Kevin went to The Netherlands on a business trip for a week, during which the boys and I were extremely happy to welcome Gran-Gran to the Menagerie House. I just remembered that I did post about her toy-induced trip to the ER, but really, other than that one bad night, we all had a wonderful visit. Our only complaint is that it was too short, but the good news is that she will return, hopefully for Kiri’s birthday party at the end of March.

Since Kiri is a bit young to care much about the specifics of his party, his brother was happy to step in and take charge of the situation. He was more than happy to instruct Kiri as to the importance of a desirable theme for his party, and he came up with two themes. He couldn’t decide which one, robots (since “Kieran needs to learn about robots”) or food (since Kiri has yet to meet a food he dislikes), was best, so I asserted my maternal rights and picked a Spring theme.

That was partly because I’ve had enough Winter, and partly because I want to make the cake. I’ve gotten all into decorating cookies this winter, and I would like to expand my horizons a bit and try a fancy cake. I’ve had my eye on this bunny cake pan for a while, and with a recent sale at my favorite baking store, Fancy Flours, I was able to finally able to fit it into our budget. I think I will have to make two bunnies for his party, and then possibly I’ll make some egg and baby bunny shaped cookies for the children to take home. I thought it would be cute to make carrot cakes, but they are so moist I don’t know if they’d really make stable 3-dimensional bunnies. I may punt and make one chocolate and one French vanilla, or possibly lemon. Perhaps I will think about how to decorate them and draw inspiration from that. Also, I’d best got on the mission of consulting a calendar and picking a date for the fiesta.

While I’m on a creative segment here, I’ll mention that I have joined Chichimama’s latest knit-a-long. I would love a pair of nice warm mittens, so these will be for me. Since being frugal is so very necessary chic these days, I turned to my stash for yarn and found a nice variegated purple-pink heavy cotton yarn. My only concern is that the colors are so busy that the main artistic point of the mittens, a long cable running from wrist to fingertip, will be hidden. Then again, I want to make this “Just Enough Ruffles” scarf at some point, so maybe I’ll go ahead with the pink and purple first for fun and to get mitten knitting experience, and then pick up a pretty solid color color later to make a second pair of cable mittens and a JER scarf in the same color. I’m almost finished with my gauge swatch and it looks like it’ll be spot on, which rarely happens for me, so clearly the variegated yarn would be quite usable for this pattern. I just have to sew together the sweater I’m working on for Kiri to wear this Spring and then I’m free to make the mittens.

Speaking of creative pursuits, Santa left an easel for Liam this year. He loves to use it on days when he is willing to stay still for a few minutes, and Kiri has taken quite a shine to painting himself. When I chose the word “himself” I didn’t mean it in the literal sense…

..but Kiri took it that way.

The statement, “Kiri, we only paint paper!”

…does not stop Kieran, the All-Surface Painter.

Now, of course, if one is decorating cookies with frosting then one obviously has edible media on  hand…

…and on face. How amazing is that???

But the best part – the most exciting artistic discovery ever…

…is that a loyal dog makes such a huggable canvas!

In other news, we are seeing the beginnings of sibling rivalry these days. It is clear that the boys adore each other. When he is unaware of adult eyes Liam will not uncommonly watch Kiri play for a few minutes and then walk over, give him a big kiss, and whisper “I love you, Kiri K!” And every day at 8:30 A.M. the saddest boy in the world is Kieran. That’s because Liam’s kindergarten starts then and we have to leave him at school for a few hours. As we get into the car, Kieran will point to Liam’s car seat and shout, “Yee-Yee! Yee-Yee! Mommy! Yee-Yee! Now!” (He hasn’t gotten the hang of the “L” sound yet.) And the tears, they flow. On days when Kiri is inconsolable I will turn into the driveway of the house immediately behind the school. It belongs to one of the faculty members, and it affords a good view of the kindergarten play yard where Liam and his classmates are at play. We watch for a few minutes until I am able to calm Kiri enough to make it through the morning.

On the other hand, however, there are loud and screechy daily battles over my lap because neither child will share that spot with the other. And when Kiri misbehaves, Liam is not above reminding me that whatever the crime (large or minute) in question is, well of course, it is most certainly not his doing.

“Mommy, good job cleaning Kiri up. You see, I am old enough to know that painting my face is wrong, wrong, wrong. And Kiri…is not.”"

Point taken, kiddo. Now, enough crowing already.

Valentine’s day is upon us. It’s not a holiday I pay much attention to, but it is a big one with the grade school set. Liam’s class had a Valentine’s Day celebration today. Each child brought in a Valentine of his or her making, and then they had a swap…

..and Liam got to bring home this beauty.

And then, after snack…

…they made heart necklaces from felt and wool roving…

(not the best photo with part of Kiri’s head there, but it shows off the hearts the best of the ones I took)

…and made Valentine’s Day ornaments. I have never seen an ornament like this, and I think it’s gorgeous.

Liam was especially proud of this one since he made all of it himself with the exception of tying the knot on the thread. “I even sewed the ribbon into a loop by myself, Mommy!”

