On Monday, while going to pick up Kyle and Owen from school, Meera fell and smashed her face badly. We were standing in the school parking lot, just about to get into the car to go home. I was chatting with another mom and the boys were playing chase with one of their friends. Meera was trying to join in the chase game too — sort of toddling around after the big boys like she tends to do. The boys’ friend brushed by her, by accident, which caused Meera to lose her balance and she slammed down, face first. She was right near me but I couldn’t block her fall in time. She screamed hard for a few minutes, and then was fine. The boys got in big trouble for playing chase in the parking lot and for not looking out better for their little sister. They felt terrible. I felt terrible. The whole thing was a mess. We got home and Owen made Meera a bottle right away. Kyle got the hydrogen peroxide and I cleaned out all the cuts. It was a big drama. A drama which seemed to traumatize all of us except Meera. The photo above was taken right after we got home. She woke up the next morning with the left side of her face very swollen, and a black-and-blue left eye. She takes it all in stride. It is healing nicely and doesn’t seem to bother her. But it sure does bother the rest of us. On top of it, our poor baby is on another round of antibiotics– her third in the past month– for bilateral ear infections that just won’t seem to quit (and causing all sort of other problems like hard-time-sleeping/up too much in the night and hard-time-eating/she’s lost over 2 pounds in the past 4 weeks… that’s almost 10% of her body weight). We’ll go back to our pediatrician in a few days to see if this antibiotic is working. If not, we will have to see the ENT specialist. Which wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world— the ENT doctor/surgeon we have is amazing, and did really well by us when Kyle was Meera’s age and had to have ear tubes put in and his adenoids taken out. I’d hate to have to see Meera go into surgery, but if she does have to, then it is this ENT who I want doing it. So, if it will be, it will be. In the meantime we’re not worrying too much about it. And Meera is about as easy as it gets for a sick baby. Her worst days are probably like most babies’ best days. We’re not complaining.
In other news, Owen had his appointment with the orthopedic surgeon on Tuesday. The doctor says that his collar bone is healing well and seems to be fusing nicely, etc. It looks like we’re in the clear with no need for surgery, re-setting, etc. We will go back in three weeks for a follow-up to check on it. For now, he’s favoring it a lot still, and we’re trying to keep him from doing anything crazy. He’s very good about knowing his limits. But his limits are way above and beyond what anyone would imagine of a kid with a broken collar bone. Trying to keep Owen from being active is like trying to keep a fish from swimming.
Lastly, Mama has a bad cold. And Kyle and Braydon are healthy as can be. So, we’ve got two standing out of five. Not all that bad. 😉
after-school-snack Friday. as you can see, they are all just fine!
…on the holidays of 2009.
And now regular blogging can resume.
The boys had two weeks off from school for Winter Break. I took those two weeks off too, and Braydon took all but two days of it off. This was the first time, ever, that we’ve taken so much time off– and we LOVED IT!!!!!!! We were away (in NH and CT) for all but four of those days. But those four days were spent entirely at home, just the five of us, making the most of our down-time. In a few photos I can document pretty much all that we did. Because we did the same few things over and over and over. Here goes~~
1. We enjoyed our Christmas presents (photo above, the boys with a book that Margie gave them).
2. We watched football. We watched it being played on tv, and we watched it being played in our house. Braydon and I have absolutely zero interest in football. But K & O are obsessed with it. Obsessed. Kyle especially. And MorMor and MorFar’s Christmas presents to them (the full football gear) has taken the obsession to a whole new level. Due to Owen’s broken collar bone, they haven’t been wearing the shoulder pads, etc. (the shoulder pads put pressure on Owen’s shoulder and it hurts)… but they spent a great deal of time over Winter Break with the helmets and gloves on. Yes, it is surely crazy to let them throw the football around in the house. But, whatever. We do what we do.
3. Kyle is currently also obsessed with knights and armor. He gets obsessed with things. Like, totally locked-in, fixated on things. And he pulls Owen into it and then they are both sort of locked-in. Kyle asked and asked and asked repeatedly constantly incessantly for me to help them make swords, shields, and armor. Our first day at home over the break, we made it all (out of cardboard and tin foil). They couldn’t have been happier. They then played for hours and hours and hours with the stuff over the days we were at home.
