In which Michael is again my hero

I have spoken before about Michael’s heroic efforts to make our home safe for toilet-loving babies.  Unfortunately, there were some problems with that particular solution to our toilet-hound’s addiction.  Since the new potty came, we haven’t had as much trouble, since the new potty’s water level is much lower than the old one, making it a far less convenient place to bathe. 

However, Sim will still make a beeline for the potty to check it out and see if the water level is higher today.  Also, there’s a stool in the bathroom so that the girls can reach the sink to wash their hands after they go potty.  Sim has discovered that he can climb stools.  He’s also discovered that the bathroom stool gives him access to things like the sink, the toothbrushes, and the liquid soap – all very desirable for a 15-month-old explorer.

SO…Michael fixed the door again so that it shuts.  This involved eBay – for the parts for the knob to actually speak to the rest of the closing mechanism (without mistakenly locking us in, of course) – and moving of the strike plate so that the new door parts (which were off by about 1/4 inch) could actually keep the door closed. 

It’s working again!  Yea!  And now we can close the door so that Sim won’t be playing with any of the fun toys in the bathroom. 

Endearing

Hannah:  Mama, you have a nice smell that reminds me of something I can’t remember and makes me feel at home.

On the ride home

I gave the local niece and nephew a ride back to their house last night.  Here are some quotes:

Niece:  I’m not crying right now.

Me:  No, that’s good.

Niece:  Yeah, I’m really smart!

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Nephew:  Watch out, Aunt Monica!  The car’s brain is oozing onto your head.

Me:  ?

Nephew:  If the car’s brain got into your brain, you would be the smartest person in the whole United States of America.

Me:  ?

We tried

with not too much success.  Each person has at least one picture in which he looks okay, but not one with all of us together…

Trauma for girls

I got my hair cut this morning.  It had been well over a year.  It was long overdue.  I was so happy to have it done. 

Hannah:  I don’t recognize you anymore, Mama.

Naomi:  I miss your hair.  I wish you brought it home so I could have it forever and ever amen. 

Simeon didn’t seem to care, and Michael likes it, but the girls don’t seem to.  I guess you can’t please everyone. 

Trauma for Mama

This morning brought a traumatic moment for this Mama of a little boy baby: first haircut. I have been really putting this off, because once little boys have their first haircut, they don’t look like babies so much any more…they look like little boys. While I know that Sim is rapidly moving from baby to little boy, I haven’t been ready for it. I still don’t think I’m ready for it, but his hair was getting in his eyes something fierce, so he was ready for it.

Here’s before:

Yeah, okay, so he looks a bit like a baby hippy. I was okay with it! Look at those cute little curls coming around his ears! But the big problem, and the main reason for the haircut, was those long bangs in the front. I was constantly sweeping them to the side, because he’s a boy, so I couldn’t put in a barrette.

My original plan was to just trim up the bangs a bit so they wouldn’t get in his eyes. But then I looked at him and thought I should clean up around his ears a bit. And then I realized that if I left him like that, he’d have a mullet, and I’m not about to do that to my baby boy. So I cut it all. But I tried to avoid the bowl cut look.

Here’s after:

I managed to avoid the bowl cut look, and his bangs don’t have that “chopped straight across” look that is pretty cute on Hannah, but not really the best for a baby boy. Well, that's not strictly true -- I've seen baby boys with that look, and it can be quite cute, but I was trying to go for a look that didn't look like he'd had his hair cut much at all anyway.

His sideburns aren’t anything like even, but this is his first haircut, so I didn’t try to be too particular. He wouldn’t have let me, anyway. He was DONE with it after only a few snips. Daddy’s coffee is the only distraction that kept him from having one side long and one side short in the back.

New words

“New…potty!” 

Sim is still very fond of the new potty, and quite amused at himself when he says it. 

Local cousins

are a blessing for our kids.  Naomi is only now starting to realize it.  Hannah has played with her local boy cousin happily for many years now, and they almost never have difficulties – any more.  There was a time when we couldn’t leave them in the same room without an adult because they would use the opportunity to whack, snatch, yell, and generally get each other all riled up.  This morning, though, as we walked through the Pike Place Market, they held hands and chatted about all the things they were seeing. 

Naomi and local girl cousin who is 3 months younger had a really rough time for a while – each girl would watch to see what the other one wanted and try to get it for herself (regardless of whether that little girl even wanted the item or ever paid any attention to it at any other time)…this was never a recipe for happiness.  There were other tricks that they pulled when together, but the main one was to try to keep each other from having fun. 

Lately, though, they have been playing together very, very well.  This certainly makes life much easier for all of us.  The other day, they were playing Husband and Wife.  Naomi was the Husband, and she spent a lot of time saying things like, “Come here, Wife.”  and, “Wife, that is so nice!” 

She also has started looking forward to their visits and weeping copiously when they leave.  Looking forward is a good thing…the copious weeping I could do without, but it’s a sign of a good thing, at least. 

This has even led to discussion of renaming St. Rose of Lima, Naomi’s favorite doll.  She and local girl cousin both got dolls exactly alike a couple of Christmases ago from Grandma Ellie.  St. Rose of Lima has had her name for a long time, and one doesn’t just call her “Rose,” or one risks correction from Naomi:  “Her name is St. Rose of Lima.”  Shortening this to “St. Rose” seems to be okay, but nothing shorter.

Local girl cousin’s doll’s name is Ellie.  Naomi came home from playing with Lgc the other day and said she was changing St. Rose’s name to Ellie.  Valuing the peace that has been forged between the cousins, I thought this might be a problem:  a doll that looks just like Lgc’s doll, called the same thing…Lgc could get the impression that Ellie, her doll, had somehow come to our house and needed to be brought back home.  I felt we might need a strategic intervention, so I mentioned the potential problem to Naomi.  Her decision is that St. Rose of Lima will keep her name, with the nickname of Ellie, but this nickname will not be used when Lgc is around. 

The intervention might have been unnecessary:  Naomi does not seem to remember that she gave St. Rose a new nickname.  But preservation of this newfound peace seemed like a good idea. 

My baby brother

and his fiancee are visiting from Texas.  The kids are very happy about this.  Simeon is taking advantage of having extra people to read to him.  Hannah is taking advantage of having extra people to talk to…and then ignore when her new issue of Highlights came in.  Naomi is taking advantage of some snuggling time.  Pictures to come.

Naomi’s comments on Uncle Rob are pretty funny, though:  “Uncle Rob, you are the sweetest boy in the world!” and:  “Uncle Rob, you are the cutest boy in the world!”  When asked to sit on the cutest boy in the world’s lap so I could take a picture, though, she declined. 

