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Sweet sounds...
Caleb Zakai is in the shower in the next room singing his little heart out to "Jesus loves me." Unprompted. It is so precious!
I need some sweetness after Gavi had a MAJOR relapse last night and refused to sleep. He didn't go to sleep until after ten, then woke up at midnight, two and four. I finally fed him at four thirty after realizing that I was wasting more time trying to get him back to sleep than it would take me to get him fed. Oy. It could be a LONG day!
Happy Easter!
I managed not to get any pictures of my beauties in their Easter-wear. By the time I remembered, Caleb had spilled chocolate milk and applesauce all down the front of his sweater vest. (Yes, my son wears sweater vests. At Easter.) My plan then, as I told Jonathan, was to re-enact Easter after I washed the sweater. Jonathan said it fit perfectly because "his stains would then be washed away." Easter-y, indeed. We had marvelous church this morning, then went out for lunch - first time EVER just the four of us, at least with Gavi in the outside world - then after the boys' nap, they and I went to the park while Jonny worked on getting some pictures up on the website. Yay! They're really cute, too. We've been to four different parks in the past week. Too exciting. Caleb's favorite was the one at Miss Terra's, because we got to take a bridge across I-25 and see all the cars. I thought it was a little loud and it gave me vertigo, but what do I know? The lousy merry-go-round made me want to throw up. Speaking of dizziness, we did that relay at my MOPS party Friday night where you put your head on a bat and spin around before dribbling a ball back to the starting line. I wonder if it would be any easier if you were drunk. Or five.
Stinker!
That baby Gavi LOST weight this month! I had them weigh him on two different scales just to make sure. How in the world can I keep calling him chunky monkey when he's only in the fiftieth percentile?! Caleb got two stickers for being such a sweetheart ~ while Gavi was screaming from the vaccinations/immunizations (which is it for people and which is for dogs?!) he stood next to him and said, "okay, okay, okay, it's okay, Gavi, I here."
Happy Day!
CONGRATULATIONS, KEITH AND EMILY! (Affectionately known as “MLE!”) And more importantly, welcome to the family, Jameisha and Jamie! We’ll miss the party, but God willing, we’ll meet someday! We just got back from the park. It was the first time Caleb has walked all the way to and from the park. It was AWESOME! And it was also the first time that Gavi played in the sand! Well, it was the first time we’d been to the park since he could sit up, so it’s the first time I felt comfortable throwing him down. But of course, the first thing he did was plunge his hands in and bring them right to his mouth. This was further complicated by the fact that there was a huge tractor spreading fertilizer on the park grounds. (Affectionately known as “poo.”) So we couldn’t stay too long. But the walk was the main thing! Caleb probably walked a mile! On the way home, he started saying his tummy hurt. Before anyone goes all “mom police” on me, he says his tummy or his back hurts on a daily basis. If I could go back in time, I wouldn’t have made such a big deal about it the first time he said it. Anyway, he said, “stickers and milk make my tummy better.” Auntie Sisa brought Caleb Disney Princess stickers. After my initial hesitation about letting him play with them ~ I haven’t even wanted to THINK about having girls so I didn’t have to deal with that! ~ I realized that it was perfect, because Caleb adores stickers. So when he asked for them when we got home, I asked which one he wanted. He immediately picked out a Cinderella one. My thought was that at least she was wearing a slightly more boy-friendly BLUE dress, but that wasn’t why he wanted her. “She has wings!” I didn’t feel like explaining that she was doing a curtsy and holding her dress. So I just agreed and said her blue wings were lovely. Love boys, love boys, love boys!
Quickie...
