Speaking of big boys...

Guess what Joseph has been doing lately!

Okay, I confess:  I was dreading potty training a boy.  Just about everyone I know with a boy told me they require a little more time than girls to figure the whole thing out.  So I didn't even bother trying any serious training for a loooong time.  I just steeled myself to the knowledge that I'd be changing about 30 diapers a day with 2 in diapers.  After Joseph turned 2, we did insist that he sit occasionally just to get used to the idea, making sure he was well-supplied with books about machines and vehicles.  Plus we fed him all the usual propaganda about the magic of undies and dryness.  But I didn't expect any enthusiasm on his part for this big step into BigKidhood.   Plus, I'll admit I was dreading the hours of sitting on the bathroom floor, not to mention tracking his every move all day. 

And then he turned 3.  One of the ways I honored Joseph's birthday was by insisting he wear Big Boy Pants all day.  We had tried that intermittently for a month or so, but all it did was generate more laundry for me.  However, on his birthday, he ran to the bathroom all by himself when he needed to go, and made it all the way to the evening without any accidents!  Who knew that my procrastination and neglect would pay off so well!!  And today, he even used a public restroom despite protesting that it wasn't HIS potty, when I promised him that it would work just as well.

It figures -- I just bought a mega-pack of size 6 diapers.

Birthday Week 2011!

Hello all, and welcome to this year's Birthday Week Extravaganza!!!

Birthdays are feast days in our domestic church, so we consider them days outside of Lent, i.e., meat and sugar allowed!  We kicked off the partying by throwing Miriam her first slumber party to celebrate her 10-1 birthday.  (Why even bother with the 9?  Since all 9-year-olds can think about is that they'll be 10 next year...)

Miriam also had the good fortune to be born on an actual solemnity (St. Joseph, Husband of Mary), so we can celebrate her birthday in style without a twinge of conscience. :)

strawberry cake with blue buttercream frosting for sky, chocolate buttercream frosting for the ground, and copious amounts of green sprinkles for grass.  and the requisite sunshine, fluffy clouds, and flowers.  this cake is so girly, I love it!

Joseph helped decorate.

he can actually blow up the balloon.  this explains why his shrieks are so loud.

The party itself was oodles of fun.  She invited a couple friends over for dinner and cake on Friday, and they spent the night.  They're all still young enough that they're actually tired at a decent hour.  After lights out at 10 pm, I only heard whispering for another 10 mins. or so.  Of course, they were up extremely early the next morning, but they were very quiet.  Mr. Pickles made chocolate chip pancakes with mashed strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast.  Then they ran around outside to get some of the sugar out, and we drove them home.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day -- didn't even need jackets!  Miriam spent most of the rest of the day getting sunburnt riding her new razor scooter and hula hooping (Katie bought the hula hoop for her with her own allowance money!).

is it just me, or is she growing up way too fast?

Joseph's birthday was next.  He's camera shy lately -- mostly I think because he doesn't want to do anything he's asked to do, the little contrarian -- so most of my pictures are of him trying to hide.

or else they're deer-in-the-headlights candids.  (honestly, this was the best one)

Joseph is now 3!  It's hard to believe.  But he is rapidly turning into a Big Boy.

...a big boy who likes hockey!!

We didn't have a party for Joseph this year -- it's sad, but I realized that he doesn't really have many little buddies.  Most of the playdates we have are for the girls' sake.  Of course, 2-year-olds don't really socialize -- their playdates consist rather of parents constantly reminding them to share and take turns.  But now that he's older and is actually learning to play cooperatively with someone, I'll try to make an effort to help him develop his own friendships, too.

So we just had a simple family party, but he was happy -- he's old enough to understand about cake and presents and candles and singing!  Joseph also received a scooter for his birthday:

Lightning McQueen -- a much more masculine piece of equipment than the pink and purple butterly-covered hand-me-down he has been using. :)

He was very excited about it.  I put it together that evening, despite the best efforts of two of my children to scatter the pieces all over the house, so he got to ride it a bit before bed.  He also received a hockey shirt, a super hero cape, and a green (his favorite color) bouncy ball (from Katie).


