Growing up, last day, new teeth and mobility

A LOT has happened this past month with Jake and Phoebe. Not really things out of the ordinary - but just all at once... This biggest being Jake has finished preschool and is ready to enter Kindergarten this fall.

Now, this transition has been infinately easier for him than I, of course. He simply was excited to have such fun end of the year activities: Crazy Hair Day, PJ Day, Water Day and Bowling Day all ended with his very official Graduation Day - caps and gowns included. He thought it was so much fun to dance down the aisle while "Are you Ready to Rumble??!!" blasted through the speakers...and it was all the 18 kids could do, sitting still through the slide show and speeches, because there were CUPCAKES waiting for them!! Meanwhile, all the mommies in the audience were using Kleenex in abudance watching the same slideshow and listening to the speeches about how grownup their 5 yr olds were now...and feeling a mixture of pride and sadness that their little one was now not so little. You WANT them to get big...but not too fast. And today I went and toured his gradeschool and met one of four teachers who will continue to guide him next year...and was glad that I had 2 1/2 months to get ready for that!

And probably making it all a bit harder is that Phoebe is hitting a growth stride herself....Miss Mobility has taken to rolling herself hither and yon all over the living room and I found her in the beginning stages of crawling yesterday. It is only a matter of days and weeks now, I think. She gets so mad at being left behind in a room, and moves so quickly in so many other ways....that she is channeling that energy into figuring out how to get her legs under her and GO!!

She has also sprouted two teeth. Two little razor sharp pearls on her bottom gum. Two little razor sharp pearls that she enjoys burrowing into my shoulder...with glee. And she shows them off - a big, big grin with her bottom jaw stuck out - she is so proud of those two teeth!!

I love that my kiddos are going through these stages...we WANT them too. We want them to grow up, to keep making strides in learning and doing...but we still want them to stay little. It wasn't SO long ago that Jake was sprouting his first teeth, learning to crawl, learning to talk... And now he is ready to start his path into grade school - the first of so many steps without Mommy. And Phoebe will keep cruising through this year of firsts: after crawling, walking and talking will follow.

So I am going to enjoy this summer. With my delightful, fun, giggling, loud, slightly chaotic, soon to be moving, and always changing children.

My Sweet Boy

This week I was blessed to see another piece of the unique little boy that God has created as Jake.

He has a tender heart towards others.

Now, Jake is ALL boy. There isn’t a “boy” sound that he won’t do…he runs everywhere…anything in his hand can and will become a weapon…and if it can be destroyed, well…he can destroy it with style!

However, when it comes to Phoebe he is beyond gentle. This bundle of constant movement slows down and moves with care when around his baby sister. There is a deep concern for her well being from him, and he is constantly aware of what she is doing…and if its abnormal to him – I am notified! “Mommy! Phoebe did this….” or “Phoebe, you can’t roll there!” Absolutely amazing, how intensely he can watch out for her. And how much it pleases him to make her laugh and play with her.

Now, I know that this won’t always be the case. Someday, very soon, he will get frustrated with his little sister. He will get angry and probably yell at her. He might even push her out of his way… But I think that he will always have a tender heart towards her, even under the angst that a little sister can sometimes bring to a big brother.

I think this because of a story that Jake’s PreK teacher told me this week. About Jake’s interaction with one of the little girls in his class. Apparently Jake has taken on the role of protector with this little girl. At snack time, if they are serving a treat that she doesn’t like, Jake can now read her facial expression and will retrieve a stack of the crackers that she DOES like from the class stash and place them on her tablemat, before she can throw a fit. If she is colouring outside the lines, he will remind her to colour IN the lines. And because she is the smallest in class, he takes special care to make sure she always has a place in line, or a toy at recess. He simply looks out for her.

Wow.

Now as the mother of this five year old, there are moments when I have a difficult time finding this gentle soul in midst of the chaos of a temper tantrum, or a “me first” kind of day, or in his need to go!go!go! But it touches my heart that God made him with this ability to be compassionate to others, and it fills me with the deep burden and desire to keep that there, always. Because I know that the world will fight against that, that it will want to take it from him, that it will encourage him to always be “me first”. So, my prayer for my little man is this: always let the LORD lead your heart, Jake. Keep loving others Sweetheart. Keep loving them the way that Jesus loves them.

