Conversations with Coulson

As we were driving in the car today, I was helping Coulson with his multiplication and division tables.  We were working specifically on multiples of 3, and since Coulson prefers word problems, I was making up some fun problems for him.

"If I had 18 M&Ms and I divided them among you and your brothers, how many M&Ms would you each get?"
"six"

"If I had 9 M&Ms and I divided them among you and your brothers, how many M&Ms would you each get?"
"three"

"If I had 15 cupcakes and I divided them among you and your brothers, how many cupcakes would you each get?"
he took about a second longer, then answered correctly "one"

(because he knew I would never let him have 5 cupcakes)

A poem

A poem by Coulson, who is now 7 years old.  7 YEARS OLD!!!! I begged him to stay 6 for just a little bit longer, but he refused to comply... And now he's writing poetry???

Orange

If you want to find orange
go to Hawaii
and watch a volcano erupt,
OR
eat a juicy orange,
OR
go into the woods
and find an orange snake,
If you want to find orange.

Conversations with Coulson

On Brotherly Love
By revealing in my previous post Charlie's inner fratricidal-redemption fantasies, I have shown you that my family is not perfect.  So let me enjoy this rare moment of beauty from Coulson -

Speaking with a friend of mine shortly after Christmas...
My Friend: What was your favorite Christmas present?
Coulson: Hmmm (thinks about it...)  Well, I didn't get it for Christmas, but it's my favorite.
My Friend: Oh yeah, what is it?
Coulson: Points to his baby brother, Carter

Ahhh, so sweet!

On Anachronistic Thinking
Coulson has been recovering lately from severely chapped lips.  Very severely chapped lips.  They are getting better, but now he has some tiny red dots on his skin around his mouth, maybe a reaction from the stuff we've been putting on his lips to help him heal. 

Tonight he says to me -
"Part of my lip is feeling queer"
And then later he says to me -
"Mom, I think I have a new disease that I've never had before. I think I have the measles."

At first, I'm taken aback by this shocking failure of our public health system, but then I relax as I realize that my son has simply time-warped back into the 1950s when he might indeed feel "queer" and be concerned about measles.  You see, for Christmas, Coulson got the first 12 books of Bobbsey Twins, a really old book series about a family and their adventures, kinda like Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys for a younger reader. He's been reading these books almost non-stop - Christmas was just over 2 weeks ago and he's already on book 11.  I can't imagine what diseases he'll think he has when he gets into the Harry Potter Series...

BookWorm

The best part about this past year has been that Coulson can officially read!!! I've probably mentioned before that he is an intense child who doesn't like to play by himself. About 3 years ago Casey and I realized in exasperation that other than constant playdates with friends, the only relief we can hope for is for him to learn to read. And so we have been anticipating this wonderful achievement for a long time now. I tried to teach him myself a little without being too pushy, but he could only handle about 5 minutes a week, so we didn't make much progress. Last year he could read simple one-syllable words in easy sentences, but he would get way too frustrated to try to sound out anything he didn't know. Somehow during the school year, he just started reading, like something clicked and a light bulb turned on and he was reading. Casey and I are both readers (or would be readers if we had more spare time, but we can consume a stack of books on vacation) so we proud to see that Coulson seems to be a reader also. Right now, he is devouring any Magic Treehouse (think Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, but with 1st graders who speak standard English) or Junie B. Jones (reminds me of Ramona Q. as a kindergartner/1st grader) he can find at the libraries and even finished a more advanced Star Wars book this weekend. I realized that he will now surpass me in Star Wars knowledge if he continues reading all of the books (there are A LOT of Star Wars books out there that go beyond the movies) since I only know the movie stuff. The other day we went to Borders to get a book for Casey for Father's Day and he behaved as badly as if he were in a toy store, whining for me to buy him a book and getting upset when I told him he would have to save up for it. I was completely annoyed at his behavior at the store, but happy that he valued books so highly. He told me tonight that he is saving his allowance to buy a book. Yeah, we're proud of our bookworm!

He looks forward to being "in a grade"

So Coulson's last day of school was a few weeks ago and he's no longer a kindergartner. I had a mini-conference with his teacher the other day and he's doing great in the three "R"s. He's in the advanced reading group in his class and has no problems with anything, but he when I told him that I had a conference with his teacher and she said that he'll be ready for 1st grade, he showed visible signs of relief that he passed kindergarten, as if there were some doubt about moving up. I guess it's good to never take anything for granted.

A couple days before the end of school, all the kindergartners presented their parents with a wonderful musical program. Coulson has severe stage fright - when we joined our church a few months ago, while we were in front of the congregation, he hid behind me so no one could see him. Whenever the kids at church sing in the front for us, he refuses to join them. So I was amazed that he not only got up in front with his class, but he also sang the songs and did all the hand motions. It was a very nice program. Casey had to work initially and had a hard time finding a substitute for his shift, but finally the day before, he was able to switch shifts. My parents were out of town, but Casey's mom was able to come for the program, so that was a nice surprise to make the celebration more special for Coulson. Afterward, we went out for lunch at Coulson's favorite restaurant (Golden Corral, because you don't have to wait for your food) with his best friend's family.

