the honey home

eighteen months (aurick virgil)

Aurick, you turned eighteen months on the seventh of April.

We had a stomach virus go through the house this month that you, fortunately, never caught! I don’t know how we managed that, but I’m very glad you didn’t get it, because I haven’t the slightest idea how to handle a vomiting toddler, and I could imagine that the whole experience would have upset you very much. Plus I was sick myself, which only complicated things. But you, Daddy, and Beatrice never caught it. The rest of us were not so lucky.

I have a picture of you in the high chair. I had left you with Ephraim, asking him to feed you your yogurt. When I came back, he had just handed you the spoon, and you were gleefully feeding yourself huge globs of yogurt, getting half of it (or more) on the tray and your face in the process. You did certainly love to do things yourself. This was a brief period where you really loved yogurt. It didn’t last too long.

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I cut your hair this month. I just used the clippers like I do for everyone else. You did great with the whole process. Having your hair cut short made you look so much older!

The weather continued to get warmer, and you continued to love being outdoors.

In preparation for the new baby, I set up our large playpen for you and bought several toys. You were okay with this setup for a little while, but after a couple of weeks, rather than acclimating to the playpen, you began to really despise it. This is the opposite of what usually happens with independent playtime, but then again, you are Mr. Contrary. We did get a little bit of time out of it, but not what I had hoped.

Your naps schedule hovered between one nap and two. Two nap days were glorious because you could be really, really difficult sometimes, and that gave us (and you) a break that we all still apparently needed!

You became the official youngest Kransling to learn to blow out candles. And that was the last time I was able to leave a candle burning on the coffee table. Because along you’d come, and–poof! Blow it right out. You were very good at it.

You did not talk at all–not at all, if I remember correctly–except for shaking your head. You would sing, though. You liked to sing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and “Old MacDonald” and “One Little Finger”, but rarely would you do it so that other people could see. Mr. Contrary, as usual.

seventeen months (aurick virgil)

Aurick, you turned seventeen months on the seventh of March.

You had a double ear infection this month. I took you in to the walk-in-clinic and you fell asleep in my arms while we waited for the doctor. You never do that, so I could tell you were really feeling very poorly.

The weather warmed up and you were able to get outside more. Big Brother Ephraim would take you out and put you on the trampoline. You loved being on the trampoline! But it did put a cramp in the style of everyone else when you were up there, though.

You enjoyed getting around and exploring the outdoors, but many times you would just sit when I took you outside. You liked to just sit and watch things, I think.

You spent a lot of time in the high chair, watching me in the kitchen.

You could also REALLY get going in the johnny-jump-up. I think you may be the one who used it the longest. But you enjoyed being in there so much, and we loved seeing you going and going in it.

You started cruising around the coffee table. That was exciting!

You continued to be extremely contrary. I suppose it is a mark of your personal style.

six months (flannery simone)

Flannery turns six months today, October 30th.

She is still a wiry little peanut with hardly any hair. What hair is there is still coming in slowly, slowly, just like Big Sister Elvie, who made it all the way to eighteen months or so before it really started to grow. Why does hair do that sometimes? What has grown in still looks very reddish, red enough that new acquaintances see the red tinge, too, and not just a Mama who gets carried away with wishful thinking. What she lacks in hair she makes up for in big, big blue eyes.

Those big eyes only ever seem to shut in sleep or smiling, when she crinkles up her nose and squints her eyes at you as she grins her gummiest grin. She likes to smile, and can really get cackling if you tickle her or play peek-a-boo with her. She even likes to be tossed up in the air, something which Aurick will actually still not let me do.

Elvie is especially good at getting her to laugh. Beatrice tries very hard but with limited success. Beatrice is still Flannery Fan Number One, always wanting to sit with Flannery or talk to Flannery or play with Flannery, but sometimes her three-year-old enthusiasm (and underdeveloped balance) causes more problems than playing. Then there is a great amount of tears on the part of both of the girls, which thankfully they both seem to recover from quickly.

On the subject of sleep: we’ve been through a very long Wonder Week this month, and naps suffered, though not as badly as some of the children have experienced at this age. Flannery has always been very good at putting herself to sleep (if the conditions are right) but she had more trouble with that this month. One day she didn’t nap hardly at all, which for her is so very very strange. Oddly enough, though, her temperament is still fairly sunny, even as tired as she could get during these times.

