March maddness

Yikes, these little ones are busy! Busy learning to talk, count, read, write, rock climb, ski, bike ... and be fantastic little people (well, at least sometimes!).  Hard to keep with all of the happenings, but here are a few highlights of March.

Adelaide turned six this month, and lost her second tooth (hard to say which was more exciting). One of her birthday highlights was going shopping with her birthday money (thanks grandparents, aunts, uncle!) - she picked her little things out and went to the counter all on her own to count her cash, and as we left she stood a little taller and said, "I feel so big." She's braver and smarter and more competent than ever. I'm amazed how 6 is so much older than 5. I'm grateful to have a little helper who's responsible and dependable, but I'm also grateful that she's goofy and creative and doesn't always do exactly what she should. Her bilingual language skills are absolutely incredible - she mixes Spanish and English in fantastic ways (e.g, last week labeled her drawing of the Grand Canyon as Gran Kañen - the phonetic spelling in Spanish), demonstrating how her brain's language center is so malleable right now. She's very social, and honest and generally stellar. We're very much loving the little girl she's becoming.
 
The Miler has been interested in numbers and letters lately - with a big focus on 3s and Ms (humm) which he points out all over town. He's still super shy but has become quite the singer and lately has been putting on spontaneous "shows" on our window-sill-stage, with the main goal being earning applause. Tonight he peaked through the curtains with his ukelele and sang in a full opera voice, "Oh, I love to put on a show ... and sing a song that I really don't know ..." - his huge smile and soft curls are irresistible (but don't get out the camera - or he's gone!).


Anika for her part, now 17-months, and officially potty-trained, even on the airplane! She's a little rockstar, full of personality bigger than her tiny frame, and so ready to keep up with her siblings in every regard - her favorite word is "me" which is usually short for "I can do that myself - don't even think of helping". She loves to dress herself (with amazing success) and she's pretty certain that she's always in charge (and she's usually right).

Montessori toddler

Little Anika started her Montessori pre-school this week. I didn't work much, so we eased her in with little visits, then a 2-hour day, then a 3-hour day (so much easier than the transition that Adelaide got! We are all grateful not to go through that again!!).  She's a little social bug, and she seems just thrilled to have so many other babies to learn from, not to mention the special attention of a teacher to dote on her. Anika made particular friends with teacher Eric and apparently led him all around to watch her "work" - I had been mourning my decision to let her leave the house (even though it's only 3 days a week, to accommodate my work schedule), but now that she's already thriving, it certainly seems like a good decision. She is certainly proud of herself and all the things that she is learning. And now already we are sharing her little joyful personality with the world ... watch out world, this girl may be small, but she is captivating!

the most wonderful time of the year

December is always such a whirlwind, and each year more and more fun and we form our family traditions. Adelaide this year was really interested in making her own Christmas decorations, (Hapee Krismis too al and too al a gud net!) so we had hand-made kid crafts everywhere. Miles attended his first Nutcracker (yes, little boys DO sit still!) and it was the highlight of his season - he loves the songs, the Mouse King, the story book. And little Anika was in awe of all the festivities - so many new adventures for her.

Joe and I escaped to Bend for our first weekend away from Miles or Anika, which was rejuvenating and relaxing in the midst of all the busyness, and of course we weren't missed a bit.
Over Christmas, we all had a sleepover at Grandma and Pop-pop's house (a little 'stay-cation') and had so much fun - watching a few Christmas movies, making cookies, Christmas morning in PJs, the 'usual' breakfast, and perhaps a few too many gifts.

All 3 of them were absolutely overjoyed by it - the perfect ages for "the true meaning of the season." Adelaide loved picking out and wrapping presents for other people, Miles was ever so well-behaved despite all of the excitement (showing his emotion with a huge grin and trembling hands) and Anika learned to sing along with our favorite carole "rum-pum-pum-pum" (our hilarious musical duets may soon become trios!). It's always a little sad when the decorations have to come down and it's back to school time, but this year brought lots of great memories to add to the pile.

the big 3

Don't be befuddled by my late posting, Miles 3rd birthday was a momentous event. It followed close on the heels of spending a long weekend at the coast (celebrating Grandma's 60th birthday) with 30 of our favorite people (and a hot tub ... and SAND!). You might think that would be hard to beat, but we definitely did it.

Miles's love for the color purple is something I dearly love about this age. I have to wonder if there will come a day when he will be so embarrassed by all of the purple clothes (which are remarkably hard to find, for a little boy), purple toys, purple crayons ... but for these few months we are fully exploiting it.

