Resetting my Life (again)

You ever have those moments when something truly terrifying happens and everything you'd been stressing about suddenly seems so trivial by comparison? Like someone hits a reset button on your life and you're like, "Oh, right. THIS is what really matters."
That happened to me when an ultrasound showed a cyst on baby-Kat's brain, when someone almost hit my husband and son in a parking lot and most recently when I found a lump in my right breast. We are all fine, by the grace of God. When I was waiting for results for Kat and then myself, I prayed for strength to get through whatever came. Then heartfelt prayers of thankfulness. During the waiting time, I looked for stories about what other people went through, what to expect, so I could prepare myself since that's what scares me- being ignorant and unprepared. So this is my story.


"I'd like to make an appointment with a female provider. I found a lump in my right breast this morning." I never thought I would be saying those words, but on Thursday, November 6th, I did. The next available appointment was a week away and those 7 days were an emotional roller coaster as I found myself seesawing between calm acceptance and terror at the thought of putting my kids through seeing their Mom go through surgery, chemo and perhaps die anyway. I found the most comfort in placing my trust in God; cast all your cares upon Him because He cares for you.
I cried almost every day driving to and from work, when my mind was free to wander and I envisioned telling them whatever stage it was and how long they thought I would live.
I had just seen my OB/GYN in July and had a normal exam. How could something the size of a peach pit suddenly spring up??
So I saw a female PA at my family doctor's office on Nov. 13th, a whole week after finding it. One of the longest weeks of my life.
She confirmed the lump during a physical exam, asked when I found it, whether it was painful (yes!) and if I drank coffee. I understood she couldn't make a definitive diagnosis at that point but I needed to hear something beyond "it's a lump." She said it could be a cyst and that it was a good sign that it was painful.


She then referred me to a couple of imaging places. I recognized one place that my midwife had recommended, should I ever have any concerns. I called them from the parking lot after my appointment and as luck would have it, they had a cancellation and could see me the next day. Thank God because they were then booking in December which would have been torture.
My husband came with me. I had the slip for a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound folded squarely in my purse and had prepared myself for a biopsy (ouch!)
It was freezing cold and windy that morning as we drove to the other side of the city. The waiting room was crowded and also chilly from the frequently opening door. A greeter asked me if I had paperwork. I showed her the request and was directed to the counter where I got more paperwork to complete. I was still working on it when they called me back. My husband had to wait in the outer room as it was ladies only in the back.
I soon found out why- everyone was in hospital gown-tops. A nice lady showed me the counter with coffee, tea and water, then the lockers for everything-above-the-waist. The changing rooms had curtain-doorways. I waited and waited in a warm room with a fireplace, large aquarium and many other women of varying ages. I was glad I brought my crocheting to channel my nervous energy since I ended up being there almost 2 hours. I planned to give the beige infinity scarf to someone I knew who survived breast cancer.
I was called back for the mammogram first and gently manhandled into various positions as my breast was painfully sandwiched in the X-ray machine. Then I was returned to the waiting room to await the ultrasound. The rad tech told me that the Dr. might do the ultrasound herself or a tech would do it but I would have the results right away, which would be a relief either way. Tired of waiting and my nerves were frayed.
They called me back for the ultrasound and I asked for my husband again, only to be told that they would call him back if needed. Got it. If I had cancer, they would fetch him for the bad news in private.
A very nice Dr. who had kids the same age as mine in addition to a 5 month old did my ultrasound. I took it as a bad sign that the Dr. herself was doing the test. I saw the dark blob on the screen while she talked about other things, then I heard her say "It's a cyst" and relief washed over me. I said "Thank you God" and almost cried right there.
She kindly offered to stick a needle in it to drain it, warning that they often come back. I  politely declined since it didn't hurt as much as it did on the 6th & 7th when it was most likely inflamed and if it was just going to come back....
I asked if it could become cancerous- no. She recommended a baseline mammogram at 35 and to return if I felt any more lumps since it's difficult to determine if it's a cyst or something else.
So I am very, very grateful for this holiday season and the time I have with my family. Even though my kids are arguing right now over a stuffed unicorn and whining that they don't want to go grocery shopping.
Still grateful, especially for the prayers and support of my friends and family when I was at a vulnerable time. :o)

WHY???

