February 28, 2013

First, let me say that I am dancing in the streets now that February is out the door.  Cabin fever is closing in on most days.  We've made it through this season with hardly even a cold, thankfully, so I can't complain that Levi started up with one this week and Matt and I are trying to fight it off.  Luke is Luke...he doesn't seem to be battling anything except his desire to crawl, walk, and eat a whole pizza.

So today found me with an emotional toddler who has been trying to push every boundary this week, including boundaries that have been well-established and respected for quite some time now.  At one point today I was crouched on the floor behind a closet door, near tears and praying and trying to dredge up my final vestige of patience.  Spring must come soon. If the windows were open at least the walls wouldn't look so thick.

No, I'm not depressed, it's just that the ebb and flow of a day with two little people who demand every shred of your attention is momentarily draining.  And then the baby goes down for a nap and there's a chance to snuggle on the couch with books and peace returns to the house.  Or the toddler is down for a nap and I can giggle with the baby. Or they both sleep and I can breathe deeply and turn on the radio and chop veggies and think for a few minutes.  These will all be even more enjoyable with the hum of lawn mowers in the background, the smell of grass and fresh air in the house, and the sound of the neighborhood kids playing.

I took the boys downtown a couple days ago to buy a birthday present for Levi's buddy Josiah.  Levi's been dying to go to Tip Toes and play with the Melissa and Doug play kitchen they have in the toy store downstairs.  There was a bit of disappointment when we found out they had closed the downstairs for the season. But the tree house on the main level sufficed. :)

 There's a toy drill he loves to play with in the tree house.

Luke dressed up and ready to go on our excursion.

There's a little kid shopping cart that he loves to fill with all the stuff he wants. Notice the truck theme.

Isn't he so cute????!!!!

I need to laud Youtube for free truck videos that provide momentary silence from the toddler monologue - which is cute and effervescent, and I will one day wish he would talk to me at all...buuut.....sometimes silence is just golden.  Here he watched a coast guard rescue which I admit was kind of dramatic but he liked it.

Renee was here one afternoon and she and I had a chance to get out for a couple hours and have lunch, ice cream, and walk downtown.  Without kids!! Thank you Nana Sarah!!!

Just had to capture lunch time drama today. I don't even remember what it was all about but he was mad about something.  He requested that huge pile of squash for lunch.

I'm doing a "demonstration" of making your own laundry detergent and hand sanitizer tomorrow night for ladies night at church.  Here's my little setup. I have to admit it's kind of cute. :)

February 25, 2013

Not much here except that it was a busy weekend and I loved the sunshine today. :)  We made it outside and spent some time breaking up the ice on the driveway.  

I think we're hitting our stride - at least for right now, it'll probably change tomorrow - with Luke going down decently for naps during the day, and just like Levi he is a goner between 7:30 and 8pm.  After months of doing all kinds of song and dance to get him to sleep at night, apparently he decided that was too much work and just decided to....go to sleep.  He goes from 7:30 or 8 now until about 5 or 6, eats, and then goes back down till 8 or 8:30.  I'd describe this stage in a baby's life as sort of like March or April in Michigan: you know the blizzard of the century can still come, and it can still be cold, but the stretches of warm and pleasant weather are becoming longer and closer together, and next thing you know, it's summer.  I think once we get past the 5 month stage for the most part, the stretches of sleep are more consistent, you might his regressions over the next several months, but the there's a 'normal' that they will start to default to.  That's a word of encouragement for first-time moms!!!

Now that I typed all that he's going to exact his revenge starting at midnight, I'm certain of it!

Levi is very into songs lately.  He loooves listening to music and will almost seem like he's falling asleep or doesn't feel well, he'll just lie on the floor when his music is on.  But he's taking in the lyrics and memorizes them with incredible accuracy. Nana taught him "It's a Grand Old Flag" and now he's taught US the words. Could we have an auditory learner on our hands?

The last couple of nights at the dinner table he's said to me out of the blue, "Thanks for the good dinner, Mama."  Last night as he was eating the turkey soup that Nana sent, he added, "This is yummy soup. Nana hooked you up, Mama."  We were rolling.

If Levi could sit and read books (and product descriptions in toy catalogs) all the livelong day, he would.

Mango-banana-blueberry goatee.  He gobbled that concoction

 Levi wanted to make sure Peter was ready to go outside, too.

Luke in a tuke!

Using the "impact hammer" (this comes along with a rousing rendition of "Impact Hammer" from Truck Tunes)

He couldn't wait to put on Matt's sunglasses when he pulled in the driveway

Babies in matching cloth dipes make me swoon. :)

February 24, 2013

Today I take a hiatus from Wiping Sticky Hands and wrote on God is Good. All the Time. See you there!

