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Choice K & O Quotes from Recent Days

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The boys have been getting in trouble a lot lately for ‘talking back.’ The other day Owen was in a mood and he had talked back a couple of times. I said, “Owen! I’m so tired of this talking back!! Where did you learn this anyway?!?” Right away he said, dead serious: “I learned it at June’s house. Her house is yellow.”

I was tucking Kyle into bed the other night. After prayers and talking about the day I was telling him how much I loved him, etc. I said, “Kyle, my baby, I’m so glad that I’m your Mom.” He looked up at me with love in his eyes and said, “I’m so glad I’m your grandson.”

Owen is thinking a lot these days about being “grown up.” He often talks about how he wishes he was “grown up” and about all the things he’ll do when he is “grown up.” I could list endless cute quotes from him on this topic. Two of the most recent best are: (to Papi–) “I wish when I be grown up I can be you.” & (to Papi & Mommy–) “When I be grown up I am going to order you guys something really nice in a big box from the box truck!”

Watching an episode of Dora about ‘things that make you happy.’ Dora and Boots were talking about the things that make them happy. I said to the boys, “Guys, what makes you happy?” Without thinking for even a second Kyle said, “Meera!”

Owen and Kyle were putting on their rollerskates. For a long time they couldn’t do it themselves, but I watched as they did it entirely on their own. I said, “You guys are good at that!” Owen said, “Yes we are! That’s because we were born in Haiti!”

Kyle is still sure that when he grows up he wants to be “a traveler.” Yesterday during breakfast he was talking on and on about it. He has grand plans. One of which is: “When I be sixteen years old. Wait, no. When I be seventeen years old, I will be a traveler. Me and Owen and Meera will go on a big jet plane, just us by ourselves, and we will go to Connecticut. Wait, no. We will go to New Hampshire. And we will go to MorMor and MorFar’s house and Mommy and Papi will stay home. And me and Owen and Meera will go skiing!!!!!”

The boys were playing with Meera in the kitchen as she sat in her swing seat. They decided they needed to go to the playroom to get a toy for her. As they were both running off, Owen shouts back over his shoulder to me, “Mom, will you keep an eye on her? Because orka whales are coming and babies are afraid of orkas!”

I’ve mentioned before that the boys have expressed numerous times that they seriously think that Meera has “brown skin.” I keep thinking that they’ll start to lose this notion, but they continue to bring it up from time to time. The other day Kyle says, “Mom, I’m so glad Meera has brown skin! Since you’re her birthmother I just want to say thanks for making her have brown skin Mom!!”

A few days ago we were coming into the house from playing outside and the boys were covered in mud. Before opening the door I said, “O.k., I want you two to go straight into the laundry room and take off all your clothes before we go upstairs for a bath.” Owen very dramatically says, “O.k. Mommy!! I will go straight inside and take off all my clothes! But I won’t take off my hair! Because it is attached to my head!”

Recently Kyle was telling me how sad he is that our pool is now closed for the winter. I was talking about how exciting it will be when it opens again in the spring. He said that when it opens he wants to invite his friends over to swim (which is something we did often this past summer). I said, “Who will be the first friend you want to come over to swim with you?” He thought about it earnestly for quite a while, and then very seriously said: “Michael Phelps.”

Owen’s prayer, before bed, a few nights ago: “Dear God, I don’t like acting up. I don’t want to act up. Why do I have to act up so much? Amen.”

The boys continue to be semi-obsessed with the whole pregnancy-birth-birthmother thing. Their seemingly infinite questions about these topics are on-going. Sometimes just when I think they are really starting to get it, they say something that indicates that they clearly are not. The other day Kyle says to Braydon, “Papi, were you born out of MorFar’s belly?”

Monday Morning

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This morning the boys insisted on moving their chairs so that they could be as close as possible to Little Miss as while they all ate their breakfast. cereal for K; applesauce for M; french toast for O.

Today at Peace Valley

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We put Meera in the baby backpack for the first time today. She loved it and spent almost two hours in it happy as can be at Peace Valley. Peace Valley was really, really beautiful today with all of the foliage. This was the first day in over four weeks that we’ve had a chance to spend a whole day with just the five of us. It was a much needed Family Day. And what a great “S” Day it was.

