Natalia

Some days the kids just make me smile. Yesterday was one of those days for Natalia. It started at dinner. Jeff and Ree were off at gymnastics, and it was just me, Leon, Michael, and Natalia for dinner. (And, yes, I realize how insane our house has gotten when a small dinner is four people and two big dogs.) At Ree's preschool, the kids sing a song thanking the earth for providing food before they eat lunch, and lately we have been using this as our blessing before dinner. Last night as the boys and I sang, I noticed Natalia also had her hands clasped together and she too was "singing." It was totally adorable. And rather unexpected since I hadn't even seen her bring her hands together even to clap.

She apparently read my mind, because after dinner she started clapping. And clapping. And clapping. And her siblings kept encouraging her by clapping back. They were all pretty cute. It turns out Ree had first seen her clap yesterday morning, and that started the clapping game with the sibs.

Natalia was also very affectionate yesterday and kept crawling over to give me big, drooly open mouth kisses. I'm sure they sound completely disgusting to anyone else, but trust me, they were totally sweet.

Then last night when Natalia got up for her 10:45 feeding, (She has an amazing internal clock going. She wakes up between 10:43 and 10:47 every night no matter what is going on. And we have yet to hear our neighbors make any noise at the time. Kinda crazy.) she cried a little, settled back down, and settled on calling to me until I came to rescue her from her horrible old crib. "Mum? Muuum? Mum?" And her little British name for me is just as cute as when Ree called me "Emma."

I have no idea what put her in such a good mood. It could be that the latest round of teeth popped through (she's up to 10 now, and she isn't quite 9 months old, for anyone who is counting), but I am going to remind her it is because she slept. Yesterday morning I tucked her into her crib at 4:45 following her last feeding and she slept in her crib until 7:45. Amazing.

Career Planning

In other Leon news, last night I saw Leon giving a bottle to a stuffed animal, and I couldn't help but ask if he wanted to be a dad when he grew up.

Leon: No.
Me: Oh, okay. What do you want to be when you grow up?
Leon: Mickey Mouse.

Then Michael chimed in, "And I'm going to be Buzz Lightyear. To infinity, and beyond!"

I hope they are ready for these two on preschool career day.

Bedmaking

My parents came to visit back in the summer, and on the day they arrived, I had to work. We've given up on actually cleaning before guests arrive, but we do at least attempt to straighten the house enough so that there is a path from the front door to the living room.  (What can I say? We are thoughtful!) But, with me at work, that left the straightening and tidying to Jeff who also had to take care of the daily needs of four kids.

When I arrived home from work, I noticed that while our bed was made, the quilt was on inside out. Not a big deal since the bottom is also quilted and a lovely navy blue, and it made me smile. It wasn't until later in the day I found out why it was like that. It wasn't that Jeff was so distracted that he didn't even notice. It turns out Leon had gone in and made the bed himself, including putting the throw pillows on the bed. How could Jeff possibly undue Leon's work when the little guy was so proud of himself for helping to get ready for his grandparents?

I had completely forgotten about this until I went to crawl into bed last night. Again, the bed was made, and I was not responsible. I highly doubted Jeff had taken the time to make the bed on a football day, and as soon as I pulled back the covers, I knew Leon had been helping again. He had pulled up the quilt, but the sheets and blanket underneath were still all tangled. (So, basically, he already has the college style bed making cuz the parents are visiting thing down.) He had the pillows piled up with bed pillows on one side and throw pillows on the other. And if I had any doubt as to who had been in my bed, there was a nice pile of sand all over my side of the bed where he had curled up and gotten cozy, after playing in the sandbox.

Seneca Gun Fun

So in a year in which Wilmington has experienced snow, earthquakes, water spouts,and a hurricane, we can now throw Seneca Guns into the mix. Jeff said these rattled the whole house, especially the sunroom and woke Natalia from her nap. Didn't they get the message not to wake the baby???

The Co-Sleeping Bed Hog

Natalia was a great sleeper until she was about 4 1/2 months old, and it's been downhill ever since. Starting a few weeks ago, she started getting up about once an hour at night, and at best we would get one stretch each night where we could sleep for an hour and fifteen minutes to an hour and a half. (And by "we", I really mean "me" since Jeff is exhausted enough after chasing after the kids and dogs all day to sleep through it most of the time as the non-nursing parent.) In our desperation, we had totally given up on trying to get Natalia to sleep in her crib, and when she slept, it was either in her swing or cuddled up with me. Then last Wednesday, the motor in her swing died. She is 8 1/2 months old and I figured we were more than overdue for giving it up. Wednesday night was a special kind of miserable, and after spending about 9 hours curled up with her to only sleep for about four hours, I stopped at a consignment store on my way home from work on Thursday to buy another swing. I also bought a music and light attachment for her crib (and I seriously contemplated stopping at the liquor store for a big bottle booze for me).

