My Faith and Joy… and Boys!

We had the privilege of having Jim’s cousin Amy and her kids Matthew and Megan over this weekend.  The girls LOVED having these big kids around.  From morning until night, the girls talked about their beloved Matthew and Megan.  We bid them a sad goodbye this afternoon and I promised the girls I would bring them to Pennsylvania to visit as soon as possible.  Susie tearfully responded that she wanted to go to Pennsylvania to see them NOW. 

Me too, kiddo.  Me too.     

Allison: I have a surprise for you outside.

Becky:  Oh!  Is it candy?

Allison: No, it’s an animal.

Becky:  Oh, does it look like candy?

Allison: Umm…no.  It’s a small animal.  Can you guess what it is?

Susie: A cow?

Allison: How many small cows have you seen?  No, it’s not a cow.   

Becky: It could be a dolphin? 

Allison: No.

Susie: It looks like a horse?

Allison.  No.  It’s a FROG.  A small frog.

Becky and Susie: Oh!

It wasn’t quite cow-size, but it was cute all the same!   

It’s hard to believe that Jimmy is two and a half months old!  He’s starting to seem like a little man and not a newborn anymore.  He certainly doesn’t feel like a newborn anymore.  At his nine week check-up (two weeks ago), he weighed in at 11 lbs 8 oz (50-75% percentile), and measured 21.5’’ in length (5% percentile).  The doctor saw how he was standing himself upright in my lap and commented that he’s never seen a child that young stand that well.  So Jimmy is short and stocky and strong!  He’s much more laid-back and easily entertained now than he was even two weeks ago.  Tonight at Bible study, he was content to get passed around from lap to lap and gaze at his sisters’ picture books.  He’s eating every 3-4 hours, and he’s even gone 9 hours at night lately. He kicks himself from his tummy to his back without much effort, but is a long way from going the other direction.  He’s much more content in his bouncy seat than he was a few weeks ago.  And although he definitely has his fussy moments and still prefers to be held over anything else, I can often get laundry done or part of dinner cooked or his sisters dressed while he sits there, which is such a blessing.  He’s awake for about an hour to an hour and a half following his feedings, and then naps for an hour or more (the last two days have actually brought THREE-hour naps.  I’m afraid to get my hopes up for such a good trend).  He’s smiley and coo-ey, especially right after a feeding.  He loves to look at toys, books and mobiles, and is fascinated by the TV when he gets a glimpse of what his sisters are watching.  His eyes are getting blue like Susie’s, but overall, I’d say his facial features resemble Becky’s.

My little man is growing up! 

Becky’s longtime habit of stuffing her bed so full of toys and blankets that there’s no room left for her (she had 48 items in her bed at last count) has had an unintended consequence:

She is now prepared for a career in gymnastics, or at least contortionism. 

A friend recently recommended that I let the girls “paint” outside using buckets of water and paint brushes.  I thought it was a great idea, and although I didn’t have any clean paint brushes, I grabbed some basting brushes from the kitchen which worked just as well. 

The girls absolutely loved this activity, and it kept them busy much longer than I could have hoped for.  The only problem was that I failed to instruct them on where and where not to “paint,” so now our sliding glass doors and windows are in need of a good cleaning.  Maybe I ought to make window washing into a game, too!  

The girls took their painting job very seriously. 

They also decided to use the extra water to nourish the plant life – a.k.a. the weeds that have grown so tall that they’re poking up through our deck (Can I add weeding to my game list?).

Once they used up the water (and finished requesting a dozen refills), they then took turns pretending the bucket was a potty.       

Too bad they view potty training as no more than a game!