April in Photos

Flora is one year old, and finally starting to pull up to standing.  The other kids are engrossed in the Elmo's Potty Time video their Grammy sent, the latest in a string of unsuccessful ploys to convince Linus to potty train...

Flora in my favorite old-fashioned type of little girl dress

my sweet girls :-)

Just an unecessary photo of my kitchen, because I'm so happy with how bright and cheery it is

Stella's art is just too cute for words

The kids have been bringing me and our Mary statues bunches of spring flowers every day

We identified these ones growing in our yard as periwinkles, and grape hyacinths

Sly had to spend an afternoon in the hospital, after whacking his face on a chair and cutting open his eyelid.  His vision is fine, but he needed four stitches - which required him to be fully sedated.

After years of working on Tom to allow us to get a pet for the kids, he agreed to let the kids pool their money for a pair of hmasters + cage that someone was selling for a really good price on Craigslist.  They are over the moon, and just loving their new pets.  Here, Sly is holding "Mr. Woodchip" (the kids picked the names)

Linus holding "Mr. Fluff"

Flora pulling up once again.  At the midwife's office....where we have been going for prenatal appointments.  We are expecting another baby in September! :-D

The Kiddos

Just some updates on the people who have been consuming all my blogging time!

Sly is still ever ever ever so slowly learning to read.  He's doing a little better these days at imaginative play, which I feel has never come very naturally to him.  Rosie suggested that a good way to get kids playing on their own is to first sit down with them, and sort of "teach them how to play."  Once they get the hang of a new concept, you can sneak away and they'll have a fun time on their own.  I've been trying this recently, and having much success.  For example, I got out the toy cash register Sly received for Christmas, and said we were going to play "supermarket."  The kids helped me arrange all our play food by type on the shelves of an empty bookcase I brought into the playroom.  Then I gave them a little basket so they could "shop."  They brought their purchases to me at the cash register, I rang them up, and then told them how much play money to hand me.  They loved it, and have been playing store very regularly since.

Recently, he was frustrated because we've stopped buying juice.
Me: "Well, juice has a lot of sugar, Sly, and it kind of makes kids crazy."
Sly: "Juice doesn't make *me* crazy. Stella makes me crazy!"

Meanwhile, I've finally accepted that Sly's  "love language" is quality time, and the only way to keep him from acting out, hurting his siblings, and other wise acting crazy is to give him lots and lots and lots of it.  Sometimes I feel like there's not enough time in my days to give each kid all the attention they want plus keep up with the cleaning, laundry, meals, dishes, etc.  But I'm learning little ways to make it work.  This past week, I worked really hard to include Sly in everything I did.  He helped me in a lot of my chores, and I even popped up into his bedroom during his "naptime" (during which he hasn't actually napped for two years) to chat or play for a few minutes.  It's made him a much more pleasant little man!

Sly probably whacked Stella with that sword a second after this picture was taken

Stella is speaking in full (adorable) sentences now, and wanting to do a lot more things herself ("do myself!").  She still can not get enough snuggle time.  Her "love language" is absolutely physical touch.  She constantly runs up to Tom and I, saying, "I want YOU, Mommy/Daddy!!" which means she wants to be held and hugged and kissed.  She really is just a big sweetheart.

She's still resistant to potty training, but I'm not that eager to push it during the winter, anyways.  Too many layers to pull off, and the potty seat is too cold for her to just sit on, waiting.  But she's so good about naps and bedtime.  Many days, she is just ready for sleep and says, "go nap now, Mommy."  I love how she is so eager to please :-)

She's been playing with her dolls all the time, and it's so cute to see how she treats them like her real little babies.  She asks to put (real)band-aids on them, give them (real)medicine, put them in the (real)bathtub, and change their diapers.  Several times, I have found Linus' clean diapers in Stella's bed, which she must have stolen from under the changing table to put on her babies!

first snow of the year

Linus is still a very sweet and happy baby.  And he's learned to crawl, which I love.  Not only are crawling babies completely adorable, but it means they are able to entertain themselves much more easily.  He's happy to just get around the house and play with things he finds.  The only drawback is having to put baby gates up at the tops of the stairs....which we're still working on, because Tom's determined to find a creative way to do it without drilling into the nice woodwork.

Some Quotes and Stories from My First-Born

Because this kid is a real hand-full sometimes...

-1-

We've explained to Sly before that superheros are "just cartoon characters."  A couple weeks ago, Tom and the kids went to cheer me on while I was running in a 10K race.  One of the other runners was dressed as Captain America.  Sly was pretty excited about it, and recounted it to me after the race.  He ended with, "Captain America looked pretty real to me."

-2-

Last week for St. Therese's feast day, we were digging around inside our altar to find a special St. Therese chaplet of ours.  The search unearthed our little stash of relics, which Sly had never seen before.  He was completely fascinated by them, and wanted to hear the story about each of them, and give each one a kiss [we own a number of third class relics, and one second class relic.  No first class ones...yet].  The next night, Tom asked if Sly had any intentions for our Rosary.  He quickly offered, "That we get more relics!"

-3-

Tom's been teaching Sly how to pray on his own - each night before bed he tells Sly to think of a prayer in his head and say it to God.  Afterwards, Tom asks Sly what he'd said.  The first night, Sly's prayer was, "Jesus, I really really love you.  Help me to be more like You." We were pretty impressed.  But then the following night, Sly came up with, "Jesus, help me to get more toys."  So....we have some more work to do.

-4-

Tom often says that watching tv "turns your brains to mush."  The other day while Sly was "at naptime", I was downstairs, folding huge piles of laundry with the tv on.  Sly must have heard it, so he came down and said, "Mommy, I think your brain turned into mush."

