Is it really April??

Where did March go??

Here it is April 5 and I've let an entire month go by without updating you on my fabulous babies! I mean, I've posted pictures, but it's not the same as giving you the lowdown on all the exciting happenings at Head Manor.

Again, I'm feeling like public enemy number one, alias Bad Mom, for letting you know every time Sweet Pea sneezed and not even giving you weekly updates on our happy, laughing boy. Baby D (I'm probably going to have to change his nickname when he gets a little older) is still such a smiling, giggling joy to have around. He really is a sweet, cuddly little guy. I never new another man could make my heart pitter patter like that...you know, other than Dan. Here's a brief list of things that make his precious face light up like the 4th of July:
1. I enter the room.
2. Dan talks to him.
3. Madeline enters the room.
4. Madeline looks at him.
5. He hears Madeline's voice.
6. The offer of food.
7. Singing to him.
8. Playing "This Little Piggy."
9. Reading to him. (As Mommy dances a happy little jig)
10. Bouncing in the Jumperoo or on my lap.

Those are the few that come immediately to mind. He has this adorably high-pitched chuckle that is reserved for special events, like when I lift him over my head and make faces at him.

He's so active and loves to play. He and Sweet Pea are very different in that way. She has always liked to play, but in a more quiet, reserved way. She is still perfectly content to sit on the floor, "reading" to her dolls. Baby D, however, has to bounce and move at all times, unless he's sleeping. If I put him down for tummy time, he looks like a turtle that's been flipped onto its back. His arms and legs flail and push and he gets so frustrated that he can't go anywhere. I fear for my bookshelf and my fireplace screen when he figures out the whole crawling thing.

Sweet Pea is just that - my little Sweet Pea. Her vocabulary continues to astound me, as does her grasp on things that I didn't think she would get yet. Yesterday, in the car, she said, "Yook at all da cheez (trees), Mommy! God made it!" What does a mom do in that instance but smile and say, "Yes, baby. God did make those trees." She later went on to tell me all the people God made, which was pretty much everyone she's ever met.

She's still such a good sister to Baby D. If he cries, she reaches out, pats his hand, and says in a soft voice, "I know, Dabid. I know. It's OK." It warms my heart when I see her sitting on the floor with her baby dolls, picking them up one by one and saying things that I say to her and Baby D. "Good mohnin', baby! You hungy? Time fa beksis (breakfast)!" or "It's OK, baby. I know you tiyad (tired). We go uptairs and take a west, den you feel bedda."

Have I mentioned, lately, that I adore my kids?

I pray for both my children daily, and the prayer that I send up most is that they will use their own hands and feet to be His hands and feet. I also pray that they will always feel loved and that they will share that love by being compassionate to other people and animals, and to the rest of God's creation. I hope the love they're showing each other in their toddlerhood and infancy, is a good sign of answered prayers to come.

Just a Couple of Pictures

She's a bit more of a daredevil than I was when I was a toddler.

Doing such a good job sitting up like a big boy!

Playing with the dollhouse and her "peoples."

A sunny day at the park!

Exhausted from signing autographs for her adoring fans, the Divine Miss M goes incognito.

I Can See!

I promise I haven't forgotten you. I didn't plan to be remiss in my little bloggy updates. It's just that, well, Madeline scratched my eyball. My cornea, specifically.
That's just as painful as it sounds.
I was putting her into the bathtub, we were playing, she went to touch my face and poked me right in the left eye. It was not pleasant.
After five doctor appointments in four days, some drops, and a little motion sickness, I can see just fine and I can wear make-up again. Yes, folks. I went four days without make-up. Get the smelling salts.

In happier news, Miss Madeline is making progress in the potty department and Baby D is sitting up like a big boy! OK, he can only sit up for a few seconds, but he can do it!

I've been snapping some adorable pictures, though, so I'll post a few later this week.

5 Months Old!

Love, love, love my happy boy!

Boys Will Be...?

Let me be the first to say that I am completely averse to gender stereotyping and double standards based on whether or not a child has a Y chromosome.

Unfortunately, some people are not. Unfortunately, some people like to buy into the "boys will be boys" mentality and raise their children with different sets of manners and values, based on their genders.
Now, don't get me wrong. I understand that there are differences. Lizards and snails and puppy dog tails and all that. I get it.

But, I am tired of seeing little boys at the park run over my child and other children half their size, trampling any little girl who gets in their way, yelling unkind and hurtful words at smaller children just because they can. It's not just at the park, but that's where I see a lot of it. They are rude and disrespectful to adults, too, without apology. I've seen boys as old as 8 or 9 step on and shove my 2-year-old out of the way as she was about to come down the slide because they wanted to go first.

What infuriates me is that their moms watch this behavior happen and don't say a word. They do, however, correct their little girls for yelling too loudly or not waiting their turn. Oh, sure, I've seen one or two moms let their daughters be rude without saying anything, but it's usually the boys who are allowed to act like cavemen with no consequenses.

I know for a fact that they don't behave that way just because they're boys. I've seen too many polite, well-behaved boys who know the difference between right and wrong, to believe that all boys act like the devil's spawn. Were those boys perfect? No. Did they have a lot of energy to burn? Of course. But, they knew better than to treat others - particularly adults - badly. The male child is not born completely devoid of the ability to understand good behavior.
So, what's the difference?
How do we raise boys who don't stomp on toddlers or shove past adults, even when they're on the playground? How do we teach them to say, "excuse me," when they want someone to move, or to hold the door for someone pushing a stroller instead of charging through the door and letting it close? How do we make sure that babysitters want to come back? Or, better yet, how do we do all of that when they are influenced by so many other kids whose parents have the, "boys will be boys" attitude and let them run wild?

If you have awesome boys (and you know who you are), I'd love any advice you can share.

Yum!!

BabyD enjoyed his first bites of rice cereal this evening. And, by "bites," I mean he ate the entire bowl without any hesitation. "What the..."

"That. Was. AWESOME!"

No, I didn't bother with my hair today. Yes, Madeline was getting restless. Yes, that's a size 12-month onesie on my not-quite-five-month-old baby. Yes, it fits.

Lots On my Mind...

...but not much to report.

I have a million (ok, three or four) ideas for things to post here. There are things floating around in my head that might actually have some sort of significance and provoke some thought.

I'm not posting any of them today. Madeline is still recovering from her no-nap day yesterday and I'm too tired to articulate anything profound.

Instead, I thought I'd share some of the things we've been doing around here. I started digging around in the attic of my brain, fishing around for some of the things I learned in all those education classes in which we had to listen to the elementary ed majors give their presentations. Hey, what do you know? That wasn't a big, fat waste of my time after all!

Between those foggy memories and Pinterest, I've been doing some creative, fun stuff with Madeline. We've been painting and coloring a lot, and I finally introduced her to Play-Doh. I made some bowling pins out of water bottles, painted them in pretty pastel colors, and took her outside to knock them down with her purple ball. She watched with interest as I showed her how to knock them down with the ball, and then yelled, "MESS!" and proceeded to clean them up.
That was the last time she touched them.

I made a display area for her art on her bedroom wall with a ribbon and some push pins, and I've been hanging her beautiful pictures with clothes pins. I might not be describing that very well, but it does look cute.

Since I'm so schedule-driven, I went to the local school supply store and bought some of the goodies I used to peddle when I was a poor college student working in a different school supply store. Truth be told, I always wanted an excuse to buy some of the cute stuff, but high school English teachers don't usually have a use for a laminated calendar with smiley-faced monkeys on it. Anyway, I put the calendar over the toy box and have been using it to plan our week, including what we're doing for art time and outdoor play, our dinner menu, and our weekly Bible verse.
It's actually working pretty well. It's kind of like making lesson plans, except that it doesn't take me an hour to do it, I don't have to write out that I'm covering standard 1.39245 objective 3.104B, and I don't have to post it outside my door so that someone can come in and check to make sure that I am teaching ONLY that standard and objective and absolutely nothing else. (What? You thought your kids were allowed to learn stuff that might expand their minds and make them think further? Sorry. Not anymore.)

So, that's it. Just a lot of fun kid stuff and a little passive-aggressive snark aimed at the current trends in education.

Maybe soon I can get my thoughts together enough to post something of substance.