this

I had Carter on my lap the other afternoon.  Sometimes my love for him is just so overwhelming - I think because I realize that if I'd not listened to my heart about girls vs. boys I wouldn't have him here and he is an AMAZING kid. 

As I looked down into his smiling face I said, "Who's my sassy mean-ah?"  His response?  "This," as he pointed to himself with a smile.  Yes, buddy, you are my sassy mean-ah and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world! 

loser

Colby's a loser...but only insofar as he's lost something.....drum roll please.....this morning he lost his first tooth!  After weeks of vacillating between saying "When is this tooth EVER going to come out?" and saying "I hope this tooth NEVER comes out!", the decision has been made and out it came with very little pomp or circumstance.  Thankfully he did not swallow it like Kailin did hers, and will not have to be penning a letter to the tooth fairy tonight explaining its whereabouts.  I'm really praying that there are no unfortunate circumstances that prevent her from coming tonight (does the Tooth Fairy have kids?  Because I have a feeling that she sometimes suffers from MommyBrain....) !

After snapping the obligatory photos of Colby's new smile, I thought I noticed something in his mouth.  Upon further inspection, his new tooth is almost half way in already!  He was just at the dentist 2 weeks ago today and they didn't mention it, so I'm guessing it wasn't there.  HOW did we miss it?  No wonder that poor boy has been saying his loose tooth hurt so much.  We were sympathetic, and Kailin even recollected that her loose teeth had occasionally been sore in an attempt to comfort him, but we didn't do much about it.  Had I know he was actually getting a tooth, I might've given him something for it.  Poor kid. 

It's clear that his new "big tooth" will be BIG in comparison to his baby tooth and that if this trend continues, given the lack of space between his teeth, we will soon see his "perfect little smile" turn into a new kind of perfect.  He's going to need an appliance for his cross-bite anyway, so I guess we'll see where life (read - orthodontia) takes us these next few years.  Just when we thought Kailin's tooth loss was slowing down, we're going to need a new fund to support Colby's!  Oh, I uh....mean that the Tooth Fairy will need to review her investment portfolio. 

have big wheel will travel

Carter learned to pedal a little over a week ago.  I took this picture when he was still a little surprised at himself and I'm thrilled to have captured that moment!

It took me by surprise to be honest.  I remember that it was hard for Colby to grasp pedaling when he was Carter's age - it is kind of an odd thing, and most kids I know want to pedal backwards before they learn to pedal forward.  Colby spent a whole summer knowing how to pedal but going Fred Flintstone style because he could do it faster - he wore the toes right out of a pair of shoes!  Add in the fact that Carter only has one arm to steer with and the combination of him concentrating on pedaling and neglecting to attempt to steer at all as a result was somewhat disastrous.  There was NO steering and very little pedaling. 

But Carter is nothing if not tenacious, so every time we'd go outside, he'd give it another go.  And again.  And again.  He wanted to ride a bike like Kailin and Colby, not ride in the stroller when we go for walks.  I felt like the pedals on the Diego big wheel were just a bit too far out for him, but couldn't think of a better solution - the big wheel was the most forgiving with regard to steering, and the least far from the ground with regard to falling.  One day while we were out, he hopped on his big wheel and ever so slowly, made his way down the driveway - PEDALING!  He wanted to go around the cul de sac, so off we went.  It took us almost 30 minutes, but he made it and I'm not sure who was more proud - mama or Carter!

We had a neighbor's Lights and Sounds big wheel with an adjustable seat in our garage for the day.  I thought I'd try Carter on that one.  It put him at a better angle for reaching the pedals.  I wondered if it would make a difference for him and boy did it ever!  He took off like a shot!  I've been in search of a reasonably priced one (Walmart has the best deal by far, but our local store is out of stock and they are out of stock online as well) ever since, but actually he's come so far in the past couple of weeks that I don't even know that we need it any more.  I think he'd enjoy the buttons (who are we kidding?  I KNOW he'd enjoy the buttons - this is Skippy Fishlips, button pusher extraordinaire we're talking about!), but I don't think he NEEDS the adjustable seat any more.  Oh, and his steering is pretty dead on now - no more worries there, either.  Once the pedaling came, he could concentrate on the steering. 

Last night he rode a whole mile on our family walk! 

Now if I could just get him to even TRY steering when he's trying to drive the PowerWheels....

