Career Change

"Oh hi, Nate. I'm sitting here and thinking of things we could be today."
"What do you think we should be today, Seth?"

"I was thinking we could be astronauts."
"I thought we were going to be 'onstruction' workers."

"Well, we were but then I had an idea..."
"Does it include space and 'onstructions'?"

"In fact, it does. Funny you should ask. Ever heard of Space Onstruction Workers, Nate?"

"Can't say that I have, but I have a strange feeling I'm about to find out."

- L.

I'll Always Keep A Plate Warm Just In Case

S: When I grow up I'm going to be an astronaut so I can fly to all the planets. Are you going to be an astronaut too, Nate?

N: I am – we can fly to all the planets!

L: Astronauts sounds really fun, but if you fly to all the planets you'll be gone for a long time and I'll miss you.

S: We will be home for dinner, Mommy.

N: Yes. We will be home for dinner.

- L.

When The Moon Hits Your Eye Like Your First BBQ...

...that's amore!

We brought our new toddler-friendly table and chairs out to the deck for the occasion. On the menu: BBQ chicken, caesar salad and garlic bread, followed by apple crisp and ice cream for dessert. Discerning toddler critic rating: 5 star dining establishment. 

– Oh hi everyone. Is me, Seth. We sitting outside to eat for first time at new chairs and table. 

– Is first BBQ also which not detail to leave out! "Barbeque" is fun word to say until actual BBQ show up. Then I stop talking because I is busy stuffing face with yummy chicken. Seth get busy doing fake-out with garlic bread, but I thinks you can tell I definitely savoring the flavors here. Maybe I grow up to be food critic someday. 

– I realizing for first time that we is unfettered at table while we is also outside. There is world of possibility out there if it weren't for that meddling Mommy who insist we sit at table while I reluctantly pluck at BBQ. 

– Meanwhile, I is thinking 'dis flavors like Mama used to make back in old Napoli*. Mwah! 

– Still, 'dis maybe good time to say, "have you seen my hair lately everyone?" while I show off the back. Is filling in nicely I think. Gamma Rita not know it yet, but Mommy say this going to be the summer of hippy hair love. Is going to get all kinds of out of control over here. 

– Er... what he said. Also lemon water is nice touch everyone.**

- L.

*Despite a very mixed heritage, "old Napoli" is not on our personal map and so I hope my comment is not offensive. Still, I think the only thing missing from our first outdoor dining experience was the music. 

**Lemon water was for the adults, but a good incentive for getting the boys to drink out of something other than a sippy cup. Nate especially loved it. Note to self: buy more lemons ASAP.

PS. Seth isn't joking around. The summer of the-letting-it-all-hang-out-hairstyle? It's on, everyone!

PPS. Filed under "funny things toddler say": a chorus of "more limits!" after a passing comment I made to the other adults present about my boys testing limits lately.

• • • • • • •

Dear Nate and Seth: Careful what you ask for my sons – much like a fine dessert, more limits can certainly be arranged if that's your preference. Don't tempt me.

Semi-seriously yours,

– Mommy

XOXOXOXO

Sharp Dressed Men

Blue jeans, no shoes;

I not know where I is goin' to.
Clean sweater, new hat;
Don't tell the cuties where I is at.
They come a runnin' just as fast as they can;
'Cause all the girls crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man.

- It not easy being 'dis cute, you know.
– Tells me about it. *sigh*

- L.

PS. The new hats – or as my boys would say... "AAATS!" – were a birthday present from Auntie Karen and Uncle Brent.

As you already know, my boys can never have enough hats. Really. And if things don't work out with their futures as basketball all-stars, professional chefs, future Olympians, architects or entertainers of some persuasion (particularly the dramatic arts) and/or if their in-home cleaning service goes bust, I think it's safe to say they can always fall back on their millinery background since they have to pretty much be experts at this point.

PPS. Auntie Karen and Uncle Brent might want to rethink their careers and at least consider becoming baseball all-stars, because they definitely hit one out of the Pahk this year. 

Nicely Done, Grasshopper.

Legos*. They are popular at the OP, which is awesome because I never really got over my own childhood love affair with them and I will happily play with Legos anytime the boys are up for it.

Like today.

I was doing my usual thing with Legos this afternoon – building a perfectly sensible (albeit dull in retrospect) dwelling for Lego cat to hang out in. It was going pretty well I thought. I was already hard at work on the second story when I was politely interrupted.

And then schooled in a serious way.

Everything (and I mean everything) that is awesome about this structure is courtesy of Seth:  

Behold!

I don't know about you, but if I was moving in I'd definitely be eyeballing those spaces on the upper levels (in-home cash register, anyone?). Admittedly, my favorite part is the roof-top green space. Eco-buildings and sustainability are not merely architectural buzzwords, they are good design everyone!

The architect at work putting on the finishing touches: 

I already composing white paper 'bout my process, everyone!

And enjoying a well-earned snack break: 

Is important to refuel from time to time.
Snacks also very important sustainability item too!

• • • • • • •

*While I recognize the plural of Lego is still Lego, we frequently throw caution to the wind over trivial linguistic conventionalities at the OP. Plus it's more fun to say "Legos".

- L.

PS. Er... about those flashcards lurking not so inconspicuously in the background... 

I wrote a post awhile back where I laid claim to the following:

"I'm not the mom with the flash-cards".

And I'm really not, except that I am. We have flash-cards. The flash-cards were a gift, but I don't mean that as an excuse.

I mean they really were a gift. As in a good one.

And when I made my bold claim what I really meant was: I'm not the mom drilling my kids with flash-cards.

My boys have tons of fun with their flash-cards – often in the form of scattering them about because we also pride ourselves on "messy" around these parts – but mostly looking at the pictures and "reading" their abba-bets (which are officially "abbets" now, but that is another post). I always know when someone has found the "E" card, because it is always and without exception followed with elephant noises. 

PPS. I do wish my guys had been a little less reserved in their big "elephant noises" debut last week. I'm guessing they were camera shy. Trust me when I say they can make elephant noises with the best of them.

Men With Brooms

– Hi everyone. It's us. In case you wondering what we is doing... 

–... we is launching our first joint business venture. Is very exciting time!

– Is very exciting, but also we is professionals.
– Oh yes. We is all about top-notch service everyone. We clean your floors and bring all our own equipment too.
– And we not know word like "overkill" when it comes to basic maintenance.
– No. 'Dis is word we not know yet so you is safe. 

– We pride ourselves on quality inspection. We make sure job done right.
– Also Mommy give us glowing review. 

– Big or small, we handle it all.
– Got a job for us? Give us a call! 

– I try to wear better fitting pants next time, everyone.
– Shhh. I wave broom around some more. Maybe no one notice.

- L.

Thank You, Telehealth!

– Hi everyone. Is me, Seth. I realize Nate get some accolades the other day over silly dance and funny-face pictures. But just in case you is thinking Nate the only one with future in entertainment business, last night I decide spontaneously to act out pivotal scene from Exorcist movie. 

I decide 'dis after I go to bed for full dramatic effect during "light turning on" moment.

Judging from look on Mommy's face she find my performance both horrifying and believable. I give myself five stars.

– And now I give you a little smile so you know I is OK after rough night. Mommy still look a little traumatized though. 

•   •   •   •   •

Mommy note: After supper last night, Seth had a few blotchy patches around his neck and chest. I was a little concerned that he was having an allergic reaction to something he'd just eaten, but Seth – being of the fair skin and no stranger to unprovoked blotching – seemed OK otherwise (no swelling or trouble breathing for example). I decided to keep an eye on it and an hour later as I was getting him ready for bed I could see that although the blotchiness had faded some it was still there. Just to be on the safe side, I gave him a small dose of Children's Benadryl (2 ml.) and put him to bed shortly after.

30 minutes later I heard him crying, which isn't totally unusual. Seth often has a hard time settling into a deep sleep in the first hour or two after bedtime. I walked into the nursery expecting a baby that needed a little cuddle and some soothing. Instead I was met with a scene pretty much like Seth described at the top of this post.