Simeon says, “Arob,” and “Atie,” for Uncle Rob and Katie.  Rob has a sign for his name that he developed when Gabe was a baby, and Simeon has been trying that out, too.  However, his rendition looks more like he’s trying to flick something onto someone than like the sign Rob does…

Sim loves books

a bit too much, apparently.   He just now came crawling in to me with a huge smile, babbling happily and giggling, holding a page from one of his favorite books.  Sigh.  It’s hard to explain to a 15-month-old that – well, anything, really, but especially difficult to say that it will not make his favorite book a good read if he tears pages out.  Luckily Hannah and Naomi are out.  I think I can get the page taped back in before they get home and discover it and begin to lament. 

Space saving ideas from our home to yours

I mentioned that we got some furniture to rearrange things in the house.  One reason is that we have to save some space in certain areas. 

The kids came up with their own space-saving ideas:

Bunk beds!  In size Small! Simeon has also opted for the size Small Playpen!

It’s wonderful when everyone in the family gets on board with a project; you get some many ideas that you might not have even thought of before!

Big day in home projects

This morning, the man to help rid us of our uninvited rodent guest in the basement came at 8 a.m.

This afternoon, a young man came and took our green couch.  The furniture Michael recently hauled made the green couch unnecessary and, in fact, unable to fit in the living room.  I put it on craigslist, and it got snapped up a couple of hours later.  The girls, who had been building forts with its cushions and playing on it for the past few days while it’s been on the porch, didn’t appreciate as much as I did that it was gone.

Here, by the way, are the children, showing off the new furniture.  Or, at least Michael’s chair and part of the star couch. 

 

Also this afternoon, our new toilet got installed.  I may be the most excited about this one.  The old toilet was not functioning very well, and occasionally leaking out of the handle.  Not good.  We are having lots of guests in December, and have one bathroom.  A not-very-functional-only-toilet is not a good thing ever, but when you add a lot of people to the situation, things start to get hairy. 

Hairy:  not how one wants to describe Christmas.  So, here’s our new toilet, which will help keep Advent and Christmas running smoothly (heehee):

 

The children, happily, approve of the new toilet.  Hannah watched most of the installation and apparently learned a lot about drains.  Naomi was a bit scared of it at first, but when she figured out that her potty seat still works on it and that the flush isn’t too loud, she gave it a thumbs up.  Simeon, predictably, loves it.  He cried when Michael took him away from it after his first time using it.  I didn’t have that strong a reaction, but I do think we’re going to be happy with this toilet. 

Whooooooooo it’s cold out!

This morning, it’s 20 degrees.  20!  Phew.  That is chilly.  I don’t know if Michael decided to take the car this morning to the park and ride, but if he’s biking, I hope he remembered his little ear covers. 

Yesterday we went to get Hannah some warmer outdoor clothes, because Naomi’s got the hand-me-downs (or Hannah-me-downs, as her cousin calls them!) of really warm outdoor clothes, and Sim has ones from cousins and friends, but Hannah didn’t have any.  And we need to be able to go outside, but when it’s in the 20s and 30s out…we need the really warm clothes! 

The forecast doesn’t call for snow anymore, though.  I haven’t told Hannah and Naomi, because the forecast isn’t always right, but given how our city handled the last snow, I’m relieved. 

Here are some pictures from last year’s snowstravaganza:

I went to the store last night and passed by the large digital thermometer display of a nearby store, which was reading 27 degrees at the time.  Brrrr! This reminded me of the time in September that I passed by that same digital thermometer and the readout was…176 degrees.  HA!  Did I mention we had a particularly warm September? 

Of course, the temperature was actually 65 or 70. 

More on the snow requests of Hannah

Hannah, this afternoon:  I hope it snows sometime soon, but not  tomorrow.  I would miss Girlchoir if it snowed tomorrow. 

The concert yesterday was fabulous, by the way.  Northwest Girlchoir is a wonderful organization that teaches girls from 4-18 how to sing.  The concert featured singing from all the groups, and it’s amazing how these girls can sing! 

Naomi can’t wait to start when she turns four in March so that she can start up, and Hannah loves Girlchoir – it’s probably her favorite activity.  Well, besides reading. 

It was pretty funny, though, because Michael, Naomi, Simeon, and I all sat through a concert of about 1 1/2 hours of very lovely music.   Hannah’s choir was towards the end, and then at the end I went and collected her.  I told her a bit about the other choirs singing. 

“Oh, did the other choirs sing?”  she asked.

Heehee.  Her choir had been in a different room, busying themselves with their various pastimes packed in backpacks while the rest of the concert was going on, and she didn’t even realize that others were singing during that time. 

Originally, the plan was for the members of her choir to sit with their families in the audience for the concert, but too many tickets were sold for that to happen – a good problem to have, but it meant that they didn’t get to hear the rest of the concert. 

A new twist on the Christmas story

We have a Christmas book called The Donkey’s Dream.  Naomi really has been enjoying it this year.  As we were reading it the other day, I said, “Naomi, who is that leading the donkey?”  I was reasonably sure that she would say, “Joseph!” because, of course, that’s who it’s meant to be, and she’s very familiar with the Christmas story. 

Imagine my surprise when she said:  “Raffi.”

I took another look.  It did look like Raffi, and Naomi has seen his picture on CDs and a book of his that we have. 

It changes the story a bit, though. 

Flip flop

Hannah loves it when it snows here.  She hopes for snow as soon as summer is over.  “I think it might snow tomorrow,” she’ll say on a day that’s cool – 50 degrees.  “I don’t think so,” I’ll reply.

However, it’s pretty cold here these days, and there are some days of possible snow in the 10-day forecast.  Hannah has noticed, and is hopeful again.  This morning as we were in the car on the way to Mass, she said, “I hope it tries to rain today so that it will snow!” 

Then I reminded her of her Northwest Girlchoir concert this afternoon:  “You won’t be able to go if it snows.”

She immediately had a change of heart, “OH!  I hope it doesn’t snow today.” 

Concerts cannot be rescheduled, you know, but snow days can happen any time! 

She likes chocolate

and play imitates life. 

Yesterday, as we were moving furniture, Naomi discovered the brown things we got at the hardware store to put under the legs of the couch and chair in order to keep them from sliding around and also to keep them from scratching the floor.  She collected them all as we were moving the furniture.  She placed them carefully somewhere, and then got distracted by a long-lost toy found under the couch. 

“Where are the chocolate bars?” she wailed, when she couldn’t remember where she’d put them.

