For family night tonight we had two lessons after singing a few opening songs (one of which being Let's Go Fly a Kite, of course). The first lesson was on how to use our hands nicely. The lesson got interrupted a few times because we had to put a child in timeout for hitting.
The next part was on using good words. We made a list of kind words and talked about how to not say things with tons of attitude. Then we started making a list of words to avoid. As I was talking Matthew bonked me on the head pretty hard. So I used my scary angry voice and yelled "MATTHEW. THAT HURT!!!!!" and that made him cry of course.
So if you're wondering if we totally rocked family night tonight, we totally did.
Monday, September 18, 2017
10,000 daze
Friday afternoon was pretty busy. After picking up Joseph from school, blogging about the experience for the second day in a row, and getting some snacks for the boys, I took Joseph to his first day of fall soccer. When we got there I met up with my friend Catherine and we spent the whole time chatting. Since her car was in the shop that day I had lent her our sedan. She assured me she would get the car key and car back to me sometime soon. I said she could just leave the key under our doormat but she said she'd give it back in person sometime that weekend. No worries. I was in no rush.
And I was in no rush as we left soccer. I talked to some parents I recognized from spring soccer, and we laughed about how we were both driving blue 2005 minivans recently gifted by family. Eventually I got all the kids in and we headed home. There was a bit of rush hour traffic so it took a little while to make it back, but we had time to eat grilled cheese sandwiches before we left for Joseph's school's ice cream social. I had wanted to eat the boys' crusts before we headed out but when I went back to the table Kevin had cleaned everything up. That didn't seem like a priority right then, but whatever.
So we went and it was jam packed! Kids in kindergarten through 8th grade were squished onto that tiny playground running around and eating ice cream. Joseph was having fun but I was all too ready to go home and leave those crowds and get some quiet time after bedtime. I figured Kevin would work on his paper that evening and I could clean and read and catch up on blogging about fun things we've done since Jacob has been born.
We drove home and began the slow walk up the driveway with Matthew. Joseph lamented that he hadn't gotten to play with any friends today despite recess, soccer, and the ice cream social. We promised he would get a chance sometime soon. I unlocked the door and it didn't work. I tried again and still the handle didn't work. Somehow the other lock had been locked! Once I figured that out we were able to go inside. I starting telling Kevin that Matthew had probably locked the other lock and I'd need to keep an eye on him, thinking of the time he had locked us out back in June.
Suddenly, I got startled when I saw one of my kids hiding under the coffee table, wiggling around. But then I looked around and saw both Joseph and Matthew standing next to me. Who what?
Then I saw who it was. It was Joseph's friend N! What? What was he doing there? That sure was funny that they had used our car key to get into our house.
Before I had time to sort through that logic, not only Jesse and Catherine jumped out but also Lyndon and Chelsie. Oh, that makes sense, I thought for a millisecond, because I've been in contact with them about when we'll see them now that they have moved to Boston. Then . . . what?! What are they doing in my house?! How did they get in too?
I look at Kevin as I processed this shock. "Wait, did you know about this?"
"Happy 10,000th day!" he said, and then I saw the table. It was covered in donuts, cookies, gifts, and a poster saying "Happy 10,000th day!"
I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say. "There's someone you need to meet!" was the phrase I settled on, getting Jacob out of his car seat and handing him to people.
The next few minutes I was still in a daze. "I don't even know what state I'm in right now," I said a few times. These were Michigan friends, but we were in . . . Connecticut? All these worlds were colliding!
Then I looked at Lyndon and Chelsie again. "You're not driving back tonight, are you?"
"Nope, we're spending the night!" I didn't even know how to react to this happy news.
I turned to Catherine. "Wait, was your car even in the shop!?" I asked accusingly though I had picked her and her kids up from the shop that morning. They assured me it was. "I told you you could leave our key under our doormat!"
"And instead Kevin left your house key there!" they responded. This was all too crazy for me.
And then there was this whole 10,000th day thing. "I scheduled this in my calendar!" I exclaimed. "I saw it there just a few weeks ago!"
