the mommies and the poppies

he's entered the mommy phase. where he walks around saying mommy for no apparent reason-- and doesn't like me to leave him ANYwhere. great timing since we're going to the shore this weekend for a wedding. and while we're taking him along, he's going to be with Kristina (thank God he at least knows her) all afternoon and evening on saturday! hopefully he will take to her (and the bottle of non mommy mee mee).
tonight i put him to bed and he threw a mommy fit, screaming mommy over and over and over... and kicking the side of his crib so it hit the wall and made a loud bang, every few seconds. i finally went in with the Poppy t-shirt and gave it to him for a blankie. lo and behold-- it worked. when i handed it to him and told him he could use it as a blankie, he smiled, as if pleased with the compromise, and sat down in the crib holding it and still smiling through the binky.
i wouldn't be surprised if i went in there right now and he was wearing it. :) :)

words of the week

the word bike has evolved from 'bike' to 'bikey' to 'pahti'. we have no idea why. it's like when diaper suddenly became 'baba' (and now wipes are 'bahbi').
bean= 'beeee'
brocolli = 'brocku'
gramma peg= 'pay'
the policeMAN in his "I Spy" Book = 'manna'
grape = 'pee-pee'
milk = 'mee-mee' (i tried to give him whole milk in a bottle today and he kept refusing... he got more and more frustrated till finally he figured out how to say 'mommy mee-mee' while burying his head in my chest... guess he's not ready to wean)
and all day yesterday, dave was aka poppy, since he decided to wear HIS New Life Tree shirt.
we also went to gramma 'pay's' house and as soon as C saw the NLT sign in her yard, he got the 'poppy's'.
perhaps that will always be his favorite word...
just now he found my NLT shirt again and wanted to point to the yellow tree on the front. i kept flipping it over from front to back (where there's a bigger tree) and saying "big tree, little tree, big tree, little tree..." which he realllllllly liked. Then he started pointing to the tree over and over and saying "poppy tee".

thanks but no thanks

becoming more and more expressive, the little monkey often wakes from a nap, screeches "Mom-MEE!!" over and over, and then when i come in to get him, decides he doesn't want to get out of the crib. giddy with all of that newly stored up energy, he runs as far as he can before he trips on blankets, and stumbles to his knees/face/back (whatever hits the mattress first). he giggles and squeals and smiles up at me as if to say, "watch this!" and gets up and tries to run around the crib again. it is adorable, hysterical, and all at once melts my heart. but yesterday (or the day before...time is flying by) after a few laps and falls around the bumpers, he spotted his tractor book w/wheels (his favorite book these days) on the floor of his room and pointed to it. i asked if he'd like to read it and he got very excited (after all, he hadn't seen it in a whole hour!). when i handed it to him, he promptly opened it to start reading, looked up at me, and did the sign for 'thank you'... completely his own initiative!!! the only place we've practiced 'thank you' is in his high chair during meals. never with a toy or book. i almost fell over with astonishment... and welled up with whatever you call that maternal feeling that makes you want to run and tell the world.
and just in case i was tempted to think how incredibly well-mannered and thankful-hearted he is becoming, today he refused to say 'please' OR 'thank you' when demanding a cracker, and proceeded to have a meltdown over it... he never did say it.... or get the cracker. looks like he's inherited his mother's stubborn will. look out world!

Happy Birthday Twin Cousin

One year ago we welcomed little cousin Willa Rose into the world, 2 weeks and 1 day after Christian arrived. It was a sweet little bundle of news to finally have her out in the world-- and now she is ONE!! Lucky Gramsy is celebrating with her this weekend, and we wish we were there! It's been so fun to watch you grow, little willa, over skype and a few visits in person-- but not nearly as many as we'd like. Can't wait to see you when you come to PA in a few weeks! Happy Birthday!!!!!

O'de Poppy!

While putting away laundry yesterday afternoon, Christian started on a Poppy fix, which he hasn't done much of lately... we thought that phase had passed... I turned around and he was pointing at my bottom drawer, which was open, and displaying a New Life Tree Care shirt. He recognized it as Poppy's uniform, and promptly walked over, pulled it out, and carried it around the house, chanting "Poppy, Poppy, Poppy" for the next half hour. When I sat down at the computer a while later, he pointed to the screen and looked at me and said, "Poppy? Poppy!" So I had to pull som pictures up (quick!) of his beloved Poppy. He stared and smiled, and whispered his name with great delight. Then pointed to one of the pictures and said, "Hat." He's very into hats lately. . . and Poppy was wearing one in that particular picture.
This morning while we were snuggling in bed, he looked up at my head, partially covered by a pillow, pointed at the pillow, and said "hat." You had to be there to get the full affect of the cuteness, but it was ADORABLE.
Right now he's wakened from his morning nap and is calling me. Be still my "Mom-my!!" heart. :)
At least he's not calling me Poppy.

