Ma-Wha?

Ok, so March was a complete wash for us. The afternoon of March 1, Toe came down with a 100 degree fever. His temp stayed over 100 for a week. Meanwhile, Jason and I got sick, too. Head colds, nothing major. However, as usual, the head cold traveled to Toe's chest and settled in. J and I got better. Toe's cough just wouldn't go away. We did three breathing treatments a day to keep his mucus moving through his lungs and did saline rinses in his nose daily (you can tell he was sick, because HE suggested it). We kept in touch with the CF clinic and finally we all decided it was time for antibiotics. Then a two week course of antibiotics. I don't know about other kids, but Toe on antibiotics is like Robin Williams at the height of his stand-up comedy years. Tons of energy and he does. not. stop. talking. Even more than normal. He sleeps poorly and is just wired the rest of the time.

Breathing treatment early in the month. He was asleep.

We hardly left the house. Pretty much we were limited to eating, breathing treatments, and a little play in-between. We watched so many animated movies, I can't remember them all. Toe was climbing the walls by the end and we were SO grateful when our return to two breathing treatments a day coincided with some lovely weather.

Needless to say, it was a long month for all of us and we are so delighted to have a healthy stint.

Men and Tools

Tonight J and Toe decided that Toe's chairs needed to be taken apart and put together again. I think a desire for a color change was the impetus. Or maybe it was just a chance to play with tools, I'm not sure.

Engrossing conversation about hex wrenches.

Suddenly J was dragging his tool box into the living room and they were talking about nuts and bolts and looking at hex wrenches and socket wrenches and screwdrivers. It was a total father/son moment. J and Toe have those all of the time in all kinds of circumstances, but this one was just classic. I can't do it justice.

"Wait!? There's a second level? Dad! There's a second level in your box!"

Working on the chairs

 The chairs went from two-tone to four color jobs. Not sure how we'll delineate them now ("Toe, could you grab the red chair?" Not so much...) but I think we're up for the challenge.

Fully reassembled chairs. Note Toe peeking out of the orange back.

Celebratory root beer

Mandatory Mud Puddle

Toe is learning how to ride a bike, and in the meantime is also using this amazing device called a Skuut. It is like a bike, but with no pedals. He learns balance but uses his feet to push along. It's pretty ingenious. The other day we took the Skuut down the Riverwalk. It was sunny but the wind was pretty icy. Toe began complaining right away and my wonderful friend (who had been invited for a walk, not to serve as a pack mule) ended up carrying said Skuut. We continued to walk. Toe always talks as he goes, so when things got quiet, we turned around to see how far he had fallen behind. 

There he stood, completely entranced by a puddle. He said, "Look, Mom! I'm making mud!" Many nature writers talk about the importance of having unstructured time in nature, for a variety of reasons. One is that nature provides items that can be used for a variety of purposes and spark the imagination (Mud can become mudpies, paint, or an entire village to squish. Pine cones can be eggs, grenades, building materials, etc.). Another is that natural surroundings provide calming and focusing effects. It doesn't have to be capital N nature - the beach or the grand canyon. An empty lot or back yard also provide these benefits. As do mud puddles on the sidewalk, apparently.

I saw it all in action. Toe found a stick, which he used first to stir mud and gravel into the puddle. My friend and I sat down to watch. Next, he wanted to have us put gravel into the pond with him, which we politely declined. The stick became a magic wand to make us do what he wanted. Said wand was defective on that account, but we did have fun seeing what else the wand could do. As I recall, it worked some mojo on a huge clump of blackberry bushes behind us. We stayed at the puddle for more than ten minutes, with our backs to a glorious view of the river, watching a more intimate connection with the natural world. Or, some of the elements of the natural world: water, mud, rocks, sticks. Doesn't get much simpler than that.

Maritime History

We took Uncle Awesome to the local maritime museum the other day. Toe has become infatuated with the Coast Guard display that you can see from the Riverwalk. He likes the "danger music" that plays during the documentary (there are speakers outside). So we finally went inside to investigate. Uncle Awesome told Toe that the 44 foot Coast Guard boat we looked at was the kind Grandpa Boat used to drive and to train people to pilot. Toe loved the hands-on aspect of the museum and maybe learned something about the area. The place is an amazing reminder of how powerful the river and the ocean are.

Geography Lesson for Mom and Dad

 The other night J was helping Toe brush his teeth. Toe pulled the stopper for the drain so that no water would leave the sink. When J protested, Toe said, "It's okay, Dad. It's a science experiment." He had discovered that when he spit into water, the foam made cool shapes. He thought they looked like the continents. "Look, Dad, that one looks like Africa!" He spit next to it and said,"There, that's Madagascar." He then added Antarctica before they called me in to show me the world.

