Playground!

For some reason (I think it had something to do with Gabriel and the camera spending time together) the camera was taking really weird pictures today, but they were so fun, I can't just not share them!

We were on our way to the playground and we ran into our neighbor Peter and asked him to join us (much to his chagrin, I'm sure.  He was walking home with one of his buddies and there was a pack of girls following behind them...)

But he agreed to join us anyway, and what fun!

...and then there was sand where sand was never meant to be...

Peter, the horse.

Static is a wonderful thing...especially when your hair is long and wispy!

Oh, yeah...looking for trouble...

Totally tubular, Dude!

When You See it Through Their Eyes

As I mentioned before, I had a rough day one day last week, but it was completely turned around by the touch of a friend.  There's more to this story, though.

Baby B was with us on Thursday, and he had an absolute blast all morning, and he peacefully drank his bottle and started to snuggle in for a nap.  But then, he realized that he really wanted more milk.  That was the one thing that would make him happy.  Sleep would come later, but he wanted milk, and he would actually have liked that milk now!

But there was none to be had!  There were other yummy treats to be eaten like carrots and banana and squash, but only milk would do, and so there was sadness and tears.  Sucking his thumb wasn't cuttin' it.  He needed milk.  Well, in all honesty, he didn't need the milk.  He had just had some, and there was other food to be had, so it's not like he was starving, but he wanted the milk.  It's what he needed to hit his little warm comfy sleepy time spot.

So, I picked him up and held him.  And I looked into his little teary eyes, and he looked into mine, and there was communication.

I get it, Baby B.  It's what you need right now.  Even though you will get by without it, and you physically don't need it for survival, it's what will fulfill your desires and make you happy.  It's what will lift your spirits and calm your heart.  I get it.  Sometimes, we all just need what we don't need but what we want.

I get it.

So, I did the thing that I never do outside of an emergency.  I called Baby B's mom at work on the phone.  Not texted, called.  Like ring ring...hello?

It wasn't an emergency.

But it was.

It was Baby B's emergency, and I knew how he felt.  I knew that eventually, he would cry himself to sleep, and I knew that in the long run, it probably wouldn't have made much difference, but I also knew that if he were my little boy, I would want to know when he had a need like this.

This does not mean that his every little whim will be fulfilled, nor does it mean that I intend to call his mother at the drop of every cheerio, but what it does mean is that I understand that sometimes, there are just things that have to be done, needs that must be fulfilled.  Does Baby B understand what transpired?  Did our communication go to that level?  I would like to think that in some deep dark recess of his little brain, a synapse was connected and some sort of bond was formed.  A happy snuggle milk mommy caregiver bond so that his trust in me and mankind in general was strengthened just a little.

But maybe not.  Maybe he was just happy to see his mom and get some milk.  Whatever.  She came.  He smiled.  Happy baby.

But I would like to think that somewhere deep inside, he understood, and I hope his mom did, too.

I Think it Needs a Name

This past weekend was a busy weekend.  After some time of trying to deal with two eating babies and only one high chair, I decided to cave and get another chair.  It's just too hard to try to feed one while holding him on your lap while feeding the other while he's sitting in the chair.  Or, if I feed one first, then I have to completely clean the whole chair before I can/want to stick the other one in, and sometimes, as you may know, a hungry little one will not allow you the luxury of that kind of time!

So, here we are!

I found one on craigslist, but it was all the way in Rockville, and it was only $10 less than a new one from Target, so we went with a new one instead.

We just have to be sure that the chairs are not close enough for one to swipe the food of the other!  (I'll let you figure who looks like the most likely swiper...and let me tell you, neither one is as innocent as he looks!) Funny that it's basically the exact same seat, only purchased five and a half years later than the first one!

But this, oh this was my biggest score of the weekend!


The Joovy Big Caboose Stand-On Tandem Triple Stroller!

I got this off craigslist, and I was so excited to get it!

I have a double stroller that is a side-by-side jogger, but it's just too wide to fit through doors and basically anywhere except for walks around a neighborhood or park on a sidewalk or wide path.  It's a perfect stroller that is super easy to use and very lightweight, but it's just too wide for what we need when we go places like the library or museum.

So, I was looking for a front to back double, but then I realized that a double would only hold Jesse and Baby B, and we often go for long walks around the lake or at Huntley Meadows, and Gabriel just can't keep up with the pace that I like to set.  As energetic as he is, he is NOT a quick walker!  He likes to creep along and look at everything and preferably poke it with a stick, if there's one handy which is great for exploration purposes, but really annoying for everything else!

I realized that what I really needed was a triple stroller, but I wasn't too keen on getting one that had 3 seats with trays in front of them because Gabriel likes to get in and out of the stroller as we cruise (usually to poke something with a stick), and that would just be a pain to lift him in and out of a seat all the time.

