Josiah's 3rd Birthday - Part 2

We tried to get Josiah to go down for a nap, but to no avail. We did work on preparing him for this down time, but he just was too hyped up for his party to sleep. We did make him stay in his room though for the whole time that he "would have" slept so that we could prepare for the party though. I went outside and set up his Thomas the Tank Engine fort (a gift he got for Christmas last year), the new slip and slide that Grandma & Grandpa bought (with this shark mouth at the end that goes up and down to try and "eat" the sliders as they go down the slide), and also to blow up and put water in his little wading pool (which ended up getting two holes in it, one in the top ring and one in the bottom).

A little bit before 4pm (when his party was scheduled), I sent Grandma in to his room to change him into his swim clothes and his first words to her were, "Are my guests here yet?" She got a big kick out of that one!

The guests did arrive soon after four and we did the cake first. Daddy has taught Josiah how to hold up three fingers for being three and so I caught him doing it with his three candles lit as well. Josiah also has what we call this "Happy Birthday Song Face" that he gets every time someone sings the song for him. He did variations of this at his 1st, 2nd and now 3rd birthday. You can see he is half smiling with his tongue out a bit. That is the face I am speaking of.

When we cut the cake, he wanted "the blue balloon" for his piece, and so I had to creatively cut the cake to retrieve it. He wasn't as messy eating the cake as in years past, but he did still get blue on his face and all over his tongue from the frosting.

Then after the cake, we told him there was a surprise outside and when he saw it he said, "Oh boy," and started running fast down the stairs to the back yard to see all the things Mommy had set up back there. As you can see he took a dip in the pool, only to discover that it was rather cold on his tootsies. He soon got over being wet though as it was a super hot day and I am sure the water felt good on this active little guy.


Here are some of the pictures of Josiah's "guests" of which there were 11 in all (including the adults) and technically 13 if you count my brother and his friend who came briefly at the beginning of the party. These are the kids of our friend's from church the Arndt's.

And this is a group from Sharel's family (our babysitter) who also came to celebrate with us.

Grandma and Grandpa also got Josiah a wagon for his birthday. Some of the older girls pulled the kids around the yard in it and they had a blast. This wagon will get a lot of use in a house full of boys I am sure! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Here is a funny picture of soaking wet Josiah greeting the Caleb boy. You will note that Caleb has a nice big, square lip as well. And for once this wasn't from something Josiah did to him. We figured out that he would put out his square lip every time he felt a mist of water blow on him from the sprinkler. At first, I thought he was tired or something until we felt this large gush of water mist on us and he started crying real bad and then I knew he just didn't like the cold mist on his face. Daniel is sitting on Grandma's lap in the background and Grandpa is videotaping the whole thing as well. As a side note on sharing videos on the blog in the future, I plan to, but David and I are working on figuring out the software to be able to work with the various video clips to cut them and make them presentable, and so hopefully soon I can start sharing more video clips with you all.

It was an exhausting day for all of us, but a memorable one and Josiah had such fun! His friends all seemed to enjoy themselves too. From the sandbox, to the pool, to the Thomas the Train fort, to the slip and slide, to the wagon, they all seemed to play and play until they dropped. Happy Birthday to our first little, now bigger Pumpkinhead!

Josiah's 3rd Birthday - Part 1

All this past week, I have been quizzing Josiah about the events of his birthday in order to make sure he was "prepared" for all that would transpire. It is very important we do this as Josiah usually has a better attitude and demeanor if he knows what is going to happen. So the mantra of the week has been:


Mommy: What will we do first on your birthday?Josiah: Go to Jungle Restaurant (AKA The Rainforest Cafe)
Mommy: What will we do after that?

Josiah: Take a nap.
Mommy: And THEN what will happen?
Josiah: Eat cake & ice cream, play with friends! (or MY PARTY!)


When we got to the jungle restaurant the first robotic animal he saw was this crocodile. He immediately got rather shy and scared upon seeing it and walked around the gift shop in a bit of a daze, hiding behind Daddy and Mommy. I tried to show him "Tracy the Talking Tree" and he about flipped out with fear! Daddy had to hold him at that point. Once we got seated by the fish tank, we were able to acclimate him a little better to his environment and then he started to be less scared.