She’s very particular about where she sleeps, though. I’ve learned that this month as I’ve spent a lot more time out and about with her than I usually do. Like Clive, Flannery will not sleep in the carseat hardly at all. It takes a long day of errands to wear her down enough to sleep in the car. She doesn’t exactly like to sleep in the ring sling, either, but will eventually, if I cover her eyes with a blanket. If I’m holding her, I can get her to surrender and fall asleep if I hold her arms tightly against her and, again, cover her eyes, but she will only sleep like this for maybe ten to fifteen minutes. I even had her on my bed last week while I cleaned–she had her blankie, and her pacifier, and the noise machine was on. And she fussed at me, and fussed, and fussed, until I picked her up and put her in her sleeping basket. Then she shut her eyes and rolled her head up and to the side, and fell asleep. Promptly. The girl knows what she likes!

She still nurses one to two times at night. I have decided not to wean her from night feedings until we start solids. I don’t really think she needs the night feedings–she doesn’t nurse super well during the day which is a surefire way to tell that they could be phased out–but I think perhaps subconsciously I am just afraid to night train her while she’s in such a low percentile for weight. There isn’t any concern–she is following her own growth curve, and I’ve already been through this exact thing twice with Clive and Anselm, who were small like her and still sleeping 12 hrs at night by her age–but I don’t want my sleep training her to be blamed for her being small. So I’ll just wait.

She is a busy little girly when she’s awake! She so loves to have the other children come and talk to her. She grumbles when she’s alone, sometimes. She likes to lie on the floor and see what everyone is up to. She loves to see Aurick–she thinks he’s fascinating. He, for his part, is very careful and gentle with her.
She has been working on rolling over, and though I haven’t seen it yet, the kids say they’ve seen her roll over on her own.

We all call her Flansie-Mo. Or maybe that should be written Flan-Simo? Flansimo? However you spell it, it is wonderfully fun to say; between that and just plain Flansie, she has her nicknames pretty well set for her.

other updates:
ephraim + clive + anselm + elvie + eldore + beatrice + aurick

five months (flannery simone)

Flannery turned five months on the 30th of September.

This month was a month of discovery! So many things were found during these past few weeks.

A first discovery was these chunky blocks of flesh at the end of her legs with wiggly spuds sticking out of them. Sometimes, if they hold still long enough, you can grab on to them! And if you’re very flexible (which of course our Flannery is) you can even stick them in your mouth and chew on them! It is very exciting, and needless to say she was awfully proud of herself for finding these new toys. Of course her feet have been there all along, but we won’t spoil it for her by telling her so.

Another discovery was the amazingly full range of sounds she can make, from the highest squeaky-squeaks to the lowest growls, and even spit-filled raspberries! Crowing! Squealing! Talking! Squeaking is her very favorite, though. She reaches her voice up as high as it can possibly go, then looks sideways at you to see if you’ve noticed her dexterity in this magnificent skill.

The third discovery (which Mama has not exactly encouraged) was that fingers are as good as pacifiers in a pinch. I found her asleep several times with two fingers stuck in her mouth, just like Clive used to do. I took a few pictures as proof, then tried my best to discourage the fingers and offer a pacifier. Pacifiers can be taken away, but we’ve had a heck of a time getting our finger/thumb-suckers to stop.

She’s much stronger on her belly, now, and can spend much longer times on her tummy, up and looking around. We have a little whale toy that we’ve been hanging on to for years that is for tummy play–it’s a pouch filled with water with little fish floating in it that baby can look at and poke at, as they like to do at this age. Elvie was thrilled that Flannery was finally old enough for the toy, and badgered me until I got it set up for Flannery to play with. Then we placed Flannery on it, but everyone so crowded around her to see what she would do that she didn’t even notice the toy–she was too busy talking to her admiring fans! It took several tries over the course of a couple of weeks for her to look at the toy and bat at is, as is intended. Now she loves the toy, and Elvie is content.

Even though she’s a skinny little thing, she’s so long that I had to bump her up to the next size sleepers–and her toes still stretch to the very end of the feet of her pajamas. Her fingers and feet are so long! She is long, too, though not extremely so–just a little more than average.