-5-

Speaking of "naptime", Sly hasn't actually slept during the day for at least a year, but I still insist he spend a couple hours in his room each day because I need that time.  But he's constantly coming up with new schemes and excuses for getting out of his room, however briefly.  Usually some "really important" thing he has to say to us. 

Last weekend, he began to employ a new strategy that really had us baffled for a while.  He would come downstairs with quite convincing tears streaming down his face, acting incredibly contrite, saying he needed to apologize for something - usually something dumb that there were no rules against anyways.    "<sniffle, sniffle> I'm sorry <sniffle> that I smacked the floooooooooor <cry, whine, sniffle>".  Tom or I would tell him it was alright, pat him on the back, and send him back up with instructions not to come down again.  But each time it got more ridiculous. A little later you'd hear him sniffling his way down again.  I'd sternlysay  his name, and ask why he was out of bed.  Then he'd appear around the corner, red-eyed, saying, "I'm <sniffle!> sorry I <sniffle> came dowwwwwwn!"  And finally it devolved into - my favorite - "I'm <sniffle> sorry for <sniffle> everything bad....in the <intake of breath> whooooooooole wooooooorld <bursting into tears>".  Ugh. 

I think we finally nipped it in the bud, but it was a weird couple days, and we couldn't really figure out how to handle him since he already seemed so genuinely upset.  Tom suggested that he could probably have earned an Oscar for his performance.

-6-

Sly: "Stella, you're bad!"
Me: "No, we don't say that. You need to apologize."
Sly: "Stella, I'm sorry that you're bad."

New House Tour: Boys' Room

We're been in the new place for almost three months now, so it's probably time to start giving people a look around.  I'm going to start with Sly's room, since his is the most "completed" at this point.   Most of the rest of the house still has a long way to go.  I sometimes feel like I'm stepping around piles of sandpaper, paint cans, putty knives, and screwdrivers everywhere I go....

For the sake of being "real", I didn't clean up the room before I took the pictures.  Cleaning the room is Sly's job anyways these days (yesss!), and I let him get away with things being less tidy than "perfect".  These pictures won't look magazine-worthy by any means, but that's my life!

**As I give my little tour, I'll try to point out where various items came from.  I think a theme should develop, and I hope to help convince people that you can find some really cool things when you shop secondhand! **

Linus is testing out the rug

Sly's bedroom - which will be "the boys' room" once Linus grows up a bit - is up on the third floor.  The sloped ceilings provide a lot of visual interest, but unfortunately, cut waaaaay down on the available wall space for hanging decorations.  And we'll probably never be able to put bunkbeds in here unless we decide to block the windows.  Thankfully, it's a very large room, and I'm pretty sure we can fit at least four twin-size beds along the walls, should we ever have the need.

Over the years, I've collected a number of "ship" paintings and decorations.  I'm just attracted to the romance of big sailing ships.  We decided to put them all in Sly's room, and give the room a sorta ship/map/travel/world explorer theme! 

The previous owner had painted the room a funky paint scheme of dark blue, light blue, and orange-yellow trim.  It ended up looking great with our decorations.

These prints were a Christmas gifts from Tom's sister, who had apparently grown so tired of hearing me go into raptures about how much I loved them every time we visited her house, that she just took them off the wall and wrapped them up for me!

Last week, we hung a curtain rod over the window, and I have some really cool ship-printed fabric that I'm going to make into curtains.  I'll try to post a picture once they're up.

We found a map-printed duvet cover (bought online, to cover Tom's threadbare childhood comforter) for the bed (given away by a friend).

The map in the photo below is just a one-yard cut of fabric I found in the quilting section at Joann Fabrics.  I hemmed the edges, and we just nailed it to the wall.  We found the decorative ship's wheel at Goodwill. 

The heater was left by the previous owner, and we haven't moved it yet.  I do not feel safe with it staying in a little kid's room!

 

 

On the bookshelf (bought at garage sale) is a statue of Mary (gift from my mom) - who is also known as the "Star of the Sea", which is the Marian title our daughter Stella Maris is named after, so even she fits the theme! -, a cool ship nightlight (thrift store), and a wooden plane (from Tom's childhood).  And a huge pile of books below, because stuffing them into the shelf is how Sly cleans them up.  Better than nothing.

My aunt was giving away this child-size desk which we still need to find a chair for.  On top are two light-up globes (flea market, thrift store), a railroad tie (found near railroad tracks), and other little things Sly has been given from here and there.

Another shot with Linus still chilling on the floor.

Below we have some metal planes (also from Tom's childhood), an armchair (given away by a priest friend) perfect for reading or nursing babies - do you see the arm covers on the floor? Why do kids have a compulsion to rip them off all the time? -, and a map of Pennsylvania (bought by Tom in a shop in New Orleans during our honeymoon while I was at the hotel taking a nap) which I think is kind of ugly, so we compromised by putting it in Sly's room :-)

This photo below can't convey the massiveness of the closet.  Sly's dresser fits in there easily, with plenty of room left for storage.  It extends all the way to the slanted wall on the right. 

A word about the dresser - my dad trash-picked it for us a year ago.  We sanded off the old peeling finish, and Tom re-finished it with shellac (which is an old-fashioned finish which comes from the shells of beetles (hence the name)).  I think it looks like a million bucks now! 

 

Near the door is another cool ship picture (Goodwill), and a kid-size guitar (trash-picked).  Sly can't play it yet, but his dad has big dreams :-)

Oh, and there's an icon of St. George over the door.  George is Sly's middle name.  It's impossible to find anything with St. Sylvester!

Hope you enjoyed the tour, and that I have something else to show soon.