The next day was Mr. Pickles' THIRTY-FIFTH birthday.  He still had to go to work, but I fixed a dinner which included a big slab of meat and a checkerboard mousse cake, so it wasn't all bad. :) 

Proof that numbers mean nothing: you're only as old as you feel (or act). :)
(No, it's not your glasses, or your screen -- the camera lens was all smeary from Some Little Person's Fingers, which I didn't realize until viewing this video right now.)

For his birthday we gave Mr. Pickles a collage of family pictures for his office, a foam football (which Katie picked out -- she is so fun to shop with!), and Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii.  Miriam has also been working for weeks on a Secret Project, which she will be able to finish once I figure out how to unravel an enormous knot in her ball of yarn....

So now all the parties are over, the various cakes have finally been consumed, and most of the balloons have popped. 

Time to get back to our regularly scheduled fasting and penitence.

Edible Geography

Birthday post coming soon!  Meanwhile here's what Miriam made in our homeschool coop's geography class today.  Can you tell what country it is?

note the Taj Mahal and the Ganges River

The teacher made play dough for everyone, and the students used spices to decorate it.  I wish our blog had Smell-O-Vision -- our house smells like a fascinating mixture of curry, cloves, and cumin.  Especially curry.  It reminds me of our newlywed days in our old apartment!  *sniff*

Sunny Days Are Here Again

Spring is coming!

There is hope!

This winter wasn't nearly as winterish as last year, thank heaven. But it's still a glorious thing when the earth begins to wake up, and those first few warmer sunny days start to warm everyone's blood up. It makes the cold end-of-winter days more bearable, because you know they are numbered!  And there's a difference between a freakishly warm day in winter, and a warm day in early spring.  They feel different.  A warm winter day still feels barren, a dead warmth, while a warm spring day smells of things growing. (including mold -- *achoo!*)

Last month we took advantage of the first real spring-like day to go outside and soak up some sunshine.  It was so warm I introduced Daniel to the front yard.
 

our poor, pathetic graveyard of a lawn

tee hee!  it's so bright!

Daniel really, really liked being outside.  He wasn't sure what to make of the pokey grass, but he knew what to do with all the dead leaves and twigs lying around.

Mm, extra fiber!  (Don't worry, I didn't actually let him eat anything.) (Well, maybe a little dirt.)

Of course, any female knows what warm, sunny days are for...

 

Painted toes!

Boy: The Sequel update

The Boy: The Sequel (aka Daniel) will be 9 months in a couple days.  He is very mobile now.

He began crawling at 7 months, setting a Pickles record.  (filmed in Confuz-O-Vision by the resident Assistant Cameragirl)

He could crawl before he could sit up. (so we missed those halcyon days of baby sitting surrounded by toys and being entertained for hours without getting into trouble...)

A couple weeks later, he figured out standing.

ta-da!

om nom nom

This shot reminded me of another one of another boy...

Daniel's interests are expanding too.  He LURVES being outside...

How I long to be freeeeee...

...and hockey!

someday I'll be tall enough to use this thing...

but for now I'll do what I do best!

His vocal repertoire now includes lip-smacking, snorting on cue, "der," "mum mum mum," and a raptor-like shriek...

He's recently discovered echoes too.  This makes Sunday Mass even more interesting.

He just gets cuter every day.

you can call me Mr. Scrumptious

His personality is starting to come out a bit too.  So far, he's certifiably nuts, just like the rest of us.  And he loves us.  The appearance of any member of the family into the room causes his face to light up with a huge grin.  When he first wakes up in the morning, the first thing he does after rising to full consciousness is to turn  towards the bedroom door, looking for his siblings.  And when they do, they get full body smiles.

We've coined a word just for Daniel, combining fat and happy to produce...  "fappy."  It perfectly describes him after a meal.

Speaking of meals, the whole Eating Thing is going much better.  He can handle textures now, which opens up a whole new world of culinary possibilities outside baby instant cereal and really runny mashed fruits.  All of a sudden he figured out how to chew and swallow and we've never looked back.  I figured he was ready for Cheerios the day I caught him cleaning up the crumbs in the dining room.  (Ooh!  Floor treats!)  He is thoroughly enjoying finger foods.  He will eat something in pick-uppable form that he won't accept from a spoon, like hard-boiled egg yolk.  And I must take a moment here to point out (or else Mr. Pickles will) that he prefers eating with his LEFT hand.  Mr. Pickles may finally have an ally in the struggle against right-handed oppression!

Yay for Daniel!