Name calling or being descriptive?

Cameron, playing Wii basketball against a character (a Mii) that was made to look like Chewbacca:

"Oh, this is a mess. It's a mess, Mama! I am so discouraged!"

That, to me, was funny in and of itself, but I nearly died when I heard what came next.

"Cameron, what's the matter? Why are you discouraged?" I asked.

"Because the fathead is so hard and I can't beat him."

{Though we did talk later about how we never, ever call another person names, I couldn't even correct him on this one. He wasn't name calling, I discovered, he was just....being descriptive. That Mii has a giant, giant head....}

Lola and Spiderman

"Superheroes" was halted the other day in exchange for some snuggle time.

I think LC is rather fond of Spidey.

I know Spidey's rather fond of her.

How time flies

Lola Claire at....

one hour

one day

one week

and today--one month

Slow down, time.....please....

When are these appropriate? Depends on whom you ask

Two nights ago, at dinner:

{Phwoooooooooooooot}

A semi-loud pooter* had just sounded from the chair next to Mommy.

*pooter=Merritt word for 'gas' noises

Cameron: "Excuse me."

Cameron, Colin, and Ethan proceed to dissolve into very loud giggles.

Mommy: "Boys, stop it. It's not funny."

Shane: "Babe, he said 'excuse me'."

Mommy: "I understand that....but it still isn't funny at the dinner table."

Cameron, under his breath: "Yeah, well.....it's funny in our bedroom."

Lullaby and Goodnight

We have a routine every night before bed.

Lola will go from being wide awake.....
....to very, very drowsy--in a big hurry.

In no time at all, she dozes off.

After about a 30 second cat nap, she wakes back up.
Bright-eyed.
{This lasts about two minutes.}

Then she dozes off again.

We decide at this point that it's time to put her down to bed for the night, so, Shane picks her up. She generally sleeps right through this.

The transition into the bassinet wakes her back up. Every time.


She lays in there, sometimes for quite a while, wide awake.
She is generally quite content, and rarely makes a peep.


Slowly, slowly....she starts to give in....

....and sometimes, this Mommy gets a chance to sing her to sleep....

(from "Lullaby and Goodnight"--the song from her mobile):

"Sleepyhead, close your eyes.
Mother's right here beside you.
I'll protect you from harm,
You will wake in my arms.

Soft and warm is your bed,
Close your eyes and rest your head.
Soft and warm is your bed,
Close your eyes and rest your head."

Seems to work like a charm.

Am I the luckiest Mom alive? I should say a resounding "Yes."

Sweet baby Lola

Some things about her that I don't want to ever forget:

*It seems like every time I look at her, I can see that she is noticeably bigger. Some times I wish that I could freeze her, just like this. Not forever, but just for a little while. I love her teensy little feet, hands, face.....everything.

*I love her smell. Her smell before lotion. Yum.

*I love her little noises. Whimpers, mouse squeaks, coos, grunts.

*She has the most beautiful hands and long fingers. I often wonder to myself if she will play the piano like her Mommy someday?

*At about two weeks, she began holding her head up very well.

*She has a bit of an 'old man ring' in regards to her hair. The 'ring' is longer than all her other hair. It's quite comical. It reminds me of E's hair when he was a baby.

*She calms down just as soon as Shane or I put our hands underneath her to pick her up. We don't even have her in our arms yet, but as soon as she feels our hands, she is comforted.

*She is outgrowing her newborn-sized clothes already. I have put several sleepers and outfits away. *sniff*

*Speaking of clothing, she absolutely hates having her arms or legs threaded through sleeves or pant legs. Arms through long-sleeved onesies are the worst.

*On that note...."We've got a screamer on our hands!" Whew! What a set of lungs. (My family will tell you--she gets that honestly. From her mother. Ahem.)

*She does not take a pacifier very well. Shane is the only one who can successfully make it work. If I even go near her, she wants nothing to do with it.

*We thought she took a bottle well (we had to bottle feed her for two days when she was a week old, due to some nursing issues) but last week when we tried again, she was having none of that! We'll see how that plays out....

*She doesn't spit up after feedings--at least, not yet. She has, however, mastered the projectile vomit. Girl's got some distance.

*I truly believe she knows my smell. She calms down almost instantly the minute I take her (if she's with someone else and crying) even before I talk to her. That's a pretty cool feeling as a Mom.

