Two songs

Years ago, as an undergraduate in college, I read Khalil Gibran's book The Prophet. I remember being very touched by many of the poems then, but have not thought of them in a long time. A friend gave a us a CD of children's songs when Alder was born and I have fallen in love with two of the songs. It hit me recently that one of them is indeed a poem from The Prophet sung by Sweet Honey in the Rock. Click here and then click on the link to listen to On Children, the tenth or so song down on the list.

It is funny how different my thoughts are now, as a mother, when I read/listen to this poem compared to when I was a rebellious young adult. However, both now and then, I am struck by the importance of its message. How humbling to think about living and growing with my children rather than trying to mold and shape them into who we think they should be. I will need to be reminded of this many times I am sure as they grow into the unique individuals they are destined to become.

My other favorite song is Little Potato.

This is just a fun tune that Alder recognizes as that silly song mom likes to turn up loud on the stereo and sing when no one else is around....

Hope you all enjoy these as much as I do.

Here is a photo from the other day - I think the infant car seat will not last past Heath's 4th month...He is 3 months old today!

Update on Heath

Days and weeks are flying by too fast. We have been so busy with travels and getting back to work that Heath is nearly 3 months old and it seemed like yesterday he was just arriving. SO, I guess it is time to reflect a little and fill you all in how he is doing.

He rolled over from front to back a few days ago and this morning had turned himself in a circle nearly 180 degrees lying on his back. He holds his head up extremely well when lying on his tummy (sorry about the terrible flash)

When on his stomach, he also moves his legs and arms in a crawling motion that makes us think he will be mobile sooner than later! Yikes, start hiding your toys Alder!

We have rediscovered the swaddler recently and find that he sleeps longer and more soundly in it. He slept 7 hours straight last night! Here he is napping on the couch the other day...wont be doing this any more now that I know he can roll over.

He continues to be an incredibly sweet and cuddly baby. I cant get enough of kissing the neck fat rolls and feeling his fuzzy soft hair on my face. Thank goodness he is a cooperative cuddler and likes to bury his face in my bossom and neck as well.

I had a friend give me a lesson on various ways to hold him in a sling and this has been a wonderful change in how he can hang out and sometimes nap. This is just one 'hanging out' way to hold him that worked very well in the grocery store the other day - he and Alder were able to look at each other! When turned to face me and pulled in snuggly, he sleeps very soundly. My shoulder starts to hurt after about a half hour, but a little adjustment and I am good to go for longer. This is a good thing since I am bringing him in to work with me this afternoon. I am serving on a student's thesis committee and she is having a committee meeting today. So much for only working two days a week!

Speaking of work and baby, Jason reluctantly decided that he can no longer stay home on Mon and Wed with Heath because he is not able to get any work done. So Heath had his first day at daycare on Wednesday. Boo. He seemed to do very well - not fussy, but he ate and slept much less than he does at home with me. This is the problem Jason had too! He will take a bottle, but not as well as nursing. He will get the hang of it I suppose. I had a meeting at 5pm on his first day so Jason went and picked up both kids and brought Heath to me at work so I could nurse him during my meeting. Thankfully, no one minded and I was able to lead the meeting just fine....

I really do like my job. I really do like being home with my kids. This is tough. It is very hard to send a very young baby somewhere, even if you trust he will be fine and like the environment. Nowhere is as good as with mom. I am just fortunate that I am able to work part time for a full year and then we can think about what will come next. Working (and paying for childcare) full time sounds like a very unhappy existence. We shall see. For now, I am enjoying being able to go to a job that I like and spend ample time at with baby and toddler too.

I bought a Bumbo on craigslist and look forward to using it in the coming months once he can hold his head up a bit longer. In the meantime, Alder is enjoying it.Oh yes, and my good friend Jenny made this beautiful quilt for Heath. Thanks Jenny, we LOVE it! You will likely continue to see him on it in numerous pictures in the coming months.And Alder continues to be wonderful. He is back to school after two weeks away for summer vacation. Yesterday, he stayed home for a foot doc appt (all is good, we got a new prescription for the brace) and we had fun constructing this tunnel/apartment building with attached 'garage' for his trains and people. I think he mostly enjoyed pushing the train under and then demolishing it... boys...

Ain't No Ham Like Birmingham

What a great time. As I post these pics all I see are smiles. I cant think of when I have seen my parents more happy as when they are surrounded by their grand kids. It is really fun to see! The grand kids are pretty darn happy too!

Last time we were all together was March so it was great to see how all the kids had changed. Marilynn is 4, Alder 2, and Charlotte 18 months.

Alder and Marilynn could actually have conversations and Alder and Charlotte would often be interacting in one way or another - typically pushing wheeled objects around. There were very few battles about sharing and seeing them together makes us realize how special these times are and how we need to do it more often.

The girls loved their new cousin "baby Heath" and showed us just how much more gentle little girls can be than little boys...
Elizabeth came home from her first weeks in college and we celebrated her 18th birthday! Woohoo!
Probably most of our time together was spent on the front driveway helping the kids to 'race' their big wheels (or as Jason calls them, hot cycles) down the perfectly sloped driveway. They would assemble at the top (wait for me!) and then line up and say in unison, "On your mark!, Get set! GO!"
and Marilynn would pedal fast and skillfully, Alder would pick up his feet and sail in any direction the wheels took him while looking at Marilynn, and Charlotte would ride in a make-shift wagon/gardening cart.
Grandad has on his 'game face' to possibly prevent Alder from crashing into Charlotte

Woohoo...giggles and 'do it again' after crashing into the bushes...

Another very fun activity was 'dance party' down in the playroom. My parents have an old keyboard that plays love boat, cruise ship tunes and the kids stripped down to undies and danced and laughed and generally got very worked up before bed. Then came down Grandad, aka human trampoline and the rest is history...
This is the only pic we have of all four grandkids together. Four in four years! So Fun!