Conversations with Joshua

I wish I had a tape recorder for some of the conversations I have had with Joshua. But, today's conversation was really, well, remarkable. We drove past a restaurant where Joshua has ordered a shrimp basket before. Joshua LOVES shrimp.

Joshie: Mommy can we eat at that store that has the shrimp.
Mommy: No, we can't have shrimp right now. There was an accident and the shrimp were hurt.
Joshie: The oil spill, Mommy?
Mommy: (*thinks* We haven't talked to Joshua about it much but it has been in the news. I guess he's got big ears) Yes. Lots of animals were hurt: birds, fish, shrimp. And they need time to grow and get big and healthy again.
Joshie: Who did that mommy?
Mommy: Someone made a mistake. They were doing something they shouldn't have been doing.
Joshie: Then they should go away.
Mommy: (*thinks* Wow! That's harsh. I mean I feel that way sometimes but I haven't expressed that to Joshie.) Why don't we give them a chance to fix their mistake.
Joshie: Maybe they should listen to Jesus. I don't think they listened to Jesus.
Mommy: (*thinks* Where did that come from?) Yes, Jesus and God both say that we should take care of the resources we have.

I am drawing a blank as to what happened next. He just kept surprising me with each subsequent answer.

July

These lazy summer days are packed with activities and just fly by. Most are so busy that housework and cooking are put on the backburner to swimming, library and trips to everywhere. That is how it should be and I am glad we are not bored.

We just returned from a trip to Fairborn(Dayton) Ohio for our third family Mini Meet East trip. The event was a lot of fun with a visit to the Air Force Museum, road rallye, autocross, banquet, picnic, rc car racing (Joshua won an award!) and a visit to Young's Dairy. The kids were good travelers even if bedtime was a bit hairy. On our drives we stopped at parks to stretch and eat and made the travel part of the fun.

Upon our return, Joshua started swimming lessons at our pool. Day 1 - Joshua sat under the picnic table. Day 2 - I was able to get him in the pool with the promise of a great reward (he chose ice cream) and he bit the bait. Day 3 - Well, we'll see. His job today is to stay near the teacher. If he does we've promised to wake him up tonight when it is dark to catch fireflies.

We have started over with Love and Logic because things have been getting a bit stressful at home. Early results are positive. Little J was having a hard time with name calling and hitting so we are trying to curb those behaviors.

Mira is herself. She is better behaved when she gets enough sleep. She sings and loves to play dolls. She is talking up a storm. I can understand her but she does have her own laguange that takes some time to get used to.

Evelyn crawls like a speed demon and pulls up on just about everything she comes to. She will even climb up on things (the other two were walking so maybe this didn't seem like such a surprise) so she can get into quite a bit of trouble. She has started communicating as well with signs for more and bye-bye. She says, 'Hi', Bye, Mama and Yes. She likes to make up peek a boo games to play and is just an all around happy baby. Her most remarkable feature though is the amount of food she can devour. Often she eats more than her siblings and she eats just about everything we give to her. When Evie sees food her arms start swinging and she just about bursts with excitement. I hope it lasts!

June

Happy Father's Day, Jason! Jason went with Josh, Stephanie, Grandad, Tio Omar and Dylan out fishing this morning. They didn't catch much but they did have fun. Everyone came back to our house for a cookout (the wee ones were sleeping) and then Amy brought their slip and slide and that was a winner. Mira and Noella didn't go down it much but Joshua, Stephanie and Dylan had a blast. We loaded them up with pie and ice cream and then headed over to the pool for a swim. And here is the part that made my day, maybe my month... Joshua SWAM! I mean, went under the water, kicked his legs, moved his arms and swam. I am so proud of him. He has done great this year and we are only a few weeks into the swimming season. We try and go every day at least for a little while. Evelyn likes floating in the infant boat we have and Mira does, too. They are all little fishies!

Evelyn had her 9 mos check up a week and a half ago. She is growing and developing right on track. At 20 lb (exactly) she is 95th for height and 75th for weight. She is in 12-18 mos clothing now. Mira, weighed in at 25 lbs. We weighed her just for fun. She did have a growth spurt this past spring and is now in 24 mos-2T clothing.

