Did I Tell You the One About...

So I finally got about a bazillion photos off my camera and realized I had failed to tell you about C's fourth birthday party...

She had a hard time deciding on a theme.  See if you can guess it from the photos.

If you didn't get it from that last one, then I may as well just tell you.  It was a "purple party with baby animals and a side of Toothless from How To Train Your Dragon."   Very memorable, to say the least.

And she got her first bicycle, complete with a basketful of ponies.  It was a good day to be the sweetest four-year-old I know.

The Rock House, Part One

My parents closed on their new house this week, one day after signing the papers on their old home.  I am incredibly excited about them moving closer to us...within walking distance, even!  There will be many memories to come as they weave their wisdom into our daily lives.  But a new chapter can be best embraced when the old one has been carefully reviewed, paying attention to the little details that burn the story in your mind.  With that in mind, please indulge me this sentimental rambling as I close this chapter of my family's history.

This is the family homestead, designed and built by my father's parents in 1951, for a family of seven.  By my best guess, her children were 11,  9, 6-yr-old twins, and 4.  Makes me tired just thinking about it.  Those kiddos moved into that house and broke it in for the rest of us.  Those five kids had 14 grandkids and now, I don't know how many great-grandkids.  This house has sort of always been the family anchor.  So it is very surreal to think of it not belonging to "us" anymore.

I remember weeks at Grandma's house in the summer with my cousin; Christmas with all the extended family; gumbo dinners that I turned my nose up at; the smell of oil paints, chocolate chip cookies, and dusty farmers.

This oak, this mighty oak.  How many children have climbed its branches?  By the time his youngest grandkid came along (me), Grandpa had propped a ladder on the lowest limb to make it easier to get into the giant center.

How many brown grocery bags of juicy Satsuma oranges have been picked from these trees?  How many hours of hard labor invested to keep them producing?

How many feet smoothed those pavers as they pushed back and forth under the shade?

And this door.  How many welcomed, hugged, invited through that door?  Can you hear it slam when the children run out?  Can you hear the slow creak as she tempers its speed and says one last goodbye?  Maybe the old chime that sang when the wooden door was closed again?

How many nervous jumps off those steps?  "Can you do it from the top one?"  How many concerts sung, recitals performed, tricks displayed on that stage?  Me and my cousins, then my children and their cousins.

That frustrating gate latch!  It took me years to be able to lift that latch high enough to swing it open.

Same for those cabinet pulls with built-in childproofing.  I see their genius now; but good grief, how many times must a child pinch their finger in the button before figuring it out?

Apparently not enough to keep us from playing in the hamper.  "Welcome to Jack-in-the-Box.  May I take your order?"  You know, I played in that hamper many a time, but it was my own girls who showed me the side panel came open (for plumbing access) and the hole on the other side was large enough to sit in!

And what can we say for the floor heater?  Many a warning about that floor heater!  So grateful it was "just for show" by the time my little ones were mobile.

Speaking of warnings.... how many little children warned not to leave their toys lying about?  You never know where they'll turn up!  "Look what happened to your Daddy's toys."

How many more caresses did those toys get for being preserved in that wall?

 How many years planned and arranged on the inside of that cabinet door?

Oh, the very many dishes washed at that enormous sink with the built-in drainboard.  And the stories that sink could tell of the conversations shared while doing dishes.

Then there's the awfully avocado oven that's baked up thousands of batches of loving kindness.  And I do believe there has always been a Bible on that corner shelf.  More wonderful is that I think there has always been someone to read a Bible every morning in that kitchen before the sun comes up.

You get the idea.  Every nook and cranny of that house has been loved by lots of people.  It's been showing its age for awhile now.  Memories don't usually share the ugly parts, like all the maintenance and upkeep that comes with a house that old and that loved.  That's why I'm glad my folks can close the chapter on this part of our family history.  It's starting to be a not-so-fun chapter to read every day.  And it's much more exciting to be part of our daily chaos.

To be continued...

Back to Being Six

I had to interrupt the six-year-old birthday posts with the baby-brother-walking post.  It only seemed appropriate to not make that one wait a month.  But it's been the requisite month (or six weeks) since A's birthday, so I'm getting around to posting pics of it.