Kat's feeling under the weather today so we're staying in.
She's wandering around with her Doc McStuffins stethoscope around her neck, giving herself checkups. Then she found a paintbrush on the kitchen table and held it aloft.
Kat: Mama! Lookit! Can I paint Maggie?
Mama: No, you may not paint the dog.
Kat: Why???...
Mama: Because I said so.
Kat: WHY you say so???

*Sigh*

Medicine

Found some Winter balm with thyme, tea tree oil and eucalyptus while browsing sans kids in the grocery store today so I bought it for Kat. She took the top off and insisted on applying it herself, so I told her to rub some on her belly and not to put any in her mouth.
Looked over a minute later to find her standing there with her shirt pulled up, staring down at the little round balm tin stuck to her stomach.
Not exactly what I meant....

Bedtime for Kat

3 yr old Kat's new bedtime routine. It's already getting old.
Kat: Mama! MAMA!!!
(Mama rushes in)
Kat: What?
Mama: Why did you call me? ...
Kat: Uh....I need something!
Mama: What do you need?
Kat: Something!!
Mama: Could you be a bit more vague? Something is not an actual thing.
Quit stalling and go to sleep, my little no-nap punkin!!

Potty-training moment

Kat's sitting in my lap, sans Pull-up, hugging me and "checking" my eyes and ears with her little otoscope. Then what she said next made me freeze as only the parent of a potty-training kid can.
Kat: Me not go potty in mine diaper! Me FINE!
For those of you who are wondering, my beloved 3 yr old did NOT pee on my lap. Apparently that was just her status update.

Doctor! Doctor!

Henry plopped his foot in Dada's lap for examination.
Dada: What am I looking at here, buddy?
Henry: It feels exaggerating.
(Pause)...
Henry: What does "exaggerating" mean?

Those darn Critters

Noticed a small scratch on Kat's forearm, like she drew a line with a fine-tip red marker.
Mama: How'd you get that scratch, Kat?
Kat: A seal bit me.
Of course. I guessed she was petting the cat's belly again. I was WAY off.

Precious one

I was lying down with Henry the other night, stroking his hair while putting him to bed when I felt a rush of maternal pride.
Mama: Love you so much, Henry. You are the best thing I've ever done.
Henry: Your breath smells like coffee. It's stinky.
...

*Moment passed*

Pairing up

Henry was taunting Kat a bit in the car. She stood her ground though.
Henry: Baby Kathryn.
Kat: Me NOT baby! Me KAFFRYN!
Henry: Baby Kathryn. ...
Kat: Me MAMA'S KAFFRYN! Dada's YOUR friend! Mama's MY friend!

Pairing off a little early.

Stages of Sassiness

Henry's words of wisdom the other night
"When you're a kid, you're not sassy. When you're a teenager, you're a lot sassy."
Mama: Where did you learn that, Henry?
Henry: I just know these things.
...

Not even 6 yrs old and he already knows everything.

Church songs

Henry's nonstop stream of consciousness included this gem after church today.
Henry: Mama, there was a "two-X" word in the church song this morning and I asked the kids what it was and they didn't know but I knew you would know...."
After a few back-and-forths of "Two-x?" we got it. "2x" to repeat the verses a second time. ...
Kinda touched that he "knew" I would know what it meant.

Guessing game

After lunch, I sent Henry to wash up. He gave a great big, "RAWK!" and ran off. I guess he's a slow-running ostrich again. When he came back a bit too soon, I asked if he washed his face and hands.
Henry: I washed one.
Am I supposed to guess? One hand? Only his face?

Tasty

Kat was happily playing a few feet away from me in the living room when I heard her say, "Here! Eat this! It's tasty!"
WHAT??!!!
Turns out she was "feeding" crayons to their rubber alligator. Apparently he likes the yellow crayon the most.

Kat's custom bedtime routine

Kat's created her own bedtime routine- just makes me laugh how particular she is and how independent. Worlds apart from her brother.


Kat: Want mine book! Tuck me in! Not dat banket! Dat pink one! Den dat pink one an' dat pink one! Not cubber mine feet! Turn mine light on! Sut mine door! Sank you!


Translation: She must be covered in a specific order of 3 pink blankets, none of which may touch her feet. Her door must be shut but her light must also be on the lowest setting because she "doesn't wike da dark". She does not want company while she falls asleep on her chosen bedtime book. If she's feeling contrary and wants to delay her bedtime, she plays the "I haf to go potty" card after being put to bed. which I've learned I ignore at my own risk.