She’s an expert now at the IKEA gym toy. She never misses when she grabs at it, and loves to swing her feet up to knock the toys back and forth, too. She’s working on rolling but hasn’t accomplished a back-to-belly roll on her own yet. Late rolling is kind of a Kransling speciality, with the exception of those Kranslings who were belly sleepers.

She’s a nosey little thing and likes to know what’s going on around her. Nursing her while out in a room is impossible; I have to go back to my room and shut the door. She will often tire of lying on the floor, wanting instead to be up and looking around at everything and everyone. When she complains, I put her in the bouncy seat (if I can’t hold her) at a spot where she can supervise the goings-on in the room. This pleases her enormously, and cuts the complaining immediately.

other updates:
ephraim + clive + anselm + elvie + eldore + beatrice + aurick

three months (flannery simone)

Flannery turned three months on July 30, the same day that Clive turned 10. (Happy Birthday, Clive!)

The household has settled into calling her Flansie or Flansie-Mo, with the occasional Flansie-Mouse, on the part of Anselm. This is how nicknames evolve, and I love it.

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wednesday 7/27/22

On Wednesday morn, I packed the Kranslings up
And hurried into town and to the store
For Clive to have the chance to look and choose
The trappings for his birthday: plates, and forks,
And cups, and straws, and little checkered flags
He wants to put upon his cake. He said
That they would ornament a race track’s end.
(This next line took a while for me to write
As Jeremy sang a while a song that he
Had made for the unfortunate event,
The expiration of the heavy cream
Which would take place (he said) upon the morrow.
And it was most distracting. Where was I?)

Oh yes–I was to say that Clive is ten
And yet he still persists in those first loves
That captivated him at two, and three,
The Cars that colored all his thoughts and play
And favorite songs, and favorite colors, all
Encompassed in his love. It has been long
Since he has mentioned anything with cars,
Yet here we were, planning a race track cake.
Our Clive is nothing if not wholly thorough,
Consistent as a metronome’s refrain,
Yet hardly to be called predictable.
We said the race track would be chocolate.

Two other errands we had to complete:
To find some drinks* for Daddy at a store
That sells them at a discount. After that
We had to go to Wal-Mart for to find:
Some chlorine for the pool; baking soda;
A box of Borax. At the first Mart
They didn’t have the chlorine, so we drove
South to another store to find it there,
But had no luck. I got the other things
And had each child choose for himself a snack
As I was glad they hung in for so long
While I had looked for chlorine. We came home
Much later than I thought we ever would.
And we were tired. Poor Aurick had no nap
And it was almost dinnertime. I put
him down–and Flannery–to rest a while–
I set myself to rustle up some food–
And Elvie saw that in the southern field
Some twenty-five balloons had come to earth.
We ate, then cleaned, then read, then went to bed.
(We tied the balloons to a steady post)
And I sat up to type this little blog
While Jeremy sang about the heavy cream
And Flannery snoozed. (She’s sure to wake up soon).

Today while in the car, our Ephraim said
He thought that he would name this current year
“The Year of Blessings”. And I think he is right.

*San Pellegrino

sixteen months (aurick virgil)

Dear Aurick,

I am writing this post for you many months after it should have been shared. You turned sixteen months on the seventh of February; I am writing this on the sixth of July. Those last few months with Flannery’s pregnancy were difficult, and your monthly updates were something that slipped through the cracks. I hope you can understand. (Though, now that I look at it, it seems a lot of people are missing their sixteen-month posts. There must be a lot of cracks around that age.)

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two months (flannery simone)

Flannery turned two months on June 30.

She is called Flannery, Flansie, Flansie-Mo, Pretty Girly, Miss Foofy-Britches, and just plain Baby.

She’s stretched out on the bed next to me, wearing the little strawberry sleeper that she has singled out as the one she likes to have blowouts in the most. (Seriously, she poops more in this sleeper than any other. I don’t understand it.) Eldore is next to her, trying to find a comfortable spot to sit, and she follows him with her eyes, gaping and enraptured. She is enraptured by a lot of things these days, finally (I assume) being able to see things a little more clearly. She loves to look at people, at her toy owl, at the canopy over her bassinet, and (thankfully) the camera lens.

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