Multitasking

Guess who went ahead and scheduled the five-month anniversary of his birth on his first Halloween. Go on, guess! THIS guy!

 

I'd like to point out that I was really pushing the sitting-on-his-own thing here. Without a photography assistant, we had quite a few of a tipsy baby--

 

Cooler heads prevailed, and James gave me the ole, "uh, Mom. Maybe we should try a different pose. I can't even keep the stuffed block upright." 

 

Hey, hey!

 

At five months, James is a fantastic, easy-going baby about 94 percent of the time. (Roughly.)

 

To look at his gums, I'd SWEAR there are about eight teeth getting ready to poke through--although logic and reason tell me that's impossible! We're still exclusively breastfeeding, and he naps like a champ (a two- or three-hour job at 9 a.m. and at least one more one-hour nap). I hate that I have to wake him or keep him from his third nap in order to roll with the busy demands of four other family members, but he's almost always groggy for just a moment before giving me a winning, gummy smile and a "oh, heyyyyyy. It's yoooooou!" :)

 

We're having some ROUGH evenings, though, with bedtime around 7, but two or three call-backs for mom and the milk jugs... What is that???! Teething? If you're a baby whisperer, I'd love your insight!

 

Until then, happy five months to our fat 'n' happy pumpkin!

False teeth--the only solution

You know those commercials that sear into your memory and you marvel at how catchy and creative they were? You set the scene and retell someone, until... Well, shoot. What was it they were trying to get me to buy again? 

 

Clever commercial, yes. Effective advertising? No.

 

At any rate, here's my example of that phenomenon:  

Doggie dentures. You've seen it, right? I guess I'm supposed to buy dog food or bones or K9 toothbrushes or something. I have no idea.

 

BUT it did give me the idea to outfit this guy with a some false teeth-- 

 

My poor little dude spends a good portion of his nights and days, gnawing on whatever fingers he can fit in his mouth, trying like heck to soothe all the tiny stabbings that go along with teething.

 

I don't remember feeling so tortured watching Elliott and Patrick during this rite of passage (sorry, boys! Mom loves you!!), but when James looks at me with his pained and pleading eyes, I just resolve to forgo the whole teething process and buy the kid some dentures instead.

 

Obviously, a set of geriatric false teeth would be far too large for his infant mouth, but small doggie dentures could be just the right size!

 

I, for one (and I didn't sleep A LOT last night...), think it's genius. And the commercial would be awesome.

Punkin' pickin'

The big boys were more than a little excited to pile in the car last weekend for an awesome pumpkin farm adventure. We went to Pigeon Roost Farm--very near our ole stomping ground, Denison University--and made the most of their vastly expanded offerings,...including PUNKINS! As far as the eye could see!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took the standard tourist photo everyone gets: monster faces in the pile of warty pumpkins--

 

And then we found all the painted plywood scenes! Who doesn't love a good your-head-here photo-op? At this one, Elliott was leery of the big green hand, but Patrick fully embraced his spooky role--

 

You're right. This shot is startlingly similar to the original work. It's prolly 'cause I told the boys to make their serious faces. (Also, I'll spare you the full painted plywood series, but by the end, Patrick furrowed his brow and yelled, "Heyyyyy! How come I always have to be the girl??" HA! Have you MET your older brother??!)  

 

The farm was a great place of discovery! We'd been there before, but they expanded to add a half-a-jillion attractions this year, and the secret hadn't been leaked. Lots to do with no wait time? Yes, please!

 

Even James was there! Unfortunately, he was pissed about that hat choice and did not want to cooperate with the photographer. Unlike my buddy, Patrick, who willingly pulled out his best smile-like-you're-pooping face, free of charge!

 

At first, the boys were a little ticked we didn't go back to Circle S Farm this year, but this place surprised us with a hay maze AND a corn maze! Say whaaaaat?? Awe-some!

 

 

I know what you're thinking here: I bet the boys are in total control of that giant hamster wheel thing. Oddly, the truth is that they were falling all over themselves in this contraption. And they loved every second!

 

 

Heck, they were in such a jovial mood that even a modest playground plunked in the middle of it all kept their attention for a bit--

 

There were giant slides, a fort, an "Enchanted Forest" to explore, plus cotton candy and popcorn to inhale. The boys got to pick pumpkins that quite nearly outweighed themselves (carving photos to come!), but most importantly, they spent every. last. bit. of their brisk fall day energy. Success!

Our (not so) little overachiever

The other day, James was yammerin' away, as babies tend to do:

 















In my sing-song-y voice, I responded. "What did you say?"

