Sweep the Leg.

Miles has a recent obsession with karate. Not real karate but Hollywood karate a la Daniel Larusso and Mr. Miyagi (just yesterday he was trying to catch a fly in the house with a pair of scissors (they were just safety scissors). Because of the movie he also has an obsession with saying the word sh*t - (which he unfortunately uses quite appropriately) I originally blamed this on Ben but had I checked out IMDb before letting my kids watch the movie countless times I would had been aware that Karate Kid has "2 "s" words, 9 damns, 4 asses, and 1 hell" . (although when I counseled Miles on not saying that word he did implicate his father by challenging with "but dad says it when he's watching basketball" That's what I thought.)

Anyhow, I made him a Miyagi headband (with an old shirt and a black sharpie) and let him go to town. He also has an all black one when he is feeling like showing "no mercy".

You don't want none of this.

Tulip Fest

April is tulip month in the Northwest. And you could drive up to Skagit Valley, or you could save yourself a trip and come to our house.

I came home from the hospital to my tulips being in bloom. In the fall I planted 100 'Apricot Impression' tulips on the side of the house and 100+ more other varietals elsewhere in the yard. What I like about bulbs is that they pop up and bloom quickly and then die back right into the ground and you never know they were there.

Somehow about 25 double blooming whites and one lone yellow were in the bag of single color tulips from Costco, which made me a little upset because I was going for uniformity, but at least they have a slightly different bloom time and the doubles are fragrant. In Costco's defence their tulips are the tallest I have ever seen - and not just in my yard (here's where I would link to a certain friends blog if they had updated it in the last year...okay it's the McArthurs - and their tulips were as tall as Miles (which is not necessarily tall for a three year old but is very tall for a tulip)

We did actually make the trip to the official WA tulip festival because my mom was here and signed up for the 5 mile tulip run. She won the following flowers.

Which came from the following fields.

Which didn't impress me as much as I had hoped. We didn't even stop and get out of the car to look. Mostly because the police were taking the opportunity to pad their city's budget by ticketing everyone who had pulled over on the shoulder to get out and take a peek. You had to find a paid parking lot and then walk a bit to get to see them proper like. I am glad I didn't pester Ben to to take me to see the tulips. He would not have appreciated this trip (or the traffic) with his scant free time (instead he took Miles to Cabelas kids fishing day where he tried to have fun helping Miles catch a fish out of a swimming pool). It is kind of cool and I have seen some beautiful pictures of these fields in bloom (70% of the nations tulip supply comes from here) but I could just have well have looked at pictures online. Or stayed at home and looked at my own flowers.

"the Boys"

I am a mother of boys. Plural. This seems weird to me because I started off my career as, and identified myself as the mother of a girl. Even with one of each I still considered myself more the mother of a girl than of my boy. So what does this paradigm shift have to do with anything? Nothing really, I just thought it was weird when I said "the boys" - referring to Cruz and Miles - outloud for the first time. And then I instantly repeated the fact that we have boy"s".

Nothing's changed, everything's changed and I am just going to have to ponder this for a bit.

Newborn Photos

I've never had proper newborn photos taken of my other two so I was super excited when I had an offer for a photo shoot in exchange for some real estate advice (I totally got the better end of that deal as you will see). I will post more soon but if you are interested you can check some of them out now on Sara W.'s blog - not our usual Sara W. of photographic genius but another one. If you're ever in Japan and need great photos she's your woman.

These pics were taken on Cruz's one week birthday and I will treasure them forever.

(And for Rachelle who seeks evidence of my double chin - it's right there about eleven pics down. It goes nicely with his delicious back rolls. Honestly, had I known I might be in so many photos I might have tried to do something about myself - on the other hand, why not have an accurate record of what I looked like at that point in time?)

Cruz and Me

I didn't know I was incomplete.

I was very happy with the two kids I had and the ages and stages we were experiencing together. I was starting to ponder what my life might look like when my kids were in school and I would have a good portion of the day to do whatever I please - a career, volunteering, lunch with friends...(whatever it is it will involve wearing better clothes that's for sure). I thought that another child might have the effect of diminishing returns. Overwhelmingly this is not the case. I can't get enough of this little creature.