I was trying to get him to make fishy faces here, but instead we ended up with sticking our tongues out at each other.


We did our traditional walk-a-bouts at the restaurant with Josiah, but with much trepidation at this place. When we got to this waterfall with the big statue in the middle, he hid behind me and started to shake. Then I picked him up and walked him through the animatronic gorillas who blinked their eyes at us. Keep in mind this is all in the midst of very loud jungle sounds and occasional "thunder storms" with lightning flashes and all. It is a pretty noisy place overall.


There was this funny little fish that camped out by Josiah's plate of food and stared at it from time to time during our lunch. We pretended that the fish really wanted his food and told Josiah to say, (like Swiper the fox on Dora the Explorer) "Fishy NO SWIPING!" to make sure that the fish wouldn't eat his food.



I think if we go there again he will be more animated and interested in everything, but true to Josiah form he needs to be prepared well and take everything in first before he decides to get used to things and have fun. It was fun to be out with just him too (we had Sharel watch the babies). We could tell he was really enjoying all the attention for sure!

6-Month Well Child Visit

This visit was a bit anticlimatic considering we had such a thorough examination of the boys last Tuesday. However, we needed to go in to check their iron levels and get their immunizations, so it was necessary to keep this appointment also. (Incidentally, their iron levels are both normal now and they don't need the extra supplement.) The doctor was very pleased again with their progress! Caleb boy weighed in at 15 pounds 4 ounces (same as last Tuesday) and was 26 inches long. I don't think he grew a half and inch in a week, but perhaps one or both of the length measurements were a little off.

You can kind of see here in this picture that Caleb's cheeks are a little flushed. We discovered before giving him his vaccinations that he had a fever of 100. This was odd because although it did show on his blood count that his white blood cells were up (due to his current cold) they weren't as high as Daniel's and Daniel didn't have a fever at all. Needless to say, the doctor advised to wait to give Caleb his shots this time, so he got the sweet end of the deal in that he didn't get his shots. Last time, it was Daniel who got to opt out of the shots, so I figure he had to pull the same stunt...right? And honestly, I wouldn't put it past this little guy! He knows what he wants and gets it in any means possible even as a baby. Watch out world when he grows up!

Here pictured is sweet little Daniel. Right before his shots he was looking up at me smiling. His sweet smile soon turned to a frown though when he got his shots. Poor little pumpkinhead. He bounced right back, however, a little while afterward. I gave him some Tylenol throughout the day to help him with the residual pain that he had from the shots. Daniel boy weighed in at 15 pounds 9 ounces (loss of 5 ounces since last Tuesday). I am sure his loss of weight was due to the fact that this past week he has been eating less becaue of his cold. He of the two babes has been the most congested, and that makes it hard to eat. He was also measuring at 26 inches long. At this doctor's office, they make a mark on the paper underneath them at the top of their head first, and then stretch one leg out and make another mark at the heel. Then they take the measuring tape and check that way. At the neonatal follow-up clinic, they lay them on this ruler like thing (with a plastic headboard) and just stretch the leg out that way. Not sure which is more accurate. I suppose it would depend which nurse stretched out their leg the longest? After he was examined (and before the shots) Daniel was talking away in his car seat. He was kicking his feet and loving life while his brother was being examined. In the midst of the appointment, I was also able to get in a feeding for the boys. One of the nurses helped me feed Caleb and I fed Daniel. David was unable to come this time to the appointment, since he had just taken a day off from work last week for the other appointment. It worked out though as my Mom was able to watch Josiah while I took the boys in the baby bus into the doctor's office. Afterward, we all went out to lunch. Thanks Mom!

For My Hubby...

I looked in the closet today and saw that the only Yankee's paraphenalia we had for the babies was now their size. And so to make my hubby smile today I dressed Daniel up as our littlest Yankee fan. David isn't feeling the greatest today either, so this is a good reminder to say a prayer for him also. Have a happy Tuesday all!

ADDITIONAL NOTE: When Josiah saw Daniel in this coat he said, "Just like Daddy's hat!" and it is! He made that observation all on his own too! He has a great memory we have found.

When the Activities Are Few...

