Well, I've always been a fan of skipping the rice cereal and going with first foods like sweet potato or avocado (the boys always liked sweet potato best) but I happened to have some rice cereal that I picked up for later on and didn't have any of the other ready, and it just seemed like a fun day to let Eden try a bite...she was in a fun mood and starting to stare at us eating more than in the past. I had so far let her suck on a slice of peach, and on an Italian chicken sausage :P So I wasn't sure if rice cereal would appeal after those real flavors. But she was very excited about it, and after her few bites, she was cooing and squealing and clearly feeling big in her britches and quite grown up. So cute! Now I've done it. Whereas before she was perfectly content to watch from a distance I think she'll have a bit more urgent interest in joining in before too long :} Might pretend this didn't happen for a few more weeks since she doesn't really *have* to be eating yet and is clearly porking out just fine on milk. She is getting the familiar michelin man physique I recognize from former nearing-6-months-old children in this family.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Asher moments
Whenever I vacuum, Owen makes a joke of lying on the ground near me and 'pretending to be some dirt.' Asher is both fascinated and slightly horrified by the thought of being vacuumed. Today the boys and I were cleaning the car together while Eden napped, and Owen promptly rolled into a ball on the floor of the van. Asher excitedly yelled, "I'm not a boy-crumb! I'm not a boy-crumb! I'm just a boy!!!", and then ran away.
Asher's getting wiser by the minute. His wisdom usually comes out as odd, seemingly random and funny phrases with meanings that perhaps only his family fully appreciates. Tonight at bath I had replaced my smallish hair-rinsing cup with a big tupperware bowl that happened to be nearby. Asher was not a fan of the rinsing-by-deluge. Instead of whining, squealing or shouting no like his brother would have done Asher shouts, "This is going to wake up Eden! This is going to wake up Eden!" He's come to associate that phrase with undesirable activities I guess :} Other random utterances are less interpretable. The other day the boys were getting a treat at the grocery store checkout and Asher was giggling uproariously in excitement and exclaimed, "HAHAHA!!! RADISHES!! HAHA!" Who knows. He does this sort of thing all the time...just picks some words that he's heard in the last week and yells them out in excitement. Another one I remember from this week was, "Pirate pinata!!" shouted at some completely unrelated moment. Sort of like a cute version of Tourette's syndrome.
Asher's getting wiser by the minute. His wisdom usually comes out as odd, seemingly random and funny phrases with meanings that perhaps only his family fully appreciates. Tonight at bath I had replaced my smallish hair-rinsing cup with a big tupperware bowl that happened to be nearby. Asher was not a fan of the rinsing-by-deluge. Instead of whining, squealing or shouting no like his brother would have done Asher shouts, "This is going to wake up Eden! This is going to wake up Eden!" He's come to associate that phrase with undesirable activities I guess :} Other random utterances are less interpretable. The other day the boys were getting a treat at the grocery store checkout and Asher was giggling uproariously in excitement and exclaimed, "HAHAHA!!! RADISHES!! HAHA!" Who knows. He does this sort of thing all the time...just picks some words that he's heard in the last week and yells them out in excitement. Another one I remember from this week was, "Pirate pinata!!" shouted at some completely unrelated moment. Sort of like a cute version of Tourette's syndrome.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
A sad day...
Today was Owen's last day of preschool! What a lovely experience it has been. I am so pleased with the school, the lovely teachers, the friends he made, and it was a good, good first experience of 'school'. (The concern with how nice it was is that kindergarten will be a serious letdown!!) At the start of the year, I was sort of concerned/bummed that he'd gotten put in the small class with only 4 kids in it...but now at the end of the year I have grown to absolutely love that he had a tiny class, and thus plenty of time to build close relationships with his teacher and classmates. And I don't think he brought home a single virus from school. They really had fun together! Miss Kathy was teary and so was I at pickup today. Owen was: What's the big deal??? But by the end of the day, he was actually quite sad. I think it hit him tonight as I was talking to him before bed. Will I never go back to that school except for graduation [next week]? Will I never have Miss Kathy for my teacher again? I don't want to go to kindergarten. I want to go back to preschool for one more year. [But there will only be 4 year olds there next year and you've already learned everything that Miss Kathy will be teaching!] Well, Miss Kathy can just have me as a 5 year old and make new things to teach me. [I agree. I think it would be better than the local public school. Maybe I should ask Miss Kathy ;) ]
Miss Kathy gave me his portfolio of work. There were lots of goodies that a mom loves to study, like the progression of his coloring, cutting, writing, creativity in crafts, etc. Here are a few gems I just had to scan, though.
