Sim's Birthday Climb

Sim's grandma and grandpa gave him the gift of a trip to a climbing gym for his birthday this year, and we had the chance to go this afternoon.  We had a great time!  I took a ton of pictures; here are a few highlights.

The birthday boy going for an epic climb:

He reached the top on his first time, a first for our children.

Hannah was the next to make her ascent.  She had climbed before and was looking forward to a second shot.

The other three children watch in admiration.  Tess came along just for the ride.

Naomi had a great time climbing, too -- she found it a little more challenging, since the handholds aren't really in the right spots for her height, but she was very determined.

And very victorious!

Tess spent an hour climbing onto the onlooker's bench and jumping onto the padded floor, over and over again.  She couldn't get enough of that floor.

We had a really great time -- by the end of the hour, all three climbers had tired arms and hands, but big smiles.

And we even discovered that there was a franchise of our favorite donut shop on the way home from the climbing gym.  Score!  Big thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for the lovely gift!

Now she knows the name

but when Tess first learned about convertibles, she couldn’t remember the name.  So when she saw one on the freeway, she told me, “Look, Mama!  An incredible!” 

We tried this

homemade frappuccino recipe and the verdict was that it was awesome.

One year for Felix

And what a year it’s been!

Felix lives up to his name most of the time – he’s a very happy baby.  And he’s nearly a toddler, although I’ll call him a baby for a long time yet.  In the last couple of weeks he learned a couple of words:  Mama, and uh-oh.  Mama is his favorite thing to say and his favorite person. 

But he also really loves Daddy, Hannah, Naomi, Sim, and Tess, and he knows the signs for each of them.  He knows the signs for bunny, fish, duck, bird, and dog.  He also knows eat, more, please, thank you, all done, diaper, hat, light, car, and a bunch more that I can’t remember right now. 

He doesn’t like having to hold still, having things taken away from him, or blueberries.  Weird, right?  All my other kids have loved blueberries from the first taste. 

That said, he does like many other foods.  (Notice the green bean in his left ear?)

Felix comments on things by pointing at them and making humming noises, like, “Mmmm?”  He has various hums that mean things like, “Wow, that’s cool!”, “Hey, can I have that?”, and “What on earth is THAT?”

He likes to put things in, take things out, and spread laundry (preferably laundry that used to be folded) all over the floor.  He would LOVE to get things out of the dishwasher, and he knows how to get utensils out of the drawer. 

When we eat at restaurants, he sits in his high chair, dances to the music, and waves at everyone who walks by, including the wait staff, EVERY TIME they come to the table.  People think it’s really darling.  It is. 

When his siblings practice piano, Felix loves to play duets.  They’ll be playing along, when suddenly some very high or very low notes start sneaking in.  He loves it when Hannah holds him to play the piano.  Dancing along is an acceptable substitute for playing along. 

He spends time in the Ergo on our hikes or errands, and for the most part really likes it, although I’m sure when he starts walking he’s going to start objecting to being packed along. 

He understands about fruit, and any time he finds some, he tries to take a bite.  This isn’t as convenient when it’s an avocado…still in its skin.  It’s still more inconvenient when it’s ALL the avocados, one after another, still in their skin. 

Everyone loves Felix, and they argue about who gets to go up to see him first when he wakes up from his nap.  He’s a joy. 

Happy Birthday, Felix!  We’re so glad you’re here!

The bottomless pit of food

Our children have started eating voraciously this spring.  Perhaps it's our paleo-ish food choices, or the season, or a growth spurt, but it's starting to seem impossible to keep them fed.

Case in point: after a big breakfast on Saturday, Simeon and I had a chance to go out for brunch together, and we weren't going to pass that up.  I figured we'd have a light meal. 

Simeon figured he would have two eggs, two strips of bacon, hash browns, and a mug of cocoa.

Clearly, he's ready to dig in.

And 13 minutes later, it's gone.

 

 

What the heck?  Where did it all go?  We'd eaten a big breakfast not two hours before.  Not only had he demolished his brunch, but he was asked for my leftovers.  Amazing.

