baby Z, 3 months

Baby Z is 3 months old.  I want so badly to make this stage of new baby perfection to last as long as we can, to enjoy every second.  But it’s racing by and he’s apparently eager to grow up.  He’s nearly 16 pounds and already has his two bottom teeth.  They cut without any fussiness, just lots of drool.  We didn’t even know about them until making the shocking discovery two weeks ago that one had cut all the way through and a second was on the way. 

He’s such a good baby.  He’s full of beaming smiles and SO talkative.  He coos to us, back and forth as if in conversation and his eyes are so engaging and expressive.  His smile is irresistible and his coos just make me melt.  Daddy was the lucky recipient of Z’s first truly responsive smiles.  A is able to get him to smile most often.  And I probably get to hear the most jabbering since his favorite time of day is morning.

He’s a good sleeper.  At night he wants to be swaddled and put to bed, usually by 8:30 which gives me time to put the girls to bed.  He sleeps 5-6 hours before he wants to eat and immediately falls asleep again.  He typically sleeps another 2 hours, nurses again and sleeps 1-2 more hours, especially if I cuddle him.  During the day he’s much less predictable and usually sleeps less than an hour at a time.  But he’s so easy going and generally happy.

He loves to be held upright against my shoulder to walk around.  He loves the fan and completely fixates on it.  He’s finally doing better with the binky.  He’d much rather suck on his fists but we’ve consistently tried to get him to take the binky instead with mixed success.  

His sisters are so crazy about him.  L and A can confidently pick him up and carry him around.  (It terrifies me since they still don’t support his head well but then again, I am super paranoid.)  Each of the girls have even begged for a turn changing his diaper.  They constantly smother him with cuddles, kisses and nonstop noise.  

I love to nibble on his silky, chubby cheeks.  I love to hold him up against me and give him squish hugs.  I love the way he wakes me and how he first stretches, arching his back, and then snuggles into me like a little tree frog.  I love jabbering with him and being rewarded with his gorgeous smiles.  I love staring into his huge, thoughtful blue eyes.  I love how he lays back and kicks excitedly, pumping his legs as fast as he can.  I love how his little baby feet are so soft and undefined with the littlest toe curling under.  I love how he grips onto my fingers as if he will never let go.  I love how he fits so perfectly into our little family, an essential perfect piece we can't imagine being without.

last week of school

E’s preschool hosted an end-of-year assembly.  The nine preschoolers lined up across the front of the room, each under some of their artwork taped to the wall.  The show was adorable!  Their amazing teacher took us through the program telling us something special about each month and the kids sang a song for each month.  We started with the Pledge of Allegiance and national anthem and then E got to point to the month chart to show us her birthday month.  They sang fun silly songs like “days of the week” and “five little monkeys”.  They talked about their fall field trip to HeeHaw Farms and their spring field trip to Day’s Market.  The kids donned sunglasses to sing “Mr. Sun” but E was insisting she had the wrong sunglasses and refused to sing (that kid can be SO stubborn).  Fortunately she got over it and joined again in the next song.  They sang their cute holiday songs and I tried to video them for Daddy to see later.  E’s favorites seemed to be the counting fishes song, the tiny turtle song and bringing home my baby bumblebee.  Their teacher highlighted each student and for E, she remarked how E is the oldest in the class and a natural leader and helper.  She loved being special leader and doing extra jobs for teacher.  After the program the kids got to have snacks and take pictures with their teacher and bring home all their fun projects.

A had a graduation ceremony to celebrate her completion of kindergarten.  The students entered in graduation caps and filled the stage.  They principal did an initial intro and then the kids took over, some of them participating with one sentence speaking parts.  A was chosen for a part in Spanish and was one of the first speakers, welcoming everyone to graduation.  They sang songs about vowels and things they’ve learned and sang several upbeat songs in Spanish.  I loved watching A dance to the music, like she just couldn’t help herself.  They wore sunglasses for one of their songs and did sign language to another.  The students’ names were read aloud as they crossed the stage to receive a certificate.  Then it was A’s favorite part, they rewrote the word to “eye of the tiger” and sang “eye of an eagle, you’re gonna see me soar” and then danced their way out to “summertime”.  After the ceremony she smothered me with hugs and we took pictures with her teachers and got her treats.