"We Only Make One Model"

There are some families where each of the children looks fairly unique - different hair color, face shape, etc.  And then there are those families where the kids might as well be clones of each other.  You see one of the siblings who you've never even met before, and you immediately say, "he has to be a Jones/Williams/whatever last name."  Our family is turning out to be an example of the latter.  As soon as I saw Linus' little upturned button nose on his ultrasound picture, I knew he would look just like his big siblings.

I've been amazed how much he looks like Sly, especially.  I keep looking back at Sly's old baby photos to compare.  A few times, I've shown a photo to Tom to have him guess which son it is (he's got most of them correct!).

Here's a silly little graphic.  I feel soooo tech-savvy now that Tom showed me I could use Powerpoint to do things like this ;-)

I feel guilty about it, but that photo of Linus in the bottom right is literally the only picture of him I've taken in two weeks (with the exception of our bad family Easter photo, where he's just a little blurry bit of skin peeking out of a car seat).  I guess that's how it goes with third children.  I still love you, little man!

****

I think I'm doing better dealing with all the kids now.  I was feeling really overwhelmed and hormonal for the first three weeks.  I had a new house where I couldn't find anything I needed, two "big kids" running crazy, and a baby who needed to nurse every time the big kids were finally distracted by a quiet activity.  I could barely keep up with the everyday stuff like laundry or feeding the kids breakfast before 10:30, let alone unpacking or running errands.  I cried a fair number of times, and yelled at the kids much more than I should have.

Two things have really been a lifesaver for me, though.  My mom's group set up a Mealtrain for me.  We've been getting three homecooked (by other people!) meals brought to us each week.  Usually, the portions are generous enough to stretch it into at least one more dinner and a lunch or two during the week.  Also, my mother-in-law gave us a few months of a diaper service.  Once a week, a clean new load of cloth diapers get dropped off on the porch, and I send off the bag of dirties.  No washing diapers!

I'm finally starting to find my rhythm, though.   We're mostly unpacked now, and starting to move into the "project" phase with the house.  So while the house doesn't look as pretty or put-together as I envision it being in the future, at least I know where everything is, and I'm not stepping around boxes anymore.  I've re-established as much of a schedule as I can with a newborn, and I've even taken all three kids out my myself a number of times (yesterday, we made it to three stores in a row!).  It takes longer, and it's a pain strapping and unstrapping all the carseat buckles and stopping to nurse everywhere we go, but it's doable. (My mom gave me the highly-praised ERGO Baby Carrier as a gift when Linus was born, but I still haven't figured out how to nurse in it).

I find myself going back to read this article again and again.  It's one of the most memorable - and re-assuring - posts I've ever read: The Tunnel of Parenthood.  I'm totally there right now.  I just need to keep pushing through!

7 Quick Takes (Vol. 36)

 -1-

It just hit me this week that I'm going to have a baby in a MONTH.  It's not like there's much to get ready....I pretty much know what I'm doing by now, and we already have all the "baby stuff" - it's just a matter of dragging it all up from the basement (a job for my husband, and not me).  But I'm not sure that I've really mentally prepared for it.

-2-

Tom is scheduled to go on a business trip less than two weeks before my due date (!).  It's something he *could* get out of, but it's potentially useful for his career that he go.  We've been discussing the pros and cons.  My other two kids were born a little early - seven days and five days, respectively.  Still, the chances of this baby being farther ahead of schedule seem rather slim....

On the other hand, if I did go into labor while Tom was gone, it would be a pretty big deal.  To be honest, I don't think I'd mind too much about my husband missing the birth (at least I'll still have my doula with me!).  It's that I would have to deal with all the arrangements completely by myself - having contractions at home (hopefully at home, and not out somewhere!) while making frantic phone calls, trying to find someone willing to pick up and entertain my kids for the day (or night?) as well as a ride to the hospital for myself.  Usually, Tom handles all that stuff, because while I'm in labor, I'm just not in the right state of mind to deal with all that crap.

We still haven't made the final decision about what he's going to do....but I think we're leaning towards him going.  Yikes!

-3-

Earlier this week, I watched Milo and Otis for the first time since I was really young.  Oh. my. goodness.  First of all, I felt like the whole premise of the film was: "let's have Milo and Otis encounter any and every type of creature we can get ahold of - whether or not it makes sense for that species to appear in this particular landscape - and just see what they do with each other."  Did you know that lobsters and crabs live on farms?  Neither did I.  It really strained credibility to see the combinations of animals that supposedly lived together in this imaginary country.

But mostly, I was seriously disturbed the entire time by all the risky situations they put those poor animals into.  Was it really necessary to send the cat down a waterfall in a wooden box, or have the dog fight with a bear?  There is NO WAY some animals weren't killed or seriously injured during the filming.  I checked Wikipedia, and it seems that many others have had the same concerns...

-4-

It seems like all the cool bloggers are going to the Edel Gathering this summer.  It sounds like a really great event, but unfortunately, I won't be there.  Not only would it be difficult to swing financially, but....having to bring a four-month old baby would just make it a lot less enjoyable, I have to be honest!  I'll try not to feel jealous of the opportunity to meet so many interesting Catholic ladies.

-5-

I've been starting to think about Lent (which starts March 5th this year!), how I should observe it, and what to give up.  I'm afraid the whole season will get rather overshadowed by all the stressful (but exciting) things we have going on these next two months: signing on the house, fixing up some stuff in the house prior to move-in, giving birth, planning a baptism, moving day... (ideally in this order, but the "having a baby" part I don't really have any control over!).