Coulson had a great year at school. We were concerned at first because we didn't know what to expect or how Coulson would adapt to school, but I have to say that everything went extremely well. He's very social and he made a lot of friends. He seems to enjoy learning, which to me is the most important part of kindergarten (learning to love learning) and hope he can carry that attitude throughout life. He has gotten the notion that kids are expected to not like school, so he will say say that he's glad school's out and say that he doesn't like school. But when we ask him specifics, our conversations go like this:
Me: What don't you like about school?
C: I don't know
Me: Do you like your friends?
C: Yes.
Me: Your teachers?
C: Yes.
Me: Learning to read?
C: Yes.
Me: Math and numbers?
C: Yes.
Me: Playing on the playground?
C: Yes.
Me: Art?
C: Yes.
Me: Music?
C: Yes.
Me: Homework?
C: Yes.
Me: Worksheets?
C: Yes.
Me: Media Center? (Library)
C: No.
Me: Why not?
C: I can't find any good books.
So other than navigating the media center, I think he actually likes school.

Conversations with Coulson

Tonight we were discussing the Spanish words for different animals and Charlie asked what is the Spanish word for mouse.

me: I don't know that one. We'll have to look it up.
Coulson, matter-of-factly: It's el muscario.
me: Really? What is it again?
C: El muscario. It's Spanish for mouse.
me: Do you really know that or are you just making it up?
C: I just made it up.
me, laughing aloud: You're just like your father!
C: Why does he do that?
me: To sound smart. Why do you do it?
C: So you'll stop asking me questions.

I see a Pulitzer in his future

Lately, Coulson has been writing simple stories and I love reading them. His teacher taught him to spell words as he thinks they sound (which is nice because he's not constantly asking how to spell stuff when he's writing, although I did help him with a couple words) so you might have to read his stories aloud and experiment with different vowel sounds to understand what he's trying to say. I'll help you out with this one - store and stowre = story

Here is what he wrote in a booklet that he gave me for Mother's Day. Each story went on one page and he included illustrations for each story:

1
A Poem of a bag

a bag went don the road and he saw a dragon! it was big!

2
a store a bowt brothrs

one day a brothr went down the rode and saw his brothr. he wos 6.

3
The Coulson stowre!

One day Coulson was gowen down the rowd he saw a dragon!



I found one in his bookbag today, but he wrote it last week at school. The paper had a picture of a boy getting pinched by a crab on his toe. The directions are to write about what happened to the boy.

One day Britin was woking on the sand with owt his flipflops. and got pinch his toe bie a crab! owwwwwwch th crab sid "but I am hungre" "I will git you a mike shak from chicfla." The end

I believe the main character in his story is his cousin. And I'm pretty sure that mike shak from chicfla = milkshake from Chick-fil-A.

And this week at Target, Coulson saw some small notebooks and asked to get one so he could write a chapter book in it and journal in it this summer. Here's the chapter story he wrote, also with illustrations:

Ch 1
Oun day Coulson was woking down the rod. and saw a snake and his brothr was with him. "look!! a snake"
"Lets get out of her"
"or we wil get bit!

Ch 2
They ran as fast as they cood and got hom just in tim becas thay wr tird!!

Ch 3
They had a cup of milk and sum cookesy Thay war yumee in ther tumy!

Ch 4
and then they ran bac out side and wet to the snake
"Hae lits cep him for a pet" (that one's hard, I'll help you "hey, let's keep him for a pet")

The end

I hope he keeps writing because I just love these stories!

Field Day

Today was field day at Coulson's school. For people like my husband who may not know what field day is, it's a day at the end of the year when all the students go outside to play fun games and activities. Back in my day, there were standard events like a 100 yard dash and long jump, but now there are more creative games and activities like freeze tag and parachute and throwing soft foam balls at each other (there was a more of a plot to that activity, but from where I was standing, that was all I could see) and picking up marbles in a kiddie pool with their toes.

I have vague memories of my mom coming to field day when I was young, so I was looking forward to helping at Coulson's field day. Last week his teacher asked for some volunteers to help with a class picnic after the activities. I volunteered to bring something for the picnic, but somehow to the teacher, that translated into me being the main coordinator for the picnic. I was a bit frustrated because only one person replied to my emails and returned my phone calls at first. But then 2 days before the picnic, the parents finally started to return my phone calls and I was able to do some coordinating.

Field Day was fun. I lucked out because I was assigned to a water station with Coulson's teacher. Water stations are pretty much the easiest jobs on field day. It was also great to work with Coulson's teacher and get to know her better. I just wished I could have done something like that earlier in the year to get to know his teacher.

The picnic turned out great. I was worried about organizing the picnic, but I managed to delegate all the food responsibilities so that I didn't have to bring any food. I was in charge of reserving the shelter at the park (there is a park right across the street from the school and the field day activities were held at the park also). That turned out to be a big pain because I had to physically go to the recreation and parks department in the municipal building in the heart of downtown earlier this week to pay for the reservation, which involved trying to find a parking space on the street. After circling the blocks 5 times, I finally got a space a block away. Thankfully there was 40 minutes left on the meter, so I didn't have to pay! But of course Charlie fell asleep in the car and I had to wake him up and then he was sleepy so he was dragging his feet and he kept tripping on the sidewalk. So I went in SuperMom mode briefly and carried both him and Carter (Carter was in a sling) down the sidewalk. So after all that, I decided I paid my dues and shouldn't have to also bring food.

My mom watched Charlie and Carter while I was at field day and then she brought them to the park for the picnic. It was the longest anyone other than myself has watched Carter and she did a great job, although she commented - "I don't know how you get anything done!" Well, if you've seen my house lately, you'll know the answer to that - "I don't." I'm barely scraping by getting the laundry and dishes clean. Getting them put away is an extra bonus reserved for only the best of days. Anything else requires Casey to be home all day and not working, which hasn't happened in a long time.

Anyway, the picnic was a success and the kids had a great time. They were all exhausted by the end of the day. My only regret is that I forgot to take pictures!

