Partying 4 year old style

I am the first to admit that when it comes to parties, I have a slight problem. Okay, maybe I should be truthful. I go crazy. I can't help it. I just love birthdays. I always say, "Next time, I'll simmer down. I'll keep it low-key" and then each time, I go a little more nutso. Ah well, I love making the kids feel special and loved on their day!

 

This year was particularly fun because Gavin finally truly understood birthdays. Gavin chose the theme - Angry Birds. So Chris and I made some super fun balloons. Oh wait, in the spirit of honesty, I forced Chris to cut out paper designs and tape them onto balloons.

 

I also forced him to hang up the Angry Birds streamers I ordered online. We, okay I, decorated some bags from Dollarama to look like Angry Birds characters and then filled the goodie bags with Gavin's favourite things - a plastic Angry Birds cup, Rockets, Double Lolly pops, sugar straws, homemade sprinkle cookies, and candy skewers. In case you ever need an idea, the candy skewers were a hit with young and old, and were cheap and easy. We'll definitely do them again!

Of course, there was a cake. I had so much fun making this one, which is a good thing, because I worked on it for hours and hours and hours. There is just something so special about creating a masterpiece that I knew he would go absolutely nuts for.

This year, I finally got smart. Normally, I keep the cake a surprise and then just do a big reveal when we are singing Happy Birthday and the child blows out the candles and we cut it up. They really don't get a chance to see all the details. This time, I had the cake on the table for hours before the party. Gavin was in awe. He actually took time to sit in every chair at the table, to check the cake out from every possible angle. He was so pumped. After all was said and done, he said his favourite part of his party was eating the characters off the cake. His reaction was well worth the hours (and hours) I spent making this cake!

We started off the day with a sprinkle donut, because really - who doesn't want a sprinkle donut on their birthday? Seriously, how cute is this kid??

We invited three families over for bowling, because Gavin really wanted his party at the bowling alley. So we bowled with 8 kids for an hour. They all had fun. Is it okay for me to admit that bowling isn't my favourite thing?

After bowling, we headed back to our house for a BBQ. Now we're talking - chicken and steak kabobs, baby potatoes, caesar salad, veggies and dip, pigs in a blanket, chips and popcorn twists. Mmmm.

Now here's where the party gets a bit ridiculous. I had borrowed a bouncy castle from a friend. I also was lucky enough to win an hour of Glitter Tattoos. This was definitely a hit for boys, girls, and grown women! None of the men got a tattoo, but all the kids and ladies did. Gavin was super pumped about his Angry Birds!

Chelsea and Gavin after the party were still super pumped about the glitter. The tattoos have actually stayed on for almost 5 days.

Blowing out the candles. I love this picture! That's so intense candle blowing!

The cake was rainbow inside, as per Gavin's request!

Permagrins! I love parties. He loves parties. We all love parties!

And there is a quick snapshot of the party. Now, I'm planning Eli's first birthday. But don't worry, "Next time, I'll simmer down. I'll keep it low-key." ;) He'll be one! Where did the time go??

Dear Gavin at 4

This post will be a ridiculously mushy, lovey and gooey post about my buddy, Gavin. This boy makes my heart swell with pride. He is unbelievably kind and good hearted, and ridiculously cute. Those dimples get me every time.

 He is creative and funny. He's so eager to obey and wants to please those around him. He has a tenderness for children younger than him, playing the role of big brother well. In the past two months, he's stopped calling his brother "EY", and now always says "Eli". I realize this is a good thing, but it makes my heart sad to lose that sweet nickname. In the past year, his speech has grown by leaps and bounds. Most of his speech is easily understood now, and he just seems so grown up. No more "pea-bubba" sandwiches in this house - it's "peanut butter" all the time now. As an aside, that's seriously all this kid would eat if it was up to him. Half a peanut butter sandwich, watered down apple juice and applesauce - morning, noon and night. Vegetables are always a struggle and he still would prefer you feed him, rather than he feed himself.