The Rider

Yesterday Christian got to go to Hope Hill Theme Park (aka, Aunt Joan and Uncle Rich's house), where he saw a big fluffy cat, his first real horses and toad, and got to ride a pony, a lawn mower, and a kid's John Deer tractor! Thankfully Cousin Steph had her camera phone or there would have been no pics to post here! Not sure where my camera's wandered off to...
Anyway, as you can imagine, it was a little boy's dream -- and the nap that followed was a mother's! Interestingly, it was the first time he was not fixated on saying "Poppy" every 5 seconds-- he just wanted to 'vroom' around the yard as much as possible.
It was a beautiful breezy day, and if he weren't cutting that second eye tooth, we all would have been happy as clams. As fascinated as he was with everything, he couldn't help fussing between (and even during) activities. :( It's just about popped through, so hopefully there is relief in sight.
He is now also thoroughly enjoying his bigger carseat, facing forward, thanks to his new milestone of weighing 20 pounds-- you'd think he was on a carnival ride with how excited he is to be able to see all of the oncoming and surrounding traffic! The downside is that it's much more difficult to sleep sitting up so straight-- his poor little head and neck!

Sidenotes: his feet grew overnight the other night-- his awesome little Striderite sneakers suddenly burst at the seams, and his big toe popped out. fortunately i had the next size all ready and waiting-- little Gap canvas shell tops. so fun! and of course a bargain :)
we finally went to the dr. the other night to get his face spots checked out-- they are apparently some sort of bacterial thing. so a little bit of Bactroban, and wal-lah-- they're gone!

why can't i play in traffic?

Yesterday my fearless, truck-hugging toddler discovered that if he runs toward the street, I chase him... very fast. He thought this was extremely fun. And extremely funny. I did not. I tried acting non-chalant about the whole thing, tried to make it look like I wasn't chasing him, just redirecting him. Didn't work. I tried telling him to chase ME...and proceeded to run in the opposite direction. Didn't work. I tried the direct approach-- "NO STREET. DANGER." -- grabbing him by the arms and looking him in the eye. He just wriggled out of my grasp (or tried to), to continue his quest. I tried to explain rationally that if he does that, the cars could hit him and he could die. Definitely didn't work. It didn't affect him at all because he didn't understand what I was saying. But I did. And I was deeply affected by my own words. The reality of the danger (and my responsibility to keep him from it) pierced my heart with deeper impact than I can explain.
And instantly I felt the parallel. I have wanted to 'go places in life'... get things, have relationships...etc... that were not the best for me. I have tried to ignore God's voice, run from wisdom, manipulate situations in my favor, and outright defy what I know to be good and right and true. And then there are times I have obeyed reluctantly, pouting, stomping my feet and proclaiming how unfair it is. And while I don't know the deep and sovereign extent of the Love of the Father, I caught a glimpse of it yesterday in my maternal heart. I only want the best for my child. I only want him to know good and safety. And I want him to understand that everything I do to limit him is only out of incredible love. But he can't right now. And thus, like my Heavenly Father, I must keep him from that which looks appealing in the moment, but would only harm him in the end. And I must stop and consider next time I am convinced that I know the best path for my own life, that I may not know as much as I think I do. That if God is saying "no", there is a good reason. A VERY good reason.

Happy Mother

My boys brought me breakfast in bed for Mother's Day this morning! And Christian wrote me his first sonnet. He's so brilliant!! I feel so honored-- to be the mom of such a beautiful, healthy, thriving little boy-- who only a year ago was 4 days old! I love that I will always get to celebrate being his mom the same week we celebrate him! And I am so thankful for my thoughtful husband, who makes me feel like a queen :)
I love you, guys!!
I am truly a Happy Mother today--


"for mommy"


checking out the butterflies on my card


my sweety pie!


helping to 'cut' my eggs

Mr. Big Shot

mmmm, cake!

Happy Birthday, Baby Boy!

