Pilgrims and Indians

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

My Favorite Time of Day

I have never really been a morning person.

My sister and I spent many a morning with this conversation:

"Laure, get up." 

"I am up."

"No, you're down."

I like to shower at night and usually pick out what I will wear the next day so I can stay in bed as long as possible. I don't drink coffee so it takes me a little while to appreciate being awake.  Surprisingly, I feel the most productive in the morning and ever since Caleb was a baby, those first morning moments are my favorite of the day.

When Caleb would wake up early we would bring him into bed with us and lounge and play until we needed to get up.  The tradition has continued as we have added more children.  When I was pregnant with Nellie we kept saying that we will not be able to fit when the baby comes, but we squish a little closer and manage just fine.  I truly love when all six of us are crammed into the bed. 

Most mornings as each child wakes up they find their way into our bed where we act as if we have nothing to do until everyone is up.  Sometimes the older kids go out to play with toys or read books without coming to our room, a sign that I need to soak in these mornings because before I know it no little ones will be piling in.

Mornings in bed is my favorite.  It is my coffee. It helps me ease into the day, a continuation of my dream state and is usually the closest and quietest time we will spend together.  But ...when the jumping and wrestling begin we get up and start the day.

New Playground

The school next to our house had a spralling wooden park when we moved in.  The year after we moved in, the school went from holding grades k-5 to only grades k-1 and now it is k-2.  The built another small park.  The following year the wooden park was removed for safety reasons with plans to build a new one.  Three years later the funds finally were raised! In order to get as much equipment as possible, the park was a community build.  They asked for volunteers on Thursday to unload the truck, Friday to unpack the boxes and Saturday to build the park.  Andy gets one paid community service day a year, so he decided to take the day on Friday to help.  Although he thought they would just be unpacking boxes, Andy got to actually start building the park.  There were 3 hired subcontractors and Andy working on Friday.  They set up some of the main posts into the ground.  His biggest claim to fame is that he got to pick the order of the climbing wall panels. 

Can you imagine the buzz at a k-2 school when a new playground is being built during the school day?The kids were so proud of their Dad.  Caleb was telling all of his friends at school that his dad was out building the playground.  His classroom is right off the playground.  He said he went to the bathroom so that he could see Andy.  We played at the old park after school to watch Andy at work. 

Even though it was cold the week after the build, the park was hopping every day after school.  Thankfully this weened was georgous and Andy was able to bring the kids and finally see the completed park.  

You always need a two year old in your life

I really think it is true. Toby loves to be the center of attention. He tells stories non-stop. He remembers everything. He has a smile that will make you melt.

He is very into rules and making sure people follow them.  He will tell anyone who walks into the house to take off their shoes.  He also is particular about possessions and asks people to "protect" his spot or toy when he leaves to go potty.  Here he is protecting Lucy's bowl at breakfast when she had to step away.

He is such a good big brother.

His loves to wear his baseball outfit and wants to wear it every time it is clean. He always gets his hat and says, "I am ready for baseball".



Labor Day Weekend

We had a busy weekend of family fun.  On Saturday, we spent the morning at the Botanic Gardens.  With flowers and fountains galore we had plenty to see. 

The three oldest each got a picture with a flower that was their favorite color.  Note that the flowers in Lucy's photo are even called "Lucy"

Then on Sunday we took the train downtown. There was a play of the book "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" at Millennium Park. We met aunts, uncles and cousins there for a picnic and the play.



Cloud Gate...the bean



watching the play

2 year old cousins



girl cousins



Two Months Old

We all love our Nellie Bellie!

Nellie is getting big.  She was already 15 pounds 2 ounces at her 2 month check up.  She is in the >97% for weight.  She is starting to get her finger(s) and fist better so she might start soothing herself more and eating less.  She spits up a lot.  I think it is a combination of the heat and eating a lot.  She is a really good baby and is getting better about being put down.  She usually only cries when she is hungry or tired (or being smothered with kisses).  She smiles a lot, mostly for Mommy.  A coos when you talk to her.  Today she rolled over twice from her back to her tummy, which is my opinion is the more difficult way.  She was angry though and I was laying next to her so I don't think she is officially rolling over yet.  Babies can do many feats when they are angry. 