If you've spent any time at all with Gavin, you will have heard his loud, contagious belly laugh. I adore it. He is just so full of joy, most of the time. He is very quick to cry these days, as he has a soft heart and seems to get offended easily, mostly by his older sister.

 As much as he doesn't want to give it up, we are transitioning away from his beloved sippy cup. This picture below still melts me. His cup, his big lips and his squishy cheeks. My baby has come a long way, but I just want to freeze moments like this.

Gavin lives loud and loves big. He is just a loud kid. I wonder where he got it from? ;) He is not shy. He adores his older sister. He still cries every day when she goes to school saying, "I just miss Chelsea so much!" and it's true. He comes downstairs after every nap, asking, "Is Chelsea home yet?"

 He still shows such a love for learning and reading. He has endless patience and will sit for hours, "reading". He loves when you will help him read, each and every word. Sometimes, just as I'm about to get frustrated and finish reading the book for him, he'll look up at me and say, "Mommy, I just love learning all the words" and my heart melts. He's still fascinated with counting and since we've pretty much mastered 0-100, now we've moved on to skip counting. He begs to go to Kindergarten. He's taller than most of the Kindergarteners - wonder if anyone would notice if I slipped him in?

He loves big and often and loves to cuddle. He'll run up to me just to give me a squeeze and a kiss. He says he loves me "one hundred and three - because that's a humongous number".

He still sleeps with his two beloved monkeys. His favourite foods are perogies and chicken nuggets, and peanut butter sandwiches, of course. He loves being at home. Every time we go out, he constantly asks if we are going home soon, even if he's having a good time. He says he "just loves all my things at home."

At four, he is still very into Mario and Angry Birds. He will sit for hours and hours, playing with his little figurines. We had to move them onto the landing of the stairs because the pieces were so small, they were a choking hazard for Eli. I wanted to put them in his room or the basement, but then Gavin looked at me and said with tears in his eyes, "but I want to be able to SEE you, mom." so yes, he plays on the little area on our stairs. Seriously, how could I say no?

He loves being outside. He has a scooter and a bike and although he loves to ride them, 9 times out of 10, you'll see me trying to push a stroller and lug a bike or scooter along with me, while he runs up ahead. Although every once in a while I manage to stick him in a pair of jeans, he much prefers pants "but with no buttons or zippers." He has finally mastered pulling up his own pants but still refuses to put on his own sweaters, shirts, socks, or shoes (thank you for crocs. Those he will do!). I'm not sure if he's just been babied up until now, or what the deal is, but it's definitely frustrating. Ah well, good thing he's cute enough to make up for it.

Don't get mad at me, but he still naps for at least 2 hours a day, sometimes longer. He sleeps from 8:30 - 7:30 and then naps in the afternoon. Because I'm working mornings come September, I had to put him in afternoon preschool, so I'm not sure how he's going to handle staying up during those two hours. Hopefully he'll be busy enough that he'll stay awake.

Gavin, you truly are the sweetest. I love you, Buddy. I love you one hundred and four.

H-brand update



There's been lots going on around here lately. This man finished his first year of preschool. He loved every single class. He's begging for Kindergarten, but he'll have to settle for two afternoons of preschool next year. He's grown so much in the past few months. He is such a sweetheart.  

 Chelsea had her dance recitals on Mother's Day weekend. She did fantastic. We'll be taking a break from dance next year as ballet wasn't her favourite and that's all that's offered next year for her age group. Don't worry though. She has dreams of being in skating and gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics.

 

 

This guy is such an absolute wonder. He is growing so quickly. He's mastered standing this week...

...and today he sprouted his first two teeth. Oddly, it was his top two that have broken through first at the age of 10 1/2 months. Usually it's the bottom two first, right? I'm not crazy here? Either way, I was pretty mushy about it. Teeth are just one more sign that he is growing up far too quickly. I'm going to miss these gummy grins!

