funny things

a rare quiet moment

Here are some of the things the boys have been saying that are pretty funny:

Asher: Why are you friends with Maddie's mommy and daddy?
Me: I don't know, Asher, why are you friends with Maddie?
Asher: Because I love her.

Benjamin feeding the rabbit at Sylvie's birthday party

Benjamin likes to sing Baa Baa Black Sheep, but instead of saying "one for the little boy who lives down the lane," he sings, "one for the little boy who lives in the MUD!" and cracks up.  I laughed once (the first time), and he thinks that it is still just as funny if he says it 100 times, so I hear it a lot.

We got lost going to the playground one day, thanks to my fabulous sense of direction (not our usual playground, thank you). I had to pull in to an old gas station to get directions on my phone and asked the boys to be quiet because we were lost.  That night at dinner, with my parents, Asher said, "We went to a gas station today.  Mommy not find the playground! We LOST!"  We are officially at the stage where my kids will rat me out.

The boys and some stinky goats

Asher woke up during a thunderstorm one night.  He was scared of the thunder, which he calls "humber." The next day he told me, "I 'cared from the humber! It sound like a monster knocking on my door!"

Benjamin came out of his room and said, "I pee in my room."  What?!?!  Yes. He had removed his pants and diaper and peed on the floor of his room!  I guess we need another little potty for our house.

It's not especially funny, but Benjamin is being frustrating with food.
Me: What do you want for breakfast, Benjamin?
Benjamin: Nuffin'!
Me: You have to have some breakfast, Benjamin. What do you want to eat?
Benjamin: [chooses food here]
Me: make food, serve it
Benjamin: I no want this! I want EGGS!
I don't make him whatever he wants on round 2, so we get a lot of leftover breakfast sitting on the table. I pack it up and take it out with us for their snack.  I hate wasting food.

We were at the playground and there was a soda machine.  The guys ran up to it and yelled, "Mommy! You need some of this wine?"  I wasn't sure whether to be thrilled that my guys don't know what soda is, or embarrassed that they think I drink that much wine.

Asher feeding a super cute rabbit

Asher is also a big boss.  He repeats whatever admonitions Eric and I give the boys.  Eric scolded Benjamin one night and said, "Benjamin! I can't believe you did this!"  Minutes later Eric heard Asher go up to Benjamin and say, "Benjamin! I not be-leeb you do this!"

Asher has started using modifiers.  Kind of, just, probably...  Whenever he says, "I'm just gonna..." you know he is about to do something he knows he's not allowed to do.  He also asks for "a couple" or "a few" of things, even though he has no idea what that will amount to.  He has, on the other hand, started to count accurately.

Charlotte: 5 months

In some ways it feels like the last month has inched along; in other ways it flew past.


Here is Charlotte at 5 months:
Height and Weight: I am not sure her current height, but at her weigh-in at the Monell Center 2 weeks ago, she weighed 18 lbs.  She's continuing to gain about .5 lbs/week, but I am assuming that will slow down at some point.  Maybe?

Clothing size: Still the same sizes- 6 months clothes from Carter's and 6-12 months clothes from Old Navy and Gap.  She could probably move into the 9 months stuff from Carter's soon, though.  She has some serious thighs- that comes from me.

She is also still in size 3 diapers.

Milestones: Charlotte started rolling from her back to her belly a few weeks ago.  Now she cannot stay on her back when you put her down!  In the past few days I have noticed her trying to crawl- she is trying to pick her abdomen up off the floor.  She also tries to move her legs.  This makes me nervous.  Asher started crawling on his 5 month birthday, so I figure I don't have much time left, and I'm not pleased.  Our house is not at all childproof anymore.  Ugh.

She has started blowing raspberries and she thinks it is soooo funny.  She is seriously adorable when she does it.

The doctor gave me the ok to start solids, but I am not rushing into it.  A couple of times I have let her suck on a fruit for the juice and to practice chewing.  She seems, after initial surprise, to like the fruit.  She's had cantaloupe and apple.

Outings and Adventures: We have been to the Please Touch Museum several times recently, and lots of parks and playgrounds as the weather warms up.  No big out of state trips this past month, poor girl.  We had talked about going to Cape Cod this weekend but it was going to be a lot of driving for a short visit, with very little for the boys to do in poor weather, so we're staying home.  Things will pick up this summer, though!

Is she too big for the rock n play if she can sit up like this?

Routine/Schedule: We're getting closer to a schedule.  She goes to bed around the same time as the boys at night, which is about 7:30-8 pm.  I have started giving her a bath almost every night because she is soggy from all her drooling.  I don't use soap or shampoo every night, though, just sponge her off and lotion her up.  We feed on demand at night, still.  Her night wakings vary greatly.  Some nights she's up once, some nights twice, and last night she slept until about 5:30.

