A thousand words

I'm sorry, but I just don't have much to say except hallelujah for Spring. We spend three to five hours outside every day. I'm not even sure how we made it through the winter. What did we do with those three to five hours when we were stuck inside all day? All I can say is, I feel my sanity slowly returning. There are only so many things a mother can think of to do and it's good to provide your children with some variety, so being able to go outside really helps. Now we can dig in the dirt with a stick, with a stone, with a shovel, with our feet, and with our hands. We can pick up leaves, throw leaves, tear leaves up, put leaves in puddles, take leaves out of puddles, shake leaves, jump in leaves, and run through leaves. We swing, we point to things while we swing, we have deep discussions about birds and the lake and the sun while we swing, we make tweeting sounds while we swing, and we sing "swing-swing, swing-swing" while we swing. We ride on our sweet ride, then we turn around and ride backwards, we get off the sweet ride and try to push it, and when that doesn't jive we try to pull it. We walk around the house, we walk up the hill and down the hill, we run down the hill and eat dirt (hopefully we won't do that again though), we walk inside the kitty pen, and we walk to get the mail. We carry balls, we slam dunk, we throw balls, we jump on the trampoline, we lay on the trampoline, and we go under the trampoline. I hope you get my point. When the outdoors comes into play, there are endless possibilities. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.


It was my dad's birthday, followed two days later by my sister Elise's. Elise turned 7 and my dad turned older. Nolan is a natural at blowing things, including his nose (but not always on demand) and especially candles. For Elise's birthday, he got to attend her party which came with nine little girls. To Nolan, though, the little girls were more like older women. He seemed to be intimidated by them. He was so abnormally quiet during the party it was kind of frightening. The girls watched part of Enchanted while they muti-tasked and did a craft and Nolan just sat stiffly in a chair watching the movie. I think he was hoping that if he didn't move, the little girls wouldn't notice him, and he would avoid the inevitable mauling that accompanies little girls noticing cute, helpless, little boys. He tried to mind his own business for most of the party, except for when my mom brought out the cake. Then he didn't care who saw him, so long as he got a piece. Don't worry, he got a piece. He got an extra large helping because I was still feeling bad about the "helpless-boy-amidst-older-women" photo I tried to make him be in (which I've included here just to show how much he doesn't like little girls and how mean I am sometimes without thinking). I think someday he'll outgrow his fear of girls, but it's probably not a bad thing for as long as it lasts.














Gerret is amazing. He can sleep and eat and poop like he's a super fabulous, not so ordinary baby. He coos and does a little laugh. He has a killer smile, which he flashes anytime you pay him any kind of attention. This kid loves attention, but he doesn't beg for it, he only accepts it graciously when offered. I always wonder if all second and subsequent children are patient and forgiving by nature. Is it a qualification for the job? My sister Elise is the epitome of patience and understanding. Are they also born more physically resilient? I can testify that Gerret is abnormally durable and able to withstand all sorts of love from his brother (who is still learning "gentle"). Gerret has reached a few important milestones recently. He has started to lose his hair. He is learning to grab at things. His pooping patterns have transitioned to once a day. This means we've reached the important milestone of blowouts too. He can push his shoulders off the floor when he's on his stomach. This baby doesn't mind being on his stomach. What a relief, coming from Nolan who screamed his head off at the thought of smashing his face into the floor. I think that was a big set back for Nolan in a lot of ways. No set backs for Gerret. This kid is ready to progress quickly. He'll be walking before you know it. That's crazy to say because it seems like he was just born, but anyone who has kids knows it's the truth. I guess I could go further and say "he'll be graduating from high school before you know it" and that would be just as true, but that would also make me kind of sad. Let's just leave it at -kids grow up really fast. I mean, wasn't Nolan born like last week or something? Sheesh.