 

I had to include this next picture. I have been working hard cleaning out the back shed and garage. I had put Eli in his stroller with snacks to keep him happy but at one point I asked Chelsea to give him something to play with so he'd be happy. I check on him a few minutes later and find this filthy kid! Chelsea had given him a plastic shovel that she had been using in the garden! Well, it definitely kept him happy and occupied!

And just a few more pictures to wrap up this post. These two kids and these last two pictures just crack me up.

And picture post - done!

You might be the parent of a 10 month old if...

You might be the parent of a 10 month old if...

 

- you spend 95% of your day saying, "Not in your mouth," "Spit it out," "Out!" or "What are you eating?" and doing the ol' finger sweep in your baby's mouth.

 

(The best is that one time, Eli had a wooden token of Gavin's in his mouth, so I told Gavin to put his hand under Eli mouth and just say, "Out!" very firmly. Eli promptly spit the coin out and Gavin laughed and said, "This is fun, mom! Watch!" and then he started shoving stuff into his brother's mouth, just to get him to spit it out. That one backfired on mama!)

 

- you've ever wondered if your child will be featured on the TLC show "My Strange Addiction" for his or her love for toilet paper. If a bathroom door is left open, I'm pretty sure there is a high pitch sensor that is triggered that only babies can hear. My child will bum-scootch into the nearest bathroom as fast as his little diaper will go, roll an entire roll off the tube and happily eat as much of it as he can before he hears, "Not in your mouth," "Spit it out," "Out!" or "What are you eating?" and feels the ol' mama finger sweep in his mouth.

 - you can't walk more than 3 feet without stepping on something, be it a toy, soother, spoon, pot lid, piece of cracker, chewed soggy toilet paper, cheerio, or some random other thing that your baby has found and dragged all over the house. I've taken to just wearing shoes in the house. I invite you to do the same when visiting.

- you've ever felt like cheering after using a snot sucker. Gross, I know, but parenting has no boundaries and once you actually get a sucker that works and you see the fascinatingly disgusting amount of snot that comes out and the relief it brings your baby, you do want to cheer. Bonus points if you've called your husband over to look. And should I even mention the satisfaction of picking one of those rock hard little boogers out of their teeny tiny nostril? How can something so big be in there??

 - you will totally understand me when I say that breastfeeding a ten month old is ridiculously frustrating. He's like a disco light - on, off, on, off, on.. oh and he jumps from one side to the other like it's the newest Olympic sporting event and he's in the running for a gold medal. And should I even start on the yoga poses he decides to practice while nursing? He's mastered downward dog perfectly, but here's a piece of news for you, buddy! I'm pretty sure it's impossible to nurse while standing on your head, so STOP TRYING!

- you torture your child daily, often twice or even three times a day. How dare you, mother! How dare you insist that your 10 month old take a nap! The way that my son screams when I place him with his full belly and dry bum in his comfortable crib, and then have the audacity to cover him with a blanket sewn with love, in a nursery at the perfect temperature, with soothing noises and a dim light, would have you believe that it is nothing short of some kind of ancient torture. He will scream as loud as he possibly can, tugging vehemently at your heart strings, while he rolls over, closes his eyes, and floats off into lala land. It's a tough life, I tell you.

 - you pretend to be okay with hearing your child repeatedly say "da-da" all day long, but yet, secretly when you are alone, you prompt that kid to say "ma-ma" every chance you get. "Ma-ma. Say Ma-ma. Ma-ma. Maaaa-maaaa" No? Fine then!         "Mama?"

- you've decided to stop feeding your child. Yup. It's true. I no longer feed my kid. Now, I simply lay out his food or plop it on his tray, but I refuse to try to spoon feed him. He hates it. He wants to do it himself, even if it means he's eating a handful of tuna mixed with grapes and some peas with a banana. I try to spoon feed him yogurt, just to contain the mess slightly, but we usually wind up having a tug of war over the spoon full of yogurt and the yogurt gets flung on me or him, or the wall, or an innocent bystander. It isn't pretty. On the plus side, I've also stopped feeding my dog because she just cleans up all the food on the floor.