About 6 years and 8 1/2 months ago...

I wasn't blogging six years ago, but I did write a little bit about what was happening in my life. Now that I'm nearing the end of this pregnancy, I've been reminiscing about my previous pregnancies and I found the following journal entry/emails when I was transforming our office into a nursery. So in celebration of how six years ago today was one of the best days of my life, I thought I would include the stories below so they can be part of my official blog record. The first is a journal entry, and the rest are email updates that I sent to my friends. (Many of my readers were original recipients of these emails, but it's been 6 years, so it might seem new anyway...)

UPDATED - I have included pictures of my precious boy as he has grown, basically a picture taken on or near his birthday each year.

Finding Out We Were Pregnant!
I expected my period by Saturday May 31, 2003. We had decided to wait until Sunday morning before taking a pregnancy test, but on Saturday afternoon I was bored. So I asked Casey if I could take the test then. He agreed. I had an errand to run, so I drank something (Dr. Pepper?) and went on my errand. When I came back, I took the test. Casey was working on the computer (editing our wedding videos). Of course I peeked before the full 3 minutes and I saw a faint pink line. I told Casey, "I think I see a pink line." He jumped up and came to see. He could also see a pink line. We looked at each other, smiled, hugged and looked at each other again. It's a weird moment - full of emotions but still now sure how to feel or act. After church Sunday we went out and bought a full price pregnancy test (the first test was a $1 from a discount store ;-) The expensive test told us the same as the cheap test, so we made phone calls to our parents!

Subject: 15 weeks!!
Date: August 10, 2003

Since everyone wanted to be kept updated:

I got to hear my baby's heartbeat on Friday! It sounded very fast to me (but normal to the nurse practioner). When I got my ultrasound at 9 weeks, Casey and the Doctor could see a heartbeat, but I couldn't. This time I could hear the heartbeat.

On Thursday the first person noticed! I hadn't seen her since May. When she first saw me I could tell by the look in her eye that she suspected something. When I left the room, she asked my friend if I was pregnant. Most of the people who work with me everyday haven't noticed yet, but I think I'm starting to get some stares. I've only gained 4 pounds, but my waist has grown 5 inches. Luckily for me, I lost 10 pounds last year, but didn't have any money to update my wardrobe. So now my clothes are fitting better! :-) My mom is coming up next week with a bag full of used maternity clothes and I am beginning to need it. My biggest clothing issue right now is finding a nice dress for my friend Jaimey's wedding in 4 weeks. I am doing a reading at the ceremony, so it needs to be nice and I need to look good. Plus Casey will be wearing a tux, so I need to look nice next to him. But how big will I be in 4 weeks? (I got some really cute shoes though!)

I went to a wedding last night with an open bar! Unfortunately I was with Casey and a bunch of other medical students, so they wouldn't let me touch the alcohol. (Of course if you know me, that's not a huge sacrifice) I have become good friends with Shirley Temple though. I have one more wedding this summer and I am sure I will spend some more time with Shirley.

At my next appointment (Sept 9) we get an ultrasound. I'm thinking this ultrasound will be more interesting than the first one being that my baby will be bigger that 2.7 cm. I should also start feeling the baby move around that time. I'll keep you updated!

Subject: 21 weeks - Over half way there!
Date: Mon Sept 22, 2003

Wow,
It's really hard to believe that I am halfway there!

I am really enjoying the 2nd trimester. Didn't like the 1st trimester that much, but the 2nd trimester is great! I can eat a lot (which I love!), get to wear new clothes (who doesn't like that?!) and get more attention as people are able to see that I am pregnant.

Getting the ultrasound was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be. I was able to detect a lot more that I thought ("oh, there's the head, there's the heart pumping, there's the legs, there's a little foot!"), and I got to see the baby move. We're waiting until the big moment to find out the sex, so you'll have to wait till next year before you can know to buy pink and purple or blue and green clothes.

Everythings going well with the pregnancy. All of my students have noticed by now, I think. One my my beginner students was trying to tell me something. All I understood was the word "pregnant" (she had no problems pronouncing that word, even though my advanced students can't get it right) but the rest of the sentence -- I have no idea was she said. Then she gave my hand a nice squeeze and smiled. I think she was telling me that she knew. [for those of you wondering how to communicate with people who are learning English, that's how it works: a few words (sometimes), body language and and understanding of humanity]

The belly is getting bigger and just beginning to give me problems. It takes me longer to get up from the couch, to change my sleeping position, etc. I also have to pay more attention to my posture or I'll get backaches. Oh, and I pee all the time. At least twice a night, sometimes more often. But I get to eat more. That's good. Interestingly, the baby really likes chocolate. And I like to keep my baby happy.

Casey will be leaving for the month of October. He's going to NC to do a rotation at Wake Forest in Emergency Medicine. We are hoping it will increase his chances of getting his residency there (close proximity to grandmothers= free childcare! * just kidding grandmas, we are more looking forward to building relationships, more than just child care)

Well, I've done enough rambling for now. I'll keep you all updated, probably next month.

