The Cat Came Back and other Dr. Suess Tales

The Cat Came Back
Last time I wrote in the blog, a nice family had just picked up Sassy. We said our good-byes and I was so relieved.
Well, the lady emailed me to say that Sassy hadn't eaten, hadn't drunk any water, nor had he come out from under the couch unless their teenage daughter was there or to hide under a blanket. The lady said she wasn't too worried though. She knew that a cat can take a while to adjust to new surroundings and she "wasn't a quitter".
On one of the days, they put Sassy into the kitchen where there wasn't anywhere to hide and he started going nutso. This freaked out the husband. I had told the lady previously that if she was worried about Sassy, she could bring him back to me, but to do it by Friday morning because we were going camping.
Guess who came knocking on my door Thursday night?
The husband was really worried about Sassy, and wanted to bring him back. Darn!
Poor Sassy has spent the last 6 days trying to get his best buddy Toboo to stop hissing at him.
Now there's a new family that wants Sassy and I don't know if I can put him through this again.

C is for Camping
We arrived at Chehalis River campground for lunchtime on Friday. It was beautiful. Flowing river, sand for the kids to play in with buckets and shovels, our comfy trailer, a fire pit in the campsite and one on 'our beach'. There is a boulder fence which provides a nice visual barrier for the little kids to make them stop and think before heading down to the river. We went with Tarrie and Christine, and their kids Adam (gr 6), Matt (gr 5), Jenny (gr 3), Erin (gr 1), and Lauren (kindergarten) and Eric and Kelly and their kids Natasha (gr 8), Ashley (gr 6), Aidan (kindergarten), Zachary (3.5 yrs), and Christopher (1.5 years). AJ was delighted to get to hang out with 'big kids' all weekend.
One Rock Two Rock Small Rock Big Rock
After a brief explanation of how dangerous the river is and how he is to only be at the river's edge with Daddy, me, or one of the big kids, AJ, no lie, threw rocks into the river with Adam for 45 minutes straight shortly after arriving. I think he maybe could've done that and that alone for the entire camping trip.
It wasn't until day 2 that Adam realised that 2.5 year olds don't necessarily have great aim when they wind up to throw far and he got a rock thrown at his mouth by our darling son. Either that, or AJ has perfect aim!
Dex in Box
I like to come prepared when I go camping. We had a tent for storing stuff at night in case it rained and that the kids could play in (shaded) during the day (a great way to contain colouring stuff and books), a playpen for Dexter for some tummy time and crawling practice, and my little beach tent (like half a tent) for Dexter to sit and play with his little travel arc.
The kids had a great time entertaining Dexter whether he was sitting playing or stuck in his box of a playpen. Ashley the oldest of Eric and Kelly's was really great with Dexter. She could carry him around, liked taking him for walks in the stroller, and bouncing him for rides on her lap. All the kids took turns holding Dexter in a chair and/or entertaining him on his mat. I actually had time to read!!!! AJ pretty much roamed freely between our two sites with one of the kids, usually Adam or Matt offering to 'keep an eye on him'. He's not really a wanderer, so I wasn't too worried. AJ became really good buddies with Eric and Kelly's son, Aidan. They ran around, climbed rocks, and pretended to be super heroes. That was great fun for him too. All the kids were so wonderful. The 11 kids were either over playing with buckets and shovels in the sand at the next site, or were playing in our 'play tent' with puzzles and colours and books, or were throwing rocks down at the river. It was just so great. It was such a relaxing trip. Until....
Dr.Heckle's Sleep Book
I had fashioned a sort of crib out of AJ and Dexter's bed using a plank of wood for a wall. It had all of Dexter's comforts of home reminiscent of his nap times and bedtimes including 'tag blanket', 'star', 'Chunky Dino', 'Blankie', and a couple 'soo soos'. But he didn't want to nap there. And when it came to bedtime, he DEFINITELY DID NOT want to sleep. It was about 11:00 when we transferred him and he just started screaming. And Dexter is not a screamer. He wouldn't let us put him down!!! It was like nothing I've ever seen before. We ended up deciding that Richard would drive Dexter home and let him sleep in his crib, and then drive him back in the morning. Dexter of course, slept soundly until 8:00am. Thank you Daddy! And I got to sleep in until 8:00am with AJ!
I Can Sleep With My Eyes Shut!
The second night, Richard working some crazy voodoo magic and did some mysterious bum patting that kept Dexter calm through his little wake and freak outs the next night, allowing us to have a great sleep in the trailer (expecially me since Richard wanted the 'outside' spot in the bed). Thanks again, Super Daddy.
Go AJ Go
AJ was very excited to get his swimming trunks on and brave the raging rapids. Okay, no. We let him walk in the calm pooled area, sit on a rock, and throw rocks into the water with his water shoes on. He thought this was pretty special. I wanted him to have his life jacket on, but Richard wasn't having any of that. He's a firm believer in natural selection, apparantly, even if it involves our son being carried down a river to meet his demise. Okay, okay, I exaggerate only slightly, but nonetheless. Wouldn't you want your son wearing a life jacket in the edge of the river?
Green Eggs and Yams
Meals went quite nicely. I brought Dexter's homemade puree cubes which stayed nice and fresh in the fridge. In fact too fresh. Some were still frozen. AJ had his usual healthy meals, but it was probably on par with his intake of arrowroots, marshmallows, chocolate chips, raisins, granola bars, and even, oh yes, special 'kid pop'. I bought him one organic pop for each day made with cane sugar and real fruit puree. They tasted really good and the root beer one was amazing. He was stoked about the pop, and luckily hasn't asked for any more since coming home. I think he accepted that this was a special treat for camping. Things went pretty much how they would at home routine wise, aside from AJ's naps being a little later to help accommodate the staying up late at the campfire.
There's a Rocket in My Pocket
The weirdos two sites down decided that either gun shots and/or firecrackers are great way to enjoy an evening around the campfire. Let's not forget throwing alcohol and possibly gasoline onto the fire, yelling obscenities, and getting naked to hop in the river. Half the kids were in tears because of all the banging, and despite calls by Tarrie and I to the local police, no one arrived. We really thought the words 'gun shots' and '12 kids' would get the attention we felt it deserved, but alas no, evidently there are more important things to attend to. I was pretty disappointed. A forest fire would not have been a fun thing to wake up to in the middle of the night. We weren't exactly 'hook and go' as Richard would say.
Twelve Glow Sticks Up on Top
Auntie Christine brought out glow sticks for all the kids as a special treat around the campfire. The kids had fun making them into letter shapes, necklaces, and spinning them around. I think this was the first time AJ had seen a glow stick!
Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky I Am?
This trailer is the greatest. We knew it was supposed to rain on our last day, so we packed almost everything into the back of the truck with a tarp over it, and made sure we had that which we needed for breakfast and for heading to my mom's house inside the trailer. We cooked up our breakfast the next morning inside the trailer for our first time ever, and ate breakfast at the table in there. How convenient. I don't know if I could ever tent ever again. At least, not with babies. I'm so lucky. I'm so thankful.

