Back to School 2013: Part 2

A few weeks ago Sam headed back to school, for his third and final year in Preschool! A look back at the past two years (cue tears):

Um, he looks like a baby in that 2011 pic. And he didn't stay small and round. My boy is so long and lean! This year's photo:

So, two funny things about this year's photo: 1) Sam put up a HUGE fight about wearing socks to school on the first day of school, to the extent that he was in such a mood he wouldn't let me take a picture on Wednesday. Which leads me to 2) When I snapped this pic today (Saturday), he was shoeless. Ha. 

Also, the pics from last week's Back to School Eve Feast! For future years, see here, here and here.

This year's theme was books, based on the classics.

I made signs for the food using A Beautiful Mess app on my iphone and printed them up at home:

We had Secret Garden green salad

A River Runs Through It smoked trout

The Catcher in the Rye quinoa

Grapes of Wrath red grapes

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory chocolate chip cookies

It was fun (and enlightening) explaining the plot of all these books to Maddie and Sam. So funny.

I did make crowns, as usual, but they were thrown together in a flash and I didn't take pictures. Basically, they were open books made of paper with words highlighted in them like "love, learn, read, fun" etc.

Happy Back to School everyone!

Evan: SIX MONTHS! (Half a year!) Already! Sigh.

My sweet little pea,

On Sunday you turned six months old. I might have shed a few tears about it at breakfast, as you scarfed down a huge bowl of mangos and rice cereal. Just like that, you're a baby who eats real food and moves across the floor. It's kind of surreal, and a lot of fun.

You still have your very own look. Blond hair, big blue eyes, not looking all that much like Maddie or Sam as babies. You do remind us of Maddie in how you are inquisitive and always watching people's faces. You are constantly taking it all in.

This month was like a developmental explosion. All of the sudden you are up on your hands and knees, then you're rocking back and forth, then you're pushing up on your toes into planks and downward facing dogs, and then you're walking your little tootsies forward to your hands. Next week: sun salutations.

It looks like you'll be crawling within the month. Sigh. And I had such high hopes for a baby who would stay a baby forever. You love to barrel roll across the floor (and the bed, in the morning, after nursing, bumping into Daddy). You are all hands, grabbing and snatching and spilling and stealing before we even have a chance to react. Thankfully it's just been a glass of water here and a fistful of salad there. Nothing too dangerous. Yet.

Often the first sound out of your mouth upon waking is a raspberry. It's pretty much your favorite vocalization other than the ear-piercing, blood-curdling scream that we hear multiple times a day. Usually in confined spaces. At your six-month well check the pediatrician was amazed by the capacity of such a small guy to make such a big fuss.

But other than the screaming, you're a pretty fantastic baby. You will still fall asleep in my arms and take naps on my chest. You are sweet and inquisitive. You love to give kisses, big open-mouth, slobbery, wet kisses.

If I place you on a blanket in the grass, you make a rolling beeline for the edge of the blanket where you love to touch, pull, pick, and lick the grass and leaves. A blanket is pretty much pointless now, as you are quite mobile and even more determined to get to the edge. The grass doesn't seem to bother you at all; rather, you love to feel it in your hands and beneath you.

You can sit up by yourself, not for long, but just long enough to grab some photos. Most sits end up with you throwing your large head back and landing flat. Thankfully it's usually on a soft surface.

I'm so thankful we made it to six months. Medically speaking, the remicade you were exposed to in utero has now worked its way out of your bloodstream. Your immune system should be that of a normal baby! Yay! We've managed to keep nursing, too, which is such a good thing. Not only did you need it to build your immunity up to this point, but considering all those weight gain issues and the supplemental feeding, I'm so glad you still love to nurse. I love it too.

At six months, you are 85th percentile for height, 42nd for weight, and your head is somewhere in the 60s. You've managed to climb out of the bottom percentiles and find yourself a pretty average-sized baby. Yay for us! And yay for real food. You eat just about everything I put in front of you: squash, sweet potatoes, rice, oatmeal, mango, bananas, apples, peas, green beans...and there's so much more to come.

All in all, it's been a good half of a year, little guy. Thanks for all the snuggles, the laughs, the midnight prayer times, and for completing our family. You are dearly loved.

Love,

Mama

Maddie: 80 Months

Dear Maddie,

Happy month-o-versary! It's so fun each 14th to gather my thoughts on the past month, record the new things you're doing, and laugh about all the conversations that have transpired. You are an engaging conversationalist, full of wonder and questions and awe. 

