Six Months

Happy 6 months to this guy!

Can't believe half a year has passed since he came into our lives. Here's what he's up to these days:

• Still just two bottom teeth, but working on two top ones.
• Finally figured out rolling over from back to front. Even though he can also roll tummy to back, he often gets too frustrated when he gets to his tummy.
• Sleeps a 2-3 hour stretch at the beginning of the night in his own crib, but then likes to be up every hour or so after that, so it's easier to be in bed with Mommy.
• Starting to nap in longer chunks during the day in his crib.
• Can sit on his own for short lengths of time.
• Just started making drooly raspberry sounds.
• Now eats rice cereal, sweet potatoes, apples, mangoes, and bananas.
• Laughs and smiles when he sees Maggie and Bode.
• Coos at Asia (dog) and Toby (cat).

Sisterly Love

The other day, I overheard Maggie inform Bode,

"You made me a big sister.  Did you know that?  I wasn't a sister before you were born."

Awww, they really do love each other.

Future AFV Star

One of the favorite shows at our house is AFV ("America's Funniest Home Videos," as it used to be called).  Maggie desperately wants to be on this show and is planning how to make it happen.  Today she gave Bode permission to "be mean" to her so they could be on the show.  She just had a few stipulations:

"You can't push me out of a chair.  You can't push me off the swing."

"I know!" exclaimed Bode.

And that was that.  We'll see what comes of their scheme.  I'm a little nervous.

Broken Eggs

Thursday while I was working online with a student, my sweet children opened the door to play outside and our cat bolted for freedom.  This feline becomes quite adept during warmer weather at making escapes. If he was a normal cat, I'm sure this would be no big deal, but once outside, Toby turns into crazy demented demon cat. In the past I've decked out in protective clothing from head to toe and gone after him with a fishing net. Lately, however, I've found that I can simply chase him with a rake until he dashes back inside, with a puffy tail and the most horrible howl I've ever heard.  In fact, it's not uncommon to see me out two or three times a day working to corral this monster despite my constant reminders to the children to "Watch the cat!" as they open the door.

Well this time, since he escaped while I was preoccupied, I couldn't immediately retrieve him. So after I finished with my student I put Brooks in the Baby Bjorn and walked a couple blocks around the radius of our house. Even though I didn't find the cat during this walk (he returned later), the children and I did discover something else -  two broken robin's eggs that must have just fallen out of a nest onto the edge of the private drive leading to the town homes behind our house. As we observed the beautiful blue color of the shells, we thought they would be a perfect addition to the nature table at Maggie's preschool.  Since they were yolky and I was carrying Brooks, we opted to come back later with a Ziploc bag to gather the treasure.

When it came time for school, we went back to find a car had run over the eggs. The shells were completely shattered. Maggie was disappointed, but managed to hold her emotions somewhat in check as we instead gathered violets to add to her class's nature table.

When she came home from school two and a half hours later, she was proud to show me a picture she colored, chronicling our saga, which clearly was fresh in her mind.

A modern piece, it shows the eggs falling from the tree while simultaneously being shattered.  Also, in reality, I did brush my hair that day...I think.

I guess, as Maggie showed, art really can be healing, no matter how small the tragedy.

Brooks Eats Cereal

Jewels

I've been in survival mode recently.  Yes, it's been busy since I've been back to work after my maternity leave, what with the never-ending to do list, the baby that insists on being held almost every hour of the day, and the many activities we tote our family to and from throughout the week.  These past few weeks, however, the challenges have intensified even further with the onset of some major sleep disturbances in our four-month-old.

Brooks' six-hour nighttime stretch that I had previously become accustomed to, recently shortened to four hours and then shortly after he turned three months old, his first evening with a babysitter somehow set off a pattern of waking every hour or two.  Every night.  Exhausting.  Utterly and completely.

I've seen this poem here and there a few times during the last several months.  And I'm pretty sure it has made me tear up every time.

I remember the deep sense of loneliness in the weeks following the birth of my first baby; the feeling that the sleepless nights and constant crying would never end.

But they do and it does.

And with each tiny newborn baby, I have become more and more aware of the fleeting moments I have while they're young.

And so this morning, both fresh from the second consecutive night of only one night-time feeding, Brooks and I made our way downstairs before the other two got up.  Shortly thereafter, my sweet three-year-old shuffled into the dimly lit living room.  As we plopped onto the couch with Elmo on TV, I closed my eyes and relished his warm hug and cuddles for a few minutes, remembering the early mornings from a couple years ago when the quiet house would be ours.

I then tiptoed to the children's room and softly peeked inside.  My spunky daughter was just starting to stir.  I swiftly climbed onto the top bunk and curled around my still-sleepy first born as she giggled conspiratorially about our girl time.

I feel like I don't, or even can't, cherish these moments as much as I want to.  Life gets in the way.  Chores need to get done; work needs to be completed; each child vies for my attention in demanding and draining ways.  But on days such as today, armed with a good night's sleep (and coffee, of course), I am trying to treasure each special jewel of time that will be gone all too soon.

Four Months