"I deleted it," Kevin said with a grin. "I didn't want you to remember it." And I didn't. All I had really planned to do was buy a 100 Grand candy bar (it's kind of like 10,000 after all), but instead there was this big party with all these things!
There were 10,000 kernels of popcorn (counted by hand, apparently), 10,000 mini chocolate chips, 10,000 water beads, 10,000 fingernail stickers, 10,000 little mosaic square, and 10 packs of 1000 little stars. "It's surprisingly difficult to find things that come in packs of 10,000," Lyndon commented.
"I better not let my kids get into these," I thought to myself. (They already have.) Then Catherine had made cookies (not 10,000, but delicious nonetheless) and there were donuts made into the shape of 10,000 that were quickly devoured.
"This is not a real holiday," I kept saying to Kevin. "10,000 days is a made up thing." I thought of the Office episode when they surprised Meredith with a birthday party more than a month before her actual birthday.
"Birthdays happen once a year. This only happens once every 10,000 days! And hey, you celebrate square root of 10 day, so you can celebrate this too," he responded. (Should I now celebrate it as 8th root of 10,000th day?) And then he began a timer. "Time to commemorate your 10,000 days over the next 10,000 seconds." Each time a timer went off he announced what had happen on the equivalent day of my life. "You just got baptized." Almost an hour later he said, "You just had your 16th birthday." And so on.
Meanwhile I did my best to act like a normal person and talk to my friends about life and driving on the East Coast and grocery stores and how they had set all of this up.
"Do you remember when Lyndon texted to ask what year you were born?" Kevin asked.
I did. I had had a Facebook post a day before that text that mentioned it had been 10 years I had graduated from high school, so I thought that was maybe why he had asked. But why ask Kevin? It's not like he couldn't have asked me.
"That's when we began planning it." It had been a very sneaky process for Kevin. He had to basically delete things as he went along so I wouldn't glance at the plans and spoil the surprise. That afternoon had been especially tricky for him as he had to reply to the surprise party texts without me noticing. But somehow he had managed to do it and I was completely in the dark.
And I was still processing things.
"You're staying the night? My house isn't clean though!" I hadn't gotten quite enough sleep the night before so when I got Matthew and Jacob down for naps I immediately took one too instead of clearing up lunch dishes or decluttering. It wasn't horribly messy -- we'd had the missionaries over on Tuesday so there hadn't been much time for things to get too out of control, but there were still papers piled on my desk and undusted bookshelves and bags and backpacks all over the place. Thankfully the sheets for the futon were clean since I had washed them after my cousin Megan's visit last week. But still, I was not prepared for this. Next time there's a lesson on the Second Coming, I'm going to use this as an example, I decided. Whole thief in the night thing and all.
"That's why I did a bit of cleaning while you were coming home from soccer and before we headed to the ice cream social," Kevin reassured me.
"That's why the crusts were gone!" I realized. That table had looked awfully shiny.
Eventually our kids were all tired enough after some hardcore playing that it was time for the Stricklans to head home and the Garretts to put their girls to bed. I tried not to be too self-conscious as I read dialogue-heavy books to Joseph in front of adults and then sent him to bed.
After the kids were down, we decided to play Killer Bunnies for old time's sake. As usual, Kevin built up his empire quickly but was ultimately unable to withstand attacks from three disgruntled foes. I ended up winning, which I suppose was fitting as the 10,000th day girl. Other than the fact that I was still in shock, the whole time as we played and talked it felt as though we hadn't been a year since we'd seen each other. By the end of the game it was really late, so we all headed to bed. I still spent the next two hours processing what had just happened, but I eventually fell asleep.
The next day was square root of 84 day. In honor of that momentous occasion we ate breakfast cooked in a 9x13 pan (I'm sure there's some connection to 84 there), parked our cars at 84 Trumbull Street, and walked around Yale. After lunch at Bar Pizza, the Garretts headed back up to Boston. I still spent some of the day trying to figure out how this all happened and pestering them via text about how it all came to fruition.
