Rocking the Bath Time Faux-Hawk

Notice how it got funnier as time went on?

A List for Tuesday

Dutch's 5 Favorite Books

1. Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
2. Where the Wild Things Are
3. Curious George and the Firefighters
4. Little Digger (a pop-up book)
5. Skippyjon Jones

Mini-Me

Today, since Dutch had taken an early nap, I decided we would spend the afternoon reading on our porch swing.  So I went and got my current book on writing (Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott) and sat on the swing.  Dutch came out and sat by me, saw me marking my book with a red pencil and ran back inside.

A few minutes later he came back out with one of my other writing books and a green pencil and began studiously marking passages in it.  When I would pause and put the pencil to my lips, so would he.  When I would put the pencil in my other hand, so would he.

It was a funny reminder that he sees and hears everything I do and I need to be a good example for him.  Although now I'm not sure now how I'll ever make him understand that we don't write in books... unless we're supposed to write in them.

What Ya Doing?

When Chris and I put Dutch down for bed tonight he didn't cry or fuss, he laid right down.  We went into the living-room (which is next to his bedroom) and were sitting quietly doing our own thing.  Dutch, who I thought was asleep, began talking to himself.  Then he heard Chris say something to me and yelled:

"Hey! Hey, Da!  Da, what ya doing?"

Chris and I started laughing.  I'm just glad he's stopped having to cry himself to sleep every night.  That was getting old.

Favorite Picture Friday

Playing with Grandpa Greg at Uncle Josh and Aunt Dawn's wedding.

(We're not sure where he found those sunglasses, they didn't belong to any of us and no one claimed them later.)

Money Money Money

A while ago my mom-in-law gave me some coin dollars and a few Utah quarters in a cute little red drawstring bag.  Today Dutch has been playing with the coins and the bag nonstop for about an hour now.

Who said money can't buy happiness?

Oh What a Day! Oh What a Morning!

Dutch usually takes a bath every morning because he makes a HUGE mess with his breakfast.  He doesn't do this with any other meal, just breakfast.  After his breakfast this morning (and his very fun day yesterday) he was in desperate need of some tub time.  I plopped him in the tub, and went into our bedroom to put some laundry away.  I came back in a couple of minutes later and he had Chris's razor in his hand.  I took it away and put mine out of his reach.

Or so I thought.

I went to get his little chair so I could sit next to the tub and wash his hair and all of that.  I was not gone longer than 10 seconds, when I heard him yell, "Da! Hey Da!" (which is what he calls both Chris and me since he's stopped saying Mama, but more on that another time).  "I'm coming, buddy."  I said as I grabbed the chair and went back into the bathroom.

Picture this: My tall, skinny little almost-two-year-old with blood EVERYWHERE.  All over him, all over the edge of the bathtub.  I'm terrified of blood as it is, but to see my little guy covered in it was the most scared I've ever been.  I immediately ordered myself to calm down and in a very soothing voice I told him to sit back down and we'd wash him off.  Luckily the blood was coming from his thumb and nowhere else.  He'd cut himself with my razor.

My first instinct was to call Chris and make him rush home and take care of this, but since it was his first day of work I didn't want to force him into making a bad impression.  I was optimistically lying to myself that I could handle it.  I wrapped Dutch in a towel, wrapped his profusely bleeding thumb in a washcloth and took him into his bedroom.  I put three Band-Aids on his finger and he bled through all of them.  Not to mention he wouldn't quit messing with his thumb so blood was getting everywhere.

I remembered after we first got Bo he cut his paw and we couldn't get him to stop licking it, so we wrapped it with a washcloth and duct-taped it on.  I didn't think I could duct-tape Dutch's hand, but I did put a matchless sock on his hand to help deter any further picking on his part.

I calmly got him dressed and all ready to go.  I ran around the house trying to find his insurance card.  Where was it?  I had just seen it the other day when Chris had put it away... I called Chris and left a message.  I texted Chris.  I kept looking and ta-da!  So with Dutch, his insurance card, and my keys I went out to the car.

Remember how earlier I said it was Chris's first day of work?  Well we only have one car... See where I'm going with this?

So I bring Dutch back inside, still trying to distract him from taking the sock of his hand, and began calling people.  Anyone I could think of who would be home and able to take us to the urgent care center.  Dutch's hand still hadn't stopped bleeding and I was beginning to think there was some artery I didn't know about in the tip of his thumb that had been severed.

Long story short, Grandpa Greg came to the rescue!  We were in and out of the urgent care in less than an hour.  Dutch flirted shamelessly with the nurse who patched him up.  Most importantly, he didn't need stitches!

Did I mention this all happened before 1:00?  And Dutch still hasn't had a decent bath today.

