Peter's a New Man (Dog)

The dogs had their annual check-ups this week--all looks good, except Hattie's a bit hefty (though she's lost 4 pounds since last year!). In speaking with the vet, he mentioned the Furminator as something that might help with Peter's annual hair shedding fest that is currently taking over our house. I'm talking tufts of hair that fall out all over the floor, bed, couch, etc. It happens every year around this time, mostly on his back and hips.

Exhibit A:

 My name is Peter Dink, and I'm here to destroy our house. You're welcome.

Just kidding, sweet boy. :)

 Closer shot.

I think the flash makes it seem a little less tufted--just trust me, it was very tufted.

I went online and found a generic brand that was over half the price of the actual Furminator--I think the one I got is called the FurBlaster or something equally awesome. Reviews were good, so I ordered it and it arrived today.

Here are our results:

He's a new man!

The pile was half a foot tall (it was dispersed a little as Peter posed for the picture), and I could have probably gotten a bit more out of him but I had to start dinner. He really seemed to enjoy being brushed by it--he kept coming back for more, and I kept finding areas that were goldmines. I'll probably try again in a week just to make sure we got the majority of it.

I tried it on Hattie, too, but I didn't get hardly any out of her. It gets the undercoat out, so I guess her shedding is a different kind of shedding. I used to blame her for being the primary shedder of the family, but maybe I was wrong! Regardless, I'm glad I was able to get that much hair out of Pete--theoretically, it should save me some sweeping and vacuuming, at least slightly.

Lewis' Key and Truck Hanger

Yesterday morning, I walked in the kitchen and noticed the banana hanger was gone from our counter top. I asked Kevin where it was, and he said that Lewis was using it. I walked in the living room to find this:

Lewis' Key Hook

I then did breakfast, dropped Lewis off at school, and went to Kroger. As I was putting the groceries away, I went to find the hanger to hang the new bananas and found it like this: 

It made me smile. :)

I remembered that he took the toy keys to the car for the ride to school, but I didn't see that he replaced them with Papaw's pick-up truck. 

Last Day of School!

Today is Lew's last day of school! It seems like the spring semester went by much more quickly than the fall semester did. We love his school and his teachers and have been so happy with how he has grown over these past nine months.

In the fall, with baby-on-the-way's impending arrival, we're bumping him up to three days a week (vs. two this year). We'll start getting him ready for that adjustment over the summer--they have camps all summer, so we've signed him up for six weeks of 3-day camps. He'll be doing camps on nature, cooking, community service and giving, sports, Legos and space, so hopefully he has a good time and can start to get to know some of the 3-year-old teachers better, too.

 Last Day of Preschool (in the 2-year-old room)

What a cheeseball! This morning was a very trying morning for ol' Mama (he was too excited to do much listening), so this was the best of the bunch from Wild Man Lew.

And, for fun, here is back on the first day of school, back in September:

First Day of Preschool

So young and innocent then. :)

To the Doctor and Dentist

A few weeks ago, Lewis and I had a little incident with his bedroom door. I was replacing the handle lock, and he was 'helping' me. As I went to close the door and check it, I met a little resistance. I pulled the door a little more, only to hear an enormous scream come out of Lewis' mouth. Without me knowing, he had stuck his index finger in the crack of the hinge side of the door. OUCH! It looked really bad immediately, followed by at least 10 minutes of crying (which is very unusual for Lewis). I called the pediatrician, and they had me bring him in. The doctor looked at it but wasn't sure if it was broken (it was swollen and red/purple). He sent us out to the children's hospital for an x-ray, and I was SO glad to hear that it was not broken. It was back to normal just a few days later. Mother of the Year! :)

This week, he went for his 6-month check-up at the dentist. He did SO much better laying back in the chair this time than last time. He did try to sit up at first, but he calmed down quickly, held my hand, and laid very still for the cleaning. The dentist came to check out his teeth and decided to take x-rays. When they did, they found that one of his front teeth is BROKEN at the root! Yikes! The dentist asked me when it happened, and the only thing I could think of was an incident about 7 months ago (and I only remember the timing because it was close to his last dentist appointment). He pulled one of our dining room chairs back and hit himself in the mouth--I remember his gum being a little bruised, but they didn't seem that concerned at his last visit. The dentist said that we'll just watch it for now since it hasn't changed color (to yellow or gray). It has angled forward very slightly, but the dentist said that it's possible it has re-fused and will be fine. She will check it again in 6 months.