I still don't think a 10,000th day merits quite so much celebration. But it's definitely great to have so many Michigan friends close by again, especially ones that are so fun and thoughtful. And if I had to choose the ideal way to spend my 10,000th day of life, it basically would have been exactly how it went.
And I was in no rush as we left soccer. I talked to some parents I recognized from spring soccer, and we laughed about how we were both driving blue 2005 minivans recently gifted by family. Eventually I got all the kids in and we headed home. There was a bit of rush hour traffic so it took a little while to make it back, but we had time to eat grilled cheese sandwiches before we left for Joseph's school's ice cream social. I had wanted to eat the boys' crusts before we headed out but when I went back to the table Kevin had cleaned everything up. That didn't seem like a priority right then, but whatever.
So we went and it was jam packed! Kids in kindergarten through 8th grade were squished onto that tiny playground running around and eating ice cream. Joseph was having fun but I was all too ready to go home and leave those crowds and get some quiet time after bedtime. I figured Kevin would work on his paper that evening and I could clean and read and catch up on blogging about fun things we've done since Jacob has been born.
We drove home and began the slow walk up the driveway with Matthew. Joseph lamented that he hadn't gotten to play with any friends today despite recess, soccer, and the ice cream social. We promised he would get a chance sometime soon. I unlocked the door and it didn't work. I tried again and still the handle didn't work. Somehow the other lock had been locked! Once I figured that out we were able to go inside. I starting telling Kevin that Matthew had probably locked the other lock and I'd need to keep an eye on him, thinking of the time he had locked us out back in June.
Suddenly, I got startled when I saw one of my kids hiding under the coffee table, wiggling around. But then I looked around and saw both Joseph and Matthew standing next to me. Who what?
Then I saw who it was. It was Joseph's friend N! What? What was he doing there? That sure was funny that they had used our car key to get into our house.
Before I had time to sort through that logic, not only Jesse and Catherine jumped out but also Lyndon and Chelsie. Oh, that makes sense, I thought for a millisecond, because I've been in contact with them about when we'll see them now that they have moved to Boston. Then . . . what?! What are they doing in my house?! How did they get in too?
I look at Kevin as I processed this shock. "Wait, did you know about this?"
"Happy 10,000th day!" he said, and then I saw the table. It was covered in donuts, cookies, gifts, and a poster saying "Happy 10,000th day!"
I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say. "There's someone you need to meet!" was the phrase I settled on, getting Jacob out of his car seat and handing him to people.
The next few minutes I was still in a daze. "I don't even know what state I'm in right now," I said a few times. These were Michigan friends, but we were in . . . Connecticut? All these worlds were colliding!
Then I looked at Lyndon and Chelsie again. "You're not driving back tonight, are you?"
"Nope, we're spending the night!" I didn't even know how to react to this happy news.
I turned to Catherine. "Wait, was your car even in the shop!?" I asked accusingly though I had picked her and her kids up from the shop that morning. They assured me it was. "I told you you could leave our key under our doormat!"
"And instead Kevin left your house key there!" they responded. This was all too crazy for me.
And then there was this whole 10,000th day thing. "I scheduled this in my calendar!" I exclaimed. "I saw it there just a few weeks ago!"
"I deleted it," Kevin said with a grin. "I didn't want you to remember it." And I didn't. All I had really planned to do was buy a 100 Grand candy bar (it's kind of like 10,000 after all), but instead there was this big party with all these things!
 |
| 10,000 donuts can go fast when kids are involved. |
"I better not let my kids get into these," I thought to myself. (They already have.) Then Catherine had made cookies (not 10,000, but delicious nonetheless) and there were donuts made into the shape of 10,000 that were quickly devoured.
"This is not a real holiday," I kept saying to Kevin. "10,000 days is a made up thing." I thought of the Office episode when they surprised Meredith with a birthday party more than a month before her actual birthday.
"Birthdays happen once a year. This only happens once every 10,000 days! And hey, you celebrate square root of 10 day, so you can celebrate this too," he responded. (Should I now celebrate it as 8th root of 10,000th day?) And then he began a timer. "Time to commemorate your 10,000 days over the next 10,000 seconds." Each time a timer went off he announced what had happen on the equivalent day of my life. "You just got baptized." Almost an hour later he said, "You just had your 16th birthday." And so on.
