Funny goings on

Information that was imparted to us by our 2 year old.

Upon being awakened:

"Daddy, you are Harry's Daddy and Mommy is my Mommy." the little guy loudly proclaims

"I'm your Daddy too." says Kevin slightly disturbed

"No, not my Daddy, Harry's Daddy and Mommy is my Mommy." the boy responds

Later in the day when observing Mommy & Daddy standing with arms around each other (looking at the boys reading on the couch).

"Daddy, you love Mommy?" he queries


"Yes, I do" responds Daddy


"Daddy loves you and Mommy loves me!"  says the boy in a firm and self satisfied manner to his Mommy.

Bad, bad baby, why can't you be good?

Here is Robert at Kevin's desk, when asked what he was doing he said, "I writing my i - ography".  I am not entirely sure what that means.  Robert has pretty much given up his nap over the past few weeks.  He still gets some "quiet" time in his room, but that can be interesting to listen to.  He still needs a nap somewhat so he can be a real bear in the evenings and is usually pretty tired by bedtime.  At the same time, when he does nap, it takes him a while to go to sleep.  We can hear him singing up in his room and playing with his crib buddies.

He is a little firecracker.  I thought that maybe God would gift me with one quiet, docile child, but that has not proven to be the case.  Robert is a different kind of a firecracker than Harry.  The difference in their ages can be a blessing and a difficulty.  Homework is a challenge sometimes because Robert wants my undivided attention and Harry's and he likes to torture Harry while he is trying to do homework.  I don't have to be sitting right next to Harry, but I need to be around to get him back on track occasionally and to answer questions.  Then I need to sit with him for 20 minutes or so while he is reading since that is an aloud project.

Yesterday, I finally gave in and put Robert in front of the television, but for whatever reason, Harry still had 10 minutes of reading time when the program was over and I didn't want to start another.  So Harry and I adjourned to the couch.  Here's what Robert did in the 10 minutes that Harry read to me:

1) got up on the couch next to me and leaned precariously off it saying "whoa, whoa," and then purposely fell off - he repeated the process since he thought it was funny and I sort of caught him the first time.  The second time I let him fall and he was not hurt, but decided that wasn't getting the desired result.

2) He walked around the living room in circles singing at the top of his lungs for a few minutes -again no response from Mom so

3) He collected all the little Christmas decorations that he could and walked them around then climbed up on a chair to a mirror and was pushing them up onto the mirror (a bit above his head) and banging them against it.

4) Finally he got a hard Santa toy and went back up the chair to the mirror and started banging on it - at this point Harry was about finished and I divested him of Santa and put him on the ground and asked him to find something better to play.

This afternoon while Harry was sitting having his snack and Dad and I were talking to Harry, Robert felt he was out of the picture and so he went and got the fly swatter from the pantry and proceeded to (gently) swat all of us on the head.  Then when we commented that he was a "bad baby" and I sang some of the "bad baby" song to him, he decided to bow to opinion and lay on the floor at my feet for about 5 minutes singing "bad bad baby" over and over again gleefully waving the fly swatter.

Now he is a tired baby and here he is a few minutes ago.

Family Weekend

Playing with the creche continues - he's setting things up again - note the holy family has been kicked out of the stable again.

Now why does that girl always go on top?  This camel is much more interesting.

Dad in search of the best tree - Robert in search of the zipper to chew upon.

 Helping to load the tree

Still trying to get that zipper

Read to me Mommy!

Fine, I'll read it myself

Creches & Instruments

Last year I bought the boys a Fisher Price nativity set that they could really play with.  It does get played with and the Holy Family, animals and assorted other characters (the angel, wise men, etc) have been on school bus rides and brought around the house.  They are moved into different positions relatively often.  This year right after I put them out (on a low shelf so Robert could easily get at it), Robert promptly rearranged them so that all the animals were in the barn and the people were all facing the animals adoringly while baby Jesus was kind of shoved to the back.

These two pictures, however, tell a different story.  I have a bunch of different creches around the house, most of them not child friendly.  Robert has discovered that if he gets the stool he can stand and get a close up look at some of the other ones.  He's also been very good about looking and not touching (if I remind him).  It is very cute and he now knows the main characters "Jesus, Jofus, & Mary".  I am keeping a close eye though, since I know how pretty and tempting it must be to actually pick them up and play with them.  You can't really blame him and I hope you can't blame me for wanting to try to keep the sets intact.

The other fun thing he's been doing is playing pretend flutes and trumpets and the like with a little stacking toy he has.  He is fond of a book called, "Zin Zin Zin a Violin" right now, so he happily walks around playing the flute and the trumpet and hands out instruments so whoever else is around can join in the fun.  Here are some pictures of Robert rocking out on the horn and flute.

Waiting in Advent

I love Advent, I love all the traditions - Advent wreaths and Advent calendars.  We slowly take out decorations for Christmas and our house becomes red and green.  Usually the creches go up first.  I have a bunch of different nativity scenes.  I also keep one out year round.  I like to have it to remind me of the nativity and the coming of hope into the world.  It is something I need to remember in July just as much as I do in December.

I love the cooking and baking I do in preparation and for others for gifts.  I like to think of new things to create for my friends and family each year.  I try my best to have an extra prayer devotion during Advent, this year I bought a book of daily devotions and then Kevin gave me a copy of what he is using at the Advent study at church.  I would love to be able to go to the Advent study, but the reality of being a non working clergy spouse is that it is not possible for me to do that.  I really don't mind, but find it kind of funny.  We have money for babysitters once in a while, but I don't like to "waste" it on something that we could use to have time together.  

