Check this out:

I digress, as this is not a post about my kids, but a fabulous idea from a fabulous old friend. (Old as in from my past, not old as in she is (or I am for that matter) to be considered "old."

Check out: The Mina Project then...

QUICK! Support my friend's effort. Mandy and Josh combined the money they received and joined forces with coworkers to create a cookbook called "Mina Bites." All profits from the cookbook sale will go to families in need. Any portion of money they receive back will go to a friend struggling with Multiple Sclerosis. Her husband was recently laid off and they are facing the end of insurance and the probability of losing their house.

A frozen army

Having 4 kids with many, many teachers makes Holiday gifts a bit pricey. I know, I know, teachers say they don't want or need gifts, but we still like to acknowledge all that they do throughout the year. We've discovered food is always fun (last year we did 8x8 pans and a bag of home-made Magic Fudge mix - tasty and creative!)

This year, I found a cute project online and I bought the stuff well before the holidays, although we didn't actually start the project until December. We made 17 "Frosty the Doorstop" figures. It was quite the family affair - Nathan and James painted them white, Abby and I made the scarves (mostly Abby actually!) and I glued everything together and pained the details.

Here is our fleet, waiting to be distributed to Woodland Elementary, The Goddard School of Brooklyn Park, and two for Grandma Dorothy and Grandma Carole.

Being a good sport

Abby has been learning about football. Somehow tonight at dinner we were asking about touchdowns and how does a team make /score a touchdown. Daniel was very excited to tell us:

"When you play Hi-ho Cherry-O, and you get all of your cherries into your basket you get to say 'TOUCHDOWN' and then 'HI-HO-CHERRY-O' I win, thanks for playing."

Apparently, we still have some work to do with that.

(Abby did properly explain how a football team scores a touchdown, as well as the extra point. She is currently unaware of the two point conversion option though. All in good time...)

Mojo & Ho Ho

Visiting the big man

The Battan Kids met the man in the red suit. Nicholas was a little nervous and did his "frozen boy" routine, but it all worked out.

I highly recommend making an appointment to visit Santa at 'The Santa Experience' at Mall of America. Make an appointment online at professorbellows.com.

Ben's Week

Monday morning, while getting ready for work/school, Nathan was changing Ben and noticed that he was wheezing. I don't mess with possible breathing issues, but didn't hear anything odd myself, so figured we'd go to school and see what happened. Ben's teachers kept an ear on him, and they also noticed wheezing when he was getting worked up in some way - hungry/crying, etc. So, off to the pediatrician we went, with Mommy figuring on bronchitis or a cold or some other seasonal ailment.

Oh no. The pediatrician took a good long listen and decided that the wheeze was not an interthoracic wheeze, but higher. Could be a malformation of the nasal and throat area or vascular banding (as in a birth defect), could be reflux (irritating the membranes) or it could be a rather common issue with the larynx and esophagus. We left with an Rx for Prevacid, a referral to an ENT, and orders to have an esophagram and upper GI series done.

Wednesday afternoon we saw the ENT who did Abby and Daniel's ear tubes (because I like him) and he took a listen to Mojo and was certain it was the larynx/esophagus thing - laryngomalacia and that he would outgrow it. Nathan commented that he hadn't even been hearing the wheezing since Monday, Dr. Rhodes said that was because of the Prevacid. Apparently the stomach acid in reflux irritates the membranes and makes it all worse. We asked if he thought the Upper GI was still needed, and he said the more info the better, so we kept the appointment.

This morning Ben was at Children's Minneapolis (the best hospital anywhere - says this mommy!) and was the most perfect little angel for his Upper GI. He got to drink nearly 4 ounces of Barium (yum yum), which he actually chugged, while the radiologist took video and pictures of how everything looks inside. He took a little break and then we got to check for reflux as well. The radiologist said everything looks perfect, so I'm expecting that we'll keep him on Prevacid for a while and hopefully he will grow out of this laryngomalacia soon.

I'm just relieved there was no invasive scoping and no need for surgery!

Abby

Yesterday, when discussing her day Abby told us all about how she "wrote" that a shoe is a house for your feet.

How cute is that?

Nappin' with Dad

Welcome to God's Family Ben!

This Saturday evening, Benjamin was baptized. Nathan and I were thrilled that Father Mike Tix, pastor of St. John the Baptist Church agreed to do the sacrament, even though we are no longer parishioners. Fr. Mike's first assignment after seminary was St. John's, he was then assigned to a parish in Bloomington before returning to St. John's in 2004. His first Mass back at St. John's was Abby's baptism day. Since then he baptized all of our kids, so this was great for us.

