Lots of pictures, because I don't post as regularly anymore...
31 December 2019
29 December 2019
December 15-29
I have to get this post done so that I can order my 2019 blog book...
Notes from the last two months:
The younger kids and I have been to the Toledo zoo a few times since Theodore was born. We drop Olivia and Gretchen off at school and then head off to see the polar bears. And some other animals, usually, but mostly the polar bears. Luckily for us, the polar bear exhibit is at the front of the zoo, so we can always stop and see them on either the way in or the way out. They're right next to the seals, which is another crowd pleaser. Kaitlyn's dearest wish is that the zoo would move the (invisible to her) partition between the polar bears and the seals. She knows that polar bears eat seals and she just wants to see the catching and devouring process. I assume mostly the former, but you never can be too sure with Kaitlyn.
I am generally the sole alto voice in church, but the girls match pitch with me and I end up creating my own little alto cohort. It's not generally a problem unless our strongest soprano is missing. If I can't hear the soprano line then I'll switch, because (if the girls are all singing) the four of us overpower the others a bit. Most times the girls dutifully follow the switch without even realizing it. I tend to be back and forth between the lines at the beginning of most pieces anyway, so they are used to the jump between alto and soprano. One week we were missing two sopranos, so I spent most of the service on soprano. For the Lord's Prayer, however, I dropped to alto out of habit. Since we strongly encourage participation in the Lord's Prayer, all three girls were singing and dropped to alto with me. I immediately realized what I'd done and switched back. But -- and here's the point of this rambling story -- Olivia didn't. I sang soprano and Olivia stood next to me and held down the alto line all by herself! Gretchen and Kaitlyn faltered a bit, and then stuck with Olivia since that part was more familiar to them. The three of them made it through the whole prayer singing alto together, even getting the moving notes at the end while the soprano holds a note. It was very exciting to me and they have no idea that they even did it. :-P
Kaitlyn and Matthias like to eat apples. They used to like them cut up into slices, but recently they've decided that they want to each have their own whole apple. Unfortunately, they eat until they get to the core and then give up on the other half. So I bought an apple corer. Now we have "apples with tunnels" and I don't find half eaten apples on the counter anymore. :)
I took the kids to Pittsburgh at the beginning of November. It was originally going to be a trip with just the younger children, but then Bryan had to go into the office and wasn't available to drop off and pick up the older girls from school. They had no school on that Monday, so I pulled them out early on Friday and we took off for the weekend. We had a good time visiting the Bossards and got to go trick-or-treating on a quite pleasant Saturday afternoon. This was popular because our Thursday trick-or-treating had been canceled due to inclement weather. As it turns out, the Pittsburgh cul-de-sac was the ideal trick-or-treating experience. I believe those pictures are in a previous post. We drove home Monday afternoon.
Matthias has claimed starting the dishwasher as his special job. Obviously someone else has to load it, but once it's ready to go then Matthias gets to put the soap in and press start. He gets quite irritated if you forget and do it for him.
Justine and I, in our infinite wisdom, decided that potty training two toddlers at once would be the perfect Thanksgiving exercise. I started Matthias on Monday, putting him in underwear and giving him a toddler potty and lots of juice. Forty-five minutes later nothing had happened and I had to go nurse Theodore. Somehow during that time, Gretchen and Kaitlyn managed to get him to pee in his little potty twice. I guess my six and four year olds are now in charge of potty training. :-D When I told Justine, she said that Dorothea was also beginning potty training and that Gretchen and Kaitlyn could help her as well. And so it was decided. There were ups and downs and I regret to say that we were still potty training two toddlers at once with only slightly better success rates when Christmas rolled around.
Thanksgiving was us, the Bossards, Bryan's parents, and Joseph's parents and brother. We managed to get all of the food cooked in time and most of it was still warm when it was supposed to be. :)
Theodore moved into the boys' room after the Bossards left, but when he wakes up in the middle of the night I transfer him to our room. He continues to do poorly with sleeping, which does not bless his mother. Now that we have a house full of people he's back in our room for the time being. I guess we'll see what happens when everyone leaves.
Gretchen and Kaitlyn danced in The Nutcracker All Jazzed Up. Kaitlyn was a little angel (her part, not her temperament) and Gretchen was a soldier. There's a bonus post with Bryan's play-by-play. Kaitlyn has better balance than either of her sisters did at this age and paid attention to Miss Lyn quite well for her one dance. Gretchen was in two longer dances and would probably be dishonorably discharged from the armed forces for lack of both ferocity and rigidity. She kind of marches like a duck. Truth hurts, future Gretchen. You have talents, but marching stiffly in step is not one of them.
Matthias suddenly knows almost all of his colors. I'm not sure how that happened, but he went from calling everything green to correctly identifying the whole rainbow plus "browns."
Christmas happened quietly and calmly. We celebrated at church on Sunday because that's when the priest was there. As a result, there was no midnight service to attend. I will be sad to see that return once we do have a priest. On Wednesday we woke up a little late, attended Catholic Mass, and then came home for fancy nachos and our first present. Gretchen has a Kindle now and her reading list has jumped accordingly.
The Bossards arrived yesterday, just in time for the sibling/spouse/second cousin secret santa gift exchange. We are thankful for the mute function on group video chats, and for the Wisconsin contingent's quick thinking with signs and hand signals.
On the fifth day of Christmas (that's today, for those who don't want to count) we gave our kids and niblings a trip to The Hero Day, a giant indoor bouncy castle wonderland. We're headed there this afternoon. Four adults, ten children, and an hour of bouncing and loud music. Wish us luck.
The Smiths arrive on Tuesday to contribute to the chaos. Hooray, hooray! Anything else that I was supposed to mention but forgot will have to be immortalized in 2020. Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!
Notes from the last two months:
The younger kids and I have been to the Toledo zoo a few times since Theodore was born. We drop Olivia and Gretchen off at school and then head off to see the polar bears. And some other animals, usually, but mostly the polar bears. Luckily for us, the polar bear exhibit is at the front of the zoo, so we can always stop and see them on either the way in or the way out. They're right next to the seals, which is another crowd pleaser. Kaitlyn's dearest wish is that the zoo would move the (invisible to her) partition between the polar bears and the seals. She knows that polar bears eat seals and she just wants to see the catching and devouring process. I assume mostly the former, but you never can be too sure with Kaitlyn.
I am generally the sole alto voice in church, but the girls match pitch with me and I end up creating my own little alto cohort. It's not generally a problem unless our strongest soprano is missing. If I can't hear the soprano line then I'll switch, because (if the girls are all singing) the four of us overpower the others a bit. Most times the girls dutifully follow the switch without even realizing it. I tend to be back and forth between the lines at the beginning of most pieces anyway, so they are used to the jump between alto and soprano. One week we were missing two sopranos, so I spent most of the service on soprano. For the Lord's Prayer, however, I dropped to alto out of habit. Since we strongly encourage participation in the Lord's Prayer, all three girls were singing and dropped to alto with me. I immediately realized what I'd done and switched back. But -- and here's the point of this rambling story -- Olivia didn't. I sang soprano and Olivia stood next to me and held down the alto line all by herself! Gretchen and Kaitlyn faltered a bit, and then stuck with Olivia since that part was more familiar to them. The three of them made it through the whole prayer singing alto together, even getting the moving notes at the end while the soprano holds a note. It was very exciting to me and they have no idea that they even did it. :-P
Kaitlyn and Matthias like to eat apples. They used to like them cut up into slices, but recently they've decided that they want to each have their own whole apple. Unfortunately, they eat until they get to the core and then give up on the other half. So I bought an apple corer. Now we have "apples with tunnels" and I don't find half eaten apples on the counter anymore. :)
I took the kids to Pittsburgh at the beginning of November. It was originally going to be a trip with just the younger children, but then Bryan had to go into the office and wasn't available to drop off and pick up the older girls from school. They had no school on that Monday, so I pulled them out early on Friday and we took off for the weekend. We had a good time visiting the Bossards and got to go trick-or-treating on a quite pleasant Saturday afternoon. This was popular because our Thursday trick-or-treating had been canceled due to inclement weather. As it turns out, the Pittsburgh cul-de-sac was the ideal trick-or-treating experience. I believe those pictures are in a previous post. We drove home Monday afternoon.
Matthias has claimed starting the dishwasher as his special job. Obviously someone else has to load it, but once it's ready to go then Matthias gets to put the soap in and press start. He gets quite irritated if you forget and do it for him.
