Thursday, March 29, 2007

ahhhhh...

They are both asleep this very moment. By saying this, I am in severe risk of jinxing my good luck. As I wrote the last sentence, Elliott started crying, so I had to run to his crib and see if he'd take the pacifier. He did. Score!

This morning, I took both of the boys to the park. It was my good fortune that they were having a picnic for thirty or forty severely retarded people and their ornery caretakers. Ben could have played in the muddy, gnat-ridden field with a bunch of kids flying a kite. But what did he want to do? Mingle with the retarded people, who were moaning and convulsing and spitting while the appetizing scent of grilled hamburger swirled through the air. One of the few who could walk approached Ben and did a gun pantomime with his hand, then placed a heavy hand on Ben's head. Ben did not like this, and he ran down a dangerously steep hill (me carrying Elliott, who was peacefully asleep in the baby carrier, behind him), then tried to jump into a muddy puddle with a jagged pipe in it that was marked with a caution sign. I barely managed to stop him, and, as a result, he burst into tears. I told him we were going home if he couldn't stop crying. "Want to play with Jason?" I asked him. "Want to play with the kite?" He didn't and he kept crying, so I dragged him up through the retarded picnic and placed him in his car seat, screaming, his feet covered in mud and water.

Yesterday, I tried to take him to get his hair cut and as the barber ran the clippers through his hair, he panicked and writhed away, even though he's had his hair cut several times before. The barber and I had to pin him down to do the other side, just to make it even, so now he has sort of a mullet. I'm too scared to take him back today, and Ryan is at work until 5, so I think I'll just wait until tomorrow.

In short, Ben loves being a big brother.

Last night, Ryan and I went on our first date (thank you, Bridget), and I had my first beer since I got pregnant last year. Trust me, I deserved it.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Thursday, March 15, 2007

ben's first friend

The last two days, I've taken both of the kids to the park, a feat I'm quite proud of, given that maneuvering two children is much more complicated than I had expected. It involves a complex strategy of getting Ben to count to twenty as I tie Elliott into the carrier. If I don't finish before twenty, Ben starts whining. Otherwise, it works out. In any case, the last two days, Ben has met up with a new friend named Jason, who is two years old. Jason has much more hair than Ben and he speaks a lot better. I tend to think that kids who speak better than Ben are annoying, but I've warmed up to Jason, as he is really nice to Ben. Ben usually doesn't like other kids, and goes running off into the field by himself, but he likes Jason too. He and Jason spend hours running chasing each other all over the park, trying to tickle each other, and laughing. Jason has other friends besides Benjamin, but Benjamin isn't interested in any of them. When Jason turns to play with his other friends, Ben says, "J?" Sometimes he says, "J, where are you?" And Jason will return his attention to Ben. I am so happy that Ben, who normally runs away from 10 month olds, is actually playing with a kid at the park that should Jason need an adoption, I will definitely volunteer. On another note, some little creep named Hayden shoved Ben down the slide today. I wanted to climb up there and strangle the little bastard, but I had Elliott on my chest. And I'm an adult.

clumsy

I just dribbled grapefruit juice on Elliott's head. He continued sleeping. That's the price he has to pay for being carried around like a prince all day. He's just lucky it wasn't nacho cheese.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

update

Elliott: Feeling better. Asleep in my mei tai carrier from babyhawk.com that I am obsessed with. Eating 12 to 14 times per day.

Benjamin: 105 fever today, magically cured within one hour with goldfish crackers, water, and children's Tylenol. The doctor said it is just the common cold.

Ryan: Tired.

Me: Tired.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

first scare

I don't have much time, but just a quick update. Ben is sick with the stomach flu and Elliott has extremely bad jaundice. We've been to the hospital three times since we had him, and he has to be strapped to this phototherapy blanket that basically is like a miniature sun that radiates onto his back to get his bilirubin level down. I also need to feed him on an hourly basis. The good news is that today his level went down a bit and he gained a little weight. We will check again at the hospital tomorrow...