My oldest boy turned 10 today. His best friend moved to Montana last week, and he's taken it pretty hard. We'll try to get them to see each other over the summer. But it's not the same, is it? I have friends scattered across the country. Easy for an adult. But school and the neighborhood is his world for now.

Before he was born, we called him "Flipper", as a gender-neutral name. We named him after my Dad. Being that we skipped a generation, he's not a "Junior", he's a "the Second". My Dad refers to him as "2.0"

We went out for breakfast this morning at 6:00 a.m. We talked about what he'd be doing in ten years. He plans to travel the globe, capturing frog specimens, and maintaining a frog habitat here. In his basement.

I'll help.


Sunday Update

When I got home from work Friday, the birthday boy -- I'm just going to call him Flipper from now on -- was curled up in a ball on the couch. His ear hurt, to the point of tears. We had been at a water park on vacation earlier in the week. He probably got an ear infection. The doctor's office had closed. So we loaded him up with Tylenol and tried to keep him comfortable. After a while, the drugs kicked in, and he was slightly more comfortable. He and I curled up on the floor in front of the fireplace, with his head on a heating pad, and eventually he fell asleep. He woke up, crying again, at about 2:00 a.m. More drugs. Then we had him sleep in a chair for the rest of the night.

At the doctor's in the morning: two ear infections, one eardrum just about to burst. Ten days of antibiotics. He slept most of the afternoon. He was feeling a little better by the early evening, and he asked if we could still do a family outing for his birthday. I didn't think he was up to it, but he and the Sysmistress thought he was.

We drove a half hour away, to a big arcade thing. I was right. Within 10 minutes, the noise got to him, and we had to take him home. Parked on the couch again, he started vomiting. A whole bunch of times. I think he's turning the corner today. He's keeping food down. He doesn't need to stay under the blankets.

We've had our hands full with these guys. Illness, surgeries (plural for kids, plural for surgeries), stitches, knocked-out teeth. I feel horrible when they're sick. But taking care of the kids is what we do best. And there won't be too many more birthdays where I'll have the chance to do that.

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