Justine and I, in our infinite wisdom, decided that potty training two toddlers at once would be the perfect Thanksgiving exercise. I started Matthias on Monday, putting him in underwear and giving him a toddler potty and lots of juice. Forty-five minutes later nothing had happened and I had to go nurse Theodore. Somehow during that time, Gretchen and Kaitlyn managed to get him to pee in his little potty twice. I guess my six and four year olds are now in charge of potty training. :-D When I told Justine, she said that Dorothea was also beginning potty training and that Gretchen and Kaitlyn could help her as well. And so it was decided. There were ups and downs and I regret to say that we were still potty training two toddlers at once with only slightly better success rates when Christmas rolled around.
Thanksgiving was us, the Bossards, Bryan's parents, and Joseph's parents and brother. We managed to get all of the food cooked in time and most of it was still warm when it was supposed to be. :)
Theodore moved into the boys' room after the Bossards left, but when he wakes up in the middle of the night I transfer him to our room. He continues to do poorly with sleeping, which does not bless his mother. Now that we have a house full of people he's back in our room for the time being. I guess we'll see what happens when everyone leaves.
Gretchen and Kaitlyn danced in The Nutcracker All Jazzed Up. Kaitlyn was a little angel (her part, not her temperament) and Gretchen was a soldier. There's a bonus post with Bryan's play-by-play. Kaitlyn has better balance than either of her sisters did at this age and paid attention to Miss Lyn quite well for her one dance. Gretchen was in two longer dances and would probably be dishonorably discharged from the armed forces for lack of both ferocity and rigidity. She kind of marches like a duck. Truth hurts, future Gretchen. You have talents, but marching stiffly in step is not one of them.
Matthias suddenly knows almost all of his colors. I'm not sure how that happened, but he went from calling everything green to correctly identifying the whole rainbow plus "browns."
Christmas happened quietly and calmly. We celebrated at church on Sunday because that's when the priest was there. As a result, there was no midnight service to attend. I will be sad to see that return once we do have a priest. On Wednesday we woke up a little late, attended Catholic Mass, and then came home for fancy nachos and our first present. Gretchen has a Kindle now and her reading list has jumped accordingly.
The Bossards arrived yesterday, just in time for the sibling/spouse/second cousin secret santa gift exchange. We are thankful for the mute function on group video chats, and for the Wisconsin contingent's quick thinking with signs and hand signals.
On the fifth day of Christmas (that's today, for those who don't want to count) we gave our kids and niblings a trip to The Hero Day, a giant indoor bouncy castle wonderland. We're headed there this afternoon. Four adults, ten children, and an hour of bouncing and loud music. Wish us luck.
The Smiths arrive on Tuesday to contribute to the chaos. Hooray, hooray! Anything else that I was supposed to mention but forgot will have to be immortalized in 2020. Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!
25 December 2019
Bonus Post: Dance Recital Notes
Gretchen and Kaitlyn had a dance recital, and you all know what that means... It's time for Bryan's Play-By-Play!
Question: How do you make the most wonderful time of the year even more wonderful? Answer: Sit down to a 3 hour little girl dance recital, of course! It's the 2019 Miss Lyn's Jazzed Up Nutcracker and the house is packed with semi-obligated-to-watch parents and grandparents. Luckily for those of you without a ticket, I'm here for the play by play. Option #1 is don't go. #2 is drink myself stupid. But as I'm a semi-obligated parent and have to drive my kids home after this, option #3 is to make everyone else share a fraction of my misery. Now shut up, it's starting.
False alarm, turns out this is just pre-show Christmas hype music. Ironically this song and the still drawn curtain is probably the best performance I'll get to witness today.
Act 1 is in the books. You really forget how bad these are in the six months between sitting down for them...
Song 2 and I have no idea what I just watched. Nine year old dresses up like reindeer-elf and does the drunken robot? Thankfully the speakers they're using were installed in 1972, so I can just give her the benefit of the doubt and say it was in time to the music.
We have a Gretchen sighting! She is standing way too close to the girl next to her. Also, they're going for the oompa loompa up and down bob move, and I'm not sure when people become capable of that, but can now say with confidence that it comes after the age of 6.
There is some dad in a silver cape that keeps coming on stage and awkwardly carrying girls away. If this were anything buy a dance recital someone would have called the cops by now.
Dance fight! The classic rivals, mice vs nutcrackers. I'll let you know who wins.
...Yikes. So the mouse gets stabbed and her mouse friends cry over her dead body and they played the "Fatality" sound bite from Mortal Kombat. When the DVD comes later we might have to fast forward through that so Kaitlyn doesn't get nightmares.
The preschoolers, perennial favorites, so much to unpack. One girl does nothing the whole song. Another hides in her hands cuz she's scared, but also kind of does her dance. But easily the best, one girl has her own big girl assigned to her to keep her from wandering away. It only kinda works. Brava, preschoolers, brava.
Song 15, called in the program "Snowflakes a Flutter." Could have just as easily been titled "Arm Flapping in Tutus set to Acoustic Guitar."
Sassy bumblebees dance to hip-hop remix of Jingle Bells. I do not remember that from the original Nutcracker. I also don't remember the Arabian belly dance number. (*Carroll supplies link of Arabian belly dance in original Nutcracker*) Lol, well color me wrong. By the way, belly dances can be done by 5 year olds because it's hilarious and adorable, or adult women because it's sexy. When 14 year old girls do it it's just awkward all around. Nobody wins.
The youngins are back and basically just doing jumping jacks to the one recognizable song from the Nutcracker. Super glad I paid like $300 for my girls to be a part of this. (Carroll: *enrolls Genevieve in MMA*) I do take some solace in knowing I'm no longer the only one with daughters... (Alan: *Sends gif of happy Bender dancing).
So they almost always do this running leap thing and this one poor girl... She ran and thought about leaping but hesitated, so ran some more, but hesitated, then needed speed for her leap... But was out of room. Ended in a sad hop. Very disappointed in herself. Her moment was too big for her. There's always next year, little girl.
It is the 30th song today with sparkles and twirling, so I will take this moment to mention that Kaitlyn did come on right after the preschoolers but was disappointingly pretty good. She can off-balance foot stomp with the best of them.
Man, I need to watch the original before I come to another one of these, because ten little girls just ran out from a big girl's skirt that's the size of a tent and I'm just lost. I am not picking up the narratives being laid down.
They're bringing them all back out for the 10 minutes long "take a bow" dance. With this one wrapping up, I'm left with one final thought. For all the effort I put into keeping my commentary fresh, you must remember that every dance could really be boiled down to the same four words: Glitter skipping and suck. That'll do it for me, gents. See you on Mother's Day. And Alan, may God bless you with nothing but granddaughters.
And some notes from Johannah at the second show:
1. You forgot to mention how interminably long the snowflake dance was.
2. Did the disco ball keep flashing right in your eyes?
3. Weird chipmunk laughing noises during the love duet?
4. My little angels (the tiny tots) got distracted by the gold glittery stuff on the floor. At least three grabbed fistfuls before finding their spots.
5. The belly dancer is super athletic.
6. Gretchen is not. I'm currently wondering if she even knows how to run.
Question: How do you make the most wonderful time of the year even more wonderful? Answer: Sit down to a 3 hour little girl dance recital, of course! It's the 2019 Miss Lyn's Jazzed Up Nutcracker and the house is packed with semi-obligated-to-watch parents and grandparents. Luckily for those of you without a ticket, I'm here for the play by play. Option #1 is don't go. #2 is drink myself stupid. But as I'm a semi-obligated parent and have to drive my kids home after this, option #3 is to make everyone else share a fraction of my misery. Now shut up, it's starting.
False alarm, turns out this is just pre-show Christmas hype music. Ironically this song and the still drawn curtain is probably the best performance I'll get to witness today.
Act 1 is in the books. You really forget how bad these are in the six months between sitting down for them...
Song 2 and I have no idea what I just watched. Nine year old dresses up like reindeer-elf and does the drunken robot? Thankfully the speakers they're using were installed in 1972, so I can just give her the benefit of the doubt and say it was in time to the music.
We have a Gretchen sighting! She is standing way too close to the girl next to her. Also, they're going for the oompa loompa up and down bob move, and I'm not sure when people become capable of that, but can now say with confidence that it comes after the age of 6.
There is some dad in a silver cape that keeps coming on stage and awkwardly carrying girls away. If this were anything buy a dance recital someone would have called the cops by now.
Dance fight! The classic rivals, mice vs nutcrackers. I'll let you know who wins.