-Sidebar- I use blogging as a motivator.  I only let myself post if I feel like I have gotten done what I needed to get done in a certain day/week.  Only, I never get it all done.  Then the blog posts build up to a crescendo in my head and I can't shut up my own inner monologue and I finally give in and do a slew of posts and make something else wait.  That's why I'm always late on milestone posts.   -End sidebar-

We had a bit of a conundrum over A's birthday party theme this year.  She finally was enjoying swimming and decided she wanted a pool party.  But we don't have a pool.  And our neighborhood pool is too deep for her to enjoy.  Not to mention it's crazy expensive to rent a neighborhood pool!  We may have dropped enough hints, manhandled enough conversations, and eluded to enough happy things to convince her that she really wanted a party at our house with a readily-available-at-major-retailers theme.  So, My Little Pony it was!

It was really helpful that her favorite things right now are very simple...duck, duck, goose was her first game request.  Done!  We also pinned the tail on Pinkie Pie a few times.

We had at least a dozen too many cupcakes.  Mind you, they were frosted with each of the six main Ponies' colors.  

The girls were enamored with balloon animals and face painting at several events we went to over the summer.  So Daddy twisted a few balloons and cousin R stepped in to paint cutie-marks on hands.  Although, the boys got spiders and lightning bolts.

J is amazing at his powers of persuasion and imagination.  He spun his two-balloon-trick repertoire from dogs to ponies, then pegasuses (pegasi?) and even a baby dragon.  The kids were amazed!

"What?!" you say.  "You let small children run around your house with wet paint on their hands?!"  Why, yes, I did.  It was a small price to pay to get out of making a piñata, thank you very much.  And I used an old trick up my sleeve and had each masterpiece powered with baby powder when it was done to set it.  It dulled the paint, but since everyone's looked the same, none of the kids complained.  And I haven't found any smears on my walls (yet).

Happy Birthday, A!  May the wonder of you never cease.

Look Who's Walking!

It's been about ten days now since the video above.  He likes to do new tricks for daddy more than mommy, so of course he started walking the night I had bunko.  It only took him a few more days to start trying to stand up by himself.  But again, he still only does that when daddy is around.  After all, who needs to do it yourself, if your mom's around?

For anyone keeping track (namely myself), that will be A and Z who both started walking at 14 months; C at 15 months.  It's a whole new world!

This is the Face of a Six-Year-Old

You can tell she's six by that stinkin' cute gap in her smile.  Oh, and the fact that I can't get a non-silly-face picture.

It's also difficult to get a picture of one cutie-pie without the other.

 They do enjoy hamming it up for the camera.

 Not to be outdone by his sisters, ladies and gentleman, the show-stealer...

First Haircut

He was overdue.  Just like C on her first birthday, Z was a mop-top cutie.

I summoned up my courage and decided to tackle the first cut myself.  After a good nap to recover from his birthday party, I put him in his chair to contain at least two limbs and gave him a snack, hoping it would occupy the other two.

That worked for half of his head.  Then he started grabbing for the scissors, flailing and arching his back, and generally protesting in every possible way.  I was really hoping to get it all done at once so we only had one mess to clean up, but we called it "part one" success.

I tried again at bath time, thinking I could finish up in a dry bathtub while he played with a trickle of water.  Even better, he climbed up the step stool to C's sink and played with the water there.  (And figured out how to turn the faucets on.)  His head was bent down so I could even out his neck line and he was fully captivated by the water, so I could trim up the remaining stranglers.

Ta da...

 Isn't he handsome?

Such a silly cutie!

We call this move, "using the force."  He likes to do this at mealtimes and giggles when we copy him.  He's using the force here to get mommy to put down her camera and hand over the food.  I think his Jedi skills improved with the haircut.

Birthday Boy

This little birthday boy had a great party, especially considering he was one week into missing his morning nap.  We started with cake; that always helps.

 He wasn't quite sure how to attack the cake, but it didn't take him long to figure it out.

Then we moved on to presents.  Hooray for trucks, tractors, cars, and planes!

