Oral Fixations & Zoo Furnishings & "Oh Yeah, I Forgot"

I'll work my way backward from the title in subject matter, it just seems more fitting! Under my last post on bad timing, I believe I forgot to mention that: While at a lumber store & looking at various deck railing options my youngest son became very hot & whipped off his shirt. This delighted his brothers to no end who then laughed & giggled & yelled several times, "Ridge is getting naked, Mom look, Ridge is getting naked!" This was barely audible through the laughter, although, me being semi-psycho, I freaked about people watching & how to act in public & then relaxed slightly because it was hard to say with a straight face, "Ridge, I'm sorry you're hot baby but you need to put your shirt back on" to the inescapable response of "Why?" for me to then answer, "Because, you just do". Ooh there's some death defying logic huh?

In other equally noteworthy news, let's see....yup I'm drawing a blank, that's how darned exciting my life is! Maybe it is harder to keep my thoughts & wits about me because of all the chaos involved in the various remodeling projects going on under-foot, none of which are done. I sit at my father's old desk which I'm so thankful to be in possession of, however it is facing a torn up wall where a large heater vent use to be. Next to me on the left is a 3/4 wall, which use to go all the way to the ceiling. My husband opened it at my suggestion to make a shelf for me. I had envisioned plants basking in health, dazzling us with their beauty, sitting upon said shelf. But sadly, no, not even close. The shelf became a catch all for tools & clean laundry & mail to go to recipients of the household whose bedrooms are on the 1st floor. Not only that, there are electrical cords still sticking fast in their original spot, yet to be moved, ah the beauty of it all, then there are the 3 different colors of paint, it's rather dizzying actually!!! I can't wait until it is done. Currently however, my house is flashing passers by with its nakedness. The siding has been torn off on 1/2 the house in only 1 & 1/2 days by 2 very hard working gentlemen we were fortunate enough to run across & employ. Did I mention siding was delivered & a garbage bin as well? They now decorate my redneck yard of the week as Jeff Foxworthy would say, along with a sliding glass door & some windows awaiting installation & whatever other cr*pola we've accumulated over the years. So yes, I will blame this outer chaos on my brain's chaos, it sounds like a good excuse to me so I'm sticking with that one for now.

Today while at, where-else but the hardware & lumber supply store, in an effort to keep the boys alive & not choked by their father, I took them with me to the garden supply area. My niece helped me cattle ranch the little boogers into submission, no easy feat but let me tell you, she makes them tow the line! This little endeavor ended up costing me $60.00 as I grabbed the last 2 ( 1 being a display) child size wooden park benches the store had. These benches had metal arms & in the middle of the back of the bench is a metal panel of zoo animals!!! It was just too appropriate with my 3 little monkeys. Besides, I could logically reason that this was a "Need" because their bean bag chairs only lasted about a minute & a half! Stupid little beans, ever try picking those suckers up? UGH! So, we now have zoo furniture for our biggest, noisiest zoo animals! This is good timing to because, oh, did I not give you the dish on this tasty little tidbit yet? - My husband & I are trading rooms with our boys because eventually we will remodel their room into what will ultimately be a master bedroom & bath. We are trading now because hubby is "about to" (yeah, ladies we all know about the man's "I'm about to's" don't we?) install a sliding glass door into our "gonna-be" master bedroom & a window in our now current / "gonna-be" boys' bedroom. This is partly out of safety, because the deck off before- mentioned sliding glass door is yet to be built & we don't want the little buggers splatting into the playground/backyard below. The fun never ends I tell ya. Anyway, I am getting them new furniture for their new room & they will be missing many toys that currently litter the room.

As far as oral fixations go: My littlest guy is obsessed with gumballs. I finally buy a bag of bribery (aka: assorted candies which include gumballs) & what does he do? His face lights up with delight & he marvels at each & every spot of it then licks it ( the taste test) & deems it worthy-to be saved in his pants pocket!!! Can you say "eeeeuw"? Can't you just imagine him pulling it out of his pocket later & popping it in his mouth-along with a bucket of lint & whatever else (God forbid, heaven only knows) is in there?! Mm tasty!! My 6 yr old for some odd reason is fixated with sucking/chewing on the collar of his t-shirts, he also bites his nails. At swim lessons while waiting for the teacher & not having any nails or shirt to chew on he started sucking on his arm stating, "This tastes like meat". Can you say "wierd"?? Ahh the joys of motherhood. But I have my oral fixations too-I had to go out for Thai food on my birthday, yummy. I have my dark chocolate & coffee cravings but that goes without saying. Some good chap stick is often swabbed on my lips-that's semi-oral I guess. Then there was today, Mexican food! It was delish, however, my fragile tummy decided not to hang on to this for long. This caused me to miss out on our very first ever boating adventure in our new-to-us boat. Well, that & getting incredibly annoyed with my husband! I may have thrown him overboard if I was strong enough! grrr. Anyway, I am partially glad it happened because it's given me much missed time to catch up with this little rant I write. You poor souls, you dear readers you, here I sit, happily torturing you some more. The good "oral fixation" news I have has to deal with my youngest son's speech appointment. It is amazing that he now is producing the endings of words! Not just soft sounds but harder, blended sounds. Yes he is getting them mixed up, that goes without saying (no pun intended there, that one just fell into place, sorry) but even mixed up, they are now being spoken!!! To help him say "s" the speech pathologist used drinking straws. He bites down on the straw, the tip in his mouth helps push his tongue down, if he lets go with his teeth the straw falls out. The closed teeth help him to say the "s" ! That handy trick along with her touching his face for clues as to tongue placement for other sounds has him reading little books with her!! It is such a blessing & such a wonderful thing to see in motion, not just as a mother either, the tactics used are really intriguing. He also blows bubbles & horns to practice getting enough air out to form words (which he can now do thanks to his speech path noticing his huge tonsils & adenoids & recommending a good Dr who removed them). All I can say is if you have a Scottish Rites speech clinic in your community you are truly blessed because many cities do not. I strongly encourage you, if you are at all able to please make a donation to their efforts. Their services are free. I know other moms in other areas who travel at great lengths (including taking trains/subways, walking, etc) to get to a speech path they have to pay for the appointment if lucky enough to be seen & not just on an endless waiting list. Also, many places do not offer services during summer & this lapse for a special needs child is like jumping backward 50 yards in progress. Okay, I'll get off my soap box for now. Eeeuw, now there is a yucky "oral fixation". I'll try to leave of on a more tasty treat: all I can say is: I wish you chocolate or whatever your craving. And remember, if you wash it down with diet soda it misses your hips completely without any aerobic exercise whatsoever! Honest, I think, at least maybe. Just don't quote me on the diet advice! Be blessed dear readers, until next time!