...Yikes. So the mouse gets stabbed and her mouse friends cry over her dead body and they played the "Fatality" sound bite from Mortal Kombat. When the DVD comes later we might have to fast forward through that so Kaitlyn doesn't get nightmares.
The preschoolers, perennial favorites, so much to unpack. One girl does nothing the whole song. Another hides in her hands cuz she's scared, but also kind of does her dance. But easily the best, one girl has her own big girl assigned to her to keep her from wandering away. It only kinda works. Brava, preschoolers, brava.
Song 15, called in the program "Snowflakes a Flutter." Could have just as easily been titled "Arm Flapping in Tutus set to Acoustic Guitar."
Sassy bumblebees dance to hip-hop remix of Jingle Bells. I do not remember that from the original Nutcracker. I also don't remember the Arabian belly dance number. (*Carroll supplies link of Arabian belly dance in original Nutcracker*) Lol, well color me wrong. By the way, belly dances can be done by 5 year olds because it's hilarious and adorable, or adult women because it's sexy. When 14 year old girls do it it's just awkward all around. Nobody wins.
The youngins are back and basically just doing jumping jacks to the one recognizable song from the Nutcracker. Super glad I paid like $300 for my girls to be a part of this. (Carroll: *enrolls Genevieve in MMA*) I do take some solace in knowing I'm no longer the only one with daughters... (Alan: *Sends gif of happy Bender dancing).
So they almost always do this running leap thing and this one poor girl... She ran and thought about leaping but hesitated, so ran some more, but hesitated, then needed speed for her leap... But was out of room. Ended in a sad hop. Very disappointed in herself. Her moment was too big for her. There's always next year, little girl.
It is the 30th song today with sparkles and twirling, so I will take this moment to mention that Kaitlyn did come on right after the preschoolers but was disappointingly pretty good. She can off-balance foot stomp with the best of them.
Man, I need to watch the original before I come to another one of these, because ten little girls just ran out from a big girl's skirt that's the size of a tent and I'm just lost. I am not picking up the narratives being laid down.
They're bringing them all back out for the 10 minutes long "take a bow" dance. With this one wrapping up, I'm left with one final thought. For all the effort I put into keeping my commentary fresh, you must remember that every dance could really be boiled down to the same four words: Glitter skipping and suck. That'll do it for me, gents. See you on Mother's Day. And Alan, may God bless you with nothing but granddaughters.
And some notes from Johannah at the second show:
1. You forgot to mention how interminably long the snowflake dance was.
2. Did the disco ball keep flashing right in your eyes?
3. Weird chipmunk laughing noises during the love duet?
4. My little angels (the tiny tots) got distracted by the gold glittery stuff on the floor. At least three grabbed fistfuls before finding their spots.
5. The belly dancer is super athletic.
6. Gretchen is not. I'm currently wondering if she even knows how to run.
15 December 2019
October 27-December 15
Quick things, mostly about the two boys:
-A Theodore post went up, backdated to his birthday.
-Theo's last checkup -- 12 lbs 3 oz, 23.25 in
-The kids and I went to visit the Bossards at the beginning of November. Their trick-or-treating was Saturday, so we went with them.
-I have not mentioned it in a blog post, but Theodore is very spitty. I would say he's worse than Gretchen, but that could just be because he's the one currently being messy.
-If you ask Matthias what color something is, it's green.
-Theo found his hands on or around November 21.
-Matthias began potty training on November 25.
-The Bossards came here for Thanksgiving.
-We celebrated Christmas with Bryan's family this past weekend. Bryan and I alternate calling it "Grandma's Christmas" and "Present Day."
-Theodore has rolled from front to back several times. They were all on the same day, though, and he hasn't exhibited any similar talents since then.
-Theodore was a fabulous sleeper for five weeks -- from the middle of October until the end of November. At the beginning of those five weeks he would sleep from whenever he finally went down at night (usually by 9:30) until about 7. By the end of the five weeks his bedtime was pretty consistently in the 6:30-7 range. Then he broke, and he is no longer a fabulous sleeper. Sad day.
-Matthias calls his brother Feedoor John.
-Olivia has completed a round of swimming lessons. She needs to work on putting her face in the water, but has been promoted to the next level class. We currently have no plans to continue the lessons before summer arrives.
Pictures:
-A Theodore post went up, backdated to his birthday.
-Theo's last checkup -- 12 lbs 3 oz, 23.25 in
-The kids and I went to visit the Bossards at the beginning of November. Their trick-or-treating was Saturday, so we went with them.
-I have not mentioned it in a blog post, but Theodore is very spitty. I would say he's worse than Gretchen, but that could just be because he's the one currently being messy.
-If you ask Matthias what color something is, it's green.
-Theo found his hands on or around November 21.
-Matthias began potty training on November 25.
-The Bossards came here for Thanksgiving.
-We celebrated Christmas with Bryan's family this past weekend. Bryan and I alternate calling it "Grandma's Christmas" and "Present Day."
-Theodore has rolled from front to back several times. They were all on the same day, though, and he hasn't exhibited any similar talents since then.
-Theodore was a fabulous sleeper for five weeks -- from the middle of October until the end of November. At the beginning of those five weeks he would sleep from whenever he finally went down at night (usually by 9:30) until about 7. By the end of the five weeks his bedtime was pretty consistently in the 6:30-7 range. Then he broke, and he is no longer a fabulous sleeper. Sad day.
-Matthias calls his brother Feedoor John.
-Olivia has completed a round of swimming lessons. She needs to work on putting her face in the water, but has been promoted to the next level class. We currently have no plans to continue the lessons before summer arrives.
Pictures:
11 December 2019
Bonus Post: A Sibling Photo Shoot
Murry needed an updated picture for her foyer (the current one is missing both boys), so we had a photo shoot. Rudy joined in the fun, too.
Pictures:
27 November 2019
Bonus Post: Sound Bites 46
Matthias: Look! The train is making a noisy!
Kaitlyn: I wish I was a gorilla because then I would have four hands.
Me: Good news, I suck at eating!
Gretchen: I am 20% sure that I'm stronger than Olivia.
Olivia: Well I'm 20% sure you're not.
Me: Let me get your cutie patootie brother.
Matthias: Patootie brother?!
Me, to Theo: Are you a patootie brother?
Matthias: No, he's a Theo.
Matthias: Daddy is mowing the laundry.
Gretchen: I think without our parents we would be bad all the time.
Olivia: Without our parents we would die.
Kaitlyn: No, we would just take care of ourselves.
Olivia: What does romance mean?
Me: It's all the nice little things you do for someone you love.
Olivia: Oh. I thought it meant fainting.
Me: Theo was a cranky pants today. And when Theo's cranky, mommy's cranky.
Kaitlyn: Mommy is a cranky skirt!
Matthias: Knock knock.
Me: Who's there?
Matthias: Moo who.
Me: Moo who who?
Matthias: Kitty cat!
Olivia: Gretchen.
Gretchen: What?
Olivia: Can.
Gretchen: ...
Olivia: ...Oh. I mean knock knock.
Kaitlyn: I really love everybody and everything in the whole world. Even you.
Kaitlyn: I wish I was a gorilla because then I would have four hands.
Me: Good news, I suck at eating!
Gretchen: I am 20% sure that I'm stronger than Olivia.
Olivia: Well I'm 20% sure you're not.
Me: Let me get your cutie patootie brother.
Matthias: Patootie brother?!
Me, to Theo: Are you a patootie brother?
Matthias: No, he's a Theo.
Matthias: Daddy is mowing the laundry.
Gretchen: I think without our parents we would be bad all the time.
Olivia: Without our parents we would die.
Kaitlyn: No, we would just take care of ourselves.
Olivia: What does romance mean?
Me: It's all the nice little things you do for someone you love.
Olivia: Oh. I thought it meant fainting.
Me: Theo was a cranky pants today. And when Theo's cranky, mommy's cranky.
Kaitlyn: Mommy is a cranky skirt!
Matthias: Knock knock.
Me: Who's there?
Matthias: Moo who.
Me: Moo who who?
Matthias: Kitty cat!
Olivia: Gretchen.
Gretchen: What?
Olivia: Can.
Gretchen: ...
Olivia: ...Oh. I mean knock knock.
Kaitlyn: I really love everybody and everything in the whole world. Even you.
27 October 2019
October 20-27
...And, as per usual, all the words from the last month.
Theodore:
~Got baptized. Friday, September 20. Godparents are Jillian Fenton and Phil Worland. Dad flew in to perform the baptism.