This is the first week of my official vacation from teaching for a little bit. And for the past week or so, all the boys have had colds, so ONCE AGAIN we have been couped up in the house. Thankfully, I have managed to avoid an illness, at least for the time being. David may or may not be getting sick now too and so here we go again. UGH. I guess something good that has come of it this time is that I am forced to be at home all day and have had some times of reflection. It occurred to me too that reflection isn't a typcial occurrence for a lot of us busy American mothers. It seems that I see many of the people around me so busy with activities that they really don't stop and evaluate their lives and how things are really going overall.

Today, I had quite a few battles with Josiah over obedience. We have been working on teaching him to obey the first time. So currently the parental mantras are as follows: "When do you obey Josiah?" and his response is supposed to be "The first time." The other is "Who is in charge?" and his answer is either "Momma" or "Dadda" depending. As a funny side note, we quizzed him in the car a while back and Daddy asked, "Josiah what does Mommy say?" and he answered "First time, " and "What does Daddy say?" and he said, "Obey." Apparently we are getting through to him I guess, wouldn't you say?

As the day wore on and he went to his room no less than 10 times today, my frustration level with him rose to a boiling point. His new tactic is to take his toys and bang on the childproof lock in his room and it comes flying off the door knob. Then he saunters out and blurts out an "I'm sorry" to me thinking that he can escape that easily. I promptly scoot him back into his room and inform him that he is to wait for me in the room until I come for him or he will have to stay there longer. Oh and of course this is in the midst of trying to feed the twins and whatever else I might "try" to accomplish during the day.

When David came home, he was clearly beat from his day also and right at the time I am making dinner all three boys are awake and needed my attention. (I would like to add here also that although my sweet husband was very worn out too, he did come out and help with the boys even though he had wanted to lay down for a bit. Thank you honey!) Josiah tries to "play" with the twins now, many times to their dismay, although at times he does play nicely with them. However, his nice play quickly turns into rough play and then he is back in his room again for making his brother's cry. UGH!!

This is about the time I am thinking, it sure would be nice to be teaching lessons right now rather than disciplining my son all day. And that is what brings me to this "when the activities are few" statement from the post title. I find if our days aren't filled with activities or at least some outing or event that Josiah acts up a lot more. David pointed out though that when the activities are removed and the "carrots" taken away that we see the real underlying problems and behaviors that still need to be dealt with. I believe this is true, that sometimes the busyness of our lives masks the "real issues" that we need to address. And this is not only in our children's lives, but in ours as well.

It is easy to drown our lives in busyness and miss the times of reflection. When we miss these times of reflection, we also get stuck in the rut of monotony and immaturity (both emotionally and spiritually) as well. God has been really working on me these past few weeks and I am still sorting out the things that I need to work on, but certainly I am thankful for this month of time where I can slow down and really SEE what is going on in my life and how I might do better to change my current behaviors and patterns that aren't pleasing to Him. Please pray for me and my relationship with Josiah. I want to remain calm in these storms and consistent with him in discipline when he tests me. I know it will pay off later, but the battle is wearisome sometimes.

Family Fun

Yesterday, we went on a short outing to the park over by my friend Melissa's house. Josiah calls this "Missa's park."
He was having a blast running around the park, going down all the slides and running away from Mommy as she tried to take pictures of him in the various places.

Since the slides are good at "slowing kids down" towards the end, I was able to get a nice shot that wasn't blurry here of him coming down.



This is another good one of him getting ready to slide.






Here are the twins in what some gals at the gym call "The Baby Bus." From time to time as a joke I will say, "Baby bus, coming through!"




Caleb fell asleep soon after we arrived at the park, but Daniel was wide awake and ready to play, so Daddy took him out and was doing some Daddy-play with him.

Can-Do Caleb

Here is a nice picture of how our sweet Caleb boy likes to sleep now. And yes folks, I caved and he is sleeping in his car seat again. It is the most annoying thing that when I put him down for the night flat in the crib that he wakes up pretty much every hour crying because he has managed to move to a position he is apparently uncomfortable with. At some point, I will have to try again to make him sleep flat, but I am not ready to fight the battle with him yet as he wakes Daniel up in the whole process too and then I have two awake babies to deal with at night. Anyhow, he likes to turn to his side (as pictured here) and sleep in the car seat. Sometimes he turns too far and ends up on his stomach in the car seat and that is just NOT popular at all.

