Just because...

I liked these and it's nice to remind myself that my obnoxious little 3.5-year-old is sometimes gloriously happy...and has dry pants. These were taken last week, before the onset of this lousy cold, in the playground after school. This cold has totally taken the wind out of her potty training sails!

Smunch on Fire Safety

A while back, Smunch noticed a banner in front of our local fire station and asked me what it said. It said "Practice Your Escape Plan" (or something like that). So, naturally, we had to go practice our fire escape plan. The kids and I had a grand old time running around the house, finding the closest exit and meeting each other at the tree house. When we were all tired, Smunch decided to make his own fire safety video.



Note: The stuttering's not so bad. We've finally gotten to the point where he has a large degree of control over it when he really wants to. He still isn't able to speak this fluently on a daily basis, but it's a far cry from the times when he could barely talk.

First Field Trip

Last week...or was it the week before? I'm really behind here. Anyway, Smunch got to go on his very first field trip without Mommy. The kindergarten class went to a local farm where they got to sample persimmons and mint plant, touch a sheep and pick out a pumpkin to take back to school with them for an as yet undisclosed project. Smunch had an awesome time and came back really excited. His favorite part?



If it hadn't been for everyone else getting off at the farm, I'm guessing he might have stayed on the bus the whole time...just because it was fun. And the seats were "so soft!" And yeah, I was surprised they didn't take a plain ol' school bus too.

Still, he had lots of exciting things to say about the farm too and he was very pleased with his pumpkin. Here he is with his group from the trip, his classmates, Reilly and Carter, who are twins and no bigger than my little guy. I'm always thankful for just how many children of smaller stature (is that the PC term?) are in his class. He fits right in!

Mam-in-a-Box

One of the true beauties of children is how they take one thing and turn it into something else entirely. And that's only for one day. The next day...or the next minute...it can be a completely different thing and they can use it for a completely different type of entertainment.

This is the box our new tent came in (or maybe it's the box for the tent I returned...which I clearly returned sans box). Smuch decided to color it and turn it into his rocket. Here's Mam taking a ride...weeks later...in the front yard.


Moments later, Smunch thought he'd take a rocket ride too, but Mam decided that it was clearly time to play "Big Brother Roll" instead. This game was even more popular!

Pack Mule

Daddy looks pretty loaded down, huh? I don't know that I've ever tried this particular stunt with both kids, but I can say that metaphorically speaking, every day has the potential to feel just like this!

Mam Logic

My kids have colds. I feel a little bad about sending them to school, but it's not like they're going to stay home and relax if I keep them here. Smunch sounds like someone in an old Western suffering from consumption (and yes, I know what that is, but it seems like it sets off fewer alarm bells if we just stick with the old timey term). Just the mere suggestion that they should stay home leads to some fairly creative arguments though. Yesterday, this was Mam's argument.

"I like [our cat] Skimble the best. So I don't want to go to school."

Here's your lunchbox. Off you go!

Waiting for the flood

Noah built an ark. Mam...she just made sure she'd be dressed for the occasion if it should come about while she was sleeping.

Mam and her friends

Relatively speaking, our kids really don't have any problem with sleeping at night. They're not hard to get down. They sleep through the night. They even get up and entertain themselves at 6:45 instead of getting in our bed...which is what they used to do. But Mam has a new requirement for sleeping at night. She not only needs to be surrounded by all her "ammials", but she needs to create a "fort" out of them, covering herself, and in this instance, even using one as an additional pillow. You almost have to wonder what's next...but I haven't blogged in a while, so I already know! See the next post for more sleepytime craziness.

Smunch Logic

This is an approximation of a conversation I had with Smunch the other night.

Smunch: Ooooh! What am I going to get for Christmas?

Me: Uh...I dunno, Smuch. What do you want for Christmas?

Smunch: I want some more Fischertechnik, but that costs a lot of money.

Me: Hmm, well, I guess that might be a problem.

Smunch: I know! I'll ask Santa for Fischertechnik. Then won't it cost money.

