Days 77 through 89
Day 77, March 18
Eyes on the prize. If only sideways rolling could propel them forward.
The men of the house, planning part of their trip. Kevin took a weekend trip to Fort Benning to scout out things for the Best Ranger competition he and his team sergeant are participating in. He took Caleb down to Benning with him and it sounds like he was a good, big boy. I was kind of jealous of Kevin getting spend one on one time with our eldest. And I was certainly jealous of Caleb spending one on one time with my best friend.
Day 78, March 19
Here are the boys ready for the big trip. Rental car in the driveway. Dinos in hand. Canteen loaded with water. They had a good time. Kevin's team sergeant went with them and remarked about how great Caleb was. No DVD player and no brother to jab at, but he didn't whine the whole drive. Just played with stickers and books and talked to the guys a lot. He made me so proud.
Day 79, March 20
A Saturday with just Joshua and the twins. I thought it would be an easy weekend without the big boys, but it turns out having a two-year-old is never easy. Sweet at times, and certainly funny.
Gideon fell asleep with a good grip on the favorite toy of the moment, Sophie.
Day 80, March 21
What a mess this napping boy is. Socks on the hands? I don't know why. Caleb sleeps holding a sock or two as his security blanket and sometimes Joshua insists on having some in his bed. I guess he decided to amuse himself with a puppet show before falling asleep.
Day 81, March 22
BabyLegs gone wrong/What happens when a 4-year-old rediscovers the leg warmers he wore while potty training 3 years ago. He insisted that this was a good outfit for going out and that his tummy was not cold.
Day 82, March 23
Video day. And three little ones with hands in mouths.
Day 83, March 24
The twins are 6 months old today! They are also too mobile to stay in the Bumbos without the trays attached now. Evelyn is really interested in the grass.
Day 84, March 24
The boys' grandparents brought bunny cookies for the boys. Funny how different their approaches to the cookie are. Caleb's is on the left, and Joshua's is on the right.
I saw a stat in a magazine- 76% of people start at the ears when they eat chocolate bunnies. Caleb is part of that weird 24% that start at the bottom. He also likes to lick off the frosting and leave the cookie "for later."
Day 85, March 25
Yet another example of my tough little girl stealing a toy from her little brother. I loved these cute little matching onesies, but this was the last day they wore them. Gideon's barely snapped at the bottom, chubbers.
Our crazy kids with Grandma Barb and "Poppy" (better known as Dad Toth). They came down for a weekend and got to know the babies a little better. Dad Toth spent a good amount of time fixing the door frame Hannah had ripped up. He had to custom make a new piece of molding and take the old molding off. He's pretty handy like that.
Day 86, March 26
This girl can sleep anywhere. Sitting up, lying on the cold tile floor, flopping around like a rag doll...
Day 87, March 27
Shoe picture #2. A while back I noticed how Evelyn's shoes are cuter than the ol' slippers I was wearing. So I got these at Off Saks and I love them! Despite the 3.5 inch heel, they are really comfy. Take that, Mommy-style!
Day 88, March 28
My little grocery-getter. I love being able to literally run to the grocery and back, a benefit of living on post. This was Gideon's first ride in the jogger and he was happy the whole time, despite his protests while buckling him in.
Day 89
I found this while tilling the garden. Can you see him?
Joshua wanted to catch the toad. I told him to go ahead. He left for a minute and came back from the sandbox with this. Good idea, Joshua.
But after a few tries, Toad moved and Joshua bolted!
The boys dreamt up an adventure for Frog and Toad while Toad hid.
I didn't finish tilling the garden, but it was a fun diversion. That's how my life goes: I plan to accomplish something, start task, then a disruption comes and the task gets abandoned, half-finished. But we have a lot of fun and take time to be together and learn along the way. I have to remind myself that this time of my life is not about having a neat house or weed-free garden. It's about teaching and growing, learning to care more about someone else and their interests. It's about learning to love a 2-year-old instead of dreading those terrible-twos. It's about letting go of expectations and finding joy in the cascades of laughter emanating from these little beings. Or something like that, only less cheesy.
Read more...
