Big boys

Different milestones for very different boys.

Baby Joshua is four months old!!! We went to the doctor for a check-up, and we learned he's 12 pounds 11 ounces and he's 25 1/2 inches long.

He was quite happy, like the baby you see here, until it was time for the SHOTS! Four of them in all. Who could be happy about that?



Michael went to a birthday party this week, actually two. That's his friend Larry--who we didn't realize he was pretty close to. They were running around together all night long.



And, we have had such a good time with Amah and Akong here this week. Jason has also enjoyed challenging Akong to many games of checkers in a row. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for the great traveling checkers game. He's thrilled to have beaten Akong at least once!

Weekend of fun

It's Wednesday, and I'm still thinking about the weekend. The one we just had.



Michael is, too. Look at that smile!

While Jason has basketball Saturday mornings, Michael gets into the pool. Sometimes he puts up a fuss before getting to the Y, sometimes he doesn't. But no matter what mood he is before he gets into the swimming pool area, once there, he just walks to the edge of the water and waits for the teacher. You can see from his face, he couldn't enjoy it more.

Lots of excitement to be had this weekend. We held a block party in our neighborhood on Saturday, then on Sunday, we went to Busch Gardens.



We have figured out the best way to enjoy amusement parks with three kids.

Bring reinforcements.

Thanks much to Mike, Claire, and Tommy for a great day.
Our boys wanted to ride all the rides. We really needed the help of extra adults to accomodate all the requests. Doug did his best. You'll notice Doug may be smiling in the above picture, but his eyes are closed. It's not a coincidence. Ask him about it sometime.





From airplane rides to bumper cars, the boys had a wonderful time. It was a weird dynamic, though. Tommy is 4, right in between Jason's 5 and Michael's 3. They all play together at school, but for some reason, outside of the classroom, Tommy enjoys Jason's company the best. Well, at Busch Gardens, Michael, who can see Jason anytime he wants too, always needed to be by his brother's side. To which Jason finally said, "Stop fighting over me!"



I don't have pictures of it, but Jason rode his first big kid roller coaster over the weekend. He was terrified, exhilarated, and energized, all at the same time.

Afterward he said he was scared, but he "didn't cry."
Then, even more telling, he said, "But I would ride it again."

Michael desperately wants too as well. But I told him that he couldn't until he got bigger, and until he ate his broccoli. To which he replied, "Isn't pasta healthy?"

You could see a eureka moment go off in his head when he later said, "Dark chocolate is healthy too! Miss Carol said so!!!"

First food

Baby Joshua is 16 weeks old today! Up until now, the poor thing has had nothing in his system other than milk. So we mixed it up a bit today and added some tasty rice cereal flakes to the menu.



What do you know? He really enjoyed it.
Good thing, because he had MANY helping hands to make sure he got enough.



After the bowl of yummy food was gone, we all told the baby what a good job he did.

And Michael pipes up, "He did so good, Mommy. I think he's ready for broccoli now."

Hanging out

...and for right now, very happy about it!

Already learning

We can't figure out why Jason does this, but whenever he talks to Baby Joshua, his voice gets all high-pitched and funny sounding. It's so different from his normal speaking voice that you have to stop and listen.

One night last week, he was teaching his baby brother about the country we call home. Using the falsetto voice.

"Oooooh Baby Joshua, 'dis is Virginia. Virginia goes here."



"Ooooooh Baby Joshua, 'dis is Montana. Montana goes here." And so it went.



You could tell, Joshua didn't really know what to think.



But Joshua wasn't crying, so we let Jason talk his way through the United States.

Growing up

Have you ever heard of a baby who DOESN'T enjoy a trip in the car?

Well, you've met him, if you've come face to face with my Joshua.
The kid can't stand being in a vehicle.

He'll be happy and content one minute, but when I put him in a carseat, we're done.

Good thing big brother is around to calm him down after the car ride is over.



The other day I needed an extra set of hands, and Michael ably stepped up to soothe Baby Joshua down. He stood there, holding his pacifier for minutes, and yelled to me, "Look, Mommy, I'm settling down Baby Joshua!!!!" Yay for all of us.

