Bad, Bad Days

Last Friday both Christopher and Alexander had a doctor's appointment, and they were both to get shots. But first Alexander decided to sleep all morning, which would have been FANTASTIC -- except for today, of course. I was supposed to get over to Mimi's house (from my other grandma's house, who is known just as Grandma, if you didn't know), and I was supposed to meet my cousin and her friend from Australia at the airport to spend an hour with them before they left. Long story short, I had to leave the baby with Bryan, take Christopher to the airport with me, had a nice visit with my cousin and her friend, met up with Bryan just in time to send him and Christopher to Mimi's while Alexander and I took the girls back to the airport. Nothing really "bad" yet, but it was a little bit of a flustered morning with just about nothing going to plan.

Arriving at Mimi's, no one is there. We go about grabbing the things we needed before heading back out to take the boys to the doctor. Bryan needed to get something from a store nearby, so he walked out the door to stop there before meeting me and the boys at the doctor's office. JUST as he turns on his car and starts down the street, I turn around to see Alexander head-first in the pointsetta bush chewing on a fist full of leaves. AHHHHH!!!

I snatch the leaves away, scoop the remainder out of his mouth, run into the kitchen to wash him off and wash out his mouth, and then I call Bryan. I request that he come back. I then call poison control to see how much trouble I'll be in when I arrive at the doctor's office in 30 minutes. They tell me that as long as he didn't swallow any, it should just be an irritant with some nausea and possibly a rash. But since I'd done exactly the right thing and washed him off right away, and since he (apparently) hadn't swallowed any, he would probably be just fine.

Bryan has now arrived (I love backup), doesn't see how he's going to help any since the baby's fine, and wants to go. I asked him to stay and prevent a repeat until I am ready to go. So he does. Then we load both kids into my car, he goes his way, I go mine.

For all of about 1 mile.

Almost as soon as I pull away, Alexander starts screaming. Can't say that it was a surprise. And it's not a "Waa Waa I'm Upset" scream either, it's a nasty "I hate this whole world and I can scream loud enough to break glass, or at least your eardrums!" kind of scream. And then Christopher tries to out-do him. Thankfully, Christopher didn't scream, he just made louder and louder noises. And in fairness, I know that when the baby cries it really bothers Christopher on a good day, and this was not a good day, because he knows where we're going and he knows why, and he's already been on the road running around with me for most of the morning.

I first directed my car to the location where I knew I'd find my husband, today known as backup support. Then I called him to warn him of his impending peril. He was nice enough to oblige when asked to take Christopher out of the equation, and I would just ignore Alexander's screaming as I went on my merry way. Thankfully, Alexander didn't cry the entire way, just most of it. He was a little happier when I took him out of his seat when we arrived. I knew that he'd be hungry by now, so after checking in I sat down to feed him. He was very happy about that. After a yummy lunch he perched happily on my lap. And then he threw up.

Long story short, I probably should have paid the doctor to have his carpets cleaned. Alexander threw up not once, not 4 times, but 7 times during the time we were there. He didn't cry any more, but I might have rather he cried. At least that is sanitary.

And then there were the shots. Christopher got 3, Alexander got one oral vaccine and 3 shots. With both boys adorned in Band-Aids, we exited the office none too soon, for everyone's taste. They were nice enough to give Christopher a good-boy award for a free Frosty, so we stopped by Wendy's to let him have it.

Not the best of days by any standards, but it was survived, and I'm sure it's not the last of it's kind. Alexander has energizer batteries and grabs more things than a NASA probe. And ALL of it goes in his mouth. The same mouth that makes so much noise.

But....
It's still lots of fun. Usually. =)

Was it really that funny?

When's Breakfast?

Yesterday Christopher did the funniest, cutest thing.

Let me preface this by saying that it's not entirely unprecidented. Last week Christopher said he was hungry, and I couldn't help him right that second, so he wandered off. A few minutes later I found him sitting at the table with a bowl of cereal. Since the only thing out was his bowl, I assumed someone else had helped him. When I mentioned to him that I was glad he got some cereal, he informed me that he got it himself. He described how he had gotten a chair to get the bowl from the cupboards, gotten the cereal, milk, and spoon, served himself, not even spilled anything, and then put it all away before sitting down to eat. I was amazed!

So now to yesterday. I was using my computer, and my Grandpa was beside me using his. I had Alexander on my lap. Christopher comes in to observe us and see if he will eventually get a turn, because he wants to play Pocket Tanks. I tell him that mommy and grandpa need their computers right now, so he will need to wait a while. Then my grandpa, in an attempt to induce Christopher to go do something else, turns to him and says:

"When's breakfast?"

Christopher tilts his head, looks quizzically and his grandfather, and says, "I can't cook!"

Grandpa and I both laugh and continue what we were each up to. Christopher wanders off. But then, a little while later, Christopher wanders back in. He walks up to his grandpa, places a little hand on his arm, and says:

"Breakfast is ready grandpa."

My grandpa and I both look at each other with a "Huh, wonder what he did" kind of look. I was thinking that maybe he got grandpa some cereal. I was on the phone at the time, so I didn't get right up to go see. With an amused smile, my grandpa got up and followed Christopher (who was holding his hand and leading him down the hall), and as they walked away I heard Christopher say what I was pretty sure was, "I made you some hotdogs."

Hotdogs???? I hurried off the phone and went to go investigate further. Upon arriving in the kitchen, I see my grandpa sitting at the table with a plate in front of him. On the plate is a hotdog in a bun, and grandpa is putting mustard on it. Then he takes a bite. Christopher is standing beside him in the cutest little pose. Wondering if grandpa is just being a good sport about the hotdogs on the plate, I ask him, "So he got you hotdogs?"

"Yeah, he really did. Cooked them and everything!"

"Are you serious???"

Christopher looks up at me and firmly replies that yes, he got them and everything else, and he cooked them in the microwave "and I didn't even burn myself!" Half of me admired his spunk, and half of me was concerned that he'd used the microwave without supervision and knowing that he could get burned! Besides which, I didn't even know that he knew how to use that microwave! It also dawned on me later that he would have had to have used the trash can as a stool in that particular spot, which was an 'interesting' mental picture.

So Christopher cooked breakfast for his grandpa. And later while telling Bryan the story, my final observation was, "I hope Grandpa's not going to ask him what's for lunch!"