Quote of the Week

"The best way out is always through." - Robert Frost

All the babies in the house put your legs up...

I just returned from the doctor where Ben has yet another ear infection. I say another but it seems like the same one that has persisted on and on. Two weeks of amoxicillin straight into two weeks of augmentin and now a shot that will hopefully take it away. Two more weeks, another checkup and if there is still fluid, on to Dr. Richards for tubes. Joshy got his tubes at almost exactly 1 year, so it looks like little brother is following his lead. His first ear infection was at 5 weeks and he has hardly had a "well" check-up since. Once we got home, I decided to treat the little guy to a bottle. He is currently weaning to cups but he has been feeling so crummy, I wanted something of comfort for him. We sat him in his seat, bottle in hand but when we went to put on the tray, he wouldn't put down his legs. He just kept them stuck straight up - the entire time. If it's comfortable for him, works for me.

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Joshy and his imagination

Today Grandma Marcellus asked Joshy if he had a book about Santa. John had just answered no from across the room but Joshy said yes. "You do?". "Yes." "Where?". "In my backpack." He then proceeds to pull the imaginary backpack off his back, pull out the imaginary book, open it up and read. He did it without pause. His imagination amazes me. Every day he gives me special treats and meals he has made, of course all imaginary, but treasured all the same. Today it was alligators for us to hold in our pockets. When he plays he has the entire scene planned out. He instructs you. "I'll come in and you say 'I've never seen him before'". "You tell mommy that you are going to get the bad red one and then come fight". "You say abre and then I'll open the gate". All the time I see things down his pants in lieu of a holster. Just waiting to draw and attack. Imagination is what draws him and Ben together. Ben crawls around and laughs while Joshy pretends to herd a wild animal. Ben just smiles as Joshy pokes him gently with a stick and says "Get back". That is until I hear crying and "I'm sorry Ben".

How to travel by private jet

Step 1 - Find the hanger. Not as simple as one might think. Having left the instructions printed and laid out on my desk, I could remember third something and look for AAR. I pull up to the first gate with no phone and no signs of life. Building says AAR, but no hanger in sight. I backup and try again. Second time a charm. AAR on hanger. Clearly should have read between the lines of "Will say AAR". Or remembered directions...you know, either way.

Step 2 - Board plane. Far more simple than one might think. Forget security, no TSA screeners here. No id needed. No scanning of shoes. I walk towards the plane, greeted by the pilot halfway. He tells me that everyone is waiting and assuming he is joking, I laugh. Sure enough, I am the last one on board. Obviously faulty instructions to blame.

Step 3 - Find seat. Not hard when you are the last one on plane and plane consists of 14 seats. My seat was at the table. Yes, table. This is where it starts to get executive. As I search for buckle, stewardess offers to take my coat and get me something to read. Thought crossed my mind of asking for something businesslike but realized I would then have to read something businesslike and declined. Besides, my table consisted of two Vogues and a People. Persons far too like me to be impressed by my reading of the Times.

Step 4 - Survive 14 passenger plane ride to east coast. Shortly after takeoff we are presented with warm nuts. Who knew that warmth is all it takes to get the nut from the bar to the board room. Still, I'll leave warm nuts to the wealthy and keep to my low class cold and salted roots. After nuts came sandwich meal. Sandwich, ok. Scary brown stuff in black container, don't know...didn't try. I'm a complete food snob that way. At every turn there was a refreshed drink or cookie tray. For the time conscious passenger, flat screens giving the moment by moment progress of the plane. Air speed. Ground speed. Head wind. Tail wind. Distance to closest city. Distance to destination city. Air temperature outside. Did you know that it is -41 at 30,000 ft? Good to know in case one of us had been contemplating opening a window.

Step 5 - Avoid the bathroom at all costs. On the return trip, warm nuts were replaced by warm towels. Still undecided as to which felt wealthier. Although in fairness, having had one too many cokes, I was too busy weighing how long was appropriate post takeoff before sprinting to the bathroom to really take in the latter. So I make it to the bathroom using my most nonchalant I just might pee my pants walk, barge in and find a bench to my left, a sink to my right and a door straight ahead. Figuring that this must be the sitting room, we are in a private plane after all, I head for the door and start to pull. No give. Not to be deterred, I pull harder and then see and unlock the latch. Still stuck and seemingly unexecutive to have accessing the toilet this hard, me and my overextended bladder give it one last put your weight into it pull. Finally a pop and it gives. Crap, crap, crap. I've just unlocked and opened the luggage compartment. First thought. Did I just set some alarm off in the cabin? Visions of captain and stewardess breaking through bathroom door. Second thought. Freakin' heck, this door won't close. So there I stand in my executive private plane frantically trying to shut the door that I just jimmied open. Praying that the situation doesn't end with excuse me, would you mind helping me close the cargo bay door? Finally succeeding to close the door and giving up on locking the latch, I turn towards the bench, reach towards the leather cushion and pull. Right. The hidden toilet. The nemesis of passengers from the world of questionably cleaned toilets in heavily inscribed stalls, more likely to be found without working locks than any measure of hide and seek. The toilet paper, you say? Nope. That, too, was hidden in a compartment nearby. The two defining attributes of wealthy. Apparently warm and hidden.

