Coming soon...

Stay tuned for "The Story of my Bathroom Sink." It will be a tale of ingenuity and creativity triumphing at last (after a long struggle) over a complex, frustrating, and seemingly impossible situation.

Just making a note of it here so that I don't forget to post about it.

A day at the beach

On Wednesday we went to the beach in Freeport. It was a windy, sunny, beautiful day. The boys loved every minute of it. Of course we took lots of pictures.

Those who read Mercy's blog will already have seen this picture, but I had to post it again. Here is Noah getting his first taste of the ocean. He was fearless, marching right in. When we got out far enough, I would try to steer him back, but he was determined to turn around and get back into those waves.

And here are the boys digging in the sand. Elijah preferred the sand to the waves, I think. Noah kept putting sand into his mouth, then making spluttering sounds and trying to get the sand out of his mouth with his very sandy fingers (didn't work so well).

Jellyfish! Lots of little ones (dime and nickel-sized).

Here's Noah being his cute self.

In the background you can see me and Elijah, while Noah plays happily in the sand. If you look closely, you can see that he is soaked up to his shoulders from his adventures in the ocean.

Well, that's all for now--more to come soon!

Okay, okay, I'm updating

Hi! I'm in Texas with the boys. We are enjoying our visit, except that Noah is not sleeping well. Or when he does sleep, he sleeps well, but he's enjoying himself too much to go to sleep in the first place, so he stays up late but does not sleep in to compensate, then because he's behind on sleep he gets all wound up and doesn't want to go to sleep--and so on. I'm apparently not much of an expert on babies and sleep, because it's something I've always struggled with. I've read a few books and articles on the topic, but different people have entirely different opinions, so reading hasn't helped me much.

But other than Noah's sleep issues, we are enjoying our visit. Both of the boys obviously enjoy their aunts and uncles quite a bit, and their Meemaw too. They also enjoy the warm weather, and the opportunity to spend some time outside. If all goes as planned, we will be taking them to the beach tomorrow. They have not seen the ocean before, and I bet they will love it! I will too, I'm sure.

We visited Caleb and Leah's house between services on Sunday, and hope to visit again later this week. I like their home a lot--it's very comfortable and inviting. I think it's interesting how some of the more modest and "ordinary" homes I've visited felt so much more comfortable and welcoming than some of the bigger and more expensive homes. I would love to be able to pinpoint exactly what it is that makes a house feel like a home, not only to its inhabitants, but to visitors as well. Of course, it's probably something indefinable that can't be pinpointed. :) But I have my ideas. I know one thing that always makes me feel at home is bookcases, with books in them of course.

Well Noah needs me--gotta go!

Well Dr. #2 agrees with Dr. #1 that it is not mumps. He doesn't quite seem to know what it is either though. Some sort of underlying infection, he says, causing things to swell a bit. He showed me Elijah's parotid glands (glands that produce saliva), which would be infected if he had mumps. But they are pink and healthy looking, no inflammation or discharge. Elijah submitted to lots of poking and prodding as the doctor examined him very thoroughly. But he didn't complain at all and once the examining was over, beamed at the doctor and jumped around the examining room.

So, it's NOT mumps, but he looks like a chipmunk just the same. :)

Mumps, maybe

Elijah looks so mumps-ey that I called the doctor's office and asked them to do a mumps test just in case. If it is mumps, it's not a big deal, but I should probably keep him away from other kids till he's better. So this afternoon he's getting a mumps test.

Here are a few pictures of my little chipmunk. You can see the swelling on the left of his neck and face.























And also a picture which I just got from the kids' grandma. Can you see why the kids like visiting Grandma so much? (Hint: look at the background.) When Elijah saw this picture, he said, "I miss Grandma. I want to visit Grandma." I said, "Do you miss Grandma, or do you miss Grandma's toys?" I wasn't sure if I really wanted to know the answer to that question! But he passed the test with flying colors when he answered mournfully, "No, I just miss Grandma." Awwww!

p.s. I apologize once again for the funky layout. I suppose I should just line the pictures up down the middle, since any sort of creative layout ends up all wrong.

A few updates

Updates:

Noah has been taking a few steps lately. He thinks walking is soooo entertaining. He gets a great big silly grin on his face every time. He can now wave bye-bye and blow kisses. He can say a few words: his favorite word is "geggle-bop" but he also likes Dada, Mama, Buh (brother), Voom (vacuum cleaner or toy car), and sometimes Puh (up). Unfortunately, he frequently chooses to communicate by screaming. He screams when he's upset (brother took his toy) or when he's excited (brother made him laugh) or when he wants more food. When I tell him "No screaming," he looks at me and gives a few test screams in progressively quieter tones, with a question mark on the end, until I stop saying "No screaming," and give him a smile.

He is a big fan of the 6 month old baby that I care for. When she arrives in the morning, he gets that big silly grin again. He crawls up to her carseat, pulls himself up, and leans over to put his face against hers.

This morning I awoke at one in the morning to find him sitting next to me and clapping. He was very delighted with himself for discovering how to clap. I was delighted too until I saw what time it was.

Elijah is sick today. One side of his face is swollen up like a chipmunk, and he is feeling very out of sorts. I wondered at first if he might have mumps, but the doctor says it's probably some sort of subcutaneous skin infection. I think that's doctor-speak for "I don't really know what it is, but maybe antibiotics will fix it." So he's got some antibiotics. I have mixed feelings about giving him antibiotics when I don't really know for certain what he's got.

I got Elijah a book called Richard Scarry's Great Big Schoolhouse. It goes through things like colors, numbers, alphabet letters, days of the week, and so on. The book is right up Elijah's alley because each page has lots of things going on, so he can sit and study each page for a while before he's seen it all. My only complaint about the book, and a complaint I've had with a few other books too, is that it says things like "All children go to school to learn how to read and write." Well obviously this is not quite true. When I read it to him, I rephrase it as "Many children go to school to learn how to read and write," and then I add, "but some children learn how to read and write at home." Yes, I plan to homeschool him if at all possible.

Well, I have some cleaning to do, so I will leave you with a picture (or three). These are of Noah expressing his usual level of interest in the camera. I can't figure out how to post them three in a row side by side, so this is a rather convoluted layout.