I think that part of the joy of anything in life is the anticipation of its coming.  It seems very fitting then, that we spend a month anxiously and joyfully waiting for Christmas.  As a Christian I am waiting for 2 things - the celebration of Jesus' birthday and his coming into the world and the second coming of Christ that will forever change the world.  The first is very familiar and an easy thing to contemplate.  Now that I am a mother, I can really imagine how it must have been for Mary, alone and frightened and yet hopeful.  I remember that the first time I held both my boys.  For me it wasn't really a holy moment, that "falling in love" feeling came later, but there is a certain awe that comes in meeting a baby for the first time.  It is harder to imagine how it would be for the coming of a powerful, perhaps vengeful God.  It is a frightening concept to think of meeting somebody who knows me inside and out - I am sure it would be an uncomfortable moment.  So honestly, I don't think of it much, I just try to live my life as well as I can and be a good person and Christian.  

I hope that I am instilling a love of Advent and waiting within my children.  I think Harry has at least a kernel of it in him.  He like me often saves the best for last.  He'll do that with favorite foods or activities.  I think he likes knowing what is coming and waiting for it.  I am the same way.  I guess in a life that involves many times of waiting it is a good discipline to learn.  

So I wish you an Advent full of time to wait and wonder and look around yourself.  I hope that as you prepare for Christmas, you are able to remember what it is you are preparing for and how wonderful it is that you have the chance to prepare special things for your loved ones.  We live blessed lives and even amidst worries and troubles there is often joy, just waiting to be discovered.  May you see it this December, in the soft eyes of a grandparent remembering Christmases past, the sparkling eyes of a child meeting Santa Claus, or simple in a quiet moment when you see the lights and the colors for what they are; signs of hope for a baby who has come and the miracle of life that God gives us that continues to unfold and enfold us every day.

And here are the pictures from the first weekend in December

Robert in his Santa hat on the couch!  We decorated (all except the tree) on Friday

Julia & Harry on the Polar Express

Kevin and Harry on the Polar Express

Harry asked Santa for Batman Stuff - uh, oh better get on that :-)

Robert is quite the ladies man, here he is with one of the ladies he admires at church :-)

Alone on a Saturday

At this moment, the washer and dryer are busily chugging along, my kitchen and living room are relatively tidy and clean, the littlest Lloyd is quiet in his crib (not asleep, I think) and the other two boys are at the barber shop. We have already had a busy weekend and it is only midday on Saturday.  I am going to take advantage and put up a few blog posts, one of them on my beautiful older son and another with some photos - here's the first.

Oh I shouldn't forget that the week started out with Harry losing his first tooth!  Here he is wearing it proudly around his neck.

Friday morning we went to a parent teacher conference at school.  It went well enough and Harry is doing fine.  Not surprisingly he is doing very well in English/reading, his strength being the inferences and nuances he picks up in books and his weakness that he sometimes has so many ideas that he has trouble keeping to the assignment at hand.  I remember my 3rd grade teacher had a special book/writing center and how much I loved the chance to sit there and read and write stories.  Apparently my son is following in my footsteps.  He also loves science and keeps up fine with math.  He has been a bit antsy in school recently, but that is probably a combination of things - he's grown so we need to adjust his ADHD medication and Christmas is approaching.  He is a very lovable child and has a wonderful group of teachers, especially his main teacher.  She seems to have a rapport with him that really works in the classroom and that is making this a much easier year for him.  

When we first decided to try the medicines we were very nervous and I have to admit I was a bit resistant, but for Harry it has been the thing that has helped him blossom.  The medicine he is on doesn't change his personality or dull him in any way.  What it has done is allowed him to be the best Harry he can be and help him to sit still and gather his thoughts in a way that he could not do before.  I read a great book called "Putting on the Brakes" and that has been the best explanation for Harry and for me too.  He has a race car brain, that is powerful and fast, but he also has bicycle breaks, which lead to difficulties sometimes.  The medicine (and simply maturing) is helping him to strengthen and put on the brakes.  One of the hardest things when we got to the point of medicines was to explain to Harry, why we were at that point, he didn't want to take something that would change his brain, because he liked his brain!  That is very logical and good reasoning, but as parents, we knew that he could possibly be happier, more productive, etc. with medication. So we tried them (on the lowest dose possible for our very skinny boy) and they work for him.  He also continues with what we call his "entourage" at school to help with his sensory issues and his social thinking.  

I never thought that I would have a child with special needs, but what I've learned and keep learning is that all children have special needs.  My son has problems with sitting still and sometimes with paying attention in the way that children need to pay attention to be in school.  The box that is "normal" is very small in most schools these days and he just lives his life, care-freely and happily outside that box.  I also have learned that as his Mom I am his advocate in school and other areas in life.  This is a role where I need to be pro-active and where I need to be more assertive that I perhaps thought I would have to be.  However, we are blessed with a great school in our town and with educators who want to help all the children excel at school.  We are also blessed with a little boy who loves learning and so far loves school and I hope that I will be able to keep this going.  Finally, I would never want to change or "dull" Harry.  He is an awesome person, he makes me laugh and most days he (along with his brother) exhausts my mind and my body.  I feel so blessed at the same time I feel challenged, but I think that is a good thing.