Reading Aloud

 I am a big proponent of reading aloud to your kids.  It helps with vocabulary and listening skills, not to mention all the great memories we make and all the material for future references and jokes that we can share.  I love it when my big kids get sucked in to picture books that I'm reading. 

This is Isaac and Bob's bed that they currently share.  I've offered to let Bobby move into the other boy room since there is an extra set of bunks in there, but Isaac protests because he loves cuddling with Bobby.  How can I refuse that?

Buddies When There's No One Else???

Hannah and Genevieve had been helping a little extra with babysitting as I cleaned the house for the final inspection and we had our last pick ups.  So, I decided that they were at their limit with being patient with the boys and I would take any boys not napping that I could for some of our boring appointments, vehicle registration, etc.  One afternoon, I told Drew and Judah they were going with us to an appointment and they were not super pumped about it.

Drew begged us to leave him with all sorts of promises to be good.  He was refused.

Judah had a funny and good point, "Why are you taking the two people that don't get along, Mom?"  I told him that I just was and that they could get along.

After the initial resistance passed they actually had a good time together.  They played Tic-tac-toe with each other and Brian and myself.  Then they discovered some abandoned sand toys in the pebbles outside the door of the building.  I propped the door open and watched them play very happily for the rest of the appointment.  In fact, they got along better the rest of the day too, even once we returned to our apartment.  Perhaps they just needed to be forced together and not have so many choices for playmates.  Later on we all went swimming and the two of them played a good long game of Monkey in the Middle with me before Drew tried to drown Judah. 

I'm only kind of kidding.

"I didn't see that coming."

That's Judah's newest phrase that he's been saying lately.  He even uses it at appropriate times when he is surprised by something.  It sounds kind of adorable coming out of the mouth of a three year old all nonchalantly.

Judah and Bobby have been playing together more lately.  Bobby seems to have turned somewhat of a corner on his over attachment to me.  It started at the very end of the trip when he warmed up to my dad finally and really got attached to my mom, who he calls "Nini" instead of "Mimi" even though I know perfectly well that he can say an "m" sound.  I mean he says my name a thousand times a day.  He's one of those kids that just says my name over and over for no reason most of the time.

I digress.  I think this corner he turned has opened him up to more play with his siblings, and not just the girls who he sees as substitute moms sometimes.  He and Judah get a long so well and this is perfect because Drew and Judah still are not the best of buds despite Judah's incredible willingness to do whatever Drew wants and his super sweet nature.  Here's some pictures from right before the trip of the two of them.  I had forgotten all about these pictures, in fact.

They both love books!

They both love to be silly and laugh!

They are both super huggie and cuddly boys!

First Sword Fight Milestone

It's always fun to see your baby start to interact more with the other kids has he grows, but one of the milestones that I love is when they first join in the sword fighting.  That day has arrived for Bob.

My Boys in Red (Outtakes Included)

How many pictures does it take to get a winner with four little boys?  We always have a series of pictures like this for every good or decent picture I post of a group of kids.  For example, our Christmas card this year has a funny picture in it because Bobby grabbed Genna's veil right as the picture was taken.  Our Christmas cards, by the way took so long to here that I even called and cancelled the order getting a refund the day after Epiphany since the Christmas season would be long past before I got them addressed and in the mail.  I am writing this post on January 19th (and backdating it) and am actually mailing them out today.  So if you get our Christmas card during Lent, you'll know why.  I ordered them on December 3rd which I knew was pushing it, but I totally thought I'd have them back in the mail by Christmas day at the latest.  Lesson learned!

Ornery Two Year Old

Two year old's trying to decide if he wants to cooperate or not.

Daddy made him laugh and forget his woes.

Now the baby is distracted.  Who am I kidding?  The rest of them are distracted while the two year old cooperates with a winning smile.

Finally, they are all looking.

And that's as good as it gets, folks.

Oh Brother!

 On the weekends, the boys have been having some good quality dad time since his work is making weekdays impossible right now.  Here they are having a good old game of catch in the street with dad.

