Basil Carcinoma

Well. I have so much to say, and so little time to say it. Work has been kicking my butt and draining me of all energy & creativity. So sorry blog, and sorry blog followers.

We've had some events occur in the last few weeks. A funny one, my poor mom will NEVER live down includes Ian's penis, a string, and a panicked phone call.

My mom has the kids on Fridays. She called me a bit frantic that Ian had a very alarming rash or lesion or SOMEthing on his 'wiggly body'. She explained it to me, "it's dark red..sort of a line and it seems to have moved since lunch time. I've never seen anything like it" she said. I became concerned, I tried to remember if he'd had a rash the night before and no I could not remember anything!

When I got him home, I quickly unveiled his wee wee and sure enough. There it was. A bright red 'basil carcinoma' 'esk' mark. My heart kinda pitter pattered...'what's wrong with my boy!' So I began picking at it...and then realized how and why my mom said it had moved. It wasn't actually stuck to his person, but was a red string from his sweatpants worn the previous day.

When I told Sean about this I said, "You'll never guess what happened, Mom thought Ian had a horrible disease or something happening to his 'wee wee'. His reply? "Oh, you mean, that red stringy thingy? Yeah, I saw that this morning when I changed his diaper and left it". I think my mom may have swatted him the next time she saw him.

In other Ian news, his new words are 'Ow', & 'Cool'. Cool is used for most everything. When handing him a snack...when playing toys, when falling off our bed and recovering from a near head injury. 'Cool' is something I NEVER imagined hearing out of a 1 1/2 year old. He's been throwing some ROYAL temper tantrums and luckily being the 2nd child I really don't let them get to me much. Been there done that...go cry it out over there mentality, seems to be working for us. He is particularly mad when placed in his highchair as thanks to Sean and my trip out East last week, he is now so ABOVE baby chairs and belongs at the big kid table, on his knees. This new trend has wreaked HAVOC on my floor and mopping is becoming a nightly occurrence. Thanks Sean...love you long time.

Alex can be found saying things like, 'Mom, that's like...totally hilarious'. And now mom is like, totally freaking out about how she's talking at well, nearly 4. Last week, Alex told me she had a secret for me. I leaned in so she could (as she sometimes does) whisper sweet nothings and 'I love yous' into my ear. Instead she said, 'Mom, your hair is big and crunchy, let's put lotion and make it soft. Needless to say, I have a hair appointment scheduled for tomorrow. Thanks for being honest kid.

Sean and I took a major leap of financial faith this week and purchased a new washer and dryer. It felt like a really big deal as the State of Oregon has cut his salary and required 4 unpaid vacation days between now and June and NIKE is laying off 4% of the workforce by May. HOWEVER, we deemed this a necessary purchase for our 9+ loads we seem to do in a week. So thank you Best Buy for your 18 month 'good as cash' no interest loan so I can have a most beautiful washer and dryer that looks wonderful, works fast and efficiently, and makes doing laundry a little less painful...I promise to pay you back next year.

The Dangler

Sean lost his #2 rank. It began a few weeks ago with Ian wandering around the house, his hands up in wonder saying, "Pop Pop"? Later, we'd find him nose pressed to the front window, standing on a stool and waiting for "Pop Pop" to randomly pull up into the drive. Now, he greets my mom (Nanna) with not a hello, but a 'Where is Pop Pop?' It has everyone's feelings a little hurt, well except for my Dad of course.

(They fell in love at the Bronx Zoo)

Last week, Ian woke up for 6 days straight between the hour of 4am and 4:44 am. Like clockwork, his little cries pulled me out of bed. Night one I swore it was his teeth. Night two, the same. Night three I became suspicious and night four I was dang mad. This boy was playing me. The next night I vowed to leave him be, let him cry it out. And that is what I did. At 4:37 that morning his wails rang three very clear plea's. "MAAAAMMMA....POP-POPPPPPPP, NAAAAANNA.

We've been kind of laughing about it all week. That Sean's name was never called. That Nanna's wasn't even second. Smugly, I was still first and for that I am thankful. Just tonight Alex at the dinner table said, "Mommy, remember that time when Ian called me Nanna and he called Daddy Pop Pop in the night?". Oh how silly, he just got our names wrong. NO, those are actually his three favorite people right now. OR, the three people that are most likely to come save him, crying from his bed. That, he did get right.

