Making Ya'll Proud

Nancy would be so proud.

It turns out our boys LOVE edamame- a snack introduced to Marc and me by the fabulous Nancy. They've also been digging broccoli and cucumbers. Yay for eating veggies!

Opa would be so proud.

Here is Gabe reading while going down the slide. He is definitely a Ricks. He reads in his room, on the couch, at church, at the table.... This is starting to sound familiar.

Daddy is so proud.

Elijah loves to clean and organize. He is really into helping lately- with sweeping, cooking, laundry and picking up. He even puts dirty silverware and bibs back into the appropriate drawers with their clean counterparts.

Joe and Sam would be so proud.

Gabe figured out that by putting his mouth on this ball and blowing he could make noises that sound like... well you know. Here he is laughing hysterically at his new-found talent. Definitely a boy.

Death of a Snowman

"I don't say he's a great man. Mr. Snowman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He's not the finest character that ever lived. But... a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid."
-Arthur Miller (liberties taken)

It is my sad duty to inform you that Mr. Snowman passed away last week. Tears were shed and mournful exclamations made when my boys looked out the window and saw the pickle nose on the ground. A complete melt down (no pun intended) occurred when I finally brought in the hat and mittens to be washed. Mr. Snowman, you are missed.

Poison Control? Can You Hear Me?

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My boys have been eating Vaseline again. The latest escapade happened on Wednesday. Maybe this Vaseline habit is a form of pica and they ingest petroleum jelly whenever their bodies need a lube job.
I discovered their dastardly deed while I was talking to my brother on the phone. Upon realizing that I had heard no noise from the twins for more than 60 seconds, I rushed upstairs to find that, once again, they had outsmarted my attempts at toddler-proofing. Due to some Vaseline-eating incidents the previous week, I was now keeping it on a high shelf near David John's crib. Gabe and Elijah had climbed up into the crib and were able to reach the Vaseline on the shelf. Having already made a pile of individually separated wet wipes and emptied David John's dirty diapers on the floor they were now alternately licking Vaseline off of their fingers and smearing it on the walls, furniture, etc. I probably said a reactive word like "shoot" (let's give myself the benefit of the doubt here people) and Joe asked me what was wrong. I described the scene and he asked "Shouldn't you call poison control?"
I have nothing against poison control. I'm sure they are very useful in real emergencies. However, I suspect that the vast majority of products that say "if ingested, call poison control" are overreacting. In fact, I remember seeing this warning on a container of NaCl in the genetics lab I used to work in. For those not up on their chemistry- that's table salt.
Anyway, long ago in a far away land when my children were newly toddlers I did call poison control anytime my kids ate something that said "if ingested, call poison control." The call center employees probably know my phone number. They were always very polite on the phone but I'm sure they were just holding their laughter until I hung up. It turns out that petroleum jelly, lotion, diaper rash cream and baby oil all have to be eaten in large quantities to have any ill effects. Poison control always wanted know how my children came to be eating a non-food substance. I'm sure they thought I was careless and left open containers on the floor complete with plastic spoons for fast consumption. What they, and indeed many individuals are not aware of is the fact that toddlers, like ants, are capable of lifting objects 100 times their weight. At our previous house, I kept potentially dangerous products in a closed container on a window ledge set high in the wall. Gabriel and Elijah moved a heavy box of games, stacked a chair on top of it and moved the couch so that they could climb from the couch to the chair to the ledge. They figured out that if they dropped the container from such a height, it might burst open upon contact with the floor and give them the opportunity to sample many wonderful inedibles.
You might wonder where I was when all of this mayhem was occuring. If you are a mother you already know the answer- all bad things happen when you are in the bathroom or on the phone. Maybe I was talking to poison control.

*The photo shows my boys imitating the "Mr. Yuk" face. The funny thing is that whenever I have found my boys eating something "poisonous" they usually have a maniacal happy expression. The faces in the photos are more likely to be seen during a meal- you know, with edible items like potatoes. My Mr. Yuk icon was borrowed from the following website: http://www.asmalldoseof.org/historyoftox/1970-2006/Mr.YUK2.jpg

Once There Was a Snowman

Yesterday we built a snowman. Elijah contributed by slapping the snow at random in imitation of my packing it together. Gabe carefully transported approximately three snowflakes at a time in his little mittened hands from remote parts of the yard. He would solemnly place the sometimes invisible particles of snow into my hand with a serious "Here go Mommy."
The boys have been very into the book "Snowmen at Night" and we've been reading it daily for over a month now. If you've not seen this book I highly recommend it. The illustrations are outstanding and keep my boys giggling. One thing they loved in the book was a snowman with a pickle nose. So, when our snowman was ready for embellishment Elijah sweetly asked, "Pickle nose please Mommy?"
The boys also picked out the eyes, hat and mittens. We had cranberries for the mouth but we couldn't get them to stay in. They boys still thought he looked fabulous and we had a great time. Unfortunately our snowman is already getting small small small thanks to warmer weather yesterday evening and today. Luckily, I took this photo of our snowman in his pristine condition. Enjoy.

