Michael Finnigan Begin Again

I just don't want to forget things.  Four kids makes for lots of things to try and remember.  Weight, illnesses, funny phrases or pronunciations.  Today, without filling in the gap of TWO YEARS worth of missed blogging, I am going to jump right back in.  So that I don't forget.

Last week Poppy had immunizations.  At five months old she was 15lb, 14oz.  I dug through the blog for the other kid's weights and I couldn't find Benjamin's!  That's because I had post-partum depression and didn't write anything down....I'm sorry Benjamin.

Here's how they lay out:
Luke @ 3months: 17lb
Seamus @ 3months: 15lb, 14oz
Benjamin @ 3months: loved, but not recorded
Penelope @ 3months: 13lb, 13oz

Maybe I can go find Benjamin's in his immunization record...?

One of Each, Please.

Milestones

While Mom and Dad were here in April, Seamus toilet-trained himself!  He just went from diapers to gitch and never looked back!  Note to self:  when Benny is ready to be toilet-trained he will let you know - don't freak out and try to train him before he is ready...it will backfire.

Also while Mom and Dad were here Benny rolled over from his tummy to his back.  Mom was so good about making sure Benny got tummy time everyday, and one day we put him down and all left the room and when we returned he was on his back!  He is now rolling back to front as well and front to back, and pretty soon we are going to have to put the baby gate back up!

Luke, Derek and I are finishing the Chronicles of Narnia this evening.  We have been reading them aloud since the end of March.  Before that there was Two Against the North, a lot of Ivy and Bean books, The Secret Garden, and some of the Little House on the Prairies books.

Three-year-old Seamus

Dress-up

Luke says, "You look like a boy dressed up to pretend he's a cowboy, Seamus.  I look like a real live explorer."

Special Time With Seamus

On Monday evenings, Derek takes Luke to jazz dance class in Morden, which means Seamus and I get some special time together.  Sometimes, we admit it, we just watch Caillou for the entire hour and a half.  Sometimes we go grocery shopping and get a little treat from the bakery.  Sometimes, like tonight, we dandle the baby on our knees, then dress up and ride the horse around the living room.  Do we know how to have a good time, or what?

Saturday Gak

We used this Gak recipe and the boys are having tons of fun...as you can see.

Out-takes

We had a little photo shoot yesterday to make sure we had updated photos of the boys (and they just got haircuts last week).  This is what happens when you tell Seamus to, "Smile and show your teeth".

This is what you get when you tell Luke he looks like a squirrel:  He says, "I want to see!"

Compare and Contrast

Luke

Seamus

Benjamin

December 27, 2013

Benjamin Harvey Thiessen

8lb, 8oz

21.5 inches long

Born at 8:47am

Attended by my mom and Derek

Nine months, to the day, from the death of Plain Ol' Grammy.

December 23, 2013

December 27, 2013

 

For the Record

My kids are not all bad.  In fact, they are sometimes, truly, little angels.  Last week I had to go get some blood drawn (just the standard stuff during pregnancy).  The doctor told me to go over the lunch hour because (his exact words!), "It's usually dead over the lunch hour.  You can just walk in and out."  As a result of this advice, and since I had recruited babysitters two other times last week, I decided to take the kids with me. 

We had our normal morning lessons, piano practice, and then everyone got dressed and we jumped in the car.  We stopped by the clinic in howling winds and darted into the building clutching our jackets around our throats.  There was standing room only in the waiting room.  Perhaps it wasn't yet the lunch hour?  It was only 11:15.  I gave my doctor the benefit of the doubt and took the kids back out to the car, through the gale, over to WBS where we killed a little time visiting Derek and eating candy from the receptionist.

11:45, back to the clinic!  There were now exactly three empty seats, in the most boring waiting room in the world.  Not a single magazine or side table, and the only two microscopic windows covered by people sitting and waiting.  I sighed and decided I was not coming back another day.  Despite the fact that I had not prepared for a long wait, I had gone to all the trouble of getting everyone out of the house in inclement weather, and I absolutely positively HATE needles.  If I made it to the lab, the last thing I should do was leave again...chances are I could come up with at least ten more excuses not to have blood drawn by tomorrow.  So we took a number (76), and sat.

And sat.

And sat.

And the kids ate their pocketed candy from the receptionist.

And we sat.

And the kids wrote on the crumpled church bulletin I dug out of the bottom of my purse.

And we sat.

And the kids counted all the light bulbs in the ceiling.

And we sat.

And intermittently the children asked, "Is it our turn yet?" (we had come when the sign said they were treating number 62 - so we had a little lesson in counting).

And we sat.

And we sat.

For an hour and forty-five minutes!! With no books, no toys, no crayons, no snacks - straight through the lunch hour!  And my two boys did not bicker.  They did not whine.  They were as patient as Job.  When our number was finally called they quietly walked back to the cubicle with me and sat on the wall to watch the nurse draw my blood.  They were pretty fascinated and sat like statues, with great big eyes.  The nurse commented, "I didn't even know their were children in the waiting room!  They are so good!"

And they are!  But the reason they get three times the credit for being good, is because they were good when it really counted.  They were polite, patient, quiet and sweet at a time when it was a serious challenge for even an adult to remain remotely civil.

I took them out for happy meals after to celebrate. 

a little more snow

It won't stick around for long, but we decided to be excited about it, and go roll around in the wet wet snow and throw snowballs at one another.  In a few months we'll be praying for green grass again, but for now the snow is a novel thing, and we're going to just have fun and acknowledge that snow can be magical - to see the world transformed by white!

Silhouettes

If you want to know what we did in school today, see below!  Derek has yet to get his silhouette made.  I will add it to this post when it's complete.  And our class had a special guest this morning.  Gramma came for breakfast and even she got her silhouette made!  It's always good to have Gramma over.

Linus

Seamus

Seamus and Fall Colors

Last week I harvested all my zinnias because there was a risk of frost, and I didn't want to lose all the marvelous color before I had to.  The colored glass in the South window showed off the zinnias quite vividly in the Fall afternoon sun.  Seamus and I had a little photo shoot just for fun.

What the Garden Grows

 This Spring I was far too sick to keep on top of my garden.  But I managed to toss some seeds in the ground, and we have all delighted in the growing things in our yard....even the weeds.  This year it really feels like a "hobby garden", with barely enough produce to feed ourselves, and sometimes not quite enough.  But what I love most of all is seeing the boys enjoy it, and begin to understand where our food comes from.