The "purple party" was actually his idea, but we took it to the maximum -- purple decorations everywhere, purple paint for hand prints of the guests, Joe made purple flubber, purple ice to excavate and find purple rocks, a purple pinata filled with purple toys, even purple cabbage on the salad, and most critically purple cupcakes.  And Miles, "the purpler" himself, was in a little heaven of excitement to be the center of the fun for his day. Even more than I love his appreciation for purple, I just adore his "thrilled" expression - huge smile, body trembling, hands hiding his mouth - it's an expression we saw a lot.

As sad as it is to sad good-bye to 2-year-old-Miles, Miles at 3 is just delightful. He's charming and enthusiastic, still quite loving and snuggly, and a bit shy. He still likes to sleep on my tummy (heart-breaker!), and now he's learning to take good care of his sisters (just tonight when Ada cried because she dropped and broke something, he got a cloth to wipe her eyes) and to play so nicely with them. He certainly has a healthy bit of stubbornness, but far more often we see his infectious smile, and now an emerging logical side: "well, actually ... " Although my baby boy is long gone, little Miles is still pure sweetness and snuggles, and such a wonderful member of our family. When he is 13 and 23 and 63, the world will be a better place if Miles Nelson retains any of the great personality he has now at 3.

Ready .... GO!!

She did it!  November 4th, her 13th month-birthday ... I stood her up and said, "Anika, walk!" and she did.  Amazing.

Officially a KID!!

 Anika's birthday has come and gone in a flash. She was the theme of her own party (lots of little Nica faces!), and she ate up the "happy birthday" attention.

 It's hard to believe that the baby phase is over ... but the baby bottles and changing table are gone, and little Nica is working hard to be a "kid' - she very much wants to keep up with her siblings. She drinks from a glass, eats with her own spoon, draws with a marker (and gets the cap back on it!), even occasionally puts a book back on the shelf.  No time for nostalgia about the end of the baby phase, she's growing up fast.

And I am overjoyed to know this sweet little peanut. She's incredibly social, meeting new friends like a champ, waving and chattering even to strangers sometimes (although she doesn't hesitate to give them the 'staredown' either). Although she's a good snuggler, she's our bravest little soul at this age, and it's so fun to watch her digest new situations. She absolutely adores Adelaide, and she's already learning how to play rough with Miles (cheap shots when he doesn't expect it!!).  Little Anika, welcome to childhood - as sad as we are that the baby of the family isn't a baby anymore, we are so proud of your little accomplishments and we can't wait to see what you will do next.

first tooth

Anika (finally) got her first tooth, and she's working hard at figuring out how to use it!

first day

She started school this morning,
And she seemed so very small.
As I walked there beside her
In the Kindergarten hall.

And as she took her place beside
the others in the class,
I realized how all too soon
Those first few years can pass.

Remembering, I saw her as
She first learned how to walk.
The words that we alone made out
When she began to talk.

This little girl so much absorbed
In learning how to write.
It seems as though she must have grown
To girlhood overnight.

My eyes were blurred by hastily
I brushed the tears away
Lest by some word or sign of mine
I mar her first big day

Oh how I longed to stay with her
And keep her by the hand
To lead her through the places
That she couldn't understand.

And something closely kin to fear
Was mingled with my pride.
I knew she would no longer be
A baby by my side.

But she must have her chance to live,
To work her problems out,
The privilege to grow and learn
What life is all about.

And I must share my little girl
With friends and work and play;
She's not a baby anymore --
She's in Kindergarten today.

building skills

Oh the life of a 10-month old!  Little Anika has a new skill every day - it's hard to imagine how a brain can grow so fast!  To name a few key developments: this month she has learned: to wave, say "hiiieee" appropriately, give a high-five, point, to ask for what she wants without screaming (hurray!!!). She's been fascinated with in/out and with things that open/close, and today she learned to stack the stacker. She was so proud of herself when she got the thing filled to the top!!  We love these new skills as she's ever more interactive and plays so much now. She's also established that she loves the water in any form or temperature (today got blasted by the fountain stream changing size and laughed at it!).

eat your beans

As a preface, this story is probably not internet-appropriate ... and yet it's just too great to forget.  Last night after dinner, in the bath, Miles was washing his parts (yes, all of them), when he suddenly had the most puzzled, interested look. He looked up and asked, "we have beans for dinner?" - yes, Miles, we had bean burritos - next, all of a sudden: "there are beans in my peni" (although I should know better, we call his little part a "peni" because it's such a cute little word for such a cute little part). He was very excited -There are beans in my peni - over and over. (chuckle) I didn't give him an anatomy lesson about his testicles, or tell him that the "beans" where there even before he ate dinner ...

worth every penny!

 Although this looks suspiciously like a question on my recent board exams, in fact it is the start of Anika's recent hospital adventure ...

I will start this story by saying that when Anika began to crawl a few months ago, we established the "not safe for Nica" jar, into which went all of our favorite marbles, pebbles, rubber bands, etc. For the most part, Miles and Adelaide have been pretty good about keeping small choking toys off the floor ... but not as good as Anika is at finding the very last one ...

