Hiking at Arroyo Park with the Pohlmans Saturday, February 19th

Today we went out and shared a hike with Jodi, Lauren and Matt. There was some pretty steep climbs for the kids on this trail, but they raced ahead and jumped and climbed their way along, which was great to see and lots of fun. Along the trail we stopped to hug some trees, skirt around some ice trails, watch some ice around the waterfalls, jumped on the bumpy bridges, looked out for Swiper ("Swiper, no swiping!") watched a beaver eating a fish, and attempted to run up to Lost Lake, before John caught up of course! It was a very cold but beautiful morning for us.

Since Thomas is quarantined from hanging out with any of his buddies who may either get his sickness or get him sick again before our cruise, we headed down to Marine Park to enjoy the sunshine before the winds kicked up again. Lauren has been calling for Thomas and she's running from the nose again, so Jodi's put her off. Thomas is running from the mouth and nose again, and I've had to put him off on his calls for "lu-lu's ouse" with a good excuse of "Lauren's visiting her daddy in Seattle." It works every time! If they get each other's sickness outside.....well, we tried our best!

Here's today's pictures of the new Pilot out in the sunshine and shots of the kids playing at the park. Although they had a beautiful beach to run around on, they spent most of their time running around an electrical station by a high fence shielding an industrial boat building warehouse. Such is the desires of toddlers...

New Honda Pilot-Well...new for Us!

Better pictures to come but here's a sample.

Today, after much waiting and anticipation, John was able to put the Pilot into the shop and let the mechanics have their way with it. A lot is riding on this inspection, as this is the only car we're considering at this time. We have until next week to find a car, and then our rental ghetto-wagon Ford piece of junk van is GONE! I'd like to throw a hunk of dirt on it's coffin when it's trashed in the heap of garbage metal, that's for sure! No love lost between me and ghetto-van, to say the least. But, I digress....I came home from work and John got the call to come to the shop. He was gone a while and when he returned I was distracted by my desire to finally get in the shower after a work/gym funk molding on my body. John took Thomas outside though, and before I could even start for the gym, they were back and Thomas was saying, "new car mommy" "new car, mommy" and "up, up" "out" "out". He led me upstairs, all the while looking behind to see if I was indeed following him. Stopping once to show me his pickup truck outside, we braved the cold as I followed to the garage. Once inside, I was floored. There, in all it's glory, was our new Honda Pilot. Total shock! I thought John just went to pay for the inspection and I was under the impression that it would take at least until late next week to get the financing in order if the inspection went well. I didn't even get to see the car in person. I just took John's word for it, knowing he would make a good decision. What a fabulous surprise for all of us! Hmmmm...seems like this was a planned surprise, and what a wonderful surprise it was!

Tonight we just had to take it for a ride, so we headed to Costco to gas it up, over to the grocery store to stock up and then take out at our favorite Thai place. We are so blessed with this wonderful rig. Goodbye ghetto-wagon!

Tonight, Thomas is running around the house with a huge Tonka truck, calling "billy's bonco" billy's bonco!" John remarked that he is so cute running around naked, them flopping into his big beanbag, wrapping himself up in his Lion King blanket and snuggling in for his movie time. He called for "Stitch" but when John told him it was up in the new car, he thought about it for a minute before calling for "Lion." Thomas was pretty whiny this afternoon that I associate with either a molar coming in or the remnants of his cold (or maybe he has cabin fever with this horrible cold weather that hit us) and he's pretty attached to one of us hanging out with him. He'll say "mommy's truck" and hold out a toy he's chosen for us, or he'll say "mommy's engine" and push a train to me. "Mommy's aht-wod" (hot rod car) or "Mommy, pway nommy" or "Nommy holding"
or Nommy hold" meaning he wants to be held. He doesn't want to be alone, and when grandma comes down to drop off the mail, chat or touch base, he's really clingy and starts to cry. This morning he was fascinated with the word soccer, and said it over and over, all the while holding a ball and walking around with it. Tonight he said, "Mommy, go up, nommy" and wanted to go upstairs and play. It's amazing how his vocabulary is out of control, and impossible to document all his words and phrases he says.

Valentines Day 2006

John and I both had to work today, but tonight I came home to find a huge bouquet of roses on the table and a huge hug and welcome from Thomas, who appeared to actually miss me today. We spent our evening opening a big box of goodies from Andrea, the kids and mom and dad, and enjoyed the wonderful gifts they sent. Lots of chocolate, matchbox cars, playdoh, etc. Jodi and Lauren came over with Valentines, and that was a lot of fun. I was instantly taken back to the days of making Valentines in school and tucking them into our little envelopes we made for our desks.

Before Thomas was ready for bed, Lil took over and John and I headed out for dinner at Busara. We made it home to tuck the little one into bed and enjoyed the rest of our Valentines together-quiet at last!

Colors!

It is amazing to me, but this week we have noticed that Thomas is saying his colors, and likes to identify toys by their colors. He knows red, yellow, blue, green, purple, orange, white, and black, and seems to like the color red best. His favorite toy right now is a red monster truck and he is quick to share his blue monster truck but holds onto the red for himself. He'll identify blue monster truck, red monster truck and then point out his other toys by their color.

Pre-Valentines Day with Thomas 2006

Today Thomas and I did our normal things together. We spent our morning hanging out with the fish at Whatcom Falls Park, then headed out for the ocean in the afternoon. Before heading home I decided to go by the market and pick out some special truffles for Valentines Day treats. Thomas and I picked out four chocolate truffles. Now, I'd like to say that these chocolate wonders made it home, but Thomas and I decided to try one out and share. You see, I must work hard at teaching my toddler to share, and what better way to teach this valuable lesson than over a delicious truffle?! Well, of course, Thomas wanted to share more, and before we even made it home, those silly little truffles were GONE! And Yes, my son appears to love chocolate just as much as his mama does!

Marine Park Adventures!

Today, there was a brief break in the rain today so Thomas and I raced out for treats at Starbucks and off to the beach to play. It was furiously cold and windy, but we had a blast searching for the perfect rock to throw, watched a train go by "ass" (fast) and ran around in the sand. We were finally driven into our van by the biting cold, but we headed up to play at our favorite Fairhaven store, Wild Blueberries, and ate dinner in the van from the Fish Bus in Fairhaven. We had a great afternoon playing despite this dreadful weather.

Tommy's First Dress -Up! Daddy's clothes!