-6-

I'm thinking I should definitely reduce my internet use during Lent, since it can get out-of-control at times.  And I don't even own a laptop, tablet, smartphone, or any of that stuff.  Very intentionally, we have only a desktop computer.  And that is temptation enough for me, believe me.  A practice I think would be good, yet challenging, is to not allow myself to use the internet except when the kids are in bed - for naps or the night.  So many times during the day, I pop into the room just to "check my e-mail", and it turns into twenty minutes of browsing Facebook or reading random articles people post about "23 things you'll only remember if you were born in the 80s" or something else stupid like that.  It's unnecessary, and it takes time away from my family.

Kendra has some great ideas for Lent that I will have to look over again.

-7-

Aaaaand, because I'm running out of ideas, I'll share a few recent quotes from my little man.

Listening to a song with the lyric, "there he knelt down on the floor."
Sly: "That song just said 'meltdown on the floor' - Stella does that!!"

Sly, to Tom, as soon as he walked in the door after work: "Mommy said I can't have a snack because I lied. What's up with that?!"

Sly and I were waiting forever for Stella to climb up the stairs.
Me: "What's taking her so long?"
Sly: "Probably gravity."

Quick Takes is hosted at Conversion Diary

How Do I Get My Kid Excited for Homeschooling?

Our plan is to homeschool our kids.  Sly is only three and a half, so I haven't started anything formal with him yet.  But he's at the age where he's starting to become aware of this mysterious thing called "school":

- We see school buses on the roads, and he always asks about where the kids are going, and why.
- Certain books and shows that he's read/seen depict kids in school.
- People at the supermarket often ask him questions about whether he's excited to go to school when he gets bigger.
- Some of his second cousins who are a little older than him stop home for a lunch break from school while we're visiting.

So to Sly, school is this great thing that "big kids" get to do, and he assumes that like the other kids he sees, he'll be going there soon as well.  He's even said a few times, "when I get big, I'm gonna go to school!".  I've tried to gently suggest that there might be alternatives.  I've said things like, "well, Sly...I think we're going to learn things at home instead.  It'll be fun - we can do things that you wouldn't be able to do at school."  But he just gets upset, and insists that he will go to school.

I still have some time, so what can I do to help him get on board with our decision? 

Maybe I should ask my cousin who homeschools (her nine kids, with another on the way!!) if we can come hang out with them more :-)

***

On a related note, if you haven't seen it yet, check out Homeschool Barbie (no, it's not real!).  This hilariously hits on many of the stereotypes of homeschoolers.

7 Quick Takes (Vol. 33)

-1-

A blog-friend recently shared a link to a great post over at a blog for my mom about "Mom Style."

I can totally get behind everything Rosie says in this post.  I've long believed that moms can be comfortable and practical while wearing clothes that are classier than sweatpants/yoga pants and a t-shirt.  I love that she includes a number of photos to show you what she's talking about. 

A few passages that really resonated with me:

"Take stock of how your bones have moved - if it's just fat stores that are preventing certain clothing items from fitting and you can't bear to part from them, stick them in the back of the closet and try them on again in a few months.  But if your ribcage has expanded as much as mine has, you're going to have to face it:

There are some dresses you have that will never zip again.  And you don't need to keep them."

So unfortunate, but so true!  Last year, I finally accepted that most of my zipper-back dresses would just never be able to fit again, and finally gave them away.  Now, I look for dresses made of stretchy fabrics without zippers that I know will fit me.

"Does it work for early pregnancy AND the post-partum stage?  Can you wear it all the way through a pregnancy?  Or will it only fit for those 6 weeks when I've lost all the pregnancy weight but haven't gotten pregnant again?"

This is another truth I've only recently learned.  I've been in transitional stages myself for almost the past four years (pregnant, post-partum before losing the baby belly, nursing, very brief window of "normal belly and not nursing").  It's just not practical to have three or four separate wardrobes to work for me during all these stages, and I still hope to have more babies down the road. 

Everything new I've purchased (well, "new to me" since I almost only buy used clothes these days) has been with these questions in mind: Will it still work for early pregnancy, before I need maternity clothes?  Will it fit post-partum when I still have a belly?  Is it loose and unfussy enough for discreet nursing?  There are a lot of tops that can meet all these criteria - mostly of the "flowy" or slightly looser variety [I hate layering, so look for a one-garment solution rather than having to combine and dirty several items in order to acheive practicality and modesty].  I tend to like the peasant top look, and these can work well for a lot of stages. 

 -2-

A friend recently had a sweet baby boy.  We went to visit them a few days ago, and he was just so tiny and new.  Suddenly, I'm so aware of how huge Stella has gotten.  She's barely a baby anymore!  I'm glad I have another on the way already, because I would be feeling major baby fever right now.

big girl!

I've been making a conscious effort to pay more attention to her recently (aww, my poor second child).  Sly tends to hog the spotlight with his bombastic personality and his ability to have real conversations.  I realized that at the same age, we were doing a lot more "stuff" with Sly that we just haven't really been doing with Stella...such as reading  *baby appropriate* books, or having conversations with her even though she'll just respond with smiles and noises.  I've noticed that she is much happier now and also learning things more quickly.  Oh man, I sound like a terrible mom!

-3-

Tom has a potential job opportunity that is going to require some major deliberation.
Immediate pros: He'd be working for a good Catholic employer at a "company" which promotes the Faith, and it pays significantly better than his current position. 
Immediate cons: Tom would have an hour+ commute each way (!), we'd need to own two cars, and the hours - at least initially - are not as family friendly (he'd be home in the mornings, but gone the rest of the day, including dinnertime and kids' bedtime.  Also, the schedule is not M-F, but changes).

Many things to consider and pray about!

