Gettin' Jiggy Wit It

I can't believe I just typed Gettin' Jiggy Wit It. On a drive in our sweet mini van that song came on the radio. I turned up the volume, sang to Ev and Henry, and watched as they started to catch on to the tune. When Robbie put Henry into his PJs last night I told Robbie about our experience with the song. Henry started going, "Na na nana, na na, Getting Jiggy Wit It!!!" It was great. After taking Olivia to gymnastics yesterday we heard AC/DC's Thunderstruck. I think that's the one Robbie liked to play in high school before his basketball games. Henry loved it. He did a different shoulder dance move in his car seat to the rock song, and he certainly made his mommy smile.

Vivian turned 9 months yesterday. Nov. 8th was also the anniversary of Anthony's remission from acute myelogenous leukemia. He celebrated 10 years yesterday, which I think amazes us all. God is good. My brother is such an important person in my life, and I am so thankful for his life and good health. I love watching him act as uncle to my children. He told me that the quantity of PEZ dispensers he has given (and continues to give) to my children will be the factor that sends us over the edge and out of our small house. I think the turning point will be the number of art projects the children produce. Yesterday Ev kept asking me where polar bears live. I told her they live outside in the snow. She made something at school, and after she made several more large, brown, double-sided ones here at home she remembered the word igloo. She plans to make one for each classmate and secretly place them into their book bags. She's really into igloo making. Seriously? Nobody ever could have convinced me I'd honestly write such a thing before I had children.

Vivian is such a little snuggle bug. When I hold her against my chest she tucks her legs up and burrows into my neck. Sometimes she'll even stick her thumb in her mouth and rest her baby head on my shoulder. It pains me to watch her get so close to a year. My baby is growing up, and I'm not ready for that. The pediatrician told me today to go ahead and feed her what we eat. We got home, and I fed her colby cheese, turkey, oyster crackers, fruit baby food, French toast, and Cheerios. She even had some cow's milk in her sippy cup. She's officially a big baby.

Henry is losing his baby ways. Today he told me, "Mom, I wiped off your kissy." No way. He can't be 2 1/2 and want to lose my kisses. It isn't happening. First, Olivia, and now Henry?! No. He gets my kissies!!! Luckily, I found a way to curb his pattern of wailing in his crib in the 5 o'clock hour. He did it for a week straight, and I was really having a hard time dealing with it in a calm fashion. I wanted to go outside and destroy a forrest like a T Rex I was so fired up. Nothing we could do (and Robbie did try) would consistently calm him down, and he was waking the whole house. Add an already tired mama to that mix, and the days didn't start off pretty.

During that stretch I had to use the words, "Son, we don't throw shoes at others," while we were in the grocery store!!! Yes, not only has he been taking off his shoes and socks and throwing them into four mysterious and separate spots in my vehicle, he did it in the store and threw them at the feet of a male customer. I about died. The man was cool about it. However, Henry lost his Halloween candy lollipop privilege for that one. That is a huge consequence for Master Henry, and I think he learned a lesson. I've also had to tell him, "We don't put our teeth on others." After his bath on Sunday he has secretly stored water in his mouth. As I dried him, he spewed it at my neck, and it went down the inside of my sweater all the way to my belly button. "Henry, we don't spit water at others." While I was getting ready for the day, I heard a terrible sound crashing down the wooden stairs into the basement. I heard no crying. I thought someone was unconscious, and I was terrified as I ran toward the scene with my jeans only halfway up. There was no child at the bottom of the stairs. Evelyn said, "Henry threw your sewing book down the stairs, Mom." It was over 300 pages and hardcover. You guessed it, "Henry, we don't throw books down the stairs."

This weekend we ran in the first ever 5K at our church. The temp was 26 when I turned on the t.v. in the morning. We searched for stocking caps and gloves and put on winter coats. Olivia ran with her daddy. She never stopped. She finished the race in 31 minutes 8 seconds, which made her faster than a lot of children her age and older, boys included. She's amazing. We were really impressed with her determination. I carried Vivian in the Ergo Carrier and pushed Henry as fast as my legs would go. Evelyn ran, then rested in the stroller. Henry started screaming at mile 1.5, and he never stopped until we passed the finish line (around 45 min.) and Robbie held him. He wanted out. He wanted me. He wanted Robbie. He then finally said, "Mommy, I dropped my mitten on the sidewalk." That was blocks and blocks ago. A rock band made up of some friends from church played outside the pancake breakfast, and it was fun and memorable. I bet we'll look back on the experience with laughter once our children are all old enough to run by themselves.

That will be the day. I bet we'll never find dried poop on the floor anymore when they can all run alone. At least I hope not! Henry pooped his Pull-up. Robbie didn't realize some of it fell off in the hall on the way to the tub, and it dried in the dark hallway overnight. In the morning, after I'd dealt with middle of the night issues and screaming in the morning, I found a huge pile of hard and smashed poop on the floor. Life is just ridiculous sometimes. We had to laugh when we realized what had happened.

I feel like a new woman. Last night nobody woke me up in the middle of the night, and I have energy and patience and extra happiness. See, I'm even writing again. The last week has been totally brutal. I go and go and do and do all day and evening, then the children have been slamming me repeatedly in the night with one issue or another. I thought I'd never catch up on my rest or the laundry. Speaking of that fine topic, it isn't going to fold itself. I told myself I'd take a little work break to blog, then off to the chores of my life.