It's Official!...

Exciting news!!!

Hope said her OFFICIAL first word.  Babbling words doesn't count to us if she doesn't know what the word is attached to.  But... it was no surprise that her first word was DADA because SHE is attached to her DADDY!!!!  Hope is such a Daddy's girl - it's so adorable.  This past Thursday night we were all at Brian's tee ball practice when it happened.  The video doesn't do it justice, really.  She just didn't perform as well for the camera.  When I asked her "Where is your Daddy?" she looked right at Ed, touched his face and said "Dada."  It took our breath away!

Listen to her sweet little voice...

I love that she is so enamored with her Daddy.  I was, too, with my Dad!  I hope it never changes.

Brian is doing so well in Tee Ball this year.  What a difference it makes being one year older.  He knows more, he can run faster, he throws better - and he's a great hitter!

It's a big switch from last season when he was collecting sticks and rocks in the outfield!

Brian is also doing really well adjusting to Kindergarten and the new routine.  He gets up with his alarm clock every day at 6:30 - and his bus arrives at 7:20ish.  It's just enough time to get dressed, eat and have time to read some books or play before heading out to the driveway.  I don't enjoy "let's go - let's go!  LET'S GO!!!!!!!!"  Our mornings are a bit early (more for me than him!) but relaxed.  Hope has only woken up one time to see him off.  Most of the time she's sound asleep until close to 8am!

Brian gave mini pumpkins to his new bus drivers (who are both very nice!).

This past week was the first week of real learning (the first week was all play and "getting to know you").  He has math and religion, science and gym, music and library, spanish and more!  He came home enthusiastic every day.  We have fallen into a routine when he gets home - Hope and I have a snack with him and he (sometimes) tells me about his day... then we play or read for a while, where he (sometimes) tells me more...

and then we do his "homework!"  He loves the homework (which is very minimal) portion!  Let's hope that enthusiasm stays with him for his entire school career!  

This past week I also had my first day of "lunch duty!"  I volunteered to go once a week to help with the students' lunch and recess periods.  It was fun to see Brian interact with his classmates in the lunchroom and on the playground.  I had Hope in my Ergo carrier and she had a blast taking everything in - not to mention seeing her brother!!

My days have definitely been different.  Hope and I have been having such a fun time playing during the day and have fallen into quite a routine already - playtime and naptime and even grocery shopping, just the two of us!

It's so interesting to watch her play in the playroom.  She has soooo many toys - but she inevitably ends up around Brian's toys!!  

Just the other day, I introduced her to a new toy.  Well, an old toy - but new to her.  You can see them in the above photo - top right.  They are a set of Gavin's stacking blocks and it brings tears to my eyes just to type that.  They are damaged where he put his mouth on them and are so sentimental to me.  Not the kind of sentimental that makes me want to preserve them and keep anyone from touching them.  Quite the opposite.  

It actually brings me excruciating joy to see Hope pick them up and... you guessed it... put them right in her mouth.

We had fun...

Hope's naptimes have brought a peace to our house that isn't always present.  For a good hour - sometimes two - sometimes twice a day - it's just me and my thoughts.  Some days that's good... other days, not so good.  On the good days, I get things done!  They aren't always the easiest things.  Like putting Gavin's clothes into a storage box...

...as if a box can contain any part of him.  Before you suggest we have someone make a quilt out of his clothes (which is a lovely suggestion) - we aren't interested.  We also aren't ready to get rid of his clothes.  One day we will be able to give them to someone special so that little person can wear them.  But now is not that time... and that's okay.

On the bad days, (which are sometimes the good days - I know, it confuses me too) I end up parked in front of our new ant farm.  Seriously - it's the new way to meditate (and have your eyes cross pretty quickly).

Check out the progression from Day one...

(before the ants went in)

(Dropped the ants in after putting them to sleep for 1 minute in the refrigerator!)

to Day two...

Came down the next morning to find THIS!

There is an entire tunnel down both sides and across the bottom.  Two of the ants died and they were picked up and put in the "ant graveyard" and buried.  I'm not even joking - these ants are so smart!!  Brian and I are loving this.

Today is Saturday, so you know what that means!  We celebrate another week with Hope.  She is 42 weeks today, which means that there are only ten more Saturday photo shoots before she turns ONE!

I said this last week, but it is near impossible to capture her photo. She's one big blur because she's always on the move!!  

Hope still has light eyes - and eyes that light up, coincidentally.  She also has two little bottom teeth, as you can see...

...and she loves to use them!

Her new favorite foods are boiled, soft carrots cut into sticks...

...hard boiled eggs, brown rice and broccoli!

Hope loves things that have faces - dolls, stuffed animals, etc. - and loves to give them kisses and hugs.  Her favorite doll is actually the first thing that Brian picked out for her the very day we told him we were expecting his little sister!  We've named her Katrina, a nickname from my childhood between my Mom and me.

This seems like a lifetime ago.

Hope is also taking an interest in books, which makes me so happy.  We are a HUGE children's book family.  I have so many books that I can rotate them with the seasons!

At the moment, Hope's favorite book (based on the way she sits for it and smiles a lot!) happens to be one of Gavin's all time favorite books:  "Eight Silly Monkeys."  It makes me cry typing that, too!

Enjoy the rest of our photo shoot!

And enjoy the rest of your weekend! Don't forget to laugh - even if you have to force it.  Sometimes that's the secret to my success on a hard day - I fake it until I make it.

Getting Into the Groove...

This week has definitely been an adventure!!  I was prepared for anything!  But I will be honest - I wasn't prepared for 100% happiness.  I expected a little bit of exhaustion... some crankiness... and definitely some complaining about the new schedule and long days away from each other.  And that's just how I thought I would feel!