Thursday night wasn't great, but it was better than Wednesday night. They say sleep begets sleep, and she has been taking good naps for Jeff in her swing. At night, however, she much prefers to sleep with me, and we've even had a few 3 and 4 hour stretches of sleep the past few nights. I will take it, even if she tends to punch and kick me in her sleep. Not to mention, the girl is a bed hog.

Charlie Brown

In many ways Michael is a smart kid. He has been reading books for several months now. It's hard to day whether he has memorized them or if he is reading sight words, but either way, he's got the concept and he is doing more with books at 2 1/2 than even Ree did.

However, then there are the other moments. I won't say Michael was dumb tonight, but I will say he was having a Charlie Brown moment. Shortly after I gave Leon and Michael two of our old cell phones to play with, Michael started crying. Sadly, I immediately looked at Leon, but he was busy chatting away. "Hi, Gran...uh-huh...uh-huh...OH! That's too bad..."

So I asked Michael what was wrong. He looked at me, tears streaming down his face and said, "No one was home."

Our Weekends

Ever since the boys were born, people have been telling us we should have our own reality show.  (This comes from friends and casual acquaintances.  Strangers just keep on telling us, "You have your hands full."  Right.  Thank you for that brilliant insight.)  Anywho, what people don't realize is how incredibly boring our lives are.  They would make one episode where we did dishes and laundry and realize, oh, that's all they do.  Huh.  Jeff's best friend did recently come up with an interesting twist.  He thought we should have a reality show sponsored by Direct TV in which they provided us with NFL Sunday Ticket so Jeff could watch Bengals games at home.  That could probably lead to at least one full episode of unintentional comedy with entertaining moments in other episodes.

While I was feeding Natalia earlier tonight I was looking at facebook and in reading everyone's weekend status updates I was again reminded of the dullness of our lives.  I suppose I could post about my weekend too, but I'm not sure anyone wants to read things like:

Woohoo!  It's Friday night!  I finally have time to take apart my breast pump and clean all the parts.  Sweet.

Jeff is at the mall with the big kids so I can clean.  After 4 hours I finally got all the floors swept, mopped, and vacuumed.  Managed to fill a trashcan with dog fur, black sand, and mystery trash.  Good times.

On the other hand, there's a lot to be said for not leading exciting lives.  I have time to cook and we've been enjoying lots of good food.  I am even learning to cook fall produce (something that has always scared me).  We've also been able to play outside every day lately, and we are enjoying amazing weather.  Temperatures have been in the 70s and 80s the past two weekends with beautiful, clear blue skies.  The three big kids can finally really play together, and they can spend hours running around the back yard together.  Also, because there are three of them (and because Ree is a bossy five-year-old girl) they lapse into school activities outside.  Today Ree made the boys "stand in line" to take turns playing hopscotch, and I love when they all hold hands and play ring-around-the-rosie.  Plus, you never know when the kids might burst into song.  A Michael-led rendition of "Yellow Submarine" with Leon chiming in on random words may not be the same as going to see Paul McCartney cover it, but most of the time, it's good enough for me. 

Oh, cool

The boys are currently in one of my very favorite stages of language development.  They are suddenly busting out grown up expressions and using them correctly.  I giggled every time Ree did it.  I knew she didn't really know what she was saying, but she still managed to use phrases appropriately.  Michael is a myna bird, so it's even more exaggerated with him.

Part of the humor (to me at least) is he uses so many of my expressions.  The other night as I was tucking the boys in, Leon discovered the stuffed baby monkey he sleeps with was missing.  Leon immediately climbed out of bed and began ransacking the house for this monkey that is approximately 1" wide and 2" long.  Michael wanted to know what was going on, so I told him that Leon had the mommy monkey but not the baby monkey.  Michael's face indicated he was clearly concerned, and he said most seriously, "That's not good."

