Maltese, Milkshakes, Mac & Cheese Balls and Mayhem

Today started out like any ordinary day. Jeff brought Jackson to preschool (his second to last day) and I brought Mikey and the big birthday girl to Stroller Strides with me.

After class, we picked up Jackson and decided to take Charlie out for lunch and then to pick out some bithday presents for her. We went to the Glendale Galleria where Jackson immediately told me that we had to take Charlotte to Red Robin for lunch. The boys split a cheeseburger and Charlie and I split a BBQ Garden Burger. There was no yelling and everyone was relatively clean. The boys spent most of their time coloring and munching on fries while Charlotte chewed on a lemon wedge. Other than someone asking me if I was a tourist (?!?) everything was fine and dandy and we made it through lunch in one piece.

We then went to my favorite Target. I feel like they have more of a selection because it is spread out over 3 floors. We found some cute new clothes for the baby including some much needed larger jeans. She is already wearing 18-month clothing, and I feel like she hasn't worn some of the 12-month stuff yet! We found some school uniform shorts for Jackson (more on that later) then headed up to the 3rd floor to the toy section so the boys could pick some gifts out for Charlotte. Mikey chose a Maltese stuffed dog which Charlotte immediately called "Cat, cat, cat, cat" and beamed. Jackson helped to pick out a "Bee Bop Band" set of percussion instruments. We then went down to the 2nd floor to get some last minute party and school supplies.

Then, on our third and final trip on the elevator on our way down to check out, the doors opened and Jackson SCREAMED!!!! I thought he was scared of something coming onto the elevator and told him not to worry, just come with me. He started shrieking even LOUDER. "MY ARM, I'M STUCK, AHHHHHHHHH!!!" Normally when you hear someone screaming like that you'd think they were near the door, but Jackson was at the back of a very huge elevator. I ran back to him as the elevator closed again on its way to who knows where. Jackson had somehow wedged his elbow underneath the hand rail that runs around the elevator at waist height. It was REALLY stuck. He was panicking and crying and yelling and sweating and not making it any easier to figure out how to pull him out. Every time I pulled he screamed. If I tried to straighten his arm he screamed. He couldn't tell me if he got it in there with his arm straight or bent.

The elevator opened back up on the 2nd floor and I screamed for someone to get some help. A nice family grabbed a security guard, and next thing I knew we had three security guards, the store manager, and a really nice associate who was studying to be a nurse at our side. I had managed to get Jackson to stop screaming and moving, but Mikey and Charlotte were now freaked and she was screaming.

The nurse-in-training took charge, and told the men to back off and not to touch or pull him. She told someone to run and grab some olive oil. Luckily we were on the grocery floor and a bottle appeared in seconds. She poured about a half a bottle all over his arm and the bar. Jackson started to yell that he didn't want to get dirty (good boy).

He was still quite stuck, and their maintenance guy had left for the day, so she told one of the guards to call 911. The largest of the 3 guards started pulling on the rail, and managed to get it to jiggle a little and pulled it away from the wall a fraction of an inch. Jackson's arm popped out and they were able to cancel the 911 call.

We went down to Starbucks to get cleaned off. Both Jackson and my arms and hands were drenched with oil. The store manager followed and watched the younger kids for me and told them to get us whatever we wanted. Jackson asked for a lemonade, and they made him a frozen blended one that was quite tasty. The nurse brought him an ice pack and sat us down. He was very excited to find out that she made it by filling a rubber glove and tying a knot. After 15 min. of icing and chilling, we were ready to check out. Jackson's arm was sore and a bit bruised, but he was fine.

After all of the drama, when we got home, we collapsed in front of the TV and watched Zoboomafoo on DVR until Jeff came home.

Our oven is broken and our Kitchen is a mess, so we decided to take Charlotte out to dinner to the kids favorite sit-down restaurant: Fred 62. They have the best milkshakes around and an incredible appetizer that we are all addicted to, the "Fried Mac Daddy Cheeseballs" - homemade mac and cheese scooped into balls and deep fried. Even Jeff, a die-hard anti-mac-and-cheese-or-cheesy/creamy-sauce-of-any-kind guy can't get enough of them.

By the time we arrived, the birthday girl had crashed.

Well, we couldn't sit around and watch the milkshakes melt while we waited for her to wake up, so we parked her behind the booth and dug in.


At one point, Jackson said "Hey mom, where's Charlie? Did we forget her?"


Jackson was very happy about the treat, and was very affectionate throughout dinner.



Mikey couldn't get enough whipped cream. He kept spooning mouthfuls into his mouth saying: "This is my favorite."


After polishing off most of his milkshake, he ended up duking it out with Jeff over the last few onion rings on the plate.


Her Highness woke up before all of the food was gone. I think she got her first brain freeze tonight. She just learned how to drink through a straw, and isn't accustomed to the speed and quantity of the flow. After coming up for air, she cringed and grimaced for a minute or so before grabbing for more.


She made it through a mac & cheese ball, a falafel ball, a few french fries and a few bites of cucumber in addition to the shake (Yes, I know three out of five of those items were fried. But we ordered salad). And yes, just like the boys at that age, she couldn't make it through dinner without grabbing a knife.

When we got home, we brought out the presents that we had gotten for her. I had bought an assortment of hair accessories, not knowing what her hair could handle. It only just filled out in the last month or so, so I've only tried the tiniest of clips. What do you know, I can now pull it up into a "fountain!" Ta-da! Pink dress + fountain = Charlie now looks like a girlie girl!


We opened up the "Bee Bop Band" set and the kids played along while we sang all of their favorite kids' songs. Mikey was rockin' especially hard to "B-I-N-G-O" and Jackson asked to sing "Jingle Bells."


Then, the boys discovered the box of hair things, and requested to have fountains too. They wore them for the rest of the night. Jackson actually asked if he could wear his to bed and to Charlotte's party on Saturday. I told him "no way" and that he was going to be getting his back-to-school hair cut this weekend, and he wouldn't have enough hair to do this again. He said "On Monday I'm going to be BALD?!!"


Here is Charlotte in her girlie girl PJs with her girlie girl Maltese "Cat cat cat" that Mikey has named "Tuppy." I think she is thrilled that unlike Mamie and Tillie, this one can't run away.

Other than some major drama at Target, and sleeping through half of her birthday dinner, Charlotte had a very great day.