How Time Flies!

Here we are in May already! There's nothing like having a baby to make you realize just how fast time flies by. Justin will be a year old in less than a month now. Of course this realization is both exciting and heart wrenching at the same time. He is suddenly mobile: experimenting with crawling and pulling up onto his feet. It's a relief in many ways since I have been worried that there was something wrong with him because he wasn't crawling yet. He also got his two bottom front teeth in last Sunday, and he has gone back to being a good sleeper. (Although I'm not sure I should say that here since in my last blog I bragged about how Christian had been accident-free, and the day after that post he started having accidents again! Did I jinx myself or what?)

Speaking of sleepers: Grant and Christian are now non-nap-takers. They quit "cold turkey". This has been a trade off of sorts, but overall, I think it is working out well for everyone. The boys were always good nappers. They would sleep for two or three hours in the afternoon and still sleep all night. But lately, it was becoming increasingly difficult to get them asleep at nap times. And after they slept so much in the afternoon, it was difficult to get them to go to sleep at night. We would put them to bed at 9 o'clock, but they really weren't tired, and often didn't even fall asleep until 10 or 10:30. On days when they missed their naps, we would put them to bed early - at 7:30 or 8 o'clock, and they would fall asleep almost instantly. It was on those days that I realized how great it was to have the boys asleep for the night and not be completely wiped out myself. Since Grant's not going to be able to take a nap once he starts kindergarten in a few months anyway, I decided he might as well go ahead and get used to not having a nap everyday. And since Grant and Christian share a room, it was just logical to keep them on the same schedule.

The trade off is that I no longer get a break or any time to myself all day long...but I do get some special quiet time (and they know it has to be quiet for the daycare children and Justin to sleep) with just Grant and Christian each afternoon. Grant tends to dominate this time period with the things he wants to do. Christian is so much more independent, that I don't feel like he wants to "play" with his Mommy. But this situation has taken me from just being excited about Grant going to kindergarten for his sake, to now being excited about it for me and Christian. I can't yet imagine what Christian and I will do with this time each afternoon, but I am looking forward to finding out...and finding out so much more about Christian. Of course it would be presumptuous of me to think that I might completely figure him out. He is still, and always will be, Christian, our enigma.

~Andi

Christian's Epiphany

When Justin turned 6 months old, I decided it was time to get Christian potty trained. I wasn't feeding the baby as often at that point, so I had more time to spend in the bathroom with Christian. As soon as we discovered that Christian was a "stander-upper" instead of a "sitter-downer" like Grant was, he was staying dry most of the time. A "Dry Days" chart worked really well for Christian. As soon as he got so many stickers on his chart, he was allowed to pick out a new (but inexpensive) toy from the store. Although staying dry most days, Christian was still having trouble with going "number 2" in his pants. I made a new chart called "Christian's Poo-Poo Chart", but the only stickers on it were from the couple of times that I caught him just about to do his business and rushed him to the bathroom just in time. Most other times I just had to clean up the mess and change his underwear, all the while reminding him that poo-poo goes in the potty not in his underwear.

And so it went for a couple of months (what seemed like an eternity) until 2 weeks ago. Christian told me that he had to go to the bathroom - I assumed he just had to go pee-pee, but a few minutes later I heard him shouting with joy, "Mommy, I made poo-poo!" I hurried in to verify this fact and congratulate (and wipe) him. Indeed, he had gone poo-poo in the potty all by himself! As I was helping him put his pants back on, he looked up at me and said (like it was a new and profound idea), "Poo-poo goes in the potty and not in my underwear." I said, "Yes, that's right" (while in my mind wondering how many times I had said this exact same thing to him over the past few months). Well, no matter now...it was like his own personal bit of revelation. Christian hasn't had a single accident since his epiphany (knock on wood).

~Andi

I figured it out!

I got the pictures from the camera to the computer...seems like I am missing some, though. Most are from outside since that's where we are spending much of our free time right now.

Here's Justin - fast asleep. He sleeps exactly like Grant with his hands behind his head.

This is one of my daycare children, Trinity. It was such a nice day outside yesterday, that she just climbed onto the swing and fell asleep.

Here is Christian playing in the sandbox - pink sand (Grant's idea).
This was back in March when it wasn't quite warm yet, but we still bundled up and went outside anyway.

Justin loves to swing - the faster the better. He giggles a lot. I need to get it on video.

Have a wonderful Spring!

~Andi

Late Bloomer

I'm certain I won't have much time to write...one of the seven sleeping children is bound to wake up soon, but I'll just take advantage of the quiet while I have it.

Here it is April already. March actually turned out to be quite a busy month for us. Justin had a 9-month checkup, Grant had an eye exam, dental exam, and medical exam/immunizations to get all ready for Summer Enrichment Preschool this summer and Kindergarten this Fall. His kindergarten registration was also in March, so he got to see his school and meet the two kindergarten teachers (we won't find out which one will be his teacher until this summer).

Everyone had another cold in March, just to make sure winter didn't go away without us going through at least 3 more boxes of kleenex. The illness was short-lived for everyone except Brian, and Justin's runny nose kept hanging around and making him kind of miserable. We all seem back to good health now though. This beautiful weather is certainly helping.

Justin turned 10 months yesterday. He is double digits now! He is 29.5 inches long (85th percentile) and 21 pounds (50th percentile). He still has no teeth and still is not crawling, but his checkup was good and he is excelling verbally. He already says lots of words with meaning, and he is really showing his personality to us now. He loves to be played with, especially by his brothers. He is very social and will cry if he is left alone in a room. He also cries if I take him into the bathroom without giving him a bath. He LOVES baths. I think he's cuter than ever, and other people are constantly telling me how cute he is, so it must be true. I would post pictures, but they are all still on the camera. Brian made some changes to the computer and the old way of transferring pics to the computer doesn't work, and I haven't figured out the other way yet...but as soon as I do, there will be pictures. We did have family portraits taken in March, and most of you who read this blog will be getting copies of those pictures if you haven't already received them.

