My Savant

Guess who just recited Curious George Rides a Bike to me, word for word, with only a few mistakes?

Guess who knows I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly verbatim after hearing it one time?

Guess who knows the entire "Reader Cheer" that inspired John Archambault to write Chicka Chicka Boom Boom?


So why do I have to remind him to put his Taekwondo uniform away? Why does he still jump on the couch? And why do I have to remind him ten times that we are going to the grocery store and he needs to put his shoes on NOW?!?

Baby Pics

That's all we want... just Baby pictures...

Of course catching Child #2 on camera is rare, and rarer still is when she holds a baby. This is the first time she held her baby sister (I don't think she even held Child #5 until she was much older). I admit, I sorta tricked her into it. Baby started to cry (again) in her bouncy chair and when I went to go pick her up, I saw Child #2 trying to comfort her by talking to her. I sneaked back into the kitchen, got super busy cooking dinner, and said, "You can pick her up if you want. She doesn't bite. Yet."








Baby loves to fall asleep safe in the arms of her daddy (who celebrated his birthday yesterday)...












And gazes out the window at 5:00 am this morning...

Bugs Are My Friends

Current weight: 8 pounds 12.5 ounces! This was enough of a weight gain that we no longer have to be seen by the lactation consultant! Hooray! This is a funny picture of Baby. She seems to like having her mouth hanging open. When people see her in the store or any other place, the first thing they say is, "Look at her eyes! They're so big!" They haven't gotten a good look at her mouth hangin open!"











Last night my dear Child #4 found a caterpillar in a bucket and saved its life. Or did he? They spent some time watching movies together, until I heard sobbing coming from the couch. "My caterpillar is stuck in the couch! Wah!" Oh, what a nasty thought, a caterpillar squished in the cracks of the couch! Ew! Luckily he climbed out on his own (or was rediscovered NOT stuck in the couch, I'm not sure) and the two were reunited. You can see the caterpillar by his thumb in the picture.

I insisted he keep any pet bugs in a bug box after this, so apparently, Child #4 slept with his caterpillar last night. Again, I'm just going off what his dad told me, Child #4 told me he kept them on the shelf next to his bed.





These two have been little buddies out in the backyard searching for bugs. They were discovered taking apart their dad's rock wall today and will suffer the consequences when he finds out! Was a beetle worth it? We will find out. Moments before I took this picture, Child #5 was kissing her brother and making him mad. He was yelling right in her face, "Stop kissing me! If you don't, I'll get you!!" and then he leaned over and kissed her! When the giggling stopped they sat next to each other so I could take the picture. I commented, "Isn't it nice to have such a great friend?" to which Child #4 responded, "Bugs are my friends."

Memorial Day Weekend

I have so many great pictures from our weekend at Twin Firs! This was Baby's first trip and we did our best to inoculate her with pollen, mold, and dust, just like we did with the rest of our allergy-free children. This was accomplished by rolling her around in the grassy pasture and having her breathe deeply in the shag carpeting... Just Kidding! We just went for walks around the property. This was also the first trip that AC #1, Child #5, and I have been on since Christmas! Our family is now so big we have to travel in two vehicles. We were also happy to host a good friend of AC #1 for the weekend.

Here is AC #1 and her baby sister.






The first thing we early risers did on Saturday morning was go down to the pond and catch some trout for breakfast. My Pathetic Doberman had never seen a trout before, so when the first fish was reeled in, she went nuts. We have decided that she is part lab and we wasted our money on a purebred dog. I have never seen or heard of a Doberman that likes water, that plays fetch, or is so interested in birds and fish! Every time anyone reeled in, My Pathetic Doberman ran into the water and tried to grab whatever was on the hook. Sometimes it was only a hook.


Here is Baby's first trip to the pond! This is always a special event in the lives of our babies. Baby nursed nonstop over the weekend. And eating nonstop means pooping nonstop. I ran out of diapers in one day and had to do laundry! Finally her nursing problems are gone, thank goodness. I am so happy! But I am also exhausted from the catch up nursing we have been doing. She nurses for hours straight all day and then sleeps deeply at night. We have an appointment with the lactation consultant today sometime and will have an official weight for tomorrow's post. I'm thinking she is almost nine pounds; birth weight at last!


But one of the best parts of Baby's weekend was the start of the smiles! My heart thrills every time she gives a big ole grin! Of course she isn't really looking at anyone when she is smiling, but boy is she cute!

