Don’t Negotiate with That Terrorist!

Curt on the bike trip in Indonesia

This entry should have been over 2 weeks ago, but time in an airport actually allows for indulging my blogging and traveling to and from the US in 6 days makes me too sleepy to finish what i started. :)

While Curt was riding water buffalo in Indonesia, grandma V and I were holding down the fort. The boys did really well, even if they said “Daddy” at every opportunity – while brady was the most vocal about it, I am certain Gavin felt curt’s absence the most acutely. By the end of days, he needed to sit in my lap with more books than normal and would then turn in to me to snuggle and have me walk him down the hall – very unlike him when the whole family is together.
Gavin became our cautionary tale during this time. I was baking some biscuits (refrigerator ready, people) to go with dinner and he was playing in the drawer below the oven. He and the boys have played in there DOZENS of times while I have been cooking. Apparently, below the door to the oven (when you pull out the drawer) is a vertical metal panel that is as HOT as the inside of the oven itself. You can see where this is going. Suddenly Gavin begins crying REALLY hard and I can tell just by the way he is holding his hand, he didn’t run over it with the drawer, but that he must have burned it, though I have no idea HOW. I scoop him up to comfort him and pat my hand around to find this SAFETY HAZARD! Of course we begin first aid at home (cold water, lots of kisses) and within an hour the blisters that are formed on all four fingerpads are nearly as thick as his sweet little fingers themselves! He was somewhat inconsolable for about an hour – I think he was more scared than anything, though I’m SURE it hurt a lot, not knowing exactly WHY his hand hurt and how suddenly it was hurting was probably more difficult for him. Of course, had I known it was that hot there, I would NEVER have let him play there. The drawer is now duct-taped shut. :)

Cars in sandboxes are cool (Aidan, Gavin)

The day after Curt got home, one of the blisters popped while we were at the pool, and the skin was SOOOOO red and raw underneath that we decided to take him to a real Dr (the local clinic had given me sketchy advice I had ignored – they wanted to pop the blisters the DAY AFTER it happened!) to make sure we had all the ointments we needed and were doing everything we could. He had been using his hand to eat and hold spoons and toys until the blister broke, so I knew there was no long term injury. The dr. helped clean it out really well and gooped on plenty of ointment and then wrapped his hand like a mummy. Did this slow Gavin down? NO. He just shoveled food in with his left hand a little faster. :)

A few days after my mom had left we were at dinner and Gavin was being incredibly fussy. He did NOT like his hand being wrapped in plastic (to avoid food all over the mummy hand), he did NOT like his hand being wrapped in general and was just letting us KNOW about it. Basically making dinner NO FUN for anyone. He eventually had ripped the plastic AND the bandage off, but was still crying and throwing his body around his booster chair. I decided I would feed him to avoid getting black beans and rice all stuck in the now popped blisters. He began making cute faces at me between bites, so I would make them back. After the SUPER annoyance he had just made for the whole family, curt busts out with “Don’t negotiate with that terrorist!” and I almost died laughing.

Could this sweet little face say "no"? (Brady)

Since then, Brady has learned the word “no”. He hasn’t really said it to us about stuff yet, but he likes to practice. The first time, we saw him climb on the couch and read through a book saying to himself, “no.NO.no.noooo.no.NOOOOO.” he sounds like he is from MinnesOOOOta. Very funny. Aidan LOVES to walk like a monster, which my mom taught him when she was visiting. We have some sweet monster PJs and she taught him to make a growling sound and put his hands out like a zombie with claws as he walks around – it is HYSTERICAL! The boys have also begun really learning how to wash their hands. In the bidet. It is SUCH a pain to lift them up as high as we need for the sinks and then we are crushing them with our bodies as we lean them forward to soap hands, while they are just supporting themselves so they don’t feel like they are tipping over, so I decided to just do it in the bidets we never use. They LOVE IT. It’s their own personal, Aidan/Brady/Gavin sized sink! Gavin has begun an infatuation with turning the electrical outlets on and off - i know, safe (they all have switches that have a red light on them when you want to turn them on for power). We have all of them covered in the house, but each of the boys has them right at crib level in their room and Gavin’s are always the opposite of how we left them the last time e put him down for nap/bed.

Grandpa reads to the boys (A, B, G)

I have been in Boston for a conference for the last 5 days and while it was SOOOO good to see some old friends, eat some chowdah, attend some sessions and just have some time where no one was looking to me for shoes/diapers/food/refereeing/etc, I MISS them so much! I did get to see them on skype twice, which helped a lot, but by the 3rd day when I would see other people with their toddlers/babies, it took all I could do to not go and pick them up for a snuggle. (I didn’t though, I’m not like the people who always touch/pick up our kids). Curt was so sweet and put together a lovely card for me with lots of recent pics of the boys. It was so fun to do a PMA (Proud Mom Alert) with people who indicated any interest (fools) and show off the fam – especially the one of curt riding a water buffalo in Indonesia! J As I type this I am almost home on the plane and I REALLY hope we land early enough to get me home before bed . ..

Aidan is a pacifier ADDICT - those are on a cord to keep them together in the dipaer bag!!!

Curt may have gotten to wear cool hats on his trip, but I had some yummy wine in the North End of Boston!