Easter 2011

When Harmon was little, my Mom sang this song for him:

 

Here comes Peter Cottontail

Hopping down the bunny trail

Hippity hoppity, Easter's on its way

Bringing lots of toys for him

Toys for baby Harmon

Hippity hoppity, Easter's on its way

 

While I know it's not an original, she did change the lyrics and this is the part the boys love. We sang it for both boys this year as Easter got closer and the Easter bunny did not disappoint. The Wednesday before Easter, the boys stayed with my parents for the day and scored huge Easter baskets. They got clothes, books, DVDs, toys for summer water play, etc. In short, SPOILED. When we got to Peoria, it was no different. More Easter presents than necessary for a 5 and 2-year-old. We decided to wait until we got back to give them our stuff. This way, you know, they got stuff every other day instead of all at once (SPOILED)!

 

Harmon was very happy to find some Angry Birds stuff animals along with way too many books and a Tom and Jerry t-shirt. Simon scored just as many books and a different Tom and Jerry t-shirt but, most importantly, some Yo Gabba Gabba Van's shoes. He couldn't wait to put them on even though they were way too big. He proved to be patient and we remedied the situation within the week. Now, they fit and he can't get enough.

 

All in all, Easter was great, more like Christmas but great nonetheless.

STL

Kevin left U-M to take a job at Washington University in St. Louis in 1996, returning to Ann Arbor in 2000. During those four years, we had a lot of good times in and fell in love with St. Louis. Unbelievably, though, our last trip there was September 2001. I remember staying with Kevin's friend Keith, eating Pointer's chicken pizza and watching Michigan football lose yet another September game (this time at Washington). It's hard to believe that we let 10 years go by before returning.

 

The Easter holiday offered the perfect opportunity to head back there, if only for one day. We typically head to Kevin's parents' house for Easter and did so again this year. We arrived Friday and got the boys all settled and then hit up St. Louis all day Saturday. We got some of that chicken pizza and ate it on Wash U's Brookings Quad. We made our way around campus with Kevin saying every two seconds "well, THAT wasn't here before" and scored some new gear at the bookstore. 

 

We drove through Kevin's old neighborhood and also drove past all the places we used to hang out (Forest Park, Union Station, Cathedral, etc.). We then headed downtown for the Cardinals game. It was the first time we would see the new Busch Stadium so we splurged for some good seats. We had to endure a brief rain delay but that just afforded Kevin some time to finally get the Cardinals hat he's been wanting! Although the Cardinals did lose to the Reds (the rivalry grows), we did see a Pujols HR. After the game, we headed down to the riverfront to take way too many pictures of the Arch and to check out (again) the high water mark from the flood of 1993. That still freaks me out! 

 

Well not totally a St. Louis tradition, we did have to hit up the Cheesecake Factory on the way home for a piece of Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake. It was an interesting day, a day filled with lots of good memories but also some regrets. We felt like those four years flew by and we didn't enjoy St. Louis quite enough. But, we'll try to make up for that by taking the boys there for our 2012 summer vacation - we know they'll love it just as much as we do.

29 months

Simon, you like to sing. You'll sing "The Victors" or "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" almost on cue. You'll mix in nursery rhymes with Lady Gaga (yep, he likes Lady Gaga). On the days you have music at school, we'll often hear you singing, in perfect tune, on the way home. The old dance parties you used to have with your brother before bed have turned into music at breakfast time. Harmon will choose something on our leisurely mornings and then you'll both sing along (most of the team instead of eating). All in all, when it comes to music, you are my sunshine!

Super Mario Brothers

Since spring is taking it's sweet-ass time getting here, we've still been trapped in the basement trying to entertain ourselves. While Simon is still pretty happy with his Geo Trax, Harmon was looking for something new and different to occupy his time so Kevin introduced him to Super Mario Brothers on the Wii. This has been a questionable decision on our part as he just can't get enough! In his defense, it's in his genes - we spent way too much time playing Atari!