~Had a check up a month ago. He was 10 pounds, 1 ounce, and 21.5 inches long. He has another check up this week, so those numbers are quite outdated.
~Began smiling a little before one month. They were quick smiles, and generally only with the right side of his mouth. I got his first real smile in response to me when he was one month and two days old, which makes him officially our earliest smiler. Despite his early smiles, however, he has not been very free with them. He would seem to be as sober and serious as his older siblings were. Except Gretchen. I remember her smiling a lot.
~Spent several weeks escaping from his swaddle in the middle of each night. At 3:30 in the morning I would hear grunting and wiggling. Other than the expended effort, he was perfectly content. About twenty minutes later, one arm free from its bonds, he would realize he might be hungry and decide to have a snack before going back to sleep.
~Had a bedtime. Theo would consistently go to sleep for the night between 7 and 8, wake up once between 3 and 4, and then get up for the day around 8.
~And then lost it. Now he goes to bed between 7 and 8 kind of, but not really. After about fifteen minutes he wakes up and is happily awake for another hour or two before going to bed again. Then he sleeps until about 5 before nursing, and then wakes up for the day around 8.
~Has longer periods of awake time. He is content to be where he can see the action (or his arch, which he's begun noticing) and hear voices. As long as he knows he's not alone, Theo will just hang out and observe the world around him.
Matthias:
~Counts, or tries to. I caught 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13 and 41, 46, 47, 13.
~Answers the question "what" with "because." Example: "What are you wearing?" "Because I have a cars shirt."
~Loves "moany cheese." Macaroni and cheese, for those who don't speak this dialect of toddler. He and two of his sisters (Gretchen and Kaitlyn) have finally been corrupted by Grandma and prefer boxed macaroni and cheese, though they will still happily eat the homemade kind. Olivia will not touch the boxed stuff.
~Is in a big boy bed. He went all the way, too, with no toddler bed transition. Straight from crib to junior loft. I believe he's the oldest one to transition, which may be contributing to how well it went. I also wonder how much the taller bed helped, because although he can get out by himself, it is not at all convenient to do so. Regardless of the reason, he wins all the prizes for best transitioner. He's been happily retiring to his new bed every night and staying there without a fuss. He did call it Aunt Justine's bed for several weeks because she slept in it when they were here for Theo's baptism and Matthias moved in the night they left.
~Spent the week that the Bossards visited in a pack and play in our room. This would not be noteworthy except that he's too big to fit comfortably in the pack and play, so he would wake up in the middle of the night and call for daddy until Bryan got him and brought him into our bed. Since we have a king now, we don't even notice the addition most of the time (until Matthias turns sideways and/or headbutts someone in the face). Upon moving to his own bed, Matthias did better, but he still ends up in our room about four times a week. Sometimes at 5:30ish, sometimes as early as 1. I suppose we should work on fixing it, but, like I said, he's pretty unobtrusive most of the time, and neither Bryan nor I wants to spend time in the middle of the night convincing Matthias that his own bed is fine.
~Has fat feet. We went to WalMart and I had Matthias try on every single shoe in his size. We could only squeeze his foot into one pair of boots, and the velcro wouldn't close once his foot was inside. I took him to Shoe Carnival and asked if they had any wide width kid shoes. They had wide width in exactly one style, so Matthias got Nikes in sizes 7 and 8 in order to take advantage of a sale. Name brand wide width toddler shoes are expensive and I was annoyed. I found some church shoes on ebay for a lesser amount, but I guess I will have to resign myself to buying expensive shoes until his feet lengthen out enough to fit in normal shoes.
Kaitlyn:
~Can identify the letters K, A, O, G, X, and Y. She's quite unreliable with all the rest of them, but her two most common guesses are B and E.
~Can spell her name (verbally, although if I provide the correct flashcards she can generally put them in order). She also answers the question "What does your name start with?" with "It starts with K-A-I-T-L-Y-N."
~Started Catechesis. St Charles Church is offering a new class for 3-5 year olds called Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. It's Montessori style with an emphasis on religion. Kaitlyn loves it. Her class meets on Friday mornings and she comes home each week talking about all of the hard work she had to do. After she dusted one week, she told me that the next time we were at the store we should buy dusting things (a rag is not good enough, there's a specific tool she uses, apparently) and she would dust the house for me. We were calling her class school at first, but she decided that wasn't accurate, and neither was church, so now we call it catechesis and everyone is happy. Plus, now Matthias has the distinction of being one of few two-year-olds who routinely uses the word catechesis.
~Started dance. Technically dance class started at the beginning of September, but I told Miss Lyn that Kaitlyn would not be attending until October. On the first of October, Kaitlyn excitedly entered her first official dance class. She will happily demonstrate her passe to anyone who asks her to show them a dance move.
Gretchen:
~Knows the meaning of the word "favorite" (I think), but doesn't care. Everything is Gretchen's favorite. When playing the game "Would You Rather?", she picks both choices. It doesn't matter that she's only allowed to pick one.
~Is reading quite well now. Gretchen doesn't read as voraciously as Olivia did at this point in first grade, but she is still writing plenty of titles on the list she keeps for school. Her favorite books are Elephant and Piggie. At this point, I think she has them pretty much memorized.
~Loves art class. Her favorite special is art and she's constantly doing art projects at home.
~Made a doll. Kaitlyn and Olivia did, too, but only because Gretchen made one first. Gretch wanted to make a doll, so I looked up a pattern and walked her through the steps. I ran the foot pedal on the sewing machine, but she did everything else herself. Yesterday she decided to make a pumpkin the same way she made her doll and drafted a pattern out of paper, cut out the fabric, and began cutting "fluff" (fabric scraps) for stuffing. She'll probably finish it today.
~Has fully embraced earrings. Now that Gretchen's ears are healed (they have been for months, she just didn't realize it) and we've successfully changed her earrings a few times, she is all in on the new earrings. She wears a different pair every day that she remembers, although she's going to have to start repeating pairs soon. She's just begun trying to take them out and put them in herself, so soon she won't even need me to help her with them.
~Likes scary things. Bryan took her shopping for her Halloween costume and had to talk her down from costumes covered with fake blood and gore because they would have terrified her younger siblings. She came home with a phantom costume, complete with glowy eyes. She still traumatized two children (not ours) with it.
Olivia:
~Finished the soccer season strong. Bryan reports that Olivia got more aggressive as the season wound down, and in her last several games she played very well. We shall see if this increased skill level carries over into next season. :)
~Will be starting swim lessons on Tuesday. Olivia got quite comfortable in the water this past summer, so we decided a few weeks of formal swim lessons were in order. Unfortunately, they were only offered on the nights that she already had soccer. Soccer is over now, though, so she starts this week.
~Discovered graphic novels. After reading all the Rainbow Magic books she could get her hands on, Olivia was adrift looking for a new series. Despite dozens of recommendations from her mother, she stubbornly refused to try anything that looked like it might be long and/or boring. No one except perhaps Olivia knows how she came to the long and boring conclusions. Regardless, she was determined to reread Rainbow Magic for the rest of her days. But then. My Little Pony appeared on the scene in comic book form. Our library has 15 volumes of that, so she eagerly checked them out and read them all in about three days. Oh well. Now she knows that graphic novels are a thing and checks that section for interesting reading material.
~Doesn't like pants. When it was time to switch out clothes for the new season, Olivia decided she didn't want pants. Since dresses are getting hard to find in her size, she opted for skirts and shirts. Now she says, "I'm kind of just like my mom" as she walks around in her maxi skirt. :)
An event:
Bryan decided to throw a Halloween party for kids. I originally thought this would replace trick-or-treating, but apparently it is intended to be in addition to all the other Halloween festivities. The kids are very excited to get to wear their costumes another time. This was the first year, so we didn't really know what to expect. Bryan threw together some things that sounded fun and we went from there. It actually went really well. The highlight was easily the candy shop that he set up in the clubhouse. There was a flashlight scavenger hunt set up in the basement where kids collected pennies. They could then take the pennies to the clubhouse window and buy candy and toys with them. Olivia was in charge of running the store and had a grand time. There was also a laser maze set up in the garage, courtesy of a friend, a bag decorating station, and various candy deposits around the property where kids could find treats.