I call him my can-do Caleb because most anything he sets his mind to do (in his limited abilities as a 6-month old) he does. He is rolling over to his stomach and sometimes back to his back again (if he gets his arm positioned just right that is). When he wants our attention he will continually roll to his stomach over and over and get "stuck" and holler so that we will come and get him. He continues to do this until we pick him up usually and/or give him what he wants (food, diaper, etc.). He is a very determined young man! It will be interesting to see how this plays out as he gets older. We predict he will be our little risk taker in the future, but we shall see I guess!

Wide-Eyed Daniel Play

Today, I put Daniel in the exersaucer for about 5 minutes or so and he was just SO intent on playing with this toy you see pictured here. He was vigorously moving it back and forth with his hands and David grabbed the camera so that we could get a picture of his wide-eyed play. His very long (Daddy-inherited) eyelashes are prominately displayed here as well! Isn't it just unfair that boys get such long, naturally curving upward eyelashes? David said that people would comment on his when he was growing up too and at one point he attempted to cut them so people would stop commenting on them.

Here is another very cute Daniel shot with Josiah's little friend named Hannah. She was visiting last week when her big sister Sharel was here to watch the boys during my piano lessons. Daniel rarely smiles on camera, so this is a treat!

And for those of you who are saying, "Where are the pictures of Caleb this time?" My response is, "I will post some soon, but today I am making a Daniel post 'cause those are the pictures I have on the camera." Have a happy Sunday!

Developmental Update

Today we had the pleasure of taking the boys to the neonatal follow-up clinic. Since they both had a stay in the NICU, they qualify for a program to be seen at 4 months, 8 months, 18 months, and 36 months (adjusted age) in order to see how they are progressing. This is a more in-depth assessment than their normal doctor's visits and it was SO neat to get some real help and advice regarding their development!


First we met with the occupational therapist, who worked with the boys on the mat, assessing their motor skills. Though they are six months old, she was comparing their abilities to other typical four month olds. Caleb passed with flying colors and in fact she said that he seemed even more advanced than a 4 month old would be. This doesn't surprise us as our little Caleb has always been determined to move even from day one in the womb!

Daniel was more typical of a four month old with his motor skills. She was a little concerned about his range of motion in his neck and debated whether or not to wait to see him until 8 months or to do a re-check at 6 months (adjusted age). In the end, she decided to re-check him, so we will go in again in 2 months just to see how he is doing. She also told us that both of them have slight flat spots on opposite sides of their heads and have a "favorite side" to turn their heads (hence the flat spots). Part of that is my fault because Daniel is always on the right side of the crib and lays on his left side to look at the mirror (left is a little flat) and Caleb lays on his right side and plays with the keyboard (right side a little flat). She told us to encourage them to look the opposite direction of the flat spot more often and also to help them tilt their heads differently to to assist in getting air to the areas around the neck that were really red. This ultimately gives them a fuller range of motion for their head control.

Also, she advised us NOT to put them in the exersaucer or a jumper too soon or for too long (only 10 minutes at a time) as it does not encourage their trunk muscles to work properly. I wasn't aware of this! Apparently, when the trunk muscles aren't developed yet, they will balance themselves by using other muscles and won't get the stabilization of the trunk as well as if you used other methods to help them. For instance, when Caleb is in the exersaucer he locks out his legs from time to time and is stiff as a board (an indication he isn't using his trunk properly) or he lays back in the seat with his back slumped (also not good). She said she wanted their backs to be straight when sitting up in your lap and to aid in that you put them between your knees and really give them a good foundation, so that they are then free to reach for toys in front of them without feeling so unstable. She also gave us ways to hold them to encourage better trunk muscles (different than just the traditional tummy time on the floor). It was very insightful! I wish I had known some of these things the first time around with Josiah!

I forgot to mention that at the VERY first, a gal came in to weigh and measure them. Caleb was 15 pounds, 6 oz and 25 1/2 inches long and Daniel was 15 pounds 14 oz and 25 1/2 inches long also. Compared to other 4 month olds they are in the 50th percentile, but when compared with other 6 month olds they are in the 10th percentile. This is making progress though for sure!

