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Baby Speed

As I watched Fletcher enjoy a lemonade popsicle today, I couldn’t help but relish baby speed.  I love it.  Everything is so new that they take it all in.  Figuring out what they just did to move their hand or toes or whatever and then doing it again with a huge smile of satisfaction all the while forging new neural pathways.  Remarkable.  So today it was popsicles.  It took a lot of coordination to hold it in his hand (lefty!?) then to move it slowly to his mouth and catch it with his tongue.  Then the experience of tasting it.  He was watching his brothers do the same thing so he knew it was edible and I think he’d ascertained that it was even desirable and he was pleased to have his very own. So he started with a lick and I think it startled him with the coldness factor. Then add the sharp lemon-y taste the smile switched to a shocked big-eyed sour face then back to a smile.  Then he lost a little control of the joy stick and was getting some popsicle on his nose, then my shoulder, then the deck, then my ear… we were all along for the ride as he regained control and again steered the ship back to his drool filled mouth.  Oh, the sweet days of summer letting them drift along at baby speed.

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Road Rage of a Different Color

Add it to the list of things I never thought I’d hear myself say outloud:  “We don’t throw our shoe at the driver!”  And of course it came from the one with good aim so it flew over my right shoulder and he hit the stereo when he did it.  I instantly knew who it was as we were speeding along 465 at 55 mph (or a little faster) while swerving as I reached to feed Fletcher some of the crumbly animal crackers I found in the bottom of my diaper bag because we were out past lunchtime and he was screaming of hunger. (Bad mommy! Bad mommy!)  I reached to the “backety-back” to share with Carter & Kiefer but Griffin was throwing the individual animal crackers to the ground as he was throwing a fit because he wanted the whole bag.  I tried reasoning with him but I should know better than attempting to reason with a hungry two year old.  So after about the fifth time of telling him he couldn’t have the whole bag  then I get beaned with the shoe.  He’s the only one who wears orange crocs these days so I knew it was him.  Unfortunately, I can’t even say it’s the first time…  the first shoe, of course, but last week it was his apple core, the other day it was his Lightening McQueen cell phone.  How many times do you say “You don’t throw things at the driver!!???!!”  It’s bad, but today my initial reaction was to crack up laughing!  Then I winged it back at him and said it in my most firm motherly voice.  “Don’t throw your shoe at me, especially when I’m driving!!!”

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Has it really been a year, already?

Fletcher turned one. It’s really hard for me to believe.  I mean, I’ve watched it happen before my eyes, but it’s gone so quickly!  I remember it all so vividly.  I tried so hard to cherish his babyhood, knowing from experience how quickly it can pass.  I’m so grateful I can be home full time and I’m the one who is the first face he sees in the morning and the last face he sees before he goes to sleep at night.  That I can be the one to dress him and feed him and change him and change him again. And as a result, we have this way of talking even though he can’t speak yet.  But how can he be one already?
Minutes after he was born.  He grasped my finger as we met face to face for the first time.  June 10, 2010

First family picture 
Look how little he is!  

And those toes!!!

Meeting the crazy crew he’d been hearing for 9 months

A peaceful moment while still in the hospital

Sweet little guy sleeping in his bassinet at the hospital

Right before we left to come home

First Dr. Leland appointment when he weighed in at 8 lbs.

Tiny toes!

Two weeks old at the lake for Father’s day (me looking very sleepy)

one month old Fletcher – cheeks filling out

Sleeping swaddled with arms up

Cat nap on Daddy-O in Colorad-O
It seems that Carter starting school and Kiefer in Preschool has made this past year go at warp speed.  The lunch making, bus stop drop, drop off and pick up drill made this past year a blur.  I remember clinging to Fletcher on Carter’s first day of school telling him not to grow up too fast and so grateful I still had two, nearly three still at home with me.  The paradox of a Kindergartener and a two month old.  One leaving for the day, going on the big school bus, the youngest not quite sleeping through the night.  (but his momma being ok with that because she knows those night time feedings are the only solitude and mother-son alone time bonding that she would get!)  Then later in the school year, Carter discovering he has a loose tooth while Fletcher was just getting his first teeth.  The same ones!!  And at Carter’s kindergarten graduation ceremony, I shed tears when they played the country music song, “Let them be Little”  I’m really trying! I’m trying to cherish these times. But they slip through my fingers too easily.  So leading up to his first birthday, I was preparing mentally that it was time to let go a little.  He’s starting to crawl, getting busier each day and exploring more and more, which is all good.  But then he decided to wean himself, two weeks before his birthday.   I was not quite ready for that. But obviously, he was.  He’ll always love me, of course.  But it’s over. That mother-child bond, the link to pregnancy.  It’s come to a close.  Now it’s onto the next chapter.  It’s probably best that he cut himself off.  And the sweetest thing is that every single time I’ve given him a bottle, the sweet boy has offered me a sip.  It makes me giggle and  makes me feel a little bit better.  
Happiness! Playing with the lid of a puzzle

Showing off his 3 teeth the top one is on the side!  Dr. Leland called him a vampire! :>

Playing in the grass at the boyz soccer game

Hey, what is this stuff?

