Three!

I put the exclamation mark for you, sweet pickle, because every time I asked you how old you are today, you would give me a thumbs-up!

It never fails that on this day, I especially recall your birth story.  What a grand entrance you made!  I still chuckle when I think about trying to get back into the locked Starbucks in Rivercenter Mall, so that I could tell Daddy that we had to go to the hospital.  What a special Christmas memory that made!

So, you're three, big girl!  You are definitely not a baby any more.  You're still diminutive in stature, but you have big personality!  What's new, little pickle?

One of the biggest changes is that you are finally forward facing in your car seat.  We waited quite a long time to turn you.  Maybe I'm being over-protective, but your petite stature made me want to protect you for as long as possible.  Not once did you ever complain about being rear-facing, but you sure did enjoy being able to see the sights at the Christmas lights trail from your new vantage point.

Over this past year, your personality has really started to bloom.  You have proven yourself to be quite the entertainer and comedienne.  I think the phrase I've heard most from you this year is "Mommy, watch me!"  Followed shortly thereafter by a triumphant "I did it!"  Like the rest of your family, you also love to sing.  You have a sweet little voice, and your accent and speech impediments make it all the more endearing.  I told Daddy tonight how sad I will be when "Twinkle, Twinkle" no longer has the cute little quirks that you add to it.

In addition to revealing to us new facets of your personality, you have also begun to reveal to us your broadening interests.  Your main interest as a three year old appears to be ponies.  You love horses of all kinds.  In fact, for Halloween, you dressed as a unicorn.  The costume is big and fluffy, and more often than not, you treat it as a big stuffed toy for imaginative play.  For your birthday today, you got two giant (quite literally as big as you are) stuffed My Little Ponies.  Your sweet face was priceless when you opened them up.

You have proven to be pretty determined in feats of physical daring.  Mama's trying hard to remember to let you explore without a smothering safety net, but sometimes it can be really hard for me - especially when you've triumphantly climbed up a stack of chairs at least 4 feet tall at Sister's swim lessons.  You can frequently be found climbing on and jumping off of various pieces of furniture or riding your scooter and trike.  The other day, out of the blue, you showed me that you can do a forward roll already.  I'm excited to see how you manage the basketball and basketball goal that I hear Santa may be bringing.

Of course, you have grown intellectually as well.  You are quite the talker, though sometimes you have to repeat yourself to be understood.  I love having conversations with you because you have proven time and time again how clever you are.  Just today, I called you 'crazy pants.'  You responded promptly, "I'm not crazy pants."  I asked, "Silly pants?"  To which you replied, "No! I'm not wearing pants!"  Touche, little one.

One of the things that touches my heart the most is your sweet love for your Sister.  I pray that this never changes because your relationship is so very precious.  I love that nine times out of ten you choose to call her Sister.  You like to do what Cora does; you like to be where Cora is.  I pray that you both always cherish this special relationship.

We sure do love our sweet, silly, sassy, smart, spunky little girl!

Eight

I blinked and you turned 8 months.  This cannot be possible!

So, what's new little man?

You remain my cuddly little snuggler.  You love to nuzzle your head right on my neck and shoulder.  I love it.  Especially at night, you love to rock and cuddle with me.  Other times during the day, you are simply too busy to be bothered.  Though you are not quite walking, you are certainly fearless in your mobility.  We have resorted in keeping all doors in the house closed as you favorite 'toys' seem to be Sissy's training potty and any of the seemingly millions of small toys/choking hazards in your sisters' room.

Speaking of mobility, you are getting very near to being able to walk.  You can nearly always be found standing, and you have on occasion stood up with no support.  Most recently, you figured out how to use certain toys as walkers.  I feel like it will not be too many more weeks before you're walking or, dare I say it, running!

Unfortunately for you, teething has been quite the ordeal.  You are up to 7 possibly 8 teeth, but boy have they been bothersome.  In fact, we had to pick you up early from Parent's Night Out last night because you were just so uncomfortable.  I hope this means you are almost finished with teething for a while.  How many more teeth does an eight month old even need?!

You love your voice.  You love to talk and to sing.  During Daddy's and Sister's choir concert last weekend, you felt that there needed to be some vocals during the orchestra's numbers.  I'm sure we will not have to remind you to project your voice.  You made sure to sing loud and proud!

At 8 months, you are finally beginning to enjoy solid foods.  You love to feed yourself and are now becoming more proficient at it.  You especially love yogurt melts and cheerios.  We are fairly certain you are not allergic to peanuts since Sissy decided to be helpful and feed you some of her peanut butter cheerios this morning.  You were quite happy about that.  (And, sweet Sissy was so proud of herself for 'helping'!)

I hate to admit this, but you love BabyTV.  I'm sure you get to watch way more of it than you probably should, but sometimes Mama needs to cook or clean or fold clothes or go to the bathroom!  There are certain sketches that make you squeal with delight.  Ironically, your sisters like to watch, too.  Win-win for Mama!

We certainly do adore our sweet, little man!

Seven

Little Big Man, you're seven months old.  You seem to be in an enormous hurry to grow up, big guy!

I was not mistaken when I surmised last month that you would be crawling soon.  About two days after I posted your six month post, you figured it out.  There's no stopping you now.  You are anywhere and everywhere.  You especially love to be in your sisters' room.  This is probably because it is the forbidden fruit.  With so many small toys and miscellaneous choking hazards, you don't get to be in there very often.

And, as if crawling around wasn't enough of a milestone, you also decided that it was time to start standing up.  Now, you pull up on everything: tables, couches, people, toys, dogs...  Penny is learning to keep her distance.  One of your favorite things to do is to crawl over to the windows by the front door and peer out at our neighborhood.  You're nosy like your mama.