Let's see... something weird tends to happen to us during ceremonies... Well, Ben cried during the whole thing. That is, until he got to have the nice warm water on his little noggin. He thought that was pretty neat, so he mellowed out and enjoyed the water. Nicholas was tempted to jump into the water too. He kept saying 'bath.' Luckily Nathan kept a good hold on him.

Here is Ben with us, Fr. Mike and his godparents: Mike and Erin Stuedemann.

Yeah, you can't see Ben - lots of crying still going on!

We did get a pretty good group photo with the rest of the kids though:

Today we had Ben's little reception to celebrate (any excuse for a party!) The kids all had a great time playing and Ben enjoyed being cuddled by everyone. Grandma Dorothy did a super-amazing job on his cake, and got it finished in record time. When I brought it out to get a photo of Ben with the cake, Daniel started to ask where the candles were. Too funny.

Fall Fun

A mild November day found the kids with the Nebraska grandparents out in the yard raking and winterizing today. Ok, so the kids were doing more playing than raking, but who could blame them?

I'm sick of sick!

We've now been through three rounds of H1N1-assumed and two rounds of Pink Eye (two people, 3 eyes total), and that's only if you count the kids. Add in the grown-ups and you need to add at least one more H1N1 and two pink eye cases (two eyes total). The only people in the house to have remained relatively healthy are Ben and Mommy, and Mommy has been fighting a scratchy throat, tendinitis in the wrist and (you guessed it) plain ol' exhaustion-due-to-newborn.

And to think I had planned on doing some projects on my leave. I go back to work on 11/9, and I barely scratched the surface of what I would have wanted to do. Daddy says I got to spend quality time with all of the kids. I say bah. (And I want more leave time!!)

The Bat Kids

Halloween was a riot this year. Daniel had his costume selected since mid-summer, as he normally requests that he be called Superman. Abby was able to get one last year out of the mermaid costume I made, but said that this year she was a mermaid princess. Nicholas on the other hand, did not understand any of the whole "dressing up" bit. The day we attempted to try on costumes ended up in tears.

Luckily when it came down to the actual night we got Nicholas into a zebra costume. Ben donned a black cat 'sleep & play' and hat (he wasn't fond of the hat though). Getting all four of them to sit still and look in the general direction of the camera... this is the best we could do. (Nicholas has a mouth full of Lentil Curl - we had to bribe him to sit with Superman.)



This was Nicholas's first time trick-or-treating. He was a bit confused in general and stared wide-eyed at all of the other kids running around outside. Daddy said it took him about two houses to understand the whole candy in the bucket thing and another house or two for him to learn to say "Happy Halloween!" Which, coming from Nicholas is less 'happy halloween' and more "all-oh-EEN" but said super fast.


Above - one confused zebra heading out for trick-or-treating.
Below - the kids, showing off their haul.
(Yes, Daniel and Nicholas are both wearing Batman t-shirts. Our last name does frequently get mis-pronounced, so I find this funny. What is even funnier to me is that Daniel wore a Superman costume over his Batman t-shirt!)

Bright Eyes and a Grin?

Ben got to enjoy his very first bottle today. He ate like a champ and then had some alert-time with Daddy. See- he really does have eyes!




Although he's still a little floppy, he is trying to hold his head up. He has pretty good control, but he does have one heavy noggin! Check out that little grin though- how cute is that?

Daddy's Little Nutritionist

In our endless parade of taste tests, one of the items we check out during the test is the nutritional information and ingredients in the different brands. You'd be amazed at the similarities and the differences! A few weeks ago, when taste testing every kind of "Lucky Charms" (so Lucky Charms, Marshmallow Mateys, and whatever other store brand I found... I can't remember the name of it and am too lazy to go find the taste test journal. Yes, there's a journal...) we started to compare calories and sugar and fat content. Abby thought this was a neat comparison and has been reading nutrition labels ever since. Lately, if any packaging is left on the table she checks out the vitamin contents and exclaims with delight, or chagrin, at the percent of daily value of such things as folic acid/folate and especially vitamin C.

We did a wheat bread comparison a couple of days ago. I will add a photo from that event as soon as I get it off the camera. It does include a healthy discussion between daddy and Abby about the nutritional analysis of the three products being tested.

