So We Have Four Kids Now

With not a lot of action around here, and suffering from sleep deprivation, I haven't had much mind to write.  But I would hate to let these days slip by without noting how they've passed.

Typically, the night is a crap shoot.  One night he'll go 3-4 hours and go right back to sleep after he eats.  The next he may only make it every 2 and fuss the whole time between.  So when morning comes, and I force myself out of bed to get the kids off to school, I usually make my way right back in while Max sits next to me, watching endless episodes of Peppa Pig, and covering Dan's side of the bed with goldfish crumbs or Frosted Flake dust.  And that, generally, takes up our mornings.  I should probably feel guilty about that, but I don't.

And I should probably apologize for taking and posting so many pictures of Finn, but I don't really feel bad about that either.

  He is a good baby.  Like there's even such a thing as a bad baby.  But he doesn't raise his voice very often and just eats and sleeps.  And spits up.  He really spits up a lot.  Maybe it's Mama Amnesia, but I think  he spits up more than any of the other kids did. He's hard to burp, and if I'm lucky enough to get one, 99% of the time it is followed by a fountain of spit up.  And If we're really (un)lucky, he'll shoot it right out of his nose.  He doesn't seem to mind too much. I got some medicine from the doctor, but since he abhors it, and it usually finds its way right back out, I haven't been too keen to give it to him.

He's my first baby, not to love a paci, but the first to love that huge green one from the hospital.

He's got a receding hairline right now, which only adds to his old man/new baby charm.

He is very alert.

 Even from birth he has looked with eyes wide open and seems to be taking everything in.  He smiles a lot, and yes, we can attribute much of that to gas.  But there are times, when he is staring deep into our faces, or when I sing or talk to him, that he is unmistakably smiling at us.

  I love it.

He is getting bigger and I can't believe that today is 4 weeks since he was born.  I can already tell that this whole gig is going to go by way faster than I want.  Although I'm sure there will be days when Dan is dragging me over to the computer making me re-read that last sentence.  Anyways, I am in love with that baby.

Max is the trooper of troopers.

He can keep himself busy for quite a while with "his guys", pretending, and shooting, and flying.

I'm sure I'm sucking years off of his life with all the TV watching.  He has been only slightly more of a pill than usual.  But the thing I am noticing most is his tendency to check his status with me, reassuring himself of his spot in the family.

Max: I want you to love me.
Me:  Oh, you're in luck, I really, really do!
Max:  Good, cause you're my boy!

OR

Max:  You're my baby.
Me: You're my baby.
Max: Yeah, you're my baby and Dad's my baby.  You're both my babies.

OR

Max: You love all me.
Me: Yep, I love your hair, I love your eyes, I love your tummy, I love all of you!
Max: I love all you, too.

And my personal favorite:

With a hand on each cheek and his nose pressed to mine, "I'm so glad you love me!"

Luke seems to be the one lost in the middle these days.  It's like I can see it, yet I don't feel like I have the capacity to address it.  I am trying to find more opportunities for some one on one interaction but it alludes me.

If I had to guess, I would say that at least half of his brain function must be in numbers.  He astounds me with the way he thinks about numbers.  We all know he didn't get that from me, and I certainly didn't teach him.  But while he cannot correctly voice an equation, he can usually tell you the answer.

Two weeks ago he asked, "Mom, what's plus 99 plus 99?"

I usually say 'I don't know' because I want him to tell me or sometimes, I really don't.  "I don't know, Luke, what is it?"

"198.  Mom, what's plus 50 plus 60?"

"I don't know, Luke, what is it?

"110"

Or the other day we were talking about money.  He wanted to know how much a dime was worth and I told him 10 cents and then he asked about a nickel.  He went on to explain that if he had two nickels it would be the same as one dime.  And then 3 nickels would be 15 cents.  And 4 nickels would be 20 cents.

Lately he has been on a Lego and puzzle kick.

He builds at least one lego a day.

They use hundreds of pieces and have 40+ steps of  "constructions" but the only thing he needs help with is taking them apart.



Dan got him this space puzzle which he also does frequently.

And he doesn't need help with it either but he loves an audience.


Ava is a little put off by Luke's math skills, because that is not her area of proficiency.  Her reading has really taken off though and she is a lover of books! Math, not so much.  I picked up some children's condensed versions of some classics at the Target dollar spot a year or two ago.  She has finally gotten to the point of reading them.

My parents brought Anne of Green Gables home from a trip for her a few months ago, and that's what started it.  I love that she loves that book.  She has read it at least 3 times.  From there she has moved on to Heidi, White Fang, The Secret Garden, and Little Women, among others.  She loves to read!

