I'm Three!

Mr. S had a birthday this past week. My little blondie turned three and not a moment too soon. He has been looking forward to this ever since his sister turned six in February. His desire for the special day were many and changed constantly. He wanted a party. He wanted a toy story cake. He wanted friends there. He wanted balloons. He wanted pizza. He wanted hamburgers. I could never pin him down on the exact details. Then I realized he was turning three. He just wanted a day to have what he wanted. So that is what we did.
We went to the toy store and he picked out his birthday present (a duplo garbage truck and crane). He went to the grocery store and picked out his cake and ice cream. He picked out a balloon on a stick because then he didn't have to be afraid it would float away. He was allowed to choose whatever spot he wanted to sit at for dinner. He was allowed to eat whatever he wanted (or didn't want) to eat for dinner. His sister was not allowed to tell him no or boss him around. I think he was in heaven.
Yesterday I took him to the doctor for a well-child visit. He was shy at first but once he warmed up to the doctor, she couldn't get him to stop talking. Being the third child, once he realized he had someone who would sit and listen, he was ready to go on all day about garbage trucks and trash cans with smattering of information about his day to day life.

S is such a sweet boy and a joy to talk to. He is very articulate for a three year old and always makes me laugh with what he has to say. He is probably our most observant child, always aware of how things are placed and where their proper place is. He is also a daddy's boy which can be nice sometimes and can be kind of annoying. He loves to cuddle with his sister's baby dolls and play daddy.

But no matter how much he shuns me for dad on the weekends, he will always have a special place in my heart. I think I can officially declare that at last I have a left handed child! I was the third child in my family and I am left handed. Now my third child is left handed and I couldn't be happier. As much as I enjoy having that unique trait, it is nice to have someone to share it with. I love you Seti boy!

Great Grandma Cox

My grandma Cox came down from Utah to live with my parents for the winter(she's my mother's mother). She amazes me how spry she is at 94. We tried to go up and see her as often as possible while she was only a two hour drive away instead of 12. All my great grandparents had passed away before I was born. I'm thankful my kids will have some memory of her.

Whenever we came she would sit me down and talk family history. I'm kind of scared to look too closely at her side because her family and Chad's mom's family we're both Germans from Wisconsin. If I look too hard I might find we're related somewhere back there.
Kiwi was named after my grandmother's mother Adeline and she passed on some things to Kiwi that had belonged to her mother. One was a love letter from my great grandpa to Adeline.
I was named after her first born daughter that passed away at birth. I feel particularly close to my grandma Cox because of this. I hope I have lived my life in a way that is worthy of that name. I love you grandma.

G's Science Experiment

G-man had to complete a science project for his class by the end of the quarter. We didn't have it done in time for the science fair. It turns our 2nd graders aren't the best communicators. G only gave me a weeks notice for that one. But now we are learning the questions that need to be asked to try and overcome those communication barriers. Plus I have no room to talk. I think I'm the queen of poor communication skills.

G-man chose to blow up balloons with carbon dioxide by mixing vinegar and baking soda. We were trying to see if we could create enough gas to make one burst. We were able to get one to fly off the soda bottle. But not to burst. I was tired of using up all my vinegar.
It was the perfect 2nd grade science project. G-man really loves chemistry and blowing things up.

Why Do They Have To Grow Up?

Our Little 7 1/2 month old J-dub has decided he doesn't care to sit still anymore. His current obsession is pulling himself up on things:s:
He's been working hard at this little trick, making life a little difficult as of late. Within minutes of putting down on the ground he will crawl to the nearest potential climbing spot. He loves the stools even though he tends to pull them over onto himself if I'm not watching. He loves the Roomba because if he's lucky he'll push the button and start it. I can't leave socks on his feet because his feet will slip and he'll end up doing the splits. It scares him but it makes me laugh. He has had several bonks and bruises just today. On the one hand, I'm sad he's growing up so fast. On the other hand I wish he would get the hang of it already so he stops toppling over all the time. There is just no stopping this kid. Here's a little video showing how happy this guys is when standing.



Any bets on when he'll be walking?

Seven

Little S has been learning to count objects and deciding how many things are present in a group. He's good at one and two. He sometimes can even get three right. But any group of items more than that he declares consists of seven objects. If asked how many garbage cans were on the street "Seven!" How many crackers do you want "Seven!" How many jelly beans do you have? "Seven!'

I see a new nickname being created...

And Then She Was Six

Our Kiwi girl turned 6 two weeks ago. It seems that with her being the only girl and all, birthday lasts a lot longer. First there were cupcakes a few days before the day. Then a visit with G & G Evans on her birthday complete with hamburgers, balloons, and gelato. This was all followed up by a friends birthday the week after. Unfortunately, mommy promised a friend party this year but didn't get her act together in time to do it her actual birthday weekend. So, a week late, but I managed to keep my promise. Now I think I have to plan a three year old party in April because some little boy thinks he gets a party now too.
All the girls gathered around the cake.

No birthday is complete without balloon art supplied by the oldest brother.

This year marked the first time her birthday happened on the same day of the week she was born. I went to bed the night before remembering the feelings I had 6 years earlier going to sleep on her due date without a baby still. No contractions and no idea when I would ever get to meet my baby. Little did I know she would be born within four hours. I love my little Kiwi girl.

What we remember

I went to a youth activity last week and the leader handed a paper out to the girls with different ideas of things to write about in a journal. Some of the ideas included:

Tell about your favorite food or recipe
Write about your favorite hymn or song
Write a letter to your spouse and children
Write about how you felt during the day even if you don't think you did anything momentous
Tell a story your mom or dad has told you about when you were a baby
Pick someone who is a hero in your life and write about him or her
think of a book you've read and explain why it has made a difference in your life.
Describe your earliest memory

There were a bunch more and I will probably will write about a number of the prompts somewhere else. I like to keep myself to myself and try not to get too personal on the family blog. But I have to write about the last one. Mostly because the memories I came up with are funny and I wonder what other people remember from their childhood.

I consider memories to be early ones if they happened at our house we lived in on Delta. We moved from there when I was around 4 1/2. Here a re a few memories:

My brother being born (my mom was wearing pink and he had dark hair)
Peeing in a tree well.
My oldest brother sticking a grape in his nose and pulling out his ear (seriously, I really thought he did it and contemplated for year why he had a tube running from his nose to his ear).
Eating a lawn mushroom because the neighbor boy dared me and getting horribly sick.
A road runner running through the backyard.

I often wonder what my kids will remember from their childhood. I hope they are good things. I want to have them start writing them down so I can know what they consider momentous. Two of my memories were major events, but the others were just random things that happened on a random day that I'm sure my siblings or parents don't even remember. It's amazing what stick with you.