They're eating the atrocious lollipops we thought were a good idea to buy at Hollywood Studios. Those things were huge, hard, extra sticky and seemed to grow overnight. They'd eat a little bit, we'd save it on some wax paper, and in the morning they were bigger. At least I think they were.
(My Nathan son. As of right now, my only son living outside of the womb.)
Sometimes you leave me no choice. Your toddler cuteness overrides any level of sanity I may have when taking pictures of you. I know, I know, I'm supposed to be fostering any and all developments you may have into manhood. But frankly, manhood doesn't lend itself to being very "cute."
So I'm stranded at a crossroads: do I take those embarrassing pictures of my adorable son, while his innocence is so unmistakable or do I do my best to tuck those pictures away in my failing memory for the sake of saving any amount of respectability he might wish to retain?
Well, you and I both know the answer to that.
So here goes...
You, 2 1/2 years old, wearing your sister's pink fuzzy boots, pushing a bubble lawn mower. It just doesn't get any cuter son, I'm sorry. One day, when your voice is deep and your face must be shaved regularly, you'll know that these days are long gone. There will be no fear of your manhood being compromised because it is well established. But until then, I apologize. I love you more than you'll ever know and I cherish these days of your cuteness, BTS (before the stubble).
One advantage to having an older sibling is how much they model behaviors. Nathan has chosen lately to emulate his sister taking showers. This child LOVES taking a shower.
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His latest fascination is with the lawn mower. He will ask to go outside and "drive" the lawn mower about 20 times a day. He reaches for the keys to the shed we have hanging in the pantry hallway area and says 'lawn mower, lawn mower, lawn mower' over and over again until I acknowledge him. Then usually after I've explained to him we are not going outside, he's very upset and ends up on the floor. Well after naps today, I needed more time to get the grocery list finished so I drove it out and parked it so I could watch him. That was all he wanted. He sat on it for 15 minutes until it was time to leave. This was my view from the kitchen window.
I remember as a kid thinking that riding on the lawn mower was so much fun. I have to pretty much tie these two to the porch columns when Daddy mows to keep them safe.(No, he is not actually mowing. The blade is turned off and they're just riding around.)
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He loves carrying around his blanket. Thank goodness he's not picky about which blanket, because there have been many instances where I've had to incarcerate a blanket because of excessive yard debris. Here, he is fascinated with sister being big enough to take a shower by herself. It must be the "loving her independence" stuff, because she loves to take a shower by herself and does a pretty good job.
These were taken back on Jim's birthday and show some of Nathan's personality...
(I'm pretty sure the middle picture is the face he makes when he's pulling my hair or torturing the cat. Jim swears it looks like he's wanting someone to scream 'Uncle!' before he lets go of a first full of hair.)
I think he likes what he sees...
On Sunday, Jim was mowing the grass while Katherine was pushing around her shopping cart searching for rocks and grass to buy. Nathan wanted to go outside also...
Nathan got to go outside, now he doesn't want his knees to touch the grass...
Nathan ready to drive, anything...
Sunday night, little lady came down with a fever. I'm pretty sure it was just a tummy bug because by Tuesday morning she was feeling fine. Although on Monday for her nap, I got some precious, worth waiting for eye-gazing time in with her. She asked me to cuddle her for her nap. I was more than happy too and after some fidgeting around we ended up facing toward each other. Then, she said, "Mommy, I just want to look in your eyes." I got the chance of a lifetime to gaze into her 3-year-old beautiful big blue eyes, uninterrupted, with the soft sunlight filtered through sheer window shades. She willingly looked into mine, was still and quiet and let me gaze into hers. I studied everything about her eyes and they were beautiful. Her pupils kept changing size, even though the light was constant in the room. Her irises are stunning: colors of medium to dark blue, with splashes of green and light grey and I'm pretty sure I saw some silver. I saw my own reflection when my focus changed and her eyelashes are so long and plenty. Then the blinks started getting longer and heavier. She fought it for a while and the last blink led her to a very needed and productive rest. I gently caressed her face, careful not to wake her, and watched her some more. It was another perfect moment to pray for my child. I cried to God with overwhelming thankfulness for my children's health. Her tummy bug was nothing compared to other friend's and family's battles they've had to face with their children. For some reason, God's will for our lives right now is to have two very healthy children, and I am so grateful. I loved getting the chance to stare into her eyes and I'm glad I chose not to clean the floors that afternoon. That's 15 minutes I'll cherish forever.
Tuesday we went to go visit our friends at their timeshare at the beach. It was an hour and a half drive one-way, but worth it. I waited until Katherine woke up from sleeping in and asked her if her tummy hurt. It didn't so then I asked her if she wanted to go to the beach. (Insert: wild, crazy, jumping around and screeching here). So off we go to the beach to meet our friends, the E family. They were so helpful and made the trip extra special, because I certainly wouldn't try a trip to the beach by myself with two small munchkins. The kiddos must have had so much fun because neither of them slept on the way home. Uh, what was up with that? I would have suspected that the combination of sun, extra exercise and the quiet, still and comfy car seat would have done the trick coming home. What do I know, I'm just their mother.
