Another week of busy!

Sunday: Grandpa Dahl, Mike and the boys visited the Marymoor Off-leash dog park with Tigger, Zuma and Foster. Grandpa Dahl pushed Josh in the stroller around the whole park. They all had a good time; Tigger the puppy was well behaved, that's something good to report.

Monday: We visited the park and Caleb got to play with his friend Donovyn. Caleb asks about Donovyn almost every day, and it was very nice to, at least one day a week, be able to give him what he asked for, especially when it is something so simple and pure hearted.
Right after our visit to the park, we drove to Grammy and Papa Dahl's house. Caleb would spend the rest of the day, night and most of Tuesday with them. He loves to go there, although he often doesn't want to be left, this time I'm told he didn't want to leave their house when it was time for Daddy to pick him up. Caleb gets to do a bunch of fun things. And Mommy gets to spend time with Jockey. This Monday it was a particular blessing to have just one boy at home; I didn't sleep one minute Sunday night and was more than exhausted!

Tuesday: Just a Josh and Mommy day. It was great to just spend time with Josh and play and teach him things. He is now crawling backward down the stairs. It is amazing to sit on the stairs and see him understand and do "feet first", which is sit down, put his toes of one leg then the other on the stairs and then slide down. He understands! I can see him think and remember what that instruction is. It is amazing. By the end of this week, he was doing stairs any time he wanted. I am still very cautious because the transition from a full stand to a sit and then inching just his legs over the top step is still a wobbly event, I don't want him to accidentally lean the wrong direction and take a tumble.

Wednesday: I'm quite proud of the fact that we walked approximately 3 miles... and by "we" I say me and I pushed the boys in the stroller. We walked to a park and then came back the long way. I think the boys really liked the park. Josh even got out and climbed on some of the play equipment. Josh had such joy, as if he was getting away with something and happy to explore. I really think that Josh wants to spend more time outside just looking and experiencing. Caleb, of course, had to find the only boys on the playground and initiate play. I think that's wonderful that he is outgoing enough to pursue friends and fun.

Thursday: Daddy helped hold Caleb still and Caleb got one of the best haircuts to date. It still isn't perfect, but it sure is cute. It could be that the little guy is cute and the hair is just the frame... But he was very proud of his haircut when Auntie Brittany came over and mentioned it to him. Caleb is now very insistent that he is a "big boy". It is cute, but I keep telling him that big boys use the potty all the time, and they don't have "shirts" and they don't suck their thumbs. I wonder when he really will be a big boy. Caleb is crazy about this potty training thing, and I'm nearly to the end of my patience. I'm starting to withhold juice from him because he KNOWS what he should do and chooses not to use the potty. It's beyond training, he is now able to do what he should and we've now got to treat this like a punishable offense almost. Without freaking him out and and making it a tramatic experience of course.

Friday: It was time to shop for Joshy's birthday presents. I think he will be happy. We got him a couple things that are very unique, age appropriate, interest appropriate for our little guy. I think, in fact, we might have spoiled him a little with 3 toys, a book, and a couple hand held little chew and mouthable toys from Value Village (will be dishwashered of course). But I am trying to remember that Birthdays are for them and therefore they should get more than Christmas which is about Jesus' birth. So for a little guy who won't remember a thing, I think he will be happy. And I will be happy if there is harmony in the ranks when Josh has his own toys that Caleb can't take away and say "mine" because up until now every toy in the house was at one point Caleb. Caleb may not play with a toy for a year but he hasn't understood the transfer of ownership. I think this will be a decade long problem. But we'll do what we can affordably avert it.

