6 Miles

David is now 3 months old! I love this milestone. He’s much more happy and smily–though you wouldn’t know based on the pictures I have.  He has some long, perfectly curled eyelashes!

He’s most happy and talkative (cooing like crazy) in the evenings, when the lighting is super bad for pictures. But I’ll get some.  I attempted some video–here’s a 15 second video of him smiling and cooing for James for the grandmas who really want to see that kind of things.

v david cooing

You’ll have to forgive me, I’m going through “This is the last time…” on lots of things. Since I know how quickly that cute cooing goes away, I’ve been trying to get lots of video of it to remember it by! At least I’m not showing it all to you!

He still sleeps a great deal. He’s getting better at going to sleep on his own and is getting to the point where he’d rather fall asleep in bed, not being held. Which is a good thing, but still a tiny bit sad.  Here he is sleeping, fitting totally length-wise in his crib. Most naps and nights are still in the bassinet in our room but I’m working on getting him (and Marcus) used to the crib in their room.

One other distinguishing factor–this child has the smelliest gas out of ALL our babies. He’s not quite as, *ahem*, regular as our babies in the past and can be gassy at times. And, whew, are they suddenly making their presence known! (That’s something he’ll appreciate knowing some day, so it had to be recorded! )

Marcus’ first time to play with play-doh! Alex wanted to play with it, so we pulled it out and Marcus wanted to join in the fun (how DARE they have fun without him, out of reach on the table?!?)  So I gave him some, stressed “this is NOT food, do NOT eat it”, gave him that and a toy or two. He had fun smashing it a bit and then he tried to eat it. Or at least lick it. Silly kid.

David’s first picture siting up and showing what a big boy he’s becoming! He has great neck/head strength, its just hard to get pictures of it. I love how big yet how tiny he looks here–that’s how he appears to me as well! (And yes, there is the hint of a smile there, he obviously likes being big!)  On the right is Marcus first time to feed himself with a spoon. The Dr. asked if he could at his 15 month appointment and I had to admit we’d not given him any chances to try. He was so excited to do it, and didn’t do too bad.. he was quite proud, showing off his spoon to me and Alex. Then I gave him more applesauce and he dumped the bowl on his lap–the part NOT covered by the bib. *sigh* Oh, Marcus.

Will’s First Grade Choir Concert! They did a program on weather, spring, science & nature. They were encouraged to dress up with the theme. (I was a bit unsure on how to go with that!) Will got to speak a part about the sun, so we decided to “dress him” as the sun. I didn’t quite realize how big that sun would be–poor kids next to him kept getting poked! And he stood out a tad. (He said the next day in music class they got to watch the video of the concert and he REALLY stood out in it! But it was the only yellow poster board they had at the store, so we had to go with neon.)  It was a cute program and only lasted 30 minutes, that was perfect! I love how they just have each grade preform so we can enjoy our child and then go.

David’s first show of attitude when I took his picture!  Ok, that was a stretch but this picture made me laugh so I  included it.

I just wanted to put up some cute pictures of the kids playing at home–to remember.

They love to play peek-a-boo in the curtains. Marcus especially likes to stand behind the white ones and then run out to me.

And then there is wrestling…never too young to start!

Marcus loves this bus!

And of course, Marcus has to come over and check out his little brother every now and then.

When I first moved to Indiana, I had no idea about this “March Madness” stuff.  It wasn’t until I started teaching that I got caught up in the enthusiasm and excitement of the opening weekend. Between the “office pool” and my students, I developed a love for this crazy time of year.

Then I had a baby and started staying home. And discovered it’s not quite as much fun without a group of people around you to “interact” with. (Let’s be honest, I’m competitive and like joining the bracket pools. It’s not as much fun when you’re the only one filling out the bracket.) But, the one advantage to not working is that I can watch ALL The games on Thursday and Friday! So, I started taking it upon myself to train up our children well.  The picture below  is Will’s first NCAA Tournament, back in 2004.

Six years later, it was time. This week I helped Will fill out his first NCAA Bracket.  This has created some fun and funny moments.

While filling it out, he picked Wisconsin (4) over Wofford (12) “because that’s where Laura and Mary lived in Little House in the Big Woods.” As we worked our way down the list, he also picked Missouri (10) over Clemson (7) because Laura and Mary later moved or traveled through Missouri (I don’t remember).

We had fun watching a few games yesterday and we’re going to watch Purdue today. (He picked them to go to the Final Four–even after I told them their best player is hurt and no one expects them to do well.)  Alex watched a bit with us and at one point said “Mommy, the game is over when they start jumping on each other, right?”  Can you tell we had an exciting day of buzzer beaters? He was sad when Butler won that they didn’t jump on each other.

At the end of the day (well, yesterday), Will was beating me in the bracket, by 1 selection. We’ll see how it’s going by the end of the weekend.

Today Marcus got his first bath at home (James pointed out he got a bath at the hospital so we can’t call this his first bath ever–but that was a sponge type bath).

He wasn’t very happy at first. He does NOT like being cold and undressing him always makes him unhappy.

Once he got in the water though, he really did calm down. And that’s not a tear drop but a water drop on his cheek. He enjoyed the rest of his bath.

Then I took him out and he wasn’t very happy again.  But he was fine once he got dressed–and then he was awake for the longest stretch of the afternoon yet.

I was cleaning out my Draft folder and found this old post of some questions I asked the kids last April. It was fun to ask them again to see how few changed!