Mama is Methuselah

watching the Smithsonian Channel with Henry , some show about Henry VIII's armor.
Henry: We'll never know what Henry VIII's voice sounded like.
Me: Nope. He lived about 500 years ago.
Henry: 'Cause we would need to know someone who lived then an' heard him talk?
Me: Yep. And it was a long time ago.
Henry: Were you alive then?

*Sigh*

screaming fun

The kids were tumbling around with Jim in the living room when Henry screamed full-blast into Jim's ear which put an end to the playtime.

Mama: You need to remember Dada is a person and you don't scream in people's ears.
Henry: He's a person?
Mama: Yes and you could hurt his ears. We don't want Dada to go deaf.
Henry: Yeah! Because I don't even know sign language!

Yeah, that's our concern.

Baby Pig!

Jim's reading a chapter from Charlotte's Web for the kids' bedtime story. Kat clambered up onto the couch, peered at the illustrations and burst out, "Hi baby pig! Hug you!"
*Love them*

Thinking about marriage already?

Jim put the kids to bed and a few minutes later, Henry called him back.

Henry: Can I ask you a question?
Jim: Sure.
Henry: Can I marry someone with a different last name?

*We'd kinda prefer it that way, buddy.

Slow DOWN!

Henry and Kathryn crashed into each other while running in the house (luckily neither got hurt).

Mama: You need to stop running in the house. You could have gotten hurt. See this doorway? You could have knocked Kathryn into it and she could have hit her head on the corner.

Henry: Yeah, an' then we could tape her head back together.

Um...not exactly. Did I mention slow down and stop running in the house?

Scavengers

can't believe what I saw the other day in my kitchen.
We were getting our "after outside" drink of water when Kathryn marched over to Henry with two marshmallows clutched in her little hands and thrust one at him saying, "HERE!"
I looked around her to see the snack drawer wide open and the marshmallow bag all rummaged through. Guess I should put my s'mores ingredients in the LOCKING snack drawer. She never scavenged for granola bars or mint tea.
On the plus side, that was good sharing.

No fooling

Kat calling from her bedroom: "Me want apple juice!"
I bring her water in a green M&M cup. No way is she getting more juice at 8pm.
Kat happily accepts the cup and peers inside. "Apple juice?"
Mama: "GREEN Apple juice."
Kat takes a gulp and shakes her head. "No! Es Wah-der!"
Then she dips her hand in and makes a fist a couple of times before I realize she's testing for stickiness.
Oh yes, she's going to keep us busy. :o)

Not a tame lion

Henry and Kat are playing veterinarian (Henry's the cat).
Apparently Kathryn was displeased with the "kitty" batting at her ankles and hollered, "No Henry! In da torner NOW! Sank you!"
Definitely not afraid to speak up for herself.

Hair-raising

Henry: Dada, did you ever have hair?
Mama: Yes, then he met Mama and his hair fell out.
Kat: You took Dada's hair, Mama? You have his hair????

Bad Dreams

Henry pitter-pattered into our bedroom in the wee hours, climbed into bed and whispered, "I had a bad dream, Mama. I dreamt I was a pancake and everyone was trying to eat me."
Oh, buddy.

Beauty

The kids and I had kettle corn and snuggled while watching Frozen. *Bliss*

After telling Henry how wonderful he is, I thought it only fair to fill Kat's self-esteem bucket too.
Mama: Who's my beautiful girl?
Kat: ME!
Mama: Who's the prettiest girl in the whole wide world?
Kat (smiling angelically): HEN-WEE!!

Such a clever girl.

Servants

Snacktime- raisins and apple juice picnic.
Henry: Can we watch Frozen?
Mama: Sure, why not.
(still getting them settled with snacks)
Henry: Uh, Mama? Fuh-ro-zen??
Mama: Yes, I'm getting to it. Quit treating me like a servant.
Henry: Haha! That's just what I was about to call you.

Oh heck no he did not just say that.

Help me out, sis

Came into the living room to find Henry pouting on the couch.
Mama: What's wrong, Henry?
Henry: Dada said no M&Ms.
Mama: Ok, then no M&Ms.
Few minutes later I come back into the living room and his mouth is mysteriously stained and colorful.
Mama: Did you go get M&Ms after Dada told you no?
Henry: No. Kathryn did and brought them to me so I HAD to eat them!
So...

