What's New?
It'a high time for another happy edition of What's New. Why?
BECAUSE my kids are finally seeming to be healthy! For like, two whole weeks now.
After about ten weeks or more of sickness, I can't tell you how grateful I am for this new change.
There have been pockets of happiness and peace during this long, drawn-out ordeal, but don't let my cheerful blogging voice trick you into thinking I'm some highly competent nurse-maid.
For instance, in a meeting about a month ago with my kids' principal -- no, they weren't in trouble, I had requested it to ask some questions about curriculum, et cetera -- I blurted out, "I hope you don't think I have Munchausen by proxy, given how much time they have missed. BELIEVE me, my strong preference is to have them all happily at school."
She looked stunned that I would even suggest such a thing, and I realized I probably sounded Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.
And so I came home and cried some angsty tears because I made a fool of myself. Truthfully, I don't think she thought anything of it, but my nerves have been raw.
So, onto chitchat:
His talking has taken off, and it's just so sweet! He has a clear phrase for "my brothers!" which he cries in joy when we go to rouse them in the mornings for school. (Not "sister," mind you, he just calls her "Anna.")
He is a very snuggly baby and loves to burrow his head onto my shoulder when he's had a tumble. Is he already 20 months old now? Tempus fugit!
He also is deeply attached to Patrick. He loves to watch him come down the driveway at 5:15 or so, and Elijah runs to be scooped up by dear ol' Dada the moment he comes in the door.
He is still nursing. Not at night anymore, not for a long time, actually, but several times throughout the day. I wouldn't have predicted I'd want this to continue with him so near his second birthday, but he loves to nurse, and I still treasure it, too. These seasons fly by so I want to soak them up when I can.
He loves his new light-up shoes, which I bought as a reminder that spring will come some day and we can rid ourselves of winter boots for another year. After trying them on he asked, in an amusingly clear way for a primarily preverbal person, to Facetime Nana to show her. The conversations he carries on with my mom are a delight! I need to record it because I know in three years, or really, in six months, I'll struggle to remember his elaborate inflections and gestures that tell a million stories with only a handful of actual words thrown in.
He loves Elmo, and so we found a Sesame Street CD from the library which he loves to listen to in the car.
He loves bath time, and the book "In the Big Red Barn" -- especially the page with the rooster! "Cock-a-doodle-doo", he shouts with joy while pointing up in the sky. One of his favourite past times is getting to go down the pet food aisle and commenting on every animal he sees on the labels. Cats say "now!" don't cha know?
Also, Jesus is, inexplicably, "Ye-lel-la." I think he may be trying to say "alleluia"? But don't tell the liturgical police that he says that, it being Lent and all.
This boy is so sweet, I can hardly stand it. We just love getting to spend our days with him.
After battling a several month long stretch of virus on top of virus, plus multiple round of antibiotics, she is really coming back to herself. I truly hadn't seen her real personality in months because she had been so hysterical, or in pain, or just downright exhausted, to be herself. But several days ago she found a bag of hand-me-downs from her aunt and pulled out a pretty, spring-y floral print dress. She immediately requested to wear it, and declared after putting it on, "I just prefer to wear beautiful things all day." Poor girl had been living in her pyjamas for weeks on end.
(I also had to laugh because the day before that, I had been listening to Gretchen Rubin's podcast where she was talking about Wearing Real Clothes as a happiness hack; I resolved to get up the next morning and put on jeans and a blouse instead of leggings and an old sweater. So we think similarly, Anna and I, except I stopped at blue jeans... she put on her Sunday best.)
She also told me last night when we were laying out jammies before prayers and bedtime routines, "I have a really good idea for bedtime snack, and don't worry, it's NOT healthy!"
She keeps us on our toes, because she is as fierce as I was her age. Sweet and cuddly for the most part, but also livid over perceived injustices, and takes a longer while to get back to normal than her brothers do (or did, at her age).
I often move through bedtime routines tired out by all the talking... feelings... yelling... emoting... cuddling... everything that mothering her demands. And then she asks me to lie down and sing to her and she curls up against me much more like a baby than an almost four and a half year old. So my tiredness subsides and the little annoyances disappear because she is just more precious than I can describe. She loves being sung to a wide range of eclectic music, so it's especially precious that some of her favourite lullabies are by the Beatles.