- - - - UPDATE - - - - 10-25-09 - - - -
As I was writing the above post, Abby and Daddy were at a birthday party across town. When they arrived home, they each had a bottle of Pineapple/Orange juice. Apparently, they stopped for gas and went inside where they decided to purchase drinks. I am told that Abby stood before the cases and asked, "Daddy, which is the healthiest?" So they compared labels and came up with the Holiday brand Pineapple Orange juice.

Abby has also checked out Coke and Diet Dr. Pepper labels and has proclaimed them "junk food."

We are now trying to kick the pop habit at our house.

FLOOD!

We have a bad Saturday morning habit of letting the 3 big kids just play upstairs while we doze a bit longer (especially since they are usually up at 7, and we just don't do that). This morning, as usual for Saturday the kids were in and out of our room, climbing in and out of our bed, sometimes being cute, sometimes being annoying.

I had dozed off, so I don't know exactly what happened, but I woke to Nathan saying "Nicholas, get out of the bathroom." Then I vaguely remember hearing the flush. But what woke me and launched me out of the bed was the sound of water hitting the floor. (I got used to bolting towards a similar sound...that of a certain dog peeing on the floor. Or a kid-in-potty-training peeing on the floor...)

Have I mentioned that Nicholas is fascinated with the toilet? And flushing it?

I ran in, and there was no sign of whatever he flushed, so I was pretty sure we were about to call a plumber. Nathan thought the object was one of the Ben diapers Nicholas had just agreed to take to the Diaper Genie (or "deenie" as Nicholas calls it). Nathan located our handy plunger and was able to extract the object. It wasn't a diaper, but a 3 ounce size plastic cup (they were significantly cheaper than the paper ones for our little bathroom dispenser thingy, and we wouldn't have any more fights about who got the 'Elmo' cup vs. the 'Big Bird' cup - it seemed like a good idea at the time!).

Daniel went through a phase like this too, but the worst thing he tried to flush was one of Nicholas's blankets. It was too big to go down or cause any major problems. It was just a soppy wet mess.

Hopefully Nicholas and his fascination with the toilet won't last long. However, I'm not hopeful. He hasn't started potty training yet.

UGH!

Daniel and the Helicopter

On Friday, Goddard School had a "field trip" visit from a traveling airplane group. The kids got to look at helicopters and part of an airplane and such.

Goddard usually takes lots of photos of the kids at these events, which is awesome. In this case, the director called to ask if it was OK to use a photo of Daniel in a press release. So, here is the photo of Daniel, his friend and his teacher Ms. Janet checking out a helicopter cockpit.

Sleeping Mojo

Matched Set

Abby and I made tye-dye shirts for all of the kids just before Ben arrived. (Abby wanted to make them for the grown-ups too, but somehow I talked her out of it). The big kids did not wear these to the hospital, but we decided to wear them today.

You can read the fronts, but probably can't see the left sleeves which proclaim birth order "Kid #1." I was going to add "Mom's favorite" to the back of all of the shirts (because they are all mom's favorite), but I ran out of time that evening.

And yes, getting 4 kids to look in the general direction of the camera and at least sort of smile does take at least two adults and several rounds of cookies. (Note to self - next time, someone needs to kennel the dog so he doesn't steal any cookies...)

Nicholas - ready for Hollywood

Nicholas is in denial that it's fall (and that it snowed today!) - he still wants to wear his shades. But he does love being a big brother.

Code Breaker

How many 5 year olds can crack the TiVo Parental control code? Well, I can name one. That little stinker Abby was watching TV, which is generally recorded onto our TiVo (we never watch live TV) and for some reason, Clifford the Big Red Dog was unrated, so the parental control code came up. Abby said she entered 4 numbers into the boxes and they went away.

Ok. I'll admit, our parental control code wasn't exactly 128-bit AES encryption, but we didn't think we were going to need to be crafty about the code for at least another couple of years. Abby kept giggling about the numbers, because she knew what she pressed - it wasn't random - so we did update our code.

If she starts safe-cracking or invents the next internet virus, I don't know what I'll do.

Geeks in training

Yes, two mini-computers and two little boys simply enthralled. Daniel is working on his mouse control - which is pretty cute. There is some 'space shuttle' game he likes to play. The best thing about the R2-D2 computer is hearing C3-PO say "If you don't need me, I'll be shutting down now."

Such intensity.