Evie now has 5 teeth (as of last weekend), she babbles and likes to play peek-a-boo. She also eats everything in site and gets so excited when she sees food. She can sometimes use a fork and drinks water from a sippy cup. She is pulling to standing but not very interested in cruising. She gets around very well by crawling.

Mira is a take charge kind of gal. She is often the center of attention these days. No one seems to think that she will suffer from 'middle child syndrome'. I love my outgoing, cuddling baby girl but WOW the twos have been hard on her.

All the kids did great on our recent trip down to Athens/Atlanta, Georgia. We took two days to drive down staying with friends in Winston-Salem, NC on the way and a hotel on the way back. We enjoyed meeting all sorts of cousins from my Dad's side of the family and had Friday evening through Sunday morning to hang out and get to know them all. We were even able to squeeze in a visit with one set of Evie's Godparents, Reagan & David, in Atlanta. The drive home was long but we did stop at a crazy park called, Dinosaur Land in VA, on the drive home.

Well- bedtime is calling. Off to another busy week!

Out for a Swim

The weather has been hot and we had a long weekend so guess what we did all weeekend? Swam, ate, napped and stayed cool. Evelyn went swimming once already but we got her feet in on Saturday and then a lot more of her in today. She didn't like it. :-) But that is ok. We'll keep working on her. Joshua just jumped right in on Saturday even though the water was cool. We had my friend from high school and her two little ones over. Before the pool came a hike in the woods and after the pool came more swimming and crabs at our neighbor's. We've been wearing the kids out. It's great. You'd think they would sleep longer but alas...no.

Yesterday we all went to Target as a family so that Joshua could pick out a Bakugan he has been wanting. He saved all his pennies from last year in hopes of buying a water slide. But, then this past week he decided he wanted a Bakugan instead. He was so excited to use his own money to buy it. After that, Jason took the kids to another neighbor's to swim and eat, I joined them after my tour of duty at our community pool.

Today, we went to the community pool and are now fixing another bbq dinner and homemade ice cream, of course. Mira was in and out of the pool. She just needs a few days and I bet she will be jumping in the water.

Evelyn started eating with a fork today. I'd put the food on it and she'd put it in her mouth. She also got another tooth on the top. She had a fever this week but that cleared up. Thank goodness!

Better get going to the party!

Last Day of Preschool

Today, was Joshua's last day of preschool in the 3-year old program with Ms. Joan. The kids arrived at their normal time and then parents came back at 10am for outside play time, a picnic banquet and circle time with end of year gifts and remembrances. It was a nice day and Jason and I were both able to make it. We even had a bagel together before going back to preschool and a little Mommy, Daddy relaxing time! Ms. Joan pulled me aside to tell me that one of the top five highlights of her year was Joshua coming up to her one day, giving her a hug and telling her he loved her. I can understand how touching that moment must have been for her. Joshua, although he is snugly with me, is very shy around other people and very particular about who touches him. It took him a year and a half to make that leap with Ms. Joan and she saw just how important that hug was. This is why I think she is a great teacher! We will still see her next year when Joshua is in the 4-year old program but he will be moving up to Ms. Ellis' class.

This weekend we have two birthday parties to go to. Joshua is quite the socialite! Guess we are going to keep busy with his busy social schedule.

Evelyn crawls everywhere now. She pulls up by the couch, bathtub and step stool. She climbs the step between the living room and kitchen. She is really on the go and EVERYTHING goes in her mouth. It is fun to watch her explore her world. She is a happy baby and everyone is always remarking just how smiley she is. Just last Sunday she added another tooth on top (that's 3 total) and a week ago Thursday she drank water from a sippy cup by herself. She eats lots of finger foods now very well.

Mira is my problem child right now. She is so sweet and snugly. She loves to hug, kiss, brush hair, dress up and really just act like a doll. But in a heartbeat her mood will change and she will burst your eardrum with her scream, take off running down the street, fall to the floor and not get up or swing her new broom to whack her brother. She is hell on wheels. The moms at preschool laugh at her antics, I think in secret relief that they do not have to deal with her, and remark that Mira will never be a middle child wall flower blending into the scenery. Always the center of attention and trying to keep up with Joshua.

Happy Mother's Day!