The next gal to come in was an RN who asked us a bunch of health questions about the boys and who also played with them a little bit to see how they responded to her. We had no real health concerns. However, we did find out from the occupational therapist that we should keep Caleb on his reflux medicines until a month or two after he starts walking. Apparently, the symptoms do die down at different stages, but as they start using their trunk in different ways the reflux can crop up again, and so they now advise to just keep them on the meds until they are walking upright more often.

Normally they would also have a social worker present next to ask us if we had any questions about insurance or other such questions, but she was absent today.

Lastly, the nurse practitioner came in and did a final overview of everything and gave us a bunch of handouts and things to take home and peruse. She also told us that one way to really know if your 4 month old is progressing well is if they flirt with people. She said a doctor who sees a lot of babies made that observation that flirting 4 month olds are usually showing signs of normal development. Incidentally, they indicated to us that both our boys are flirts and were quick to smile at them. Our little heartbreakers!!

Two Heads Are Better Than One

OK folks, in previous posts I have been mentioning how I have been trying to get the boys to sleep flat in their cribs (instead of in their car seats) and have had mixed luck with achieving that goal. A few posts back, I had some success, but then they got sick again and I caved to propping them up in the car seats. Last night, I bit the bullet and made them lay flat all night. This worked...sort of. Caleb awoke at around 1:30 crying really loud. I went in and he was fine, but seemed rather warm. I had turned up the space heater in the room thinking that without blankets they would need the warmth. If I put a blanket on Caleb when he is flat, he manages somehow to work it up over his face and then he REALLY gets mad!

After calming Caleb down by changing his diaper and rocking him a little, I put him down with a pacifier and turned on the hall light as it seems to help him when we has a bit of a night light. At this point, Daniel was wide awake too, so I decided to stay up for a little in case they didn't go back down. I stayed up until 2:00am and thought it safe to sleep at that point since they were sleeping. Around 2:30 another Caleb waking, but he fell asleep quickly without help from me. Around 3:30 another Caleb waking...ugh...but he fell asleep quickly on his own again. Around 4:30 another Caleb waking and this time I turned off the monitor as my sleep was pretty much shot by this point. I woke up on my own at around 5:45am and though they weren't up yet, I got up and got Caleb's bottle ready and went in to feed them as we have a big day today and need to be on schedule.

We are going up to Bothell to attend the first church we attended as a married couple to celebrate the retirement of the choir director there. We were in choir at Northshore Baptist http://www.nsb.org/ for a year and a half before moving to Spokane. It will be fun to see everyone again and to show off the cute babes!

Breaking Out the Rice Cereal!

Today we gave the boys their first rice cereal feeding! I got the high chairs out of storage and cleaned them up and then David and I gave them some at their evening feeding. Daniel literally "ate it up" and Caleb was a bit more particular. He worked harder to get it out of his mouth than to get it in. However, David managed to get him to swallow some of it anyway! As you can see, Caleb was warily eyeing Daniel as he got his first bite.


Daniel did well and ate a good portion for his first time and afterward still had a full feeding from Momma also. Caleb didn't drink much following, but perhaps he wasn't as hungry this time. It was sure fun to see their reactions though.


I forgot to get a picture of Daniel's after feeding face, but will do that the next time we feed them, but Caleb's after feeding face was precious as you can see!

Here is another cute photo of the boys from a couple of days ago. I thought they were just adorable in their little hats. Caleb was super tired in this picture, hence why he is slumped on his brother's shoulder.

Our Little Lamb-ee-kins

Perhaps if the Daniel of the Bible dressed in this way, he wouldn't have been so lucky in the lion's den? Ha ha! I came in the other day to feed our little Daniel and found him in this state all cozily wrapped in his blankie. Please note the little fingers that are sticking out through the holes in the blankie (classic Daniel behavior). I actually knitted this blanket for Josiah, but since these dudes were born in December, I have found that they have used it more often. Anyway, it was too cute and the minute I saw him I knew that it was a moment to capture on film.

I thought I would add this photo also as it is the only one in months in which they look almost identical (though we are still convinced they are fraternal). I can still see the obvious differences, but they have a very similar expression and the same outfits that contribute to the look of sameness I think. Our babes are 6 months now and soon will be going to their neonatal follow-up visit, where we will get to meet with a bunch of specialists to talk about their development (since they were born premature). Then on the 24th of this month they will have their official 6 month check up with our pediatrician. We had to delay the visit a bit because Daniel had his 4 month shots so late due to him being sick every time we had them scheduled.