3. Candy Land. Another Christmas present from Margie. (she gave them a ridiculous amount of very nice presents!!!!!!!!) I think that over the four days we were home over the break we played Candy Land at least 700 times. No joke.
4. Meera discovered the beauty of having her brothers (Owen, in particular, is her brother of choice for this) push her around in the toy doll stroller. This stroller was used for this exact same thing four years ago when K & O would spend hours upon hours pushing each other around in it. Crazily pushing each other around in it (like, one running like a madman, pushing the other in the stroller, and slamming him into the wall/counter/door/cabinet/whatever). Now Meera has discovered that they’ll do the same for her. And this is now all that she wants Owen to do. 24×7. She pulls the doll stroller to him, and says, “Peees! pees! pees!” looking up at him. She does this until he gives in to her (which doesn’t take long– Owen is a sucker for Meera), and then Owen pushes her around, maniacally, in it for hours. With Kyle running around along with them. With Meera screaming happy squeals and the three of them causing quite a ruckus. This goes on multiple times a day, for long stretches of time. I am totally completely shocked that this pathetic little Toys-R-Us cheapo doll stroller is still holding up.
5. The Leapsters. The “video games.” The boys have been loving the Leapsters since they earned them a few weeks ago. But this Winter Break was really the first time they had a chance to just hang out, playing with them whenever they felt like it. Kyle is practically fully reading and spelling now, and Owen is doing pretty complex addition and subtraction — all the direct result of the Leapsters. Seriously, I am very impressed with the educational quality of these things. And it takes a lot to impress me that way.
6. Meera has been power-napping every day. 3-4 hours daily. She’s making up for lost sleep (all those nights she was up all night long while we were traveling), and she’s also still battling the double-ear-infections (whole other subject, but I think we might be on the way toward ear tubes for our girl). Anyway, over the Winter Break, when she wasn’t sleeping or sitting in the doll stroller, she was eating… with bunny and monkey. She is so stinkin’ cute we can hardly stand it. All four of us are gaga over her. It is pathetic. Can you imagine the poor soul who is brought home for her first date???? Heaven help them. For now, the loves in her life are –thankfully– just bunny and monkey. Here she is, having lunch with them one day:
7. Speaking of eating… The boys have been eating up a storm. I guess another growing spurt or something (who am I kidding? they seem to be in a constant state of growing-spurtness). Some stats from recent days– 1 large loaf of banana bread that I made one afternoon was gone –all but one slice– the next morning; one day Owen ate 5 pieces of cinnamon-raisin wheat toast with butter in one sitting; Kyle ate 3 large bananas in a row (in less than 10 minutes) one day; 1 gallon of OJ, gone, in less than 48 hours; 1 package of Cracker Barrel sharp cheddar cheese in 1 episode of Curious George; they now eat the “family size” package of ravioli between the two of them, I now have to make 3 (not just 2) boxes of Annie’s mac-n-cheese for them, and we go through a ridiculous amount of fresh fruit each day. You should see the grocery bill. Like I’ve said many, many times… I cannot imagine what it is going to be like when they are 16. Seriously. Here they are having an afternoon “snack” (one of probably 2-3 “snacks” they had over the course of that particular afternoon) of bagels with cream cheese (note, these are very dense “fully loaded” whole wheat bagels from our local bagel shop– they are loaded with seeds of all sorts, cranberries, raisins, nuts, etc. and I am full when I eat one for breakfast in the morning), apple juice, and grapes. These boys can eat.
And that’s what we did for our Winter Break.
