Day Thirty One.

I would get lucky with a good shot of two kids...three? Well..that is a whole different game! They each look great in one picture or another but inevitably one will cry or close their eyes. I may have to make friends with Photoshop!

Day Thirty.

Ben was a little displaced. He had his bed on the third floor but he was scared to sleep up there so each night had him sleeping somewhere else. Usually our bedroom floor, in our bed or in the hallway. The night I found him asleep in MY PURSE was the last straw. With plenty of bribery we got both boys asleep in the same room...in their beds!

Day Twenty Nine.

Little boys who nurse their baby dolls make me smile.

Day Twenty Eight.

7 Months.

What a girl she is!

1- Crawling!
2- Standing!
3- Talking! (Swears daddy...who claims she says Dada...I'll let him have it).
4- The smilliest, happiest, giggliest baby.
5- She is SO full of life. She is just so happy to try anything new.
6- She is starting to get a little bit shy with strangers. She will visit for a few moments but prefers to be with Mommy or Daddy. She will always share a smile but is now quick to glance at me quickly and then bury her head in my shoulder.
7- Ella eat everything! We call her the little goat! I have dislodged numerous interesting things from her mouth. The boys have to do a carpet sweep now before I set her on the ground.
8- Ella knows her name and understands lots of words.  We are going to start signing with her, I suspect she will pick it up pretty quickly. I think she has lots to say!

We love you Ella. You have made this last 8 months such a happy time. You have brought a tremendous amount of joy and love to our family.

Day Twenty Seven.

Ben is such a great kid.

I am also biased but correct when I say how very gifted and bright he is. His Grandparents all agree. So it must be true.

Ben soaks up knowledge and facts. His memory is incredible. Unless I ask him to go upstairs to get socks. He will come down with my sweatshirt.

He has a gift for numbers and spacial problems like puzzles or building things. He loves to create and build. He is good at drawing and colouring. He has very nice printing and has taught himself to read. Yes. He taught himself. He copied words over and over. He would ask me what the next word was and then start again until he has built up about 200 sight words. Then he asked for some more "early reader" books since he could read all the old ones. Now he has moved onto regular children's books.

I signed him up for a science class this week. He wants to know how everything works...so I thought this would be a good fit for him. I watched him through the window for a bit...he was so tiny. The class was for children older then him but I was surprised how much bigger they all seemed.

"How was it"?
"Oh it was fun. TOO much fun!"
"What did you learn about?"
"Colours, and prisms".
"oh ya?"
"Ya. Those big kids thought when we mixed the colors together we would get black but I told them that they are PRIMARY colours and so they would make all the other colours if they were mixed right".

Well yes. That is Ben.

He wants so badly to do well. He is cautious and thoughtful and precise. Except for when he is totally acting his age and having a hissy fit over the wrong...whatever... and being impulsive and sensitive.
But those moments are getting fewer and far between. He is really growing up.

I am so proud of him.

Jon and I marvel at what he knows and laugh at how he innately just loves superhero's and  Star Wars. He is obsessed but we have no idea how he knows all about any of it. We are debating letting him watch some of the first Star Wars movie. though I maintain that it is too violent (Jon protests...I say...we'll see....)

He loves to try new things but sometimes needs to hang back and observe for awhile before he feels comfortable enough to engage.

He loves food. He will eat until we just won't let him anymore. He never seems to be full...nor get past 38 pounds. He also never stops moving...so that could have something to do with it.

He is looking forward to riding his two wheeler this summer and learning to tie his shoe laces. His pants are purpetually falling down and "Pull up your pants Ben!" is heard 20 times a day.

He loves to tell jokes. They are not funny. He thinks they are though. So does Jacob.

He adores his siblings. The three of them get along so well. Jake and Ben play together all day everyday. They rarely fight, they protect each other and both are crazy about their sister.

I am the luckiest mom in the world.

I really am.

I want to remember all these little things about Ben as he is at five and a half. He is a boy to be proud of. And we are. He is an amazing kid. 

Day Twenty Six.