Boy, are they growing up. Jason was complaining of tooth pain yesterday, and told me one of his front teeth was loose. Sure enough, it was.

I told him not to wiggle it, not to eat on that side, not to lose it.

He said, "Why, Mommy, you don't want me to lose my tooth because then I won't be your baby anymore?"

Um, how did he know THAT?

He's right, though.

Happy Birthday, Grace!

We can't believe how time flies--Joshua can't comprehend it, either.

Grace is 6 years old! We had the chance to celebrate her birthday today, and while both boys enjoyed time in the pool, Michael always ends up at the sand table afterward. It fascinates him. Of course, if I got one for our backyard, he would ignore it. So we just let him enjoy the fun at other people's houses.



We seem to have hit a turning point with Michael, by the way. He's back to his beautiful self--easy-going, funny, talkative. He doesn't ignore the baby, he doesn't seek him out. He just reacts. For example, when the baby cries, he says things like, "Mommy, the baby's crying. Maybe he's hungry. You should feed him YOUR milk. Right now."

We are wondering what is causing some stress for our #2 in the potty department. All of a sudden, the sound of the flush of toilets is really freaking him out. He refuses to use public bathrooms anymore, and he walks around with his hands covering his ears if we're anywhere close to one. We hope this goes away soon, because even though he won't use the bathroom, he still needs to go. We've found that out the hard way.

But, back to the party and a beautiful moment that Doug captured.
Grace and her friends moments before the birthday song, just relishing the thought of eating a cupcake treat. Trust me, it was worth the wait.



Happy Birthday, Grace!

Enjoy the Games

I can't tell you how much we enjoy our time with Baby Joshua. He is quite a chatty baby, as I've written about before. Tonight, after he had his dinner--milk--he and I had a long conversation about how he was feeling. He was pretty happy, I must say.

At this young age, 3 1/2 months, exactly 15 weeks old, he's got some good friends. This is Baby Elizabeth, Tommy's little sister. She is three weeks older than he is. Look at how different they look! He looks so swarthy! He wouldn't let go of her, either.



Mercifully, the bigger boys are too busy fighting with each other to bother with the baby. Of course, Jason likes to tell me how much he loves Baby Joshua, all while he's patting #3's head with the force that he's pounding nails into wood.



We're doing great, though. And, we got the chance to watch the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics tonight.

I told Michael that we were going to let him stay up for it.

He was pleased.

But, he told me I was saying it wrong.

He said, "No, Mommy. It's Lum-pics, not O-lympics."

So, tonight we got to enjoy the pretty colorful prelude to the Lum-pics. Hope you did, too.

Playing hoops

We decided to try another sport with Jason. You've read about our adventures with soccer. While Jason tolerated the practices and the games, he never really got "into" them. Maybe we started them too early. In any case, the chance to play soccer in the early part of the summer got no response.

Basketball was another matter.



He literally jumped at the chance.

Doug has had the opportunity to sit in on more of the games than I have. He says that Jason gets more and more excited as each week goes by. Last week, he even attempted to make a basket. While it didn't make it anywhere near the hoop, at least he tried!



Jason's first love will always be baseball, though.
He can't wait for the start of the season in the fall.



While at summer camp, both boys must spend a good portion of their days playing with Legos and things. For some reason, they come home and want to recreate what they've built at school.

Here, the boys (all of them!) put together a windmill from a tinker toy set Grandma and Grandpa got them for Christmas. They had a blast--until Michael decided he NEEDED to have some windmill parts to make a chocolate cake--out of tinker toys--NOW.

And, I know, haircuts are coming. Both boys really need them.

The medium brother

Jason insists that Michael is the "medium" brother, as opposed to the middle one.

Nothing makes our #2 madder than being called the "medium" brother. I think it's kinda clever, but it angers him like nothing else. In any case, if you've ever heard one of his tantrums, you'd know there's nothing "medium" about them.

Tonight, the "medium" brother, aka Michael, sat for a photo session with his baby brother.



He looks interested enough in his younger sibling here, but in reality, Thomas the Train was playing on TV behind us.



Before bedtime, I forced all three to sit for another picture for me. They are getting so big!