Owen's self-portrait on first day of school last fall:
Drawn in response to "Draw something you like to help your mom do at your house." Check out my hair!!! I know it's a *little* big, but now I know how my child sees me. Ha! Owen saw this today and broke out in a belly laugh. He remembered drawing it long ago now ;)
I didn't know I liked spaghetti so much! Did we bypass the age where they think their moms are 15? Sheesh!
I'm not too sentimental, but this poem gets me close. Check out the inkprint of the giant wart on Owen's right hand. Things we'd probably rather forget but now never will! :)
Miss Kathy gave me his portfolio of work. There were lots of goodies that a mom loves to study, like the progression of his coloring, cutting, writing, creativity in crafts, etc. Here are a few gems I just had to scan, though.
Owen's self-portrait on first day of school last fall:
Drawn in response to "Draw something you like to help your mom do at your house." Check out my hair!!! I know it's a *little* big, but now I know how my child sees me. Ha! Owen saw this today and broke out in a belly laugh. He remembered drawing it long ago now ;)
I didn't know I liked spaghetti so much! Did we bypass the age where they think their moms are 15? Sheesh!
I'm not too sentimental, but this poem gets me close. Check out the inkprint of the giant wart on Owen's right hand. Things we'd probably rather forget but now never will! :)
Eden=yum yum
Eden is a little sugar punkin' munchie sweet delicious snuggly pink squishum bit of honey chub giggly cuteness. I just told my mom on the phone that this is the perfect baby age.
-napping on her own
-lots of stares, giggles, smiles and coos
-loves to get in her carseat and go for a ride
-loves her brothers no matter what they're doing
-no prepping baby food
-no separation anxiety
-no stranger fears
-limited lack-of-mobility frustration (it's starting to brew)
-a bath will cure any bad mood
-wears whatever I like best
-no shoes to find strewn about the house
-sleeps more than she's awake
-no teeth to brush! the perfect gummy smile!
Does it get any better than this?! If I weren't so advanced in childbearing years I might be crazy enough to do this again. Then again....eh, no.
-napping on her own
-lots of stares, giggles, smiles and coos
-loves to get in her carseat and go for a ride
-loves her brothers no matter what they're doing
-no prepping baby food
-no separation anxiety
-no stranger fears
-limited lack-of-mobility frustration (it's starting to brew)
-a bath will cure any bad mood
-wears whatever I like best
-no shoes to find strewn about the house
-sleeps more than she's awake
-no teeth to brush! the perfect gummy smile!
Does it get any better than this?! If I weren't so advanced in childbearing years I might be crazy enough to do this again. Then again....eh, no.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Dear Asher
Dear Asher,
Someday you might read these records. You may be tempted to think you were not as important to your mom because she didn't take as many pictures or write down as many notes about you.
You would be very, very wrong.
The privilege of being a second born is that every move you made (and make)--when you laughed, ate, sat, walked, talked, tantrumed, said no, kicked us or hugged us--we didn't have any feeling of looking in on the scene, but we were fully present, right there enjoying the experience of knowing you. Everything you do as you grow up isn't brand new to us, so we don't take notes at every turn, but that means we are free to delight fully in you. I hate taking pictures on vacation...I feel like the camera gets in the way of seeing the mountains with my own eyes and responding with that swell of wonder...it's distracting. It's sort of like that with my sweet Asher. I'm too busy *enjoying* you to remember to write down all your sweet moments...and there are so many!!! You have a truly sweet demeanor, and are easy to love with the part of my heart specially reserved for Asher. When you came along, a lot of things about our family fell into place and you were the happy glue we all needed.
So, I'll stop there and hopefully less words are more (I could indeed write more than this). And now I *will* make a few notes about you, as I sat down to do!