Enjoying his first ear of corn!  Teeth help!

Birthday Breakfast with the Boyz club – 6-10-11

He had a pancake and some milk and enjoyed his party hat

Caught ya!

One and Ready to roll – on his birthday

Already cruising

Happiness in his bed!!

He’s devoted to his blankie and his thumb!

Sweetness!

Weighing in at Dr. Leland’s for his 1 year visit -he weighs 21 lbs.  What a difference a year makes!

His birthday cake
He had lots of help digging into his smash cake

Look at all the helping hands!  He loved his monkey banana cake

Such a big boy!  

Me & my little squirt

He enjoyed his presents (look at Kiefer wearing a bag on his head in the background!!)

This was too cute!  He kicked his feet up seeing Elmo!

In his jammies at the end of the party

Bathtime the other night
All “milky” as Carter calls it enjoying his bottle

He offers me a sip every time!! 🙂
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Picnic with Pooh in the 100 Acre Woods

I wish I could say that I had it all been pre-planned the way an organized mother would aspire to do… but it wasn’t.  It actually came about as a boo boo remedy. Griffin was ailing as he’d dropped a tractor implement on his head. (I was out of the room changing a diaper (not mine) when it occurred, so I have to trust the eye witness accounts that it was a legitimate self-indused accident.) Regardless of the blame, we were holding an ice pack on his eye and in an attempt to distract him, Carter kindly ran upstairs to retrieve Griffin’s blankie for him.  That was received so well, accompanied with gushes of praise from me, that in a flash he’d gone up again and brought him his favorite blue bear that he calls his “Bunny” (not sure why, but we humor him and go along with it.)  So Carter says, “Here’s your bunny.” when he lovingly gives it to him.  Next minute, he’s back with the huge Tigger the Tiger from Griffin’s room and he’s bouncing it around the way Tigger’s do.  Then comes Eyeore, the downcast donkey.  We often talk about the choice we have in life – “do you want to be a Tigger or an Eyeore?” – it’s up to you.  Well, as they’re giggling and bouncing I had a brainstorm that we should do a picnic with Tigger and Eyeore and Pooh and any other friends and relations we could invite on such short notice.  They were completely on board and before I knew it, the picnic blanket, picnic quilt and bags overstuffed with bear legs sticking out were loaded in the back of the car. (They seriously did this without my help!)   I threw together a picnic lunch (literally!), required potty stops and we were off for a very late, but fun-filled lunch.  We had a rumbly in our tumblies but we couldn’t go just anywhere for our picnic, we had to seek out the 100 Acre Woods and find just the right spot for a picnic under the shade of a very big tree.  So we went for a ramble down to Holliday Park.  This time last summer we made the same trek and had a teddy bear picnic. (I remember because I was completely pregnant and waddled the whole way!) They wanted to picnic beneath the same tree that they remembered climbing last year.  Easy enough. (or much easier this year, I should say!)  Soon we were lugging bags, blankets and baskets under that same tree.   Carter had even packed the Winnie the Pooh Candy Land board game, so after a little smackrel of something we played a round.  Then Griffin and Kiefer were off to chase butterflies while Carter tackled the tree climbing.  Fletcher dipped into a pot of honey while he ate everyone else’s honey graham crackers while they weren’t looking.  Living up to his middle name, Graham!  It was a great early birthday celebration for him and a memorable time for us all!  What’s even better is that they don’t even know that there’s a Winnie the Pooh movie or cartoon series – to them, it’s all from storybooks and we just spent the day living it out.
Griffin wanting a little “smackerl of something”

Carter hugging on his bunny (Velveteen Rabbit) in his favorite tree

Fletcher caught a Huffalump!

Here are Pooh, Tigger, Eyeore and all the others who were available on such short notice!

Picnicing under the shade tree – enjoying a smackerl of something

Candy Land with Pooh Bear (and all the friends and relations)

Me & Fletcher taken by photographer Carter 🙂

Fletcher enjoying his and everyone else’s Honey GRAHAM crackers

Carter!!

Carter & Kiefer playing Candy Land

The view from the tree… just kidding! 🙂

Tree climbing expedition

Now Fletcher’s using everyone else’s water bottles while they’re not looking!