A story:
Whilst eating a peanut butter and banana sandwich last month, I got a large painful lump in my throat and couldn't swallow or breathe. Since insurance is already maxed out for the year, I decided it would be prudent to visit an allergist, so as not to inadvertently die of anaphylactic shock sometime in the future. I also reluctantly gave up peanuts (and, less reluctantly, bananas) for the weeks between the incident and the appointment. Since I've never had trouble with peanuts before and, in fact, ate peanut butter nearly exclusively for a few months in college, I was hopeful that there would be no allergy. I finally had my appointment on Monday and, was happily proclaimed to be in the clear. My banana pin prick showed the tiniest reaction, but not enough for the allergist to care. My peanut pin prick did nothing. I guess I'm just terrible at chewing my food. You'd think I'd be better at that by this point in my life.
Another story:
We had a meeting this past Wednesday night. I took a small, tasteful bag with two diapers, a burp cloth, and some wipes into the meeting because that's all I needed for a couple of hours. Hah. Theo exploded his diaper all up his back for the first time. All the way to his armpits. I sent Bryan to the car for the full diaper bag with its change of clothes. The whole sleeper was gross, and of course Theo managed to get his arm and pacifier tether int he poop. While I had Theo flipped onto his stomach to wipe off his back, he spit up all over himself, my arm, and the changing table. Bryan fetched paper towels to wipe up the spit so that I could lay Theo down to finish his diaper change, and Theo took that opportunity to pee all over the wall. I finally cleaned a space enough to attach a diaper, handed him to Bryan to be clothed, wiped down the changing table and wall, washed the pacifier, and made it out of the bathroom.
Pictures:
20 October 2019
16 October 2019
Bonus Post: Sound Bites 45
Kaitlyn: I'm starving. My brain is growing smaller and is making me not breathe and then I will die.
Matthias: I need chips.
Me: How do you ask?
Matthias: More chips.
Me: Can I please have more...
Matthias: Chips.
Me: Can I please...
Matthias: Have chips.
Me: No, say the whole thing. Can I please have more chips.
Matthias: Yes.
Kaitlyn: Did you hear the secret that I telled to my imaginary friend?
Me: No, because I am not your imaginary friend.
Kaitlyn: Well it starts with a D and starts with an S at the end. And then it starts with an O in the middle and then it starts with a 3 and then it starts with a 5.
Olivia: I'm trying to have the best dream of my life, and you're interrupting it!
Kaitlyn: Want to know how I make that noise? I snork my choke, but it doesn't even make me die.
Gretchen, dramatically: I am a school classer!
Kaitlyn, singing: Red, orange, and green, and toes.
Gretchen: Do you remember Ariel's dad? King Sultan?
Miss Lyn: I have two Kaitlyns in my class. Do you know your middle name?
Kaitlyn: My name is Kaitlyn Bug.
Kaitlyn: You're telling me a lot of things that I am unacceptable about.
Gretchen: I saw a statue of hunormous books.
Olivia: You mean humongous.
Me: Or enormous.
Gretchen: Which one is bigger?
Me: They both mean very, very big.
Gretchen: They mean 100% tall.
Kaitlyn: I wish Rudy was part of my family. My sisters are boring, but Rudy's not boring. God just wants me to be mad because he didn't make Rudy part of my family. Can you drive to heaven and ask God to make Rudy part of my family?
Matthias: I need chips.
Me: How do you ask?
Matthias: More chips.
Me: Can I please have more...
Matthias: Chips.
Me: Can I please...
Matthias: Have chips.
Me: No, say the whole thing. Can I please have more chips.
Matthias: Yes.
Kaitlyn: Did you hear the secret that I telled to my imaginary friend?
Me: No, because I am not your imaginary friend.
Kaitlyn: Well it starts with a D and starts with an S at the end. And then it starts with an O in the middle and then it starts with a 3 and then it starts with a 5.
Olivia: I'm trying to have the best dream of my life, and you're interrupting it!
Kaitlyn: Want to know how I make that noise? I snork my choke, but it doesn't even make me die.
Gretchen, dramatically: I am a school classer!
Kaitlyn, singing: Red, orange, and green, and toes.
Gretchen: Do you remember Ariel's dad? King Sultan?
Miss Lyn: I have two Kaitlyns in my class. Do you know your middle name?
Kaitlyn: My name is Kaitlyn Bug.
Kaitlyn: You're telling me a lot of things that I am unacceptable about.
Gretchen: I saw a statue of hunormous books.
Olivia: You mean humongous.
Me: Or enormous.
Gretchen: Which one is bigger?
Me: They both mean very, very big.
Gretchen: They mean 100% tall.
Kaitlyn: I wish Rudy was part of my family. My sisters are boring, but Rudy's not boring. God just wants me to be mad because he didn't make Rudy part of my family. Can you drive to heaven and ask God to make Rudy part of my family?
25 September 2019
Bonus Post: Sound Bites 44
Kaitlyn: Uncle Josef, why does your hair that's supposed to go down go up?
Matthias: My bum is raining. (His pants were wet.)
Olivia: When I grow up, I'm going to be a teacher, a librarian, or maybe nothing.
Bryan: Nothing?
Olivia: Like mom. She's nothing, just a mom.
Kaitlyn, singing: I wanna know, can you show me? I wanna know if a stranger likes me.
Gretchen: Did you know? I am not the girl I want to be.
Kaitlyn: He is going to stay in our room forever. It's the horriblest thing ever! They are giving him a snack while he is in jail. They keep telling him it's mac and cheese, but when he eats it, it is apparently pig food with a rock in it.
Gretchen, eating canned pears: I think I know how they made pears. They took apples, cut them up, and made them slimy.
Kaitlyn has a toy thermometer.
Bryan: What is that?
Kaitlyn: It's a pencil that tells how old you are.
Bryan: Can you check how old my foot is?
Kaitlyn: Yes. It's eight.
Kaitlyn: Mom, your elbow smells like Theodore slobber.
(video chat)
Oma: What are you doing?
Gretchen: Looking at you right now.
Matthias: My bum is raining. (His pants were wet.)
Olivia: When I grow up, I'm going to be a teacher, a librarian, or maybe nothing.
Bryan: Nothing?
Olivia: Like mom. She's nothing, just a mom.
Kaitlyn, singing: I wanna know, can you show me? I wanna know if a stranger likes me.
Gretchen: Did you know? I am not the girl I want to be.
Kaitlyn: He is going to stay in our room forever. It's the horriblest thing ever! They are giving him a snack while he is in jail. They keep telling him it's mac and cheese, but when he eats it, it is apparently pig food with a rock in it.
Gretchen, eating canned pears: I think I know how they made pears. They took apples, cut them up, and made them slimy.
Kaitlyn has a toy thermometer.
Bryan: What is that?
Kaitlyn: It's a pencil that tells how old you are.
Bryan: Can you check how old my foot is?
Kaitlyn: Yes. It's eight.
Kaitlyn: Mom, your elbow smells like Theodore slobber.
(video chat)
Oma: What are you doing?
Gretchen: Looking at you right now.
15 September 2019
August 25-September 15
School started on August 20. Technically that's before the date range this post is supposed to cover, but the last post was all pictures, so it didn't get mentioned. Olivia is in second grade this year and Gretchen has joined her at St Charles, beginning first grade. The excitement is real.
Unfortunately for the home front, Kaitlyn and Matthias have not bonded quite as well this year as Kaitlyn and Gretchen did when Olivia left for school. There's a lot of squabbling throughout the day. Matthias has learned the word "mine" and uses it liberally, much to Kaitlyn's dismay. He also picked up the idea of "repeating" from her -- she's very annoyed whenever he copies what she's doing or saying... he's pretty much not allowed to hold any of the same opinions as her. Now he marches around the house declaring, "Stop repeating me!" even if no one is copying him.
Olivia has been playing soccer since the beginning of August. She is on the St Charles team this year, which plays as part of one of the public school leagues. She remains not aggressive enough, although Bryan says that she plays pretty good defense if she's the last one before the goal. If there's someone behind her, she tends to shy away and wait for a pass. Her team started the season 0 and 3, somehow managing to score quite a few goals while amassing significantly fewer points. Own goals are still goals, right? The second half of the season has been going better, yielding 2 wins and a tie.
A common game around our house these days is some variation of "Guess What I am Thinking Of." It's like the game I played on my cutting edge v-tech computer with interchangeable cardstock game cards back in the early 90s, only without the obnoxious electronic voice. Instead, the girls just play guessing games where whether you're right or wrong could go either way, depending whether they're trying to boost your ego or not.
Matthias has opinions about everything. He wants to dictate who changes his diaper (Daddy, although somehow I'm still the one who ends up changing it), who gets him dressed (he does, inefficiently, and then needs help fixing everything later), and when it's time to do an activity (either immediately or never, depending on the activity).