Oh, one more sweet Anna story. We made playdoh a few weeks ago, and broke out little cookie cutters to use with it. She decided to make cookies, naturally, and sell at her newly opened playdoh bakery. I became her loyal customer and asked if she served coffee, too. Why yes, of course. Then she asked, breaking the fourth wall in our play, so to speak, "what things would a baker serve with coffee?" I told her biscotti was popular, so she proceeded to make a large batch of the most delicious "mascot-ti" I've ever tasted.
Dearest girl.
This dear boy is receiving the sacraments this spring! He is so excited. It is very, very precious and sweet to hear him talk about it. And I love to do his his workbook with him. He is also definitely looking forward to joining Noah and the many other boys who serve at Mass at our parish.
I really am mystified by the passing of time, but yes, there it keeps going.
(Thank you, blog, for helping me remember so many lovely moments throughout the day, because the years keep running wild.)
He recently told me, "I think God may be calling me to the priesthood." I didn't react but just said, "oh really? What makes you think that?" And he just shrugged and looked off into the distance, and replied, "I don't know really. I just feel... a prompting in me from the Holy Spirit."
(I thought his choice of words was especially beautiful. Of course, I have no expectations of him at so young an age actually knowing such a thing, nor am I implying he is a saint by any means {ha!}, but I really was touched by his unique-to-him vocabulary.)
He was hit pretty hard with sickness this winter, too (it's a THEME, people. Sigh.). So we got to spend lots of extra time together, especially in the month of January. Much of it was lying on the couch, of course, but when he felt well enough to get up and play, he was really enjoying being the director of Anna and Elijah's games; what a sweet older brother. What a lovely insight into his kind soul.
He is not reading yet, just sounding out words, following the Craine family trajectory. And if you want to tell me how your four year old devours chapter books, I will smile and sing "la-la-la I can't HEAR you over the sound of my six year old making his own breakfast and for his younger siblings, too." He simply isn't especially ready or interested in reading yet. He does try. And he does so primary out of his devotion to getting time to be with me. and because he likes his very, very lovely teacher.
But it's not especially on his radar; he has important work to do. With his hands. And his heart.
And I'm just rollin' with it.
He has, however, been begging for odd jobs to save up some money for a new Transformer. It's quite amazing that a kid who gets paid a quarter, to say, bring down the tea towels, fold them and put them away, is THISCLOSE to having enough money to buy a Transformer. And my friends, I happily part with these quarters when they are actually to award his efforts that minimize my workload! We're ALL winning now.
My boys has finally gotten back into being affectionate with me. It breaks my heart, in the best possible way. I felt really convicted in prayer that I just needed to start giving him more hugs and kisses on the top of the head, even when he doesn't ask for it and looks mildly embarrassed when I do, and then I remembered this goldmine of an article. Please read it. "Food and touch", she says, are a miracle-worker for kids and their huge emotions. Of course, I remember the "food" aspect but it's gotten trickier to implement touch.
In doing so, though, I have seen a marked improvement in his way of relating to me.
Goodness, he is a FUN child. He is constantly coming up with inventions, new systems to run our routines more smoothly, elaborate goals for the coming months: he has a visionary mind, unlike me... who is highly mired in the nitty-gritty of life.
He loves school so much. It's a delight that he gets up so enthusiastically to go. Math and science are still his passions, and he's also been working with a team for Destination Imagination, and it's one of the highlights of his week. I love seeing the opportunities school has opened up for him.
I took him to the nearby curling rink yesterday for his field trip, and it was great to be in the car with just him (and the baby, who didn't interrupt us talking). It was greater still to get to see him on his field trip with his classmates, looking more and more mature and in a special world that I felt privileged to glimpse.
Happy weekend to anyone reading. I'm scheduled to leave this evening on a retreat for 2 nights, the first time I have done such a thing in over a decade. (Although there is a freezing rain warning so I'm not sure I'll be able to go tonight? Hopefully...)