Bathtism

Kailin saw Carter's baptism outfit hanging in his closet the other day.  "Is that for Carter's Bathtism?"  "It's for his BaPtism, yes."   "That's what I said - bathtism."  "No, it's not BATHtism, it's BAPtism.  BAP."  "Well why is it Baptism??  That's a silly word."  I didn't really have a good answer for her, so I just said, "Because that's what God named it."  I imagine it does make perfect sense to her that it should be Bathtism - there's water involved and lots of talk of washing away sin. 

Over the weekend I mentioned something to Steve about Carter's upcoming Baptism.  "I thought we were waiting until Carter learned English," Kailin chimed in.  "Well we wanted to wait until he understood English enough not to be scared of what was happening," I explained, "but he's there.  His English is pretty good."  "No, but I thought we were going to do it when he was LEARNING English."  "We are - what do you think he's been speaking all this time?  Can you understand most of what he's saying?  Then he's speaking English. He's still learning new words every day, but he's doing really well!"  "YOU'RE NOT UNDERSTANDING ME!!!!"  Are YOU speaking English??  I never did understand what she was trying to ask me - but I hope we've established that we are going ahead with Carter's Baptism and that he is speaking English. 

bah cup!

This is my new favorite Carter word. "I needa bah cup!" rings through the house several times a day. I think that when he learns a new word and really gets what it means, he looks for any possible opportunity to use it. The fact that he plays trucks and cars about 900 hours a day makes for the perfect chance to use "bah cup".

The other time he uses it is when we're searching for something on Netflix. He will wag his finger in the most adorable way, all the while saying "bah cup...bah cup....bah cup 'gain...bah cup....bah cup....yeah!!" and then I know to stop.

It's been an amazing thing to see him learn a new language. He's come so far in such a short time. The other night as I was tucking him in he said, "Mama I'm cold." That simple thing is something he couldn't have communicated to me just two months ago. There is nothing better in my world than him reaching up to pull me into a hug when he says, "I lubba you, mama!" at bedtime. I know that he means it and it means so much to me - I could never hope to put it into words. I want to tell him to "bah cup" and do it again and again!

these are a few of my favorite birds

Raindrops and roses and whiskers on kittens....oh wait...that's something different.

Last night while Steve and I were cleaning up after supper and the kids were humming around in the kitchen, Kailin noticed the sparrows coming to collect Sugar's hair from the back yard as they do every year at nesting time. "I like the sparrows," she noted. We went on about our business for a few more minutes.

"Sparrows are one of my favorite birds," she added. "I think the yellow ones..."
"Goldfinches?"
"...yeah, those! ...are my favorites. And then the sparrows. And then the red birds."
("I think those are all the birds she knows," we whispered to each other with a giggle.)
"Cardinals."
"Yes! Cardinals. Then the robins. Oh! and I forgot Peeps! They're one of my favorite birds for sure!"
We couldn't contain our laughter any longer. Peeps. That girl is definitely not predictable or boring!

new pictures and a new blog

I'm not going to move everything just yet, but I decided that maybe I'd do a separate blog for Molly Kate's adoption. I'm still figuring out what I want to do with our family blog, but I want a place for adoption information that's separate from our family space. I might post some stuff here, but since we'll be doing some fundraising this time around, I want a place where the "general public" can be that doesn't necessarily delve into the nitty gritty of our daily life.

So without further adieu, if you'd like to see the updated picture of Molly Kate, head on over to www.allroadsleadtoturnip.blogspot.com and check it out!

I'm HOPING to be able to do a decent job of keeping up on both blogs.

the wiggles

Colby's got the wiggles - or at least his tooth does! It went from "okay, I guess it moves a little" to "wow - that's really pretty wiggly!" to "it's turned halfway around!" in a matter of days. And I supposed that's how it usually works and actually by the time Kailin was Colby's age, she's already lost at least one tooth. But I'm still not ready for his smile to change forever. I love his tiny teeth!

tennies

Kailin has gym on Wednesdays and Fridays. If they wear tennis shoes to school, her teacher allows them to forgo their gym shoes. Kailin makes it a point to wear her sneakers on gym days so that she doesn't have to wear her gym shoes.

