... are sick.

Literally.


The whole house is sick.


It started with a case of 'the cruds.' You know, the goopy, snotty noses that all kids perpetually have between about October and April when they live in Minnesota. Nicholas started some coughing, but no fevers, so we figured everyone has a cold.


Sunday, Daniel "throwed up." He had a little fever, but seemed more distressed that he made a mess on his pillow than that he had thrown up. Within an hour of getting Daniel back to sleep, Abby was up, saying she had thrown up. Larger mess, more distressed than Daniel. We barely got her calmed down and sleeping in our room when... yep. Again.

Overnight, between Abby, Daniel and Nathan we were up nearly every hour. I woke up thinking that I may need to stay home just to help out, but was feeling OK. Ha ha ha. By the time I made it downstairs, I was feeling a little woozy. Nicholas was a happy little clam, and went to school. We intended for Daniel to stay home, but he went into the mudroom and got his coat on and said, "I'm ready for school!" So he ended up going anyway. Abby had to stay home, which was a bummer, as today was their class field trip to Underwater Adventures at Mall of America. By the afternoon, Abby was taking care of all the grown ups. It was pretty sweet. As soon as we're better, we owe Abby a trip to MOA.

Nicholas the amazing standing boy!

I am in trouble.

I mean it. Being outnumbered is one thing. Three kids, two parents - chances are somebody is always going to be getting away with something. Then get all three of the little ones mobile. Makes it quite tricky. They go in all different directions and they are really hard to catch. Fast lil' buggers too! Now you know why we rarely leave the house.

Starting on Thursday 11/13 Nicholas really began standing. All alone. Not holding furniture. Just - standing. At first it was that absent minded, "I was holding onto the couch, but I need both hands to chew on this toy" kind of event. But every day he gets more and more deliberate.

He'll be walking by Thanksgiving for sure. Yikes. He already grabs a hold of the kitchen table and all but swings by his fingertips. He's such an adventurer I'm really going to have to look at the house with a whole new "safety eye." Don't get me wrong, it's really exciting, but it is a whole new chapter in life and one that makes me worry. Because I'm a mom.

Abby's day

Abby woke up with sticky goo in her eyes this morning. As the eyes were also a bit red, I figured it was pink eye, so she got to stay home with Daddy today. I figured she'd get some good coloring time in, maybe some Perler Beads, watch a movie or two, Abby-Daddy bonding-nothing major.



When I arrived at home and asked Abby about her day she was quite excited to tell me that she started her day with gym. We don't have a gym. Then there was computer time. We have several computers in the house, so this was not a shock. Then she had recess. It was cold outside, so I had no idea what these crazy people were up to.

Turns out, Abby and Daddy made a list of all the things she wanted to do today. They then assigned times to each activity and voila - Abby's day.

For 'gym' Abby did stretching, hula hoop and ski jump using Wii fit. She was quite excited because she got to unlock a new activity. During computer time Abby mastered a couple of new games on the Sesame Street web site. There was a lot of coloring, some perler bead activities, reading and puzzles. I even found pieces of paper with shapes and shape names on them. Octagon and Hexagon. For recess, Abby got to go run in the basement and play on the little house/slide thing.

Bedtime Snippits

Bedtime is a trying time for many parents. You're tired, the kids are tired, no one wants to cooperate, there's a routine to follow (and heaven help you if you try to skip a step), and with three kids - it takes forever. Well, at least that is how it goes at our house. Sometimes though the kids come up with little gems that make bedtime cute and sweet or just plain funny.

Within the past couple of weeks Daniel has become a bit of a ham. He spends a lot of time being a silly boy, or just a 'boy' boy (throwing toys or hitting things). The silly thing is quite apparent because he's so verbal - I think the child is actually making jokes. For example, when changing into his pajamas one night, he stood in front of me and said, "Watts missin' Mommy?" and held out his little hands in a questioning gesture. When I looked at him perplexed he replied, "SOCKS!" and pointed to his feet. Sure enough, naked feet. Oh the humanity! This is actually a little game we usually play in the mornings. Nathan or I ask the kids if we look dressed and ready for work. It's quite funny when Nathan only has a T-shirt or doesn't have a shirt on at all. The kids think it's hilarious and laugh saying "No Daddy! You need a shirt!" Usually the item that is missing is something small, like socks. Obviously we play this game a lot if Daniel has adapted it to nighttime.