Mother's Day Weekend

On Saturday morning, Lewis and I headed out to the forest where I used to work for a Woodland Tea Party. A former co-worker/friend had planned it, so I thought it would be fun for Lewis and I to have a special Mama/Lew date. It was pouring rain overnight and into the morning, but we headed on out (and the rain eventually did stop):

Ready for Tea (and moreso, cookies)

 Listening to instructions before the hike (in some light rain)

 A box turtle in the middle of the trail

 At first avoiding puddles, but that would soon change :)

I think the rain or the walking-while-taking-a-picture made this so crazy/trippy/blurry. You'll notice there's no sign of the rest of the group in front of us. About 5 minutes into the hike, I could tell it was going to be too much for Lew to handle. They stopped a lot and talked about wildflowers (which was great for mothers and other non-toddler types, of course), but I wanted to slip away and go back to the building. We stuck with it and made it out, pretty much unscathed (just a little frazzled for Mama).

Just as we were exiting the woods and heading back to the building, Lew found a pretty sweet puddle to do some stomping in:

 Have your fun, buddy.

We then detoured to the car to change into the back-up jeans I'd packed. :) In addition to the water here, he'd slipped a couple of times on the trail and gotten a muddy booty and muddy knees.

Ready for tea (he looks less than enthused, but I think it was because we were seated with strangers). I'd been trying to keep him away from the dessert table from the moment we arrived. The tables were pretty formal (read: lots of breakable items), so I had to clear away an area for him: 

Going in for a cookie.

He didn't end up eating most of the treats, unfortunately (he wanted to go and play). They were delicious--they were from a local, natural bakery (Cake Flour) and the tea was from Hillbilly Tea here in town.

While he was playing, Christa (my friend) found him and got him started on a little gift for the mothers. They made a photo mat with various leaves and other bits from the woods: 

It's drying up already, but it's a sweet little memento.

(They took our picture and printed it for us, too.)

After finishing his craft, I realized he'd had an accident, so I decided we would head out a little early. I was also having trouble getting him to stay in one place and walk carefully (again, lots of breakables!). He'd had some late nights leading up to that morning, so it all seemed to culminate in a very fussy Lewis by the end of it. Overall, though it was a nice event, and I'm glad we went.

Along with the late nights, he has been waking up earrrrly the past week or two (which has improved the last few mornings, thanks to some earlier bedtimes). This was my wake-up crew on Mother's Day at like 6:45am. :) The dogs were there all night--the child thought they could use some extra snuggles:

 The crazy iPhone flashes in the dark made Lew's eyes close.

Looks like Lewis and Kevin did some snuggling while I was away that day, too: 

 My two favorite boys :)

And one dirty foot

On Sunday morning, I got up and made a big breakfast for Kevin, Lewis, and me (because I wanted to...Kevin offered). Kevin took Lewis to see Grandma Sharon while I stayed at the house and almost finished the season of Sex and the City I've been binge-watching (for like the 3rd time). :) I then went and met Sharon and Kevin's aunt and cousins for lunch and a movie. When I got home, Kevin was starting dinner--he made steak, twice-baked potato casserole (one of my favorite foods ever), Caesar salad, and a peanut butter/Butterfinger pie. What a guy! It was such a nice day.  

[Sorry I didn't get to see you, Mom!! Of course the day would have been better if we'd been able to spend some time with you, but hopefully next year.]

Getting Dirty at Henry's Ark

Last week, we spent a morning at Henry's Ark with Tonya and Carlton. By the time we left, the boys were hot, sweaty, and covered in water and mud (and some poop from the various ducks, geese, chickens, etc.). We had to do a bath as soon as we got home that day. :)

 Ready to set out

In his new Dusty shirt, I might add--that was the first time he wore it (last Wednesday), and I'm pretty sure he's worn it at LEAST 4 days since then. Oops! I guess he really likes the shirt--he's wearing it at school today, actually. :)

 Found a puddle--that will come back later :)

 Feeding the camel

 :)

We sang 'Do Your Ears Hang Low' to this sweetie.

 Back to the puddle

I think they would have been fine just playing here the whole time--they were stomping in it, putting rocks and sticks in it, etc.

 Haha :)

Carlton lost his pants halfway through because he was warm. 

:)

Ribbit

We stopped to see the swans on the way out, and Lewis spotted this frog down in the water.

Lewis the Truest, Vol. 6

The first three of these are from back in February and March, the last one is from the other day:


I mentioned on his 3 year post that he's been singing 'O, my darling, Clementine.' He has fudged the words just enough to be cute:

Lewis: O, my darmin, O, my darmin, O, my darmin, Clementine...

----------

On our drive to Dublin, we hit some road construction (along with a few other hiccups). Lewis was pointing out the construction trucks and said:

Lewis: Where are the drivers?
Mama: Oh, they must have the weekend off. They're probably home with their families.
Lewis: Sitting on the couch? Watching basketball?

:)

---------

I overheard Kevin and Lewis talking at dinner the other night. The conversation somehow went to Indiana...