My 57 step plan to get your baby to sleep without crying almost through the night by 6 months has been successful! (Should I write a book?! I may have to work on the title...)

The short version is...

Newborn-4 months Tight swaddle in a miracle blanket. Papasan swing (or any sleeping surface that doesn't keep the baby, with a curvy spine who has never laid stretched out, flat...they are uncomfortable in this unnatural position and will wake up more...a bouncy seat will work too). Next to Mom, of course. I tried to get Ella and Jake to take a soother so they wouldn't want to nurse to sleep. Well actually that part is fine...it is the transferring part that was hard. With a pacifier I can stop nursing and pop that in and they stayed asleep. Noise machine on. Newborns are not used to quiet. It is loud inside...whooshing noises are comforting. All these things together got 6 hours of straight night sleep from the very first week. Co sleeping works too...but that never worked very well for me, I couldn't sleep very well.

4 months- Introduce security blanket or stuffed animal or whatever you want it to be.
Naps start at predictable times (a schedule... yippeee!!)

5.5 months- Move swing into babies room. Nothing else changes.

6. months- Stop swaddling.

6.5 months. Move to crib. Baby can roll around and position themselves for comfort. Ideally they can also put pacifier back into their mouths and security blanket is having desired effect. Noise machine stays on. Lots of positive sleep associations...always go in if they cry but wait for 5 minutes first. Often they are still sleeping, just transitioning into a different sleep cycle.

One week before 7 months old Ella is sleeping 12 hours in her crib with 2 short feeds. She naps for one hour in the morning and 2.5 in the afternoon. WHAAAAA HOOOOO!

I am logging this so I can remember in case I am ever lucky enough to be again in a possession of sleep resistant baby or pass it onto my grandchildren. Oh who am I kidding...there will melatonin drops then, or forth trimester fetal incubators to keep babies in so they can come out at 3 months old when they should... Either way. Sleep has once again, thankfully, returned to this family. 

Day Twenty Five.

There is a reason that at 6 months old Ella is crawling, standing and pulling herself up on things. She has a personal trainer! Ben takes personal delight in all of her accomplishments and has taken on "talking" as his next goal for her.

Day Twenty Four

Ella LOVES food. She is a foodie like her brothers. She hasn't tried anything yet that she doesn't love to eat...and smear all over herself.

Day Twenty Three.

Photobomb.
Love these two!

Day Twenty Two.

Poor miserable Ella has her first cold. That little cough is as sad as it is cute! Understandably she just wants to be held so our wraps are getting lots of use!

Day Twenty One. Part Two.

I asked Jacob what he wanted to do for his birthday afternoon, just him and Mommy. He LOVES all things garbage trucks. I shouldn't have been surprised then when he asked to "play garbage man". So we did. He took out all the garbage he could find to the curb and then...when Jon came home he took it all back in since garbage day is not actually for a few more days. Happy birthday buddy!

Day Twenty One

To my birthday boy,

One year ago I was in a shocked fog. The week of your second year on earth was met with a tremendous amount of heartache and fear. The reality of what the coming year held for our family was so much to think about. Too much. Your Daddy had been diagnosed with Cancer just a week before and the news was still settling.

Today I am happy to say we are in a much different place. Your Daddy gave it his all. He is in fact exactly as much of a superhero as you give him credit for. He is amazing.

Your second year was a full one, to be sure. One I am glad in some ways you won't remember much of. But we will remember you. As you were, right now. And what you meant to us.

You were born three years ago in the early morning on the most beautiful January day. I can remember every detail of your birth. You came quickly and easily into the world. An expression of the boy you would become. I remember coming home with you before breakfast to a sun that was just rising and putting you in a shaft of light pouring in the window. You looked like a little blond angel. You had my heart...right there in that moment and every moment since.

There is so much to love about you;

Your  wispy curls, your mischievous eyes the color of the sky on the clearest day. Your big hands that remind us of a St. Bernard puppy when you try something new. You are fearless and energetic and bright. You have an impossible amount of empathy. You love genuinely and care about people around you very much. You love animals and babies and your gentle and nurturing way with them is a sweet paradox to the headstrong and rough manner that you usually carry yourself in.