Happy 1st Birthday, Z!  You keep us on our toes, keep us guessing, and keep us smiling.

Nine Months

What a difference nine months can make!  I know you guys get tired of hearing me talk about how I'm not pregnant anymore, but it really is a great attitude-adjuster for me.  Nine months ago, I was relieved of the burden of pregnancy and had the wonderful thrill of meeting my baby boy.  I love him so much more as his own person.

And he is definitely his own little man now.  He's quick as lightening with his army crawl, not minding the carpet burn on his forearms.  He's so over baby toys and heads straight for anything that looks contraband.  He has discovered that he can make his own fun by chasing a ball or bottle cap around the room like a little soccer player.  And he loves to climb already.  We have a huge bean bag that has become his personal mountain.  He giggles and grunts as he goes back and forth over it.  If we give him the tiniest boost, he can pull himself up to a standing position and cruise along the couch.

All this mobility means he sometimes must be contained.  Oh, how he hates to be fenced in!  You'd think we were pulling his toenails out to hear him howl if I have to put him behind a gate or in his playpen.  So hard to be a baby.

He is discovering new table foods at every meal.  He tried noodles, green beans and carrots at supper last night and avocado for lunch today.  If nothing else, he's enjoying the squish of it all between his fingers.  Oddly enough, bananas make him gag.  Strangest thing....all three of my children cannot abide bananas.  Maybe it's because I ate one every morning for breakfast while I was pregnant?

He is still over the moon for his sisters and they are mostly still in love with him.  Though he is more challenging now that he pulls their hair, chews their toys, and has his own shows to watch during screen time.  He can't wait to be able to follow them up the stairs, play in their room, or ride on the tire swing.

J will tell you that he's said several words.  But I can only confirm that "Dada" is his first word.  He uses that one consistently and in the right context.  I'm always happy to hand him over when he asks for "Da."

I'm sure there will be lots of milestones in the next few months.  I'll do my best to keep up with them and share them with you, his adoring fans.

Look Who's Mobile

In the eleven days it took me to post this video, Z has gotten very quick at the army crawl.  I put up a baby gate for the first time today after I had to go looking for him three minutes after I put him down.  He does have a momentary kryptonite, though....tile.  He has yet to cross over into the kitchen or go into a bathroom.  Maybe it's too cold?  Whatever the reason, I'm grateful for the boundary help 'cause this kid is not slowing down.

E-I-E-I-O Party

For C's 3rd birthday, she requested an E-I-E-I-O party.  That translated to a farm theme, which worked out in my favor because one of our close friends had just done a really sweet farm theme for her daughter and I got to mooch all her decorations.  We pulled off the double birthday party one more time with C's 6-year-old boy cousin, whose birthday is one day after hers.  So, imagine a Lego farm party.  It was good fun.  A picture recap, for your viewing pleasure...

 Can't have a farm party without pin the tail on the donkey.

 Birthday boy helping out the birthday girl.

 Mama's cheap and easy farm-theme birthday cake.

And what birthday is complete without presents bigger than you are?!  

You're Three

To my middle child, no longer a baby, fully "big girl"...you are three.  You love to snuggle and cuddle and I wish I could carry you around all day like you ask.  You are a wonderful helper, quick to volunteer when jobs need doing.  You like mommy's new sweeper and use it several times a day to suck up Z's cheerios.  You're also pretty good at emptying the dishwasher, picking up toys, folding washrags, matching socks, putting away your clean clothes, putting away groceries, and carrying in groceries.

Fiercely independent, you want to do it all yourself.  You impress me with what you can do...putting on your coat, opening boxes/bags, working tough puzzles, cutting on the line, making your own pb&j.  You love to brush your own hair and would spend an hour spraying it down and brushing it if we didn't have school to do.  You've given yourself a haircut twice in the last month, much to my dismay.  You are fortunate to have the kind of curls that look good "layered."

You still enjoy a cup of hot milk in the morning, then toy with the rest of your food all day.  Though gum is quite a magic wonder.  If only I could pack some nutritional content into a stick of gum.  I have to give you credit for eating fruit and veggies.  You love all berries, and were even sad the last time I had to throw out some blueberries because we didn't eat them before they went bad.  I felt awful.  You announced this week that, "I'm three, so I like butter now."  And at a different meal, "I'm three, so I don't like french fries anymore."  I'm curious to see how these resolutions hold out, since butter has been a nemesis and french fries a precious friend for a very long time.