Last week, I was folding clothes on the living room floor.  You crawled up to me and pulled yourself to a stand.  Suddenly, I didn't feel your little hands on my back anymore.  When I looked around, you were standing in the middle of the floor all by yourself.  The exact words from my mouth were "What are you doing?!"  Mamacita was caught quite off guard.  Although you love to stand, your balance isn't great just yet (hallelujah!).  I don't anticipate you walking soon, but you seem to enjoy proving me wrong.

You have developed a bit of a love-hate relationship with foods.  You like the idea of it, but not necessarily the actual food.  You've tried bananas, oatmeal, strawberries, apples, yogurt, and a bbq beef sandwich.  Yep, you're a real Texan now.  Miss Laura didn't know how grabby you are when she was holding you at our church fall festival.  I'm told you were quite upset with her when she wrestled her sandwich out of your tiny fist.   Despite your enthusiasm, you still have a bit of a sensitive tummy, and you don't seem to really enjoy the actual process of eating.  We thought we had struck gold when Daddy made you some fancified oatmeal.  You gobbled up the first few bites until your lip started to swell up a bit.  Turns out, you have a sensitivity to cinnamon.  If the internet can be trusted, you will likely grow out of it.  But, for now, it's back to bland cereal, fruits and veggies.  Pity, since now you have six (SIX!) teeth with which to gobble all the yummy food.  I have a feeling, though, that in your teen years, I will wish we were back to the days where your nutritional needs were so inexpensive!

Your personality continues to unfold before us.  You remain a sweet and joyous little boy.  Just today, in fact, as we were checking out at the grocery store, you began to fuss from being confined in your car seat.  But, as soon as the cashier started talking to you, you smiled and cooed.  You never miss an opportunity to flirt with the ladies. You love to talk and sing.  Perhaps it is because you are a boy - I am told they come with non-stop sound effects - that you generally make some sort of noise at all times.  Even as you crawl about, you make this sweet little happy grunting sound.  If you are not using your voice to make noise, you tend to insist on having something at hand that makes noise.  Your favorite seems to be a set of plastic keys that makes a satisfying clacking noise.

Happy seven months, Jackson!  You are our special little man and just what our family needed!

Six

...and one day.

Little man is half way to his first birthday.  What's new?

You are by far the chunkiest of my babies.  Dr. Mitchell commented at your well check yesterday, "I'm so glad you brought both of your chins!"  We have worked hard to get you those sweet little rolls.  That being said, you're still a bit on the small side compared to the average kiddo.  You now weigh 16 lbs, 8 oz which puts you right around the 32nd percentile.  You are 24.75 inches tall which means that you've actually fallen off the bottom of the chart for height.  Apparently, you're a bit of a shorty right now.  The great irony in all of this growth is that you actually gained more in head circumference than you did in length.  You gained half an inch in length between your 4 and 6 months check ups.  You gained almost three quarters of an inch in head circumference!  Your daddy suggests that you may be slowly turning into a cartoon.

You have begun your foray into solid foods.  Technically, that began last month when you lunged for my breakfast treat.  You still have that tongue thrust reflex, and tend to gag a little when we spoon feed you.  Instead, you've been trying new foods in the mesh feeders.  You tend to prefer things you can do independently.  You're stubborn determined, like that! Your favorite by far is a nice frozen banana.  You were not too pleased with strawberries.  We will try blueberries and maybe some avocado next.

Not only are you my chunkiest baby, you are also my strongest.  Diapering you is like diapering an octopus.  It feels like I am constantly wrestling arms and legs to get you covered.  Trying to put a footed sleeper on you can be almost impossible, especially if it has snaps.   You are skillful at quickly turning from back to stomach and from stomach to a crouching/sitting position.  We had to take the bassinet out of the pack and play because you kept sitting up after nap time.  You quickly decided that sitting was not enough of a milestone, so you have also decided you will start to crawl.  You get up on all fours and rock back and forth.  You're able to move a bit, but you have trouble getting good traction on the wood floors.  I don't imagine that will hinder you for long.  You are bound and determined to crawl ASAP.  I will be surprised if you are not crawling in the next week or two.

You remain a little social animal.  You continue to charm the ladies wherever you go.  In fact, I've been told that some of the ladies in the church nursery quite literally fight over who gets to hold you.  One told me that she planned to arrive early during her next duty week, so that she could have dibs on you. Anytime someone even glances at you, you turn on the charm.  It's coos and grins and giggles all the way.  I can't get enough of your joyful personality!

You are still not an excellent sleeper.  I have seen glimmers of hope, though.  You had two nights in a row that you slept all the way through.  So, I have a feeling that it is coming soon.  Believe me, there will be much rejoicing when that time is here!  You will, however, sleep quite contentedly on someone for hours upon end.

Unfortunately for you, although I am a crunchy baby mama in some senses of the term, I am not a co-sleeper.  Mama is entirely too uptight for that.  Once you're good and unconscious, though, you will sleep pretty well in your crib.  You are certainly a very happy boy when you wake up.  I treasure you're early morning grins.

You are our sweet and joyful little man!  I can't wait to see what the next month brings!

Wordless Wednesday

Five

The little mister is five months today.  I say this every month, but I truly cannot believe how fast time flies...except during the middle of the night...when it's the third time I've been summoned...but, I digress.

Well, buddy, you're still not consistently sleeping through the night.  Although, there have been glimmers of hope this week.  Two nights in a row, you slept a seven hour stretch.  Last night, you slept for two five hour stretches.  Slowly, but surely, we're making progress.  It's hard to be upset by the lack of sleep when this is the face I get to wake up to in the morning.