But when I typed in 'triple stroller' in craigslist, this Joovy is what came up.  I did some research and decided that this would be a good option for us.

It is very big (55" from front to back!), but it does exactly what we need it to!

We took it out on the road for the first time today.  We went to Walmart to get some milk (sometimes I wish we could just have a cow!  We drink so much milk!!!) and a birthday present for someone who will remain un-named here (even though she is so far behind in reading this that by the time she actually reads this she will be turning 20, not 15).

 Jo was mad because she didn't get to ride on it, (as pictured above) but she is really a bit big for it.  She is so tall that her head sticks way up if she standing on the platform and it doesn't fit under the sun shade if she is sitting down.  But I did take the strap off the jogger and put it on the handle of this one so she has a strap to hold on to for crossing streets.  The strap is supposed to be to put around your wrist so the stroller doesn't get away from you when you jog, but seeing as I don't jog, that's not likely to happen, so we have figured out another mode of employment for it.  I think that I will fashion another one from some sort of strap so that I can have one on both strollers instead of having to remember to switch it back and forth.

Anyway, this thing is a beast!  It is beautiful!  It rolls well, handles as well as you can expect a stroller of this size to handle and folds down actually pretty small.  It was super hard to push on the way back, though, since we had filled the bottom with groceries, too.  It seems like it would be nice to have a longer bar in the back for more leverage to steer it.  Maybe some sort of handles that stick out the sides that you can fold down when you don't need them, or some sort of contraption to steer the front wheels from the back.  (Elizabeth and I toyed with the notion that all the tires should swivel like the carts at Ikea, but we quickly discarded that idea when we saw how quickly it would lose control and roll out into traffic when you strolled over a slanted driveway apron.)

So, I feel that a beauty such as this designed for long voyages deserves a name.

Any suggestions?

Sleep, Baby, Sleep!

It is sometimes a real challenge to get all of the kids to take their naps at the same time.  It seems that when one goes down, another gets up and, it seems, tries to get everyone else who is down to wake up!  I mean, I can understand.  It's much more fun to play with your siblings and friends than it is to do something boring like take a nap!

But I still have the hope and dream of getting everyone into bed and sleeping around the same time everyday.

Today is actually not so bad.  Jo went to bed herself easily.  Gabriel was a bit harder, but once he settled, he was out like a light.  Jesse took some time before he was tired enough, but then he rolled over and slept as soon as I put him down.  So that leaves Baby B.

He is usually my best sleeper (after Jo, who usually sleeps very well and easily for her naps).  But not today. He has realized that across the room from his bed is something very very fun...Gabriel!  So, Gabriel is sleeping, and Baby B is very tired, but he keeps hopping up and 'calling' Gabriel with giggles, squeaks and jumps up and down in his bed.  Then, he throws himself on the mattress and snuggles with his blanket for a minute and then pops back up to jump and giggle again!

Thank goodness for white noise machines!  I think that there is no way things would work out without those! I actually just got another one for the downstairs room where Jesse (my very very worst daytime sleeper!) takes his 15 minute catnaps.  It's not as good as the one I have upstairs, but it's ok.  I kind of wish I hadn't spent the money on it, though, and had held out for another one like the one we have upstairs.

We have this upstairs...the Sony Dream Machine,


and some other cheap one downstairs that only makes noise that doesn't even really sound like it should.  It sounds more annoyingly repetitive than soothing, but it seems to help Jesse, so I guess we'll keep using it for now.

Anyway, I'm going to take advantage of my few minutes peace....

Happy Birthday, Jesse!

We celebrated Jesse's first birthday on Saturday and he was so cute!  Elizabeth made his cake and she also made a little one that he could dig into as well.  We figured that we didn't really want his sticky fingers in the big cake, so she made a little one, too.  They both turned out really well.

First, we had some pizza...

 Then Jesse began to wonder where his cake was!

 There it is!

 But he didn't really know what to do with it.  He touched it and started crying because he doesn't really like his hands all messy.  Any time he is eating and gets his hands dirty, he will hold them out for us to clean them.  But while he was crying, I took some of the frosting and put it in his mouth.  So THAT'S what that's for!  You could see the wheels turning in his little head...

...and this is how he figured out how to solve his messy hand problem!

  Smart kid!

But Gabriel was having a hard time waiting for the real cake.  We were all looking at Jesse and watching him eat his cake, and we heard 'Mommy, I don't want to eat this part' from Gabriel.

Well, of course not, silly guy!  That's the candle!!!!

Anyway, here's the cake.  It was half chocolate and half vanilla.  Yum!

Then, he opened his presents, and he love love loved them!  Especially this helicopter from Baby B.

So cute!  So fun!

The Amazing Flying Potholder!

Last week we had some serious Valentining going on.  The kids all made hearts from their handprints...

 ...and then they made borders and decorations to put around their handprint hearts.