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Step 6 - Survive landing. The home airport had been closed due to fog but we forged ahead. Executives get their way no matter the weather. Read: this is why people on small planes are the ones that die. It was those twenty minutes I was most aware of the plane size. The drop that was fast enough to raise the liquid from our glasses was when I considered at what point they tell you that you are going to die. Do they make an announcement or just figure you will realize it when you burst into a ball of flames? Still, we made it in one piece, only to have the captain come out and say that someone back there must have been good that we made it through that. Announcements are bad...go with ball of flames.

Ben turns 1

Clearly having quite a bit to catch up on, I present you with the abbreviated retelling of Ben's birthday.

Turned 1. Had cake. Not a fan. Lots of toys. Couldn't open. Joshy glad to help. Help means "open for". Ribbon cake for adults. Playtime for Ben. Respective pics.

Benjamin is our happy little boy. Not prone to the extremes of his brother, he seems to just float along. Every time he is excited, he swings his arms and feet while he squeals with joy. If you tickle his feet, he will laugh and then bite the first thing to make contact. We've had several shoulder bites that way. When he is hungry, the only way to keep him from crying is to let him watch the preparation process. His eyes never leave the food from start to finish. Willing to wait only as long as it is visible. I can hardly believe it has been a year. He was born during an ice storm, two weeks before Christmas. As I rocked him, bundled in blankets, absolutely exhausted and thinking that I will never sleep again, this day seemed so far away. Still, as he cuddles into my shoulder while I rock him and sing, there is a part of me that knows he will always be my baby, no matter the number of birthdays.

Early Morning Serenade

(Note: I couldn't get the video to upload in portrait, as it is saved, so a landscape serenade it will have to be.)

Joshy is constantly making up songs on John's guitar. I happened to have camera in hand when he started in with this one about the sun going down. Of course, once he realized he was getting attention the songs got louder and longer and contained fewer and fewer actual words and we then quickly progressed down the 5 Stages of Parent Engagement.

Stage 1 - Did you hear that? Everybody listen. My child is a prodigy.

Stage 2 - Encouragement, applause, requests for encores.

Stage 3 - Encouragement from other room, applause, requests to use inside singing voice.

Stage 4 - Aren't you hungry for breakfast?

Stage 5 - Hide the guitar...hide the guitar...

O Christmas Tree

Tonight, in the spirit of starting Christmas before the 23rd of the month, a new concept for our home, we set up the Christmas tree. Well, let me clarify, we bought and then set up the Christmas tree. For this first Christmas in our new home, I had decided that it definitely called for a new tree, one with the lights already strung. There were gorgeous trees that looked like actual pines. Those were $400.00. We went with the tree 1/4th the price and a title involving slim. In my minds eye, I was imagining how tall John was and then how much head room I remembered between him and our ceilings. After 7 years of putting up a topless tree, one would think that I would error on the side of caution but in the store, those 7 1/2 ft trees just seemed so small. So back we head with our 9 ft slim tree. We tear open the box and work out hanging wires, attach eye screws and insert sections. In with the middle and then in with the...oh. Yes, that's right, we once again have a topless tree. We didn't just overshoot by a few inches but a good half foot. The solution...find a very large tree topper and call it a day. Through the magic of bending branches up, I do think that we disguised it well, much better than if we had had a less slim tree. Our Charlie Brown tree worked in our favor. We began to hang our ornaments, red, clear and green. It is always fun to pull out the box of signed ornaments from our wedding. It is what we used as the guest book and over time, I have narrowed it down to the handful of people still in my life. Courtney, Tami, Brandy. Kathy and Don, Penny and Gary. Grandma and Pop. Granny. Carolyn Sue. Jess, Tina, Mom and Dad. Keysha, Sarah and Juls. I also kept Ed Skalla but it is mostly because he signed it as Big Fat Ed and I can't help but smile. He gave us a box of used underwear for our wedding. It was an interesting sense of humor he had. At the store we had all picked out an ornament of our choosing to add to the tree. I bought the Christmas frogs, Joshy the reindeer popsicle and John, the swan. I didn't catch it until we were checking out but for all my contesting, it was his choice. As we were hanging them up, he, of course, put said swan in a place of great prominence. After watching him turn around, I slyly went for the swan to move it towards the back of the tree when Joshy yells, Dada, Mama is trying to hide your swan. Nice. So, back it went to the front and top of our tree. Secretly, it has grown on me. Although completely unrelated to Christmas, it is related to John who is king of random things ending up in the basket. I can not count how many times I have made it to the register at the grocery store, only to find some random raw meat or exotic tofu hiding under the grapes. At the end of the day, it is Christmas as only our Christmas should be. The swan, the signed ornaments and the topless Christmas tree.

Quote of the Week

I myself am made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions. - Augusten Burroughs