Meanwhile I did my best to act like a normal person and talk to my friends about life and driving on the East Coast and grocery stores and how they had set all of this up.
"Do you remember when Lyndon texted to ask what year you were born?" Kevin asked.
I did. I had had a Facebook post a day before that text that mentioned it had been 10 years I had graduated from high school, so I thought that was maybe why he had asked. But why ask Kevin? It's not like he couldn't have asked me.
"That's when we began planning it." It had been a very sneaky process for Kevin. He had to basically delete things as he went along so I wouldn't glance at the plans and spoil the surprise. That afternoon had been especially tricky for him as he had to reply to the surprise party texts without me noticing. But somehow he had managed to do it and I was completely in the dark.
And I was still processing things.
"You're staying the night? My house isn't clean though!" I hadn't gotten quite enough sleep the night before so when I got Matthew and Jacob down for naps I immediately took one too instead of clearing up lunch dishes or decluttering. It wasn't horribly messy -- we'd had the missionaries over on Tuesday so there hadn't been much time for things to get too out of control, but there were still papers piled on my desk and undusted bookshelves and bags and backpacks all over the place. Thankfully the sheets for the futon were clean since I had washed them after my cousin Megan's visit last week. But still, I was not prepared for this. Next time there's a lesson on the Second Coming, I'm going to use this as an example, I decided. Whole thief in the night thing and all.
"That's why I did a bit of cleaning while you were coming home from soccer and before we headed to the ice cream social," Kevin reassured me.
"That's why the crusts were gone!" I realized. That table had looked awfully shiny.
Eventually our kids were all tired enough after some hardcore playing that it was time for the Stricklans to head home and the Garretts to put their girls to bed. I tried not to be too self-conscious as I read dialogue-heavy books to Joseph in front of adults and then sent him to bed.
After the kids were down, we decided to play Killer Bunnies for old time's sake. As usual, Kevin built up his empire quickly but was ultimately unable to withstand attacks from three disgruntled foes. I ended up winning, which I suppose was fitting as the 10,000th day girl. Other than the fact that I was still in shock, the whole time as we played and talked it felt as though we hadn't been a year since we'd seen each other. By the end of the game it was really late, so we all headed to bed. I still spent the next two hours processing what had just happened, but I eventually fell asleep.
 |
| My 10,000th day was his 50th day, turns out. |
I still don't think a 10,000th day merits quite so much celebration. But it's definitely great to have so many Michigan friends close by again, especially ones that are so fun and thoughtful. And if I had to choose the ideal way to spend my 10,000th day of life, it basically would have been exactly how it went.
Friday, September 15, 2017
Better decisions
I have been making so many decisions regarding Joseph's school pickup that it's gotten exhausting. However, I realized today I had left out one decision pretty early on.
Today after strapping the boys in, I went on a completely different road so I approached the school from a different direction. I parked sort of far away as usual but at least it was quick. And since I learned from yesterday's mistakes I used the baby carrier instead of the car seat. We walked with ease to the school.
By making one good decision at the beginning I had wiped out all the small decisions that stressed me out each day. I arrived at Joseph's class neither physically nor mentally exhausted. It was great.
Although, I had spit up all down the front of my shirt. Even good decisions can have a few bad
consequences.
consequences.
I think we'll make it through this school year. Even if I still have to sign a clipboard every day.
Thursday, September 14, 2017
Decisions
I look up from folding the laundry and check the time. It's probably time to go get Joseph.
Do I walk or do I drive? Including getting kids in car seats, it can take 16 minutes to get there from our front door, which is about the same time it takes to walk down. I go outside and see how it feels. It's partly cloudy but very humid. We'd be sweaty messes by the time we got home. And besides, it's only a 4 minute drive home, compared to a 22 minute walk.
Should I bring the baby carrier? It always slows me down to get Jacob out of the car seat and into the carrier, and I often end up carrying Matthew most of the way too. At least I can set the car seat down if I get tired.
