A Tale of Two Ashis

Have I ever mentioned there is another Ashi at daycare? He gets notes like this sent home, "Ashi had a paper airplane that another teacher helped him make and he was so good at sharing it. Everyone wanted to play with it so Ashi was giving everyone a turn. One of his friends grabbed it without asking and wouldn't give it back, but still, once Ashi had the airplane again, he brought it over to that kid and said, "Here, do you want a turn?"It was so sweet!"

Now this Ashi clearly has very good parenting. This Ashi clearly does NOT live at my house. The Ashi at my house would snatch that airplane right out of Carrot Tops grip and knock him on his butt in the process. It's a good thing my Ashi doesn't go to daycare. It's a real pain when your kid gets expelled.

Here's my Ashi. I think this was at least his FOURTH helping of doro wat. I made a big batch for an International Dinner party (My friend Eric has the most well-travelled bunch of friends, it was amazing) and Ashi made sure I didn't have to properly store the leftovers.

Consider Yourself Warned Child

The next time you fall asleep mid-combing I WILL have my fun with you!

Statistically Impossible

This is Uncle Keith. Isn't he sweet? He let me ice skate with him even though he's not really very good at ice skating. But he's got a good heart. So when he went down he made sure to hang onto me instead of protecting his head or something sensible like that. So he busted his head on the ice and bled everywhere. (Sweet, not so smart) It made kind of a big scene and lots of people came running (well sliding) over to pull him off the ice.Leaving a small child behind crying. Because Uncle Keith kinda landed on him, driving his head into the ice too. Luckily that little someone has a mommy that did bother to notice the large (yet not bleeding, yay!) bump on the noggin.

These things do NOT photograph well. For all the practice I've had I just cannot capture the sheer size and more so the discoloration of the classic Ashi goose egg. But this one was big.

And you might notice, its exactly in the same spot as the stitches incident. The stitches incident that left a very ugly scar in the middle of Ashi's head. A scar that still makes Elizabeth get a little teary eyed every time she notices it....

At this point the whole impacting on the left side of your forehead was still bordering on comical, well darkly comical. Kind of like, well of course you had to hit THERE.
Aw man, he was cute back then! (Circa 22 months old).

Today we were at a certain bargain pizza joint (because feeding 4 boys aint cheap) and Mr. Destructo was running about while waiting for everyone to finish. As he trotted along, he just happened to trip and fall right into/under a bench. When I pulled him out, where might the only sign of impact be? Well just left of center of course! You can't tell, but that shiny spot on the photo is a smallish egg, and without the flash it's purple too. Isn't it statistically impossible that he has NEVER hit any other part of his noggin? Or pretty much anywhere else on his upper body?

Some smart doctor type once told me that protruding forehead had something to do with malnutrition. Nah. I'm going with armor. Calcifications from a lifetime of hard landings. Survival of the fitest and all that. Maybe one day we'll finally get his head examined and find out he's got an extra inch or two protecting the frontal lobes- I can only hope.

Ashi's Big Hair

I was combing out Ashi's hair before we headed off the the Children's Museum and he wanted to keep his "Big Hair" for the day, something we've never done before. As you can see, mama is hopeless in the Afro crafting department, because I couldn't get it any bigger or uh... uniform... than this. But he was still quite proud of it anyway.

And here it is exactly 2 weeks later. This is when I confess I haven't combed his hair since. The uneveness is so much less apparent in between comb outs. Maybe that's why I like to skip the brush. Nah, its more likely all the fun involved with a good comb out that I try to avoid.

Not Bubba's Underwear

Ashi, are you wearing Bubba's underwear? No mom, this is not Bubba's underwear, see! It's NOT! If you say so Ashi...

It all started with a Pony

And see what that lead to?? Dresses and hair bows!!

Ashi came home from daycare with a little poof one day, and has loved his ponytails since. He likes to have me make little twists in his hair, by twirling the strands together to lock them. But today he wanted the ribbon tied on his head "to make a hat", then pulled my T-shirt out of the clean laundry when he needed a fresh shirt. It created an unfortunate effect.

And here he is asleep, snuggling his baby. Because if I'm going to write a post to immasculate the poor kid, I might as well go all out. Aww, isn't he sweet?