New Observations for Today

Thomas is feeling better, and were trying to find fun activities to keep us busy while the rain continues to come down in sheets. It's getting more and more difficult to deal with this day in and day out rain, and the ground is so saturated it's like walking in a swamp wherever you go, whether it's the yard, the parks or the trails. Plus, with all the high winds we've been having, I'm very leery of taking Thomas out and about outside for fear of all the branches and trees that routinely come down these days. The roads are littered with tree debris, so it's obvious it's a bit on the dangerous side to be out walking in this. So, we're heading to the pool more and more, or the mall.

Thomas is talking, and it's becoming obvious I can't keep up. He's figured out this week how to put words together, so now the chatter is really on! It's so amazing to see his words just explode daily and we are having a blast listening to him talk to us these days. It's so much fun. Mommy play, monsa truck, mommy play blue monsa truck, nommy bath, Buh-Buh Booce, Ma-ma lil-lee, Lu-lu nice, Jodi nice, candy truck, lion, lilo, stitch, out please, up please....

No-Go on Toby Keith weekend!

I prayed last night that somehow Thomas would sleep off whatever new illness he's taken on, but God had better ideas about my weekend! It's tough being a mother, I tell you. Andrea and I went several rounds trying to determine if exposing her three kids to this was worth the Toby Keith concert, but after a few minutes it was quite obvious that no amount of fun was worth having Grace get sick with something new. I've been quite vocal on parents that expose their sick kids to others knowingly, like people who take sick kids to church, or to the pool, or to the gym, and I certainly don't want to start being that kind of mother now. It's really hard having a sick toddler and even harder to have a sick baby, so although the tickets cost a lot of money and I was really wanting to go over and hang out with Andrea for some adult entertainment, we did the right thing and canceled, hoping Andrea could get the tickets to someone that really wanted to go. I was fully willing to just dump them, but after calling around a bunch, Andrea called and let me know that Sharon and Ron, who had initially wanted to go but didn't get tickets, now were able to go out. Everyone around here was very happy that it turned out that way. It was good knowing that family, who actually wanted to go, were able to go out and have what I hoped would turn out to be a good night of fun.

We attempted to take Lil and Bruce down to the outlet mall to get some stuff for our cruise, but Thomas was feeling really miserable and it was a failed attempt at salvaging some of the fun in today's day off from work. It was hard for me to go out and get groceries, knowing instead I could be driving off the rez to a fun concert. While we sat at home channel surfing the night away, I really hoped Andrea was having a fabulous time, and couldn't wait to hear all about it. Certainly not the night I thought it would be, but that's how it plays out sometimes. I know that it's for a reason, and I'm certainly happy that Ron and Sharon were able to go.

The Fight is ON!

This morning I woke up not knowing that the day would turn into one big fight! It started out with a huge confrontation with Tim (delusional jerk from insurance hell) and ended with....uhmmmm, nothing but phone calls and more phone calls all day long. Started out badly by Quentin (delusional jerk from insurance hell #1) telling me he was turning my case over to Tim (delusional jerk from insurance hell #2). This was because my claim is now listed under Bodily Injury, since I'd decided to take my aching neck and shoulders into visit the old doc after hours on Friday. Then it got worse when I started to question on the length of time it was taking for them to determine liability so I could get this circus on the road. After all, my car just continues to sit and mildew in the constant deluge of rainfall we've had for days on end now. When Tim calmly (remember, he's delusional) mentioned that by my statement they were going to find me at some fault, I lost it. Bring it on, Tim. Well, not my actual words, but almost. I stated in no uncertain terms, "I'm not rolling over on this one," and then pounded him with point after point of how insane it was of them to think that I had any fault in this accident. And that was before John took up my cause and got on the phone. After all, I'm just merrily on my way home to watch the Seahawks kick some booty, when "Boom" I'm t-boned! How in the world does that suddenly equate to me being at any fault?!!!

My words to anyone from this point on is....when making a statement, even if you think you're being honest, check with others about the facts of your "statement" before you make THE STATEMENT because they can make your "Statement" sound like something is your fault and then they can twist your words around. AND, don't think for a second that your insurance coverage cares about you in the least. They are not your friend either.

Within the hour, good ol' Delusional Jerk #2 called me back, and confirmed that I was indeed correct and they were assuming full liability. I should have been happy about it, but the conversation fighting for myself earlier left me drained, so I was just eager to get the proceedings underway. There was no time for celebration, as the rest of the day was spend trying to find an auto shop that would take my car within the MONTH and was one that we approved, calling my medical insurance to square away with them their part, and making sure my car insurance was up to date on things that were going on. Plus, the rental car company came a'callin and I had to explain to them that they could indeed now take it up with Delusional Jerk #2 from now on, and then my doctor's office called with more questions. What a mess! And somehow a ticket for failing to yield just doesn't seem adequate for the other party in this whole thing.

AND....Thomas appears to be taking on another cold the day before we're supposed to go to Yakima for the weekend and the big concert! Uhhhhh......

New Observations for Today

These days Thomas is full of words. Today, after I'd gotten home from work, I had to race off and use the bathroom. I asked him if he wanted to go in with me, as he was very fussy and didn't want me to leave him to watch the big tv in the living room, but he continued to raise a fuss. Grandma heard him all the way upstairs and I heard her come down and try to see what was wrong. I yelled from the bathroom where I was, and when I joined them Thomas says, "Mommy" "Pee" "Kye". Grandma and I knew immediately what he was saying. When Daddy got home, he was still fussy and not feeling very good, and he called out, "bye-bye" "mall" and off we went.

Later, he said, "Mommy?"
I said, "Yes?"
He said, "Bye-bye, Lulu."
"Thomas, Lulu isn't home right now."
"Bye-bye"

On the way home, he says, "Mommy?"
"Yes?"
"Mosh-you" (Matthew Lawrence)
"Honey, Matthew is sleeping right now. He goes to bed a lot earlier than you."
"nigh-nigh"
"Yep, he's asleep."

Thomas has been witnessed taking a jar of little metal latch pieces and lining them all up perfectly, then saying "did it" and clapping for himself. Today he took a bunch of pieces of wood and lined them up all nice and neat, then repeated the above.

Thomas says "git it" "kibb" (crib), "sticky" when his hands are sticky and dirty, "waffle" "iron" and "mix" and then will help me make waffles, and will pretend to be a baby, awake and asleep. He's starting to have favorites during the day, and today it's his "monsa" monster truck, Bulgy and Butch are his favorites.

Last night John tucked him in for the 10th time, and he started his bedtime prayer.

"Dear Jesus" says Daddy
"Mommy" replied Thomas
"Thank you for Mommy" says Daddy
"Daddy" continued Thomas
"Thank you for Daddy" says Daddy
"Bulgy" prompted Thomas
"Thank you for Bulgy" says Daddy
"Butch"
"Thank you for Butch"
"Cha-Cha"
"Thank you for tractors"
"Amen"
"men"

It's almost getting too much to keep track of the daily verbal changes we see in Thomas. Tonight he was able to have chats with us about what he wanted to do and tells us when he is tired and wants to go night night. There is no guess work in our days. He's very deliberate in his play and enjoys laughing at the Lion King movie which we just introduced to him a week ago. It will be very interesting to see how our days continue to change as the language development explodes.

Seahawks WIN! Seahawks WIN!

John hopped on the Seahawks train long before noon, and it was just Thomas and I to play away the hours until game time. We went shopping and played at the mall, then headed to Papa Murphy's to get pizza and cookie dough. The goal was to keep Thomas awake as long as possible so that I could watch a bit of the game in peace and quiet without having to watch a cross route AND talk to Thomas at the same time. Thomas tried to pull a fast one on me with a call for nap at 12:30 but I coaxed him out of his crib with the promise of outside and candy, not to mention pizza and raw cookie dough (no, he didn't get it raw, but I really prefer my cookies mostly goo but a bit warm.) I didn't see much of the Steelers game this way, but that wasn't really the goal. I was successful at holding Thomas out until about 1:45, which is nothing short of fabulous.

The game started, I was sitting in near dark, in an eerily quiet house, without much of anything but pizza scraps and the FOX team to keep my company. Within minutes I was alternating between silent screams and fist pumps and jumping around the living room in silent celebration. I kept looking around for someone to high five or yell with, but with Thomas sleeping in the next room, there was none of that. Shortly before halftime, Thomas woke up and we traveled up to Jodi's where she'd hired Molly to watch the kids while we focused on the game. It was so nice to sit back and get rowdy with the adults.

John had a great time down there, and said the atmosphere was unlike anything he's seen before. He was hoarse from all the yelling and cheering, and said that the guy next to him only screamed "rip their head off" when appropriate, which I'm sure was a lot of the time considering the magnitude of this game. I remarked to Bruce last night that he'd better take some extra heart medication. He responded by saying, "How about some anti-depressants?". So true, so true! It would have been a long walk out of that place and an even longer drive home had the outcome been different.

Fun Days

Thomas is talking so much these days, and is starting to put more and more words together. "Daddy, go way", "Mommy bye-bye van water" is almost a full sentence in my opinion and let me know he wanted to go out to Whatcom Falls to see the waterfalls. Yesterday we took him for his 18 month check at 21 months, and I got the third degree for him still being on the bottle. I'm sorry, I'll try to wean him, but I'm not ready to pull him off. Call me silly, but the boy is lean enough without me taking away the few calories he gets during the day. If we brush his teeth I'm not so worried about the bottle issue. I'm not going to make an issue out of a little thing, because Thomas has shown me in the past that he'll figure things out without me making a big deal out of it. If he's four and still wanting a bottle, then I'll make an issue out of it.

Today we went swimming in the morning, the car appraiser came by, Jodi and Lauren stopped by to play, we napped and then when he woke up we headed out to hike at the falls and then stopped by Lo-Lu's to play. It was a fun day with a brief break in the rain. What a relief!

Impact!

Today started out like any day really. John headed out for a run while I took Thomas to jump with the Madeline and Lauren in gymnastics, and then I came home and turned Thomas over to John for my own run. Usually I take Thomas to the store with me for an outing, but today I decided to enjoy myself a bit and go without him, which seeing that it was Festival of Food celebration (aka cheap people feeding frenzy at food tasting booths) at Haggen, it would have been a nightmare to take Thomas anyway. On the way home, I had no idea just how blessed we were that Thomas stayed home.

Two block away from my house I could see down the road towards the neighborhood school that we pass almost everyday. I also caught a glimpse of a car approaching the road coming up to the stop sign. In a heartbeat I saw her look the other way, but not stopping, and in my heart I knew she was not going to stop. I had a moment of gut wrenching insight, and I gripped the steering wheel, pressed on the gas, and stared straight ahead, as if willing my car to fly down the street and avoid impact. I also realize I didn't want to look at the car as it was hitting me, and I didn't want that vision in my head for the rest of my life. I think I also hoped that somehow it was all a mistake, that I wasn't seeing what I thought I was seeing, and hoping that if I sped up and she slammed on her brakes at the last minute, somehow impact would not occur and I could continue on my merry way home for my special lunch and Seahawks kickoff.

As she slammed into me, and as my car suddenly had a life of it's own, I frantically tried to remember what I should do. Unfortunately, I had but a moment before I could see that my car was careening towards the Munch/Firs house, that I was now turning into a wide circle and that the house was quickly approaching my out of control car. Now that would have seriously cut into their asking price for the sale of the house, wouldn't it! I was still gripping the steering wheel, which was no good at working at that point, and realized that I may want to try the breaks.
I finally came to a stop, completely turned in the opposite direction of travel than I'd originally been. I remember a carbon copy of my mother's famous line, "oh Jesus, Jesus" and then realizing I was okay and unhurt, I started to shake and cry like a baby. I can work with a hardened criminal, but give me an out of control vehicle and the thought of flying into a house, and I turn into a sniveling, dripping wet dish rag!

Thanks God for Lance, who took my cell phone call. I knew John was two blocks away, but I couldn't reach him, didn't have my cell phone and only knew Lance and Jenny's by heart. Soon John was on the scene and took over helping me recover my adrenaline decimated brain cells. My concern at this point was the groceries in the trunk and the Seahawks kickoff looming near. I sent John home to relieve Lance of Thomas duty and to watch the game, knowing it could possibly be awhile before the sheriff's office could get a deputy out to us. Luckily, it all happened pretty quickly. I was absolved of any guilt for the accident, reported my stiffening neck, and a ticket for failing to yield ($150.00 fine) was given out to the other driver. Despite a jammed seatbelt, inability to get in either door on the driver's side, coffee dripping all over the interior (somehow the Starbucks mug flew around and didn't shatter as it hit the window. Half a mug of coffee and cream is all over the interior, though) and a blown airbag, I was able to drive the piece of junk home.

John quickly unloaded the groceries and we settled in to watch the Hawks play, welcoming a little quiet time while Thomas slept. Only as the afternoon progressed did we talk about how things could have been drastically different, how blessed I truly was to be unhurt, except for a slight skin burn from the airbag and a stiff neck and shoulder. If I have to be in an accident, it's better to happen like this, where the only thing a mess is my car. I doubt the Seahawks would have been featured in the Bellingham ER, or nearly as important!