February 22, 2013

Today I had an extra pair of sticky hands to wipe: Levi's buddy Josiah came to play.  These two have been buds since Levi was five months old (Luke's age?!) and Josiah was 13 months.  Well, they were buddies well before that, they just didn't know it yet.  When I dropped down to one day a week and my friend Mary started watching Levi on a regular basis, that's when the fun really started for these two. :)

Last time Josiah was here he brought Tootsie pops for both of them.  We laughed about how Josiah's a chomper and Levi's a licker - Josiah will eat his whole Tootsie Pop in three bites and Levi will sit and lick and lick and lick and lick and lick.....

So today Levi sat despondent for about an hour after Josiah got here...he just couldn't get into anything.  Finally he said he wanted to have suckers with Josiah.  Busted out the haircut/doctor appointment stash and let them each pick one. Of course they both chose blue.  That's when the party really started.

I'm laughing at the toys all over and the sign in the background.  Clearly they can't read.  (And man, it sure could have been a whole lot worse!)

Lunch time.  Funny looks on their faces but I love the classic milk mustache on Josiah.  I must add that Levi HAD to wear his Lightning McQueen tshirt (which you can't even see) under his shark hoodie - zipped all the way up.  He's very specific about what he wears on Josiah days.

Oddly, Luke slept thru nearly the whole morning, even with two not-very-quiet little boys in the house!

February 21, 2013

We have no idea how this got started, but a recent bedtime/naptime ritual involves Levi going to his room to shut the door (because he has to "hide" for a pre-bed game of hide & seek)...but then a few seconds later he opens it up and peeks out and says, "Licka-licka-licka!!" and we respond, "Licka-licka-licka!" and then he shuts the door.  And opens it again and we repeat the call and response.  About three or four times.  

Licka-licka-licka!

Have I ever mentioned that we have the world's NEEDIEST dog??  If Molly were a person, she'd be that crazy girlfriend who blows up your phone with calls and texts to talk about your relationship, see if you still love her, and needs constant reassurance.  If I'm on the floor playing with Luke, Molly's face is literally - LITERALLY - in mine trying to intercept the exchange.

See?  Even Luke's like, dude...whaddya doin' on my blanket.

Mom, seriously, why's this dog in my face. 

She's sweet, though, and we love her.  Needs and all.  She can spend her day being stepped on, laughed at, picked on, run into with toys, tail and ears pulled, and she will never, ever, EVER make a peep of complaint.  She's as gentle with babies as the day is long.  Did I mention she's also as needy as the day is long?  Oh, I did?  Well, she is.

Bruvvers. :)

February 20, 2013

It's been a while.  I worked this past weekend and I've just been tired to boot.  I so remember Levi at this age: Luke wakes up in the middle of the night - sometimes multiple times - but doesn't need to be fed, he just jabbers and jabbers and jabbers to himself.  He has a lights-n-sounds machine that he knows how to kick on, and his crib is just outside our bedroom door, so you'll see this blue ethereal glow around the edges of the door like in a creepy movie.  Light on, light off, light on, light off.  He's discovered his feet and how to spin himself around in his crib, so he ends up sideways and then he's mad because his head is jammed up against the slats.  He's developing object permanence, so now he's like, "Hey - HEY - I know you're there!" if we try to sneak by on the way to the bathroom.  He has a certain "call" that he uses to let us know he only wants attention - it's sort of a high-pitched hoot.  Anyway, all that to say, between the hours of 3am and 6am he's on and off with trying to kick at his machine and turn it on, turning sideways in his crib, and hooting for attention.  Then he drifts off to sleep and wakes up an hour later and starts it all over again.  And I lie there and listen and wait to go back to sleep.  And Matt snores thru it all.

  

 

(I'm making motorboat noises here)

But Luke's his smiley self, and we noted he is less king-like as of late and just more a fairly content and predictable baby.  I started feeding him some solids this week and he's not quite the hoover that Levi always was from the start, but he seems pretty pleased.  My version of feeding solids is whatever we happen to be eating at the moment I smoosh with a fork, mix it with some breastmilk, and serve it up.  Tonight it was butternut squash.  He's had banana and a few bites of baby applesauce as well.  He's closer to sitting up on his own but doesn't roll over much, I just don't think he's really seen the point.  He watches Levi like a hawk.  And he's been "kissing" me lately - a huge, wide open and slobbery mouth all over my cheek and nose. :)

Levi's Levi. :)  The stuff that comes out of this kid's mouth is hysterically unpredictable.  Yesterday he hung out with me while I chopped veggies for dinner (he pirated half of them).  He told me he married a good woman.  (Most of what he parrots is from Matt, in case you can't tell.) 

