Balloons and boys, and other B-words

An empty apartment full of balloons and little boys!


A babywearing Mama, exhausted from a day of cleaning.

A little baby who likes to sit on a box.
A trip to Oregon to see this bunch of family that I love: My mother, brother, his wife, and their baby.
My big sister hiding in a barbie tent, on the day before her birthday:

My bright and bouncy, busy and boisterous, niece Waimea!


Barbara-the blessed Grammmie of 9 grandbabies!Here she is with baby Jonah:

A beautiful, babywearing sister-in-law wearing her baby in a mei-tai I brought.(one of the best ones I ever made, in my opinion!)

Breastfeeding is the bomb!


A big, baby getting his first haircut, buzzed.
Before:
Bald:
And his two big, bald, buzzed, brothers:



Saying bye-bye to places we love:
Bye bye Liberty park:


Bye-bye Salt Lake Temple:


Bye-bye Zoo:


Bye-bye to friends we adore!
Bye-bye for now! My blogging has come to a small block in the road. Our house is all boxed up and we are bolting for the Big Island.

Baloha! Til we meet again.

our little world

I'm finding as my kids get older, that I don't feel a need to make as many play-dates with friends, as when they were toddlers. We love hanging out with friends, and I'm a very social person, but what I've found is that I really enjoy talking with these little people, alone! We have all these fun places we like to go, and little traditions we've started, and games that only we like to play. We often build up a little world around ourselves, that others just wouldn't appreciate as much, or go along with!

Today was a beautiful day at the farm! I eagerly listened to the boys, as they told me all about the wonderful things they were seeing and hearing. Both Odin and Zadok are so detailed and descriptive about the observations they make! And so excited, too!

"Look, that box-elder beetle is making his home in a groove in that tree!"
"Look, Mom, the bees are pollinating that pansy!"
"And look! Those ducks are being territorial and chasing the geese away!"
"I can hear a pidgeon calling. Maybe it's a mating call!"

We walked as slow as we wanted, waited for each other while someone saw something they liked, and listened to each others' stories. We stopped to see some ants carrying twigs, then we observed a mama goose sitting on her nest, then we wandered over to the big tree to climb and relax.
It's nice to have a little family. It's nice to leave all the distractions behind and enjoy them, even if that means friends. I think each family has a little world of their own, with special things they love to do, at a pace they like to do it.

I love spending time with these boys, and I really like our little world.





I took these pictures back in March, hence the snowcoats. I can't remember if I've shared them. Sorry if these are repeats=mama brain.
And here's a little disclaimer about my post, which I thought of afterward-- some may be thinking, "oh great, this is just the beginning of un-socialized homeschooling!" Ha ha! But really, we are a very social family; with friends, and our church, and our neighbors. All I mean by this post is that it's nice to step away from all that and enjoy just us.

busy

If you're ever wondering what I'm doing that keeps me so busy from updating my blog, the answer is simple: BABY JONAH. He fills our lives...completely! Love this boy, and all his busy-baby-ness!

First REAL animal rescue

Our five year old has become a very compassionate lover of all things animal.
He's the kid that gets concerned at the playground when other kids are smashing ants, he's the kid that picks up litter at the park so animals won't mistake it for food, he's the kid that wants to limit his meat intake, and now he's the kid that saw 2 sick pigeons at our apartments and was determined to rescue them.

Apparently, every Spring the apartment management here hires a pest control company to take out all the pesky pigeons. As we've been walking around our apartments lately, we've noticed lots of dead pigeons. Some of them were even suffering, taking days to die. It made us feel sad, and angry.
"They are vermin, pests, and a health violation to those that live here!," said the manager, when I called to complain. However, what our son saw were little, helpless creatures that deserved a chance.
Micah and Zadok went and got the two sick pigeons and and put in our laundry room. They were barely moving, looking almost dead. Zadok gave them water, food, and a warm box to live in.He checked on them all day, every day. We changed the newspapers when they got too poopy. We put them out on the balcony for fresh air.

Then suddenly, after several days, we looked into the laundry room to see a flying pigeon! We quickly opened the door and let him fly free. Zadok had the biggest smile on his face to see his animal rescue mission a success!

And then, about a week later, we released the other pigeon at the farm nearby. Although he couldn't fly, his overall health seemed back to normal. We watched him waddle into the bushes, and peck around for food. Zadok sat and watched him for quite some time. He didn't want to leave unless he knew "Pidgy" would be safe.


This past month at our apartments we have witnessed the emergence of baby ducklings, baby goslings, and then the sick and dead pigeons. Everyone here loves the babies because they are so cute, but everyone hates the pigeons.
Zadok sees them all equally, as creatures that God made.
I am so proud of our boy. He has become such a wonderful, loving, and nurturing person.

8 Month stats

8 months is my favorite baby age!
We LOVE our big baby boy!
Here's our 8 month old squishy stats:

*Weight- 21.4 lbs
*Height- 27 inches
*Teeth- none
*Chubby legs- the squishiest ever

*What I love- When he grabs my face and slobbers all over it, with a BIG, Pootie kiss.
His big smiles, and that he is so happy all the time!

*Major Milestones- crawling, pulling himself up on things, babbling consonants, scavenging for food scraps under the table.


*Started wanting and eating solid foods at 8 months old. Favorites are applesauce, mooshed bananas and peas. (not all together)


*Favorite toys: my hairbrush, measuring cups, and Odin's remote control dog (which O gladly shares with baby Pootie.)

*Defining baby noise: He makes this really long, low-pitched, screechy sound, which is his happy noise. I absolutely love it!


