…is my two front teeth!
Adam’s been working on these for a loooonnnng time now, and the left upper finally popped through on the 23rd. Excuse the snot – he was also working on an ear infection and cold. Nice, huh?
He’s still trying to get the bottom ones through as well. I’m glad my prediction that he’d walk before he had any teeth didn’t come true!
No joke, those were Avery’s words about Christmas morning. Don and I cracked up. We were watching some videos tonight of them coming down the hall and seeing Santa’s handiwork for the first time on Christmas morning. They definitely didn’t have the over-the-top reaction we thought we’d get. At first Alex thought Santa hadn’t come, and then when he turned the corner, he was sort of stunned into silence, not sure of what to do. But Avery got super-shy and almost seemed like she was about to cry. I don’t know if it was the video camera or the way the room looked or the idea of the white bearded fat guy whose lap she refused to sit on having been in her house, but she was freaked out. And tonight, she told us it was overwhelming.
...And the mess the morning after.
Alex was over his shock and jumping on their new trampoline in about a minute and she relaxed soon after. Once they caught on to ripping off the wrapping paper, they were loving every second. And Santa and the elves must have thought the A-Team had a pretty good year overall. We could pretty much open our own store with a backwards R in the name with all their loot. Here are some highlights:
Shared:
Avery:
Alex:
Adam
I don’t want them to grow up being materialistic and thinking Christmas is all about the presents, but it sure is fun to buy for them and see them really enjoy and appreciate new things. We did make and give gifts to others, like reindeer food for their playgroup friends, too. And when we went to visit Santa, Alex told him that he wanted a present for Adam for Christmas. So sweet. (Avery, for the record, refused to get near him and threw a fit, so I ended up with a lovely photo of just my sons with St. Nick.)
We’ve spent the last few days wearing princess gear, jumping on the trampoline, getting new helmets to fit their unusually large heads, and trying to find ways to store all the new stuff. It was so nice having Daddy home, too. We’re coming down off the Christmas high and looking forward to rining in the new year quietly at home, with all of us probably asleep when the ball drops. What a change from just a few years ago for Don and me!
It’s December 27. I just came in to write a post about Christmas and found this draft from a few weeks ago, the weekend of December 5. I am happy to report that we’re all well now. Or on our way, anyway. Adam is on his second round of antibiotics for an ear infection, but seems to be feeling much better.
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It was a super-fun weekend in the Kitchen home. I have a cold and have lost my voice, as usual. Alex has a cold, possible bronchitis, and is miserable. Avery spent the better part of Friday night throwing up all over herself and her room, and she has a little cold as well. She needed two separate baths because she puked in her hair. Alex got no sleep that night either because of her and his own coughing fits. At one point, in the pitch black room, he told me he saw baby Jesus, and I got kind of worried about him. Turns out I think he was just actively imagining their Little People nativity set. We all finally got some sleep from about 5 to 7 am, and they ended up missing Aunt Jen’s baby shower, which they’d been very excited about the next day. They both are having major attitude issues – whining, being defiant, and just generally being difficult for the sake of being difficult. Adam is a little stuffy and threw up his dinner tonight, and Don has been spared so far. Like I said, super-fun times.
Despite the plague, we’re trying to get into the holiday spirit. I had visions of us trekking out into the fields of the Christmas tree farm down the road as a family, searching for the perfect tree on Sunday, but we decided that it would be better choice for Don to do it alone. I stayed home with all the sick kiddies and he bundled up and left. Adam napped and the twins watched The Super Sleuth Christmas Movie for about the 5th time in 3 days. Avery is already quoting the movie, and when she asks to watch it, she calls it “Christmas comes tomorrow,” but she sings it the way they do in the movie. Cute. I was a little nervous that Don would come back with a Charlie Brown tree, but he chopped power-sawed down what is probably the nicest tree we’ve ever had. So thanks, honey, for braving such a cold, windy day and for getting such a great tree, and for scaring off the lady who tried to chop it out from under you!
I spent the rest of the day trying to get the ornaments on the tree while keeping the twins and baby out of it. Don went back out and strung lights on the fence and hung wreaths on the windows while trying not to turn into Frosty the Snowman. The house looks merry, even if it’s occupants look and feel like they got run over by reindeer.
12/13/1994 – 12/15/2008
I said goodbye to my sweet Kenna today. She lived 14 long, mostly happy years. It was so hard, but in my heart I know it was time. She wasn’t “enjoying retirement” anymore, to quote a good friend of mine. She’d gotten to a point of eating once a day if I was lucky, and half the time that was with me hand feeding her. She lost so much weight and her back legs were too arthritic for her to get up steps or even walk easily. And the smell…oh, the smell. But she was still my Kenna to the very end, trying to chase a stick in the yard this afternoon while I tried to help her enjoy a few of her favorite things one last time.
Kenna was a special dog, and I have so many good memories. I found myself wondering today who’d be the first one in the pool next spring, since she always seemed to know when the water was detoxed enough and would jump in and show up at the front door, drenched, at some point each May. She made sure she was the last one in this year before we closed it, too. She loved the water, whether she was letting Gunner do all the work and then trying to steal a ball from him at the reservoir, or proudly bringing me back a stinky dead fish at Lake Elkhorn, or jumping into the pool as soon as nobody was looking all summer long.
And I thought about what a rotten little puppy she was. Right after I got her, I left her with my boyfriend’s sister while we were in Florida. As soon as I got back, I had a message to go get that ^&*%ing puppy because she’d climbed a toilet and porcelain sink to get into Marnie’s makeup! She cost Josh the security deposit at the townhouse he rented by eating not only the carpets, but the baseboards and even a hole in a floorboard. But she grew up and turned out to be such such a sweetheart. She could be trusted around food, kids, off leash, you name it. She was smart, learning all the basic commands and even the trick of flipping a cookie off her snout and into her mouth when someone said she couldn’t learn it.
I remembered when she had her puppies. Motherhood wasn’t quite the natural instinct I expected for her – she birthed her first puppy outside and went back in the house like nothing had happened. She refused to feed those little things unless I sat there and petted her. Eight wiggly little black furballs to keep track of, and she was no help!
Kenna was with me for so long, and through so many things. Breakups, new homes, marriage, children. There was a long time when I wondered if I’d ever have kids, and then when I finally did, I felt bad that my first baby fell so low on my priority list. But Kenna adapted quickly and was great with the babies. They were propped against her and then climbed her and chased her, and she took it all in stride. She rolled with all the changes the years brought, and always had a knowing look and a soft head for me to kiss when I needed a friend.
I’ve told Don several times that I had her longer than I’ve had him. It’s very hard to imagine life without her. But she was always a loyal and true friend to me, so I owed her my loyalty as well – a life free from pain, and a death with some dignity. Making the call, and the drive to the vet, was one of the hardest choices I’ve ever had to make. I’m beyond thankful for the kindness and gentleness our beloved vet and his staff treated us with tonight. Her death was mostly peaceful – she did snap at Dr. W. when he gave her the first shot, but he quickly forgave her. She quickly fell into a deep sleep, snoring for all she was worth, before the second shot came. I sat with her for a while after she was gone, saying goodbye and wishing we’d had more time. I can only hope that in her doggie heaven, there are plenty of lakes and pools to swim in, and meaty bones to chew on. I hope she’s back to her little truck-puppy self, free from pain and full of energy.
Above all else, Kenna was a good dog, and she will be greatly missed.
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