The children have started calling themselves "bottomless pits of food" and "the ravaging horde" -- and who am I to argue?

Random catching up

Felix, at 10 months (!) today (the 21st), is not a tiny snuggly baby who’ll sleep anywhere any more.  He’s curious and into everything and on the go.  He has a hard time holding still when things are happening, and he doesn’t snuggle much when he’s up and about.

Except when he’s sick.  Poor guy ran a fever for 4-5 days last week and didn’t feel good at ALL.  Hannah discovered early in his illness that she could rock him to sleep and enjoy a good snuggle of thirty minutes to an hour.  She took full advantage of the opportunity.  Which was really helpful, because if she wasn’t holding him, I was.  He’s better now, and the snuggly naptimes are gone!

Tess has settled on her ideal breakfast for now:  a two-egg omelet, half a banana, and an apple with sunbutter.  Sometimes she’ll add a quarter of an avocado, too.  This is the kid who used to eat tiny smidgens of things…NO MORE!  She’s discovered the joy of eating!  She even likes (and asks for seconds of) lettuce.  She draws the line at onions and asparagus…for now.  We’ll see if she changes her tune.  But since she’s eating pretty much everything else we put in front of her, it’s tough to complain. 

At Easter, I made sunbutter (sunflower seed butter) cups, like the peanut butter ones, but less deadly to Hannah.  And sweetened with honey.  I realized that none of the kids had ever had a peanut butter cup.  They were delighted with them.  Even the ones who don’t particularly like sunbutter loved the cups.  We then made the recipe for sunbutter and chocolate dairy-free ice cream and it met with similar acclaim. 

Naomi and Hannah are working on a piano duet for their next recital.  It’s going really well.  Their teacher said she’d never had a duet come back so well after only a week.  They’re working together extremely well.  I had some serious doubts about it, but they’re doing such a nice job together, it’s awesome.  Felix, as you can see, would be happy to make it a trio.  But since he won’t count and won’t play the same notes every time, they’re not letting him join in.  Seems somewhat uptight, if you ask Felix.  

Our garage got a new roof, and you better believe the kids thought this machine was awesome!  They would have missed it entirely if they weren’t homeschooled.  As it was, they watched from the windows in Hannah and Tess’s room and loved it. 

Felix, feeling better, decided to raid the napkin drawer.  He can pull himself up and open it and empty (or partially empty) it at will.  At least it’s better than when he eats whatever bits he can find off the floor…

Naomi and Hannah have also been making many creations with hot glue and natural materials.  This is a fairy tea table made by Naomi, with acorn cups and a tea pot.  Naomi got a book that has been inspiring all kinds of making of things, and the things are really, really cute.  So if you know a girl who likes to create things and can be trusted with a hot glue gun, that book’s a great gift! 

Not pictured:  anything growing in my vegetable garden.  BECAUSE my ducks are eating the things I plant.  Despite my efforts to exclude them.  Next step is enclosing each bed with chicken wire.  Then I’ll plant more.  Sigh. 

But it’s hard to complain about anything, even garden-destroying ducks, because the spring this year has been glorious so far!

Easter Outfits

We went to the Easter Vigil as a family this year.  It was lovely.  Tess and Sim slept through most of it.  Felix slept through almost to the end, woke up very confused, then flirted with whomever he could for the rest of the Mass.  Hannah and Naomi stayed awake and witnessed two adults receive Baptism.  BUT we didn’t get a family photo.  We did get photos of all the kids, though.

Sim and Felix got matching outfits this Easter!  Sim was really excited.  Felix didn’t care too much either way.  I think they look adorable, but I could be slightly biased.

The girls didn’t get matching dresses, but they all got pink this year.  Amazon provided almost all the new outfits, including mine (which didn’t get photographed) and Michael’s tie (which also didn’t get photographed).  (When did Hannah get so TALL?)

We didn’t get a good picture of Tess’s dress, but we did get a sweet picture of Tess herself.  :) 

Michael also has pictures of Tess and Sim sleeping on the pew in front of us.  It was reserved, but only half of it was used, so when they conked out, Michael put them up there to sleep.