Tonight Nathan had bedtime duty for the kids. He usually has a lot more patience with them than I do. In getting Daniel ready for bed they selected the ever-popular Batman pajamas. These are light gray, long sleeve pajamas with a printed bat symbol, utility belt, even "6-pack" abs. Daniel's favorite part - the cape. It Velcros onto the shoulders and he runs around like a maniac so he can "fly." (I know, Batman didn't actually fly, but really, are you going to argue with a 2 year old running around yelling 'up, up, and away!' and 'look, I'm flyin' with my cape!') Unfortunately, Daniel has been without the cape for a while. It's not lost, we just usually leave it in the drawer when he's going to sleep. Tonight, Daniel asked Nathan to find his cape, then whispered, "I will be so cute and mommy will take my picture with Uncle James's camera."

After the kids heard their stories tonight, Nathan covered each of them. Daniel wanted to have his head covered with the blanket. Nathan said no, you need the fresh air. Daniel was a bit worried, "But the monster will eat my head..." Apparently last night Daniel wanted to be sure that his feet were covered so the monster couldn't eat his feet.

What are these kids reading?!

Completely inappropriate, but funny

How do you handle something your kid does, or says, that is really 'bad,' but at the same so incredibly funny you'd be in hysterics if it wasn't your kid who did/said it? Or the ever dreaded, you want to laugh and then they think, "I'll make mommy laugh if I say that again!" I've had a couple of these situations, like the time Abby decided to work on making an F sound. The entire drive to work/daycare one morning when she was nearly 2 she made a great "fffffffff" sound. Generally followed by 'truck.' You get my point. Seriously, try to think of an f word that she can 'practice' that doesn't have a blend at the beginning. Can't think of one can you? On the spot, while trying not to laugh out loud. Needless to say, I warned the daycare teachers about her experiment. Luckily, Abs must have decided that she knew the F sound pretty well, as she didn't say it at all at school.

Last Christmas season, while walking in Wal-Mart a man caught Abby's attention. Not that he was trying to, it's just that my kid is observant and curious. She points and says, in a voice I thought was close to screaming, but probably wasn't, "Why does that man only have hair around the sides, but not on top?"

So last night, Abby pulled another. She was helping me sort laundry. Well, as much as a 4-year-old can help sort right? Anyway, we had an incredible amount to do, and the piles were getting quite big. She was sitting between the whites and the darks, sometimes helping me toss things over to the 'medium' pile. She's not all that careful, so when some clothes would fall down and co-mingle with the neighboring pile, I'd ask her to correct the problem.

"Abby, those socks are sneaking into the black pile!"
"Oh no you whitey whites, get back there with your friends!"

No, I do not call any of the light clothes "whitey." And at the time I didn't think anything of it. She was giving a personality to inanimate objects, oh well. So we sorted and sorted and then gathered up the whites. Abby had a little bunch of whites wrapped in a towel bundle, I had the rest. She goes downstairs and starts telling Daddy. "Your white socks didn't want to stay with their whitey friends and kept trying to play with the black things. So I had to keep picking them up." She's giggling a little like she's rolling her eyes in a "can you believe it?" tone. Nathan just looks at me. "Whitey?" It wasn't me, I swear.

I just hope she doesn't go to school and start talking about the whiteys and the darkies... oh the horror!

Thumbs - again

Mavala Stop is an amazing product.

As I mentioned before, Daniel had his first coat of the bitter nail polish applied to his left thumb on a Thursday. Friday morning he was crying that he didn't like the stuff. Saturday, the day the next application was needed it took bribery to get him to show me his thumbs. Daniel is a chocoholic. We also decided to make him his very own chart. Every day he keeps his thumbs out of his mouth, he gets a sticker. We put stars on some of the boxes on his chart, and on those days Daniel will get a special treat of some kind.

Daniel has kept his thumb out of his mouth for 10 whole days and today is a "star day." I asked him what he wanted as a reward - a treat to eat, or a toy, or something special to do. "Eat a treat." Ice cream, cake, cookie, chocolate, fruit, Popsicle... "Chalk-it." Ice cream, cake, cookie, candy... "Cookie." All chocolate or little bits of chocolate? "ALL Chalk-it." So we made chocolate crinkle cookies and Daniel got to eat the first two.