Tidbits of July

In no particular order, or with any relevant connections...just like the photos.
4th of July- What a dismal day. Every year since Christian was born we've gone to the neighborhood parade with our bikes all decorated and stayed for the picnic and games. This year I just didn't have it in me. The weather was so grey and drizzly. Ugh. We did head off for the fireworks and had a wonderful (and mostly dry) view. Unfortunately I had forgotten that Ashi was less than impressed with Fireworks. He spent the whole time holding the blanket in two clenched fists over his face (while I covered his ears). He wasn't visibly upset or anything. just, "I doan yike it". It was kind of sad. We did manage to get him to look at a few, "look at the big one, do you see the pretty Ashi?" "I no yike the pretty."
Then on the drive home he sat in a strange almost catatonic state, mumbling in monotone, "Yook at the big one mom. Yook at the big one." Over and over and over. I think he's scarred for life. He's sometimes very insistent, "I do it myself!" Somehow he consistently gets everything on backward. How does that work exactly?
The other day driving home I was struck by how well he's speaking these days. For being 2 1/2 with only 16 months of English exposure, he has no delays- that's for sure. From the backseat he told me, "There is a bird up on the hill." Not only a bona fide sentence, but a very detailed thought too. When I ask him things like, if he wants me to put him in the backpack, instead of simply "no", he'll say "I don't want you to put me in the back pack." Some days I find so much sand in Ashi's hair I have to drain the tub half way through the bath. Hence the new doo rag. Luckily the last month or so his hair has been easy as pie to comb. It's finally long enough to hang onto. See? Grammy was asking him if he wanted it cut, "No, doan cut my hair." We have a new routine. I have given up ever combing that whole head at once. Now we do 5-10 handfuls each bath. He gets to point to the next place on his head I comb, and we count them until we're done. It's so healthy it's combing through smooth as butter. Well, very tightly curled sand filled butter at least.
I now own a minivan. Yes, I have crossed over to the dark side. I blame it entirely on my friends and all those kids they have. I can't drive a carpool in the Accord anymore. Now if I can just get my hands on another set of flames for it, it might be easier to swallow. Nah, my life is over now. Good thing I'm not trying to cruise the

strip on Friday nights.
Ever since Christian could talk he has called Grammy and Papa's house simply Grammy's house. For some reason Ashi calls it Papa's house. Since Papa has been gone at work he has told me several times, "Papa is in Ayaska on his tugboat. Go get him mom." Wouldn't it be nice if we could buddy.

The other night Christian asked me about Santa, yes in July. Apparently one of the kids at school told him about where the presents come from at their house. Honestly I thought Christian knew. I'd been avoiding his questions about Santa for a few years now. Always turning it around, asking him what he thought, telling him how fun it is to think about Santa bringing him surprises, yada yada. Well, I flat out am not gonna lie to him- so I told him. And I think he was a little bummed. Understandably.

We've been going to a different church this summer. Cornwall is doing their kids camp with a focus on Ethiopia. The kids are learning about Ethiopia, learning some Amharic, raising money for a project... Christian of course is cool because his brother is Ethiopian, which is equivalent to being a rockstar at the moment. He's getting really competitive about their fundraising efforts. The boys are competing against the girls and I won't be surprised if he completely empties his piggy bank over the summer trying to "win". I'm starting to wonder if he has a little girlfriend there he's trying to impress.
Two weeks ago when Christian brought his Bible to church Ashi insisted on bringing his too. The next week when he'd forgotten his he had such a fit. He whined all the way and came unglued several times, "I want my Bible, I need my Bible." It was pretty cute. He didn't believe me that we'd be able to find another in his classroom. At least one of my kids still thinks I know a thing or two. This one's going to be fun at 13.
My mom keeps stealing Christian from me, or trying to at least. One time she made the mistake of trying to justify it with some lame comment about how I could get some stuff done without him underfoot. Ha! You want to be helpful you can take the Tornado for a night, not my sweet, helpful, compliant boy. Christian actually contributes around the house. So that little conversation guilted her into a night with the Ashi boy. I think Christian told me at least 15 times how nice it was to have a night "off" from his little brother. It was just...peaceful. And now it's his turn to head down to Grammy's house for some horseback riding and another night "off". And Ashi and I will have a very wonderful evening tomorrow without that stinky big brother getting in the way :)

Radish

We are piggie-sitting our little buddy Radish this weekend. So Ashi so sweetly made sure he got some sunshine and love, "Come here Radish, come here." Is there anything more adorable than a little boy in his underwear? I doubt it.Don't let it fool you though. He spent most of the time finding rocks to chuck straight up in the air and rain down on our heads. Ashi, don't throw rocks! "Why?"