Meera, age 18 months, having a bottle while we pack up at the hotel before heading out to the Portland Symphony Orchestra, December 20, 2009
Since Kyle, Owen, and Meera were all born in May it is hard to not always be thinking of the contrasts and similarities between the experiences of things during the cycles of life. Braydon and I think and talk about this all the time. From the time Meera was born we’ve been doing the compares and contrasts, and we’re completely fascinated by the similarities and differences. There are obvious differences — like the mega-humongous-difference between raising twins vs. raising a singleton; raising boys vs. raising a girl; raising off-the-charts-spirited children vs. raising off-the-charts-angel child; adopted children vs. biological children; ETC. The similarities are not so obvious, but they are most definitely there — like the fact that all three of our children are extrovert social butterflies who love being out-and-about; that all three of our children seem unusually (strangely?!) happy pretty much all the time; that all three of them are physically big and tall for their age; etc. The fact that they were all born in May means that they were all just turning one in the springtime; were swimming like little maniacs in our pool the summer they were one; were the exact same age for their first time trick-or-treating; were all 18-months-old for their first non-infant Christmas. The fact that they were all born in May also means that Meera’s been able to wear the boys’ hand-me-downs throughout her babyhood — which just makes the compare and contrast come to mind more often because we see her wearing things this winter and they are the things the boys wore “the winter they were her age” (etc.). I think because of the same age cycle between them, the memories seem to come more easily to the surfaces of our minds. This Christmas we thought about it a lot. Getting Meera in and out of all her snow gear was a major job (like it is with any toddler), and we couldn’t help but think, “Remember when we were getting TWO in and out of all that snow gear?!?!!” (now THAT was a job!). Dealing with one baby while traveling is a task, but we remember the craziness of traveling with twin toddlers and we sigh with relief that we got a singleton this time around! Meera’s delight in Christmas this year reminded us of the boys’ delight in the Christmas when they were her age. The year the boys were Meera’s age they loved the bouncy Santa dangling from MorMor and MorFar’s ceiling over the dining table. And Meera loved that too this year. They used to love to take ornaments off the tree and toddle all around the house with them. Meera did that this year too. The boys were off-the-walls, crazily-active, bouncing-baby-boys when they were Meera’s age. Meera is calm and laid back and happy to just quietly toodle around doing her own thing. The boys were so hard to contain. Meera is so easy. The boys took forever to get to sleep at night, but then would be out ’till morning. Meera goes right down, but is up all night when we’re not at home. Each Christmas is special, of course. But there is something really magical and momentous about that 18-month-old Christmas — the first Christmas that they are really consciously aware; the first Christmas that they have an inkling that something really special is happening; the first Christmas that you can really see them taking it all in. That 18-month-old-Christmas is a once-in-a-lifetime for a parent to enjoy. We don’t take it for granted. And we feel so lucky to have been able to get three of them.
Braydon, Kyle, Owen, Heather on a sleigh ride through the woods, Christmas 2005.
Last year after Christmas, we headed down to Philly, where my sister was living to visit with her and my mom for the day and had a very nice time. Now that my sister is in DC, we decided it was best to stop by my mom’s great new place in MA on the way home.
We got there in the morning after having missed a big winter storm the day before and had a chance to go for a nice walk down past the pond to the playground and get out of the car for while. My sister was up from DC and our Aunt Diana swung by for the visit and had a chance to meet and experience the entire family.
After some crazy, yummy gourmet pizzas from a place nearby and some homemade cookies, we got down the business of opening Christmas gifts. The boys enjoyed bringing out the Connectagons and books, while Sabrina told Kyle stories. Meera toodled around looking at the pictures and Sabrina’s sculptures while getting picked up and cuddled by my mom. Everyone got some good affection.
The visit was just a couple hours, but we fit in a lot of good chatting, playing and enjoying each other.
