Tuesday, November 29, 2005

I was just wondering...

Trevor came downstairs this morning, and he came over to me and said...

"I was wondering about breakfast..."

Wondering about. It's a new thing he says for now.

Monday, November 28, 2005

Trip to Oklahoma

Our trip to Oklahoma was awfully eventful.

We left on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and took the long way through Iowa and Kansas City. It took an extra 4 or 5 hours, but we took 3 days to get there, so it was a pleasant drive. We're thinking next time, we'll take the long way via the Grand Canyon. I've never been there before.

On Sunday, we stopped at the Ameristar Casino in Kansas City.
Ameristar Casino

They had an onsite baby-sitting service:
Kidsquest

And, I don't know for sure if Trevor and Devin had fun, but they should have! I wish I could say the eventfulness started here, but it did not. We lost a little, but not a lot, of money. We travlled on and stopped in Emporia, Kansas. My dad went to school here for a time, in his younger days, at Emporia State University.
Emporia State University
I even applied to graduate school here. Between Emporia and Wynona, there is nothing. Nothing but brown grass, a few trees, some cows. We had to leave our route to get gas! But, that's not really the eventfulness, either.

We got to my parent's house on Monday for the beginning of our pleasant visit. I was surprised to see my brother-in-law, William, at my parent's house. I thought he would be there later in the week to get Vikki and his girls and return back to Arkansas. But, they are living with Mom and Dad right now. Logan and Jena are so stinkin' cute. Jena is a 2 and half months younger than Devin, but she is already taking a few steps. But, she doesn't have the perfect teeth that Devin does. He has 12 teeth now!

In the evening before we left mom and dad's house for the hotel, Devin got sick all over me. We cleaned up as best we could and left. As soon as we got to the hotel, but before we checked in, he got sick again. Before the next morning, he got sick about 8 more times. Trevor got sick about 3 times. Trevor getting sick was a big, yucky surprise!

Back at Mom and Dad's house, Devin was clingy and not very outgoing. Trevor was mostly all better, and he had oh, so much fun with Logan. He really does seem to like Logan. But, he also likes to push her down and take toys from her, and hit her a lot.

Before the visit was over, Devin got sick one more time, this time, in the car. It certainly gave us a good opportunity to clean the carseat! What fun. Then, he got the first signs of a cold on Thanksgiving day. We left the following day after a night of next to no sleep. Devin had asthma symptoms, so I called our pediatrician from the car. I wanted them to call in a prescription for prednisolone and albuterol with a aerochamber. They told me I had to take him to the ER. Honestly, that was not what I wanted to hear, so I hung up on that nurse, asked the Prius car to find the nearest hospital. Hats off to Craig General Hospital in Vinita, Ok.
Craig General Hospital

They apologized for taking so long, but we got in and out of there quicker than most trips to the pediatrician's office! The doctor listened to his breathing, and he didn't think it sounded too bad. He was wrong. His asthma was bad. He didn't hear much because he wasn't moving too much air. That's my feeling anyway. But, they gave him a breathing treatment, and a prescription for...
...prednisolone and albuterol with an aerochamber.

We stopped at that Wal-mart I had wanted my pediatrician to call in a prescription to, and we got what I wanted them to prescribe, and we continued on our way.

When I was a kid, if you did something goofy, people would say, "They're gonna send you to Vinita!" I guess there's a mental hospital somewhere in Vinita, or at least, there used to be. I can't drive through Vinita without thinking I might be a little crazy...
Eastern State Hospital

Ok, that's the end of the eventfulness.