Child #4, without his magnetic letters, had to find a new obsession for the weekend: BUGS! Luckily, Child #2 knows exactly where to find the coolest bugs. She created this container, complete with habitat (vocab word for the day) and bugs, which Child #4 carried with him all day, every day. We had him let the bugs go at the end of every day and replaced them with new bugs in the morning. He had ants, potato bugs, beetles, some larvae, centipedes, and a stink bug. The centipede almost escaped a few times, so I had to remove him before he made a home in the couch.








Child #5 blossomed at Twin Firs. She was so funny and dirty and cute! Her grandad really enjoyed seeing how much she had changed since Christmas. She had so much fun fishing (she was only holding the pole in this picture) and holding live fish. She played with her brother's bugs. She rode her bike. She ate junk food. She talked and sang and made jokes ("That's not a baby, that's a bug!"). She picked flowers. She learned to identify ferns and stinging nettles and buttercups and "fairy flowers."



Child #3 poses for me every Spring in the same place holding daisies. I told him the first year he stops doing this for me is the year he no longer loves me. How is that for mother guilt? Sadly, one of his pet goldfish died while we were gone. He cried himself to sleep last night after telling me he wasn't having a very good day. I asked him if he thought there were cats in fish heaven. I expected him to say no, but once again, he surprised me. This is what he told me: "Yes, there are cats in fish heaven. Just like there are lambs in lion heaven. The lambs and the lions snuggle together in lion heaven." I was shocked at this profound Biblical thought, because I don't remember telling him about the lion laying down with the lamb. And neither does DH.






And last, but not least, is a symbolic picture. This was a giant blackberry bramble growing over tree stumps that was so tall I had to use a ladder to pick the berries last year. Although the berries were tasty, the bramble was an eyesore and blocked our view of the driveway (not safe with little kids riding their bikes). DH mowed the patch a few trips ago and burned the stumps last weekend. Child #2 transplanted a cherry tree, reviving life in what was once ruin.

If you can't see the symbolism, you need to go back to high school literature (haha)!

Sleep Styles

Each one of my children is incredibly unique in their sleep style/personality. AC #1 likes to stay up late and sleep in. Child #2 is a chronic early waker and leaps out of bed a millisecond before her alarm goes off. Child #3 sleeps deep, long, and late, although as a baby he woke up at least five times per night.

Child #4 is up early no matter what time he goes to bed. Consequently, he sometimes falls asleep on the couch in the afternoon which causes him once again to stay up too late. This is how DH found him yesterday afternoon. Child #5 claims to have been "nugglin," or snuggling, her brother- not tormenting him. Child #4 would wake up long enough to holler at his sister to get off, but he was too tired to enforce his request. Child #5 sleeps when she is tired; she is in the transition between naps and no naps.



Yesterday I learned about Baby's sleeping personality. After two days of getting her to sleep, putting her down, and having her wake right up again, I figured out that she prefers to sleep on her tummy. She slept for hours in the cradle her Grandpa built (for me when I was a baby!) under the blanket her Great Grandmother (aka Nana) knit for her. I was able to accomplish many wonderful things for my family while she slept. As the Flylady says, "Nothing says I love you like a pair of clean underwear!"

A Perfect Weekend

Child #3 turned six years old! He had the most perfect weekend any six year old could ever wish for. As you know, they were all down at Twin Firs for the weekend, so I didn't actually witness this fun first hand, thank goodness considering what time they woke up in the morning. Saturday morning, this child woke his father up at 5:00 so he could go fishing (and his dad hadn't gone to bed until midnight thanks to the energy drink he consumed on the drive down). DH woke Child #2 and #4 so they could all go down to the pond together. Child #4 was not pleased, surprisingly enough. He usually is the early bird at home!

Here are DH and Child #3 proudly holding one of the trout they caught. I heard they ate four of these guys for dinner that night.











Paddling on the pond has always been one of Child #2's favorite pastimes on a hot day at Twin Firs. Now she has two little pond scums to hang out with her!










We have a picture of Child #2 about this same age holding a bull frog just as big. She caught this one over the weekend and Child #3 says it was the biggest bull frog in the whole pond.

Child #3 also spent a lot of time in front of the TV watching old episodes of Speed Racer and Johnny Quest on DVD. These were birthday presents from his dad.





