In Need of Some Extra Love

Every now and then we go through a phase in our house where Ryan and I get busy, burnt out, or somehow become oblivious to the specific needs of each of the kids.  Lately, a combination of all three perhaps, has left one little boy feeling a little off.  How do I know he's off?  The usual sweet, chipper nature of this goofy little guy has disappeared, and a whining guy who has been the root of many arguments and "accidents" has appeared.

I might blame it on his age.  I might blame it on an upcoming growth spurt.  I could very easily blame it on him being a boy.  But when I start trouble-shooting bad tempers around here, I start with his basic needs and how I'm meeting them.

1. Has he been eating well?  Well, this one has always had strong preferences for food.  He likes only a few things and I don't think I'm feeding him enough fats and proteins, so I'm going to try to let him have more control over his own diet.  (He's always been the kind of kid who needs to choose his own path in his own time- apparently he needs to fill up his own plate too.)  
2. How has he been sleeping?  I don't think he was meant to be an early rise like his brother.  He's been sleeping in more lately (since Luke has not been waking him up!) and that seems to help.  So we need to positively encourage and remind Luke to honor his brother's sleeping habits.  (Luke's the kind of kid who responds 100x better to positive affirmation rather than correction.) 
3. How is his health?  This I'm not positive about.  I need to get a weight on him and check his growth on the chart.  I feel like he's not as big as his brother was at this age, and that he'd a little pale and slim.  But it's been winter and he hasn't been eating well, so maybe some sun and ice cream will do him some good!
4. What else is going on?  This year he's adjusted to having a baby sister.  Initially it wasn't a big deal, but I feel like as the first year went on I could tell he needed some extra Mommy time.  I'd try to fit in some extra cuddles, extra one-on-one reading time, and game time while the older kids are listening to an audio book.  He's still a little kid while Luke has moved up to the older kid realm in some senses.  I've pushed him through his toddlerhood and pre-k years, not intentionally, and he's probably just fine because he is a little precocious in my opinion. ;-)  But I can't push him into growing up.  He needs mama time, and I can't deny him of that.  He needs to know he's safe with me.  These past few months we've had a few incidents of him trying to be independent where he clearly still needs adult help, and it's not gone over well.  I still need to coddle him, baby him, and tell him I love him in a sappy voice- even if he giggles and says, "Mom, stop it!" with smiling eyes and his long lashes.

He's a kid who needs to forage his own path.  He has strong preferences about food, clothing, what books he likes, and when and how he will play or learn.  I really can't make him do anything- it's got to seem like it was his idea.  He likes to tuck in his shirts (even t-shirts into basketball shorts) and he likes to dip everything into mustard.  He REALLY wants a baseball-themed birthday party even though the kid has never played or really even seen a baseball game in his whole life!  He absolutely refused to ever go to Sunday School until one day he said, "I want to go today," and he's been every day since then.  I've known since the moment of his conception that God has great plans for him.  It's my job to take these traits and quirks of his and help mold and shape them into something for God's greater glory.  And right now, at 4 years and 10.5 months old, he needs to be a little boy for a bit longer.

I've re-committed myself to babying him.  To pay more attention to what he's feeling, how he's holding up when we're having long days, making sure he's getting the time and attention he needs, and making sure he's eating well and enough.  I can't put a time period on it but I think about a month of some intense Mommy attention will do this boy some good.  Then, the boy will be five years old, I'll probably cry some big fat "Where has my chunky baby gone?!" tears, we can have a fun summer, and we can start talking about kindergarten!

Swinging very high on park swings can turn anyone's day around.

Jack is Four!

Jackson is four!

I call you my "baby" and you quickly correct me and tell me that you're a "big boy."  But as big as you think you are, you were my baby for 3.5 years, and in some ways you will always be my baby!

With you, I learned respect.  I learned how to respect your personal space and give you nothing but unconditional love.  I have been fiercely protective of you, and you never went through "terrible twos" or "trying threes," and I'd like to think that my respect for you helped us bypass those phases.  Or maybe you did go through them, but my approach to parenting you differently helped me realize that you're just a little guy in need of love and respect.  Whatever the case, you are such a unique boy with so much love and giggles to share.

As you turn four, you love to sing!  You get a song stuck in your head and you sing the same lyrics over and over and over again!  You declare almost daily that your favorite songs are "Hello My Name Is" and "Speak Life," then you sing them as quickly as you can!  Of course, you do as all little kids and mix up and change the words up quite a bit. :-)

 

You share a room with your brother now, and you spend some much time drawing with him and you emulate his every move.  You are so blessed to have a big brother and a big sister who dote on you and love you so much.  You guys are all so close, now that the three of you are grown up a bit I can really tell that y'all are buddies and will remain that way for life.