Another year, another Mother's Day Tea with all the trimmings and time to thank my mom, grandma and sister for being great moms. We got in a bit ago from a long day of church, Dylan's confirmation and the afternoon tea. The kids had fun playing, of course. Joshua said his favorite part of the day was playing with Stephanie. I love that!

Joshua question of the day: "Are turtles ever allergic to people?"

Gone Fishing

We took the kids to fish last Saturday. It was a hit. Only daddy was brave enough to bait the hook with worms. I was very happy when we figured out that a cookie on the hook lasted longer than a worm. We caught two fish and Joshua was thrilled. The funny part was that he got a bit bored with the casting and the pole and asked, 'Hey, Daddy, why don't we just grab the fish.' I'd like to see that!

All the kids have had a cold this weekend and into the week. Mira spiked the highest fever but Joshua had a cough. They are all on the mend now. Thank goodness!

Evelyn is pulling up and standing next to furniture. She crawled over when I was giving Mira a bath and surprised me when I looked over to see her standing next to the tub. :-) She is eating feeding herself cereal bites and bits of sweet potato. She is still a tall, chunky girl. It is fun to see her progress!

Mira is an obstinate, demanding, charming, smiley, screaming two year old. She is like a waking advertisement for bi-polar medication. Ah, to be two. She says and does the cutest things and then turns around and acts possessed. Right now, she is sitting on my lap eating my breakfast for me. I love the snuggle time but would also enjoy my own food!

Waving

Evelyn started waving for real this weekend. Previously she had down a single hand gesture in the general direction of a person. But, now she takes one little cute hand, waves it up and down and sometimes ends in a little beauty queen flourish.

March of Dimes

We started off the week last week bright, early and cold on the road with hundreds of fellow walkers raising money for the March of Dimes, March for Babies. It was a good morning. Joshua managed most of the walk on his own with a little piggy backing and strollering towards the end. We brought the strollers for the girls and they were in and out the whole time.

Evelyn can now get herself to the step between the kitchen and family room and push to stand up. She still has noodle knees so I don't see walking next week but she is on her way. Evie is also now eating chunkier foods: oatmeal, quinoa, soups, etc. She can put away about a cup of food in a sitting and nurses in between. Her pincher grasp has developed and she can now eat little cereal bites, the ones that melt in your mouth. We have to watch the toys on the floor because she can get into everything now.

Joshua had a momentous event at school. He hugged his teacher! It only took two years but his teacher was beyond thrilled for this show of affection.

On Monday, Staci came over to help with the kids. She took them into the back yard and they searched for bugs under all the rocks (I mean all the rocks!) I am not sure how they moved some of the boulders. They came in excited to tell me about the ants, orange centipedes, worms and other critters they spotted. On Friday, we took Stephanie and Sam and went to Rumbleway Farm to pick up fresh chicken. They all had lots of fun exploring and seeing the animals there. The goats charged us and we saw freshly hatched turkeys along with a really friendly cat and lots of chickens.

Today we are supposed to go to a church picnic but it is raining so we will see.

Perfect Saturday

This morning we got up and out to the Farmer's Market. Mira picked out a lavender plant to take home and we got a handful of other items: bacon, cheese, green onions, and lettuce. The kids got chocolate and the table set up by the Master Gardeners.

When we came home we gather ourselves together and headed out again with Daddy in tow. We picked up sandwiches at Subway and then went to an estuary for a picnic and walk. We heard and then saw frogs just as we came in and took our things to picnic down by the water. Joshua ate lunch intermitently tossing seed pods into the water and watching them float. We made our way back to the nature center after lunch and did a couple of the observation stations on the way.

Inside the nature center some of the teenage volunteers were working with the wildlife there. There was a box turtle on the floor that sped over to our shoes to nibble on them. He was neat. And they had the snakes out to touch. One snake was being fed, a corn snake, but he wasn't very interested in the mouse that was running around in his cage. So they moved a black rat snake into that cage and within seconds the snake had caught the mouse and was constricting him. Minutes later the mouse was dead and the snake was working on eating him, whole. We saw a toad and several other kinds of turtles. Josh and Mira both touched the snakes and like watching the turtle speed around on the floor. They watched the snake eating the mouse with interest and were not upset.

This was our first time to the estuary and it was great. We will definitely go back! Yesterday and the day before were also full of nature as we had a picnic and visited the dam on Thursday and then went to the acquarium on Friday. Now it is nap time and we are all pooped!