Lead with Gavi (again): He is DEFINITELY mobile! But not in the scootching or crawling mode ~ he’s a roller! I’ll put him on his tummy at one end of the room, and when I look again a minute later, he’s gone. Usually wedged in some place where you wonder, “How did you get in there?!” Example: While I was doing laundry, I put him on his butterfly, which has arches over it so he can reach to hit things over his head. I realized that I hadn’t heard him in a while, so I looked over. My baby is LOST! I found him in Caleb’s hidey-hole, which is behind the recliner but in front of the couch against the wall. It was like a huge half diameter of a circle! TMI ALERT! One more thing about Gavi that is new since this morning ~ he’s gone from making a poo every seven to twelve days to making THREE today alone. He REALLY likes that rice cereal. Caleb got a Nerf basketball hoop from his grandparents for Easter. (We celebrated early since we had plans with friends on Easter Sunday.) He’s really quite good, but he’s already getting a little obnoxious when he does well. After shouting “SO CLOSE!” about a dozen times, he finally made a basket. It was immediately followed by him crowing, “Yeah, baby!” He then proceeded to say it forty more times because we were all laughing so hard…
Gotta brag about my babies!
Okay, since I have two cute Caleb stories, I’m going to lead with the other little man. Gavriel Z has started chatting! He’ll coo or make little spitting noises, then look to see if anyone is going to respond. If I look at him and smile, he’ll make another noise. Should I look at him and make a sound in return, he starts his little giggle. Oh, man, I know I say this about every single phase, but this could possibly be my favorite! Caleb dyed Easter eggs yesterday! We didn’t do it last year, so I decided that it was high time. His job was to color the eggs – literally, with crayons – then choose which color dye they should go in. I had to override a LOT because he wanted everything green and orange. But when you’ve got NINE colors and only eighteen eggs, it’s not fair for everything to be orange and green! (Interrupting with yet another cuteness: He was just outside in his sandbox and came running in to tell me that he heard a siren. I just kind of did that mom thing where you’re not really listening. “Oh yeah? Did you hear a fire truck?!” “No, Mom,” he replied, as if I were the dumbest human to walk the earth. “It was AMBULANCE.”) My second real story is this: we read a lot of books. A LOT of books. But because we have so many, we have a long cycling through period. So this morning, when I asked him to get me a book, he shouted, “You let me be!” I was a little shocked, to be honest. First of all, it’s not really the language of a two year old, and secondly, he LOVES reading! I stayed calm, and said, “Sweetie, what are you talking about?” “YOU LET ME BE!” he shouted even louder. Before I could react further, he said, “Mommy? Please? Eggs and ham?” He was quoting Green Eggs and Ham! And because we hadn’t read it in so long, I didn’t catch the reference! Oh, and at the breakfast table this morning, he was reading the back of a cereal box and demonstrated that he knows the number one and five without being prompted. It was a new box, and we’d never talked about it. I smacked the table and hollered at Jonathan, “Our baby’s going to Harvard!” Caleb raised his eyebrows and said, “Don’t hit, Mommy.”
As our world turns...
Gavi is a short sitter. Meaning he can sit on his own, but at most for about ten seconds, because he gets so giggly that he throws himself over! He’s also seriously digging rice cereal. For a while there, I thought he wasn’t ready for it because he kept doing the tongue thrust thing and everything just kept coming back out. But I persevered and learned to try for a little bit longer. When I was quitting too quickly, he didn’t have time to figure it out. Now he needs less time to get the hang of it at every feeding. And MAN does he want a lot! Last month at his checkup, he didn’t gain much weight, and they expressed concern. I have a feeling that they’ll express concern over the ginormous gain this month! That kid puts away a quarter cup of cereal three times a day now. And I haven’t cut back on his other feedings. Caleb gets sweeter by the day. (Except for the odd temper tantrums he throws for no apparent reason.) Yesterday, I caught him trying to share his school bus with Gavi. Of course, the bus is almost as BIG as Gavi, and he has no way of playing with it, but it was precious and unprompted. That’s my favorite thing about him. He doesn’t need to be urged to hug and smooch on his little brother ~ he actually needs to be restrained most of the time! When Caleb rolls over on Gavi, my heart beats as loudly as Gavi’s giggles. He also stood by while Daddy puked this morning and murmured, “It’s okay, Daddy. I here.” Poor Daddy was a little sick to carry on a conversation, but I think he appreciated the sentiment. We just finished baking muffins together! Gavi lent moral support from his exersaucer, Caleb mixed and I supervised. I haven’t been taking many pictures lately, and I really need to, because my boys are growing so fast! Gavi is almost SIX MONTHS OLD! How can that be?!