Nathan is cutting a fourth tooth. His two 'central incisors' on the bottom are in and it looks like his two 'lateral incisors' on top are coming in, which makes for funny pictures for a couple of months. Wednesday, he surprised me with letting me cuddle him to sleep for his afternoon nap. I'm sure the crying was because of his tooth so I was more than happy to hold him and calm him down. He very sleepily gazed into my eyes, blinked for long periods of time, was ever so still and a warm feeling came over me. I thought I should get up and maybe try cuddling with him in our bed so I could rest also and as I got up, the warm feeling started to slide down my leg. Yep, you guessed it, poop. I immediately tried to squat to lessen the effect gravity might have to avoid it landing on the carpet, and not disturb my sleepy prince who might be up for cuddling. Ok, so now what do I do? Squatting, with warm poop on my thigh, holding an almost asleep baby: I made the decision that the poop was more important. I put him on the changing table and used the wipes to start cleaning myself and the little bit that eventually fell on the floor. Long story short, after all the excitement and a bath at 3pm, he wasn't up for cuddling or anymore of a nap. Blasted poop.
Little guy decided to bust a move listening to 'Row, row, row your boat,' (I still haven't figured out how to edit videos so there are some not as interesting parts I would like to edit out)...
Wednesday was also special because my grandma got to witness me speaking directly to the wall, about 6 inches away from it, because I was pretty sure the wall would listen more than my daughter was. Grandma looked a little concerned for me at first, but then realized that I was actually behaving fairly normal, or at least she thought so also.
Friday, Jim received an email from the grad school with this message, "
-->Your final submission has been reviewed and has been accepted by the Editorial Office-- congratulations!" Whoo hoo! August 8th is graduation day and short of a couple phone calls and picking up regalia, all that's left is walking across the stage. He's stoically excited. For those of you who know Jim, that totally makes sense. That morning, my friend Amy stopped by with her 3 girls. We've known each other since middle school. That is one of my favorite things about living in the same town I was raised in: 'old' friends. Our kids had a fun time outside playing in the kiddie pool. Nathan insisted on being a pure boy and continually splashed the little girl 3 weeks older than he. Katherine had fun playing with the girls her age and 3 years older. They are cute girls and I always enjoy visiting with their mommy. We were also roommates in college for a couple years so we always have lots of stories to laugh about and we know enough about each other's quirks, weaknesses and strengths. It's a little chaotic at times with 5 of them running and crawling around, but my tolerance-meter must be on the verge of breaking or just plain about to give up because it doesn't bother me anywhere near like it used to.
Later that afternoon, Nathan woke up too early from his nap and I rocked him back to sleep. A little while later, he woke up again and I decided to trying cuddling. With a clean diaper, we snuggled in the bed and I peacefully enjoyed holding my little man until his nap was over. It was about 30 minutes of time with him I've been craving.
Today, we bought some landscaping materials to complete the play area outside and daddy surprised us with plans to go to Bamah and Papa's lake. On the way there, we were surprised to see this in the back seat.It's so sweet because their touching is still nice and loving. Now that they are able to touch each other, I dread the day when it's not with nice intentions.
So we went to the lake, swam a little, ate grilled hamburgers and hotdogs with the fixin's and sides and swam some more. Katherine inherited my carefulness in the water and the ability to attract every single mosquito in sight and Nathan inherited his daddy's lack-of-fear of the water. He's already eager to put his face in the water, most of the time while trying not to breathe. Constantly splashing anything and everything around is preferred, including his own face.
He still doesn't want to let his knees touch the ground (and the answer is no: he does not do this inside the house, only outside or other less-than-desirable-to-crawl-on surfaces)...
Daddy and daughter...
We had a busy and fun week. Next week will be busy again preparing for our trip to go whitewater rafting in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Although Nathan would probably like it, me and the kids are not going rafting, we're just going for the ride, beautiful scenery and company. Our good friends are going up there with their kids and grandkids (same ages as ours). Of all the fun things daddy would want to do, whitewater rafting is probably at the top. So, in honor of his graduation, we're taking a celebratory trip. We took a 10 hour trip with Katherine when she was 9 months old and she did better than we expected, so.....hopefully we'll be pleasantly surprised on this one also.
(No, he is not actually mowing. The blade is turned off and they're just riding around.)
Here, he is fascinated with sister being big enough to take a shower by herself. It must be the "loving her independence" stuff, because she loves to take a shower by herself and does a pretty good job.
(I'm pretty sure the middle picture is the face he makes when he's pulling my hair or torturing the cat. Jim swears it looks like he's wanting someone to scream 'Uncle!' before he lets go of a first full of hair.)
It's so sweet because their touching is still nice and loving. Now that they are able to touch each other, I dread the day when it's not with nice intentions.