Movement

Evelyn is on the go now. She started crawling yesterday. I guess the house is no longer safe. I was used to just plopping her down and watching her play, sit and roll around in mostly the same spot. Now, she can get to the other kids' toys. The end of an era :-) She is also starting to eat those little cereal puffs that are for infants. She doesn't like any food with chunks but we are working on moving things along from puree's to stuff with more texture.

Josh and Mira had a nice time running around in the backyard last night and playing together. It is a rarity. Usually they need mommy and daddy to help give them direction and act as referee. The weather has been glorious and we have tried to get everyone outside as much as possible.

Easter and Speech

Easter Sunday the kids were up bright and early, 6 am, ready to see what the Easter bunny had hidden. Thankfully, for Aunt Jill, we were able to hold them off until 6:45am. They gathered the eggs and ate a healthy breakfast of candy, hard boiled eggs and jellied toast. Then off to church at Memaw's to celebrate have ANOTHER egg hunt and then head over to Memaw and Grandad's for Easter Supper. It was a busy day and the kids were pooped at the end of it. Joshua was particularly affected in church by all the candy and was practically vibrating from the sugar. We were able to get Mira down for a nap, thanks to daddy. Jason did homework in the spaces in between activities and was able to turn that in this morning. Evelyn was her normal, cheerful self. She enjoyed the applesauce and mashed potatoes and also had a nap in there. She liked the plastic eggs to chew on and enjoyed her new picture book.

Last night, we had Aunt Carie over for dinner. She brought the kids chick-fil-a and that was a hit. The highlight was with Evie though. Jason mentioned that he thought she was ready to start baby signs. Carie offered some suggestion on how to make it work and I made skeptical comments that Evie was likely not ready yet. But, I tried anyway and showed her the sign for more by touching the tips of my fingers together, doing it for her with her hands and then giving her a bite of food. Then next bite, I showed her the food and said, 'more?' and she did it! She brought her hands together herself. So, we played this game throughout her feeding and again at breakfast this morning. I guess she is ready :-) Smart little cookie.

Visit and milestones

This week Evelyn was able to push herself to sitting. She can now roll both ways well and sit up. She is still SOOOOOO close to crawling but just has not do it yet. She is unhappy in any of the 'containers' that we have for her and would much rather just sit on the floor surrounded by toys. As long as she is content we are happy. She is eating lots of foods as long as they are pureed smooth. Any lumps and she gags and turns red and it is really quite a scene.

We had a wonderful visit from Grandma and Papa starting March 16 'til the 24. The kids would have been happy if Grandma and Papa had just announced they were staying here for good. The weather was fine and we were able to go to several parks and play in our backyard. We made it down to the city to wonder around and stop in a bookstore there so G & P could spoil the kids with lots of books. There were many highlights but I think what J, M and E loved the best was 1 - always having at least 1 adult to themselves at all times, 2 - listening to G&P read lots and lots of stories, 3 - playing games and taking walks with G&P. I should add that Joshie was thrilled to play Papa's iphone games at any chance he could get.

We are looking forward to Easter Sunday, eggs and candy. Today the kids made egg shaped sun catchers out of contact paper and tissue. The weather has been lovely so Joshie has been helping me to plant seeds. We will be dying eggs tomorrow and going to church and dinner at MeMaw's on Sunday. It will be a nice weekend and the girls have the sweetest dresses to wear for church :-)

so many details

there is just so much that goes on in our every day activities. So many funny things that the kids say or little moments. And I know when they happen they are so wonderful and I will never remember them as much as I want to. Sometimes I wish I could just have a video of everything, every moment and phrase and milestone to enjoy when I can totally pay attention to it. But I guess then I would be missing what was going on at that moment if I was always looking at the past.

Here are the highlights:
I forgot to mention that Mira has a slight heart murmur. The dr. picked up on at at her exam last week and said it is most likely a child hood thing she will grown out of.

I cut her hair for the first time this week. She now has bangs. The rest is the same but hopefully this will keep her hair out of her eyes or as Mira says, 'No ya my eye'.

Mira says her own name now.