He has been doing such a good job! We've been doing a lot of praising him that he's so big. Anything to reinforce that thumb-sucking is 'yucky.' I had been worried that he would have trouble falling asleep, or that he'd switch to his other thumb or something. To ward off the switcheroo, we've been applying the Stop to both thumbs. As long as he has a tag or one of his toys, he's been falling right to sleep. It's awesome.

Thumbs - part 1

Well, it's time. Daniel must stop sucking his thumb. He's only 2, and normally the dentist wouldn't worry about this now, but Dr, Morgan says that it's affecting his bite. So, rather than wait and need to spend thousands on orthodontia later, we are going to work on this now. We spent last weekend mentioning it to Daniel and asking him "where's your thumb?" so he'd start getting used to the idea.

Monday he came to me in the morning and said "I need a band-aid for my thumb mommy." holding up his little thumb. He looked like a little Fonzie in Superman jammies holding his puppy. Too cute for words. He was very excited when I put a Shrek bandage on his thumb. I also said that if he still has it on at the end of the day, he'll get a cookie. Daniel's currency - trains or cookies. Apparently he made it through most of the day but the bandage fell off just before nap. His teachers tried to pull his thumb out of his mouth, but he tends to suck very hard while he is asleep.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were repeats of the above. Bandage in the morning, but it would always fall off. I was at the dentist on Thursday so I picked up some Mavala Stop. It's a nail polish that is supposed to be very bitter. I didn't try it. You swipe a coat on the necessary digit's nails every two days. So Daniel got his first coat last night.

This morning, I asked Daniel "Where's your thumb?" and, as usual, he showed me. When I pulled out the Stop, thinking I should be sure that the first coat held well enough, he looked a little concerned and said "I don lie tat." (I don't like that.) So, maybe it's working already. I didn't do another coat today, I'll follow the directions on the bottle and see how it goes.

I really hope this works. I don't want to be a mean mommy, but we really need this habit to be over. If the Mavala doesn't work, there are a couple of appliances we can try on his hand. That being said, I am concerned that he has too small of a hand for what is on the market (he is such a peanut). There is a custom fit option, but it's about three times as expensive. The last resort will be a dental thing, but they don't usually put those in until the child is about 6, as it attaches to molars.

Watch for updates.

Daniel the Genius and the Goose Party

OK, OK, I'll admit, I'm a little tiny bit biased. But Daniel is a little genius. He is so incredibly interested in nature, it just amazes me. We'll be sitting in the dining room and he'll hear geese flying overhead, honking, and he'll try to find them outside while saying, "I hew geeze mommy!" (I hear geese mommy!) As we drive, especially at this time of year, we tend to see large flocks of geese in the fields, and Daniel always points to them. We call it a goose party.



Last weekend we piled the whole family in the van to drive to a nature park called Fawn-Doe-Rosa. A parent in Abby's class at Goddard told us about it, and I thought the kids would have a good time. We finally get everyone loaded into the car for the hour drive into Wisconsin, and the van won't start. I mean, icky clicking bad not starting. So, rather than just go into the house and watch a movie, we opted to take a walk.



Once we got to the next block, we passed the senior living facility. On the far west side of the building are two ponds. And what did we see? The biggest goose party ever! We walked around, counted geese and had a great time. Daddy even found another caterpillar. We were all quite excited at that, because the first caterpillar we found won't hatch out of it's cocoon until spring.



As we were walking back Nathan was carrying Daniel and we all came to a stop sign. As is typical, we asked Daniel to identify the letters. Daniel correctly identified all of the letters, pointing to each one: "S--T--O--P"

"What does that spell?" asked Daddy.

"OCTAGON!" shouts Daniel, with enthusiasm.



How many two year olds know "octagon?"

Daniel the Singer

Daniel completely amazes me. This week he started singing some really sweet songs. Some are very repetitive, so they get stuck in my head (which is annoying) but he gets such a sweet smile on his face, I can't help but ask him to sing or prompt the songs.



"Itsy Bumble Bee"

Itsy Bumble Bee, what's your name for me?

What's YOUR name? (pointing at someone in the room)

MOMMY!

Mommy, Mommy that's his name.

Itsy Bumble Bee, what's your name for me?

What's MY name? (pointing at himself)

DANIEL!

Daniel, Daniel, that's his name...