-4-

The kids and I were making necklaces with wooden beads, and I pointed out a teal bead and said, "this is Mommy's favorite color."  When Sly finished his necklace, he said he wanted to make one for me, which I thought was sweet.  I had to run upstairs for something, and when I came back, I saw this:

He used all teal beads for my necklace!  This probably seems like no big deal, but it is the first time he's ever done something thoughtful like this totally unprompted.  And simultaneously, it's probably the most "artistic" creation he's ever made on his own (since it has symmetry).  That boy is so far not gifted in the art department.  haha.  But we'll keep doing crafts!

-5-

As an example of Sly's typical 3-year-old inability to consider other people's likes and desires over his own, consider this conversation from earlier.

Me: "Sly, what should we get Daddy for his birthday?"
Sly: "A toy dinosaur.  And a puzzle.  And a toy guitar."

haha....I wonder who would benefit from those gifts?

-6-

And because I'm running out of ideas for these Quick Takes, more Sly quotes from the past week!

Sly: "I'm still hungry. What are we gonna do about that?"


I heard Stella start to cry, and Sly say to her: "It's ok, Stella. I was just being a gnome."
Me: "Sly...did you hurt her?"
Sly [matter-of-factly]: "Yeah. With my gnome teeth!"


I told Sly that he got his big head from Daddy. He walked over to Tom and said, "Daddy, thank you for sharing your big head with me."

-7-

My mom had a pair of maternity tights sent to me in the mail (yay!), and it came with two free "$20 credit" codes for Shutterfly - I think they made a mistake by putting in two....heck yeah!  Christmas presents for the grandparents....here I come!

Quick Takes are hosted at Conversion Diary

Celebrating Birthdays and Bringing Back Old Technology

For Sly's birthday, we gave him an old-school Fisher-Price cassette tape player (very similar to the one I had as a kid), and a little box of tapes.  I had been lamenting for a while that there were no good modern ways for kids to listen to their own music.  I wouldn't trust a three year-old with cds.  And he couldn't use an mp3 player without being able to read (right?).  I wanted a way for Sly to play his own music in his bedroom, as I did when I was little.  "There's just no modern equivalent that works as well for kids as tape players!" I remarked in frustration to Tom. Then it dawned on me: we could just get him a tape player.  Who cares that it's not the newest technology?

There were a few failed attempts to snag one on eBay (I wasn't willing to pay more than $20), and then one day - as always happens to us if we just wait long enough - there one was, sitting on the shelf at Goodwill, just waiting for us.  For $5!  I still have some - though certainly not all, and certainly not a few of my favorites - tapes from my own childhood.  We rounded out the collection with a few more we picked up at thrift stores for 25 cents each.  Sly loves it, and has been listening to music at naptime every day.  I can't explain how heartwarming it is to hear him (via the baby monitor) begin to learn and love some of my own childhood favorites.  We also gave him a toolkit which has been a huge hit.

We gave Stella a Rock-a-Stack, which is amazingly one of the only toys we don't already own (or so it feels some days...) and Good Night Pittsburgh - a cute book featuring local places (I think they make them for other cities too).

And of course they got a billion other gifts from friends and family, and we're feeling a little overwhelmed by toys once again, and I think another silent purge is in order soon.

***

The birthday party went well.  I did a Peter Rabbit/Beatrix Potter theme, mostly because it involved very little work for me.  That's the theme of the kids' bedroom/nursery, so I just kinda raided their room for decor a half hour before the party.

It's not a party without punch!  This is just the traditional pineapple juice+ginger ale+sherbet.  Always a big hit.

Table is still a little bare because Sly's cake was in the fridge.  Stella got Beatrix Potter cupcakes.

Utilizing bookends as a napkin holder.

Sly loved his dirt cake with worms and dinosaur candles.  The plants are real, but edible - it's mint!  I saw the idea in a magazine, and would never have thought to do it, but it makes a nice touch.

This cutie pie kept her party hat on the entire time :-)

There were only two other children as guests, and both of them were with their parents.  We kept the invitees to family and a few close (adult) friends.  But it was still pretty exhausting dealing with my hostess duties as well as a much-too-hyper birthday boy all afternoon.  I am definitely not ready for the type of kids' parties where you invite just other children and then have to keep them entertained for a few hours!!

Kids Talking

My little Stella isn't quite 11 months old, but she's definitely started to talk.  I'm not sure if she's actually starting a lot earlier than Sly did (which, I hear, is common for girls), or if my ear is just better trained to discern "baby talk" now. 

There are a few words now which I am certain she is saying, since repetition and circumstance 

have made it clear: 

mama
dada
kitty ("k! eeee!")
hi/hey
water (wa-ga) - said when she wants a drink of it, or when she sees something like a fountain
night-night (nigh-nigh) - said in an amazingly sweet voice, with a flourishing hand wave, at bedtime

There are a few others that I suspect might be words, but I'm waiting to hear them a couple more times in the appropriate context until I'm sure.


****

Meanwhile, her big brother, almost 3 years old, is saying all sorts of rascally things.

Every few days, Sly pretends to be a different creature.  If anyone calls him Sly, or "big brother" or "little man" or any of the various things he gets referred to as, he becomes irritated and corrects them: "I'm a snake!" or "I'm an allosaurus!", etc.

We were checking out at a store...
Cashier: "I like your dinosaur shirt."
Sly: "It Tyrannosaurus Rex!"
Cashier: "Oh, that's nice."
Sly [affronted]: "He not nice!  He fierce!"

I found him one morning, pressing Stella into the floor and making her cry. 
Mommy: "What are you doing?!"
Sly [as if it was perfectly obvious]: "I'm saving her for later, to eat."
(I guess he was a dinosaur again that day?)
 