Halloween 2008

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This was the first year the boys drew the faces they wanted onto their pumpkins. Kyle’s pumpkin is left, Owen’s in the middle. Meera’s is on the right– since she couldn’t choose for herself I asked K & O what we should carve on hers– they wanted Meera’s to “be a heart.” They love the whole idea of jack-o-lanterns, they just don’t have the attention span for them… so as usual I ended up carving them. But they sure did love taking the tops off, pulling the guts out, and getting the seeds all ready for roasting…

Sweetness. Since she goes to bed so early, we decided she wouldn’t be dressing up for trick-or-treating this year… she’s got the rest of her life to do that. Plus, no need to dress her up as a princess since she is a princess to all four of us all day every day around here. Here’s Little Miss Princess Sweetness on her pink Bumbo throne, up after her afternoon nap, ready to join (observe) the action of the Halloween festivities. Her brothers adore this girl. And this girl adores her brothers.
We had a gorgeous Halloween day.
Kyle plants pumpkin seeds in the back yard.
Owen and Meera.
Meera had green beans for dinner. She then retired for the evening. She was sound asleep by 5:40. Just in time for the boys to get their costumes back on (earlier they had worn them to school too) and get ready for trick-or-treating…
The end of their night, checking out their loot.
Thoughts, The Day After
When K & O were 1, our first Halloween, it was just so incredibly fun. I simply couldn’t imagine that Halloween could get any better. But the year they were 2 topped it. And I thought that was it: Halloween could never be more fun than when they were 2. Then last year, when they were 3, it was the best. But last night, seriously, last night was the best Halloween that there could ever be. These boys are just so much fun. Gosh darn do they give us a run for our money— they are non-stop every.single.day. and they are TOUGH. They are not times two, they are exponentially more challenging as two. Four year old active willful spirited boys can be a handful. These two are off the charts. You can’t let your guard down for a second. And the past month has been hard with them. Everything that we’ve had going on has really taken a toll on our boys. They’ve been pushing our buttons and trying our patience and bringing us (well, just me really) to tears. But nights like last night… those moments… they just make it all so very worth it. These boys could not be happier, more excitable, more fun-loving, life-affirming boys. Trick-or-treating with them is like trick-or-treating on Cloud 9. They make everyone around them feel good. And to be able to be their Mom on a night like that. Well, it is just an honor and a privilege and just plain pure bliss. “Look at the stars!!! THE MOON! We’re trick-or-treating Owen! We’re sooooooooo lucky Kyle! Good thing I ate my carrots Owen cuz I can seeeeee innnnnnnn theeeeeeeeeeeee daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaark!!!!!!!!!! ME TOO KYLE! Look! Look at me run! In the dark! I can run so fast! Like the wind! WAIT, stop look! Look at the beautiful tree leaves! And look!!!! A PUMPKIN! They have a pumpkin at this house! We have pumpkins at our house! We love pumpkins! TRICK-OR-TREAT! TRICK-OR-TREAT! TRICK-OR-TREAT! We’re princes! Island Princes! We were really really for real born on an island! I love chocolate! THANK YOU HAPPY HALLOWEEEEEEEEEN! Mommy, let’s walk on the grass! It is dark! THE MOON! THE MOON! The moon is RISING! Look at all the stars!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT! What a beautiful sky! Owen look at the sky! I know Kyle, it is sooooooo beautiful Kyle! We are so lucky! Mommy, I love you! You’re the best mommy ever in the whole wide world! Kyle, you’re the best brother ever. Owen, I love Halloween, and I love you my brother!” Honest to goodness, these are verbatim quotes and it was just like this the entire, entire time. With the volume turned up as high as it could possibly go. House to house to house. Leaving ear-to-ear smiles in their wake. Yes, much of the time, these boys are so bad, but oh how they are sooooo good. So bad but so good. So, Halloween 2008… the day after I’m left thinking that surely for real this time there is no possible way that any Halloween could ever possibly be better than the year they were 4.

More photos below (click here)~~

Golf at 8:30

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The boys out grew their golf clubs and I had to get them new ones.  And now that they are a little older, I couldn’t simply get new clubs, I had to get the beginner bag too (sheesh). The package arrived yesterday in a box truck that was white (this fact is important to Kyle).

This morning, Kyle was so excited about them that off we went at 8:30 to the Lehigh University Golf complex for some driving range fun.