We were mystified, since we hadn’t given her any chocolate bars.  She kept insisting on the chocolate bars, though, and then found them.  When she showed us that she’d found them, we realized that they do, indeed, look a bit like squares of chocolate. 

Then she put them carefully somewhere else, and when we’d gotten the furniture re-rearranged, we couldn’t find them, and she’d forgotten where they were again.  So the furniture stayed on top of the bits of cardboard we’d used while moving it. 

Last night as I was cleaning up a bit in the living room, I discovered the chocolate bars in between two pillows on the couch.  We are heartlessly reclaiming them, because we need them to put under the chair and couch.

But today is St. Nicholas’ Day, anyway, so Naomi got some chocolate in her shoe.  She hasn’t asked for the fake chocolate at all today, because, let’s face it:  real chocolate trumps fake chocolate every time. 

In which Michael’s heroism is greatly evident again…as usual.

We recently got some furniture.  We’ve decided on a few things about the home setup lately, and those decisions have made it possible for us to go ahead with some furniture purchases we’d been considering but putting off because we didn’t know how we wanted to set things up.

I found two pieces that we both really liked, and we ordered them from the one place in our area that deals with the manufacturer.  Then we found out that they don’t do home delivery.  Hmm.  So Michael took the seats out of the minivan, went down there, and brought back our furniture.  With some help from the local brother-in-law, it’s in our house.  (Incidentally, when we were looking at our house and enjoying its big porch and perch on a hill…we weren’t thinking about how we would have to bring furniture up all those steps…)

When Michael was off work the week of Thanksgiving, we went to Ikea to get a few more things.  Michael did most of the heavy lifting, and he’s done most of the putting together, too, much to the joy and delight of his young son, who discovered that he loves hammering.  He also loves screwdrivers and screw and nails and wrenches and pliers and…tools. 

Today, we had all the living room pieces in the living room and assembled, so we decided to try the setup we’d been thinking of.  This meant moving around some heavy furniture.  Even though I helped a bit, Michael did most of the heavy lifting.  We got it all set up as we had planned.  I didn’t like the arrangement.  At all.  (Michael admits that he didn’t, either.) 

So, we moved it around again.  Now we both like the setup.  And Michael, who did most of the heavy lifting again, not 10 minutes after the first set of heavy lifting, didn’t complain one bit. 

He’s my hero. 

Polite babies

Sim has learned to sign “please” and “thank you,” and he’s getting pretty good at using them at the appropriate times.  Particularly “please,” since it seems to magically make happen things that he especially desires.  He will often vigorously sign “please” when he’s asking for something, and now that he’s talking a lot more, he’ll say “please,” too.  The way he says it is “bizz.” 

Lately he’s also started adding a y to the end of words, so dog becomes doggy and frog becomes froggy.  This has happened to please, too.  Of course, he says “bizz” for please, so what he says for “please-y” sounds like “Busy! Busy! Busy! Busy!”  Meanwhile, he vigorously signs “please,” sometimes with both hands.  It’s very cute. 

More Advent play

Hannah has been playing “innkeeper during a census” lately.  She is in the present day, but, “there’s another counting of people, Mama.”

When I told her that we actually do have a census in our day, she was surprised.  Then she asked why we don’t go to our hometowns to register.  Can you imagine the government asking that these days?

****

Naomi apparently took to heart Hannah’s opinion that Mary did let Joseph hold Jesus, because he’s being held by Joseph on a regular basis now. 

****

Sim likes his little toy trucks.  He also likes the nativity set.  For the first time in our house, there were some trucks visiting the Baby Jesus.  I’m going to bet that’s a bit anachronistic. 

We got our Nativity set out today

This has led to some interesting discussion.

Hannah: Naomi, in real life, Mary did let Joseph hold baby Jesus.

****

Naomi: But why can’t I leave baby Jesus and his manger in my purse?

****

Hannah: Give Sim a king. Then we’ll take these other ones to the table so he can’t get them.

****

Naomi [With evident relief]: Sim has a king and a shepherd, but not the turkey.

****

Naomi: I put baby Jesus in time out.

Mama: Why?

Naomi: I don't know.

It’s nature

“Boys are beyond the range of anybody’s sure understanding, at least when they are between the ages of 18 months and 90 years.”

-- James Thurber

 

We tried again

for Thanksgiving with all of us at the table.  And even though it was a busy day and we didn’t have all the sides one would normally expect at Thanksgiving, we did have turkey and dressing, gravy (but no giblets – sorry, Dad), baked cauliflower, jello (traditional, as far as Michael is concerned), and rolls. 

Noticeably absent:  pie.  Or any other homemade dessert, for that matter.  We did have popsicles, though. 

Thankfully absent:  fever. 

Naomi feels better

thank God! 

Thanksgiving pictures

Our Thanksgiving did not really go as planned.  And since I didn’t send the camera with Michael to dinner, this is what we got pictures of for Thanksgiving. 

Naomi, sleeping on the couch.  She spent the afternoon there, sleeping off and on.  This is completely atypical of Naomi, and caused alarm in several of her family members, including…

Sim,  who is wondering what on earth Naomi is doing, lying still on the couch.

Sim, signing “sleep” and happy to have figured out what is going on. 

Sim, still amused about Naomi sleeping on the couch.

Naomi, propped up, still wearing her dress from the morning, watching part of “Snow Christmas.”  (That’s what she and Hannah call “White Christmas.”)  This is how I bribed her to drink a whole bunch of water.  I fed her sips every 10-15 seconds during the movie. 

Naomi seems to be feeling somewhat better, thank God!  She’s still running a bit of a fever, and it’s spiked in the afternoon the past couple of days, so we’re wondering if that’s going to happen again today.  But for right now, she’s happily chattering and helping Michael make breakfast. 

Thanksgiving

for one of us has been spent mostly on the couch, sleeping and eating popsicles.  Naomi has come down with a fever and is down and out.  Poor thing.  She was fine this morning, and sometime between 10:30 and 11:30, whatever this is hit her and she’s been lying down and resting since. 

Cousins are impressed

with Uncle Michael’s knowledge of old cartoons. 

Michael said, “Ruh-roh!” the other day as we were watching our niece and nephew.

“Uncle Michael!  Have you seen Scooby Do?!?” said our nephew.  Uncle Michael gained some points with that one. 

Our niece, who’s three and has some really cute pronunciation  differences (as most three-year-olds do), said, “I like Shooby Do!”

Sim pretends

now as he plays.  It’s totally cute, if I do say so about my own son.  I think you’d agree.  He loves, loves, loves to play with mixing spoons and mixing bowls.  If he’s in the kitchen trying to get underfoot, I can usually distract him from emptying all the reachable cabinets by giving him a wooden spoon and a metal bowl.  He will happily mix for a good long time. 