You are an AMAZING big sister and the most patient, loving, fun, enthusiastic playmate and helper. Every morning you run looking for your baby brother to give kisses, snuggle him close, give zurbits or "walk" him around the house changing "one, two, one, two, one two!" Evan absolutely adores you and no one can light up his face and body like the sight of your smile.

Last week you accompanied Sam into preschool, eager to see his new classroom and taking on the role of "student" as he showed you around, "teaching" you along the way. It was a sweet role reversal and I could tell just how much it meant to him that you would take the time to see all his favorite spots.

You're a late bird this year, which means we get a lovely little date two mornings a week. Today you decided on a HUGE maple bar at the donut shop. Your pink smile perfectly matched your sweatshirt as I snapped the photo and tucked the memory away in my mind. Even though it means more driving around in the morning, it's a treat to get this precious 1:1 time with you and I know even just twenty minutes together is good for your heart, too.

It's hard to believe you're a first grader, but at the same time you are so responsible and poised that you often seem older. You have remarkable emotional sensitivity and relational capacity.

On your first day of school, you triumphantly jumped in the car and deemed it, "the best day EVER!"

Of course, you are six. So there's bound to be some times where you act your age. Like throwing colossal tantrums about small things. And six year-old tantrums just aren't pretty.

One day you shared a funny story from school in which you shushed someone in line as your class was walking through the quiet zone. After you asked your classmate to stop talking, you laughed in spite of yourself because you had, in fact, been talking in the quiet zone. We giggled and giggled about that one.

In Hawaii it was fun to see you confident and carefree, excited to try new things without last Summer's trepidation. You rode on the boogie board, snorkeled in deep water, dove under big waves, and had a great time doing it all. By the end of vacation you were catching small rides on the boogie board by yourself and offering to teach Sam to do the same.

Right now you are still saying that you want to be a preacher/Mama when you grow up. But I can just as easily see you as a first grade teacher, adventure guide, occupational therapist, or lawyer. The world is your oyster, Maddie, just waiting for you to discover all there is to be seen. Thanks for letting me tag along on this amazing ride.

Love,

Mama

Sam: Four and a Half (54 Months)

Hey buddy,

Well, we made it halfway through year four! (Pat on the back). And it was a big month. We visited Hawaii. You started your third year of preschool. You visited family in Wisconsin. And you handled it all with your typical Sam grace. You continue to crack us up with your funny faces, astound us with your detailed drawings, and drive us crazy with your stubbornness. 

In Hawaii we were able to sneak away for a couple "dates," one night we watched the sunset together in Waikiki:

At another point, we searched for the perfect souvenir. We passed lots of stores and many stands before you finally settled on the "perfect" drum. It was half the price but double the fun. It continues to bring us joy as you don your tie-dye shirt, camo shorts, and lead us in drum circles and chants. :)

You are in this great stage where you say, "Mom, mom, take a picture of this!!" and then make funny faces and pose. I pretty much love it (other than finding 100 pics of the same face you've taken of yourself with the flip cam). You love to make forts and hideouts and secret spaces and offices out of rocks and sticks and things around the house. I find little stashes of Sam supplies all over the place: forgotten apples and glasses of water, piles of sticks or rocks, backpacks filled with tools and hinges and coins and rope. I wish I could get in your brain sometimes to figure out the use for each little item.

You continue to be my snuggle bug. You live for nighttime cuddles. There are still several nights a week that you find your way into our room in the early morning, make a little "snuggle nest" on the floor, and wake up with us when the light enters the room. Sometimes I don't even hear you come in, but find you when I swing my feet over the edge of the bed. Thankfully you sleep through baby cries and even the occasional foot stepping on your sleeping body!

This month you created the most intricate drawing of a plumbing system. There was a toilet and then three pages of piping and a long, complicated explanation of where the pee pees and poo poos go after we flush them away. Your Boppa was very much impressed and might just be so proud as to hang the drawings in his office (being a waste water treatment civil engineer, and all).

We are so thankful for you, your kind and sensitive heart, your hilarious sense of humor, your endless energy, your creative brain, and all your hugs and kisses. Thanks for being our big buddy, for making us laugh and for reminding us to slow down and take time for cuddles. For as long as you will ask, I will happily end my day with you. Love you bud.

Back to School 2013

 It's that time of year: back to school! A time of fun, anticipation, a few tears, and lots of transitions!

First, a look back through the years (cue tears):

And here's our beautiful, smart, witty, lovely first grader:

Walking through the parking lot with Daddy:

Outside Room 9:

After school was out, she declared it "the best day EVER!!!!!" We are SO PROUD of our first grader! Love you Maddie girl!