Sir Handsome

Ben had his "newborn" photos done yesterday. These are my two favorite poses.


By the way - Kiddie Kandids inside Babies R Us in Maple Grove - quite awesome (if pricey for prints). They took an appropriate amount of time and got the best shots. The photographer really understood babies and the "cute" poses. Apparentky afternoons tend to be slow, so that helped too. AND I got to take the prints home - no waiting! Bonus!

Battan kids and the Nebraska Grands

Just before they headed back to NE 9/27/09

Abby (5), Grandma Dorothy, Ben (4 days), Grandpa Glen, Nicholas (20 mo), Daniel (3)

Mojo

(Scooter & Mojo, 10-03-09)

So, I forgot to mention the funniest thing about bring home Ben. As with all of our kids, naming him was especially difficult. I was still liking William and Zachary, and not liking the B-B alliteration. But, unlike the other kids, as soon as I saw the little guy I thought - Ben. Then, within a minute of holding him, Nathan looked at me and said "Benjamin." We still fought it though. (Considering I wanted to name both Daniel and Nicholas "William" - I couldn't give it up too easily.)


Thursday night, James asked Daniel what we should name the baby. This was always a fun game, as Daniel always said "Harry!" (with gusto - an exclaimation, not a statement.) Apparently, Daniel didn't disappoint and responded with the usual "Harry!" Then he added, "Wait, not Harry. I've got it. MOJO! We should name him MOJO!"

And so, Ben has a nickname. Mojo Battan. It has a good ring...

H1N1

Name three things that you hope don't happen when you're bringing a newborn home from the hospital.

How about having the oldest sibling diagnosed with H1N1 flu? Yeah, that ranks up there. And yeah, that's what happened. Abby was sent home from school on Wednesday 9/23/09 with a 102.7 fever. We called the pediatrician from the hospital and they said if she had no other symptoms she wouldn't need to be seen. Wednesday night we opted to risk bringing her in meet the new baby- she just had to follow a few extra rules. She washed her hands and used the magic foam soap and only kissed baby's hat. I let her touch his feet too. She seemed OK, but said she was a bit cold and her eyes hurt. I think she was getting "ache-y."

Thursday she felt great in the morning, but Nathan kept her home as more of a precaution. She came to the hospital with daddy and followed her same hand washing and no-kissing on the face rules. She was doing great for most of the day, but started complaining about a sore throat. Then started feeling "hot." As we were in a hospital room, I used the in-room thermometer to take her temp and it was a low 100.2. Within an hour it spiked back to 102.6 and she was looking awful and saying her throat was really sore. So, off to the pediatrician they went. I was fully expecting strep. Not H1N1 flu. The peds office is not confirming cases of H1N1, but treating any flu-like symptoms as H1N1. As there is a newborn and new mommy in the family, they opted to treat her with Tamaflu. Poor kid - more missed school!

On Friday, she and daddy came back to the hospital, but wore masks as a precaution. Every time Abby had to wear her mask or do something she may find "embarrassing" Daddy did it too so she wouldn't feel self conscious. She has been a real trooper about the whole thing and was very careful about doing the right things to keep her new little brother safe and happy.

Benjamin James Battan has arrived!

Benjamin James Battan

Born on September 23, 2009 at 2:33 p.m.

Weighed in at 7 pounds, 6 ounces

Measured 20.5 inches in length

Here he is, just a few minutes old.

The last night as "5"

Well, baby boy will arrive tomorrow sometime. OK, let me correct that. I am scheduled to be induced tomorrow, 9/23/09 at 7:30 a.m. This is of course, assuming that 1) Little bugger doesn't decide to play "beat the clock" and come on his own, 2) the hospital doesn't delay the induction time because they are too full (they apparently won't completely 'bump' me being scheduled that early) and 3) the induction moves at a decent pace and the kid comes before midnight. Yeesh. That last one has me concerned. I have heard that inductions take "extra" time. Considering that I'm being induced for a history of "fast labor," I'd hate to go the other direction and have this take all day!

The kids were pretty good tonight, all things considered. Abby had another accident (we're having some issues with #2 accidents. Yuck is all I can say about that). Nicholas threw a car at Abby's head. Daniel bonked me on the head with his head. And that was a good night :) Just think, tomorrow there will be 4!

What were we thinking?

Apple Day at the Farm

Brooklyn Park's Eidem homestead has several "special event days" and yesterday is what we call "Apple Day." There is an 1800's baseball game, fresh pressed apple cider (pressed in a manual, really old press), hay rides, and other fun little activities.