You get the point. What you really need to hear to appreciate is Daniel's articulation. That song sort of comes out in a rush, sounding like: Itsy Bumbobee, what's yo name-fo-me?

His other new favorite song is something about fish and swimming in the water. Daniel's version goes something like this:

Slippy fish, slippy fish, wimming in tuh wah-toe.
A dune-a fish, a dune-a fish, wimming in tuh wah-toe.
I daught-a-fish, I daught-a-fish, wimming in tuh wah-toe.
A bee bee sark, a bee bee sark, wimming in tuh wah-toe.

Realize that he sings each line multiple times before moving to the next one. There are also hand motions that go along with the song. That last line did some morphing over a few days too. I sore it was a "baby shark" and then it changed to something like "date-tite-sark." Asking Daniel to slow down and repeat the words didn't help either, it just got us all frustrated. I should have checked the internet, but after the weekend, I had to ask his teachers what the song was. Here are the 'real' words:

A slippery fish, a slippery fish, swimming in the water.
A tuna fish, a tuna fish, swimming in the water.
A jelly fish, a jelly fish, swimming in the water.
A great white shark, a great white shark, swimming in the water.
A big huge whale, a big huge whale swimming in the water.
Chomp chomp chomp.
Burp.
Excuse me!

Flash lives up to his nickname...

Back when I was pregnant with Nicholas I gave some thought to his 'theme animal' and his nickname. I know, it's weird, I was thinking about his nickname more than I was thinking about his actual name (See, I knew his real name would be William Glen. So where did 'Nicholas' come in? Long story for another post). The reason for my concern was that the nickname 'scooter' just sort of happened for Daniel. Ever since Daniel became Scooter, I began calling all baby boys Scooter. I didn't need two Scooters in the family - way too confusing.

The whole 'theme animal' just sort of happened in our family. When Abby was a baby, she received a lot of stuffed puppies, many of which resembled our faithful four legged first child - Jack the beagle. As Nathan is kind of 'anti-cat,' it was all puppies for Abby. Sure, there were other stuffed things, many of which she loves to this day, and she has branched out to chickens (another post for another day) and even cats. For Daniel, Abby and I selected a special stuffed Elephant for his "welcome to the family from your big sister" present. So, Daniel has a little collection of elephants. Given the name Daniel, he also has a few lions in his menagerie. So what for Nicholas? Frogs or Turtles had been my plan. It's pretty easy to find frog things, but turtles are just so cute. Then Grandma Carole sent a gift which included a soft blanket with a really cute turtle applique. I still wasn't convinced.

Everything came together the night before Nicholas was born actually. I was showing Nathan the blanket from grandma and started a discussion about animals. This lead into the nickname conversation, as Nathan had the same thought I did - Daniel is Scooter. Luckily, Nathan had been trying out nicknames and thought Flash was an excellent nickname for a baby - especially when they are newborn and don't move around so much. I thought it had potential, and coupled with the turtle theme animal - too funny.

Later that night (or early the next morning, if you want to be specific) our little guy decided it was his birthday. The short story is that I woke Nathan at 5 a.m., we left the house at ~6:35, arrived at the hospital just after 7 and Nicholas was born at 7:15. Yes, there was running through the halls of the hospital and a lot of screaming on my part.

Yes, his nickname is Flash.

Fast-forward to August when Nicholas is 6 months old. He started doing baby push ups, rump in the air bear-crawl style even. Yet he didn't seem like he wanted to move forward. I believe he did the backwards scoot for a day or two... and then he was off. That kid is like lightening. Two days before his 7 month birthday he started crawling like a maniac. Within a couple more days he was trying to pull himself up on furniture. It only took another day or so for him to figure out how to crawl up the single step from our living room to the dining room.

Don't get me wrong, I think mobility is a great thing. But did he have to crawl earlier than either of his siblings? Really? I know, the infamous 'they' always say that second + kids reach the crawling and walking milestones faster because they have the "big kids" to keep up with. Now there's a scary thought - walking. Abby walked a bit after her first birthday. Daniel stood by himself on his first birthday and walked within a day or so. At the rate Nicholas is going, he'll be walking well before his first birthday.

At this point, I just hope he holds off on walking until after Thanksgiving. I have a funny feeling that I'll be lucky if he makes it past Halloween.

