Happy Anniversary!

Matt and I hit 6 years on July 10th. Happy Anniversary, babe!

We had a fun afternoon planned and a baby-sitter scheduled for our anniversary celebration on the 10th. A few minutes before the kids and I were going to head off for a morning adventure, we were brushing our teeth. At least, I was brushing my teeth. Gabe was rummaging through my bathroom cabinets, and he emerged with a bottle of bright red nail polish.

Gabe likes to throw things. To be more specific, he likes to throw everything. So before I could get to the nail polish bottle, he had hurled it onto the tile floor, where it shattered and splashed back into his face. I looked from the floor up at my son, who had red stuff dripping from his face, accompanied by blood-curdling screams. I thought it was blood, but luckily it turned out to be just the nail polish. WHEW!

Ever tried to get nail polish off a screaming writhing toddler? I don't recommend it. :) Luckily it didn't affect his eye at all. Once I got him calmed down, he was actually pretty happy and willing to let me take pictures. The pediatrician's office referred me to Poison Control, and Poison Control said to let it flake off over a few days. Unfortunately, I called them after I had scrubbed at his skin for a bit with nail polish remover. Whoops. The Poison Control rep said it wouldn't hurt him, but it might make his skin dry in patches.




Below is a post-cleaning picture. He had a bath and actually had fun in the tub except for the times I pinned him down and swiped at his face with q-tips or cotton swabs. Matt came home mid-bath and offered some much-needed moral support. Once we decided to take him out of the bath, Gabe fell asleep almost immediately in Matt's arms. It was an exhausting morning for him!

You can see there was still nail polish around his eye and on his forehead. We put him in bed and left for our date mid-nap. The baby-sitter didn't even raise her eyebrows when I explained that Gabe would look a little odd when she got him up from his nap - she's a gem! The nail polish was completely gone by the following morning.

And we now have cupboard latches on the cabinets so Gabe can't open them. :)

Ahoy, Matey!

Naomi and her fellow dancers were pirates for the dance recital in June! She loves pretending to be a pirate captain, so this dance theme was perfect for her.

Naomi was THRILLED about searching for the material to make her pirate tutu (you wouldn't believe how hard it is to find red tulle in Tucson!).

She was THRILLED to try it on while I was making it.

And she was THRILLED to be on the stage dancing out her heart. Of course, she mostly just did one of the dance moves over and over. But at least she latched on to one and remembered it!

Last but not least, she was THRILLED to troop onstage after the program was over and dance a bit more by herself. We may have a performer on our hands. :)

Never the norm around here

How many ways are there, you may ask, to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? I'm sure kids can come up with scads of ideas. Naomi has opted for the version where you open the sandwich, lick the contents off the bread, and then discard the bread. I think it was her way to protest against crusts, because once we started cutting off the crusts, she began eating pb&j the traditional way (yes, including the bread!).

Learning by example

Naomi learns best with demonstrations. She SEEMS to understand that the stove is hot and we should not touch the burners. But just to make sure, Val took one for the team and applied a hot cookie sheet to her arm (Val's arm, not Naomi's!) so Naomi could see the consequences.

Just a few more tri pics

Mom has gently reminded me a few times that she would love more blog posts. (I, in an equally gentle manner, reminded her that my time had been spent taking care of her grandchildren instead of neglecting them while blogging about them.) So, while I haven't uploaded any recent pictures, here are a few more pictures from the triathlon in May. Just for you, Mom!

This first one might be my absolute favorite picture taken that day...Gabe grinning at me while he gives me a high five!

This one is worth clicking on and enlarging,
so as to better see the grin on our sweet chunk-o's face!