Watch Out, World!

This post is a bit out-dated as this major milestone was passed a few weeks ago at about 7 months, but as I have nothing more important to write about today, I dedicate this one to you, Baby Jack!  Your funny bottom wiggling, push-ups, slithering, and rolling has finally all paid off!  All your hard work has produced one of the fastest crawls I have ever seen!  Ben and Mitchell crawled a bit earlier than you, but you have them beat in speed at this age!  

He really is a speedy little guy.  He no longer is content to be left alone in a room, but will crawl with all his might as soon as the action starts moving to another place.  The big boys can no longer just move their game to a slightly different location to escape his babyish pestering.  He moves when they do.  I have honestly never before used a baby gate in any of my houses for either of my other boys, but this guy can move so quickly, I felt it necessary to protect him in this way.  

I sometimes leave the room to get something from another room, and when I turn around to go back, there he is, slap slap slapping the floor, furiously trying to keep up and doing a fairly decent job at it!

Already, he is not satisfied with his new skill.  It is not enough to be mobile.  He thinks he can walk and tries to prove it every time he pulls himself to standing position, then turns around and lets go, crashing down each time.  I guess all that chub makes a pretty good cushion for such instances!

Good work, little guy.  We're all watching you, every step of the way!

I Think I Need A Second Opinion

I did something to my back last weekend, leaving me with quite a soreness that hurts most when I pick up my giant baby or when I get jumped on unexpectedly by my 5 year old.  While picking up Jack cannot be avoided, I do try to keep the "jumping on mom" by the other boys down to a minimum right now.  Last night, I got a sneak attack though.  Ben had clearly forgotten and jumped from his bed over to Mitchell's bed where I was laying.  Ouch.  After the groans on my part and plenty of apologizing and hugging on his part, the boys decided it was time to play doctor on me.  (I love this game because it requires me to lay down.)  Dr. Ben and Dr. Mitchell got out all their "tools" (it is always so funny to see what Mitchell picks as his tools) and got to work on me.  

After plenty of cutting, poking, gluing, patting, and screwing, along with the appropriate sound effects for each, Dr. Ben diagnosed me: I just need some new bones!  Dr. Mitchell's diagnosis was a bit more...puzzling.  He was certain my legs needed to be cut off and replaced.  I tried to tell him my legs felt just fine, but there was no stopping him!  So while Ben took out all my back bones, replaced them, then glued my back back together, Mitchell busily sawed my legs off at the knees, then replaced them again.  After a high five between my two doctors, they told me I was all better and shouldn't have a sore back anymore!

Well, after all this special treatment from my personal docs, the recent pain from being jumped on had faded, so I guess (although I think I could have kept my original legs) their surgery worked to some degree!  

Where Have All My Pillows Gone?

Ben and Mitchell are really in a good "groove" these days.  They are always great together, but right now especially, they are really the best of buds.  They are playing well together, making up games well, wrestling without whining and crying, building things together...they are just of like mind and in their own little world.  It's been great.  Sometimes Jack and Matt and I are invited into this world, sometimes they don't need us.  Sometimes they disappear and I wonder what kind of mischief they are getting into, but when I hunt them down, they have simply gone off on their own to create one of their games or build a fort or just...do whatever it is they love to do together.

A few days ago, I had one of those moments where one minute they were playing with Jack and me, the next minute they were stomping up the stairs together, off on an adventure they didn't need us for.  I love it when they do this for many reasons, so I just smiled to myself and continued to play with Jack.  After a while though, I began to wonder what they were up to and why neither of them had called for me even once.  Jack and I decided to investigate.  We began our search in my room, and, while there were no boys in there, my bed was suspiciously empty of all pillows/bedding.  I checked their room and they were not in there either!  I have a pretty small place and there aren't many places to hide, so this was a bit puzzling!  Then I heard a giggle from their bathroom and took a peek.  They had filled their shower with all my bedding and were just camped out in there.  They knew I was looking for them so whatever they had been playing had been put on hold until this game of hide-and-seek was over.  They love it when they think I can't find them and try so hard to keep hidden, but the giggles always give them away.

I flung the shower door open, screaming "Found you!" and they rolled around in laughter.  Turns out they needed my pillows inside the shower to build a boat.  So they sailed in this pillow/shower boat, using shower knobs as controls and pillows as seats.  Ben was captain (of course) and Mitchell was dutifully following orders by turning knobs, all while slowly dripping water all over my bedding.

