So it's only taken me a year to get in here and write about the "new" arrival to our family. Gray was born on October 7, 2015 and is a complete joy. That's the word I think of every time I look at him, hold him, cuddle him, or feed him...even at 1:00am, 3:00am, and 5:00am and all of the other crazy times he wakes up at night.
The kid doesn't sleep. Like ever. But that's about the only complaint I can come up with because otherwise, he's pure sunshine. We weren't quite sure we would have another baby in our family, and I keep pinching myself because I can't believe how lucky I am to get to experience the whole thing one more time.
His first year has gone by unbearably fast, all of those firsts and that new baby wonder have given way to big baby tricks, attempts at first words, and wobbly tries at first steps.
In fact, he just took his first real steps yesterday (9/21/16)!
Gray is definitely our noisiest baby, always trying to keep up with his brothers and make sure he doesn't get lost in the crowd.
He's even started saying some words - Dada and ball are his favorites.
He makes a fish sound (opening and closing his mouth) when you ask what a fish says and LOVES barking like a dog whenever he sees or hears one. He also hisses like a snake, blowing little bubbles and with a cute little lisp :) He knows the sound a bird makes "teet teet!" And makes the sign for "bird" too. He knows signs for "more", "all done", and "water".
Just yesterday he started pointing to things to show you what he wants or what he's interested in - usually a ball. He also started giving kisses by bashing his head into your face and saying "muh!" Lots of fat lips in this family right now from Gray's sweet "kisses". Every once in awhile, you'll get really lucky and he'll grab you around the neck in a tiny little hug and give you a real kiss (on the mouth with lots of slobber). It's enough to melt your heart.
Gray loves pushing his little push cart/toy down the street, yelling for Mr. Campbell and the other neighbors, waving at everyone he sees and cars that drive by, barking at dogs, and tweeting at birds.
We are loving watching him change and grow and develop a very sassy, hilarious personality. I am amazed every day by how the big boys interact with him and adore him. I never thought they would pay him this much attention. They can't get enough of him.
Finn has definitely taken on the role of big brother. He feeds him, holds him, helps him, and gets such a kick out of all of his new tricks. He loves teaching him new things. He is more of the observer and supervisor and I can always trust him to tell me when the baby is getting into something he shouldn't be. He'll watch the baby for me while I put in laundry or run upstairs for something and I think he likes his extra responsibility.
Mitch has taken on the role of big brother too, but in a totally different way. He had a very hard time adjusting to he baby at first. I think it was hard for him to lose that attention that he had always gotten from us. He still struggles with it sometimes. But he also gets such delight from the babay's funny antics and treats Gray as his equal - roughing him up, wrestling him, and playing with him like he's just another one of the kids. Sometimes he's a little TOO rough with him, but I think we can be too hard on him about this because the baby loves every minute of all of it. And I think it's actually good for Gray - the kid is tough as nails from all of the wrestling! Mitch is also changing into a big kid now - getting awesome w reading and other school stuff and just becoming more independent. So I think the baby has been good for him too.
All in all, the transition to three kids has been amazing. It's been a huge challenge, a hilarious adventure, and an experience that makes our family feel whole and warm and complete. Let me emphasize he challenge part though - because man, this is tough. But I can't think of a way I'd rather be spending my days and I can't think of anyone I'd rather be with than this houseful of loud, smelly boys.
Sunday, October 2, 2016
Sunday, September 11, 2016
Mom is back...
Ok, so it's been two years since I posted here..2 years?! Not sure how that happened. And in the meantime, I see that my boys took over with some really noteworthy posts, like Dad Likes Smoothies. So I'm back because there are lots of updates to share.
Mitch is now in first grade and had an amazing kindergarten year. He is learning and growing so much and is still a mover, a singer, and a big time cuddler. Mitch has been taking classes at The Beck Center and seems like his heart is into the arts - he took three acting classes and one art class and loved them! He is so friendly and I love taking him out because he's kind of like going out with Dede Ferry...he always runs into someone he knows and they're always really excited to see him. We say that he's kind of like the mayor of Fairview Park. Mitch is amazing with music and performing. He has a flair for picking things up in movies and shows and then acting them out or dropping them casually (and usually perfectly) in conversation. He keeps us laughing every day. He loves animals and always has a stuffed animal along with him, usually with some sort of cage or box to keep it in. He talks about being a vet when he grows up and I could totally picture it. He can't help himself from touching any animal he sees, it's just this impulse he has. He sees a frog and - bam - be reaches out and grabs it. Not like he's rough or anything, just naturally needs to hold it. At the Botanical Garden in the butterfly house, a beautiful butterfly flew past him and before he even knew what he was doing, he reached out and grabbed it with both hands! He looked at me in a complete panic because he knew he wasn't supposed to do it, but his hands just seemed to do it for him! :) It is also possible that Mitch is the loudest human being in the universe. He is ALWAYS singing, drumming, stomping, pounding, screaming, and yelling. He loves to jump and crash and tackle.