Sly has started to tell us sometimes - thinking it's a great joke - that he doesn't love us, or doesn't like us.
Tucking him into bed last week, he told me, "I love you.  I usually don't love you."

I've started to crack down on it.  A few days ago when he told me with a smile that he didn't like me, he got time out, and then had to apologize.  We have taught Sly, when he apologizes, to both address the person by name, and to state exactly what it is he's sorry for (example: "Sorry I hit you, Stella").  So when he apologized to me, it came out, "Sorry, Mommy.  I don't like you."

Sly loves to strum Tom's guitar.  He says he's "playing his album."  Sometimes Sky makes up random lyrics to accompany the guitar, and sometimes he sings Baa Baa Blacksheep.  My heart melts a little everytime he says the line, "Baa baa blacksheep, henny wenny wool..."

Not Sending My Pre-schooler to Pre-school

Foil fish idea from 50 Rainy Day Activities

Sly will be three this summer, which seems to be the age a lot of parents are sending their little ones to preschool.  I've been thinking about it a bit - the pros and cons - and talking with some other parents about their decision.  Sometimes I think it would be great for Sly to have more opportunities to learn to get along with other kids (so far, having a little sister has proved not to provide enough practice!), learn new games and songs, and just have a change of scenery.  But we've always planned to homeschool our kids.  It doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to send them to a preschool for a year or so, and then teach them at home thereafter.  Additionally, unless we determined that it was essential, we just can't afford to spend the money on it.

Once I was sure we didn't need to enroll him in any official preschool programs, I began to wonder whether I should be "doing preschool" with him at home, now that he's reached "that age."  Things like...I don't know... formal cutting practice with scissors?  Drills in the ABC's?  Whatever it is that kids are "supposed" to learn in preschool??

Part of this worry was the age-old parental concern about my kid falling behind his peers.  But truthfully, a lot of it was coming from the fact that I'm just excited to start teaching him so many things!  I was a teacher, afterall, before I was a mom.  And I love learning.  I kinda can't wait to join the "cool club" of homeschooling moms who go out and do fun educational activities together with their kids. 

But I'm trying to hold myself back from pushing Sly into anything too soon.  He's not even three.  He'll be old enough for all that stuff before I know it, and then I'll just feel sad that he's growing up so fast.  I need to let him - and myself - enjoy his toddler-hood.  So basically I plan to just follow his lead for now, and delve into topics as he develops interest in them (oh no!  I'm starting to sound like an "unschooler" here!  haha).

As I write this, I'm realizing how much Sly has already learned without us teaching it intentionally.  After receiving a dinosaur poster this Christmas from my dad, Sly began talking about dinosaurs a bit.  So I picked up a dinosaur book next time we were at Goodwill.  We read it to him, the dinosaur interest grew, and he started learning all their names.  Then I got more books.  Then the grandparents gave him toys.  Then he started wanting to pretend to be dinosaurs.  Now he requests that Tom read to him from an adult-level encylopedia about extinct animals every night, and he's actually learning from it.  And so on and so on.  And Sly even knows most of the alphabet now, simply because he wanted to know about it.  He points to letters in books or on the computer keyboard, and asks what they are.  He likes to type his own name or other words that I spell out for him in e-mails to Daddy.  And when he wants to learn to use scissors - and I'm crazy enough to trust him with them - he'll learn that too!

Wow.  It's actually somewhat freeing to know that I don't have to create lesson plans, or sit down with him for formal teaching sessions - at least for a few years now - and he will still be learning a ton.  And once he's old enough, I don't need to sign him up for every free activity or educational program at the library or the park just because it's an opportunity to learn something.  Because everything is an opportunity for him to learn something.

So playing outside, trips to the library, playdates, baking with Mommy, making crafts at home...that can be "school" for Sly for awhile longer.

***


Sly is still ALL about crafts.  I went to Michael's the other day, and picked up some supplies to round out the stash in my craft cabinet: tempera paints, watercolors, pop beads, pony beads, beading lace, some little compartmentalized boxes for storage.  I'm excited to have more options now for doing crafts with Sly.  I justified the purchase by considering that instead of paying to send him to preschool, we'll save lots of money by just doing fun activities with him at home.

I really need a bigger cabinet from all this stuff

One thing I still need is some oak tag.  Does anyone remember that from elementary school?  Construction paper does not hold up to art projects.  The guy at Michael's said they don't sell anything like that, and suggested I cut up poster board instead.  There's gotta be a better answer!  I found that Amazon actually sells some oak tag, but it seems excessively expensive.  Ugh.  Anyone have a suggestion for sturdy paper for crafting?

The Poking Guy

Three weeks or so ago, Sly had his first real nightmare.  He woke up in the middle of the night (which is extremely rare for him), crying uncontrollably.  We both tried to calm him down and get him to lay back in his bed, but he refused.  He sobbed and screamed, insisting on sleeping in our bed with us.  I told Tom we needed to resist, because I didn't want it to become a habit.  But it became clear that he was simply too terrified to stay in his own bed.  We finally relented, and let Sly come in the bed with us, where Tom held him close until he gradually fell asleep.

The next morning, I didn't mention it to Sly at all (not wanting to remind him lest the "sleeping in Mommy and Daddy's bed" thing become regular).  But after breakfast, as Sly was following me into a room, he kinda flew sputtering and crying around the corner, saying worriedly, "no, he didn't get Sly!"  "What, Sly?" I asked, "Who didn't get you?"  He replied, "The Poking Guy."

We had a conversation where I got him to explain, and here's some of what he said: "The Poking Guy poked Daddy.  He poked Sly.  Sly cried.  The Poking Guy has claws.  He pokes people. He doesn't have a beard.  He doesn't have a mustache."  And he confirmed that this is what had scared him the night before.

