No Fear

I've been thinking more and more about the differences in children and how unique they all are. My firstborn is fearless. He was obviously born this way, but I think we've parented him in a way to encourage it too. We were at an awesome Apple Orchard yesterday with our moms group and they had several fun activities for the kids- a huge jumping pillow, a slide and a huge corn pool. My son certainly didn't need any encouragement going down the huge slide on his own. I wasn't even at the top with him when he did! He just spread out his burlap sack and away he went, with the wind in his curls. There were several kids who were very apprehensive and took some persuading (or refused altogether).
Forgot my camera. Thankfully a few other moms took some for me. Check out my sister's blog for more cute orchard pics.

The jumping pillow (like a giant blob, buried half way underground):

Bennett laughed with delight when we were home and getting ready for a bath and we found a rogue corn kernel in his underwear :)

We could have done this all day (if there was a ski lift to take us back up the hill):

I've been thankful for this aspect of his personality lately, now that he's a little older and not so prone to wander. In particular at preschool; there certainly aren't any tears or clinginess at drop-off. I don't even get a good-bye. He runs in, finds his name and joins the group of three-year olds on their carpet squares around the teacher's feet without a glance back. It makes me grateful for that when I hear the same little boy crying (loudly) every time his mom drops him off, or even more heart-breaking, the little blond girl, whimpering to her mommy, "I don't want to be at preschool today."

But his fearlessness definitely has its disadvantages as well. I remember when he was about 22 months old, we were with a group of moms playing at a playground in our old neighborhood. Bennett found the one and only mud puddle around and sunk in it up to his little ankles. A mom, who's son was about 10 months older than Bennett, said, "Carter has never done that! He would be too scared to wander that far from me to get into that kind of mess!"

And oh, the wandering. Last summer, when he was two, was spent chasing him down every time we were in an open area. Of course he wouldn't just come back to his momma when called (or threatened). So I would have to chase after him. And it can be especially bad at church. Jon and I are usually both involved with setup and tear-down at church (or just generally distracted talking to people with absolutely no clue what shenanigans our child is getting into). Of course Bennett follows the big kids outside (or just wanders out there alone)...or into the bathroom, where he's not nearly old enough to make responsible choices. I can't tell you how many times an older child has come up to me at church, telling me "Bennett's playing in the toilet" (or the worst time..."Bennett stuck his head in the toilet!").

I love our brave boy, though. I'd much rather be trying to reign him in sometimes, than always pushing him out of the nest, telling him he could fly if he just tried. I'm grateful he inherited this part of my personality and thankful my parents encouraged it in me, as well. I'm sure my mom was cringing when she'd see me follow my brother to the tops of trees when I was still so tiny. I remember the cheers I got after I water-skied around Lake Geneva when I was only seven- because I wasn't afraid to try. And the laughs from my brother and his friend when they convinced me to go first jumping off the roof of our garage onto our trampoline.

I know there will be many injuries in our future and I'm sure I'll be fighting the urge to yell, "get down! That's too dangerous!" or "Stop that! You might get hurt". But hopefully in the moment I'll remember one of my dad's favorite sayings, "risks are for kids!" and encourage his inner Evil Kenevil. I can't wait for all the adventures he'll have. And I'm quite certain that his little brother will be right be his side.

Birthday week comes to a close...

I had an awesome birthday week. I love birthdays. I look forward to a great date with my hubby and a to-die for meal from my mom. Both fulfilled my expectations. Jon took me out to Bravo Cucina Italiana- my favorite. Then Jon told me we were going to watch Survivor at our friends' house but he had to "stop by Scheel's for something real quick". So we went into the mall and amidst the hunting paraphernalia, he handed me some money and said, "phase two of your birthday: shopping". Oh, music to any woman's ears! No kids throwing temper tantrums as I hurriedly look through a store, pretending to ignore the annoyed glares of the employees. No searching under racks for the paci that Dawson launched out of the stroller at some unknown location. Just blissful shopping, at my own pace (ok....a slightly quicker pace with my hubby, knowing the sacrifice he was making on my behalf!!). He was such a good sport, pretending to be completely enamored with the clothes I was trying on. He even uttered the words, "that's super cute. You should try that on." (That would be the equivalent of me saying, "let's hurry home. The game's almost on!") He was a great shopping companion, even though it was all an act. I didn't mind. We stopped at Cold Stone on the way home (my new fave there- key lime pie with graham cracker crumbs) and watched Survivor together.
Birthday part two: lunch at my mom's today with most of our family. She made my all time favorite comfort meal- pot roast and mashed potatoes with gravy and Judie brought my favorite side- broccoli with cheese sauce. My birthday cake was a new recipe that I gave my mom to make: Tres Leches Cake. It was heavenly. Probably will be my yearly request now.
Thank you, family, for making me feel so loved and cherished on my birthday! I'm so blessed and thankful.

