Things to Remember

Benjamin, who talks in a stream-of-consciousness sort of way, in the car dropping the words "dumpster" or "fire truck" into his sentences without pause whenever he sees one.

Anthony at swim practice, so graceful and smooth. On land, his movements are almost awkward and jerky. It's so fun to watch him move through the water, then jump out of the pool to dive in again.

Benjamin, pretending he's a wizard, brandishing his wand and shouting, "Expel-a-marmus!" and then telling us he's Harry Potter.

Anthony is learning to write in cursive. His handwriting is MUCH better in cursive than in print.

Benjamin, riding on his Tow Mater riding toy, with his Thomas the Train ride on toy hooked to the two on the back of Mater. Poor Thomas is always being towed to the shop to be fixed.

Anthony, excited about his (EIGHT YEAR!) transplant anniversary on Friday, wanting to see pictures of himself during that time, and wanting to hear the stories that go with the pictures.

Things to Remember

Benjamin's day so far:

6:25 - wake up to a Valentine's present from Mommy and Daddy: my very! own! MnMs! dispenser! AND, Mommy let me have two! whole! MnMs! before breakfast!

7:00 - delicious breakfast of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and orange juice.

7:45 - splashing in mud and wet grass at the bus stop, and Mommy doesn't even get mad about that! Press my luck by doing it over and over again. Still good!

8:00 - second breakfast of grapes and milk.

8:30 - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and snuggles with Mommy!

8:55 - Mommy swings me around and around for our Mickey Mouse dance; woah, I'm dizzy!

9:00 - Mommy lets me help cut my lunch meat with a KNIFE!

9:05 - Mommy tells me not one, but TWO train stories on the way to school. I giggle and clap my hands in the back seat in excitement.

9:10 - Arrive at school to see a garbage truck just approaching the dumpster to empty it. Mommy and I watch. We hear all kinds of magnificent loud noises and BANGS and then the truck driver HONKS HIS HORN and waves at me.

9:11 - My life is complete.

Things to Remember

When Benjamin hears something that he doesn't understand, or doesn't WANT to understand, he says, "That don't make some sense!" and shakes his head in disbelief.

How tall Anthony is...never forget how TALL HE IS. The kid comes up to my arm pit! He's not even eight yet! (OK...six days away)...

Benjamin as he's falling asleep in bed, "Mom, I sure do love you."

Anthony laying in bed, with a Harry Potter book clutched to his chest, sound asleep because he got tired of waiting for me to finish with Benjamin's (long, drawn out) bedtime routine.

Benjamin saying over and over in the mornings, "I don't has school today?" and then begging to go to school an hour later.

Anthony in his jammer suit for swim practice: he looks like a stick person! All skinny arms and skinny legs and a big head. People must think we never feed this child.

Benjamin tells everyone, "It's OK if I play this here!" or "It's OK if I has this candy!" or "It's OK if you come wis me and play wis me!" He thinks that tagging on "It's OK" will make it true. Most of the time it does not make it true.

Anthony using logic. "Mom. You said I couldn't have my DSi for the weekend because of XYZ. But it's Monday now. So I'm just going to take my DSi back to my room now....", and he grabs it and runs.

(Barely) Keeping Up

Sounds heard from the back seat while driving to Maw Maw's today:

Mommy, look dat flag! Dats our Numerican flag, right, Mommy?

Why you go DIS way, Mama? Dis the way to Maw Maw's?

Why you turn left? Why dat's not left? Why dat's right?

Why you stop, Mommy? Why dat's a stop sign, Mommy?

A red light, Mama! You better STOP!

A GARBAGE TRUCK! DO YOU SEE THE GARBAGE TRUCK? IT'S A WHITE GARBAGE TRUCK!

A bus! I see a bus! Is dat Nee Nee's bus, Mama? Why dat's not Nee Nee's bus, Mama? Where dat bus going? It going home to eat lunch? Why buses eat lunch? Buses don't eat lunch! SILLY MAMA!