And, really, both boys have their moments.  Like at dinner last night when I took their plates into the kitchen to get seconds.  I asked Michael if he needed more baked beans, and he replied, "I sure do."  Meanwhile, I went ahead and refilled Leon's plate without asking.  When I got back to the table I said, "I got you more peppers, onions, and mushrooms."  He simply replied, "Oh, cool."

Autumn Equinox Fun

As I mentioned previously, we attended a very lovely autumn equinox celebration last Friday.  The party was held on a large, private wooded lot out in the country.  It was so relaxing, and it felt like I was back in Athens.  The hosts were three families who homeschool and I'm pretty sure the only reason we were cool enough to get an invite was two of the families also had a two-year-old daughter when their twins were born.  (And crazily enough, both of those moms were also in the same situation as us in that they didn't learn they were having twins until an ultrasound for the anatomy scan was done around 20 weeks.)

The children in the homeschool families made banners with their wishes for the earth. Under the pictures are words like strength, joy, and love, and all the guests walked under the banners before going on a walk in the woods to look for signs of autumn. As we were walking, we realized it was the first time the boys had ever been in the woods.  Our poor little sheltered beach dwellers!  They were very excited, even if they kept tripping over roots and falling into holes.

The kids all sat on two blankets (there were a lot of kids there!) while one of the moms told a story about the harvest, and the kids brought things from nature to represent the harvest and to share and discuss.  I personally love the shark book sitting at the back of the table, but Leon was obsessed with the eggplants.

We had a picnic dinner (Ree also counted this as a first since the only other picnics we've attended were at preschool) and the kids all ate heaping plates full of vegetarian food.  I knew Leon and Michael would eat the pasta and rice salads as well as lots of raw veggies, but I wasn't sure Ree would eat anything.  I was glad she embraced the moment.

Following dinner, the kids played instruments and sang songs around a bonfire. (Yup, another first for the boys. They slept through the only other bonfire they've attended.) This photo is actually Michael holding a rain stick about 30 feet from the fire.

For us, the party abruptly ended when Michael stepped away from the bonfire area and realized it was dark.  He freaked out and took off running for the car with the rest of us tagging behind.  But with any adventure, it's not complete until someone (usual Michael) is in tears.  We still chalked the party up as a success.

Proper Parenting?

I am horribly addicted to magazines. It is an affliction that began way before I felt compelled to buy every issue of Bop in order to learn the latest news about NKOTB. (These kids of the internet age will never know what it was like to have to wait a whole month before another installment of bad celebrity gossip.) I can remember being much younger than that and excitedly curling up in a recliner at my grandmother's house with her old issues of Better Homes and Gardens. (I was a wild and crazy kid!) 

I am that person that will read magazines anywhere, yes, even the icky doctor's office copies. (I have four kids and two dogs. Being a germaphobe is out of the question.) This leads to lots of random knowledge about how to clean my house (I should do that some day), manage my finances, and the latest diet fad (Paleo, anyone?). It also occasionally leads to some insight.

I was flipping through a copy of Vogue I picked up in the break room at work, when I read this. "We, the mothers of North Seattle, were consumed with trying to do everything right. Breast-feeding was simply the first item in a long, abstruse to-do list: Cook organic baby food, buy expensive wooden toys, create an enriching home environment, sleep with your child in your bed, ensure that your house was toxin free, use cloth diapers, carry your child in a sling, dress your child inorganic fibers...And don't quit your job...Also, don't forget to recycle." The list sounds so familiar in the things I feel like I should do as well as the author's sentiment that it's not possible to do them all. I suppose one of the benefits of having four kids,though, is there is no time to agonize over what we should be doing. We just have to do what works for us and our kids. Quite a few of those items are on our list, but many don't make it, and that's okay.  Despite their best efforts at doom, the kids were still alive the last time I checked...

Hope (and willows) Spring Eternal

So back in August, Hurricane Irene did a little landscaping to our front yard.  The next weekend, Jeff's parents came to visit, and Jeff and his dad took a chainsaw to the remnants of our weeping willow.  I never got the whole story, but they ended up leaving the stump.  Little did they know, it would quickly work on growing back.

They cut the rest of the tree into logs, I guess with the hope that someday we will be brave enough to use our fire pit and can put it in there.  (Does willow burn well????)  The wood is stacked behind our tool shed.  To our surprise, this weekend we realized it too was growing.

And if you look closely, the new shoots are coming out of the middle of the logs.

Kinda creepy.  It's alive!  We may just have our very own whomping willow.