He's definitely his mother's child.  Slurping on a smoothie (um, mine) and reading a good book.

Today he wanted to watch videos of himself when he was a baby. So here we are hangin' on the couch.  It's a hilarious picture of him so I couldn't not post it.

 Today he earned more video time on his potty chart.  The DVD player died so he's thrilled to watch it on mama's computer.  Luke joined for a minute and Levi is making sure that George is in on the action too.  ("See, George?  See the luffing jib?")

 

Helping me - but not helping me - put away dipes and wipes.  With a Bobcat of course.

After-bath boy time in front of the mirror.

I don't know if he's going thru a growth spurt or what lately, but he's eating me out of house and home...as if he didn't eat more than the average man already. He opens the pantry and stands in front of it and asks what he can have for a snack.  Tonight he told me he's "dying for food" right before dinner.  And as Matt was walking out of his room after tucking him in he was shouting out his breakfast order for the morning (waffle and pears - the kitchen wench has been notified...oh yeah, that's me).

February 13, 2013

When I took Levi to Bible study this morning and dropped him off in the nursery, his buddy Josiah bellowed, "LEVIIIIIII!" and ran to greet him.  The two of them were like two effervescent little ferrets as Josiah was trying to get Levi out of his jacket and they were jabbering to each other a mile a minute.  Then as soon as Levi's jacket was off, they both ran to opposite ends of the room: Josiah to the tractor he was playing on and Levi to the slide.  As Matt puts it, "In their own little boy way, that really meant something."  Cracks me up.

Levi has a Valentine's Day party on Friday - he has to bring his tricycle...any party that says to bring a bike is definitely worth our attention.  I baked some GF/DF sugar cookies so he'll have his own treats to bring - I recognize that I'll always have to send something at least as sexy as what's available at any party or event.  I dare to guess that if you tried my GF/DF sugar cookies, A) you wouldn't be able to tell the difference, and B) you'd sneak a couple extra when I wasn't looking.



Levi "helping" me frost cookies - he licked the frosting off the spoon and stuck it back in the bowl.  Hm.  Cue me making another batch of frosting.  (The expression on his face is him saying "cheeeeeeese...")



And the final result - some with frosting and sprinkles, some with what we will call "glaze" (because the impromptu remaking of frosting turned out a little runny), and some are plain.  The Valentines from Nana are a perfect backdrop!!  Thank you Nana!!!

February 12, 2013

Luke James is five months old today!!!  We are trying to savor his baby-ness while being so excited to see the little boy he's already becoming.







He can barely sit up for a few seconds by himself before he totally face-plants.





A friend messaged me the other night after I posted about the play dough flop and suggested a "sensory bin" with lentils for his trucks.  Genius!!  I only had about one bag of lentils to use, so I couldn't make a very big one, but it still occupied him for quite a while this morning. Thank you, Sara Weiderman!!





Well, Levi's recitation of "rubber baby buggy bumpers" has segued into "Mama peek up peas?" (Mama pick up please?) and "Mama go in? Mama go in?" so I guess nap time is officially over.

February 11, 2013

Grandma and Grandpa Mark came today.  I'm too tired to type much more than that!  Both boys loved the attention.

February 10, 2013

So I thought I was really something else today.  I made Levi homemade play dough.  I got him all revved up to play with this cool new 'thing,' got out his animal cookie cutters and block shapes...thinking, how cool of me, what a great mom I am, making homemade play dough on a cold and rainy winter day.

Here's what Levi thought of it:

 

 Oh well.

Anyway, not a bad weekend - I was on call yesterday and I was told to be ready because I was pretty close to being needed.  Matt was on his way out the door at 6am because an issue came up at work and he needed to go in to resolve it.  Well, as he was stepping out the door he got a text alert saying the issue was resolved, and as it turns out I was never called in, so what could have been a pretty bummer Saturday actually turned out very nice.  I took an hour to run errands, played with Levi in the snow, and both boys went to bed at 7:30. I probably don't even need to explain how nice that was!

Book time before bed.  Levi positioned Fire Engine so he could see the pictures too.



 Levi reading to "Lukey Kabukey"



 Honestly, Luke's cheeks just make us laugh.  Levi's just were not that big so that cheekage kind of takes us aback.

Luke hangin' on the couch happily screeching.