They're here!

Back at the beginning of September, the mom of one of my students graciously gave of her time and talent to take our family photos as a teacher appreciation gift to me.  After a month of crazy rain and hurricanes we ended up with a gorgeous day for photos.  Unfortunately, Molly had gotten quite scraped up a few days before and Ian had scratched his face too, but the photos show the honesty of real life with real kids.  Many thanks to Tami for the amazing gift.  Enjoy!

You can find the entire album here:

Ayr Mount Family Photos

Overdue Update

I've been meaning to post an update forever, but time just keeps getting away from me.  Between grading, lesson-planning, and spending time with my babies and sweet husband, the moments in the day fill up quickly.  And both Molly and Ian have been growing and changing so much lately, it's hard to keep up.  By the way, this will be my 100th post!!!  Can't believe it!  So I'll try to make it extra-good ;-)

We'll start with Molly.  If I could pick one word to describe the last few weeks with Molly, it would be her middle name: JOY!  She has been such a joy to spend time with lately.  I've been waiting for the "terrible twos" to hit, but we've seen nothing of the sort.  I'm hoping we had the the "terrible 18-months" and we've paid our dues, but I'm not holding my breath.  Every day when I get home from school, I'm met with a beaming  face shouting, "Mommy!  Mommy!", running up to me to give me a big hug.  If all goes as planned, Ian is taking his second nap, so Molly and I get a little one-on-one time.  We share a snack and snuggle up on the couch with a big ol' pile of books.  She loves to snuggle and she LOVES to read!  Sometimes we work our way through the whole pile of books that she picks out, but more often than not I hear the common refrain, "Iggy!  Iggy!" (translation: "Again!  Again!"), especially if it's a favorite book like Eric Carle's "Pancakes, Pancakes!" or Sam Lloyd's "Mr. Pusskins".  We go to the library ("yabba") once every week or two and the library books she picks out are always at the top of the pile.  She loves to learn new stories, songs, and words from her library books.

After listening for months for Molly's first words, we now can't shut her up.  She's in the "Polly Parrot" stage of repeating just about every word that we say.  It's pretty adorable to hear her attempt crazy big words when she's parroting us, but it's also dangerous.  We're trying to be very careful about not saying things that we don't want repeated in public because she has a way of latching on to certain words or phrases and repeating them over and over again.  We've stayed safe so far, but I know it's only a matter of time before she shouts out something embarrassing at church or life group.

I have been absolutely amazed at the speed at which Molly has picked up so many things.  You always hear that the mind of a child is like a sponge, soaking up everything around them.  It is definitely true!  I can't believe all the things that she has learned in such a short period of time!  Here's a small sampling:

• Her numbers 1 through 5.
• All of the letters A through Z by sight.  She has even started picking out favorite letters in the middle of words in the middle of text on a page.  Every time we go out for errands, she picks out the letters on the store signs.  At Wal-Mart, she excitedly shouts, "Dub-ooo" (W); at Zaxby's, it's "Zeeee!"; at the library, it's "Emmm, Peeee, Ellll!" for Mebane Public Library.
• A few sight words: "No", "Zzzzzz", "Boo", and "Roar".  I'm sure that, for the most part, she recognizes them because we read the same books over and over again, but it's a start.
• Most of the colors: pink ("peek"), purple ("purp-pooool"), blue ("boo"), green ("geeen"), yellow ("yeyow"), red ("waaa"), black ("bic") and orange ("orrr").
• A few shapes: heart ("hhhhhart"), star ("saaar"), circle ("cir-cooo"), square ("squa"), triangle ("tra"), and rectangle ("rec").

She also does a bunch of cutesie little things that we've taught her, either purposefully or inadvertently.

• When she hears any kind of rock music, she starts playing her "air guitar" and head-banging.
• When she hears the local news theme music, she immediately starts shouting, "TWO! TWO! TWO!" while holding up 2 fingers (our local news is on Channel Two).
• Anytime Ian is within arm's reach of her, she immediately hugs and kisses him.  No exceptions.  No questions asked.  Just a hug and a kiss, every single time.
• She loves to help feed Ian and really loves to finish his leftovers when he's done.  I wonder if she's aware that the pureed peas she finds so fascinating in his bowl are the exact same peas I struggle to get her to eat off her own dinner plate.

• She walks around the house and identifies all the things we've warned her about that can hurt her (pliers, scissors, knives, hot water) by saying and signing "hurt".
• If we're out and about on a walk or errands and Ian starts getting cranky, she points to him and says, "Nap!  Home!"  (pretty adorable, aye?)
• She loves to help in the kitchen.  If I'm cooking, she has to be the one to dump the ingredients into the bowl.  If Eric is doing dishes, she wants to be the one putting the rinsed dishes into the other sink.

Molly and her "doin' dishes apron".

Another on-going project with Molly has been potty-training.  We started this summer with marginal success and we're still working on it.  I would not necessarily say that she is "potty trained", but I would say that she is trained to not "go in her pants".  During the day, she wears big-girl underpants or goes bottomless with very few accidents.  However, she does not use the potty very often.  Instead, she waits until naptime or bedtime (when she knows she'll have a diaper and she goes then).

Now it's Ian's turn.  If I could pick one word to describe the last few weeks with Ian, it would be MOBILE!  This kid wants to move!  It started with pushing himself to a sitting position.  No big deal, right?  Except that it then escalated to crawling...and then pulling up on things...and then to cruising between furniture...and then to standing alone...and then to walking behind supports (like the music table or laundry basket) ALL within a month!  He's not even 8 months old yet!  This is crazy, right?  My mom likes to laugh at our current plight, as she believes I'm being paid back for all the angst I caused her by learning to walk and climb by 9 months.  I was under the age of one when she walked into the kitchen to find me trying to climb onto the refrigerator (floor to chair to countertop to microwave to fridge).  She likes to remind me that my favorite place to sit was directly in the middle of the kitchen table.  What goes around comes around, I suppose.  Here's a photo-progression of his mobility over the last few weeks:

Sitting himself up.

Climbing.

Really climbing!

Pulling to stand.

Pounding on the music table.

Free-standing!!!

Pushing the bib box across the house.

 Ian is still the cutest little bugger ever.  He is just such a happy, smiling, content, cooing, laughing, ticklish, silly little boy.  I can't imagine a baby more pleased with just being alive.  I think back to my mindset in the month before he was born when Molly was in the midst of one of her "challenging" phases.  I believe the correct terminology for what I was experiencing would be "freaking out".  I just couldn't imagine parenting Molly AND a newborn.  Well, God knows exactly what each person can handle and what will happen in every moment.  And He sent me Ian.  If anything, Ian has taught me to be more relaxed, loving, mellow, and happy...because that's what he is ALL the time!

Other Ian news:

• He now has 4 teeth (2 bottom and 2 top).  He is eating solids like a champ.  Favorites seem to be mangoes, peaches, yogurt, asparagus, and potatoes (although the potatoes were perfectly seasoned with oodles of roasted garlic as I pureed them from a dinner Eric prepared for us, so who wouldn't love them :-).  

• He has dropped the 2am feeding (finally!), which means we're down to 2 wake-ups per night on a good night (yay!).  
• Ian has become very vocal and loves the sound of his own voice.  He has lots of adorable cooing sounds, but his favorite syllable to shout is "DaDaDaDa!".  (I'm sure we'll get to "MaMa" soon enough).  

• He has really started to play with Molly, which is pretty stinkin' adorable.  I love to see them sharing toys, wrestling, building (Molly) and knocking down (Ian) towers of blocks, and just being together.  Once you add my third child (Eric) to the mix, there's usually a whole lot of fun happening in our house.

Do you think Daddy had anything to do with this set-up?  If you can't tell, Molly is pants-less, as she often is at home during this potty-training stage.

I thank God every day for the blessings He has rained down upon us.  I feel privileged and blessed to be allowed to enjoy these two amazing little people that He has given us.  They are more than I ever could have asked for or imagined.  I am trying to soak up every second that we have together and just enjoy the short little stages they seem to be passing through on a weekly (sometimes daily!) basis.

Sneak Preview - Family Photo Session

We were very blessed this past weekend to have a wonderful photo session with the mom of one of my 7th grade students.  She is a hobby photographer who does not take photos for a living, but instead prefers to use her God-given talent to bless her family and friends.  She set up this family photo session as a teacher appreciation gift.  In my 6 years of teaching, never have I received such an amazing gift!  She spent over 2 hours just following us around Ayr Mount, capturing these precious moments.  After 4 weeks of re-scheduling due to rain and hurricanes, we finally had a gorgeous, sunny Saturday.  Naturally, when we finally had a sunny day, both kids had scratches on their faces.  Such is life with little kids!  The pictures turned out beautiful anyway and they show the honesty of real life.

 

 

 

 

This is just a sneak peak.  Amazingly, she took over 600 pictures that she's still editing and compiling!!!  More preciousness to come in the near future.

I can't thank Tami enough for such a heart-felt gift.  It has me thinking, "What can I do to bless and enrich the lives of those in my circle of influence?".  Food for thought.

Ian Zachariah - 6 Months Old

 

That's right; Ian is SIX MONTHS OLD!!!  He has blessed us so much since he joined our family and brings us delight every single day.  Just as he has been since the day he was born, Ian is happy, easy-going, and oh-so-sweet.  He rarely cries, and even then it's only if he's tired or hungry.  His precious little face just melts my heart every time I look at him. 

 

One of the sweetest things to watch over the last six months has been the growing relationship between Molly and Ian.  There really is a special love between them that started developing from the moment they met.  Molly has always shown lots of love toward Ian (along with a healthy dose of 'little brother abuse').  She showers him with kisses and hugs, wipes his mouth when he slobbers, retrieves toys when he drops them, and entertains him when he's bored.

 

Molly still loves to pet and kiss her brother, but recently Ian has started to return her love too.  He loves to tackle her if she's in his proximity and douse her with big wet kisses. 