Oh the Things You Can King
Tuesday Night I had told AJ we could go to the park after dinner. Well, it started raining, so what's the next best thing? I offered to take him to the Burger King playplace, even though I know full well, that he will not go in the tubes and play. However, he does enjoy meeting and talking to the other kids, steering the steering wheel, rolling the tick tac toe tubes, climbing the poles, and watching all the action whilst sipping apple juice in his socks. It was going to be a late night anyway, as we were awaiting Auntie Kimmy's arrival at our house for a sleepover so she could watch the boys the next day while I went into my school to pack up my stuff.
AJ got to take home a crown and kept saying, "I'm the King! I'm the King!" and then he'd put it on our head and say, "You're the King!" Richard was trying to teach him to say, "I'm the whiz" like the episode of Seinfeld and to swing his arms in the crazy way that the character does. Too funny.
Another funny thing about that night is that the parents next to me asked how old AJ is and when I said, "Just about 2.5", they said, "Wow! He's huge! He's so tall!". That was weeeeeiiiiiird! Almost all AJ's peers have at least 2 inches of height on him, and at least, 6 lbs on him! I always hear the opposite. 'He's slight' or 'he's a little guy'.

Please Try to Remember the First of September
Kim watched the boys while I went to my school to pack my 'crap' out of the way for the teacher who would be in our class until Erica and I return from our maternity leaves. Thanks Kimmy!
Kim had a good day except that AJ woke Dexter early from his first nap by playing his recorder outside of Dexy's room, and AJ was having his second "I don't want to eat anything" day in a row.
AJ continued his word explosion and new found love of the phrase 'How about....'. How about you play cars with me? How about we watch a movie?
AJ has started calling Kim, Kimberley all of a sudden.
Kim also stayed even later to accommodate Richard and I catching a movie for our anniversary tonight. (Thanks to all who sent well wishes!).

Mrs. Mom's ABCs
I brought home the Alphabet Jive from school today. I thought it would be a fun chant to do with AJ. (A says a, A says a, Alligator, Alligator, a a a). I discovered while reading it with him that he knows even more sounds than I thought. He knows a,b,c,d,e,f,i,j,k,l,m,n,p,q,r,s,t,v,x,and z which is around 7 more than I thought he knew.
If you haven't bought your child a Leap Frog Fridge Phonics, I HIGHLY recommend it.

In a School House
We finally got our butts to preschool to sign AJ up for his once a week (no mommy), 3 hour class, and Dexter's music class. I think he charmed a few of the ladies there with his brown eyes and adorable, stare, or, eh, I mean, glare. He's really excited to start. Next Friday is a meet and greet with the teacher, and then he starts on Monday! Dexter's music class starts a little later in the month.

Too tired to edit. Sorry.