Kevin: Indiana. That's where your grandparents live. Do you know what state we live in?
Lewis: (silence)
Kevin: Kentucky. Do you know what city we live in?
Lewis: Go Cards!

It's obviously the height of basketball season right now in our house. :) 

----------

Just now in the bath, to Kevin, regarding his (Lewis') first poop in the potty this afternoon (yippee!)

Lewis: I pooped!
Kevin: I know you did, Lewis. That's great!
Lewis: I did it! I'm so proud of you! 

:) I might have said how proud I was of him a few times.

Camping at Clifty Falls

Friday-Saturday, we went camping at Clifty Falls State Park, just over the river in Madison, IN. It's about an hour drive from us, and it's somewhere we've never been before. We reserved a spot online in the primitive campground (non-electric), boarded the dogs, and were on our way Friday afternoon (Kevin got off work early). Much to our surprise, their definition of primitive is far from what we're used to--instead of pit toilets, there was a big, beautiful bathhouse with flushing toilets, sinks to wash our hands and brush our teeth, and even showers! Of course, we didn't bring anything to shower since we were expecting to survive by pit toilets and a measly spigot of water. It was a very nice surprise!

Speaking of toilets, someone is officially potty training:

 He did really well! We thought that his little potty would be convenient to have at the campsite, but he ended up preferring to go to the BIG toilet (as he called it) at the bathhouse. Whatever, little man!

We set up our site and then went out to find dinner. We ended up going to the Clifty Inn, on-site, and it was really good. It reminded me a lot of the place where we had our wedding reception (good, home cookin'). Afterwards, we went outside to check out the grounds:

And Kevin chased Lewis up and down the hill a few times. :)

On our drive back to the campsite, we saw quite a few animals: 

Wild turkeys and deer

We saw two different sets of a mama and little deer and lots of rabbits.

The deer on the right is peeing or pooping. :) Ha.

Back at the campsite, it was time for s'mores: 

 Or just eating a piece of Hershey bar, if you're Lew:)

 Roasting the marshmallow

 And giving it a try (by licking the marshmallow)

He decided he still doesn't like them, so Mama had to eat it. :)

Getting him to fall asleep was pretty rough. We decided to wait until it started to get dark (so 8:30ish), and by 9:15, Kevin and I were both going to bed, too, to try to help him fall asleep and/or restrain him in the tent. He kept trying to escape, saying he needed to go potty, etc. for awhile, before FINALLY melting down into sleep somewhere between 10 and 11 (we aren't sure what time it actually was). He slept ok until 2:30ish, when he woke up and started playing with my hair. He then got up and tried to open the door and said, 'I need to go potty!' I was going to take him, but he thought it was too cold when I opened the door of the tent and decided he didn't have to go after all (he was wearing a diaper anyway). He fell back asleep quickly, but Kevin and I were both kept awake by some lovelies who were still up partying. Thankfully it started to lightly rain at some point, and that ended their party. Lew woke us up around 7:30, which was ok with us. I'd been awakened a little earlier by the annoyingly chipper birds (the nerve!), but I was able to fall back asleep until Lew was up. Kevin said he didn't feel like he really ever fell asleep for any amount of time, so we were all asleep pretty early last night at home.

Anyway, sleep or no sleep, here is our Saturday:

 Breakfast time!

 Mmm, cinnamon rolls!

I'd never made them in our pie iron before, but they turned out perfectly.

After breakfast, we took off for some hiking:

 :)

At Tunnel Falls, I think

Lewis Pete, the Trooper

The trails were pretty rugged and there were a LOT of stairs, but Lewis did really well. Towards the end of the morning, Kevin had to do some carrying and shoulder-riding, but, overall, Lewis held his own. He said 'I love hiking' and 'I love camping' a few times during our trip. :)

After that first trail, we decided to head out to see Clifty Falls and Little Clifty Falls. Before starting that hike, we stopped off for some playground fun:

Daddy's a fireman!

Until now, Lewis has always shied away from the fireman's pole. Kevin showed him how it's done, and Lew decided to give a try after he saw how fun it could be.

Whee!

He said, 'I'm like a fireman!'

Enjoying a snack before our second hike

Heading down some stairs to see Clifty Falls

Lewis said, 'It's like train tracks!'

Just under Lew's elbow you can sort of see Clifty Falls :)

Columbine, growing out of a rock

Did I mention there were a lot of stairs?!?

We went back to the campsite for lunch, and packed up the car to go home. We made one last stop at the observation tower on the way out:

View from the top

Lewis had dandelion-painted hands, so he was being very careful not to let them touch anything. :)

And that was our trip! 24 hours of time away that felt like a lot longer (in a good way). Lewis fell asleep about halfway into the 1 hour drive, and I put him in his bed at home, where he slept another 2 1/2 hours. Tired boy! Tired mama and tired dada, too.