Yesterday he started a new game.  This also involved cooking.  He’d found the play metal pot and the plastic measuring cup that had been repurposed to be a toy, and he was stirring them with a toy mixing spoon.  He held the spoon up to my mouth, so I made some chewing noises, and then he prompted, “Mmmmmm!”  This repeated many, many, many times, and each time he’d prompt me to say, “Mmmmm!” 

Then he started offering me the pot or cup, so I made a slurping noise and said (of course, with a prompt), “Mmmmmm!” 

Now he also makes the eating – for the spoon –  and slurping – for the cup – noises as he samples his own cooking.  It’s really REALLY cute. 

Julie the Kitty

At some point recently, Naomi wanted to hear a story and I wasn’t ready to tell her a real fairy story in all of its gory glory, so I starting making up a story about Julie the Kitty.  Julie the Kitty has an Owner, who remains nameless, and the Owner has Parents, and together they go on adventures.  Adventures which, one might notice, bear startling resemblances to my own children’s lives.  Julie the Kitty goes to the Dentist, or Julie the Kitty is in a Storm.

Tonight, Naomi requested a Julie the Kitty story.

Michael: Which story?

Naomi: Julie the Kitty goes to the Store that Only Sells Chips.

Ah.  I’m sure I can mine some plot gold from that one.  So, I begin telling her this story.  The store, it turns out, has all kinds of chips, and also chip accessories like salsa and plates.  Naomi announces that Julie will have several more errands after this.

Michael: Where should they go next?

Naomi: The salsa store.

I guess they needed more salsa.  So, off they want to the salsa store, with many different kinds of salsa.

Michael: Where should they go next?  [Wait for it, wait for it …]

Naomi: The plate store.

The plate store has big plates, small plates, square plates, round plates, heavy plates, light plates and so on.

Michael: What kind of plates do you think they bought?

Naomi: Invisible plates.

Crate and Barrel has clearly gotten some new inventory since the last time I’ve been there!  You’ll be relieved to know that after the plate store, they all went home and went to sleep.

I can’t complain – I was trying to create stories that were soothing rather than dramatic.  You want drama, go read Hansel and Gretel -- the unsanitized version.  In Naomi’s version of The Three Pigs, the Wolf comes down the chimney and is boiled in the kettle and is eaten by the pigs afterwards. 

Dental matters

For those of you who don’t like the dentist, please know that this post doesn’t contain any in-depth descriptions of dental work.  It does, however, contain lots of information about kids who love the dentist.  Which might be almost as bad for some of you.

***

Hannah’s lost tooth today has been loose for a long time.  The replacement was growing in behind it, though, so it wasn’t actually booting the primary tooth out the way it should have.  Hannah wasn’t big on helping it along too much, so I made an appointment, just to make sure the process was going okay, and the dentist quickly and painlessly helped it along. 

Hannah was given a tooth locket necklace to put the tooth in, and she proudly wore it all day long.  She couldn’t wait to get to bed tonight.  She has a special pillowcase – on loan from Grandma – that Michael and his sister used for their teeth – it has the tooth fairy (who looks strikingly like Tinker Bell) embroidered on it, and a little pocket to put the tooth in.  She wrote a letter to the tooth fairy.

Naomi, when she heard we were going to the dentist, was excited.  I had to explain that it was just for Hannah’s wiggly tooth. 

N:  But I think she’ll want to look in my mouth, too.

Me:  Not this time, but you’ll have your teeth cleaning soon.

N:  But WHY won’t she look in my mouth?!? [She’s beginning to get weepy about it.]

Me:  It’s just for Hannah’s wiggly tooth.  But don’t worry!  Your turn will be very soon!

We got some books about teeth and dentists from the library recently – since their dental exams and cleanings are coming up – and the girls both really enjoyed them.  Naomi wanted the dentist book for her bedtime book for about a week straight.  Yeah.  I don’t know.  But they both love the dentist. 

After today’s trip to the dentist, Naomi was full of games and stories.

N:  Singing Bird lost a tooth, but it was full of decay.  It was black.  The dentist didn’t want to touch it, because she didn’t want to get decay on her gloves.  But the decay was hurting Singing Bird’s gums, so she had to get the tooth out.  Tooth decay isn’t good for gums.  The tooth fairy doesn’t take black teeth, but Tinker Bell does.  The tooth fairy has a closet full of clean teeth, and Tinker Bell has a closet full of black teeth.  The tooth fairy has a magic machine that takes the black out of the tooth.  You just put it on the tooth and press a button.  But the tooth fairy doesn’t know how to press the button, so I have to press the button for her.

Hannah’s knowledge of the anatomy of teeth has been helpful with losing this tooth.

H:  Mom, I think this must be the crown, because I’ve never seen this part before.  Also, these holes must be where the blood vessels and nerves go.  They’re really small holes, though!  It’s hard to believe all that stuff goes in there! 

I, myself, am not a big fan of the dentist.  But my life is much easier since my children are, so I’m not complaining!

Baby’s firsts

There are so many firsts that parents love to keep track of…first word, first hair cut, first steps, first food – the list is long. 

One that you don’t hear much about is Baby’s First Fire.  Simeon thinks it’s highly important, though, and it was so cute that I can’t help but add it to the list of firsts and show you some pictures.  Of course, I realize that my son could be a pyromaniac in the making, but my husband has distinctive pyromaniac traits, and Fr. Jerome is a self-professed pyromaniac, so I figure he’s in good company. 

Michael had brought up the kindling and firewood.  The kindling was in a box that Michael put to the left side of the fireplace.  Of course, as soon as Daddy’s doing anything, Sim likes to check it out.  He got a piece of kindling out in a flash.  He watched Michael for a moment, then held out the kindling:

Me:  I think he’s trying to give you some more kindling.

Michael: I think he’ll cry if I take it from him.

Me:  Give it a try.

Michael:  Okay.

He  took the piece of kindling.  Sim got another one.  No weeping or complaining.  He knew his job:  hand Dad the kindling. 

Here he’s readying the next piece.

In this next photo, he’s wondering why I’m exclaiming about how cute and funny he is.  He’s just doing his job, man.

Sim is blessed with two older sisters who are very concerned for his welfare.  Hannah was a bit freaked out that we were allowing Sim to handle kindling. 

H:  What if he eats it?!?

Me:  He’s not eating it.  He’s handing it to Dad.

H:  But what if he eats it?

Me:  We’ll take it away from him. 

Once satisfied that he wasn’t eating the kindling, Hannah left the menfolk alone to build fire.  This fire was not going to suffer from too little kindling if Sim had anything to say in the matter.  