There are no distance markers on the range, but safe to say Kyle is hitting it about 60-70 yards now. He’s struggling a bit with keeping his focus, but for goodness sake, he’s only 4.  Owen is turning into quite the putter. From extended distances he can pretty easily and consistently 3-putt; which is about where I am.

K&O at the range

Happy Halloween!!!

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Halloween 2008. The boys are “Island Princes.” I’m not quite sure how we arrived here, settled in on this particular costume theme… all I can say is: what a long, strange trip its been. But, what can I tell ya? This is where we are. It is what it is. Twin Island Princes. And they are lovin’ it. And I mean, really, what Johnson-McCormick doesn’t love shells and sandcastles and tropical fish and island flora and fauna and all things ‘island’ that conjure up our gorgeous memories of our love(love-love-love)ly vacations together?! And seriously now, Halloween or not, K & O really are, afterall, Twin Island Princes. So, their pockets are full of flowers and shells to give out all day. And Owen is telling everyone he sees, “I really was born on an island!!! for real I was!!!” And they are just about as happy as two Island Princes could ever ever be. Happy Halloween everybody!!!!!!!

Waterfalls

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For anyone following the world series it won’t be a suprise, but it rained (and snowed a little of all things) here last night and today like crazy. So like crazy that rivers and streams are dramatically swollen and flowing.

On the way to the boys’ school we drive along (and the road has recently reopened from it’s 2005 flood disaster) a beautiful stretch of road (route 32 for those interested) that passes along a 100 foot cliff for about a mile that the Delaware gouged out eons ago. It’s beautiful on normal days, and spectacular today. We stopped to take a look, Meera and I stayed in the car, but Heather, Kyle, and Owen got out—- and K & O could not resist putting their heads under the falls.

Meera Grace 5 Months Old

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Today Meera turned five months old. This baby continues to amaze and astound us with her ridiculously extreme happiness. Seriously, it is not normal. She is JUST. SO. DARN. HAPPY. This month has been her most eventful so far, by far. And we’ve seen her at her worst. But even her worst is just so good. Given that this is our third child, we’re in the position of knowing a good thing when we see it. If you know what I mean. Seriously, this girl has got to be the most mellow, low-key, easy-going, HAPPY baby that ever lived. Really. So, big things from Little Miss Meera’s 5th month:

  • She continues to love, love, love the bath. But this month she took her love of the bath to a whole new level. She discovered the thrill and delight of sucking on washcloths. Man, oh man, does she love it. Loves it.
  • Little Miss adores her brothers. She finds Owen, in particular, hysterically funny. He can make her laugh like no one else can. She spends lots of time watching her big bro’s and smiling smiling smiling at them just waiting for them to notice her. And then they do notice (or we tell them to notice) and her face just lights up. Her favorite times of day are: 1:00– when we go to pick up Kyle and Owen from school, and around 3:00– when all three of them sit at the table while the boys have an afternoon snack. This month she’s discovered the boys’ hair. Right up there in her list of top favorite things is grabbing a dreadlock and getting it into her mouth. She puts everything into her mouth, but dreadlocks seem to be a special favorite.
  • Meera Grace discovered her feet. Currently, if you lay her on her back, at any time, day or night, she’ll immediately grab her feet and coo and gurgle in sheer glee. I’ve gotta say: it is really really just so stinkin’ cute.
  • Eating has been big this month. She’s dabbling in it. She’s ambivalent about green beans and applesauce. She’s totally into rice and oatmeal (as long as it is mixed with breastmilk, not formula). She’s getting the hang of this whole food thing and slowly but surely some is actually getting ingested.
  • Braydon continues to feed her one bottle in the middle of the night. This is their special father-daughter bonding time and they both love it. I hate the pumping. But it is worth it to see the results: their awesome bond.
  • She finally got sick of the black Bjorn chair. I figure she spent four whole months in it, so she has the right to be sick of it. She won’t sit in it anymore. She’s moved on to her “pink chair” and is lovin’ it! She also is having a rekindled love affair with her little swing chair thingy. And she continues to love the play mat. She’s given up the Bjorn chair, but boy does she love the Bjorn carrier. She spends a lot of time in it every day. Happy camper.
  • Meera is very interested in our cat Cooper. She can spot him from quite a distance. The boys have trained Cooper well. He now puts up with Little Miss grabbing him so tight that when he finally pulls away from her she’s left holding fistfuls of fur (and squealing with delight). Amazingly, Cooper always comes back for more.
  • This month Meera travelled to New Hampshire for the third time in her short life. And she travelled to Connecticut for her baptism weekend. She’s a trooper, but it finally took a toll on her. She caught her first cold and it wasn’t pretty. She was not her happy self. And she had her mama up every 2-3 hours all night long every night for the past couple of weeks. Just when I started to worry that somehow her incredible sleeping skills had been lost forever, she rebounded!– and the past 48 hours or so have been deliriously wonderful yet again. Last night, for example, she went to bed at 6:00pm (her normal daily bedtime) and woke up at 7:00am with only one feeding (Braydon’s bottle) at 1am. {She then goes on to take two naps during the day – each of which is around 2 hours long}. And get this: to put her to sleep we simply do our little ritual (change her diaper, read her a little baby book, lay her down in her crib, then walk out), and within a few minutes she’s sound asleep. I know, I know, it is embarrassingly good. Believe me, we appreciate it. Like I said, this is our third. Just read between the lines… we know we’ve got it good with this one!
  • Meera had her well-baby visit with our pediatrician one week ago. She weighs almost 17 pounds. She is 26 1/2 inches long. Her head circumference is 17″. She is in the top 1% for height, and the top 5% for weight. She’s a big healthy girl.