Should I bring the stroller? The baby carrier/stroller combination sounds good, but it's hard to get the stroller out to the car while carrying a car seat and slowed me down enough the day I tried it that I haven't done it since. It also forces another set of decisions -- do I leave the stroller unattended or take it on the elevator? But I honestly don't think that far ahead today.
So I decide today to just carry the car seat again. After I strap Jacob in, I go get Matthew from his crib. He had been up his crib about 50 minutes before finally falling asleep, so his nap was short today. Oh well. He had to come. I carry him and the car seat the 80 steps to the car.
I unlock the car, strap him in, strap Jacob's car seat in, and turn it on.
Do I go right now? I don't see any cars coming, but that's because there's a line of trucks parked on the side of the road that block most of my view. I decide to wait, and good thing -- there was a car coming after all. I see the glints of a few more cars, wait for them to pass, and then go.
Do I make it through the light? Well, of course not, because the car in front of me stopped. It has taken three cycles to get through this light some days because only three slowly-moving cars make it through each iteration. This time I am lucky -- I wait through one long light, one long pedestrian turn, and then it is my turn.
Do I park here? Too far. Do I try parking here? Last time I tried I blocked a driveway and had to move. It looks like all the spots leading up to the school are taken, so now I have to decide if I'll turn onto a side street or continue around the corner to another street. I choose a side street. I drive along again deciding if I have room, if that parallel park is too tight, if I should turn around. I decide to turn around and park on the other side of the street.
Then I get Jacob out, and then Matthew. Matthew is still tired so I carry him until we are across the street.
Do I take the elevator? The first time I took the elevator it was moving slowly and carrying many people up and down all the floors of the school. Even 2nd graders need to get picked up by their parents, many of them also towing younger siblings along. That day I was the 3rd to last parent to pick up a child, and I was embarrassed to be almost 10 minutes late. Were it not for the elevator I probably would have been just 7 minutes late.
Yesterday I took the elevator, and it went much faster, but when I pushed the button the door didn't unlock properly. "Stand back," they instructed, though by then the door was unlocked and I just opened it myself. Even those voices over the intercom had been too much human interaction for me, so I opted for the stairs today. After all, I needed to count them for this blog post.
It's not too crowded today so Matthew isn't intimidated and is able to walk by himself. When I get to 8, the man holding the door open notices me. "You should take the elevator," he says.
"I'm counting the steps," I say. Not. Instead I say, "I took it yesterday, and today I want to do this." Because everyone always wants to carry car seats up staircases. I lose count while I'm talking to him. It's probably about 12 steps. We make it inside and walk to Joseph's classroom.
Today we don't have to sign the clipboard, so Joseph comes out with his friend. They seem like they still want to be together, so I decide to take the elevator down with them. As we wait for the elevator I see people headed out the back door. Good. I thought it was silly that there was a sign saying we couldn't go out the back door because the front door bottleneck was getting ridiculous. As we're getting on the elevator I see another mom with a toddler and a baby in my exact same carrier. Looks like she made better decisions than I did today.
Joseph's friend's mom and I chat for a bit as we walk away from the school. Then we trek back to the minivan. Joseph goes to the back. I strap Matthew in and then strap Jacob in. We have to stop a few times for pedestrians before getting onto the main road.
I am Wonder Woman, I decide as I drive home.
Do I walk or do I drive? Including getting kids in car seats, it can take 16 minutes to get there from our front door, which is about the same time it takes to walk down. I go outside and see how it feels. It's partly cloudy but very humid. We'd be sweaty messes by the time we got home. And besides, it's only a 4 minute drive home, compared to a 22 minute walk.
Should I bring the baby carrier? It always slows me down to get Jacob out of the car seat and into the carrier, and I often end up carrying Matthew most of the way too. At least I can set the car seat down if I get tired.
Should I bring the stroller? The baby carrier/stroller combination sounds good, but it's hard to get the stroller out to the car while carrying a car seat and slowed me down enough the day I tried it that I haven't done it since. It also forces another set of decisions -- do I leave the stroller unattended or take it on the elevator? But I honestly don't think that far ahead today.
