my boy

The kids had their variety show with co-op tonight. What a fun night. Everyone was just adorable and did their best and it was a great night to celebrate kids taking chances and being brave.

A lot of people were especially surprised by Isaac's performances. He was all over dancing and rapping and just feeling it. We talked about that as we drove home and he said, ""When I'm in class, it's kind of like I stay in the shadows. But when I"m on stage I come alive. It's why I want to be a rapper."

He is so smart. And so in tune with himself. He says stuff like that and I'm just blown away by the maturity and self-awareness. And I dream his big dreams right along with him.

I just love that kid so much.

What a great night.

ma-ma

four times i've heard it. the first time the word mama passed a baby's lips and meant me. me. asher's been saying mmmmm and mamamamama for a few weeks, but today, more than once, he said it distinctly and most certainly for me.

melting my heart. ooey gooey ball of love.

the sweet things they say

bedtime after a long day. all of us tired.

I get audrey settled in her bed and am about to turn the light off when she says, "I want to tell you something before you go."

I turn back to her.

"You're the best mama in the world and no one could be better even if they gave me candy every day."

I walk over to her and hug her. Hard and tight.

Once the lump leaves my throat I thank her for saying such nice things to me and say how lucky I am to have her for the best daughter in the world.

I walk into the hallway.

Good night, sweet love.

asher boy-7 months

Asher,
Oh goodness, where has the time gone? You are this amazing, beautiful, smiling, laughing, smart, strong, loved, loved, loved baby boy. You are interacting with us so much and have realized that you can make us giggle. The other night at dinner we were sitting at the table and you were in your high chair and you started bobbing your head back and forth and then laying it on your high chair. The kids started laughing and you looked from one to the other to the other and did it again. They kept laughing and you stopped and looked at them and laughed back. Can I tell you how much I love that sound? How it is music and bliss wrapped into one? It was a new way of interacting with us and it was a sight to behold.

You also love your tummy and armpits tickled. You love sitting up and playing with toys, but have spent a lot of time trying to pull up to a stand. Or, when you're on tummy time, you go on your elbows and push on your toes until you're in a weird pike position. You are so strong and we think you'll be our earliest crawler, which makes me so happy to see you grow and develop so beautifully, but also makes me so sad because I want this time right here to last.

Your personality is growing and we are seeing more of who you'll be. I love to look at you and wonder what you'll like, what will make you laugh, what will inspire you, how you'll react to difficulties. You are such a wonder to me, a true delight, a beautiful addition to a family I didn't know I could love more.

Nicknames: Boo Boo. Bear Bear. Asher Boy.

I love that smile!

Likes: Standing up. Talking. Eating new solids. Laughing. Siblings. Mama. Dada. Jogging stroller. (hooray!) Eating books is your favorite. Chomper toys or spoons to chew on.

Asher loves bathtime-we have no idea what color his eyes are

Dislikes: Overstimulation. Sitting through sermons. Being put down for too long.

meal time is messy here

Eating: He is doing well again. For about a week he didn't want anything to do with solids, but now he's eating everything again. His favorites are asparagus, carrots, brown rice or millet porridge, and avocado. I feed him about 5, then he gets a big supper that always includes rice or millet and avocado and usually a fruit, then nurse him again before bed. I try to tank him up for his sleep. He still nurses often so he is definitely getting all of the fat and nutrients his strong, beautiful, growing body needs. We were at the doctor's office for Audrey's toe and I weighed him. He was 23 pounds 2 ounces, so he's definitely slowing down in the weight gain department. Still off the charts, but not quite so much.

at swim and gym with co-op, he put his toes in the water for the first time. . . too cold!

Sleeping: (Read this in a whisper so as not to jinx me. Thanks.) The last two nights he's slept a 7 hour stretch. The night before that was an abomination due to teething and croup, but the night before that he had an 8 1/2 hour stretch. Progress? Maybe. He naps 2-3 times/day, only about an hour each time.

Playing: Whatever the toy, he wants it in his mouth. He is starting to like to suck on the tags of blankets or stuffed animals. He loves his Very Hungry Caterpillar. He especially loves eating board books. Well, he especially wants to eat the kids' history books and gets quite irritated that I won't let him, but such is life. He loves playing with his toes, pulling on them, and, of course, eating them.

Oh how I love his back rolls. They are just made for tickling.

Milestones: Rolling both directions. (he's really only gone from back to front once or twice, but he has it in him to do it, he just doesn't really want to. Talking up a storm. Rocking on hands and knees. Trying to pull up to a stand. Sitting up with more confidence. So much excitement.

happy mama heart

Today Isaac was skiing, Asher was napping, and our co-op friends had gone home. I was making dinner and asked the kids if they wanted to paint. Audrey did, but Elliot waffled, never one to rush into an art project. I gave him a few ideas of what to paint and he decided to paint a beach.

Paint was gathered, paint brushes found, and paper laid flat on the table. They painted away and I listened in while I cooked. Here's the conversation that made my mama heart happy.

Elliot: I hope mama likes it.
Audrey: She will.
E: I'm not a very good painter.
A: She'll like it because she likes everything if it's made by us.

Yep. I smiled a big smile from the kitchen, but didn't say a thing.

He brought my picture over once he'd finished it. We were out of blue, which is usually important in a beach scene. Not this one. He had mixed gold and tan and white to make a beautiful sand color.

I got down and hugged him tight and told him how beautiful the picture is. I told him how it reminded me so much of making sand castles at the beach and how happy that made me on a cold spring day. His smile. Oh, his smile. It was shy. Uncertain. But thrilled. I ruffled his hair and he looked up at me and said, "I'm going to go paint another beach for you."

I loved that one, too.

today

some days the good homeschooling moments bring actual happy tears to my eyes. Of course sometimes homeschooling moments bring actual exhausted, sad tears to my eyes, too, but not today. Isaac just started a new level of writing curriculum, one that is a new challenge for him. He does most of it on his own, so he was plugging away and Asher was sleeping and Audrey and Elliot were playing Frozen with matchbox cars. No joke.

He wrote a few sentence fragments highlighting the main idea of the story and then he combined them into a paragraph. It was beautiful. He got the main point of the story, which is key, but he presented it beautifully, keeping the essence of the story alive in his narrative. I cried. It was gorgeous. And he hugged me and it was just awesome, to share that moment with him.

mistaken conversation

Elliot: What is icing?
me: You know what icing is.
E: No. What is it?
me: It's the same as frosting.
E: What's frosting?
me: (getting frustrated because, hello, you know what it is!) Frosting. You know. On a birthday cake. Icing is the same as frosting on a birthday cake.
E: What does frosting have to do with hockey?

Jim and I got a nice long chuckle out of that one. He wanted to know about the icing rule in hockey and I thought he meant the cake icing.