Her Barque's as Bad as Her Bite

As I write, the kids are playing in their rocket ships, which at the moment are "actually just normal ships." A kids blood-pressure cuff (from the doctor kit) is functioning as an anchor on Cody's. He says to her: "Cordelia, I have an anchor on my ship. You do not have an anchor on your ship."

She replies, "Yes I do! I do too have anger! I HAVE ANGER TOO!"

It's been that kind of day.

Peg O' My Heart

On Monday, we went with a group of moms and kids from our church to visit some "really kind ladies and gentleman who are grannies and pop-pops!' at the senior center. We brought them flowers made of cut-out handprints and pipe cleaners. Cody and Cordelia took a particular shine to this lady.

She answered all their questions about her walker, and let them try it out (they loved the brake feature). She told them about her cats, and learned all about their surf stances. On the way out, I said to them, "You seemed to have a really wonderful time chatting with that kind woman!" Cody said, "Oh yes. We really liked her a lot. Mostly because her name is Peggy. Like our Granny!"

O Captain, My Captain!

Pants Are Overrated

In his rush to get outside to say hi to Mr. Eddie, Cody kind of forgot something. 

Perspective is Everything

This afternoon I had to run into the bank, and by the time I was done with my transaction Cody and Cordelia had cozied up to Miss Angie, the bank manager, and had each already received four stickers. ("Oh my God!" she said, "They have such amazing manners!" I tried to just thank her and not tell her about the part mere hours earlier where he punched her.) Anyway, she asked me when I was due and Cody turned to me and looked utterly amazed.

"Mom! When did you tell Miss Angie? How did she know about Peanut?"

I replied, "Well, sweetie, she can just tell."

CJP: "How? How can she tell?"
Me, uncomfortably: "Well, honey, she can tell by looking at me. It's kind of obvious there is a baby in there. I look really different now than I usually do."
CJP: "Oh no, Mom, you don't look different at all! You look just like normal."
Me, gratefully: "Thanks, little man. I'm going to need you to keep telling me that."
CJP (remember, we are still in the lobby of the bank): "Mom? I don't really understand how Miss Angie knew. But how did you know?"
Me: "How did I know what, honey?"
CJP: "How did you know that there was a baby inside you?"
Me: "Oh, well, that's kind of a complicated answer. We should probably head home!"
CJP: "Mom, did you just listen to your body?"
Me: "Something like that. Yes. Something exactly like that."

J. Nye, the Science Guy!

On Thursdays, I work from home. We often don't have a sitter so this means I go to work at my normal time (6 am) and JVL takes them for the morning, we switch out at lunch, he goes to work, and I finish my hours during naptime and in the evening. Working from home doesn't really work, though, what with the kids. So I have a cozy little office at the back of our local Starbucks, where all the baristas take good care of me and let me stay as long as I want. It's quite lovely. Many weeks, halfway through the morning, I hear little feet running toward me and then, "MOMMY! We came to surprise you! Can we have some chocolate milk? And a scone? We are on our way to..." It's a wonderful lift.

This past week, Cody said, "We're just going to pick up some stuff at the market but don't worry about it, and we'll probably just use it outside, but don't worry about it!" I looked up at JVL, who was making an effort to look at me with a straight face, and decided there are some things mothers don't need to know. 

Here's what I came home to (you can see the video in JVL's post below). It was absolutely adorable. Though, not outside. 

He's blinded me--with science!

I Love You, Too

Rolling in the Deep

Because of Cody's wound, he couldn't go back on the beach. So on Saturday we took the kids to the surprisingly great NC Aquarium. The biggest hit: The giant tank with both sharks and sea turtles.

Great Moments from Emerald Isle 2012

Some highlights!

Ice cream at Ben & Jerry's on Mommy/Cody date night. Whereupon he discovered the joys of rainbow sherbert. He liked it, can you tell?

 Playing together at sunset.

 Cody at sunrise.

 Surfing with Pop Pop. 

Just one of many moments of Cordelia's relentless beach snacking.

 Below, some shots from our trip to the aquarium (Saturday's activity, since the beach was out for Cody).

 A huge sand sculpture featuring...penguins!

 Cody went straight for the Tippy sculpture.

 Tippys and sharks and fish...oh my!

The "Board Room" at AB Surf Shop in Atlantic Beach.

Homemade chocolate pudding on the deck.

From the Green Room to the Trauma Room

We're back! Though this year I won't have the photo shoot beach pictures...because due to unforeseen circumstances, we weren't able to get back onto the beach after Friday morning. But, for the first time in three years, not because we were evacuated because of a hurricane. 

What happened was this: Friday morning, Cody and I went for our sunrise walk and collected a giant bucket of shells for show-and-tell. We had a fantastic morning at the beach, with lots of surfing. The kids learned all sorts of surf terms from JVL, and were running around saying things I didn't totally understand, like, "It's tube time!" and "Reservation for three in the Green Room, please!" 

