Deep mysteries discussed before bed

Kate: What's wrong with formula?
Chris: Well, nothing's really wrong with it. It's just not as good as mommy milk.
Kate: Why not?
Chris: Well, God made mommy milk to have all of the stuff a baby needs. People make formula and do their best, but it just doesn't have all of the stuff a baby needs.

pause

Kate: Avy drinks formula right?
Chris: Yes
Kate: And, did Dylan drink formula when he was a baby?
Chris: He did
Kate: That must be why he acts so crazy sometimes.

Hello Captain Haircut

And, Ben has now had his first ever haircut. Boy, did he not enjoy that one little bit. All camera work (pictures and video) done by Kate. Hands and head held by Chris. Cutting by Sherri. But, dude looks good as a junior executive.

His first haircut was a little less eventful than the other kids. Kate's was at Amanda's buzz day and involved mass quantities of hair going in front of a giant crowd. Drew's was at Disneyworld with the parade going by. Sorry Ben, you're the third kid. You get gruel and you'll like it.

Ben has a drinking problem

No, not really, but he did his most obvious deep thinking communication so far. Sherri and I were in the dining room, Ben was working his way around the kitchen floor. He went to the drawer with the kid cups, grabbed one, crawled over with it to the fridge, got on his knees and held the cup up towards the water dispenser. Looked at me with a big smile on his face.

Thanks for the fun night in-laws/Sherri

So, forget the the kids in this one. This post is all about me. Sherri's parents are on a much needed vacation. When you leave behind a house, you tend to leave behind a couple of things that need doing. Sherri remembered last night at about 8PM that those things (take trash out, water indoor plants, move some stuff) still needed doing that night.

So, I did it, especially since Ben needed to stay home and was stuck on her like white on rice.

The only thing is, no one informed me that their new house has a working alarm system or that the code is now different than it was at the old house. There really is no feeling quite as helpless as those few seconds between realizing the alarm pad is warning you of an imminent alarm and knowing there isn't a thing you can do to stop it. Thankfully, with the door closed, what sounds like a piercing alarm on the inside can only be faintly heard on the outside. And, with the combination of empty neighborhood lots and really old people with poor hearing around them, I actually think I may have distrubed no one.

Plus, when the alarm company called to check to see if it was a real or false alarm, I was able to guess the all clear code.

So, that was pretty awesome.

And the first two people to see Ben pull up are...

Chris and Drew. Ben pulled up to a standing position for the first time yesterday in the afternoon, though no one actually saw it. Sherri looked over and he just happened to be standing. Last night with the girls gone at basketball, Drew and I saw Ben actually pull up right in front of us. He had no clue what to do after that.

Ben appears to like plain avocado. Ugh.

Kate is in basketball camp this week with kids somewhat her age. She's two years too young, but fits right in size wise.

And vacation is over

Or it was a couple of days ago. Sherri and Chris did the Siler Bald hike which is 5 miles in and 5 miles out of mountainy terrain with elevation change of 2400 feet, rated strenuous. Made it in exactly 3 hours.

Kate and Drew got to enjoy the new pizza place in Hiawassee as we reloaded all of our lost energy. Ben enjoyed it 3 hour later.

Drew currently likes to randomly sing the "Alvin and the Chipmunks" theme song. Although, in his world it is Almon, Syndom, Feodore. Close enough.

Blah

Well, it is a rainy day which is good because it knocks the pollen out of the air. It is bad because it precludes walking/outside play. Kate got her $1 from the tooth fairy. She was far more concerned about being unable to find her tooth when she lost it yesterday than about the nice flow of blood down her face from the now gaping hole at the bottom of her smile. We assured her a note to the tooth fairy would suffice. She did a good job spelling words she probably has no business knowing how to spell yet.

Drew seems mostly over the sickness. Unfortunately, we now know far too much about just how much volume his stomach can hold. Awesome.

Ben? Probably riding the sick train a bit.

Sherri? Definitely on the sick train, at least around 2 AM so that was awesome for her.

Chris? A-OK so far.

The Beginning

I'll be honest, should have started this long ago. Sherri and I have intermittently kept up journal stuff about Kate since she was born and folded in Drew and Ben as they came along but, like most parents, really busy lives means there are probably some cute, funny, eventful, or somewhat horrifying stories now lost to the mists of time. Oh well, we'll just have to catalog them from here on out. I assume this blog may help. A little more immediate, a little more centrally located. And as long as the vast series of tubes, bells, whistles, and wires that make up the internet keeps working we should have a long lasting record of Phelan kid activity.

I won't bother too much with setting up who we are. If you are reading this, then you probably already know us pretty well. If you don't know us pretty well, then wait for a few dozen more posts and you'll have us pegged soon. My goal is not to document the kids lives to the utmost, that would probably be unhealthy. Plus, you'd get tired of reading about their awesomeness and my bias. Just fairly big events, stories most people would consider cute/funny, and probably some other random stuff here and there. Heavy on the light stuff, light on the heavy stuff as it were.

Events to note:
Kate
Lost her first tooth on 4/1/10. Got her $1 from the Tooth Fairy (the economic times are tough even for fairies). She woke up in the middle of the night freaked out she swallowed another one but all was good.

Drew
Continued success away from diapers. Superhero underwear is a potent motivational tool.

Ben
Tooth #1 makes an appearance. Let the biting begin.