After screaming at the top of his lungs (and getting in trouble) all the way home, my sweet six year old was greeted by his mother and a custom made birthday cake! The cake is a giant sugar cookie with frosting, kiwi, strawberry, and his favorite fruit, mango! Child #3 actually came up with the idea on his own.

Can you see the big gap where his tooth was?

Other presents he received were books, Walking With Dinosaurs on DVD, and a baseball bat and tee.

Sisters

Child #5 isn't quite sure what she thinks of having a new baby around the house. She copies what she hears her brothers say: "Oh, 'ook at the baby! She's so cuuuute!" But she also says, "Put baby down, Mama!" When she saw her baby sister wearing a diaper cover that looks exactly like hers, she started to cry because she thought it was hers! She has become very possessive of things and even hugged a pair of maternity pantyhose to her chest when she thought another little girl was going to take it from her at the mall today. I made her put it back on the hook. But last night she said showed her true colors-I hope. We do a lot of co-sleeping. In fact, I am under orders to co-sleep with Baby to keep the milk supply up. Child #5 usually joins DH and I in the middle of the night, just like her brothers did at this age. Because DH is gone this weekend, I have the bed gloriously all to myself until Child #5 joins me. Last night I never heard her come in. She crawled into bed and snuggled right up against her baby sister. I woke up later to feed the baby, thought "How cute" and moved the baby to my other side for her feeding. An hour later, Child #5 woke up crying saying, "Where's my baby? Where's my baby?" and wouldn't calm down until I showed her that her baby sister was safely asleep on my other side. There is hope that sibling rivalry won't be to hard with this one after all...

The Baby is now up to a whopping 8 lbs 4.8 oz. This is a weight gain of a mere .4 oz since Tuesday. That's not enough for me although the lactation specialist was pleased (or said so at least). If only Baby would have waited to poop until after she was weighed! I was given a bigger syringe with a feeding tube to replace my Supplemental Nursing System and instructions to fill this baby up with my pumped milk while nursing at the same time all weekend long. Luckily, DH took Children #2 through #4 down to Twin Firs for a weekend of vacuuming, burning, and fishing, so I will have plenty of quiet time with only My Pathetic Doberman and the little girls. We are having cookies for dinner tonight.

It takes only six years for a little baby to get this big! Child #3 was a whole pound lighter than his baby sister six years ago and look at him now! I gave him my two pound hand weights, so he has been going downstairs to the "gym" and lifting weights with his dad.

We were all up insanely early this morning. Child #3 thinks he was awake all night, but didn't wake me up until 4:00 am with his crying. Baby woke up shortly after wanting to look at everything, so I decided to get out of bed with her. At 4:45 am, Child #5 noticed that I was no longer in bed next to her and started crying for me. She refused to go back to sleep, so with three out of four of my small children wide awake I had to give up the night as lost. We watched movies until Child #4 woke up last at his usual 6:00 am. Of course the kids all napped, but I think I will have to have another cup of coffee...

Baby Update, etc.

We had our first pediatrician appointment yesterday and Baby weighed in at 8lbs 4.5oz. So she is finally gaining weight! Her appetite has also increased, which means I am spending more time pumping/syringing than I was before. I'm hoping to get in touch with a La Leche League leader today so we can start working on getting Baby back to the breast peacefully.

Baby has become more aware of her surroundings and likes to look all around at ceilings, lights, and windows. Her favorite time to observe the world is between the hours of 9:00 and 11:00 AT NIGHT when I am exhausted and falling asleep in my chair. With my early bird Child #4 getting up at 5:30 every morning, this means I am really sleep deprived.

Child #3 lost his first tooth yesterday! Last night he carefully placed his tooth on the windowsill in his bedroom so it wouldn't get lost in the blankets. This morning he was surprised with a letter from the Tooth Fairy reminding him to brush two times daily, a new Spiderman toothbrush, and $1.14 in change. He was hoping for a new movie like his big sister once got, but DH explained that the Tooth Fairy pays more for molars without fillings and he will just have to wait and take good care of his teeth. And of course we were asked what the Tooth Fairy does with all the teeth she collects. DH said that she paves her driveway with them. I said she recycles them by planting them in babies' mouths. Child #3 thinks she uses them for money, which makes perfect sense (cents?) to me. She leaves worthless Human money in exchange for Fairy money, like a little banking system! Clever little boy!

