Sadie's got a tooth! It's barely there, so I will have to do some finagling to get you a photo, but I just had to announce it.
UPDATE: I just noticed a second tooth breaking through on the bottom. Two bottom teeth!
July 25, 2011
Beach Dayz
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| Benjamin & Isis |
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| Hauling sand |
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| Gazing skyward |
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| How we get around. |
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| Isis |
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| My beautiful friend, Nat, and her daughter, Isis. |
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| What every beach trip needs. |
July 23, 2011
BenTV 023: The P-Pod Heads East
What a beautiful trip we took this month!
We spent most of our time in Cleveland, staying with Brent's sister and her family. The kids played constantly - swinging, hunting for snakes, catching fireflies, running through the sprinklers, driving the kiddie Jeep, riding bikes. Such great memories. We were able to be there for Molly's fourth birthday (she's about six months older than Benjamin). Brent's dad and his wife even came up from Florida during our stay. We saw EVERYONE!
We made an overnight excursion to Marietta, where Brent went to college. It's a quaint little town. Brent's college buddy, Karl, and his wife and daughter joined us. The guys hadn't seen each other for decades.
Rochester also called our name...we visited folks in Benjamin's birthfamily. They're family now, but I feel like I should clarify the relationship for the blog. It will help y'all keep this gigantic family sorted out. We hung out with Emma and Kevin, spent the night at Nana and Poppi's house, and the following day had lunch under the trees at Emma's house with Kevin's family. What a glorious setting. Aunties and cousins were everywhere.
Without further ado, here is the slideshow:
We spent most of our time in Cleveland, staying with Brent's sister and her family. The kids played constantly - swinging, hunting for snakes, catching fireflies, running through the sprinklers, driving the kiddie Jeep, riding bikes. Such great memories. We were able to be there for Molly's fourth birthday (she's about six months older than Benjamin). Brent's dad and his wife even came up from Florida during our stay. We saw EVERYONE!
We made an overnight excursion to Marietta, where Brent went to college. It's a quaint little town. Brent's college buddy, Karl, and his wife and daughter joined us. The guys hadn't seen each other for decades.
Rochester also called our name...we visited folks in Benjamin's birthfamily. They're family now, but I feel like I should clarify the relationship for the blog. It will help y'all keep this gigantic family sorted out. We hung out with Emma and Kevin, spent the night at Nana and Poppi's house, and the following day had lunch under the trees at Emma's house with Kevin's family. What a glorious setting. Aunties and cousins were everywhere.
Without further ado, here is the slideshow:
Quote of Last Week
I should have posted this earlier...
While driving for five hours from Cleveland to Rochester, The Papa and I were have a discussion that became a little heated. We were not fighting exactly, but rather I was getting frustrated because I felt like he didn't understand what I was saying...but he thought he did. My voice got a little intense.
Then, from the back seat we heard:
"Guys, guys! Just calm down. Everyone needs to calm down now!"
While trying not to laugh (for Benjamin would not understand and might feel patronized), we agreed. We thanked him for the reminder, and admitted that even mamas and papas need help controlling our emotions sometimes.
Smart kid.
While driving for five hours from Cleveland to Rochester, The Papa and I were have a discussion that became a little heated. We were not fighting exactly, but rather I was getting frustrated because I felt like he didn't understand what I was saying...but he thought he did. My voice got a little intense.
Then, from the back seat we heard:
"Guys, guys! Just calm down. Everyone needs to calm down now!"
While trying not to laugh (for Benjamin would not understand and might feel patronized), we agreed. We thanked him for the reminder, and admitted that even mamas and papas need help controlling our emotions sometimes.
Smart kid.
July 22, 2011
Sneak Peek
So these are just a few fun shots from the trip to Cleveland and Rochester. I accidentally uploaded full resolution (took forever!), but the good thing is, if you like any of these special treatments (the '70's style color) you can just click on it, and when it pops up large, right click and choose 'save file as' and stick it right on your desktop. Um...obviously this applies to any family and dear friends - my photos aren't open to use in anyone else's blogs or for any other credit. (Duh! But people still steal photos. Lame-oes.)
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| V-family cousins |
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| P-family cousins |
On the Move
Can you believe this girl is already trying to crawl?
She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks front to back, eventually throwing herself forward over her hands. She then complains and crabs as she gets back up and does it all over again. (She sounds like an ornery tom cat yowling at night.)
Sometimes she goes up on her toes and hands - as in this next picture. I think she looks quite like Mowgli in The Jungle Book.
I predict she will get this figured out by the time her six-month update rolls around...
Sadie's Five-Month Milestones
Weight: 15.5 pounds
Sadie can...