Seattle Trip/Sonics Game

I bought John Sonics vs. Miami Heat tickets for Christmas, before I realized he didn't want to go to a Sonics game this season because they stink this year. Oh well! I tried. At least, unlike the clothes I get him, he can't take these tickets back. He was thrilled about seeing the Heat, though, so that helped me feel a bit better about spending the money. I was determined to enjoy seeing Shaq even if John wasn't eager. Turns out he was, and we eagerly awaited our outing to Seattle. Leaving Thomas was difficult, as it continues to tug at my heart to leave the little ball of energy home, but Grandma reports he didn't have one ounce of trouble without us. Okay, come on! He could at least ask for me once, couldn't he?

John's fun plan was to park at the Seattle Center and take the monorail into downtown to avoid Friday rush hour. Ummmm...the monorail stinks about as much as the tax they tried to impose to pay for a new and longer one. Those poor Seattle-ites who were taxed like crazy on a pathetic excuse for transportation. John had just been on the website, but when we walked up to the terminal there was a little sign that read the monorail is down for maintenance difficulties indefinitely. Imagine our frustration. We very quickly had to change our plan and ran towards the bus stop around from Paul Allen's atrocity called the Experience Music Project. Look it up! It looks like a giant heap of trashed metal melted into a giant blog they call architecture. Hmmmmmm.....And it was raining and I didn't bring an umbrella!

We traveled into the city by city bus, spent 20 minutes in Nordstrom, raced to Urban Outfitters, swung over to run through Banana Republic and scurried to find the next bus that would take us back and get us to the game in time. With just a few minutes to spare, we flew into Starbucks for refueling and waited in the rain with a few hundred other soggy people and jumped back on the city bus. It wasn't quite the Seattle shopping trip I was looking forward to, but then again, I'll take what I can get.

We had great seats and I was very happy about that. I don't think I've had more fun in awhile, and I laughed and yelled more than I expected to. The place erupted when Shaq entered the court and it was a lot of fun to see him and watch him play. I didn't care who won the game. It was just a lot of fun to be there with all the energy and excitement of seeing the great players on the Heat team, like Alonzo Mourning, Dwayne Wade, Shaq, Jason Williams, and that punk Gary Payton. What a hoot it was!

Triple Overtime on the "I don't know what BOWL"

Tonight Thomas had a great time, and before he went to bed he took a dark, rainy walk, a bath, I went to the gym, he played trains, watched teletubbies 3 times, played Matchbox cars with his one truck, colored at his chair, poo'd, and ate dinner twice....all while Florida State battled it out with Penn State. Now, I'll tell you, I'm rooting for Florida State tonight. I hope they win for very important reasons. It's hot in Florida, I'm going there in a month, and I like red more than white. I didn't watch a game this season and I couldn't tell you one name of one player on their team if I was on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Now, with NFL football, I usually take the time to know the teams and stats (at least what any mother of a toddler can!) But with college football I have only a few criteria in which to judge; the color/look of the uniform, the mascot of the school, the weather, and sometimes how hot the quarterback is for that season. So, tonight I went with the color of the uniform. John picked Penn State because the kicker is just a young boy (a freshman) and he feels sorry about all the missed field goal attempts. Wow! Glad we didn't have money riding on this one!

Post Head Trauma Shot=Seeing if the lips work!

No smile....check
Lips working...check

Okay, Thomas, let's roll!

Our 2nd Christmas with Mom, Dad and Drew!

Tonight Mom and Dad, along with Drew, made it over a very snowy and difficult Cascades pass. I didn't know all day if it would happen, as the passes looked awful. They made it over and we enjoyed a quiet late afternoon together. Although everyone was tired, we decided that it would be fun for the boys to open their presents tonight so they could enjoy their toys for the duration. For the record....the Whipples played by the rules and stayed within the dollar amount. The Kings/Vankemsekes cheated and showered us with way too much goodness! It's embarrassing really, but Thomas loved his toys, John and I got exactly what we wanted, and Drew was enjoying setting up Shark Park with Uncle John when near disaster struck!

Thomas takes a HEADER out of his crib! Yep, there's a first time for everthing and tonight Thomas decided it was time to try out his climbing skills-despite the presence of an ever vigilant Nana and his father no more than 8 feet away on the floor. However it started (no one saw him climb up), John saw the ending and I heard it from the kitchen. Mom ran out of the room calling for Jesus and I rushed passed her to see what that thud was. Turns out it was the back of Thomas's head meeting Mr. Hardwood floor-head on-literally!

We haven't had much luck at the ER during the Christmas season, but I truly thought this one had passed us by without the mandatory visit. Four years ago we had to take a baby Drew to the ER with breathing difficulties. Three years ago I spend Christmas day being evaluated with what turned out to be my first (and only) migraine, despite my best prediction that I had to be dying of a brain hemorrage with the intense pain. Last year everyone was sick, including John's cousins that came to town, but to my best recollections, no one had to visit the ER. So, I actually had the nerve to remark to Brad that it looked like everyone was healthy this year, as he made his way up to visit with his family. Hmmmmm....great call!

The ER was slammed that night, but Thomas seemed to enjoy himself checking out the obese lady with the funny mask on her face sitting in a wheelchair, the old lady in her pajamas with her feet propped up on her wheelchair across from us (I couldn't help but think of Bird Flu), the baby being rocked on the other side of us, the water fountain with it's many disposable cups to play with, and the candy machine. He did not like the wrist band they wanted me to put on, and he did not like me changing him on that funny table in the bathroom. He liked playing "monkey" on his hospital bed as the man kiddy-corner to us moaned in pain, and he enjoyed running down the hall right before the doctor came to visit him-finally! What a very expensive popsicle we all shared tonight. And to make matters worse, the crazy woman at John's "favorite" KFC messed up our order on our way home, forcing me to call corporate office and report her for forgetting my chicken for my chicken salad and John's BBQ sauce for his BBQ chicken. Take that, crazy lady!

We missed the cousin's party that night at Punkie's and I felt bad that Drew missed out on a fun evening as he waited for us to return. He was such a great sport about it and I hope that sometime I can make up for his missed party. Bruce and Lil skipped the party to join us at the hospital, but once Bruce had talked it over with us and checked out Thomas for himself, they headed off to fill my folks in on what was going on. I was thankful they came and happy that they didn't miss the whole evening entirely.

