More Bumbo Fun

Ok, folks. I have over 100 birthday photos. This is why you have had to wait on the birthday report. However, we are about to leave town for 10 days (!) and I will certainly have the time to finish not only the birthday post, but a post in honor of one year of Elias, oh and the baptism. So hang in there. More to come. A lot more.

In the meantime:

This is how my elder son occupies his time.

And this is my younger son's version of a flash diet:

(He is sooo big!)

I think he enjoyed his birthday

Pictures now. Details to come.






Happy birthday, delightful one.

Updates

Briefly, because that's all the time I have...

the house

Still under contract, waiting for final word on what they will do to fix the roof and deal with a little mold in the basement, and make sure the heater starts. (It didn't during inspection, much to everyone's surprise.) But we still really like the sellers and are 95% sure that they aren't trying to screw us. That feels really comfortable to us.

the family

We just got back from spending the weekend with my family in western PA. We are going to host (as best we can) everyone in mine and Michael's family (except our youngest siblings) this weekend for Elias' birthday party and his baptism the next day. Then we will be going to Florida again to stay at Michael's mom's house to have our very first family vacation un-hosted. (Michael's mom will be in New Jersey for the week we are there.)

the kids

Elias is turning one tomorrow. I will talk more about that later. Kindred is lying in his bed, singing "I'm a little teapot!" and "Where is Kindred? Where is Kindred? Here I am! Here I am!" He's risking serious consequences for not shutting his mouth and sleeping. Like I'm going to go in and take the choo-choo that he is clutching to "sleep with." Uh-oh. Look out, trouble.

And now I must go. Elias has just thrown up on the floor and cleaned it up with his pants. (The ones he's wearing.) Ick. (No worries Wilsons, he isn't sick. Just sucked and swallowed too much air out of his bottle, I'm pretty sure.)

2 Reasons Why You Should Never Turn Your Back

I always thought that if there was no child in sight accompanied by silence, you should go and find out what they're into. Right away.

In these cases, there was noise. Normal noise. Nothing alarming.

Here, there was a lot of "bottle banging" while I was right next to him, checking the weather on the computer.

And here, there was a lot of fun brotherly laughing while I was right behind them, washing dishes.

(This is unrelated to my continuing chaos pictured above, but important. Elias has a cold and I had been giving him a cough and cold medicine before bedtime. Then this morning I found this article, and a similar one in the New York Times. Read it.)

Just Another Day At the Beach

"Hey, yous. This is Rocco, posting again in the stead of my dear motha."


"How yous doin'? I wanted to report to you that my fine set of parents decided to allow me a few long minutes indulgin' at my favorite place in the world, the beach. Now, they weren't especially on top of things when we left so they failed to bring the camera. I mean, what could you expect? It was kinda last minute. They put me in my new bed for a nap after a visit to our place o' worship, and when I awoke, instead of quiet readin' time like I am accustomed to receivin' at that hour, they stuck me in some sandals and marched me and tha brotha out to the car, announcin' that Dad wants to go to the beach. I tried to look real disappointed that I wasn't going to get my "SSR." (This is what Dad calls it even though Mama argues that in my case, Sustained Silent Reading is not really possible for a person of my stature and age, so we both like to just call it "Readin' Quiet-ee.") But I was NOT actually disappointed at all! The beach! Last minute trips to play in the sand and bask in the summer sun may not be tops on Mama's list, but I can't see why not. It isn't like we get dirty or wet or hungry or sleepy or anythin'. Who needs to prepare ahead of time for such an adventure? But all that to say that we have no pictures of said adventure. Yous will just have to use your imaginations as I have started becomin' skilled at doin' myself, and picture it in your mind as I describe, in detail, the event.

"So seein' as how good ol' Atlantic City is a mere 1.3 hours from our abode, the whole family set out around 3:20pm with the whole day ahead of us. Ok, so not the whole day really, but enough of it! The prospects thrilled me, so much that I couldn't contain myself, and Elias and I screamed and sang at the top of our lungs for almost the whole ride! I know Mama and Dad loved hearing us express our excitement and hardly once asked for us to pipe down (even though once when I was quietly taking a breath, I thought I heard Dad lean over to Mama and say something like, "Just let them go. Fighting it will only make it worse." But who was fighting? I was havin' a ball and I didn't know what they were talkin' about.)