And here it is in its place of honor on our “Valentine’s Day tree.” The boys and I made Valentines and hung them on the tree while whiling away our Snow Day last week.

The Snow Day was also a great time to play with the ferrets…

…get them all rowdy…

…and more than ready for a nap!

This is Pippi enjoying an afternoon siesta.

I’ve spent way too much time on this post already, so I will end it here. These, my friends, have been the highlights of the last couple of Menagerie House weeks. Lots of everyday fun and games about sums it up, and I am not complaining one bit. So come back soon, ya’ll, and I’ll give you a knitting update (with pictures) and a collection of Cute Conversations.

Happy Valentine’s day!

Time is a bit tight around here right now, but I wanted to post some pictures of the now healthy boys on Mother’s Day. Liam’s poor scraped knees have completely healed. Both boys and Kevin have recovered from the tummy bug that we had visiting last week. (And our house has returned to Full Shrieking Normalcy because one baby and 4-year-old can together make an amazing amount of noise when they are in top form.)

Anyway, these pictures are from Kiri’s very first ever ride on the Jersey Shore Boardwalk. Kevin and the boys went to the Shore for the day on Mother’s Day, and left me at home to hang out in peace and marvel at the stillness and lack of shrieking. The boys had a great time eating pizza, playing games, and riding every ride they were allowed to. Liam one his first prize ever by playing Whack-a-Mole. He walked in the house carrying this enormous red and white chimp that dances and sings Wild Thing. He looked so proud of himself that I wish I’d had the camera then.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, it was sooo quiet here! It was wonderful. Casey and I spent time reading, surfing the web, and feeding Pippi. (More on that to come.) Thank you for my day of peace and solitude, guys – I love you all more than you can know.

And if you’re wondering about last week’s other disaster, Pippi – well, he’s on the road to recovery, too. Turns out he developed a really bad bleeding ulcer. So bad that he lost dangerous amounts of blood through his stool. He spent three days at the vet hospital on IV fluids, IV antibiotics, and Pepcid. He was in bad shape, and even when he came home we really weren’t sure he would make it.

We got to bring him home Friday. He was (and still is) on a soft diet, and he wouldn’t eat well without hand-feeding until yesterday morning. (Yet another reason for me staying home Sunday. Feeding a ferret means feeding every 2-3 hours.) He’s still very, very thin, but just yesterday he started eating like, well, a very hungry ferret, and there’s definitely some spark in his eyes this morning. It’s going to be a few more weeks of antibiotics, but finally I’m truly believing he’s going to make it.

It was a fantastic Mother’s Day  – I felt all relaxed and happy by the end, and all three boys had a blast. It wasn’t traditional, but it sure was wonderful.

1. Liam tested the fractile strength of sidewalk concrete. That experiment was brought to a premature conclusion by a trip the ER for X-rays on both knees. Yes, both.

2. I got completely caught up the on the 16 blog posts I have in drafts!

3. Pippi isn’t eating and seems to have blood in his stool. We have a vet appointment in two hours.

4. Kiri is experiencing his first stomach bug. He puked three times between his high chair and the bathroom. Laundry is in being washed, and a bath is next on the agenda.

I bet all my readers of the Mommy variety can spot the false claim in a snap.

We said good-bye to one of our ferret friends this morning. She’s been with us since she was a baby, from before we had human babies. We miss her. But she had a wonderful life full of TLC and lots of hugs and playing, and now we have wonderful memories.

As we were burying her in the backyard, I notices signs of Spring popping up here and there…

…some budding daffodils…

…and some blooming Andromeda…

The Circle of Life just keeps turning.

Here is the Big Brother with his favorite ferret friend, Pippi. Who, by the way, gave us a fright by losing his tail hair and thus fooling us into thinking he had adrenal disease. A trip to the vet later, it turns out to be a fals alarm. Phew! Usually when ferrets start to go bald, it’s not good news.

Mr. Happy Baby and his favorite toy, a music box. He loves to turn it on by himself and rock back and forth to the beat. It’s a great thing to soothe an awake baby at 3:00 A.M.

Mr. Lemur surprised us completely by ordering spaghetti at a restaurant. This is the same boy who has NEVER ordered anything other than grilled cheese or macaroni and cheese in his life. We may get to broaden our culinary horizons soon!

Getting Kieran all bundled up to take his brother to school.

“Mommy! Pop-Pop made me this hat from the newspaper! You’ve never seen anything like this in your life!”

“Daddy said it was OK that Kiri drives without a license…”

Look – a milestone! Liam got his first haircut at an actual salon! Our horizons are expanding by the minute!

“Mommy? Rides are funner when Kiri comes along!”

That is one of the best parts about the last couple of months – Kiri and Liam are starting to actually play together and laugh with each other. It’s really sweet to see them enjoying each other so much, and to know this is only the beginning of their relationship. I’m looking forward to seeing how they grow and change together.

