Tricycles and Cigarettes

While Austin was working outside recently, Gage was riding any one of his several bicycle-like pieces of equipment. On one trip through the carport, Austin noticed Gage just sitting on his Radio Flyer Tricycle (3rd generation). On his next trip through, Gage was in the same spot so Austin asked him what he was doing:

Ah, just smoking, Dad... you know, like Poppy.

Even though Poppy smokes, you really shouldn't smoke Gage.

Oh, I know, Dad, but I'm just sittin' here smoking, Dad.

Well, I don't really think you're old enough to make that decision, Gage.

Well, Dad, that's why it's just pretend smoking.

Car Talk

Some of the best conversations that I have with Gage occur in the car when we are out and about. I really think we could go live with it and have a pretty good radio show ourselves... and I like the NPR version of Car Talk, I just like our version better.

Yesterday I took Gage with me to run errands and spend Black Friday coupons. As always, we eat out on our first stop. Once we left Subway, I told Gage that we were fueled up and ready to shop... as we shouldn't shop on an empty belly.

Gage replies, Yeah, mom, 'cause then we'd run out of gas.

I said, Correct! Food is our fuel and we just got fueled up and ready to go.

Pause. Silence. And then this disgusted tone came from Gage as he matter-o-factly told me, Mom, I'm just a 'gas' man, I don't take fuel, I take gas!

I'm pretty sure back in my generation that statement to a parent would have been followed with a substantial DUH! :)

Night and Day Attitudes

Two nights ago Leila woke up around 1 a.m. and screamed and cried and carried on until 4 a.m. Nothing helped her. We rocked with her, changed her, kept her cozy and warm and as soon as she was relaxed enough (maybe even almost asleep), we'd put her back in bed and the fit would start all over. It was maddening, absolute maddening. I've feared for awhile that we have a terrible night time habit with her because we sleep deprived parents, who just want to get her back to sleep as quickly as possible whenever she wakes up, have been fixing her a bottle in the middle of the night for eternity. Sometimes, I've been able to get her back to sleep without a bottle. So, I felt it was prime time to start working hard to break the habit... and Dad has to be on board, too. We've also been taking measures to help her stay to sleep: thermals under her pjs, vaporizer on each night, full tummy before bed, lavender lotion, etc. When Austin and I saw our chances of 5 hours of sleep dwindle to a possibility of 2 hours of sleep, we caved and gave her a bottle. And, she slept until 9 in the morning.

The very next night, we did all of the same things to get her ready for a full night's sleep and added the HEPA air purifier to our list of aids. We thought the constant whir, which was a necessity for her when she was a baby, would help her to stay to sleep. The girl slept for 14 hours. It'll be much easier to break the bottle habit if she would just break it herself and stay asleep. :)

Gage has his own light-switch behaviors lately. In fact, I've found myself in some public situations kind of embarrassed and looking around for the mom of the kid that I just don't recognize. He can be so doggone literal and sensitive about situations that are oblivious to most 4-year olds that, since he is a 4-year old also, we just can't always seem to get him to understand. His mind is ahead of him, but his emotions are often age appropriate.

His preschool teacher came to our house yesterday for a home visit and he was so excited that she was coming to his house that you would have thought her name was Santa Claus rather than Mrs. Dawson. As he waited, he couldn't sit still, he couldn't eat, he couldn't stay calm to save his soul. When she arrived, all the pent up energy exploded all over her and for the hour she was here, he was a tornado of activity and talk and he was so proud to conduct a one-on-one show and tell, that included our bathroom tile. When she had to leave, he acted as though his best friend was moving away for eternity. Good-byes with him have turned into quite a show. He cries and pouts and puts himself in a corner.

Today he's going to his first birthday party for a friend from school. While he's been to several birthday parties, he hasn't been to lots and lots of kids parties. I have no idea which son of mine will show up--the one with the 'tude or the one without. He already started today with a fit over his brownie being a shape that he didn't like, so I'm afraid of what's to come the remainder of the day.

Bottom line, all Cables are still in the need for more sleep. And, Leila just busted out a new bottle of lavender lotion that she 'discovered' in the pantry. I might start dousing my kids with it multiple times a day.