"Anyway, when we got through the trees in South Jersey, I noticed the view opened up, so I asked if we were at the ocean, and Mama remarked about how smart I was, because we were. Well, you know, bein' a beach bum, I make it a priority to know when we arrive at my destination of choice. It took FOREVAH for Dad to find a parking place he liked (which I'm pretty sure means free), but when he did, we were off, tromping through the sand to find a suitable spot to lay our belongin's and play and run and dig and run and crash and splash and dig and laugh and make sandcastles and smash them and watch Dada make cool and awesome creations and smash them and run and dig and splash and then get real real tired and hungry, not to mention dirty.

"But before I continue the description of the course of the day (now into evening), I must pause and tell you how Elias, the brotha that I have who did not enjoy his previous trip to the beach (how can we even be related??), felt about the beach this time round. In brief, he seemed to get along just fine this time. He dug and smashed and crawled around with us, and he laughed bunches. He still did NOT under any circumstances wish to go in the water, but in my opinion this trip was a far more positive experience for him. (Thank God! I might've had to order him to take one of those tests to prove we have the same parents, seein' as how we look nothin' alike.) (C'mon! I'm so much taller than him.)

"When the lifeguards decided to abandon their posts, my fine parents also persuaded me that it might be time to go get somethin' to eat. And maybe wash the sand out of all of me and Elias' folds. This is the most boring part of the story, so I'll tell it short. Dad washed me off while Mama took Elias, who wasn't feelin' very good back to the car to change him and then we all went to a place to eat where they only spoke another language that it is unfortunate that I do not understand but I got really awesome chips and salsa to eat and some beans and Elias got real mad and wanted to go home and I started gettin' mad too but didn't really want to go home but then we all got back in the car after Mama and Dad ate their burritos which only took like 2 minutes and we got back on the highway to go away from the beach. (Boooo.) Elias fell asleep even though I tried real hard to make him stay awake and talk to me, but I was pretty sleepy myself after the trip was done and we were back in our house but my bed felt comfy to me after I washed my face and hands with soap this time and Dada helped me brush my teeth. Then I had a good sleep.

"I hope that through my account of this happy day you too were able to enjoy a fine afternoon at the beach with your pal, Rocco. I, for one, cannot wait to return."

The Elder Son

Kindred has moved from the toddler class to the, ahem, pre-sch... pre... OK, not the toddler class. The older kids.

The pre-schoolers.

When his toddler teacher told me he had spent most of the days last week in that class making the transition before new kids came, I looked at her fairly flabbergasted. She was quick to reassure me that Kindred did just fine and when they got him in the classroom he didn't want to leave. I told her I was sure he would have no problems. It was me that I was upset for. The reality of him getting older shook me. He does wonderfully in "school" now, walking happily into the classroom and waving at me from across the room. But he can't be really leaving the toddlers, can he? I mean, now he's in a class with 3 yr olds! That seems unnatural. I suppose I'll adjust.

In other news...

The other day we were getting ready for breakfast and Kindred announced to me that he wanted to eat with just one hand. This is what he meant:


In case it isn't clear, that's a shoe (well, more like a slipper I guess) on his hand. He put it there and actually did really well eating with only one hand, until he dunked the shoe into the milk. Not out of necessity or forgetfulness, mind you. Just because he wanted to see what would happen.

He has started pretending. All on his own. He frequently will say to Elias and I after he wakes from his nap, "I'll be right back. I'm gonna go get some noodles." And out the door he'll go. He will return a few minutes later with a "bowl" and a "spoon" and will offer Elias and I some yummy noodles. (Today I scooped some "noodles" from the bowl into my hand and Elias watched me carefully, then stuck his hand into the bowl, brought it back up to his mouth and slurped on his empty fingers. Priceless.) He pretends to sleep, and he "reads" books. What's funny about this is he'll read them out loud but he won't use real words. It's all gibberish.

He got to be a bathtub artist for the first time yesterday:


And finally, here's our latest challenge:


A big boy bed, and no chooch. It's been going, well, OK, after a month of strife and sleep deprivation. He really likes his bed, though. He hangs on to Lamby and Tuna Salad (his bear) and cries for less and less time. Hopefully he'll be right back on track soon.

My Chaos and My Quilt

Here's the latest "creative playtime", in pictures:






I think one of them made off with my wallet. Is it any wonder I can't find it?

And here's the finished quilt from the women's contributions from my mother blessing for Elias. Lara worked extremely hard on it and it looks totally wonderful. I love it. Thanks to all who gave a square in honor of Elias.

Quoteables

Kindred, holding up his hand with fingers outstretched, looking intently from Michael to me and back again:

"No go to bed. Five more minutes, guys. Five more minutes."
___________

Michael asking Kindred to go into the bathroom and wash his hands. I piped into the conversation:

"Kindred," I said with enthusiasm, "if you don't go now, I'm going to beat you."

I said this implying that if he didn't go soon, I was going to get to the bathroom first and shut the door so I could shower. You know, beat him. Win. But without the qualifiers....

Michael and I laughed for 10 minutes.
____________

There were so many others today. I will carry a little notebook from now on.

They Bit

And now we are once again under contract. But the difference is, Michael and I actually feel pretty good about it this time. Our realtor has been superbly supportive and available, and has been on top of things every step of the way. She has performed far and above our other realtor, to the point where I wonder if being an agent is simply a hobby for our old realtor while it is a job for our new one-- a job she is quite good at. This property is outside the very same boundaries of price and neighborhood that we had set up before the last purchase attempt, and is a bit more expensive than the other property. But there are many more aspects of this house to be excited and confident about. We have not done the inspection yet, but I'm not nervous about it. This house has been lived in for the past 3 years, unlike the other which was just a bad rehab job that had not been lived in. We met the family living there, and they are great people. They are about our age and have a 16 month old son, and the woman is one of the only female tattoo artists in the city. This was an instant hook for Michael. We connected really well, and they expressed how much they love their neighbors and will miss the block. They even said, only semi-joking, that the neighbors may want to interview us before they said yes to our offer. The block gets closed to traffic every day in the summer so that the kids can play in the street, and the people on the block are very active advocates for the children and families in the community. Sounds like our kind of place, right?

Purchasing a house was not the easiest or most comfortable choice we have ever had to make, but we feel like this is a good an ending as we could hope for. We still desire community in some sort of intentional way, and want to pursue that conversation with anyone who may be willing. But for now, we play the hand we have, I guess.

We close September 27.

I think we may be buying a house

The bid is in. Saw it Monday, saw it Wednesday, bid tonight. We'll see if they bite I guess. It's a really good house. Take a look:

This is a skylight. There's 2: one in the hall and one in the bathroom.

Fireplace has gas hookup.

Kitchen is not fancy, but really big. We will be taking donations at the housewarming party for the dishwasher.

Uh, Michael, you're in the basement. (Yep, it's finished.)

I guess this is what happens when you fire your realtor and get someone else who's FABULOUS. Results to follow.

Some Fun Stuff

Today Elias held up the cordless phone, put it to his ear and said, very quietly, "HeyWhoa."

And when Michael left for work this morning, Elias waved (he waves now) and squeaked, "Byebyedada."

Kindred pooped in the potty 3 times today. Two of those times were unannounced until he was finished. "Mama! I made a biiiiig poopy in a potty." He sure did.

Kindred finished his dinner tonight and patted his tummy, looking a little concerned. I asked him what was wrong and he said, "My tummy. It feels sad."

And our friend Julia came by today for a visit, and she shared her peach with Kindred. Everytime he would take a bite, he was smile really big, say, "It's so so good!" and hug her.

Finally, in less revolutionary news (yeah right), we are putting a bid on another house today. Details to follow.

And now for my two latest favorite pictures: