Maximus turns two

Each of our boys is an incredible blessing and miracle I don’t take for granted. They’re each so different and yet so similar. After Woodrow was born I knew our family just didn’t feel complete. Lots of prayer went into this baby. Not to say the others weren’t loved deeply and prayed for, I didn’t know if we’d have a third baby and yet, here’s our sweet Maximus turning two.

Maximus was born in Guam and I think that will help him lead a life that’s relaxed yet adventurous. He spent his first birthday in Hawaii and got to meet my parents and sister for the first time. For his second birthday, we celebrated in Tennessee where he met Mason’s Dad and grandma for the first time. He’s seen so many places on this Earth in his short two years on Earth and I hope he’ll see millions more in his lifetime.

Maximus is the best littlest brother to Theo and Woodrow. They just adore him and he adores them. Recently Maximus started taking roll call during the day. He’ll walk around and say, “dada, mama, thee-doe, wuh-doe”. He’ll watch out the window for Mason to come home from work and “the boys/brothers” to come home from school. Sometimes I’ll ask him, “where are the brothers?” And he’s morphed that into “Woodrows?” He gets a little bonus time with Woodrow in the mornings while Theo’s off at school, before Woodrow goes to kindergarten. We joke he’s following in Woodrow’s feisty ways.

Maximus is such a friendly guy and often waves to people when we’re out and about. He’ll give hugs and kisses, and doesn’t get too shy when meeting new people or family...but he keeps track of where mom, Dad, and the brothers are for sure.

Max is now in size 2T clothes, size 4 diapers (5 at night) and loves to put on his shoes and socks. For a long time he only wanted his flip flops. But now he likes to put on shoes and socks all the time. He’s pretty tall and probably about 25lbs. When he wore long sleeves for the first time he kept trying to push them up- sweet Guam boy- this is Fall in IL.

Our mighty Max is strong! He’ll often do dead hangs off of anything and he is a climber. We need to bolt things down. He likes to climb on the dresser or table and then reach his arms out, say GO, and leap into our arms. Ha! Max is a pretty good eater. He likes whole milk, juice, fruit, noodles, treats, and sadly he recognizes “nah-nolds.”

Maximus really likes dogs and asks to “touch” when he sees them. His new phrase is “what’s this?” If he doesn’t know something or he’ll point and say this/that if he wants something. He like doing anything his brothers are doing. He has really gotten into playing with trains, cars, and our little diggers. We just moved some more toys into his room and he’s been liking that.

Max is still napping- thank you!!! And does a good job at night too. He sleeps with his duck blankie and pacis, although those are about to disappear. He started escaping from his crib a few months ago, but we lowered the crib and turned the crib around so the higher side faces out. He can still climb out, but does it less. I’m afraid this will be the end of naps and good sleep like we experienced with Woodrow.

Maximus is a joy. He keeps us laughing and is empathetic to the moss’s of the household. Happy second birthday baby love!

Theodore turns Seven

It’s hard to believe that my sweet Theodore Lawrence is already 7. Somehow it seems much to grown up. Seven and 1st grade sounds old and seems like the beginning of me sending this sweet soul into the world. Fortunately for me, Theo’s my dreamer and my hope for a mamas boy who won’t grow too quickly.

Our Theodore is so intelligent, creative, thoughtful, and emotional. Even though Theo tells us he wishes he had a big brother, he’s a wonderful brother to Woodrow and Maximus. He just dotes in Maximus and really helps out with him a lot. Theo’s a huge helper around the house with chores and things here and there.

Theo finished up kindergarten in Guam as a full-on reader and has just fallen into books. It makes me so happy. He likes to read chapter books, but likes color pictures still. Lately he’s been into Disney books,Gerenimo Stilton, short LEGO comics, and a series of books about famous people. We listened to many Beverly Cleary audiobooks this summer and he really enjoyed that. Theo started a new school this year and is rocking 1st grade! He’s made some friends which is always a worry for me as we live a nomadic life. He likes his teacher Mr. Rubenstein. At school he gets to have PE, Music, Library, and Art. He wishes art was three times a week, and not PE, but he enjoys his specials. He is in a program called Primary Challenge, which is basically like a gifted program. He gets pulled once a week for math and reading enrichment and really enjoys that. He’s also part of the chess club that meets weekly during lunch.

The only downside to school for our little academic is that he can’t do art 24/7. I joke with Theo that his fingers are going to turn into colored pencils.  He has been taking a clay class once a week this Fall and we signed up for another session, and he really loves that. He’s also in swimming lessons once a week. He passed level two this summer and is working hard in level 3. He’s also a Wolf In Cub Scouts this year and while the pack/den is much smaller/less organized than our Guam one, he’s been enjoying the outings and working achievements with Mason and Woodrow, who is a Lion Scout this year.

Theo also likes to spend time riding his bike, exercising with Mason, cooking with me, and bouncing around. He loves to use his imagination and build forts, legos, and draw everything!!!! He is so into stuffed animals and often has a whole gang present in his bed at night.

Theo’s our feeler and often just can’t find enough hours in the day for everything he wants to take part in. He takes much to heart and cares deeply about his relationships with friends and family (no idea where he gets that from). He adores living close to family and seeing grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and great grandparents so frequently. 