My Girl

She's an explorer by nature. Her favorite things to do include swinging, playing doctor, and building Thomas tracks. She loves to watch Fisher Price's Little People and calls them her babies. Her independence is like that of a 13-year old and her tenacity is hard to beat. She's our girl, for sure.

Reinforcements

Gotta love it when Grandma comes to visit and brings reinforcements. This trip she was loaded with her two magical helping hands, rice nog, and time. For three days, all of us breathed a little better. We accomplished 12 loads of laundry, two rooms being spring-cleaned, a trip to Ikea, furring (sp?) strips put back onto the ceiling so we can now drywall, two research papers completed, 75 graded essays.... and you get the picture. It's amazing what you can do with two extra hands :)

Expanding our Horizons

Thanks to going back to graduate school, I've made some new friends, one of whom has been acquainted with the Cables since he was in grade school. (What Edison kid hasn't?) Not only was he an Army Ranger which gives us a lot to talk about, his youngest son is also named Gage and is allergic to nuts. His wife is an 'implant' to the area just like me and lo' and behold, we only live about two miles apart. (I'll never understand why it's so hard to meet people, especially when they are right under our noses.)

We took advantage of what might play out to be our last warm Saturday for awhile and had them over. It was fantastic! My kids and their kids, although older, entertained themselves like magic. I remember watching a friend of mine raise his kids back in Amesville and whenever we got together for a bonfire, his kids did the same thing. I guess the ticket to self-entertaining kids is to have good weather, a good bonfire, and a good group of kids.

On the swing set, our Gage was soaring and his sister stepped right into his powerful pumping pathway. She was launched quicker than I could say anything to either of them. Her little body was like a rag doll whipped into the wind. I thought for sure we'd get to her to find a broken nose, busted out teeth, or something terrible. I mean, it was just that bad. We picked her up to bring her to the house to check her out and the crying wouldn't stop. I thought for sure our attempts at a social evening would end at the ER. But, as her interpreter through her tears, I realized she was crying because we carried her away from the swing set. Of course, Little Leila... she just can't be left out and she toughed it out and got right back in there with the boys.

I think her fight to be included and part of the show was a good reminder for us implanted moms. It's takes a lot of work to feel part of the 'team'... but it's definitely well worth it!

Dry Erase Miracles

Who knew my kid would love dry erase markers and white boards so much? If only we could do our preschool homework on a whiteboard. Progress. Steady, awesome progress. I bought a white board for him as a way to hopefully make him want to practice at home. I'm so proud of how much Gage has learned in such a short period of time. To date, he's writing his first and last name. He is also writing most all of the letters in the alphabet; G is his favorite letter and Ohio is his favorite word (go Bobcats). Despite the issues (which I choose purposely to not detail in a blog... just know they exist), Gage is very fond of preschool in general. His report card came home and we all did a little jig. Austin and I are very, very proud of him! This week, it's his turn to take in a snack... he wants to take broccoli. I wonder how much of it will come home. :) I love my veggie-eating babe!

One of Those Days

I have a head cold, and I took nighttime medicine for it. This is never a good idea when you're a parent whose children rarely sleep through the night. Luckily for me, my husband swooped in and took care of each child's needs as they each woke up at separate times with separate issues. We simply all are getting the junk that is going around right now. Thinking that with a better night sleep I would be more able to handle today, I woke up and went into action. However, with two feet on the floor and one cup of coffee in my belly, I was immediately called into action as though I were six humans.

Leila puked... and then again... and then again. Six loads of laundry already waiting for me in the basement, turned into about nine loads in a matter of five minutes. The only thing I had to catch the first 'batch' from Leila was a new dress that I have yet to wear. Nice. For whatever reason, I'll ruin about anything if it means saving the carpet from a blow of vomit.

Secondly, Gage gets overly irritated when he doesn't feel well. This means molehills get turned into mountains very quickly. I've had to separate my two precious babes about a half dozen times so far... all in the middle of trying to clean the bathroom and disinfect the toys they continue to sneeze all over and each separation spins Leila into a toy-throwing meltdown. One mess multiplies into six messes as quickly as I can turn around. Messes aren't really the main problem here though as the main problem is just trying to get them calm, settled, and entertained so that I can keep plugging away because.... I have to write two research papers and complete a take home final by Monday and we are having company tomorrow night that I have to cook for. There is a lot more on the list, but these three items top the list and the world just doesn't care when you and your kids are sick. It's like entering a different world all together when we all are sick at the same time.