A Toddler Tribute

So I'm feeling a little sappy today. Maybe it's this head cold. One of the advantages of being married to a resident in pediatric medicine is that I get to sample all of the upper respiratory infections that the Cleveland area has to offer. I can't think of a winter in which I've gotten to experience so many small but irritating illnesses. I was telling this to a friend who said, "Why not collect them all?" Maybe I should keep a log of the various combinations of symptoms and give them all names like "Phlegm's Disease" or for a multi-symptom illness "The Royal Sampler". At any rate, the last few days I've been taking things a little slower and have come to the realization that my toddlers are really wonderful people. There has been a lot more snuggling on the couch, book reading and general silliness since mommy hasn't felt like doing laundry. It struck me as we were dancing in the kitchen after dinner this evening that someday I will long to see this version of Gabriel and Elijah again. They might be wiggly and loud and naughty. They might paint eachother with vaseline, go surfing on the dishwasher door and empty whole cartons of raw eggs onto the kitchen floor. They might throw tantrums at two in the morning culminating in Gabe banging his head on the heating vent so that it looks like his forehead has been grilled. They might empty the entire contents of their dresser, pull all of the wipes out of the box one by one or build a pyramid out of dirty diapers they retrieved from the diaper pail if there is a five minute delay between waking up and mommy arriving at their bedroom door. But they also might dance in the clumsy, adorable, uninhibited way that only a toddler can. They might run, each only pumping one arm so that they can hold hands. They might say "thank you" for the smallest acts of service or give a high-five. They might sing songs and reenact the time mommy screamed in surprise when she caught them in the kitchen playing in a mountain of rice cereal. They might say "please" and hug you with chubby little arms. They might, at the end of a long day call out "lub loo mommy" just as you are about to shut their bedroom door. They might never grow up- some days I could wish to be so lucky.

Snow Business

When we moved to Cleveland we heard about a phenomenon the locals call "lake effect snow". Having grown up in Ohio, I was unafraid of snow and had survived my share of nasty winters. However, I am now experiencing my very first Cleveland winter and am beginning to understand this "lake effect" thing. What happens is that all of the water in Lake Erie evaporates at once, becomes snowflakes and relocates itself on your driveway. If you drive to Lake Erie right now, all you will find is a mountain of salt... unless they've already used it all on the roads. In this first week and a half of January we have had no less than 2 feet of snow and Marc has shoveled the driveway more than 20 times.
All of this snow means cloudy skies and while the human population may be suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder, it seems that this "lake effect" business also has an impact on vehicles and major appliances. Last Sunday our heater decided that our house did not need to be heated above around 50 degrees. The general opinion was that the heater was having a problem with a fan limit switch. The limit switch senses when the temperature drops too low and then tells the fan to turn on and blow warm air into the house. The limit switch can also turn off the fans and burners if it senses the furnace overheating. Our furnace seemed to believe that it was overheating and kept turning itself off. In other words- our furnace was having delusions. We looked for a good furnace psychologist, but they are hard to come by on a Sunday night. Marc was working nights at the hospital all week, so I decided to take the boys and bail on our delusional furnace in favor of my parents' house whose furnace is mentally sound. We drove late at night going 30 miles per hour on the freeway for the first third of the trip. Around Columbus, the van's heater also decided to malfunction. Not only did it not heat, but blew blasts of icy cold air while the temperature gauge alternately spiked and lowered. Apparently all of this drama was caused by a bubble in the coolant system. My van had Irritable Bowel Syndrome. We eventually arrived safely at my parents' house and our amazing landlord had the furnace replaced with a more stable individual by Tuesday. The Furnace Repair Guy interviewed the water heater while he was at our house and discovered that it too was about to go off the deep end so Mister Water Heater was replaced on Wednesday.
Lest you think the Cleveland winters are all bad, we are enjoying playing in the snow and sledding. We also have some amazing icicles. We'd love to have visitors to enjoy the snow with us and our new furnace has even agreed to start heating the guest room. You won't even need an electric blanket.

Pictures, pictures, pictures

Due to popular demand, I am posting pictures from the last two months including, of course, pictures of our newest arrival. I had planned lots of blog posts but obviously never got around to them- please excuse any errors you may find and just chalk them up to the fact that I have three children who like to keep me up. I feel like a government experiment on sleep deprivation. :)Lake Erie

Fourth of July at our new house

We LOVE having a backyard.David John arrived July30th-five days late!His big brothers love love love him.We blessed him on August 16th.We can't believe it's been a whole month already!Such a good boy- and loves his baths.