This Kid!

Tonight at bedtime Ashi was demanding to sleep with Christian. Demanding at a very generous decibel level, complete with jumping on the bad and removing his pajamas to throw across the room. So eventually I relented (like 8:40 ish, not pretty!). About 10 minutes later, he comes padding out of the room (where I happen to be installing new window guards. I can't believe I'm still in the market for additional baby-proofing paraphernalia).
A: I kicking Bubba
Me: You're kicking Christian, so do you need to go back to your bed?
A: Yesss

So I take him to his bed, and Christian is fast asleep. So he just tattled on himself. Why?

Five minutes later I'm hearing suspicious noises upstairs and go up there to find him unplugging the modem and router and trying to pull them into bed. Have I mentioned the kid sleeps in a cage? Yeah, there's a reason for that.

The Post Bedtime Pee

Every night at bedtime Ashi goes potty, duh of course he does. And every night I ask him when I lay him in bed if he needs to go again, but no. Every night 20 minutes later I hear "Mooooooo 00000mmm, I have to go pee! I have to go pee now!" Grrr.

Tonight while he's sitting on the potty, he's monkeying around and I tell him to keep his hands on the seat.
A: I no want fall in.
Me: No, you don't want to fall in.
A: Ashi no Ashi
Me: What do you mean, Ashi no Ashi?
A: Don't flush me

Tempting...

New Toys

This boy is keeping things interesting around here (as if that's something new to report). Saturday night, after 4 straight weeks of having a cold he woke up throughout the night complaining about his ear. This is actually new!

A: Ashi owie ear. Tiss it.

So, since we finally have health insurance again (story for another day, sheesh!), I wanted to get him in to get some antibiotics right away. It would be great to NOT have another night of him laying on my chest asking me to "tiss it" all night long. The problem with going to the after hours clinic is of course that you get whatever doctor drew the short straw that week- which of course can be interesting.

Me: He's had a cold for a while now, but just started to complain about his ear last night.
A: My tummy hurts. (Cough, cough)

The nurse puts the pulse oximeter on his hand: (cough, cough)
Me: Hold still Ashi, (cough cough) oh look you're doing great. You've got a 95! That's awesome!
Nurse: No, that's really not awesome. It needs to be 100.
Me: Well 95 is still an A, right?
Nurse: No, more like a C minus.

Dr: Yep, that ear is pretty pussy. But how long has he sounded like that?
Me: Oh, he's had a cold for 4 weeks now.
Dr: Yeah, but how long has he sounded like that?
Me: The whole time, he always sounds like that when he has a cold.
Dr: THAT is not normal. THAT is a problem. He sounds like he's aspirated something. I think he has a blockage and a partial lung collapse. We need a chest X-ray.
Me (in my most patient voice): Did you get a moment to look at his file? yada yada yada TB yada yada?
Dr: He needs a chest film, this is not normal.
me (thinking): It's normal for him.
So we walk across the hall to Radiology. Of course everywhere we go we also get to update records, which is suprisingly time consuming. I was hoping he was big enough to be able to take the x-ray without the "baby torture device" that they usually strap him in, so I asked.

Technician: No, we actually like to put them in that because it makes them cry.

Sadistic pricks!
He made this face the entire time. That's my boy!

And then we saw that his x-ray looked exactly like it did 8 months ago, crappy. Which does at least confirm that all the leftover junk in there is scars, not disease, but that's only marginally good news considering...

So he's taking steroids (goody goody, Ashi on steroids) until we can get into the Pulmonary Doc at Children's. And I'm the worst mother in the whole world, because when he sounds "like that", and his belly is doing "that thing", it's because he can't breathe. So he's got albuterol too. I'm a little scared to find out what fully oxygenated Ashi is like. O2 deprived Ashi is hard enough to contain!