The Fourth of Foof

Well, Foof (Ruth) is four months old today.  Wow.  How quickly they all grow!  And in just another couple of weeks I will have a three year old.  Have I really been a mommy for three years?  I have told several people recently that being with my children is like viewing time-lapse photography.  It is such a joy to see the variety of ages and stages living under our roof.

 

But I really intended to dedicate this post to my little Foof, Foofy, Foosie, Foofalina, Roosie, Foofie Poofie, or whatever her mommy or silly siblings are calling her at the moment.  She takes such joy in her family members.  Daddy is the champion smile-creator, but Luke and Emma are not far behind.  She rewards us all with big grins on a regular basis, and cackles and laughs on special occasions.

 

She often makes me think of a little frog.  She has such a nice round belly, and when I pick her up from a nap, her legs hang down with knees pointing outwards and she begins kicking right away.  When she sits on my lap, her little knees go up under her dress and only her little feet, side by side in front of her diapered bottom, stick out from underneath the edge of her hem.  When I hold her on my hip, she kicks and kicks, bouncing herself up and down!

 

Right now she is sleeping.  There is just something so delicious about a sleeping baby!  We have been using a co-sleeper with Ruth, which is a little bassinet that attaches to the side of our bed.  One side of the bassinet (the one next to our bed) is lower than all the others, so it’s like having a little side-car for an extra passenger.  She can sleep right next to us, within arms reach, without being in the bed.  This has been such a treat for me, and has, I think, helped me to feel well-rested much earlier.

 

I give thanks to the Lord every day for each of my dear little blessings, but on this day, my heart is especially full of delight in thinking of the four months we have enjoyed with dear little Foof.  May he grant us many, many more!

Sibling Love

I wish you could have been in my backyard today.  The children have a new (actually 17-year-old hand-me-down) kitchen set that we have put in the back yard.  They are absolutely thrilled with it!  Today, Luke filled up a cup with (imaginary) water and gave it to Emma.  She drank it all down and said, “More, Yukey!”  He refilled it for her several times.  He made (imaginary) oatmeal on the stove and fed it to her with a giant play spoon … and she fully cooperated, standing still and waiting, opening her mouth for each bite.  Later, when Nannie came down to check out the action, Luke brought her a cup of “powdered water.”  Meanwhile, Foof and I hung out on a blanket in the shade of a tree.  Does life get any better than this?

More Luke-isms

There’s nothing funnier than a two year old.  OK, well, maybe a potty-training two-year old.  But I’m taking a break from potty training humor for this post.

 

• We have two plastic straws with spiral sections in them and both are light green in color.  Luke stuck one in each ear and said, “I’m kinda like Sha-weck [Shrek]”.
• The green kind of pudding is called “Mustachio”
• When Luke grows up, he wants to have two babies: a boy named “Bones” and a girl named “Dones.”
• Upon noticing that Ruth can now reach up and grab the toys hanging on the sides of her baby swing, “Daddy, Ruth is big to touch her toys!  It is so nice when children learn new things!”
• In Luke’s mind there are a few important milestones in life.  As he put it, “I am big to go potty, but not big to do [lead] family worship or smoke cigars.”
• Luke said that he thought he could take care of Emma and Ruth for a day and change their diapers.  When asked what he would do when Ruth was crying to be fed, he said, “I would say, ‘I’m sorry, Ruth, my nipples are too small.’”
• Luke was fascinated by the story of Dorcas who died and was made alive again.  He asked if she “put her body back on” when she came back to life.

 

I’m sure there are more that I have already forgotten, but that will do for this installment.  I’ll just have to add another post later!

 

 

Tech Support

This post will be brief. It’s just a quick word of advice. If your printer is not working, and you have tried all the old tricks, next check the paper tray for board books. That could be your problem!

Almost Emma-isms

Emma’s not quite talking enough to have her own –isms* yet, but she certainly is beginning to put together some words and sentence.  I though I’d put some here just for the record.

 

• “Foof [Ruth] sad.  Yuke [Luke] not sad.”
• “Muh-Mow” [one more]
• “He-Go” [here you go]
• “Mik fah dow foe” [My milk fell down on the floor.]
• “Wah-doe” [sweet potato]

 

* For the purposes of this blog, an “–ism” is a conversation or comment by a little person that gives us a glimpse into just how a little brain is working, usually in a way that surprises those of us who take every day things for granted!

Potty Training

(Warning: This post contains potty language!  Read at your own risk!)  This is one of those parenting things that I have always dreaded.  I have absolutely no experience in this area, and diapers just seem so quick and easy compared to cleaning up messes.  I was planning to wait until this summer, but Luke decided about two weeks ago to potty train himself.  It was a Monday morning, and he was sitting in his highchair for breakfast.  In a very fearful voice, he said, “I do not want to do poo in my diaper!”  I asked if he would like to use his potty chair, he said yes, and the rest is history.  Now, to be fair, we had been talking about the potty, trying out the potty, playing with the potty a great deal in the previous few weeks, but we had never attempted to do anything on the potty.

 

By Wednesday of that week, Luke decided that he was too big for his potty chair and began using the regular potty instead.  He can “strip down” all by himself, go, “flush and close” and run back to me with his pants and Superman underwear in hand.  Of course, if he does go poo, he needs a little more help, but this is always amusing.  As soon as I get him up, he likes to comment on what he sees in the potty.  Recent remarks: “It’s kinda like a train.”  “It looks kinda like a pig.” “It’s kinda like a whole poo family!”