My Hands Are Full...

It seems that every time I go out with all three of my boys, I inevitably get this comment from whoever perchances to chat with me, "You must have your hands full!" Today when I picked up the cake for the recital at Costco (long story as to why I had all three with me) no less than 3 people made that comment. I would say it is THE most commented phrase since we had the twins. To all the other twin moms out there, perhaps you can enlighten me as to your responses. My mother-in-law said to say, "Do I? Would you like to help?" I like that one, I could use some help!

So a quick run down of this busy weekend for you all. David and I ventured into the "once a month cooking" method and had what my Mom aptly named the "cook off" on Saturday. We had been stockpiling food for this cooking event for a while now and the result was we now have 14 meals in the freezer (make that 13 because we had one today) for future dinners. I did the last of the shopping for it on Friday night and as I was standing in a super long line at Walmart I remembered that grocery shopping in the after work hours was probably not the best choice. Whoops! Well, that was when I was able to do it, so "se la vi" (or however you spell that little phrase). We started around 10am with the cooking/assembling of meals and didn't officially finish until 6pm. It was supposed to only take 5 hours according to the book, so we added three hours to their little estimate. I am guessing that taking care of three kids didn't factor into the cooking time?

Following the cook-off, David went to get some supplies for the treats we needed to bring for our class at church the following day. I had inadvertently signed up for June 8th, not remembering that I had my recital planned for that day. Another whoops! Sooo...that meant David and I whipped out our mad baking skills and made two batches of cookies. He made some peanut butter chocolate chip and I made regular chocolate chip for those with peanut allergies. Ugh! Did I say that this weekend required much patience yet?

David came home with the cookie supplies, but had forgotten to make copies of my program for the recital. So after he got home, he set out again to do that (before Office Depot closed at 9pm). Josiah had gone with him on the cookie supply run and ran out the door to go with him on the copy run. I was feeding babies at the time and didn't run out after him immediately, but when I heard the car pulling out I went out and poor Josiah was crying, "I want go with Dada!" David had mercy on our sweet pumpkinhead and said he could go. Josiah ran to the car with glee and went with Dada.

After I fed the boys, I made myself some dinner and was chatting with a friend when David called on the cell. He informed me that the car had died (he thinks it has something to do with the battery again, please pray as he is going to call them tomorrow to see about getting it fixed) and that he needed me to come and pick him up at the Costco parking lot. I packed up my dinner and the boys and headed out to meet them as I had to get my copies made still (he had stopped off at Costco for gas prior to the copy making). The gas station was closing when I got there and the gas attendant and David had to push the car out of the gassing up area into the adjacent parking lot. Josiah and David waiting for the tow truck (VERY popular for Josiah) and I went and made my copies with the boys in the double stroller. Afterward, I picked up the big boys at Les Schwab and we came home. David made his batch of cookies while I did another feeding for the boys and I also put Josiah down for the night. Then I made my batch of cookies and cleaned up. So much for sleeping a lot the night before my recital. Oh well!

Needless to say, the day was very full. The good news is all that effort was not wasted as we have lots of dinners for future days and that feels really good. And in conclusion I would like to say that though my hands ARE full, I am loving it!

Student Recital 2008

Today, I hosted a recital for my flute and piano students. It was a memorable occasion to be sure for a variety of reasons. The first and most obvious was that the gate to the church parking lot was locked (as well as the building of course) at the time I arrived and there was noone in sight to open it for us. Through a series of phone calls, I managed to finally track someone down to help us. The pastor of the church sent someone who was 15 minutes away, but it so happened that another person who went to the church was coming to do some work on the plants outside and was able to let us in a little earlier. Lately, I have been praying that I would handle "unexpected situations" a lot better and low and behold I had quite a few this weekend! This was the king of unexpected situations though as we had all the people coming to the recital lined up and down the street (with no real places to pull over). It was quite a sight and there were at least 3 cars that stopped to ask what we were all waiting for. Each time I was hoping it was someone coming to unlock the gate and it wasn't, oh well! Patience, grace, poise...any other words needed here? Incidentally, the pastor apologized and said that we were on the calendar and that they just dropped the ball as to who was going to help us that day. He assured me that it wouldn't happen again and that he would love to have us back.