And of course, that little sister of yours.  You dote on her and spoil her with kisses!  Even when she's sleeping and I ask you to leave her alone, you can't help but steal kisses on her little toes.  You're going to be such a good big brother to her!

You love your pets and you steal and eat green tomatoes off our tomato plants.  You always want to "do school" when Beth is learning and I think you're going to be reading early too.  But you're left-handed, and I'm having a heck of a time teaching you how to write!  But you're just sort of figuring it out on your own, which is fine with me!

 

I asked you some questions today, and here are your answers:

Favorite Color: Blue
Favorite Movie: Max and Ruby
Favorite Game: Farmer (you play this with wood blocks, little people, and tractors with Luke)
Favorite Game with Daddy: Forest Monster (Daddy chases you around and you squeal with joy!)
Favorite Outside Game: Baby (Beth is the Mommy, Luke is the Daddy, and you're the Baby!)
Favorite Friends: Sydney and Andrew
Favorite Place to Go: B.J.s (out to eat!)
Favorite Book to Read: Billy and Blaze (though I think you equally love Fancy Nancy!)
 Favorite Meal that Mommy Cooks: Pizza
What do you want for your birthday: A scooter

You are such a joy to me!  Your birth was such a pleasure (no, really- it was.  Nearly painless!) and you changed my life for the better.  I love you!

Jackson is THREE

June 24, 2013

My sweet Jack Jack,
I don't even have the words for you.  You have always been and still are my sweet, sweet boy.  You melt me and get your way with me, it's definitely not fair!  You are talking non-stop now, and the conversations you and I have are always so fun and silly.  Just this morning you were picking out your clothes to wear and you were being so silly, giggling and laughing as I sat on your little toddler bed.  You have millions of questions for me but one of the silliest things about you is that you copy what everyone else says, and sometimes I don't even think you realize you're doing it until I look at you and give you a silly look, and you melt into laughter.  You LOVE Jesus and your favorite books is a children's version of Stations of the Cross- you call it "My Jesus Book" and you are always so concerned that they killed Jesus, but then turn the pages and say, "He comes back!"  You play mass and altar server and I can't help but wonder what God has in store for your precious little soul.  I hope you're always able to hear Him in your life, and always have the will and the strength to follow the path he has for you- THE perfect path for YOU.  My sweet guy, my baby.  I will cuddle you for as long as you let me, cover you in tickles and kisses and prayers and love.

 

I have always tried to respect your will and your autonomy, from the first day of your life.  It's difficult for you to visit the doctor or dentist, or even try swim lessons, but you and I always get through those days with me feeling like you've had your say in the matter, even though you're still a little guy.  You're stinking smart though, and you know it.  Some people- even me sometimes- might label you a "mama's boy" but I think you just know what you want- and you typically want me!  You want to be comfortable in your surroundings before you try something new.  You want to know I'm nearby and that you're safe.  I don't mind that you're a mama's boy- because you're definitely a daddy's boy too!  You play silly games with Daddy, Luke, and Beth, and you love playing with your family members and a few friends whom you see on a regular basis.  You'll always be safe with us, baby; we will always take care of you.

birthday present- a big boy bike

I love you, Mr. Silly Boy, Uncle Meyer, Cinnamon Cocoa, and all those other silly nicknames you give yourself.  Until you're done playing and you say, "No, I'm big boy, I'm three.  I'm Jackson Paul."  Yes, you are big boy, and we love you!

Two Years Old

Our "baby" is two today!  Happy birthday Jack!

This little boy... I feel silly calling him my "baby" but as long as he's my youngest child I think he'll be blessed with that nickname. :-)  I feel so lucky to be his Mommy!

Jack's Baby

Over the past few weeks my nursing relationship has changed with Jack.  We've gone from nursing 6-8 times a day- which was really wearing on me because I couldn't even sit down without him wanting to nurse- to nursing about once a day now.  My absence from him during our trip to Vegas left him unsure about continuing nursing, but once he picked it back up again we were both just fine, nursing 3-4 times a day.  That seemed to work really well for both of us.

Photos of the Week

day 1: peace

day 2: skyline

day 3: something i wore

day 4: bird. no birds around here so... day 4: cat

day 5: fun!

day 6: me

Part one of my May photo-a-day challenge!

Brothers

This is what happens when brothers play nicely and quietly together while Mommy is doing her hair in the other room.  They get dog food from the container, throw it all over the playroom floor, scoop it up with their play cups, and pour it into an empty prune juice bottle.  At least they were playing nicely and quietly.

