The Stevens Boys: Shingles + Annoyance = Certain Death

Yes, shingles. I have it - or them - or whatever. On my neck. Hideously ugly. And not exactly comfortable. I also have two small boys, one with a nasty cough (the bigger of the two - the one who is supposed to be at school today, but alas, is NOT), and neither of these precious boys is taking his nap today. And that's where the annoyance comes in.

So enough of that whining, especially considering that this blog is about the children, not their ailing mother. Wow, Blogger tells me my last post was December 4, 2009. I never intended such a long hiatus, but here we are.

[Side note - Harvey must also be annoyed with Pete's lack of napping and excess of fussing, because I just heard H get up and close his bedroom door. Will need to go open it for him, as horrible, horrible acts of disobedience and misbehavior happen when the door is closed.]

Since I've posted nothing since well before Christmas there's a lot to tell you. And I can't remember any of it at the moment. Let's see... We had a fantastic Christmas. Harvey was very aware of the holiday this year, and greatly enjoyed arbitrarily placing people on the naughty list. He kind of glossed over the fact that SANTA is in charge of the naughty and nice lists. Poor Pete spent tons of time on the naughty list. Our holiday celebrations included a visit to Santa, making special holiday treats (gingerbread house, gingerbread men, Christmas Morning Bread - a Stevens family tradition from Mark's childhood), visiting friends and family, Christmas parties, and more that, like I said, I can't remember. I should ask Harvey what we did, because that child's memory is much more in tact than mine. He remembers everything - and hears everything. It's a deadly combo.

And now it's 2010! Off to a slow start in the Stevens House of Sickness, so we can only go up from here. Last year was exceptionally healthy, aside from the usual preschool snots and occassional fever. That is unavoidable since preschoolers are gross little people with no regard for germ warfare. I feel like we're making up for all of last year in these first few weeks of twenty-ten.

Mark and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary on January 4 (and we use that term "celebrated" loosely, because we kind of had to postpone our celebration this year due to - you guessed it - illness). Thirteen years! Good Lord. Really, Good Lord, because without Him I'm pretty certain we would have imploded long ago. Nothing personal, honey. Just the nature of living with someone. Anyone who has ever had a spouse, or even a roommate, can relate.

All illnesses aside, 2010 has been full of fun so far. We have a new member of our family: Dori the betta fish. We HAD to get her, because I found out that Harvey's class is doing a two-week unit on pets. I panicked - we don't HAVE any pets! I didn't want him to be the only one. But I also really didn't want a pet just now. There are three male creatures in this house as it is, and I have my hands full, thank you! A fish I can handle. I was sure we'd killed her after one week (and no, I have no idea whether it's a he or a she) when we changed her water for the fist time, but those little suckers are resilient. She is back in fine form and surprisingly social. Harvey overheard me talking to Dori last night, and he came into the kitchen asking, skeptically, "Mommy, who are you talking to?" When I informed him I was conversing with Dori he looked at me with a combo of amusement and pity. Poor woman, she has been reduced to talking to a fish. He then went over to the bowl and repeated my words verbatim, so I know he was totally eavesdropping on me. The child needs a bell around his neck - he lurks, silently. Suddenly he'll be standing by me and I nearly faint every time!

As for the humans in our house, we've had some big accomplishments. Pete has two bottom teeth - the ones in front - and the top two front teeth are almost in. PLEASE let those teeth come in! He's a sensitive soul and teething breaks his heart.

But when he's not bemoaning his new chompers, he's very busy learning to be mobile. He began crawling on New Year's Eve, and then last week he started pulling up. This week he's cruising around the furniture a bit. Just yesterday I think it all clicked together for him and he realized that he possesses the power of locomotion. Instead of crying when I walk away, he follows me. He has a crazy, devilish laugh when he's in hot pursuit of a toy or person. We can tell he is so thrilled with himself. He's still pretty clingy and really wants his mama ALL THE TIME, but I'm seeing some glimpses of independence with this newfound mobility. That darling bald head is already covered in bumps and bruises resulting from misguided efforts to pull up on unsteady pieces of furniture and from misjudging his own abilities (Parents of the Year, for sure).

Pete is also eating a lot of solid foods these days. We just started on finger foods and it's adorable. Mostly he is unable to get the food into his mouth, but he tries really hard. When he succeeds there is pure joy on his face. We love, love watching him chew/gum his puffs and Cheerios. I think the way babies chew is one of the cuter things in this world.

Harvey, although sick as I type this, is doing really well. Enjoying school so much that he bawled his eyes out this morning when we told him he could not go. He's full of curiosity and has kind of wicked sense of humor. He alternately cracks us up and makes us pull out our hair. The imagination is in full swing and we play pretend all the time. Pirates and "Mommy" are two of his favorites. Pirates is fairly self-explanatory. In "Mommy," Harvey is the Mommy and I am the "Boy." It's quite the insight into parenthood through the preschooler's eyes. I'm humbled by the fact that he tells "Boy" how much he loves him more often than he disciplines. But there is a fair amount of punishment going on, too.

Harvey is a sweet big brother. He gets Pete's favorite toys for him and gets a real kick out of watching Pete beeline for forbidden objects (cords, outlets... the more dangerous, the better). He is a big help and will run interference for me and try to entertain Pete when I have my hands full. Harvey is also our resident Cheerio Hunter - he scavenges under the table and in Pete's high chair for all of the escapees. Yet another reminder than this is a pet-free household. The role of the dog is played by Harvey! Dori is terrible at retrieving scraps off the floor, what with being unable to survive out of the water and all.

Mark has a new job (still at IBM) and he's really enjoying it. I won't even try to explain it as I cannot do it justice. Just email him (markstevens@alumni.rice.edu) if you want the deets. I am working on a few new projects in addition to my two primary projects, aka Harvey and Pete... A yet to be named - or released - public blog, and a new Blipfoto journal (www.blipfoto.com/Burbvillepics), and maybe, just maybe, this will be the year I return to getting some words on paper in a more official capacity. Yes, I know that's vague, but it's all still a bit fuzzy in my head at the moment (let's blame shingles, okay?). When I know what's going on, I'll fill you in.

Thanks for sticking with us through the long winter's nap we took. More frequent updates from now on, really. Happy New Year!

PS - Christmas pics are available here: http://picasaweb.google.com/tcumissy

And here are a few other recent shots.

Puffs!