It was also memorable as my students performed so well! I was pleased at their ability to play through their pieces no matter what happened and at the progress that they had made throughout the year. Only one of my students is not pictured here as she left before I had the thought to round everyone up for the photo. There were 16 in all performing: 3 flute and 13 piano students.

Josiah-isms Continued...

Meet Josiah's new friends, Tren-con-conk (left) and Ponxsees (right). And yes he came up with those lovely names out of the blue and even repeated them when we asked him to name them again. Not sure where he gets this odd dialect for naming things, but it sure is funny!

The other day I had this conversation with him:
Josiah: I want bony mama!
Me: Bony? What is that?
Josiah: I want bony mama, bony, BONY!!
Me: You are going to have to show me sweetheart, I have no idea what you are talking about.
Josiah: (in a super whiny voice now) Bony, bony, mama please!
Me: Do you want to ride the pony? (offering my lap for a pony ride)
Josiah: NO! Bony!!! Want eat!
Me: OH! BA-LOH-NEE?
Josiah: Yeah!!!
Me: I would be glad to get some bologna for you!

We were watching Ni-Hao Kailan on Nick Jr. and Kailan was asking a bunch of kids the question, "What makes you happy?" and then Josiah said, "What makes me happy?" and looked at me. I said, "I don't know, what makes you happy Josiah?" and he ran over to me and said, "Momma does!" and gave me a hug. That was enough to melt my heart for the day! Such a sweet little boy!

Mama FTW!!!

I have been trying to get the boys used to sleeping flat in the crib as opposed to sleeping in their car seats and it appears I have been successful at transitioning them without too much effort! Perhaps I am speaking too soon, however, they both slept that way for all their naps today and are currently sleeping that way as I type tonight. So far so good and they aren't waking up thus far. Caleb is so funny though. I have found that already he has a particular spot in the crib that he wants to sleep. It is right up next to the keyboard you see pictured here. Apparently, he is going to be my piano player? Anyway, I think it has more to do with the security of having something close by on one side perhaps. Anyway, it is funny because he scoots and rolls sideways (not a full roll yet) to get over as far as he wants and then he is as content as can be.

Oh and by the way, for those of you unfamiliar with my acronym in the title of this post it means "Mama For the Win!" This is a term I picked up from my online gaming hubby.

New Rocking Tradition

My pattern in the mornings when the babies are up is to change Daniel first and then put him in the rocking chair (next to the changing table) while I then change Caleb. When Josiah is up for this ritual, he likes to get up in the chair with Daniel and rock back and forth. Most of the time Daniel likes it and smiles, but of course when I get the camera out he gets his "flash face" as you see pictured here. Without seeing what I mean, this is when he opens his eyes really wide and gives a very concerned look overall. He does this without fail every time the red light flickers before the camera flashes. The only way I can coax a smile out of him on camera is to have him smile looking at someone in a different direction away from the camera.

Another positive note: Josiah has gotten SO much better with with babies. He is being much more gentle with them and only once in a while does he revert to hitting them or being too aggressive. Usually he does that when he is frustrated or is trying to get my attention. I am thankful that his behavior around them has improved though as it is much less stressful for me with all three of them now. And it is just in time for them to start rolling and crawling on the floor! Caleb is so close to rolling over! He is rolling to his side now and can't quite make it to his tummy. When I put him on his tummy he can't push himself back yet either, but he will get there I am sure. He is very determined about everything!

I am working on getting them used to sleeping flat in their cribs now (rather than in car seats) and it has been interesting. Now that they both have my cold and are coughing (please pray for them by the way) it probably isn't the best time to have them flat, but once they are well again I am going to work actively to get them used to lying flat. Caleb did a little stunt the other day where in his car seat (which was in the crib) he rocked it so that it tipped over and was sideways leaning on Daniel's car seat. Caleb was conspicuously laying on the side that fell and seemed as happy as a clam. I thought about capturing it on film, but decided that rescuing him at that point was the best option! As I was writing this I caught a Caleb boy asleep flat in the crib! Score one for Mama!! I put him in there to play and he fell asleep! Daniel is in his carseat on the other side of Caleb asleep now also. Daniel of the two has the worst cough and a super runny nose and it is clear when I lay him flat it gets worse, so he will stay in his seat for a while yet.