She is up for good around 6:30-7 after she poops herself awake (yuck).  She nurses, then we go downstairs and she plays while I get her brothers breakfast and make lunches or get ready for the day.  About 2 hours after she's up, she is ready for a nap.  If we are going somewhere, I pack her up in the car seat and hope she sleeps; if we can stay home I'll put her to bed.  She naps most of the time in her rock n play (bad habit), with her kitty cat over her face.

Charlotte girl with her kitty cat

When the boys are home, we do our morning activity, and then she will usually take an afternoon nap.  If I am a very lucky mommy, she will nap at the same time as her brothers and I will get some peace and quiet.  She is up from about 3 or 4 until bedtime most days.

We are still feeding on demand.  I want to say it is about 8 times a day (including night feedings) but maybe it's less.  She can space it out to 4 hours between feedings, but if she's up, she'll often want to eat after 2 hours.  She is a pretty quick eater, so it's not a huge ordeal no matter where we are.

Favorite food: Still breast milk!

Favorite person: Me, still, because I am the boob lady.  She has started nuzzling into my shoulder and almost hugging.  Oh, do I love it!  She also loves her daddy, brothers, and kitty cats (the live ones).

She is such a happy girl.  She is a smiley baby, and loves to meet new people.  She brings such joy to my life, and to everyone who knows her.

rite of passage

Lollipop and a Cars band-aid mean everything's fine

Today we went to the ER with our first head wound.  It is miraculous that between the two (very active) boys, this is the first time we have gone in need of stitches.

This morning Benjamin and Asher were jumping on the couch.  They had done this last night, and Meema and I had told them it was dangerous, because they could fall off and hit their heads on the coffee table.  Well, we must be soothsayers, because this morning the jumping began again, and what do you know.  I was in the kitchen and heard thumps and yelled to the boys, "No jumping on the couch!" And then I heard a huge thump, and crying.  I rushed in and when I saw blood, I grabbed Benjamin and raced him upstairs to Eric.

I couldn't look at it- I started to while Eric was wiping off the blood, but then I got that hot-cold-nauseous feeling like I was going to pass out or throw up and had to sit down on the toilet.  Great mom I am!  Eric said it didn't look bad, and he put a band-aid on it.

After we had finished breakfast and were working on getting dressed, I noticed he was still bleeding.  Well, more I noticed that there was blood on stuff, like my comforter, but whatever.  So I called the doctor, who said come in.

We went to the doctor's office (me with all 3 kids) and the nurse practitioner said, "Oh, yeah.  You need stitches.  Go to the ER."

Everyone was crabby from no food, and Eric decided we should treat the boys, since Benjamin was having a rough day.  Actually, Benjamin seemed totally fine and undisturbed by everything.  Asher seemed much more upset.  Benjamin didn't seem bothered by the idea that he was going to the hospital.  We went out to lunch, where all 3 kids were great, and then Asher and Charlotte went home to nap, and Benjamin and I went to the hospital.  He really didn't understand that going to the hospital was upsetting to me, and asked me questions all the way to the hospital.  "Why is there traffic? Why is the garbage truck stinky? What are those trucks doing?"

When we got there, they took us in right away- fortunately for us, it was quiet.  Here is Benjamin with a lidocaine-soaked cotton ball over his wound to numb it:

He was so adorable and agreeable.  He got my phone after I took this picture and turned the camera on himself- he had no idea what he looked like until he saw himself in the phone, and then he got excited- "I like a pirate!" The doctor told me they would put him in a "papoose" for the stitching and I said no way.  I just thought that he was so calm, it would panic ME to be strapped to a board and I would know what they were doing and why, so it would probably make Benjamin totally hysterical.  Benjamin was also very verbal, and was able to tell all the doctors and nurses why he was there, and how he got his big cut.  Big, long, compound sentences.  Hurray!

When it came time to do the stitching, I could see he was getting a little nervous.  It was a physician's assistant doing the work, and she had to wash his wound out, which he didn't like because it got him wet.  But once that was over, he was completely calm and let them stitch him up- right up until the last stitch!  I think at one point he might even have dozed off, if you can believe it (totally his father's son).

Meema had come to keep me company and support me, because she remembered how traumatic it was when my sister needed stitches in her eyelid as a toddler.  We agreed that he was the bravest guy we'd ever seen.  I was impressed by how calm and cooperative he was, as were all the nurses who had come in to hold him down for the stitching and whose services weren't needed.

our treat

As a reward, the nurses gave him an orange popsicle.  We split it- mommy needed some comforting, too!  He was completely himself the rest of the day, albeit tired.  He didn't seem traumatized in the least!  I needed recovery, in the form of chocolate ice cream.

perspective

overwhelmed with love

We had a good day today.  Nothing special, but just one of those days- a minimum of tantrums, a large amount of listening, no fighting between the boys.  There are days where I can't wait until everyone goes to bed, and I breathe a sigh of relief when I sit down with my medicinal bowl of chocolate ice cream, but today wasn't one of them.