"I *said*, 'what's a guy gotta do to get a steak around here?'."

Whoa.

"Well," I retorted calmly, "having TEETH might help."

Then BOOM--

See 'em in there? Apparently, he'll take that t-bone now.

Again, average babies aim to pop a tooth or two out around six months, so James did it at four months. And THEN, I took him to the doctor to check his weight...

Now, we're currently doctor shopping, and I couldn't understand much of what the new nurse said. Still, I warned her James might be the biggest four-month-old ever.

"Big baby OK," she said, as she told me how they (I don't know who) called her baby daughter a sumo wrestler.

(Raise your hand if you feel better.)

At any rate, I have no clue how long he is, but James weighs an unbelievable 19 pounds, 7 ounces! It really looks to me to be off the charts, but I s'ppose we can go with the nurse's record of 99th percentile.

He CAN'T keep this growth rate up FOREVER. Right??!

It happened.

"It?" you say. Yes. "It" in three parts--

It happened. (Elliott edition)

Elliott forgot his homework. If only for a day, Elliott went and got all crazy kid-like, forgotting to bring his work home. THIS from someone who is normally a responsible adult, asking about the minimum requirement so he can blow it out of the water. Write three sentences? He'll write a page-and-a-half. Read for 15 minutes? He'll power through a chapter book. This kid LOVES his job of school, so if he remembers to be A KID every once in a while, I'm gonna celebrate it.

 

It happened. (Patrick edition)

Patrick got engaged. Yes, Lady Killer here put his heart (and dimples) on his sleeve and asked a fine young woman, aged five years, to marry him. To be fair, she hasn't answered yet. Elliott encouraged his little bro to keep asking with more and more friends as witnesses--peer pressure, you know--so I'm sure an emphatic "yes" is coming soon. We'll keep you posted. But for now, save the date, er somethin'.



It happened. (James edition)

James rolled over. Hooray! This morning, I found our giant four-month-old (shown here, requesting something else to eat) on his belly in the crib! Unfortunately, flash photography was not permitted since the move was prompted by a massive poop explosion. (SOMEthing had to motivate such physical exertion, no?)

Life in the wild

We did it! A family camping trip!

 

We packed. We planned. We squeezed King James into the Baby Bjorn--I mean, seriously. Is husky sizing out of the question in baby carriers?--and we went hiking, climbing and exploring in Hocking Hills, an awesome state park just about an hour southeast of Columbus.

 

A family of five, ready to go!

 

The boys LOVED exploring, and every time Mom encouraged it for a photo-op, poor Dad cringed.

No twisted ankles, but clearly, both boys stuck the landing here--

Beautiful, right?

Such boys :)

Truly, we roughed it. The boys had to pretend they were 12 in order to use the hot tub--right on the deck outside of our weekend cabin.

 

We rented an awesome log cabin, complete with a full kitchen, a loft just for the big boys and a TV with a DVD player. (We tried Mary Poppins, but couldn't get all the way through it.) It was SO rough, poor James was stunned we could even fake smiles.

Look at that face! It's HARD having to work for your food, people!

But, ohhhhhh, the rewards are sweet.

 



I'd say we had a great getaway, but it's all just smoke and mirrors. At least, I think that's the commentary Pete had in mind when he snapped this beauty--

 

Hocking Hills, we WILL be back! 

Star athletes

I'm thinkin' there's a strong chance you spotted a couple of menacing figures on your way to work or school last Friday morn. I thought I should explain.

Silly! That's just Patrick and Elliott, getting their game faces on for the PTA's annual Walk-a-Thon fundraiser! (Despite the enthusiasm and strenuous prep, I'm sorry to report neither boy ran the most laps in his respective grade. Anyway, there were popsicles all around, so it's kinda like they won.)

I know you're already objecting to this stunningly adorable cherub being included under the "star athletes" heading, but... 





...ta-da! Just LOOK! James can hold his bowling ball head up! (He's officially four months and can't quite get all the way through that rollover business without a little help, but this kid came with his own measuring stick. He laughs in the face of "trends" and "normal growth" and "average size.") Three cheers, big man!

Now, this last bit isn't *exactly* related to athletic prowess, but it was just too dang funny to exclude. The other day, big (as in FIVE full YEARS older) brother Patrick "held" baby James. As I snapped a few photos, I remarked to Pete that their heads were--I mean, good God!--almost the same size. Patrick, without hesitation, added, "Yeah. But I'm taller!"

 

A true victory! Gold medals in the Optimism category!