BECAUSE my kids are finally seeming to be healthy! For like, two whole weeks now.
After about ten weeks or more of sickness, I can't tell you how grateful I am for this new change.
There have been pockets of happiness and peace during this long, drawn-out ordeal, but don't let my cheerful blogging voice trick you into thinking I'm some highly competent nurse-maid.
For instance, in a meeting about a month ago with my kids' principal -- no, they weren't in trouble, I had requested it to ask some questions about curriculum, et cetera -- I blurted out, "I hope you don't think I have Munchausen by proxy, given how much time they have missed. BELIEVE me, my strong preference is to have them all happily at school."
She looked stunned that I would even suggest such a thing, and I realized I probably sounded Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.
And so I came home and cried some angsty tears because I made a fool of myself. Truthfully, I don't think she thought anything of it, but my nerves have been raw.
So, onto chitchat:
Elijah
His talking has taken off, and it's just so sweet! He has a clear phrase for "my brothers!" which he cries in joy when we go to rouse them in the mornings for school. (Not "sister," mind you, he just calls her "Anna.")
He is a very snuggly baby and loves to burrow his head onto my shoulder when he's had a tumble. Is he already 20 months old now? Tempus fugit!
He also is deeply attached to Patrick. He loves to watch him come down the driveway at 5:15 or so, and Elijah runs to be scooped up by dear ol' Dada the moment he comes in the door.
He is still nursing. Not at night anymore, not for a long time, actually, but several times throughout the day. I wouldn't have predicted I'd want this to continue with him so near his second birthday, but he loves to nurse, and I still treasure it, too. These seasons fly by so I want to soak them up when I can.
He loves his new light-up shoes, which I bought as a reminder that spring will come some day and we can rid ourselves of winter boots for another year. After trying them on he asked, in an amusingly clear way for a primarily preverbal person, to Facetime Nana to show her. The conversations he carries on with my mom are a delight! I need to record it because I know in three years, or really, in six months, I'll struggle to remember his elaborate inflections and gestures that tell a million stories with only a handful of actual words thrown in.
He loves Elmo, and so we found a Sesame Street CD from the library which he loves to listen to in the car.
He loves bath time, and the book "In the Big Red Barn" -- especially the page with the rooster! "Cock-a-doodle-doo", he shouts with joy while pointing up in the sky. One of his favourite past times is getting to go down the pet food aisle and commenting on every animal he sees on the labels. Cats say "now!" don't cha know?
Also, Jesus is, inexplicably, "Ye-lel-la." I think he may be trying to say "alleluia"? But don't tell the liturgical police that he says that, it being Lent and all.
This boy is so sweet, I can hardly stand it. We just love getting to spend our days with him.
Anna
After battling a several month long stretch of virus on top of virus, plus multiple round of antibiotics, she is really coming back to herself. I truly hadn't seen her real personality in months because she had been so hysterical, or in pain, or just downright exhausted, to be herself. But several days ago she found a bag of hand-me-downs from her aunt and pulled out a pretty, spring-y floral print dress. She immediately requested to wear it, and declared after putting it on, "I just prefer to wear beautiful things all day." Poor girl had been living in her pyjamas for weeks on end.
(I also had to laugh because the day before that, I had been listening to Gretchen Rubin's podcast where she was talking about Wearing Real Clothes as a happiness hack; I resolved to get up the next morning and put on jeans and a blouse instead of leggings and an old sweater. So we think similarly, Anna and I, except I stopped at blue jeans... she put on her Sunday best.)
She also told me last night when we were laying out jammies before prayers and bedtime routines, "I have a really good idea for bedtime snack, and don't worry, it's NOT healthy!"
She keeps us on our toes, because she is as fierce as I was her age. Sweet and cuddly for the most part, but also livid over perceived injustices, and takes a longer while to get back to normal than her brothers do (or did, at her age).
I often move through bedtime routines tired out by all the talking... feelings... yelling... emoting... cuddling... everything that mothering her demands. And then she asks me to lie down and sing to her and she curls up against me much more like a baby than an almost four and a half year old. So my tiredness subsides and the little annoyances disappear because she is just more precious than I can describe. She loves being sung to a wide range of eclectic music, so it's especially precious that some of her favourite lullabies are by the Beatles.
