whacked

Yesterday we had an unfortunate accident that resulted in Ben being run over by a train.

Granted, it was a toy train, but it was a big one. It was a box car, actually, with sharp corners. Andy was playing engineer over on the couch and Benjamin was lying happily in his gym. Somehow the engineer lost control of his train and it wheeled off down the tracks, took a dive through the air and smashed right into Benji's eye. Well, thankfully it was actually his eyelid. There was crying, screaming and bleeding. Ben actually stopped crying after about seven seconds, but Andy's anguish at injuring his beloved little brother was longer-lasting.

Eventually I got the ointment dispensed and the crying under control, and we were off in the car for a playdate. Looking in the rear view mirror I asked Andy, "What's Benjamin doing back there, buddy?"

Andy replied, "Aww....he's smiling at me, Mommy! He's smiling at me with his forehead bleeding."

i just might

Andy was throwing a giant rubber ball around his room this afternoon. It was making me really nervous.

I said, "If you break the ceiling fan I'm going to be really ticked off."

He said, "And then you'll throw me out of town?"

trunk space

We put Andy to bed at 8:45 tonight. At 8:55 we were sitting in the basement and Shawn looked at me and said, "Look over on the stairs." And there was Andy, peeking around the corner. I don't even know how he heard Andy coming, since Andy was creeping.

Me: What are you doing down here?

Andy: Um, I have a question.

Me: What?

Andy: Um, nothing.

Me: Well then what are you doing down here Andy?

Andy: Um, I have a question.

Me: WHAT?!?

Andy: Um, um.....how do...how do elephants drink water through their trunks?

Me: Seriously? You got out of bed and came down two flights of stairs to ask me that?

Andy: Yes.

Me: (sigh) They suck the water into their noses and squirt it into their mouths.

Andy: Okay. Goodnight.

is there a connection here?

We were looking at pictures from our Fort Myers trip and one photo is us with my Grammy in her room at the nursing home. On her wall is an enlarged photograph of the sailboat she shared with my Grandad.

Andy: Look at that big sailboat!

Me: That's Gandalf.

Andy: What's Gandalf?

Me: That was the name of the sailboat.

Andy: Did you ride on the sailboat?

Me: Yes, my grandparents used to take me out sailing overnight.

Andy: Who drove the sailboat?

Me: My granddaddy.

Andy: Oh. Were there cookies on the sailboat?

intruder alert

Yesterday I opened the windows in Andy's room to let the cool autumn breezes blow through and air out the funk of little boy socks. I noticed a stink bug crawling on the screen but it wasn't hurting anything so I let it go about its business.

Meanwhile, downstairs Andy was misbehaving. I scolded him. He got mad at me and stomped off to his room to sulk. I went outside to enjoy the blue sky.

A few minutes later a tearful Andy came hurriedly out the door to find me.

Me: What's the matter, Andy?

Andy, angrily: There's a bug in my room and I want it removed immediately!!

we wish

We are enjoying a week down at the Fort Myers Beach condo with the kids and my family. Getting here was an adventure, with Benji suffering terrible ear pain on the airplane and Andy spitting his head open before we were even unpacked (necessitating a frantic, bloody trip to the nearest beach clinic).

As we wearily ushered our progeny onto the airplane at 8am, Andy dawdled. I encouraged him through the airplane doors and into the cabin.

"Go on, buddy," I said. "Let's go find our seats."

Andy stopped walking, jumped into the nearest first-class leather chair and said, "This is a good one, Mommy! Let's sit here!"