As I rode with Thomas to the hospital, and again that night as I lay on my mat beside Thomas's crib, I thought of Jenny's story of Madeline's concussion this summer. Madeline was out of it and threw up after crashing on her head, and Jenny then had a hard time keeping her awake. I knew in my heart as I thought of those symptoms that Thomas was ok, and without that story running through my head as an example, I would have been in a world of hurt. I did sleep that night, checking on him several times, but I had a peace in my heart that all was well and the knowledge that this is certainly not the first time Thomas takes us to the edge.

Thomas, Pretzels and Putting on Your Game Face!

I sometimes feel just a bit guilty about it, but not enough to stop. I remember the pain of it as a child. Dreading the moment when it would arrive, and I would have to sit, sometimes quiety, sometimes with as much fervor as I could muster in my little body. And now, like a father passing on his family name and wealth, I shall too pass along the pain....the pain of weekend SPORTS! (Although with my father it was mostly baseball and M.A.S.H) Yes, Thomas may control the activities of our daily lives, with our schedules, our Nick Jr/Disney television shows, and our freetime, but he does not have much say when the Seahawks play this season. His only choice in the matter has been which jersey he wants to wear, and his choice is Hasselbeck or Alexander. And since his grandpa is NOT an Alexander fan, most often he has been seen wandering our hallway in Hasselbeck, aimlessly trying to distract us with trains, trucks and a whine here and there. He will learn....oh yes he will, and it is not like he is not rewarded for his patience. I have been known to bribe him with pizza and candy, pretzels and other treats. Sometimes it's even been our treat that he goes down for his nap....RIGHT BEFORE kickoff! How amazing is that! And so, yes, I do sometimes feel guilty that Thomas must suffer through a game here and there...but only for brief moments. After all, it's the Seahawks!

Santa Visit, 2005 (21 Months old)

Each time we've gone to the mall, we've taken Thomas up to see Santa, wondering if "this" would be the time Thomas would agree to go up and have his picture taken. Each time Thomas has been more than content to look at the lights and check out "fosty" and his little friends. Today we realized it was crunch time for getting this year's picture done, so we decided to take him to Yeager's sport store to meet Santa there, and if he wasn't into that Santa, we'd take him to the mall for one last shot at that Santa. Well, he wasn't diggin' Yeager Santa, so we tried our luck at the mall. It didn't look good, as just before it was our turn, the tape in the helper's machine ran out, prompting a longer than necessary wait. Yeah, Thomas was running out of patience. BUT, John pulled out the big gun....Thomas's Harvey train, and right then Santa called him up. With John gently coaxing Thomas to show Santa his new train, Thomas made his way towards Santa, and let Santa pull him into his lap. It was a great shot, too!

New Thomas moments

Thomas is changing every day, and never more evident than with his vocabulary. He is saying new words every day, and is quite the one word chatter box in the car these days. He loves to point out the Christmas lights, frosty, icy, snow, smooth, splash, mo-mo (Elmo), Jay-Jay, rain, mulk (milk) choo-choos, andy (candy), Santa, baa (bath), la la (salad), juice, drink, nak (snack) go-go (yogurt) Yesh (yes, which is said with a lot of vigor and was taught to him by his grandma while I worked!) Jesha (Jesus), coffee, and our favorite "wah-poo", which we believe is his Native American word for both fire and pretzel. Grandpa is bubba and Grandma Lil is mah-mah. Grandpa Darrell is Papa and Grandma Marion is Nana. I'm Mommy and John is Dad-deeeee, usually said with much enthusiasm. He loves to read in his crib, and we've had a lot of nights where we've put him to bed, only to have him sitting up in his crib half hour to an hour later "reading" his books and making tractor noises. John and I took him for a late walk through the neighborhood and up to the Pohlmans last night, and when we came back we visited the shop and Grandpa. While in there I noticed that Thomas has a block of wood with different sizes of screws and holes in it, and watched in amazement as Thomas picked out a screwdriver, fit it into the correct screw and then began screwing it into the wood. Call me ignorant, but they're selling huge wooden play toys for kids Thomas's age and here Thomas has the fine motor skills to work it out on his own with the real thing. When I asked Lil about it, she said that he didn't know how to do it last week, but has worked hard at it each time they go up to visit, and now this week he has it mastered. I'll bet money he'll be working the table saw next week at the rate they're going.

Waterfall Swimming!

Thomas waited all day for Grandpa to get back from Seattle today, and when he did come in, Thomas was up the stairs like a rocket to see his favorite buddy. They took off together outside, leaving Lil and I to catch up on the last few day's events. Within a few minutes, I catch sight of Grandpa hauling Thomas back towards the house, and by the sounds of it, Thomas is none to pleased with something. Thomas rarely cries, and and was really going after it, so both Lil and I head for the back door to meet up with them. When we got to the door, I opened it, only to find Bruce holding a howling and soaking wet Thomas, who was flailing his arms and lunging for me. I pulled his soaked body to me, and Bruce and I tried an attempt at stripping the boy, who thankfully was fully dressed but without a bulky coat. As we stripped him, Bruce told me that Thomas had jumped into the waterfall pond. Lil asked Bruce where he was, and Bruce said, "Right beside him." It was so funny, and even as I'm trying to calm Thomas down with soothing words and mama talk, I wanted to laugh out loud. The waterfall and ponds that Bruce build and beautifully landscaped have never been an issue for any of us. We just never let Thomas out of our sight, as you can imagine what a wonderful adventure they hold for a little boy. He enjoys them a lot, and we let him go around them, throw rocks at times, but we're never far away. We're constantly talking to him about them, though, as he'll still try and see how close he can get to them without us pulling him back. So, we'll see how Thomas addresses the ponds tomorrow after his little adventure today. Nothing a hot bath won't cure, that's for sure!

Costco Dog Times TWO!

We went to Costco tonight to get supplies and we had a great time checking out the toys, playing basketball with the display hoop, running down the aisles and eating! It was a good time had by all, especially seeing Thomas polish off a huge hotdog at 8 o'clock at night! I just knew he's sleep well with a belly full of hotdog and lemonade. So, now Thomas likes to hold my hand and take off running and squeals with glee as we run together. So, we took off across the parking lot, and of course, the cold air hits his lungs and by the time we got to the car he was coughing. As I put him in his carseat he's coughing so much he's gagging....and then the fun begins! Costco hotdog comes spewing forth, again and again. As Thomas pukes, I catch it with my hands (I'm trying to keep it from getting on him, me, his carseat or the floorboards.) As I catch the hotdog slime, I throw it out of the car into the parking lot and go back for more, as Thomas doesn't stop with just a few heaves. More and more, and then John gets into the act, as I'm having trouble with the lemonade/hotdog/stomach acids concoction we are experiencing. Finally, Thomas rids himself of all nourishment for the evening, I wipe things up with the spare box of wipies that I stashed in the car, and we're off! Shaking our heads and commenting about how only with your own are you able to handle a situation like that and drive away with a smile and a chuckle. God, can we get a break on the stomach experiences?!!!