*Favorite activities: Sticking hands in my mouth while having his milkies, crawling from one room to the other looking for things to put in his mouth, taking baths in the big tub, sitting up by himself, hugging Papa when he comes home, watching his older brothers as they play.

We just love this baby so much!!




Every night we put the two older boys to sleep at 8pm, and then it's us and baby until about 10 or so. Sometimes it's exhausting because it's the end of the day and I feel like I am entitled to some sort of break! But, I truly appreciate and love this special time we have together, just me and him, and Papa. It will go by so fast, and he'll be a big kid sooner than we really want!
The other night as Micah and I were alone, playing with Jonah, It felt like our first baby again. The house was all quiet and we were both transfixed on him, oogling and cooing at our little, baby boy. Each child is so special to us.

What color eyes does a goose have?

The questions from my 5 year old are flying at me faster than I can keep up:
"Does a squid have lungs or gills?"
"How many eggs does a Platypus lay?"
"How does a cat drink water without it spilling from it's mouth?"
"What is the defense mechanism of a Walrus?"
"Why do female ducks look different than males?"
"Why do Octopus squirt ink?"

At first it was really overwhelming for me, especially to think that my child actually believed that I knew all these answers! I started keeping a running list on the kitchen counter, of all the things he was asking me, so I could look them up and tell him later. Wouldn't that make me look so smart? ha ha. But that really isn't the point, is it?
These past few months a light has ignited within our 5 year old, spreading into a giant, burning, bonfire, of learning more about everything animals!

It has been really exciting to see him begin to focus on learning about something he feels truly passionate about.
I just keep thinking over and over, "So this is when the homeschooling fun begins!"

Well, our goal is really to help him learn how he can expand on that passion to learn more. I don't want to provide all the answers. I couldn't even if I wanted to! I want him to reach out into the world and find the resources he needs to learn more, get excited more, and do more!

It is all just really cool.



Some things we have been doing to enhance his desires, and encourage him to learn:
Observing animals in natural habitats and farms,
Reading animal books from the library,
Watching animal-nature movies and TV shows,
Frequent trips to the Zoo,
Keeping an animal-science journal,
Incorporating animal facts and stories into everyday life
Pretending to be animals and putting on puppet shows
Talking about our personal experiences with animals (With an ex-zookeeper Dad, that isn't too hard, and Zadok adores all his animal stories.)


But most importantly, we are allowing him the freedom to learn all these things with his own creativity attached! You see, one of his sole motivations in learning more about animals, is because he wants to build "creature power suits". He is pretty serious about it, and it is no laughing matter in our house. He is collecting the data he needs to build the greatest, most powerful creature power suits in the world!
Right now he is making blue-prints for a dolphin and a Giant squid:

Here's the owls, and Draco-gliding suits:

And every morning when I wake up, I don't know what animal he will be
pretending to be that day. Will he be a duck, a wombat, a shark, an alligator? Usually something with a great defense mechanism.

I love this. I love all of it! I love that the excitement to learn more about animals from our 5 year old son, has involved the whole family to learn and get excited, together. I mean, I never imagined that I would be so intrigued to know that a Platypus is one of two mammals in the world that lays eggs and makes milk! But, it's cool! And homeschooling is cool, too. :)

Creature power suits

There is a secret power that one can possess, if they truly desire to help animals. The power lies in the bear paw symbol, which can be activated from the front of an ordinary T-shirt.

First you have to touch the animal that is in trouble, which will then trigger the activation of the creature powers of which that animal holds. Next you touch the bear paw and shout out, "Creature Powers Activate!"

Creature powers can be anything from webbed feet, to gliding wings, to underwater gills, to extra speedy, Cheetah-running power. Once you have the power of that creature, you can BE that creature. And, along with other super-powers of strength and stamina, this is the ultimate secret weapon of rescuing hurt or endangered animals.

Within the wild minds of two very excited little boys, this animal-power-activation process all works out, and has made two little boys very serious about animal rescues!
They have been watching this show called Wild Kratts, on PBS kids, and along with their own imaginations, have created a world all their own.

It's all about saving animals at our house these days, and every day brings new opportunities for adventure and fun!

Creature Powers Activate!
**T-shirts found from dresser drawers, with felt glued onto them work marvelously.
**Yesterday we picked up litter from a nearby creek, for the animals.
***Several days ago they saved a worm from drying up in the sun.
***During the week we feed the ducks and geese, and pigeons.
**We wander the forest looking for animals in trouble.

squishies

I don't know where I come up with the nick names I call our kids throughout the day.
They know what their real names are, but have learned to answer to everything from Pootie, to Odi-wan, to Moosh face, to squishy, to Budgie cakes, to Woodgie smoosh, to whatever pops into my head. Its no wonder they call me "The Big Bootie," and I am starting to answer to it.

Here's a few pictures of my squishy,, smooshy, woodgie faces. I sure love these guys.:
Here's Pootie-poot in the bath. I love this baby. I love his slobbery kisses, his chubby cheeks, his smiles that melt me to pieces. He is my third baby, and such a blessing.

I love taking walks and nursing him. He is my little attachment, my little love.


Here's our little Odi-wan. He is such a clown, and such a dreamer. When I'm busy taking care of the baby I don't have to worry about him being entertained. I'll come find him building a dragon castle or a birds nest out of blankets, or collecting different colored hangers from the closets for fun.



And Budger-smudger, he's almost five years old and real fun to hang out with. He wants to learn how to read and write (sometimes), when he's not busy pretending to be our pet dragon named Sparky. I love his imagination and sense of adventure.




All three boys together, I am one proud Big Bootie.