The One About the First Soccer Practice

    Gavin had his first soccer practice today.  He is playing with the Elgin club.  He really enjoyed it, although he wanted so badly to hold the ball and punt it like a football.  He loves punting.  It's fun for him to get to know some of the Elgin kids.  They are grouping the preschool and kindergarteners together, and there are only a few in kindergarten playing.  So he is one of the oldest, and definitely the tallest.

   I'll just share some recent pictures we have taken of Callum, pre-haircut.  I am waiting to get his new pictures back from Michael's Photography that we had taken last week.  We did some of the same poses that the other boys had done around this age, so we can have a matching collage.  He was so good during pictures.  All Michael had to do was look at him, and he gave him a huge grin.  With the other boys, I remember dancing around behind Michael and singing to get get them to smile.  Callum is so easygoing and happy!

This next one is post-haircut.

   Callum has started reduplicated babbling, "Dadadadada."  He went to his first bridal shower yesterday, and was the entertainment of the afternoon.  When the bride opened up a musical card, he put both arms up and sang, "da da..........."  It was hilarious!  Ernie and the boys, and now some of the women at the shower strongly believe he says, "Hi!", but I am not buying it.
    Asher is pretty much back to normal after his surgery, other than he continues to have a higher-pitched Mickey Mouse voice, which I have read is normal 6-8 weeks after surgery.  It's juts so different, because his voice was so low beforehand.  Now we have to get through my Mom's surgery this next week, and then my gallbladder surgery on the 24th.  I will be glad when the month of April is over.

The One About the Easter Tonsillectomy

   Catchy title, huh?  When the doctor first gave us the date of March 28th for Asher's surgery, I thought it would be perfect because I would be off work for an entire week, because of how Easter break falls with my working days.  I didn't think about how it would completely ruin our Easter.  :)  Oh well, the surgery needed to be done.
    Asher did very well during the surgery.  The doctor said his tonsils and adenoids were huge, and she sucked out a lot of thick goo from his middle ear space.  She said he had to have been pretty uncomfortable with all the goo.  I remember they told us that when he got his first set of tubes as a baby.  Poor kiddo!  Hopefully he is old enough now to get through the next year to 18 months with the tubes in place without the goo coming back, and now with the added benefit of now tonsils or adenoids, which can help with ear infections.  Waking up from the anesthesia was hard on him.  He had an IV, and absolutely hated that.  He kept trying to rip it out, so we had to hold his arms down.  It was awful...I felt so bad for him.  Through his tears, he was telling the nurses, "Take it out!"   Once they got him drinking juice and were able to take the IV out, he was fine.  He fell asleep for a long time, and then did okay on the ride home.  He has had his ups and downs since we have been home.  Mornings are worse, which the doctor said is normal because the throat dries out so much at night.  He isn't eating, which is fine, but he also hasn't been drinking as much as I would like.  They want us to offer him a drink every 30 minutes to keep the throat moist, but he isn't interested.  Even popsicles aren't working, which surprised me.  So now I am watching him like a hawk for symptoms of dehydration.  He definitely isn't his normal self.  He is very quiet and inactive.  When Gavin makes loud noises, it bothers him.  Which just confirms that he was hearing everything muffled before and now hearing things as they are is very loud.  That could also be why he always talked so loudly...maybe I will finally get him to use an "inside voice."  He will have another hearing eval at the follow-up appt in a week, so we'll know for sure if that has improved.
    So basically we have just been hanging out at home since Thursday.  Because the weather was so nice, we did go outside and play.  Ewing had their Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, but Asher wasn't up for it.  I thought he would still want to go, but he told me he wanted to stay home.  So Ernie took Gavin to it.  We didn't go anywhere on Easter, but the boys did hunt eggs at the house Easter morning.

The One About the Sitting Baby and the First Tooth

    I would say Callum is officially sitting on his own.  He has been sitting for awhile, but wasn't very steady.  Now he does very well, and sits straight up.  Overnight, Callum's first tooth finally popped through.  It was a rough night for him, so I was thankful he had something to show for it.

 
    On Saturday, I took the boys up to Atkinson to try out a photographer who was offering spring mini- sessions (which is funny since we drove up there on icy roads in blowing snow).  The older boys were not very cooperative, so we only had about two pictures that turned out good.  Oh well, I guess less money I will spend ordering pictures.  She should have them on facebook in a few days.
   This is going to be a crazy week for us.  I had to switch my work week because Asher is having his tonsils and adnenoids removed on Thursday morning.  He is also getting tubes put back in his ears.  I got his medical history to take to the new ENT we are seeing in Norfolk, and was shocked when I counted how many antibiotics this kid has been on in his 3 1/2 years.  Callum has had 2 ear infections already in his 6 months, so I am expecting to be visiting the ENT again in the future.  My poor kids are cursed with ear infections.  We are hoping that the tonsils coming out might improve Asher's sleeping, because that has not improved with age.  Because of the surgery, we are staying home on Easter.  The Easter baskets will be filled with pudding and yogurt, not candy.  I won't have to go back to work until the following Thursday because of Easter break, so hopefully after a week Asher will be back to normal.  We are a bit concerned, because the doctor says no rough play for 2 weeks.....how in the heck are we going to control that?