So I decide today to just carry the car seat again. After I strap Jacob in, I go get Matthew from his crib. He had been up his crib about 50 minutes before finally falling asleep, so his nap was short today. Oh well. He had to come. I carry him and the car seat the 80 steps to the car.
I unlock the car, strap him in, strap Jacob's car seat in, and turn it on.
Do I go right now? I don't see any cars coming, but that's because there's a line of trucks parked on the side of the road that block most of my view. I decide to wait, and good thing -- there was a car coming after all. I see the glints of a few more cars, wait for them to pass, and then go.
Do I make it through the light? Well, of course not, because the car in front of me stopped. It has taken three cycles to get through this light some days because only three slowly-moving cars make it through each iteration. This time I am lucky -- I wait through one long light, one long pedestrian turn, and then it is my turn.
Do I park here? Too far. Do I try parking here? Last time I tried I blocked a driveway and had to move. It looks like all the spots leading up to the school are taken, so now I have to decide if I'll turn onto a side street or continue around the corner to another street. I choose a side street. I drive along again deciding if I have room, if that parallel park is too tight, if I should turn around. I decide to turn around and park on the other side of the street.
Then I get Jacob out, and then Matthew. Matthew is still tired so I carry him until we are across the street.
Do I take the elevator? The first time I took the elevator it was moving slowly and carrying many people up and down all the floors of the school. Even 2nd graders need to get picked up by their parents, many of them also towing younger siblings along. That day I was the 3rd to last parent to pick up a child, and I was embarrassed to be almost 10 minutes late. Were it not for the elevator I probably would have been just 7 minutes late.
Yesterday I took the elevator, and it went much faster, but when I pushed the button the door didn't unlock properly. "Stand back," they instructed, though by then the door was unlocked and I just opened it myself. Even those voices over the intercom had been too much human interaction for me, so I opted for the stairs today. After all, I needed to count them for this blog post.
It's not too crowded today so Matthew isn't intimidated and is able to walk by himself. When I get to 8, the man holding the door open notices me. "You should take the elevator," he says.
"I'm counting the steps," I say. Not. Instead I say, "I took it yesterday, and today I want to do this." Because everyone always wants to carry car seats up staircases. I lose count while I'm talking to him. It's probably about 12 steps. We make it inside and walk to Joseph's classroom.
Today we don't have to sign the clipboard, so Joseph comes out with his friend. They seem like they still want to be together, so I decide to take the elevator down with them. As we wait for the elevator I see people headed out the back door. Good. I thought it was silly that there was a sign saying we couldn't go out the back door because the front door bottleneck was getting ridiculous. As we're getting on the elevator I see another mom with a toddler and a baby in my exact same carrier. Looks like she made better decisions than I did today.
Joseph's friend's mom and I chat for a bit as we walk away from the school. Then we trek back to the minivan. Joseph goes to the back. I strap Matthew in and then strap Jacob in. We have to stop a few times for pedestrians before getting onto the main road.
I am Wonder Woman, I decide as I drive home.
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Freezing and Fasting
We have a little bit of a walk from our apartment to our car, and it can sometimes be a challenge to keep Matthew close to me. It's gotten better, but for a while he just assumed "walk" meant "walk by himself." So when I asked, "Do you want to hold my hand, or do you want me to carry you?" he would respond "walk" and then go off without me and get upset when I scooped him up and made the choice for him.
But sometimes it went better. Sometimes we could get him to start and stop like it was a game, so he'd stop before running off into the driveway.
After one of these times, we were back in the house and I heard him saying, "I'm freezing! I'm freezing!" It was a hot summer day, so I had no clue what he was talking about. Then I looked at him. Each time he said he was freezing, he would stop walking and strike a strange pose for a few seconds. Then he'd walk some more and freeze again.
So yes, he was freezing.
And then today he was hurrying back from the car and announced, "I'm fasting! I'm fasting!" He was going pretty fast, so I can understand why he was saying it.
