“Irksome” is nothin’! At the end of the day, it is really, really nothing. See AP story out of Haiti by clicking here.
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Tonight while we were eating dinner Kyle was talking like crazy, as usual. The three of us (Braydon, Owen, and I) basically just sit there and listen as Kyle chitter chats his way through the meal– leaving barely any chance for any of the rest of us to get a word in edgewise. Somehow, miraculously, the boy also manages to eat 5 times more and 10 times more quickly than any of the other three of us (even though he’s also the only one talking). It is quite the sight. Anyway, he was talking, talking, talking. Telling us stories about the day, the gossip of the Acorn Room, fabricating some things (clearly going on tangents of wild imagination), and giving non-fictional factual details regarding some other things. At one point he was telling us all about some big drama that occurred today while he was playing outside at school. Something about being in the woods, and fighting with Stella over a shovel. The story was coming to a climax, he was getting very animated, and he goes: “I hided the shovel in the woods so that Stella couldn’t finded it! I hided it in the woods!!! And then she finded it and she tooked it away!!!” (he says this like it was the biggest act of treason Stella could have ever inflicted upon him) “I was crying and crying because she took that shovel!!! And Stella! Stella was in a bad mood to me! Stella was in a very bad mood to me! I said, ‘No Stella! No thank you! I was playing with that shovel!’ but she just took that shovel away! She was in a bad mood to me!” At this point I said, “Wow, so what did you do Kyle?” He says, “I said, ‘Stella! Stella! You are doing bad behavior! At my birthday party you will be last!!!!!!'” (inside scoop: in current-Kyle-talk this translates to: ‘At my birthday party you will be last in line when we are all marching around with instruments like a marching band’ — note: in his present-day soon-to-have-a-4-year-old-birthday-party-life, this is about the biggest diss that Kyle could possibly say to/about anyone). Braydon had to put his napkin up to his face to hide that he was bursting out laughing; Owen was just in his own little world eating his shrimp scampi. I said, “Wow, Kyle, you said that to Stella???” (just shocked that he would say something that — at least in his own mind — is sooo nasty to one of his friends). “No mommy! I didn’t say it to her! I said it in my own mind! I said it inside my own mind! Because Stella was in a very bad mood to me, so Stella is going to be LAST at my birthday party! She will be BEHIND Will! And she will be LAST!!!! O.k., mommy? O.k.?”
This morning Kyle was up before Owen and we had breakfast together. After we ate, he wanted a little snuggle and while filling his love tank, I said: “You are such a smart and nice boy! HOW did I get such a smart and nice boy? How? Do you know how I got such a smart and nice boy How did I get so lucky!?!?”
Kyle: [grinning ear to ear, basking in the glory] “When I was a little baby, you adopted me!!!”
Later, when I was giving Owen breakfast, we had a similar discussion: “How did I get so lucky? How did I get such a smart and nice boy? How, how, how???”
Owen: [also grinning ear to ear, basking in the glory] ” Yooooooou knooooow, you crazy papi!!! In Haiti!!!”
Kyle & Owen are currently obsessed with the whole notion of age-time-growth-“bigger kids and littler kids”…
K & O’s school is pre-K through grade 8. And the school is very pro-active about explicitly encouraging and fostering children’s social relationships across age groups. This is one of the things we love about the Waldorf philosophy. Time is given and time is built in for kids to develop genuine social relationships that cut across ages and grades. K & O are in the Acorn room (the “nursery” class; i.e., Pre-K), so they are two of the very youngest kids in the entire school. As it turns out, for K & O, the relationships they’ve developed with some of the older kids at their school are a huge part of what they seem to love about their school. The best thing about these relationships is that they are truly organic, initiated and maintained by the kids themselves (and supported by the teachers and parents involved). For example…
Each day this winter when it was time for the Acorn Room kids to go outside to play, the 4th grade class would come down the hall to the Acorn classroom, and all of the 4th graders were responsible for getting the Acorn Room kids into their snow gear. When every day the “bigger kids” are helping the “littler kids” into their snowsuits, boots, hats, mittens, etc., it is pretty much a given (at least when you’re K & O) that some real relationships will develop. Sure enough, K & O became enamored with some of the 4th graders. And, as we’ve come to hear from the teachers involved (and many of the kids’ parents), some of the 4th graders became enamored with K & O too. Kyle fell in love with one 4th grade boy in particular — David (pronounced ‘Dah-ved’; and Kyle pronounces it perfectly).
