Sleepy Friday

In honor of the family vacation we are about to go on, here's a few pictures of what our kids will be doing LATE every morning this next week:

SLEEP!

LATE!

(This is his friend's bed that he slept in when we visited their house....his bed is not pink)

And when the kids do this, they will be happy and well rested. We hope!

We are spending this next week on a much needed family beach vacation where we will hopefully make steps towards breaking our kids fears of the water. Check back for details on how this mission goes! I'm scheduling some posts for this next week, so come again to see some cute recent pics of the boys.

The Danger of Walkers

I know that not many people in the States have these, but here in North Africa it's all we can get for something to help your kid stand. We bought Jonas a dreaded walker last month - and pediatricians are right, they should not be recommended.

This doesn't look like it could be THAT bad:

Until he sees something across the room that looks like it could be fun to get into, then he's OFF!

One of the worst is he goes around the table, pulling down each chair as he goes.

And he makes sure it's good and destroyed. I tell ya, it's constant supervision in a walker. That is unless you put them in an empty padded room. There's an idea!

Lamps - crashing down.

The other day we had a lightbulb moment where we said - hey, he wants to scoot around. Let's give him a dustmop while he does it so he can clean as he goes.

It worked great....until he realized how much fun the handle is to eat.

But, I tell you. Just how can you resist THIS SWEET FACE, smiling at you?

You can't. It's just not humanly possible.

Brother Love

These brothers love each other. These pictures make me so happy.






My boys. LOVE them.

Stop touching your mouth!!

Have you ever dried your teeth with your finger and pushed your lips up so that your lips stay tucked up and your teeth look all big? Anyone know what I'm talking about?

Sometime over the last couple months Elijah has developed a nervous habit - something he does when he's anxious or bored or not knowing what to do in certain situations.

Particularly around other kids.

We try not to draw too much attention to it because it just makes him do it more (so the experts say, and so we've noticed). But it drives us c-r-a-z-y!

"Stop touching your mouth" "Leave your lips alone"

"Your hands are really dirty - please don't touch your mouth" -- that one is the worst. Little boys love to touch and explore e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g outside - ugh, yuck. So after picking up trash on the floor, running his fingers along the moldly wall, cleaning off the dirt and grime off the slide he puts his fingers all in his mouth.

Anyone have any suggestions? Should I just bite my tongue and let him keep pushing on his lips? Wait until school starts and other kids say something? I don't want my little boy to be made fun of! What's a mom to do?

Bruce's Little Space On The Web

My wife has a lovely blog here, but I'm sneaking in on it to advertise (spam) mine. I'm sure she wont mind. http://familycalamity.com check it out.

Dreams of Ronald....Ronald who?

Have we told you about the time Ronald came to visit Elijah one night?



Yes, Ronald McDonald.

One morning Elijah told us this story.

E: Ronald was in the room, did you see Ronald?

Me: Ronald who?

E: Ronald McDonald. He took off his big red shoes and got in the bed.

Me: In your bed?

E: No, not my bed.

Me: In his bed?

E: No, not his bed.

Me: Whose bed?

E: And then it was time to wake up and the red McDonald has to put on his shoes.

Me: Oh, he woke up?

E: Yes, the red McDonald. There was a white McDonald. They were sleeping.




Who knew that Ronald could be some impacting?

And he really wanted to know if Ronald came to my room too. I had to tell him no, sadly he was not in my room. Did Ronald come visit you?

Thing Two

Continuing from yesterday, here's an update on our second cutie.

"Thing Two"

*Jonas is SEVEN months old. How did it happens so quickly? Yesterday Elijah looked at Jonas and said "did Jonas get bigger?" He confirmed my suspicions that it all happened so quickly. I have no idea how much he weighs because at his last check-up (5 1/2 months old) I forgot to write down his weight and afterwards I got all confused with pounds/kilos or was it centimeters/inches or was that his head circumfrence, I don't know - I call it second child syndrome. I think next month when we are in the city where his old pediatrician is I will stop in to say hello and have him weighed.

*Jonas is a vampire. At 5 1/2 months he cut his first teeth (two on bottom center). Then just a few weeks ago he got his next teeth at 6 1/2 months -- but get this. He got his top two side incisors (the ones right next to the front teeth). He looks like a vampire! My (Morgan) mom said that I got my baby teeth in the same pattern. Maybe it's genetic?

Can you see my vampire stubs?

*Jonas loves solids. Each morning he has ground brown rice cooked with some fruit, and in the evening he has some kind of protein with vegetables - lentils with carrots, tomatoes and cheese; and his recent favorite chicken with pumpkin, carrots, onions and apples. He is learning how to drink water from a sippy cup (really he just uses it as a teething toy for his vampire teeth). He eats cheerios - and can pick them up on his own but is still figuring out how to release them from his death grip in his mouth. It's really sweet to watch Elijah help Jonas pick up food and eat it.