Here are some photos from the day.
Three little Battan kids sitting on a bench eating apples straight from the growers baskets. Nicholas LOVES apples - I think they qualify as his favorite fruit and one of his favorite words to say.

All of the kids want a turn on the rope swing, and you can't really swing unless you get a good push. So Nicholas helped Daniel out...

Nicholas is too little to swing alone, so Mommy helped (even with my "lack of a lap"). Daniel thought he would be a hero and help with the pushing. What's really funny is the next photo where Mommy smacked into Daniel because he didn't understand that the swing comes back with more force. No Battan kids were injured during this trip :)

I call this the leprechaun photo. Nathan sent Abby and Daniel into a little stand of treed and shrubs next to the farmhouse. They were so excited to find "a really gigantic mushroom" and made daddy go into the trees to take a picture of them with their find. The mushroom is that brown circle-thing between the two of them. But really - how cute are these smiles? And for once- I can tell that they are related - look at those chins and cheeks!

The kids also got a lesson in the identification of poison ivy. Daddy found some about 3 feet from where they found their mushroom. I don't know if the lesson sunk in, but they did manage to avoid getting covered in poison ivy.

Geode

I picked up a geode on my latest travels and thought the kids would like to smash and explore (OK, so Daddy smashed while the kids watched from a safe distance wearing safety glasses - THEN they got to explore!). We also happen to have 4 small geodes from previous trips. We broke the large one first, which was quite exciting - it was pretty. We also broke two of the small ones. Unfortunately, the small ones weren't as pretty as the big one, but they were still pretty cool.

Oh my heavens!

The boys have a "new" favorite game. It's called Catching Airplanes or Catching Clouds (depending on which boy is being launched into the air). (By the way, mommy calls this the Giving Mommy a Heart Attack game.) Nicholas especially likes doing this outside, as he can really catch some air, obviously. Inside, we have to watch for ceiling fans and lights and such. Much less exciting, but not much safer.

Welcome home mommy!

Or, not so much.

I left town Monday morning for a week of business travel (two days in St. Louis and then 3 days in Orlando). The kids were all sad to see me go, but we did talk on the phone throughout the week.

My personal favorite calls were when Abby called one morning to ask me if we had any paper lunch bags. She was very sweet and said she missed me a lot. One evening, Nicholas tried to talk to me, which was only mildly successful - but the next night he very clearly identified me as "that's mommy" when James asked who was on the phone. Very sweet.

My flight home arrived in Minneapolis around 3:30. After some confusion driving (don't ask, I hadn't driven all week and construction caused me issues), I arrived at Abby's school at 4:50. Figuring she'd be so happy to see me, I text-ed Nathan that I would pick her up.

Her response to seeing me?

"Mommy, I want to finish this game, can you come back later?"

Yep, she missed me!

Abby gets a letter

Can you believe it? The Wicked Witch wrote back! Abby received a large envelope today from Stages Theatre which included a voucher for two tickets to another play, a letter from the general manager and, most importantly, a handwritten letter from the Wicked Witch!

EXCELLENT!!

Abby writes a letter

A few days ago, Abby's summer program went to see a play at Stages Theatre in Hopkins for their weekly field trip. They saw 'The Wizard of Oz,' which Abby has seen before (the classic film version you're probably familiar with). She did tend to get nervous during the movie, but she handled it. She wasn't really worried about the play.

As per our usual dinner conversation, especially after a field trip, we asked how her day was, and how she enjoyed the field trip. She proceeded to tell us all about the Wicked Witch and how she was green and she melted. She seemed fascinated. We talked a lot about how someone could possibly look green, considering that is not normal coloring for people. We didn't speculate on the melting part all that much though.

Anyway! She said she was a little bit scared during the play. Then, after the play as they were leaving all of the actors were in the lobby (I picture a receiving line of some sort, don't ask me why), and Abby wanted to hug Dorothy and wanted to ask the Wicked Witch how her face was green and how she melted, but she was a bit scared and her teacher wouldn't let them stop because they were late for the bus.

She seemed so sad about it, Nathan asked her if she would like to write the actress a letter to ask her questions. We've had some conversations about actresses in the past, so we thought this would be helpful to sort of drive the concept home. She was worried that the actress was 'mean' because the character was mean, so yet another conversation about how nice people can "act" mean. It took a night or so, but Abby wrote her very own letter. She determined what she wanted to say (and we wrote it down so we wouldn't mess it up) then Daddy spelled all of the words for her. Daddy opted to address the envelope (postal regulations you know), but Abby added the return address label and stamp.