_______________________
Asher is the most amazingly instinctively polite child I have ever met! He says please, thank you, No, Yes (full word, not Yeah), Okay Mommy, and generally appropriate nice little phrases more often than I would ever expect! Especially based on the sporadic manners training he's received while his mom has been either pregnant or taking care of a young infant lately. Once when we picked him up from the church nursery they told us he is the only two year old they've ever known who says Thank You when his nose is wiped by a staff member. It's true! His latest cute response is "Soo-er!" [Sure!]
"Asher, do you want some strawberries?"
Soo-er!
"Asher will you bring me a tissue for Eden?"
Dese ones mommy? Soo-er!
"Do you think you could share that toy for a minute?"
Ummm...Soo-er!
Of course, not to say he's always so amiable. He is 2. But he does really well.
Asher is going great guns on the 3-wheel scooter. NO interest in trike or bike, but he is zipping up and down the drive on the scooter. JUMPING. Also doing a ton of running and climbing on the swingset, loving to swing on the new green swing with Owen, and loving his time alone with me when Owen goes to school. Today we made breakfast cookies and Asher ran the mixer. At every step his exuberance at being the one who gets to help is barely containable. He's like the incredible hulk who has a joy management issue, rather than an anger management issue!! He belly laughs every time I ask him if he wants to do a step of the baking...
"Asher, why don't you crack that egg?"
HAHAHA!!! OKAY MOMMY, I LOOOOVE DOING DAT!!! TANK YOU MOMMY!!!
"Okay, time to put the tray in the oven!"
HAHAHAHA!!! DAT'S SO HOT! IT'S GOING TO COOK THE YUMMY FOOD!! I LOOOOVE DAT!!!
"Now, do you want to have a cup of tea with me while we wait for the cookies to bake?"
HAHAHA!!! I LOVE TEA! HAHAHA!! LET'S MAKE SOME TEA FOR US MOMMY, YES!!! TANK YOU!! HAHA!!
It's absolutely hilarious and adorable. He makes me laugh just being with him. I call him my little ewok, and it's an accurate description of his teddy-bear cute self.
Another cute phrase of the moment:
"Where is Asher? ASHER! WHERE ARE YOU??"
[Asher running thump, thump into the room, stopping in front of me, hands on hips]: HERE ME AM!
Asher's superpower in my opinion and Owen's is Supermessyman. He can get himself covered in food, dirt and combinations thereof by 9:30 in the morning. He has recently taken to washing his own hands in the downstairs bathroom, which is AWESOME!!! His second superpower is Entropyman. He can disassemble, distribute and strew the contents of anything ordered in this house with the silence of an indian scout. The eyes in the back of my head fail me regularly, and I turn around to find all manner of mischief having taken place behind my back. When confronted, he still offers, "Oh." It is hard to be frustrated with him because he just seems so willing to admit his fault and clearly wasn't being malicious. But he keeps doing it. So I do eventually get frustrated :}
He can body tackle Owen or pull him down to the floor by the legs and pin him and Owen will cry like a girl! (for lack of a better phrase) Natural wrestler for sure.
LOVES animals. LOVES butterflies. LOVES household insect pests.
Talks to strangers with no inhibitions, makes instant friends with anyone...as long as mom is around. Does not like to be dropped off at church nursery!!! Still!! A couple weeks ago in the checkout line at the grocery store, he struts up to the checkout clerk while I'm loading at the end of the belt.
"Hi! I'm Asher. I'm TWO (holding up fingers). I'm gon be FREE! I'm a BOY!"
Segue to..
"Asher, are you a silly billy?"
NO, I'M A BOY!
"Are you a cutie pie?"
NO, I'M A BOY!
etc.
Asher is plenty ornery. The only way he'll take a nap is if I put him in his crib at nap time and say, "OK, Asher, you can sit in here for a while, but please just don't go to sleep. OK? Do NOT close your eyes right now. Just stay awake for a while til I come back." Have had about 75% success rate getting a nap when I use that one lately. Hmm. Works with a lot of other tasks too, but I'm not sure I should be encouraging that! Why do I have such rebellious kids as 2 year olds?? They definitely want to assert their independence at this age!
________________________________________
Well Asher, here's the other piece. I'm tired. I have three kids now and I have to go to bed! But at least I got down just a few of your many cute moments ;)
xoxo,
Mom
Someday you might read these records. You may be tempted to think you were not as important to your mom because she didn't take as many pictures or write down as many notes about you.