Easter Pics

 I got some pictures of the kids after mass on Divine Mercy Sunday, last weekend.  They were more than willing to oblige after I promised donuts to all!  I think this may be the best photo I have of them from at least the past several months, I love it!  Don't they all look so grown up?  I wish Ryan and I could have jumped in the photo with them but Ryan was at a ministry fair so we will have to try it again some other time!

Easter Egg Hunt

 Easter is a season lasting 50 days so we have plenty of time to do the activities we avoided didn't get around to doing before Easter Sunday!  A few days ago we had an Easter egg hunt with some plastic eggs.  No goodies were inside but they didn't care, they had so much fun finding them and then taking turns hiding them for each other!  Jack figured it out after a few minutes and had a fun time cracking his eggs open.

Happy Easter!

 Alleluia!  Happy Easter!  Our family had a busy one as usual, hosting a few guests and attending our annual crawfish boil on Saturday.  Beth and I attended alone this year as Luke and Jack are still pretty spotted.  I don't think they're contagious anymore (with the chicken pox) but they are still a little on the grumpy side, though not really itchy (thank goodness!).  We didn't want to take any chances and bring them, so Ryan was a mighty fine man and offered to stay home with them while Beth and I went to the party.  Today, for Easter Sunday, Ryan went to the 7 am mass and I went with Beth and our family at the 9 am mass, once again because we didn't think it'd be a good idea to bring the boys out!  They didn't get to wear their Easter shirts and we didn't get a good family Easter picture!  I think I'll plan out another Sunday for us to all wear our Easter clothes again and try to get a good family picture.

Easter baskets full of books, coloring books, crayons or markers, sidewalk chalk, and gummy bears!  No chocolate this year because I didn't get my act together in time to find some!  I think this marks the first Easter in my life to not have a chocolate bunny!

Three exicted babies to dig into their baskets!

Checking out their loot!

Bluebonnet Photos

Last Sunday we traveled out of town!  My parents left the country to Italy and on a Mediterranean cruise to celebrate their anniversary, so to help out we stayed with my two youngest brothers for a few days until they got back.  We had a fun time while we were there, Ryan came with us so we made a vacation out of it!  On our way there we passed a huge field full of bluebonnets so we pulled over to get our annual photos.  The sun was way too bright and the kids were sleepy, but it was the best we could do this year!  Here are some of the best ones, unfortunately I'm not thrilled with any of them...I plan to play with these in photoshop and clean them up a bit and maybe that will help.

St. Patrick's Day Picnic

Last Saturday was St. Patrick's Day, and we brought the kids and a picnic lunch to a nearby state park.  I can't believe how close this beautiful park is but we've never gone!  Ryan and I decided we needed to go at least once a month to see how it changes over the year, but while it's beautiful right now, my allergies are killing me.  In fact, for awhile there I was certain this would be the year that my allergies actually do kill me!  It's a price to pay for the kids to experience outings like this... They loved it!

Lying Around

a new dress up costume... dr. luke.  he wore this for three days straight.

 We spend a lot of time in our playroom, on the floor.  We play blocks, trains, little people, do puzzles, build towers, and usually combine them all into one giant fun mess.  It's my goal to have the playroom cleaned up at the end of each day because I find that they actually won't go in there and play unless it's clean, and they know where to find each toy.  It's a lot more work for them to go in there and start playing when it's already a mess!  But, it doesn't get cleaned every day and that's okay too. 

This day we were gone in the morning so the playroom was still cleaned after rest time.  Usually that means they have plenty of room to dance, but we were having a lazy afternoon and enjoyed rolling around on the floor instead.  And, if we're laying on the floor, 99% of the time Finley comes to join us too!

Jack's First Hair Cut

Last week I gave Mr. Jack his first hair cut!  He is 20 months old, which means he was the youngest of our kids to have his first hair cut.  His hair has grown in sort of funny on the top, plentiful on the top and in the back but sort of sparce on either side.  We left the top alone, I trimmed only a bit that fell into his eyes, but I cut the back that would hang over his shirt collar and I trimmed over his ears.  It's hard to tell in the photos but it did make a big change (to me)!

before

My Babies

Playing with matching cards.  Found out that if we do it on the stair case, he can be super wiggly and do "donkey kicks" while working!

One of his favorite places to play- Mommy and Daddy's bed!  I don't know why I bother to make our bed every day!

Love this pic of Luke.  They both love playing in our bed so much, they always wind up wrestling- good thing it's a king size!

This little girlie loves her new helmet.  She's doing "tricks" on her scooter now, I'll need to take a video soon!

Another busy week gone by...  I had two evening meetings with clients, we're dealing with getting Ryan's car fixed, Jack got a little cold on Wednesday (and therefore hasn't been napping) and today Beth developed a fever.  We've been so fortunate to hardly be sick this winter!  Our last fever episode was in November when we were taking our family photos... I have noticed that they hadn't been sick but I didn't actually want to say it out loud! 