Sneaky Water

Earlier this week Abby and Nathan started to converse about 'evaporation.' I can't remember the context. Anyway, Nathan asked Abby's teacher, Ms. Sherry, if they had done an evaporation experiment at school. We remembered an ice experiment of some sort. Sherry thought evaporation would be a great experiment, so they started the experiment that day. We heard throughout the week that the water was below the blue tape on the cup and how far. We thought this would explain evaporation to Abby. Well, not so much.

Tonight at dinner we asked how the evaporation was going. We got the usual response that the water was below the blue tape. Nathan asked Abby where it went. She said that every day when it was nap time some of the water left. All I can picture in my head is a little cartoon water droplet with feet and a face looking over the edge of the cup and motioning a la covert military operation style to other water droplets that the kids are asleep - the coast is clear.

Without too much laughing Nathan explained that the water went into the air. Of course, Abby didn't believe him. We ended up boiling water on the stove so Nathan could catch the steam in a baggie to show Abby that steam is water.

I don't think she really "gets" it, but it was fun anyway.

'Mommy is Mean'

Apparently, that is what Daniel shouted up and down the halls of school on Thursday. Mommy is mean. Mommy is mean. Mommy is mean. What he was actually saying was 'mommy is meeting.' Poor kid.

This week was absolutely crazy for me. Monday afternoon I had a job interview. It was technically a second interview with a client for a consulting company. I 'wowed' them during a phone interview (really, that was the feedback, they were 'wowed.') on July 1. They called to schedule a face-to-face immediately. Thinking I should take advantage of their wowed-ness, I was there at 4 p.m. on Monday. I anticipated not making it home in time to pick up the kids, so we prepped them that only Daddy would come pick them up. Turns out I did make it home in time, so we had a fun, early evening together.

Tuesday was a fun night. I was home 'on time' and we tried a new recipe. Weight Watchers Speedy Barbeque Chicken. It was quite tasty. Once the kids stopped whining they actually liked it.

Wednesday was my second meeting of the week. Last year I was the Area 51 Governor for Toastmasters. Now that our year is over, one of my fellow AGs planned a celebratory dinner at Granite City. I had never been there, and I tend to miss out on many non-mandatory Toastmasters events, so this time I decided to go. It did all work out, so Nathan picked up the kids and I was able to enjoy a Garlic Butter Sirloin. Probably not Weight Watchers friendly, but that's what flex points are for. I made it home as the kids were settling in for stories and they happily asked me how my meeting went. It was cute.

Thursday was a chapter meeting for the IIBA. As I am looking for a new job, I really need to work my network. I don't tend to foster my network the way some people do, so I really needed to re-connect with several people. It was completely worth my time to go, but this time, the kids were long asleep by the time I got home.

So, poor Daniel seemed to have been missing his mommy. And of course, his articulation isn't the greatest, so he ran the halls at school yelling some variation of 'mommy is mean.' It even took Nathan a few times hearing it to understand what he was saying. What other parents must think. We had some mommy/Daniel time though, and he has forgiven me. He also has a new favorite thing to say:

Daniel - "Guess what mommy?"

Mommy - "What Daniel?"

Daniel - "I wuv woo!"

Mommy - "I love you too Daniel!"

Daniel - "You too mommy!"

Water Day

One of the fun things about the kids' daycare in the summer is "Water Day." We are not talking about field trips to a pool, simply "sprinkler time." Nicholas's and Daniel's classrooms both have water day on Tuesdays, Abby's room - Wednesday. Nothing like making mommy have to work and remember the day of the week first thing in the morning.

Anyway, this activity started last week. Abby is a water day pro, so I am not concerned about her at all. Daniel... well, I wasn't sure how things would go with his scar. Would other kids point to his chest and wonder why he has a funky line (what other heart kids call their "zipper") or would they try to touch it and he'd get mad (he does that sometimes) and the general stuff that goes along with a new activity. So overprotective mom asked the teacher to keep an eye out and see if anything happened or if Daniel noticed that he has a scar and other kids don't.

Water Day - Week One:

Daniel thought it was all pretty cool. The teachers said that he put on his little water shoes, got into his snazzy new Elmo swim trunks, but refused to take off his shirt. Oh well. He still ran around, barely got wet, but he played. Life was good.

Water Day - Week Two:

Daniel refused water day. He wanted his swim shoes and nothing else. No shirt removal, no Elmo trunks. Nothing. The teachers sprayed his feet with water, but he still wasn't all that interested.