* mostly sit up on her own
* get up on her hands and knees and lurch forward
* scoot, lurch, roll across the room in order to get an object she wants
* hold her bottle (the smaller, 4-ounce size)
* lift her arms to indicate she wants to be picked up
* eat rice cereal in her bottle
* hold on to the person who is holding her
* perform "downward dog"
Sadie can almost...
* crawl!
* eat rice cereal served on a spoon
Sadie is teething, and this makes her quite cranky. She's been drooling a lot and gnawing on everything EXCEPT proper teething toys. When she does not appear to be in pain, she is still a smiley, happy child. She appears to have a sense of humor.
Her hair is finally lying down. It still has curls.
Want to see how far Sadie's come?
Four-Month Update, Three-Month Update, Two-Month Update, and One-Month Update.
**Note: I am photographing Sadie each month in this chair. Look at past months to see how she's grown!
And just for fun, here's an extra shot!
July 17, 2011
Status Update
So we returned on Thursday from a week and a half in Cleveland visiting The Papa's family, with a quick side jaunt to see Little P's biological family in Rochester, NY. What a FUN trip!
We have spent the last few days unpacking, trying to get over our jetlag, and giving the kids the chance to settle back into routines. They were MESSED UP, I tell you. (e.g. LP was, perhaps, running around the house maniacally at 4:30 in the morning, among other things.) They did really well for all the change and extra stimulation and difference in diet, but it has definitely taken a few days to return to "normal." We might almost be there.
I also uploaded a bunch of photos and started editing and organizing them, so there's a lot of fun stuff to come. Yay for you.
We have spent the last few days unpacking, trying to get over our jetlag, and giving the kids the chance to settle back into routines. They were MESSED UP, I tell you. (e.g. LP was, perhaps, running around the house maniacally at 4:30 in the morning, among other things.) They did really well for all the change and extra stimulation and difference in diet, but it has definitely taken a few days to return to "normal." We might almost be there.
I also uploaded a bunch of photos and started editing and organizing them, so there's a lot of fun stuff to come. Yay for you.
Where's Goldbug?
Raise your hand if you've ever read Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things That Go.
Yeah. It's a classic.
For our dear Little P, it provides hours of entertainment on multiple levels. There's the very improbable storyline. (Ma and Pa Pig take the family out for a picnic at the seaside and encounter all kinds of weird happenings on the road.)
There are all the busy illustrations. You can peer at a spread all evening and find some new detail.
There's Goldbug. He's the precursor to Waldo, I believe. Where's Goldbug? Riding in the back of a truck with a goat statue of liberty. On a bus. Driving his own gold bulldozer. That Goldbug, he's a sneaky guy.
Goldbug used to be my favorite. Now I quite like all the random vehicles that appear on the road. My conversations with Little P go something like this:
Mama: Look at the pencil car! How silly. Who ever heard of a pencil car?!
LP: Ack! How silly! I've never seen a pencil car!
Turn the page.
LP: Mama, that's so silly! A toothpaste car! Who could ever brush their teef with a toothpaste car!
Mama: How silly!!!
Turn the page.
Mama: Ha! A pickle car! No way. How silly to drive a pickle car!
LP: Ha, ha, ho, ho! How silly!
Turn the page.
LP: Look! That guy is driving a banana! Who ever heard of driving a banana?!
And so on.
We have our routines around here, even when it comes to humor.
If you have a little boy in your life, The P-Pod highly recommends ensuring that this book becomes part of his library.
Guess Who's Eating Solids?
We started Sadie on rice cereal this week - she's four and three-quarters months. We didn't start Benjamin on solids until he was six months old. Why is it different this time? I don't know. I was a little clueless last time. I do think it is good to wait a bit - it seems to me that in less developed and more natural places, a child would be breastfeeding for some time. Breastmilk is the perfect food, so why mess with it?
But Sadie is on formula, so I am pretty sure it doesn't matter as much. Perhaps organic fruits and veggies would be just as healthy, if not more so. Who knows? I'm just a mama doing the best she can. And in this complex world today, that's a lot harder than it used to be. I shan't go into that any more here...that conundrum will be it's own
So far, Sadie's pushing half of what she eats out with her tongue, but it's a fun experiment nonetheless!
July 16, 2011
Clock Shopping
Mama needed a new bedside clock.
So Kid Sunshine* and I headed to Target. Standing before a section of shelves filled with all manner of clocks, I perused the options, reading about features and looking for the characteristics I desired. Kid Sunshine preferred a more kinesthetic approach - picking up the brightly colored ones, he shook them vigorously, turned them upside down, and eyeballed the pictures on their faces.
At first he declared that he needed a clock. Needed one. (He can't read it yet.) Then he decided that he wanted the girl one - the pink Hello Kitty version. He played with it for a while as I tried to make up my mind.
