Camp, Cousins, & Head Wounds

Jon took Seth to his first Fathers & Sons camp out the weekend of May 18th.  I tried to get him to take the camera, but that offer was rejected immediately.

Despite not sleeping well, Seth had a blast.  The smores were a big hit, as was tromping around in the woods with his friend Gabe.  Although when I asked him what his favorite part was, he said, "Going home."  Not sure which he missed more: me or his bed...

Later that day Stephen, Claudia & Brianna came by after round 2 of embassy visits.  We took them to Havre de Grace for some chocolates & a walk around the boardwalk (okay, they walked, we chased our kids on the playground).

I swear on my life I only ate one chocolate.

Jon, manhandling Catherine into the stroller.

This is why Catherine must ALWAYS be buckled in the stroller.

Seth, enthusiastically informing Stephen & Claudia about his orange gum.

On to the head wounds!

May 26th was my spring piano recital.  Besides the part where I forgot I was supposed to play a piece until the night before, everything went well.  My students all did fantastically, and I'm looking forward to summer break!

Of course, what's a piano recital without drama?  While we were waiting for the last performers to arrive, some of the kids (including my little Seth man) got a little...rambunctious.  Things were getting a little crazy, but the last family finally showed up and it was time to get started.

Which was exactly when I heard the "thunk" and saw Seth holding his head.  I grabbed him to check the damage--bleeding.  Those piano bench corners are not soft.

Lucky for me, my students' parents include a pediatric nurse and a firefighter, so Seth was in good hands.  No concussion, no stitches, just a lot of blood.  Nothing like a little blood & gore to liven up a recital!

(As of today, the wound is totally scabbed over and he hasn't complained once.  Hooray!)

15 Months

Sara Catherine, Warrior Princess

(and yes, she can reload that thing)

At 15 months, Catherine is:

*bossy

*adorable

*escaping from the house and running across the street to the playground at every opportunity

*still wavering between one and two naps

*whiny, particularly at dinner time

(I'm actually kind of ashamed to admit how often I hand her a washable dry-erase marker and let her loose in the house just so I can cook dinner without her clinging to my legs and screaming).

*running (usually away from us)

*insisting on feeding herself with utensils

*climbing

*dancing

*18 lbs. 9 oz. and 30 inches.  And thus still in her infant carseat.

(loves her little table)

*saying "dada" to Jon

*imitating her big brother

*emptying my wallet & purse hourly

*raiding our strawberry patch daily:

"Who, me?"

"Should I eat this last one?"

"Nom, nom, nom."

We love you, Little Bug.

(but your dad is counting down the Sundays until you can go to Nursery)

Best Friends?

Sometimes, in between the pestering,  I get brief glimpses of my children actually enjoying playing together.  Here's hoping that bodes well for the future...

Catherine, being uncharacteristically okay with Seth boxing her in.

Bwahahaha.

(No, Seth is not wearing a European swimsuit.  

He just routinely puts his underwear on backwards and then refuses to fix it.)

My two babies eating their snack together.

Gosh I love these little faces. 

Service Project

Our stake service project this year was cleaning up a park in the (aptly named) town of Parkville.  I figured we'd be planting trees or weeding garden beds.  Nope--we were commissioned to clean out the creek bed.

Actually, for the most part it was great fun.  The park was beautiful and the kids were happy to just hang out.

Seth and his giant piece of glass.

We found a lot of this.

Apparently many patrons' idea of a good time is drinking alcohol by the creek and then smashing the bottles.

Sounds thrilling.

Catherine, unhappy to be so far from the water (she was not allowed any closer as she has no fear).

Jon being manly.

It was all fun & games until Catherine got hungry.  Jon wasn't quite done cleaning out the entire creek by himself, so I took her and left Seth with him.  Allegedly we were on a trail that looped around and would take us back to where we started.  Lies.

I will just end by saying that there is nothing quite as fun as hiking through the woods with a screaming child in your arms, not knowing if you're walking toward the stroller (and thus, the food) or just going deeper into the trees.  

I'm pleased to say that I did, eventually, find my way out.  Catherine & I made it back in time to meet up with Jon & Seth (who had also been fooled by the not-loop trail, but happened to run into someone who told them where to go).  We'll call it a success--the creek is clean(er), and no Bloods were left wandering in the woods, despite our best attempts.

Seth and Catherine

Just a little bit of fun stuff our babies have been up to lately.

Seth is two months shy of turning 4 (how is that possible?).  Lately he's split his time fairly evenly between being this amazingly brilliant little man and being a sulky teenager.  Between the stomping, brow furrowing, and door slamming, I find myself wondering when we skipped from 3 to 13.

Some photographic evidence?  

Here's his new morning ritual:  

-stumble down the stairs, bleary-eyed

-sit on futon

-insist that Mom cover him with the blanket:

-stick an arm out and inform Mom that "this hole is for my milk, and this one is for the Kindle":

-whine excessively until both milk (must be warm and chocolately) and Kindle are delivered.

-hang out under blanket for 10-15 minutes, drinking and playing games

-be very not amused when Mom tries to penetrate the blanket fortress:

I'm fairly positive this picture is a glimpse into Seth's teenaged future.

Except for maybe the dinosaur jammies part.

But when he's not being a punk, he's pretty awesome.  Here's some of his more recent Sethisms:

"Crap!  Crap!  CRAP!"

"Seth Man, what's wrong?"

"Nothing.  That's just my car and the horn says 'crap!'"

-(addressing the pregnant mother of one of my piano students): "Hey, the one with the baby in it?"

-After informing us that he's going outside to play: "I will come inside at 13 o'clock."