These were the words the nurse said when Christian finally made his appearance, a year ago tonight! And i have been finding myself repeating them all day today.
I sang the actual "Happy Birthday" song to him while changing his diaper this morning, and at the end i tagged on... "and many mooooore...", to which he responded with the sign for "more". . . b/c he heard me say the word. It was a precious moment in time that i think i will remember forever. That, and the way he ate his cake tonight. We got a million pictures but they're all on Gramsy's camera-- hopefully will post tomorrow--
I attempted to make a car cake, and happened to leave it on the cooling rack to frost and decorate. This ended up being the best part, as Christian made the rack "vroooom" back and forth in front of him on the table. It was hysterical. I wanted the cake to be somewhat healthy-- so i used whole wheat flour, bananas for sweetness, and threw in some raisins and craisins. The frosting was cream cheese whipped with real maple syrup. I used raisins for the tires, craisins for the headlights, and little chocolate covered sunflower seeds (w/a red candy shell) for the racing stripe. So he got to pick at the parts of the cake that he loved the most, then wipe the frosting off by the fingerfull. When he finally got a piece of the cake, it was too rock hard (way to go health nut!) to eat, so he just gnawed on it happily (good for those incoming teeth!).
It was a wonderful memory, and so special for the grandparents to share.
I tried to put him to bed, but it's now after 9pm and he's still up -- playing with legos! must be all that natural sugar! :)
My goals for today were to bake and decorate the cake, write my baby boy a birthday letter, and count up the number of words he can say to record in his baby book. I didn't get to the letter yet, but perhaps if i get it done tomorrow, it will still count.
I think i may fall asleep before he does at this point--
with sweet memories of my little blue eyed bundle, 7 lbs 5 oz and 22 in. long, 9:56pm.
The baby year is over. forever. There is a little piece of me that is sad. I am sure this year will be filled with just as much wonder. . . but my baby is gone... he's become a walking, talking, vrooming, teething toddler. In some ways it went fast, in other ways it seems like a long year. I am so thankful for it all. And for each moment I got to take in and hold in my heart. I will treasure it always. Happy Birthday, Baby Boy!

Eye can't believe it!

On this, his last day of being... 0 ... he finally cut his first tooth. And not the usual bottom one(s), or even the top middle(s)-- no, it's his upper left EYE tooth! Yesterday when i was feeding him dinner (or trying... he is no longer interested in eating the cereal, only smearing), he grabbed my finger and put it in his mouth. He didn't gnaw on it, really. It was like he just wanted to taste it. I laughed and made a game out of it-- ha ha eat mommy's finger...silly...ha ha.
But today he did it again, and this time i seized the opportunity to feel around in there, and suddenly felt the rough little tip of the pointy toothykins. It was like he was trying to tell me about it...
Now we just have to hope that the other Eye tooth doesn't come in next, or we'll have a little Dracula on our hands!

On the Move...

Since I haven't been able to post much lately due to my downed computer (which i'm happy to say is now back up and running), i am putting the latest pictures into a slideshow. Most of them are of Bubby on the move-- i get tired just looking at all of them.
...Running around Longwood w/Isaiah, playing the Adungu i brought back from Africa, playing the keyboard with Daddy, experimenting outside with sticks and stones, climbing steps, pushing his stroller around the basement on a rainy day, and playing with stuff in Daddy's music room...
Plus...
Yesterday morning, getting ready for church, i turned around to find him plopped, face down in a basket of (clean) laundry... just lying there, snuggling up to the clothes. He then proceeded to do one of his favorite things; empty the contents of the basket onto the floor. Then last night, he decided to climb OVER Dave, who was lying on the livingroom floor. It became a game, to see if he could make it over Daddy's ankles, and then his middle. He finally settled in for story hour (a truck book of course) and i got some fantastic shots of them father/son bonding. He now gets so excited about truck books that he throws them at you after you finish reading, in true boy fashion, as if to say, "man, that was so good! read it again!!!"
Take a look, and Enjoy the ride!

Celebrating LIfe!

This weekend was full of newness. The flowers and trees are springing forth with great gusto, and little playmates are popping up (and out) everywhere :).
Little Sawyer DeVita was born on Saturday morning, almost a year after Christian... sure to be a wonderful playmate in about another year or so! And Little Girl Thoman was celebrated on Sunday, as she only has another month to grow before we get to meet her. We got to shower her mommy with gifts of love and prayers of blessing. Christian thought the showers of attention on him were the best part.
We can't wait to meet you, little friends!