Sweet, but seriously?

We had a busy morning, including going to the gym and playing at the park with friends for a few hours.  Caroline didn't get a nap between, so she was sacked.  She fell asleep in the car and I put her down for a nap as soon as we got home and got the boys some lunch, but Eli wandered away before he'd even eaten anything. I was too busy getting my own lunch together to pay much attention, and when I heard a door close I assumed he'd gone upstairs to play in his room. 

After I finished lunch I went upstairs to get him ready for his nap, but he wasn't there.  He'd gone downstairs to his favorite haunt: Caroline's crib. He'd climbed in and laid next to her and was singing so softly and sweetly, "sweet Caroline.... bum bum bum....."  Man, these two boys really love their sister (and that song).

Song birds

Sweet Caroline is a popular ditty around these parts!  Even Eli is singing it these days.  Also, he counted to fourteen while reading books before bedtime -  I didn't even know he could say "fourteen" much less count to it! I was very impressed.  He talks a whole bunch these days, I believe in a previous life he was a parrot.  To contrast, Patrick was saying VERY little at this age - by age two he only had 15 or 20 words, and most of them were understood by me alone. Needless to say, we're very impressed by our Boo.

We've been better

It's been a doozy of a week for us and injuries.  The doctors all know us, the insurance hates us, and if Eli gets hurt we're sure to have Family Services after us.

Last Saturday Patrick fell off his tricycle on the driveway, somehow landing with the trike on top of him, and he immediately complained (OK, screamed) of a hurt arm.  Well, toddlers scream about hurt everything, they need band-aids for bumping their pinky toesand bonking their heads, so we gave him Tylenol and decided to just keep an eye on it.  He was using his arm with full range of motion by the end of the evening, no complaints, so we decided we must be in the clear.



Fast forward to Wednesday.  Easter the Bunny was playing in the house and had made himself comfortable in the boys' room, but it was time to go back in his cage so I could get ready for my sister's visit with her kids.  I got the bunny from their room (getting wicked scratched in the process, it's definitely a two-handed affair) and came out to find Caroline on the top stair. Patrick was upstairs with me so, me with no hands, I told him to sit with her at the top while I put the bunny in his cage - as long as she has company she isn't tempted to head back down!  As I hoisted him into the cage outside I heard Patrick run down the stairs, yelling "I found a bunny turd!" and then, inevitably, a huge THUMP.  Caroline had lost her company and tried to follow her brother down the stairs.  Normally this isn't a huge deal, our stairs are carpeted half-flights, so nobody's going too far or on too hard of a surface. No matter how may times you tell a kid to be careful they don't believe you until they've been hurt, so these relatively short, soft stairs provide a good proving ground that "oh, yeah, mom IS right, I DO need to be careful, that DID hurt!" without actually getting hurt.

Except blasted Wednesday.  When she fell she bit her tongue so badly.  Having only two teeth on the BOTTOM, and seeing a huge gash across the TOP, I assumed she had bit completely through her tongue.  GROOOOSSSSSS!  So we called my sister to say we wouldn't be there to greet her and rushed to the ER.  Turns out she did NOT bite through her tongue, she must have had it curled up in some completely illogical way, so they didn't do anything, no stitches, nothing but numbing cream.  She's been surprisingly good about the whole thing, has gotten back to her normal eating habits (for the most part) and still naps and sleeps. It just happens that it is still grooooosssssss to look at (so of course I'll post a picture!)    

While we were at the hospital we asked about Patrick's arm, which he still said hurt if you grabbed it.  They said it was possibly broken, we could go to our regular pediatrician and get a prescription for an x-ray.  Fast forward to Friday.  We went back to the pediatrician for a follow-up on Caroline's tongue they wrote us the prescription for an x-ray and, sure enough, it's broken.  So we got to go back to the ped's office, get a splint, go back to the hospital for the x-rays (they should have given them to us while we were there!) and on Monday get to go to Children's Orthopedic to get a cast.  WOW.  What a fun doctor-visit-filled week!

Let's never do that again.

Easter makes himself at home more and more each day.  Joe built him a fabulous hutch, soon to be shown on "Cribs," so he now lives on our back patio (until it turns cold and my bleeding heart won't allow it, even though bunnies live outside in nature. Not THIS nature, not in MY house!).  He plays around inside a couple hours a day, the boys love to chase him, I love to rescue him and pet him on my lap, and he loves to escape and do it all over again.  Tonight he loved my lemonade. 

Easter came late

Easter the Bunny is the newest addition to our house. He's a brown Mini Rex (whatever that means) and is one of the rabbits bred for their fur. No wonder, he reminds me of the Velveteen rabbit! He's the softest thing EVER. He arrived on Labor Day, though, not Easter! Dad got the idea, we're not sure where, that we could use a bunny around these parts. Mom agreed, as pets are nice for kids to have but she still has zero interest in a dog or cat. Also, we decided to get one from the State Fair in Pueblo, which meant we'd get to visit my sister's family. Hey, I'll get a bunny for a visit just about any day :) Patrick picked the name, and is very sweet with him, albeit a little nervous (he doesn't want to get scratched or bitten). Eli tries to play chase with him and yells "Bunny! Rabbit!" and stomps his feet, terrifying poor Easter. Caroline wants to love him but has already pulled his ears numerous times so we only get him out when she's corralled in the high chair or taking a nap. When she is awake she crawls around his cage and bangs on it, further convincing Easter that he wants nothing to do with her. Can't blame a guy, I'm 5X her size and she scratches my eyes out!

So that's what's new with us.