My little Yankees fans...

We are a house divided. Matt is a Diamondbacks fan. Mostly because here we live...but I honestly think he really likes them. This has caused spirited discussion from time to time. Especially when I walk through the Sky Harbor Airport, past a certain sports store that is ALWAYS replaying that fated game from the 2001 World Series. I am a Yankees fan. Born and bred, a pinstriped heart. I leave the room and pace if they are losing. I cried during the final game in the House that Ruth built. I turned at the alter and asked for a World Series score. I watched with my newborn daughter as the Bronx Bombers won series number 27. My dad instilled a love for Mantle, Maris, Berra, DiMaggio, and the rest of the greats... I grew up hearing about the times he took in a game at Yankee Stadium and all three of us girls took a part of my Dad's Yankee pride and made it our own. So, of course, I am passing along this love to my kiddos. Jake cherishes his first Yankee hat. He told me today it was his favourite hat in the "whole world, Mommy". Phoebe will always be reminded that one of my first memories holding her was cheering on the team. Now, I will let them "decide" who they will cheer for when they get big...who knows, perhaps they will someday move to San Francisco, or Seattle...but until they do - I will keep buying them those navy blue caps, they WILL hear about my dad's attendance at games at Old Yankee Field, and 61* will not simply be a number. Go Yanks.

Phoebe...eater of all?

So I thought I would start the day out with a short story about our daughter. It has been noted (MANY times) that all her pictures seem to be with her mouth open. This is NOT an exaggeration!! She really has it open most of the day. Now, generally its open for a reason: eating, talking, drooling...and chewing. I discovered yesterday that the open mouth is also a trap to draw in prey...very much like a Venus flytrap, angle fish, or still spider.

Phoebe was playing on her rug, chatting away...looking very cute, very mischievous. I leaned over her to talk and play back....when out of nowhere two chubby (and sticky!) hands reached up and grabbed (not gently) the sides of my face...catching hair and ears in the process! She then levered herself up, by pulling on my face, to a sitting position...and promptly clamped her open, drooly mouth on my nose. Yuck and ouch.

She wouldn't let go...it was like a Nature show, the more I struggled to retrieve myself, the harder she hung on! Finally, I was able to get a finger under her arm and tickle! That released the beast, and she was again a sweet, cooing baby girl.

Now, I don't know WHAT the moral of this tale is...I know that there IS one, and I know that I am going to be much more careful in keeping this trauma from occuring again. My face still hurts.

The first blog...

Well, this is my first official blog. For a couple years I have followed those of my friends and family and always envied that they had something to say...how in the world would I fill a page? A marriage, two children, two states and five moves later...well, let's just say life is FULL of stories to recount! So, perhaps I will get a smile or snicker from one of you reading this...hopefully it will help our family and friends out of state keep track of our lives...and maybe it will provide a sounding board when life gets a little TOO full and crazy.

I suppose its only fitting to kick this off with a story of the first born... Jake. Our five year old that does "being a boy" very well! He is all about planes, and cars, and trucks and trains...if it goes, he is right there with it! Now, the way things fall is that he gets to do alot with Matt: chores around the house, errands and the like...this last Saturday was spent shoe shopping for sneakers for Matt. While at the store, Jake spent a good deal of time trying on "big people" shoes...something he does here at the house as well, so it didn't seem odd to him that the pair of shoes he was trying on were, well...worn. Matt had gone over an aisle or two and reappeared to find Jake (where he was left) clomping around in a pair of very large men's work boots. He thought these were so cool!! Matt then noticed the man on the other end of the aisle searching in vain for the his boots that he had removed to try on shoes! Luckily, this gentleman was very gracious, and the boots were returned to their rightful owner.... Hoping this behaviour doesn't carry over into the teen years...can just see him tooling around in someone else's car because it was there!!