Happy belated Mother's Day to all the Mamas out there! Our entire clan, which includes AC#1 (adult child #1), took our annual trip to the beach on Sunday, but the batteries in the camera were dead so we didn't get any family pictures. Oh well, another time! We still had a great time poking around in tide pools and looking under rocks. Child #3 picked up a big purple shore crab, which pinched the palm of his hand and held on tight! We heard him say, "Hey, let go!" and when the crab refused to listen, Child #3 shook his hand until the crab went flying! Child #4 rescued blennies (little eel-like fish) by tossing them into the sea after finding them under rocks. The baby got to breathe the fresh sea air for the first time, which is probably why she starting gaining weight!

I'll have to change those batteries and get some new baby pictures up!

Whirlwind Week

I'm sure everyone expected the Baby's first week to be crazy and didn't expect me to post much. Yes, it has been crazy. Baby had 24 hours of cow's milk-induced colic when she was three days old that left her unwilling to nurse and poopless for three days! At seven days old she was still losing weight instead of gaining back. I have been seen by two lactation specialists and I speak to my midwife everyday. I'm pumping every two hours and feeding Baby through a syringe while she sucks on my finger. I guess our experiences this past week have been to make up for how easy the pregnancy and birth were. I feel like God is saying, "I gave you an easy nine months to make up for what is coming next. I will be challenging you! Happy Mother's Day!"

Here she is in her first bath! That big ole tummy doesn't look like she is starving!



My parents came up to help out for a few days and my dad was able to take the boys out to where DH was working. They had a blast playing with fish! Afterwards they got to go swimming, they ate at McD's, and they got to jump on the hotel bed while watching Sponge Bob. What a treat!

More baby pics

Baby has stolen our hearts, what can I say? My midwife came over yesterday to weigh Baby and check on the two of us. We are both doing very well and Baby did not lose very much weight; she is down to 8lbs, 5oz. The PKU test is always hard for the baby receiving the heel prick, but I think it was harder on her Dad. This picture was taken after she had a loooong nursing session after the PKU test. It was luck we captured this fleeting smile...


DH is so happy with his great bunch of kids. We are settling into the pattern of active alert time, followed by a nursing and a long nap. Naps that usually end right when I want to go to bed at the end of the day. But sleepless nights come with the territory and I am thankful I have a comfortable recliner where I can nurse Baby and sleep at the same time.






The kids are adjusting quite well to their new baby sister. Child #3 told me that yesterday his dreams came true: He got green bean seeds for his garden, he got mangoes from the grocery store, and he has a new baby sister. What a life!

Welcome to Our World!

Child #6 entered our world yesterday at 3:35 am. The homebirth was an amazing experience; better than I could have ever imagined. This birth, my fourth, was the first one that I felt like I was in control and knew when and how and where I should labor. My midwife, who has been delivering (or catching as they like to say) babies longer than I have been alive, was so supportive and knowledgeable. I felt well taken care of the whole three hours I was in labor.

Yes, three hours of labor. That was all. I could not believe it. I was able to sleep between each contraction until it was time to push. I'm sure the easy labor and quick birth had everything to do with me being in my own home with not a single stranger invading my privacy. Even pushing was peaceful without a line of nurses shouting "Push! Push!"

Where were the other kids? And My Pathetic Doberman? The kids slept through the whole thing. In fact, just before DH and I went to bed that night before my water broke, we discussed what we were going to do with the kids when the time came. I offhandedly said, "Well, hopefully the baby will come tonight, be born by 4:00am, and we won't have to worry about it." And she did! What a good little baby! Even Child #2 heard nothing and was surprised by her dad and new baby sister, two minutes before her alarm clock went off. Now, My Pathetic Doberman did not sleep the whole time. She hung out with DH and the midwife during labor, but when it was time to push, we shut the bedroom door with her on the outside. She stayed patiently outside the door until she heard the first cries...and then started to bark. I told DH to let her in so she wouldn't wake the kids up and she spent the rest of the time curled up by my side of the bed. Which I never let her do.

The Baby and I are now well acquainted, after spending half of last night out in the recliner. She will figure out night and day soon enough I am sure. She is a good nurser-make that a nonstop nurser and is very alert for a newborn. Her brothers and sisters are adjusting nicely; Child #5, being two years old is having a harder time with it.

Enjoy these pictures, plus all those that will come in the coming days.

Proud Dad with the oldest daughter in college and the youngest newborn.

Child #4, our Early Bird, was the first to meet his baby sister.

Child #3 and #5 slept in a little later than usual.

My Pathetic Doberman, what else?

Big Yawn!