Patrick's House of Horrors

Also known as..... the Butterfly Pavilion. Having never been there before I wasn't sure what to expect (besides the obvious: butterflies), so I was thrilled to see they have lots of cool things! Lots of bugs - huge spiders, beetles, leaf bugs, etc. They even have a small section of oceanic invertibrates, like jellyfish, starfish, and crabs - perfect! I was sure, since Patrick is somewhat fixated on some butterflies I colored, cut out, and laminated at home, that he would have a GREAT time, but he was terrified of everything, especially the crab and the butterflies. Here's what he had to say - he repeated it the whole 20-minute drive home!



"tabba? fwaid - sad. fwy? fwaid - sad. tabba? fraid - sad...."

At least I know it made quite the impression on him!

Bugger!

If you read my blog, you know me, and if you know me you know I like to scrapbook. The point of scrapbooking is to keep old photos safe from damage in a creative manner, with acid-free stickers and pens and paper and doo-dads. While my pictures may be safe from acid erosion, they are apparently NOT safe from BUGS! While browsing one of my books, Jonathan spotted a little thing wriggling in one of the pages! First off, yuck. Second, get out of my scrapbook, bug! At first we thought they might be silverfish, but they're missing the distinctively long tail of silverfish. With more research (and the discovery of a black beetle in our basement), we think they're carpet beetles.

Adult carpet beetle

We captured it under a glass and Patrick was TERRIFIED of it!

We named it James Castner.

Just kidding, that's some guy who got a good photo of a carpet beetle.

But really, Patrick was terrified of the one we caught.

Some websites have been very helpful in ideas for getting rid of them, while some offer gems like this: "Carpet beetles occur naturally outdoors and come into buildings from there" (bugclinic.com). REALLY? Who'd-a thunk? Anyway, serious down-and-dirty vacuuming is recommended, and then affected items can be put in the freezer for a few weeks to kill any larvae (the ones who do the most damage) and their eggs.

Stupid larvae

LUCKILY we just bought an upright freezer from one of Joe's co-workers! So before we pack it with food storage, we'll be packing it with my scrapbooks - the weirdest little library you've ever seen. In the meantime, if Joe ever gets home from work, we'll be rearranging our basement so we can make sure to hit all the nooks and crannies. I hope you don't think we just have a gross house filled with bugs, I am grossed out, too, and will be remedying the situation STAT. Has anyone else dealt with a similar problem? Any helpful hints? Anyone have room for a few books in their freezer?

Snippets

Some snippets of life around here:

- Patrick got over his illnesses! Yay! He had bronchiolitis (not bronchitis, but not sure the difference), hence the breathing treatments, and bacterial pneumonia, hence the antibiotics.

-Patrick was up 4 times last night between 1 and 2 a.m. wanting milk, company, dinosaurs, etc, while Eli slept throught the night. Figures.

-Now that we set up the crib in anticipation of Eli moving into Patrick's room someday (when Patrick sleeps through the night), Patrick wants to sleep in it instead of his big-boy bed. Also, figures :)

-It's snowing its brains out over here, and it blew in suddenly, so Joe apparantly didn't get off work in time. He left at 5:30 and has gotten approximately 3 miles in those 3 1/2 hours. 17 more miles to go, he should get here tomorrow evening.

-Thanks to Joe working early, then me working late, then Joe working early and getting stuck in a blizzard, I haven't seen my husband for two days straight! The most we've talked face-to-face was this morning, at 1:30, when Joe groggily asked "what does he want?" as Patrick was up the third time. That is pretty ridiculous considering neither of us are even out of town!

-My guys, when I get to see them, are still the best. On Sunday we dyed Easter eggs (a practice run) and had a little hunt in our living room. Here, for your viewing pleasure, are the results. I split it up so you don't feel obligated to watch the whole long hunt but would feel bad closing the video before it's through :)

I haven't posted because...

...we've been sick. AGAIN. This time, breathing treatments and antibiotics and cough-til-you-puke. BLAAAAAH.

It only takes one

When I got Eli dressed this morning it was in one of my favorite outfits - an understated apple one-piece from Gap (OK, from a second-hand store for me, but the initial owner got it from Gap). I happen to have heaps of green apples at the house, and Eli's been needing a photo shoot for a while, so I set up a quick background and got to it. Patrick wanted in on the action - he was working hard to pile all the apples back into the basket while I was working hard to keep him out of the shot and keep the apple pile looking strategically disheveled. When Eli got grumpy, I swapped in Patrick and had him do what he did best - eat the props. Although I took about a gazillion (in actuality, about 50) photos, only a few turned out, but all you really need is one of each! But I'll post two anyway :)




I liked the decolored look, especially for Eli since his outfit colors are so muted, but I also enjoyed the pop that the green apples give. What do you think? Favorites? Tips? Want to babysit? ;)

Fingers

Eli has never needed a pacifier, but I think he's sort of substituted his fingers in place of a paci - he can't seem to keep them out of his mouth! I don't feel any teeth coming in, but if anything's near his mouth it's put IN his mouth and gnawed to death.

So strange that he's 4 months already, I'm not ready for him to get any bigger, I already miss him being a newborn :( He continues to sleep through the night, 10 pm until 4 or 6 am, then nurses and goes back to sleep until 9 or 10 am - craaaaaaazy! He rolls over from back to front (though he hates being on his front, so it doesn't seem like he's accomplished too much!) and can sit up by himself about 10-20 seconds at a time. He still nurses like a champ but he'll also take a bottle really well for his daddy while I'm at work, so we're blessed (and he gets fed) on all fronts! I love those little ears, I know what side of the family THOSE came from!

Cry baby

Eli rarely cries (with the exception of the 2 days he was terribly sick), so when he DOES cry it's fun (instead of frustrating) to watch. He gets the greatest pouty lip, so Joe purposely tries to scare him or annoy him to coax the lip to its full pout. And what do I do? Get the camera, of course!

I just love how their little faces get all tight!

Exersaucers

We found 2 cool exersaucers on Craigslist, both for steals, so I called BOTH sellers, and they happened to repond at almost exactly the same time, and I couldn't make up my mind... so we bought both. For the time being it's been fun having Eli in one (the REAL reason we bought one) and Patrick is enthralled with the other one, so they hang out with the exersaucers and each other. Eli loves watched Patrick push the buttons and turn the "pages" on a "book" that's attached - he laughs and laughs! Works out pretty well! As soon as Kari and Jonathan visit they get their pick for Amelia, but we thought it was pretty funny having them both for a while.