Look out Fr. Jerome!  You’ll have a partner in fire-building next camping trip!

1st Lost Tooth!

This morning at the dentist! Hannah is very excited!

Another book lover

Tonight as we were helping Sim wind down for bed, he kept signing “book, book, book,” so Michael was going to read to him.  I handed him a book to read.  Sim took a look at it and tried to push it out of Michael’s hand.  When Michael persisted and tried to read it to him, Sim began signing “book, book, book” again and started getting weepy – lip out, beginnings of a sob in his voice.  He seemed to be looking at something, so I checked, and there was a book there that Michael had read him earlier.  I handed them that one, and Sim settled happily in to have Michael read it to him. 

Picky about his literature at the age of 13 months…

Performance

Today, Hannah had a performance with her choir, which is a part of Northwest Girlchoir.  The performance was at what they called  a  “friendraiser,” consisting of a silent auction, lunch, and performance by 3 of the NWGC choirs.  There were two of the younger choirs and then one ensemble from one of the high school choirs. 

Since Sim isn’t the best guest for luncheons and silent auctions (only because he’d like to get down and help himself to everything), we decided that Michael would stay home with the younger kids and I’d go watch Hannah sing.  And have lunch.  And bid on things. 

Unfortunately, I was outbid on the things that I wanted, but I did manage to drive the prices up, so I suppose that’s helpful for the fundraising part of the event.  The lunch was good, and the singing was excellent.  Northwest Girlchoir does a fantastic job of teaching girls to sing, and the older ensemble sang so beautifully …the younger kids were great, too, although certainly not as well-trained yet.  However, in Hannah’s age group there are probably close to 50 girls, and they all sang together, with expression, and very well, which I chalk up to the very great talents of their director.  It’s always fun to see them perform.

***

There were some unintentionally amusing things about the event, too, which I have to share, of course.

1.  I was sitting front and center (having gotten there quite early and selected a good seat), and when I took my place after bidding and getting food, I introduced myself to the moms across from me, who also had girls Hannah’s age singing.  We chatted about how wonderful their choir director is and about various other things.  Then a young woman sat down next to me.  She and I exchanged names and she asked what brought me there. 

Me:  I have a daughter in the choir.

Helen:  What?!  You look so young!  How old is your daughter?

Me:  Six. 

H:  Really?!?  No, you really look too young!

Me:  Thank you.

H:  I mean, I wouldn’t think you’re older than 28!

[Of course, it’s not completely unheard-of for a 28-year-old to have a six-year-old, but that didn’t seem like a necessary point to argue.]

Me:  Thank you, I’m actually 32.

H:  Really?!?  I guess I’m not that far off, but you look so young!

Heheh.  I’m just hoping it wasn’t because I had a ketchup stain on my shirt or something. 

2.  When the girls came in for their performance, they began filing into the risers on the stage.   They looked out at the auditorium filled with tables and people, and several of them had expressions that seemed to bode imminent throwing up.  I suddenly wondered whether that had happened ever and WHAT would one do…Happily, nobody did throw up, but for a few moments, it looked like it might happen. 

3.  At the end of the performance, all the choirs sang a song together, and the applause was loud and long.  There were several girls from Hannah’s choir who were standing on the stage, bowing, and holding their hands over their ears. 

***

Hannah loves Girlchoir.  She loves the rehearsals, she loves her teacher, she loves the singing, she loves the games they play.  She had a fabulous time at this performance and is looking forward with eager anticipation to the next performances. 

Naomi is counting the days until she turns four and can join the youngest choir.  Well, I guess that’s not completely accurate.  Naomi isn’t as practical as that yet, but she does know that once she’s four, she’ll join the choir, and it seems to be the only thing she wants for her birthday. 

Chocolate Chip Scones

Some of you may be familiar with chocolate chip scones.  Others of you may never have had them, and for that, I’m sorry.  They’re awesome.  I’m not talking about any chocolate chip scones, I’m talking about the chocolate chip scones.  Michael and I both make them, but Michael’s are the best.  I’m not sure what his secret is, but his are better than mine.  It’s just true, although he does try to deny it.  I’m not upset about it – I’m happy to have him make scones for me.  And when he’s not available, mine are an acceptable (although definitely inferior) substitute. 

We’ve adapted a recipe from Biscuits and Scones, by Elizabeth Alston.  She’s got some other good stuff in there, too.  Michael made something called an apple slump or grunt or slouch or grouch or something last weekend, and it was divine. 

I’ll give you the recipe, then tell you how we do it.

Simple Sweet Scones

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 T baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

8 T (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut up

1/4 cup granulated sugar (use 1/3 cup for slightly sweeter scones)

2/3 cup milk

Heat oven to 425.  Put flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl; stir to mix well.

Add butter and cut in with a pastry blender or rub in with your fingers, until the mixture looks like fine granules.  Add sugar; toss to mix.

Add milk and stir with a fork until a soft dough forms.  Form dough into a ball, put onto a lightly floured board, and give 10 to 12 kneads.

To make triangular scones, cut dough in half.  Knead each half lightly into a ball and turn smooth side up.  Pat or roll into a 6-inch circle.  Cut each circle into 6 or 8 wedges.  Place wedges on an ungreased cookie sheet – slightly apart for crisp sides, touching for soft sides. 

Bake about 12 minutes, or until medium brown on top.  Put on a linen or cotton dish towel on a wire rack; cover loosely with the cloth and cool completely before serving. 

Ingredients changes:  we use whole wheat pastry flour and rice milk.  Also, you might have noticed that, for a recipe for chocolate chip scones, this one is surprisingly lacking in…chocolate chips.  We add 1/2 cup chocolate chips when the sugar is added.  Sometimes, because of the whole wheat flour, more milk is needed, too. 

Method changes:  we use a food processor.  I’m sorry.  It’s not the most authentic way to do it, but we need to make scones here, and we’ve got limited time, so we don’t rub the butter in with our fingers.   We’ve done it before, we can claim to know how, but it takes a long time.  The kids, actually, enjoy rubbing the butter in with their fingers, and I’m all for letting them do it on occasion, but usually that takes even longer, so we usually just do the food processor.  But don’t, for the love of chocolate chip scones, neglect to take it OUT of the food processor and put it in a bowl before you add the chips.  Otherwise, you will get chocolate little bitsy bits scones, and that’s not the same.

ALSO…we do not let the scones cool to room temperature before beginning to enjoy them unless it’s completely unavoidable.  Chocolate chip scones are delicious when warm.  We do let them cool enough that they don’t burn our fingers or mouths, though. 