- you own at least 4 soothers and never know where any of them are. Bonus points if you've ever crawled around on your hands and knees in the dark of the nursery, trying in vain to find one on the floor that has been thrown from the crib, all the while your child is screaming at you like you have neglected him or her for weeks. Here's a hint. Stop wasting your time looking in the easy places. They are always, always shoved up against the wall, under the crib, in the farthest corner that you can barely reach.

- you have called for back-up help while changing a diaper. No joke. It has become at least a two person job. Remember the glorious days of changing a sweet smelling breast milk baby poop from a cooing peaceful baby? Those days were amazing, my friends. Now, it's like trying to put a diaper on a slick greased up, monkey that will fight you tooth and nail for the last banana in the jungle. Seriously, those breastfeeding yoga moves have paid off for your little munchkin, because by now, he or she can sense when you are about to lay them down to change their diaper and they will instantly transform from your sweet, playful "da-da" talking baby into a loud, squealing creature who can contort his or her body into ridiculous positions and hold them for endless amounts of time. And did I mention the super human strength and speed that is bestowed upon your child by the thought of changing their diaper? It's impossible to try to tackle this task on your own. You will wind up, at some point, with your elbow covered in poop. Don't ask me how, but it happens. every. single. time.

- you have tried to bribe your baby to lay still so that you can change that above mentioned diaper. Here's the thing, babies yet don't comprehend the dollar value, so promising them a million dollars to lay still simply doesn't work. Also, you don't have a million dollars and you don't want to set a bad example by lying. You could try to distract your child with a toy that you spent $24 dollars on, but who are we kidding - they'll toss that aside like the green beans you've been trying to feed him or her. My recommendation is to bribe them with something that isn't a toy that they aren't usually allowed to touch - older sibling's treasured toys work great, but in a pinch I've used markers or crayons, a locked cellphone, a shoe and even in a weak moment, a dog's toy. Hey, don't judge me. If he isn't moving, I can have that diaper off and on in 3.4 seconds, sans a poopy elbow.

- you've ever entertained the thought of putting your child in a cage. It would be a really nice cage, like a playpen, only bigger and with padded walls. You'd furnish it nicely with some toys and snacks and you'd even rig up some kind of watering station so they could drink whenever they wanted. You've dreamed about it. C'mon - if they were in that cage, they'd be happy and safe. You'd be allowed to shower for longer than 4 minutes. You could eat a meal while it's still hot. You could enjoy a cup of coffee. You could simply sit. You could do all these things without wondering, "is the bathroom door shut?" "is he crawling on the stairs?" "is he eating the carpet?" "is he bugging his siblings?" "is he going to eat the muddy rubber boots again?" "is he going to choke on lego?" "is he getting stuck behind the couch again?" A cage would solve all these problems.

- you've ever prayed for time to stand still, or a remote control to simply press 'pause' so that you could relish and soak in every moment that your sweet baby is 10 months old. You hold him a little longer than you need to when he falls asleep in your arms. You adore those open mouth, ridiculously wet sloppy kisses. You hug and cuddle and smile and squeeze him every chance you get. You breathe deep that exquisite baby smell on his head and in his neck. Yes, you've wished for time to slow down because you know that all too soon, he'll be 11 months, then a year, and then five, and these days will long be forgotten.

Precious Zzzzz's

I am a very light sleeper. I mean I wake up A LOT during the night. Eli still isn't sleeping through the night, but really, that's not his fault. I spoil him by going to him when he cries. ;) I know, I know. I also wake up with pretty much every little noise and at least twice a night to pee.

Also, can I just say that whoever decided that men and women should sleep together in the same bed, must have never slept together in the same bed with a man before. Or, maybe my husband is just special. First off, he takes up a lot of room. Often when he rolls over, somehow I wind up getting smacked in the head. Second, he gets nasty breath while sleeping so if we ever happen to be facing each other, I will wake up because of the odor. I've figured out that rather than asking him to roll over (because he'll get cranky) I just shove my pillow in his face and instinctively, he'll roll over. He wasn't a fan of this method once I told him what I do, but hey - tough love, baby.

