Its Been Too Long!

Dads turn...

I had some things fall through for the night, so I had a suprise free night. So, I did what any sane dad would do....I sent Nicki out so I would be able to spend part of the nite with 3 girls under 4 years old. (Sane...yeah right...this could get ugly). I was looking at several blogs that are linked to ours about other families we got to know in the NICU, and I told Nicki that I should post another one once. She also said...I quote "Good luck getting that done while Im gone". Dont know about you, but I took that as a dare. So she is just gettin ready to leave the house, and I am fully prepared to do this while she is gone. I will let you know by the time Im done writing how this works.

Let me start by saying, Nicki said we dont have very many good pictures of the girls. Every picture we have, she says, is with a kid not smiling, one of them with their eyes closed, the oldest two looking like dorks, or Melanie not in the right position. So I decided, it would be a good idea to let you in on some secrets about what has been going on around here...kinda letting you be a fly on the wall for a bit. The two oldest of our three girls are not your typical girls...and, if Melanie is going to have a prayer at surviving in this household, she is going to have to have some boyish spunk in her as well. Yes, there are dolls in the house, and yes, Miya and Jayden pretend to pump like their mom at times, and yes, there are pig tails and pink, but something tells me its gonna get even crazier than it already is at this 'humble abode' we call the Westra residence.

So for this post, I am going to tell a few stories...very recent stories just to let you know what kind of a zoo we live in...
Exhibit #1....Children in subject...Miya and Jayden - This story was told to me by Nicki. It happened...today. So, lately...we arent sure why, Miya has had a little trouble with solid BM. Lets just say, she has been suprised from time to time, not pooping in her pants, but getting too close. She has trouble knowing what is about to come out, whether it be air, or liquid out of her rear end. When this sudden moment displays it's urgency, typically Miya thinks its going to be air, at which, she says, I tooted!!! (Im so proud, both her and her sister usually laugh and come running saying something along the lines of..."Daddy, I toot!!...Daddy, I toot!!!" I wish Nicki hadnt taught them this...its going to have to get weaned out of them before they get to some form of schooling, or we might get some calls from teachers :) When Miya is incorrect in her guess at what is passing, she gets a bit of 'not quite air' in her panties. When this happens, she says she had a 'naughty toot' because she generally needs to change her underwear as there tends to be a bit of 'streakyness'. So, back to our story. On todays occasion, Miya had a naughty toot, and Nicki was apparently busy, so, Jayden took the liberty of cleaning Miya's pants. This meant that Jayden got out the baby wipes and attempted to wipe Miya, however, her gag reflex showed up again. Nicki heard the commotion, and prevented Jayden's vomiting excercise that happened a week or so ago. This apparently is a trait that has been handed down from her dad. Note: Jayden doesnt change diapers, nor does she look at her own.

Exhibit #2...Child in subject - Jayden One of the funniest things I ever saw. Again, dealing with....poop. Jayden has a way of expressing herself, and Saturday night, while she recieved a bath, I recieved a laugh. In the past, Jayden has had a few problems pooping in the bathtub. When this happens, she immediately stands up, screams at the top of her lungs, and starts gagging. This incident was a bit different though. This child has a very good memory. I sat in the kitchen and laughed as Jayden stood up in the bathtub, afraid that a few days ago, when she pooped in the tub last, we handn't cleaned it up. So, the bubbles were in the tub, and Jayden was worried these little 'brown monsters' were going to swim up and bite her feet while she stood there in the tub. She so badly wanted to get out, tears were flying, and mom and dad just laughed in amusement. Who needs a date when you get laughs like these!

Exhibit #3....Child in subject - Melanie Ok, so this one is a little harder, and I didnt want to leave her out for laughs. Her humor isnt quite there yet, but we needed a break from the BM, so I thought I would throw her in. I think, the funniest thing about this kid is the fact that she can sleep through anything. Miya and Jayden can come up screaming to her crib, climb in with her, and all she might do is grunt...and toot (OK! I couldnt leave it out:) Miya and Jayden are not only good at pointing out when they toot, they can do it when their little sister does too!

Exhibit #4....Child in subject - Miya and Jayden From what I can see, these two can hardly play together for more than 5 minutes without yelling at each other, but when they do, its sure to bring humor. Miya tends to 'dumb herself down' so Jayden can understand her. They will laugh at the silliest things. For example, right now as I type this, they are eating thier snacks making a grunt noise and giggling like crazy at each other, seeing who can make the craziest noise. Also, we have this "dont lose your child in the mall cuz she's tied to you device". We have never used it at the mall, nor has it ever seen the light of day, but it gets used often in this house. It is a harness that your child can get into and walk around, but has a rope attatched to it, so you can hang onto it, and they will bever be more than 6 feet away from you. The girls love this thing. Typically, one will be tied up, and the other will start running until the rope jurks tight, and the other either lets go, or what usually happens is, the other uses the brains of their father, holds on for dear life, and ends up falling on their face, laughing hysterically.

And the list goes on and on. Miya playing catch with dad while he's in the shower, as she hooches the ball over the top, and dad throws it back attempting to have it land on her head to practice her eye-hand coordination. Jayden changing diapers of every baby in the house. Both playing farm with daddy's combines, tractors, and trucks. Melanie laying on dads chest without a care in the world. And dads favorite, wrestling and tickling his girls until they are so exhausted they want to do nothing more than go to bed. I could tell stories of the few short years of these beautiful girls lives who usually arent "striking a pose" for the camera, arent hiding thier 'embarresing gasses', and are calling for their daddy every second that I am home, which, at times can almost drive a guy nuts, but usually makes the kid in me laugh like crazy thinking that Im a dad of these sweethearts, and Im not anymore grown up than they are.

But, I want to hear some of your funny stories of kids....if we have any followers anymore now that Melanie is on track :) I love humor, especially kid humor, so if you have any, please, dont be afraid of posting a comment and making it way too long...I wanna hear about it. And, with that, I leave you with some pictures of the goofy Westra girls who look to be leading 'normal' lives...lives that I so bad want to stop for a few moments and take more of it all in. (By the way, Im done, and Nicki still isnt home, and Melanie is sleeping, Miya is done with her snack and ready for bed, and Jayden is still makin a mess out of her popsickle in her high chair)

Enjoy!