Welcome Alee!

As many of you probably already know, Rebecca had Alee Moriah Dingle yesterday (Friday) morning. Now, for the behind-the-scenes details a la Torrie:

I'm a late night person, which Thursday night really came in handy. I was watching TV, as usual, when just after midnight I heard a lot of walking around upstairs. At first I didn't pay any attention; it could have been a sick kid or a bed wetting, or just Rebecca puking - all pretty normal stuff around here. But THEN I heard a very unusual sound for the Dingle household at 12:30 AM... Kevin was making a phone call! (side note: yes, I can tell the difference between Kevin talking on the phone and Kevin talking to Rebecca from down here). At this point, I ran up the stairs, and (as Kevin puts it) bound into the room like a giddy school girl saying "Are we having a baby?!?!!!" I found Rebecca in the bathroom & asked if she lost her plug or her water or something. Turns out her water broke, but she quickly assured me that it didn't break on the bed (my futon) - isn't she so considerate? :) She wasn't contracting yet though, so she decided to take her time getting ready to go to the hospital: she gave me instructions for the kids morning routine, she tweaked the baby announcement email, she packed her bag, Kevin took a shower, she dealt with a fussy Titus, etc. etc. Finally, the doctor called and asked where they were because he was at the hospital. So, they finally left for the hospital and I went to sleep in Titus's bed and Titus slept in their bed. Now, for those who haven't slept on a 4-year-old's bed recently... plastic sheets are the most AWFUL thing in the world! Every time I rolled over I ended up waking myself up with the loud crinkling of plastic, so needless to say I didn't sleep much that night. Which didn't matter, because apparently night-time stops at 6:15 AM, or at least it did for Titus. Thankfully he went back to sleep and I got to snooze for another hour. The morning was a series of whines and fusses, but overall it actually went fairly smoothly and I got Meg to school on time & had just dropped Titus off at Kevin's parents when I got the call from Kevin about Alee. I zipped over to the hospital and thankfully got there just in time to see her for about 10 minutes before they took her away to the nursery. It was good to get to hang out with Rebecca, and I've got to say she looked SO much better after getting that baby out. Apparently all of her nausea, heart burn, etc. stopped as soon as the baby was out, and her face showed it... she finally looks well again.

I haven't gotten to get back to the hospital again, but Rebecca and Alee come home tomorrow. Everyone tells me I won't be sleeping much with a new baby in the house. I say, that's what earplugs are for :)

Official Dingle details and picture are available here: http://dinglejapan.blogspot.com/2008/05/new-dingle-has-arrived.html

A casualty

I'm not sure when this happened, or how, but all I know is that I went
away for the weekend & when I came home I found this. Forensic results
are pending. If you have any info regarding this sad loss, please let
me know.

Who doesn't love getting their back scratched?

Last summer when the Dingles were here, I started scratching Titus's back for him when he had trouble falling asleep. Apparently he got totally hooked, and when they went back to Japan he kept asking for a back scratch and was upset that Kevin & Rebecca couldn't do it right. Needless to say, since they've moved in, I've given that boy a LOT of backscratches. Sometimes he asks for them, sometimes I just start scratching, and sometimes he just reaches back & lifts up his shirt with an expectation for me to scratch it. This morning I went upstairs and the kids were both completely mesmerized by a TV show. Rebecca & I were trying to ask Titus something & he was completely ignoring us. I wanted to test a theory, so I did a quick 2-second scratch over his shirt & sure enough he reached back and lifted his shirt up so I would scratch under it. So apparently he was somewhat aware of his surroundings, but only if it involved a backscratch!

Another interesting back scratching related story happened earlier this week. At bedtime I was scratching Titus's back & Meg wanted a backscratch so I told her I'd do her next. Then she asked me if I scratch Titus's back more because I like him more. uh oh! Thankfully I thought quickly & told her it's just because Titus asks more.

On another note, the kids just came home & I asked them to tell me something about backscratches. Meg said, "umm.. I don't know.. it tickles!" And Titus said, "backscratches.... it's AWESOME!!!" Yep, that little guy is totally hooked.

Rebecca's friends

Over the years I've come to know some of Rebecca's friends, mostly through stories or brief encounters or observations. I'm not good with names, so most of these friends have nicknames that connect them to something that I remember about them. Since a lot of Rebecca's friends read this blog, I thought you would all get a kick out of seeing the nicknames that I use so that I know who Rebecca is talking about when she tells a story. Some of them will be easy to guess, others might be more difficult...

1. Mary Hanna Wilson - this friend always has her maiden name as part of the name because I knew her by that name since I was a little girl. And for some reason my brain won't make the update, because when someone only uses her married name I have no idea who they're talking about.

2. Poop on the floor - this poor friend earned this nickname because Meg pooped on her daughter's bedroom floor when she was younger & having some issues with potty training.

3. Paris's mom - I have finally learned this friend's name, but it's still more fun to say "Paris's mom".

4. The hand-holding friends - this is because of a "going-away" photo of this group of friends where they were all holding hands, that was given to Rebecca before she left for Japan.

Things overheard

Because the Dingles live on the second floor, I overhear a lot of the activity that happens up there. Usually I only hear footsteps and the sounds of people talking (but can't make out the words), except for in the morning when I swear Meg talks 20 times louder than usual.

Here are some things I've overheard lately:

This morning, from Meg: God said to Elmo...
This happened about 40 minutes ago and I'm still trying to figure out if she was reading a bible story & I misheard, or is there really a religious book involving Elmo? I mean really, God said to Elmo????

One morning, on the way out the door, from Meg to Kevin [as one long whine]: Daddy, why are you making that mad face at me? You're hurting my feelings! You're hurting my feelings, Daddy! My feelings are going to be hurt FOREVER!!!

Last week I overheard two sets of little feet dancing around in the kids room, when suddenly the dancing stopped and I hear Meg: Mommy!! I was just sitting here and Titus pushed me over!!

Tuesday night was the following progression:
1. Someone running from one room to another
2. Rebecca pounding on the floor (that's her way of telling Kevin to get upstairs)
3. Kevin running upstairs
4. Running here, running there, running everywhere
5. The bathtub running
6. The faint smell of puke
At which point I figured out that somebody had puked. It honestly could have been any of them, but I put my money on Meg & went upstairs to check it out. Turns out it was Titus - thankfully there was nobody around for me to actually lose that bet to.

And last, but not least, the sounds I typically hear every morning:
WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!! blah blah blah... But I don't want... whine whine whine... MWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! Titus [insert tattle here] whine whine whine blah blah blah

I don't like this preview!

Since the day they moved in, it's been abundantly clear that Meg & Titus don't understand the difference between watching a DVD and watching TV. In fact, they have seemed to be completely confused by the concept of TV. This shows in a number of ways:

1. During a scary commercial they'll often say "I don't like this preview! Skip it, Aunt Torrie, please, skip it!! Skip this preview, it's scary!" - and they really don't like when I tell them there's nothing I can do about it.
   
2. After a show is over - "Can you put that movie on again?"
3. During a commercial they like - "I want to watch THAT movie!"
4. My favorite... when they first moved in and a TV show would hit a commercial break, they would run to get an adult because "Something happened to the movie! Help!"

They still get a little confused and I don't think they have the whole concept down yet, but thankfully after hours and hours of the Disney channel they seem to understand TV a little better now ;)

Smells like home

This week has been the best week of living with the Dingles since they moved in. For one reason and one reason alone... when I come home, my house doesn't smell like poo anymore!! That's right, Titus is finally potty trained. No more dirty diapers! No more slap-you-in-the-face stink as soon as I walk in the door. Now, the Dingles will say I'm exaggerating - they never smelled the poo smell that I insisted was there. But I say they just got used to it (which is disturbing on a whole different level) and that's why they didn't smell it.

Regardless, no more poo smell makes for one happy Aunt Torrie!