Oh my goodness. Christmas 2009 was the best ever — at least of my adult life and our life of Christmas-with-kids (as opposed to Christmas-as-kids — in our family, according to my mother, the Matriarch, you get a stocking until you have kids yourself– and thus, you experience Christmas-as-a-kid until you begin to experience, first-hand, Christmas-with-kids). I gotta say, both are magical in their own right. But I, for one, am definitely a huge fan of Christmas-with-kids. I can honestly say that this was a magical, wonder-filled, as-good-as-it-gets-Christmas. So much so, in fact, that I am self-conscious to post about it for fear of what people will think (“oh, she’s gotta be delusional” or “she’s making this stuff up” or “screw her and her Norman-Rockwell blog” or worse). I’ve decided to write these Christmas posts as if 1,000 people aren’t reading this everyday (sidenote: I still am stunned every time I look at our blog meter and see that 1,000 people are reading this). I’m going to write as if this is just a journal for my three children and Braydon and me. I’m going to write this to reflect the Christmas that it was — despite my trepidation of ‘audience.’ For the past few days I’ve been thinking about something that a friend of ours,
another adoptive mom of Haitian sensations, wrote on her blog recently. She wrote: “So if it seems like I write with rose-colored glasses, it’s because I am blessed to be living a rose-colored life.” I too, am living a “rose-colored life.” At least that is how I see it. We can, I believe, to some extent, choose how we view the world. We can choose the lens through which we see our lives. And I choose to, and naturally do, see the best in things and people. Having said that, still, I must admit, even I am often breathless for a moment in thinking what a charmed life we are living. And times like the past two weeks are big reminders of all that we have to be grateful for. I live a great and grateful life. Without further ado… here is… a glimpse of Christmas 2009… in snippets and snapshots.
The boys’ last day of school was Friday the 18th. We had quite a whirlwind few weeks leading up to that, and I was out-straight and burning the candle at both ends to make everything happen. But on Saturday morning the 19th, we set sail for our holiday. We hit the road, just ahead of a big storm, and we made it in record time. It took us only 8.5 hours to get to Portland, Maine. Where we checked into a lovely hotel and immediately headed to the indoor swimming pool. We spent a great family night in Portland before kicking off our Christmas on Sunday with the beloved Johnson tradition of the Portland Symphony Orchestra’s Magic of Christmas concert. We joined up with my parents, our dear family friend Alice, and my sister’s family at a stupendous Portland chowder house before heading to Symphony Hall. This concert has been running every Christmas for 30 years. And we have been to 29 of the 30! I started going when I was seven years old! Braydon started going when he was 22! Kyle and Owen have gone for all but their first Christmas (when they were infants, in Haiti still). Meera’s already gone twice now. It is tradition. And tradition, at the root of it, is what our Christmas is all about. So far, for Meera only, it is tradition to fall asleep during the Magic of Christmas in Portland. This year MorMor was the lucky one to have the precious sleeping babe in her arms for most of the concert.
Here we are (below) in Portland after the concert. Three generations valuing the tradition that it is. Meera was, I must admit, beyond adorable in her Christmas attire. How much do I love dressing my baby girl??? What a gift this girl is to me and her grandmother. And what a gift this girl’s grandmother is to me.
We left Portland and headed for New Hampshire. Within just an hour of our arrival in Freedom, at MorMor and MorFar’s house, MorMor unveiled the 2009 Christmas Cookies. Tin after tin after tin. She spent an entire 8-hour-day making over 9 different kinds of cookies (multiple batches of each) this year. Her kids and her grand-kids all have their favorites, of course. But these are all traditional cookies which have varied very little over the years of my life.
Many of the cookies are Swedish, of course, and it is tradition — at least for MorFar — to break out the whipped cream to eat with the pepperkaker. Pepperkaker is good. But with whipped cream, some say, it is great. Here are K & O, following tradition.
Lots of traditions, big and small. A specific concert every year for 30 years and a specific type of dried toast to dunk in your coffee every Christmas of your entire life (and your parents’ and their parents’ lives). What is the difference? It is something I’ve been thinking about a lot in the past days. Traditions are traditions. Big and small. Huge and tiny. They are the glue that holds it all together. It is precious and it is important. And it is profound when you think of passing them all along. Here is our Little Miss Meera eating her first (of many, for sure) cinnamon-sugar-rusk.