Houdini is balding again. She started losing her hair in late May. So it’s not quite a year out from surgery and she’s developing disease in her remaining adrenal gland. I got her down to our vet in Philly who handles all the tricky ferret stuff, and we started her on monthly injections of Lupron. Stormy has been on Lupron for years (she developed adrenal disease at the young age of 19 months and had her right adrenal gland removed) and is just doing beautifully in terms of her remaining adrenal. Hopefully within a couple of months Houdini will be back in good health.

The catch is that Houdini has a bit of a history of aggression and biting. (Those of you who know her in real life (Hi Kevin, Mom, and Lisa!) now have permission to go find something to clean your monitors with ’cause I know you just spit out whatever it was you were drinking.) Her tumor is pumping out tons of testosterone and so you can imagine the biting issues that ensue with that. She’s gotten me but good a few times in the last couple of weeks, and that is just a non- starter for me, no matter how much I love ferrets. I feel bad for her too as she’s just constantly wired and she’s hardly sleeping. So we put her on some Valium to calm her down, and it does seem to be helping. With any luck she won’t need it for long, but it should help her comfort-wise until her hormones stabilize.

Yeah, it was kind of funny picking up a scrip at the pharmacy for a ferret who, in essence, is overdosed on steroids.

**********

Stormy has developed a partial heart block. $300 and a cardiologist visit later, she’s on theophylline, and her heart is back at a normal rate. There’s nothing we can do to cure the block, so it’s a matter of time now, but she is eight years old, which is a fairly advanced age for a ferret.

Honestly, I shouldn’t be complaining, but stuff like this is still hard.

**********

The other day Liam was eating a snack of whole-wheat crackers, apple slices, and cheese. Kevin came home from work, picked up a couple of sugar cookies, and walked into the the room with Liam. Says my son, who never met a cookie he didn’t like, “Don’t worry about me, Daddy. I’m happy here with my grow food!”

The same day he told me, “I like you and I love you and I think you’re really fun” about ten times.

That same day, there were no tantrums.

I need to report this to an astronomer as clearly some celestial object is way, way out of alignment.

**********

I bought Elizabeth Pantley’s potty-learning book. It would be an exceptionally positive thing if Liam was diaper-free by the start of nursery school this fall. Also, I just can’t take a big boy in diapers any more. He’s shown all the signs of readiness for a long, long time, and gentle persuasion and giving him time to develop interest have failed. If anything, he’s more set in the idea that, in his words, “I will never, ever use the potty.” I have been impressed by other titles in her parenting series, so I thought I’d give it a read.

As a sign of my desperation, I went for one of her ideas – buy a bunch of small presents, and any time the child uses the potty, he gets a present to unwrap. I know, I know. This is a blatant example of using bribery a reward system. It goes against all the Alfie Kohn I’ve read, but even Elizabeth Pantley is out-and-out saying that there are times for rewards, and I’m probably overthinking this, and bottom line, the.diapers.have.to.go. So….

There is a basket of wrapped toys and trinkets in our bathroom. Any deposit in the potty earns a present. Any attempt at the potty earns a sticker, five of which can be turned in for a Popsicle. Back when Liam was a baby this was one of those parenting things I swore I would never, ever, ever in a million years do, along with, if I recall correctly, allowing him to eat junk food, watch television, and of course I would never, ever lose my temper with my firstborn.

My friends, I’m here to tell you the mighty have fallen. Mightily.

And the three-year-old still says, “But I will never, ever use the potty.”

Updates to follow.

Advice appreciated.

********

Partly because I never, ever want to go through this mess again, and partly because it seems like such a cool and natural idea, we have started EC with Kieran. We still have him in diapers, but when we’re at home, I offer him the toilet when he’s fussy. We’ve cut our diaper use in half this way, and more importantly, he’ll grow through infancy and toddlerhood using the toilet every day. Hopefully he’ll just transition into full-time pottying when he’s ready.

Or at least that’s my theory. And I’m sticking to it since a certain measure of my sanity is depending on it.

Or, perhaps, pigs will fly.

**********

When I started this blog I swore I would never speak of potty issues.

That thud? It’s just the mighty eating dirt once again.

**********

Kevin and Liam went to the beach today. Kieran and I are folding laundry.

We’ve got 12 socks here, Kate!

**********

The boys just came back from the beach. Says Liam, “I was walking in the ocean when ZOOP up came the water to attack me and it knocked me right over!” I think they had a fun time.

**********

The excitement for this week to come is that Liam asked for gymnastics classes. He wants to learn how to stand on his head and walk on his hands. He’s really looking forward to Tuesday, which is when his first class will be.

And as it’s getting late, I’m out of here for now. More to come soon!

Yeah, we thought we were a prefect match, too.

Along the way it became clear that Penny, like many ferrets, had some fairly serious health problems, so we loved her as hard as we could and tried to keep in mind that her time with us might be short. Last week she and Jeff came down with a GI bug. Although Jeff is recovering, Penny did not, and she passed away last night.

We miss you, sweet ferret, as do Jeff, Pippi, Houdini, and Stormy. Thank you for spnding what time you could with us, and safe travels across the Rainbow Bridge.