Hi, choo choo tracks! Why dere no train on the tracks, Mama? Why dere TWO tracks, Mama?

Why you gots to get gas, Mama? Why your car run out of gas if you don't get gas, Mama? Why you gots to drive to New Orleans, Mama?

Maw Maw's house! I see Maw Maw's house! I think Maw Maw wants to play trains wis me, and read books wis me, and play wis me! Maw Maw's my BEST friend, Mama!

BYE, Mama! DON'T BE LATE!!

(Paraphrased, with at least 20 conversations removed for the sanity of my readership.)

Things to Remember

Benjamin this evening enjoying a piece of "Ping Cake" (King Cake). "Dis GOOOOOD, Mama!"

Anthony fighting "Dark" Vader with his light "saver". He loves Star Wars, but hasn't got the first clue how to pronounce most of the words.

Benjamin singing his ABCs "ABCDEFG HIJK L MnM OP 2RX TUB WX YZ, now you, now you sing wiff ME!"

Anthony, suffering with a cold, is tired of me feeling his forehead to see if he has a fever. "I feel fine, so you can stop already!"

Benjamin, wanting to be picked up, says in his most pitiful voice, "I want you, Mommy."

Anthony, begging to hear a silly story about Benjamin. Because when you're laying in bed with Benjamin at night, you're bound to hear something silly.

Things to Remember

1. Anthony: "Mom, I'm sure glad you got to spend this summer with me and Ben. This was awesome."

2. Benjamin: making sure both of my arms are wrapped around him when we rock at nap time and bed time. I check, just to make sure he's paying attention, but he always puts my arms back where they belong if I move them.

3. Anthony: At dinner tonight at Casa Maria cleaning his plate and then eating what's left of Benjamin's (about half of all: hard taco, rice, beans) and then asking what's next. We think he might be going through a growth phase.

4. Benjamin: "Fwimming" in the "pooooo" with his floaties. "Look-a me, Mommmmmeeee!"

5. Anthony: "I used to like dinosaurs, but now I like Phineas and Ferb. But I'm still a dinosaur expert. I'll always be a dinosaur expert. And I think I still like dinosaurs."

6. Benjamin: "Come pway twains!" and so we do. Trains, over and over again.

7. Anthony: at the beach this past weekend, we went to The Track. Anthony, Grandpa and I got in the bumper boats and soaked each other. Anthony thought that was just the coolest thing ever: getting to shoot Mom and Grandpa with a water gun.

8. Benjamin: at the beach, at The Track. Anthony and I rode in one go cart, Mark and Benjamin in another. At one point, Benjamin reached over and took Mark's hand and held on for dear life through the rest of the ride.

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And now for some pictures from our trip to Orange Beach, AL:

Things to Remember

Anthony getting dressed up for dinner last night: jeans, long sleeved shirt and hair brushed. It was so adorable.

Benjamin's name for Grandpa: "Tee Ta!"

Anthony working his butt off to be good at school so that he can get his "treat" at the end of the week. We are bribing him with McDonald's Happy Meal toys. I have a feeling this might get worse as he gets older.

Benjamin's favorite word now as it pertains to food: Oh-PEEN (open).

Anthony's eyes today when I told him he was getting an extra dollar with his allowance this week (taking it to a total of $3.00) because he helped out a lot in the yard this morning. The kid thinks he's rich!

When asked where Nana or Grandpa or Daddy are, Benjamin will say, "Werk" (work). But if you ask him where Maw Maw or Paw Paw are, he says, "Ah he howz" (at his house). Apparently Maw Maw and Paw Paw don't work.

At nap time just a while ago, I told Anthony to pick out a few books to read and he grabbed his Nintendo DSi game manuals. Guess that's good nap time reading?

Things to Remember - Benjamin Edition

Benjamin's two funny faces: mouth wide open, eyes wide open, eyebrows all the way up; and his fake underbite.

