Oh, Baby

I don't know why it is that Baby J is the only baby in our house who ever wears any clothes.

...They All Fall Down

This all seems a bit out of order with my postings on snow a few weeks ago, but this really is H's first autumn as well.  While we had 4 distinct seasons in southern Brazil, the vegetation was much different.  In addition, autumn and winter were not severe enough to cause an annual shedding of leaves.  I don't think she really believed me when I told her the leaves were all going to change colors and then fall off the trees.  Now that our backyard is completely blanketed by red, yellow, gold, and brown, I think she finally "gets" it.  On our daily drive to & from school along the big river, she loves to point out the "naked trees" and pretend that they are cold.  She loves that she can spot birds nests remaining behind when all the leaves are gone.  She likes windy days because they create a shower of leaves falling from the sky.  And apparently, Ring Around the Rosie is a lot more fun when 'they all fall down' onto a blanket of leaves.  Who knew.

Either way, I love this picture I snapped of her enjoying the beauty God created for us this fall. 

Monkey See

H is determined to be just like her big sister.  In fact, sometimes while the big kids are at school she asks me to call her by M's name.  She pretends she's in school and I am her teacher.  She pretends to go to choir practice and does "homework."  She'll even do M's chores if I let her. 

When M is home, H is busy mimicking about everything she does. These days H is repeating M's night time prayers almost verbatim....only where M says "...and thank you God for my whole family, especially my new baby sister J,"  H mistakenly repeats, "...and thank you God for my whole family, except for my new baby sister J."  

Neverland

This was all their idea.  I just pulled it together, with a little help from ebay.  They do make a cute bunch, don't you think? 

H reminded me Wendy is supposed to have 2 brothers.  I said let's not even go there....For now Capt'n Hook & Smee have their hands full corralling these scallywags.



Incase you need a Peter Pan refresher, introducing: Tinkerbell, Princess Tigerlily, Peter Pan and Wendy



What He's Reading Now

D loves to read, and I mean LOVES to read.  He's still reading a grade or two above his grade level.  His school has a goal of reading 1 million minutes this year.  It got me to thinking, I wonder how many minutes he reads himself in a year?  An hour or more a day is not uncommon, even now that he has an 8 hour school day.  He reads anywhere and everywhere...I've seen him reading while walking down the stairs.  He has a fabulous stash of books and he doesn't mind reading them over and over again.  And oh, how we love the convenience of the library now that we are back in The States.

It cracks me up how many different books he has his nose in at a time.  We do not own enough bookmarks for this kid.  He's taken to using (clean) klennexes...and I'm not kidding...to mark his pages.  Here is a recent stack of books he was reading.  He really does read them all, going back & forth between them on any given day.  It would make me crazy trying to follow so many plots, but it doesn't seem to phase him.


The Lego Star Wars Book, Mr. Poppers Penguins, How to Be a Ninja, How to Be a Pirate, Bunnicula, Justin Morgan Had a Horse, How to Train Your Dragon, and The Awesome Book of Bible Facts

Ups & Downs

H loves her baby sister.  In fact, she told me when she grows up, she's going to have 3 babies, all girls and she's going to name them all J.  I asked if she thought that might get confusing, but she's not convinced.

Because the kids' school is a 25 minute drive, H, baby J, and I spend a lot of time in the car together. And J cries for a lot of it.   Surprisingly, it doesn't really bother H.  She likes to sing her a song because it "calms her up."  When the crying ceases, H proudly announces that she "cheered her down."  I giggle inside.

Newborn Nirvana

There always comes a point right around the second month where I feel like I enter a sort of newborn nirvana.  She's smiling, she's cooing, she's sleeping through the night most nights.   I feel like I have it relatively together...We have dinner on the table every night at least! And besides, I still get to play the newborn card for an untidy house and extra pregnancy pounds.  Experience tells me this is a brief blip on the timeline of motherhood, but I intend to enjoy each warm, tender, cuddly moment. 

 

Here is my big two-month-old sweetie, checking in at 12 lbs 11.5 oz and almost 24" long!