Theo’s growing physically too! He’s a skinny mini and just growing up-up-up! He’s had his glasses almost a year now and seems to not mind them. Theo’s always one to have a conversation, even if it’s with himself...but he enjoys going on dates where he’s one on one with someone listening to just him 100% of the time.


We’re so, so proud of the sweet boy he is. I hope year seven is just sensational!

Boys, Boys, Boys

 These are the characters I live with.  I love them.  But some days I think they are trying to take me out.  There's a constant push and pull and balance between doing activities to keep them busy and out of trouble and letting them have their own time to tear apart our house just play.  There are tears daily...from each little boy and usually from me.  I think Mason just comes and goes shaking his head and doesn't know how to deal with any of us.  

 

 

Meet Maximus.  NOTHING is safe from this boy.  Nothing.  Now, why I don't have everything locked and bolted down I don't know.  Dumping out our jar of Q-tips seems to be a weekly thrill for this little guy.  Perhaps I should move the jar, although something tells me he'd just climb to those heights or we'd never have clean ears.   

The other evening Mason went to jog around the neighborhood and took Theodore and Woodrow with him.  They usually play at the park that he circles and they bring bikes and scooters to ride along with.  Max and I were cleaning up dinner dishes, and I wanted to get some work done, so I put him next to me at the desk watching Curious George while I worked away.  Now Max does not get into TV too much, which is either wonderful or a failure on our part.  I'm glad he's not always crying to watch shows, but at the same time I'd love to plug him in to PBS for 30 minutes.  

Anyways, he eventually ran off (I thought to play trains in his room) but I was focused on what I was doing and of course...he was not playing trains. No.  This little stinker had moved the stool in the kitchen to the counter with Theo's leftover birthday cake and had helped himself.  When he came back in the room he was so proud of himself and even had to take me back to the scene of the crime to show me he'd used a fork too.  

 

Then we come to our partners in crime.  Theodore and Woodrow.  The picture below with the funny hats was from a trip to Walmart. Woodrow always likes to take a walk through the toy area and these funny hats are a hoot.  Now, our young budding artist Theo can never get enough art time.  Ever.  He almost always has marker on his face and certainly on his hands. 1st grade really cramps his art time and he's definitely bummed that PE is three times a week and they only have art once, and it's on Fridays...So, almost daily we have a meltdown about how we "NEVER let him do art, and EVERYTHING is boring."  Every.day!  Well, Mason and the kids had Monday off so we'd planned to go tour Argonne Laboratory Campus where Mason is working for the year.  When we woke up we'd discovered our little Monet had been up and busy already.

 

Theodore had taken one of his tshirts that had a design on the front, turned it around and drew a picture on it.  He drew the Argonne logo and then wrote the bases we'd been to on the corners of the shirt.  When we asked him how he knew what the Argonne symbol looked like he said because Mason had shown it to him-this was at least a week or two ago.  That he can remember, but turning off the bathroom light seems to be rocket science.  So...off we went on our tour and a talking to about where he's allowed to do art unless getting prior permission.  

Go figure it was 85 degrees on our outing, so by the time we got home mid-afternoon we were tired.  Max went down for his nap and we told the other two to have quiet time in their room while we took a nap.  They interpreted that to mean, "make the largest mess possible in our room".  They cut paper, they drew with markers, they had watercolored tattoos up and down their arms (which splashed all over the bathroom and hallway walls and floors).  But we, "never let them do art."  SIGH.  

 

Since this was the SAME day we'd just talked to Theo about where and when he can do his art projects I was a little bit upset by the mess.  Fortunately Mason had snuck them out again somewhere (this may have been the same night as the cake incident) and said they would clean their room when they returned.  This allowed me to survey the scene and cool my jets a bit before they came back...but alas, you do the crime, you do the time and they were sent to scrub the walls and bathroom-although I think Mason ended up helping out quite a bit. 

 Life is never dull or boring.  Real life means lots of emotions, lots of tears, and lots of carbs.  Meanwhile Mason and I are making a list of all the payback we're going to give them when they have their own homes someday.  ;)

Beautiful October

Fall is my favorite time of year.  I just love it.  I'm so glad this year to be living in a location with seasons!  I grew up in Illinois for my entire life and then Mason and I were married and off we went to Texas.  This was a whole time of culture shock for sure...in so many ways, but I had a hard time adjusting to holidays in warm weather, it just wasn't what I was used to.  After six years of living in the South, we were excited when we moved to North Dakota and got to experience the seasons.  WE enjoyed our heated holidays once again in Guam, but now we are enjoying seasons for as long as we can!   

Anyways, I just delight in being able to walk around in jeans and sweatshirts, enjoy backyard fires, see the leaves and trees changing colors, and thinking about all the warm and tasty homemade soups and goodies that will be baked in months to come. 

Mason took the boys for a hike in the woods on Saturday while I prepped for Theo's birthday party.  They had such a fabulous time.  They saw 31 deer, a heron, skunk, and raccoon.  We've enjoyed seeing soooo many squirrels, chipmunks, and skunks in our own yard.

Theodore
's off at school, Woodrow is playing legos, and Maximus is still asleep...so excuse me while I grab a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy a moment watching the leaves change.