I had an eye doctor appointment back in June and decided not to spend money on new glasses because my prescription hadn't changed much. I did find out that I have irregular astigmatism which is getting worse. Apparently that's unusual. Anyway, while on vacation at Great Wolf Lodge one of my nose pads fell off my glasses and got lost between the balcony slats, so I decided it might be time to upgrade my frames. I was dreading taking four kids with me to pick out frames, so Bryan told me to find a babysitter and take him instead. He thought this would be a great way to get me to buy more exciting frames. I was unsure that it was an improvement over my previous situation. Bryan brings out the daring spontanaity in me, though, so we had a date to the glasses place. His cause was furthered by the fact that glasses places routinely run buy one, get one half off specials. He went looking for the gaudiest pair of frames he could find, and then slowly downplayed the gaudy until he found a pair he thought I might actually wear. His demand was that I wear them for one full day each week. His concession was that I could also buy boring frames and wear those the other six days. We compromised, and I put sunglasses lenses in the fun frames but bought the boring ones for everyday use.
Theodore was born on Monday, August 26. There will be a separate post for that, backdated to his birthday.
Everyone loves Theo and wants to hold him all the time. The girls are quite good at soothing him with songs and his pacifier, which he takes pretty willingly. Matthias is good at narrating what is happening in Theo's life.
Theo updates:
He had an appointment when he was three days old. He weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces. His length was measured as 20.5 inches long, which was a full inch and a half longer than the hospital told us he was. I am positive he didn't grow that much in three days, so someone measured wrong. It might have been the hospital, but their numbers somehow seem more official, so a mere 19 inches is his official birth length, wrong or not.
At two and a half weeks old, I decided that newborn clothes were looking small and bumped Theo up to 0-3 month clothes. These look huge, but his shoulders aren't trying to pop out anymore.
Speaking of Theo, he has sleepy smiles more than any of the other kids. I am hopeful that this will translate to more purposeful smiles as he gets older. :)
Pictures:
Unfortunately for the home front, Kaitlyn and Matthias have not bonded quite as well this year as Kaitlyn and Gretchen did when Olivia left for school. There's a lot of squabbling throughout the day. Matthias has learned the word "mine" and uses it liberally, much to Kaitlyn's dismay. He also picked up the idea of "repeating" from her -- she's very annoyed whenever he copies what she's doing or saying... he's pretty much not allowed to hold any of the same opinions as her. Now he marches around the house declaring, "Stop repeating me!" even if no one is copying him.
Olivia has been playing soccer since the beginning of August. She is on the St Charles team this year, which plays as part of one of the public school leagues. She remains not aggressive enough, although Bryan says that she plays pretty good defense if she's the last one before the goal. If there's someone behind her, she tends to shy away and wait for a pass. Her team started the season 0 and 3, somehow managing to score quite a few goals while amassing significantly fewer points. Own goals are still goals, right? The second half of the season has been going better, yielding 2 wins and a tie.
A common game around our house these days is some variation of "Guess What I am Thinking Of." It's like the game I played on my cutting edge v-tech computer with interchangeable cardstock game cards back in the early 90s, only without the obnoxious electronic voice. Instead, the girls just play guessing games where whether you're right or wrong could go either way, depending whether they're trying to boost your ego or not.
Matthias has opinions about everything. He wants to dictate who changes his diaper (Daddy, although somehow I'm still the one who ends up changing it), who gets him dressed (he does, inefficiently, and then needs help fixing everything later), and when it's time to do an activity (either immediately or never, depending on the activity).
I had an eye doctor appointment back in June and decided not to spend money on new glasses because my prescription hadn't changed much. I did find out that I have irregular astigmatism which is getting worse. Apparently that's unusual. Anyway, while on vacation at Great Wolf Lodge one of my nose pads fell off my glasses and got lost between the balcony slats, so I decided it might be time to upgrade my frames. I was dreading taking four kids with me to pick out frames, so Bryan told me to find a babysitter and take him instead. He thought this would be a great way to get me to buy more exciting frames. I was unsure that it was an improvement over my previous situation. Bryan brings out the daring spontanaity in me, though, so we had a date to the glasses place. His cause was furthered by the fact that glasses places routinely run buy one, get one half off specials. He went looking for the gaudiest pair of frames he could find, and then slowly downplayed the gaudy until he found a pair he thought I might actually wear. His demand was that I wear them for one full day each week. His concession was that I could also buy boring frames and wear those the other six days. We compromised, and I put sunglasses lenses in the fun frames but bought the boring ones for everyday use.
Theodore was born on Monday, August 26. There will be a separate post for that, backdated to his birthday.
Everyone loves Theo and wants to hold him all the time. The girls are quite good at soothing him with songs and his pacifier, which he takes pretty willingly. Matthias is good at narrating what is happening in Theo's life.
Theo updates:
He had an appointment when he was three days old. He weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces. His length was measured as 20.5 inches long, which was a full inch and a half longer than the hospital told us he was. I am positive he didn't grow that much in three days, so someone measured wrong. It might have been the hospital, but their numbers somehow seem more official, so a mere 19 inches is his official birth length, wrong or not.
At two and a half weeks old, I decided that newborn clothes were looking small and bumped Theo up to 0-3 month clothes. These look huge, but his shoulders aren't trying to pop out anymore.
Speaking of Theo, he has sleepy smiles more than any of the other kids. I am hopeful that this will translate to more purposeful smiles as he gets older. :)
Pictures:
26 August 2019
Bonus Post: Introducing...
Theodore John Barhorst
Monday, August 26, 2019
9:44 pm
7 pounds, 13 ounces
19 inches long
Starting around 36 weeks, the nurses at prenatal appointments ask if you're having any contractions. I always thought this was a weird question because, in my experience, contractions lead immediately to a trip to the hospital to have a baby. The idea of having contractions before the date of birth was foreign to me. However. This time, for the first time in all my pregnancies, I had actual contractions before the date that the baby was born. Last Monday I spent half the day having periodic contractions. Weak ones, to be sure, but consistently about 10 minutes apart. At some point, they fizzled, though, and I continued to be pregnant. On Thursday, I felt hardly any movement and, after an hour of rest with no movement, called the office. They told me to drink two glasses of water, rest for another hour, and count kicks. I did get the required ten, but explained to the nurse that they were feeble movements at best and far fewer than I was used to feeling. I was told to come in for a non stress test where, of course, the baby perked up and performed admirably. Back home I went, still baby-less. By Sunday, I had decided that maybe it would be better to just wait another week for September to arrive. I already have an August birthstone on my bracelet, and the September sapphire is so much prettier.
I should have known that the resignation is what would work. Mid-morning on Monday I began having contractions again. They were again weak and sporadic, but even so I was cautiously optimistic. By 2:30, they had settled into a pattern and were getting stronger. After I picked up the girls from school I wandered down into the basement and told Bryan to call his mom. I also informed him that I would be getting an epidural, because it had been a long, tiring day and I didn't feel like dealing with it anymore.
By the time Murry arrived just after 4, contractions were still only ten minutes apart but were strong enough that I was ready to go to the hospital so that I didn't have to deal with the other children anymore. Bryan wrote down a couple of addresses and phone numbers for his mom and I gathered our things while Murry scurried back and forth from her van in a panic. She had apparently grabbed whatever she could in her rush out the door, and arrived at our house with an assortment of food, little of which went together. I laughed at her olives, raspberry jam, and goldfish crackers, while she commented on how calm Bryan and I seemed in comparison. We kissed the kids goodbye and headed out the door. I had to send Bryan back to fetch the carseat that he'd forgotten.
Since it was now nearly 5:00, Bryan decided to stop at Taco Bell to grab some dinner. How the panic decreases between kids one and five! Once we were all checked in, I took a picture of him eating so that he could say later that he made his laboring wife document the fact that he stopped for Taco Bell on the way to the hospital and then sat around and ate it.
We thought that we should go to the outpatient entrance, since this was a daytime arrival, but since we arrived after 5 they sent us around to the emergency room. The secretary checked us in. At one point after we had been chatting about a previous hospital visit she asked, "Are you a veteran?" In my mind, this question seemed like a weird way of asking how many kids we had, so I answered, "Yes, this is my fi-- Oh, wait, no. No, I'm not." Bryan was amused. She called for a wheelchair that I was not allowed to decline. Bummer. I don't care for wheelchairs.