Subject: After the third trimester...
Date: Tues Dec 2, 2003

After the third trimester, there are no more trimesters! The third trimester is the LAST trimester. I have mixed feelings about this fact.
Sometimes I think to myself "I have been pregnant since May. That's like forever! When will this be over?" and sometimes I think "I can't believe that I am less than 2 months away from my due date! This is all happening so fast!" And Casey told me that I will be officially "term" on Jan 1o -- which means my baby will be able to join the world without being labeled "pre-mature" despite the fact that Jan 10 is 3 weeks before my due date. Jan 10 is VERY close. I'm not ready for a Jan 10 baby. I am thinking more of a Feb baby. Well, I'm sure that whenever the baby comes, I'll be ready. I can feel the baby kicking and moving a lot more now, which I like. And we are starting to get some baby equipment and preparing the nursery, so this time is exciting. But there are some discomforts. I am amazed how heavy 10-15 extra pounds in one spot can be. It is difficult to switch sides at night, get in and out of cars and pick up things from the ground. (Don't misunderstand me on the 10-15 extra pounds -- I have put on more weight than that, but it has been more evenly distributed over my thighs and buttocks. The 10-15 pounds is probably the weight of my baby (about 3.5 pounds now) and all that amniotic fluid).
Over Thanksgiving I got to spend some time with my 1 week old nephew (born Nov. 19). He is so sweet and I can't believe that his little cousin is just 2 months younger and still growing in my tummy. It's amazing! In 2 months I will have a baby of my very own! Not a niece or nephew to coo and cuddle with, but my own baby. And all the responsibility that comes with it -- feeding, diapering, loving, raising into a good person who loves God and all His children -- oh my!
Also, there are happenings in my life unrelated to baby. Casey is currently interviewing for residencies. He is interviewing mostly in NC and VA, but also DE, GA, SC and PA. We won't know until March 18th where we will actually be moving to, but we plan to move in June. (Side note to Georgians -- We will be in the Atlanta area in June also for Casey's brother's wedding. I will need a babysitter on Sun June 13.) For residency, he has decided on Emergency Medicine which will be 3 years.
Well, Thanks for reading my ramblings. I am also trying to send some pictures of myself with belly, my new nephew and of our nursery (Thanks to Anne and Jess for your help!) We went with a Nemo theme for the nursery because the room already had bright blue walls and we had the talents of Anne to draw the fish for us.

Subject: I went to the doctor and the doctor said....
Date: Sat Jan 24, 2004

Well, the doctor indicated that my baby is apparently in now hurry to leave the comforts of his/her womb. The baby has barely "dropped" and I'm only about 1/2 effaced (for those of you who know what that means) They still say it could happen any day, but its more likely that the baby will come later rather than sooner. Due Date is Jan 31 -- one week from today!

Casey was very bummed when he heard this news. He is more impatient about this baby than I am. I have been mentally preparing myself for a long pregnancy, but my mental powers are weakening and I'm starting to get anxious too. I'm not really nervous at all about the labor. That might change once contractions start for real, but I had originally thought that I would be terrified about labor for all 9 months. I think being educated about the process helps to take away the scariness (so I recommend childbirth classes and reading the magazines and books about labor).

So we're getting tired of waiting. We've been carrying a baby doll around the house to help get Chester used to the idea. But now, when I hold the baby doll, I really just want it to be my own real baby. But Chester has been good around all the baby equipment and toys. He sniffs around cautiously when we bring out the baby doll or a new toy. Then he goes and lays down.

I will be working a full week this week (unless the baby comes of course...) and the following week I may work a couple days, but I'm not planning to work a full week. Oh yeah, to let you know one of my pet peeves while being pregnant (so maybe you can avoid it with others...) Every day I go to work and every day everyone says "You're still here!" or "You came to work today!" and "I'm surprised you''re still coming to work" (even after I've explained that I'm saving my leave time for after the baby instead of wasting it before the baby comes, we have a limited amount of paid leave and they all know I'm the only breadwinner in my family) and "How are you feeling?" and "How's the baby today?" etc. Now, it's okay to inquire when you see someone once a week or less, but I see these people EVERY DAY! I must answer these questions EVERY DAY to the SAME people! And I have had to do this for the whole last month. I might accept these inquiries if they waited until after my due date, but it doesn't help me with the waiting when everyone around me is so impatient. And then there are the comments that delivering babies is not in the job description, so I better not have the baby at work, and other allusions to babies just popping out suddenly. First time babies take a LONG time. The average labor for a first timer is 18-24 HOURS! The first few hours aren't that bad, just annoying or slightly uncomfortable, so I think I will do okay on my own or at least have time to call Casey and he can come and get me. Sorry about the tirade, I didn't think it would be so long or so much shouting. I guess these are things I really just want to say to my co-workers, but I can't, so I'm passing it on to you.

Casey was supposed to be doing research at the hospital this month, but it didn't work out like he had planned, so he spends all day at home just waiting for me to have the baby. (No wonder he's so impatient) Next month he will be facillitating small groups with second year med students (about 10 hours a week) so basically he'll be home that month as well. And he has a vacation month for March. I will go back to work at the end of March, but I will hopefully be able to work some hours from home. In April, he will be taking a humanities course (Medicine and Religion) that will meet for about 4 hours each day. The grandmas and two friends will be helping us with the childcare in April. In May, Casey graduates!!! I will probably quit my job at the end of May and we will move at the beginning of June. I'm so glad that he will be home so much during these first months. I think it will be good for me to have him share the baby duties with me and also good for him and the baby to bond -- especially since his time will be very limited next year during his first year of residency. We'll find out on March 18 where we will be moving for residency. That's another date we are anxiously waiting for.

Well, I hope that my next mass mailing will be to announce my baby!