Evan: 5 Months

FIVE MONTHS!!!!! How is it possible?! Stay this age forever, buddy. You are SO delicious right now. So snuggly. So smiley. So interested in the world around you. So easygoing. Evan Michael, you are truly a gracious gift of God. Every day I find myself giving thanks for the delight that you are.

This month was a month of great changes in your life. Shortly after 4 months you moved into your own bed, and then into your own room. While I enjoyed the nighttime snuggles, it was time. You still wake 2-3 times a night, but at least I don't hear (and feel) all the kicking, turning, shuffling, and rustling. 

You started blowing raspberries, much to everyone's delight. After a few days of studying my face intently, and placing your little tongue between those kissable lips, one day you blew out and your first raspberry was made, much to your great surprise and great joy. So fun.

You are also rolling over like a boss. The first several times no one witnessed it, but we found you rolled over in your crib or on the carpet. Now that you have tasted that bit of freedom, you LOVE to roll. Every time I put you down, it seems you stretch and twist, using that big cabeza and flexible torso to get going in the direction you desire. 

You are also an accomplished scooter. By digging your heels into the floor and arching your back, you can make serious progress across the carpet in a short time. But once your head hits that cold tile floor, it is not so enjoyable and you will scream out for help. 

After months of being behind, you have finally caught up in the weight department, much to my great relief. At 4 1/2 months, you were perfectly halfway between Maddie & Sam's weights at similar ages. Your head and length are in the 90th percentile and your weight is finally almost 50%. YAY!

You tried rice cereal this month and loved it. You are very interested in whatever we're eating and even try to grab food off our plates or out of our hands! It's definitely time. Next up: oatmeal, veggies, frozen fruit to gnaw on. Yummers!

Some day I know you'll give me a run for my money (hello, four years old is #sohard), but for now I'm eating up every delicious minute of having a baby in the house again. Thanks for reminding us to slow down, get on the floor, make crazy high voices, and repeat foolish behavior over and over and over in order to get one of those amazing huge belly laughs. You're the best, buddy!

Mommy's happy little camper, indeed.

Love,

Mama

Maddie: 79 Months

Dear Madeleine Noelle,

My almost first grader...how the Summer has flown by! In just a few short weeks you'll be back in school, full days, and I'll be missing you like crazy. Six is so much fun. You are helpful and kind, obedient and communicative. You are a voracious reader, full of life and energy and creativity. SO MUCH FUN.

One morning getting dressed, I overhead you tell Sam, "Buddy, it's all about style. Style to the mile! That means, the more style you have, the further you'll go!" Wherever you got that fashion advice is beyond me, but it gave Daddy and I some great laughs. And you do have your very own style--it's awesome.

It is so great how much you love to read. Pretty much every night I find you like this, asleep in a pile of books: 

Since moving into a bunk bed with Sam, I find books everywhere as they fall like meteors from the top bunk once you've nodded off. So far no one has been injured by falling books (thankfully). Sometimes you'll spend an hour or more up on that top bunk, surrounded by books, layers deep. And the nerdy reader in me absolutely loves it. 

You are, officially, the very best big sister. Gentle and kind, thoughtful and responsive, tender and fun. No one can make Evan deep belly laugh like you. At times you can be a bit, ahem, enthusiastic, but I'd rather have an overly enthusiastic big sister than a boring one! I seriously could not get things done around here without your help and I'm so grateful.

You are so mature, so wise and so composed. At times I forget you are just six. After a particularly hard morning this month, you were able to articulate so beautifully and honestly your heart and the struggles you were facing. You shared with both humility and confidence, not shying away from how you were truly feeling but also without blaming me nor trying to protect me. I was SO proud of you. And a few days later, after an epic meltdown, you softened to the prayers of your earthly father and were able to receive great encouragement and love from your Heavenly Father. I can't imagine a better time to hear so clearly and deeply how beloved you are. We pray that there is never a doubt of how much God loves you, and that you will know just how accessible the truth of your Father, when you take the time to listen.

God is so good in giving you to me. I am delighted that I get to journey with you, to learn from you, to disciple your heart and to witness the work of God in and through you. You have a heart for Jesus, a tender love for those around you, and a desire to share God's love with all those you love. What a gift. So excited to see what the next month has in store for you, little one.

