec and woke me up to tell me that she was going down to the play area in the basement to get her brush because she didn't want to "go get it later and miss the bus."

She got herself dressed in her picked-out-the-night-before outfit of her new plaid tunic shirt and jeans and, of course, her new sneaks.

We packed her enough food in her lunchbag to last her 'til next week (I can't have my baby be hungry!) and reviewed what was for her morning snack, what items were for lunch and what she could have for her afternoon snack. I'm pretty sure she just "yes, Mom"-ed me when I was going through the whole thing.

We waited outside with Daddy and Alec (who was in the same stroller that Jenna was in on Michaela's first day of kindergarten... awwwww) and the neighbor girls. Jenna was excited and eager and happy.

When the bus came (on time, incredibly), she screamed and laughed with excitement and anticipation. She hopped right up, never looked back, and I strained to see her through the tinted windows, but she was on the other side and out of my sight.

We waved furiously at the bus as it pulled away, and I felt good and so happy for her.

If someone had told me three years ago that Jenna, my shy, fearful, clingy, quiet Jenna, would get on the bus for school facing a whole day away from home with that much joy and anticipation, I would have laughed and laughed and laughed and said it's impossible. But she did do it, and she was happy, and therefore I am overwhelmingly happy.

It is a good day.

First Day of School: Fourth Grade Edition

Waiting in front of our house with the neighbor girls

The bus! The bus!

The new kicks

Michaela did great this morning, hopping right on the bus with her sassy new haircut and on-trend menswear style shirt. She sat with her friend Danielle from up the street who also waits at our house for the bus.

Daddy was able to hobble out and see the whole thing.

Jenna was disappointed that she has to wait until Monday to get on the bus.

Alec couldn't figure out why we were all outside so early, but enjoyed the fresh air.

Mommy doesn't know how the years have gone so quickly and how one of her babies looks so grown up.

Promises Kept.

Some kind of normalcy is returning to my household: Dan is working from home today. He is off the heavy duty pain meds, sitting in the study with his knee iced, leg propped up and thankfully has something to engage his brain with again.
So here's how the last week has been:

We casually sauntered into the surgery center on Wednesday, thinking, so naively, that things would be all better soon. Dan tore his ACL and meniscus playing softball and we were hoping both could be repaired using part of his hamstring for the ACL. The surgery went swimmingly, on time and uncomplicated, which was wonderful. One of the funniest parts of this whole thing happened when the surgeon came out to report on the repair: "Most hamstrings are 7mm and your husband's was 9mm! That's awesome! The biggest one I've ever seen was 10mm!" So now I'm all, Oh yeah? My husband has 9MM HAMSTRINGS!! I bragged to the nurses and everything.

I knew we were in trouble as soon as I saw Dan in the recovery room. He was shaking, shivering, grimacing and in more pain than I had ever seen him in. They gave him tons of meds, gave us the discharge instructions, and sent us on our merry way on crutches with the knee wrapped in an Ace bandage and a knee immobilizer on it. We came home and he went straight to the couch.

It was not good.

There ensued a few days of icing, wrapping and rewrapping, arranging pillows, timing the meds, following him everywhere, helping with the crutches and watching him try desperately to get better. It was not fun. Especially for him.

As you can imagine, between the pain, the discomfort, the boredom, the not sleeping, and the -horror of horrors- having to ride in the car with me driving, he was a touch cranky. (And that, my friends, is the understatement of the decade.) At one point I told him, "I took a vow before God that I would stay with you in sickness and in health... and that vow is the ONLY thing keeping me here right now."

He did go to church, which was great for him, but wiped him out. He started tapering down his pain meds yesterday and is narcotic-free today for the first time. He can occasionally walk with just one crutch. He is working from home today, which is so much better for him than watching bad television. He starts PT tomorrow and goes back to the doctor on Friday to get his stitches out.

I am looking forward to getting my hubby back, who has two working legs and can go to work and help me with the kids and have fun and is fun to be with.
And did I mention... he has 9MM HAMSTRINGS?!?

Taking a Break.

Blogging will be light for awhile as Dan had knee surgery on Wednesday and is pretty banged up. I'm holding down the fort with the kids and playing nurse.
I am holding on to dear life to the assurance of the doctor that Dan will be able to go back to work on Wednesday.