"Why, Mommy? Why?"

One of David's most frequent words nowadays is "why?"

Can I just tear my hair out now and scream?  It takes me back to the endless "I know you are but what am I?" battles of elementary school.  I want to encourage his curiosity, but sometimes there are only so many answers I can give.  And sometimes his "why" doesn't even make sense.  Example:

David:  "Where are we going, Mommy?"

Me: "We're going to the bank."

David: "Why are we going to the bank, Mommy?" 

Me: "[blah blah blah abc xyz]..."

David: "Is the bank really far away?"

Me: "No, the bank is close."

David: "Why is the bank close?"

Me: "...Ummm.  Because it's not far away." (within a mile, in fact)

David: "Why is it not far away?"

Me: "Ummm..."

How do you answer that?  I know!  Let's say "Because it is less than 5,280 feet away" and blow his little 4-year-old mind.  I actually tried that once and got another "why?"

One day in frustration (I think it was a headache day) I said, "David, I've given you enough Why's.  Don't ask any more!"  And even as the words came out, I realized that

WHY'S = WISE

OK, it's corny, but it was a moment for me.  The other day David and I had another "why?" marathon.  After my recent epiphany, I wanted to answer him as best I could.  The outcome was pretty funny, so indulge me on a play-by-play.

David: "Mommy, are my teeth white?" (he recently had his first visit to the dentist)

Me: "Yep, your teeth are white."

David: "Why are my teeth white?"

Me: "Because they're clean, and [realizing an opportunity to teach a gospel principle] because Heavenly Father made them that way."

David: "Why did Heavenly Father make them that way?  Why, Mom?  Why?"

Me: "Because he made us to look like Him, and He has white teeth."

David: "Why did He make us to look like Him?"

Me: "Because we're His children."

David: "Why are we His children?"

Me: "Because He made us."

David: "Why did He make us?"

Me: "Because He loves us."

David: "Why does He love us?"

Me: "Because we're His children."

David: "Why are we His children?"

Me: "Because he made us."

David: "Mo-o-om! Stop saying that!"

Mua-Hahaha!  Cyclical Logic wins!  Should I be ashamed that I felt a little smug after that?

Another teaching opportunity arose when David got a few dollars in birthday cards, and we decided to teach David about paying tithing and earning money by being Mommy's Special Helper.  We made a chart with the days of the week heading the columns and his simple jobs heading the rows. 

We told him at the end of the week we'd give him a dollar for each day he did his special jobs (pick up toys, empty diaper pails, or set the table.  In case you're wondering, the "clean the bathroom" sticker is actually for going poop in the potty.  We don't pay him for that but we're hoping the sticker chart will offer a little more incentive to that battle).  We started the chart mid-week, so pay day came quickly.  I gave David three dollars, which he was very excited to hold and stuff into his little bank with "treats" on it.

Time out to tell about the bank!  I remember as a kid getting Tootsie Rolls in a little tin with a slot in the lid to serve as piggy bank when the candy got eaten.  When I saw similar tins of candy in the bargain bins at Target many months ago, I couldn't resist getting one. They didn't have Tootsie Roll tins, so I ended up getting a Now & Later one.  I thought the title was somewhat appropriate for a coin bank.  Anyway, back to David...

Shortly after receiving his dollars, he asked to play with pennies, too.  He LOVES to play with coins.  I told him I'd give him ten dimes if he gave me one dollar, and then he could give three dimes to Jesus (not my preferred way to phrase it, but that was how he was understanding it, so we'll ride that wave for now) and put seven dimes in his bank.  He watched me fill out the tithing slip and then helped seal his three dimes in the envelope.  Then he put his other seven dimes one by one in the slot of his bank, pointed the the treats painted on the side, and said something to the effect of "I give three dimes to Jesus and then He'll give me candy!"

Red Eyes and Goose Eggs

Thursday was a remarkable day. I think it easily lines up with Alexander’s Terrible Horrible, No-good, Very Bad Day, except that it was so ridiculous that I had to laugh even as it was all happening.

I was expecting my friend Christy to come over with her two little girls (ages 2 and 1) to use my scanner for some old family slides. While we were waiting for her to arrive, David asked to play with his beans. He has a Rubbermaid bin that I dumped a #10 can of dried pinto beans into, and he likes to stir and shovel them and dump them into funnels and containers. I put Daniel down for his morning nap, but he was having a hard time settling down. Meanwhile, another friend called, and we chatted while David played away. After a bit, David came in and said, “Mommy, stop talking to her; I have a bean up my nose!” Surprised, I looked up his nose but didn’t see anything. I guess I thought he was just being funny and didn’t think much of it. I walked into the other room, still talking on the phone, when I heard him sniffing air out of his nose, and decided he really did have something up there and needed to take a second look. I ended my phone conversation and called him over. Looking harder, and in different light, I could see that sure enough, there was a pinto bean up his nose! I plugged his other nostril and told him to farmer blow. Out launched the bean. Catastrophe averted; on with the day.