Love,

Mama

Sam: 53 Months

Oh, Sam,

These past few months have been, well, some of my most difficult months ever as a parent. We are in constant discipline mode and I feel as though this phase will never end, even though I know better. I keep on keepin' on, though, because, what else can you do?? (Well, pray, and I'm doing A LOT of that these days, too.)

One particular night you got in trouble at the pool, and you were not able to get back in, but you came up with your own Sam way of playing poolside:

True Sam fashion, pushing the limits while making the most of a hard situation. Smiling. Creative. Silly.

You are full of funny Sam-isms these days, saying the funniest, most clever things that keep me giggling long after you've gone to bed. One afternoon you were trying to negotiate an extra dessert and mentioned that you had enough sugar already, and that too much of a good thing can be not-so-good for little bellies. You said, "Mama, it's okay. I can have more sugar. I hear the sugar in my belly and it's saying it's okay." 

Last night you went to see Turbo with your Grammy and Auntie Cheryl. Later, at bedtime, you were insisting that I get a piece of paper so you could draw your "snail race(track)" before falling asleep. I tried everything to distract you, to no avail. Finally, I asked if it would work to take a picture with your brain to help you remember exactly what you wanted to draw, so you could start first thing in the morning. You agreed, to my surprise, taking your time, eyes squinted, lips akimbo, until you finally exclaimed, "click!" Then I asked you to put it somewhere safe in your brain, where you could access it easily. "It's ok, Mama," you replied, "it's at the end of the 8th aisle in my brain." 

You take a lot of hard falls these days, what with your ever-increasing sense of adventure and ever-decreasing safety filter. There's no ladder too high, no water too deep, no mud too thick, etc. At a church concert you took a horrible tumble, face first, onto the sand. It was clear you were going to develop a swollen, black eye and I offered ice. But after just a few minutes of crying and a little TLC, you were well on your way. That shiner is not your first, and most certainly won't be your last.

You continue to select particular outfits for particular purposes, such as the cowboy get up for our trip to the peach "farm." It was so hot that day, and the sweat was pouring from your red face as you ambled through the orchards, up and down ladders, clad in full-length sleeves and pants, boots, chaps and a vest. You didn't do much peach picking (obvi), but you definitely made time to check out the farm equipment:

Though you are at times naughty as naughty can be, you are still the sweetest, loviest boy. One morning in Woodlake you snuggled up on the couch, asked to feed your brother, and gave him the most tender and precious little kisses. I'm so glad I was able to snap a quick photo of that soft, quick moment between you.

And then there's moments like this:

No shirt, "craft beer" hat cocked to one side, smirk on your face, up to no good. You are funny and sneaky, creative and impulsive, crazy and 

This week you had your first sports camp, Li'l Baseball. It was pretty darn cute. You enjoyed throwing the ball, playing little games, and clowning around. Grammy and I watched you during warm ups, falling over while trying to stretch, tossing your glove in the air and catching it, and kicking the dirt by your feet. It was perfect. Now you want to try soccer camp, basketball camp, and fireman camp. 

Sweet little buddy, how I wish I could just hold you and comfort you and keep you safe until this crazy season/phase is over. How I wish I could make it easier for you to navigate the world. But I know that you will eventually grow out of the chaos and step into a new, centered sense of self. I trust that God has a good plan and purpose for your life. I look forward to seeing just how he meets you in the midst of this all. Thanks for letting me journey with you. You are my best big boy.

Love,

Mama

Woodlake & Kings Canyon

Last week we visited some good friends in Woodlake. We've been friends with Joe and Jodi since seminary and their brood visited us last Summer, so it was time for another visit. We loaded up the car and headed Southeast to a valley near some mountains. 

It was pretty hot, so we did a lot of hanging out inside during the heat of the day and venturing out at night or to local swimming spots. J & J have four awesome big boys aged 5, 8, 9, and 13, so there was plenty of fun to be had.

Maddie & Daddy relaxing (note the similar profiles):

Sunset our first night in Woodlake:

Evan didn't need any clothes during the day, even in the shade:

Evan working on his new trick, raspberries with spit bubbles:

Sam enjoyed a first, playing "big boy" video games (with buddy Owen):

Lots of snuggles in the morning light: 

Fooling around (photo bomb by Judah):

Maddox & baby E:

On our last day we bid goodbye to our buddies and said hello to Kings Canyon. Gorgeous mountain ridges, deep valleys, giant sequoias, cooler temps. It was awesome.

Kings Canyon:

Giant Sequoia exploring: 

Little buddy, mesmerized with the big trees:

I can't wait to go back! The trees are so beautiful and the mountains so majestic. Hopefully one day soon we can return for camping.