Vacation, teeth, kiss & hug, mouth, and football.

We've just returned from this year's Cape escape. Brookie's toes have been lapped by the waters of the Atlantic (and her eyes blanketed with the sands of Skaket beach...), Brady has mini-golfed the famous (for us) courses of vacation-land, and Dallas has touched the floor in the deep end of the pool. Vacation complete. Brooke returns with her first two teeth, which popped through Monday and Wednesday. She is crawling, gumming Cheerios, pulling herself to her feet, and saying, "Hi", which she does so cheerfully it sounds like, "Haiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeee!". She said it to Nana so clearly last week. She also says, "Mumummmm" when she sees food being prepared for her. She is very sweet... and a major drama queen.

When planning this year's excursion I was disappointed that we would have to cut it short in order to deliver Dallas to enough football practices to earn him some playing time in his team's first game this weekend. Oddly enough, however, I was anxious to leave when Wednesday arrived. Dallas and Brady argued constantly, Dallas' mouth (NO!, I don't care, I hate you, I hate the Cape, I stink at mini-golf, etc.), and Brooke's low tolerance for frequent car trips had me longing for our comfy couch, a simple casserole dinner, and normal bedtimes! Scott has returned to work for a couple of days, and I am binging on quality time with the kiddos while I have the chance. Brooke and Brady joined us in bed this a.m., which is my favorite part of the day. We've since been to the town library to get Dallas volumes 8 and 9 of "The Series Of Unfortunate Events" and some Curious George favorites for Brady. Both Brady and Brooke have fallen asleep - allowing me a few minutes to bring this blog up to date.

Dallas and I talked about his mouth. I have to keep reminding myself that this is normal 9-year-old behavior and not a nightmare titled, "My poor parenting skills come back to haunt me". I informed him that a friend of mine advised a spoonful of liquid soap from time to time would clean things up nicely. Dallas is not in agreement. Dal and I took a moment to recall some recent situations in which we have crossed paths with my friend's son (now a teenager), and we agree that the soap approach failed miserably (!), so we will not go down that road. Perhaps one day he will understand that I just want him to be happy (and, until he gets there, I'd like to keep my teeth from cracking right out of my head as I clench my jaw in an effort to keep my cool when he gets mouthy!).

Brady has a new thing. A few times each day he will walk up to me (or Scott) and ask, "Can I give you a kiss and hug?". How sweet is that? We don't hold and snuggle him as much as we did before Brookie came, so this may be his way of getting the attention he needs. He has certainly accepted Brooke's takeover of the baby crown without a single complaint. What a cutie he is.

So... The starting quarterback assignment threw me for a loop. You'll never believe this... When I picked Dal up from practice last night he quite casually informed me that he also will kick extra points, field goals, kick-offs and punts... AND he is the lead kick-returner. So my question is, are any other kids going to touch the ball? And are all the other parents going to curse us? HOLY SMOKES. No wonder he has a mouth. How am I supposed to keep him real? Football isn't everything, the important things in life do not involve sports or money or fame, he's heard it all from me. GEEZ LOUEEEEZE. Of course, in response, I gave him a big grin and a "that's excellent, honey!".

Let the parenting continue... Ready or not.