Evelyn sits well and plays with her toys. She reaches and rakes things into her area. You can just plop her down and she'll hang out in the straddle leg position for quite some time.

Joshua had parent-teacher conference today and the teachers were so excited with his progress. They said that in the last two months they have really seen a change with his classroom behavior and how he interacts with the other children. He has friends at school that he plays with and talks about. He is initiating play with those friends and it is all very exciting.

We are looking forward to Grandma and Papa coming into town next week and the kids are counting down the days.

Today we went shopping with a gift card to Toys R Us that Evelyn received when she was born. We had SO much fun. The kids didn't go crazy in the store and the whole trip went better than I had expected. There were things that I wanted/needed for Evie so I picked those out first and then I told Josh and Mira that they could also pick something for about $10. Mira picked out a kite and a Play Mobile princess set with a carrying case. Joshua picked a Lego Atlantis crab and a foam rocket launcher. Joshua found many, many things he wanted but was thrilled with is choices and couldn't wait to show daddy. Mira was very specific in her choices but when she saw what she wanted she latched on. It was neat to watch how they approached the situation differently.

I made cream of carrot soup tonight. All the kids ate it and liked it, including Evelyn whom I think had the most of any of them! She has tried lots of foods now including oatmeal, pears, bananas and rice cereal most recently.

2 yr and 6 mos check ups

Mira and Evelyn had dr.'s appointments today. Joshua did a good job of prepping Mira so she went into the office saying, 'No Shot!' Thankfully, she did not need any shots. The girls did great. Mira impressed the dr. with the drawing she brought along and climbing onto the exam table by using the drawer handles. Little monkey.

Evelyn now weighs 18 lbs 9 oz and is 26 3/4 inches long. She is in the 75th percentile for height and weight. Mira weighs 25 lbs and is 33 1/4 inches tall. She is in the 25th percentile for height and weight. Evelyn is right on the mark for her age and can sit well on her own and is so close to crawling. Mira, like Joshie, is off the charts. Her fine motor skills are that of a 3 year old as are her gross motor. She can count to two (count two objects) and knows the colors red, green, blue and orange. The picture though, that was her shining moment. The dr. said, 'You mean Joshua drew this.' I said, 'No, Mira.' She had no help, I just wrote her name and the date at the top.



What you are seeing is a smiling guy with head, eyes, nose, smiling mouth, ears, hair, arms, body, legs and feet.

Josh wowed the dr today with his knowledge of antibodies and t-cells. She said she hoped that we had their college funds well on their way.

So much time

has been passing. It is hard to keep up with the updates. In spite of being stuck in the house for a good part of the month due to snow and snow related issues, it has been hard to find time to sit down at the computer and write updates. The kids have been loving the snow but I think I am done with it. The biggest problem is that in spite of the weather being warm enough to go outside, there is no where to go. The sidewalks are all blocked and the backyard is poopy from Jack. So spring can't come soon enough. Then it will be a swamp! Oh well, a warm swamp anyway.

Joshua had a dental check up earlier in the month. He has a cavity but given the difficulty he has at the dentist, we opted not to fill it at the recommendation of the dentist. We are just going to try and brush better and keep an eye on it.

Mira turned 2 on the 15th and we had family and neighbors over to celebrate. She had a Toby cake (as in Toby from Thomas the Tank Engine) and received some of her favorite things: goldfish crackers, animal crackers, books, crayons, pretty hair things, clothes, etc.

Evelyn has been flying through milestones. She has two teeth, sits well on her own and now gets up on all fours rocking away. I know that first crawl is right around the corner. She also says Ma ma ma. and Da da da. She eats much better now. I was getting concerned because she wasn't moving the food to the back of her mouth and getting her tongue out of the way but she is, as of today, and plows through applesauce, avacado, sweet potatoes, rice cereal and peaches.

All the kids had a cold this past weekend but are mostly on the mend. We are hoping to visit Memaw tomorrow and then go on a little road trip on Thursday to an Amish market and train place. I see daffodils poking their heads through the snow and the weather was in the 40's today. I think there is hope.

snow, snow, snow

We had 6 inches of snow (an trecherous roads) last Saturday. Another several inches on Wednesday and starting last night into today we have had a blizzard. A REAL one with high winds and 20+ inches of snow so far. It is still coming down. Jason and Joshie went for a walk with the dog last night just as the snow was starting. Jason and the kids went out to shovel and play this morning. Mira stuck to the cleared parts and dug with her shovel and pail. Joshua climbed snow castles and made snow castles with the shovel and pail. We are enjoying it since we have heat and no where to be.