 

He actually picked it up really fast and is pretty good at it. He also can be a bit competitive at times, especially when he's playing with me! I got him a Super Mario Brothers t-shirt that he wants to wear every day and he and Simon (Simon digs the music and "thinks" he's playing when he holds ANY controller) have a few of the action figures. Harmon rolls with Luigi and Yoshi while Simon rocks Mario and Toad. Donkey Kong remains unclaimed.

 

Donkey Kong's status may be on the rise, though, because last night (April 17), we picked up Mario Kart for the Wii. It's part of Kevin's Easter present and away we go.

"We don't fight over food!"

When I was little, I remember my Mom telling me and my sisters that "we don't fight over food." For some reason, we were concerned over how much was there and how many different things we were having (but, Mom, we're only have 2, 3 things) and we were GIRLS. Fast forward many years and I've got two growing boys at my table. Most days, they are ravenous so you don't dare take something off their plates. And, the days of going out to eat and having them SPLIT a meal are long gone. Knowing all this, I should not have been surprised by the incident at lunch this past Friday (April 15).

 

The boys and I picked up Kevin and heading to the Blue Tractor for lunch. It was a bit of a late lunch so I knew they were hungry. We had to get an appetizer to tide them over until Harmon's macaroni and cheese and Simon's cheese quesadilla were ready for consumption. Harmon inhaled much of the appetizer and his macaroni and cheese and then started asking for more. I asked him if he wanted some of Simon's quesadilla but he was lobbying hard for dessert (which I told him we weren't getting). Meanwhile, Simon was working his way through an adult-sized quesadilla (the plate was huge) and had one piece in his hand and two pieces left on his plate.

 

Out of nowhere, Harmon dove for Simon's plate and swiped one of the remaining quesadilla pieces and Simon was none too happy. In his defense, he was a little on edge as we had to wake him from his car nap to go in but he went pretty crazy. He screamed and yelled at Harmon and we had to calm him down. We tried to get Harmon to put it back but he had already taken a few bites of it. Our last-ditch effort was to try to get Harmon to retroactively ASK Simon for a piece of quesadilla but Harmon's half-assed requested landed on deaf (and angry) ears.

 

Kevin and I looked at each other and just shook our heads. While this was the first time, we highly doubt it's the last time!

Strep throat

Over the first weekend in April, Harmon slowed down a little. He wasn't coughing much and only had a touch of a runny nose. When asked, nothing hurt and he had no fever. We thought keeping him home from school on Monday would help but, instead of getting better, he was getting worse. While he has huge tonsils anyway, we were stunned when we looked in his mouth and saw them all but blocking his airway. When he was breathing, he straight up sounded like Darth Vader so we started calling him Darth 'Nater!

 

We tried to make him comfortable but, as Kevin laid next to him during the night, it was clear he was having a hard time breathing. So, we woke him and he made his first ever trip to the ER (early on April 5).

 

While he was a little scared, he did great. It might be because Kevin brought along the iPad to ease his mind AND pass the time. After some tests, he was diagnosed with strep throat. They actually did two tests because they were shocked he wasn't really showing any symptoms. He was prescribed some antibiotics (and avoided the shot, thanks to his Daddy) and then he and Kevin were sent on their way.

 

Gross things, though. Once he got going on his antibiotics and his decongestant, he was flowing infection out of his nose like crazy. He STUNK of infection. Instead of wiping his nose, he would use his snot rag to instead smear the snot across his face. This lead to a ton of face chapping, which he hated to deal with (well, let's see, SO DID I). And, when we were there to wipe his nose, it would come out in strings, kind of like something a clown would do. SICK!

 

ANYWAY, he did great starting his antibiotics. I think he realized they made him feel so much better so, much of the time, he was reminding us it was time to take them. We did keep him home on Thursday, April 7 as well, just to be safe. He returned to school on April 11 and finished up his antibiotic cycle on April 14. The docs said it could have developed into an ear infection or even mono so we kept a close eye on him but he recovered great. And, thankfully, Simon didn't get it. I don't want anymore trips to the ER.