Luckily, I had just cleaned the shower and it was just a little clean water dripping onto my bedding.  They were having such a great time, that I left them to their sailing adventure.  I wish I could picture what their little imaginations were creating for them.  

Why Boys Are More Better Than Girls

I was reading through Dobson's Bringing Up Boys and found a letter that a little girl had written to him about why girls are better than boys.  Apparently, he printed this and many little boys heard about it and he was flooded with letters from boys of all ages, fighting back against the "incorrectness" of this little girls' list.  I am not going to list all of them, just my favorite ones followed by a couple quotes also sent in by little boys.  (Any typos were left in on purpose, by the way.)

Why Boys Are More Better Than Girls

1. Boys can sit in front of a scary movie and not close their eyes once

2. Boys don't have to sit down every time they go.

3. boys don't get embarrassed easily.

4. Boys can go to the bathroom in the woods.

5. Boys can climb trees better.

6. Boys are better tractor drivers than girls.

7. Boys rite better than girls.

8. Boys can build better forts than girls.

9. Boys are way more cooler.

10. Boys have less fits.

11. Boys aren't afraid of reptiles.

12. Boys don't do all those wiggaly movements when they walk.

13. Boys don't scratch.

14. Boys don't brade another's hair.

15. Boys aren't smart alickes.

16. Boys don't cry and feel sorry when they kill a fly.

17. Boys don't use as much deoderant.

18. Boys learn to make funny noises with their armpits faster.

19. Boys can tie better knots - specially girls pony tails.

20. Boys get to blow up more stuff.

21. Without boys there would be no babies.

22. Boys eat with a lot of heart.

23. Boys hum best.

24. Boys are proud of their odor.

25. Boys don't cry over a broken nail.

26. Boys aren't clichish.

27. Boys bait their own hook when they fish.

28. Boys don't wake up with bad hair.

29. Boys aren't stinker. [what?]

30. Boys don't take two million years to get ready.

31. Boys don't put a tub of makeup on all the time.

"Boys care more about sports, having fun, and not caring about the way they look (unless they are going somewhere nice.)  I was made to write this letter.  Most boys do not like to write."

"I was reading through your letter and I saw the list of...reasons why girls are better than boys.  Know what I did with it?  I stomped on it!  P.S. you have permission to print this."

  

I'm glad little boys of all ages can see and appreciate the differences between themselves and the "fairer" sex.  These are some important differences!  You guys crack me up!  I'm not sure I agree with you that you aren't "stinker" or "don't wake up with bad hair" though...

When I Grow Up To Be A Man

Mitchell has a thought stuck in his head that he often brings up and wants reassurance about.  He is concerned about becoming a man.  It began with, "Mom, will I be a man?"  I assured him that he was, thinking he was excited about the idea, but his next question suprised me - "Do I have to be a man?"  Over the last week or so, he has been loaded with questions about "being a man" and he's just not sure it sounds like what he wants to be.  Some more of his questions have been "Why do I have to be a man?" and "What is a man?" I clearly have not made it sound like a good idea - this turning into a man business because after these sorts of questions, he makes statements such as "I don't want to be a man" and "I don't want to be a man, I just want to be Mitchell."  

I have been unable to figure out what his thinking is on this whole issue and what he actually thinks "being a man" means until he finally asked this question: "Can I turn into Mitchell again later?"  Ahhh...I think he believes that a "man" is something he will magically turn into, completely changing into something else like a dog or an ogre or a dinosaur.  Now that I have an idea where his apprehension is coming from, I can figure out better answers to his questions and more effective ways of painting a more positive picture for him.  

Because of all this "man" talk (he is talking to me about this instead of Matt because he has been out of town during this), I have had a song running through my head quite a bit.  I even sing it to the boys and while they only understand a little of the lyrics, they love it anyways because of the title and chorus:

When I grow up to be a man

Will I dig the same things that turned me on as a kid?

Will I look back and say that I wish I hadn't done what I did?

Will I joke around and still dig those sounds

When I grow up to be a man?

Will I look for the same things in a woman that I dig in a girl?

Will I settle down fast or will I first want to travel the world?