My favorite part of the day.

*Sleep is going much better. He's sleeping 10 hours straight then wakes to eat quickly, then goes back to sleep for another 2-3 hours. I think he could go straight through and we've tried lots of things: giving him the paci, giving him water, letting him cry it out, etc but he can't get past the 10 hour mark.

Nap on the go!

*Jonas can sit up by himself now. He is also rolling all over the floor and will roll over and over to get to a certain toy. He wants to move SO BADLY and gets really frustrated that his body isn't cooperating. He is MUCH more active than Elijah was at his age...meaning just more jumpy and always has to be kicking or moving some body part...not meaning active like he's doing things quicker. He's actually about a month behind where Elijah was in meeting all the developmental milestones.

I'm a big boy sitting up on the beach

I think that's enough random facts about the kids for now. Coming soon: pics from our recent trip to Spain.

Thing One

We often refer to our kids as "Thing One" and "Thing Two". Something like "OK, you get Thing Two in the bath while I get Thing One's dinner ready." It helps us keep it all sorted out who's who. Until I have to remember who was firstborn and that means Thing One or is it who is smaller and closer to age one that's Thing One? And then my head gets all in a mess, all turned around and it's all a blur.

I thought it was about time I gave a general update on how each of the kids are doing in some key areas. And first up is "Thing One"

What did you call me....Thing One?

*Elijah is officially enrolled in a French preschool to start Sept 9th. He will go from 8am-11:30pm every day (we may cut it down to 3 days a week depending on how he does), and he is scheduled to go back from 2:30-4:30pm but we may keep him at home to nap during that time most days. It's a lot for a, (almost) 3 year old to be at school SO MANY hours a day. Did I just say almost 3 year old...where did my baby go? He will be learning French from the teachers and most of the kids will be speaking Arabic with each other.

*Elijah is VERY SHY especially when he's in new situations or with new people. People think that he doesn't talk (quite the opposite, he usually doesn't stop talking at home) and they think that he is very sweet and always obedient (sometimes quite the opposite as well, especially lately). We are hoping that going to preschool and being around a lot of other kids will help open him up. It's also been working for us to MAKE HIM say things to people that we meet when we are out. Especially in this country where greetings are such a huge part of the culture, it is very rude not to greet someone. He's getting much better and will now (very quietly mouse whisper) greetings to people.

Looking concerned at all the people as we wait in line for the ferry

*Elijah likes to read books and we often find him sitting on his bed reading to his animals -- especially before his animals need to go down for their nap. (He's very imaginative). Or sitting in the corner on the frosh (couch) reading quietly.

Sitting quietly with sheepie on the bus

*Speaking of animals, his favorites are "Turtle" and "Sheepie" -- weren't we creative with their names?! They get to go everywhere with him and get special treatment to play all the games and sit at the activity table to do activities. They each even have their own chair at the table! They have their own little personalities and often Turtle is called Daddy and Sheepie is called Mommy when he's acting out certain things - like when they all go in the "boat" (laundry basket) so the water doesn't get them.

Animals in the "boat"

*A favorite game is to get Daddy's tools and "fix" his bike. The bike ALWAYS has to be knocked over on its side to be fixed, though. And ALL the tools need to be used to get it fixed completely. And he must wear his hard hat to be safe. Safety first!

Getting the bike in position to "fix" it

*Elijah is potty trained! It happened all too easily for him, really. Once he peed in the potty one time he knew what to do and it was just reinforcing it regularly. The hardest thing was teaching him HOW to do the poos sitting down because he wanted to stand up to get it out. But after the first time where we had to hold him sitting down when he REALLY had to go, he realized it wasn't so bad and he's never looked back. It's been over a month since he's had an accident and he's in his big boy pants all day even for his naps. Overnight is another story - he almost always has pee in his diaper in the morning, but it too will come.

Big boy underpants near the pool

*Our latest discipline issue is for WHINING! I don't even need to explain to all you that have older kids, but we are coming down full force (Bruce says "no tolerance policy") and we are seeing positive results. Of course it's all dependent on the day and the naps, etc.

Check back tomorrow for an update on Thing Two!

Beach bums

If we could become beach bums, we would.

Wikipedia says this of beach bums: The members of this subculture are typically ocean and beach-going people who enjoy spending spare time sitting or relaxing on a beach. As such, the life of a beach bum is usually one of leisure. This holds true if the particular beach bum is a local, a retiree, a vacationer, or just someone who enjoys life by the ocean.

Yep, we fall into the "just someone who enjoys life by the ocean" category. The waves. The sun. The sand. Ahh, bliss. It's too bad our kids have intense fears of water and won't go near it. Slowly, it will come.