Check it out - how cute is this?

Half Birthdays

Nicholas is one-and-a-half. Daniel is three-and-a-half and Abby is almost 5-and-a-half. So tonight we decided to do a mid-year height check. Abby has grown about an inch (we will re-do hers and mark it on the measuring beam next month). Daniel has grown about an inch and a half. Nicholas has grown about two and a half inches.

Insanity!

Mr. Fearless

Nicholas has a new trick.

1) Fling pillow off of loveseat.
2) Dive head first over the arm of the love seat
3) Stop diving when in 'headstand' position
4) Fling legs over and flop onto back
5) Repeat. A lot.

Then mommy has a heart attack.

He has also tried to do this over the back side of the loveseat, but we usually stop him in time. He did actually fall over the back tonight, and he hit the floor pretty hard. We hope he learned his lesson.

Daniel meets a Mini Cooper

Daniel has a "thing" for Mini Coopers. He received the Matchbox version in his Easter basket and has been pointing them out on the roads ever since. Today, Daniel came with me to a haircut appointment and we decided to go on a little adventure. OK, a surprise adventure. When I pulled into the Mini dealership, I think he was confused. (He's never been to a car lot you know). Then I convinced him we could get out of the cars and go inside and look. He got very excited about the red Cooper above. And don't you LOVE the little lean and crossed feet?

Once inside, we saw this pre-owned blue one, but he refused to get in. So we went up to the new Mini area to see if we could get a brochure. I did get him to sit with me inside a new tricked out S convertible. Then we went back downstairs and he was all over the blue one. I think he turned every knob and pushed every lever - everything but the horn.

Talk about some pure joy!
We told Daddy we made a deposit... Daddy thought it was pretty cute that he sat at the table when we got home and looked through his "Mini Cooper Book." (I can't find that photo- must be on the other camera).

Mommy's little motor head...

Happy Heart Day!

OK, one day early.

"Heart Day" is the anniversary of Daniel's Tetrology of Fallot repair surgery. I figure, if you have open heart surgery, you should get to celebrate that day annually. Especially if your surgery takes place before your first birthday. It also just so happens that Daniel's annual visit to see Dr. Charlie Baker, his pediatric cardiologist, usually happens in July. And yes, I am dorky enough to "shoot for" having the checkup on heart day if we can. Dr. B is out tomorrow.

My other odd 'tradition' is that I have a photo of Daniel on the exam table, usually with a stethoscope and sometimes with a doctor (yeah, he sometimes takes the stethoscopes to play with) at every visit. So, above is little Scooter and Dr. B.

Daniel's latest "thing" is to tell us that his heart is blue. We figure it's because his favorite color is blue, and that the most prominent veins you see in your arm and such tend to be blue. Dr. B thought that was interesting and let Daniel know that his heart is now just like everyone else's. Sweet!

There was also a pedatrician doing her cardiac rotation with CHC (Children's Heart Clinic) and she got to listen to Daniel too. Little Daniel is generally a very patient patient. He has had lots of students and other doctors and nurses check him out.

The exam went well. Last year Daniel also was treated to an echocardiogram. They skipped that this year, but will probably do one next year, so Daniel will get to bring his own movie to watch while he has his echo. He doesn't need any special meds or treatments or even observation, which is always what we hope for. He still has a bit of a murmur, but Dr. B wasn't sure if that is the leaky aortic valve which we know Daniel has (he didn't think it was, but it could have been) or a little leftover VSD (ventricular septal defect - hole between ventricles) from the patching (but I thought last year's echo showed that as closed). So, all in all, no surprises! YAY! Oh, and more good news, Daniel is now 36 and ONE EIGHTH inches tall! That has to be taller than when he met Dr. Ainslie (the pediatric endocrinologist), so that makes me happy. Still (technically) just under two inches before he can 'legally' move to a Graco Booster in the car. We won't mention that he sometimes gets to sit in a booster in the Maxima...

Happy Heart Day little Scooter!

Tomorrow we will celebrate with cupcakes at school and maybe even a heart cake at home. We'll see how mommy feels. There is also a movie in the park (hotel for dogs) and activities, but again, we'll see how mommy feels.