This morning I showered all three kids, who badly needed it, and then found myself in a bit of a time crunch. I had Kailin eat her breakfast quickly (and she got a rare treat of Nutri-grain bars in place of our regular fare of cereal and milk) while I packed her lunch. I was in the laundry room when I realized that it was probably past time for getting on shoes. "Get your shoes on, quick!" I hollered. "And don't forget that today is gym, so you'll probably want your tennies!" "Tennies?" "Yeah, it's short for tennis shoes. Tennies." "Colby! Tennies...hahahahahahahaha! Tennies!" "HAAAAA!!! Tehhhhhnnnniiiiieessss!" chorused Colby. "Tennies! TENNIES!!!" they chortled until I made them stop. You'd think I'd just invented the funniest word that ever existed. I feel old.

Hoppy Easter

It was fun this year to talk with the kids about why we celebrate Easter. I talked about how Easter is the celebration of Jesus' resurrection. "Not just anyone can come back from the dead," I started to explain. "Right. Usually when you're dead, you're just dead. Well....your body's dead, but really you're alive in Heaven with God and Jesus and we all have a brand new house!" Kailin offered. "Right. We don't get to walk around here on earth once we're dead. Jesus is special because He is God's son." "What kind of house will we have in Heaven?" Colby wondered. "House! Hebben!" Carter mimicked. I don't expect them to really get it at their ages, but I think it's fun to get their thoughts on it and see where the conversation leads us.

Spending time with both sides of our family meant that Easter was spread over two days this year. Double the candy, double the fun (definitely double the hype!)!!

On Saturday we went to my mom's house and had a very tasty meal together and then the cousins got to head out into the yard for an Easter egg hunt. It was fun to see the bigger kids "miss" some eggs for the benefit of the smaller kids. Everyone had a great time of it and they were further delighted to find that their eggs contained MONEY. They're all convinced that they're wealthy now. There was far too much candy consumed and then we had cake in honor of my upcoming birthday (which my sister was convinced would be my 39th....not yet!!! NOT YET!!!) so everyone was good and sugared up.

Our dear friends just welcomed a new baby into their family, so we stopped on over so we could meet him and see the addition to their home. What a beautiful baby and a beautiful family they have! The kids, as always, had a wonderful time playing with their friends and all too soon it was time for us to head home.

The time to leave for 8:00 church on Easter morning came WAY too early, but we all managed to be out the door and on time for service. The kids did pretty well considering their very late bedtime the evening before.

We headed for Kenosha and Steve's Grandma's house. The kids feasted on Easter fritat, candy, hard boiled eggs, candy, mini eclairs, candy....and candy. Then they chased each other around the backyard to burn some of it off. We visited Steve's other Grandma in the nursing home. The kids had a good visit with her and we were able to show her a picture of Molly Kate.

When we got home, the kids were sure that the Easter Bunny would've hidden eggs everywhere and their baskets would be on the table as usual. The table was empty and not an egg was in sight. "He didn't come!" rang around the room. Then the blame game started. "I think Colby was naughty and now we don't have any Easter baskets!" Then someone spied a basket sitting in front of the fireplace. Over they ran to discover that it was Molly Kate's basket. It didn't take them more than a millisecond to start searching the rest of the house. Carter's basket was in the bathtub, Kailin's basket was in the cabinet under the frog tank, and Colby's basket (which was nearly given up on) turned out to be in the washing machine! That wily rabbit! We decided that he probably hid the baskets and not the eggs since we now leave Sugar unkenneled and he knew how naughty she's been lately and that she would probably be eating all the eggs if he left them around. One more round of candy and some supper and another Easter was put to rest.

she CAN do it!

Last year, we had Kailin on a 16" bike. It was pretty stylin' with a Disney Princess design and a little seat for her babies. She loved it. It had training wheels and a bell and streamers on the handlebars. I noticed as the summer progressed that we'd likely made a poor decision in the 16" size. However, 18" bikes are hard to come by and she surely wasn't ready for a 20" at the beginning of summer.

Knowing that she'd likely be in a 20" bike this summer, I spent a few futile days trying to get her off the training wheels, but it was so not happening. As the season came to a close, I found a set of training wheels on clearance that were good up to a 20" bike. I was so relieved!

Colby obliterated his bike last summer. In his defense, it was used when we bought it before Kailin came home (gently used, but used all the same). Then Kailin used it and then Kamikaze...I mean Colby....used it. And he used it up. The tires were bald, the chain guard was torn off, and the chain itself kept coming off. It was time for a new bike.