I'm biased, but he's pretty handsome!

(Yes, that is an orange romper.  No it is not UT apparel.  Yes, my child is allowed to wear orange.  No, we are not switching allegiances - unless it is to Old Navy, the manufacturer of this cute and comfortable outfit.)

In other news, you now have two, yes two pearly whites.  I am shocked!  It is not abnormal to have teeth already, but it is a bit unusual.  So far, you have been kind to me.  But, every once and a while, you will remind me while you are nursing that they are definitely poking through.  Nothing like a little razor sharp wake-up call in the middle of the night!

At five months, you are also surprisingly mobile.  You are my little tummy sleeper, but sometimes I will find you oriented in the exact opposite position that I laid you down.  You can sit independently for a few seconds.  After that, you do the slow-motion topple.  You very quickly end up on your belly, but it doesn't seem to bother you.  Within a few seconds, you've untangled your legs from under yourself and rolled to your back.  

You have a pretty good grasp at this stage.  You love to explore your toys.  Your favorites thus far are an easily gripped football, and the clip to your pacifier.  Just this weekend, we gave you your very own dalmatian dog.  Cora has Pongo; Carys, Perdita; and now you have Lucky.  You seem to like him quite a bit, but you're pretty easy to please.  

Since you are now interested in and able to interact with toys, you've begun to enjoy being in the exersaucer.

Trust me, you are way more amused than you look in the picture.  You especially love the toys that rattle.  It has been a lot of fun for me to watch you learn and interact with things independently.

You are showing signs that you may be getting ready for solids.  The other day I was holding a snack that shall not be named, cough honey bun cough.  You very determinedly grabbed my hand and forced the food into your mouth.  Naturally, you were quite pleased with the result.  Who doesn't love a honey bun?! I blame John and his love of Green Mountain Coffee, not to mention the ice house that gives away a free honey bun with coffee purchase.  I tried to feed you some banana later that day, but either you were disappointed that it wasn't a honey bun, or you actually are not quite ready for solids because you ended up pushing most of it out of your mouth.  Let's hope it's the latter!

I suppose that is you in a nutshell.  You remain our lovely little mister!

The Days Are Long...

But, the years are so very short!

It's official.

I am the mother of a kindergartner.  I have a kid who is school-aged.  What?!  It's especially jarring because I don't feel a day over 22.  Too bad my driver's license begs to differ!

Tiny Greek Goddess ISD is officially in session as of last Monday.  Cora was so very excited for school that I really don't think I could have held her off any longer.  So, we jumped in.

When John and I were trying to first figure out this whole home school business, I got together with some friends from church who were part of a program called Classical Conversations.  I wasn't necessarily interested in the program at the time, but more so, just wanted to get some information about what homeschooling looks like.  However, after hearing my friend's 6 year old daughter tell me the history of the world from Creation to present day, I was sold on the program and the philosophy behind it.  It is a lot of memorization during the first few years, but it is carefully designed to give families the opportunity to learn and grow together.  I honestly think that I may learn as much or more than Cora.

We started our first day with a special breakfast.  I likened it to "Muffins with Mom."

Coincidentally, it was also "Meet the Teacher" and "School Supply Drop Off."  (Notice Carys' 'cheese' face! Silly little pickle!)

I decided to fashion our school day in a similar fashion to the schedule I read about in the Foundations guide for this program.  This means, that on an ideal day, we will have some devotional time, then periods of work followed by activity breaks.  During each work period, Cora will first work on her skills independently before we will work together on any new skills or activities for the day.  I love the idea that she should learn to not have to rely on me (or any other teacher) to begin learning.  In each subject area, she is able to begin the learning process on her own.  Fortunately for me, Cora has easily adapted to this format.  Though she sometimes resists the independent work, she knows that she works for the allotted time, but then gets a break.  On most days, we have finished our tasks by noon.

Today was our first day of Classical Conversations.

(Notice two 'cheese' faces! Crazy girls!)

In this program, we meet once a week in a group setting with a tutor.  On our CC day, we work on new memory work, present an informal presentation and also do a fine arts activity and science experiment. This is the basis for the memory work that Cora and I will practice for the next week.

Cora and Carys were both excited to wear new dresses - who doesn't feel special in a brand new 'first day of school' outfit - and to carry their backpacks.  It was a bit of a frenetic day for Cora who is accustomed to a more leisurely pace, but it was fun for her to learn the material and to socialize with some new friends.  I know her stamina will increase the more we participate in the program.  But, the nice thing is that if it doesn't, we can come home at 1 and take a nice long nap - a luxury that wouldn't be afforded to her at our neighborhood school.

The bottom line is that as of two weeks in, I am feeling more and more confident in our decision to home school.  I know not every week/day/hour of this adventure is going to be sunshine and butterflies, but it's nice to see Cora adjust well to this new educational process.  To be continued...

Stats

The little mister had his four month appointment last week.  All you mamas out there know what this means...shots!  And, because this is just the way the cookie crumbles, our pediatrician's office was out of the combo vaccines.  The little mister endured 4 rather than 2 shots, plus the oh-so delicious rotavirus concoction.  He was a bit peeved at me for about a second.  But, he refuses to stay mad at me for long.  This boy loves his mama! (She pretty much is head over heals for him, too!)

That being said, I was not surprised at all to find out that he weighs 15 lbs, 2 oz.  Let's review the girls at 4 months.  Carys weighed 13 lbs, 6 oz; Cora weighed a whopping 9 lbs, 9 oz.  My biceps definitely could testify that he is the biggest of my babies.  Surprisingly to me, this only placed him at the 40th percentile.   Ironically, being 24.25 inches tall, places him in the 12th percentile for height.  To make all this percentile talk even more funny, his head circumference is 17.05 inches or 88th percentile.  In other words, his head circumference is almost equal to 75% of his length! He definitely has his daddy's head.  Let's hope he has his daddy's brains, too!