The One About the Figurine

     Gavin and I were in Mindy's Gazebo today.  As we were looking at all the home decor, I heard him say, "Hey, that looks like Asher and me."  I looked over, and he was right.  There was this awesome figurine of two brothers fishing.  I smiled, and walked away, but just couldn't get it out of my mind.  It really did resemble the boys, particularly Asher.  So we walked back over to it, and as soon as I read the bottom of it I knew we were taking it home with us.  It's just too bad there wasn't a 3rd brother.

Mama Says.....Take Care of Your Brother. 

Mama smiles....for her young angler loves to follow in the wake of his older brother.  Mama prays.....that no matter what life casts their way, her sons will count on each other.   

See Romans 12:10

The sculpture is based on "Mom Won't Mind," a painting portraying brothers Jamie and David, fishing buddies of the artist.

It also reminded me of a book that we have that I love reading to the boys, about two brothers and their mama fishing.  Each boy asks their Mama who she loves best.  In that book there is also a dark-haired boy and a blonde boy with shaggy hair.  I also love that the boys call her "Mama", not "Mommy."  Asher always calls me "Mama."  I also love that in the book the little dark-haired boy is more introspective and calm, while the blonde boy is wild and crazy...like Gavin & Asher.

The One About a Haircut and Puppet Show

      First, here are some pictures that I took of Callum and Asher last week during one of our afternoons home.  I am home with the boys Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and I LOVE my days at home with them.  Not that I don't miss Gavin, but it is so peaceful without him.  Asher and Gavin are fighting a lot lately, and it drives us crazy.  It doesn't ever matter which child is not without you, but whenever you are down one it sure seems to be a lot less hectic.  

I love my big brother!!

I better enjoy the days I can still dress Callum up cute, because I am sure he will soon run around shirtless like the other two.  

Callum went for his first real haircut last week.  He had a slight trim before, but this was a full head cut.  Sue just took some length off his spike since it was starting to curl back and get a little out of control.

   

    One night when Asher was supposed to be falling asleep, he walked out into the living room with a guilty look on his face.  He held out his hand, and I saw olive green.  No, not poop.  :)  He had peeled one of the letters from his wall decal off.  Oh, Mama was mad!!!!!  

   I told him "Well I guess since you tore the /r/ off, your name isn't Asher anymore.  We are going to have to call you Ash-ee.  Wow...that kind of sounds like Ashley."  Perfect thing to say, because he was upset.  He kept yelling, "I am still Asher Hayes Whiting!!"  I still haven't done anything to fix the decal.  I ordered it off of Etsy.  He had crumpled the pieces up so there was no way to piece it back together.  Darn kid!!  I am still mad just thinking about it.

   On Friday night Sue Burtwistle came over with her husband, daughter, and grandchildren.  Her daughter, Brynn, is building onto her house and wanted to see ours for ideas.  The boys were so excited that Sue was coming over to visit them.  Before she got there, Gavin decided that they would perform a puppet show for Sue.  The show would be Little Red Riding Hood.  So they got to work creating the puppets.  Gavin is so artistic.  I really wish I would have taken a picture of their stage.  He had all the characters, as well as little trees made out of paper to create the forest.  It was so creative!!  We taped straws on the back of the characteristics, and the boys planned to hide behind the chair in the basement to perform.  Well Sue and company came, and it was time for the show.  We all sat down on the floor to watch.  I have no idea why I didn't run and get my camera at this point to record it.  I am just kicking myself now.  It was HILARIOUS!!!  First, Gavin popped out and announced, "Welcome to the puppet show."  Which caused Asher to yell, "No, I am the master."  We assume he meant the announcer or something, because then he straight-faced said, "The puppet show begins" as he marched to the side.  Well this whole thing repeated itself again before the show actually started.  We were all crying with laughter.  Gavin tried to get Asher to come back behind the chair to help with the puppets, but he said, "The master sits here" and plopped right in the middle of the chair.  Gavin went ahead and performed the puppet show, even though we could barely hear him.  Of course, halfway through Asher got bored and ran to get his big bouncy ball to do Wipeout tricks for the crowd.  Sue's 2-year old granddaughter joined in and they were doing somersaults and all sorts of tricks.  It was great!  Afterwards, Sue's granddaughter asked if she could spend the night.  She didn't want to leave.  Asher told her, "Yes, but she has to sleep on the floor."  What little performers!!  

    

The One About Sickness Ending

     Time to start a new week.  The boys are all feeling much better, and coughing much less.  That "snowstorm" came at a very perfect time, because I was able to stay home with the boys on Thursday and Friday.  We were able to continue the medicine, breathing treatments, and catch up on rest.  As fun as it was, I am ready to get back to work and start the week.  Just in time for spring break.  :)  
    Because Callum had to miss his photo session, we did a mini-shoot at home.

Until he had enough!

The boys had a bit of cabin fever, but we tried to keep them busy.

Before the sickness hit our house, we had started sleep training and baby food.  That all came to a standstill last week, but we are hoping to start it back up.  Callum seemed to really like carrots, but not peas.

The One About Sickness

    Update on the Whitings boys, since I haven't posted in so long:  We had been lucky through December and January, but over the last week the boys were hit hard.  Fortunately, we didn't get Influenza A or B, but all three of the boys have had awful colds.  Asher also has a double ear infection, and yesterday Callum was diagnosed with RSV.  So we have been staying home and just trying to get by.  I didn't crawl into my bed until 5:30 this morning, because Callum would wake up every time I tried to lay him down.  So I spent most of the night in the rocking chair.  I hate having sick kids.  I am praying we get hammered with a snowstorm later this week and there is no school Thursday/Friday so we can all just stay home and get well.