Thinking of you

Just some pictures

We haven't traveled much this summer so decided to make the most out of it by finding hikes and things to do in the area. Here are some pics:

This is a family hike at Multnomah Falls last month.

This is just at home (where we have spent most of our time).
Madwell & her two teeth smile (she actually has about 6 with 3 coming in, but you can usually only see her bottom teeth).

Emma at the coast this summer.

These two are from Silver Falls. We went there over Labor Day weekend.

Emma's first day of preschool. So far she loves it. She told me that her teacher is her best friend (her best friend changes daily, but it's nice to make the list :D )

Giant Baby

I am finally getting around to posting! Yay!

I'm actually really excited to write about Madwell. I know that kids go through phases, but so far Jakers and I have felt like we sort of hit the jackpot with getting to have her in our family.

For the most part, Madwell is so sweetly tempered and brought a beautiful, peaceful feeling into our home when we brought her home from the hospital. She loves to be held and cuddled and always wants to be part of the action. She wants to eat what we eat, drink out of cups, join in story time (or try to eat the book), take baths with Emma, and play with toys. In fact, Madwell has recently earned the title "Giant Baby" during our playtime. She received this name by knocking over Emma's princess castle one night during playtime. Now all the Fisher Price Little People fear her and scream when she lifts them up and puts them into her mouth...or that's how play time goes down anyway.

Madwell is quick to laugh and, like her sister, thinks obnoxious noises and spitting are hilarious.

Unlike Emma, Madwell has no interest in watching TV. This may be because she only needs to look at Emma for constant entertainment (e.g., frequent dance shows, play time, and melt downs).

We recently celebrated her first birthday. We decided to actually throw a party (which are not really what Jakers and I excel at) but she seemed to really like the cake, so it wasn't all bad.

 We missed the Hughes clan and thought of you that day. Wished we could have celebrated Christopher's birthday with you too. We loved the pictures you posted of your kids. You have such a beautiful family and we feel blessed to know you!

Random

I still need to post a spotlight on Ella, but just haven't had a moment to do so properly yet. But here's a few photos from our shoot at Target a few weeks ago. We finally got a professional photo of Michael at 9 months. Poor kid. He's officially the 3rd kid with no baby book, hand-me-down clothes dotted with stains and tears, and the like. But blast he's a cute kid! He just started crawling--look out world!

Oh, and I just started reading a book that is a riot: The Rosie Project. It's making me laugh non-stop, but is clever as well. Highly recommend. Any movies recommendations from you guys? You always have the best suggestions. We could use a fun flick. :)

A few thoughts

I'm giving myself a break from the kids and taking a minute to post something (finally!). I don't have time right now to spotlight Madwell, but I did want to comment on the last two posts.

It was wonderful getting to spend a little time with your family! Thank you so much for making time for us and for the photos and video you posted! LOVE them! I liked this one too. Can't remember if I sent it to you or not:

He has the art of relaxing down. I need to take some pointers from him. Speaking of Christopher, I loved the post about him. What a cute kid! Those videos were great. I actually recognized the song he was singing pretty quickly. Emma loved that song when she was 2.

Ok, I will try to get around to posting more in the near future!

Good Times

We loved getting to visit with Sarah, Emma and Madeline! We miss you too much.

Tophie Tofu

So, I'm good to go now on Christopher's spotlight. He's finally over his illness and back to taking naps which makes him a much easier person to be around.

First up, Ella's nickname for Christopher is Tophie and/or Tofu, and Christopher doesn't seem to mind being called by them one bit. Although when he refers to himself, he says "I'm Christopher." And he has no problem making introductions. He often walks up to strangers and tells them his name, and usually introduces me as well. He is very extroverted which is both charming and frightening. A few weeks ago while riding in the cart at Costco in the crowded freezer section an elderly woman accidentally bumped our cart ever so slightly. Christopher responded to this affront by yelling, "Hey! You don't bump me!". That was completely embarrassing.  

Whatever Christopher is feeling comes oozing out (and he feels things in extremes!) so he is either the sweetest boy in existence or a total beast depending on the day or hour. But those sweet-boy moments melt my heart. He expresses a lot of love especially to his family, and Michael in particular. So far, Christopher has yet to lose his patience with Michael. Even when Michael is screaming and demanding, and the rest of us have totally had it, Christopher will talk to him in a gentle voice and try to calm him down. I've never seen anything like it; I may need to take lessons from him.

Here's a video of Christopher talking and playing with Michael:

Christopher is a runner. It's probably his favorite past time. He runs laps around our tiny apartment and through my parents house a few times each day. He likes to be active and "play sports," as he calls it. We're enrolled in tumbling at the rec. center and he eats it up. I think I'm going to have a busy 15+ years keeping up with him.

Another thing Christopher loves is singing. He's memorized loads of songs and sings them over and over again. Here's one:

The real version is here, if you're interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ9WiuJPnNA

A few more random tidbits about Christopher is that he's obsessed with bugs, gingerbread cookies and the movie My Neighbor Totoro. He's a very motivated boy and wants to learn and grow up as fast as he can. On his good days, He makes us look like awesome parents by teaching himself all the colors, sign language, memorizing books and more. On bad days, well, he makes us look really, really bad.

I listened to this a little while back and couldn't help but think of Christopher (although the opening story made me feel really grateful for my life and my kids!).

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/521/bad-baby

It's funny to me how I can have two sons and they are so opposite. Michael is our zen baby and Christopher is total chaos. But the cool thing is that they adore each other, and that makes me so happy for them and me. Kids really are awesome!