Chris is also a talker. He talks in his sleep a lot (which is ironic because he really doesn't talk when he's awake). It's not just quiet mumbles during the night, but full on normal volume conversations. However, just for the record, it's not normal conversations. It is usually filled with the most bizarre content.

Now, you know I would never lead you on without a concrete example. So, here you go. A few nights ago, when Chris started talking, I reached over and grabbed my phone and started typing. (Next time, I'll video it for proof. He still thinks I made this up, but I couldn't make this up if I tried.)

"Don't stomp your stick. That'll break your bird." "Then I'll have to deal with people with broken birds."

I know, right? So funny. As I was sharing this story with a few people, I realized that I don't think I've ever shared the tales of Chris's sleeping when we first got married. I've got a few good ones.

1. A few weeks into our marriage, I wake up because Chris is straddling me, grabbing my shoulders, screaming at the top of his lungs, "THE ANIMALS ARE COMING!" over and over again. I, of course, am trying to wake up because I'm in a deep sleep so I figure it must be a life or death emergency and so I'm panicking and trying to get up out of bed, but I can't because Chris is sitting on top of me, yelling. So romantic, right? Eventually I figured out that he wasn't being heroic and trying to save my life, but rather was sleeping.

2. When we were first married, I was working part time at a local restaurant while going to university. One night, I was out late and Chris had already gone to sleep.  I come into the bedroom and I see Chris sleeping, but something is amiss. You see, we always slept with a fan beside the bed, but I don't see the fan. Upon looking closer, I discover that Chris is holding the fan, no scratch that, hugging the fan, like someone would cuddle a teddy bear. As if that wasn't absurd enough, the fan was still oscillating about an inch from his nose, clicking as it tried to turn from side to side. When I burst out laughing, he woke up and was all confused as to what was going on. I often joke that he was cheating on me with his biggest fan.

And one last one for the night...

3. I always sleep with water by my bed. One night, I opened my eyes to see Chris reaching over me. I thought, "That's odd, Chris doesn't usually drink..." and then he promptly turned the glass of water upside down all over me. As I sat up and screamed and jumped out of bed, Chris woke up and asked, "What did you do?" Needless to say, I slept on his side of the bed the rest of the night, and he was on the couch!

Now, with all that being said, say a little prayer for me! I'm off to sleep in this crazy house!

All About Mama

Mother's Day 2013. I adore this tradition of getting a picture all together. It's all I want every year, but trust me, it's getting harder every time we add more children! ;) Gavin is actually the worst for trying to get him to look at the camera. We took about a gazillion. I'll settle for these ones.

Here's a link to last year's pictures. So glad I get to have Eli in my arms this year!

Sunshine

Hallelujah! The sun is shining!

 Seriously - today was just one of those days that was so good for my soul. It was a bright, warm, sunshiney day with no wind. I even got a sunburn. This week has been a tough one for people around me and I am just so thankful to be home with my three, healthy, happy, amazing babies.

 This was probably my favourite part of the day. I love my family. (Chris has tied a rope around the car to pull it and he was pulling the other two in the wagon. Gavin and Eli were even holding hands at one point.)

 

 The new helmet law is in effect, which now requires children to wear helmets when biking and when in a bike trailer. The older two are used to this, but Eli is having a rough time adjusting to wearing his helmet. We try to stick it on him a few times during outside play. Of course, once I saw how fast Chelsea pushed him in the car, I was pretty okay with the whole wearing a helmet thing.

I just love this profile of Eli. Still such a baby face. 

Oh, and I also picked out my Mother's Day present - fun patio furniture for the front porch. Chris and I even sat on it this evening, after the kids were in bed and watched the traffic go by. Yup. Thrilling.