You love to cuddle when you decide to take a break from your monster hunting, wrestling and dragon fighting. And I love to be the welcoming lap. You have no idea how big you are getting. You don't realize that I have to brace myself when I pick you up or have to shift to fit your body curled up on my lap like you insist on. I love the weight of you in my arms and how you relax so completely in them.

When life is hard, impossible even. When hearts are aching and tears are plenty. A two year old is the very best thing in the whole wide world. Such a gift you are to us. In our lives and in our family. you  are the distraction from hardship that got us through some dark moments. You and your innocence had the capability like no one else to pull us back into the moment. Not into the fear of the future but into the "right now". The only time to a little boy.
Your "right now'" included a lot of "ya-hoo's" dancing, playdough pies, treasure hunts in the bushes, hide and seek, flooded bathrooms, laundry piles to leap into, games of tackle and toast (you REALLY love toast!) bottles of milk, one more push on the swing and learning to use your scooter. You reminded us of the thrill of the climb up a slide and big mud puddle at the bottom. The joy of a popsicle and trip to the toy store. You helped us laugh with your singing, your dancing and your enthiasm for...everything.
You love life Jacob.
You eat it up and spit back out in a way that lights up the world around you. You glow with joy and zest and charm. You are a beautiful, beautiful child.
We adore you and we are grateful for you. For bringing a light to our lives when we needed it most in your perfectly two year old self.

I wish you wonderful things in your third year. And all the happiness you bring to those who love you. 

Happy Birthday my darling boy.

I love every inch of you and every moment of being your Mother.

Mommy
xoxoxo

Day Twenty

Jake was spoiled yet again when his family came over for his birthday! Angry bird blanket, tool set, recycling truck, Gramma-made super-hero capes (which transformed him immediately into a superhero running up the hall with his hands in the air ("Superman to the RESCUE!").
Gramma made him an amazing garbage truck cake, complete with tinfoil wrapped money wheels and garbage man!

Day Nineteen.

Ella loves bathtime! She gets so excited when she hears the water start running. Her cold has her a little cranky but the bath cheers her up. It is nice that she can sit in it unassisted now on a little slip mat. She will play until I can't lean over the top anymore!

Day Eighteen.

Jake had some of his friends over for a party to celebrate his third birthday with games, Gramma made cupcakes, face paintings by mommy and gifts. He had lots of fun!

Day Seventeen.

Yummy!

Someone needs to remind this baby that she is only 6 months old!

Day Sixteen.

Jacob really wanted to buy Gramma flowers. He kept asking me to go to the flower store so on the way home yesterday when she was babysitting Ella and Ben for us while I had Jake at the Doctor I happily obliged this sweet boy's request. He picked out just the bouquet he liked and carried it up to the counter. Two woman were looking at the arrangement binder at the desk and asked him who his flowers were for.
"They are for my Gramma!" AWWWWWWWW. They all instantly teared. 
I think Gramma enjoyed her arrangement from our favorite three year old.

Day Fifteen

We discovered that one of our local libraries has a toy lending area. There are about 200 toy sets, puzzles and board games that can be borrowed. The boys looked through the huge catalog and selected what they liked (a store set with scanning cash register and a race car set). They were so good about cleaning up each time so we wouldn't lose pieces. I think this is going to be a resource that we use a lot!

Day fourteen.

We are officially starting our second chance.
We are taking it pretty seriously.

One of the things we are doing is working out a lot and eating really healthy.
Or trying to anyway...
I wish I didn't like love chocolate so much.

Day Thirteen.

  Day of Diagnosis.
I made this inspiration board with Ben while I tried to explain to my 4 year old what Cancer meant and how our lives were going to change. It was the most impossible thing I have ever done.

One Year Later.
Cancer Free.

Day Twelve.

I wouldn't say she is crawling exactly...it is more of a rock/lunge/roll...but she is close. We have a shag rug in the living room though that she can army crawl on by grabbing onto the carpet. We are going to be in trouble when she really takes off. This is one active girl.

Day Eleven.

Photo by Jacob.