Double trouble! Our most horrible weekend!

Saturday morning- This morning I was going to run the Jingle Bell Run, but I woke up a bit late, and decided it wasn't worth the effort with the frigid cold and all. Plus, John woke up and said he didn't feel well. I waited around a bit for him to get out of bed, and played with Thomas, all the while itching to go out on my own run. By 9:30 I'd lost my gumption to go out and the early morning coffee high had worn off, so I was content just to sit around and enjoy a lazy Saturday morning. John finally pulled himself up but he was really feeling sick to his stomach, so most hope of Christmas shopping and festivities quickly went out the window. AND, by 11:30 I was starting to feel a little funny. NO JOKE! By nap time, John had already hit the toilet for the 1st of several toilet competitions (whose turn is it to watch Thomas, who's got the can?) between John and myself. By mid afternoon I'd entered the puke-a-thon, and the race was on to see who could dehydrate the quickest! It's horrible to be sick....it's double horrible to be sick with a toddler who could care less if your insides are threatening to erupt out of your body and you feel like you're being run over by a diesel truck over a bed of stinging ants...it's most horrible when two parents are jockeying for toilet time while trying to keep a toddler content! What a nightmare! I hate throwing up! That's why I've never gotten drunk...because I HATE TO THROW UP! I willed myself to not throw up for my entire pregnancy, despite 9 months of sickness, except for that one time on our cruise when the foo-foo chicken and a high seas storm sent me running. Anyway, by evening, I was practically begging for Bruce and Lil to get back to watch him for awhile, because he really needed time to run around and go outside, and we just couldn't manage it. They did get home and took him off our hands for awhile and Lil cleaned our disaster of a house (God bless that woman!). We felt so sorry for him, as he'd been couped up all day long. I went to bed. I couldn't do anything else. John seemed to manage a bit better, but with two more bouts of can time, I thought I might just end up in the hospital from whatever plague we'd been hit with. Don't think bird flu didn't cross my mind, either. By morning, John and I were both feeling better, which was an absolute miracle, considering how the night went. The body still ached, but the stomach was intact. That was most important. It took John until Wednesday night to eat a small meal, and I finally ate a light meal on Tuesday night. Did I lose weight through it all....yeah, I wish I could have been so lucky for all my trouble. Not a chance! Shoot this one down as the worst weekends EVER! I can't think of one that was worse. And I hope to never write about one again!

Neighborhood fun!

It's very sad to think about, but our times playing with the Pohlmans in our neighborhood are dwindling quickly. They are leaving for Seattle some time next year, and although we have truly enjoyed all our time together since they've moved back, it is even more apparent how much they will be missed now that we know they are going. This morning Jodi called while I was out on my run and wanted to meet up for a walk. It is bitterly cold here, but after getting back home, feeding Thomas and getting him ready, we were ready to hit the hills of our neighborhood. It is a refreshing treat to chat with Jodi, and always fun to share stories since we last caught up. I try not to think about her leaving, as it is very difficult to feel like you're losing something, but as we go about our days, I can't help but think about how short our days are together. I want to really enjoy each and every time we just run up to their house, or she stops by with Lauren just to play, or we hang out up at their house together, or our jaunts around the neighborhood with the kids. I thought we would have many years together, watching our beautiful kids grow up together, but I guess God has different plans for our lives, and a different path for us to travel down. I trust that he will bring peace and happiness in this decision, and will ease the transition with their leaving.

This afternoon, Thomas and I walked up to Jenny's house and played, before leaving to make our way back home for dinner. Of course, Thomas can walk up to the house, but when it's time to go, he's all mama's boy and wants to be held "like a baby", or so he says. I look back and realize what a wonderful day is was, full of laughter and great friends. I couldn't ask for more from a day!

Mommy and Tommy cooking together for the 1st time! 20 Months

Thomas helped me whip up a batch of strawberry dessert that is one of my favorites that both Mom and Grandma used to make. It was a lot of fun having Thomas help me hold the mixer as we added different ingredients. I look forward to having him help out with the chocolate chip cookies next!

Cutting Christmas trees with Friends!

Today we headed out to Mt. Baker highway to cut a tree and hang out with our friends Carrie and Kevin and Kevin's mother Liz. We didn't want to cut our tree this early, but we wanted to spend time with them, as they live in Seattle and we rarely see them these days. Carrie and I used to be running partners, and since she left I have yet to find a running buddy who will meet me at the trailhead at 5 am, in the dark, with our headlamps shining, bundled up in multiple layers to keep the freezing temperatures from killing us. I'm sure Kevin is still heated about me bailing on our Frosty run this morning, I knew my knee wasn't up to it, and the physical therapist has yet to clear me for more than 4 miles. I hope he forgives me one of these days! We enjoyed our time running around in the trees and snow while looking for the perfect tree. The Santa in the shack didn't impress Thomas but the Quad bikes in the parking lot sure did!

Airplane Pictures from November 2005

Thomas was interested in the airplanes as much as any toddler would. He enjoyed looking out the windows of the plane and watching the construction projects going on around the Seatac airport while we waited in the terminal. The play areas scattered around help out, too, and the employees of the terminal were very kind and interested in helping. These pictures show just how interested Thomas was in the airplane adventure!

Thomas's First Airplane Ride! 20 Months Old

After much agonizing, I decided to take Thomas to Yakima to meet the new baby. His cold appears to be wrapping up, and he's looking better all the time. It was difficult leaving John behind for many reasons, and the thought of all the "what ifs" is enough to send a person over the edge. At one point I even considered the clothing we were wearing in case of a crash landing in the Cascades and I had to walk Thomas out. Uhhhhh.....just a little crazy you might think! Aside from a very sick stomach due to nerves, the trip out of Bellingham was wonderful. We shared our area with a flight attendant stationed in Alaska and she was great to sit and chat with. I didn't even have to take out our new portable DVD player, as Thomas was very content to eat his snacks and watch out the window. He seemed to enjoy pointing out the ships that dotted the coastline as we flew to Seattle. Thomas cried pretty good during landing and clawed at his ears and face, but he made it through it all and pulled it together on the landing. You can try all the tricks to help on landing, but the drink, the binkie, the candy and the crackers-nothing worked this time.

