Duck

I think it time to document the growth of the sixth non-blood member of our family.  Duck was a baby gift from a good work friend when I was pregnant with Lillian.  I think it was one of those last second thoughts tied to the top of the gift as a cute decoration.  Who knew he'd become such an important part of our lives.

 

Lillian getting ready to feed Duck 5 days after her brothers were born.

We used to play with Play-doh a lot in the summer.  Until I got sick of picking little tiny pieces of Play-doh out of the rugs or finding hard chunks of it in "pie" form in Lillian's oven - then it made its way to its rightful place - the trash.  Play-Doh duck friends were one of the favorite things to create.  These both have William's birthmark on their heads added by the talented and most observant Lillian.

Twin Ducks with William's birthmark.

The Duck makes his way into and out of every single baby crib, swing, bumbo, high chair, car seat, excersaucer, you name it.  He's sitting there every time I go to put a baby in.  Here he is simply laying with the boys on the floor.  He doesn't want to miss a minute of what the boys are doing.

Sam is just thinking, "What the hell? Not this guy again."

I don't even want to think about the number of newborn diapers that went into the trash, CLEAN, because Duck had worn out the tabs.  This was before we made the switch to cloth, so we really hated that Duck had to use so many disposables.

Laying diapered in the Boppy as Sam and Will did on many occasions.

We all know toddlers love pots and pans.  I was shocked though to see this one day.  If Lillian only knew the awful morbidity of such an act... Good thing we don't eat wild game in this house.

WHAT is for dinner???!!!

Every Duck needs some friends outside of the family.  These must be our Duck's friends.  Strangely they all look alike...must be related.  And P.S. to any family members reading this...PLEASE do not buy us anymore Elmos.  Thank you in advance.

And this isn't even all of them.

So thankfully we've now moved on from Duck wearing diapers and he is getting potty trained.  He went poopy and potty in the toilet (made of blocks) yesterday so he was rewarded with a sticker, strangely stuck to his leg, and a pair of purple panties.  Please note the panties are not yet being used on any humans, much to my dismay.

Don't have an accident on that slide Duck!

Duck was wounded the other day (I failed to take a picture of it) and while watching Lillian's face while performing surgery on him I was reminded how precious he is to this little girl.  He is her Velveteen Rabbit and the thought brings tears to my eyes.  I feel for Duck and his future (I am seriously almost crying right now about a couple pieces of fabric and some stuffing), but for right now, he could not be more loved.

Happily laying under the tree watching the lights just like I did as a kid.

My bear and my stinky

The little jokers rolling and scooting around to their pleasure.  I love Sam's little face peeking from behind the ottoman.

My boys, they are getting fun.  These photos are from New Year's Day.  I neglected to get any from New Year's Eve, even though we all 5 had a very nice time. 


We spent most of the day at home then headed to a local bar-ish place for a pizza, some baby food, and the much craved Guinness I'd been wanting for weeks.  Everyone behaved on our first dinner out as a family of 5 (we were chicken before now, plus its just a lot of work).  The only part that sucks is we take up an enormous amount of space with two high chairs, 3 in this case (Lilli can sit in a booster but they did not have any), two adults, two car seat buckets, and a giant diaper bag that needs its own chair. 


I don't get to eat meals anymore like a normal person, and that kind of sucks also, but it won't be long before the babies can pick things up and chew their food.  I can't complain a lot because I love this age, and its helping me lose weight in the process.  Maybe I'm learning to eat less, which will help when I start weaning, which will be soon... I keep saying that.

Anyway, we are approaching the 7 1/2 month point - the point when their sister learned to crawl.  I do not think the boys will be crawling in a week or even two, but maybe a month?  Maybe not.  Really they are just learning to move themselves around, mainly backwards for Sam and around and around for Will.  Everyday I change on which one I think will crawl first.  Sam likes to be on his belly when you put him there and Will does nothing but roll back over to his back.  Will is wirey and EXTREMELY strong for his size (getting boogers out of his nose is like wrestling the worlds strongest worm).  And he's fast.  But Sam just seems to have an athletic little body and he's got his legs moving back and forth all the time on his belly.  It is so strange to have two babies in front of you to compare such things so closely.  I hope I don't do it for the rest of my life, they will both need therapy.

The are also starting to make sounds, Will in particular.  DADADADADA, of course.  I hope Sam catches up, but I remember I worried about Lilli and her talking abilities for a long time.  I thought she was delayed and now she spouts off longer sentences than I do, so I'm pretty sure she's caught up.

They just took a super hour and a half long nap and I must go retrieve my smiling happy babies... Until next time!

Where do I begin...

So its been a few weeks.  We've had a lot going on.

Betty with Lillian at her 50th wedding anniversary party 6.2010

First of all, and most importantly, we lost this wonderful lady.  John's mother passed away Saturday, December 17th and we buried her on Thursday, December 22nd.  She was beloved and will be missed.  It all started on a Wednesday.  John received a call from his brother that she was only given 1-2 days.  John debated, but decided to head to his Nebraska hometown on Thursday morning.  She was a stubborn soul and waited until all 4 kids and her husband were with her before passing 4 days after the original projection.  I spent 3 1/2 long hard days and nights at home by myself (my family was in New York on vacation) while John spent an even harder 3 1/2 long hard days and nights on vigil and funeral planning with his father, two sisters and brother.  John came home for two nights and we all headed back north for services.  Beautiful, Christmas themed services that Betty would have loved.  In such a time of sadness, we were reminded of how fragile life is and how people can so greatly affect our lives in positive ways.  In the end, it was a beautiful, timely passing and we arrived home safely on Friday, December 23rd.

Balance bike and Dora helmet.

My mother had arrived to town 2 days prior to our trip back from Nebraska.  Once home, we tried to get into the spirit.  I had not completed shopping and made a mad rush to do so on Christmas Eve.  I also had not wrapped any presents so I stayed up late to wrap everything, eat cookies and drink an entire bottle of almond bubbly by myself.

Tired as I was, I could not wait to see Lillian's reaction in the morning as this really is the first Christmas she started to understand Santa Clause, presents, and the whole idea of the Holiday.  She was overjoyed at all of her gifts and halfway through the day spouted off "More presents Mommy?  Where are more presents?"  I think we and Santa may have spoiled her.

They are getting so fun these days!

The boys were super good through everything, even though their schedules were a little disrupted.  I am not one for skipping naps and my schedule is pretty regimented.  But we really did ok to get in all naps, with extra cat naps at dinner time if needed, and we avoided any screaming episodes.  This makes for a happier time for everyone, but most of all mommy and daddy, who were in desperate need of enjoyable moments.

After a slow, leisurely morning and afternoon at home, we headed to my brothers for more kiddo gifts and a wonderful dinner (we always eat and drink so WELL over there!).  Every year we try to cut back on the amount of presents and just enjoy the company and the food and every year we manage to do so by just a little bit.  We are all extremely generous with each other and it takes setting some boundaries or we'd all have so much stuff we wouldn't know what to do with it.  It really is all about the people and the time you get to spend with them.

Our lovely tree in the early morning light.

After John's mother's timely passing we can only be reminded of this fact year after year.  We hope to teach these kiddos that life isn't all about the stuff you have, its about the stuff in your heart and the memories created on special days like Christmas.  You remember the people and the traditions from your childhood, not the stuff you get.  Although that part is fun, I hope my kids always understand what it means to be grateful and that they always appreciate how much they are cared for.