I hope you’ll try these sometime.  They really are excellent.  They make a fantastic dessert when you don’t want something too sweet, and they can be enjoyed really any time…I should know. 

More words

“Bu – ckle”

“Ti – ger”

Feeternail angst

Hannah and Naomi hate having their toenails clipped – Naomi calls them feeternails most of the time.  I think they’re ticklish and it’s hard to avoid any tickling when you’re clipping nails.  In any case, they dislike it intensely, and I’ve had to tell them that their toenails have to be clipped or they’ll get so long they’ll wear holes in their socks and have trouble wearing their shoes comfortably.

Today as I was putting Sim down for his nap, I heard some weeping from Naomi’s room, where she was in Quiet Time.  Weeping can mean any number of things, so I thanked God that Sim was pretty much asleep and that Naomi wasn’t crying loudly enough to wake him up, and went to see what was happening. 

“My big toenail [she used the right term this time] made a hole in my sock!” she wailed when I asked what the matter was.

I tried to explain that these were just old socks, that it wasn’t her toenail – I had only clipped them earlier in the week.

“But there’s a hole!”

Apparently, stating that toenails could make holes in socks was translated in Naomi’s mind to mean that toenails are the only things that make holes in socks.  Who knows what kids’ minds will do with things?

I tried to point out that the hole is underneath, where she walks on the toe, not on top where the nail is.  That had no effect.  Remember, this is the little girl who believes that other children can fly off the carousel.  Who even knows what damage long feeternails can do?

I finally got her calmed down and reminded that she has more socks and that nobody is upset with her for the hole in her sock.  For good measure, I threw in that she should ask Dada (when he gets home) whether he ever gets holes in his socks.  Just between us, the answer is yes.  Although it’s not usually from his feeternails. 

Another two syllable word

We've added potty. Since this is Sim's favorite thing to talk about, I guess it's not too surprising. He won't always say it on request, though, he picks his moments.

Cute things my children do.

A couple of weeks ago, Sim learned to say Uh-oh. It is so cute. I try to get him to say it all the time, because I love how he says it. Perhaps I should attempt to record it before he starts saying it differently.

I don't know if that counts as his first word with two different syllables. Is Uh-oh a word? Anyway, yesterday he learned to say tiger. That one is pretty darn cute, too. Then he started saying Daddy, instead of Dada.

I'm not sure I can survive the level of cuteness in the house at this point.

****
Recently, Hannah lamented, "I don't know why we have to wait so long for another baby!"

"But Sim's still a baby, Hannah."

"But if you got a baby in your belly now, it would be a long time before the baby came out."

"You're right, but he'd still be pretty young. What would we do with two babies?"

"Three babies, you mean. I want you to have twins."

****
This conversation occured today after Michael's parents departed.

H: You know, Grandma doesn't have any brothers. Why not?
Me: Well, sometimes God sends brothers and sometimes he doesn't.
H: Yeah, he only sent her sisters. We're lucky, because we have Sim.
N: Yeah, we're lucky because we have Simeon.
Me: Sisters are good, too.
N: Yeah, but we're lucky, because God gave us Simeon.

Fortunately, there is enough angst at various times from various children to keep me from going into permanent cuteness overload.

In which Michael is my hero again

Yesterday evening I discovered that our washer wasn't draining properly. This is not good news, but I thought I knew what the problem was. It happened about five years ago, and the guy who came opened up the washer, unhooked the pump, and found a little bread clip that had gotten into it somehow. After removal, the washer worked perfectly. Of course, it was 5 minutes to do the work, and it cost $90. Fun. And of course, I couldn't remember -- after five years -- how he had done it.

Well, Friday night isn't the best time for appliance repair, so we waited until this morning to try to call anyone. The first company called back and said he didn't have weekend repair technicians. Now that we do cloth diapers, I wasn't looking forward to either waiting until Monday to do wash or going to the laundromat. I was about to start calling around for recommendations when...

Michael came up from the basement (where the washer is) with a rusty safety pin. HE FIXED IT!!! It's draining properly again, put back together again, and the diapers are clean.

Fires

Last evening, Michael made a fire in our fireplace. When Naomi heard what he was planning, she said, "I will look at the fire with my hands over my ears like this," and she demonstrated. Last year Naomi screamed and screamed about the fire Michael built -- "NOT THE CRACKING! NOT THE CRACKING!!" You try explaining to an overly-sensitive 3-year-old that a crackling fire is a cozy sound...For some reason, that was our one and only fire in the fireplace last year. It turned out, though, that she didn't mind the cracking this time. Thank goodness.

Simeon was fascinated by the fire. I'll have to post some photos, because he was so cute about it.

Hannah wanted to get the house as dark as possible for the fire, so went around turning off lights and closing curtains. Then Grandma (Michael's folks are here for a visit) mentioned that in Laura's time she would have been reading by the fire. Well, then Hannah had to be Laura and read by the fire. Then she wanted a candle lit. Then she and Naomi had to do their bedtime tooth brushing by candlelight -- Michael was in charge of the candle, of course. Then Hannah wanted to put on pyjamas by the fire -- because Laura and her sisters would bring their clothes to get dressed by the warm stove.

She headed up to get them from her room and I asked her to please bring Naomi's down, too. She said, "Okay."

To which Naomi responded,"Thank you, Laura."

Guessing games

"Guess what's in here!" says Naomi. She seems to have forgotten that I was the one who just put the cookie in the little bag and bought it for her.

"Um...carrots?"

"NO!! I'll give you a hint. It is flat and has chocolate chips." She is relishing the game -- she has a mischievous grin on.

"Chocolate chip pancakes?"

"NO!!"

"Chocolate chip waffles?"

"NO!! I'll give you another hint. It has eggs in it." It has never occurred to Naomi that in homes of people who aren't allergic, pancakes and waffles have eggs in them, too.

"Oh! A chocolate chip cookie."

"YES!" She smiles and flashes a glimpse of the cookie to me, looking triumphant, as if she was the one who just guessed.

A little while later, she says to Hannah: "Guess what's in here!"

Hannah saw the game happen earlier, but the full import of Naomi's younger age and different skill set hasn't set in. "A chocolate chip cookie."

Naomi, crestfallen, says, "You weren't supposed to guess it right away!"

I mildly comment, "Hannah, she's playing a game."

Hannah gathers that this is a formulaic game, rather than a competitive game.

H: Oh. Okay, I'll try again.
N: Guess what's in here!
H: Um...crackers?
N: NO!! I'll give you a hint. It has chocolate chips in it.
H: Oh. What about a chocolate chip bunny pancake?
N: NO!! I'll give you another hint. It has eggs in it.
H: Oh. A chocolate chip cookie?
N: YES!!

