The Fire-Thunder King turned eighteen months on the 19th of May.
[Read more…]rock haulers
Can anything spark more joy in the life of a child than a huge pile of something to be shoveled? …Well, it depends on what’s in the pile, I guess, but a pile of rocks is certainly the cause of great excitement. Anselm and Ephraim had already taken shovels to it before I even had breakfast going for the day.
[Read more…]a day at the races
Every time I came out of the door to the Ham House, more of a crowd had gathered on the steps.
[Read more…]seventeen months (eldore rex)
Though this post is late, the pictures are not; the words may mostly describe Eldore the almost-eighteen-month-old, but the photographic evidence is of Eldore the newly-seventeen-month-old, almost on the nose.
one month (beatrice darlene)
Beatrice turned one month old yesterday, the fourth of May.
Today I was with her in a store when another shopper asked me how old she was. “She was one month a couple of days ago,” I started, then corrected myself. “No! Yesterday. She was a month old yesterday.” I have not had trouble remembering dates and birthdates before–not at the beginning, at least–but it may be the sixth child that does me in.
When I was pregnant with her, Beatrice used her daylight hours–which I’m sure she didn’t know were daylight hours–to do most of her moving, shaking, and stretching one foot into my stomach so that I couldn’t eat. But she was excessively quiet at night. She never woke me at night. In fact, for all the times I woke at night, uncomfortable, or needing the restroom, or simply beset by insomnia, I rarely felt her move.
She has kept up this habit after birth. Some babies seem to have their days and nights mixed up, sleeping heavily during the day and then refusing to sleep at night. Both Elvie and Eldore had long periods during the night where they would not get settled. Beatrice does the opposite. She is restless during the day, already sensitive to noises and lights. At night she sleeps beautifully. There are drawbacks to both periods of restlessness. It’s tough to be up at night when you’d rather be sleeping, but it’s also rough to have a baby who insists on crying the whole time you’re supposed to be cooking and eating dinner. Fortunately it will not last forever.
She’s smiling now, rarely but unmistakably, not just gassy smiles in her sleep. This morning Jeremy was singing to her, and she worked and worked and finally sang one soft, single hoo back to him. It is the first “talking” sounds she’s made.
She has a tongue tie that we’re having corrected this week, but so far it doesn’t seem to be interfering with her eating or weight gain. She’s gained over two pounds since we came home from the hospital.
We call her Baby-trice, Beada, Beady-Bird, Beady-Butt, Baby B, and Mama. (That last one is Eldore’s contribution.)
She is enthusiastically adored by her siblings–Eldore in particular is rather obsessive. Everybody wants a chance to see her, to hold her, to kiss her (and kiss her and kiss her and kiss her.) The boys harass one another about remembering to wash their hands before coming near her, and fight over who gets to rinse off her pacifier after it’s been rescued from Eldore’s sneaky fingers.
For my part, I haven’t found the energy to get a good routine going for the two of us, which is probably partly why I’m so tired and forgetting month-iversaries. I do intend to document some small shred of postpartum life, but the moments I sit down, I usually have a Baby-trice in the crook of one arm, and she makes it rather difficult to type. 🙂
other updates
ephraim + clive + anselm + elvie + eldore
fifteen months (eldore rex)
Eldore turned fifteen months on the nineteenth of February.
As I’m typing, the little man himself is busily darting from one end of the room to the other. He has a washcloth in his hand. He runs this way, then that way, then sits down by the door, then disappears for a second (Mom! Dodo’s in the trash! Clive yells at me.) Then he’s running back near me again, now with one of my hair ties, and he’s trying to fit in on the back of Elvie’s junior chair.
Then he’s got pencils, and I tell Clive to get them from him. Eldore complies willingly, like it’s all part of the game, then goes straight back to drawer where he found them in the first place. “No, Eldore!” He looks at me for a second like I’ve grown another head, then throws himself down to the floor on his belly, stretching his arms in front of him and his feet in the air. He never breaks eye contact when he does this. I’m not entirely sure what the gesture is supposed to communicate.
more kitchen developments
Ideally each separate facet of the kitchen should probably have its own separate blog post, but at this stage of things (read: pregnancy) it’s easier to just throw everything together in one blog-posty pot, stir frequently, and serve while still warm.
[Read more…]the kitchen (open shelves inspo)
Last post I talked about our switch from (closed) vintage metal cabinets to an all-open shelving look for our kitchen lowers.
the basic idea
I’m wanting a really simple and straightforward look, like these in the Gaines’ laundry room. We particularly like the slats on the bottom of the shelves and will probably do that.
open shelves in the kitchen–but not the kind you’re thinking of.
I have this theory that you’re wandering into dangerous DIY design territory when you can’t find any pictures on Pinterest to show what you’re thinking about doing.
This happened to me twice this weekend: once in regards to window trim (I’ll talk about that in a different post) and again concerning our lower kitchen cabinets, the design for which has been scrapped, swapped, and re-hashed this weekend in what Jeremy called a Come-To -Jesus-Meeting but was actually very reserved and pleasant and exciting.
[Read more…]fourteen months (eldore)
Eldore Rex turned fourteen months on January the 19th.
This month he took two leaps (or steps, as it were) forward: he started walking and talking.
The walking was partially at my insistence, picking him up and making him stand and take steps forward, which he mostly did gladly (except when he learned that sitting down made me react in a rather comical fashion, so then he did it on purpose.) After we indulged in this exercise for a day or two, he took it upon himself to begin taking steps around on his own.
Now, about two weeks later, he positively careens about the house, his legs still stuck in that stiff baby-walking way but his mind clearly set on running wherever his marionette-limbs will take him. He falls down, but mostly pops back up and keeps on rolling without even a second thought.
He’s officially the earliest walker we’ve had, but only by about two weeks. He may certainly be the most determined and haphazard walker we’ve seen yet.