L’s dance team had an end-of-year ice cream social and awards.  All the girls were cute and full of energy.  As everyone lounged around chatting and eating, I remembered to look up the audition results for next year’s team.  I was really surprised to see that she had advanced another level.  I assumed that she would stay on the Starlights team for two years.  But turns out she has moved up to Pack already.  She was thrilled and eagerly poured over the list, cheering with friends.  It’s a slightly bigger commitment but she’s excited.  Their coaches gave out awards personalized for each girl.  L was given the “piano princess award”.  Apparently she spends all her break time or few minutes before class playing the piano. 

A and L had Field Day of school.  Their favorites included the sponge race and getting sprayed by the firetruck.

L played in her spring piano recital.  She played a variation of Family Dreams and a variation of Amazing Grace.  She played them both beautifully. 

And finally on the last day, our next door neighbor had a backyard splash party to celebrate summer.  The girls dashed around with friends, jumped in and out of the pool, hurled themselves down the slip n slide, devoured pizza and ice cream sandwiches, earned their first summer sunburn (despite wearing sunscreen) and had a fantastic time.  Meanwhile, I hung out chatting with adults while Z slept through the whole thing.

May

Husband had to go on a work trip to Hawaii.  Needless to say, we’ve heckled him so much about it.  I’m pretty sure he actually did work most the time and didn’t get to play much.  But he and grandpa brought home great stuff for everyone.  They picked out pearl necklaces for me and the girls, brought home chocolate covered macadamia nuts, found a great Hawaiian print outfit for Z and shipped home a case of fresh Maui pineapple.  We ate four of them the first night.  Okay, mostly me.  I ate most of the four pineapple.

Husband got to go birthday boarding and had a blast.  The snow was surprisingly good for spring snow and he and his best friend had a great time.

For his actual birthday, he was gone on a business trip.  So we celebrate the next day.  The girls helped me make him breakfast in bed and took him on a treasure hunt of clues.  The clues led him to his gifts.  We picked out a fancy M&M dispenser for his desk at work and a variety of gourmet popcorns.  That night we had his birthday dinner with chicken parmesan and reese’s cheesecake.  The girls decided they liked making the cheesecake more than they liked eating it.

That weekend, Grandpa took us out for Husband’s birthday.  In tradition, we went to Braza Grill.  The girls loved everything about it, especially the unique serving style and the pineapple.  The food was amazing!

May turned into a busy birthday month.  The next weekend, the girls attended three birthday parties in one day.  At a neighbor’s birthday they made light sabers and had an epic backyard battle including waterballoons.  The BB8 cake was incredible and lavishly and creatively decorated.  A went to a party at a tumbling gym and spent most the time hurling herself into the foam pit.  And we attended a pirate party in the park, digging for gold doubloons in the sandbox and eating cupcakes.  Such lucky little girls.

A lost more teeth!  A few weeks before, she fell off a counter and smacked her face.  Her top two teeth were loose and bleeding but seemed to firm back in.  But a week later she collided with E and it knocked one of them right out.  The second fell out the next morning.  And then two weeks later she lost yet another one while eating!  She has three more that will fall out in the next few weeks and her toothless grin is super cute.

We went to the Safety Fair.  Husband was out of town so I was a little nervous about juggling the four kids but we did great.  I took L and A to the starting line for their race.  They registered awhile back and have been tracking “active hours” to meet the 25 hours requirement.  Then the race was 1.2 miles to complete their “marathon challenge”.  They joined their groups while E, Z and I headed for the finish line party.  While waiting E jumped on the bounce house giggling and laughing.  Then she raced off to the giant inflatable slide that was shaped like a shark.  She came barreling down with huge eyes and declared it way too scary and too fast.  Yet five minutes later, she begged to go again.  She climbed to the top and chickened out.  Unfortunately kids kept coming up and climbing over her.  Soon she was huddled in a corner at the top, bawling her eyes out and unable to come down.  So I asked a friend to hold Z while I climbed up and collected my sad girl.  She agreed to sit on my lap with her eyes closed while we went down the slide.  I agree—way too fast.  Luckily, the big girls arrived soon full of happy energy. We cheered them through the finish and they collected their shirts and medals.  Then we visited several of the booths playing mini games and collecting free stuff.