Subject: Labor Details
Date: Mon Feb 9, 2004

Yes, the rumor is true, my labor was only 3 hours long. I took castor oil (natural induction method) to encourage things along since my due date had passed already. I took the castor oil before dinner on Tuesday night. That evening I had some Braxton-Hicks contractions (the "fake" contractions that go away with movement and are irregular and not painful). Then we went to bed. I didn't sleep and around 1:00 I felt some contractions that were definately not like the ones before. So I got up and walked around to see if they continued and also started timing them. Once I decided that they were regular and increasing in strength, I woke up Casey (~1:30 am) and he helped me time the contractions. At that time, the contractions were coming about 8 minutes apart. At 2:00 Casey "checked" me and said I was about 3 cm dilated (benefits of having a doctor in the house) Generally, you go to the hospital when contractions are about 5 minutes apart and about 5 cm dilated. But by 2:30, contractions were extremely severe and coming 3 minutes apart. So Casey called the hospital to let them know. He was on the phone for about 20 minutes, repeating all the info to 3 different people and being on hold. Meanwhile, I wake up my mother and we start getting ready (luckily we put the bags by the door before bed in hopes that that would encourage labor also) and I'm also suffering severe contractions. While he is on the phone, my water breaks with a gush! I checked my fluid and it was full of meconium (the baby passed his first bowel movement in the womb, not a good thing) So I rinse off and we rush to the car. As Casey pulls up to the hospital, I'm in the middle of another contraction with the urge to push, this is about 3:00. Casey says you don't get the urge to push unless you absolutely ready, so he knew this was happening soon. Mom and I went to the Labor and Delivery while Casey parked the car and ran as fast as he could back to the hospital. I got to the nurse's station and gave the nurse my name. She took me into the examination room for an inital check. She asked if I could give her a urine sample and I said no. She watched me breathing through a contraction and said "Let's skip the examination and just put you in a delivery room" In the delivery room, I asked the nurse if it was too late for an epidural. The doctor checked me and I was 10 cm dilated (10 is the goal!) so yeah, too late. But the pushing phase isn't as bad as the 8-10 cm phase, so the worst was already over. Once they got me hooked up to the monitors and my IV in, they let me start pushing (finally, thank goodness). The rapid labor probably contributed to the bad tear because my body didn't have enough time to gradually stretch out. I don't know how many pushes, but they did have to use a vaccuum (I had no idea until the next day when Jaimey said something, I had my eyes closed through all the pushing.) When the head was out, I reached down and touched his head. They rushed the delivery (cutting and vaccuum) because of the meconium and the heart rate was dropping a little. He also had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, but not very tightly. There was a team of neo-natal specialists to take him as soon as he came out, so I didn't get to hold him right away. I was prepared for this because I knew that's what they do with all meconium babies. So the team worked on him and I watched from my bed and Casey would go back and forth and tell me what they were doing. For the labor, Casey, my mom and my friend Jaimey were there. (Jaimey will be an OB/GYN resident next year.) They all helped me with my breathing and telling me to push and encouraging me. My mom almost passed out and had to leave briefly to drink some OJ. I didn't really notice until someone said something about getting my mother before the baby came out so that she wouldn't miss the delivery.

Coulson was breathing okay but had a slight grunt, so the pediatrician took him to the neo-natal ICU for longer observation. I did get to hold him for about 15 minutes before they took him to the ICU. After they finished up with me in the labor room (about 2 hours after delivery) Casey and I went up to the ICU to see my baby. He was just fine and I got to try to feed him. He later joined me in my recovery room (after I got a chance to sleep a little).

So there are all the wonderful details. A very unusual labor for sure.

Big Coulson says he has never called anyone else Coulson before, so he's not sure what it will feel like to have another Coulson around. I'm still getting used to it myself. My dad is coming up this weekend to see the baby.

I'm sure I'll write more later about little Coulson and motherhood.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY PRECIOUS BABY!!!!

H1N1

So yes, Coulson has the flu. It came quite suddenly - On Friday night around 11pm, I went in to check on the boys before bed as I always do (there's just something about watching them sleep, all the craziness from the day transformed into absolute peace). Both boys were sleeping fine and I didn't notice any warmth when I gently kissed their forehead. At midnight, Coulson woke up crying. Casey went to check on him and came back asking for the Tylenol because he had a fever. "I was just there an hour ago, he was fine." "Well, he's burning up now. Most likely the flu." (Although the general population likes to distinguish between the 2 different flus, the medical professionals are quite adamant that the seasonal flu has not yet hit, therefore all current cases of the flu are in fact H1N1.)

Coulson had pretty high fevers off and on Saturday and the occasional upset stomach. Even under normal circumstances (ie not pregnant) I have a very sensitive gag reflex when it comes to vomit. Once, when he was a puppy, Chester threw up in the living room when Casey wasn't home. I couldn't handle it, so I laid some paper towels over the mess, retreated back to the bedroom and just waited a couple hours for Casey to come home. When I was pregnant with Charlie, I was nauseous most of the first trimester, but didn't really throw up. Until Coulson got a stomach bug. I never caught the bug myself, but everytime Coulson threw up in the toilet, I was next to him throwing up in the sink. Charlie has inherited this reflex, but I'll spare you those examples. So on Saturday when Casey was away at work and Coulson's upset stomach first hit, I saw visions of horrible chain reactions plaguing our morning. Thankfully, so thankfully, Coulson mostly made it to the bathroom and the small amount that didn't wasn't too offensive and I could take care of it completely while holding my breath. The next time the tummy troubles hit, there was a bowl available and my husband was home to empty it. I would have totally lost it if I had to deal with the bowl myself.

