Sunday nutty Sunday

Allow me the pleasure of enlightening you with a juicy news nugget. You see, last night Michael decided to stop wearing diapers and start wearing underwear!!

To experience the full effect of that last sentence at the Ward castle, please reread it, only this time imagine the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing "HALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH!" during each beautiful word! For more than a year Michael has engaged in a defiant underwear strike. He refused to even discuss the possibility of taking off his diapers and wearing underwear.

We tried all the tricks in the book. We told him that only "little boys and babies" wore diapers, and that he needed to wear underwear to be a "big boy." Michael's response -- "I don't want to be a big boy. I wear diapers!" Smart kid!

April and I had just about given up hope when the little stinker called a press conference in his room and officially announced the change. There were tears of joy as little Michael finally slipped on his blue "Cars" undies, featuring the infamous Lightning McQueen.

I must say this development eases my worries a little. I had this terrifying vision of tossing him the car keys so he could drive to the store and buy his diapers. Another vision involved Michael standing at a podium in a packed lecture hall. "It is my great honor to accept this Nobel Prize," Michael says in the vision. "Through hard work, dedication and perseverance, I can now say that we live in a world without cancer. Now, if everyone would please leave the room, I have to go poopy in my diaper."

Moving along in the news department, I had the distinct misfortune of watching a 3-year-old endure an allergic reaction to nuts today. Just a few short hours ago. Here's a blow-by-blow for this sort of thing, in case you're interested. First, the little guy comes up to you and screams "My tummy hurts!" with enough ferocity to kick off a minor earthquake. Next, he develops hives all over his body and begins to get woozy. His grand finale involves throwing up in a trash can.

Time out for a second.

As you might have noticed, I tend to deal with life through humor, but there is nothing humorous about watching your little boy go through something like that. It's terrifying. Michael has an abundance of food allergies that require a special diet. He is allergic to eggs, wheat, milk and soy. His diet consists primarily of fresh fruits, vegetables and meats. Nothing processed that contains preservatives. After today, I guess we can add nuts to the long list of banned foods.

Thankfully Michael never had trouble breathing at the minor emergency center, and his "medicine" consists of Pepcid and Clarinex. In just a few short hours after the incident, Michael was back to his old self running around the house imitating Power Rangers (his new fascination) and hiding from Mommy and Daddy in the closet -- It's our job to go find him and say "boo!" A simple game that never gets old, and never fails to deliver unabashed glee from the little guy.

All things considered, we're doing all right at the castle this evening. Michael is sporting dashing new underwear and fully recovered from what shall henceforth be known as "the nut incident." Just another spin around the sun while living the dream.

Be good kiddies!

- Dave