Mostly Wordless Wednesday

Teeter-Totter Fun

Gazing at the turtle tank at the zoo.

Avery traded two of her current stuffed animals plus $4 for her zoo zebra. She named it Avery. Sigh.

If you give a kid a stomach bug . . .

We've finally recovered from a stomach bug we contracted two weeks ago. Mike, Avery and I were all sick during the same day. Luckily Nate figured out something was awry and went with it. Although we were only sick for a day, there were lasting behavioral effects such as sleeping habits, obedience back-sliding and poor eating.

Come to think of it, when your child is sick, its similar to reading a prolonged version of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. You know the book, if you give a mouse a cookie, he'll ask for a glass of milk. If you give him a class of milk, then he'll ask for a straw. And on and on until he ultimately ask for another cookie.  (These are actually really cute books with others in the series, like If You Give a Pig a Pancake.)


This has been my experience during this ONE DAY stomach bug ;-)

If you give Avery a stomach bug, she'll want to sleep all day. 
If you let Avery sleep all day, she'll want to watch tv while she's awake. 
If you let her watch tv while she's awake, when she's well, she'll still want to watch tv all day. 
If you tell her no to watching tv all day, she'll cry and cry and cry. 
If she's cries and cries and cries, Mom decides its time to get out of the house. 
If Mom and Avery and Nathan go to the store, Avery wants to buy something.
If Mom tells her no she can't buy something, she cries, rebels, and puts the shopping cart in her mouth.
If she puts the shopping cart in her mouth, she gets a stomach bug. 

Pretty much! There has been a ton of unreasonable crying these past few days, but she's finally coming around. Yay. When she's the best Avery she can be, she's quite outstanding.

But what about Nathan?

If you give Nathan a stomach bug, he'll want to be held all day.
If you hold him all day, he'll sleep in your arms a lot.
If he sleeps in your arms, he won't nap well in his crib. 
If he doesn't nap well in his crib, he'll be overly tired for his night sleep. 
If he's overly tired for his night sleep, he'll wake up at 5 am . . . every morning . . . for weeks.
If he wakes up at 5 every morning, he'll nap early and long.
If he naps early and long, he'll wake up at 5 every morning . . .

Well, that one just keeps on keeping on :-) I'm constantly torn about waking him from his nap because I know he needs the sleep, but waking him will probably ensure later morning sleep. Ugh. Motherly decisions!

I hope all of your families are surviving all the germs going around! I feel like we've had more than our fair share.

How do your kids respond to being sick?

Brother 'n' Sister

Nate was sick one night so I held him while he slept. Avery held his hand.
(Ignore the dirt under her nails.)

Avery insisted I take a pic of their boots together.

Snacks on their blankets.

Alpaca Fun

A Little Airplane Fun

It's All Worth It

Driving along one day, Nathan was being a fuss bucket. I lost myself in Silver Bells, escaping to the city streets lined with wreaths and magical lights. I realized I had not heard Nathan in a while. I looked back and Avery was holding his hand. They are really far apart in our car, so they were actually holding fingertips.

She looked at me and said, "Mom, he was sad. I think he just needed a friend."

Yep, it's all worth it.

Wordless Wednesday - Shopping and Sharing

The Gamble

I think when we choose the father of our children, we make a bit of a gamble. If you're like me, your husband was not around small children . . . hardly ever. I remember when we were first dating/married, I would have to help navigate Mike around little kids. Literally navigate. He claimed he couldn't see anyone or anything below his knees. An interesting claim considering he is quite agile with his feet, being a hiker, climber and caver.

Mike &Kids

One thing Mike did have going for him regarding fatherhood was his great respect for his own father.  Growing up, he spent a lot of time with his dad on the farm - building a barn, making syrup, chopping firewood, spending summers replacing windows and siding, etc. His dad was, and is, regarded with high esteem in his church and community. Notably, his respect for his dad continues to grow as their relationship deepens.

Well, I hit the Daddy jackpot. Mike is a seriously amazing husband. He works hard for us all day and is ready to be a dad once he gets home. He tells me that he purposefully listens to country music on the way home from work to transition his brain from work to home. (Apparently country music is mindless enough to enable the transition.) He's given up many things that he loves because it's not quite the right time in life for such things.

Mike, Avery & Tarantula

Avery loves her dad. Every time we pull into the garage and she sees his truck is gone, she tells Nathan, "Nope, Dad's not home yet. Be home soon, k?"  Was Mike uncomfortable with Avery as an infant. Sure. He cradled her with two arms when he undoubtedly only needed one arm. Eventually Avery wanted to join him outside to do dad jobs. She became daddy's outdoor girl. They search for cows in the desert. She loves riding in the jeep and knows about the jeep wave. She can tell you lots about desert animals, bugs and reptiles because of her time with him. She often informs me that she likes Dad best.
 

Nate helping Mike fix a tire.

Nathan can't get enough of his dad. If Mike comes home from work and does not immediately pick him up, he voices his disagreement quite loudly. If Mike is holding him and I try to take Nate from him, Nate will swipe his arm back and forth to keep me from taking him. Mike refers to it as the "forearm shiver." Nate also loves to be outside and watch cars and trucks - a great age appropriate father/son activity. I know Mike is just so excited to have a son.

He's a great man who loves God. He takes care of me more than I understand. He doesn't mind that the house is a mess. He encourages me that I'm spending my time wisely. What I appreciate the most, though, is that I know Mike loves me. His love for me and my children is quite possibly the most attractive thing about him. Not to sound redundant, but he's amazing.

Were you pleasantly surprised by your husband's fathering abilities? What special things does he do with your children?

The Variance

Many people have told me that your first two children will most assuredly be complete opposites. I wouldn't say that Avery and Nate are complete opposites, but they definitely have their differences.  I'm thinking of making this topic a weekly one, so this week's specific variance is:

Social Interaction

Typical Sneer

Nate, Avery and I went to a high school volleyball match last night at a school where I used to coach. Before we got out of the car, I had to remind Avery that there would be people in the gym that were going to say hi and tell her that her hair looked nice and that she needed to be nice and say hi. She had a Rapunzel hair piece in - that's why the hair comment was relevant.  Anyhow, Avery always needs to be reminded that the appropriate response to people addressing her is to actually respond. It amazes me the amount of people who tell me that it's okay if she doesn't say hello. No! It is not okay! Anyhow, as torturous as it was, she did quite well being appropriately social.

Typical Smile

At the same match, we were sitting in the bleachers and Nate was attempting to wriggle his way to freedom every three minutes. Every so often he would stop wriggling and I realized he was holding the attention of the people sitting behind us. He was flirting with a mom and making faces at some scary looking man. He was also enjoying the ogling faces of a couple of high school girls. Mike and I often comment on how weird it is to take Nate to a grocery store and have him smile at most of the people walking by.  When Avery was Nate's age, she would just sneer at people. It was not uncommon for people to tell us, "I feel like she's judging me." I would typically respond, "She probably is." Ha!

Please understand that I love this difference in my children. I think both temperaments have their benefits and it will provide endless entertainment when they get older. 

Are your children opposites in social interaction like mine? Have a funny example?