The big boyz found something in the tree

A butterfly with broken wings.  We gave him a sip of apple juice and got a close up view before he said thank you and flew away.  Fun for them to see him so close up!

Look closely and you’ll see what they’re chasing!  Not one, but TWO!  

Now he’s enjoying Capri Sun! 🙂  (At least he’s staying on the picnic quilt (for the most part) and not eating grass (too often))

Carter enjoying the tree

Here’s most of us, minus Photographer Kiefer 🙂

An attempt to get on of all 4 BOYZ
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Gone Fishin’

Fishing is a mostly male past time that runs in my family. I can’t say I really spent a lot of time doing this while growing up, but I certainly had the opportunity.  But my Boyz have taken a different spin on the sport and often fish in our front hallway.  I can always tell when they’re sneaking out of the locker room with a duster or a mop in their hand that they’re going on a fishing expedition.  Some days I indulge their creativity, other days I don’t – it all just depends on my mood.  Sometimes, I’ve been known to use it as an opportunity to get other things done around the house and I’ll coach them and say “You know, fishing requires a lot of patience.” or “Maybe they’re just not biting right now…” to hold them off for a bit while still maintaining their interest.  Then after a while, they’ll feel a tug on the line and when they raise up their “poles” they’ll find an oreo or a box of raisins or a piece of gum or some other treat clipped to their “lines.” It doesn’t take much to capture the creativity of a child. And once you do, usually – they’re hooked.

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Summertime!

The joys of summer!  No schedule!  No homework! Freedom!  We’re taking full advantage.  Here’s a glimpse:

Summer is about choosing your own clothes to wear.
Running around in your jammies half the day.
Doing puzzles.
Planting a garden.
Being creative.
Reading a whole book in a day.
Swimming in the pool.
Trying to catch a chipmunk with fresh strawberry tops from breakfast.
Chasing flies around the house because the door’s been open too long.
Nighttime swims instead of baths.
Popcicles through the window of “Bub’s ice cream shop”
Spending the day watching construction across the street.
Staying up late reading with a headlight on your head.

“Bub’s ice cream shop” popcicle treats!

Say summer!!

Kiefer enjoys picking out his own outfits (multiple times a day!)

Griffin’s still in his jammies

puzzles!!!

Fletcher enjoying the lid to a puzzle

Kiefer being Kiefer 🙂

Fletcher experiencing what the grass feels like!

popcicle treats

And the drips they make!!

Good thing we’re in swim suits you can just go jump in to wash off!

Helping Daddy-o with a fix it project

What great helpers!!

A perfect summer day

Fletcher enjoying his first ear of corn!

Carter & Kiefer on a “Fly Hunt” wearing headlamps in their jammies with flyswatters ready to fire!

Kiefer jumping off the diving board for the first time

“I liked it! I think I’ll do it again!” (and again…!)

Good way to get out of the sun and dream a little….

Best way to end the day!
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Get Caught Reading

The first chapter book I ever read by myself was “The Boxcar Children.”  We’ve read that one together so much as a bedtime story that they boyz have it memorized. We act it out and pretend that we have a boxcar in our back yard.  Now, we’ll have to pretend we have a magic treehouse because Carter is pouring through the Magic Treehouse chapter book series. We learned of this series from our older cousins.  He read the first two in the first week of summer and now picked up the pace a bit and has read one a day the past two days. I’m going to have to go back to the half price bookstore to restock!   Good thing there are 22 books in the series! That should last at least a few more days!!   The first day of summer break we made “Reading Trees” for them to add leaves to with each book they read or that we read to them.   The leaves on his tree will be filled out in no time.  And he drew a treehouse in the tree, too.  Most appropriate!  Now we have to continue to encourage Kiefer and the others to follow suit.

Carter making his reading “Tree” -his is a “weeping willow”

Kiefer working on his tree

Final products

Carter drew a tree house and they both had me draw them swinging in tree swings from the branches.

Caught Reading!

Caught reading!

Caught up in treehouse reading

Bedtime reading with headlamp!
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The Love Songs Make Me Cry

The other night as we were outside cleaning up the driveway full of toys, at such a random insignificant moment, Kiefer says to me, “Mommy, the love songs make me cry.” 
“Which love songs?”, I inquire.
“The Veggie Tales ones.  The ones Junior sings….  I wish he didn’t sing them….”

My heart melted.  Junior is the tiniest asparagus and he has a really sweet singing voice…but that these sweet songs make him cry, nearly made me cry.  I’m so thankful to have such a tender-hearted boy who cries at these sweet love songs to God. Sometimes it takes the faith of a child.

