Deep Thoughts with Zander

Zander is definitely his father's son.  This is his conversation with Gavin today at lunch.

Gavin:  "Mom, your flowers are dying." 

Zander:  "Everything dies Gavin.  That's life."

Gavin:  "I know..."

Zander:  "I mean everything dies....plants, people, animals, even this house will one day die."

Gavin: "Yeah, I KNOW!"

Zander:  "Flowers have a short life Gavin."

Gavin:  "I know."

Zander:  "Do you know what even has a shorter life than a flower?"

Gavin:  "Ummm....what?"

Zander:  "Voice.  "

**SCREAMS**

"See?  That sound already died.  It's over."

**WOOOO!**

"See?  That sound I made already died too. That's life Gavin."

Pretty deep for a 1st grader. 

gavin's haircut

For weeks Gavin has begged for me to cut his hair for school.  I ignored him hoping he would wise up....but he didn't.  Instead he brought me pictures of Asian teenagers with short straight black hair and said he wanted hair like them.  He was just fed up with all the attention his long gorgeous hair received. 

But seriously, how could strangers NOT comment....just look at him!

I finally gave in to his persistence.  This obviously wasn't a phase.  It was a sad day for this mama.

very.  sad. 

He thinks he looks tougher with short hair.

Come on Gavin.  Can you just act "normal" for one picture?  This is his break dancing move which he specifically asked me to capture on film. 

 

There we go....Obi got a smile out of him....

He looks so grown up now! *sniff, sniff*

frightening revelation

I was at the mall today and met a man on the elevator with 5 kids....two of which looked like identical twins. 

"You have twins I see."  I said to make conversation, making sure I didn't ask the most annoying and obvious question...do you have twins? 

"Triplets actually."  He then introduced me to his family which consisted of a 6 year old boy, triplet 4 year olds (a girl and identical boys) and a 3 year old girl.  Did I mention he was alone?  No mom in sight.  This guy needs an award of some sort, and possibly teach classes at the local community college for other fathers.  I gave my respects and admiration and was on my way. 

I kept running in to them throughout our day.  I was in total awe of how well behaved his children were.  They followed behind him and kept together.....that's when it hit me.  He had no stroller. 

This is a frightening thought for me.  The stroller is my sense of control in public places.  My twin two year old's are safely buckled in and I have a handle for each older boy to hang onto.  The very idea of not using one scares the heck out of me! 

I didn't even realize that I am on my way OUT of the stroller phase.  I'm gonna have to get one of those ropes with handles that the former Jon & Kate +8 use....even though I know Zander will boycott that idea because he's way to cool. 

I'm also contemplating the possible scares of having two 5 year old's in strollers.  Do you think it will have the same social akwardness as breastfeeding a 5 year old? 

worms

I am never prepared for the conversations I have with my very grown up 5 year old, Zander.  Today at lunch we were talking about the worms they found earlier that morning.  The boys began to argue back and forth about the sex of a specific worm.  The largest fattest worm of the bunch.  Zander said it was a male because it was so big....Gavin said a female (fat and pregnant). 

They turned to me for the answer.  I don't like to just tell my kids what to believe and encourage them to find out for themselves...with every aspect of life....so I thought we would figure it out together.  We turned to google for the answer.  Here's what we read, "Worms are Hermaphrodites.  That means that each worm has male and female sex organs." 

I knew the answer to the question but had NO CLUE where our conversation was headed....

"Hmmm...Hermaphrodite?"  Zander said it over and over making sure he got the pronunciation correct.  The idea of something being both a girl and boy intrigued him....and cracked him up at the same time.

"Mom, can people be a hermaphrodite?" he asked me.

Uh-oh.  What should I tell him?!  Truth is best, right?

"Yes son.  There are some people born with both women and men parts." 

This sent him rolling on the floor with laughter.

I tried my best to explain to him that the way people are born is no laughing matter, hermaphrodites couldn't help the way they were born just like he couldn't help it if he has brown hair.  Thankfully he accepted this and stopped calling his little brother a hermaphrodite.

He begged me to look up pictures online and show him.  I refused, scared of the images I'd find if I googled the word. 

I am certain this conversation will backfire one day and he will ask a stranger at the the grocery store if they are a hermaphrodite.  Mark my words, he will not forget the word and embarrass the hell out of me.

Goodbye my baby boy...

Zander  "I'm going to start calling you Mom"

Me  "OK.  What did you call me before?"

Zander  "I called you Momma and I called Dad, Daddy.  I'm growing up Mom.  Now I will call you Mom and Dad."

**sniff, sniff**

Growin' Up!

I've been in baby mode for at least 5+ years. From my calculations I've spent 30 months pregnant, 36 months breastfeeding, and changed at least 20,000 diapers (sorry mother earth)! No telling how many hours I've spent reading and researching baby "stuff" online. My identity has become mother and caregiver. I am totally ok with this. I love it....but a new phase is coming...and it is unknown territory...