Hope Santa's got some elves packaging erector sets in Germany!

Oh, crap.

If you're not a parent of a young child, you have probably heard that parents of young children, especially babies, are obsessed with diaper contents. This is true...and the more colorful or stinkifying, the more worthy of remark. One color you really don't want to see is red. As in the violent, dark shade that is unmistakeably blood.

That, and a presumeably historical bout with constipation, got Mam a referral to a GI specialist at the local children's hospital. Having virtually lived at this hospital for three and a half months after Smunch was born (Smunch lived there, I only virtually lived there) and having visited a friend with a 5.5-year-old daughter in the PICU two weeks ago today...a daughter who tragically died just four days later, this is not my favorite place to go. It's a teaching hospital...which means you get to see people who know not-a-whole-lot before you actually get to see the specialists who know one hell of a lot.

Happily, today's was a very good experience from a customer service perspective. We didn't have to enter the actual hospital, only the clinic across the street. The medical student, or resident, or whatever she was didn't seem terribly experienced, but she was nice and the doctor was great. She asked if I was crunched for time (having dropped Smunch off with Gram, I wasn't), had us go down to Radiology for an X-ray. We didnt have to wait. It was very simple. Then the Gi doctor had us come back up afterward. The X-ray was sent right to her computer and we were called back in within about 5 minutes of arriving back at Gastroenterology.

Unhappily, the medical news was not great (after renewing my perspective on such things with my visit a couple of weeks ago, it's not that bad either). Apparently, our happy, active Mam was hiding the fact that she's full of sh*t. Literally. She really seemed fine. She's been eating lots of fruit. Not complaining on the potty. I'm surprised this kid as been as happy as she has. I know I wouldn't be.

So, I came home to experiment with how in the world to get two full caps of Miralax (the miracle laxative, if you couldn't tell) into a wee bitty Mam every day. Water, colored with blue Gatorade was not the answer. So, we took a trip to Costco where I stocked up on the aforementioned Miralax (thanks for making that OTC guys!), apple juice and M&Ms to reward her for drinking her 8oz of magic apple juice twice a day. This should be fun. Really.

Not all face-painters are created equal...

as evidenced by the artist who was hired to work at Erin, Kate and Allison's birthday party today.

Home Improvement

The truth is, there's very little in the way of home improvement going on around here...unless you count the bi-weekly sorting of clutter that happens before the house cleaners come every other week. So, Smunch decided to take matters into his own hands.

After visiting many parks in his oh-so-varied life, he realized that there was something missing from our home. He duly procured some pens and paper and created his own remedy to our poor skills as homeowners.

He started with the bathroom next to the kitchen/family room.


















His mission accomplished, he moved on to the hallway bathroom where he noted the need for "separate, but equal" facilities.













The master bathroom presented a special problem. After all, Mommy and Daddy share the bedroom, so it'd be sort of cruel to make either of them go find a different toilet in the middle of the night. But Smunch had it all figured out.

Rewards for Good Behavior

Yes. These are my running shoes. I even bought them for running...oh, sometime around the turn of the century. I had a brief little period of trying to make jogging fun. I failed. These shoes are not well worn. I wear them sometimes when I get on our elliptical trainer, but in the interest of complete disclosure here, I haven't visited the ol' elliptical trainer in more than a month now. I'll get back to it. I will.

On a topic that sounds completely unrelated (I'll get back to that), the frequency of Smuch's speech therapy is truly oppressive. He doesn't seem to mind it and his stuttering is currently "in remission"...if you can call it that. It's not gone, by a long shot, but it's so reduced that I remember how crazy he drives me with his incessant questions. He can't talk nearly as much when the words don't come out easily! Obviously, it's not the time to quit therapy. On Mondays Daddy and I both got with him to see his stuttering specialist for 45 minutes and on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, he sees the therapist at his school. On Tuesdays, he goes for 30 minutes. On Wednesdays it's just 15 minutes. And, of course, I refuse to get to school in any way other than under my own power. It's so close to the house that it's just ludicrous to bother strapping the kids in and fighting to find a parking spot.