However, even though we haven't been able to take full advantage of this awesome Indian summer, we are going to do our best to take advantage of it when our company arrives--which includes another little boy named Gage who is also allergic to nuts. How nuts is that? I'm so, so, so ecstatic that I'm finally (only after five years) starting to make some progress with having a social circle and feelings of being at 'home'.

Veteran's Day Ponder

I have a fond admiration for our military service men and women. Something about teaching at Federal Hocking, experiencing 9/11 in the unique way that I did, and being blessed with meeting and knowing so many people who have recently toured in Iraq or Afghanistan strengthens that admiration and patriotism, for that matter. Both of my grandfathers passed away before I really understood what I had before me in experiences and wisdom. But, I've tried to take advantage of that epiphany and as a mom, I don't want my children to grow up taking our freedoms for granted.

Gage has been mesmerized by the military for about a year. When I say mesmerized, I mean that he has a lot of questions for me whenever he sees something that makes him think of the military, of the good guys and the bad guys, and such things related to this. He really thinks about the whole good guy/bad guy thing in real terms, rather than in pretend play terms. This morning he watched the news with me and there were many stories about Veteran's Day. He asked me if all the bad guys 'were shooted yet'? It's not hard for me to talk to him about real things like this, but it is hard to know how he internalizes such things.

When Gage was just a baby, Marsha was at a function where she was able to have a psychic to do a reading for her. Oddly, this took place before we knew the exact root of our health concerns with Gage and the psychic had a lot to share with Marsha about Gage. One of the things she said was that he would be over the worst of his problems before he was five (true so far) and she told Marsha that Gage was a 'crystal baby.' She left it to us to come to an understanding of that 'term', but did tell Marsha that Gage's father was an indigo child. Of course this was completely an unknown term and thanks to Google, we could satisfy our curiosities.

Now a few things must be shared before I go on:
Marsha and Bill have always told a few stories about Austin's childhood that are standout in their minds. One story includes a time when Austin was very, very young. He simply woke up, marched up to his parents, and said something like "you know, you're my parents because I chose you." He has had many psychic-like moments and upon research of this new term to us, has many, many of the attributes described. *(regardless of how people feel about this sort of thing, it has been interesting for us to read about it and observe, as we are pretty open-minded folks).

Because Gage was just a baby at this time, we had no way of connecting any of the supposed attributes of a crystal child to Gage--other than the fact he was always soothed by water, always wanted to be outside, and most definitely was a sensitive baby to sounds, smells, food, and even people. But, I've often gone back to some of what I've learned and have made several connections to Gage and the messages of the psychic lady.

He definitely has a mature grasp at war, hardship, and pain. He is most definitely empathetic in adult-like ways, and he is extremely upset when he thinks, feels, or knows that someone is hurt (including cartoons). He has always hated having dirty hands, is not a boy's boy in terms of rough house or athletic play, and he is certainly partial to making great friends out of adults he feels a strong connection to... including my dad. He is not autistic and we don't think he is ADD or ADHD, although it won't surprise us if that comes down the road as it is kind of common among the Cables' lineage. And, as every parent should think about their children, we certainly feel that there is something just pretty special about ours, too.

As he matures, some of these characteristics about him deepen and are more obvious. I can't help but wonder if he's a peace seeker following in his father's track of independently challenging negativity and striving for nothing but good for all (which is extremely characteristic of Austin). I try to really listen to Gage and to appropriately give him information that he seeks--including information about war and hardship. When he has a father who wants to change the world, even the tiny portion of it where we live, and a mother with a wild imagination and crave for knowledge, we do give credit to the tiny possibility that there is truth in this information and on this Veteran's Day, it is important for me to think of all this country has endured for the sake of freedom and peace with hopes that our children and their children will be able to spend their lives in a relative state of peace that exists due to the sacrifices of so many others. We all have important jobs to do while we raise our children, some are a day-to-day job, and some jobs are cultivated throughout a lifetime. In Gage and Leila's lifetime, I pray that they witness more peace, love, and opportunity than generations of the past and they are able to also give thanks.

Her Momma's Girl

Leila loves to play with my wallet, my makeup, and my chapsticks. Unfortunately for me when she plays with my wallet, she finds lots more receipts than she finds dollars. And, I've had to add about 30 minutes to the time it takes me to get ready to go anywhere since she must be by my side from the blow drying process to the makeup process. Is it too early for her to get into an eyeshadow habit? It's lots of fun! :) I try to keep her sidetracked with the chapstick, but it usually gets tossed once she has a good coat from ear to ear, literally.

Language Hurdles and an Angel

I'm trying to work more one on one with Leila as she is trying so hard to communicate more clearly and effectively with us... we just can't always understand her and she just doesn't always have the vocabulary she's looking for. To help, I'm making a serious effort to read with her even more often one on one. She has really taken to our Richard Scarry books lately and I think it's helping. Whenever I read Richard Scarry with her I think of Kamila who would have just scooped up Leila under her wing and soared with her in books and in learning. Richard Scarry, coming from the Allens of course as Kamila was the expert in child literacy, is just loaded with good stuff. She's thought of often and we really miss her. I think of her a lot during my travels through parenthood; so many lessons are still taught to me and I was blessed to have her grace my life even for only a blink in time.

Child Advocate

The central struggle of parenthood is to let our hopes for our children outweigh our fears. Ellen Goodman

I now have an independent child advocate social worker helping me wade through this business of sending my child to his school accompanied by his food allergies and his eosiniphillic esophagitis. Best decision I've made in months--if not for him, for me. Happy momma, happy home. It's a terrible saying, but it's true. I have spent 10 of the longest weeks full of anxiety, some rational, some irrational, and it is just simply a terrible, terrible place to be. However, if you know me and you read this blog, you will be happy to know that I promise not to become one of those parking lot moms although it is important to sometimes listen to them. Thus, my venting ends and my problem solving begins. Just in time for conferences tomorrow. :)

Crowds Must Equal Monster Truck Show

Gage fanagled his way into going with me to the mall last Saturday, a trip I was trying to make solo. It was packed... I mean, packed. On our long trek through the parking lot, Gage said, "Maybe there's a monster truck show inside, mom."

Conference Time

We have conferences next week with Gage's teachers. The experienced moms filled me in all about conferences. I found out yesterday in the parking lot (where all great meetings take place) that if I was signed up for a conference, that my kid was in TROUBLE. Well, I am already fired up enough about the progress of this school year and this was not good information for me to hear. All these moms were snickering at me and warning me about how the teacher will not let up until she makes me cry during conferences. (Oh, the horror stories I heard yesterday!!)

However, I cannot wait for a week to find out bad news as I will be so grumpy and mean when I walk in that the walls will shake. So... I pulled my trump card and called my husband at work. I told him to find out the 'subject' matter of this conference so if it were necessary to conduct it sooner rather than later, we'd be there. I also filled him in on the spy report I got from a mom who worked the Halloween party, which isn't pretty, so Austin knows that I might be calling for another meeting with her anyway!! :)

Austin came home and told me that the conference is going to be about his fine motor skills (you know, the ones that involve coloring and writing, his two least favorite activities in the world). I laughed at that one. Shoot, if that's his worst problem, we're golden. He's a boy, he just turned 4, and the teacher has a train set in her room... you think my kid is going to sit and write or color within the lines without a fight? Exactly. That's a laughable situation, which is why he started school unable to write a single letter. I refused to force him to do something that he hated so much as I believe all that will come in time.

Now... back to the Halloween party. We'll see who leaves the conference crying. :)

Oh, the Hair

Little Leila has the wildest, craziest hair. It is thin, it is wispy, and it is still very much baby hair in most places (meaning, it has hardly grown in). Getting her out of bed each morning is the easiest path to having a good chuckle as it's different everyday... I'd say her hair is even a form of art.

Today she was up before Austin and Gage left. I got her out of bed and off she went, dragging her blanket behind her, hair looking like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. She ran into her Dad's arms and through his own chuckle and while trying to tell her good morning... he just decided to say "Your hair is so pretty, Leila. Do you know that?" And she looked at him, squinted her eyes, wrinkled her nose, shook her head and said, "nooooo." (in that oh-so-cute baby way)

I'm going to have to start documenting our mornings with my camera.

