Safety first?

Forgive me, dear readers, for my extended absence from the blog. I feel so guilty picturing all of you glumly clicking "Refresh" over and over, hoping in vain for a new post . . .

I've been reaaalllllyyy sick. I guess 2008 didn't appreciate my "Self-Indulgent Whining" post and decided to show me that I hadn't seen anything yet! But, hooray for antibiotics once again, I am now feeling much better.

Having spent most of my time lately laying on the couch, there is very little new to report. However, Cameron and I have moved on to a new book on CD. Still on our Beverly Cleary kick, we have begun "Henry and the Clubhouse." Early in the story, Henry's neighbor is hauling an old bathtub out of his house. "Want to go to the dump?" he asks Henry, as he loads the bathtub on a trailer. "Sure!" responds Henry, "Can I ride in the bathtub?" Whoa. Hold the phone, says my internal monologue. The neighbor isn't actually going to let a kid ride around in a bathtub strapped to a trailer hooked up to a car, is he? Oh yes. He is. Is this actually the way it was in Henry Huggins day? I suspect that is was, as my dear Granpa has shared with me that he built a plywood playpen in the back of his car so that my mother, aunt and uncle could play, unrestrained, while he drove. That would never fly today -- the one time I forgot to buckle Cameron's five-point harness he screamed "WAIT!" in terror before I had even put the car in drive!

Bean Bowl

This year, we've started a new Easter tradition that we have named "Bean Bowl." On our table we have a container of dried beans and, next to it, a large ceramic bowl. Good deeds or small kindnesses can earn you a bean and, come Easter, the Easter Bunny will be exchanging these dried bean for jelly beans! (Jelly Belly jelly beans, it has been specified) Cameron has found the bean bowl to be quite motivational and each time we find him doing something nice we shout "BEAN BOWL!" and he runs to the bowl with great gusto.

So, for the past few days I have been sick. A sick mother requires extraordinary patience from a 4-year-old and Cameron has been great. He has earned many a bean as a result of my illness. Today, he noted that Matthew needed a diaper change. Having seen his technique, I know that diaper changes are one task I will not hand over to Cameron, no matter how sick I am. But I thought I'd have a little fun with it.

"Would you change Matthew's diaper for a bean?" I said. "NOOOO!!!" he replied. "Five beans?" "NOOOO!!!" "Ten beans?" "Nooo!" "A hundred beans?" "No." "A thousand beans?" long pause "No." "A MILLION beans?" long pause, Cameron puts head in hands and sighs with despair "No," he says in a small voice. Some things aren't even worth a million Jelly Bellys.

Finally final

So, the blog is called "What else do we need?" Right now, the answer is: Nothing. Absolutely nothing -- we have everything we could possibly need or want! That's because Matthew is now officially our son! Yay!

Self-indulgent whining

So, today I was at the pediatrician's office with a sick kid. It was my FOURTH visit in the past two weeks. Today's visit was for Cameron who has a sore throat. So, I should probably be feeling bad for him (and I am!) but I'm really feeling bad for me! I am so, so sick of sickness. *sigh*

Cameron was first seen by a resident, who said it was very unlikely to be strep as Cameron just finished antibiotics for an ear infection. Then the MD came in and reiterated that it would be pretty unusual that a kid on antibiotics would pick up strep. At this point I was feeling a strange combination of relief that it probably wasn't strep and embarassment that I was being a paranoid mother who drags her kid into the doctor's office every time he sniffles. Cameron gagged through the throat swab and seven minutes later . . . yep, he has strep. Who's paranoid now???

Anyway, here is a photo of Cameron yesterday, presymptomatic. He is wearing his new space pajamas -- I believe this pose is supposed to represent his amazing astronaut strength.

And here is the ever-adorable Matthew, just drooling and looking cute.

So, signing off . . . and hoping that the antibiotics work their magic overnight!

Smart vegetables

Cameron confided in me yesterday that he had learned a song at school and he didn't like it. From what I can gather, the song was first introduced for Martin Luther King Day and is sometimes sung at circle time. Cameron reported that the song is called "We Teach Peas." When I told him that my best guess is that the song is actually about teaching peace, not about teaching vegetables, he had a good laugh about this misunderstanding. We have since made several clever jokes about other songs he might learn, such as "We Teach Corn."

Baby gourmet

Having discovered that his own toes are delicious, Matthew decided to sample Daddy's toes. I love the look on his face in this first photo -- behind that innocent visage lurks a dastardly plot!He plans to stick to his own toes in the future -- he complained that Daddy's had a strange aftertaste.

Matthew is also on a Mexican kick. Rice was so delectable, he moved on to baby guacamole. I'm an excellent baby chef, if I do say so myself. Here is my top secret recipe for baby guacamole.

Ingredient:
Avocado

Directions:
Mash avocado.

Matthew raved about it. We're just a tortilla and some beans away from a burrito, baby!

Gooder than riding a bike

Today, Cameron and David went snow tubing with some friends. Overprotective as usual, I distracted myself from visions of mid-slope collisions by going shopping. Cameron not only survived, but had a phenomenal time and proclaimed that snow tubing is "gooder than riding a bike!"

The day was nearly over before it started, though. As Cameron tells it, he and Daddy had just gotten off the "conveyor belt" at the top of the hill for the first time. Cameron had one foot in his tube and one foot out when "Daddy yanked me down on the ground." David takes over the story at this point, explaining that he did not realize that Cameron was trying to get out of his tube when he gave him a gentle tug. Dissolving in tears at the indignity of the situation, Cameron refused to go down the hill. He told David that perhaps they should try snow tubing another time, when he was older. David was a bit concerned at this point -- he had just shelled out quite a few bucks for a day of fun and now he was stranded on top of the hill with an unhappy preschooler. Fortunately, Cameron calmed down after a few minutes and was convinced to go down the hill just once. That was all it took to get Cameron hooked!