kendalism and other sentimental ramblings

scene:  in the bathtub.  you guys know we have horrible water.  most of our house (i.e. where we drink) is filtered, but the tub, well, it isn't because we don't drink it.  it comes out sorta orange there.  looks like pond water, i say.  we encourage the kids NOT to drink it.  it is actually not bad to drink (it won't kill you) but it just doesn't taste good (metallic).

anyway, the kids were in the tub and they have all their toys floating around and kendal had his cup.  it is a plastic coffee mug.  nathaniel, as usual, was supervising their play by sitting on the toilet (using it as a chair, not a potty) and doing a crossword puzzle.  all of a sudden, he said "kendal, don't drink the water!"

kendal said "dad, i'm not drinking the water, i'm drinking my coffee!"

really.  it looks like coffee.  all brown and such.  i'd post pictures of them in the bath but it is too gross to show.  they're cute.  the water, not so much.

on a totally different topic, this past weekend it was all rainy and cold here.  kendal has been sleeping on a blow-up bed in his own room since last week.  he got tired of bunking with holly.  holly, in the mean time, took over queen of the train toddler bed.  she's been doing great in it.  so this weekend, since we were stuck inside, nathaniel dismantled her crib. 

i know that doesn't sound like a big deal but if you are a parent and you have dismantled your last child's crib, then you KNOW how big of a deal it is.  it is bigger of a deal than when you put together the first crib for your first child.  it signifies so many things, on so many levels.  to point out the most obvious, it signifies the end of the baby era in our house.  our kids aren't babies any more and they are growing at a rate too quickly to capture even in words or photos.  our lives are so different now than when this crib came into our lives.  i remember sleeping on that (well not THAT, but a predecessor) blow up mattress - trying to get holly used to sleeping in that crib.  and before that, how many months she slept right beside me in our bed.  of coarse, i'd still be sleeping with her in our bed if nathaniel didn't reclaim is rightful place there beside me... as a matter of a fact, i think that holly would probably still be in the womb.  she is such a mama's girl.  she loves being right in my lap and whenever it is available, that is right where she is. 

when we took apart kendal's crib, it wasn't as sad because we still had a crib in the house.  i think the saddest part of kendal's "moving into toddlerhood" was when i sold his cribset.  i remember how long it took me to pick it out (and buy all the pieces since it wasn't available in stores by the time we had a crib).  when i sold it using craigslist, i was happy that the girl that bought it was so happy to have that exact one.  like me, she had been searching high and low for that exact one and was so grateful that i was willing to part with it.  it made me feel good about passing it to her.  she was having her first son too.  it was still hard to part with it.

well, it is now time to get the kids out of the tub.  kendal's still singing and the floor is surely wet.  mr. friend allows for some wild times in that bath tub!  (mr. friends is a fountain toy that hangs out in the tub - they like to play with him and has surely made bathtime easy since he came to live with us via katelyn!)

PS - the last thing i heard was kendal screaming and nathaniel saying "NO, holly, you do not grab him around the neck!" ah, sibling love!  bath time is over...