New Toys

Even though this swing is on its third around, it hasn't lost it's appeal to the older boys!

Molly Smiles

I don't think it's too early for her to smile...but I cannot accept this as just a coincidence, especially because what prompted me to get my camera to record this was that she was smiling at the boys consistently before this moment. I'm pretty sure Molly just really likes her brothers and is becoming able to express it!

On a related note, remember:

And speaking of smiling kids...was there ever a time when he WASN'T smiling?

From december

Keeping Ourselves Busy

Life at home is continuing to go well. There are rough patches, especially as we suffer from a bit of cabin fever sometimes, but by and large things are going very well. The kids keep themselves busy....

Making a mess cutting junk mail into shreds....

Spraying the patio with water guns/spray bottles

And climbing into boxes.

I'm learning to allow messy activities to be more than eligible for our daily entertainment. I used to be more hesitant because I dislike cleaning as it is, let alone intentionally making large messes with the boys, but messy activities tend to be the ones they like the best and I would rather clean than deal with antsy and bored children.

So, the 5 minutes it costs me to pick up shreds of paper from the living room is way worth the 30 minutes of fun they got out of it. Sometimes, it's just a simple matter of doing the math.

Today, I also introduced the concept of "Paint Bath" (a follow-up to "Glow Bath" which involves throwing glow sticks in the bath tub and turning off the lights!). Paint bath is just what it sounds like: giving kids paint in the bath tub and letting them go nuts and then bathing them at the end.

That was a great activity because they were surprised I let them paint the walls and so it had the added "fun" of doing something they didn't think they should be doing and it involved water and it ended with them getting an actual bath (something that sometimes doesn't get done as often as it should).

It's been fun coming up with new activities that involve us staying at home, but also a bit challenging, especially while staying determined not to resort to much electronic entertainment. It used to be so easy when we were feeling bored to just whisk them off to the park, but we are still a little ways from frequenting the park as often.

So, I'm trying to work more on crafts, school-like activities, cooking activities, and reading....but it's hard when they are boys and what they really want to do is boy-type stuff like run, and get things messy, and dig, etc.

In the mean time, we're hanging out at home, while the Little Miss gets her beauty sleep....

...and oh how beautiful she is!

Reality Checks

Despite Molly turning 3 weeks tomorrow, sometimes it still doesn't hit me that we have a daughter.

Until I pulled a load of kid clothes from the washing machine and mixed in with the jeans, Lightning McQueen underwear, truck shirts and Batman PJs, are little delicate pink onesies, pants with hearts on the bottom, and blankets with cupcakes and flowers.

It's moments like that when I realize: I have a daughter!

And I admit, I got a little misty-eyed, right there in the laundry room.

Liitle Girl....

....or not so little...

First Solo Flight

Today was the first day since all the help left and Michael returned to work. My mom stayed with us a few days before Molly's arrival and for over a week after. Words cannot describe what a help to me she and Poppi were. They took care of all the boy-wrangling details, from feeding, to bathing, to entertaining, to bedtime and everything in between. Including meals for the grown-ups too.

One of the greatest gifts my mom left was teaching Michael how to dress himself! I have been trying to encourage this for a long time, but he always whines at me and it ends up being less of a hassle just to do it myself. But once Grammy came, all of a sudden it's a "big boy" thing to do and it has just been so wonderful to not worry about this detail of his day, especially after he uses the toilet.

After Grammy left, Michael's mom came, and was accompanied by Michael's sister Tracee for a few days. Again, all the tasks involving the boys were handled by them so I could attend to Molly and continue to recuperate. Also, having out-of-town company is way better than boring ol' Mom.

The boys have been in heaven for about three weeks with all the doting they've received from some of their favorite people.

But today, our "new" routine began which consists of normal life. Daddy at work, Mommy wrangling the three kids.

Honestly, I've been looking forward to this day and just preparing for it to be either a) chaos b) stressful and/or exhausting or c) a day of popping in movies all day long to ease the transition.

It turns out, it was none of those three things. In fact, today really resembled a very, very good version of our "normal" days before Molly came.

Though getting Molly's mid-morning nap to "stick" took more effort than I would have liked, once she was down, the boys and I set out to make some banana muffins.

Cooking with toddlers really involves relinquishing control of the process and just enjoying the time spent. In fact, whereas I normally like to bake quickly in order to get the process over with (and enjoy the goods!), cooking as an activity really works best when it is not rushed. The kids enjoy taking the time, this is a different activity for them, and it is a way to keep them occupied.

So after helping me measure and dump ingredients into the bowl, the boys mashed bananas, mixed everything together, and spooned the batter in the muffin pan.

I was actually very impressed with how careful they were, how excited they were to be doing it, and how invested they became in every step of the process.

Especially the eating part of the process. Michael here is seen taking a big sniff after they came out of the oven.

Later in the afternoon, we went for a walk. Not pictured in the photos is Molly strapped to my chest via a baby carrier (totally love that thing!)

Michael wanted to show Matthew personally where this incredible fountain was in the complex next door.

The fountain next door is a huge, pool-like structure that extends throughout the middle of the complex. To me, it seems like a MASSIVE liability to have SO MUCH unprotected water (that actually is about 8 inches deep) in a complex where a child could wander into it. When I bought a little wading pool to fill with sand, it came plastered with warnings about how easily kids can drown in even an inch of water and ALWAYS empty the pool when not in use...it seems like it wouldn't be that difficult for a little one (probably someone younger than either of the boys) to toddle out of the apartment and into the pool but since I don't live there, it's not really something I have to worry about.

My task for the day was just to make sure they didn't topple in head first.

I know not all days will be like this, but today was a great day. The kids got out and got exercise, there were no tantrums, we did a fun project, I got individual playtime with each kid....Yeah, today was an awesome day. Tomorrow may be crazy, chaotic, stressful or riddled with movies....but today, I'll take the win!

First Pow-wow

I laid Molly down this morning to get her ready for Mass and the boys gathered around her to observe and discuss important matters ( such as helicopters). I just had to capture the moment: