Doctor, Soccer, and a Kara Story

There has been a small amount of excitement in the Wilson house.  This is another catch-up kind of post, but I am going to start with the most recent events and work my way backward.

Scene, quiet time (since no one naps).  It is a shortened quiet time because the kids were playing so nicely that their kindly mother decided to limit it to just one hour, instead of their usual two.  30 minutes in, Jack comes tearing out of his bedroom.  A regular occurrence, his mother waits to hear what excuse he will present.  Much to her surprise, he has come up with something new:

Jack:  There's something in my ear.
Mom:  What do  you mean?
Jack:  Just what I said, duh.  I put a sticker in my ear and I can't get it out.
Mom:  Seriously?  <sigh> Come here.

The mother proceeds to use tweezers to remove a crumbled-up sticker from Jack's right ear.  She breathes a sigh of relief to have averted more trouble and sends him back to his room.  As he runs off:

Jack:  <mumbling> There's one in my other ear too.
Mom: <alertly> What was that??
Jack: <pausing> Ummm, nothing <runs away>
Mom: Jack, get back here.  What did you say?
Jack:  <stammers ineligibly>
Mom:  Did you say there's a sticker in your other ear?
Jack: Yes.

The mother looks in his left ear and isn't surprised to see that this one is buried deep.  She attempts to retrieve it, but is unable.  After a quick internet search yields no amazing strategies for removing small pieces of paper from a preschooler's ear she calls the doctor.  They instruct her to bring him in.  She places a call to her husband, who then leaves work early to assist.  In the meantime, she tries again to remove it, both with tweezers and then, has the brilliant idea to try and suction in out with the vacuum.  Of course, the brilliant idea didn't extend to first emptying the vacuum canister, so after the suctioning attempt, when she doesn't see it is his ear, she is forced to go through the dirty dusty vacuum contents hoping to find a sticker of a drum.  The search yields no conclusive evidence.  Fortunately, at this moment, Jack's father comes home.  Using the "flashlight in the mouth" method, he confirms that there is still something there.  Unable to remove it, they continue with a divide and conquer plan.  Daddy takes Anna and Kara to Anna's dance lesson (where she gets in trouble again, this time for having spit dribbling out of her mouth (no further details available) and has her hand stepped on by the instructor--also again.

Mom and Jack arrive at the doctor's office at 5:30.  Sick call is from 5:00-7:00 and the place is packed.  There are about 8 people in front of them (and that was after 2 left, scheduling appointments for the following day).  At 7:30, they finally get to see the doctor.

Scene: the doctor's office.  The doctor is nearing the end of his 12-hour shift.  He has at least 8 more patients to see before he can call it a day and while professional and nice, his manner is still somewhat rushed.  Jack, cooperative at first, but mounting pain and irritation increase his anxiety as the object remains lodged.  It is possible that a trip to the hospital is in their future.  Mom begs him to hold still, tries to distract him with conversation, but it isn't enough.  Finally, a nurse is called in, oddly enough she had a conversation with the mom earlier about having to hold down a child to get a strep culture.  And she thought that was bad...

Doctor: Jack, the nurse is going to give you a hug.  Mom--hold his arms and legs.  Nurse, keep his head still.
<lots of probing in Jack's ear with various objects.>
Jack: I DON'T. WANT. ANYMORE HUGS.  STOP IT.  <crying, screaming>
<Repeat several time,  with Jack uttering varying statements showcasing his discomfort and anger.>

Mom is unable to calm him down.  After approximately 10 minutes, the doctor is able to remove a small, bloody, crumbled up sticker from Jack's ear.  They are given a prescription for ear drops to prevent infection (from all the scratches caused by the removal).  It is now 8:00.  Mom takes Jack to Rite Aid to fill the prescription and Jack says he is agreeable to a dinner of snacks from WaWa.  After a trip to WaWa where Jack chooses a peppermint patty and tootisie roll for his dinner (and Mom buys him a cheesestick and banana to go with it), they are on their way home.  The ordeal is over.

Okay, so that took a lot longer than I anticipated.  Of course, I could have written it in one paragraph in a different format, but where's the fun in that?  Jack is fine now.  He learned his lesson and I had him tell the girls all about it, so hopefully that will be the only doctor visit for object from ear removal.

In other news: the kids have had 3 soccer games.  They are doing progressively better.  They aren't quite lighting up the field (understatement of the year), but I think one of them may have kicked the ball last week.  Or, maybe it just bounced off Anna's shin?  Okay, that is a (slight) exaggeration.   Anna is a really good sport, and Thomas and I are both really proud of the positive attitude she has each week.  She is always willing to go out onto the field and does not complain about anything.  Unfortunately, she is somewhat timid and seems to avoid the ball.  Although, she is getting better about that.  Jack does a good job cheering for his teammates, but is generally reluctant to go onto the field.  The first game he had significant trouble not using his hands, and is doing much better in that regard.  He often declares that he wanted to kick the ball and gets mad that the other kids aren't succumbing to his desire.  It is fun to see them progress and I can't wait to see what they are like by the final game of the season.  Both have indicated that they don't want to play next season, but they seem okay with sticking it out until the end of this cycle.  Thomas is the coach and he is doing a fantastic job.  The overall skill-level of the team has already increased and while soccer isn't his favorite sport (or even in the top 5), I think he enjoys the coaching.  He is really hoping that one (or more) of them wants to play t-ball in the future.