So the other night, after Abby's water day, we had our own water day. We got out the Dora sprinkler and changed into our water clothes. Daniel still refused to get near the sprinkler. I think the fact that Dora was spinning around and spraying water through her little sprinkler can into the air didn't really help. She (Dora) does look a little possessed. So after traumatizing Daniel for about 20 minutes we got out sidewalk chalk and had a great time decorating the driveway.

I wonder how long this water 'fear' will last.

Tantrums and Preschooler Rule Enforcement

Abigail takes after her parents. She is NOT a morning person. At all. She may pretend to be a morning person, but deep down she just doesn't want to be messed with until she has been awake for a while, and Lord help you if you wake her before she is ready!

The other morning, Abby woke up on her own (Mommy and Daddy both overslept) and headed downstairs with her brother, presumably to play. Mommy woke up to Nicholas crying and the struggle of the older kids over a GeoTrax train. Apparently the whole "yellow train is Daniel's train" idea stopped working, so now, we share the train, one day it's "Abby's train" and the next day it's "Daniel's train." Gee, can you guess where this is headed. After a short conversation about how Abby seems to like to follow the rules that get her what she wants, the train issue passed and then - oh miracle of miracles...Abby actually agreed to get dressed. All was well in Abby land.

Now really, there are few things that as I mom I really panic about. I am not a germ-o-phobe. The 5 second rule applies to any food - if I can't see dirt on it, it's probably OK to eat. My house is not spotless. I do not really care- we're healthy and happy. However, I do get overly concerned about a few things - plastic bags (suffocation) and loose ribbons or strings (a tourniquet or strangulation just waiting to happen). My biggest panic - extraneous stuff in the baby's crib. Abby has tossed every single book and stuffed animal off of Daniel's shelf into his crib. Luckily, Daniel was old enough to be standing when she discovered this "game," so he was not really in danger of being crushed. The first time this occurred though, I was pregnant with Nicholas, so I knew that there was a pretty high possibility of the new baby getting a board book in the noggin - not good. To date, Abby had been punished at least twice for this offense.

So just after the train incident, while happy Abby went to get dressed, the "happy girl" magic spell was broken. Unfortunately, I went into the room where Nicholas had been sleeping only to find Nicholas pinned to the mattress by a certain stuffed dog. Abby's very best stuffed friend, Chocolate Milk. On one hand, it would have made a funny, funny picture. Nicholas was trying to push up, but Chocolate Milk is just too big. I may have to recreate the incident just so I can get a photo. Nicholas is a good 16 lb guy, and he can actually push up well. But picture this: You are lying on your belly and all of a sudden something roughly twice your width and a little longer than you is now lying across your waist. Nicholas and Chocolate Milk looked like some whacked out "plus" sign. Nicholas was attempting to push up, but Chocolate Milk was too much for him, so he didn't get too far.

Needless to say, Abby was in trouble. A LOT of trouble. Then I discovered it wasn't just Chocolate Milk, Pineapple blanket was also in Nicholas's crib. I kept it together, didn't even yell, and I told her Chocolate Milk needed to be taken away. Amid her screams, I said she could keep pineapple blanket. Bad move mommy. I nearly immediately changed my mind. The argument that followed contained a lot of "but you said I could keep pineapple blanket!"

Daddy came to the "rescue" and got Abby to calm down. We were able to have a logical conversation and I was able to reason with her that there were two items in the crib, so two items should be taken away.

Now I know. Think through the punishment before saying it.

Doctor Thing

Yesterday Abby and Daniel went to the ENT: Abby for a "tube check" and Daniel for a full work-up and evaluation to see if he needs tubes.

Abby got to talk to Dr. Rhodes first, so she could show Daniel what would happen. Her left ear has no tube and there is no additional scarring or anything like that. She still has the tube in the right ear. Dr. R had her lie down on the bench and looked in with a microscope so he could remove a big gnarly hunk of wax. It had been putting some pressure on the eardrum and sort of blocking the tube. I was amazed when he pulled out a 1/2 inch bit o' junk. Yucky. Daniel got to sit on Daddy's lap and we learned that his right ear is "packed with fluid." Just as we thought.