But then he found something that made him quiver with glee.
"Mama!" he shouted. "I found it! I found the perfect clock for meeeee!"
He held it up for me to see. He was practically dancing.
"See? It's perfect for me!"
I looked. It was shiny, chrome, perhaps. It had the dual bell alarm - the kind with two bells on top and a little hammer that goes back and forth between them.
I wanted to get it for him so badly. But I have in mind something more appropriate, something that lights up when it's OK for him to get out of bed in the mornings. Something that will keep him in his room until 7:00AM even if he cannot tell time.
I am a little bit selfish.
But, maybe, I could buy him both the really cool shiny one and the light up one. He would eventually use the dual alarm, and Sadie would end up with the "don't get out of bed until you see the yellow light" one. Just maybe. I will have to think about it.
*While I have used "Little P" as Benjamin's name in the blog, I don't actually ever call him that. He's just Benjamin or "The Bug." Recently, however, I find myself calling him Kid Sunshine - for he truly brings sunshine to my day with his (generally) sweet disposition and curious interest in the things around him. His favorite color is yellow, and it suits him perfectly. He's my yellow boy, my own Kid Sunshine.
So Kid Sunshine* and I headed to Target. Standing before a section of shelves filled with all manner of clocks, I perused the options, reading about features and looking for the characteristics I desired. Kid Sunshine preferred a more kinesthetic approach - picking up the brightly colored ones, he shook them vigorously, turned them upside down, and eyeballed the pictures on their faces.
At first he declared that he needed a clock. Needed one. (He can't read it yet.) Then he decided that he wanted the girl one - the pink Hello Kitty version. He played with it for a while as I tried to make up my mind.
But then he found something that made him quiver with glee.
"Mama!" he shouted. "I found it! I found the perfect clock for meeeee!"
He held it up for me to see. He was practically dancing.
"See? It's perfect for me!"
I looked. It was shiny, chrome, perhaps. It had the dual bell alarm - the kind with two bells on top and a little hammer that goes back and forth between them.
I wanted to get it for him so badly. But I have in mind something more appropriate, something that lights up when it's OK for him to get out of bed in the mornings. Something that will keep him in his room until 7:00AM even if he cannot tell time.
I am a little bit selfish.
But, maybe, I could buy him both the really cool shiny one and the light up one. He would eventually use the dual alarm, and Sadie would end up with the "don't get out of bed until you see the yellow light" one. Just maybe. I will have to think about it.
*While I have used "Little P" as Benjamin's name in the blog, I don't actually ever call him that. He's just Benjamin or "The Bug." Recently, however, I find myself calling him Kid Sunshine - for he truly brings sunshine to my day with his (generally) sweet disposition and curious interest in the things around him. His favorite color is yellow, and it suits him perfectly. He's my yellow boy, my own Kid Sunshine.
Today, Saturday, the 16th
We...
And as I was putting Benjamin to bed, he asked for the story of how we met him at the hospital. So I told him. As I was sharing the sweet details I became teary eyed. I told him I was so grateful for how God had brought him to our family. I told him how he needed Mama and Papa, and how Mama and Papa needed him. And then, with a choke in my throat, I said, "I need you." He tells me this all the time when he is sad or needing attention..."Mama, I need you!" So he understands exactly what I mean.
A few seconds later he whispered, "I know."
- ate oatmeal for breakfast
- made granola from scratch
- did laundry
- danced to African music
- caught up on our budgeting and finances with a new program (Moneywell)
- started Sadie on rice cereal
- checked on the pumpkins in our garden
- stood on the hill in the backyard and enjoyed the view
And as I was putting Benjamin to bed, he asked for the story of how we met him at the hospital. So I told him. As I was sharing the sweet details I became teary eyed. I told him I was so grateful for how God had brought him to our family. I told him how he needed Mama and Papa, and how Mama and Papa needed him. And then, with a choke in my throat, I said, "I need you." He tells me this all the time when he is sad or needing attention..."Mama, I need you!" So he understands exactly what I mean.
A few seconds later he whispered, "I know."
July 9, 2011
This Night in Cleveland
Benjamin caught fireflies in the dusk, and Sadie fell asleep on Aunt Amy's shoulder.
The light was not out of the sky until almost 10:00.
The cousins put on their pj's shortly after the light left the sky.
Beautiful summer evening with family.
The light was not out of the sky until almost 10:00.
The cousins put on their pj's shortly after the light left the sky.
Beautiful summer evening with family.
July 4, 2011
Because we all need a little rock and roll...
The P-Pod is headed to see dem Clevelanders and the R-Town families this week. I did not get caught up on all our January fun as I had hoped, but here's a little something to tie you over.
Rock on, Independence Day.
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