Have a Happy Easter, everyone.

~Andi

Grant's reverse-evolution

Last falls PBS premiered a new children's show that airs every morning called Dinosaur Train. I have personally come to really enjoy the show, and it has done a fantastic job of making Grant and Christian up and coming dinosaur experts. I also loved dinosaurs as a child, and the way this show is put together is ingenious in my humble opinion. The songs "Hungry, Hungry Herbivore," and "Every Dinosaur Poops" should be required viewing for children of all ages world-wide.

A couple nights ago, this dinosaur fascination reached new heights in our family. Grant was chasing Christian around the house after dinner with a T-Rex toy he has, and that quickly turned into me suddenly getting eaten by this toy. As I rose from my chair and declared my lack of fear for a tyrannosaurus-rex, justified by my bold announcement of being a Daddysaurus-rex, I delighted in the screams of my two oldest sons as they ran down the hallway towards their bedroom to get away from the family's newest version of the daddymonster. My joy was short lived...

Upon reaching their bedroom, the boys realized that they had effectively trapped themselves and guaranteed their quick demise. This epiphany held Christian in wide-eyed giggling fear as the Daddysaurus-Rex slowly came down the hallway, shaking the whole house with each step. But this epiphany did not have the same effect on Grant. In one of those moments of fatherhood that completely amazes you, my oldest son stepped in front of his younger brother and thundered at me in complete and total defiance of his fear the following:

"I'm not scared of the big bad Daddysuarus-Rex, because I'm a Monkeylawfulsaurus!!! ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!"

After this shockingly brazen statement of fearlessness, I did not have a moment to think or act or respond in any sort of way before I had this new and unknown creature flying down the hallway at me with nothing in its eyes other than reckless abandon. Imagine my confusion and shock- I was the Daddysuarus-Rex, the terrifying king of the household, and I was suddenly being attacked, ATTACKED, buy this strangely courageous new villain. So great was my shock that I could not respond, I was spellbound by the defiance, the boldness, and the hilarity of my sudden change of circumstance. "Monkeylawfulsaurus? How the heck did he come up with that?" I thought to myself as I was pushed down the hallway and into my bedroom by my new nemesis. I was still chuckling at the name of my attacker as I was shoved onto my bed face-down. My mirth, however, quickly turned to utter horror as the reality of what a Monkeylawfulsuarus was capable of doing to a Daddysaurus-rex. Who would think that such a silly little creature with such an hysterical name, would be so devastating? My laughter became screams as the Monkeylawfulsuarus ferociously plunged his face into the small of my back, shaking his head violently back and forth, roaring like a bloodthirsty demon, and using JUST enough teeth to make me wonder if I was about to get bitten for real. The worst part was that it tickled. It tickled TERRIBLY!!! For a solid five minutes I lay face-down on my bed writhing in agony, screaming like a little girl while under the assault of this fiendishly wicked man-eating monster. I begged for mercy, I screamed for help, I flailed anything I could flail, but it was to no avail. From the dining room I faintly heard those most cruel words ever shouted, condemning me to my fate:

"Sorry I can't help you right now, I'm feeding Justin."

Eventually, the villain had his fill and victoriously climbed off his prey, turned off the light, and left the room, shutting the door behind him while I was gasping and choking for air. Never before have I known such fear. It is difficult for me to sleep at night now, knowing there is a Monkeylawfulsuarus lurking in the very next room. I do not know if I will ever be attacked by one again, but it is something I would not wish upon my worst enemy. I have been permanently scarred, psychologically speaking, from this terrifying event. Does Aflac cover Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder? I should look into this. In the mean time:

FEAR THE MONKEYLAWFULSAURUS!!! AVOID HIM AT ALL COSTS!!!

Christian Speak

It seems like Christian is talking and talking nowadays. All of a sudden I recognize about 99 percent of the words coming out of his mouth. However, just because I know the words he is speaking, doesn't necessarily mean I understand what he is trying to say! And sometimes he makes up funny words on purpose - just to throw me.
His imagination is just exploding right now, too. He loves to pretend that he is a character from a book or movie that he has read or seen. And the rest of us always get assigned a character as well. It is really fun to see who I get to "be" each day.
Recent funny things Christian has said:
One morning I came out of my bedroom before sunrise and heard a little voice saying something, but couldn't quite make out what it was...The door to Grant and Christian's room was open a crack and the hall light was on. As I opened the door to the boys' room, I saw Christian put his hand over his eyes and say "Aaaaahhhh! It's the Ghostlight!" This will only be funny to you if you have seen the movie "Cars". It was so funny to me that I am still laughing about it.

The other day Christian was sitting cross-legged for a while and tried to get up and told us that his foot was "broken". We think he meant that his foot was asleep.

Today he was playing a game with Grant called "Hullaballoo" (not too sure of the exact spelling). At one point in the game, Grant was supposed to do a dance. Grant's idea of dancing is running around the room as fast as he can. When he was finished Christian said, "Grant, that's a great funky dance!"

Amazing what little it takes from my children to elicit a smile from me.
~Andi

Grant's Sleepover

Grant's sleepover went off without a hitch. He was such a big boy about everything - he even packed himself. It was interesting spending that much time with Christian without Grant. He seems so much better behaved without Grant around...imagine that. It was quiet, too. Grant is our little "bossy boiler" and thinks he runs the show around here. While it was a nice break from him Friday night - both Christian and I were happy to see him on Saturday.
~Andi