I have had an unfortunate reminder to keep everything in perspective.  A woman I went to college with, who was a best friend of my best friend, Amanda, passed away earlier this week.  She had two young boys; the younger one just a few weeks older than my guys.  When Amanda was here to run the Broad Street Run with me, she told me that her friend was not doing well.  Since then I have been thinking about all the things she'll miss in her boys' lives, and how hard it will be for them to grow up without their mommy.

So on days where I can't wait for my quiet time, I remember that there are people who would give anything for one more day filled with mundane details, one more day where "nothing special" happens, but where you get to hug and kiss your babies, watch them eat and grow, watch them run and play.  One more day to bathe their perfect little bodies, towel them off to smiles and laughs, dress them in clean pajamas, and kiss them goodnight.  One more hug, and one last sniff of their special child scent.  The things I do almost everyday as a parent, the duties which blur together after days of repetition, but which, when you look at them, are precious.

It is a gift to have this life, and easy to get caught up in the frustrations that come with having three children and forget what privilege I have.  It's a reminder to me that I am blessed beyond measure, and nothing should be taken for granted.

Mothers Day Weekend

Friday night we went and had Shabbat dinner at the park with our friends:

Adam and Charlotte on the swings

Benjamin and Maddie on the drums

Maddie, Benjamin, and Asher. 3 little monkeys!

Benjamin and Maddie

Saturday morning:

After a special trip with Daddy

Big girl enjoying her jumper

Saturday night, Aunt Elana was in town, and we went out for a grown ups only dinner.  I left all 3 kids with a sitter for the first time, and we came home to 3 sleeping children, so it was a success!

This morning we made brunch at Meema and Papa Nick's, and Grandpa David joined us.  Charlotte had her first taste of food that wasn't breast milk- a little taste of honeydew melon.

This afternoon we attended a birthday party at our neighbors'.  Our neighbor, Hila, was so creative- it was a Dora the Explorer party, and she had put out maps for the kids to color, and made each kid a backpack with their name on it.  Then the kids put on their backpacks and followed the map to find the missing birthday cake.  At each stop they got a little treat/favor.  There was a "jungle" with plastic animals, a bubble tower with little bubble bottles, Candy Land with candy, and a gorgeous cake at the end.  Asher had a great time, he has been talking about it ever since.  Here are the boys eating their cake:

I am a very lucky mommy, to have three beautiful children.  Who would have ever thought that I would have three kids?!?  I count my blessings every day (I am actually writing a post about that), so of course I woke up today thankful to see three smiling faces.  I also spent time thinking about the women for whom this day is particularly difficult- the women who badly want to be mothers but aren't yet, and the women who have lost their mothers.  I know it was a hard one for my mom, having lost P and her mom so recently, and it is always hard for my friend Shoshana, whose mother passed away almost 4 years ago.  I am so glad that I have my special mom here with me, and that we got to spend some time together (no kids!) today.

Being a mom is absolutely the most difficult thing I've ever done, but also the most wonderful.  There are no words to describe the intensity of my love for my children, and the pride I feel in all their accomplishments.  I could never have imagined how much I would adore my children, or that I would ever be this fortunate.  It is a gift to me to watch them grow, even if it happens far too quickly.  I am the luckiest mommy on the planet, as I tell them everyday.

Ha! I did it!

At the finish!

I ran the Broad Street Run!  It was 10 miles (although my phone GPS says it was more, but who's to argue), and according to my official results, my pace was 10 minutes and 5 seconds a mile.  I am really proud of myself!

Showing off my number at the start

The run itself was so much fun (except for maybe the distance between mile 8 and mile 9.5).  The street was lined with people cheering on the runners and giving high fives.  There were a few bands playing- the Temple University marching band, and then random bands set up on the side of the road.  All the runners seemed to be in good moods and everyone we bumped into was really friendly.  Amanda and I kept a nice, even pace and I really felt great!  We were able to talk all the way up to mile 7 where I started to get fatigued.  Then, after mile 8 I got pretty tired, but then when we got to mile 9.5 and I knew I was definitely going to finish, I felt invigorated.  I saw the mayor of Philadelphia on the sidelines and that made me smile.

Right before the finish we saw a man get down on one knee and propose to his girlfriend!  She said yes!  How special to see that.

And then we were done!  What a mob scene.  It took me 2.5 hours to get home after finishing the race. But we had such a great time, and we plan to do it again next year... but take public transportation the whole way.

Amanda and I were remarking that at 33, we are in better physical shape than we were at 23.  I am glad that exercise and health are a priority in my life- as I watch my grandparents (and even my parents!) age, I want to take care of myself so I can feel good as long as I possibly can.  I also want to set an example for my children that exercise can be fun, and that it's an important part of life.  I am glad I was able to train, and then run this race, so soon after Charlotte's birth.

I'm glad it's over, but now I'm looking forward to my next race!