Here she is in an outfit I wore as a baby.

I thought she looked like a synchronized swimmer in this outfit so I put on a little hat to complete the ensamble.

She still enjoys hanging out in the sling.  She rides in it everyday to take Caleb to school and pick him up and basically anytime we leave the house, to the store, for a walk, to the zoo, etc.

Everyone says she looks like Toby.  I think she has a rounder face like Toby, but can see similarities with Lucy too, especially when she is in one of Lucy's outfits. 

 With baby Lucy.

 She is getting attached to her blankie.

Orange

As anyone who knows Toby knows, he is obsessed with the color orange.  Everything that he sees that is orange he says is his.  Orange cars are his.  Once a man passed us in the grocery store in an orange bears hat and he yelled, "that's my hat!" I try to encourage him to say orange is my favorite color when he sees something orange rather than claim that item is his.  If anyone else in the family tries to use an orange cup, plate or bowl he howls.  But the cutest is when he colors he only uses orange.  Whereas the other kids pick out several colors of markers or crayons to keep by their side, his pile is almost always orange.

We were at a party where they had face painting.  We asked for a tiger since it is his favorite animal, can you guess why??  He was the most adorable one there.

Stay Put

As parents expect a newborn to get up a lot in the middle of the night, we even have them sleep in our bed for the first several months.  But once that child starts sleeping through the night, and in his or her own bed, we like to keep it that way. 

The older kids have all gone through phases of coming into our room in the middle of the night and/or wanting to sleep in our room.  Our policy is usually they can stay in our bed for 5 minutes and then have to go  back to their own bed.  Those 5 minutes sometimes really are just 1 or 2 minutes or if we fall back to sleep an hour or two.  Last winter, Caleb was coming into our room almost every night.  It was getting ridiculous so we bribed him.  If he stayed in his bed the whole night for 4 nights in a row he would get a toy prize.  It was amazing, he stopped coming into our room.  Sure, once in a blue moon he comes it, but it worked pretty well. 

Lucy has been our good nighttime sleeper for a while now.  While the boys would get up more consistently, Lucy once she was asleep stayed that way until morning.  Then August came.  She started coming in our room almost every night and multiple times a night (sometimes 4 times).  Getting up with Nellie, and then Lucy several time and sometimes Toby was not letting us sleep very well.  We decided we needed the same bribe, but added stickers.  She remembered that Caleb had to stay in bed for 4 night and was extremely excited about it.  Amazingly she has stayed in bed all night every since.  First thing each morning, she asked if she could get her sticker and then her prize.

Her prize was a Barbie doll.  Someone gifted us with a collection of Barbies.  We got rid of the worn ones, and the ones that look like new (except no box) have been gifts for her (Christmas, Birthday etc).  I chose one that was wearing a dress that looked a little like a dress she had so that they could match.  We ran several errands after taking Caleb to school that day and I let her bring her Barbie with her.  Usually they are not allowed bringing things with them so that I have less to keep track of, but special days call for special rules right?  Well as we were leaving one parking lot she showed me her doll and the head fell off! She was screaming.  Nellie was also creaming since she hates the car.  I told her I could fix it, but after further review a piece of the neck was cracked off and it was trashed.  I guess brittle plastic is what you get when you have an old doll.  Thankfully, I had a stash of dolls and was able to get her a new one, which she said she liked even better. 

First Grade, First Lost Tooth

Caleb is the big man in first grade.

He has been waiting for some time for his first tooth to a) get loose and b) fall out.  In February, the dentist told him that he had 2 loose teeth.  I would NEVER have considered them loose, but I guess the wiggled a little.  Ever since then he claimed he had loose theeth.  Last week Thursday afternoon, he bit into an apple and his bottom tooth got really loose.  We made bets at dinner how long it would take for it to fall out.  I knew that he would not be able to keep his hands off of it, but I was still surprised first thing Friday morning, when he came into our room with his tooth in hand.