04/52

A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014. Linking up with Jodi and her 52 project.

Bode:  had a decent weekend, skiing with Daddy and attending a classmate's birthday party

Gianna: loves swimming so much (being a "mermaid") and is fearless in the water right now

Nico:  so overtired after a sleepless couple of nights (thanks to teething and a cold that has him completely congested and unable to snooze for long) but always manages to smile

Desperately Seeking Bode

The past few days, I've dropped Bode and Gianna off at school, and then cried all the way home.  I told my SIL last night that Bode "makes or breaks" my day.  He is stressing me out.  He doesn't enjoy school, and  argues all morning about why he doesn't want to go.  Mornings are stressful no matter how hard I try to be matter-of-fact and easy going.  After school, he's hungry and tired.  He doesn't want to talk about his day.   He is literally climbing the walls in this house and stressing me out with each climb. RWF has had to move the furniture twice already. Bode does not want to be here, inside, this house.  This is despite being outside all morning and an afternoon excursion with me, Gianna, Nico and Priscilla.  At night, he cries when it's time for bed.  He tells me that he doesn't like sleeping.  He stays up late, talking to Gianna and "reading" books.  Sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night after a bad dream and wakes me, asking me to tuck him in.

Where did my happy little guy go?  We moved, and now I've got this sullen, unhappy boy on my hands. I'm so stressed.  And angry.  And I don't know what to do.   I lay awake at night, going over the day and thinking about Bode.  I'm always thinking about Bode, what went wrong, what to fix, how to make things better.  Then I get up again and it's the same thing all over.

RWF reminds me that I keep doing the same thing, expecting different results.  But what to do I need to do different?

I'm looking up eye pillows.  I'm exhausted and my eyes are so tired.  I remember how great those eye pillows felt during savasana in yoga.  I need that.  So I'm ordering.  At least this way, my eyes will relax while I'm stressing about Bode!

Today we have an interview with another school.  I hope that Bode likes it. On the application,  under the "describe your child" section, I had written what  a "happy" boy Bode is, and so much fun to be around.  It will be interesting to see if Bode acts differently at this school, and how he responds to the teachers "interviewing" him. Fingers crossed that he likes it.

I only hope that my happy little guy shows up soon.

Where's my happy little guy? I miss him so.

xo

Say goodbye to the fab four

No, not that Fab Four (the Beatles are no longer, in case you missed it).

These fab four:

These four little teeth.  These four little teeth that make up his sweet baby smile.  Oh, they aren't going anywhere.  But they are soon to be joined by another tooth. Or possibly two more teeth. Or possibly four more teeth.  Because Nico has a lot of business happening inside of his mouth these days. Last night, I spied one tooth making its way in up top, and a hint of another on the other side up top.

I'll miss his little 'fab four' smile. To me, that's Nico.  And Nico's "dada" loves his four little toofys, too. (Just so you know that I'm not the only one.)

Does anyone have any secrets on how to get a baby to stay a baby a little longer? Bind his feet? Swaddle him all day?  Anyone???  Help!

Last night, I dreamed that I had decided that I was ready to have another baby!  I was all set and informed RWF of my our plans. Ruh-roh!  (I was soooo disappointed when I woke up and realized that it was just a dream.)
Happy Wednesday.
xo

Nico: 16 months

Dear Nico,

Tomorrow you turn 16 months old.  You are growing, growing, growing...but in my mind, you're still my little baby!  Lucky for me, you're happy to go along as my little baby.  You don't mind being carried and you don't mind snuggling in the chair with your mommy.

You are always smiling.  You charm so many people when we are out and about, just with your happy smile.  It makes me happy to see that you bring a little joy to others.  It's like I'm carrying around the lucky charm, bringing happiness everywhere we go.

Your obsession right now is shoes.  You love putting on your shoes. If you don't have shoes on, you'll go find a pair and bring them to me. "Nah?" you'll ask or state emphatically.  I'll put the shoes on your little feet, but sometimes explain that we aren't going outside.  

Your other obsession is going outside.  You love getting dressed in your jacket (and your shoes!) and going outside. You walk around, sometimes on stilt-like legs, looking at everything. March, march, march. You go around, getting in more mileage every day. You're interested in all the different surfaces: grass, gravel, dirt, wood chips and concrete.  At first, you were naturally cautious about any new surface, and would pause before making the step onto something new.  But now, you pretty much keep moving no matter if the terrain changes. On steps, you are wary and will not step down anywhere (thank goodness!).  

You love playing games with your brother and sister.  Or, they love playing games around you.  A favorite game is "The Nico Monster."  Bode and Gianna will be doing something ordinary, and suddenly, one of them will announce, "Oh, no! It's the Nico Monster!" Then the two of them take off running and shrieking.  You'll follow behind slowly, Frankenstein-walking after them, while they run through the house as if you are a terrifying beast set on devouring them in one gulp.  Another game is the vacuum cleaner.  This is a game that I have played with Bode and Gianna since long before you.  I chase them with the vacuum cleaner, or they will slowly creep around me while I'm vacuuming, and I'll try to suck them with the hose attachment of the vacuum. They shriek and run away, and then come back for more. Well now, you're in on the action. You'll walk right up to me as soon as I get the vacuum out, smiling broadly, daring me, just waiting for me to put the hose attachment up to your tummy and 'get you' before you start running off.  Bath time is always a favorite with you. I'll ask you if you want to take a bath and you'll respond, "Bah? Bah?" while toddling straight to the bathroom.  And of course, baths are even more fun if your brother and sister are splashing in the tub with you.

You eat a lot of different foods these days but cereal and Goldfish crackers are your two most requested snack foods. You know to point to what you want, and I won't refuse anything you want.

"Shey shey" is your special name that Gianna calls you.  I think it is fitting that it sounds like "xie xie" in Mandarin, which means, "thank you." At least, that is what I think of when she says it.  You are a gift to me.  You'll never know how much your presence helps me through life right now.  I'm always thankful for you, a wonderful little addition to our family...our little "xie xie."

Love,

Mommy

xo

03/52

A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014. Linking up with Jodi and her 52 project.

Bode: loves being outside, and if he's not outside, he's looking out the big window

Gianna: braving the new swing

Nico: it is still surprising for me to see him walking around

02/52

A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014.  Linking up with Jodi and her 52 project.

Bode:  after months of growing his hair out, decided that he wanted his hair "short like Daddy's."

Gianna:  contemplating how a princess would smile

Nico:  took another hard fall on Saturday; a face plant that caused his gums to bleed (but they look okay here)

Back to (a new) school

Bode and Gianna started school today.  I tried to prep them yesterday, interspersing info about their new school and new teachers in our regular conversations throughout the day.  I didn't want to overwhelm them! They seemed excited to start...yesterday.  This morning, it was a different story.  First, I told Gianna that she couldn't wear a dress (not practical).  Then, when Gianna saw all of the gear she had to wear (boots, rain pants & jacket, down jacket, hat, mittens), she said that she didn't want to go to school after all.  And then of course Bode chimed in that he wasn't interested in school, either. I folded, and let Gianna wear a dress.  But I didn't compromise on the gear!

Finally, with a lot of prodding and dressing-them-myself (and yes, I'll admit: a bit of screaming on my part), they were ready to go.  We were late. Arriving late on our very first day of school, quelle horror!  I know it's not a big deal but I just hate to be late, any time.  And really, I know it's my fault for not allowing more time for resistance and slow-to-get-dressing from the children.

Once at the school, Bode immediately joined his class with no prompting from anyone.  But he tends to follow kids around like that. It wasn't until I went up to him much later to say goodbye that he resisted, and told me that he wanted to go home. I hugged him and told him that I would pick him up from school soon.   

Gianna was frozen in place as soon as we arrived, never acknowledging the new teachers who welcomed her. She ignored all requests to join the class, standing outside the group and just looking at everyone.  I stayed with her longer, but eventually, I had to make the break!  I told her that I was leaving, and she whispered, "I don't want you to go," and that broke my heart.  I promised to be back soon, and asked her to remember what she had for snack so that she could tell me when I picked her up.

The school is different from their other schools in NY (of course). They have to bring a lunch from home. This is fun and challenging for me!  I love the idea right now, the challenge of packing a lunch for them every day, but the other part of me is not accustomed to packing a meal. (and from what I've been told, lunch-packing gets old, real fast!) So I have to learn the ropes on what travels well, what sits well, and what packages they can open by themselves. The school is "zero waste," which means that we are asked not to pack anything in disposable packaging. (My guess is that most schools are going this route, or have already adopted this policy?)  The containers, the napkins, utensils, etc. must not be disposable.   It's like the old backpacking motto: pack in, pack out. It's not insanely hard or anything. But I did have to go to the store to stock up on Thermoses and cloth snack bags.  We have a few, but not enough (and not in small, kid-friendly sizes but in large, RWF-eating sizes).  I had the children try to open some other containers at the store, but learned quickly that Gianna was not able to open most containers with snap-on or screw-top lids. So I'm relying mainly on cloth bags for her lunch right now, plus the Thermos for hot meals.  I want her to be able to eat everything easily, and not have to wait for a teacher to help her unpack her food.  Today's lunch (at their request):  pasta with peas, olive oil and Parmesan, Goldfish crackers and cheese, blackberries (for Bode) and a banana (for Gianna). Tonight I'm making lentil soup for dinner and absolutely plan on using leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

Gianna's class starts first at 9:30 and Bode's class starts at 9:45.  The teachers have agreed that Bode may join in Gianna's class until his class starts. This is tremendously helpful because I don't want to stand around with Bode for 15 minutes (with Nico in tow).   Gianna's class also ends 1 hour before Bode's class lets out.  This means that I will be picking up Gianna and running an errand or hanging out at a nearby coffee shop before picking up Bode.  After awhile, if I'm feeling especially ambitious and energetic, I plan to take Priscilla, Nico and Gianna for a walk while we wait for Bode...but that won't happen for awhile.

I'll report back soon on how school goes for everyone.

Happy Tuesday, friends.

xo

01/52

A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2014.  Linking up with Jodi and her 52 project.

Bode:  his life has changed dramatically over this past month, and he will be facing more changes this week: another (very) loose tooth soon to be out, a new school, new teacher, and (hopefully soon-to-be) new friends!

Gianna: misses being outside and was so happy to roll around our new (sunny) yard on Saturday

Nico:  a happy shot of this usually-smiling baby, as he runs away from me and toward life (yes I switched pics)

Priscilla: enduring change and new places as best as she can

(Note: P is a bonus portrait. I just happened to get a good shot of her this Saturday and chose to post it here.)