 

We traveled to Baltimore this past weekend and he stayed dry for the entire drive up and the entire drive back.  (He was wearing a pull-up though.  I’m not that brave.)  On the trip up, we stopped at an Arby’s and realized that this was his first encounter with a public restroom.  We talked about staying close to Mommy, not getting down on the floor, not touching anything, putting toilet paper on the seat.  (No, he is not big enough to go standing up.  The trajectory would be off by a long shot.  No pun intended.)  He was not at all fond of the hand dryer … but that could have been because he insisted on looking directly up into the air flow the whole time it was running.

 

As we left Arby’s, Luke asked, “Does Baltimore have a potty?”  He was relieved to find that the home in which we were staying (belonging to dear friends of my parents) was much nicer than the Arby’s bathroom.  He was glad that he did not have to put paper on the seat.  And he was excited that they had real towels and not a hand dryer.  It’s so funny the things you see from a new perspective when walking a little guy through the process for the first time!

 

So, over the course of the last two weeks, we have had less than a half dozen accidents.  However, I still feel that I have no experience in potty training, as Luke really potty trained himself.  Oh well.  Maybe he can potty train Emma.  Today, Emma said that she wanted to use the potty.  Luke, in his most sage and understanding tone said, “Someday, Emma, you will be big enough.”

Big Brother Time

This morning, Luke climbed up on my bed with a book, and then said, "Emma, come sit in my lap and I will read to you!" Emma was very excited at the prospect, but couldn't get onto the bed by herself. I put her into Luke's lap, and he really did proceed to "read" to her - long enough for me to run grab the camera and get just one picture. Fortunately, it was a great one!

Click here to see the picture!
http://sutherlandfamily.phanfare.com/album/550524

Luke Funnies

These days, Luke's vocabulary and thinking skills are growing at such a rate that pretty much daily he says things that make us chuckle. Here are some of our recent favorites.

- Luke put on one of his clip-on ties and he was sitting on the edge of his bed taking his shoes off and putting them back on again, singing, "It's a beautiful day in the neighbor."

- Luke was "checking" Mommy's leg with a pocket watch (a.k.a. stethoscope?) and a toy car. He said he needed to check "to see if you are living." He couldn't give me a diagnosis until he had checked one leg, two arms and my head. Finally, when asked, he admitted that I was "a little bit living."

- Luke has been sick with a cough and cold for a few days, hardly eating or moving from the sofa. Today, his energy returned, full steam, despite the fact that his nose is still running like a faucet. I told him to call his Nannie to tell her "I am feeling much better." When he called her, he got as far as "much" when he exploded into a torrent of coughing and sneezing, and ended with "I need a tissue."

-Last night in family worship, Daddy was reading to us from the Gospel of Matthew about the birth of Christ. Daddy explained that the baby Jesus was born a long, long time ago. Luke chimed in with, "Like Uncle Ryan say, 'First Line: Long, Long time ago ... I can still remember ... " (His Uncle Ryan had been teaching him to sing American Pie.)

My Little Man

Luke is such a joy and a delight to have around the house. Of course, I love my little girl very much, and could write another post completely about my little lady (check back in the next few days) but Luke is making himself quite indispensable as Mommy's right-hand man! He is learning to do so much and he is very particular about things around the house. He likes to say, "We yike mess? No! We yike keen [clean]!" When playing in his room, if he notices that the corner of his rug has gotten folded under, he stops and, with an expression of shock and alarm, says, "Oh! I nee fit rud!" and then fixes it before going along with his playing. I can show him once where something belongs and he knows and can be trusted to put things away in their proper place ever after. He can even be counted on to correct those who make mistakes!

He is also becoming such a little man in his speech and expressions. He picks up on so many things that I say, and I really have to laugh at hearing my own words coming out of his mouth (granted with a somewhat humorous pronunciation)! Recently, Emma had a bad diaper rash and every diaper change was a trial for her. I spent most diaper changes crooning and comforting, while trying to be as gentle as possible. Luke would always appear at my elbow, repeating, "I know, HAW-nee." Today, when Emma fell over backwards, he ran to her and kissed her head, saying reassuringly, "Be OK, Emma. Be OK."

We are even beginning to have theological discussions. In Bible Time we have been learning about Joseph. Recently, we talked about how Joseph's brothers took his coat and, after covering it in goat's blood, presented it to their father with the story that Joseph had been killed by wild animals. We talked about how those brothers lied to their father and that this was not right for them to do, that God commands us always to tell the truth. Later, that day we talked about Luke telling the truth when he had a poopie diaper and Mommy asked him about it. The next morning at Bible Time, as we went through the story of Joseph, Luke explained that Joseph had poo and Joseph told the truth. Hmm ... I guess we're going to have to be more careful to distinguish between the actual Biblical story and the personal application of it!

In conclusion, I just have to say that I don't write all of these things to prove that MY little boy is amazing or outstanding. I just write them to revel in the joy of experiencing the life and growth of a little person, to share the blessings of being able to raise the children given to us by God.

It's A Girl!

We had our ultrasound on Friday. Our baby girl looks beautiful! The technician said she weighs about 10 oz. at this point and could fit in the palm of your hand. Her profile seems to resemble her sister.

Luke went with us to the ultrasound. I spent some time Friday morning talking to him about what to expect. I showed him the photos from his ultrasound so that he wouldn't be so surprised at the black and white images he saw on the screen. The whole way to the doctor's office, he kept saying "I want baby boy! I want baby boy!"

During the ultrasound, when we found out that it was a girl, the technician said, "Now you will have a sister!" I said, "Another sister." She asked Luke how many sisters he had and he said, "One ... two ... three ..."

It took most of the drive home to help Luke see clearly that we are going to have a baby girl, not a boy. When we got home, he was accurately able to report the news to my mom (who had stayed with Emma). But as we sat down to lunch, I asked Luke what we should name the baby girl, and he promptly responded, "Baby Boy!"