Is That Really Necessary?

I forgot to blog about this last week...

Last Tuesday Connor developed a cough that quickly turned into a severe sore throat. By dinner time he was unable to blow into his peak flow meter past the "red zone". Although I was pretty sure his low reading was because it hurt for him to blow into it due to his sore throat, with his asthma I didn't want to take any chances so I took him to the ER. He was diagnosed with croup and sent home after some extra steroids and an additional breathing treatment.

I really enjoy the care sheets the hospital sends home. Usually they are full of wonderful information and since I like to make sure I am doing everything "right" they are very helpful for me. However, this time I think they were a little too in depth in their care sheet:

General Care:

• Sleep with your child, if possible, to provide comfort and observe his or her breathing. Check your child's chest expansion and ability to breathe. (okay...makes sense. I didn't do this, but I could see it having value.)
• Avoid giving your child cough drops or cough syrup. They will not help the swelling and they may also make it harder to cough up any secretions. (again...thanks)
• Encourage your child to drink plenty of clear fluids, such as water or diluted apple juice. Warm liquids may be soothing to the child. (standard stuff...)
  
• Avoid putting a finger down the child's throat or trying to make the child vomit.

I am SO glad they put that in there! The first thing I think to do when my child is coughing is attempt to make him vomit. Thank you so much for keeping me from making that mistake!

Who Can You Trust?

A while back I found a cheap puzzle on sale and picked it up for Honor without really looking at it. It had a picture of a Pegasus with pink wings on front--just Honor's thing at the moment. She was sick yesterday, so I confined her to her room with the humidifier and told her to pick out a puzzle. She chose that particular puzzle and got to work.

As she completed the outside, words formed at the bottom that I hadn't noticed before:

Have the courage to trust in yourself.

As Honor put the last piece in, she began laughing.

"Mommy, that's silly! You're not supposed to trust in yourself--you're supposed to trust in God!"

Amen, Baby.

Psalm 118:8 - It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.

Not Quite the End of the Story

Last night I found the following note under Honor's bed for the Tooth Fairy:



For those of you who may have a hard time reading it, the note says:

thank you For your Generosity too
your r very rich


Now, just to clarify, she does know about capital letters and punctuation...she just prefers not to use them. Oh, and she does know how to spell "are"...

2nd Tooth

Honor lost her second tooth on Tuesday. Of course the Tooth Fairy couldn't let her down. Honor received the following note under her pillow Tuesday night. Bright and early Wednesday morning, Honor hopped into my room--Ariana in tow--with her Littlest Pet Shop stage that lights up (to be used as a flashlight) and her goodies from the Tooth Fairy...




Honor: "Mommy! The Tooth Fairy came last night!"

Mommy: "Really? What'd she bring you this time?"

Honor: "She brought another stick! And this note! But she only brought one dollar."

Mommy: "Only? That was very nice of her. Why did you say, 'only'?"

Honor: "I wanted one hundred dollars. Ariana said the Tooth Fairy is rich."

Mommy: "Not that rich."

Honor: "There wasn't a bag outside this time though."

Mommy: "Well, if you remember, I think the note last time said that was because it was your first tooth, so it was extra special."

Honor: "Oh. Yeah."

Mommy: "So what does this note say?"

Honor: "Look, Mommy. It has fairy dust on it!"

Mommy: "Yeah, that's pretty cool!"

Honor: "She wrote it in my favorite color! I wonder how she got pink ink?"

Mommy: "What? The Tooth Fairy can't have a pink pen?"

Honor: (laughing) "I guess so... Let me read it to you..."

"Dearest Honor-

Thank you once again for your contribution to our fairy dust. You are very thoughtful to remember us. For your generosity, here is 1 dollar. Use it wisely.

Please make sure to take good care of your new tooth. We do not need teeth with holes in them. I think that's a joke!

Love, The Tooth Fairy

Mom, what does this say?"

Mommy: "P. S.--it means post script. It's something people write when they want to write something after they've signed it."

Honor: "Oh.

P.S. I loved your beautiful Valentine's Day sign. You did a wonderful job! Keep up the good work!

(huge grin) She liked my sign."

Mommy: "Of course she did! I think the Tooth Fairy likes anything that has to do with love."

Honor: "The stick is my favorite. It didn't have any crust on it."

Mommy: "Crust?"

Honor: "You know...crust."

Mommy: "No...I don't know."

Honor: "You know...the stuff on the outside of the stick. Crust."

Mommy: "Oh. You mean, bark."

Honor: "You guessed it right! Good job, Mommy!"


...

Thus ends another adventure with the Tooth Fairy.

Jesus Saves

After a particularly hard coughing fit, Samuel turned to Daddy and said,

"I'm so sick." Then he laid his little head down on his arms and continued, "Jesus needs to save me."

The truth of such a statement gets lost in the absurd cuteness of the 3 year old. Once again, he gets his melodramatic tendencies from his father...