In other news, I am continually being reminded that just because you have three kiddos doesn't mean you know everything about children.  The little mister has been drooling and gumming things for about a month now.  Everyone has been asking me if he's teething to which I responded, "Naw!" or something equally as eloquent.  Well, shut my mouth!  Guess who cut a tooth last week?  Yup! And, he's rewarding my incredulity by reminding me that there's a tiny little dagger in his mouth at every feeding.  Youch!  Makes me tempted to get little mister a steak to chomp on.  I'm fairly certain he would not refuse it.  Needless to say, we are thrilled with our strapping young man!

Four

I blinked, and you're four months old, little man!  What's happening with you now?

You are in an excellent and predictable day time schedule.  You wake up some time between 7 and 8.  You're up for a couple of hours, and then you go down for a 2 hour nap.  Then, you're up for another couple of hours before your 2 to 3 hour nap.  After that you're up for the evening.  You will usually go to bed around 8 pm.

Your nights, well, let's just say you're a bit unpredictable.  Sometimes you get a nice 6 hour stretch in.  You'll wake once to eat and then sleep through until day time.  But, sometimes, you prefer to seek my company more often at night.  Last night, I had the, ahem, pleasure of your company 4 times.  Perhaps this is your '4 month sleep regression' or perhaps you're just lonely.  Either way, we'll just ride it out; I have confidence that you will become an excellent sleeper like your big sisters.

You remain one of the most social babies I've ever encountered.  You do not need much encouragement to chatter with someone.  Often, as soon as someone glances your way, you will begin to coo and giggle.  Once while skyping with Daddy, you chirped and immediately giggled at some private joke you had made.  You did this several times in a row.  It was wonderfully precious and adorable.

Physically, you are a very strong little guy.  You don't require any encouragement to practice your squats.  If someone supports you under your arms, you will gladly use your strong leg muscles to bounce up and down, up and down.  If it weren't for your terrible (wink) lack of balance, you would be standing on your own.  You certainly have the strength for it.

During tummy time, you are very good at holding your head up high.  You can also roll from tummy to back, but not yet from back to tummy.  You get one poor arm lodged under you like a kick stand and get pretty well stuck.  However, you do get those legs going under you like you want to crawl.  If you had stronger arms and better trunk control, I fear you'd be mobile.

You are almost to the point of being able to grasp a toy.  Though you haven't quite mastered opening and closing your hand around an object, you are an expert at sticking your hands in your mouth.  You love to chomp on your fingers.  We thought for a little while that you might be a thumb sucker, but we haven't seen you single out your thumb as of late.  Now you prefer your entire fist.  I don't think you're teething, but also would not be surprised if I found a pearly white poking through soon.

Your eyes remain blue, but if I'm not mistaken, they have taken a slightly green tinge.  I am anxious to see what color they will become.  Your hair is a very pale strawberry blonde.  Seems like Sissy's hair was also this color as a wee babe.  I wonder if it will change as you grow up.

You continue to be our sweet and precious little man.  We are thankful for you every day!

Camp Mema

About a week or two ago, we headed on down to my parents house for a little family reunion of sorts. Scott and Celeste were coming down with my sweet nieces, and Pa and Gamma were going to come up for the day that Saturday.  This was their first opportunity to meet the little mister.  Pa had a special surprise for the little man - his first cap.  Naturally, it is a cap from the local cotton gin.  I love it!

Here is Farmer Jack in his overalls and cap.

Forgive the quality; I took this picture with my webcam.  But, yes; you're right.  With all that precious cuteness, it IS a wonder that I get anything done.  Thanks for noticing.  

Anyway, that little weekend getaway had another purpose, too.  It was the kick-off weekend for Camp Mema/Gulag P-pa.  On Sunday, John and I left the big girls at my parents house for an entire week.  Now, what's that word I'm thinking of?  That word that describes how it feels to only have one kiddo at the house for 5 days?  Oh yeah, a.w.e.s.o.m.e!  It feels awesome!  I remember the first time I let Cora go to the grandparents for a couple of days.  I cried.  Then, I let both the girls go overnight for the first time about a year ago.  I cried again.  But the next morning, I slept in.  Sweet mercy, it was heavenly.  

As you can imagine, I was looking forward to those 5 days.  The girls were pretty pumped as well.  The plans for Camp Mema sounded pretty outstanding.  It was impressively planned and coordinated and for good reason!  4 kids ranging from age 8 down to 2 1/2 will keep you on your toes.  Gulag P-pa was a little more tongue in cheek.  Where Camp Mema would have water day involving playing in the pool, water day at Gulag P-pa involved water boarding.  As he said, it's "all the fun with only a fraction of the water."  The facebook posts were pretty entertaining as written through the eyes of the Gulag Commandant .  Some of the mayhem included the following:

"Cora K. did a magic trick and made Mema disappear. Now, no one can find her. The panic is setting in. We’ll starve to death. Finally, Hannah L. found her, cowering in fear behind a bedroom door. What have we gotten into?

