Our sweet son

Just five minutes ago, as I was picking up some of James' craft supplies, we ran across the birthday card given to him by our friend "Uncle John." I read the card to James and we looked at it together for a minute. Then I went back to tidying, and James went about his business. He was writing on the back of the card - something he's been doing since signing birthday cards for my parents. So I didn't think much of it. When I tuned back in to him, I heard him say, "tr - tr- train. I need to spell train."

I looked down. Immediately tears sprang to my eyes as I read what he had written - all on his own, with no assistance from me:

Thankuforthetr...

He had written a thank-you note to Uncle John for the train car John had given him for his birthday.

(and with only the reminder that it needed a "silent I", he finished the sentence by himself!)

More than the fact that he wrote the sentence is the sweetness of seeing his grateful heart. What a gift to be this little boy's mommy!

Catching Up

It's been entirely too long since I've posted... certainly not because I don't have things to post! And if you read all the way to the end, you'll have a surprise awaiting you. :)

Where to begin...

In June, Madelene Kate got her second tooth, sat up on her own consistently, began to push herself around (backwards) and then got up on her hands and knees and began to rock back and forth. She also got to have a couple of baths with her big brother, which made him very happy. And Madelene Kate thought it was great to get to splash around while sitting up.

By June 25, when our girlie was 7 months and 1 week old, we decided it was time for her to sleep through the night. So we made a few changes in our sleeping arrangements so that she didn't smell Mommy when she stirred at night. We expected it to take a crying bout of 45 minutes the first night, 15 the second and 5 the third. That's what the books told us, and that's what James did back when we did sleep training with him.

What a pleasant surprise she had for us. The first night, she fell back to sleep after crying for just 25 minutes. The next morning, at 6 a.m. when I went in to get her, she was sitting happily with her pacifier in her mouth. She slept through the night the very next night from 10:15 p.m. to 6 a.m. Ahhh... sleep glorious sleep!

By July 1, Madelene Kate began to move forward on her belly and continued to push up onto her hands and knees. A week later, she brought each knee forward once and then both knees up and then slid onto her belly. And then she'd just fuss and fuss until I came to rescue her. Quite funny to observe... but not so funny to her, obviously!

On July 7, at 7 1/2 months old, Madelene Kate began to crawl. She was very timid at first. And when she'd get tired, which was pretty quickly, she'd sit on her hands and knees with her head on the floor and cry so pitifully! It didn't take long for her to get the hang of it, though. Although slow, she discovered that she could get into things within the week. Yikes!

July 8 thru 10, Ben's sister, Lizzie, was here with her Westie named Lily. James and Madelene Kate LOVE doggies. Madelene Kate would sit on the floor and squeal and open/close her hands, begging Lily to come over to visit her. It was very sweet.

On July 19, our girl sat up from crawling for the first time. She also waved to her daddy AFTER he left for the morning.

We went on vacation with Ben's family July 24 thru 31. Ben, James and I got to take a kayak out on the lake one morning while Madelene Kate napped in our cabin and Ben's mom stayed with her and Katie's youngest, Claire (nearly 5 months old). I think that was a highlight of James' week - he wants to talk about it still! We also returned to the Wild Center, visited another museum twice and went on a train ride.

The last night of vacation, after a week of Madelene Kate crying and demanding and lunging for food, we decided to let her try some avocado. Poor baby... she still isn't ready. Despite all of her excitement, she still can't move food from the front of her mouth to the back. So we'll wait a little longer. She's not needing food, for sure. Our girl appears to be more than adequately fed!

On Saturday night, July 31, we returned home from vacation. The next morning, Madelene Kate promptly began to pull herself up on furniture. And she hasn't looked back. She crawls right over to anything that sits off the floor and gets right up on her feet. By the following Wednesday, she had pulled herself up in her pack-n-play. And now, she doesn't need anything except the floor to push herself to her feet... thankfully, though, for now, she can't get upright... but it appears that is not too far off. When I take her fingers, she charges across the room. She started climbing the stairs on Thursday, Aug 12, so now we're either moving her away from them or following her up and then helping her come down backwards... it's a full-time job just tracking the baby!

There is more to share, but I will post this now and start another.

Here are some pictures - taken on our last day of vacation - Friday, July 30.

9 months

Madelene Kate is already nine months old. I guess I don't need to express surprise at how fast it's gone. But it doesn't seem like that much time has really passed. She is so beautiful and so sweet and a delight to everyone who engages her.

We saw our favorite doctor last Friday and have new stats on our growing girlie.

Height - 27 inches (25-50th percentile)

Weight - 18 lbs, 7 oz (50th percentile)

Head Circumference - 45 cm (75th percentile)

A post with details on all her accomplishments (and her brother's, too) is slowly being created. Check back soon!

