Spring fever: What are you getting all excited about?

Major thanks for your candid responses to Monday's post about our having a third kid. Survey says, "Just do it!" Dave and I have a lot to talk about during our vacation next week. Given that we're going to Disney World, I am not sure how clearheaded our thinking will be. Today I asked Sabrina if she'd like a baby brother or sister. "I'd like a puppy," she said, definitively. Ooooooooo-kay, then.

It was gloriously beautiful outside today, total weather schizophrenia: There was a crazy storm this weekend and the unfinished part of our basement flooded. We spent most of Saturday night sopping up water with towels and exhausting our wet vac. (Do we know how to have a good time or what?) I let the kids have ice-cream twice today, I couldn't resist. Signs of spring are all around: the green shoots of daffodils sprouting in our backyard, the happy shouts of kids playing outside, Peeps (gotta get my hands on some purple ones), and the bright yellow flyer that arrived in the mail inviting us to opening day of the Little League Challenger Division, for kids with disabilities ages 5 to 18. There's contact info on the site, if you want to look into this.

Here's a video of Max in action last spring that some of you may recall; it made me so proud. And, no, Dave wasn't drunk when he shot it.




Photo by Metrix X

Power to the Peeps

It is safe to say, I think, that parents of kids with special needs typically have much bigger issues on their mind than "I must get my child to try a Peep."

Not me.

Max has never had one. He's never really eaten much candy, in fact. He's not yet able to chew gummy or hard stuff, or bite into bars. It's one of those things that's always bummed me out; candy is such a quintessential childhood pleasure. True, Max has plenty of treats he enjoys—chocolate pudding, tapioca pudding, ice-cream, any type of birthday cake, hot and sour soup (seriously). But no Peeps.

I bought a package on Sunday (Peeps in the drugstore: the first true sign of spring) and I've had Peeps on the brain ever since. Last night I came home from work, so excited to show them to Max. I danced a yellow chick around on the kitchen table, broke off a tiny bit and popped the piece into Max's mouth, on his back molars so he could more easily chew it.

He loved it. "Mooooooore!" was the exact thing he said, in fact.

All is right in the world: My little boy loves sugary, cavity-inducing, no-nutritional-value-whatsoever Peeps.

Oh, shout out to my inspiring friend and dedicated commenter, Rich, for the article about him in his local paper. We have a celebrity in our midst!