Then they spent some good time by the fire pit burning extra brush around the yard.  Isaac got a souvenir from these adventures called a tick on his face.  It gets better though.  I get the Mother of the Year award for thinking it was a speck of dirt and not making sure he actually washed up before bed.  So the tick got to hang on to his cheek for the whole night until Genna finally asked what was on his face.  It was a tiny little guy and came off easily despite getting a full night to embed his head into my son.  I think this is just easing me into being the mother of four boys.

My Bookworms

It's always fun to find your kids cuddled up together reading.  I can't decide which picture is my favorite of the next two.

I love Judah's pose and expression here...

but I love how they are all so intent on the book here.

Drew took so long to enjoy books and pick one up on his own.  I'm glad that is the exception in this family and not the rule.  Judah loves those books...

Brothers

Band of Brothers

I love these pictures!

I love these boys!

Seriously, how does a mother not absolutely die from loving her children too much!

Its truly a miracle.  Judah can scream like no other and need only me to hold him while I am doing six other things and wake me up before the crack of dawn, but that smile with that dimple makes me want to hug and squeeze him to pieces.  Oh and don't forget the eyes!

Drew can tell me he doesn't miss me or pretty much say anything in the world and I think he is the cutest thing ever!  His personality is a winner, this kid.  He is going to make things happen.  He's the only kid that I have to discipline a million times a day and I am trying not to kiss him as I am carrying him to timeout.

Isaac is the slowest of slow!  He doesn't listen and drives me bonkers, but his cheeks are the softest and he is the first one to offer me a piece of his chocolate candy.  I love him so much!  I'm betting on him being a really great husband even though he wants to be a priest like St. John Bosco.

Buzz Buzz

I gave the three boys their buzz cuts again, plus one neighbor boy.  I cut Judah's hair first with a number 1 because he still has a bald spot from sleeping on his back and the rest of his hair had grown out again.  Then I picked up the razor thinking I had changed the blade attachment and started cutting Isaac's hair.  Oops!  I liked it just fine, but I was a tiny bit worried that Brian wouldn't.  He thought it was fine and wouldn't have noticed that it was shorter than normal.  

Drewy had a hard time with his haircut this time.  He has never caused a fuss, but he has been in a scared phase right now and he kept saying it was going to hurt...in Drew language, of course, which is "It going owie, Mom."  He made it through, but caused so much trouble I was a mean mom and wouldn't give him his lolly afterwards.  I've heard that some moms actually give rewards just for participating.  :)  No really I kind of regretting ever telling him that he had to stop ducking his head away from me or he wouldn't get a lollipop.  You moms out there know what I am talking about.  A threat you think will actually work slips out of your mouth, then it doesn't work and you have to do what you said to show that you really will do what you say in all situations.  I especially regretted it when the above mentioned neighbor child screamed and ducked during his haircut and his mom totally gave him a participation lollipop.  To be fair though, he is younger than Drew by a year and it was his first haircut.

I love baldy boys!  Truth be told, I wish my husband would shave his head nearly bald too.  :)

The Big Boys

So Drew is caught in the middle of the boys.  Does he want to be a big boy like Isaac or a baby like Judah?  The answer is both.  He wants it all.  He literally can't wait until he is able to hang with the big boys and play soccer and t-ball like Isaac.  Every week he gets decked out in his shin guards and tennis shoes, and he gets a soccer ball of his own.  (Good thing we have enough for three kids to wear and use.)  All this just to ride in the car to take Isaac to practice.

He even insisted on wearing the thick socks over the shin guards.

On the other hand it would be nice to be a baby .  The baby gets so much attention and eats all the time.  He even gets a pacifier.  Drew found some old pacifiers that Judah doesn't use and has taken to walking around with one in his mouth.  He has never taken a pacifier!  I am ashamed to admit that I am letting him and this week I even handed it to him during our history lesson because he was talking so loud.  He's not attached, so I am not worried.  He is also asking to eat absolutely nonstop.  Growth spurt/attention-getter, I guess?

Pacifier and all

Oh Brother!