About halfway through the winter Kyle started insisting that he go to see David in his classroom before school started. So, each morning at drop-off, on their way to the Acorn Room, Kyle, Owen, and Braydon stop in at the 4th grade classroom for a visit. K & O walk right in and smile huge, sometimes doing silly funny 3-year-old things. David is sweet with Kyle. He greets Kyle warmly each morning, hugging him, shaking his hand, rubbing the top of his head with his hand, saying “good morning Kyle!” But all the other kids get in on it too– The 4th graders all clamor to get up from their desks to greet K & O — the girls hug and kiss them, the boys hug and high-five with them, and the kids (two 3-year-olds and a class full of 4th graders) all fool around with each other for a few minutes before their school day officially begins. The 4th grade teacher encourages it. And so a daily ritual is in place. A ritual that continually builds and cements relationships between some kids who in another school setting would probably never cross paths. It is lovely.
David, age 10, has become Kyle’s idol. Kyle talks about David incessantly. He wants to “run so fast just like David!” He wants to “wear a coat and a hat just like David!” He wants to “eat so well so he gets big and strong just like David!” He wants to “be TEN! just like David!” When I go to pick up K & O from school the 4th graders are having recess at the same time as the Acorn Room kids are being picked up. Kyle and Owen will stand for as long as I’ll let them, just staring at the bigger kids playing. Sometimes David and his friends will stop what they are doing to come over and hang out for a bit with K & O. They chase each other around, rough-house together, and do silly stuff. K & O look up to these “bigger kids” like they are rock stars!
With the infatuation with “bigger kids” has also come a new awareness about “littler kids.” K & O are adoring of babies (as anyone who has been reading this blog knows). But they’ve started to differentiate between “babies” and “littler kids.” This past Saturday we got together at the playground with our friends the Jellisons. Their son Noah is almost 2. K & O kept calling him “Baby” at the playground, but in the days that have followed they’ve been talking about Noah as a “littler kid.” Kristen, Darin, Braydon, and I watched and laughed as K & O played “bigger kids” to Noah on Saturday. They embraced the role thoroughly — ‘teaching’ Noah how to climb up the playground to the slide, ‘showing’ Noah how to duck and crawl under the bridges, and dragging Noah all over the place hand-in-hand. Later that night as I was putting Owen to bed he asked me, “Mommy, is Baby Sister going to be as little as Noah?” I said, “Much smaller! She is going to be tiny!” “Right,” he said, “she isn’t even going to be able to walk! We’re going to have to teach her how to walk! how to crawl! how to sit! how to eat! how to talk! everything!!!” I said, “Yes, that’s right.” And Owen said, “I’m the bigger. I’m the bigger to Baby Sister because I’m going to be the Big Brother. I want her to come out of there right now!”
Right now K & O are loving the notion that they are –to some “littler kids”– the “bigger kids.” This whole idea of relativity is just coming alive for them. This morning on the way to school Kyle said to me, “Mommy, I am a David to the Baby Noah.”
Photos below from Saturday morning, courtesy of the Jellisons. 
Our little man Ky Ky has been waking up with a totally dry Pull-Up for many nights now. He decided to go out on a limb last night and go for the gold— a diaper-free, Pull-Up-free night. No diaper, no Pull-Up, no nothin’! He got up twice to pee, and he woke up this morning dry and proud. 1 out of 2 ain’t bad. We’re ecstatic!
2 Steps Forward:
- Owen had his post-operative appointment with Dr. Chang, our pediatric surgeon, today. Dr. Chang removed the bandages and gauze. To reveal Owen’s innie!!! This was a big deal for Owen. Unfortunately there was quite a large hematoma (blood clot) under the skin around the top of the belly button. It is quite a big bump and Owen is not thrilled about that (it looks too similar to his old big ‘outie’). Dr. Chang said this is simply a result of the fact that the umbilical hernia was so very large. He also assured Owen that the hematoma will go away (be absorbed back into his body), hopefully within the next week or so. He advised warm baths. So K & O had a loooong warm bath this afternoon. Underneath the hematoma, however, is sure enough a big indentation of an INNIE. I found that I can hold up a mirror so that Owen can see that part, and he loves it. He also is very proud to show off his “innie button” to Kyle (see photo above, taken tonight after dinner).
- Shockingly, Kyle wanted to go to school today by himself! Owen had to stay home to go to Dr. Chang’s office. Since starting school this past fall the boys have refused to go by themselves (if the other has to stay home for whatever reason). But completely on his own Kyle made the decision to go it alone today. He had a great day at school solo! A big step for Ky Ky (and for Owen)!
1 Step Back:
- After a couple of very rough and tough weeks around here we had another rough spot last night. At about 2:00 a.m. Owen couldn’t sleep and Braydon ended up getting into bed with him. At 3:00 they both awoke, covered in barf, to Owen throwing up all over the bed. From 3:00-5:00 we were up with poor Owen, who for 2 hours had a terrible ordeal (both ends). Lots of loads of laundry later, he finally fell asleep. When he woke up at a little before 7:00 he felt great and was in good spirits. He was slow all day today, mostly just weak and exhausted (no more puke). And on top of it had to be dragged into his appointment with Dr. Chang. The poor, poor little guy. We feel like we got off relatively easy (we expected it to be a 24 hour thing so we were happy when it wasn’t)… but still… you’d think that at this point we’d deserve a break. Ugh. Such is our life– it never seems to go too easy for us and there is definitely never a dull moment.
Crocus Blooming In Our Front GardenYesterday and today I’ve posted a ton to try to catch up on the past couple of weeks of our blog-slacker-ness. Now I’m caught up and ready to get back to regular normal blogging! I feel like the past couple of weeks have been even more intense than usual around here. We go through these spurts. It is a wild ride we’re on trying to balance and juggle all that we do. Sometimes it feels totally and completely overwhelming. But we somehow always do manage to pop our heads up for air, get things back into their grooves, and life feels magical and wonderful much more often than it feels daunting. Thank goodness for that. Kyle and Owen are the lights of our lives. Baby sister is due 7 weeks from today. It is fully spring here and it feels good!
We spent Easter Weekend with my Dad’s side of the family at Bement Camp again this year (click here). We were there for the whole weekend, with the exception of our annual pilgrimage to Trinity Lutheran (click here) for church on Easter morning. Thanks to my mom for organizing the whole thing! Highlights this year included:
- TWO (count them: TWO!) Easter Egg Hunts! One (thanks to Amina and Jeremy) on Saturday afternoon with all the cousins and second-cousins! And one (thanks to the Easter Bunny // MorMor & MorFar) on Sunday morning for Kyle, Owen, and their cousin!
- After a long year of waiting and hopeful anticipation, Kyle finally got to sing (belt out at the top of his lungs, actually) ‘Christ The Lord Is Risen Today’ amidst the huge congregation, the choirs, the booming organ, and the full processional at Trinity Lutheran. He was way into it. And way into the whole 1.5 hour long service actually. This child has the spirit in him. Seriously!
- Seeing everyone! I know some of you are reading~~~ it was so great to see you and I’m so glad that we can all know each other (if even only a little bit) despite the distance.
Braydon has been taking some amazing photos with his new camera. This is my current favorite. As always, click to enlarge.
Last week while MorMor was still here we had our annual Easter Egg Decorating Event. I say Event because decorating eggs with K & O is nothing less than an Event. An Event that you really need to take part in to grasp the scope of. My mom and I laughed our way through the entire thing– cleaning up spilled egg dye here, quickly handling near-miss-disasters there, trying to contain the exuberance of our crazy twins (exuberance is good, but not necessarily when it involves dye), keep the stains to a minimum, and generally do hard-core intensive damage control. My mom admitted that it was “very stressful” and that she was “really looking forward to her bourbon that night.” If I weren’t pregnant I probably would have been serving bourbon during the Event. All in all, though, it was a lot smoother/easier/less-messy than last year’s Egg Decorating Event (click here). What a difference a year makes!
MorMor came to help out during Owen’s surgery week. Here are three of Braydon’s shots from when she first arrived. I had just picked her up at the airport and brought her home. I truly cannot imagine any two grandsons more adoring of their grandmother than these boys are of their MorMor.
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