Now I'm young and free, but how will it be

When I grow up to be a man?

Will my kids be proud or think their old man is really a square?

When they're out having fun yeah, will I still want to have my share?

Will I love my wife the rest of my life

When I grow up to be a man?

What will I be when I grow up to be a man?

Won't last forever.

It's kind of sad

Won't last forever

It's kind of sad

Won't last forever.

-Beach Boys, "When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)"

Oh, Mitchell, you have so much ahead of you!  Most of this song doesn't yet apply to you, but it will!  You will grow into a man, but still stay Mitchell and I can't wait to see how it all turns out!  You have a wonderful, strong, and confident daddy to guide you along the way and make the process exciting and meaningful.  "Becoming a man" might be scary at times, but Daddy will be there to show you how to do it!  Cheer up!

Daddy's Ice Cream Cake

I'm not sure who to give credit to for this yummy ice cream cake recipe, but is delicious and very simple to make!  We call it "Daddy's Ice Cream Cake" because he is the one who came up with the recipe (or maybe got it from someone else) and also the one who usually makes it.  The boys and I made it this time though because it was Daddy's birthday!

It has 4 ingredients - ice cream, Oreos, a little milk, and chocolate syrup (optional.)

1. Crush up most of the pack of Oreos into the bottom of a baking dish.  Add a little milk (about 1/4 of a cup little by little) until the Oreos are wet and clumpy and will smash down into a crust.

2.  Scoop a whole container of your favorite ice cream on top of the Oreos.  This works best if you let the ice cream melt a little first so that it will smooth out nicely.

3.  Squirt chocolate syrup all over and crumble up the remaining Oreos on the top.

4.  Put it in the freezer so the crust can harden and then eat it!  You can do it Norquist boy style and just dig it right out of the dish, or you can do it the more traditional and civilized way and use bowls and spoons.  Either way, it is delicious and pretty tough to stop eating until it's gone!

 

 

This is a really fun cake to make with kids because, well, it is yummy to eat while making it mostly, but also because it is fun and easy for them to crush and scoop and squirt.  Ben and Mitchell were so excited to tell Matt that they actually made his cake for him - almost as excited as they were to eat it!

Look Mom, Fingerpaint!

It suprises me how little I mind baby poop. Afterall, the first diaper I ever changed was my first baby's. I really thought it was going to gross me out a bit with so little experience dealing with it, but it never really has. This week though, Jack has pushed my limits as to what I find gross in the whole "baby poop" department.

The three boys love to take baths together. Sometimes, at the end of the day, a bath with his big brothers is the only thing that makes tired and cranky baby Jack smile and laugh. So they get baths together every single night (let's be honest - they could use baths twice a day most days!) and it is a welcome activity for all of us.

This week, Jack decided to mix things up a bit and thoroughly gross out not just me, but his brothers as well! He had had enough of the craziness in the tub, but wasn't done with the action entirely. He wanted to be near the tub, just not in it, so I dried him off and stood him up, holding onto the side to watch. With him out of the tub and no longer in any sort of danger, I ran downstairs for just a few minutes, mainly to get a diaper. Returning upstairs, I could smell the poop before I even rounded the corner to the bathroom. I knew he had pooped, but didn't know the extent of the damage until I actually saw it. Jack had pooped, then sat in it, then found it with his hands, then loved that apparently and proceeded to fill one Mitchell's crocs with it. He also had it on his face (which makes me think he might have actually gotten some in his mouth???) and had painted it all over the floor and wall as well. How in the world did he create so much...art in so little time??

Don't ask me why I thought Ben had any responsibility in this, but needing someone to scold other than a baby who only smiles at me when I scold him, I asked him why he didn't tell me Jack was pooping! He said, "Well, I smelled something pretty smelly and now I know what it was!" Both boys wanted out of the bathroom as quickly as they could and Mitchell succeeded in making himself scarce with some speed. Ben however was paralized by poop. He couldn't escape the tub for fear of entering the poop zone. After assuring him that I had it all cleaned up and he still wouldn't get out, I decided to leave him to figure it out on his own while I showered off my very dirty and smelly baby. I walked in on him a few minutes later and he had figured out a solution - he had taken down all my towels and made a trail from the side of the tub all the way to the door. No poop on those feet!