You would be very, very wrong.
The privilege of being a second born is that every move you made (and make)--when you laughed, ate, sat, walked, talked, tantrumed, said no, kicked us or hugged us--we didn't have any feeling of looking in on the scene, but we were fully present, right there enjoying the experience of knowing you. Everything you do as you grow up isn't brand new to us, so we don't take notes at every turn, but that means we are free to delight fully in you. I hate taking pictures on vacation...I feel like the camera gets in the way of seeing the mountains with my own eyes and responding with that swell of wonder...it's distracting. It's sort of like that with my sweet Asher. I'm too busy *enjoying* you to remember to write down all your sweet moments...and there are so many!!! You have a truly sweet demeanor, and are easy to love with the part of my heart specially reserved for Asher. When you came along, a lot of things about our family fell into place and you were the happy glue we all needed.
So, I'll stop there and hopefully less words are more (I could indeed write more than this). And now I *will* make a few notes about you, as I sat down to do!
_______________________
Asher is the most amazingly instinctively polite child I have ever met! He says please, thank you, No, Yes (full word, not Yeah), Okay Mommy, and generally appropriate nice little phrases more often than I would ever expect! Especially based on the sporadic manners training he's received while his mom has been either pregnant or taking care of a young infant lately. Once when we picked him up from the church nursery they told us he is the only two year old they've ever known who says Thank You when his nose is wiped by a staff member. It's true! His latest cute response is "Soo-er!" [Sure!]
"Asher, do you want some strawberries?"
Soo-er!
"Asher will you bring me a tissue for Eden?"
Dese ones mommy? Soo-er!
"Do you think you could share that toy for a minute?"
Ummm...Soo-er!
Of course, not to say he's always so amiable. He is 2. But he does really well.
Asher is going great guns on the 3-wheel scooter. NO interest in trike or bike, but he is zipping up and down the drive on the scooter. JUMPING. Also doing a ton of running and climbing on the swingset, loving to swing on the new green swing with Owen, and loving his time alone with me when Owen goes to school. Today we made breakfast cookies and Asher ran the mixer. At every step his exuberance at being the one who gets to help is barely containable. He's like the incredible hulk who has a joy management issue, rather than an anger management issue!! He belly laughs every time I ask him if he wants to do a step of the baking...
"Asher, why don't you crack that egg?"
HAHAHA!!! OKAY MOMMY, I LOOOOVE DOING DAT!!! TANK YOU MOMMY!!!
"Okay, time to put the tray in the oven!"
HAHAHAHA!!! DAT'S SO HOT! IT'S GOING TO COOK THE YUMMY FOOD!! I LOOOOVE DAT!!!
"Now, do you want to have a cup of tea with me while we wait for the cookies to bake?"
HAHAHA!!! I LOVE TEA! HAHAHA!! LET'S MAKE SOME TEA FOR US MOMMY, YES!!! TANK YOU!! HAHA!!
It's absolutely hilarious and adorable. He makes me laugh just being with him. I call him my little ewok, and it's an accurate description of his teddy-bear cute self.
Another cute phrase of the moment:
"Where is Asher? ASHER! WHERE ARE YOU??"
[Asher running thump, thump into the room, stopping in front of me, hands on hips]: HERE ME AM!
Asher's superpower in my opinion and Owen's is Supermessyman. He can get himself covered in food, dirt and combinations thereof by 9:30 in the morning. He has recently taken to washing his own hands in the downstairs bathroom, which is AWESOME!!! His second superpower is Entropyman. He can disassemble, distribute and strew the contents of anything ordered in this house with the silence of an indian scout. The eyes in the back of my head fail me regularly, and I turn around to find all manner of mischief having taken place behind my back. When confronted, he still offers, "Oh." It is hard to be frustrated with him because he just seems so willing to admit his fault and clearly wasn't being malicious. But he keeps doing it. So I do eventually get frustrated :}
He can body tackle Owen or pull him down to the floor by the legs and pin him and Owen will cry like a girl! (for lack of a better phrase) Natural wrestler for sure.
LOVES animals. LOVES butterflies. LOVES household insect pests.
Talks to strangers with no inhibitions, makes instant friends with anyone...as long as mom is around. Does not like to be dropped off at church nursery!!! Still!! A couple weeks ago in the checkout line at the grocery store, he struts up to the checkout clerk while I'm loading at the end of the belt.