Stop and go. Freeze and fast. Whatever keeps him safe and not dawdling, we'll take it.
But sometimes it went better. Sometimes we could get him to start and stop like it was a game, so he'd stop before running off into the driveway.
After one of these times, we were back in the house and I heard him saying, "I'm freezing! I'm freezing!" It was a hot summer day, so I had no clue what he was talking about. Then I looked at him. Each time he said he was freezing, he would stop walking and strike a strange pose for a few seconds. Then he'd walk some more and freeze again.
So yes, he was freezing.
And then today he was hurrying back from the car and announced, "I'm fasting! I'm fasting!" He was going pretty fast, so I can understand why he was saying it.
Stop and go. Freeze and fast. Whatever keeps him safe and not dawdling, we'll take it.
Sunday, September 3, 2017
Triplet Answers
When Jacob came out and they placed him in my arms, one of my first thoughts when I saw him was just, "Jacob."
Phew! Because I had been wanting to name the baby Jacob and it was good to know that he looked like a Jacob.
And how, you might ask, should a Jacob look? Well, I think a Jacob should have a fairer complexion, perhaps because that's how it is in the Bible (at least compared to Esau). He certainly shouldn't look anything like a werewolf, which means that Stephanie Meyer chose the wrong name in the Twilight books.
Our sweet Jacob fits that bill. He has light brown hair, blond hair underneath, blond eyelashes, and less hair than his older brothers. He doesn't really look that much like the other two boys, to be honest.
So actually the triplet game was a fraternal triplet game. Kind of like Isadora, Duncan, and Quigley Quagmire in the Series of Unfortunate Events books, except that all 3 are boys.
Without further ado, here are the answers.
1. Jacob.
2. Jacob.
3. Jacob.
4. Jacob.
5. Jacob.
6. Jacob.
7. Jacob.
So, Leslie got that right over gchat, though she doubted herself when she commented on the blog. So I guess she kind of won? There wasn't a prize anyway.
And the other babies are:
Matthew
Joseph
Matthew
Joseph
Matthew
Joseph
Joseph
Matthew
(but can we take a moment to appreciate how much his pose matches Jacob's?)
Joseph
(but Jacob can make similar expressions)
Joseph
Matthew
Phew! Because I had been wanting to name the baby Jacob and it was good to know that he looked like a Jacob.
And how, you might ask, should a Jacob look? Well, I think a Jacob should have a fairer complexion, perhaps because that's how it is in the Bible (at least compared to Esau). He certainly shouldn't look anything like a werewolf, which means that Stephanie Meyer chose the wrong name in the Twilight books.
Our sweet Jacob fits that bill. He has light brown hair, blond hair underneath, blond eyelashes, and less hair than his older brothers. He doesn't really look that much like the other two boys, to be honest.
So actually the triplet game was a fraternal triplet game. Kind of like Isadora, Duncan, and Quigley Quagmire in the Series of Unfortunate Events books, except that all 3 are boys.
Without further ado, here are the answers.
1. Jacob.
2. Jacob.
4. Jacob.
5. Jacob.
So, Leslie got that right over gchat, though she doubted herself when she commented on the blog. So I guess she kind of won? There wasn't a prize anyway.
And the other babies are:
Matthew
(but can we take a moment to appreciate how much his pose matches Jacob's?)
Joseph
(but Jacob can make similar expressions)
Joseph
The only kinds of babies I know how to make are the cute kind.
Friday, September 1, 2017
Liquids
Today I realized how much of my life revolves around liquids.
(This isn't going to be a gross post, fyi.)
Before I went to Utah, I wrote a book for Joseph extolling the virtues of water in making him strong so that he'd want to drink more. I often think about if my kids and I are hydrated enough.
When I was in Utah and came down with mastitis, I had a one track mind -- I needed to get that milk out of me. Even without mastitis, it's on my mind much of the time. Is it time again? Which side? Am I ready if he breaks the latch and the milk starts spraying?
I spend my days changing diapers and sometimes changing clothes (both Jacob's and mine) because of soak-throughs, blowouts, and spit-ups.
