They can't "let it go"

We have relaxed quite a bit on the TV-watching thing, allowing the kids to watch Netflix cartoons on weekends, and when Clair is either 1) getting her hair done or 2) getting her nebulizer treatment.

It's amazing to me how well TV glues them to one spot, and personally, I'm not that mad about it.

But we still haven't graduated to movies -- mostly because the kids still seem way too young to me to sit through two hours of plot development. They can sit for two hours, but only when there are changes in episodes or even whole shows. But one thing for two hours? Nope, not my kids.

So color me surprised when one day Dean was walking around our house singing, "Let it Go," the award-winning and oft-imitated song from the Disney movie "Frozen."

The kids haven't seen the movie and he had no idea where he'd heard it. So I showed him -- and the other two -- the video, with the princess, or whatever she is, belting out her therapeutic theme song in an icy tundra.

Now what did I go and do that for?

Ever since then, Lester and I have been forced to play the video - connected to our iPod dock, so it fills the house -- over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over (you get the picture). I have to play it in the car, streaming through the speakers, no matter where we're going. And when the car stops, I have to keep playing it, all tinny and small through my phone as we walk to the house. I had to create a Disney playlist on my Pandora account and hope, no pray, the song comes on first in the playlist. NPR in the morning has been trumped by "Let it Go." I used to be able to distract them with Katy Perry ("Look kids, a LION!") or, my favorite, Pharrell's "Happy." But no more. It's all ice cold Disney princess emo all the time.

Kill. Me. Now.

The only saving grace is listening to Dean try his absolute hardest to learn every single word and match Idina Menzel's passion with all his might. And watching Clair do interpretive dance to the song, twirling and waving her hands, ballerina-like, then running through the house on her tippy-toes, dancing. Once, Lester said Clair "caught the Holy Ghost" when the song came on the iPod. I seriously almost choked from laughing. 
[Note: Do you know what "catching the Holy Ghost" is? If not, you won't get why that was so funny. But take my word for it, it was.] 
Even Cary, who is not really a big performer -- even he gets into it, singing whatever words he can make out and doing a little old man jig.

It's hilarious to watch them enjoy a song so much. Truth be told, I actually rather enjoy their zeal for the song. They truly love it (who knows why. what the hell is a frozen fractal anyway?) and it makes me so happy to see them so moved by music.

Maybe one day I'll get them hooked on New Edition!!

Hear ye! Hear ye!

Cary now has bionic hearing!

OK, not really, but as of yesterday he does have tubes in his ears and the spaces behind his ear drums are finally fluid-free! Yay!

The surgery went exceptionally well. The procedure itself took like 10 minutes. It started at 7:30 a.m., and after recovering (with a Popsicle, the Disney channel and doting nurses fussing over him) Cary, Lester and I were home by 9:30.

The docs and nurses all told us that children usually wake up from the procedure screaming bloody murder, disoriented and grumpy.

Here's how Cary woke up.

He was quiet and curious and a little bored by the whole thing, actually. Then they turned on the cartoons, gave him a Popsicle, and he was in Heaven.

He kept asking, "But where's Dean's Popsicle?"

We go back in 3 weeks for a hearing test, but I can already tell that he hears things better. Yesterday, on the porch, a police helicopter hovered over our neighborhood (a regular occurrence, I'm afraid) and Cary said, "That helicopter is too loud!" Then, this morning, I turned the shower on and he said, "It's too loud!"

So we think the tubes have done the trick! If all's well, the doctor said they'll be in for a year. Not sure what happens after that, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Anywho, I'm glad we got this procedure done and over with. One fewer thing on the worry list to worry about. And also, please God let this mean no more AUGMENTIN. (Ugh! That stuff is the worst!)

In other news, my Mom came out to spend the night with us on Sunday so she could be with Clair and Dean while we were at the hospital with Cary.

She must've done this puzzle a thousand times. Bless her!

The boys adore her! They asked her to sleep in their beds with them,  repeatedly asked her not to leave, even asked her to "live here with us," and only wanted to be wherever she was in the house. Cary almost peed on himself once because he didn't want to go to the bathroom because, "Nana will leave in a second!" Only after we assured him that she was spending the night would he go.

And even Clair was happy to be with Nana! She allowed her to hold her and kiss her. She let Nana braid her hair! Instead of being clingy and whiny and afraid, she was her sweet, silly, jabbering self.

I was so happy for my Mom to see Clair this way. I wish she was able to come visit us more often, so she could get to know the real Clair a little more.

My baby girl is getting to be less baby and more girl. (Sadness!)

Cary and Clair both love Dean the best. Look how cute they are!

 Anyway, I'm back at work today -- so time to FOCUS!!