David has his very first dentist appointment scheduled for the late morning. He has been excited about getting “bugs” off his teeth and was eager to experience that. We talked about different kind of bugs: ants, ladybugs, grasshoppers, butterflies... I took a moment to have the usual conversation with him about making sure he listened to the dentist and did as he was asked. He was very compliant. Then I forewarned him that he would need to sit still for a while so they could get the bugs off his teeth. I should have kept that part to myself, because he suddenly protested, “I don’t want to go to the dentist!” I tried to reassure him that the dentist would be fun, hoping they had, at the very least, toys in the waiting room.

Christy and the girls arrived, and I visited with Christy while she scanned and the kids “played” in the other room. David was not particularly willing to share that day, and he and Ella, the 2-year-old, were having it out. I hauled him upstairs to have a conversation about sharing and being nice to friends. In the middle of that I got another dental protest. Daniel was still complaining in his crib after an hour of non-nap (you keep thinking they’ll settle down in a couple minutes….), so I brought him down.

Pretty soon it was time to go to the dentist, so I packed up my boys and left Christy to keep scanning. The dentist appointment actually went very well (yay!), but there were no toys in the waiting room (boooo!), which David was very quick to point out to me. At least we didn’t have to wait long.

When I came home, first off I was greeted by the oh-so-lovely smell of the dead squirrel in our chimney. Then I made my way into the house and found that all the toy bins had been discovered and dumped out in a pile. Not a big deal; toys are made to be played with, but it was a really big pile! I put our stuff down and went in the dining room to tell Christy about how David’s first appointment went. Kids and toys migrated to our vicinity.

Pretty soon Daniel started crying, and it took a second to register what was wrong. Christy said, “Looks like his face is wet,” and then I realized that I’d heard David climb on top of the washing machine, and he’d gotten the stain remover spray and sprayed it in Daniel’s face! I jumped up and grabbed Daniel and ran his face and eyes under the kitchen faucet for as long as I could. Daniel was fit to be tied, and very wet by the time I got finished. Christy grabbed paper towels and started wiping up spray, but then her kids started fussing. After I thought Daniel would herniate, I toweled him off a bit and then sat David down to talk about what had just happened. (I don’t think he meant to get Daniel; his mischief just covered a broad surface area and Daniel was in the middle of it). Daniel rubbed his eyes a couple times and I decided he probably needed them flushed again. This time Christy helped me, and it went much better. Then we remembered that there was still spray all over the walls and floor, and started mopping that up. We had all the kids milling around in the middle of the mess, and I (nicely) banished everyone under the age of 5 into the family room with the toys so we could get things cleaned up.

Just as we finished, David and Ella started having it out again. Ella knocked over a TV tray/side table, and the ensuing vibrations knocked down several buildings from my wooden village on top of the doorframe. One building, the biggest of the collection, fell down and the corner hit David square on the head (Nathan called it karma for the Daniel-eye incident). So I’m sitting on the floor with a crying child in each arm; one with red eyes and the other with a goose egg. And all I could do was laugh. It was barely lunch time; how could so many things go wrong in such a short period of time?!

I wondered aloud if I should call poison control, even though Daniel didn't ingest anything.  Christy said the back of the stain-remover bottle instructed to flush eyes for 15 minutes (how on earth do you subject a 13-month-old to that?) and consult a doctor. I decided it would be prudent to give Daniel one more round of rinsing, and then called the nurse hotline. Naturally, it was their lunch hour, so I had to wait over an hour before they called back. They said to call poison control to get the product-specific instructions (gee, thanks). After telling the poison control person what happened, she said if he wasn’t rubbing his eyes anymore and could tolerate bright light then I got it rinsed well enough. Both held true, so we got very, very lucky.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I put the boys in bed and headed out for some big-girl time.  But I'm still laughing!

Unwelcome Tenant

Nathan often tells me I have the nose of a bloodhound. All I can say is that I'm sensitive about how things smell. Unfortunately, our family room is rather malodorous at the moment. If any of you come to my house, I promise that I change poopy diapers, bathe my children, empty the garbage, and run my in-sink-erator. The problem is an unwelcome tenant in our chimney.

So, last Wednesday as I was getting David ready for his first day of preschool, we suddenly heard some noise in the fireplace. I'm thinking to myself, "Great. A squirrel in the chimney and I have to leave in 5 minutes to take David to school." Daniel clung to me as the rattling continued, and David begged me for a flashlight so he could check it out. What a goof. As you may recall, I have my fireplace covered with insulating foam to prevent drafts. I pulled the insulation away to make sure the squirrel was not actually in the fireplace (true), and then put everything back in place, let the cat in the house, and left for the morning, hoping everything worked out in some way or another without having a carcass on my beige area rug when I got home.