The inmates are thinking the same thing. Hannah L. said to Cora, “Don’t make Mema disappear again or we’ll all go to Gulag P-Pa. I have a plan to overthrow the condamant.” (Her pronunciation)"

and

"Gulag P-Pa, Day 4: The terror continues. Condamant P-Pa awoke at 5 a.m. Carys K. was standing by his bed, blanky in hand, apparently planning to smother him. He asked what was wrong. “Can’t find Dita,” she said. Nice recovery! “Dita” is short for “Perdita,” a stuffed Dalmatian from the Disney movie. The Condamant got up with flashlight and slipped among the other three sleeping inmates, finally spotting a Dalmatian on the floor. “There’s Dita,” he said. “No, that’s Pongo,” she replied indignantly. One stuffed Dalmatian looks like another to Condamant P-Pa. Eventually, the Condamant found the actual Dita under the covers on Carys K.’s bed, making him suspicious of The Mischief Maker’s true motives."

Meanwhile, I was at home doing pretty much whatever I wanted, including sleeping in to an hour of the morning that seems positively sinful when you have small children.  Heaven!  I also managed to be a bit productive.  I got the girls closet cleaned out and organized.  I sorted and stored toys.  And, I got the house cleaned.  The best part about that last statement is that it stayed clean...all week...I had forgotten what that's like.  What's that word again?  Yup, it, too is AWESOME!

Nevertheless, I was excited to see my girls again that Friday.  Scott and Celeste so kindly offered to bring them back since they would be passing through anyway.  It was pure bliss hearing my sweet Cora yell out "MOMMY!" when she saw me. Carys was a little more subtle with her affections although she did insist on sitting in my lap and cuddling throughout most of lunch.   All four of the cousins were nice and tired out after their week.  The early bedtime for the girls made for an easier transition back to reality.  Sure enough, the next day, my world was back to normal - teetering on the edge of controlled chaos.  We're looking forward to Camp Mema 2014!  

Three

Little man, you are one quarter of the way through your first year.  What's new, my little three monther?

You are our strapping young man.  I'm guessing you weigh around 14 pounds now.  You have completely outgrown the newborn clothing and are about to outgrow your 0-3 month things.  You wear size 2 diapers that hug the adorable rolls on your legs.  You even have the cutest little double chin.  If this trend continues, you will be the same size as your youngest sister by the time you're a year old.

You have such a sweet natured personality.  You love to talk to people.  The first time I dropped you off in the nursery at church, you conned the sweet ladies into holding you and playing with you when you should have been taking a nap.  You are such a little flirt.  My absolute favorite thing is when you see me and your eyes light up while your mouth curls into this adorable little half smile.  It is precious!  You tend to be quite a content little man.  Usually, you only fuss for one of three reasons: hunger, fatigue, or boredom.  The toughest time of the day unfortunately coincides with dinner time.  You seem to have a thing about me being able to sit down and enjoy a meal.  I'm going to savor our time together, though.  Soon enough, you'll be sitting at the table eating along with us.

You are a strong little guy.  You have excellent head control which is necessary since you love to flirt with the ladies.  You are constantly pushing and flexing your legs and abs.  I fear this means you will want to crawl and walk before mama is ready.

You still enjoy hanging out in the sling.  One of the reasons I enjoy baby-wearing so much is that you are incredibly content while snuggled up in there.  I took you grocery shopping last night, and you were happy to people-watch while we strolled around the store.  Maybe you like it so much because you get so much attention.  People just fawn over you while I carry you around.

I suppose that is what has developed over these past few weeks.  Please enjoy this video.  It is one of my favorites for obvious reasons.

Oh, how I love this sweet little man!

Some Days

Some days, parenting is really hard.  You know those days where you put your two year old on the potty and wait and wait and wait for her to use it.  You finally let her up after an unsuccessful half hour, and within five minutes, that same two year old tee tees all over the floor.  sigh

But, then you have days like today where you realize how blessed you truly are.  See, we were out late last night watching fireworks at our local park.  The girls didn't get into bed until close to midnight.  Stinky, tired, yet overstimulated girls out way past their bedtime.  You can imagine the fun we had putting on pajamas.  You know how as an adult, if you go to bed late, you sleep in?  That doesn't apply to my little ladies.  They were both up at the usual hour ready to be fed, clothed and entertained.  Thankfully, the little gentleman slept in.  I managed to occupy them all morning, kept them entertained and fed, and even got them bathed.  I'm sure this seems like no big deal to most people.  Truly, on a normal day, this would be cake.  But, for those of you who may not know me in real life, I'm pretty sure I'm the inspiration for that mattress commercial with the grumpy mama bear.  'Nuff said!

Anywho, the little ladies were almost finished eating lunch when the little gentleman realized that he had failed to interrupt this meal.  (My babies have all had a knack for knowing the exact moment when you sit down to eat.  That is the exact moment that they realize they are starving. STARVING!)  So, I told my little ladies to finish eating, put away their plates, and go to rest time. I was off to nurse little man in the comfort of my own bed. I had no doubt that they would obey, but what I didn't know would happen absolutely made my heart burst.

See, we have a video baby monitor in the girls room.  It gives me great peace of mind having it because it is necessary to check in on baby ninja while she plays in her room.  (After all, she earned that moniker for a reason!)  After they finished eating, Cora and Carys both traipsed into their room where I can hear Cora talking on the monitor.  She takes baby ninja, puts her in the bed and reminds her "Okay Carys, it's rest time!"  She heads over to the closet and turns on the fan.  Before she leaves, she calls out, "Have a good rest time!"  Very gently, she closes the door and headed to the guest room for her rest time.  And, then, my heart melted into a big gooey puddle.

She just amazes me, y'all.  I feel like we walk a fine line with her.  I want her to care enough for her siblings to watch out for them.  But, at the same time, I don't want her to feel as though we expect her to parent her siblings.  For the sake of her sibling relationship, I don't want her to be a bossy pants.  But, I also don't want her to feel like she can't step in and be a leader when the situation calls for it.  Regardless, I'm going to count this as a small success and file this away in my mind for those parenting days that are less like today and more like the first scenario mentioned above.

