Emmett Versus The Crab

Some weeks ago we went on a preschool field trip to Carkeek Park. For those who have not been there, it is a park that overlooks the Puget Sound. The parking lot and play area are up on a bit of a hillside, and then you can take a footbridge over some train tracks and down onto the beach. My kids loved being there. Emmett saw the train tracks right away and made a beeline for the footbridge. He stood excitedly over the tracks and I hurried to catch up to him. We waited for only a few minutes before we saw a train heading our way. Emmett was so excited that the train was going to pass right underneath us. It ended up being much noisier and windier than we expected, and that made him a bit nervous when we had the chance to see another train pass under us later on that day. He actually started to run off the bridge to the side, but when I called him back and one of the other moms in our group offered to sit on the ground with Emmett and her little one, he happily (and skittishly) returned to the center of the bridge. I couldn't get down quite so nimbly because I had Edison strapped to me in a baby carrier. Otherwise, I would have offered to sit or kneel with him myself. After seeing the train pass, our group worked our way down to the beach. It was a very low tide, so we were lucky enough to catch a peak at some crabs and a sea star, among other things in a rocky tide-pool area. Our little group worked its way towards the water's edge and Emmett decided to start wading - shoes, pants, and all. I called him back and we removed his shoes and rolled up his pants and he went back to wading. I noticed he was working his way back to the rocky tide-pool, but didn't seem to want to get to close without his shoes on. I kept scanning the beach to help keep an eye on all the kids - while keeping Emmett in my peripheral vision. All of a sudden I heard Emmett screaming and crying hysterically. I looked over to see he had taken several steps into the rocky area, near where we had seen the crabs, and appeared to be panicking about something, picking one foot up and down, and yet unable to move away from whatever was hurting him. Now remember, I had Edison strapped to me and was surrounded by rocky beach myself. I started to hurry towards him, but two other moms in our group without the extra weight and balance challenge of a loaded baby carrier beat me to him. One of them scooped him up and brought him toward me as I hurried their way, too. She said, "I think the crab got him. He was standing right next to it and that seems to be what he was scared about." Once we calmed Emmett down a bit, he let us examine his foot. He had a bloody gash on the inside of the arch of his foot and seemed to have a couple punctures near the gash. We used fresh water from a water bottle to rinse it off and put his wet socks and shoes back on him. He was still uncomfortable, but until we could get him back up across the footbridge and to the car - where my first aid kit was - I couldn't do much else for him. Our group climbed the stairs up to the train bridge and then my little train nut decided to wait for another train to pass - even though his foot hurt. We finally made it to the car, where we could more thoroughly clean and bandage his foot and where I had a change of socks for him. On the ride home, I asked Emmett to tell me about what had happened. He said, "The crab pinch me four times. Pinch, pinch, pinch, pinch. Really hard!" I asked him why he went back by the crab and why the crab wanted to pinch him. Emmett said, "I walk on the crab and I kick the crab." At this point I was trying not to laugh. I knew Emmett was still in pain, but the thought of him trying to pick a fight with a purple shore crab was pretty funny. In as un-laughing a voice as I could muster, I asked, "Why did you kick the crab and step on him?" Emmett told me that he didn't like the crab and that it looked scary. "Do you think the crab liked being kicked and stepped on?" I asked - still trying not to chuckle. Emmett admitted that the crab probably did not enjoy that kind of attention. He promised not to harass crabs ever again. It appears Emmett has a bit of an obsession with crabs as a result of this experience. When we went camping a few weekends later, we went down to the beach and found little tiny crabs under some rocks. Emmett couldn't help but look under every rock and in every tiny tide pool he could see in search of crabs. He wouldn't touch them though, so maybe he has learned his lesson.

Why a 5 Year Old Needs a Cell Phone

Recently, Liliana asked me, "When will I get a cell phone?" Wanting to know what caused her to feel like she needed a phone, I responded with a question. "Why do you want a cell phone?" I asked. Her response made me laugh. It was definitely not the 'so I can call my friends' answer I was expecting. Rather, she very seriously said, "Well, I need to play my own games." Ha ha! Phones are not just for communicating anymore, and kids figure that out young. Liliana and I chatted about what the main purpose of a phone is - smartphone, or otherwise. She agreed that she has plenty of other ways to play games and accepted that she won't be getting a phone any time soon.