My favorite number

This morning, Abby was cuddling in bed with Nathan and Daniel was in his "nest" (my snoogle pillow) and Abby was singing:

"My favorite number is... cheese" (repeat, over and over)

"Abby, what number is cheese"
"It's the one between 100 and 99. I mean, 99 and 100."
"Really, I hadn't heard that."
"Yeah, it's the silly number - cheese."

I was unaware that dairy products could also be numbers.

Happy Lee Resolution & Independence Days

I wanted to check my memory, so I did a little research.

According to Wikipedia (which knows everything, right? (ha ha, kidding!), the Lee resolution was the act of the Second Continental Congress which declared the 13 colonies to be independent of the British Empire. The resolution was approved on July 2, 1776. The text of the document formalizing the action, the Declaration of Independence is what was approved on July 4, 1776.

So why isn't July 2nd the "big day" we Americans celebrate? Simple really - the colonies were at war in 1777 and no one remembered the anniversary of July 2. They realized it on the 3rd, so opted to celebrate the 4th and the Declaration instead. (How many husbands of the world would like to allow their wedding anniversary date to slide around like that?!). And really, how many "average Americans" would really understand the passage of the actual resolution on 7/2, vs. that beautiful, script July 4, 1776 we see on the Declaration?

Here's an amusing snippit from the Wikipedia entry, which I have also seen elsewhere, which makes me believe the whole "oops, we forgot the big anniversary so we'll make a new one...." This is from a letter John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail on July 3:

"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."

So, how did you celebrate?
The Minnesota Battans hosted the whole Franta clan from Nebraska for a few days. There were trips to MOA, Fawn-Doe-Rosa, Winehaven Winery, Eichten's Cheese and work on the fabulous new beagle-proof fence. There was a small incident regarding fireworks and some very sad little cousins, but in general it was a great weekend. Photos and more of the tale coming soon.

Just mark your calendars for next year - Celebrate Lee Resolution Day (people will think you're silly, but isn't that what life is all about?!)

Taters

Looks like at least 2 kids had fun at Brooklyn Park's Tater Days carnival.
(more to come)

Celebrate Heart Day!

Daniel had his ToF correction surgery on July 17, 2006 at age 5 months. I figure, if you have to go through open heart surgery (bypass machine and all), you should get to celebrate it every year.

Beginning in 2007, one of our "Heart Celebration" events has been walking in the HeartBeat5000 (formerly known as the PaceMaker5000). In '07 it was just me and Daniel (who rode in the stroller and ate cheerios the whole time). Last year, Daddy, Abby and Nicholas joined us (Nicholas in a stroller, Abby and Daniel in a wagon - eating cheerios the whole time). This year, we've planned a family event again, and MightyMom is working on creating Battan Brigade T-shirts for us to wear.

If you don't already have plans for Saturday, June 27 and are in the area, I encourage you to come out for a walk, run or stroll to raise money for cardiac care at Children's Hospital. These people care for a whole family, not just the cardiac kid. They explained so many things to us, and in some cases kept us laughing, even in the PICU (which is not an easy task- the PICU is not known as a fun place!). Join the Battan Brigade when you sign up.

If you aren't in the mood for a walk, but would like to support Daniel's walk, click the "Donate to Children's" link to make an online contribution. We'd be honored if you'd enter Supporting the Battan Brigade in the HeartBeat5000 in the memo/comments line.

Maybe we will have a real, honest "Brigade" next year!

Other "Heart Day" events this year may simply be cupcakes for Daniel's class and a treat at home. We may be heading south for a family reunion that night, so it may not be a big hoopla. If we don't head south, I'm hoping for a night at the pool. Daniel really wants to go swimming!

A Pirate's Life

During bedtime "cuddles" tonight the following conversation occurred.

Daniel: "Mommy, do you sleep with one eye open?"
Me: "No...why?"
Daniel: "I do. I sleep with one eye open. Pirates sleep with one eye open."
Me: "Really?"
Daniel: "Yeah, they do. And pirates have green teeth."
Me: "Who told you that?" (curious now)
Daniel: " My Grandfather."
Me: "Who is your Grandfather."
Daniel: "That Nathan guy. He's my grandfather and he told me that pirates sleep with one eye open and have green teeth."
Me: "It's time to go to sleep now Daniel."