Once at Seatac, a very intuitive employee read the look on my face as absolute confusion, and quickly hussled Thomas and I back down an elevator, down an outdoor tunnel and pointed us to the shuttle bus that we needed to take. Without her guidance Thomas and I would probably still be walking around the terminal wondering why we couldn't find our gate. I asked the shuttle driver where I should have looked to see that I had to go outside the terminal to ride the bus to get to another gate, and he smiled at me and told me that I could have also taken the inside tram. Uhhhh....that didn't quite answer my question, but I'll let my ignorance go at this point. Good thing for helpful terminal employees.

The flight to Yakima was fantastic. There was an open seat next to me and I was able to strap Thomas in to the seat and sit back while he ate his Goldfish and watched Elmo. Thanks God for Elmo. What a wonderful creature. The whole family met us at the airport, and that was a lot of fun. In 30 years I've never flown into or out of Yakima, and this was a fun experience. So much better than the 4 plus hour drive it takes to get there by car.

And Baby Grace! What a beautiful little girl she is, and I'm NOT one of those people who thinks every baby is cute. Oh, no! They are not ALL cute, but I think Baby Grace is Beautiful! And the rumors about her big toe are true. Sad, but true. Poor thing. It's gonna be rough!

While there, we played a lot at the house, as the weather was quite cold. Drew is big into card and board games, and Jake and Thomas continue to play well together. Thomas isn't too thrilled about the dogs as he was rushed by a couple of dogs at the park the week before we came, and he is quite good at saying, "Go" and "Bite" whenever the dogs would come near him. Mother is not thrilled let me tell you, but neither was John as these two crazy dogs nearly took Thomas out at the park. I don't have a problem with this as the neighbor dog near us is a big Great Dane that bites, the gardener next door brings her Rottweiler with her and the neighbors on the other side of us have two out of control springer spaniels that have lost their minds. Of course, it's the Weener dog on the corner that gets called on. Go figure!

I am very impressed and proud of Andrea, as if she needs my opinions, though. Baby Grace is such a wonderful little girl, but Andrea is already out and about, going to church, going out and shopping, and while I napped and lounged around, Andrea was up cooking and cleaning house. I do believe I was in a hormonal, sleep deprived coma at two weeks post partum and that must have lasted for a good six months. I still haven't gone to church.....well, not quite true, but close! I take her for granted, as I realized when I left. I just expected she'd be like normal, and then when I thought about it and realized how remarkable it really is to me that life is running just normally for them, if a little bit more hectic. I could not do it, and I question whether or not I want to add another little one to my life. I really enjoy the peace and quiet of our day to day routine here in Bellingham, and in a family of 3 little children, life is anything but peaceful and quiet. Best birth control ever, let me tell you! We enjoyed busy trips to the store, to Sears to take pictures, a couple side trips to Starbucks to kill my caffeine withdrawal headaches and a fabulous lunch from Miners, my absolute favorite place to eat in Yakima. Thomas wasn't down with sledding behind the three wheeler, unfortunately, so I missed out on a little action. That's okay, though. Plenty of time to teach Thomas how to get down and dirty on the big toys!

Some funny events for me to remember.....sleeping in the Aerobed Taco, eating a bag of chocolates, Bronco ride to Ft Simcoe, watching the boys sledding with Dad, words with the grumpy santa in the Mall, Thomas throwing up pink chunks at the mall due to coughing, elevator incident (did I pass the discipline test, Mom?) showdown at the Sears portrait studio and watching Billy try to figure out if I was going to blow, Thomas sleeping in my arms on the plane from Yakima to Seattle

Thanksgiving 2005

We have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving! A beautiful new baby girl, quite a miracle if we consider how many years it's taken to get her here. We have healthy children, if you don't count Thomas's second cold in three weeks, Drew's broken arm and Jake's hives. We have warm homes, beautiful families, reality tv, McDonalds and a few double chins to spare.

This year found us taking an early morning run and some time down at the park, throwing rocks in the lake and watching the dogs play in the water. Last night, Thomas flew off the slide up at the Firs, and although it was hilarious to watch, we're trying to slow him down a bit today by wiping off the water first. Someday Thomas may be haunted by the slide as much abuse as he's had lately flying down the slide. I ran today only because I wanted to eat, and I made it around my circuit thinking about the cinnamon rolls and pumpkin pie I wanted to consume in large amounts later. It is amazing how fast I was today! Thomas lasted longer than I thought he would, with his cold and all, but we headed home to warm up and take a nap. After much debate, we ended up heading out to the Zenders to celebrate with Barb's family, and it turned out to be a fun afternoon, although I was very worried about exposing the boys to whatever Thomas has these days. Glad we went, though. We all had a great time.

This evening found us bemoaning the fact that we missed the afternoon football game. Family, good food and football....that's Thanksgiving. I'm not much into the parade and balloons but I enjoy a good football game on Thanksgiving.

I looked through photos from the last year and a half, and it amazes me how many changes have come our way. I am so grateful to be Thomas's mother this year, and I can't imagine life without my little boy. Every day is a treasure for me, however crazy and challenging it may be, and I can honestly say that I would not give up a single moment of my life for anything other than what we have now. I bellyache about not sleeping in, but my heart overflows when I hear my name called early in the morning, and I know that little head will be poking over the crib waiting for me when I get there. The big adventures are our trips to the marina, down to the gelato parlor, over to the fish store, our walks through the neighborhood to check out our usual spots, the tractors on the beach, the rocks thrown into the water, the jumps in the puddles, the visits to the Lawrences and Lo-Lu. I love to hear him singing, or playing a game of hide, or pretending to be a baby or feed his toys something. I love to clap and dance and watch him twirl and twirl to our song "Round and Round" and then say "dissy" and fall down. I love that he enjoys watching "mo-mo" (Elmo) these days, and enjoys painting with salad dressing that he's pulled from the fridge when mommy wasn't looking. He makes me laugh, he makes me cry, and he fills my day with such joy. It is a beautiful Thanksgiving Day!

I'm Thankful I don't Look like this....

But I'm VERY thankful for HIM!!!

This is my favorite picture of him, can you tell?!!!

Wonders Never Cease! 20 Months Old (The funny things I get excited about these day!)