At this point, highly satisfied with herself and her female family members, Naomi decides to make an end to the game by eating the cookie.

Hannah’s first experience of science fiction

was not positive.  She gets Highlights magazine, and she LOVES it.  After it comes in each month, we don’t see her for a couple of days.  Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but she does love this magazine.  She saves all her issues and rereads them regularly. 

This issue, however, had a science fiction short story in it.  Hannah came to me with it and said, “Mom, this story is scary.  I don’t like it.”

I took a look, and it was about a space crash involving a human boy and his alien friend.  I gave Hannah a short explanation of science fiction literature, also telling her that some people like it and some don’t. 

“Well, I don’t.”

Then she began asking a bunch of questions. 

“Mom, it says that oxygen is as deadly to him as sulfur dioxide is to humans.  What’s sulfur dioxide?”

I explained.

“Well, is that what aliens breathe?”

Aliens don’t exist.

“Well, would they breathe it if they did exist?”

I don’t know.  

“But if aliens did exist, then we would be aliens to them!”

Good point.

“I’m not an alien!”

Another good point. 

She continued on from there, and only stopped when she’d gone through all of her beefs with the story.  I have a feeling that it’s going to be a long time before Hannah seeks out more science fiction…

Hannah’s politics

We’re approaching elections, which means that we get all kinds of fun stuff in the mail – flyers, brochures, more flyers – and Hannah loves to get the mail.  She usually brings it in and sorts it, making color commentary on some of them. 

A couple of days ago, she brought in the mail.  “Mom, what’s a toll?” 

I explained.

“Well, Mike O’Brien wants to toll all our streets,” she said, a trifle huffily.  Something tells me he’s not getting Hannah’s vote. 

Painting

We're having some trim on our house painted. This has led to some interesting things going on at our house. For example, out of nowhere, a ladder will appear at a window and then a face will pop up. The kids love this. Simeon is really pleased to see new faces outside the window. Hannah likes to run over and knock on the window and wave. Naomi likes to stand on a stool and watch.

Hannah and Naomi also like to go out and watch in the yard. Today, as I was finishing the last couple of things inside before going on errands, I told the girls they could get their shoes and coats on and go into the back yard until I came out. This is not unusual, but having the painters back there makes it all the more exciting.

As we were driving away, Naomi said that the painters had talked to her. "They said, 'Blah, blah, blah...Are you going to help?' So I said, 'No, thank you.'"

Um..."blah, blah, blah"? I think you need to reach a certain age before you're allowed to use that phrase, and 3 1/2 isn't it. But I'm taking comfort in the fact that she politely declined to help.

New Olympic Sports Needed

I will never be the highest jumper or the fastest skier, but if they had some more pertinent sports, I'm sure that I could win without trouble. For instance, fastest dishwasher loader/unloader would definitely go to me. Sim has developed a fond love of dishwashers, and he recognizes the dishwasher sounds. They call to him, and he comes at a great rate with a big smile on his face to help unload -- even if I'm trying to load -- or to climb in, if the bottom tray is not pulled out. I offer as proof the above picture from our visit to Michael's parents' house.

I've developed strategies for getting the dishwasher loaded and unloaded as quickly and quietly as possible. It may seem ridiculous to be loading and unloading at the speed of light, but that's my dedication to the sport.

Danger!

Unfortunately, Naomi's penchant for dress-ups sometimes leads her into danger. Today, I heard her coming down the stairs. Then I heard the unmistakable sound of a slip followed by a fall. I went running and found her crying on the landing. In these instances, she's often master of the obvious: "I fell down the stairs!"

I determined that although she hit her head and some other spots, she was in general okay, thank God.

The kicker, though, came later. We were in the car and this conversation happened:

H: Naomi, I did tell you earlier that it wasn't a good idea to go down the stairs like a lamb.
N: But I was being a lamb.
Me: Umm...Naomi, were you going down the stairs on all fours?
N: Yes. That's how lambs go down stairs.
Me: Naomi, that's very dangerous. Even when you're being a lamb, please go down the stairs the regular way!

She's a bride

After quiet time yesterday, Naomi came downstairs in Hannah's ghost costume from last year's Halloween. Well, not the hood part of the costume, but the part that looks like a white fleece dress. It's pretty long on her, so it reaches the floor. She couldn't be happier -- brides have to wear long, white dresses, you know!

She immediately began laying out how the wedding would go: these are her flowers, this is her veil, etc. "But who will be my groom?"

I suggested Simeon. That was rejected without further thought. He can't even WALK, you know. So it was finally decided that Michael would have to be the groom. Which meant the wedding had to wait a few hours, but that didn't faze the bride. Nor did she forget her plans. Michael was greeted with the invitation to be her groom. Well, it was phrased as an invitation, but I think it was more of an order.

Michael is new to the little girl dress-up games. He didn't really pay much attention to his sister's games, from what I gather, and he didn't have had any further experience with girls' dress-ups. What he doesn't know yet is that we're still at the very mild end of dress-up games, according to my experience. The best is yet to come...

Sim's crawling

For a long time, Simeon has eschewed learning to crawl. He's got a great "crombat" crawl, as Naomi likes to call it. He's fast and can get anywhere he wants to be. I think he didn't try to crawl because once he got his combat crawl working, regular crawling seemed so slow.

Well, now he's crawling. Not all the time, but more each day. After so long in the combat crawl world, it's somewhat funny to see him doing the regular crawl. Naomi's so used to his combat crawl that when she's pretending she's a baby, that's what she does, not regular crawling. So this is a change.

But, since he's also pulling up on things and beginning to cruise on the furniture, I imagine he'll be walking soon, too, so we'll have something even more different to entertain us.

My compliments to the chef

In one of Hannah's religion exercises, she was to imagine all the most beautiful, fun, wonderful, good-tasting things she knows, and then said that Heaven will be much better than that.

"Wow! Better than black bean chicken? Well...maybe black bean chicken will taste the same, but it will be even more special because God makes it."

Too bad we're not a restaurant. We could advertise: Michael's Black Bean Chicken -- Tastes Like Heaven.

Sudoku

I got a couple of beginner Sudoku books for Hannah, and we tried them out this afternoon. She's hooked. "I LOVE these puzzles, Mom!"

Sim loves books.

I suppose, if you look around our house, that isn't too surprising -- books are everywhere. And Sim sees all of us, all day long, looking at books. So he's got some good role models. It is amusing, though, to see him spend 10 minutes or more looking through books. Hannah, at his age, wasn't too keen on books -- except to eat. Michael, in fact, worried that she wouldn't like to read. Hah! Now we have a hard time prying them out of her hands.

