Good News and "P*rn"

So much had happened since I last posted. Life is like that. I don't not post because nothing is happening. The opposite is true. Life is busy, fast and furious, and sometimes just plain messy.
We spent the last two or three months in concern about Daniel's health, which, as it turns out, is just fine. I can't even tell you how happy we are to learn that it turned out to be nothing more than scar tissue around his spine. Tests and tests and still more tests were done. Specialists were consulted. Nails were bitten, and prayers offered. And we can relax and be thankful.

There were a lot of other wonderful things happening at the same time, and it was all just too much to share, because how can you say "I'm really worried and at times I am terrified but I am carrying on like everything is perfectly fine" without alarming others.

Thank you to everyone who did know, and offered encouragement and love.

By the time we got the good news we just wanted to carry on without the weight of it, and have fun.
This past Friday was a very fun day. Liam came to spend the day with us. Nialle dropped him off in the morning and we had the best time just chatting and playing with him. There is nothing like conversing with a two year old to cheer you up! Daniel and I laughed till we cried. How can Liam be so funny? He is quite a conversationalist already. He is very observant, and constantly comments on the things that effect his world. And about every 20 minutes or so he says "I'm hungry".
He didn't like the idea of using the washroom here, until I pulled out the big guns. Then he thought it was a fine idea. (Sorry Nessa, we finally just skipped the stickers and went right for the chocolate chips. Desperate times call for desperate measures.)

Then, in the evening "Grandpa Partner" (Liam's name for Daniel, who has always called Liam his partner) pulled out the popcorn maker and the popcorn. We thought the sight of it would excite Liam, as most anything edible does. He didn't blink an eye. He didn't get excited when I put the pot on the burner and added the oil, or when I dumped in the popcorn and started turning the handle. Daniel and I were astounded! (This is enough to start a feeding frenzy at our house. Our teenagers still start circling like sharks when they even hear the sound of popcorn being shaken in the jar!)
Were his parents that seriously neglecting his culinary education? (How could they?)
When it started popping I opened the lid once or twice as Grandpa held him up so he could see the popcorn zinging out of the popper into the nether regions of the kitchen. His eyes got bigger, and soon he was catching on. (Hmmm...I suspect popcorn falls into the category of sneaky snacks* at his house. Is this true?)

Well, the Travnik clan are infamous for their lack of etiquette when it comes to eating popcorn. Handfuls are semi-consumed as bits reign down on the floor. I believe it's why God invented vacuum cleaners...so we don't need to show restraint in eating this ambrosia. We may have encouraged Liam to indulge in like manner. He certainly liked sharing handfuls with Grandma and Partner. He's so generous! Hilarious too, as with a full mouth he kind of morphed the words pop corn into one word, dropping the second two syllables of the first word and the first syllable of the second word and coming out with a one syllable word. Which given the complete lack of self control, was kind of fitting, but made our eyebrows jerk up when we considered what his parents might think if he went home and used that word. So we spent some time working on enunciation.

Tomorrow we'll have four generations here for lunch. My mom is coming in, so Nialle and Nessa are coming for lunch with Liam and Ada. I can't wait to see what brilliant new things Ada learned since I last saw her two weeks ago. She's probably crawling!

*Sneaky snacks: food consumed by parents after the children are put to bed at night to preclude sharing.