Caleb is amazing. I know, every mom says that about their own child. But let me tell you why I say it about Caleb this time. I will be going in for an operation. I had a little pamphlet that had pictures/drawings of the internal organs and examples of gall stones etc. I had eariler explained to him in kid lingo that I would go to the doctor and he would take the "owie" out of my tummy and that he can't jump on Mommy. I showed him my c-section scar and told him that mommy would have more of those. He seemed ok with it. And of course he was sweet and prayed over me that Jesus would make me feel better. (I love it when he says "Jesus in your heart, make you better {or feel better}.) But later he was picking up my pamphlet and at first I just didn't want him to crumple/rip it. However, I decided to open it and show him. I was very nervous at showing him the pictures of the internal organs. I was shocked at how he wasn't scared or freaked out about seeing something about the inside of our bodies. I showed him the picture of the gall bladder, and the picture of the little "rocks" in the gall bladder and tried to explain, still in a kid lingo, the events that would take place. I even showed him about the little "places" where they go in to get the "owie". He was almost, dare I say, facinated. I told him that Jesus makes doctors really smart and they are the ones Jesus makes help people feel better. After I thought I was done, he points to the picture and asks me to tell him another story! Can you believe that! So I had to tell him about the stomach. Well, then he wanted another story, so I told him about the intestine. Well, this is where he got a little confused and now thinks that people poop food. So if he ever mentions it, this is where he got it from. I tried to re-explain that the stomach munches the food into little tiny pieces and the whole body uses it to be healthy and grow and only the leftovers are what go into the intestines... but by that point he seemed happily stuck on the notion that we all poop food. Sorry world.
Not to make the blog about me, but the previous paragraph has probably may you wonder. You've probably read between the lines by now, but yes, I will be having gall bladder removal surgery on August 30th, time unknown until the day before. Lapriscopic surgery is planned while I'm under a general anesthetic, of course, if the organ it more difficult to see, remove or the doctor believes it is just safer, a full open surgery is possible and I won't know that until I wake up. I will be going home the same day (if it is lapriscopie), and the estimated recovery is most people return to work between 5-10 days after (longer if it is an open surgery). This is a long overdue surgery, I was misdiagnosed 4 years ago with heartburn. It this is put off I'll be in continuing intense pain and actually risk some significant complications/illnesses/ICU and even mortality. So to avoid all that nastiness we are just going to take care of it. Mike will be taking the 31st off of work to take care of the kids and what ever parts of the 30th is needed. The down side is that this will be Labor Day weekend and I guess there will be no camping for us... What a way to waste a perfectly good weekend. But it can't wait, and the other option would have been a month from now, but as I'm having attacks with increasing pain and frequency (as evident by me being up to blog at 3 in the morning because I'm not able to sleep while in pain or on pain meds), therefore I didn't want to wait. Please pray for an uneventful, standard lapriscopic procedure, that's all I ask for.

Caleb was also cute tonight when I tucked him into bed. I told him good night and that I loved him. He said he loved me, and daddy and Auntie Brittany and Uncle Brian, and "Lotta of People". And then he said that he wanted to love more people. I was awed and smiling at that. I told him that that was good because Jesus wants us to love people. And he of course said "yeah". Then we had night time prayers and it was lights out.

Thank you so SO SO much Auntie Barb and Cousin Nick, Tyler, and Matthew for the Rescue Heros movies. Caleb is in love with them. And it couldn't have come at a more perfect time. Caleb is really beginning the boy phase of action and physically showing off and wanting to pretend all at the same time. Because his imagination is greater than his skills (ex: he can't fly), this is the phase that action figures start coming into his interest. Well, Buzz Lightyear has revisited his interest, and the construction workers that have come with some other sets... but Rescue Heros are the PERFECT thing for him. Thank you to the Smalls for opening up this world for him, and it is a good world with a message I can get behind. Rescue Heros are about helping people, overcoming obstacles both physical (trees in the road) and mental (some fears, or pride of doing everything yourself), and safety. Safety is a message that Caleb understands, "Bob says, safety first" and so he can tie all the ideas together. He is really enjoying it all. But I have to say, I think he will become obsessive about it... just the down side to a phase, and every phase has an up and a down size. As long as I remember that, I'll try to keep it all in perspective.

So, not to leave Josh out. Some tidbits about him. Josh is really into climbing. The stairs are great, but he is really into climbing on his little play cube structure. He likes to get up on it and is amazed to see how "tall" he is. He is also really pleased with himself when he climbs up the stairs of the little slide we have. He hasn't quite gotten to the top or to the point to slide down. He will really like it when he does because when I put him on the slide at the park, he really giggled. Josh has been battling a cold for a little while now. Sore throat, cough, runny nose. So the best bet is keep him medicated and make sure he gets his naps. If we do that he is a trooper. He is generally always happy, and just making him comfortable is the best bet.
Josh is an eating machine. He eats a wider variety of food that the 3 year old brother, and he out eats the big brother. He is really trying to get big and being able to play just like big brother. And if I let him, Josh would go outside and help himself to every strawberry ( both red and green) in the patch! It's like a perfect snack and he gets to explore the outdoors too. The strawberries are at his height too. Caleb feeds him the raspberries, but they grow so high that the raspberry picking has been Caleb's domain. I can't explain how great it feels to know that I'm am providing such a simple, joyful memory of berry picking for Caleb and Josh's childhood. Hopefully it is something that they will look back and remember with fondness. Like today, we picked raspberries and then the whole family "pig piled"/laid in the tent int he backyard. Yes, the tent is still up. With such an amazingly dry summer, we have definitely used it to our advantage. What we didn't go trailer camping, we have certainly made up for in tent camping! I wonder if Caleb will remember this in 30 years.

Well, I think that this is all I have to write for now. I hope that this makes up for the long haitus since the last post. For those who are coming to Josh's birthday, we look forward to seeing you Sunday! God Bless!