We got upstairs and baby preparations ensued. Bryan guessed that I would be seven centimeters dilated. The nurse checked and was very impressed with his accuracy. He was proud of himself. Vitals were checked, IVs were placed, monitors were attached. Did I want an epidural? I thought maybe I did, and contemplated aloud how I'd been considering getting one. Bryan popped his head in from the hallway (he'd been exiled while they inserted the IV since he doesn't do well with needles -- we learned this when he nearly passed out during the IV insertion when Olivia was born) and told me I'd be happier without an epidural. I hemmed and hawed a bit, and then declined.
Usually I'm up and about during labor, preferring to walk around and be active. This time, though, I just sat. The head of the bed was lifted all the way up so that it was more like a recliner. In hindsight, perhaps I should have just gotten up to move things along a little. At the time, though, it was nice to be able to relax for the five minutes between contractions. The midwife was very present for long stretches of time, hanging out in the room with us for 45 minutes before leaving because "a watched pot never boils." It must have been a slow night. Finally around 9:00 contractions were strong enough that I was done with conversation. They put a bar across the foot of the bed for me to hang on to. The midwife offered to break my water, and around 9:30 I let her. It didn't help, because the baby was so low that no water could escape. Whenever they offer to break my water, I just think of how Gretchen was born with the water when it broke. None of the other kids have lived up to that moment. Sorry, kids, Gretchen was the ideal birthing experience.
I was kind of having pushing contractions, but didn't want to deal with actually giving birth to a baby. It was an apathetic kind of night all over. The midwife told me I should try pushing, so I did, and the baby's head was born so fast that the nurse was surprised. I guess she's supposed to start a timer when the baby crowns, but by the time she checked, the head was already out. We heard a cry, and I relaxed. The rest is easy.
Except it wasn't. The body didn't follow the head immediately like it usually does. Suddenly I was flipped onto my back (I have no memory of the flipping, just of being on my knees one moment and my back the next) and the nurse and Bryan held my knees to my chest while the midwife presumably pulled on the baby. She kept saying, "You have to keep pushing, you have to get your baby out." I kept responding with, "I can't," which, to me meant "I don't know how," but to her meant "I don't want to." I'm sure it was a fabulous conversation to witness. I was not panicking, because I'd heard the baby cry, so clearly it was okay (false), but I was very confused as to what was happening and I definitely did not know how to push any more. Finally, almost two minutes after his head was born (I know because the nurse had that timer), the rest of the baby followed. A baby boy was placed, squirming and slimy, on my chest.
We didn't have a name ready. Or, rather, we had too many. After some deliberation, we settled on Theodore John. The other front runner was Joshua, and I decided he didn't look like a Joshua. Bryan said he wasn't sure he looked like a Theodore, either, but he DID look like a Theo. The nurse said she couldn't think of any other names with Theo as a nickname, so Theodore he is. Later, when we looked up saints' names, we realized he could have been Theodosius or Theophilus. Oh well, missed opportunities. :-P I like Theodore. :)
Bryan said that the shoulders are supposed to come out one at a time as the baby twists. Theodore did not twist. In the words of the midwife, he was born "like a linebacker." Both shoulders barreled through at once, perpendicular to the optimal axis, and he got stuck. The file reads shoulder dystocia, which is when the baby gets stuck on the mother's pubic bone, but that is not strictly accurate. Getting stuck is considered a medical emergency because the umbilical cord is probably pinched and the baby's lungs, which should be working since the head has been born, cannot expand because they're caught in the birth canal. The whole point of the timer they start is to make sure that they get stuck babies out before permanent damage can occur due to lack of oxygen. Luckily, Theodore did get unstuck in what is considered a reasonable amount of time and they did not have to resort to more drastic measures. He did well on his tests and is happy and healthy. I am glad that I did not realize in the moment that anything was dangerously amiss.
Despite both the midwife and the nurse commenting on his size, Theodore weighed in at a mere 7 pounds, 13 ounces -- the second smallest baby we've had. He's also a shorty, only 19 inches long. He does have quite a bit of hair, rivaling Olivia. So many comparisons can be made when you're the fifth one. :) The kids came to meet him on Tuesday and are in love already.
Pictures:
25 August 2019
18 August 2019
July 21-August 18
Did you comment on the Baby Guesses post? If not, you're running out of time. There is a benefit to procrastinating, though: I had an ultrasound last week and have added a 3D picture of Lionel's face to the post in case it gives you any clues. :)
Matthias had his two year check-up. He's 30 pounds 5 ounces and 34.75 inches tall. According to the doubling method, this would put his adult height at 69.5 inches, which is 5'9.5" No basketball star here. He handled his one shot calmly, with only minor tears. He did not accept the removal of his clothes with such grace, however, and cried his way through the whole appointment until we gave his shirt and shorts back.
Matthias is a pro at riding his (pink) tricycle. He can go forwards and backwards, steers well enough to not run into things, and has recently been experimenting with no hands.
Olivia had a birthday! We have an eight year old in the house, which is entirely too old. I don't know what magic switch flips when they turn eight, but I now have to listen to near constant interjections and affected giggles.
Camp happened. We drove to Chicago on a Saturday afternoon to visit with Jacque, Will, and Julian. We ended up sleeping at the house of a church family and then met up with everyone again the next morning. After church, we decided to drive straight up towards Madison rather than waiting around. We made a stop to see my high school friend, Kathleen, on the way and visited a splash pad and an ice cream shop. Once we arrived at our hotel, we stopped moving, crashed in front of cartoons, and ordered pizza. The rest of the week involved more visiting and a lot of playing outside. The girls got to try baseball and kickball; Matthias spent most of his time "driving" the row of go carts along the side of the building. The setup with the pavilion, playground, and go carts was perfect for letting the kids roam around while we chatted or played games. We went back to the hotel each night to sleep and regret nothing. :)
Our drive home from camp was done in one shot on Thursday. As we had never bothered to look up exactly how far it was, we were pleasantly surprised to discover that we had overestimated the length. We arrived in time for a mildly late dinner. Our house was significantly messier than we had left it because Murry was in the middle of painting two different rooms and had things spread everywhere. Apparently Bryan gave her the wrong return date. She stayed up late painting, slept on the couch, and resumed painting the next day. The girls' room is done (except for the wooden castle she plans to affix to the wall). Matthias and Lionel's room is, as of this writing, only close to done. There are half plans to do the playroom still, mostly to cover the spackling that is necessary.
All four kids had eye doctor's appointments at the beginning of August. Kaitlyn and Matthias are fine for their age. Gretchen has astigmatism. Olivia has a slight eye turn and a pretty severe lazy eye. The older two both got to pick out glasses and are eagerly waiting for their new frames to arrive. Kaitlyn was distraught that her eyes didn't also need correction.
We were home for all of five days before heading to Sidney for our next vacation. Steve and Murry took the family to Great Wolf Lodge (an indoor water park) for a few days. There were slides and sprinklers and pools for big kids and toddlers... Also a Build-a-Bear on site and an in-hotel scavenger hunt that involved pointing a magic wand at all sorts of fun looking interactive statues. The kids had a blast. Poor Gretchen would have had more fun if she wasn't under the weather the whole time. She caught something (from Bryan, we think) on the way home from camp and, while she recovered enough to go on vacation, has been taking afternoon naps since then.
Last week we came home and said we were finally home for good due to school and Lionel, but we neglected to remember that we're back in Sidney this weekend one more time. After that, though, I think we're done for a bit.
VBS was this past week at St Stephen's. This is the third VBS the girls have attended this summer. They love it so much that we try to catch a couple of local ones. This year was the first official one we've had at our church, and I was in charge. I have a curriculum from the Greek archdiocese, and I think it went rather well. The kids seemed to enjoy it, even though it wasn't as flashy as some of the ones they've been to.
Pictures next week. Go comment on Lionel's Baby Guesses!
Matthias had his two year check-up. He's 30 pounds 5 ounces and 34.75 inches tall. According to the doubling method, this would put his adult height at 69.5 inches, which is 5'9.5" No basketball star here. He handled his one shot calmly, with only minor tears. He did not accept the removal of his clothes with such grace, however, and cried his way through the whole appointment until we gave his shirt and shorts back.
Matthias is a pro at riding his (pink) tricycle. He can go forwards and backwards, steers well enough to not run into things, and has recently been experimenting with no hands.
Olivia had a birthday! We have an eight year old in the house, which is entirely too old. I don't know what magic switch flips when they turn eight, but I now have to listen to near constant interjections and affected giggles.