They took a (brief, sadly) nap and then we were just about to get ready to sunscreen up and go back to the beach. I was getting a snack for Cordelia when Cody ran out onto the deck to check to see if his shells were dry. In bare feet.

A second later we heard a bloodcurdling scream. Cody had gotten a giant--giant--splinter from the deck lodged deep into his heel. It was about an inch long and spanned his heel. We did the best we could to calm him, though it was clearly painful, and tried to get it out with tweezers after soaking it in warm water. (Cordelia barely made a sound during all of this--as soon as she saw this was a serious situation she ran upstairs and came down carrying Bidi, Otter, and Tippy, and then just sat next to him in solidarity while he screamed and thrashed.) It was terrible, and pointless--the wood was so soft that it kept breaking off every time I managed to grasp it. I couldn't make much progress, and was worried about it getting infected. So off to the Urgent Care we went.

This was not a popular decision.

When we arrived, Cody burst into tears (again) and said to the nurse taking his paperwork, "My name is Cody and I have a giant splinter and I am really scared and nervous and will you please be so gentle?!?!" She soaked his foot in betadyne and we awaited the doctor--who, fortunately, happened to be a pediatrician. The entire, agonizingly long time that we waited, Cordelia sat on a little stool next to him, holding a sticker for when everything was over.

When the doctor looked at it, he looked pained, and said we needed to decide what to do. We could take care of it the long, painful way (sitting there for an hour or so with tweezers and a screaming child) or the short, really painful way (getting an injection of lidocaine deep into his heel to numb it, then prying it out).

Needless to say, Cody's first choice was "I don't want to do anything! I want to leave it there and just soak my foot!" The doctor wisely left. We had a long talk with him about pros and cons, and tried not to whitewash the part where the shot--though shorter--would be intensely painful. But that it was his decision. He chose the shot. It was, so far, the worst thing I've been through as a parent. My mom brought a reluctant Cordelia to the waiting room and Cody had to lie on his stomach while JVL held his legs down and I held the rest of him. I've never heard such screaming--and having had such a shot in the exact same place when I was about 10 (the pain of which was much, much worse than childbirth)--it just about killed me to hold him. It took longer than expected because it was in such a tough place and he had to go so deep in. Finally, we were able to tell him the worst was over and he wouldn't feel anything anymore. He said, "That was longer than a few seconds!" Dr. Perry apologized and said he knew, and was so sorry, because it was just so difficult to get it in. Cody stifled a sob and then said, "I forgive you. Thank you for taking good care of me. I will just lie here while Mommy talks to me now and then we will throw the splinter away." 

He is the sweetest child in the world. After it was all over, and the wound was dressed, he hugged and thanked the doctor again, then hugged and thanked all the nurses (by name) "for being so kind and for taking such good care of me even though it really, really hurt."

By then it was after 5:00. We went straight to Ben & Jerry's. Cody's head nearly exploded. We all celebrated his extreme bravery and incredible manners under such duress. Then, I took him to the toy store to buy a snake he had seen days earlier and had been longing for ever since. (At the time I demurred.) When he realized we were headed in, he hugged me and said, "Oh Mommy. I am so happy we are going to get a snake because I was so brave! But I think we need to choose something for Cordelia too, so she will not feel left out, and because she did such a great job supporting me." At which point I burst into tears a little bit. He chose a puppy and a little purse (for the puppy to ride in) for her. We paid for the snake and he told the owner the whole story of why he got the snake and said, "Isn't my mom so kind to get this lovely snake for me?"

The owner, a little stunned by this whole encounter, asked what he thought he should name the snake. He didn't really hesitate. 

"I will name her Shannon. After my mom."



All's well that ends well, though none of us are likely to forget it. And Cody chose to keep the half-splinter that survived the surgery, preserved in a tiny plastic jar of some sort of chemical. He says that when he is ready, he will take it out one morning and fling it in the back of the garbage truck and say, "Now you are gone forever, Mr. Splinter, and you can't hurt me again! You are not welcome in my foot anymore!"

The Name Game

After this came the really serious discussion of names. Cody settled on a real winner: Gnarley Dude Tubular Last. He thinks it's a perfectly good name for a girl or a boy.

Has a nice ring to it...?

Pool on the Beach

Morning in the Dunes

Sunrise Walk #5

Emerald Isle...The Adventure Begins

Here we are at the beach -- yay! The photos aren't great, but we don't really want to bring the big camera out to the dunes quite yet. We're staying in a house this time, the most interesting feature of which is the fact that "there is a bench...in the shower, Mom!"

The surfin' safari started right away, and hasn't let up since. : ) Too busy to narrate much so I'll just let (all three of) you enjoy!

 Above, Cody is teaching her how to do "Gnarley, dude!" Below, practicing "my STANCE!"

And at the end of a long, tiring, happy day, Cody walked his sister back over the dunes. 

Cody and I have been taking sunrise walks each day. The self-portrait's not so good but the walks are. : )