That "Thank you" and "Bless you" sound exactly the same.

That when we're sitting together, he always takes my arms and wraps them around him just to make sure that I'm still there and not letting go.

When I'm singing him to sleep at night, he sings along. He's got most of the songs right, and he can actually hold a tune!

That he'll say "Ki Ki" (Kri Kri) a million times, but if she asks him to, he'll either say, "Noooo" or ask her "Dat?".

That MiMi's fiance is "Umpa Mite".

If you ask him where is Parrain (Uncle Marshall), he can point to him. When you ask him where Uncle Matt is, he can point to him, too. But if you point to Parrain and ask Benjamin what his (Parrain's) name is, he says, "MATT!"

When I turn right off of North Oak Hills Parkway onto Rue Crozat he will always say, "Nanny?" very hopefully, like if he says it sweetly enough, I'll cave and take him to see Nana instead of going somewhere else.

That if either grandfather is in the room, he wants nothing to do with anyone else; I love when they're both there because it's like his little head is going to explode from all the "grandfatherness" he's absorbing.

Books are a must before bedtime now. And it's specific books, and you have to sit in specific spots to read them.

That no matter what, NeeNee (Anthony) is the first person he asks for when I pick Benjamin up from school in the afternoons.

Never Forget - Exclusive Benjamin Version

Benjamin, dropping EVERYTHING, to dance to Gitchie Gitchie Goo by Phineas and Ferb no matter where he is.

Walking up to Mimi's fiance, Uncle Mike, when they arrived tonight and saying, "Hi, Mite!"

At dinner tonight, Benjamin smeared his chili all over his face, hair, and arms. He kept rubbing his eyes and we couldn't believe that he wasn't screaming from getting chili sauce in his eyes.

Holding up his Nemo play phone and saying "Cheeeeeese" while pressing the "camera" button.

Saying, "Dink doo!", usually around a mouthful of sippy cup, when I give him his juice or milk.

And one Mimi "Never Forget": never forget Mimi rushing to the sink to wash her hands and arms because she definitely felt something "wet and warm" from Benjamin's bottom...and it was obvious that what was wet and warm wasn't something anyone would want on their hands and arms. Makes me glad I was washing dishes and so Mark had to deal with that prize diaper. Oh, and Mimi might have gagged a couple of times, too.

Never Forget

Benjamin putting his fingers together in the air and singing, "Bispy, bispy, pie-pee!" and Anthony singing the words for him while they go through the motions together:

The itsy-bitsy spider
Climbed up the water spout.
Down came the rain
And washed the spider out.
Out came the sun
And dried up all the rain.
And the itsy-bitsy spider
Climbed up the spout again!

Never, Ever Forget This:

Benjamin singing "Rock a Bye, Baby":

"Bye bye, baby. Bye bye, baby." - while he rocks back and forth.

Things to Remember

Anthony singing "Old MacDonald" to Benjamin this morning, and Ben singing along when Anthony got to the cow ("voo"), duck ("ack") and pig ("nnk").

A statement from Anthony: "Mommy, when I get to college, I'm going to hurry up and be a paleontologist, because I want you and Daddy to go on a dinosaur dig with me, but if I take too long in college, you and Daddy are going to be OLD.

Benjamin cackling with laughter when Anthony makes a silly noise, like, "BING!"

Benjamin's favorite words: tih-tock (clock), bottom (bottle), wass (grass), ball (c'mon, that one's EASY), isss (this).

Mimi saying, "Cookie Monster!" in a deep "monstery" voice and Ben saying back, "DA DA!" in a not-quite-as-deep, but still-as-funny "monstery" voice. He's right. Da Da is a cookie monster.

Things to Remember

Benjamin's left foot pumping up and down, up and down, while taking his bottle. He just can't seem to keep that foot still while he's drinking. The right foot rarely moves, but that left just keeps pumping!