Liliana's new skill

Easter weekend David removed the training wheels from Liliana's bike, at her request. They spent less than 30 minutes learning to ride, with Liliana successfully starting on her own and going a few feet now and then before panicking and veering off course. Last Thursday (April 11th) was the second time Liliana attempted to ride her bike. I was working on dinner, so I asked her to just push herself with her feet and practice coasting to work on her balance. Once I finished with dinner, I came out and said I could help her. She put her feet on the pedals...and rode off on her own! She even turned and kept going in circles around the driveway. Watch for the video - coming soon.

Hello, friend

During church today, Edison's fans were waving at him from the pew behind us. After smiling at them for awhile, he decided to award their attentions with a return wave. At first I was not completely convinced it was intentional, but after he repeated the wave action twice more within a few minutes, I think we can safely say Edison has figured out how to wave hello! Next time you see him, give your salutations with a wave of the hand and see if he will graciously return your greeting in kind.

Emmett's Incredible Disappearing Act

I awoke to screams and sobs coming from the kids' room around 2:30 this morning and flew out of bed to the rescue. When I got into the room, Liliana was wailing, "I looked everywhere and I can't find Emmett in our room!" I knew exactly what had happened as soon as she said it. I had come in to check on the kids before I had gone to bed and saw that Liliana had gone to sleep on the bottom of Emmett's bed and Emmett was laying very close to the edge of his bed. I had rolled him gently back to the middle of his bed and placed an extra blanket in a soft pile next to his bed just in case he rolled back. (*He has fallen out of bed before. That first time did it, he had fallen back asleep trying to climb back I to bed and by the time I arrived on the scene, he was sleeping with his feet on the floor and his top half on the bed.) This time I started to chuckle as I looked around the dark room and saw how Liliana could become quite panicked in the dark. Both beds were bare -Liliana's, having been stripped when she hauled her bedding over to the foot of Emmett's bed, and Emmett's bed, having lost both sets of bedding when he rolled off into the awaiting blanket and when Liliana jumped up searching for him. I showed Liliana where Emmett was and explained what had happened and helped her get calm and settled back into bed. I then carefully picked Emmett up and put him back to bed. He managed to sleep through the entire event and had no idea what we were talking about when Liliana and I were discussing the episode this morning! I wish I slept that soundly. 😉

Things they do that I love

~Emmett's response when daddy gives him a playful spank on the bum - "Don't hit some people!" ~When Liliana thinks something is very funny, she starts laughing uncontrollably and keeps going until she is red in the face and has tears rolling down her cheeks. ~Edison loves his big brother and sister and laughs at just about everything they do. ~Edison will be playing with toys on the floor and rolling around, but if he makes eye contact and realizes someone is watching him, a huge smile dreads across his face that brightens his entire countenance. ~Sometimes Emmett and I will banter in a fun way. For example, he might make a comment like, "That is too silly." I respond with, "YOU'RE too silly." and he will say, "No. YOU'RE too silly." and we go back and forth over and over until he is laughing too much to keep it up. ~Some mornings I wake up to find the kids playing nicely together in their playroom and Liliana tells me, "You were sleeping and I knew you were too tired so we didn't want to wake you up." ~When David surprises me after a tiring day with a bathtub full of warm bubbly water, dimmed lights, music, and candles, and then sits nearby and reads to me or talks to me while I get to just soak and relax. ~When Emmett sees the number 3 or hears it mentioned, he excitedly cries out, "Three - like three my old!"

Edison at 6 months

Edison recently had his 6 month checkup and here are his stats Height: 29 inches - 98th percentile Weight: 21 lbs 13 oz - 95th percentile Edison is quite mobile now, though you really cannot say he is officially crawling. He rolls all over and has discovered that when things are in front of you, rolling doesn't really get you within reach. His solution? Roll partway onto a shoulder, pinning one arm beneath him and shove forward with his feet while reaching for the desired item with his free arm. In the past few days, however, he has begun to realize that his arms can actually be helpful in reaching his destination. He is beginning to pin them down less often and sometimes enlists their assistance in dragging himself forward. Look out, house! Here comes trouble!