Today was a big day for us! I needed to get an errand done out at the mall, and after getting home from work and finding Thomas hungry, I decided to take him out to dinner at Red Robin before running over to the mall. I've found that Thomas does exceptionally well when I call in our food ahead of time, and it worked like a charm again this time. By the time we were walking to our table, the waiter was there with our food. In fact, it was on the table before I even had a chance to get him seated, which was great, as we didn't have to wait. We ate, met up with John, then hurried to the mall. Now, here's the "wonders" part. Thomas had a GREAT time at the mall. He walked with us, played with the toys, visited with Santa (he liked the snowman and fake snow better) and then walked with us some more. There was no running off, no tantrums, no fussing over things, just pleasant conversation and adventures into the stores we needed to go to. When it was time to leave the Target toy aisles, he quietly said and waved goodbye to the toys and we walked out. It was quite amazing.

Then, tonight, after changing his diaper, I reminded him that he didn't have his diaper on and that if he needed to go potty he should tell us and we'd take him to the potty. He immediately said potty and they raced off down the hallway to the potty. He sat momentarily on his little potty, then hauled himself off and raced for the big potty. John put him up on the potty and he went. Then he wanted his bath. After a long bath, we again reminded him that he was running around without his diaper, and he said potty again. Again, he raced off to the toilet, and again he hit the mark! It was so funny to see this little boy. John and I are both left wondering what's up now. I haven't read anything on potty training yet, haven't looked into it at all, so I'm really just letting Thomas dictate this phase of his life. We'll see how it goes, but for now I have to sit back and marvel at my little boy!

Can Time!

Stop now if you don't want to read about potties and such....

Okay, so I guess you've decided to stay! Did you hear about the theory that a baby can be trained from birth to be potty trained, and that if you are just aware enough of their physical cues, then your six month old should be potty trained? Of course, in the same article, they talked about how they themselves gave up in frustration after having to time and time again change clothes and clean up mess after mess. Well, although I try to read parenting books, articles and other parents advice with the mindset that I can pull some out and discard what I don't like or can't use, this article was worthy of Thomas's playtime, and I enjoyed watching him rip it up in utter glee. I think some of it even dissolved in a pile of drool. Although like any good mother it is in the back of my mind, I only care that Thomas is out of diapers by pre-school, which is a prerequisite at most schools around here.

So, with that, we have noticed that Thomas is increasingly interested in the toilet. Although he has tried to put some items into the bowl itself, he is most fascinated by flushing and opening and closing the lid. He knows pee-pee and oop, and point to himself when he thinks he's going, has to go, toots, or anything remotely associated. We don't think he's quite grasped the concept, but he's getting there. One recent scenario is this...Thomas says pee-pee and pulls at his diaper. We take it off and let him go amuse himself down the hall on his potty chair. He sits there, hangs out a bit, I go and try to help him aim downward, he giggles and then climbs off, racing for the computer room. Once there John and I get distracted, only to hear him making some noise over by the speakers. Of course, he's pee-ing. A LOT! We laugh it off and chat about how nice it would have been if he'd actually been on the potty. Not more than 2 minutes later, just after I've gotten it all cleaned up, Thomas says pee-pee again. I say, "No, Thomas, you just went" but he heads for the potty down the hall. I slowly make my way down there, only to find him sitting happily on his potty, PEE-ING! Yep, both into the potty and all over the floor, but that's not the point, right?! He made it...his first CAN TIME! Now, he still may be 4 years old when he finally gets it down, but I'm trying to find the humor in this new phase, and how funny it truly is!

Baby Is HERE, Baby Grace is HERE!!!

Baby Grace presented herself to the world at 1 :54 pm this afternoon, in very typical "King" fashion, I might add. "Nothing can be easy, by golly"! Face up and two wraps of the cord, but she is here and healthy, and that is all that matters! God is so wonderful, and we thank everyone who prayed for both mom and baby through this journey. Andrea did a great job, in my opinion, and asked for drugs early on. Kudos to the epidural dude for getting there in under an hour, as I think my guy took about 3 hours just to walk into the hospital. (Man, I'd still pay him a chunk of my hide for saving me, though!) Mom called with the specifics, but I don't recall the exacts....she's 7 pounds, 4 ounces, I think, and 21 1/2 inches long. Huh!!! Where did that come from.....certainly not Billy!!! Dark black hair and Billy's feet. That's what mom gave me. I'll update later when I've had the chance to chat with Andrea, which shouldn't be too long now as she was giving birth to Jake when she called me while I was in Miami on vacation. I'm hurt she didn't call for this delivery!!! What's up with that? Of course, this coming from the girl who was pretty much out cold from epidural. I'm thankful I was conscious for the delivery of Thomas...there was nothing close to using the phone during that delivery!

Thomas Moves OUT!

Yep, it was time, although I don't quite know what sparked this as THE day, but it just seemed right. For weeks now...okay, let's be honest...months now, we've talked about it, debated it, and procrastinated about it. This coming from a girl who said she didn't think Thomas would last 6 months in our room, and even argued with my father about why it's not wise to keep a baby in the same room as the parents. (My physician laughed at me when I told him, after he asked how our marriage was, and I still haven't told Thoma's pediatrician that he was still in our room. I squirm under the knowing smile of Jodi when she asks if I've made the move, and I avoid mentioning it to anyone other than Jodi or Jenny, or my father, who probably thinks Thomas should sleep in our room, safe and well tended to, until he leaves for college.) Boy, was I wrong! There were several times when we were so very close to moving him out, but then he'd get sick, or someone would come to visit, or his room wasn't done, or....You'd be amazed at how many quality excuses you can make when you really have no backbone.

It was difficult for US, not him. It took him a little longer to go to sleep, but nothing serious, and I was the one stressing as I went to bed. Would I hear him if he needed me? Would he wake up scared, not knowing where we were? Would he wake up in the morning sad that he couldn't peek his little head over the rail of his crib and call out to us, or wake us up by turning off the fan and turning the light on? Oh, the misery!

Nope, nothing spectacular happened, besides the fact that I slept soundly and woke up before Thomas. We even made it until 7:30, and I didn't stress about the bed squeaking as I pulled myself out to go for my morning run, and I didn't jump out of my skin to reach the alarm before it woke him up. I walked out to see if everything was okay, and he was sound asleep, content as ever. It was a good feeling to know that we apparently did no damage in holding us in our room too long, or booting him out with no warning. This morning John reported that before Thomas even got to the bedroom door, he halted and turned around and headed to his new room, in search of his ever-missing dubbie (binkie). He didn't even need to be reminded that his crib was no longer there. No tears, no worries! I was anticipating him walking in and needing to be reminded that he'd moved, but I truly believe it's no big deal to him at this point. And that is a bit amazing to me. I was with him all day today, and not once did he go to our room.

I wonder why we waited, and then I wonder if his second moving day with be different. I'm thankful I have many years until we deal with this issue again! Something tells me it won't be this easy.