Anthony, when Ben burps, "Ooooh! GOOD ONE!" and when Ben toots, "Excuse you, brother!"

Ben smiley, giggly, happy - rarely fussy about anything except not being able to SEE you, Mama! He has got to be the easiest baby in the world.

Anthony still so interested in school. Loving to go each day, wondering what their new letter will be for the week, deciding what picture depicting the letter of the week he should bring on Fridays.

Ben not wanting baby food. Give him muffins, eggs, crackers, mac n cheese...but make sure it's PEOPLE food not BABY food. (This is pediatrician approved, folks)

Things to Remember

Anthony hopping out of the car, grabbing his teacher's hand and waving goodbye to me on Thursday - never looking back, so sure of himself and excited to be going to school.

Crying - harder than I thought I would - over my baby heading off to "Big Boy School", and realizing that life is NORMAL. What a glorious word.

Anthony enjoying the Balloon Festival this weekend. Talking about the balloons, and remembering their names and descriptions.

Mark holding Anthony at the Festival this morning while they watched a balloon land and deflate just feet from where we were sitting. Their heads were close, almost touching, and their profiles were almost identical.

Anthony touching Benjamin's cheek in Mass this morning and Ben breaking out into a big smile. Anthony thought that was just the coolest thing, and so kept touching Ben's face trying to make him smile.

My dad's big hand covering Ben's stomach while Ben slept this morning. If my dad so much as moved his hand away from Ben's stomach, Ben would wake up and start fussing.

Ben smiling for us - anyone he recognizes can get him to smile, and often. I think he melted his grandmothers' hearts a million times this weekend, but most importantly, he spontaneously smiled at my grandmother this afternoon and I thought she was going to turn into a puddle on the spot!

Things to Remember

The uncles making fools out of themselves over what has to be one of the cutest babies in the universe. Clearly.

Benjamin's cry when he has to poop. It's frightening. But cute.

Ben pooping while Grandpa was holding him. And Grandpa jumping a mile high because he was totally not expecting the noise that accompanied the pooping.

Anthony constantly wanting to kiss Benjamin's feet. And wanting to wave Ben's arm while singing, "LSU! LSU!"

Anthony dancing naked in front of the mirror tonight while singing "The Hokey Pokey". I video taped it, but I can't put that on the internet. Trust me when I say it was hilarious.

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Pictures from this weekend will be posted soon!

Things to Remember

At the (rained-out) church fair last night, Anthony said his tummy was "GROWLING". This usually means one of two things:
a. I just saw something I really want, and so I'm going to say I'm hungry.
b. I'm hungry.

Since we had eaten dinner and he had had gummies only an hour before, I was betting we weren't talking about Option B.

This is the conversation that ensued:

Anthony: My tummy is GROWLING

Me (acting appropriately shocked): Oh, no! What could we possibly do to make this better?

Anthony: Maybe I should have something to eat.

Me: And what would you like?

Anthony: What do they have here?

Me: Broccoli, spinach, salad.

Anthony: No, no, no.

Me: Boiled crawfish? Potatoes and corn?

Anthony: No. No.

Me: I wonder if there is anything else to eat here.

Anthony: I think they have cookies and cupcakes, Mommy.

Me: They do? REALLY? I think we should go find out.

And he got a rice crispie treat with MnMs in it. He sure fooled me! :)

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I was laying in bed with Anthony last night and he was just about asleep. He opened his eyes and said, "Mommy, I love my life," gave a big sigh and closed his eyes again. Then, "That's all. You can tell Daddy to come lay with me now."

Things to Remember

Anthony's newest catch phrase: "You MAY...", as in: "You MAY play with me." or, my favorite, "Maw Maw, you MAY feed me."

That nibbles of Anthony's neck are simultaneously his most favorite ritual of the night, and his most feared. You just NEVER KNOW when Mommy is going to strike!

Coloring before bedtime is now part of the bedtime routine. It must NOT be skipped.