Playing Doc McStuffins

Kat & Henry are playing Doc McStuffins.
Henry lays down and is the "broken" toy while Kat stands over him with her little stethoscope and hollers, "Wake up! Wisten to your HEART!"

Calming Lavender lotion

I just used the kids' lavender nighttime lotion as my facial moisturizer Tuesday morning.This means I will be relaxed and calm all day, right?
I vividly remember buying that gigantic tub of lotion in the grocery store when Henry was a baby, and how I stood in the aisle, reading the ingredients and desperately convincing myself that a bedtime massage with this goop would guarantee us an uninterrupted 6 hours.
It's finally almost gone.

Writing Skillz

so proud of Henry and his writing skills.
"Mama! I can write my name in CURSES!"

Yeah, I think you mean "cursive," buddy. At least I sure hope you do.

All Kids are Different

Fascinating how different my kids are, right down to their level of independence.
Getting dressed: Henry hates putting on his own socks and will stand there, weeping tears of frustration while we resist the urge to just do it for him because it's faster.
Meanwhile, Kat will have stripped off her PJs, ripped open a new pack of diapers, put a new diaper on and dressed herself in a outfit of her choosing (flannel Mickey Mouse PJs).
Baffles me how she can manage all that but the concept of "I have to go potty" keeps eluding her

Catching Fire

Dada got Henry a large orange flashing light-up ring at the baseball game last night and bought an extra for stay-at-home Kat. Henry gave it to her this morning.
She cupped it in her little hand, watching the tiny strobe light and looked up, beaming.
"Sank you, Hen-wee! FIRE!"

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Henry's class had their family picnic today (indoors because of the weather).
They were so adorable, saying what they wanted to be when they grew up (2 said they wanted to be librarians. Yes!)
My kid wants to be a scientist because he likes dinosaurs.
Great, he'll be the one to make Jurassic Park a reality. Awesome.

Kat's favorite

I love how Henry is Kat's favorite-est person in the whole wide world.
She fell running on the playground and he was right there, helping her up. Then she threw out her arms and demanded, "NEED HUG!"
He obligingly bent down and gave her a hug, patting her back and they were off running together.
My sweet kids.

Nice night for a walk

My almost-3 year old Kat was creating her sidewalk chalk masterpiece after dinner tonight when we saw someone walking 2 dogs and she got distracted, immediately wanting to "follow 'dem."
By the time we got shoes on, (yes, we were coloring barefoot), the dogs and their owners were long gone. Didn't stop Kat from trotting after them in their general direction, holding tight to my hand.
It was a nice walk, still light outside and fairly warm so we didn't need jackets. We walked around the block looking at flowers and playing the what's-the-color game which often backfired.


Mama: What color is the grass? Pink or green?
Kat: PINK!


Yeah, OK.


My favorite part was stopping in our tracks to watching an enormous earthworm (would it technically be a "night-crawler?") stretching its slimy way across the sidewalk, probably desperate to reach the grass before some kid ran over it with their skateboard. Kat squatted like a flint-knapper, watching its slower progress while annoying-Mama bothered her with silly questions.


Mama: Kat, is the earthworm crawling or running?
Kat: Craw-wing!
Mama: Do you crawl or run?
Kat: CRAW!

Got your nose!

So I can already tell Kat is going to the *difficult* one to ground when she's a teenager. Henry will wail and carry on but she's the one who will find a way out of it.
Case in point- tonight I was playing the "got your nose" game with her. Kat looked objectively at my thumb sticking out of my fist, reached over and grabbed my brand-new skein.
Kat: Got your YARN, Mama!
Touche, punkin.

How Can....

How can...
a 50 lb 5 yr old take up an ENTIRE king's-sized bed, leaving his parents pushed to the tiny slivers of mattress at the very edges??
a 2 yr old zero in on my chocolate stash no matter WHERE it is?? I caught her dancing around the other day with a bite-sized Twix, "Tawk-litt, PEES?"...
Why can't she put those bloodhound instincts to good use when I'm frantically looking for lost keys?

Fashion Sense

April 22:  
I was getting dressed this morning to get ready to go to work & school. Henry stops and looks at me accusingly.

Mama: What, honey?
Henry: How come whatever clothes you wear to work you call them your WORK CLOTHES?
Mama (ummm): Because they're my nice clothes that I wear to work??
Henry (throwing up his hands in exasperation): But they don't even have any COOL designs on them!

Well, I doubt my archives department would like it if I showed up in a fiery T-rex shirt.