When I returned in the afternoon, our tenant was still rattling away above the fireplace. I blocked off exits with baby gates, secured the kids out of the room, brought the cat into the room, opened the back door (cat promptly exited when she heard him rattle), and opened the flue, ready for a frantic squirrel to burst into my family room. Nothing. I think there's a grate or mesh or something to prevent critters from entering the fireplace through the chimney. How considerate, until I need to get one out!

I next did an internet search on how to get squirrels out of chimneys. The solution is actually pretty simple: lower a rope down the chimney so the squirrel could climb out. We had just two problems--no ladder to get up there, and no rope even if we did have a ladder. Going out and buying those things for a squirrel really was not a financial option this month. We called Pest Control to see if they could retrieve the squirrel. Yes they could, for a modest fee of $230, plus an additional $140 for this that and the other. Definitely not a fiscal option for a squirrel! After hearing that price tag, Nathan said the squirrel could stay there and enjoy his Darwin award for falling down the chimney in the first place.


And he did.

The rattling stopped during the night.

It was 90 degrees outside the past three days.

And he smells.


I caught my first whiffs of him this afternoon. I moved my ionic breeze air purifier over by the fireplace, sprayed air freshener in the room, burned a cinnamon spice candle, and incense to give my sensitive nostrils something else to think about. I hope he stops being noticeable soon!

Preschool, Hanna, and Birthdays

Our latest news all happened within four days. Can you believe that? Preschool, Hanna, and birthdays.

After some deliberation, Nathan and I decided to start David at preschool this year instead of doing Little Gym. He started on Sept 3, and was very excited to go to school. He has not been disappointed, and is beaming every time I pick him up.

My big boy ready for his first day of Preschool, and one excited Momma!

David ushered into the school by the Preschool Director.  He went so willingly!

Nathan was very disappointed in Hanna. He loves big storms and had been excitedly anticipating hurricane season, hoping to really get some action. We got a lot of rain from Hanna, but that was it. He said we’ve had thunderstorms more exciting that that. Poor guy, but I must say I’m relieved to still be on the map.

Saturday was Nathan and David’s birthday. David was really excited for his birthday this year. Nathan was less than thrilled to bid his twenties farewell (yep, the big 3-0) and so gladly gave David the limelight. Two weeks before their birthday, when I told David he would be four soon, I started hearing him sing “Happy Birthday” to himself while he was playing. It was super cute. We tried getting video of it, but he heard us turn on the camera and stopped singing to investigate. He also kept asking me if Grandma Taylor was coming and bringing him Happy Birthday cake. He was very excited.


So, after Hanna blew through, my parents drove up to do birthday with us. I made a train cake for David since he’s really been interested in Thomas the Tank Engine lately. We ate cake and ice cream sandwiches—another recent favorite item—while David opened one present, played with it for a little while, then opened another present and played with it…really drawing out the party process.


David has really enjoyed the cat this past month. The other day he picked her up and gave her a big hug and a kiss and said, “I love you Alea.” Daniel has started clucking his tongue at her like he’s heard us do when we’re calling her. He’s also started imitating David, which is quite amusing. He’ll shake his head and act silly, or do monkey jumps around the living room floor. Yesterday he repeated “Oh Wow” after David. Gotta love it.

Daniel is still not quite ready to walk full-time. He prefers to take up to 5 steps and then just crawl wherever it is he wants to go. However, he loves playing with David’s cars and trains and scoots them along the floor like every natural boy. They must come pre-programmed.

The only medical trauma to report (this one’s for you, Nerissa), is that Daniel has had an occasional, inexplicable rash on his face and hands. The first time was shortly after we came home from a walk. He started rubbing his face a lot and soon his face got all red. He was eating at the time the rash emerged, but he wasn’t eating anything new, so I don’t think it was a food allergy. I hurried and washed his hands with soap, rinsed his face off, and gave him benadryl. Things cleared up within a few minutes after I washed him off. I chalked it up to “odd things of note” and carried on.

Daniel's first rash.  Weird, Weird, Weird.

Yesterday however, again while he was eating, he started to break out into a rash again. This time it was redness and little bumps. We caught it pretty quickly and hurried and washed his hands and face. His hands cleared up, but although his face rash didn’t spread, it still hasn’t gone away. I’m not quite sure what to make of that. I guess we’ll just have to keep an eye on what he’s been doing and eating when the rash emerges. Neither of us or David has allergies; this is a whole new field for us.

I’m finally seeing the end of the photo scanning project. There will still be some work to get all the pictures dated, but WA-HOO! I’ve really enjoyed seeing my family’s history through these photos. As the youngest of 8 kids, there was a lot happening long before I was even a twinkle in my mom’s eye. As fun as it has been, I’m glad to be almost finished so I can move on to other projects waiting in the wings.

Well, the calm the boys afforded me will probably be over in a few minutes, so I’d better wrap things up. We love and miss you all!

The (Other) Other Nashes
Nathan, Natalie, David, Daniel

"Remember Me" Video

This was forwarded on to me by a good friend. With a brother in the Navy who recently returned from Iraq, it really hit home for me. Please support our troops!