We've had a week with a runny nose. The kind that just keeps dripping no matter how many times you wipe it. And, when you attempt to take a Kleenex to the child they protest...too much...and then it just gets smeared all over their face. It's lovely to be the parent of the boogery kid. For those of you Germans out there, it's a schnutta nose. I hope I spelled that correctly. My low-German slang was never taught in written form.
Anyway...Charles hasn't been quite himself this week. You know something's up when the girl in the nursery on Wednesday morning said all he wanted to do was sit on her lap. That's NOT like him at all. He's always running around. In fact, last Sunday one of the girls (Julie Fisher Hamlett) in the nursery asked if I was tired after spending the day with Charles. I said, "Yes, why do you ask?" She said he was non-stop all morning. Her son is son busy too, but she said couldn't keep up with Charles. Evidently he didn't want his own snack and walked around taking Cheerios from the other kids' Dixie cups. At least that gives me justification for a nap once in a while!
Okay, back to the out-of-sorts child. He's getting molars. I think that's the reason for the runny nose and some gross diapers. He's got one poking through the skin on the top right. I can feel the top left about to make it's appearance (it may have by now, he won't open his mouth for me to get a look) and he's got two bulges on the bottom, one on each side. That will make the teeth total 12 and counting. He loves eating and has been really chewing on things. I'm sure he'll be a carnivore, but he likes his fruits and veggies too. Today he was not happy whe we told him he was done with watermelon. He's started squeezing all the juice out of each bite before he puts it in his mouth. It leaves a sticky stream running down his arm and his sleeves have a pink tinge.
Thursday we went to our first Story Time at the library. He wasn't too sure about it. Almost all of the kids were older than Charles and could sit still and answer the teacher's questions. He did pretty well. We're working on sitting on my lap without having food involved. He stood up for part of it but was quiet. We'll keep going and hopefully he'll enjoy it. After Story Time we went to the local kids' shoe store that sells all the high quality shoes. They'll measure his feet and keep record of it and send us reminder cards when it's time to get refitted. Sure enough, his feet have grown to the next size. Size 6.
I just can't bring myself to purchase toddler shoes that are $40+. I do, however, want him in quality shoes so his feet develop correctly, but even the Stride Rites are that much. I got on-line and found some shoes on eBay. I'd seen them before we went to the "Little Feet Boutique," which was the reason for the excursion. I had Charles try on the Ecco shoes they had in stock and they fit perfectly. Friday afternoon I sat and waited out the last 20 minutes of the auction. I won!!! I'm so excited. They are Eccos and sell for $55 new (who spends that much on toddler shoes?) and I got them for $25.50 plus shipping. They're so cute and can go with both jeans and Sunday clothes, most of his winter dress clothes are navy and will match perfectly!
Here they are, aren't they adorable?
Of course most of the shoes in the store for little boys are athletic shoes. Yuck. This high-end shoe store only had 3 or 4 of non-athletic shoes. Of course there was an entire wall full of shoes for little girls...just like trying to find clothes for little boys, nothing to choose from. Maybe I should start my own clothing line. But then I'd have to learn to sew...
Charles is doing something funny every day. He's decided he loves to go down the stairs. He discovered that if he lays on his tummy he can just coast down. And let me tell you, he can go pretty fast. It's kind of like he's on a slide or doing the luge on his stomach. At least there's only about 8 steps before he gets to another landing. Tonight he crawled out of the bathtub. I steadied him a little bit but he got out on his own. Oh yes, and recently I made the mistake of letting him walk from the bathroom to his room after his bath and now he wants to run around naked. It's cute and funny and all, but I don't like the thought of him running around without a diaper. I am afraid of an accident.
Prayer warriors--keep Russell in your prayers this week. He's got tests this week. He's taking 3 classes, 10 graduate hours, and all three instructors are giving exams this week. One test on Monday and two on Wednesday. He feels pretty good about two of the three tests, but his Routers & Switches class is all new material. He hasn't had any classes in this area in the past so it's all new to him. He wishes his brother Randy lived closer and was taking the class with him. Russ calls him every Wednesday night after class to ask questions and discuss the night's topics. Randy knows everything Russ is talking about and has helped him a bit over the phone.
Eleven weeks and counting until the end of the semester. If he survives he will take four hours next semester and graduate in May with a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering. His exit exam is the Friday before Thanksgiving so that is another major thing yet this semester. I think he gets some cheat sheets or it's open book, it just depends on the professor who oversees the subject matter. Two of his classes this semester cover 1/2 the exam and then he's had two classes in the recent past that the other 1/2 of the exam will cover. I can't wait for Thanksgiving, we'll be celebrating that the exit exam is behind us! And of course there will be lots of eating with the Goentzel clan to look forward to too. Fried turkey anyone?!?!
Russ spent the day at the University studying while I ran errands and had lunch with my former boss at Exploration Place. I got groceries all by myself. I kept hurrying and had to tell myself to slow down that there was no need to rush. I got everything on my list and even got to do some browsing. 
What else? Last weekend was very busy. Our printer died so we ran back and forth to Best Buy trying to get a replacement. We have a long ordeal that involves the website promising a USB cable is included and then not getting one when we made the purchase. We finally got one at a significantly reduced rate ($5.00 vs $30.00) but that was after we jumped through hoops by ordering it on-line and then picking it up in the store. We also ordered blinds to put in the stairways. The new windows are a different size so the old ones don't fit. It was also cousin Elena's 2nd birthday. We got to her party late (thanks to the Best Buy fiasco) but still got to eat chocolate wacky cake in the shape of Burt & Ernie.