My oldest baby is in kindergarten! It just doesn't seem possible for him to be in school. He is learning to read and write already! I went to his parent/teacher conference yesterday. His teacher told me that he is a great student. He participates in class, follows the rules, and has lots of friends. She said that he is the type of kid that school is easy for him and he is excelling in everything. His sweet teacher said, "We're doing something right." So nice to hear!

The fact that my the twins are my last babies is weird...but in a good way...don't think I'm crazy and gonna have another one! With my luck I'd be blessed with triplets. I'm defiantly enjoying them more...enjoying the small stuff. The giggles during bath time. The cute way that they are stingy with their kisses. The way they say "HI!" to everyone they pass at the grocery store.

When they say, "Enjoy your kids, they'll be grown up before you know it!" It's true. My hubby and I were watching old videos of the girls yesterday....we don't even know those babies anymore!! It's crazy how much they've grown! Before you know it they'll be reading you stories at night...sniff, sniff...

Woodward Park

One of my favorite places to take the kids is Woodward Park in Tulsa. As a mother of one year old twins and a three year old that runs off everytime he has "a good idea" I have grown to dispise parks with playground equipment or a nearby body of water.

I can lay a blanket out in the middle of the park and let the kids run wild. Who needs a slide then you've got a stick to play with?

These pictures are from last month. What happened to fall? I hope it warms up soon...or at least stops raining...so we can enjoy the park more this year.

Competition

Ok, fellow Mother's, it's officially started...sibling rivalry, competition, whatever you want to call it. And let me tell you, it's not pretty.

Last week, at our TMOM's meeting (Tulsa Mother's of Multiples) we had a panel of older school age twins. We could ask them questions. The subject of competition came up. After listening to them I started to watch my girls. It's crazy. One will come up and give me a big sweet hug and kiss, then the other will "get jealous" come over and push the other out of the way to get to me. Not only are the competing for my affection, but the opposite as well.

For instance, today, Maya was standing on the fireplace....a no-no in our house....I tell her to sit down, she looks at me, sasses me in her baby talk and I physically remove her from the fireplace. So what does Camille do? Goes to the fireplace, stands up, and yells at me...as if to dare me to remove her.

It's like this all day long....and according to the older twins on the panel, not going to end anytime soon. sigh.

Little Monkey

The girls are EVERYWHERE...and it's getting dangerous! Camille has learned to climb on top of the coffee table. Maya is the "tubby twin" and isn't quite as athletic as Camille. She threw a fit when she couldn't master this feat. I have a feeling it's only a matter of time until our next ER visit.

Stubborn

It's so incredibly frustrating when your child won't listen to you. Really, I'm torn. I want to raise a boy who knows what he wants, doesn't give into pressure and has a sense of self. But on the other hand...I wish he would just do what I say! LOL...guess I can't have it both ways.

This may seem trivial, but Zander REFUSES to wear shorts. Only jeans....with pockets. (I mean really, you're four! Do you have keys or a wallet you need to put in your pockets?!) It has been nearly 100 degrees here already this summer, but he's stubborn. A little ridiculous...we even went to a pool party this weekend and he cried because he wanted to wear jeans. The only thing I can think of where this came from is "The Sandlot." You know, the movie. My boys have the DVD and watched it nearly everyday for a solid week. Benny tells Smalls to wear jeans and a t-shirt....

I'm not forcing him and let him wear whatever he wants. When you see me at the city pool don't judge me if my 4 year old is wearing jeans...whatever...again, I pick my battles. But geez.

Life, as I know it, has changed.

Maya and Camille have developed so much in the past week. Camille is pulling up on everything, trying to walk. She is so aggressive and determined. Her favorite thing to do is stand at the bookshelf and pull EVERY book off. She also enjoys standing at the front window watching her brothers and the neighbor kids playing...she just stands there laughing and yelling at them.


Maya is officially crawling now. She has been doing the army crawl for a few weeks now, but has never been to interested in getting around. Instead she would just roll for a toy (or yell). Yesterday she was crying for me, but I didn't get up right away to pick her up. After a couple minutes of crying she stopped and crawled across the living room to her sister to play! Like she'd been crawling for months! This morning she and Camille have been ALL OVER THE HOUSE! It's a whole new ballgame with two crawling babies. I need to get back into the habit of vacuuming and sweeping/mopping daily. Yipee.

So Big!

The original reason I started this blog was so I would remember what my life is like w/ 4 small children. It’s so easy to forget the “bad” stuff. The girls are 4 months now. They use to be so tiny…easy to hold them both at the same time. But now it’s nearly impossible. They are getting so big and they wiggle so much. I use to be able to pick each up with one hand to get them out of their crib in the middle of the night. Not any more! Now Ely HAS to get up w/ me to help me. I grab one…he grabs the other. We go in the living room, sit on the couch and I nurse them both at the same time. When they’re done, we each burp one and put them back to bed. One person CAN’T do it all anymore. I wonder what it’s going to be like when they’re crowling around! I’m scared!