She also started in a dance class with some of her friends.  We had a lot of hesitation about that because the class is an intermediate one and her friends have been dancing for nearly two years.  Aside from a once a week camp for a month in the summer when she was 3 and 4, she has not danced at all.  This has been a real challenge but we are so proud of her for her effort and not giving up.  And she has found some satisfaction in her practice and feeling the improvement.



She is such a good sister.  She loves Finn.  And she loves her other brothers too.  She has recently taken it upon herself to always try to help Luke or Max stop crying (which kind of happens a lot). She knows just how to turn the wah wah's into the ha ha's.

Dan's still the man.

Work is as stressful as it's been since we've moved here and it stinks that it has overlapped with Finn's arrival.  But no matter, he comes home and changes clothes, and jumps right into lightsabbering and being the zombie.

Things don't look like they're slowing down anytime soon, but for now we are enjoying the ride.

Adjusting

When I realized that my due date fell just days before the start of our week long Spring break, I admit, I was a little nervous.  Visions of new baby sleep deprivation mixed with early rising big kids, home all day and anxious for entertainment swirled in my head.

Dan was planning on taking off a couple of days and my mom planned to take his place at home as the helper when he wasn't.  Still, I cannot explain the relief and joy I felt when, Sunday night before the Tuesday induction, a friend and her oldest two children knocked on my door.  The kids explained they were planning to have a Spring Break "kids camp" for 3 hours a day Monday through Wednesday that next week and wondered if I'd be interested in sending my kids. $5 per kid, per day, in order to earn money for their own summer activities and camps.

Sign.Me.Up.

So the kids enjoyed their kids camp and I enjoyed my quiet time with the baby.

By the second half of the week, I was feeling pretty good, and I went along on some of the adventures that Dan had planned.

Overall it turned out to be a pretty good week.

I've had my eye on each kid and they ways they've reacted to the baby. There was a definite increase in whining and crying the first few days, but all of them seem to be very happy with Finn.  Ava will do anything for me or him.  She loves to hold him and talk to him.

Luke asks me, "Can I wash my hands cause I want to pet the baby?" When he's done, he comes and sits next to me and drags one finger around on Finn's soft head.

Max doesn't want to hold him and says he's scared to touch him, besides occasional pats on the head and toes.  But he loves to come sit close to us and exclaims in the most celebratory tone, "He's so cute! The baby came out your tummy and he's so cute!"  or "I just love your baby!"

As for me, I feel like I am walking around in a haze of exhaustion. It is truly a wonder that I am even partially amicable. But I'm not really complaining.  The reason for it all is one of the greatest happy spots in my life. I have been so, so lucky to have friends take over my carpool responsibilities so that all I have to do is get the kids up and dressed and out the door each morning and then they show back up on my porch in the afternoon.  It's fantastic.

Max has been such a trooper, because after the big kids are off, I often just lay on the couch and try to make up for lost sleep while he kindly watches shows or plays with his toys. The only downfall to our stay home and lay around all day regime, is that he wants to eat constantly.

Finn is so adorable it's not right. He has the worlds longest baby fingers.

 He feels so good to hold and snuggle and his face and hair is soft and silky. I have taken so many pictures with my phone, I'm sure it's nearly out of memory.

Have you ever loved somebody so much it actually hurts?  That's where I'm at right now, there's just an ache in my chest and I can't get over it.

  And when I start thinking about it, and each of the three other little faces appear in my mind, I really think I might explode or melt or something.

How in the holy universe did I get lucky enough to have these babies?

I don't know but we sang Families Can Be Together Forever last night at Family Home Evening, and I'm telling you, that was kind of a mistake.  A blubbery, crybaby mama, mistake.

Hold On to Your Uterus

My apologies to those of you pure souls who are not on Facebook, I admit I forgot that fact, and didn't mean to leave the baby nameless in the last post.  I figured you already knew it.

It took us a few days to nail down a name. Much to the delight of the birth certificate lady in the hospital, we finally settled on Finn Lewis Colton.

Finn was a come-from-behind-and-claim-the-prize choice and Lewis is after Dan's maternal grandfather.

Sunday while everyone else was at church, we took advantage of the quiet house and took some pictures.


At 6 days old, he is sweeter than sweet.  While possibly temporary, he seems pretty chill. And although he loves to eat, near constant snacking might be a more appropriate description.

I'm probably a teensy bit biased, but I think this boy is some kind of wonderful.