This week

This week I've learned a lot about my kids.

Mitchell can say "UH-OH" "WOW" and a very clearly enunciated "MaMA!"
He also nods Yes and No. Mostly No.
He loves to play peek-a-boo.

Where's Mitchell?


PEEK - A - BOO!

I was looking into buying a walker toy to help encourage him in the walking department,
until he found my giant rolling containers of sugar and flour.

{But ashley, I thought you were a healthy eater? So why the 50 pounds of sugar?}
It is organic, unrefined sugar, thank you very much.
It's the only way I can square my conscience.

I'm glad I didn't waste money on something new.
He scurries into the pantry and pushes these around all on his own.

He also is so clever.
When he is throwing Parker's clothes out of the drawer,
I will say, "Mitchell, No-no..."
He will then bend down, pick them up one at a time,
and put them back in!
All by himself!
Also, when it is time to change his diaper,
I need only put the clean diaper on the ground,
and he will crawl over and position himself perfectly on the floor.
Sometimes he will even lay down backwards,
then he will look around,
get up and re-position himself the right way!
It's very fun to watch how clever he is.

I didn't know this, but...
Colette apparently has some past acquaintances from the Bible.
We were showing her a picture of Jesus with little children around him,
and we asked her, "Who is this?"
She answered, "That's Jesus, and Tony."

Parker absolutely does not like chocolate.
I never knew until this week!
I don't know how to handle this.
I mean, where did I go wrong?!
It was really cute how he broke it to me gently.
While eating a chocolate chip cookie,
he walked up to me and said very politely,
"Mom, next time do you think it would be alright if you made me some cookies,
without these {pointing to the chocolate chips} I don't really like them."

He also has developed some imaginative playing habits.
We overheard him playing with some Preschool kids
and he was saying, "Yeah just take the knives and cut me all over."
So, we peeked in and saw the kids with plastic knives from the play kitchen
and they were pretending to cut him all over.
Naturally Richard asked,
"Um, are you pretending like you are tied up and they have to cut the ropes??"
Parker said, "No Dad, I'm a potato."





Something else I am learning about all my children,
They are definitely nocturnal creatures.

Colette walked into our room last night around midnight,
didn't say two words, just let out an obscene man-fart
and then immediately walked back to her bed and went to sleep.
I think she has a future in crop-dusting.

Then around 2 am, the hallway light switch came on.
Bravely Richard checked and he found Parker in bed,
READING A BOOK!
at TWO IN THE MORNING!
And no, it wasn't Harry Potter or the Hunger Games.
Which would be understandable.

And then there's Mitchell.
The late night terror.
His perpetual ear infections over the last few weeks don't help.
I go to bed every night crossing my fingers in desperate hope,
that this will be the night that I wake up miraculously at 8 am
without having been up all night with my little baby boy.
You know that I love him so very much,

But seriously...

If you took a list of all the babies in the world and ranked them
by best sleeping patterns, Mitchell would be at the bottom of the list.
I can count on ONE hand the number of times he has slept through the night,
in the last six months.

I really don't know what to do.
I've tried everything.
He currently is sleeping with his crib open and right next to my mattress.
So all he needs to do is crawl over to me when he needs something.
Sure beats getting up anywhere from 2-8 times a night and going into his room.
At least I get to stay in my own bed.
But, I still feel like a zombie.

I just keep telling myself, that these kids grow so very fast.
And soon I will completely forget that he was like this,
and I will long for moments when he needs me
as much as he does now in the middle of the night.

What in the world will next week bring?