I suppose that means that we're in trouble, since Sim loves them so much already. Once he can read, we'll never see him again.

Naomi's new ambition

is not to be Hello Dolly any more. She wants to be a scientist.

Me: Oh, what will you study?
N: Bugs.
Me: What kind of bugs?
N: The kind that Dada has at work.
Michael: [looks puzzled]
Me: Oh, like computer bugs?
N: Yes! I want to fix bugs all day long.

Michael wishes that more of his coworkers felt the same way...

Huh.

Hannah: Let's be leaves! We can dance around like leaves that have fallen!

Boy Cousin: And I'll be something that eats the leaves!

Errands are slower

these days. It's not because of the number of kids I bring, it's because of the number of potty breaks Sim likes to take when we're out. He loves checking out the potty at the stores we go to. Yesterday we went to the grocery store. Two potty breaks. Today we went to Costco. Two potty breaks. And he actually went each time, so I can't really say that it was a waste of time. I may have to do errands by myself for a while, though, because I don't really like checking out all the potties at all the stores and it's a lot faster.

Poetry

I bought a children's book of poetry recently, the kind with lots of poems and lots of illustrations. Naomi loves it. She loves looking at the pictures, she loves having the poems read to her, she loves asking things like, "Why is the elephant crying?" Hannah is fine with poetry occasionally, but for a couple of days now, this book has been Naomi's top choice for reading. That isn't Hannah's idea of a good time. "I want a real story, not a rhyming one!"

Naomi, however, happily asks for "pottery" (or any other "p" word she can think of) many times a day. I admit that, before I figured out the new " any word starting with p = poetry" formula, I was in the dark about what she was talking about. "Which book, Naomi?" But now that I've figured it out, we're reading a lot of poetry.

Naomi's current favorite: The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat.

Signing

Simeon has a bunch of signs now, and I've found that, in addition to being incredibly useful for communication, it's also a life saver for moments when I need him to hold still, preferably without screaming -- like when I'm trying to put his diaper on him. When I put him on the changing table, he almost always has the reaction of screaming, arching his back, and trying with all his might to get away. But the other day, I started asking, "Can you sign..." questions, and this distracted him enough that I was able to get his diaper on without any more acrobatics -- a very helpful thing, indeed.

He's also discovered that if he puts his hands over his eyes, he can play peek-a-boo. Since peek-a-boo ranks among his absolute favorite pastimes at the moment, this also helps with the changing table blues. It's also one of the cutest things you'll ever see: Sim puts his hands up over his face (most of the time over his eyes, but sometimes just over his forehead), pulls them down, and says, "Boo!" Then he laughs and starts over.

Should it concern me

that if I relate anything in Hannah's math lesson to money, she's a lot more eager to do it?...

Snippets

It turns out that having 6, 3, and 1 and getting back from a trip and homeschooling makes things pretty busy. Hence the lack of content here lately! Sorry about that. Here are some highlights of late:

Hannah: I finished Chippewa Trail [a book I'd given her to read], Mama! Now I'm going to start it again.

[The next day...] Hannah: I finished Chippewa Trail again Mama! You should read it... I know! You can read it twice and then I'll read it twice again. And then you can read it twice again!

****

Sim: Dada? [Signs "Dada"]
Me: Dada's at work, sorry Sim.
Sim: [looks at me significantly, tries the "Dada" sign again] Dada?
Me: Sorry, Sim, but Dada's at work today.
Sim: [obviously believing that I don't understand him, signs "Dada" again -- more slowly and deliberately -- and says, slightly louder] DADA?

...I had no idea that the "just say it slower and louder" reaction started so young!

****

Naomi: I want to wear a dress today.
Me: How about this one?
Naomi: [scornfully] Not a jumper, a dress!

****

Naomi, at Mass, began to fidget and pick at others around the time for the Gospel. Our friend Fr. Jerome was in town and saying the Mass, so I said, "Naomi, look, Fr. Jerome is going to read the Gospel! Ask Dada to pick you up so you can see!"

And it worked! She watched him through the Gospel and through most of the rest of Mass...how shall I convince him to return this week?

****

Hannah: Why do they call all this stuff with shapes and parallel lines MATH? Math is about NUMBERS!

****

Me: Sim, what do you have?
Sim: [Tries to flee as fast as possible, which is difficult, since he's indoors and can only combat crawl. Plus, he seems to have a hard time deciding which direction to pursue flight, but he is fast once he gets going. Of course, this tips me off that he has something he probably shouldn't, so I continue the chase. If I ask him what he has -- or what he's doing -- and he smiles and doesn't move, he's probably fine.]

One!

Simeon has his very first birthday today! To celebrate, we flew home from visiting Grandma Ellie and Grandpa Larry. Well, they also hosted a party for him yesterday with lots of cousins -- many young ones -- and he heartily enjoyed that, although he had to go to bed in the middle of it. We made sure that he got his birthday song, though, and chance to blow out the candle. It turns out Michael blew the candle out, since Sim doesn't seem to have practiced that skill yet, but we'll see about next year.

Lately, Sim has been growing and developing by leaps and bounds. Here are some of his latest accomplishments:

 

--combat crawling at the speed of...well, I guess light would be an exaggeration, but he's fast!

--eating lots of things...most of which he’s supposed to eat, but not all.

 

 

--signing lots and lots of things…his favorites are “potty” and “dog.”  “Potty” is definitely the very favorite.

 

--saying words, too, including “dog” and “potty,” but also many others.

 

--learning how to open cabinets in the kitchen…much to his mother’s chagrin. 

 

--playing peek-a-boo and laughing hilariously about it.

 

--screaming (for fun) in small, enclosed spaces, such as an airplane…yeah…

--attending his first wedding since he was in utero.

Today we turned his seat around in the van.  He seemed pleased, but also a bit confused. 

 

His sisters were quite excited about the whole thing.  He proceeded to fall asleep.  It had been a long day with only a short afternoon nap. 

It’s been a very full year, and it seems to have flown by.  I can’t believe how big he’s gotten.

Oh, and I forgot another recent accomplishment:  he can climb stairs.  When we left for our visit, he could only do one.  Now he’s figured out how to keep going, but, of course, not how to remain up there…he always tries to sit down and would tumble backwards down the stairs if we weren’t right there.  It looks like another gate is going up in our house.

We’re just beginning to discover this sweet baby’s personality.  We love him with all our hearts.

 

It’s hard to believe he’s only been with us for a year – on the outside.  It feels like he’s been here forever.

We look forward to many more happy years.