-"Mommy, you're AWESOME!" (apparently his adjective of the week)

Other fun Seth things right now:

-he's been telling Jon there's a ghost in his room at bedtime, but it doesn't seem to bother him too much.  He's never told me about the ghost.

-he's really into 'stupid' and 'hate' right now.  I'm being fairly lenient with it, hoping he'll get over it as soon as he understands when it's appropriate to use them.  He's not allowed to say he hates anyone, but he finds his way around it.  Like when he's mad at me and says, "I hate yyyyyyy....Mommy, what starts with 'y'?"


-also obsessed with 'bad guys'.  He wants to know who they are, where they are ("in jail"), and occasionally prays about them: "Heavenly Father, please, PLEASE, tell the bad guys go away."


-he can apparently navigate his way through Youtube (starting with crashing cars, then to bulldozers, end on a baby playing in a ball pit).  That's what happens when I leave my computer on while I'm teaching piano.

Inside the glowstick hoop he made himself

-he's started gaining quite a bit of independence: he can get undressed/dressed by himself in the mornings, can go outside and play alone (as long as he asks first). I'm starting to wonder if this new-found independence has something to do with all the battles we've had lately. 

-he's started asking for stories.  His personal favorites are the one where he put his teeth through his lip when he was a little guy and the one where Jon fell off a wall as a kid and knocked his head pretty good (enough to make him forget everything that happened that morning).  Apparently bodily harm is quite thrilling.

-coolest thing about Seth?  This kid is starting to read!  I'm pretty squarely in the "kids are forced to do too much too soon" camp when it comes to academics, but what do you do when your kid starts asking you what the letters say?  It's really cool to watch him learn.  He's even read me an entire book (simple: "Mat.  Mat sat.  Sam.  Sam sat.").  I'm not bragging--I'm just amazed at him!  The kid refuses to draw, buckle himself in the car seat, or wipe himself (sorry--it's a huge battle here lately), but reading?  Sure!  Why not?

-but, of course, our #1 activity is still (for three years running now) CARS:

The piano makes a great "parking lodge" as he calls it

And then there's the Princess:

"No, Mom.  This WAS your laptop.  It is now quite clearly MY THRONE."

-Catherine is almost 15 months now, but she's still fooling everyone into thinking she's a VERY advanced 9 month old.  I'm still waiting for the day I get to put away her 6-9 month clothing, although she does have some 6 month size jammies she's ALMOST grown out of.  There will be a great celebration when those suckers are put in the bin.  She's only been wearing them for 9 months now...

-in a similar vein, she still fits comfortably in her infant car seat.  We'll see what the doctor says at her 15 month appointment (Seth grew out of that thing at 9 months).

-still mostly communicates by pointing, but here's her list of words:

-"boo" 

(peek-a-boo)

-"der-da-go" 

(there you go--she says this when she hands us things)

-"dane-doo" 

(thank you--haven't heard this in a while)

-"dis"

(this/juice/food--always said while pointing demandingly)

-"woof"

(any and all animals: dogs, cats, birds, bugs)

(with her "woof")

-"ba"

(ball--her favorite)

-She's officially a full-time walker.  Actually, she's currently working on running away from us as quickly as possible.  Stairs are no object, neither is getting off the couch or Seth's bed.  She's just not tall enough to get up by herself yet.

-for being so tiny, this girl has no fear.  She'll climb anywhere she can get to, even if she can't get down.  She's also learned to slide by herself and swing in the big-kid swing.

(climbing on precarious objects--check)

-she (finally) loves her books, especially books with real pictures of babies/animals.  Although lately she's decided to skip the nightly book reading in favor of standing in her windowsill and babbling incoherently at whatever she sees out there (usually nothing, but that doesn't stop the babbling).

-she takes great pleasure in stealing Seth's blankets and pacifiers.

-she LOVES drawing on/with whatever she can find (including the couch with a dry erase marker).  That was the same day we learned that she can open the pens by herself.

(coloring together on their whiteboard--Catherine gets washable markers)

-anything that remotely resembles a toothpaste tube (diaper creme, antibacterial ointment) is automatically her possession, and is then automatically inserted in her mouth.

-they both LOVE being outside and will make a run for the door as soon as they get the chance.

I wouldn't trade this for the world.

Down on the Farm

Don't let this face fool you:

Our field trip to a local dairy farm was nothing less than Seth's personal hell.

It started off innocently enough, with the owner explained various crops they grew and why they grew them.  Obviously the kids were mesmerized by her descriptions: 

From there it was a short walk into the very bowels of Seth hell: 

Remember that happy face above?  

Now we have this: 

Poor little man.

After much observation, we've determined that he cannot handle being in loud, contained areas.

Loud, open areas? Fine.

Quiet, contained areas? Fine.

I guess it's a hybrid of claustrophobia and sensory issues.  

I can completely empathize, because he gets it from me (although his is worse).

This also explains why he spends all of singing time in Primary with his fingers in his ears,

much to the dismay of the Primary Chorister (me).

But don't worry--this story has a happy ending!

As soon as we made it back outside, he perked up again.

And then...he found the BEST. THING. EVER: 

That, my friends, is literally a lake of liquid manure.

And Seth was FASCINATED.

A few feet away was a pen where they kept the pigs: 

He took a cursory glance, then it was back to the manure, where he stayed until ice-cream time.

The manure was brought up in every conversation for a couple of days.

The missionaries especially appreciated it during dinner.

Pretty sure Grandma got to hear about it over the phone, too.

(All I can say is THANK HEAVEN it was cool and breezy that day, because otherwise...blech!)