Which brings me to the dangler. Tonight we all had a good laugh as we let Ian prance around naked prior to Jammies. He took off running in the kitchen, screaming with glee. This kid loves the Nude. And we love him in the nude. His stocky bowed legs, his dimpled behind, and his budha belly have us all laughing to tears. He circled the kitchen and came running back, and as he tried to climb up on the couch, Sean saw it. A dangler. He screamed out "He's gonna poop!" I told him to bring him in the bathroom as I'd just cleaned the old toilet trainer ring from the garage. We plopped him down on the toilet and he screamed the highest pitch scream of happiness! He started to pull toilet paper from the roll, and dab at his thingy. When he then touched his nose with the 'tainted' paper, Alex fell to the floor in a hilarious laughing fit. He was so proud to be sitting there, he patted his chest and glorified his maturity. "Potty!" he said. And sure enough, when I pulled him down from the potty, we saw it...the dangler. Just a wee sized hershey kiss-esk dangler now floating peacefully atop Alex's mountain of toilet paper. His prize, his masterpiece, his first initial deposit. Technically, he pooped in the potty right? So that is what we celebrated, we all screamed, we clapped and Ian patted his bum in his 'naked body' dance.

Alex insisted we call Nanna because in her words, "Ian was being just hilarious.". I'm sure that in a few months, he'll be able to tell these stories himself with a personal call to Pop Pop.

A Picture says a thousand words...right?

Alright Kelly. I got the hint. I'm absolutely failing at blogging these days. FAIL. Not for lack of content or inspiration, but only for lack of time. And well, I'm addicted to the Twilight series and spend all spare minutes which are few reading books that quite frankly make me want to be a vampire. A vampire that needs no sleep, has super powers, and is immortal. I mean, really. Please tell me three other traits better suited for a Mom? Just try.

Here are a few pictures to tell you just exactly what these two have been up to recently.

Alex has discovered that she has inherited her mothers amazing skill of facial control. She loves to make funny faces, cross her eyes and well, LAUGH. I still need to get a video of that on here because most people wouldn't believe how she can get going.

This week, her best line was said while playing with her Barbie keyboard. She was singing along to "Oh Baba Baba" when she suddenly stopped, put her finger to her chin in deep thought and said, "Momma, is there like...a human in here or something?"



She's into dressing up and has taken to wearing dresses. She loves anything that requires tights and fancy shoes. This is her newest dress. I must brag here on this Old Navy bargain I picked up for a mere $3.99. BARGAIN! Times are tight, the economy is scary and although this Tot used to be dressed to the nine in Gymboree and Baby Gap, thems days are over. With word that my place of business will in fact have to resort to a 'reduction in work force' as they called it, I may be snipping coupons here shortly too.

This is Alex modeling. The second you bring the camera out...get ready for the newest episode of Runway or America's next top model. She smiles, she poses, this girl is gonna break me in a few years. I'm having a hard time coming to terms with the fact this little diva is going to be 4 in May. Time has flown by with this one.

Ian. What can I say? He is always keeping us on our toes! His new 'trick' much to my demise as well as my flooring, carpeting, walls, etc is to gather a big mouthful of liquid (in this example blueberry juice) and SPIT it out, everywhere. He thinks it's funny. I think it's not and at this point I'm at a loss as to how to get enough fluids in him without A)letting him have a bottle and B)ruining every single shirt, bib, or item for that matter with a 10 foot radius of his grazing station.
I can only hope that this photo session didn't encourage the behavior anymore than Alex's horrendous laughs from behind me.

My little Vampire.

His other new thing (also revolving around food & drink mind you) is helping himself to snacks from the pantry. He has it down. He opens the Tupperware cupboard, finds a nice hefty vessel and then helps himself to pretzels, fish crackers, or shredded wheat. He usually carries it directly into the living room and proceeds to crush it into my new couch. I love him.

His vocabulary is amazing me right now. You would absolutely never know this little dear is deaf in one ear. I'm anxious for his hearing appointment this Friday to hear what they think of his progress. He now says, Be (Bink), Show, More, Pease, Up, Baby, Body, Belly, No (a favorite), Yes (always with an exuberant head nod), Hat, Ball, Shoes, Juice, amongst many others...I'll keep thinking.

For my avid (and mildy obsessive) readers, I promise to post more frequently. I only have a few chapters left of my book at which time I will become as depressed as when Sex and the City ended, come to the realization that my life is neither glamorous or immortal and resort to blogging again.