Kaboom

Bryon and Jake are at Bryon's dad's in north Missouri this week. We originally planned for all of us to go, not realizing it was Sam's first week of school. Rather than pull Sam out of school or cancel the trip, I encouraged Bryon to take Jake. He could really use the one-on-one attention. Although he has fewer and fewer wobblers as he gets older, the transition from summer to school has been tough on him too.

I've only been away from the boys for a few days when I took Abby home to my mom's more than a year ago. Since Abby and Sam are here it isn't completely different, but it is strange not to have Jake around. Bryon travels enough that I am used to his void - I carried 2 lizards out of the house this morning and shoveled a dead, disemboweled rat from our yard to the garbage - so I can get by.

But I was thinking this morning that not having Jake around is exactly like celebrating the Fourth of July without fireworks. They may leave you jarred and breathless and with a smidge of a headache, but it just isn't the holiday without them.

Please Don't Wake the Bears

I was sound asleep at 2 a.m. when I was thwacked in the back of the head by Bryon's CPAP, the snoring mask he started wearing earlier this year. Apparently one of its many fasteners came unhinged and it snapped like a rubber band. (Either that or Bryon hit me in the head and blamed the CPAP. Could be.) But that kicked off a sleepless and convoluted night of musical beds, sleepwalking and crying.

After Bryon lost his CPAP he got up to use the bathroom. When he wasn't back in 5, 10, 15 minutes I got up to check on him and couldn't find him. Not in the guest bed, not on the couch. I thought maybe he went to the drugstore (allergies) but the car was in the garage. I checked our bed again, thinking maybe I'd actually fallen asleep before he made it back to bed. Still no Bryon. I went to check on the kids and found him asleep with Jake in Jake's twin bed. They looked like bears hibernating. Bryon was curled on his side and Jake was sitting, leaning into his stomach. Both sound asleep.

Rather than wake them I went back to bed, a little excited that I would get the bed to myself. Four minutes later Abby woke up. I brought her into bed with me. She eventually went back to sleep but I could not. It seems she is most comfortable when she is kicking me in the larynx. Then, of course, Papa Bear woke up, realized he was in the wrong bed and stumbled back to his.

Soon after Baby Bear woke up and realized Papa was gone. "I want to sleep wif you!!!" he screamed until I could get Abby back to her crib and Jake into our bed. Now Jake is a cougher, but he knows it is bothersome so he tries to stifle it. And if there's one thing worse than a nighttime cough, it is a stifled nighttime cough. For the next couple of hours we slept fitfully while Jake coughed and kicked and Bryon wheezed and I yanked at the covers available in my 10 inches of bed space. When the alarm went off at 6:30 Bryon tapped me on the leg. "It's your turn to get up."

Of course it is.

Milestones

One year ago I blogged about Sam's first day of kindergarten. I think it was as hard on him as it was on me. And here we are, one year later, and today was his first day of first grade.

We prepared for this one a little less. I kind of assumed it wouldn't be too hard for him - same school, many of the same classmates, familiar faces, routines, hallways. But he admitted he was nervous today, and I did all I could to keep him from stepping into the abyss he was teetering on all morning.

When I wiped off his face (I'll never understand how a kid can have a chunk of egg the size of a quarter on his face and not be compelled to wipe it off), I touched his canker sore and he started to cry. Somewhere between the breakfast table and the bathroom he lost his two new Star Wars toys and he started to cry. I was able to snap a few pictures before he left with Dad. Here things don't look so bad. This is how I hope we both remember it.

I would have liked to include a picture of Jake since he transitioned to a new classroom today too. But that would've been hard to do since he ran from me this morning. He refused to get into my car and while I was buckling Abby in, he ran down the street in an incident quite similar to when Sam gave chase in 2005. I can chuckle about it now, but it was a horrendous, sweaty 45 minutes that could be in the Romine Meltdown Hall of Fame. A near perfect decathlon that combined running, hitting, scratching, crying, gagging, insults, apologies, snot and clenched teeth. I'll let you imagine who did what.

I have to give it to him. In all my hurrying and downplaying the significance of first grade, Jake managed to make the day all too memorable.

The Friendly Skies

So we are back from our week at grandma's. It has taken us about a week to fall back into our routines, but that vacation 'mellow' wears off much sooner. For me it starts to fade when I start unpacking. And then before you know it you are back in the daily grind and you've forgotten how nice it is to start your morning in a porch swing with some sweet tea.

The plane ride was about what I expected it to be. Abby was 'that kid' on the plane, the one that everyone can hear but can't see. Screaming, arching her back, thrashing and scratching at me because I wouldn't let her run in the aisle. But eventually she wore herself down and slept, heavy and sweating on my arm. Coming home she fell asleep almost immediately, which was handy when I needed to reach around the seats and bat at Sam and Jake for fighting. American Airlines, no doubt drawing on years of experience, decided to sit us in four different seats. But we are back, safe and sound. That's the important thing.

Leaving On a Jet Plane

This week I am taking the kids to my mom's before Sam, my sister and my nephews go back to school on the 25th. If you are going to be on a flight from Dallas to Illinois this week, this is for you:

Yes, I am flying alone with three small kids. They will probably not sit still practicing their penmanship and reading Emily Post. They are, after all, kids, and this is not a flight to La La Land. I will do my best to keep them from yelling, running in the aisle and kicking your seat. In fact I will probably be overstressed in my attempt to make everyone on the plane comfortable and not annoyed by our presence. I will have an arsenal of small toys, snacks and diversions, but at some point my bag of tricks may be empty. Please note that my tickets cost as much as yours. Hence, I am just as entitled to a spot (four spots actually) on this plane as you. Giving us the stink eye will only make things worse. If you back off, I'll relax and things will be better for us all.