Pimp My Blog / Ode to Our Monkeys

Pardon the dust...

That green stencil thing just wasn't cutting it for me. So, I played around with my layout a bit.

I like the title of my blog (Random Deliberate Cogitation), but I was thinking it sounded a bit pretentious. So that changed as well.

I found a quote by Winston Churchill (see the top of the side bar) that made me think, "Huh?". At the same time I was thinking, "How fitting is that?!" Can't tell you why, it just seems to work for me. So, since I refer to my boys as monkeys quite often, and our stuffed animal collection started out with a monkey, there you go.

George was purchased in Denver on a 3/$1 sale by Jon when Carson was not quite 2. George has been to Colorado (obviously), Florida, California, and New Mexico. He used to be the must have sleep item, but has earned a place of honor near Carson's bank and his books. George guards the alarm clock so that no one messes with the time that Carson sets when he thinks he'll get out of bed. Of course - if Carson sleeps through the alarm, it's also George who is the culprit.



George used to hide in the collar of Jon's shirt and would wave at Carson while he was in his carseat during those dreaded car rides. George could nod his head, "Yes" or shake his head, "No". He could play hide and seek, and was capable of making many tears disappear. Note that Evan has started collecting Star Wars figurines - as long as they are in a box. This was his most recent purchase so it's in the place of honor, too. Think I ought to tell him about the damage caused by sunlight? Sad thing is that most of his boxes get opened by one or the other of his brothers, so they don't last long anyway.

I love George!

Next came Ringo, who showed up in Evan's stocking one year for Christmas. Ringo is an orangatang, and Evan couldn't say that word at the time. There really was no guidance in trying to get Evan to choose that name, he must have been channeling his rock star very early and that's what popped out... I don't think the Beatles have made a playlist in our house to date.

I just went looking for all of the monkeys to do a group shot for you, but they're in hiding. Perhaps when Evan gets home (he's the keeper of the stuffeds), I'll be able to gather them.

Evan Screams Like a Girl

I took Evan to see the pediatrician today because his knees are bothering him every morning - AGAIN. This comes up intermittently, but the pain goes away, and so does the need to go see Doc Schmidt.

Anyway - today we got to be questioned by intern, Doug, before the doc came in the room. Evan has a habit of going all quiet - not so much shy, just some kind of "if I shrink into my chair and move my mouth while I breath, I will be left alone". Insert eyeroll here

Doug did a good job asking questions, he just did too much leading. I mean when a kid hurts sometimes you have to call him on it and make him show you where. Doug asked him on a scale of 0 to 10 (10 being when he broke his leg), how bad was this pain? Evan finally spoke up that it was ABOUT a 2. Remember the eye roll from the previous paragraph - well, insert an even bigger one here If this morning pain is only a 2 and he's griped this much, the mom-patience is defintely going to be tried!

Doc Schmidt comes in, talks to Evan a bit, has him run up and down the hall (because Evan runs kind of funny). Doc agreed with me about the funny running and went back in the room to write up our lab order. The purpose of the tests is to rule out the bad stuff - like arthritis.

We got to go have blood drawn and an xray taken of both lower legs. I'm really surprised that DCFS didn't come running down the hall during the blood draw.

Evan's name was called, and he walked on back like it was no big deal. He went to sit down in the chair and saw the needle cup thing and the 3 vials on the counter. He started to shake and sank to the floor while clutching the leg of the chair. I picked him up while he remained curled into a very tight ball. I sat him on my lap while I sat in the chair. The phlebotomist asked me to pin his legs between mine (I did an all right job, but I'm sure a couple of them got gut kicked at least once) and wrap my right arm over his. This just didn't work. We ended up calling 2 more helpers. That made 4 grown women trying to hold the kid down while they got the vials filled!

This boy has an amazing set of lungs when he chooses to use them. I just mentioned how quiet he was when he didn't really want the attention, but once he saw that a needle was involved, all the rules changed. I. Could. Not. Believe. The. Noise. This. Boy. Made. If I hadn't been pinned underneath him, I really think I would have walked away.

Anyway - xrays looked fine (no tumors or incorrectly healed bones - Ev broke his left tibia when he was 3 and his right tibia when he was 4). We'll hear back from the lab on Friday morning.

When it was all over and we were in the Yukon driving home, I had to call Jon and laugh about how out of control Evan had been. We put Jon on speaker so that he could ask some questions. The last one was, "So did it really hurt?" Evan's reply?

I DON'T KNOW - THEY SAID I WAS ALL DONE BEFORE I EVEN FELT THE POKE.

All Peachy

The boys and I did 9 more quarts of peaches yesterday.

The boys really got a kick out of peeling off the skins. Feels good to be all done - now I just need to work up the energy to carry them all downstairs.




Isn't this one beautiful?! Almost makes me want to pop the top and dig in.