Thanks, Nana and Papa for the world map that started conversations like these.

Five Years, Five Days

Toe turned five...and there was much celebrating. Due to scheduling, this birthday turned out to be a five-day party. I don't think he minded too much.

Day 1 -
Toe got to wear a Birthday crown at preschool and all around the store as we grocery shopped.

Day 2 -
His actual birthday. J had to work, so we played pirates and then went to Dama's (my mother's) for dinner (where J joined us, and then returned to work).

Dinner with Uncle Cool, Dama, and Grandpa Ron

Cheesecake

 Day 3 -
We had brunch with some dear friends who really turned it into a party. We had heart shaped waffles with homemade blackberry compote and sprinkles. And of course balloons. It's not a birthday without balloons.

 Day 4 -
J's day off. We went to the zoo with Uncle Awesome and Grandpa Boat (who flew out from Texas for the occasion) and then were joined by my mother at Chuck E. Cheese's. We sorely missed Grandma Gus (J's mom) who had to stay home sick this visit.

At the zoo, we watched the bats, warmed up in the Amazon Rainforest display, and got a peek at Lily, the two month old elephant. It rained the whole time and was a *balmy* 40 degrees. Boat and Awesome get major points for sticking with us...

At Chuck E. Cheese's, J and Toe played games while the rest of us sat and talked and ate. It was actually pretty nice. And then J and Toe discovered Guitar Hero. And I just couldn't capture it on film. Too amazing. I did get photos, which I will share at some point, but it's just not the same.

Day 5 - 
HOME. J and Toe spent the entire day in a massive HeroClix match. I was able to sleep in AND have a nap. I'm still worn out. Toe goes back to preschool tomorrow.

Toe spent the day crawling all over his dad.

Hand-Full

 My son is turning FIVE on Saturday. I am a little bit in shock. Where did the past five years go? I changed diapers. I remember that. I vaguely remember pacifiers and bottles and pumping. I think I have mostly blocked pumping. I remember baby smell long gone, and carrying the kid on my hip. It all is sort of a blur. I can't remember Toe's first steps or how he learned to read. I bet J can. His memory is so much better than mine. I do remember that "moon" was one of Toe's first words. The thousands of breathing treatments we have done all blend together, as do afternoons in the backyard or walks into town.

It just happens so fast. I literally stopped a mom with a sixteen month old boy on her hip at the grocery store yesterday. I told her to enjoy every minute because it goes by so fast. The good news is you can get away with that in our part of the country. She smiled and told me that she is already noticing that her son's baby cheeks are changing.

Toe is ready. He knows his birthday is coming and has announced to all of us exactly how it will go. On his actual birthday (Saturday) his dad has to work, so we will be spending the day with my mom and "Uncle Cool" (my brother - not to be confused with "Uncle Awesome," J's brother). Then J's days off we will go to the Oregon Zoo and get a stuffed animal snake (just like Toe's cousin did a few years ago) and then we will go to "Chuck E. Cheese-Its" for a meal and of course to play many driving and video games. He has invited a few adults to the meal part of the thing and has not shown a need to invite any peers. He has friends in preschool; but somehow this does not translate to birthday parties. The kid has not really been to a traditional child birthday party yet, so I suppose this is natural (he has been invited, but they are always held at places with some kind of indoor play structure or other germ magnet, so we have abstained thus far). He has it all so clearly in his mind, I am curious to see whether the day lives up to his expectations.

So here is a snapshot of this almost five year old boy:

He loves pretending to be other characters. Many other characters. They change minute to minute and if I call him by the wrong name, I am briskly informed. "No Mom, I'm not Toby, I'm a baby T-Rex." "No Mom, I'm not a baby T-Rex, I am Nabbit" "No Mom, I'm not Nabbit, I'm a shark." This is payback for me. I adopted personae as a child and would refuse to answer to my real name. I think this is B on hyper drive, though, as I don't recall changing so many times a day.

Toe is currently interested in cars (no surprise there), dinosaurs, spies, pirates, makeup, reading, superheroes (especially Word Girl from PBS and Spiderman), Heroclix, photography, and MUSIC. He is happiest when he has a single song on repeat for hours at a time.

He has his father's sense of humor and is learning about puns and what makes something funny. He also TALKS. All. The. Time. It's really more like having the radio on in the background than a kid. I'm not sure WHERE he gets that. And loud. We're working on that, but he and J together are doubly loud. He's wiggly, on the move, go go go but is able to sit still for breathing treatments (I wish I could say the same about sitting at the table for meals).

He gives great hugs, is sensitive to other people's feelings and moods, he helps around the house, and is just plain fun to hang around with. J and I have talked it over and we think we might actually keep him.