a visit from the tooth fairy. . .

Jack appeared at the side of our bed 5:59 Friday morning. . .

My tooth fell out in the night. Very excited.

In his palm he clutched his front bottom baby tooth. . . smiling, revealed the hole where it was before we put him to bed the night before.

So small. . .

I was very surprised when he told me two weeks prior (while I was driving, of course), that he had somehow broken his tooth by putting a bottle in his mouth.

Are you sure it's broken? I asked.

Yep. It moved when I pulled the bottle out. It isn't in it's place.

And the light dawned. It must be loose. His first. So exciting. . . And he's growing. . . so fast. . . I knew this would be coming soon. All of his friends were loosing teeth all during the school year. . . But it still takes a Mama by surprise that her baby isn't so small anymore. . .

After he showed us his tooth Friday, he hopped back in bed. It was pretty early for our late sleeper, so I thought he was going back to sleep.

Sam started to get ready for work. And I took Max for our morning walk (Dude decided to sleep in as well).

During our walk, Max jumped at a rabbit as it disappeared in the bushes. Only to emerge on the other side as a cute and fluffy skunk. Don't you know I pulled him out onto the street.

No way, buddy, I said. Not this morning you don't.

Luckily, it disappeared around the side of the house and we were on our way. Quickly.

And we made it home without incident. Sam was having breakfast in the new living room. (Loving it.) And Jack reappeared. Crestfallen.

She didn't come. He said.

The tooth fairy? I asked. And he nodded his head. Oh, buddy. She's done for the day now. She only comes late, late, late at night. Don't you worry. She'll come tonight when you are sound asleep.

And she did. The tooth fairy made her first visit to the Zeli house (although I'm feeling a little cheated that she didn't come for my pulled tooth several weeks ago. . .will have to talk to her about that one).

And, she left a trail of magic sparkles from the front door (where she came in the house) to Jack's bed. And all over his pillow and his tooth pillow. Which contained a handful of precious quarters (six of them to be exact). Our little Jack was so excited. And so cute with sparkles all over his face.

I can tell the tooth fairy was here. She left golden sparkles. See?

We followed her trail out his door and down the steps. And was surprised to see that even Max was covered in sparkles.

A delightful morning in the Zeli house. And a wonderful way to start a boy birthday day.

pocket memories. . .

Sam and I sat on the porch together. . . loving those late summer evenings. . . growing dark, and watching the fireflies. . . and we reminisced. . . .

Six years ago. . .

So big with Jack. . . and I remember getting up so early in the morning. . . And believe me, I was not a morning person before him (or ever). . . but I woke up so early to shower before my induction time.

Nervous. . .

and so excited to meet our little Jack Sprat. . . finally. . . .

We had tried for six years to get pregnant. . . An eternity of watching everyone else have babies but us. . . And the pain of wanting our own little one. . .

And the overwhelming joy when those two lines turned blue. . .instantly. . .and it was so hard to believe. . .

What a journey to that morning six years ago. . .

Driving into the hospital that morning. . . My head buzzy with fear and joy. . .

Getting into the hospital. . .and told to wait. . .they were busy, and maybe they would have a room . . . And the trepidation that perhaps today wasn't the day. . .

But it was. And they found room rather quickly. . .

Breathing through those early contractions. . .that got harder and scarier and then one after the other, on top of each other. . . thinking I could never make it. . . and the tease of the epidural at 1 pm. . . and waiting for a whole hour until the doctor was available. . . and the immediate relief. . . and a small nap and watching cartoons while the epidural worked it's magic.

And then it was time to push. . . for three hours. . . and that little boy was not going anywhere through my little hips. . .

And how I cried when the doctor told me they would have to use forceps. . . because I hadn't done my job. . . and I was afraid. . . but it was fine. . . And out our little Jack came.

He was beautiful. . .

growing. . .

Tuesday night, Jack was a little misty-eyed. . . sentimental. . .

about turning 6.

He wasn't ready to turn 6. He liked being five. He wasn't ready to change all the things that he had grown to love and become someone new. Someone 6.

He loved dressing the part of Indiana Jones and chasing bad guys. . .loving puppies and taking care of them, dreaming of the day of being a veterinarian (but only if that means never having to move out of our home. . .). . .building legos. . .and playing video games. . .watching fun toons and breakfasting on chocolate chip pancakes. . .a world where every little thing is quite magical. . . and maybe you can fly like Peter Pan, or catch a bird. . .