Sunday (today) was much better. His fever went down a lot and eventually went away later this afternoon. All day long, he refused to take any medicine. After dinner, he proudly announced that he hadn't had any medicine all day. (I found this behavior odd, since I had never really noted a quality of stoicism in Coulson before.) When I told him that he wouldn't be able to go to school tomorrow, he said, "I know that. I can't go to school for a full day after my fever goes away without any medicine." "Is that way you didn't want to take any medicine today?" "Yes" he replied. My son, the nerd, being strong in the face of the swine flu just so he can go back to school. I love that kid!

Now, we're just waiting for Charlie get hot...

(And don't worry about me. Since I'm pregnant, I'm a candidate for Tamiflu, the highly coveted anti-flu medicine. Casey is jealous that I get to take the meds and he has to suffer the potential consequences of this exposure.)

P.S. Real Time Update - Coulson just now woke up with a very bad headache and he still refuses to take any medicine!

First day of kindergarten!

Yep, today was Coulson's first day of kindergarten. Since my boys don't sleep in, we didn't have any early morning-drag-a-sleepy-kid-out-bed-grumpiness that most of my friends were dreading. His natural wake-up time will be perfect to catch the bus on time. We tried to make this morning special for him. I got up and made his favorite breakfast - Swedish pancakes. (My childhood friends probably remember these from our sleepovers, it's my mom's specialty. For those who don't know, they're kinda like crepes.) Making breakfast is always special because we usually eat Cheerios for breakfast 30 days a month. And of course Casey took the obligatory pictures. Look at those gleaming white shoes! What kind of a mother buys gleaming white shoes for her 5 year old?? Silly lady.

Posing with his new lightsaber. Have I ever mentioned that he likes Star Wars?
Anyway, then we were off to meet the bus. My plan was to wait for the bus so we could say Hi to the bus driver, but then I was going to drive him to school myself for the first day. So we waited where the other kids in the neighborhood usually wait, but Coulson goes to a different school than the other kids, so his stop is at a different time. And apparently at a different place. The info on our sheet just named an intersection as the bus stop, but an intersection has 4 corners, and we didn't know from which direction the bus would be coming. We chose wrong. The bus stopped on the complete opposite corner from us, waited for 3 seconds, and then drove off, even though we were walking towards it at the time. So the bus system is not very forgiving, not even on the first day.

So I drove him to school and took him to his classroom. The teacher told the kids to come in and sit on the carpet and look through some books that she had available and Coulson followed directions very well. He was so busy looking through his book when I hugged him good-bye, that I don't know if he realized I was saying good-bye. Afterwards I started thinking that I should have been more clear that I was leaving so he wouldn't look up a few minutes later and wonder where I was. But I reminded myself that he's not two years old and looking up to find his Mommy gone isn't going to ruin his whole day.

Charlie and I made chocolate chip cookies for Coulson to have when he gets home from school, yummy. Soon, Charlie and I will head outside to wait for him at the bus stop. The correct bus stop this time. For K and 1st grade, there must be a parent or adult to meet them at the bus stop or else they won't drop off the kid, so I'm planning to be there early, in case the bus driver is impatient again.


P.S. UPDATE - Coulson had a good day at school. I started to get worried since his bus was pretty late, and I had arrived at the bus stop early to make sure I didn't miss it, so I was waiting for a while. I think he may still be overwhelmed by everything new, but overall he had a positive experience. He even made a friend and actually remembered his name. Most of the time when he makes a new friend, he doesn't know his name.

Father and Son Camping

Casey and Coulson are doing some father-son bonding this weekend. (Which means that Charlie and I are doing some mother-son bonding - sharing Reeses Peanut Butter cups and going to Chuck E. Cheese!)

So they are tent camping in the woods. Both of them have been preparing and looking forward to this for weeks. Setting up a time for Casey to go camping can be tricky with his schedule. Usually when he has 2 days off in a row, he'll work until midnight or later the night before his break, and then have to work first thing in the morning when he gets back, which makes for a very cramped "weekend." So when he can fit a camping trip in his schedule, that's a big deal. That's why I was bummed when I looked at the forecast for campsite for the next 3 days - chance of rain : 80% today, 50% tomorrow and 30% Sunday. Casey is determined to make the best of it, but Coulson's attitude can make it or break it. I'm hoping they'll have a good time no matter what.

I don't think that Casey has good cell phone coverage, not because he hasn't called me yet, but because he hasn't posted any facebook updates.

Anyway, just because it fits so well, here's a link to the latest post on Stuff White People Like
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2009/08/14/128-camping/

And the vacation takes a turn (well, a spin) for the worse...

So far for the first 2 days, the weather has been pretty nice, actually, mostly perfect. Casey is attending a conference for the first few days that we are here and yesterday he was busy with workshops and tests to keep his board certification current. But the boys and I had a great time on the beach and at the waterpark that is part of the hotel complex where we are staying. Coulson used to have an aversion to water, especially water in the face, so our experience at the beach has been somewhat ambivalent. He likes the idea of the beach and he gets excited and knows it's supposed to be a fun thing, but in reality, he never really liked the unpredictibility of the ocean and he quickly got bored with playing in the sand unless he had a friend to play with him. But he's been making great progress in the water in the past few months and enjoys getting his face wet (when wearing goggles).

So now, at the beach yesterday, he was like an entirely different kid - he ran into the ocean and jumped with the waves, wading in waist deep by himself. He got completely knocked over by waves 3 times. 3 times! That means he went back into the ocean again after he got knocked over - the old Coulson would have given up after the first wipe out and not gotten back into the water. And at the waterpark, he got completely wet and we played with the spashing water., but I still couldn't get him to go down the water slide. (By the way, Charlie is also fully enjoying himself and doing well in the water.)