Poor L had a rough few days.  She’s had some little bumps on her skin that wouldn’t go away and suddenly flared up enough to be bothersome.  So I took her to a dermatologist who diagnosed them as skin molluskum.   It’s apparently viral so we’re being careful to keep it from spreading and trying to be patient with the healing process.  Unfortunately they do itch and catch on her clothes.  Plus she’s already a fairly self-conscious child and this has been rough on her.  They’re not visible in most of her play clothes but she’s still having a hard time.  Watching my kids struggling for whatever reason is the hardest part of being a mom.

Z hit his two month mark.  He's growing incredibly fast, 97 percentile for height and 94 percentile for weight, meaning he is already the size of an average four month old baby.  This of course breaks my heart.  So grateful he's growing and healthy but it's speeding by way too fast.  His schedule is still pretty unpredictable but mostly because he's always on the go.  Our schedule changes every day with the girls' activities and we do our best to keep up.  At night he typically sleeps 4-6 hours and then 1-2 hour stretches after that.  After checking in with the doc and visiting a lactation specialist we are doing better with nursing.  Simply put, he's a lazy nurser with a shallow latch and it's taken some time for us to make it work.  But his weight gain is great so no concerns.  He goes to bed great and sleeps well in his cradle now.  As it gets closer to morning he wants to sleep with me though so we usually cuddle him in our bed for his last stretch of sleep.  And he started smiling!  His face is SO expressive and fun to watch.  He is master of the furrowed brow and has a great one-eyebrow-up skeptical look.  But my favorite has been the sweet spontaneous smiles, especially when nursing.  Just past his two month part, he started smiling social and its a whole-body-light-up-the-world beaming smile.  He's cooing and making noise.  He loves to have a conversation and will go back and forth with "oo" and "ah" sounds.  He loves bathtime and we usually take our time letting him lounge just running the warm water over him.  And of course, all three girls are crazy about him.  They argue over who gets to bathe him and insist on getting a turn holding him every day.  the novelty is slowing wearing down, mostly for L because she's so busy and E because she has such a short attention span.  But A still begs every day to hold him and is such an incredible help to me.  I teased her that she's the magic to get him calm as she's been able to soothe his cries several times.  She loves the nickname and tells him "don't worry little brother, magic is here, I'm here" as she picks him up and loves him.  His skin is perfect, his eyes are so blue and wise, his hair is silky soft and he's got a strong grip.  I can't get enough of this incredible kid.

And now full speed ahead through the end of school and into summer!

DC and Memorial weekend

Husband travels to Washington DC semi-regularly for work.  He usually goes for three or four days and gets to visit his kid sister.  This particular trip showed up on his calendar and it fell together so easily that I could go with him.  We had such a great weekend and I’m so grateful I got to go! I’ve been there once for a short trip and loved it.  I love historical sites, museums, wandering new cities and was thrilled for some one-on-one with Z and especially to get to spend so much time with husband.

On Thursday evening, it was pretty late when we finally got on the road.  (L had auditions for next year’s dance team)  We got to my parents house and turned the girls loose for some over excited hugs and chatting.  They would be staying at Grammy’s house for the long weekend.  We got the girls to bed and got a few hours of sleep before we were up again and raced off to the airport for our super early flight.

Our only hiccup at the airport was getting Z on my ticket as a lap infant. It’s always shocked me that as ticketed passengers, children don’t need ID.  But apparently infants do.  Fortunately we worked it out quickly and made our flight.  Z slept the whole way to our layover in Chicago.  We got some lunch, played with Z and boarded our second flight, which Z also slept through.

We landed in DC in the late afternoon, immediately swarmed with the hot humid air.  It felt more like showing up in the Caribbean than in crisp, New England.  Kid sister picked us up and we headed for her apartment.  She generously turned the bedroom over to us so we did a quick freshen up and left for dinner.  Originally Husband was to fly out earlier in the week for work meetings.  But those meetings got rearranged and postponed.  We almost cancelled the trip but it worked out so easily for me to go that we went anyway as just a fun weekend.  However, we did have dinner with some of his work contacts.  We went to a great restaurant full of young professionals and great food.  Z was an unusual sight there and got lots of attention every time I walked around.  I spent most of dinner chatting with kid sister and taking care of Z while Husband was able to talk with his contacts.