Nica spent 4 days (and a camping trip) with a penny lodged in her esophagus before we figured it out and took her to the emergency dept, and this morning she went to the operating room to have it removed.

We were thrilled with all the compassionate care by the staff, and even more thrilled to have our happy baby back to us - and hungry!  We haven't yet decided what to do with "the loot" (which is only a bit corroded on the edges).

little backpackers

July 2013: our first pack-in camping trip as a 'family of 5' was a raging success!

Adelaide carried an impressive load in her new backpack (thanks, Wisconsin Gma!) and had legs full of energy (of course, the "gummy stops" didn't hurt any!).

Our surprisingly tough little boy earned himself the nickname "2-mile Miles" by hiking long past when we planned to carry him. He was thrilled at the chance to "pee on a tree" for an entire weekend.



And little Nica tuckered herself out eating pine needles and fell asleep in the hammock before campfire time. That was okay because she didn't have a chance to eat the fire.

My new goal is for Nica to go on an "annual backpack trip" every year of her life, and she's off to a great start!

in=out

At 9 months, Anika has now been "out" as long as she was "in" and she seems to know that this week marks her first milestone in independence. Her new skills include responding/following when we call her name, playing "may I have it," throwing things, and standing up. Although she's ever more opinionated, she's smiley as ever.

 She adores hes siblings and she's lucky that they love to entertain her and care for her (although Miles seems to have a propensity to use his feet!).

 She's a great eater ... of basically everything BUT food!  (We're still working on the food bit.) Just like her brother, she's a little peanut, and she doesn't seem to be in much of a hurry to change that!

She's been nothing but joy (well, except for the dairy-free business!) and we love her to death for that huge toothless grin, the flappy-arms excitement, her big-eyes inquisitiveness, and of course her 'wilderness skills' (here, on her first camping trip).

Spring Chickens

This spring has been a whirlwind of new critters and new developments at our house. To start, we got baby chicks. Awesome, hilarious, and challenging. It's been a great adventure teaching Miles to handle them gently, and trying to keep them out of "Nica-ville" (because if she can get one, she squeezes a death-grip on it!).  We've made it through the 'baby chick' phase with no tragedies!

We also added a "praying mantis egg sack" to our zoo ... and last week a whole pile of baby praying mantises hatched out.  We're trying to keep them alive with 'fruit crawls' (flightless fruit flies) but our success rate is yet unknown.

Little Anika has gained mobility (hurray Sneaka!) but she's most adept at backwards and circular travel. Amazingly, she is able to sit herself up from a lying position (the first few times, we were sure she had been helped, but now she does it regularly - I am honestly shocked that she has the core strength for that at this age - I've signed her up to be an Olympian (no pressure!)). She's by far our smiley-est baby -- she seems to expect that someone is smiling at her at all times, and she looks around until she finds a smile. Perhaps that's a learned habit - the benefit of having 2 older siblings is that someone IS always smiling at her!

Little Miles has seen the most change this spring. Although he's still a little peanut in size, now at 2-and-a-half, he's matured into a full-blown little boy. His language has exploded such that he now speaks in full expressive paragraphs and gives us precise insight into his busy little mind. We used to marvel at how much he could communicate with a few carefully chosen words, and now he narrates his entire world-view "I slipped but I got up and I'm fine because I'm a toughie." In the past few months, he's been full of endearment: "You are my FAV-orite mama" or "I want a hug from your tummy" and "Can I sleep on your tummy?" when he crawls into my bed in the morning. I get the feeling that these are the things he's wanted to say for months but until now he hasn't had the words. These days he has as much language as personality and it has been all together hilarious and lovable. I feel so proud of him, and yet this time around I know what a transition he is going through, and I am mourning the loss of the baby boy I love so much.

Sitting up for her first meal

When Miles and Adelaide were small, we "taught" them to sit up, stabilizing their upper bodies, letting them topple onto pillows, supporting the process. Little Nica didn't give us the chance. Last week we sat her up, and she stayed there. With virtually no practice, she now sits bolt upright, sometimes leaning forward on a hand for support, or even uses both hands to play with toys in front of her.  Amazing!  

Perhaps she knew that there are 3 requisites to getting "solid" food: 1. interest (she's had that for months, even "chewing" her little jaws together while she studies us intently at the dinner table). 2. Being 6 months old (yesterday!) and 3. Sitting up with good stability.