Brotherly bliss.  Sword fighting.  Train playing.  Soccer.  This was what I was hoping for when I found out Drewy was a boy.  I guess I forgot the phases the girls went through to get to where they are now.  They are as different as night and day, but they get along so well most of the time.  Isaac and Drew are also night and day, but they haven't yet worked out the kinks to be best buds.  Hopefully, they will get there one day, sooner rather than later.  Currently, the boys each get along better with the girls than with each other.  If Isaac would just stop forcing Drew to hug and kiss him they might just be able to have some fun together.

Right after I got this photo, Isaac leaned in for a hug and kiss and ruined all the sibling goodness.  Drew cannot tolerate hugs and kisses from Isaac at all.

Brothers

Isaac still is loving his baby brother. He doesn't run around introducing him to everyone now though. We have settled into a new normal.

Secret confession: Drew seems to prefer Hannah over the rest of the siblings. She has a magic touch with babies. He gets visibly excited when he sees her. At Mass last Sunday, Brian corrected Hannah for playing with Drew when really he was laughing at her for no other reason than that she looked at him.

Funny pictures of the two of them...

Believe it or not, he was going in for a kiss on the head.

Sir Isaac Newton's a little bit of a weirdo, huh?

Last night

The girls were invited to go to their friend's dance recital and so we got them all gussied up with a fancy Princess Waterfall hairdo. This looked much easier on The Story of a Princess and Her Hair than it actually was. It took me 30 minutes per girl. Good thing I didn't need a nap, right? Ha! This will be for special occasions for sure, most likely ones in the evening since their is no way we could do this in the morning and get out of the house too. You need a Topsy Tail Tool which Genna asked for and received in her stocking on St. Nicholas' Day.

Isaac, Drew, and I got some much needed alone time at home. Isaac was pumped about our game and movie night. He told the girls that he was going to spend time with Mommy and Drew, but Drew was just going to "lay around." As if Drew does anything else yet. We played 3 games of Guess Who? where I walked him through every step since he just doesn't get that game. My favorite was when I asked if his girl had black hair and he replied, "No, she has white." Thanks, Isaac, for telling me who you had since there was only one white haired girl.

Then we watched Peter Pan and had popcorn. He was way into it! Can you tell?

Drew watched a little bit too. He's not nearly as into it though. :)

Wow, having two kids is so peaceful compared to the chaos of four!

Oh, the cuteness!

Isaac insisted I take some pictures of him holding Drew, but this is the only one I came away with, with two wiggly boys. Lately, Isaac is famous for saying, "He loves me the best."

However, I got lots of cute pictures after he was tired of holding him.

I love this look.

Can't stay serious for long!

Smiley pants!

I can't believe he is 12 weeks old! This week I forced him to drop a feed, and it actually didn't take that much convincing. I waited until the right night when I thought I could swing it. He is going to bed around 8pm with no crying and waking up after 45 minutes of sleep for a little crying and then going back to sleep which is better than we were doing before the dropped evening feeding. He is still waking up at 4 or 5am to nurse and then back to bed until 7am.

So his new nursing schedule (with a 30 minute margin of error most days) is 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 6:30pm, 10pm, 4/5am. He had one day that he was waking after 45 minutes of sleep for every nap. I was pretty certain this was not another growth spurt and so I tried extending his nap in the swing for two of the naps and he went right back to sleep and had to be woken up for those. All babies seem to do this from time to time, but he was easy to get on schedule by using the swing to tide him over until it was time to nurse.

A new development during tummy time this week, he is using his legs to push him forward like an inch worm. He is not rolling, not even on accident yet, but this inching forward thing is new to me. He doesn't have enough control or strength in his arms to crawl or anything, but I have never seen a 12 week old inch forward. Funny how they are all different. He has some really incredible leg and abdominal strength which I think started in the womb. He was a CRAZY hard kicker.

He is grabbing toys if we put them on his tummy, but can't hold onto them yet. So he often ends up fussing because he has a toy on his face. He is becoming more aware of Mommy leaving the room, but mostly still handles it well. He is easily entertained by his siblings if he starts fussing.