Camp happened. We drove to Chicago on a Saturday afternoon to visit with Jacque, Will, and Julian. We ended up sleeping at the house of a church family and then met up with everyone again the next morning. After church, we decided to drive straight up towards Madison rather than waiting around. We made a stop to see my high school friend, Kathleen, on the way and visited a splash pad and an ice cream shop. Once we arrived at our hotel, we stopped moving, crashed in front of cartoons, and ordered pizza. The rest of the week involved more visiting and a lot of playing outside. The girls got to try baseball and kickball; Matthias spent most of his time "driving" the row of go carts along the side of the building. The setup with the pavilion, playground, and go carts was perfect for letting the kids roam around while we chatted or played games. We went back to the hotel each night to sleep and regret nothing. :)
Our drive home from camp was done in one shot on Thursday. As we had never bothered to look up exactly how far it was, we were pleasantly surprised to discover that we had overestimated the length. We arrived in time for a mildly late dinner. Our house was significantly messier than we had left it because Murry was in the middle of painting two different rooms and had things spread everywhere. Apparently Bryan gave her the wrong return date. She stayed up late painting, slept on the couch, and resumed painting the next day. The girls' room is done (except for the wooden castle she plans to affix to the wall). Matthias and Lionel's room is, as of this writing, only close to done. There are half plans to do the playroom still, mostly to cover the spackling that is necessary.
All four kids had eye doctor's appointments at the beginning of August. Kaitlyn and Matthias are fine for their age. Gretchen has astigmatism. Olivia has a slight eye turn and a pretty severe lazy eye. The older two both got to pick out glasses and are eagerly waiting for their new frames to arrive. Kaitlyn was distraught that her eyes didn't also need correction.
We were home for all of five days before heading to Sidney for our next vacation. Steve and Murry took the family to Great Wolf Lodge (an indoor water park) for a few days. There were slides and sprinklers and pools for big kids and toddlers... Also a Build-a-Bear on site and an in-hotel scavenger hunt that involved pointing a magic wand at all sorts of fun looking interactive statues. The kids had a blast. Poor Gretchen would have had more fun if she wasn't under the weather the whole time. She caught something (from Bryan, we think) on the way home from camp and, while she recovered enough to go on vacation, has been taking afternoon naps since then.
Last week we came home and said we were finally home for good due to school and Lionel, but we neglected to remember that we're back in Sidney this weekend one more time. After that, though, I think we're done for a bit.
VBS was this past week at St Stephen's. This is the third VBS the girls have attended this summer. They love it so much that we try to catch a couple of local ones. This year was the first official one we've had at our church, and I was in charge. I have a curriculum from the Greek archdiocese, and I think it went rather well. The kids seemed to enjoy it, even though it wasn't as flashy as some of the ones they've been to.
Pictures next week. Go comment on Lionel's Baby Guesses!
31 July 2019
Bonus Post: Sound Bites 43
Matthias: Knock knock knock. Mom, say knock knock!
Me: Okay. Knock knock.
Matthias: Who's there!
Me: ...
Kaitlyn: I don't want to die.
Me: Everyone dies someday.
Kaitlyn: But it's going to hurt.
Me: Not necessarily.
Kaitlyn: It will not hurt when they cut off my leg?
Me: ... I don't think you're going to die by having your leg cut off.
Kaitlyn: I won't?
Me: No.
Kaitlyn, sadly resigned: Oh. It will be an arrow then.
Me: ... No, I don't think it will be an arrow either.
Kaitlyn: But how will I die?
Me: I don't know, but I imagine you will live to be a very old lady and then just die.
Kaitlyn, relieved: So the bad guys are not going to get me!
Matthias: Can I more yucky?
Bryan: I'm not putting wine in your sippy cup.
Gretchen: Mom! We are making a party in a boat! And right now we're putting holes in the boat!
Me: Holes in a boat doesn't sound like a very good idea.
Gretchen: It will be so fun, because the water can spray out!
Me: And then what?
Gretchen: It will be like little fountains and everyone's clothes will get wet!
Me: But what will happen to the boat?
Gretchen: It will be wet from water spraying out of the holes.
Me: And then what?
Gretchen: Everything will be a little wet.
Me: What happens to a boat full of holes?
Gretchen: ...Does it ...sink?
Me: Yes. A boat full of holes will sink.
Gretchen: ...
Gretchen: ...
Gretchen: ...
Gretchen: Well, we have magic, so we will make it not sink.
Gretchen: Are we in Paris?
Me: No, this is Dayton.
Gretchen: Well I thought I saw that tower that is in Paris, so that's why I thought we were in Paris.
Me: Do you know how old you are?
Matthias: Yes, I grandpa.
Me: ...Give us this day our daily bread -- shush your face and say the prayer -- And forgive us our trespasses...
Bryan, later: And people think the pope is making radical changes to the Lord's Prayer.
Me: Okay. Knock knock.
Matthias: Who's there!
Me: ...
Kaitlyn: I don't want to die.
Me: Everyone dies someday.
Kaitlyn: But it's going to hurt.
Me: Not necessarily.
Kaitlyn: It will not hurt when they cut off my leg?
Me: ... I don't think you're going to die by having your leg cut off.
Kaitlyn: I won't?
Me: No.
Kaitlyn, sadly resigned: Oh. It will be an arrow then.
Me: ... No, I don't think it will be an arrow either.
Kaitlyn: But how will I die?
Me: I don't know, but I imagine you will live to be a very old lady and then just die.
Kaitlyn, relieved: So the bad guys are not going to get me!
Matthias: Can I more yucky?
Bryan: I'm not putting wine in your sippy cup.
Gretchen: Mom! We are making a party in a boat! And right now we're putting holes in the boat!
Me: Holes in a boat doesn't sound like a very good idea.
Gretchen: It will be so fun, because the water can spray out!
Me: And then what?
Gretchen: It will be like little fountains and everyone's clothes will get wet!
Me: But what will happen to the boat?
Gretchen: It will be wet from water spraying out of the holes.
Me: And then what?
Gretchen: Everything will be a little wet.
Me: What happens to a boat full of holes?
Gretchen: ...Does it ...sink?
Me: Yes. A boat full of holes will sink.
Gretchen: ...
Gretchen: ...
Gretchen: ...
Gretchen: Well, we have magic, so we will make it not sink.
Gretchen: Are we in Paris?
Me: No, this is Dayton.
Gretchen: Well I thought I saw that tower that is in Paris, so that's why I thought we were in Paris.
Me: Do you know how old you are?
Matthias: Yes, I grandpa.
Me: ...Give us this day our daily bread -- shush your face and say the prayer -- And forgive us our trespasses...
Bryan, later: And people think the pope is making radical changes to the Lord's Prayer.
28 July 2019
July 21-28
...But not really. This is mostly just the pictures from the last post.
Matthias likes to bury people as they are lying on the couch:
Hanging out with Julian. I believe the hat was because it made him look like Aladdin:
Kaitlyn went to Grandma's hair salon to get her haircut fixed:
At the drive-in:
Four flower girls and one of the two ring bearers for Uncle Brad and Aunt Shantelle's upcoming wedding:
Waiting for fireworks with Aunt Keshia, Uncle Tyler, and Rudy:
Fun times at Grandma's house:
Siblings and spouses:
The Dive Bar:
Another trip to the zoo:
Matthias lounges with Daddy's phone in the big bed:
Matthias uses a headband as a bow tie:
Almost all the books we own. Approximately 27 cubic feet:
Matthias:
Matthias's birthday:
Watching the car get an oil change:
Watercolors:
Close-ups for Oma:
Matthias likes to bury people as they are lying on the couch:
Hanging out with Julian. I believe the hat was because it made him look like Aladdin:
Jacque's dress:
Kaitlyn went to Grandma's hair salon to get her haircut fixed:
At the drive-in:
Four flower girls and one of the two ring bearers for Uncle Brad and Aunt Shantelle's upcoming wedding:
Waiting for fireworks with Aunt Keshia, Uncle Tyler, and Rudy:
Fun times at Grandma's house:
Siblings and spouses:
The Dive Bar:
A few more pictures from our June Pittsburgh trip:
Another trip to the zoo:
Matthias lounges with Daddy's phone in the big bed:
Matthias uses a headband as a bow tie:
Almost all the books we own. Approximately 27 cubic feet:
Matthias:
Matthias's birthday:
Watching the car get an oil change:
Watercolors:
Close-ups for Oma:
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