One more story.  I posted this on Facebook, but it is my favorite thing anyone has said in a while.  When I got Kara up one morning (a week or so ago), the first thing she said to me was, "I like your shirt, Mommy.  It's very nice."  I was wearing a faded blue-striped shirt.  I thanked her and we went on with the day.  Around lunch time, she got upset with me over something.  I can't remember what, but she told me "I'm not going to be your best friend anymore."  After that didn't appear to faze me, she then stated, "and, I don't like your shirt, either."  It was hilarious!  My laughing was probably not what she was going for, but I just couldn't help it.

Easter Weekend

We had quite a celebration for Easter.  On Friday, we went to DC.  I had bought a Groupon a couple of months ago for a Cherry Blossom cruise.  It was for the 5 of us to go on a cruise around the Potomac to enjoy the Springtime view of the cherry blossoms.  When I booked it I didn't anticipate that the blossoms would bloom so early.  So there wasn't much (any) pink to be seen but it was still a gorgeous day.  The kids had been asking us to take them on a boat for a while and they were thrilled.  We took the metro in, which is an adventure in and of itself, and then walked to the harbor.  We all enjoyed the boat ride.  The cruise lasted just under an hour and gave some good, touristy information.  The kids loved standing at the very front of the boat and peering over the sides, which made me a bit nervous but certainly kept them entertained.

On the train ride there

This was actually the way home, they loved holding on and moving with the train.

In the distance is the Washington Monument

After the cruise we decided to head over to the museums.  Thomas wanted to see an exhibit that we thought was at the National Gallery.  I was excited to go there because it was where Thomas and I had our first date.  We planned to eat at the museum cafeteria, the same place Thomas and I ate almost 11 years ago when we were just getting to know each other.  It was close to a mile away which is a long walk for little legs.  But, we all made it.  We had lunch and reminisced.   We have been to a lot of the other museums since then but this was our first trip back to the National Gallery (not the most interesting for our out of town guests, most of whom have small children).  Unfortunately, the exhibit we were looking for was at the American Art Museum.  I enjoyed seeing the Picasso sketches and the kids liked all the sculptures, but no one felt like going to another museum.  We just figure this means we'll have to go back soon.  

While we were enjoying lunch, a woman sat down across from us.  She had just a piece of cake and Anna said loudly, "I wish I could have some cake."  The woman then offered her a bite, which we politely declined.  But, her gesture of kindness was all that it took for the kids to label her a friend.  They proceeded to talk to her nonstop, telling her their real names and character names (Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman that day) and about going on the boat.  She asked Jack what his favorite thing at the museum was and he answered with a story about Buzz Lightyear.  I love those kids!  My husband also got us some interesting looks.  We were telling the kids about how we were there before they were born.  Anna said that they must have been in my tummy (their answer for anything that happened before they were born).  Then, she asked how they got out of my tummy.  In a very dramatic fashion Thomas said, "the doctors took a knife (he gestured as if holding a knife) and they cut open mommy's stomach and pulled you out (he acted it out with motions in the air)!"  There were three teenagers sitting at the next table, and they all quickly turned around to look at us.  It was hilarious!  (It is a story our bizarre kids like to hear they are used to it.)

Saturday, we took the kids to an Easter Eggstravaganza on the base.  It was okay.  I was a little irritated that it was $5/person.  I assumed it was $5/kid and I don't think the event was worth $25.  We stayed for about an hour, the kids got to tie-dye shirts, which was fun.  (Although after only one washing they have already greatly faded.)  They also had some games but the lines were really long.  The highlight was, of course, the egg hunt.  They had tons of eggs.  I can't imagine who stuffed them all.  They had fields of them (a different field for each age category, we were in 3-5).  We got lots of stickers and gum (which my kids can't have), some that had laffy taffy and sweet-tarts, and a few with prizes like little compasses, tiny erasers or bouncy balls.   

Dyeing t-shirts

Waiting patiently for the hunt to start (sorry Thomas)

Enjoying their spoils

When we got home we dyed Easter eggs and played outside.  Sunday, they had their own little hunt in our house.  We hid the eggs they had dyed and some more candy-filled ones.  They are all such loving kids; they had no problems helping each other and making sure everyone got the same number of eggs.  If one of them of them found an egg another had dyed, they were so excited to give it to their sibling.  It was very sweet to watch.

Before we added stickers and other decorations to our dyed eggs