"Hi! I'm Asher. I'm TWO (holding up fingers). I'm gon be FREE! I'm a BOY!"
Segue to..
"Asher, are you a silly billy?"
NO, I'M A BOY!
"Are you a cutie pie?"
NO, I'M A BOY!
etc.
Asher is plenty ornery. The only way he'll take a nap is if I put him in his crib at nap time and say, "OK, Asher, you can sit in here for a while, but please just don't go to sleep. OK? Do NOT close your eyes right now. Just stay awake for a while til I come back." Have had about 75% success rate getting a nap when I use that one lately. Hmm. Works with a lot of other tasks too, but I'm not sure I should be encouraging that! Why do I have such rebellious kids as 2 year olds?? They definitely want to assert their independence at this age!
________________________________________
Well Asher, here's the other piece. I'm tired. I have three kids now and I have to go to bed! But at least I got down just a few of your many cute moments ;)
xoxo,
Mom
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Goodbye Nunu!
We said a sad farewell to Nunu today after a really fun visit. Dropped her off at the airport! Couldn't get a great shot of the kids before church (not their finest hour). And the dilapidated house doesn't end up making a great picture background...eeuw! But the subjects are well-loved :) Boys came home and washed my car.
Owen's 5th party
Perfect day for an outside birthday pirate party! The kids had fun playing games, swinging, and eating. Owen got quite an unexpected stack of birthday presents (so much for the 'presents optional' clause in the invitation!!). He is now fully a five year old!
Neighbor Shane reading treasure hunt clues to the kids
Finding a clue in the tree
Getting ready for a relay race
Time for treasure chest cake and ice cream!
Neighbor Shane reading treasure hunt clues to the kids
Finding a clue in the tree
Getting ready for a relay race
Owen packing Eden
Owen LOVES his little baby sister. He wanted to carry her in the Baby Bjorn carrier. Great cuteness ensued.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
The Big 5.0...hard to believe!!
My baby is no baby anymore...and now he's 5!! A real childhood milestone, almost done with preschool and ready for KG. He has been looking forward to his birthday for a loooong time. His party with friends is on Saturday, but we had presents and celebration at home this evening.
Asher, fan of all things sweet, kept asking for 'more dat green fing!' (sparkling apple cider) and I absentmindedly enabled him to nearly finish off the bottle.
Owen not only got a Texas t-shirt, but Daddo made sure the whole family is advertising for the homeland!
Owen's big present, a new bike. Owen is such a great rider that I couldn't stomach the Wal-mart level bikes, which are SO HEAVY and made of steel. Owen doesn't realize what a nice bike this is, almost all aluminum, but just had to get those included training wheels off and he was flying on it in no time!
Other big hit: two-man horse swing for swingset. This incurred loads of giggles, and will be significantly improving Asher's ability to use the swingset (and thus will make Mama's life *even* better!).
Asher, fan of all things sweet, kept asking for 'more dat green fing!' (sparkling apple cider) and I absentmindedly enabled him to nearly finish off the bottle.
Owen not only got a Texas t-shirt, but Daddo made sure the whole family is advertising for the homeland!
Owen's big present, a new bike. Owen is such a great rider that I couldn't stomach the Wal-mart level bikes, which are SO HEAVY and made of steel. Owen doesn't realize what a nice bike this is, almost all aluminum, but just had to get those included training wheels off and he was flying on it in no time!
Other big hit: two-man horse swing for swingset. This incurred loads of giggles, and will be significantly improving Asher's ability to use the swingset (and thus will make Mama's life *even* better!).
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Best Mother's Day present
I was just allowing myself to watch again my recent videocamera downloads...doting, yes. My kids are adorable, smart, creative, and all around wonderful (except for when they aren't)!! So my mother's day present to myself is to shamelessly post footage of them that is probably only spectacular to me, very long, and with no main event at all. Just 'cuz I love to watch these munchkins grow up.
https://vimeo.com/42056217
https://vimeo.com/42056217
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Random
Asher stir-frying dinner
Owen being a monkey, as he does best
What's not to love about oobleck?
Chard and beans coming along (well, some are doing better than others)
Boys seeing Dad off to CA
Love :)
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