Happy Father's Day

Today my friend is spending her first Father's Day without her dad.  It has made me think a lot about the dads in my life and how grateful I am for them.  I'll try to keep it short.

First of all, my dad is the best.  He has all these lame puns that he repeats over and over again, but we love him anyway.  He has a wonderful singing voice and I can't hear songs from West Side Story or Man of La Mancha without thinking of him.  He was always singing!  When we were little my dad used to make my sisters and me breakfast when my mom taught early-morning seminary.  My favorite thing in the world is his oven cinnamon toast.  It takes like 2 seconds to make and I still make it for myself when I have a bad day.  My dad and I have gotten to be better friends in the past few years and I'm very grateful for that.  I love him and miss him and I hope he knows what a great dad he is.

Secondly, my father-in-law is great.  When we first met I was afraid he didn't like me because he's pretty quiet at first.  As time went on I knew that he loved me and I was excited to be his first "daughter."  Of course I can't talk about Greg without talking about Dutch.  My little boy absolutely adores his grandpa and chooses Greg over Chris or me any day.  My father-in-law is also a great cook.  Some of my favorite memories are of the entire Davis clan going up to the cabin and Greg making breakfast for everyone (even Bo).  I feel very lucky to have such a great father-in-law.

Lastly, but not least, my husband is an amazing father.  When I was pregnant Chris didn't seem terribly interested in the baby and I really worried about that.  The moment Dutch was born Chris became the best dad.  He still surprises me with how generous, loving, and creative he is when dealing with our almost-two-year-old.  I will admit to being a lazy mom when Chris is around because he's so much better at wrangling Dutch than I am.  I promise I'll work on it though.  Thank you for being a good father and taking such great care of Dutch and me.  I love you.

How did I get so lucky?

The Insufficiency of Words

I work in words.  I always have.  Yet there are times in my life where words are insufficient.  Where they do too much or too little.  This is one of those times.

I haven't blogged in the last week because I don't know what to say or how to say it.  This blog, in a way, is a public record.  I don't want to hurt my best friend anymore than she's been hurt, but I need to write about what's happened.  If details are a little sketchy, it's on purpose.  If things are a little sappy, forgive me.  Mostly, read this with understanding.

Erica Qualls has been my best friend since sixth grade.  For some people that may not seem like a big deal.  It is for me.  I have a difficult time making and keeping friends.  But Erica and I were friends from the first day we met and we've stayed close all these years later.  When she needs me I know it.  I don't know how, I just do.  On Sunday night I called her, I wasn't sure what was going on, but I knew she needed me.  What an understatement.

She texted me that she would call me back later, but couldn't right then.  That wasn't out of the ordinary, she's a busy girl.  Monday night I learned that her father, my Daddy Qualls, had died.  I called her crying.  Although money is ridiculously tight right now I flew to Texas to be with her, to help her, and to take care of her.  It all sounds so heroic, but it was selfish too.  I needed to say good-bye to Daddy Qualls, and I needed to do it in person.

The week went by in a blur.  Early mornings, late nights, trying to take care of all the things that need to be taken care of when someone suddenly dies.  There were a lot of times when I just wanted to break down into a puddle of tears, but there was too much to do.

This is so hard to talk about, so hard to even wrap my mind around.  You think you know about suicide, you've heard about it, read about it, maybe even thought about it.  The reality is so different.  A lot of people's first reaction is, "That's so selfish" which it is, but you have to remember that there are people left behind who are trying to mourn and let go of this person they never got to say good-bye to.  I saw how truly insignificant things can seem like the end of the world, but they don't have to be unless you let them.  The most important lesson I've taken away from this, though, is that no matter what happens in life, don't make your choices based on someone else. Anyone else.

John Qualls was a good man who I loved.  I am going to miss him and I know there won't be a day that passes that his daughter won't miss him.  This awkwardly written blog is hardly a tribute to him, but it's the best I can do.

Party Theme Ideas

Dutch turns 2 in a month and I want to throw him a super-fun party.  But I need some theme ideas.  What have you got?

Our Blind Dog Turns 500!

This is the monumental 500th post here at Our Blind Dog.  I started this blog in May 2008 as a way to share news of my burgeoning belly with family and friends.  It's since become a place where I document the antics of my three crazy boys, Chris, Dutch, and Bo the Wonder Dog (and a few of my own antics too).

Here are a few highlights from the last two years:

• The very first List for Tuesday
• Dutch's birth
• The Projectile Poop story
• Dutch's First Halloween (Coincidentally, I have no pictures of Dutch's second Halloween. If you have one please send them to me!)
• The Dirty DMV story
• Dutch's first time eating bananas and strawberries
• Dutch's first birthday cake
• When Dutch sort of started to walk
• Me as a Graduation Girl
• And, of course, my own little Easter Bunny

What have your favorite moments been on our blog?