After dinner it was still early enough we decided to go play.  We headed for the Mall, making our way through the thousands of motorcyclists gathering for the Annual First Amendment ride.  We started at the Lincoln Memorial, finding the MLK Jr step and admiring the view.  We wandered the paths going to the new MLK Jr Memorial, observing the Jefferson Memorial for a distance and finding the original cherry trees and small monument explaining the history.  We took our time at the WWII Memorial as night fell, perfectly timing it so we could see the Korean War Memorial in the dark.  I heard it was really moving and so different to see it that way.  Finally we went back to kid sister’s apartment, driving past the Iwo Jima statue and the Air Force Memorial on the way.  We rented a movie (Winter Soldier) but I slept through it and finally crashed for the night.

On Saturday, we took our time getting ready in the morning and had breakfast at the apartment.  And then went into DC again, wandering past many official buildings including kid sister’s work, and stopping at a food truck for an early lunch.  Then we spent several hours at the Smithsonian American History Museum.  I had never been there before and it’s been high on my list for a long time.  I knew some of the individual items on display and wanted to see them.  But I had no idea how broadly encompassing the museum is.  The museum is sectioned off by various themes and we visited most of them, moving much more slowly than we claimed but thoroughly enjoying it.  Z did fantastic, occasionally fussy but we simply stopped whenever he was hungry and took turns pushing his stroller.  We visited exhibits on money, the evolution of transportation, the history of food (where Z got to have breakfast in Julia Child’s kitchen—I though it was appropriate), voting booths, the White House and so much more!  The American Sacrifice exhibit was very moving, discussing all the conflicts in which American participated with a focused perspective that had so much impact and personalization.  We got to see the flag that inspired the national anthem (I had been to Fort McHenry before which is much more informative and powerful but the actual flag is in the museum).  I loved the exhibit on the first ladies, the dress collection is incredible.  And the exhibit that is probably most well known was smaller than I anticipated but still incredible with items like the Nauvoo sun stone, Ben Franklin’s cane, then Greensboro lunch counter and more.  I even got a picture of Z with the original Elmo.

We eventually left the museum and walked towards the mini Chinatown in DC (which is most just an elaborate gate but beautiful).  We stopped at Chopt to get salad for dinner, craving something fresh and light in the heat and then ended at the movie theatre to see Captain America: Civil War.  Husband and kid sister usually go to the movies when he gets to visit her, often seeing a Marvel movie so I was happy to join their tradition.  Z did great, he was awake though most of it but happy to be cuddled the whole time.  And then back to the apartment for the night. 

On Sunday morning we woke up earlier and joined some friends for church.  I’ve seen them once since they moved to DC a few years ago so it was so fun to catch up with them.  We attended church with them and then followed them home for a quick lunch.  Their four young kids are adorable and absolutely love Husband who has visited them before.  Then we invited them to go with us to spend the afternoon at the Arlington Cemetery. 

We tried to drive there but the roads were blocked off, probably due to the anticipated high traffic that would have swamped the area.  So we drove partway and then took the metro.  With 5 adults and 5 young kids, we moved rather slowly but had a great experience.  We did the tour which let us get on a bus and hop on and off at some of the various spots.  It also included a tour guide and I really appreciated their narrative.  He pointed out several monuments or sections, including his own Vietnam group.  The endless rows of headstones and flags was astounding.  It was immense, sprawling in every direction with reverence, precision and nobility.  We got off the bus at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and witnessed the changing of the guard.  We got an extended version with the placement of wreaths because of the Memorial weekend.  We also got off the bus at Robert E Lee’s house which has been converted to a museum restored with period pieces and tells the history of how Arlington cemetery was created.  From the house, we got to enjoy one of the best views in all of Washington DC and could see all of the Mall.  I had to stop and feed Z as we enjoyed the view and as an unexpected surprise, we got to watch as military police came to lower the flag for the evening and one of the guides explained to the kids about how it was folded.  However, by then it was also pouring rain so we didn’t get to go to the Iwo Jima statue or the 9/11 Memorial.  Next time.

We said goodbye to our friends and made it home.  We packed, ordered in Indian food (loved that you can get anything delivered there!) and watched Ant-Man for a quieter evening at home.  Especially since we had to be up at 4 am for our flight.