My Muffin Men

I went to the university's coffee shop before my class last night and I bought a chocolate chocolate chip muffin. I haven't had one of those since I was pregnant with Leila. They are the most divine... Martha Stewart couldn't hold a candle to these things. When I was pregnant with Leila*, in and out of the hospital as my norm, Gage and Austin always brought me a muffin.

It's no wonder I gained so much weight with each of my pregnancies as Austin was famous for telling me how healthy any old thing was just to try to convince me to eat (hoping that any of it would stay down). Looking back, I wonder if that was his manly way of taking care of me without really telling me what he was up to. I was always able to stomach oreos and oatmeal cream pies and I felt terrible about that-- eating 10 oreos and a glass of milk for a meal trying to nourish my bambino gave me a lot of guilt. However, he'd always have a comeback like-- oreos are healthy, they have milk in them, or oatmeal cream pies are healthy, they have wheat in them.

Regardless, I have some thoughtful fellas in my life when it comes to the little things, especially. It's nice to have little memories that can be easily forgotten in a hurry come back to life on a day when it's necessary to be thankful and on a day that I should really count my blessings. It was an awesome pause in the middle of my most hectic day of every week--and that's what I love about my family.

*And, Leila is most definitely a junk-a-holic :)

Oh Happy Halloween

A weekend away is just what this family needed and going to McConnelsville was a sure bet for goodness. It was actually quite nice to be back in town for Halloween weekend instead of stuck out here in the country. And, actually, we made it back to both my towns: Athens and McVille.

Gage and I got ready really early on Saturday morning and snuck away to JoAd's for their customer appreciation day. Gage knows this is the store that 'saved his life' and what I mean is that this store made it possible for me to cope and to cook for Gage during the worst of our bad days with food allergies. JoAd's had food samplings all over the store and Gage was like a little boy with an empty belly who was fascinated to eat any of the samples if it meant eating off another toothpick with a shiny flag on the end. After loading up our baskets and buying enough supplies to take to our friends' house, we loaded up for Athens.

Unfortunately, JoAnn's husband, Scott was really sick so fortunately we were able to move the party to her parents backyard and had a lunch time weenie roast. Gage thought this was odd--having a daytime bonfire. The great thing about it, when my kids are outside and there is so much a speck of dirt, they can be self-entertaining for quite some time. I had a great opportunity to sit and enjoy my oh-so-much missed friend, JoAnn. The kids were hysterical. Her boys are 12 and 7 and even at that age, the dirt was all they needed. The four of them, that's right, don't leave Leila out of the dirt, pounded little stakes into the dirt clumps all afternoon. Leila found a trash can (without trash in it) to crawl into and took a little siesta there. I don't know if she was happy to be out of the wind or just thought she was hiding, but it was certainly funny. Of course I have pictures of all of this, but can never upload them.*

Later the kids rode horses, watched cows, painted pumpkins (and coats), and played all over the living room with a massive collection of John Deere toys. When we had to leave, Austin and I knew we had to risk going uptown for food since we were actually in Athens... regardless of the block party. At first, I felt bad about having my two munchkins on Court Street on the eve of the Block Party, but it was fairly tame. The street was closed off and many people were already out and about in costumes, but it just added to our enjoyment of eating Bagel Street Deli on the green. On our way out of town we had a great nostalgia for 10 minutes passing all the porch parties and even witnessed a parrot bush diving off his porch railing in his 'attempt' to fly for the camera. Man, OU was awesome! :)

Once back in McConnelsville, we were ready to trick or treat, but our kids were not. They were wiped out. We coaxed Gage enough to get him out of the house and by the 8th house or so, he was much happier to be receiving so much candy. I have to hand it to him, whenever he got to choose for himself, he did a great job choosing something that he wasn't allergic to. Leila, who would not wear her warm costume handed down to us in an emergency by our babysitter, went as a John Deere dirt girl.. a costume she worked hard on all afternoon while wearing her Carhartt's and John Deere hoodie and ball cap.

I really miss living in a town, whether Athens or McConnelsville as there is just so so much going on. I am glad that we get to do these outings... if not for my own peace of mind, but for teaching and rounding out our kids as well.

* I wish I could just sync my blog with my IPhoto.