I thought the whole thing was a little bit creepy, but also somehow sweet and endearing.  He talked about it so earnestly.  I told him that we would make sure to ask his guardian angel to keep him safe (a good tip I got from Maria Von Trapp).  I decided the best approach would be to treat his concerns seriously, but also not exacerbate them by bringing it up myself.  I assured him that he would be safe, and the Poking Guy wouldn't hurt him.  Maybe I should have told him the Poking Guy didn't exist.  But...well, this will sound weird, but I felt unqualified to say that.  At least to Sly, he very much does exist.

I told Tom and the grandparents about the Poking Guy.  Everyone expressed surprise that a child so young (two and a half) was having nightmares - as well as daytime fears - about such a specific creature like that.  Sly had a few more incidents where he'd get nervous during the daytime, telling me that the Poking Guy almost got him.  But no more nightmares.  We gave him a holy card with a guardian angel picture, and Tom added some prayers to Sly's angel into their bedtime routine.

Tom had an amusing thought that perhaps our cat Lancelot was really the Poking Guy.  "Come on, " he said quoting Sly, "'The Poking Guy have claws? He pokes people?'  You know how Lance always pokes our faces in the middle of the night!"  We both laughed about it, because it does kind of make sense.  But, as I reminded Tom, Lancelot really dislikes our kids (and you would too, if you got your tail and ears pulled by them all the time), so I doubt he'd be trying to sleep in Sly's bed with him.

Sly began telling me things during the daytime like, "Sly's guardian angel keep Poking Guy away."  I was glad that he felt safer.  But after a few days, something occurred to me.  When I had talked to Sly about praying to his angel, I was only saying it to make him feel safe.  In other words, I was only pretending to pray with him to make him stop worrying - just going through the motions.  I suddenly realized that - whether the Poking Guy was real or not - Sly's guardian angel actually could help to keep him safe, and feeling safe.  I needed to actually intend to ask for help for him.

A friend of ours, who is also Sly's godfather, was visiting last week.  I told him the story about the Poking Guy, expecting him to find it cute or at least interesting.  Instead, he said - quite seriously - that perhaps the Poking Guy is actually a demon.  Ugh.  Are you kidding me?  Don't tell a mother than her two year old might be getting harassed by a demon!  I tried to put it out of my mind.

Sly hadn't mentioned the Poking Guy for a little while, so I thought maybe he was "over it."  But Tom told me that tonight, Sly was very insistent about praying to Mary and to his guardian angel to keep him safe from the Poking Guy.  He also filled Daddy in on some more details about him.  One thing Sly said was that the Poking Guy poked him on the cheek and gave him a boo-boo.  When Tom told me that, I got a chill.  "Tom!  You know how Sly's had that mysterious bruise on his cheek for, like, two or three weeks now?  The one that's not fading at all?  Oh my gosh!  It's the exact size to have been made by a finger!" 

Creeeeeeepy.


[fyi - I'm not freaking out about this.  It's most likely just a coincidence, but it is creepy in a "sometimes it can be fun and exciting to be scared" kind of way.]

But hey, if anyone has tips about helping kids deal with fears like this, or similar stories, I'd love to heard them!

Preparing My Toddler For Easter

I've been pretty lazy about teaching Sly about Easter.  During Advent, I was really on top of implementing different devotions and traditions, and explaining them in ways he could understand.  I read Sly many versions of the Christmas story, let him play with a couple different nativity sets, had him add "hay" to the manger.  By the time Christmas rolled around, I was confident that he had a pretty solid understanding - at least for a two year-old - of what it all meant.

But this Lent, I haven't even tried to get Sly involved.  He's too young to be able to give anything up, or even participate in abstaining from meat.  So I haven't bothered to mention those aspects to him.  We've been praying the Rosary regularly again, but I haven't explained what prompted it.  Lent is supposed to focus not just on prayer and fasting, but also on almsgiving.  That would have been easier to involve Sly in...but I just didn't think about it.

He has said to me a few times, "It Lent, Mommy."  I know he has no clue what that means, but it is cute, and it tells me that at least he's picking up something from listening to our conversations.

But how do you explain Lent to a toddler?  How can I explain Jesus' death, when Sly is too young to grasp the concept of death?  And harder still, how to teach him about the Resurrection, which is a difficult thing even for adults to understand?

I think we have a couple books about Easter packed away, but I haven't dug out any Easter decorations yet.  Maybe we'll take a look at them this weekend while we dye our eggs.

Anyways, it's tempting to beat myself up for not being some kind of "Catholic super mom", but I think it would actually be prideful to expect myself to be.  Yes, I probably could have done more to prepare his little heart for Easter.  But as long as we've been consistent on slowly teaching him how to love God,  how to obey his parents, and how to pray...we're doing enough, I think.  He's only two-and-a-half!

And I remembered an incident which allowed me to see how much Sly is able to figure out, even without my help.  When our new missal arrived a few weeks ago, I sat down with Sly to show him some of the pictures.  On one page was a scene of the Crucifixion.  Sly described it to me, saying, "Jesus on cross.  Jesus have boo-boos."  Turning the page, we saw a drawing of Christ risen from the grave.  Sly said, "Jesus happy now."  <heart melting>

And I'm perfectly satisfied with that level of understanding from him right now.

My Silly Little Man

 Just a collection of some sweet and funny little quotes from my two-and-a-half (!) year old.

*****

Sly's very into dinosaurs right now.  Until about a week ago, though, he had a lot of trouble keeping their names straight.  Some of my favorites:  tri-dinosaur-tops, tyranodinosaur, and broccolisaurus [this is supposed to be brachiosaurus, and he gets very adamant when we try to correct him].