You are also a big fan of the living room pizza picnic/movie night combo.  Lion King is the current reigning favorite.  I think we have finally saturated you with enough Toy Story propaganda to allow you to move on from that fixation.

You are squirmy and wiggly and only sit still when being held or touching someone else.  Sitting on your bottom at the table is a current battle and you have landed on the floor more than once.

You can't keep your hands off your baby brother.  If he's in the room, you've got to hug him, squeeze his neck, rub his hair, tickle his toes.  You want to mommy him so much.

You are a very patient little sister, playing whatever game of the day has been prescribed by A, and seldom challenging her rules.  Your imagination has benefited greatly from her and it is a joy to hear you playing nicely together, and even squealing together in naughty shenanigans.  Occasionally, you get fed up with her being bigger and better and start pushing her buttons.  You're always quick to admit you were being a pest and apologize (at least if she whines loud enough).

I can't keep you from soaking up school meant for A.  You pretend to not know your letters, then turn around and recite her Awana verses.  You do a great job of tagging along on this year's education adventure, but I'm afraid you'll need more, much more next year.

It seems that overnight, all at once, you've left your baby ways behind you and embraced being a big girl.  The whining has all but disappeared, your vocabulary has exploded, your choices (even bad ones) are well thought out, you have real opinions to share.  Happy Birthday, sweet C.  We love you, through and through, with big moose hugs.

Six Months

Dear Z,
You're six months old already.  I'm so very glad God gave me a baby #3.  I can honestly say that it's going too fast, that I'd like you to stay this age a little longer so I can get a few more months of the cuteness that you are.  My first two babies were precious, but I was a smidge too uptight to fully enjoy this stage.  This time around, our circumstances are crazy and stealing my time.  Here you are at six months.  And here is what I have recorded in my mind's camera to cling to...

You squeal in your bed when you hear me come in the room in the morning.  "Good morning to you, too, Z,"  I say.  I try to find a quiet place to keep your attention focused while you have your breakfast.  You take a long swallow and throw your head back to look at me with a big grin, just like you have since you were a newborn.  "You're welcome, Z, " I say.  You squeal in delight when your sisters race into the room and squeeze you.  You love those girls so much.  I remind them to back up out of your face and not go too fast, but I don't think you mind at all.  It won't be long before you're racing and wrestling with them.

You're a mama's boy right now and I don't mind.  Daddy can't compete.  Sometimes you rub it in Daddy's face and that's not nice.  Like when you were playing "Eskimo kisses" with me and kept looking at Daddy between each one just to let him know who had Mommy all to himself.  That won't be so cute next year.

You're a great eater and put away every ounce of food I give you.  You have yet to turn away from any veggie or fruit.  You seem ready for cheerios but I know it's too early and I don't want to rush you.  You were almost 18 lbs. at your six-month well-check, hanging out in the 50th percentile.  You grew right past your 6-9 month clothes and went straight for the 9-month ones.  You started sitting up by yourself last week and you've been rocking back and forth on your knees for awhile now.  You love your johnny jump-up and can get some pretty good air when you get going.

I love the way you snuggle into my shoulder and have no need to wiggle or squirm, just recharging for moments at a time before turning around to take in the world again.  You're watching everything that goes on, studying.  I can see it in your eyes.  The toys on your walker tray are not fooling you; you're looking at the countertop to see what's up there, or trying to figure out how the tablecloth works, or dragging the trash can around the kitchen.  Yes, now is the time to soak in all your cuteness because you're going to be t-r-o-u-b-l-e very, very soon.

I love the way you squish into a little ball when I put you in your bed.  It makes me want to go to sleep myself, you look so snug and comfy.  Thank you for sleeping through the night from so early on, and being a good napper when you put your mind to it.  Promise me not to give up on naps before you're two?  Pretty please?

I love you, little man, and look forward to the next six months with you.  I promise to hold tight to every moment I can seize.