Tonight was her first meal of ground millet (yum!). Adelaide and Miles were so excited for this event, that it ended up ... perhaps a bit anti-climactic. She took a few bites, swallowed some, spit some onto her chin, smiled a little, frowned a little, tried to grab the spoon ... overall a quiet unassuming step toward nutritional independence. She sneaked her way out of infancy and is now a full-on baby, and she's still simply delightful.

girls at fives are worth it all

Adelaide turned 5 this past weekend. She had a 'tea party' for her friends - we spent the last few weeks making invitations, crafting, planning games, creating an amazing menu of little sandwiches, fruits, etc. The party was on Saturday after I finished a night shift - Joe and I were both exhausted after a week of trying to have everything perfectly prepared - and I have to confess to more than one thought along the lines of "I don't like parties ... I am not crafty ... I should have just bought sandwiches ... why am I doing this?". But by the time the guests showed up, everyone looked calm and collected, we had lovely little decorations and a beautiful spread of tea time ... the girls (and Miles) giggled and laughed; the moms took lots of photos, and it was overall a raging success. The minute the guests were gone, Adelaide overflowed with "oh thank you mama for the best party ever ... I loved the tea ... my friends had so much fun ... this game ... that treat ... thank you, thank you" on and on. And that delighted little face definitely made it all worth it.

Little Anika is now 5 months and still happy and delightful - very studiously watches everything. She is absolutely enchanted with her siblings and is working hard to learn to move - I know she wants to be able to chase them around and sing along with their performances (check out the Flickr movie!). Unfortunately, I think we have diagnosed a milk-protein allergy (she poops blood - yuck!), so I am in the process of going dairy-free ... and trying hard not to cry about it. She's totally worth it!

3 months: tiny talker

After 2 kids' worth of effort to get a good baby photo ... I got a new fancy camera (yay!) and it's paid for itself already - look at this happy baby!!

Little Anika at 3 months is our little talker of the family: she "oooos" and "goooos" at every opportunity - her favorite game (well, okay, she only knows one game) is a "conversation" - I say "aaahh" she says "oooohhh" ... back and forth and back and forth. She has an amazing attention span to match her huge observant eyes, and no one can complain about the 8-9 hours of sleep every night. She rolled over for the first time a few weeks ago, trying to keep up with her busy siblings. Now if I can just teach her to sleep by herself ...

Little Miles gave us a good scare yesterday. He got an olive pit lodged in his esophagus ("pit stuck, mama, mouth hurts") ... and couldn't get it out, or get anything else down. After several hours of me dancing around and trying not to play doctor at home ... he got it up on his own (details omitted). Yikes. We're so glad he's smiling again.

a good read

The latest trick for keeping Nica happy in the car - a favorite book! Thankfully reading doesn't seem to make her car-sick.

giving thanks

 Thanksgiving Day: our first all-family exercise was a raging success!
Adelaide on her bike, Miles and Anika napping in the chariot, and Joe, my dad and I ran for a full hour!!

No complaints, but with all of the coordinating that was required, I had to wonder: would it save time for us to each run alone for an hour than to fuss with trying to run together? Probably a wash at best.

Little Anika has been better known around here as Tiny-ka, Nica, Nica-nic, or my favorite Ana-Nika (any of which Miles can say, although he can't say Anika).  Despite her name, she's not too Tiny-ka anymore: weighed in at 9 lbs 13 oz and 22 inches, despite being a week early for her 2-month check-up. Good grief! She doesn't seem to eat all that often, so all I can figure is that she's fattening up because she sleeps so much. Solution: more tummy time for Tiny-ka.

Miles is Two!

 Miles celebrated his second birthday this past weekend. He had an awesome swim party (complete with swimming pool cake). He absolutely had a blast -- he was so excited to have all of favorite people swimming or watching - over and over we heard "hi Margaret!!" and "Grandma watching" with such excitement. He is fun to watch in the pool on any normal day, jumping in with such enthusiasm and splashing like he owns the place, but a birthday swim was especially fun. We must have gone down the water slide 50 times.

Over the past month, his skills have really blossomed - he's turned into a two-year old!  Just this past week, he surprised us with counting to 10. Although I never before heard him say a number past 2, he now regularly counts to 10 correctly. He must have worked it all out in his little brain and waited until he had it perfect before spitting out those numbers all at once. Miles also has learned his pronouns - me, you, I, my - a lovely step in communication. And he has figured out how to play "imagination" games. My favorite is "going fishing" - he has a little striped cloth bag that he loads up with acorns or any random thing, slings it over his shoulder and announces, "Bye! Tomorrow!" (Miles, where are you going?) "Going fishing! A big one!!" -- This is just hilarious because I have no idea how he knows what fishing is, or why he wants to catch a big fish. He's never been fishing, and as far as I know, he doesn't even know anyone who goes fishing or have a book about fishing. Where did he get this idea? How does he know what "fishing" is? And how does he know to catch a "big" fish?  I have not a clue. Does this stuff come naturally to all boys?

In any case, we are very proud of our very independent little guy. He has such a joyful personality, always laughing and smiling, and it's such a treat to watch all of his recent developments