Fast forward to the beautiful weather we had a few weeks ago... I told Steve we needed to just bite the bullet and buy both kids new bikes. So we did. We brought them home fully assembled and all we needed to do was put the training wheels on Kailin's and we'd be ready to go. Except that the stabilizers were not big enough to go around the bar on her bike. So that left us in a bit of a lurch. We finally just had to tell her that either she had to learn to ride with the training wheels off, or she just wouldn't have a bike this summer. It wasn't meant as a threat nor was it stated to her as an "or else" sort of thing. It was just the truth. We loaded her on the bike, assured her we wouldn't let go, and then both tried our best not to torque our backs as she relied solely on us to hold her stable the entire route up and down the sidewalk. She gave up quickly, declaring that she could "never do it". We reiterated that we understood that it was hard, but that if she chose not to even try, the bike was going back. There was just no sense in keeping it if she wasn't even going to attempt to learn. She promised she would try, but about every single time we asked her if she wanted to give it some honest effort for five minutes the answer was "not today". I think we were all growing frustrated - she with our constant inquiries about whether or not she wanted to give it another try and we with her refusal to even attempt it.

We had lots of helpful offers of advice. "Try it in the grass" (she doesn't have the power on the 20" to push hard enough to pedal in the grass). "Get her going fast enough that she just keeps on going." (she is too fearful of falling) There were others, but nothing was doing the trick. Then it occurred to me that we still HAD the 16" bike - she's just kind of too big for it, but surely she would have more strength to ride through the grass and it would be a shorter distance to fall if she was going fast. I told Steve I thought we should get down the 16", pump up the tires, and see what happened. Monday was the day. Steve got our bikes down, pumped up the tired on the bike trailer (which hasn't seen any action in 2 years), and pumped up the tires on Kailin's princess bike. I took Colby on his bike and Carter in the trailer and took off so that Kailin and Steve could have some privacy. When we arrived home, I expected to hear that she'd quickly given up. Instead, I was delighted to see the excitement in her face as she and Steve told me that she'd ridden several times ON HER OWN for a couple of sidewalk squares before she put her feet down. I hooted and hollered and cheered her on. I told her she could have some ice cream for dessert. I hoped that her new found success would bolster her confidence and that it wouldn't be short-lived.

Yesterday, as soon as she got home she wanted to go out and practice on her bike. I kept the boys inside while I did some last minute dinner prep. I looked out the window in time to see her pedal the span of our yard ALL BY HERSELF!!! I waited until she pedaled back the other direction before I ran out the door to sweep her up in a big hug and hoot and holler some more. After just a little more practice, we all headed off to the "tiny grocery store" a couple blocks away where we'd be free to ride in the abandoned parking lot. She did an AWESOME job! My heart sung with joy watched her succeed and watching the joy in her face when she did something she thought was impossible. As it happens, my video camera died last week for no particular reason, so I don't have video. I'll try to get some still photos in the next day or two.

Just for kicks, I had Steve put Colby on Kailin's bike to see if by some miracle we'd see the same success with him. Uhhh....not ready. Definitely NOT READY!!! Ha!

cow come?

That's Carter's newest phrase. "We can't go outside right now." "Cow come?....beeccuss??" (it's hard to truly get his pronunciation written down - the c part comes out almost like German with a little bit of phlegm in his throat) I guess I better start refining my reasons if his first and somewhat immediate guess is we can't do something "because".

"Thass enough!!" is another of his current favorites. It's usually said in jest - like when I ask him for too many (in his opinion) kisses or hugs. It makes me laugh. If I pretend to cry in response, Carter will put his head on my shoulder, his arm around my neck, and say, "Iss okay, mama. Iss okay."

Little by little, he's becoming what I would consider proficient in his abilities to communicate with us. Most days, he's speaking in complete sentences all day and often he will pause to try and retrieve the word he's looking for. No longer satisfied with an "mmmhmmm" or "oh really?" from us, he will persist until we can acknowledge to his satisfaction that we have heard and understood what he said. It's so hard to believe that he's only been home just shy of 4 months. I have a laugh a little that we ever thought the language barrier would be a problem. I know that some of our ease with this is because he's just an incredibly laid back and patient boy, but I suspect that a lot of it is due to the truly spongeous qualities of a young child's brain. It's truly amazing!