Dark brown eyes. . . a deep cup almost overflowing with that small stream of tears for dreams and childhood magic. . .so much like the sparkling stream where he and his Dada catch summer salamanders. . .

My heart breaking for a little boy that I want to hold in my palms forever. . . my little Peter Pan who will never grow up. . . who still slips his hand in mine when we cross the street. . .

And I. . . Mama. . . assured him that the magical won't disappear. . . That he will still love all the very things that he loves right now. . . That he will still be that same little boy. . . That 6 is a day to celebrate that little boy we waited for. . .for so very long. . .and that we are so happy that he is finally here. . .

A birthday. . . is a celebration day. . .

breakfast. . .

with Batman and Bat Boy. . .




Batman (who insisted he have Batman pjs. . .like his little brother) decided on having french toast this morning.

He also mused on what Batman uses his bat for (logic: Indy always carries his whip. . .so Batman must always carry a bat. . . wonder what he uses the bat for?. . .).

Bat Boy (so he wouldn't be confused with the senior Bat Man) had the Fiber One little sample cereal box that came with the Sunday paper last week. . .that boy loves cereal of all kinds). . . Until he saw that Batman was having french toast. . .

(jumping)

French toast.


French toast.


I wike french toast!

good morning. . .

Last night, while putting Luke down for bed, I sat down and waited for him to choose a story to read (fully expecting him to run into my lap to read wallwee!).

He was over by his bookshelf, and brought a Teletubby over beside his bed.

Goodnight, Wawa.

Goodnight, Dipsy.

Goodnight, Tinka Winkee.

Goodnight, Po.

Laying them each beside his bed. Everyone getting ready to rest after a busy day.

This morning, when I went to his room to peek (after hearing his little voice upstairs), I found all the Teletubbies up and sitting in the rocking chair.

Too cute.

Lukeisms. . .

A fwower Wuke.

A big one Wuke.

I made it! (running to Mama).

His language skills have taken off in the last couple weeks. All of the sudden he's putting all kinds of little thoughts and sentences together. Loving it. Love knowing his little boy thoughts and how the world looks through his beautiful (different colored) eyes.

So much fun.

camping. . . .

We dropped off the dogs Thursday evening at Patti's. . . (for their doggy vacation. . .Max loves to go and play with the other dogs. . .Dude loves to go and cabitz. . .). . .

Friday, Sam and I gathered and sorted and packed the Jeep to capacity. . . We were sitting among blankets and pillows and trains and goodies. . . And out on the road in the early afternoon headed to the mountains to camp.

Friday was beautiful. The boys had a blast splashing in the stream. And running around in the dirt.

Before we left home, Lukey was doing his usual laps around the yard with his buggy. As Sam packed the back of the Jeep, he brought his beloved buggy to Sam, and parked it at the back of the Jeep.

Bring buggy wiff us, he said, before climbing into his seat in the backseat.

So sweet.

We excitedly had found a buggy replacement for Luke (because his buggy right now is held together with popsicle sticks and duct tape) for his birthday. But, seeing it sitting there before we left, with one wheel hanging by a plastic thread. . . . We knew it wouldn't last. . . So we brought out the new one.

And both boys loved it. They spent hours playing with the little boxes inside. Buying Go Tarts, pocksickles, cookies, fruit, waffles. . . And then fighting about them minutes later (ah, sibling love).

Indy came along to. With his whip, of course. Chasing scores of bad guys. Having many adventures. He wore his grey suit at times (when it was very hot), and then switched back to his brown suit.

Sam made a great dinner (chicken and rice. . .so yummy. . .). And a huge, beautiful fire. . . And we made so many smores. . . Jack had a blast toasting his own marshmallows. Eating them, grinning and sticky fingers. Little boy joy. . .

For some reason, I didn't get a picture. But, the Zeli's had their first official night in a tent. (Make that one official, for the record.). So comfy on the air mattress. . . Until it started to rain. All night long. . . And lightning. . . And the tent began to leak. . . And I began to break out in an allergic reaction to my medication rash. . .

It's always something when we go camping. . .
Have I told you about our Ohio trip and the tornado?

Ah, a story for another day. . .