*She knows we prefer to hold her. She prefers to be held. Good thing we are all on the same page.

*On that note, truthfully: I never want to put her down. Shane and I fight over who gets her. Well, not really....but both of us have a severe case of the holdies. (And we're competing with three other sets of hands, too--the boys are constantly begging for their turn!)

*I could also stare at her all day long. (I think I've said "She's so pretty....." at least 482, 176 times since she was born.)

*She has not gone one entire night in her bassinet yet. She starts out there, right next to my side of the bed, and usually makes it through the first feeding and will go back in until the second feeding (around 4 a.m. or so). After that, it seems she likes being curled up right next to me. I suppose that's just fine. *grin*

*She has yet to go in her swing. I keep forgetting to take it out of the storage room. *sigh*

*She has no concept of how expensive newborn-sized diapers are. Sheesh. Let's just say....her insides are working very, very well.

*She looks exactly like each of her brothers at different times, yet she has her very own look.

*She has at this point very dark, deep blue eyes and light to medium brown hair. Just like Mommy. I sure hope it stays that way.

*She has the most beautiful skin and the prettiest coloring. That, my friends, she did not get from me.

*She has smiled a lot while sleeping, and it looks like she may have dimples on both cheeks.

*She has about a billion nicknames already. Lo, Little Miss Thing, Lo-lee-girl, Sweet Baby Girl, LC....just to name a few of the most popular ones. We do actually use her real name most of the time, and it seems as though she already knows we're talking to her--she turns to us many times when we say it.

*She loves the song that plays on her mobile. If I sing it to her when she's crying, she will stop.

*She also loves the "Lola Claire" song. I've sang this made-up song to each of my boys, (with their own names in there, of course) and it always has had magic calming effects.

To the tune of Frere Jacques (Are you sleeping):
"Lola Claire, Lola Claire
How are you? How are you?
I love you, and you love me too
Yes, you do.....yes, you do."

{Yes, I know. I'm uber creative. But it's caught on and they've all liked it, so that's all that matters, right?}

*She became 'cordless' at 12 days old. And the coolest thing ever? She has my exact same belly button! *grin*

*Now that her stump is gone, she seems to really enjoy taking showers. (Incidentally, we've done this with all the boys, too--started them out as babies in the shower, rather than baths. Daddy handles this operation because I am scared to death that I will drop them, but he has very sure hands. We found this process is much quicker, warmer for the baby, and it seems to nix their fear of water--a win-win! We start bath time with them once they are a bit older and are able to go in the big tub and sit up by themselves.)

*She does NOT like being slathered with lotion. Yikes. Enter those massive, house-shaking screams here.

She does enjoy a round or two a day of Copacabana. *giggle*

Ah, Lola.

This girl is the light of my life. We--all five of us--are enjoying her immensely and are so thankful that God added her to our family. So, so thankful, and truly grateful.

Two is better

Colin: "Mom, I wish you would have had twins."

Me: "Oh, really!? Well, honey....God just didn't give us two babies. He gave us one."

Colin: "Yeah....but it would have been so cool to have TWO Lolas!!"

A model subject

While the little Miss was sleeping yesterday, I snapped a few photos of her wearing a brand new shirt, a new headband, and some adorable handmade bows--sent by my wonderful friend Julie!!

Julie actually makes these bows by hand, and she sells them in her Etsy store. If you have discovered Etsy, you know there are real treasures to be found there--and Julie's creations are definitely in that category! {Ummm....can you say the cutest Valentine's hair bows ever?!}

Julie wants to use one or two of these pictures below for her site....so Lola Claire officially has landed her first modeling job! *giggle*

Which one would you pick (keeping in mind that she is showcasing the bows, not necessarily the adorable Miss Lo!)

Shot #1 with *hearts* bow

Shot #2 with *hearts* bow

Shot #3 with *hearts* bow

(I love that I actually caught a smile here!)

Shot #1 with *multi* bow

Shot #2 with *multi* bow
{coincidentally flashing the peace sign}

So, cast your vote! Let me (and Julie) know what you think--which pose for each bow?

Winking

Cameron has been practicing 'winking' and 'blinking' for quite some time now.

He will happily tell you the difference--that winking is with one eye, blinking is with two.