No offense taken...
So a gal at my MOPS group said to me at the park this morning, “Caleb is really attractive!” Beaming Mom, here. “Yes, yes he is.” “He is REALLY good looking!” Oh, the motherly pride. Disgusting, honestly. “I certainly think so!” “He must look like his dad.” Ego deflated. Personal pride shattered. Because it’s true, you know. Even I can admit that.
Favorite Day of the Year So Far!
I chopped my hair! Uber-short, uber-cute, and shouldn't be too much effort either! Time will tell. I don't want to get over-excited, but it took the lady at the shop all of three minutes, and she put a lot more effort into it than I'm planning to. It was awesome to see my ponytail cut off for Locks of Love, and know that someone is going to enjoy that hair as much as I have! Actually, I decided to do it yesterday when I realized that my hair was the thing in my life that was making me the most angry ~ at least that I can control. I spend so much time brushing it, my Gavi pulls a giant amount out every day, and it's constantly all over in my house. And I've had headaches for three days because between the ponytails and the braids, it's constantly pulling against my scalp. Oh my goodness, am I feeling so happy and free! A few more vacuumings and I don't reckon I'll be irritated by that long hair anymore! They needed ten inches for Locks of Love, and I was able to donate fourteen inches. Also, I've been thinking that my hair was getting really thin because so much is falling out. Not even! The lady said that they would probably be able to make a wig out of just my ponytail, even though it usually takes two or more to make one. That cut end of the ponytail was the coolest texture I've ever touched. I kind of wish I could have kept it just for a while just to show people. I guess that's kind of creepy. Caleb Zakai brought me a flower this morning! He was out fertilizing the yard with Grandpa as Grandma and I were poring over short hairstyles. He came running in the house and brought me a tiny purple violet looking thing. As I was absolutely melting down into tears because it was so precious, he said goodbye and retreated back outside. My first gift from my son! It will have to be saved, even though I'm not a saver. Something tells me I'm about to become a saver. Now I'm just chilling on the couch with my sweet Gavers beside me. He's getting so much personality, and it shines through at the sweetest of times. Whenever I'm at the end of my proverbial rope, he gives me a goofy (and ornery!) grin, and my whole perspective on life changes. Okay, I have to go. I think I'm going to start wearing makeup since my hair is actually stylish. (Elisha Cuthbert's pixie cut was one of my examples. Eek!) But it means that I'm going to have to figure out "a look." Next time anyone sees me, I'm going to be terrifyingly chic!
Happy March!
Greetings from the Fashbaugh house of of happiness! There’s some developments in our world that I need to get in writing ere I forget. Gavi and Caleb are semi-officially sharing a bedroom! The first night we moved him in there, he slept through the night and woke up with Caleb Z. The next two nights he woke up multiple times, waking Caleb up in the process. A weary Caleb Zakai is nothing to sniff at, my friends. That angelic little ball of cuteness turns into a whirlwind of sheer destruction. So last night, I moved Gavers back out to the living room. And he slept through with no issues. I don’t know what it could be. Maybe Caleb’s room is colder? Maybe Caleb’s night light is too concentrated? Maybe he just misses the hum of all the electronics equipment in the living room? Caleb has been awesome with his language! The things that are the funniest are the naughty bits, though. He asked for milk yesterday, and since he’d just had two glasses I said no. “Come on!” said he. “No.” “I have to!” he wailed. (Trying to keep a straight face.) “No.” “Pleeeeeease?” “Let’s play with trucks, sweetie.” “I NEEED IT!” Oh man, was it a hoot! He did something similar at dinner, and Jonny and I were really struggling to keep from laughing. It’s tough! He’s also really getting into his Veggietales cds. It makes me so happy to be able to enjoy the songs he’s playing! Gavi has discovered his feet. Boy, are they fun! He curls himself up, and sometimes looks happy, but for the most part, he just has this look of intense concentration! I don’t know what he’s thinking, but I love to watch him! Lots else going on, but my boys are clamoring for me!
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