Museum adventures

Yesterday, as Daniel and I were going to the chiropractor (for mommy) and running errands, Daniel saw a sign on a bus about Clifford (the big red dog of book and PBS Kids fame) at the Children's Museum. It said "ends soon" so I checked online. Sure enough, today was the "Target Free Third Sunday" at the Minnesota Children's Museum (I have a zillion kids - free is important!).

We got up 'early' and headed to the museum. We played in the Works room- Daniel is especially cute in a construction hat!

We played at the "Big Red Fun" time- Daniel and Abby each walked on bird/monster feet. Abby did a weird wiggly dance to the music.

Then, we went to see Clifford.

At Clifford's friend Cleo (the purple poodle)'s 'house' Nicholas totally rocked at shape sorting. I hate to be 'that mom,' but I can't help it. There were kids there obviously older than Nicholas who were either not trying or just not understanding the concept of a shape sorter. Nicholas had no problems with it.

Daniel loved the door to the Bridwell Island Library, as well as driving the boat.

In the "habitot" room, we all had an excellent time. It was also one of those "Are you kidding me?" moments for mommy. I was trailing behind Nicholas as he climbed and explored. He paused with some concern at the "bridge" but ended up sort of bounding across. Then he found the "ice slide" and slid right down- no hesitation. He popped up, looked around and saw the stairs for the "long way" - a.k.a. the safe way he had just traveled (up regular stairs, around a corner, over the bridge, then to the slide). Then he noticed the 'big kids' (Daniel and a couple of other ~3-4 year olds) climbing up the cargo net next to the slide. We believe Nicholas thinks he's at least 3, and true to form, he decided to try the cargo net. Scampered up like a little Spider Man. Are you KIDDING me?! Where is the healthy dose of 'fear'? How about 'caution?'

The Potty Champ

Daniel potty trained in two weeks.

I cannot believe it, but I am THRILLED. His teachers thought he was ready, given that he hates to be wet and would ask to be changed. However, due to his constipation issues, he tended to be afraid of the bathroom, assuming it would hurt to go. He had no concept of the difference between "#1" and "#2." His teachers suggested trying to just put him in underwear and plastic pants and see what happens.

The weekend before Memorial Day, instead of a diaper change on Saturday, Nathan put Daniel in underwear and plastic pants. That weekend, there were several accidents, including one at a Goodwill store. I figured, we'll stick it out and I'll just do some laundry every night.

I am not quite sure when it really happened, but I know that the Saturday before Memorial Day he had one accident. He would tend to panic that he needed to go, but not try to do any of it himself (pulling down pants, etc.). Since that day he has not had an accident. He's even dry in the mornings! His big sister cannot say either of those things.

Daniel's teacher calls him the "potty champ." I agree!

Big Boy

Nicholas has been practicing using his fork at dinner time. Amazingly enough, he did eat most of this meal with his fork. He even had seconds!
And how cute are the little crossed ankles?!

His father's son

If you look through photo albums from the early days of our marriage, you will find many photos of Nathan climbing trees. I have no idea what the fascination is, but needless to say, if the opportunity to climb a tree or other object presented itself, he'd take it.

This weekend we found Nicholas on the dining room table. Yes, you read that right ON the table. He had pulled out a chair and climbed right up. Luckily, he got a little worried and started to cry, so we were able to rescue him before he learned a lesson about gravity.

The following day, this is where he ended up. He pushed a chair from the dining room over to the sink and climbed on up. He proceeded to locate his cup as well as his fork. He made a little music and did a little dancing, which is what alerted us to his shenanigans.

And let me say, we weren't that far away and we were really supervising our kids. There is reason we call him Flash. He is wicked fast!

Nicholas also follows in Daddy's footsteps when it comes to his love of ice cream. Nicholas looks like this sweet little kid. Then he asks you for a bite of your ice cream (yes, pregnant mommy likes ice cream, so it's a common 'snack.'). First, don't try to say no. Second, don't try for a tiny bite either. He wants a BIG bite. His jaw nearly unhinges and he demands a bite that would give instant brain freeze to a grown up.

Graduation

Can you believe it? Abby's first graduation was tonight - her graduation from Four Star Express, the preschool program. There was a pizza dinner with cake in a nicely decorated cafeteria. Then, there was a ceremony. The kids marched in to "Pomp & Circumstance" wearing caps & tassels. They sang a few songs, then received their certificate and a little bear.

I got a little choked up. Sheesh - what is going to happen when she REALLY graduates? I think I'll lose it entirely!