That's a very longwinded way of saying that I'm nervous about the new baby. I'm nervous about all of the health issues, to be sure, but I'm nervous that this perfect thing that the three of us have right now will be lost. I doubt Karen and I will ever forget all the special moments we've had with him, but I wonder if he'll have any memories of our few years together before our family grew. I guess that's what this blog is for.
Maybe a month or so ago, he started in with the Why's. I answered him for a week or so but then I thought I would turn the Why's around and get him thinking about things.
TOMMY: Daddy, why does it do that?
ME: Good question... Why do you think?
TOMMY: Yes, but why do YOU think?
ME: ... Uhhh
So back to the drawing board with that plan.
There's been a lot of questions lately. A lot. A good majority deal with how one enters a vehicle. How do you get in that excavator, how do you get in that skid steer, how do you get in that combine, how do you get in that aerial ladder fire engine... and on and on. I can't fathom why he's interested in of all things, the means and manners of sitting in these machines, but a man's interests are his own.
At dinner a few nights ago, after setting the table, and getting everyone situated, we were all about to dig into our meals when Thomas looked up from his plate, fork in hand, blond hair tasseled in front of his eyes and said, "So how was your day at school and work today, guys?" Maybe once a day or sometimes two if we're lucky, he'll say something like that and Karen and I just look at each other. It's pretty great.
Speaking of dinner, I'd like to get the chicken pot pie memory into the permanent record. We've got a handful of dairy free/egg free meals that we all enjoy and we eat every other week or so. Chicken pot pie, is one such meal. It's pretty simple. Saute some vegetables, add a little wine, a little chicken stock. Use flour to thicken. Throw in the chicken and spices, add a pie crust and throw it in the oven. It's become an easy, delicious staple in our house. Karen was cooking it for the umpteenth time and mentioned that it wasn't thickening like it normally would. "Try some more flour honey!" Well she added and added but it was still a runny mess. So I came over to take a look and it was at that moment that we realized the flour was in fact, powdered sugar. Karen would tell you a slightly different version of that story, and while her details are interesting, I assure you, the outcome was the same.
To say that she has been under a tremendous amount of stress these last few months would be a gross understatement. Between taking care of me and Thomas and keeping everyone on schedule and the house running and keeping detailed notes from all of the doctors, she's got quite a lot on her mind. We'll just file this desert version of chicken pot pie in the desert folder and move on.
We've got a couple of books about being a big brother and in both of them, they talk about Mommy and Daddy going to the hospital for a couple days. We haven't explained to him that it will be a lot longer than a few days, but regardless, after reading that page, Tommy looked up at Karen and said, "Mommy, can I just have you everyday, always?" If I can ever get any of our kids to say that to me, I can die happy.
We had Thai for dinner one night and after a meal in which he used chopsticks to eat his dumplings (he's so refined) we broke into the fortune cookies as a little after dinner treat. My fortune was the same as always "You are very handsome and wise." Karen got, "Attention to detail will serve you well." And Thomas got, "The only good is knowledge, the only evil is ignorance."
TOMMY: Daddy, can I have some ignorance?
ME: No you may not.
We love you boy. I hope you remember the 3 years we had together full of reading, playing outside, giving you all the sugar you ever wanted and the best conversations I've ever had.
