Birthdays and Behavior

Today is my mom's birthday. Happy Birthday Mama!

I forgot to mention in my Athens post that Katy and Erik bought a house in Arlington, VA the day they left to drive to Georgia. I'm very excited for them. It was the 8th house they bid on -- the market is so crazy in Northern Virginia that buyers are offering $40K above the asking price. How they describe the house makes it sound very cool and unique. I can't wait to see it when we're there in July.

It makes me think about our first home, and how fun it was to wake up in OUR house that first morning. It's just so satisfying. Exhausting, but satisfying. Kind of like having children -- they exhaust you, but they are satisfying.

Grady had a tremendous day yesterday. He got a perfect report at school: "Grady's behavior was excellent today, and he went out of his way to be kind to his friends." We got to talking about some of his friends at school and I tested him to see if he could tell me who was a boy and who was a girl. He got all of them right, so I asked what Liam was, "He's a boy." I asked, "What am I?" "A man." I asked, "What is mom?" "She's beautiful." How's that for a pick me up for Colleen?

I rewarded his great behavior by picking up some KFC for dinner, which we was very appreciative of. When we got home, he got out of the car and told me, "I have to go potty!" I dropped everything, left Liam in his car seat and opened the door into the house for him..."Thank you!"...then opened the bathroom door for him..."Thank you!" I asked him while he was tinkling why he thanked me. "For opening the doors for me, Dad." He's such a polite young man when he wants to be. That great behavior lasted all night, through his bath, into his storytime and at bedtime.

He's developed a recent habit lately that Colleen and I enjoy. We put Grady and Liam to bed between 7:00 and 7:30, but Grady doesn't' fall asleep typically until about 8:30 or 9:00. He enjoys the down time, listening to Chopin and "reading" his books. But, the habit he's developed is coming out of his room about every 20 minutes to shout from the top of the steps, "I love you!" We tell him we love him too, but please go back to bed. In 20 minutes he comes out of the room to say, "I love you VERY MUCH!" Then, 20 minutes later, "I REALLY love you VERY MUCH!" and so on until about 9:00.

Liam still has his sinus infection, despite two full treatments of antibiotics, so I take him to Dr. James Cuyler Thursday. Dr. Cuyler is who put the tubes in Grady's ears; he's an ear/nose/throat specialist. Liam's pediatrician, Dr. Laura Bledsoe, fears he may have polyps in his sinus cavity, or, maybe even a foreign object up there. The only thing we can imagine that got up there is a piece of nerf. Liam has a bad habit of chewing anything nerf he gets his hands on. He doesn't swallow the pieces, but they do kind of get all over his face. Maybe he inhaled a piece, and his sinuses are fighting it. We'll know Thursday, hopefully.

My birthday is Saturday and Colleen is taking me out to dinner. We'll see if the babysitter, Tina, gets Grady's "I love you" treatment at bedtime. :)