Anyway, I realized after our first Tuesday visit that 30 minutes doesn't even give me a reasonable amount of time to walk home (with Mam in tow) and go back again. It just means Mam gets to watch 10 minutes of Dragon Tales and then gets all pissed off because we have to leave again already and its not over yet. I figured I could go get coffee, but that would involve driving since Starbucks is just a wee bit too far to walk there and back in 30 minutes...at least when you include the time required for the Barista to work her magic. Still not willing to waste the gas and energy strapping and unstrapping. Not even for Starbucks.

BUT, I own running shoes. And wait, I own a jogging stroller too. It has never once been used for jogging, but it's been a terrific hiking stroller. That doesn't mean it can't be used for jogging though! Ah. I think I've found my solution.

So, today I dropped Smunch off with the therapist with Mam strapped in the jogging stroller. Then I jogged to Starbucks. And I did. I jogged all the way there, which suggests I'm in slightly better shape than I'd imagined, at least. Before you even think about being impressed though, you'll need to know that it probably took me five minutes to get to Starbucks, jogging very slowly. I ordered my coffee, caved and got Mam a "petite vanilla scone" and chocolate milk and then walked most of the way back to school, self-medicating most of the way. I could have jogged back, but why risk sloshing even an ounce of that precious liquid out of the cup?

This could become a habit! But don't count on seeing me at Starbucks on Wednesdays. I don't think 15 minutes will ever be long enough for more than walk around the block...or a jog around a longer block...one that doesn't make it all the way to Starbucks!

Introducing...the Green Geckos

When we picked up Smunch's first AYSO soccer uniform a few weeks ago, I was somwhat stunned by the color. And OH what a color it is! I explained to Smunch that unlike with Little League, the teams get to pick their own names in soccer and that the name is usually related to the color of their uniforms. He gamely suggested "The Stems". Hmmm. Not bad.

Fortunately, the team chose to be called the Green Geckos, which is a whole lot cuter, although not nearly as original. Since the uniforms are one-size-fits-all, Smunch is guaranteed to be swimming in his. I'm pretty sure he could pull those shocking green socks right up to his hips if he wanted to.

As you might expect, a bunch of kindergarteners playing soccer is a lot like watching an ant swarm. Fortunately, AYSO is merciful enough that there are no weekday practices for the under 6 (U6) crowd. It's 90 minutes on Saturday afternoon...40 minutes of practice followed by a 40-minute game. That also means that all of the 24 U6 teams play at the same time, at the same school, on little mini fields with five players a side. It's quite a scene.

I don't think they technically keep score at these games, but naturally, we did. The Geckos tied with the Silver Bullets (who are PC-ly represented by a bullet train) by a score of 6-6. And Smunch even scored a goal! He was so proud...and so were we. He's still the littlest guy on the team and he's often distracted, but he's a fiesty little dude. And he had a great time. Yay!

Soccer!

Saturday marked the first real day of soccer for both Mam and Smunch. For Mam, it was a new experience entirely. So, in typical Mam fashion, she embraced it with gusto and became one of a beehive-worth of new and enthusiastic little soccer players in her Kids Love Soccer class.
I didn't think this was necessarily guaranteed. I had intended to sign her up for soccer with My Sarah, but there was a miscommunication and Sarah ended up in the later class. Not only that, but I found out when we arrived that Mam's new best friend from preschool, Riley, was in Sarah's class as well. I thought Mam might just implode if she had to see both of her very best friends in the whole wide world in a different class together.

But it wasn't really an issue. She had a blast at soccer and then we hung around at the park for a little while until the next class was over. She played with Riley until Riley went home and then went back to see My Sarah. They played, kindly including Smunch, until Sarah's brother was done with his class.

Saturdays are going to be fun this fall...and all about soccer. As you'll see in the next post, Saturday afternoons are reserved for AYSO, featuring some very brightly clad kindergarteners!