I can't help but think of Hebrews 12:11.  No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.  Normally, I consider this verse in the context of how the Holy Spirit shapes and trains me, yet how apropos it is to this parenting journey as well.  Parents work so hard to shape their children, and we don't always get to see the fruits of that labor on a day to day basis.  But, then, you get that tiny glimpse of how you are training them to become the creature that God created them to be, and it makes cleaning up endless puddles of tee tee worth it.

I am so blessed!

Wordless Wednesday

5

Good golly, Cora!  You're 5!  You're school-aged?!  Inconceivable!

What's new, Coco-loco?

I'm not sure exactly your height or weight, but you are around 36 pounds and 38 inches.  Like your sister, you're a skinny little pickle.  You accidentally put on a pair of Sissy's shorts the other day (sized 18 months), and if they hadn't been scandalously short, you could have worn them quite comfortably.  Is it wrong for me to be jealous of your amazing metabolism?

You are supremely excited about school.  You have told everyone that you will be in kindergarten and that your school is Classical Conversations.  I hope this enthusiasm conveys when we actually start school in a couple of months.  Academically, you are definitely ready.  You know all your letters and have the sounds down pretty well.  You get a little confused with /y/ and /w/, but most others are down pat.  You can count to 39 without help.  You need a little bit of assistance remembering what comes after the 9s, but if I remind you, you will count all the way to 100.  You can create an AB pattern, and you notice other patterns as well.  We will work on more complex ones this year.  You definitely have a solid foundation to build upon.  My only concern is how you will take to the structure we will have to implement.  We are both accustomed to doing what we want, when we want.  Having school every day will be an adjustment for all of us.  

Your motor skills are progressing.  You can write your name, and you can draw pictures.  You love to draw people, rainbows and the sun.  You still have some difficulty gripping the writing implement, and therefore, your penmanship is a bit wobbly so to speak.  But, it is definitely getting better.

You are a social butterfly.  I'm convinced that you have never met a stranger.  You love other kids and adults alike.  Just yesterday, you informed a random parent at church, "My birthday is tomorrow, and I'm going to be 5 years old."  Much to your daddy's dismay, you adore one of the neighborhood boys.  He's a few years older than you - I'm guessing he's 8 or 10.  And, in your oh-so dramatic fashion, you informed me today that you really miss Morgan.  I'm pretty sure your father will need one of these in the next 10 years or so.

You still love dinosaurs although you have branched out in your interests.  They range all over: princesses, animals, the food guide pyramid, planets, sports (currently baseball and basketball), Spanish, music, and on and on.  Speaking of music, you share your dad's proclivity for techno.  I'm sure it warmed Daddy's heart the other day when you asked if he could play some more Deadmau5.  

You still tend to be a very picky eater.  We have been much more diligent about making sure you try the food that is given to you.  After all, this mama is not a short order cook.  You have discovered that you do in fact like some more things.  Your new foods are tortellini with peas, hot dogs, carrots, and cereal with milk.  

You continue to take gymnastics.  Recently, though, you told me that you wanted to take ballet class.  Your gymnastics ends in August, so after swim lessons, you will get to choose whether you will take a dance class or continue gymnastics.

You are an amazing big sister.  You are incredibly sweet to Carys, and you absolutely adore little Jackson.  You love to make him laugh and smile, and he returns the affection in spades.  You are a blessing to them and to us.  We love you and are so proud of our crazy girl!

2 1/2

Carys!  You're 2  1/2!  Everyone tells new parents how quickly time flies when you have your first kid. What they don't tell you is that it speeds up exponentially for your second!

What's new, little pickle?

You are still a tiny little thing.  I'm not sure of your exact height or weight, but you wear 18 month clothes comfortably.  I'm guessing you're around 23 lbs and 32 inches.  We will find out for sure at your well check in a couple of weeks.  

Despite your size (or maybe because of it), you are a feisty little thing.  Once you get an idea in your mind, you are not deterred by anything - including logic and reason.  This includes surprising feats of daring.  It seems that you must learn the hard way that not all furniture is a suitable jumping off point.  You consistently have bruises, but that does not deter you.  I love your ability to get right back on that horse, so to speak.

You have become quite the conversationalist.  I was pretty sure you were going to be the strong silent type, but it turns out you were just holding back on us.  You have the cutest little voice.  Very tiny and high pitched unless you are angry. Then, your voice is not so tiny!  Your conversations crack me up.  You mostly speak to me about food.  It goes something like this:

(Me in the kitchen trying to sneak a snack without you knowing)

Carys: What dat, mama?  Whatchoo put in your mouf?

Me:  (sighs and names said food)

Carys:  I wanna twy dat!

You see, I was trained by your pickier sister and am unaccustomed to having to share!  You do enjoy trying new things.  You love carrots and cucumbers. You love strawberries, blueberries, bananas and yogurt.  And, you'll eat most anything I cook for dinner especially if it is on my plate.  You could have the exact same thing on your plate, and yet you insist on eating mine.  I should start putting my food on your plate!

Speaking of your elocution, you have quite an extensive vocabulary, and you are able to speak in long and complex sentences.  You still struggle a bit with your articulation, and therefore, we sometimes have to ask you to repeat yourself many times.  Thankfully, I am told that the sounds that you are struggling with are totally normal for your age.  

You love to sing.  You warmed my heart the other day when I heard you singing a Casting Crowns song over the baby monitor.  I love when you and Sister sing together.  It won't be long before you will be in the children's choir, too.  