And of course, as the kids are having a blast in the water and Casey finally gets finished with his work stuff for the day and is putting on his swim trunks - it thunders. So Casey didn't get to enjoy all the fun. But this morning he skipped his meetings and did get to enjoy the boys on the beach and Coulson even asked if we could get a boogie board.

But tragedy befell our family vacation when we went inside for lunch. A tragedy that will change the course of our vacation and put a damper on all the great progress Coulson has made in the water. In the living room area of our hotel condo, there is a chair that spins. Right next to a coffee table. Need I say more.

If you're going to get a gash in your head while on vacation, at least do it when there are 50 emergency physicians at a conference on the first floor of your hotel. For some cuts, instead of stitches, doctors can use a special glue called DermaBond to close the wound. It's pretty handy stuff and ER docs who have been lucky enough to get their hands on a spare vial like to keep them in their first aid kits. Casey has already had occasion to use some twice - once for my niece's forehead and once for Coulson's chin. But of course we didn't bring any. So Casey went downstairs to the conference and they made an announcement during lunch asking if anyone had some DermaBond. Success! So Casey patched him up.

But here's the fatal flaw - He's not supposed to get it wet for a week! And we can't put sunscreen on it! Hmm, no water and no sun. And when we vacation at the beach, that's what we do - maybe a game or two of mini-golf, but other than that, we don't spend a lot of time at the touristy attractions or shopping, so we are re-strategizing our vacation plans. Casey is thinking that maybe after 3 days he could get it wet...(Just don't tell anyone that we aren't following doctor's orders....)

Overheard

Coulson is playing legos in the other room and he keeps repeating the phrase, "Pahk the cah in Hahvahd yahd." (I don't know where he picked that up, I'll have to ask Casey.) But the funny part is when he tries to say the phrase correctly: "Park the car in Hahvahd yard."

And oh yeah, I just finished my second triathlon this morning. I'll try to blog about it later, but in case I never get around to it, I thought I'd go ahead and mention it now. I haven't seen the official results yet, but I'm pretty sure I did better than last fall.

Half a decade...

So Coulson turned 5 a little over a week ago.  It's so cliche to say that I can't believe he's that old already, but it's true.  As you can tell from all the goofy expressions in the photos, he's an amusing kid with typical 5-year-old silliness all over.

I don't have any superheroes flying around the house these days; currently I am protected by the watchful eye of a Jedi Knight.  Jedi Luke Skywalker to be precise.  Everyday.  I got him a black hooded sweatshirt and black pants so he could dress up as Luke (circa Episode VI: Return of the Jedi) during playtime, but that wasn't enough.  Every single morning he wants to dress like Luke.  When his black clothes were dirty, he would ask of every outfit we picked out, "Is this what Luke Skywalker wears?" 

Jedi Jump

At first I looked for orange and told him that it was like Luke's orange flightsuit, but he wasn't too impressed with his flight suit because there is no light saber involved.  Then I progressed to "earth tones" because it was like something Luke might wear on Tatooine (Episode IV).  And now it's anything comfortable, "because Luke has to wear something comfortable when he's Jedi fighting and this is comfortable, so yes, Luke would totally wear this."  After some persistence on my part, he's finally accepted that almost everything in his closet is something that Luke would wear.  Now he wants to know which color light saber goes with each outfit.  Apparently Luke has a blueish-white light saber in the earlier movies, and a green one later, when he wears the black outfit.  Our big birthday gift to him was a homemade Jedi cape to wear that we are quite proud of - crafted from a real pattern (Butterick B4319) and sewn on my own sewing machine.  I'm not a sewer, so it's a pretty big deal for me.

He had a dinosaur birthday party and everyone had a great time.  The kids made dinosaur masks and then we went on a dinosaur "imagination adventure" (kinda like the animal safari from last year's birthday party) where we went back in time and looked for inflatable dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs in our backyard.  The dinosaur eggs, one of the party favors that each child took home, contained a 3-D dinosaur puzzle which turned out to be a mental exercise that challenged the adults for hours, so now I have to apologize to all the parents for sending such a horrible brain teaser home.  Many of the moms have super-glued the puzzle together so that their children never, ever take them apart again.

Coulson is enjoying getting older and being able to take care of other little ones.  He's the oldest child in our small group from church and he likes his position of helper.  There are two other boys Charlie's age and one a little younger and Coulson especially likes the younger one.  He watches over him at the playground, keeping him away from the edges, directing him to the safer slides and holding his hand on the bouncy bridge.  It's very sweet to see him so caring to a younger child.

Because he's not with his own brother.  A while ago, someone asked me if the boys got along and I absent-mindedly answered "most of the time."  I reflected on that answer later as the boys were screaming at each other and realized I totally lied.  They didn't get along at all.  Charlie is old enough to know how to push Coulson's buttons and Coulson knows how to really get Charlie worked up, so they pretty much pick at each other all day long.  Many many many time outs and confiscated toys later, they continued to be at each others' throats.  But recently I got smart and told them they couldn't watch any TV until they played together nicely.  Miraculous transformation from both of them!  So now sometimes I do find them getting along.  Charlie has started to get into pretend playing, so he can play along with Coulson now.  Usually Coulson tells him what to do or who to be and Charlie goes along with it.  It's a lot of fun watching them become playmates.  And then they watch TV.