 

Ian is also growing like a weed.  At his 6 month appointment, his measurements were 17lb. 2oz., and 26 inches long, around the 50th percentile for both.  Ironically, his 6-month measurements are almost identical to what Molly's 12-month measurements were.  I feel like I'm constantly changing out drawers in his dresser to put away clothes he's outgrown and dig out bigger ones.  He's now wearing size 12-month PJs, which means he's wearing pajamas right now that Molly was wearing just a few months ago!

 

It's funny to look at them side-by-side.  At first glance, Molly looks like she's a lot bigger just because she is so much older and more mature, but on closer inspection, you can tell that Ian is quickly catching up to her.  He's only 7 lbs. lighter right now.  This picture makes me smile because their hands seriously look to be almost the same size.  Molly has always had petite hands and feet and Ian has always had what I call "man hands".

 

One defining characteristic of Ian is that he NEVER stops moving.  I can attest to the fact that his love of constant motion started months before he was born.  I remember laying on the couch in the evening during my pregnancy and just marveling over the constant state of motion my belly was in.  His long arms and legs just go and go and go and go and go some more.  We've discovered that we can no longer use snap-leg pajamas because this is what we find when we wake up in the morning:

 

On this particular night, he had gotten up three times and each time I had buttoned him back up, only to find his bare legs hanging out once again when he got up to eat 3 hours later.  His little energizer-bunny legs would just kick and kick until all the snaps were unsnapped.

Another thing Ian loves is to be naked.  He's especially happy if he can be naked and mobile at the same time.  Of course the best time for this is during diaper changes or right after a bath.  Getting a diaper on this little boy is like wrestling an alligator.  He can get himself from back to belly in under a second and will do so every single time you lay him down to put a diaper on.  I've learned how to fasten many different diapers from the back so that I can finish diapering him on his belly.  Most of the time, I just let him roll around naked for a few minutes as long as he's still on his towel or on a cleanable surface.  I don't have to worry about him spraying the room because I know he will never choose to lay on his back.
 

He surprised me the other day when I left him bottomless on his play mat, playing on his belly.  When I turned back to check on him, this is what I found:

 

He had pushed himself from his belly to a sitting position!  Look how pleased he is with himself.  I just can't believe he's already so independent in his mobility.  There's the diaper sitting right in front of him, ready to go on.  Thank goodness for "onesie flaps".  Otherwise, this might be a very embarrassing photo in 13 years or so :-)

His mobility doesn't stop at rolling and sitting.  This boy wants to CRAWL!  It started with some strange body contortions while he was on his belly.  He was trying to figure out what in the world to do with all his arms and legs: 

 

Then he graduated to doing "the plank".  He looks like a little military man ("Drop and give me 20!"):

 

But within a couple of days, he has at least figured out the correct body formation.  He's very pleased with his progress and will spend the better part of his playtime pushing himself through the poses; belly, hands, toes, knees, and back again.  He rocks back and forth a lot on his knees, but hasn't quite figured out how to gracefully propel his body forward.  That doesn't stop him from getting where he wants to go though.  Through a series of inch-worm-like contortions, along with an army-style crawl.  He can pretty much get himself anywhere he wants.  Something tells me he's going to be keeping us on our toes VERY soon.

So, with half a year gone and a lifetime ahead of us, we are thankful for every second we get to spend with our sweet, handsome boy.  As Daddy likes to say, our little "Ion" is "positively squishy" (a little chemistry humor for the science geeks like us out there ;-)

Ian Goes Bananas

I've been trying to hold off until the recommended 6-month mark before starting solids with Ian, but he always seems so interested in what we're eating that I decided starting a few days early would be just fine. Whenever he sees any of us eating, he becomes completely fixated on watching our every move, following the fork with his eyes as it goes from plate to mouth. He's become quite the Hungry Man lately too, nursing every 2 hours around the clock; I was so sure that he'd dive right into solids with voracity. Not exactly. Well, I'll let him share his experience:

"Hey! Look at me! I'm in the big-boy dinner chair! I get the feeling something exciting is happening here."

"No way! Seriously??? Today's the day I get to try out this eating thing I've been obsessing about for like, well, my whole life?!?!"

"Oh yeah. Come to Papa, awesome-looking goop on a spoon."

"BLEGH! What is this stuff?"

"UGH!!! It gets worse the more you let it fester in your mouth. It's all slimy and weird tasting. Where is my sweet, warm, creamy, comforting milk?"

"Oh, yes. See, this is what I think I really wanted. The spoon just looks so cool and it's much better without that other nasty stuff on it."

"Uh, Mom, have you seen this stuff? Just look at it. You can't expect me to eat something that looks like that."

"Waiter, take this away, please. Chop chop."

"On second thought, Waiter, just leave the bowl and spoon. They look like a lot of fun."

"I'll be sticking with toes and milk from now on, thank you very much."

While it wasn't exactly the first-food experience either Ian or I were expecting, I don't think it will be long before he's chowing down. I'm sure the brand new taste and texture are a bit overwhelming at first when all you've known is milk for almost 6 months. So whenever you're ready, Ian, you have a freezer full of peaches, mangoes, peas, carrots, asparagus, and sweet potatoes waiting just for you. What a lucky boy you are to be hitting the 6-month mark at the peak of southern harvest time!