Two for Tea

I've never posted a blog about stuff I would love to have but I suppose there's a first time for everything. I came across these teacups today as I was reading another blog and fell in love. I'm way more of a tea drinker than a coffee drinker (my fave is Good Earth, Original with a little milk and honey) and I would love to sip tea from this:

I was thinking it would be a perfect gift for my English mother-in-law until I saw the $48 pricetag when I went to the web site. No mug is worth that kind of money. Oh well. Maybe I'll buy a plain white one and use a Sharpie.

This one is even cuter. It comes with a special marker to write your own message. How sweet to write a note and send it to your faraway best friend?

Photo Obsession

Completely self-indulgent, I know...but I'm just crazy about this photo my sister, Claire, took the other day. So rare to be in a picture with my kids!:

It's my party but my brother will cry when he wants to...

We had so much fun at Dawson's first birthday party. It was much simpler than Bennett's first, but that will probably be the story of his life. I've always done a full meal for Bennett's parties and it was really nice not to worry about that this time around. We just had cupcakes and snacks with all our family. It was very relaxing...save for Bennett's outrageous behavior followed by a meltdown that occurred every 20 minutes or so. Either he was sleep-deprived or he was throwing out all the stops to steal the spotlight from the birthday boy! He spent about half the party in time-outs.

But besides that, it was so much fun. These first birthdays are really more for me than for the baby anyway, so I love it! Happy-I-survived-the-first-year-of-your-life-day to me!!

And as usual, I recruited my ever creative MIL to create some adorable party decorations. She even made the hats!

The "circus tent":


Ready to dig in!:

He scarfed that thing down in about two minutes.


They turn one and think they can sit at the big kids table. Sorry kids...not til your feet touch the ground:

Where there's Aunt Kayla, there will be mustaches!!:

All the cousins:

The crime scene:

Possibly an ape trying to ration out our supply of bananas among his friends?

Nope. Just a three year old left to his own devices for too long.

Preschool update...

Bennett has now completed his first real week of preschool. Last week was meet the teacher day on Wednesday and a hour of free play on Friday while we had a parent's meeting. This week was the real deal. And it was also back to work for me. I'm working 3 days a week (2 half days and a full day) back at America's Family Coaches. Its fun to be back and remove my "mom" hat for a little while. That hat has felt heavier lately with my emotional three year old and my very mobile almost one year old.
Bennett loves preschool. I didn't even get the chance to kiss him goodbye when I dropped him off today! He just jumped in the circle with all the kids. It was fun to ask him about his first day and try to imagine him in there with all those kids. I can't wait til his assigned snack days when I get to be a helper and sit in the classroom!
So on Wednesday I was asking him all kinds of questions and he was answering all of them. Then he says, "and there's something with a kid I don't want to tell you." Oh dear...I got a little tense. I knew he meant he did something he knew he shouldn't have. I'd heard that phrase a couple times recently, as in, "Mom, there's something with Dawson I can't tell you." And then as any easily manipulated three-year old would, he confesses what he did. Usually involves hitting his brother with a toy.
Me: "what did you do?"
B: "I can't tell you"
Me: "Yes, you can, Bennett. You can tell Mommy anything."
B: "No, Mom. You'll be mad."
And then I pulled out the infamous parenting line: "You can tell me. I won't be mad at you."
B: "I was fighting."
Me: "Who were you fighting with?"
B: "A boy about a block"
Me: "Did you hit him??"
B: "NO, Mom!"

Phew....instant relief. A little fight over a block. He didn't deck the kid. Thank heavens I wasn't the mom of the child who hit a kid the first day of preschool. We talked about the appropriate way to handle the situation.

Day 2: His homework is late. He was supposed to bring back a page covered in pictures of things he likes and we didn't get it done. This is not good. I was the WORST procrastinator in school. Let's hope I didn't just set the standard for the rest of his life as a student. I better email his teacher and ask for an extension!! :)

PS. Upcoming blogworthy event...Dawson turns 1 next week!!