Birthday Girl

“Open that front door up, I need some air!”

This is what my new three year old told me this morning as we descended the steps to go read stories. It is Saturday morning as I write this, and I can hardly believe that Eden is 3. Don’t ask me “where has the time gone?” because I know exactly where the time has gone. First came Advent, then Lent, then a summer vacation. We did this the 1^st two years, and then we moved 250 miles. Then we had another baby. Then came Advent, then Lent, followed by a summer vacation. All of a sudden, we’re celebrating a 3^rd birthday and heading off to pre-school. If you want more details, think poopy diapers, bottles, sore nipples, endless nights, teething, potty training, poopy underpants, doctor appointments, and the like….

Friday, Eden woke up on my bedroom floor “Like Samson” and immediately, I knew something was different. She was three. And my life with a ‘three-nager’ had just begun.

First order of that day was a massage. After that, I thought, I can handle anything.

The rest of the day was relaxed. Eden helped me make her Birthday cake, and she spent many hours standing on the kitchen stool, staring at the pink frosting saying, “I not touch it. I not.” We read stories, played play doh, took naps, grilled out dogs and burgers and brats, opened presents from Mommy & Daddy (An EMS shirt and finger paint), Jerry & Sarah (Cherry-O, a Wiggles book and Pooh bear window stick-ons) and Lexi & Kyra (puzzles, which have already been done at least 3 times this morning alone). Then we cut into the chocolate cake and ate as much as we could before the ice cream got put away.

Bed time was tough. Being three, you know, you should get to stay up later than when you were two. And if you can’t stay up later, then you should at least be able to sleep on Mommy’s bed. And when neither of those options worked, she fell asleep leaning up against me, sitting at the top of the steps, me blocking her passage to the downstairs master bedroom. It was 11:00 p.m.

The pager went off at 11:29 p and I didn’t get back until nearly 1:00 a.m. Lars was up around 0600 this morning and I am counting down the hours until it will be nap time.

The rest of the week was fairly eventful. Monday, I took my motorcycle drive test. As I was pulling back into the courthouse parking lot after a successful road test, an elderly gentleman drove past me, up over the curb and smashed head on into to the back of the jail house. I was so stunned, I about dumped the bike to run over there. Shocked, he got out a few minutes later, cane in hand, and told everybody that had gathered that his damn brakes gave out. “Did you accidently hit the gas instead of the brake?” I asked, as I checked him over. “No, my brakes just completely gave out.” Well, the drive instructor called 911, (which happens to be the same building the guy crashed into), but they said they couldn’t hear him and hung up. So, I called Milo (police chief) on his cell phone and told him I was drumming up business for him at the jail. When he backed the car off the grass and into the parking lot, the brakes miraculously were fixed and worked just fine. Imagine that.

Tuesday, Al had a meeting that lasted 4 hours into the night. Eden came to keep us company sometime after 0100.

By Wednesday, I was too busy to worry about anything other than what to get on the table for supper, and then I had dive training at the pool. Al brought Eden up to swim while we trained and that was fun. Lars sat on the deck and played with Daddy's shoelaces.

Lars is getting to be quite the little boy. He is creeping all over the house, chasing the dog for the enjoyment of grabbing his tail. I watched this for over 20 minutes yesterday. Lars would furiously crawl after Samson, get ‘just about’ to his tail and Samson would get up and slowly saunter away, while Lars went scurrying after him. Samson tried valiantly to get away, once by climbing up the forbidden steps, and finally trying to crawl under the coffee table, in which he does not fit. I finally rescued the dog and gave Lars some crackers.

"Eden, what are you doing?"

"I'm washing my feet. They were dirty"

Lars other favorite right now is cords…phone cords, computer cords, camera cords, lamp cords, TV cords, monitor cords, any kind of cord. He’s enthralled with cords. That’s an easy birthday gift if you ask me.

Now that you mention it, his birthday is less than a month away! Where has THAT year gone?!?!?!