Development Spurt

Instead of a growth spurt (which is probably also happening) Nathan seems to be going through a "development spurt".

Every day it seems, there's another one, two, three, or more firsts that are being accomplished, and Nathan is reveling in all of his successes.

It is great to be the kid in the family that can do everything better than the others. It is also great to be the one who tells Melanie and Matthew what to play next (when they listen).

When he's not being competitive, Nathan can be a very thoughtful big brother. He often volunteers to cheer up Daniel when he's grumpy, and does a better job than Melanie and Matthew combined. He seems to have a knack for it.

There are still so many questions to be answered, though. So when Nathan is not tackling something new, he might be doing his research; asking Mommy those things that are on his mind.

And still there is time for building things, even three hours in one day, to put together something properly and completely, just because you can!

Snake

Here is the only snake I've seen who removes his tongue before slithering:

I suppose it's the latest safety feature.

Supper

Tonight dinner was informal.

I was very surprised that there were to messes on the couch.


As expected, there was a huge mess in the booster seat.


Daniel stopped eating only to contemplate what next to smear his grubby hands on.

Good Cheer

Here are some cheerful faces in case the rain (again) is getting to you.
Or maybe you have sun. We don't.




Today our sunshine is only inside.

Rainy Day

Maybe I'll believe those people who say the weather changes moods.

This morning was lousy. A fuzzy blur, a grumbly unsuccessful venture.

My entire morning accomplishments were:
one bad mood
one vacuumed house (300+ ants included)
ten toys stepped on
four cranky kids (due to neglect and their mother's aforementioned bad mood)
one car seat/booster seat switcheroo
one unleavened loaf of bread tossed out into the compost.

The unleavened bread was just a bit much for me this morning. It smelled so good (drool). But then seeing the small lump of dough in the bread pan after such a poor morning, and to top it all off, so long after passover, all this failed to excite any enthusiasm in me. Quite the opposite. AND I had spent two minutes this morning hovering over the bread maker checking and double checking to make sure that all the necessary ingredients were there. I suspected something was missing. It was my brains. (The lack of yeast may have had a little to do with it too.)

Good Morning Little Ant

And other little ant
and other little ant
and other little ant
and....

Mommy's there's hundreds and millions of ants all over the house again!

Can we vacuum them for you Mommy?
(PLEASE DO!)

There's one over here, Melanie!

I got it Nathan!

I'll eat any that I find.

Video of Daniel

Hopefully this works.

His royal Cuteness Making Tracks

It happens more often now that Daniel is grumpy until I put him down and let him explore.

It's new for me to see such a tiny little monster all on his own checking his little world out. He loves it though; it's his goal to be as big as Nathan as soon as possible.

He does not appreciate being left to roam in the grass.

But none of his siblings did at that age, so I guess that's why he thinks it's okay.

Getting stuck in the bottom of the exersaucer seems to be an all time favorite for early cruisers.

He looks awfully cute when he's trapped in there, but after a lot of pleading and crying he eventually gets helped out.

Sometimes Daniel will go up on his knees and rock a little. But I doubt he'll change to real crawling for a while yet.

Girl Power

My parents wished many a time that I too would deal with a stubborn sensitive "pouty" girl.

Some days I think they got their wish. I'm sure they're pleased with the results. ;)

Walking down the street, we stop to chat with an elderly neighbour.
The conversation goes on about haircuts, and I explain that Melanie is excited to have her hair cut by scissors, since she's not allowed to get it buzzed like her handsome brothers, so we try make her feel like she's getting special treatment.
"I don't have any hair to get cut" says our neighbour, taking off his hat to show Melanie his head.
She grins, and giggles loudly to me,
"Mommy, Grandpa is a baby!!"
(Meaning, he's got a fuzzy bald looking head like Daniel.)

Melanie is such a treasure, our family would be incomplete without her!

The other day we were walking "in the woods" and she says:
"Mommy, are there real bears here?"
"I don't know," Says I. (Although I strongly doubt it.)
"That's ok, God will save us."

Stages of dependency

Growing up has a lot to do with becoming independent.
(For most of us, anyways.)

Six months already, and Daniel is on his own, watching the world, interpreting it for himself, and exploring it at his leisure.

But then when hard times come, he does a complete turn around, and nothing less than 100% Mommy time will do.

And what about Matthew?

He still enjoys moments of helping Mommy in the kitchen (ie. getting underfoot) and still needs long cuddle times. Most of all he needs Mommy (or Daddy, who's even better) to give a listening ear to his stories, which take so long to be translated in his little head from thoughts to words.

But he needs his freedom to stretch out his wings, so he can flap madly behind his older siblings in a desperate attempt to keep up.

Nathan has found so many things he can do himself that he is just a step or two short of manhood. (That is; full independence from his mother.) He's far too busy to tag along hanging on apron strings.

As for telling Mommy stories and asking many questions, even Daddy does that, so that gets done a lot.
Sickness or tiredness, however, will still bring out a need for some Mommy time. (But Daddy probably does the same too, he just doesn't tell anyone.)

And Melanie has the least need for a mother. She's far too busy mothering three brothers (and countless other imaginary dependents) to have time for needing a mother.

Except when she's hungry, tired, bored, lonely, sad, angry, etc.

Isn't it great to feel useful?

early birds

quick i`ve got five minutes if nobody cries

Daniel has become more mobile, but at the moment I don`t have a picture of him ``scooching`. That is, dragging himself forward on the floor in a lazy attempt of a crawl. He`s by far the fastest of my babies to get mobile, so that, of course adds a new dimension to our home life.

His sitting is almost mastered now too.
Matthew loves to take care of, and or beat on him.
He loves his role as big brother.

These two are also growing up incredibly fast. Here they are practicing swinging by themselves.

Melanie is trying valiantly to do it by herself, since, after all, she has an image to keep up!

Nathan can even get on himself! Plus his pumping skill are fabulous. So that`s one less job for me. ;)

Kids are fighting now, so that`s it.

Fresh air

After a week of not going anywhere because of our flu bout (which Melanie took longer than expected to get over) I was getting claustrophobic. I was all bark and bite and no wagging tale. So instead of continuing my growling and snapping, the kids took me for a walk to the park. They figured if they biked slow enough I could keep up.

They were right, I managed all right. A bit of panting and heavy wheezing, but other than that, I couldn't complain. Since there was a park at the point where I obviously needed to stop for a rest, they decided to get out and play while I recuperated.