Burcon

May 3rd:
New word in our household: Burcon
Origin: Combination of "burnt" and "bacon."
Context: We had brinner last night and a couple of pieces of bacon were burned. Kat scarfed them down anyway while we commented on how she doesn't seem to mind burnt bacon.

Kat: Mmm! Burcon!

Chocolate Monster

Wed. May 7th, Nighttime


I've created a monster. All I've been hearing for the past 1/2 hour is "more tawk-litt, PEES!"
No! No more chocolate! Resist the urge to give in to her cuteness. She will NEVER go to bed!!

Bunny

Henry ran up to me, grinning after brushing his teeth for bedtime.
"Mama! What do I smell like?"
(How do I even respond to this?? It's either going to be really nice-smelling or disgusting. I almost don't want to know).
Mama: I don't know, Henry.
Henry: Don't I smell like a sparkly bunny that's been washed 200 times?
Mama: I don't know what that smells like.
Henry (rolling his eyes in exasperation): It smells like ME!!

Lemons & Lemonade

I love how kids view the world- totally different perspective.
It's a cold, gray, not-quite-rainy day and Henry's happily bouncing around like it's 70 degrees and sunny.

Henry: Mama! Today is the BEST day for cows!
(OK, I'll go for it) Why, Henry?
Henry: Because the rain makes the GRASS grow an' they don't have to bend over so far to EAT!

Lemons into lemonade, indeed. Love him.

Feeding the Dog

Figured out why Maggie kept licking Kat's face this morning like she was a lollipop (she wants her breakfast).
Kat "helpfully" fed the dog by scooping out 2-3 pieces at a time and haphazardly dumping them in her bowl, then pointing at the wayward pieces commanding Maggie to "Eat! One!"
Guess she got tired of the bitty scoops and handed me the cup which I filled halfway and handed back to her. Wasn't good enough apparently because she dumped it back in and shoved the cup at me- "More! FULL!"
OK, OK.

Cats n' Dogs n' Fashion Statements

Kat wore her *new* (used) Hello Kitty dress to church this morning, complete with a Hello Kitty bow in her hair. Now she's laying down for her nap and I heard her chattering away to herself so I peeked in.

She's laying on her back, rubbing her belly and saying "Nice ow-fit! Meow-Meow! Nice! Ow-Fit!!"

Sunday mornings

7:40am on a Sunday. Our morning so far:

Kat woke up cranky at 5:30am- diaper change & didn't want to be held/rocked. "Someone" put a talking toy in her crib and when she finally settled down, I could hear that darn thing talking to itself nonstop but decided that was less annoying than the meltdown that would ensue if I tried to remove it.


Kat woke up again at 7am (at least she went back down) and hollered "Mama!" in a tone of voice that cut right through me until I got her up.


Henry woke up shortly after that, frantically wanting to see his Dada who was gallantly shoveling snow. They both bided their time playing dressup and greeted snowy-Dada wearing a dragon costume and a Hello Kitty hat on backwards.


Henry's "shaving" with Jim now. Kat demanded "Mee-Mouf! Waffle!" and is bundled up in a sleeping bag on the couch watching Minnie Mouse in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and alternatively nibbling on her waffle and blowing on a Batman whistle. Ugh, must remember to clean the waffle bits from that later.


My favorite part so far? Kat saying "Sank you!" in her little voice when I handed her a waffle.

Presidents

After the English-History questioning, Henry moved onto a History of our Presidents. Something I sure don't have as strong a knowledge-base. That's more Dada's political-science background.

Henry: George Washington was the first President an' Abraham Lincoln was the 16th.
Mama: Yes, you're right.
Henry: Is President Obama still President?
Mama: Yes, he is. People vote for someone and they become our President.
Henry: I would vote for Abraham Lincoln.
Mama: Well, you can't. He lived a long time ago.
Henry: You have to vote for someone alive?
Mama: Yes.

I can't believe I had to clarify that.

Robin Hood and English History lessons

While watching "Robin Hood" with Henry (Disney version of course), I made the mistake of mentioning there really was a Prince John and King Richard. This sparked an onslaught of questions.

Henry: Really?

Mama: Yes and do you know who their Mama was? Eleanor of Acquitaine. And their Daddy was Henry, like you. Richard was married to Berengaria of Navarre and John was married to Isabella of Angouleme....

Henry: Tell me who everyone else was married to! All the rabbits an' pigs an' dogs!