Again, Z was an angel and slept the whole way home.  We met Grammy and Papa at IHop to retrieve our girls and they were full of fun stories from the weekend.  They visited a bounce house park and spent hours there with cousins.  They painted glow in the dark fairy houses for Papa’s garden and made rice kripsy trains for us, dripping with frosting and candy.  They loved getting to “help” Papa build the new gazebo for the Jacuzzi (doubtful how helpful they actually were but they loved it).

From there we hurried home to unload the car and ready for the rest of the day.  We joined Grandpa,  the aunties and few other favorite family members and the cemetery.  The girls decorated Grandma’s headstone with flowers as we passed around Good & Plenty candies (Grandma’s favorite, bought at lil L’s request) and we sang and prayed.  We had to adjust plans and weren’t able to visit all the cemeteries we usually do since the day was going fast.  But from there we gathered with many more family members at Gram’s headstone for prayer, song and the reciting of Flander’s Field.

After we left the cemetery, we went to the aunties’ house for a BBQ, lots of chatting and a huge game of kickball.  The girls loved playing kickball, and husband is such a wonderful Daddy, he had a great time playing with the kids.  Z turned suddenly fussy so I stayed with him and we headed home soon after.

Can’t think of a better way to spend Memorial Day weekend.

dance

My beautiful little girls have been looking forward to this for weeks and weeks.  They talked endlessly of dancing on the “real stage” and me watching them in the audience.  They talked about their costumes and showed moves from their dances.  Needless to say, they were SO excited.

Because I have three girls of varying ages, dress rehearsal took our whole Friday night.  Their assigned practiced slots were spread out which meant I didn’t have to rush to get anyone ready but it did take awhile.  They each got a turn practicing on the stage in costume.  In fact, we barely made it to E’s rehearsal.  We were racing in the door just as the music started.  Seeing her class onstage without her broke her heart, she stopped abruptly and burst into tears.  But she let me guide her along and get her onstage.  She joined late and halfheartedly.  Fortunately, her class got to run through it a second time and one of the teachers took a minute while they reset the lighting to tease a smile out of her.  So for the second time, she was her happy self again and enjoyed her dance. L takes more classes so she had two routines to practice and A was able to practice with her class as well.  We snuck in a quick dinner between numbers and got home after bedtime, met by Papa and Grammy at the house.

Saturday morning was a fun chaos.  We participating in a neighborhood yard sale but because of the rain, it was in our garage.  Husband managed most of that for us while Grammy and Papa ran their own tables as well and the girls sold cookies and lemonade and hot chocolate.  One of our cousins came to visit and have breakfast with us.  It was a little crazy with the sale going on but we didn’t want to postpone since she’s close to her baby’s due date and I wanted to send her home with baby stuff.  And soon I settled in to do hair and make up on my three dancers.  We loaded everyone into two vehicles with a huge pile of costumes and shoes and left for the auditorium.  Everyone else left to get seats while I took the girls backstage and claimed a corner for their stuff.  I finished getting them dressed and ready and left them with their teachers just before the show started. 

As I went in, I got a program and was surprised to see my L on the program cover!  Her dance picture was chosen to use for the program.  We hadn’t known and what a great surprise!  The theme of the show was “Finding Nemo” so each of the dances were costumed after a character, sort of following the plot line of the movie but mostly just for costume inspiration.  L was a clown fish for her ballet dance, with long graceful extensions and her face beaming.  E was a kissy fish and unbelievable adorable.  A was a Dory fish, doing a ballet routine, seeming so sweet and serene, especially in comparison to her usual dynamite, unstoppable energy.  And then L danced again as a tuna fish for a fun jazzy number that has been stuck in my head for days (“the codfish ball”).  After the show we gave them each a red rose, took pictures  and herded them off to lunch.

We went to Ruby Tuesdays, far enough away there wasn’t a huge dance crowd and fancy enough that they felt it was really special.  They got pretty boisterous but we made it through lunch and back to the auditorium for the evening show.  The afternoon show was “Finding Nemo”, mostly just the younger classes.  The older classes and the competition teams preformed in the evening show.  So I got L’s hair done and helped her ready her costumes.  Then Grammy and I took Z and the little girls home leaving just Husband, Papa and L for the evening show.  Grammy and I have seen her competition routines several times and then men hadn’t.  Plus I knew Z would be awake and fussy through the evening.  Especially since he slept through the whole afternoon! 

And thus, we finished another year of dance.  The girls love it so much and I’m grateful for the amazing teachers they have had.