Obviously, getting the hang of the wink (and keeping your other eye wide open) is a challenge for a four-year-old....but Cameron practices diligently. It's quite hilarious to see him using his hand to keep one eye open while opening and closing the other eye. *giggle*

I have told him (over and over) that winking is something that is hard to do, even for grown-ups. But, "....you should keep working on it, because you will eventually get the hang of it, buddy!!"

He believes that soon, very soon, he will be able to master this skill.

The other day, Miss Lola was waking up from her nap. I was holding her, and Cameron was right next to both of us on the couch. Lola was having a bit of trouble getting both eyes open, and Cameron looked down at just the right time to catch her in a one-eyed gaze. She was literally staring straight at him.

"HEY!" Cameron screamed, right in my ear said.

"What, Cameron? Geesh, you scared the daylights out of me! Don't scream like that with baby Lola right here, okay?"

"Okay, Mommy . . . . it's just . . . . . it's just that . . . . .Lola is so little! How does she know how to wink already? That's just not FAIR!!"

Cuddles

I thought I'd give you a sneak peek at the snuggling that was going on between Colin and Lola moments before we had "the incident" the other day. It was just too, too sweet.



{I just try not to wonder when exactly it was that he was sticking his tongue in her mouth. *shudder*}

Typical man? Already?

Ethan was "helping me" get a fire started this morning. We got it going, and then I walked into the kitchen to do a few things.

A couple of minutes later, I asked E, who was in front of the wood stove playing with his truck:

"Ethan, is the fire still going?"

E: "Yep."

The answer seemed a bit quick to me.

Me: "Ethan, did you even look at the fire to see if it was going?"

E: "Nope."

Me: "Ethan, look at the fire. Is it still going?"

Ethan, after a pause: "Nuh-uh, Momma. It's not going."

Great.

He's starting the whole pay-no-attention-to-what-the-woman-is-saying-and-just-say-"uh-huh, nuh-uh, really?, yep, nope..."-in-what-you-think-are-all-the-appropriate-places thing. I knew it would happen eventually.

But....at three?

*sigh*

Goodness gracious.

The question is, "Which one's worse?"

Colin: "Mom, can I hold Lola?"

Me, very surprised, because he is in the middle of playing the Wii--which is currently his absolute favorite thing to do: "Sure Col. Do you want to finish playing your game?"

Colin: "No, that's okay."

Me: "Well, she's kind of tired...."

Colin: "That's okay. She can just sleep with me."

So, I handed her over.

Then I had an afterthought.

Me: "Colin, did you wash your hands* when you came home from school?" (*one of our must-follow rules)

Colin: "Ummmm....no....."

At this point, Lola is already in his arms, and comfy. I just left it.

Me: "Okay, well, make sure that you do not touch her face or her hands, okay? Your hands are dirty from being at school all day, and we don't want to pass those germs onto her. Okay?"

Colin: "Okay."

Several minutes go by. Colin is still holding her, and he's doing great. This has lasted much, much longer than I thought it ever would. He is still actively participating in playing the Wii....just directing Cameron, rather than playing himself. *grin* Typical bossy older brother.

Several more minutes go by. He's still doing great. Then I hear:

Colin: "Mom, I feel like Lola has some....some pointy teeth or something inside her mouth."

My heart sinks. I come rushing into the family room.

Me, slightly hysterical at the thought of him feeling inside her mouth: "Colin! Are you putting your fingers in her mouth?!?"

Colin: "No, Mom!"

Oh, whew. Enter a big sigh of RELIEF here.

Then, I gave that another thought. Wait a minute....

Me: "Well then, how do you feel something pointy in her mouth?"

Colin: "Because. I'm putting my tongue in there."

Fine Literature

Conversation tonight at dinner:

{This conversation needs to be prefaced by the fact that yesterday, Ethan received a couple of new Thomas the Train movies from Grandma Jane for his birthday. One was titled "James goes Buzz, Buzz"--a story where one of the trains gets 'stung' by a bee on his nose. Cameron and Colin both instantly recognized that movie by the picture of James on the cover with a red, swollen nose. They know the story because we have checked out and read the book version from the library several times in the past.}

Ethan: "Daddy, I watched my Thomas movie while you were gone!"

Shane: "Really? Which one did you watch?"

Ethan: "James goes Buzz, Buzz. He got stung by a bee, Daddy. On his nose."

Cameron: "Yeah. That one's a classic."