Oh, how I love those rusks at Christmastime. Dunked in hot black coffee. Is it the rusks and coffee, or is it the specific bakery where my parents always buy them (hours away from their home), or is it that it is Christmas, or is it that I’m standing there, in the kitchen, doing the exact same thing as my dad – almost in unison – as we have for so many mornings during Christmas week? Rusks– a major, tiny, Christmas tradition.
There is a theme here. Traditional foods. Traditional Swedish foods. Traditional Swedish Christmas foods. And drink. Like Glug. This is Glug with a twist — served by MorFar, outside, on a picnic table in the snow, on Christmas Eve Day.
But the biggest Swedish Christmas food tradition of all? –The Christmas Eve Smorgasbord. My mother is a force to be reckoned with. She is the one who makes it all happen. And the smorgasbord symbolizes it all. Foods that she ate, and we ate, and now our kids eat, every Christmas Eve every year, with no exception, ever.
Important notes re: smorgasbord 2009 — Braydon finally loves gravlax! And Owen loves fish pudding, just like his mother!!!
And then there are the butterhorns on Christmas morning. Fresh from the oven, with the sugar glaze still dripping. Dough that was been rising by the woodstove overnight. I love this photo below. Amidst opening presents, Kyle (prompted by MorMor) suddenly appears bearing the first tray of butterhorns, and Owen bolts upright to run to the tray! (I love it too because Meera is playing with her favorite gift: a gift from Owen that she’s played with for long chunks of time every day since).
But Owen’s treasured edible tradition of choice this year turned out to be that box of fine Swedish chocolates he discovered the first day. And by the last day, it was entirely gone. And the rest of us had eaten only a handful, total, from that two-layered box.
Kyle says his favorite treasured edible tradition of choice this year was the hot dogs that he roasted over the fire on Christmas Eve Day. This is a new tradition, only a couple of years old. But it is set for the long haul, of that I am sure. Because Kyle will never let us not do it. Hot dogs, roasted on sticks, out in the snow, on Christmas Eve Day. That’s one of the most amazing parts of all of this whole Christmas thing for us– some of the traditions have been passed down for 3, 4, 5, or even more generations. And others are just getting started now. It is a joyful, evolving thing. Not a stagnant, bland thing.
Interestingly, speaking of new traditions, I’m pretty sure that Meera’s favorite treasured edible tradition of choice this year was the wood-fired pizza at Flatbreads in North Conway. She’s a modern girl, what can we say?!
Traditions… old and new… they are the glue.
Christmas Eve Day
The traditions — old and new — go far beyond food. Skiing on the days leading up to Christmas is a new tradition. For the four of us J-M’s who ski (Meera will learn when she’s three, but until then is off the slopes), it is a highlight. For K & O, it is the highlight. Our boys look forward to this all year. And even now, two weeks later, they are still standing firm that the “high” of the entire holiday was “skiing!!!” I think it might be their favorite thing to do in all the world. Seriously. They love it. And they are pretty dang good (especially for five year olds who only ski once a year). This was their third year skiing. They got right up, and bombed it down the hill on their first run. We were skiing — like, full-on all-out the-four-of-us-skiing — together and loving it. Braydon and I are so proud that we have taught our boys to ski. The first day we skied just the four of us (thanks to MorMor and MorFar for keeping Meera at home all day). The second day everyone joined us and it was 9 of us skiing together (us four, MorMor, MorFar, Sadie, Stina, Mark). It was a dream come true for my mom. And the truth is: it was dreamy. Even Meera loved it (she spent the afternoon toodling around the lodge with various chaperons who took turns hanging out with her and drinking hot chocolate).
Not so dreamy was the reality that on our first day skiing, Owen broke his collar bone. Yes, you read that right. He broke his collar bone skiing. Here he is (below) in the Ski Patrol Clinic at the lodge. Not a tradition we plan on keeping. More about our baby’s broken bone in a post below.
Back to traditions that we like and want to keep… tubing at King Pine. Love it! The boys, especially love it! Here’s Owen, loving every second of it. (even with a broken collar bone.)
And this year — a magical gift was received by us — solid frozen lakes clear of snow. We skated every day that we didn’t ski. It was magical, and memorable, to say the least.
