Pancakes and powerful kisses

Ezra ate some pancake this morning. And then a big bowl of homemade puréed carrots and some blueberry oatmeal. That boy wants to eat anything he can get his hands on. He's just six months old today, but he's far more interested in food than his brothers were at this stage, or so it seems. I guess they each have to excel at something. He's not anywhere near as physically precocious as his brothers were.

Avi's new thing the past month or so is to give kisses and then say with total seriousness that the kiss is strong enough or big enough to "go all the way to Hawaii." Tonight he did a variation on that. He was being a pill AGAIN at bedtime. He was shut in his room at one point, but I had to let him out to go to the bathroom or risk an accident. I did, but made it clear I was very displeased and done with any nonsense. He finished and as I put him back in bed, he gave me a big kiss and said, "That kiss is big enough to show you I'm gonna be good now."

Noah mowed the lawn today. He started doing that last summer. How did he get so big? Some moments he's practically a teenager and the next moment he's having a three-year-old style temper tantrum about not getting something he wants.

Milestones

Ezra put himself to sleep tonight. Avi, who was really good all day, was a turkey at bedtime, repeatedly coming out if his room and making enough noise to arouse Ezra as I was trying to nurse him asleep. I finally got him to sleep and put him in the crib when Avi woke him yet again. Having already nursed him for a LONG time, I just tried to encourage him to fall asleep. It took awhile, but with a few reassuring visits and pats, and with his lovey-ducky, he did it without crying! This kid is so easy-going. Of course I thought the other two were good, easy babies too!
Noah was excited and proud that I let him ride his bike to the school playground without accompaniment, and home too. Avi and Ezra and I went too, but we were so much slower, I let Noah go ahead both going and returning. I think he's ready to go to school by himself. People think that's crazy, and I think most people don't let kids go themselves until fourth or fifth grade, but it's ridiculous. It's five blocks! Kids of previous generations would have done it and no one would have thought a thing about it. The only thing I want is a way for the school to alert me pretty much immediately if for some reason he didn't arrive. But then again, so many other kids and parents are traveling the same route that God-forbid something should happen to him, I would know from one of them.
Speaking of Noah, he's on the third Harry Potter book. It's amazing that he's only been reading for a year and a half. But then, he still can't tell time for anything.
In sad news, both Lilly and Murphy are sick. Lilly has been for some time; she has hardly eaten in months. Murphy developed a lump on the top of his tail and it's cancer. He had it removed and biopsied on Tuesday, and the results today were not good. Noah is so worried about both of them. And especially with Murphy sporting a big cone collar and a huge line of stitches on his behind. Noah is filled with sympathy for him.

Ezra

Ezra is fully sitting unassisted now. I'm not quite ready to let him do it on the hard floor, but he has really mastered the skill in the past few days.

Birthday Parties, cont.

Avi did much better at today's birthday party. He played mostly with Vera. They seem to be good pals. There was no evidence of the clingy miserable kid from the last two events.

Birthday Parties

While I don't want the boys to grow up too quickly, I do yearn for the days when there are no more birthday parties to attend at Putters. We had Emma's there today and tomorrow we will go to Papa's Pizza for Killion's.
Avi's going through a new phase in which he becomes uncharacteristically clingy at birthday parties. We spent the first half hour with him hanging on to me, trying to pull me down to the floor with him, or head-butting me. Finally I took him out to the car, where thinking he was in trouble he started to cower in the back corner until I convinced him that he wasn't in trouble, I just wanted to hug him and help him find words to express what he was feeling. I held him for a bit and we talked, but he wasn't able to really articulate what the issue was. This was similar to but even worse than his reaction at his classmate Rachel's party last week. And oh joy, we have yet another party to attend tomorrow. I keep asking him if he really wants to go, and he assures me that he does. I sure know I don't, and I can predict how he's going to act, but here we go again anyway. What's a mom to do?

To roll or not to roll...