Gender Confusion

Connor is a very inquisitive boy and because of this, by the time he was 3 1/2, he was no longer allowed into the bathroom when Mommy was taking a shower. I'm just not ready for those kinds of questions.

To be fair, I decided recently that Samuel was no longer allowed in the bathroom when Mommy was taking a shower either...

Mommy: "Samuel, you need to get out while Mommy's taking a shower--you're a big boy now. Only girls can be in the bathroom when Mommy's in the shower."

Samuel looked over at his sisters who were busy brushing their hair and preening in front of the mirror. Then he looked back at my shower.

Samuel: "I don't want to be a big boy. I want to be a girl!"

And what do you say to that?

Just My Size

I love dress shopping with Honor...

"This dress is perfect for you, Mommy! It's super big...just your size!"

Thanks, Baby.

Not Feeling Well

Samuel has had a bit of a runny nose for about a week now, the pain hitting him hardest on Friday. He woke up with a stuffy head and an ear ache.

Lying on his bedroom floor, Samuel looked up at me with a pitiful expression on his face. "Mommy, I'm sick," he complained.

Rubbing his back, I tried to comfort him. "I know, Son, but you will feel better soon. Do you want to get dressed, or do you want to stay in your 'jamas?"

He continued his face plant into the floor. "Get dressed."

I went over to help him find a shirt. This is a sure sign of sickness as Samuel is very independent in his clothes choice and can "do it myself!"

As I was getting his shirt, Samuel continued to complain about being sick. "My ear hurts."

"I know, Baby. I'm sorry," I said as I laid back down on the floor next to him, shirt in hand.

Then, in the most pitiful voice ever, Samuel said, "when I die, I get to go to Heaven."

He gets his melodramatic tendencies from his Daddy...

How Economical

Honor: "Mommy, we really should get a new Barbie. I know how much they cost. The magazine says they are $5."

Mommy: "Nope. You don't need any more Barbies."

Honor: "But Mooommmm, there's a coupon in the magazine!"

It looks as if my thrifty spending habits are rubbing off...

Captain Obvious Strikes Again

As part of our morning routine, we are reading "The Chronicles of Narnia" during breakfast story hour. Every day we read and discuss a chapter from one of the books. We started with "The Magician's Nephew" in December and have now moved on to "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe." (If you haven't read "The Magician's Nephew," I highly recommend it. It discusses how Narnia was created and where the white witch came from...as well as more meaningful symbolism such as why/how sinners harden their hearts to God so that they cannot hear Him, temptation and why to stay away from it, why it is always best to follow God's leading, etc.) One of my favorite quotes is this:

[Aslan speaking--emphasis mine] "But I cannot tell that to this old sinner, and I cannot comfort him either; he has made himself unable to hear my voice. If I spoke to him, he would hear only growlings and roarings. Oh Adam's sons, how cleverly you defend yourselves against all that might do you good!" (page 185)

But I digress...

The main characters in "The Magician's Nephew" are Uncle Andrew, Queen Jadis, Digory, Polly, and Aslan (with a few minor characters thrown in for fun). I enjoy giving each character a "voice" and I think the kids enjoy it as well. While I was in Florida for a week (yes, there was a reason I haven't been blogging!), my wonderful dad came to help my husband watch the kids. He dutifully began reading "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" for me. He does not use voices. I don't think the kids minded all that much since Grandpa interspersed reading with watching the movie...

Grandpa left off at chapter 4--where Edmund speaks with the "Queen of Narnia." At the end of the chapter, Edmund meets up with Lucy.

[Mommy reading] "Edmund was still staring after the sledge when he heard someone calling his own name, and looking round he saw Lucy coming toward him from another part of the wood.

'Oh, Edmund!" she cried..."

"Mom! Wait a second!" Connor interrupted.

I patiently set the book down and looked at him. "What, Son?"

"That's not Lucy, that's Polly!"

Sigh. "I am sorry, Connor. I am not a very talented impersonator...I am limited to only four voices with an English accent and so Polly and Lucy have to share a voice."

"Oh. Okay." And he put his head back down to rest on his arms in the classic, "get back to reading" pose.

I now feel the need to practice speaking in multiple English accents...

Unusual Superhero

Connor is an extremely intelligent little boy. I'm not just saying this...the doctor told me that the more inquisitive a child is, generally the higher his IQ. Based on this, I'm pretty sure Connor's IQ is right up there with Isaac Newton.

ANYWAY...

To go with his inquisitiveness, Connor is also highly observant. You can't fool this one (well, you can, but that's only because he is also extremely trusting...). He is constantly noticing any little inconsistency. He is also kind enough to share his knowledge with us--every time--causing Daddy to mumble under his breath sayings such as, "Thanks, Captain Obvious" and "Captain Obvious strikes again."

Connor also has very good hearing.

But, being the sweet little, tender-hearted boy that he his, Connor does not realize that Daddy is frustrated with his constant litany on the world around him. He takes the title as a compliment.

Hands on his hips, Connor proudly announces, "I'm Captain Obvious! Here to save the day!"

Yes...Connor is quite intelligent...