Dad's Day

Happy Father's Day

To the man who 

cannot lay down--anywhere--without three little bodies merging upon him,

who has enough room on his back for all three at once, 

who makes the ultimate bareback riding foe, 

who never gets lots in the chaos,

who can tickle two-at-a-time, 

and can get enormous laughs from a little two-year-old boy,

who gives his wife that knowing smile,

and to the man who often ends up looking

more than a little encumbered

and strangled, and beaten-upon, and rug-burned,

WE LOVE YOU!  

(obviously.)

A Whole New World

It has been about a week since James learned he could crawl.  It was (and still is) a slow, stuttering movement--up on all fours, he'd propel himself forward onto his belly, pick himself up, and do it again.

Like a bird fascinated with shiny objects, James is lured by tiny, colorful fragments spread around our house.  Thread, buttons, ribbon, and most especially Legos.

Now that James can actually get to what he wants, we are on high alert.

No one can get mad at this happy boy, even Everett, whom I have to ask at least three times a day to clean up the legos.

And although at barely six months old, James is our earliest crawler, and is the child I'd least like to lose track of or fall down our stairs, it is fun to see him discover this new skill.

Fortunately his speed is hampered by frequent thumb-sucking and toe-grabbing breaks, as well as deep contemplation, I'm sure.  "Why does my mom only dress me in pants when we go to church?" I'm sure he wonders.

James also likes to give his gums a quick massage.  Two teeth have sprouted, eighteen more to go.  

Pony Love

If you've followed this blog at all, you are well aware that Ashley loves ponies and horses and unicorns and any sort of equine friend.  

So when she had the opportunity to ride a real, live pony at the zoo, she was ecstatic.  The fact that the ponies simply walked in a circular pen did not dampen her enthusiasm.

Ashley carefully selected her first, second, and third choice ponies.  Since she was first in line, she easily claimed her favorite--this brown and white cutie.

                           

Ashley was sure it was a girl (because of course all ponies must be girls).  I did not verify her claim.

She was thrilled to finally be up on a real, moving pony.

And then, as she continued the ride, I watched with pleasure as a dreamy, tranquil, contented look spread over her face.  Her body relaxed, her feet dangled comfortably, her hands felt the leather saddle horn.  

She played with the pony's mane.  (She and the pony were meant to be friends, Ashley decided, due to the braids that decorated their hair.)

Ashley smiled peacefully.

I think she truly felt at one with the horse.

When the too-short ride was over, Ashley gave the pony one last pat on the nose and immediately began chatting about "next time" with her new friend.

Maybe we will just have to make that happen.

Zoo

My sister Maddy recently came for a visit.  We were all sad when she left!

We enjoyed every moment with her.  One day I decided we all should go to the zoo since admission was half price.  The kids were thrilled and had a great time.  It is a small-ish zoo, but perfect for my kids because by the time we had seen everything, we felt ready to be done.

I don't know if the kids were more excited about the real or composite animals.

 

(There were several more but I did not take any more photos.)

Little Monkeys. . . yep, that's about right.

Ashley and Everett were too short to reach the taller monkey's face, so we had to do the picture individually.

A real, live, lizard!  There was a small python, too.  Everett enjoyed touching the animals but Ashley didn't get too close.

Poor William was a little sick, so nice Aunt Maddy catered to him.

He spent a lot of time in the stroller looking like this.

The zoo has three activities for an extra charge: pony rides, a carousel, and a train.  I told the kids they could each choose one thing and that was it.  Everett chose the carousel and was bound and determined to find it as soon as possible.  Fortunately, we found it quickly.  He was thrilled to ride this black panther.

Ashley chose the pony ride, but since William was too nervous to try out these moving animals and I had already purchased the ticket, she got to ride the carousel as well.  I think she had more fun on the real ponies!

The kids' biggest treat was sharing this day with Aunt Maddy.  She rewarded them by letting them choose their own little webkinz animal from the gift shop.  The kids still love them and talk about their Aunt whenever they use them.

William chose a lion, of course.  It goes nicely with his pillow pet, and in a few months I'm sure it will look just as ratty and have just as many specks of food matted into its fur.

Don't I have a beautiful sister?  She is very easy on the eyes, she is quick-witted, and she has a great personality to boot!  (No, this is not an advertisement.)  William and Aunt Maddy are good friends.  They even have a few inside jokes.

But Aunt Maddy knows how to have a special relationship with each of the kids, so I think they all feel they are important to her.

And, as I've said before, this is never more true than it is when Maddy and Ashley get together.  These two are just on the same wavelength.  Not even I can say that, and I'm Ashley's mother!

Thanks for visiting, Aunt Maddy.  We miss you.  Come back soon!

On Gas

There is one kind of humor that never fails to relfex my children into fits of giggles.  If you are not sophisticated enough to appreciate potty humor, you'd better skip these anecdotes.

Everett is the mastermind behind almost all potty jokes in our house.  He is fascinated by bodily functions.  And yes, I believe this indicates his readiness for kindergarten.

Last night the kids and I shared a treat after William went to bed.  I gulped down a large glass of water and belched loudly.  For a second, Everett's face was frozen in a look of profound amazement.  Then he burst out with a loud, musical laughter that shook his body from deep within his belly.  He laughed for a long time--each time his laughter slowed, he'd recall the belch and start right back up--and then looked at me again in amazement.  "Wow, Mom!  How did you DO that?" He said.

So of course I have nothing whatsoever to do with the potty jokes.

Last night Everett drew a large spider with an elaborate back story.  "Its head is larger than a planet, and its legs are so long, Mom, that they make the head look very small." he explained.  "This giant spider eats people.  But it only eats Ashley and William, and not James." 

"Why doesn't the spider like babies?"  I had to know.

Everett looked at me like he couldn't believe my ignorance.  Thankfully he had an explanation prepared that my feeble mind could understand.  "All babies do is sleep and pass gas.  So if a baby passes gas in its mouth, it would just spit it right out."

Ah.  Alles klar, as Joel always says.

Everett assumes that everyone else in the house is as entertained by bodily functions as he is.  As far as the kids go, he assumes correctly.  When William is upset, Everett begins his go-to method of cheering William up.

"Pppfft!  I tooted!  PFffft!  I tooted!  PFFffft!  I tooted!  PppFFffft!  I tooted!"  Everett dances around comically, keeping his lips busy with the imitation.  William never fails to laugh.  He thinks Everett is admirably hilarious in a way that only a little boy can feel about his older brother.

And, all this humor has rubbed off on William.  One of his favorite activities of late is to blame events on other people.  "Everett did it, Mommy," he reports soberly as I question the kids about a particular mess.  Yesterday William was playing with two cups of water on the counter, resulting in a massive puddle on the floor.  

"How come you did that, William?" I asked while he helped me wipe up the spill.  

"No, Mommy, I didn't, the cup did it," he clarified.  

So it was not a surprise when, two weeks ago, William used a similar tactic when he let one rip in the living room.  It was very loud and very long.  William grinned proudly.

"Ashley did it," his mischievous smile made me laugh loudly.  As usual in our potty humor overtures, Ashley was nowhere to be found.