It was a lot of fun and turned out really cute.  But, of course, I don't have any pictures of the final products, and we have already sent them away to grandparents and aunts and uncles.

While all this was going on, there was more fun happening in the kitchen:

Both of the babies were basically following Elizabeth and me around being kind of fussy and wanting to be picked up, so Elizabeth devised a way to entertain and distract them while allowing them to remain on the floor.  She took a long string and tied it to a potholder.  Then she threw the potholder across the kitchen to where they were sitting and then reeled it back in.  It was so cute to watch and they were very much entertained with this 'amazing' invention!

A Maiden Voyage

We did it.  We finally braved the big wide world and traveled to the library with all of the kids in tow.  Elizabeth and I planned carefully.  The timing had to be just right:  after morning nap at 9, but before lunch.  So, when the little ones woke up at about 10, we mobilized.

First, we had to feed Jesse and Baby B.  Then change diapers.  Pack the diaper bag.  Put Jo and Gabriel into the car.  Give them a snack to eat in the car so that they don't run all around and impede progress.  Apply coats and hats to Baby B and Jesse.  Stuff them in their car seats.  Attach said seats to the car.

Whew!

Drive down the street.

Arrive.  Choose parking space carefully.  Must be near the entrance with the least amount of street to cover to get the door, but it must have enough space around it to open all the doors.  Park.  Unload.

Stroller first.  (Still looking for a front/back double stroller.  We had to use the jogger today.  It almost didn't fit through the front door of the library.)  Then one baby followed by the other.  Then Gabriel.  Jo.  Books.  Diaper bag.

Squeeze through the entrance.  Snake through the shelves to the kids' room.  Park outside 'cuz the stroller won't fit.

Yay!  We made it!  And fun was had by all.

Then, reverse the process, arrive home, make lunch, feed 4 hungry mouths, tuck things one and two into their cribs.  Read 3 and 4 a new library story.  Tuck 3 into bed followed closely by 4.

Whew!  Done!

We did it!!!!

Home Alone!!!!

Today was a big day for me.  Elizabeth was off in DC with her homeschool group (I still get a kick out of that one!) so that meant that I was home alone with all 4 of the little ones all by myself til she got back at about 2:30.  It really isn't bad, but since this is the first full week that we have had Baby B, and this is only the 3 day that we have had him full time, there has been some transition time for all of us.

For me, I think that the biggest transition has been that I have to set an alarm to get up now.  I have not had to use an alarm for years.  I used to not have to be at work til 9, and the kids got me up in plenty of time for that, and before that, I worked overnight, so I was up anyway when I went in, but now, I have to be ready for Baby B at 6, so I have to set my alarm so that I am up and ready for him then.  It actually makes me kind of nervous through out the night thinking about how the alarm is going to go off, and sharing the room with Gabriel and Jesse makes it worse because the last thing I want when I get up before dawn is to have 2 little people hanging on my while I am trying to pry my eyes open!

Also, of course, there is the getting used to Baby B and his temperament and schedule.  It seems that he is adapting well to the schedule that the rest of the kids have and pretty much sleeping when Jesse sleeps in the morning, and again when everyone sleeps in the afternoon.  That is perfect for me and seems to be working for him.  I didn't even do anything to make that happen, but I think he is just feeling the rhythm of the house.  And he doesn't cry much, which is good, too.  He's a pretty easy going little guy, so I can't complain.

I still have not taken them all anywhere other than out in the yard, of course, and on walks around the neighborhood, but next week is MOPS on Tuesday morning, and I don't want to miss that, so I guess that will be my trial run.

But actually, it hasn't been that bad being home every day.  I have gotten a lot more schoolwork done with Jo but I think that Elizabeth has gotten a bit less time in since she's been helping me.  But I think that will work itself out with some patience and practice as well.

Jo's handwriting is getting much better.  She has been doing copy work everyday.  I have her write her AWANA Bible verse.  This helps her memorize it, but also, since she has it memorized, I can ask her how you spell words that she can't necessarily read on her own, but then she realizes that she can read it through recognition.  It's been really fun to see her light up when she 'gets' it.  I also hit up the clearance bins at Michael's (70% off the red sticker prices!) and got her some more rubber stamps to add to her collection.  I think that she is happy to have something other than Christmas themes to work with.

  She got the marker tower and some Christmas stamps for Christmas, but she is so good and responsible with her things that I have let her use my Stampin' Up stamps and markers, too.  I figure that even if they get 'messed up' at least they are being used!

Gabriel was working on scissor work today:  Open 'em, close 'em.  Open 'em, close 'em... and he actually did pretty well.  He had been having a really hard time turning them the right way in his hand and making them work.  I think that when he saw the true power of the tool of destruction that I was placing in his hands, he caught on faster.

Who?  Me?  Destructive????  Never!

And then, of course, there was some random cuteness going on.  Jo is loving having another little one to take care of!!!!