How Anthony asks me every night, "And how was YOUR day, Mommy"...and I can't make up silly things; I have to answer him honestly and seriously or he gets royally pissed at me.

How George is still his favorite night time buddy to snuggle with, even with all the Lightning McQueen stuff he's got.

That I have to include George in the song about who loves Anthony at bedtime.

How he calls each classmate by their first AND last name.

That another new night time ritual is to kiss noses, cheeks, foreheads, elbows and arms. Not necessarily in that order, thankyouverymuch.

Blessed Silence

The scene:

Maw Maw Peck, Maw Maw, Anthony and I are in the den at our house, discussing what we're going to do for dinner (read: what we're going to order).

Anthony: I want macaroni!

Me: We're having macaroni for lunch tomorrow.

Anthony: I. WANT. MACARONI. TONIGHT.

Me: Mommy's going to need your help tomorrow to make the macaroni, OK?

Anthony (stomping off towards his room): I'm going into my room!

Anthony (at the door to his room): I'm not talking to you!

SLAM! The door is closed.

Silence in the den. Then quiet laughter.

Maw Maw and I: YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

The silent treatment lasted about 3 minutes. It was blessed while it lasted.

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In other news, Anthony had a fever Monday and Tuesday, which earned him a couple of days at Spa Nana. He returned to school on Thursday, which is when I became sick. A trip to my doctor proved that I have Strep throat. Hopefully 10 days of Amoxicillin will cure me. If Anthony had strep, he spontaneously got over it. Yes. My immunosuppressed child kicked some Group A strep butt, and I can't. Hmph. OK. Not that I want Anthony to be sick, and not me...but can ANYONE explain that to me???

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In more news, our microwave bit the dust yesterday, and we had to buy a new one. Who knew that microwave/oven vent combos were so damned expensive? OUCH. Ah, well. My new microwave is all shiny and pretty and bloody. Wait. Whaaaaa? Well, Mark sliced his finger open while he and my dad were installing the new microwave. He was probably centimeters away from needing stitches, and he was none too happy with me when I suggested he put a little rubbing alcohol on the cut. I didn't have any hydrogen peroxide, and I wanted the cut disinfected. I've never seen Mark go from so white to so red to so white in the face! The thumb is wrapped well, thanks to my MAD skillz as a trauma nurse (haha). It's going to scar, but it will heal without stitches. I give team Mark-PawPaw an A+ on their project.

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Grandpa came back from his three-week stay in India today. We'll see him, Nana, and Parrain for lunch tomorrow. Anthony has talked of little else today. He's READY to see his Grandpa.

Shhhhhh......

I just noticed that the light in Anthony's room has come on. So I open the door, and find Anthony sitting, right in the middle of the floor, doing nothing.

Anthony, what's going on?

SHHHH, Mommy! George is still sleeping.

Oh. Ok. (Quick glance at the bed, sure enough: George is laying on the pillow, covered by the blanket.)

We have to play a quiet game, Mommy, so we don't wake up George.

(Anthony pulls out his cars, turns them off, and pushes them around the room while whispering "Vroom". I tiptoe out to get my coffee.)

The "I Love Mommy" Song

To be sung in a slightly monotone, high pitched voice, with no regard to cadence.

"George and everything;
The rainbows and the rain;
The beach and the ocean...
It's so beautiful.
I love Mommy!"

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On the way to school this morning:

Mommy, why does Grandpa have to go work in India for three weeks? Why can't he work in Baton Rouge? I don't think Nana likes Grandpa going to India. I think she likes him to work in Baton Rouge. Tell Grandpa to come home!

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Anthony has his routine labs on Monday. I wonder when he'll start to really fight me about this. He cries when it's time to have his blood drawn, but as long as we're not sitting in the phlebotomy chair, he's fine.

I start a new rotation on Monday, for one week. Then it's off to Blood Banking! I'm really excited about that rotation. I really enjoyed the class, so I'm hoping I'll like the practice as much!