I tried to reassure him that it’s ok to cry as I’m picturing him up in bed at night listening to bedtime music wiping tears from his eyes.  Then he asked, “Like the mommy in the Peter Pan movie cried?  Why did she cry, Mommy?”

“You mean because she was happy when Wendy, John and Michael came home to her?  Why did she cry then even though she was happy?” I ask to clarify.  “Yeah?”, he says as we’re still picking up toys in the garage.

“Well, you can cry happy tears, too!  I cried when you were born because I was so happy!  I cried when each of you were born because I was so happy…  Sometimes the love just overflows and you have to cry.”

The next day while driving in the car I listened to the words Junior sang more closely and my eyes welled up… “I know that God loves me, I know that he cares, when I’m feeling lonely, I know he’ll be there. I like loving him because he first loved me…. I like feeling special. I like being me….  And I like to give God’s love,I want to live by giving love,  I want to love my friends an family so they will know that God is love.”

and “Oh, how I love Jesus…because he first loved me.”

Now the love songs make me cry!!!  Thanks for the refresher, Kiefer! I love that little boy!  (all of them, of course, but especially the way the love songs make him cry.)

Kiefer! Lives with his heart!
Chasing two butterflies

Inside the deck “helping” Daddy do a boy’s only project

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Birds of a Feather

So the Mama Robin is back.  She nested in our blue spruce tree outside the living room window this time last year.  This year, she tucked her nest up in the pear tree outside our sunroom window.  It was Griffin who noticed her nest for the first time this year.  It’s quite camouflaged up there, by design.  But sometimes it takes a two year old to notice the little things.  So we watched her from the sunroom as she snuggled into her nest. Then we got the arial view from the upstairs bathroom window.  I cranked open the window to try to get a shot of her nest and only then did I realize how quickly one of my birds could fall out of the nest so I quickly cranked it back shut and told them the view was better through the window.  For the last few weeks we’ve watched her sitting there as I reminisce about this time last year… she and I were both waiting to hatch.  I remember last spring I would serenade her on the piano while she sat atop her living room view nest.  Then we could see hungry little mouths crank open at 90 degree angles waiting for their mama to return.  We talked about how their daddy had to go to the grocery store early in the morning for fresh worms and we’d watch the mama and papa take turns feeding their babies.  About this time, her serenades stopped as I was the one doing all the baby feeding around our nest with our new baby bird.

Just the other day I looked up into the tree from the porch below and asked her if she was ready for four babies?  Four can be a nest full, you know.

Just by chance we peered out the upstairs window this morning and instead of seeing her collection of bright turquoise eggs, we saw three pink puff balls and one remaining turquoise egg.  I’ve never seen such tiny creatures!  They must have just hatched! But their mama was anxious to see us so she took off to try to distract us.  Instead, we had more pointing and peering as my three oldest baby birds take in the science lesson right outside our window!

 I hope her last egg hatches soon!  Maybe it will be a blue puff ball? We mama’s of four have to stick together!

See it?

See the nest?

“It’s right there!  I see it! I see the nest!”

Don’t fall out the window!

See the turquoise eggs?

How Griffin noticed this is hard to understand!

Now we see the puff balls!

See the pink puff balls?  One egg yet to hatch
Last summer she made her nest outside the living room window

Here’s Carter watching in the morning

There she sits on her living room nest 
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Ding Dong Ping Pong

So on the second full day of summer vacation I’m pulling out all my tricks of the trade.  I had learned that my good friend Joni’s discipline model was more of a reward system.  Catch them doing good.  I’m all about it.  So she uses ping pong balls in a fish bowl for each of her children and each good thing they do they “earn” a ball. When their jars are full, they trade in the balls for a treat.  Ok, so I have boys and she has  three girls and one boy (so far!)  So, today, day two of summer,  I pull out my plastic canisters with each child’s name on it.  Why even go down the path of a glass fish bowl?  I have all these golf wiffle balls in one large container and explain the concept of “earning” the balls with good behavior to my wide-eyed crew.  Fast forward about twenty minutes when I have the pleasure of entertaining an air conditioner repair man in my kitchen while he gives me the not so good news that my AC unit is fried and most likely needs to be replaced… “blah blah blah, freon’s leaking…”  Out of the corner of my eye I now see a wave of wiffle balls bouncing around the kitchen making that distinct ping pong ball “pinging” sound as they ricochet off my bar stools, under the kitchen table and around the AC dude’s legs.  He tries, unsuccessfully, to keep a straight face and I laugh and tell him there goes my discipline model for the summer as I retrieve the half full canister (not half empty!) and put it on the highest shelf of the pantry I can reach!

What will day three hold?