Finn is now in second grade and continues to blow us away with his reading and his curious mind. He's much more quiet and reserved than Mitch - preferring to observe and take in the entire situation before jumping in and trying something himself. He is responsible and trustworthy and wise beyond his years. I can see his wheels turning as he takes things in and I can tell that he is very quick to get a read on things and people he comes into contact with. He is a rule follower and gets very upset if rules or promises are broken. He has a much smaller crew of buddies than Mitch, but I can tell that this is by choice. He doesn't seem to open up to just anybody and prefers his solid little group of familiar faces that he's known for years from preschool and daycare. He's turning into such a big kid and is desperate for privileges and acknowledgement that he can handle new things by himself. This is hard for his control freak mama, but I'm trying! Finn and I can go head to head a lot because I think we're actually very similar. We're both stubborn and have the need to be right. We were having a really hard time at the end of the summer, but we've talked about it and we're both working hard on being a little easier on each other. I can already tell a big difference.
And last, but not least...we've made another new addition to our family. Baby Gray was born on October 7, 2015. More on Gray in my next post...but he's pretty much perfect and I can't imagine our family without him.
Mitch is now in first grade and had an amazing kindergarten year. He is learning and growing so much and is still a mover, a singer, and a big time cuddler. Mitch has been taking classes at The Beck Center and seems like his heart is into the arts - he took three acting classes and one art class and loved them! He is so friendly and I love taking him out because he's kind of like going out with Dede Ferry...he always runs into someone he knows and they're always really excited to see him. We say that he's kind of like the mayor of Fairview Park. Mitch is amazing with music and performing. He has a flair for picking things up in movies and shows and then acting them out or dropping them casually (and usually perfectly) in conversation. He keeps us laughing every day. He loves animals and always has a stuffed animal along with him, usually with some sort of cage or box to keep it in. He talks about being a vet when he grows up and I could totally picture it. He can't help himself from touching any animal he sees, it's just this impulse he has. He sees a frog and - bam - be reaches out and grabs it. Not like he's rough or anything, just naturally needs to hold it. At the Botanical Garden in the butterfly house, a beautiful butterfly flew past him and before he even knew what he was doing, he reached out and grabbed it with both hands! He looked at me in a complete panic because he knew he wasn't supposed to do it, but his hands just seemed to do it for him! :) It is also possible that Mitch is the loudest human being in the universe. He is ALWAYS singing, drumming, stomping, pounding, screaming, and yelling. He loves to jump and crash and tackle.
Finn is now in second grade and continues to blow us away with his reading and his curious mind. He's much more quiet and reserved than Mitch - preferring to observe and take in the entire situation before jumping in and trying something himself. He is responsible and trustworthy and wise beyond his years. I can see his wheels turning as he takes things in and I can tell that he is very quick to get a read on things and people he comes into contact with. He is a rule follower and gets very upset if rules or promises are broken. He has a much smaller crew of buddies than Mitch, but I can tell that this is by choice. He doesn't seem to open up to just anybody and prefers his solid little group of familiar faces that he's known for years from preschool and daycare. He's turning into such a big kid and is desperate for privileges and acknowledgement that he can handle new things by himself. This is hard for his control freak mama, but I'm trying! Finn and I can go head to head a lot because I think we're actually very similar. We're both stubborn and have the need to be right. We were having a really hard time at the end of the summer, but we've talked about it and we're both working hard on being a little easier on each other. I can already tell a big difference.
And last, but not least...we've made another new addition to our family. Baby Gray was born on October 7, 2015. More on Gray in my next post...but he's pretty much perfect and I can't imagine our family without him.
Monday, January 18, 2016
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Mitchie
Today Mitch told me all about his friend Preston at school and how his nickname is "Coco Megaphone". :)
He's been getting really mad lately, terrible temper tantrums and slinging hilarious insults like: "your bones have pee in them" and "oh yeah? Well you have baby legs!"
Each of the boys got a special day w me this week bc I'm on spring break. I asked Mitch where he wanted to go for his special day and he said swimming and the mall, which I thought was weird, didn't even know he really knew what the mall was. We later discovered that he was talking about the grassy area downtown that he'd seen with drew that Drew called "the mall" :)
Monday, March 3, 2014
More winter...
Man, this winter seems like it will never end! Lots of snow days, lots of skating, skiing, and sledding, lots of time cuddled up inside in front of a movie! We've had fun in the snow, but we're ready for spring!!
Both of the boys took skating lessons last month. Finn loved every minute, Mitch took a little warming up. He usually walked off the ice at least once per lesson (bored or tired?), but I think they both learned a lot! Finn can skate circles around me now (literally!) and Mitch seems do much happier and more comfortable on the ice.
Finn is obsessed with Legos lately (and I am too!) so we've been busy building lots if great Lego masterpieces. Mitch is also getting in on the action and loves building cars and boats.
Mitch is in the midst of a huge cognitive growth spurt right now, learning letter sounds, spelling and writing his name, counting, etc. I notice that his memory and recall for names of places and things is getting so much better. He continues to be a really independent little guy, playing on his own and using his imagination with his toys. He was sick a few days over the past few weeks and drew and I argued about who would get to stay home with him because he's SO easy to be around!
Finn is also learning so much and is starting to sound out words! He's like a little sponge, listening and picking up on everything we say, whether we realize it or not! He forgets the name of the blog I work on (The Inspired Treehouse), and calls it "The Expired Dream House". Cracks me up every time. Hershey's Kisses are still Horseshoe Kissies. The word "actually" begins nearly every one of his sentences (Mitch too), you know, since they know everything :)
Mitch using ski poles to learn how to skate
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