Tomorrow I'm attending a half-day retreat with a Catholic author/blogger, Rachel Balducci.  I'm traveling with some girlfriends and I'm really looking forward to the outing!  Ryan has spent a couple of his nights this week assembling his new basketball goal... He said, "It's not as easy as Ikea furniture!"  Ha ha! 

He also gave in and mowed our backyard today... The weeds were tall but the ground was wet.  Now, I haven't complained much about our yard (on my blog, I complain in real life too much!) but it's seriously a marsh.  The off-and-on rain, in conjunction with our aerobic septic tank that sprays our yard every morning, means we have sitting water at some point at all times.  The yard is 85% weeks, 5% grass, 10% crawfish holes.  We can't play out in the back at all.  For me, it's very frustrating because part of the reason we moved into this house nearly two years ago was because we wanted a big yard- and now we can't even use it!  The kids desperately need outdoor time, and I'm thankful we have a long driveway that they can ride their bikes on since we have no sidewalks in our neighborhood.  But not being able to use our backyard is very frustrating for me.  We've decided that before we add our fence (which our landowner's association has so graciously approved), we're going to add MORE dirt to the backyard and add new sod to a good portion of it.  We don't know what else to do!  I'm hoping we can get this project done soon so that we can get our fence in once the weather starts getting warmer and drying up the ground a bit.

Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday

To celebrate Mardi Gras yesterday we had some friends come over to make masks and play!  They had a "parade" around the living room and danced to some cajun music!  I made a King Cake to share with everyone, but I think the moms liked it more than the kids did. :-)

Valentine's Day

Last night I passed out at 9:30 pm, and here's why...

We started off our Valentine's day by dropping Ryan off at work at 7:45 am.  Yes, his car is in the shop again!  We dropped off some library books and then went home to make some breakfast and do a little bit of school before...

Luke's first day of gymnastics!  We have a new gym by our house and Luke's class was actually the very first class ever!  Luke LOVED it.  He was smiling from ear to ear during the entire 50-minute class!  They started on the trampolines (good move) and then moved to a couple of circuits before doing some running around.  He talked about it for the rest of the day and can't wait to go back!

Getting Messy

I'm on Pinterest.  I know it can be a time-sucker for some people, but I have to admit that it's really great for me!  I'm not addicted (yet) and I have gotten some really wonderful inspiration for home ideas, kid's activities, and recipes.  I've completed quite a few "pins," but my favorite part is when things are slow around here and the kids are begging for an activity I use Pinterest as my resource.

Last week, I mixed glue and shaving cream with food coloring.  They had SO much fun, though their hands were stained for a day! 

Another day, I put a lot of glue on big piece of paper and suggested they write letters/spell words with some beans.  They wound up smearing the glue everywhere, and getting the beans nice and sticky.  Then, Luke learned that when glue dries on your hands it gets sort of peely, and he didn't like that!

 

This day we brought out our aroma dough (GF play-doh). I found some pages that I could laminate and then use the mats to fill in the pieces that are missing (like a face without eyes, nose, or mouth- like in Beth's photo) and Beth really loved these mats.  Luke is still trying to perfect rolling his dough out into a snake!  And surprisingly, it only took one bite of aroma dough for Jack to realize he'd rather play with it than eat it!

I know people joke about their Pinterest addiction, but I just love it!  I know it will be of great help to me in the future too, especially as we embark on our home education journey this fall!

On a similar subject of messy activities, I was talking to a friend the other day about learning how to be a mom of boys.  We both had girls first and boys to follow, and we talked to each other about how it's just been so different!  Our boys are both drawn to the outdoors, mud and dirt (Luke actually calls it "the muck and mire"), swings and monkey bars, sticks, trash and gross things.  Beth likes those things too, don't get me wrong, but as a three-year-old she was perfectly content to sit inside and play dolls or color a page from her book.  "Sit" is not in Luke's vocabulary!  So my friend and I were talking about these differences, and how we're trying to change our ways of thinking.  One of my favorite books I've read about it is called Boys Will Be Boys, and it's about encouraging them and fostering their male-ness.  It's helped me understand how I can serve their natural needs better!  I'm also about to read How Do You Tuck in a Superhero, as I'm going to the author's day-long retreat in a couple of weeks, but I've heard this is more of a humor book about raising boys.  Maybe I can prepare myself for what's to come!  I'm trying to plan more hands-on messy activities, and trying to get them outside to play more, though it's been hard with all of the rain!  I'm also watching Luke interact with other boys, gently encouraging him to play fairly, use his words, but also to stand up for himself.  He's really growing up so much!