Then it was off with the audiologist for hearing tests all around. Abby went first and passed with flying colors. Daniel on the other hand... not so much. I was in the room with him and could tell that he was just not hearing some of the sounds. There were a couple of things I was just amazed that he couldn't hear. Once the test was over the audiologist said his left ear is normal and he hears OK out of that ear. He didn't do as well as Abby on that side, but pretty close (he got a 10, Abby got a 5 - the lower the number the better). His right ear shows rather significant hearing loss (this ear was a 40. They say that 25 or lower is "normal."). Is that permanent? No one knows.

When he came out to talk to us after the hearing tests, Abby greeted Dr. Rhodes as "Doctor...Thing" because she didn't know his name. A bit embarassing, but funny too. As we expected, based on the exam,the hearing test and his speech delay Daniel bought himself a ticket to tube surgery.

Anti-turtle

Nicholas has a new trick. We put him in the big crib to sleep, on his back of course, and turn on his "new" panda mobile. Later, he begins to cry and cry. You would think that his distress is the lack of panda music. Oh no. He has flipped onto his belly, spun around 90 degrees and can't figure out how to roll over.

Considering he has a baby budda belly, he sort of looks "stuck." Nathan called this "anti-turtle."

What's really odd is that he has reportedly rolled from front to back. This has been witnessed by Ms. Teri at school. Grandma D has seen the result, but didn't witness the actual action. We assume this means he could actually flip to his back... so why the distress?

Greetings cyberspace

Well, I've been talking to myself about starting a Blog for a while. Yeah, I talk to myself. Entire conversations. No, it's nothing to worry about, it's perfectly healthy. Anyway, my original thought was to blog my own thoughts and random rants. Realizing that I will probably spend a lot of time writing about my amazing little munchkins and their antics, I figured two blogs - mommy's blog and the "kids" blog - might be a good idea. I was telling a coworker an Abby anecdote and in jest, he and I ended up naming my kid-blog (Thanks Tom).

So who are Those Battan Kids?

Abigail Elizabeth, usually and nearly only known as Abby. Age 4, going on 14 at least. A curious, bright child fascinated by science & physics, learning stuff, helping with stuff, being a princess and being a girl. Favorite color- pink, purple and sparkles (yes, that is more than one color, but you try reasoning with a 4 year old.)

Daniel Frank, a.k.a. Scooter, but never "Dan." (Not yet anyway.) Age 2. All boy, all energy. Also curious, wants to do anything his sister does and then some. Loves trains, his uncle, his puppy woobie, playing outside and being a BOY. Did I mention he "fixes" stuff- especially toys that need new batteries. Newest word (as of 6/1) - ignition (don't ask). Loves to flirt. Loves to laugh. My smiley guy.

Nicholas Glen, a.k.a. Flash or Pickle., never "Nick" or "Nico." (Not yet anyway.) Age 4 months. My chubby little giggle boy. Loves mommy, mommy, mommy (and I'm not just saying that cuz I am mommy). He's a big ol' flirt, loves the ladies. Loves to smile and giggle. His newest trick - well, that's another post.

Other key players in this wacky world:
Uncle James - my brother. Came to visit and help when Daniel was to be born. Stayed to help with Daniel. Stayed to help with Nicholas. We are forever in debt to uncle James and will do just about anything he ever asks of us. He is a World of Warcraft savant. His hunter is scary.

Nathan, a.k.a. Daddy or Na3than. Who do you think is teaching these kids about physics, science, and words like "ignition?" My very own Mr. Fix-it, Spider Slayer, very best friend and greatest teacher. Eats my cooking (even when it's bad), sometimes laughs at my jokes, never laughs at me and supports almost every wacky idea I come up with.

Jennifer, a.k.a. Mommy or Jen. I'd like to say I'm the normal one, but I know better. I cook, I bake, I glass (stained glass), I do projects (sewing, painting, art, needlework, crafts). I try to be a super mom. Yes, I work full time and have three young children, a dog, a husband and a brother in my household. Yes, I believe my children should have homemade meals, treats, halloween costumes, toys/games and really spectacular birthday cakes. No, these things are not optional to me (dusting however, is optional. A little dust never hurt anyone.) Yes, I can do it. I am Mighty Mommy. No, I do not get enough sleep.

Jack. Our four-legged first born - beagle extraodinaire. He's loud. He eats. He sometimes messes on the floor. 'Nuff said.

Welcome :)