You adore your big sister.  I'm not sure how your going to handle it next week when Sister is at VBS all morning.  You've really only been apart from her once, and you spent most of those couple hours asking, "Where's Shisher (sister)?"  It was so sweet and so heartbreaking all at the same time!  You gave her the biggest, sweetest hug when she got back home.  

You're mostly ambivalent toward your little brother.  You have, however, taken to mothering Perdita and the other animals and babies.  (And, yes, you are still totally in love with that little pup.)  I can no longer keep diapers on the changing table because you will take them to put on all your animals.  You love to give a bottle and to feed the babies.  It's very cute.  

We just love your sweet and complex personality.  I can't wait to see how you grow and change over the next six months!

Two

Little buddy is two months old...

Shut up!

I know!

I can hardly believe it, myself!

We have ourselves in a nice little routine at this point, so even though the days can sometimes seem tough, the weeks rapidly slip by.  What's new Baby Jack?

You are my chunky little thing.  You have gained another almost two pounds since your last weight check.  You are up to 11 lbs, 8 oz (40th percentile).  You are 3 lbs, 9 oz over your birth weight.  You are 21 inches (5th percentile).  This cracks me up because on paper, it would seem that you are a chunk.  But, you are still quite a skinny little guy. No adorable chunky rolls for me to squeeze, yet.  Your head measures 41 cm (95th percentile).   Giant brains!

You are a social butterfly.  You have been cooing and giggling for quite some time.  You love to talk to people, and you have the sweetest little smile.  I love when you give me your open mouthed grin and show off your dimples.  You love to have a conversation right after you eat.  You will smile and coo at me as if I am your absolute favorite person in the world.  (I'm pretty sure I am!)

You hold your head up very well.  You really like to look around and see what's going on.  You do love to be held up by my shoulder.  But, you also love to lay across my arm while I hold you.  You're just a sweet little cuddle bug.

So far, you are pretty laid back.  You have your little routine that you like to stick with, but you are content to hang out in the sling if we're out and about.  In fact, the sling has become my best friend since usually, you will fall asleep pretty quick once you are snuggled within it.  (Forgive the picture; It's harder than I thought to take a selfie with a DSLR while wearing a baby in a sling.  Little man was just on the verge of getting seriously irritated with me!)

You survived your first trip to the beach.  This sums up your enthusiasm for it.  You slept through the pool; You slept through the beach; You slept through the aquarium.  But when you weren't sleeping, you were cuddling with your grandparents.  I don't think you minded missing out on the attractions.

I guess that sums it up!  You are our sweet little buddy.  We can't wait to see how you grow and change over the next month!

Cora's Kidisms: Brutal Honesty Edition

Cora just naturally possesses a very tender heart.  She very rarely says anything ugly or mean-spirited.  And, to my best recollection, anything untoward she has said has never been directed at any person or thing.  She has an innate ability to be genuinely happy for another person's good fortune and achievements.  And, she is very quick with offering praise.  Believe me when I say I am not mentioning this to brag about my superior parenting.  Far from it actually.  She most certainly did not get this tenderness from her mommy.  I pray often that I don't do anything that would ruin this trait in her.  All that being said, witness a conversation that took place as we were looking at pictures of our family the other day.

Me: (to John)  You look really good in this picture!
Cora: (turns to John)  Dada, you look good! (turns to me) Mommy, you're wearing a blue shirt.

le sigh

At least she is honest.

Carys' Kidisms: Language Explosion Edition

So, Carys is talking up a storm.  It was like the switch flipped over night.  I was a little worried about her because it seemed to take her so long to start talking.  She's kind of stubborn like that, though.  Not sure where she gets it from...

Anywho...when Carys did begin talking, her articulation was (and still is) very muddled.  I brought it up with Dr. Mitchell because I was concerned that she couldn't hear us well.  We were referred to the audiologist just to make sure everything is hunky dory.  Knowing how well Cora handles such things, I was a little wary of how this was going to pan out.  Fortunately, Carys did swimmingly with the hearing test.  Her hearing seems a-ok.  But, because nothing can be simple when it comes to my little drama mamas, the visit with the ENT was awful.  All he wanted to do was check her mouth for any physiological issues that may be inhibiting her articulation.  All she had to do was open her mouth.  Yeah, no.  Not gonna happen.  Little missy clamped her mouth shut so tight that I don't think even dynamite would open it.  le sigh  Naturally, we did not get the all clear from the ENT, but I guess we can revisit that if her articulation doesn't improve with age.

All that to say, we are still working on clear pronunciation and speech.  Fortunately for us, this does not keep our little chatterbox from expressing herself.  Her vocabulary is actually quite large for a not yet 2 1/2 year old.  It's just that for the most part, I am the only one who understands her.  Still, she makes me smile when we have a conversation.  For example, when you ask her who she is, she wrinkles up her nose like a little bunny and exclaims "Shishy!" (That's Sissy in Carys-ese.)  Once I asked her, "Are you crazy?"  She creased her sweet little angry brow and exclaimed, "No! I Shishy!" I couldn't help but giggle.

From what I've noticed, Carys has the most difficulty with hard c's, hard g's and r's.  So, for example, if you ask her what is her name, she will say "Tawys."  Or, she will say "tootie" instead of "cookie" unless it is an oreo.  Apparently, oreo and cookie are mutually exclusive terms.  Yesterday, I told her that if she's through with the cookie, then throw it away.  She responded in her sassy, little two year old voice, "It not a tootie. It a ayo (oreo)!"  Mmmmkay!