It was one of those moments when you just have to stop, take a breath and try to form what you hope will be the best plan of attack. All I could think for the first second or two was, "where do I even start?".

Seriously, it was epic.

I'm pleased to say that my Mommy-powers kicked into high gear immediately following that thought and I had Seth tidied up, dressed in fresh pajamas and back asleep in a clean bed in under half an hour. Somewhere in there, I also made sure to check if he still had any redness and took his temperature as well. I felt surprisingly calm, cool and collected the entire time – unlike the time I most definitely lost my cool (not to mention precious Mommy cred!) by mostly falling apart during the infamous Toe Tragedy. I got my Mommy stripes back and then some.

Until after it was over of course – then (and only then) did I panic a little. Which brings me to the title of this post.

Thank you, Telehealth!

Telehealth is a free phone-in service available in Ontario that allows you to speak directly with a registered nurse for non-emergency situations. Not only that, but when you call you have the option of remaining on hold OR leaving your name and number and a nurse will call you back (I chose the latter). The service operator will even let you know approximately when that will be (in our case it was 30 minutes) so you aren't left waiting and wondering.

But wait, there's more!

If you're really lucky like I was you will get a call back from Nurse Veronica. She was not only very thorough with asking questions, but took the time to listen and respond thoughtfully to my answers. She was personable and reassuring and ended up putting my nervous-Mommy mind at ease a great deal. She even had a sense of humor.

In the end, she felt it was probably the Benadryl that upset Seth's tummy although she assured me that I did the right thing in giving it to him in the first place given the blotchy redness after supper. And then we joked a bit about the gross flavor of Children's Benadryl (bubble gum) and how that could make anyone feel worse because... what an odd choice of flavor. And even though she said it probably wasn't necessary, I still checked in on Seth every 20-30 minutes after I got off the phone and until I went to bed just in case. 

Because I'm a Mommy and that's how we roll.

And it turned out Seth was just fine and you would never have known anything out of the ordinary happened by the time we got up this morning. He was his usual self all day and even had the shenanigans to show for it.

- L.

Dancing Nate Part II: The Pirate Edition

Dancing Nate returns!

Our new Fisher Price™ pirate ship plays a variety of sounds when you press the parrot's perch – everything from parrot squawks to cannon fire to seagulls and ocean waves. It also plays a rather jaunty seafaring tune. It took Nate less than 10 minutes from the time he first laid eyes on their new toy to figuring out that his favorite new dance hit would play if he just kept hitting that perch.

And of course I wouldn't be taunting you with any of this if there wasn't a new video up on our YouTube™ channel.

Highlights (other than Dancing Nate getting his groove on) include:

• Nate jumping the gun on his dance moves around the 1:14 mark, just when he was so sure he had it all figured out.

• Seth finally cracking a smile around the 2:14 mark, since he is mostly like this for the entirety of the video:

In his defense pirates are serious business everyone (of course, you should already know this), but what made him smile was me saying "Bless you and Gesundheit!" after he sneezed. Because I always say that and it always makes him smile. Not shown: me actually saying "Bless you and Gesundheit!" but trust me, that's what got the big grin. 

Now you already know that Nate is full of comedy gold and that he not only emotes well on camera but has the ability to see into your very soul. He's got at least one special skill, tricks up his sleeves – and now proven dance moves too!

I'm going to go ahead and file this post under "career possibilities" since there's every reason to think I might have a future entertainer on my hands. Now go watch that video (if you haven't already) so you can mean it when you say you "knew him when".

- L.

Future Olympian: Rhythmic TP Event

– Oh hi everyone. You is just in time to check out something I been working on.

– Is my rhythmic gymnastic routine. I like to start with a big flourish. 'Dis always a crowd pleaser. 

– Next I move on to complicated looping part. 

– I say it complicated, but let's face it... I is making this look easy. 

– I is still working on big finish, but I imagine you is pretty impressed with my routine so far. I sit here and await applause and big scores now. 

–... while I work on thinking up my next trick. Keeping mommy on her toes is a full-time job you know.

- L.