He's getting a little bit better about playing on his own, although he still strongly prefers to play with someone else.  Friends are always super important to him and he's learning to branch out and make new friends.  He notices the oddest details about things and asks an amazing amount of questions.  He's starting to get interested in reading and he's learning bits here and there, but he doesn't quite have the attention span to sit down for a short lesson.  He loves books and will drop anything if I want to read to him.  He also loves to hear stories and sometimes will tell some of his own stories.  Unfortunately for my readers, he tells his most interesting stories when I can't record them, like when I'm driving in the car, and when I sit down with him to type up a story, they are still amusing (to me, at least), but lack some of the spontaneity of his original tales.  But he is very creative with his words and I look forward to seeing that develop as he gets older. 

Yeah, I think five is going to be a good age.

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The depths of my love

When I was pregnant with Coulson a little over 5 years ago, I fell in love with the cake served at one of my baby showers.  It's the sheet cake from Costco. It's huge, serves 44, comes with a mousse filling and it's only $15!  For that price at the grocery store, you can get a cake half the size with no filling and it's not as delicious.  Oddly for a life-long chocoholic, my love of Costco cake is limited to the white cake with white buttercream frosting.  Chocolate cake just isn't as exciting.

If you've ever been to one of my kids birthday parties, you've enjoyed this cake (except for their first birthdays, we made our own cake for those special days).  In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if subconciously the main reason that I enjoy throwing birthday parties for my boys is so I can get this cake.  And all the extra cake from these parties is not a problem because the Costco cake freezes beautifully!  We freeze it in smaller chunks so we only have to thaw out a few servings at a time (yes, this is a well thought-out process for us.)

Well, Coulson's birthday party is Saturday and now he's old enough to have an opinion about things like cake.  We were at Costco and I was asking him what decoration he wanted on his cake when he suddenly stated, "I want chocolate." 

"Chocolate filling?  Okay."

"No. Chocolate cake.  With chocolate icing."

At this point, I was about to state my usual, "Well, that's not a decision you get to make, that's a grown-up decision and you have to live with whatever I decide."  But I realized that it was his birthday and he probably should get to decide.  But I was the one doing all the work for the party, this cake is my payoff, said the little voice in my head. 

Well, my maternal love won, so Coulson, when you eat your chocolate cake on Saturday, just know how much I love you and remember the sacrifices I've made for you! 

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Star Wars

Another installment from the writing desk of Coulson, almost 5.  I bet you can guess what he's been watching lately... Casey could write a blog about that experience. 

 

Episode 1 - The Emperor Strikes Back

Luke Skywalker and R2D2 and C3PO were going to a mission to blow the Death Star up.  But the Emperor was sneaking off it.  But Luke Skywalker was faster.  He was running but there was a forest ahead and there was too many trees.  But the Emperor was slowing down.  He was getting tired.  Cause a house blocked him and he was getting tired of trying to run through it.  The End.

 

Episode 2 - The Jedi Returns

Luke Skywalker was back on his way to Yoda's planet Dagobah to have his last bit of training, but he left before soon, but the Empire was in charge of that planet too and they wanted Luke Skywalker to get off but Luke did not do it.  But they couldn't make their things on every planet because Luke used the Force to reach them with his light saber so he could cut the wire.  The End.

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Where's the gymatorium?

Registration for kindergarten is in the next couple months and our school district gives parents some choice in the school their child attends.  They can choose the local school, or they can choose from 4 other schools in their "zone" and there are a few magnet schools in the system that are available by lottery. 

Casey and I visited one of the schools today and it was so cute to be in an elementary school again with all the miniature desks and chairs.  In the bathroom, the sink was mounted short and there were signs everywhere reminding me to flush, to use a small amount of soap and to only crank the paper towel dispenser 3 times. 

The kids were great.  They have a "zero talk" policy in the hallway for the kids, so when we passed a group waiting in line for the bathroom, they were completely silent.  (Yeah, I'd love to see Coulson do that!)  Even when the principal asked them questions, they didn't answer!  In one class, the kids were all wearing their pjs.  They did something good, or completed a goal or something like that and for their reward they chose to have a pj day!

It was fun to tour the school and get an idea about what elementary school is like.  I think Coulson will like school, once he gets used to the longer days and that whole foreign concept of "sitting still" that he keeps hearing about.  He loves to be around other kids (once he knows them), he does well in a structured environment, and he does like to learn knew things. 

We liked the school today, but we have a couple more on our list to visit.  Can you believe that I'm looking at elementary schools already??!!!!  My little boy is growing up so fast I mean, not fast enough, I mean, too fast.  (The end of this sentence changes many times throughout the day, but since he's sleeping so innocently and peacefully upstairs right now, I'll probably stick with "too fast" for the next few hours.)

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Conversations with Coulson

Why don't the people living on the bottom of the world feel Jesus or God holding them?

*******

What if instead of watering plants, we poured milk on them?  And then we watered the cows!

********

Coulson: Did it ever rain Bibles?

Me: No.

Coulson: Then how did the people know what to write?

********

 

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Introducing the Adventures of Rice Pudding Man

And now for what will hopefully become a recurring installment on my blog....

The Adventures of Rice Pudding Man

 

Rice Pudding Man

Episode 1: The Bad X-orater

By Coulson Glass  age almost 5

Rice Pudding Man was going shopping when Bad X came along and was stealing from the grocery store.  Rice Pudding Man used his sticky power to stick him to one of the shelves.

 

Episode 2: The Bad Monster of City Quiet

By Coulson Glass

One day Super Rice Pudding Man was fighting Bad X when he sent out one of his bad monsters and it was called...Jambalya.  So the monster was gonna go underground but Rice Pudding Man stuck him to one of his rice puddings.  And then the monster got stuck underground.

 

The End

 

I don't know where he got the idea of "rice pudding."  It's not something I've ever eaten.

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