One of Carys' favorite things to talk about are her bodily functions, specifically passing gas.  (Yes, we are that family.  Fortunately, Jackson will fit right in!)  She will grin and tell you, "I doot (toot)!"  She will also point out if anyone else does.  Apparently, some of the grandparents learned this fact the hard way.  There are no secrets in toddler world!

Needless to say, we're enjoying her charismatic, comedic personality now that she's more verbal.  I'm sure she's going to provide much blog fodder in the future!

One

Little man is one month old...already.

I just have to let that sink in for a moment.

Wow!

Anywho...what's going on, little buddy?

First and foremost, you are in a decent night time routine.  (insert Hallelujah Chorus here).  You usually go to bed around 10:30.  You wake up once around 2, and again around 5:30.  This is a pleasant change from your youngest sister who felt like she needed to wake up about every half hour to hour.  Mommy appreciates this!

You weigh a little over 8 lbs according to our most recent weight check.  Like your sisters, you seem to have a very efficient metabolism.  At four weeks, you were only 4 oz over your birth weight.  While I appreciate the fact that you are light as a feather when I carry you in your carseat, I really want you to be our big strapping boy.

I will say, though, that you seem to be on the upswing as far as weight gain.  As I have recently begun an intense course of study at the prestigious Google School of Medicine, I was able to recognize your tongue tie and get it taken care of.  That was not a particularly pleasant experience for either of us.  You will not remember it, but I certainly will.  shudder After your frenotomy, you seem to become a lot less frustrated while eating.  I'll take that as a good sign.

Now that your tongue has a full range of motion, you smile all.the.time.  You've always been a pretty social baby, but now you are so much more expressive.  You love to show off a big toothless grin when  someone holds you and talks to you.  You have occasionally even cooed and gurgled in response.  You even giggled a little bit today.  It makes this mama pretty happy.

Just like everyone predicted, you are my little cuddle bug.  You love to nestle your head right against my shoulder.  Usually, your little face is pointing at my face.  You will snuggle and stare at me.  I hope you don't grow out of this too quickly!

You are still in that newborn stage where you need to be held most of the time.  You will tolerate short stretches of time in the bouncy chair or on your play gym.  But, for the most part, you prefer to be in someone's arms.  Thankfully, you love to be in the sling.  You try and try to stay awake, but you always fall asleep since you are snuggled up next to my heart.

You are adored by your biggest sister especially.  She always wants to kiss you and talk to you.  She even sings you sweet lullabies when you cry.

This picture makes me giggle.  You look a little frightened at Sister's attention. If she doesn't smother you with sisterly care, you will definitely grow up and appreciate her affection.  

We are so thankful that you are our little man!

So, A Lot Can Happen...

...in almost three months.

As you can see, I am terrible about keeping New Year's resolutions!  We haven't exactly been bumps on stumps for the past few months, but for some reason, I've had major blogger block.  I'm working through it.  Seems like it might require intensive therapy, but the sleep deprived nights I'm having may inspire more productive late night internet usage.  I guess we'll see.

I digress...

In much more interesting and important news, as of Wednesday, our family is now a party of five. Little Mr. Jackson Josiah decided to arrive in dramatic fashion on April 10th.  (Clearly, with his flair for drama, he will fit right into to our little zoo!)  It was a crazy whirlwind of events to get him here to say the least.

We started the process with a power outage at around 10:30 on Tuesday night.  Apparently, there was a pretty bad accident where a car completely took out a power pole.  Because I have a bit of 'princess and the pea' syndrome, I couldn't sleep without my a/c, noise maker, security alarm, etc.  Thankfully, the power came back on about 3 sleepless hours later.  It didn't really matter, though, because just about an hour later, my water broke!  After calling Auntie Linda to come stay with the girls, we headed in to the hospital.

Everything was pretty routine for a while.  There was some concern when we got there that little man was breech.  But, a quick ultra sound confirmed that he was actually in position, but just very high up.  So, we labored as usual.  My goal was just to get to the point where I could have my 'spinal miracle' as John called it.  Soon enough, though, it all started to get a little crazy.  My contractions refused to become regular, so protocol is to administer pitocin.  But, little man refused to tolerate the pitocin, and his heart rate would dip dangerously low and recover very slowly.  The nurse would turn off the pit to make Jackson happy, but then my contractions would taper off.  Big time labor catch-22! Then, when it was finally time to push, little man hated that even more.  Hearing his heart rate dip and seemingly stop on the monitor made my blood pressure and heart rate skyrocket.  It was nerve wracking to say the least.  Both my labor nurse and doctor commented on how many gray hairs this little guy was giving them.  After a few more minutes of little man giving everyone heart palpitations with his antics, my doctor determined that the best course of action was to go ahead with a c section.

Oy!

Honestly, folks, that was my absolute worst fear.  I was terrified to have to have surgery.  I am so thankful for John whose first thought and action was to pray for us.  I know that people like to say that God doesn't give you anything you can't endure.  But, especially after this scenario, I must say I disagree.  While I did make it through this, it was because God carried me through it.  I am confident that I would be a mess without His loving hands upon me throughout.

The craziest part was that the drama did not stop once we arrived in the OR.  Little man kept up his heart rate shenanigans, so my doctor had to begin the procedure before even John could get in to be with me.  Then, when she tried to get him, he actually squirmed away from her.  On the second try, he flipped breech!  Little man was born feet first at 4:04 pm on April 10th.  He came into the world screaming his sweet little head off.

Music to my ears.

Weighing in a 7 lbs, 15 oz and 20 inches, let me present Jackson Josiah.

Drama!

(We wouldn't have it any other way, though!)

We've been home from the hospital for three days now.  The adjustment is not easy, but it's so worth it.  We adore this little guy, drama and all!