Brian has woken up with his alarm and handled the morning routine so well.  So far Hope has been very cooperative, too, by sleeping in until close to 8am!  Brian and I have been having fun talking and being silly in the driveway as we wait for the bus.

It's turning into a special time for us!

He's loving the bus ride in the morning.  His good friend, Grace, is the stop before him and his other good friend, Danny, is the stop after him!  

For the first couple days his lunch and snack were coming back half eaten - or untouched.  I wasn't stressed about it - it's all an adjustment as he figures everything out, including how to use his time.  But I did come up with a new plan that's been going well for the past two days!  I filled a big container with snacks and gave him some control while he helps me pack his lunch and snack!  I pick the main portion - whether it's a yogurt or a sandwich - for lunch.  Then he picks two things from the container and tells me what kind of fruit he wants for snack and lunch.  Since he makes the choices, he gets excited about eating them!  So far it's been working, so we'll see if it lasts!

I also have a couple of strict rules.  If he comes home with the main part of his lunch un-eaten, he needs to eat it or have something nutritious before he is allowed to have a snack like Goldfish or pretzels, etc.  I also have a no candy or "junk food" (outside of what's in our snack container which I suppose could be considered "junk food") during the school week.  It's not a big change for him so he's not struggling with that rule.

When he gets off the bus, he's so happy to see us.  I get a big hug and kiss... and then he kisses Hope.  This afternoon he said, "I missed you, Hope!  Did you have a good day, sweetie?"  Ha!

He comes home FULL of pent up energy and is, literally, bouncing off the walls.  He's not being bad - just WILD!  And he knows it!  Today I asked him a question and he said, "Hold on, Mom.  First I need to exercise.  I'm going to run around the house ten times before I answer."  And off he went... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10!

I never did get that answer.

I also came up with a fun routine that actually helps me get information out of him in a natural way.  We make a "book fort" in the kitchen!  Brian chooses a stack of books and we sit on the floor and read and have a snack.  

Hope is right in there, as usual.  This little girl wants to be included in everything - especially if Brian is there!!

There's always something in the books that remind him of something that happened at school.  Like his first visit to the school library today!  The only downside to this "book fort" part of the day?  When arthritic Mommy has to get up off the floor!

Hope and I have been having a great time this week.  I do love having more time, just the two of us.  We're working on peek a boo and Sooo Big!  She is such a sweet and easy baby.

But this week, we had a little incident.  We were sitting in the bedroom together on the floor and right in front of me she toppled over.  Her head met the corner of one of the bottom posts and made a little dent in her skin.  She was stunned...and cried for about twenty seconds...and then she was fine!  

She is one tough cookie.

There's No One Like Brian...

This morning was Brian's first time taking the bus to school and he was very excited.  We were told to be ready 5-10 minutes early, just in case, and we were.  With Hope sleeping upstairs, Brian and I walked to the top of the driveway and anxiously waited for the bus to round the corner.

We waited... and waited.

The first week or so is always an adjustment so I really didn't expect for the bus to arrive early.  And, quite honestly, I was happy to spend the extra time staring at my happy student.  He was so excited to hear about my time in his school last night.  I attended "Back to School Night" and got to visit his classroom and hear a presentation from his teacher about what to expect this year.

I was thrilled to see Brian's first project - an "About Me" page that he created!  We were asked to send in pictures of his favorite things, places, family, vacation, favorite books and food... etc.  Brian chose the photos and I had them shrunk into wallet size - and then we found pictures online of his favorite book (The Encyclopedia.  Before you get too impressed thinking how fancy he is - it's the Star Wars Encyclopedia) and his favorite food (cheese pizza) and his favorite thing to play with (Legos).  It was fun for me to see what he chose to represent himself!

I took a picture of his name so I can look back at it at the end of the school year.  If he inherits either of his parents handwriting genes - it likely won't improve very much.

We all got to sit in our children's seats, which was a lot of fun!  But not so fun when my old self had to get out of the teeny tiny doll house like chair.  The teacher left papers out for us so we could write our child a note that they would see when they came in this morning, which I thought was such a loving idea.  Right up my alley.  Of course... I wrote a book.  I can't help it.  

So as we stood there in the driveway this morning, I found myself willing the bus to delay.  I love our little conversations.  I love when I compliment him or when I get excited (even if it's faked when he's rambling about storm troopers or the millenium falcon) and his eyes light up.  I love showing him that he's so, very important to me.  Because he is.  The night before the first day of school, Brian and I drove to the parking lot of the school to take his "fake first day" pictures.  We ended up parking ourselves on the curb near the hopscotch and talked and talked and snapped some selfies.  

He played two footed Hopscotch...

...and even let me interview him on camera!

I'm sure it gets old when I blather on and on about how wonderful my children are.  But honestly... Brian is so special.  This little boy has been through so much in his short life... including being there on the day his brother's heart stopped beating.  He has shown a strength and a resilience that is so impressive.  And through it all, he's never shown resentment or even jealousy of Gavin and now Hope.  He's kind and compassionate... and always polite and respectful.  I said to him one day when we were out in public and witnessing an exasperated Mom holler at her son, "You know, Brian - I've never had to "yell" at you."  His response?  "I know.  That's because I'm a good boy!"

That he is.

For the last couple days, Hope and I eagerly await Brian on the driveway.  We can't wait for him to come home.  He has been having so much fun and adjusting so well to the full day with all of his friends - old and new.  

It's hard to say goodbye in the morning... but when that bus rounds the corner and he runs to me...

...there's nothing like being Brian's Mommy.