There's a reason that people say not to put a baby on the bed, even if he isn't rolling over yet. To which I'll add, even if your baby is the most immobile baby you've ever seen, watch out! Ezra doesn't really move an inch. I put him down on the floor, and unlike his brothers (Avi in particular) who would squirm and wiggle all over the place even before they were able to turn over, Ezra just stays put. Until one day last week. I put him down for some tummy time on the floor (thankfully) in his room and went next door to help Avi get dressed. When I came back a couple of minutes later, he was on his back two or even three feet away from where I had put him. Wow! Side note: my mom said I did the same thing as a baby and scared her to death. She had me on the floor in the living/dining room and I hadn't yet rolled over. She left the room and when she returned I was no where in sight. I had rolled under the china closet.
Anyhow, Ezra rolled over three times that day (Feb 15th), and then didn't roll again for another 8 days. That was two days ago now and he still hasn't done it again.
He is getting pretty funny about eating though. He wants to eat anything we're eating. Trying to grab my utensils or bowl or food right out of my hand. He successfully snatched a chocolate chip cookie right out of my hand the other day and shoved it in his mouth. He would have kept sucking on it happily had I not taken it away from him. That said, he's none too thrilled about the baby cereal I've been trying to give him. And, he's finding it increasingly difficult to nurse when anything interesting is happening around him. We practically have to be in the rocker in his bedroom for him to really take it seriously now, and then he eats as if I haven't offered him anything all day!

Wild Monkeys and Silly Bandz

Avi throws banana peels on the kitchen floor. I ask him not to do that. Express my frustration. Discuss how we are human beings with manners not wild monkeys in the jungle. He does it again. Avi dumps dirt out of the planter on the sidewalk. I calmly give him some other options of things to do, explain why I don’t want the dirt on the patio walkway and explain that he can even play in the planter dirt, but just can’t dump it on the sidewalk. I look out the window and he does it again. I open the window and threaten a consequence. I look out and see he does it again.

The lying hasn’t stopped. Daddy asks, “have you brushed your teeth already?” I’m nursing Ezra in his room, Avi answers, “Yes, mama did it for me.” Not so. Why does he do this?

Avi wanted a dance class like his brother, so I signed him up for a spark plug one, not realizing that the darn thing was a parent child class. I hate those. Then he doesn’t want to participate half the time, so I’m left wiggling across the floor on my belly singing, “I’m a happy little lizard…” by myself. Oh joy. The things we do for our children. What I don’t get is that he runs and sits down next to Ezra’s car seat sometimes when we’re “dancing” and when I try to coax this normally highest-of-high energy children up to participate, he says, “No, I can’t do it.” What? Excuse me? What exactly about running or jumping or spinning or making shapes around the room with a handful of other kids who are all a year younger than you can you not do? He’s a mystery.

Noah came home today with a new silly bandz, the stretchy rubber bracelets in silly shapes that are all the rage with kids now. Anyhow, he got his from Sofia. Sofia, whom he was in tears about last year because she read better than he did. Sofia, whom he mentioned last year was as fast of a runner as he was. Sofia, who kicked him a couple of months ago when he pulled Morgan’s hood over her head. Sofia, whom I happened to overhear Noah tell his Aunt Holly on the phone the other day was his "new girlfriend." So this is where it starts huh? I'm resisting the strong urge to call up Sofia's mother and share all my feelings about this. Sweet girl by the way. But seeing as how they are 7, I'm not going to get carried away.

Noah, I must say, is in characteristic style being very good-natured and tough about his cast. He occasionally complains that it itches, but that’s about it. It doesn’t even slow him down enough. I have to remind him frequently that he doesn’t have the same ability to catch himself if he falls right now and to just be a tad bit more careful. You know, things like standing up in the wagon and having Avi yank the wagon around.

Like his brothers before him, Ezra has discovered the joy of the bath. It’s his favorite part of the day now I think. He’s such an easy guy. Such a sweet spirit. All the girl babies are jealous of all that hair. People can’t help but remark on it. He practically needs a haircut to keep it out of his eyes, but I can’t bear to do it yet, so I just keep sweeping it to the side. 4 months is too young for a haircut. He’s also expressing interest in people food. He is watching everything we do at the table. Watching the food go from plate to fork to mouth and wants to be right there. He hasn’t been interested in a binky at all until last night I used one when he kept waking up and that worked to put him back to sleep several times. He may take to it yet. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.