…on the eve of turning 1 month old.
This past week Kyle and Owen have been in Soccer Camp at Lehigh (click here). This was a one-week mornings-only day-camp program for 4-5 year olds. The boys have loved it. It is kind of sad to see the week end. Given that this was a “sports camp” for such young kids, we weren’t quite sure what to expect. We were shocked by how much real soccer they actually learned/played! It was a great week for K & O. Kyle, especially did really really well. He loved learning a new sport, mastering the rules of the game, and gaining some real skills (this stuff is right up his ally!!!). Owen loved it too, and is obviously an incredibly naturally gifted athlete (anyone who’s ever witnessed the boy do anything physical can attest to this about Owen), but Kyle… Kyle really really really excels at the following-directions/practicing skills/participating in team-sports kinds of parts of sports. Kyle is quite athletically gifted/talented in his own right and he has the drive/determination/focus/attention-span to really take it one step further. Coach Larry, the head coach, had the boys pegged by day 2. Among other things, he told me that he’s “coached many boys throughout his years, and these two are all boy” (all I could do was nod in complete agreement with that one). He also told me that Kyle is really good at soccer and will “probably go real far” with athletics because he’s “so incredibly coachable.” These are things that we, of course, already knew about our boys. But it was interesting to hear the perspective of Coach Larry since this was K & O’s first real exposure to team sports.
Our family does not do well being housebound for long. We go a little stir crazy if we’re cooped up for even a day. We’re just not the sit-around types. But it is hard to get out with a newborn. Nonetheless, we’ve had a few outings so far in our short little (four week long) life as a family of five. We’ve gone out for dinner once, out to lunch twice, and run a couple errands. Our best outing, yet, though, was the Sunday before last. We went for ice cream (of course Kyle still chooses a milkshake and Owen still chooses the messiest ice cream cone possible), and then the boys ran in their favorite fountains. Meera was, as usual, quite unimpressed with the boys’ fountain jumping tricks (see her yawning in photo below).
Hey, y’all –
That includes Braydon, Heather, Kyle, Owen and Meera Grace . . . . it was spectacular to see all of you this last weekend. The arrival began with gang tackling by the Boys, and softened by the joy of the introduction to the “small person” by Braydon and Heather. It brought back to me the powerful emotions of the welcoming of new people into the world. And the joy on the faces of the new parents, coupled by the power of the five of them as a family, was wonderful. There are times in one’s life, unfortunately too few, when one is stricken by what is just right, and this was one of them. Added to that was the arrival the next day of Sabrina (“auntie Sabrina”) who stepped in as parental support and looked perfect for the part.
Here’s a little side-light from Kyle and Owen. As we were sitting at dinner eating Lasagna, Kyle looked at me secretively and held out a small piece of broccoli. Asking me if I liked it, we exchanged a couple of whispers away from the table, and I acknowledged it was not my favorite. After that, whenever Kyle came across a dab of broccoli, he quietly placed it on the edge of my plate, and we swapped knowing glances. And, as if food times were a focus, the next morning Owen insisted on sharing with my shirt the syrup from the AM French toast. I thought being a grandfather to the boys was wonderful, but now there is even more for me to love and care about.
Thanks for inviting me and thanks for a wonderful visit.
Love,
Grandpa Robert
There is something about this photo that takes my breath away. And right now this photo is so perfectly symbolic somehow. For the past four weeks, since their baby sister was born, these two have stuck together like the strongest glue. These guys have always been tight — and I mean, super cemented together tight. But in the past few weeks they’ve weathered quite the storm together; what a huge transition to add Baby Sister to our mix. Our dynamic has shifted; their center of gravity has tilted; our life as we knew it has been turned upside down. We’ve had our high’s and low’s these past few weeks, for sure. But these two boys have stuck it out and have done it together. Yes, they fight like cats and dogs. But they play for hours on end like the bestest of buds — no, not even the bestest of buds can compare… they’re twins of the very best variety. They are bonded like none other. If I weren’t so exhausted I’d go on and on and on about it. But instead I just have to let the photo do the talking. I didn’t think they could get any tighter, but my terrific twinados are tighter than ever.
I’ve been wanting to post this but haven’t because I was afraid people wouldn’t believe me. But yes, I do know the difference between an infant’s “real smile” and an infant’s “gas smile.” And I know for absolute sure that my girl is smiling real smiles. She first started smiling at me when she was 2 weeks old. Over the past two weeks I’ve had confirmation that I’m not crazy from several people who have come to visit. But now, with my mother’s affirmation (she’s visiting/helping this week), I have the guts to post this. My newborn Meera Grace is smiling up a storm… and she has been since Week 2.
As of today, Meera Grace is four weeks old. It seems cliche, but so true: in some ways it feels like the past four weeks have just flown by — as if a blur, as if not even real… and in other ways it feels as if Meera has always been here — hard to imagine we ever had life without her. Things we’ve learned about Meera Grace~~ she loves going for outings in the car/carseat; she likes to burp a lot; in the evenings she’ll only sleep when being held; she loves the Bjorn. Things we’ve learned about the Big Brothers~~ they still love holding her; they still love giving her ooey gooey open mouthed kisses; and they love dressing her (with accessories too… the other morning I left the baby on our bed for a minute while a ran to the bathroom and when I returned I found the boys carefully putting two of my watches onto her wrists). Here are some snapshots from the past week.
Braydon and I had been waiting for this moment for a long time! I’m not sure why, but there is something about the idea of giving a newborn her first bath that was just really really big for us. Maybe in part because we never had a newborn before. It just seems so… so special somehow. They are so tiny. So precious. The whole fitting right in the kitchen sink thing. The whole first time in water thing. Something about it. It was just a big thing for us. So we were waiting and waiting for Meera’s umbilical cord stump to fall off so that we could give her her first bath. Sunday afternoon her umbilical finally came off to reveal her cute little belly button. Sunday night after the boys were in bed we gave her that dreamy first bath. We wondered how she’d do with it. She loved it! By the end I was actually holding the faucet over her head just letting the water pour all over her head/face/body. She was cooing and content and calm and just loving it all. Our prediction: she’s ‘gonna be a water bug just like her big brothers. Perfect! She fits right in with our family!!!
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