I have never been one to give daily baths, but I still have to look at my kids each day and decide if they need one or not.
When I came back from Utah, I came back to a family with nasty colds, so I've spent my days wiping runny noses.
These colds make my kids crankier, so I also spend time drying tears. (Okay, I really just let them dry on their faces, but it sounded like a good mom thing to say.)
Then of course we don't want to spread germs so we wash our hands a lot. Matthew loves to wash his hands. He has a red chair he stands on to turn on the water and wash them, though it's rare that he bothers to turn the water off. So that's always on my mind too. (Especially because he left the water on so long one time that it began to leak through the basement ceiling onto a computer downstairs . . . that was a fun thing to come home to the day after Jacob was born haha.)
I see a fair amount of drool from Matthew, which combined with many other symptoms (including shirt biting, pickiness, and screeching) makes me wonder if he's teething. And then I check his mouth for 2-year-old molars and there is nothing. Nothing. Nothing. He has certainly taken the gaslighting approach to teething the past 20 months.
One liquid I haven't had to deal with this week is vomit. That's because Kevin took care of that this morning, which was really nice of him. It was 4:50 am when I heard Joseph sob. It didn't quite sound like a nightmare sob, so I knew. He threw up. A lot. Mostly water. Thanks again, Kevin. (In case you're wondering, he didn't make it to his second day of kindergarten. And thankfully, he didn't throw up anymore, either.)
So, yeah, lots of liquids all the time.
But Houston has a lot more.
And there a lot of people who probably disagree with the title of the book I wrote for Joseph. So here are a few ways you can help them:
https://www.redcross.org/donate/hurricane-harvey
https://www.ldsphilanthropies.org/
Amazon wish list
And someday, someday we'll get all those liquids under control.
(This isn't going to be a gross post, fyi.)
Before I went to Utah, I wrote a book for Joseph extolling the virtues of water in making him strong so that he'd want to drink more. I often think about if my kids and I are hydrated enough.
When I was in Utah and came down with mastitis, I had a one track mind -- I needed to get that milk out of me. Even without mastitis, it's on my mind much of the time. Is it time again? Which side? Am I ready if he breaks the latch and the milk starts spraying?
I spend my days changing diapers and sometimes changing clothes (both Jacob's and mine) because of soak-throughs, blowouts, and spit-ups.
I have never been one to give daily baths, but I still have to look at my kids each day and decide if they need one or not.
When I came back from Utah, I came back to a family with nasty colds, so I've spent my days wiping runny noses.
These colds make my kids crankier, so I also spend time drying tears. (Okay, I really just let them dry on their faces, but it sounded like a good mom thing to say.)
Then of course we don't want to spread germs so we wash our hands a lot. Matthew loves to wash his hands. He has a red chair he stands on to turn on the water and wash them, though it's rare that he bothers to turn the water off. So that's always on my mind too. (Especially because he left the water on so long one time that it began to leak through the basement ceiling onto a computer downstairs . . . that was a fun thing to come home to the day after Jacob was born haha.)
I see a fair amount of drool from Matthew, which combined with many other symptoms (including shirt biting, pickiness, and screeching) makes me wonder if he's teething. And then I check his mouth for 2-year-old molars and there is nothing. Nothing. Nothing. He has certainly taken the gaslighting approach to teething the past 20 months.
One liquid I haven't had to deal with this week is vomit. That's because Kevin took care of that this morning, which was really nice of him. It was 4:50 am when I heard Joseph sob. It didn't quite sound like a nightmare sob, so I knew. He threw up. A lot. Mostly water. Thanks again, Kevin. (In case you're wondering, he didn't make it to his second day of kindergarten. And thankfully, he didn't throw up anymore, either.)
So, yeah, lots of liquids all the time.
But Houston has a lot more.
And there a lot of people who probably disagree with the title of the book I wrote for Joseph. So here are a few ways you can help them:
https://www.redcross.org/donate/hurricane-harvey
https://www.ldsphilanthropies.org/
Amazon wish list
And someday, someday we'll get all those liquids under control.
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