For Thanksgiving, we went to my Grandma's house. Let me see if I can count who showed up:
Aunt Barbara, Uncle Bill and Linda, Sabrina and her three kids, Harry and Claudette and 2 of their 4 kids came to Grandma's, some little girl named Monica (not related to me), Will and Candace, Vikki and William and their two kids, me and Daddy and Trevor and Devin, Mom and Dad, Amy and Larry and their three kids (Rachel is going to OSU studying biochemistry, smart girl!) and Leann brought her fiance. Now, they don't have a date set, and I didn't see a ring, so they're really just boyfriend and girlfriend, but I didn't mention that to them. Also, Joann showed up. How many is that? Hmmm, a lot? A Houseful? 31 or so? I'm going to round up tp 40 because I'm sure more people dropped by later.

I think that's about it.

Dad made a turduckin (A Turkey stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a chicken, stuffed with stuffing) and it was darned good! I only had the turkey part, because I'm a traditional sort of gal, but I think it was the most moist turkey I ever had. I think the duck contributed to that. Dad also made stuffing, sweet potatoes that weren't overly candied (very good) and noodles. The noodles were a tragedy. After drying on the table for 3 days, Dad told Stephanie to turn off the noodles. She thought he said turn up the noodles. She put them on high and burned them. They tasted like black smoke. Darned Stephanie...

After lunch, Vikki watched out kids, and we went to the Hominy Casino with mom, Sindy and William. We didn't win, but we didn't lose. The Hominy Casino is in an old underwear factory. It's really not a bad place to spend a couple of hours. It is just a few hundred feet from the prison, but that didn't seem to be a problem.

After the Hominy Casino, Sindy suggested we go to the Pawhuska casino. We dropped off mom and William, and we headed north. The Pawhuska casino is in two double wide trailers. It was really bad smokey, and they only had slot machines. I won't be going back there. No, not me... Quad wide trailer casino, though. Everyone should go at least once, if they are ever in the area. Man, I wish I would have gotten a picture of that casino.

Million Dollar Elm
Their website doesn't reference their little Osage County Casinoes. Makes me wonder...are they ashamed of them or what?
History of the Million Dollar Elm Franchise"

Where is he?

This is just silly, but I thought it was cute.

Daddy got Trevor up the other day while we were in Oklahoma, and he took him to the bathroom. I heard Trevor say while he was in there, "Where is my little Devin?"

Devin James

When anyone asks Trevor his name, he answers, "Trevor Roth" (although Roth sounds more like Roff).

Now, if he's asked his brother's name, he answers "Devin James Roth." This might be one of those you-had-to-be-there moments, but if you use your imagination, it's really adorable.

I think he calls him Devin James is because I sing a song that goes like this:
Night, Night Devin
Night, Night, My Little Devin James
Night, Night Devin
It's time to go to sleep.

Is it a knife or an ife?

At breakfast one day last week, Trevor asked for an "ife" so that he could cut his sausage. Daddy tried to correct him. He said, say "NNNNN-ife". Trevor said "MMMMM-ife."

Then last night, he was sitting in the kitchen while I was cutting things up for dinner. I was using a large knife. He said, "Oh, Mommy, that's a big ife."

Friday, November 18, 2005

Devin's Favorites

Sorting toys like this:


Bottles of Milk

Socks

Mommy

Daddy

Trevor

Favorites

Trevor's Current Favorite Show of all Time"

Go, Diego, Go

His favorite character: Baby Jaguar.

Things he wants:

Little Tykes BC Builder I-Fell Tower


Rescue Helicopter

Bring Home the Bacon

I think I've mentioned before how telling Trevor I have to go to work to bring home the bacon sometimes keeps him calm on those days when he doesn't want me to go to work. Today, he and his brother and dad came and got me for lunch. On the way back, he told me that he didn't want me to go back to work. The reason...the bacon would just spoil.

For posterity...

When Trevor was little up until he was probably 18 months old, whenever he was tired, he would rub our fingernails. It was the sweetest thing. He stopped doing it around the time Devin arrived.