The Fair

I am working on an update, trying to capture all the comings & goings and ups & downs of June and July. But meanwhile, we had a memorable outing today.

We went to the Fair.

I took James to the mall last week for new shoes. As we pulled in, he instantly (and loudly) announced, "Mommy! This is where we went with Dorothy to the FAIR!"

Indeed. Last year, we parked at our local mall and were shuttled in school buses to the fairgrounds. We'd met our friends there. He recalled with perfect clarity - as if it had just been yesterday - the event from a year ago.

I was delighted to inform him that in just one week, we'd be going again.

So when his day began with eager anticipation at 5:20 this morning, 9:00 seemed like an eternity away. FINALLY, after he and Daddy both had breakfast, after we'd had devotions, after he'd given Daddy hugs & kisses and taken his lunch bag out to Daddy's car, after he'd loaded up his beloved Happy, safe in a cooler bag with a blanket for company, we left the house at 9:09.

We arrived at the mall parking lot, and he began to anxiously ask where Dorothy and Miss Kelly were, and then he begged the school bus to wait for us. To his dismay, the first bus left - but before he could become too concerned, a second one pulled up. And moments later, so did our friends.

Both James and Dorothy exited their car seats and were welcomed into the comforting clasps of their monkey harnesses. Their baby sisters were safely snapped into front-pack carriers. And diaper bags and camera bags were slung over their Mommy's shoulders. Our bus driver lifted our strollers onto the bus. And we were off!

Camels at the entrance... down to Old McDonald's Barn (a variety of barnyard buddies)... then to the birthing barn where a calf had been born yesterday morning, and another was laboring intensely... We visited our neighbors' steers, popped into the poultry barn where chicks were hatching from their eggs, and then parted ways with Miss Kelly & Dorothy, not in accordance with James' preference. He and I went to visit the hog barn while Dorothy went on a pony ride. After Madelene Kate ate, we found our way to a happy reunion with our friends.

James and Dorothy ate some lunch at a covered picnic table, right beside the Little Piggy Speedway. How perfect! From our vantage point, we could see the piglets, baby goats and turkeys all make their way around the track.

Then it was off down the road to get in line for cow milking. We were the first ones there - with half an hour to spare! So Kelly stood in line with the babies while I took James & Dorothy over to climb on the tractors. James slid right down the combine slide - I was so proud of him! And he wanted to go right back and do it again. Finally I had to pull those two adventurers away so we wouldn't be late for the milking.

What a difference a year makes. Last year, James had wanted nothing to do with milking a cow. And although Dorothy had stood in line for a very long time, she had bailed before she did it. James' highlight from last year, though, was watching others milk the cow, and then suddenly "Bessie" lifted her tail, and the farmer grabbed a bucket just in time to catch her... droppings.

But this time, those two fearless friends made their way right up to the cow, put their little hands on the teats and started milking! Even I got in on the action.

After a foray into the Chilly Mall - the air conditioned building with vendors galore - we decided it was time to head home. As we made our way to the exit and another school bus ride, we hung out with the camels for a bit. And then... a freight TRAIN horn! The perfect way to end a perfectly delightful day at the fair.

3.7 : Richter Scale

When you see the words "Richter Scale" you immediately know what they mean. And of course, the higher the number, the more devastating the earthquake.

Today, I am grateful for a low number.

Just a few miles from where I live was the epicenter of a pre-dawn earthquake felt quite broadly throughout our state.

I was awake, feeding our darling girlie. The sound of thunder greeted me just minutes after I picked her up and began to feed her. But the sound didn't diminish as thunder would. And the strong shaking wouldn't accompany thunder either.

My blood ran cold. I knew that it was an earthquake.

It took what felt like an eternity to me (5 minutes actually) for anyone else in the house to stir. Ben came in and said he thought we'd had an earthquake and was headed down to check. Mom and our housemate both awakened but stirred only long enough to wonder why the water softener or washing machine was so loud... and then drifted back to sleep.

Having been awake for the entire event, my heart didn't stop racing until around noon.

I don't think I could ever live in Southern California!

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Latest Accomplishments

Our girlie is going mobile!

Madelene Kate can sit up for long periods of time now, picking up toys, switching hands, even getting her pacifier into her mouth all without falling over!

But when she does fall over, she often turns right over onto her belly and re-e-e-a-a-ches for whatever toy is just out of reach. She has made her way slightly forward a couple of times since Monday (Memorial Day). But mostly when she pushes up on her hands, she ends up going backwards... just like her big brother!

Ah yes... a new era has begun.