Mama: Those are made-up characters, Henry. I don't know who they really were. Richard and John lived a long, long time ago- 800 years ago.

Henry: They're dead now, aren't they?

Mama: Yes.

Henry: I'm so smart.

Guess so.

My I-Don't-Care-About-Football Post

Ugh. I don't like football.
I tolerate it (kinda have to since I'm married to a serious football fan- the guy's even an official). It's actually not that bad. He doesn't drag me to NFL games and I always know I can get him "something" with his team logo and it's a sure win for a present. Except that scarf I knitted him in the team colors. Yeah, thanks for never wearing that.

So I don't even know who played this year, let alone who won. I'm sure I've heard the pairing a few hundred times this week but I blocked it out as too uninteresting and not worth my limited memory-space.
What Henry VIII was doing only hours after his second wife was executed, now that's fascinating. Who cares if it happened 500 years ago. He was busy planning his wedding for his third wife, if you care.




Guys who can barely read at a high school level winning an all-expenses-paid pass to go to elite universities? Guys slamming into one another to advance the position of an inflated piece of leather? Guys getting PARALYZED over the same piece of leather?
Yeah, I just don't get it. Just like you don't get why I have a closet stocked with yarn and never seem to have the right color/amount/weight for the latest creation that's sparked my interest.


I don't hate all sports though. I do like the communitas of a hockey game although it's been a LONG time since we've gone to one of those.
Meh. At least it's over for a few months...until the draft.

Family Puzzletime...and Yoda

I had this crazy moment at a church rummage sale where I purchased a stack of 100-piece adorable animal puzzles for the kids. "50 cents each! What a bargain!"
Except that I forgot I HATE putting puzzles together. I also hate mind teasers, Rubic's cubes, crossword puzzles, you name it. My mind gets enough of a workout at my job and then with wrangling two small children afterwards until I collapse at bedtime right along with them.
Luckily, my husband LOVES puzzles and all that other stuff. So while I gamely tried to put the cute little fawn puzzle together tonight with Henry while Kathryn threw the random piece into the works, I didn't last beyond feebly putting together the frame before throwing in the towel.
Dada is now dutifully assembling it while Henry looks on and offers bossy little suggestions.


Mama: Look at your father. He's like the Yoda of puzzles. See his green skin and pointy ears?
Henry (peering intently): Mama! I don't see the GREEN SKIN!
*Pause*
Mama: Noticed you didn't say anything about the pointy ears.
Henry (unfazed): He doesn't have GREEN skin! He has RED skin!
(Dada does have a rather florid complexion)
Henry: He's like the RED YODA!

Pavlov's waffles

my first Kat-humor!

Kat woke up bright and early Saturday morning, gathered 3 of her favorite-est books and headed into the living room. I put an English muffin in the toaster and as SOON as she heard that *click* of the toaster-lever, she scrambled down off the sofa and ran into the kitchen, standing on her tiptoes to peer onto the counter.

Mama: Can you say "Pavlov?"
Kat: WAA-FFLE!!

Yep, same thing.

The Meaning of "Uh-Oh"

Kat: Uh-Oh

Could mean anything from "I dropped a raisin on the floor (*gasp!*) to "I did something to the computer and now it has the blue screen of death" (*Meh. Dada will fix it).

Kids' translation- everything's a game

My mom's been teaching Henry about germs when he was on the farm yesterday (ie why we don't rub our hands on a manure-covered rail and stick our fingers in our mouth).
Grammy:White cells help the red cells by attacking the germs.
Henry's translation? "The white man an' red man game!"

Great.....we're not wildy racist, I promise.

Fire Fire

Henry's been having some anxiety over what to do if there's a fire. (I'm guessing this is residual from the fire safety talk at school which they told me he handled well).
We talked about what to do and that he won't be alone and that fires don't happen all the time.
Henry: But what if we don't HEAR the metal detectors????
Mama: Huh? Oh, believe me- you WILL hear the SMOKE detectors!

Lions & Tigers & Bears...oh my!

Henry & I tiptoed to the nursery door to check on the babe in her crib. Kat looked up then snuggled down and let out this ostentatiously fake snore.
Henry: See, Mama! I TOLD you the bear would GROWL at you!!

Conflicted

Kat's having her morning waffle and indulging in a juicebox when she dropped her "dink" in the living room.
Don't know whether to be relieved or annoyed that most of it spilled into my slipper instead of the carpet.