Will–answered April 18, 2008

What are you good at doing? Sharing, playing football with my brother, building train tracks 
If you had ten dollars, how would you spend it? A toy–a toy dump truck like my backhoe
What are you afraid of?  scary monsters and my shadow, but sometimes I’m not
Who are your friends? Preschool: Madi, Emma, and Garrett and at church: Davis and Lucus and Ethan 
What is important to you? Sharing
What is your favorite book? Trains
What is your favorite food? psaghetti and meatballs and cheese pizza
What is your favorite thing about school? playtime
What is your favorite thing to do? play at preschool
How do you show your family you love them? by hugging
What do you want to be when you grow up? a firefighter
Why? because Alex wants to be one too
What are you thankful for? my friends
Tell me something about God. Um….nope, I don’t know anything about God. Umm…he loves me and protects me (ok, so that got some prompting from Mommy)

Will–answered Oct. 6, 2009

What are you good at doing? playing basketball outside, playing Carcassone, doing the out of space puzzle at school, soccer 
If you had ten dollars, how would you spend it?  Put it in my piggy bank and  save it for later, maybe I could buy something! A few little cars.
What are you afraid of?  scary dreams
Who are your friends? Ethan & Issac (neighbors), Church: Ethan B.
What is important to you? Being fair
What is your favorite book? Train book I got at the school libarary.
What is your favorite food? cheese pizza and pepperoine pizza
What is your favorite thing about school? gym class, free time when I can do the outer space puzzle
What is your favorite thing to do? ‘nuggling you
How do you show your family you love them? by hugging
What do you want to be when you grow up? a NASCAR Driver
Why? I just want to
What are you thankful for? Mommy & Daddy, Alex
Tell me something about God. He loves us.

And to include younger brother, here are Alex’s answers  (asked April, 2008 when he was not quite 2 and a half, some are blank because I guess I didn’t think he’d understand them):

What are you good at doing? playing with piano bench.
If you had ten dollars, how would you spend it? I wan money! Wan money! (So we changed the topic) 
What are you afraid of?  
Who are your friends?  No
What is important to you?  Mommy, Daddy, Will
What is your favorite book? Goodnight Moon (Mommy assumes)
What is your favorite food? hot dog and peanut butter and jelly
What is your favorite thing about school? 
What is your favorite thing to do? 
How do you show your family you love them?
What do you want to be when you grow up? a firefighter
Why?  ‘cause I do
What are you thankful for?  Cars and trucks
Tell me something about God. Nope

Alex, Answered Oct. 6, 2009

What are you good at doing? Playing, ‘nuggling You
If you had ten dollars, how would you spend it? By getting a few toys like a tractor, a car and a tow truck and a few, 3 cars
What are you afraid of?  Scary dreams and lions and bears
Who are your friends? Ethan & Isaac, Preschool: Andrew, Church:
Isaac S.
What is important to you? You (Mommy)
What is your favorite book? Bob the Builder & Clifford
What is your favorite food? Chili 
 What is your favorite thing about school? Recess
What is your favorite thing to do? Play here at home
How do you show your family you love them? by ‘nuggling them
What do you want to be when you grow up? a firefighter
Why? because that’s fun, When I’m 8 or 9 I’ll play baseball and tennis
What are you thankful for? toys
Tell me something about God. He loves us.

W (5.75yr):  What is 10 plus 10?

A(3.5yr): 2?

W: no

A: 5

W: no

A: 7

W: No, count to 10 and then count 10 more.

A: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 — 61?

W: No, 10 plus 10 is 20.

A: Oh, right!

Alex: Cabbage? I’ve never had cabbage!

Will: Yes, you’ve had it before.

Alex: Well I didn’t eat it.

Last Friday (so sorry I’ve forgotten about this poor little blog for so long!), Will got to celebrate his half-birthday at pre-school. This is for the poor kids who have birthdays during the summer. He didn’t get gifts or anything, just a chance to bring cupcakes to the school. Since his half-birthday always falls aroundSt. Paddy’s day, it’s easy to find cupcakes in the store in his favorite color–green. It seems the last few years this has fallen around times when I’m busy (or just really soft) and I end up buying cupcakes for him. (Or, maybe it comes from longing for the store bought cupcakes when ever there were bake sales at school I was a kid! Sorry, Mom!) 

So, we ran to the store Thursday looking for cupcakes. And they didn’t have any!!! Until, our ever helpful Alex said “here they are, Mommy!” and pointed to the newest trend, cupcake cakes. No idea what I’m talking about?

See, it’s made of cupcakes–just clumped together to look like something. And they were green!

So I gave in and got them. After we’d gotten it, we found the other cupcakes (on the OTHER side of the display, of course!). Turns out they would only be a dollar or two cheaper to get 2 packages for his class, so I wasn’t being too extravagant–for buying cupcakes.

Will was excited to take his crocodile cake and share it with his friends. And there were enough left over to share with us afterward. (Sorry, I didn’t realize how poorly it’d show through the plastic lid. I also didn’t know they use frosting to keep the cupcakes in place on the tray so I didn’t have to worry about them sliding around–how nice!) (I will add, in my defense, that most schools want store-bought items, not homemade now, for food allergy issues. And this is Will’s last year for a half-birthday. After this school will start and he’ll have his birthday 2 weeks in, and not know anyone yet. So I was up for one last hurrah.)

Today Alex asked me when he’d have his 2nd birthday. I told him he already had it and his 3rd birthday, his next one was his 4th. Then I realized he wanted to know when he’d have his HALF birthday…Shesh, spoiled kids…I told him July. If we do cupcakes, we’ll make them at home!