Oh, one more sweet Anna story. We made playdoh a few weeks ago, and broke out little cookie cutters to use with it. She decided to make cookies, naturally, and sell at her newly opened playdoh bakery. I became her loyal customer and asked if she served coffee, too. Why yes, of course. Then she asked, breaking the fourth wall in our play, so to speak, "what things would a baker serve with coffee?" I told her biscotti was popular, so she proceeded to make a large batch of the most delicious "mascot-ti" I've ever tasted.
Dearest girl.
Isaiah
This dear boy is receiving the sacraments this spring! He is so excited. It is very, very precious and sweet to hear him talk about it. And I love to do his his workbook with him. He is also definitely looking forward to joining Noah and the many other boys who serve at Mass at our parish.
I really am mystified by the passing of time, but yes, there it keeps going.
(Thank you, blog, for helping me remember so many lovely moments throughout the day, because the years keep running wild.)
He recently told me, "I think God may be calling me to the priesthood." I didn't react but just said, "oh really? What makes you think that?" And he just shrugged and looked off into the distance, and replied, "I don't know really. I just feel... a prompting in me from the Holy Spirit."
(I thought his choice of words was especially beautiful. Of course, I have no expectations of him at so young an age actually knowing such a thing, nor am I implying he is a saint by any means {ha!}, but I really was touched by his unique-to-him vocabulary.)
He was hit pretty hard with sickness this winter, too (it's a THEME, people. Sigh.). So we got to spend lots of extra time together, especially in the month of January. Much of it was lying on the couch, of course, but when he felt well enough to get up and play, he was really enjoying being the director of Anna and Elijah's games; what a sweet older brother. What a lovely insight into his kind soul.
He is not reading yet, just sounding out words, following the Craine family trajectory. And if you want to tell me how your four year old devours chapter books, I will smile and sing "la-la-la I can't HEAR you over the sound of my six year old making his own breakfast and for his younger siblings, too." He simply isn't especially ready or interested in reading yet. He does try. And he does so primary out of his devotion to getting time to be with me. and because he likes his very, very lovely teacher.
But it's not especially on his radar; he has important work to do. With his hands. And his heart.
And I'm just rollin' with it.
He has, however, been begging for odd jobs to save up some money for a new Transformer. It's quite amazing that a kid who gets paid a quarter, to say, bring down the tea towels, fold them and put them away, is THISCLOSE to having enough money to buy a Transformer. And my friends, I happily part with these quarters when they are actually to award his efforts that minimize my workload! We're ALL winning now.
Noah
My boys has finally gotten back into being affectionate with me. It breaks my heart, in the best possible way. I felt really convicted in prayer that I just needed to start giving him more hugs and kisses on the top of the head, even when he doesn't ask for it and looks mildly embarrassed when I do, and then I remembered this goldmine of an article. Please read it. "Food and touch", she says, are a miracle-worker for kids and their huge emotions. Of course, I remember the "food" aspect but it's gotten trickier to implement touch.
In doing so, though, I have seen a marked improvement in his way of relating to me.
Goodness, he is a FUN child. He is constantly coming up with inventions, new systems to run our routines more smoothly, elaborate goals for the coming months: he has a visionary mind, unlike me... who is highly mired in the nitty-gritty of life.
He loves school so much. It's a delight that he gets up so enthusiastically to go. Math and science are still his passions, and he's also been working with a team for Destination Imagination, and it's one of the highlights of his week. I love seeing the opportunities school has opened up for him.
I took him to the nearby curling rink yesterday for his field trip, and it was great to be in the car with just him (and the baby, who didn't interrupt us talking). It was greater still to get to see him on his field trip with his classmates, looking more and more mature and in a special world that I felt privileged to glimpse.
**********
Happy weekend to anyone reading. I'm scheduled to leave this evening on a retreat for 2 nights, the first time I have done such a thing in over a decade. (Although there is a freezing rain warning so I'm not sure I'll be able to go tonight? Hopefully...)
Comments
Post a Comment