After a while, I noticed that I missed having my fingernails rubbed. But, a few months after Devin started taking a bottle, he started touching our fingernails, too. He is a little more aggressive, and he sometimes uses his nails to inflict a little pain by pushing into our cuticles. It's still sweet, though. He likes to touch our fingernails for comfort, and he'll do it not only when he's tired, but whenever he gets a bottle.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Merlin

I went Christmas shopping for my nieces and nephews on Monday. For Austin, I found a Merlin game. It's smaller and less likely than the original to be used as a deadly weapon, but it certainly brings on the nostalgia.

One thing I really like about the toys of today is that batteries are usually included. Not only does this let you try the electric toys in the store, I'm sure it also drives toy story and toy aisle workers completely batty.

Anyway, this Merlin came with batteries, and even though it's still in it's package, Trevor plays with it whenever he can. I'm thinking I'll have to get him his own Merlin for Christmas. He likes to turn it on and push the buttons. When he turns it on, the little machine says "I AM MERLIN, SELECT GAME." When he pushes the number buttons, it says, "SELECT GAME. SELECT GAME. SELECT GAME."

Yesterday, Trevor said, "My favorite is Select Game!" Not the Magic Box game, not the tic tac toe game, not the echo game. The select game. That's Trevor's favorite.

Great Job!

This morning after Trevor went potty, I was looking for his socks. I found them under the footstool that he uses to get on the toilet.

When I said, "oh, here they are" Trevor started jumping up and down saying (very enthusiastically) "Great Job, Great Job, Great Job!!"

Kids are good for your self-esteem.

Friday, November 04, 2005

Halloween


Tigger Devin!


Trevor and Milena at the Halloween Parade


Toilet Paper Mummy Pooh Trevor


All around this tree over here...


Roman, the Punk Rocker

Fox News in the Morning

Trevor has been having some real issues with going places lately. He just wants to stay home and watch Dora the Explorer, or just stay home. He really seems very opposed to going to daycare. Yesterday, he had a meltdown, crying so much at the thought of going to daycare that he actually threw up a little.

At one point, he said, "I want to stay home and watch Fox News!"

The morning before, he told me he wanted to watch a movie, and I told him that "we only watch the news in the mornings."

He's 2 going on 3, but he sure is trying to figure out how to play his mommy! Everything worked out, finally. I asked him if he wanted to take some special cars with him, and I told him he would be able to play cars with Ayden and Patrick. His teacher told me that he's close with these little boys. He and Ayden were in the same infant room, and they were mischeivous together in the infant room, too.

On Potty Training, I think it's going pretty well. We've established a "Trevor Good Boy Jar" and I put pennies in the jar when he's good and take pennies when he's bad. Good is going potty without getting wet first, flushing the toilet, and washing his hands. Bad is stepping on Devin. When he gets to the first level on the Trevor Good Boy Jar, we'll get him a toy he's been wanting. Right now, he really wants a Rescue Helicopter he saw in Target a couple of days ago.

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Serious Potty Training

We are seriously on the road to potty training Trevor now. It's a milestone. It's a challenge. If one thing goes wrong, pee will end up all over me, Trevor and Devin. That's a given.

It's going to be fun.

Summary of Day One:
Trevor had 4 accidents in the morning, then went about 4 hours accident free. We went to a Halloween party at Trevor's daycare about 2:30, and with all the marching and trick or treating, he had an accident around 4, again in the car on the way home, and once at home. I've told him that Dora the Explorer, Thomas the Train, Spiderman, Mommy, Daddy, Leap, and Trevor all like dry pants. Now, when I ask him, "who likes dry pants?" he usually answers, "ME!" If I ask who likes wet pants, he'll answer, "not me." Not even Swiper the fox likes wet pants (he's a mildly evil character from Dora the Explorer, Trevor's current favorite show of all times.)

Today, after going potty first thing, I tried to put a pull up on him since he's going to daycare today. He wanted underwear. And, he wore them about 30 minutes with no accidents. I'm really proud of him. He may be ready for toilet training now. Last Friday at McDonald's, he asked Daddy to take him to the bathroom. He's never done that before!