I was talking to Sly about dinosaurs, and told him that they lived a really long time ago and all that's left now is their skeletons. He got this sad and confused look on his face, then said, "but there still T. Rexes. Lots of T. Rexes."

Looking at his pterodacytl cup "Flying dinosaurs in Sly's water.  Sly say, "HEY!  Get out!" 

I recently served some baby spinach at dinner.  Sly made it clear that he did not want to eat a single bite.  But then I told him that it was leaves like a stegosaurus would eat.  He kept calling it "dinosaur food!!" and happily ate several helpings.  The next night, we had peas and carrots with dinner.  He got a huge smile, and gasped - as if he couldn't believe his luck - "we having dinosaur food again!"  haha...I wonder how long I can keep this up.

This one isn't actually a Sly quote, but it's topical, and amusing.  Last night I came to bed, and found that Tom had fallen asleep with a book open in his hands.  It was a book of extinct animals, and he had it open to the "long-necked browsing dinosaurs" section!  haha.  Like father, like son, I guess.

Me: Do you want to learn to read?

Sly: Yeah!  Sly can sing at church.  [awww]

About a month ago, Tom read Sly The Velveteen Rabbit (yes, the whole thing!  That's a much longer story than I expected either of them to have the patience for).  Tom had never read it before, so was taken by surprise at how sad it was.  He got a little choked up while he was reading, and Sly noticed it.  Tom told Sly to "keep it between [them]".  But several times since, Sly has pulled the book triumphantly off the shelf, and waved it around saying, "Daddy cried!  Daddy cried!"

Yesterday: "Sly has a guardian angel!  (me: "yeah, that's right") Stella has a guardian angel!  (me: "that's right") The diaper bin has a guardian angel! (me: "ummm...")"

Sly thinks it's a great joke to call Stella "Stello".  He'll go to her and say, "hi, Stello!" and then crack himself up.

One morning, I was making up a little song, singing, "it's coffee time for Mommy, coffee time for Mommy, Mommy wants some coffee..." and Sly joined in, singing, "and Sly want whoopee pie!"

Overheard through the bedroom door during naptime: "This little piggy went market...this little piggy stay home...this little piggy had rist bee....this little piggy had...[really long pause].....Sly tryin' member.  Yeah."

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 24)

-1-

My generous husband spent some time last night re-doing my blog header for me so now it's finally not blurry and super-amateurish-looking anymore!  Behold it above, in its non-pixelated glory!

-2-

 I've been trying to gather information from other parents about when their kids learned the names of colors.  Sly knows all his animals, shapes, some letters and numbers, and many other things besides.  But he is hopelessly bad at recognizing colors.  I won't go into the genetics of it now, but colorblindness runs in the family, and it is quite possible that I'm a carrier, which would mean that statistically, 50% of my sons should be colorblind.  I'm wondering if this could be the answer to Sly's color-recognition issues, or if it's just way too early to assume anything.  I'm not worried about it, really - two of my three brothers are colorblind, and I realize it doesn't affect too much of their lives - but I'd just kind of like to know, ya know?

-3-

I've decided to start compiling a binder with ideas for celebrating the liturgical year in our family.  This will certainly be an ongoing project, something to be added to whenever I come across a new idea, or have some extra time.  It will be organized chronologically, and have ideas for ways to recognize important days/seasons in the church.  I can put prayers, recipes, etc.  In my optimistic vision of myself in the future, I picture myself actually remembering to consult the binder at the beginning of the month, and planning out certain events/meals as appropriate.  Ha -we'll see how that actually goes.

My first addition was a really inspiring article I'd read about celebrating Christmas.

-4-

I made the yummiest dinner the other night.  It was orange chicken, and it tasted every bit as good as if it came from a ("good") Chinese restaurant.  This will probably sound insanely obvious to most of you, but I'd never really considered that you could make it at home.  I just cut up chunks of chicken breast, breaded them (I used Frying Magic breading with egg, and double-dipped each chunk), and fried them in vegetable oil in a pan.  As they finished, I tossed them into a big bowl, and when they were all done, I poured an entire bottle of store-bought "orange sauce" over top.  Super delish.  You can also omit the sauce, and you have perfect homemade "chicken nuggets".

-5-

Stella is four and a half months old, and I've definitely hit the point where I find myself thinking, "I'm ready for another baby!".  I'm not feeling ready to actually be pregnant, though.  I'd love to have a non-pregnant summer...or at least a partial one.   But a few weeks ago, when I mistakenly believed for a short time that a friend was expecting her third baby, I found myself feeling rather jealous, wishing that we were going to be having a third one soon as well.  I know, it's crazy. 

-6-

A number of people have remarked recently on how cute it is that Sly uses the third person when referring to himself ("Sly want book", "Sly want to do it Sly's self", etc.).  I know it's a common enough thing with toddlers, but it's pretty extreme in Sly.   I realized yesterday that it's completely our fault.  We rarely refer to ourselves as "I" when we talk to Sly (we say "Mommy said no" or "give it to Daddy").  And the funny thing is, I remember that we first started to do that around him intentionally over a year ago, when it became clear that he didn't understand our names were "Mommy and Daddy".  So we wanted to emphasize it.  It's a hard habit to break!

-7-

The kids finally have the same bedtime, and both go down easily, which is awesome, because it means I have the evenings to spend getting stuff done or just hanging with my husband again!  Also, we've had time to work on projects again, such as some built-in bookcases...

the alcove as it was

supports for shelves

completed shelves.  there will be a cabinet below

Painting the backs of the shelves

I'll show more pictures of the finished results, hopefully soon!

Quick Takes is hosted at Conversion Diary