Candle-light Christmas Eve Service. A tradition passed down through the ages. A tradition we keep. We are blessed to have this as the place where we go on Christmas Eve:
Like I said, I am self-conscious of the loveliness of it. But, as Braydon reminds me (because he still reels from the wonderousness of it all, each and every year), “it is real.” It is very, very real.
This year was a year to remember in regards to
The Pageant. Of course, the J-Ms are sort of famous (infamous?) in Freedom for our
“performances” in the Christmas Eve Pageant (most memorable of which, was, for sure,
the year K & O were 2 years old). People tell us outright that they come on Christmas Eve in Freedom “to see what our kids will do this year” (???!!!?). Not sure how to feel about that… but… it is what it is. And, in keeping with tradition, this year the J-M children did not disappoint in making a huge show of it. It was “The Debut of the Littlest Angel” (i.e., Meera). MorMor saw it fit that Meera, at age 18 months, should be in the pageant this year. I personally would never have in a million years thought to put her in an angel costume and send her up there. But, alas, she loved every second of it, and so did her large audience. She stole the show (along with her brothers, whose precociousness never fails, and whose protectiveness for their baby sister is unyielding). She (and “bunny,” her lovey) had to be pulled off the stage more than once for simply being too cute (seriously) and not letting the minister get on with the Christmas Eve regalia. I can’t do it justice in words. I will have to look for it on YouTube one of these days, since a couple of different people in church that night told us that they had captured it with the camcorders. Anyway, it was, for lack of a better word,
adorable. If you click on this photo to enlarge it you can see Meera Angel standing next to Kyle Angel on the left. Owen and Sadie are the two sheep to the right.
Another way that this year was a year to remember: The Christmas that Stina and Mark were engaged! Auntie Stina is getting married!!! Cheers!
And cousin Sadie is getting a great guy in her life. I have to say, in all honesty, we love Mark. He seems to fit perfectly with our family. And there is no denying that this threesome (skating on Christmas Eve afternoon) is very, very cute!
Moving onward with traditions… Santa’s arrival on Christmas Eve afternoon. And yes, again, this year, he dropped off exactly, precisely what each kid had asked for. The look on Kyle’s face = priceless and precious. “Yes! He came!!! And he brought a snowboard!!!! A red snowboard!!!!!”
And the snowboards were immediately put to good use. And they were “PERFECT!!!!!!” And Meera got the “underwater baby” / “baby doll that can go in the bath” that her brothers asked Santa for on her behalf.
Another tradition: trying to get that perfect photo of the cousins in front of the tree on Christmas Eve. We tried. Here is the best we could do:
Santa brings that one special gift on Christmas Eve afternoon. And then, while we are sleeping, he fills the stockings. And then, up the chimney he goes! The presents under the tree are our presents to and from one another. One gift per person from each person. It is simple and pretty minimal (by choice), but still, it adds up to be a very magical sight to behold!
And the gifts are substantial!!! K & O wanted only one thing this year (in addition to the snowboards from Santa)… “football outfits”… and their MorMor and MorFar pulled through big time!!!!!!!!!!! Talk about making dreams come true. Can you imagine the delight of having a MorMor and MorFar who, literally, make your wildest dreams come true? These boys have it.
Do these boys know how lucky they are? Yes, actually, they do. They know. And they are truly grateful. And they do let it be known in their own ways. Like, when Kyle, on Christmas morning, asked MorMor to go with him back upstairs (where he had already been for a time) so that she could “see him in the mirror!” He is a football star!
And another tradition: getting special gifts — gifts that we didn’t even know we wanted — from the people we love. Here’s Meera with her new favorite thing on earth: her “kitchen” from MorMor and MorFar. With dishes from Auntie Stina.
And here are the three older cousins, the day after Christmas. All knitting with treasures found in their stockings. A rare, beautiful, sunlight sweet moment of calm and quiet.
Christmas 2009 was filled with active adventure, snow, ice, love, giving, receiving, and the wondrous magic that can only happen when everyone puts their heart and soul into it. What a blessing!
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