Lots of pictures here and more below.

Dave

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Lately I’ve noticed that things are changing around here. Big things. Like, the boys seem to be outgrowing their obsession/addiction to macaroni and cheese. Six months ago I never in a million years would have ever thought I’d see the day. But there are times now that they don’t finish the entire box of Annie’s Shells and Cheese in one sitting. And sometimes they actually choose something else over macaroni when given the choice. Strange, but true. Strange, but true. Another example… the trash truck guys. For a good solid couple of years now the boys have been totally into them. They worshipped the ground our garbage truck guys walked on. They waited all week for trash day. There was nothing they loved more than chatting with the garbage guys at the end of our driveway. For goodness sake, they even exchanged Christmas presents with them for the past two years. But I’ve noticed that lately they have eyes for another man. Dave. Our yard guy. It seems that the trash truck guys are slowly but surely on their way out. And Dave is in. Big time in. Dave is now their Hero. With a capital H. There is nothing they love more than watching him mow. They talk to him at length about his machinery. They talk with each other at length about him. They pretend to be him. And just like the garbage truck guys, Dave seems to be slightly enamored with the boys and/or their idolization of him. I mean really, who wouldn’t get an ego trip out of this? So, it is out with the old, in with the new. I suppose we just have to roll with it. The times, they are a changin’.

To Jen & Others re: Locs

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From time to time I get questions about K & O’s locs in the comments to our blog posts, and sometimes people email me about it. I often have not responded — I usually mean to get to it but I often just never do and these things seem to regularly fall through the cracks. And so, I’m sorry about that to all you who have asked stuff and didn’t hear back from me. Just a couple days ago I got a question from ‘Jen’ about locs in the comments to the BarackO post— (Jen, I couldn’t find your email and your blog is private so this is the only way I could come up with to reply to you). Jen: K & O’s hair was probably at least 1.5 inches long when we started their locs. Like you, we had major struggles with keeping their twists “in” because they’d often come un-done, especially on the sides and back of their heads. Owen’s hair was much more difficult than Kyle’s to loc up (their hair textures are different), so I’ve seen two different examples of the process and it is interesting just how different it was with the two of them. Anyway, it often felt like were beating our heads against a brick wall trying to loc up their hair… it often felt like an uphill battle… but eventually it did loc. It just took a lot of commitment to it on our part. I think starting locs on very young children presents a whole host of challenges above and beyond ‘normal’ loc challenges! (especially if those children are wild and crazy, rough and tumble boys) If you haven’t seen it yet, I have a ‘Tell All’ post about the boys locs. You can find it here.

Red Sox Cookies

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Still trying to catch up on the past few weeks…

Ed & Andrea gave the boys these Red Sox cookies. For a few days there these cookies were their prize possessions. Eating them wasn’t nearly as exciting as basking in the glory of the sheer delight of just simply having them in their posession. One afternoon K & O specifically asked for me to take pictures of them with their cookies… so, here they are…
(Ed & Andrea I hope you’re reading!)