This is where the phrase "hold on for dear life" comes from. (You may have to click on it to enlarge to see Elijah clinging to Bruce's neck because he doesn't want to touch the water).

It's true. We love the beach. Even though he doesn't go near the water Elijah loves to play in the sand. Jonas loves to lay on the mat, play with toys, watch his brother and the waves and the other people -- and one day when he's older play in the sand with him. Bruce loves to stand in the water and watch the waves and -- I don't know, contemplate life. I love to sit in the peace while my kids and husband are enjoying themselves and people watch, play with them and just BE.

Our plot of sand, our piece of peace.



One thing I love about being at the beach is that we are able to train Jonas to sleep anywhere we go. Flexibility. It's a must for us.

So is having cute kids. It's a must for us.

Here's a video from our most recent beach trip this last weekend. Just a peek into our favorite beach here in our city.

Mommy's helper

Elijah has become quite the helper in the kitchen. Anytime I'm making something in the kitchen, Elijah runs in, grabs the stool and climbs onto the counter to sit and help me. He especially likes when we make cookies and pancakes. :) Oh and smoothies. He can measure all the ingredients (with help, of course), and loves to scoop, dump, mix, shake, rattle and roll. It's fun to be together - and this way I know he's not causing trouble in another part of the house. And he's learning!



Hmm, mom. What should we make for dinner.



One of his favorite parts of helping Mom in the kitchen is the jar of raisins that sits on the counter. I didn't know a kid could love raisins as much as he does. Wow!



Eating and drinking the final product. This night it was pasta with homemade meat sauce....as you can see by his hands and face.

I'm a roly poly

Hi, it's me Jonas.



Yep, that's me. I love to be on my tummy, see how happy I am. Really, it's one of my favorite positions to be in.



I can play with toys and grab things and it's so much easier to put them right into my mouth like this.



Sitting up, you say? Yeah I'm working on that too. Mom says I look like a frog when I'm sitting because I still have to hold myself up with my arms. But I just love the tummy.



Except at 2am when I wake up and roll over onto my back but I don't know how to roll again to my tummy where I like to sleep. So I cry and cry and call for my mom then when she comes she has to hold me on my tummy because I can't help myself..I just want to flip over again. Finally I fall asleep again. Oh, but just until it's time to do it again in 2 hours for the 156th time of the night.




What's wrong with that?

At least I'm cute.

We've got a scream-singer on our hands

Bruce says Elijah is meant to be a rock band singer. If you can even call it singing. I call it scream-singing. Elijah likes to entertain himself by playing his little piano or guitar, pacing back and forth and "singing" songs that I've never heard of. Nor can I make out most of the words he's singing. Same as many rock bands I've heard.

Here's a video of a selection of a couple day's tunes. Let this be your fair warning that your volume should be set on LOW.

Dance par-tay

One of Elijah's favorite things to do is dance. Many nights before bed Elijah asks if we can "dance for some music" and we blast music and all dance around silly and mimic whatever latest dance move Elijah has come up with. It's a fun time here - you should see Bruce do the orangutan!

Well we hosted a retreat a few weeks ago where some friends came in town. Most nights we had a dance party where all the girls plus Elijah danced around and he got to teach us all some sweet new dance moves that he came up with.

Here's a video from one night's dance party. Ugh, I almost don't want to post it because the video quality is SO BAD because of the dimly lit room. But if you can see past the grainy darkness you will see a super-cute Elijah.

Mother's day 2009

Ah, a mother's day post just in time for Father's day. Aren't we so timely here? :)

This year's mother's day was so special. We went to breakfast at our good friends' house where they cooked pancakes. As we were all sitting around, they casually mentioned - hey we're going to an internet cafe later this afternoon to call our moms for mother's day if you wanted to go with us. Bruce looked at me and said - right, it's mother's day...we need to call our moms today. About 30 seconds later he goes - oohhh, right. You're a mom too. :)


He made up for it by sending me off with one of the girls to get my hair cut and then went to an internet cafe to check my email for the first time in over a week (we didn't have internet at the time, so it was a special treat!) When I got home, the kids had each made me a special mother's day card - a tradition started my first mother's day when Elijah was just a wee 5 months old.

Here are some of the in-progress shots by Bruce:





I forgot to take a picture of the actual artwork, or of mom with the kids but this is a work-in progress shot of Elijah's picture.






I think some of this paint was intentional for the effect...

...whereas this paint is au' naturel

Jonas made use of all his limbs

Elijah riding his bike and looking in the mirror at his paint-covered self.

Reminder to self: don't forget Father's day is Sunday June 21st!

Do you have any fun father's day traditions or plans this year? Do share with us.