Everyone is napping now. Evelyn has come into a routine of a short morning nap, a long afternoon nap and in bed for the night at 8. She sleeps through the night and is up with the Joshua and Mira around 7. Feeding is coming along. She is moving the food to the back of her mouth and swallowing so I think we are getting in more than is coming out. She has now also tried peaches, in addition to the sweet potatoes. I saved some from this summer since I knew she would be starting to eat in the dead of winter when all that would be available would be someone else's canned fruits and veggies.

Mira is so deliberate these days with her sentences. They may take a few seconds to come out but she carefully chooses each word and we can understand most of what she says. She has been adding at least a word a day now. Her hair is also long enough that it is getting in her eyes so she is letting me pull it up in a whale spout on top of her head or clip it back with a barrette.

Joshua has helped us set a meal time routine and it is working very well. I think he and Mira are both eating more and meals are much more pleasant. He knows the routine and it mimics what he does at school so it is familiar. He is currently on a wait list for the 4 yr old program at the community college for next year preschool. We abandoned the idea of kindergarten for him next year. The cut off is Sept 1 and by all accounts it is not worth pushing him through since his birthday is Oct. The expectations are that of what we learned in first grade and there is little playtime. Preschool has now replaced kindergarten. We are looking into the preschool program at the elementary school but it is unlikely he will be allowed. It is a need based program.

Sweet Potatoes, Day 2

So, I think tonight went a little bit better in the feeding department. She gagged several times while trying to get the food down but she was moving it around in her mouth and trying to swallow. We got through the bowl I had prepared for her, about 1.5 Tablespoons. The kids were so excited to feed her but we are not quite there yet. Once she gets the hang of eating, then they can try their hand at it.

Today we had a fun playdate/brunch with friends from church. We also took some time to play outside. Everyone slept well last night and had a nap today. So, today has been good.

Mira has been going through most days in just panties, even when we are out. She wears a cloth diaper for naps and a paper diaper for bed. It is interesting, she makes it to the potty without fail if she has to poop. She kicks you out of the bathroom while she is going and insists that the door be shut. But, she can't be interrupted to go pee. So, we just set a timer and take her every hour. She did go to the bathroom today, grab the little potty, bring it into the kitchen and go. But that is the exception, not the rule. I can't complain too much. I really did not want 2 in diapers at the same time and for the most part I got my wish. We go through at most 1 disposable diaper a day.

On another Mira note, she is speaking in deliberate sentences now. She very carefully chooses her words such as, 'No light...off' and 'Daddy...wash...da-da (car)' She talks about everything: empty cups, trains, the cat, the dog, Joshua, milk, whatever. It is fun to listen to her budding language skills. Joshua likes to talk in Mira-ese, too. Only that is not so cute. It sure is hard being the big brother!

Swimming

We took the kids swimming tonight. They had so much fun. A nice mid winter break. Mira loved the baby pool. She just splashed and ran around. Joshua went back and forth between the big pool and the baby pool. He loved that there were foam water noodles there. Evie even got in and sat, splashed and kicked. She loves bath time so I figured she would also love the pool and she did. I'll put the picks up on flickr soon.

We left for swimming at dinner time and got home at bed time. Needless to say that were pooped. Hope they sleep well tonight.

forgotten stories

This week I learned the value of Bible stories. I always knew that many of the stories were allegorical. I just didn't realize that I could apply them so soon. Joshua loves to read about Jonah and the whale. Noah, too, is a favorite. And what do these men have in common? Ah, they listened to God. What happened when Jonah didn't listen? He was eaten by a fish. I went to town with that story citing the benefits of good listening and following directions the first time one is asked.

The second incident I would like to share happened on the why home from preschool on Wednesday. Joshua has been learning about dinosaurs in school. He looked out his window in the car and said, "I see a little dinosaur!" It didn't take long to realize that he was talking about the cloud shapes. He saw another and then asked, "Mommy, who put those dinosaurs in the clouds?" It was just the sweetest moment.