When he was first born (and I use that term loosely - more like when he was first 'removed' - but the requisite birth story I will save for another day) I didn't recognize him. Of course you never know exactly what your baby will look like but after two you have a good idea - not to mention right at first they pretty much just look like a hot mess (literally). I don't know what I expected but at that moment he looked more like himself than like anyone else. As time has gone I recognize him as his father's child (Ben had some suspicion given the some of the dates we were given) who shares a complexion with his sister, dimples with his brother and alas he has my double chin (and strong corrugator muscle).

I want to spend every moment looking at him. Because when I turn away and look back he has grown. This desire precludes me from doing much else but I don't even care (except to get my taxes done because I don't think the IRS would appreciate my excuse).

I love the larval newborn stage and it passes so quickly. I love the floppy head, the scrunched up legs, the fleeting sleep smiles and the occasional breathy chuckle, the frequently crossed eyes trying hard to make sense of the world outside of the womb, the kitten soft hair etc. etc.

With your first child you can't wait until they accomplish the next thing and you encourage and celebrate their growth, but with the last you just savor every second and want to slow down every moment - which probably explains the nurture factor in birth order and the resulting personality traits. I don't yet think of Miles as my middle child but I feel as though both of my boys are my "babies". In sum, for the third time I am absolutely and completely in love.

I am still just getting the hang of being the mother of an infant again. I keep forgetting that I need a diaper bag, although the dozen or so dirty/wet diapers a day should be a good reminder. The constant need for nutrition provided by me is also a drain, however, it gives me a good excuse to do nothing other than stare at and savor my baby boy. Some of my favorite times are those moments in the middle of the night when no one but the two of us are awake (ask me in a few months if these are still some of my favorite moments as the mommy high wears off and fatigue sets in).

As for my recovery from abdominal surgery - it is going well enough. I was able to quit the meds a week out but even now two and a half weeks out there is still pain. I am finally able to laugh and cough without wincing, sneezing is still an unwelcome experience. A couple things I was really looking forward to post-partum was being able to bend over and pick things up with ease (either I am way more clumsy or I just never noticed how often I dropped stuff before) and get back to work in the yard and also to sleep on my stomach. I was sad when I realized it would be a while before those things were possible. One thing I didn't realize is how much core strength cooking took. In particular - trying to open a jar or crush a clove of garlic with the broad side of a knife.

The good news is that I am not bitter about having had to have a c-section and the scar is not as bad as I imagined. (The other good news is that we all fit in our Passat so we don't have to get a bigger car, but our days of riding together in the truck are sadly over.) Our family of five feels complete (again) with the arrival of Cruz and I'm so glad he is here.

Cruz and Miles

Miles has really stepped up to the plate as far as being a big brother. Not so much in how he helps with the baby - he asks to hold him and then 10 seconds later says something like "help! the baby is making me hot" or "someone get him he is going to fro up".

I had Miles "watch" him while I took a quick shower - Cruz was asleep on the bed next to Miles and Miles was watching a cartoon. When I got out the baby hadn't even stirred but Miles asked if I was done and said good, cause he was tired of watching him. So anyway, back to how he is being helpful. He doesn't ask me to hold him or carry him when we are out and about, he goes to the bathroom by himself (this was a major source of contention prior to the baby because Miles would whine that he needed help going pee when he can reach the bowl on his own) and he goes to sleep in his own bed (although we sometimes get a surprise early morning visit - which I've never minded. I'm sure it helps that Miles is almost 3 1/2 so he doesn't feel threatened by this needy newcomer. And it hasn't even been two weeks so jealousy could be in our future, but so far so good (I'm sure having dad and grandma around and extra play time with friends hasn't hurt the situation either).

He's still trying to come up with names for Cruz. I guess he doesn't know the polls are closed. He makes up lullabyes to sing him that are really sweet. He looks really really pale next to him. And they share a dimpled chin and cheek but so far that's where the physical similarities end.

My favorite thing Miles has said about the baby is that he smells like fruit... I asked him if he thought the baby was eating fruit to which he made chomping noises and said said yep he chomped it with his "pink teeth". Which you can see from the picture below is exactly what he has.

The first day he saw Cruz he said "look dad he showed us his none-teeth" when the baby yawned. He has since learned that those none/pink teeth are called gums - but Miles refers to them as "guns".

Cruz and Avery

Before the baby was born Avery said she wasn't going to change diapers. But she does. She also holds him when I need a hand and the two of them do a fantastic tango (although I might put that one on hold for a bit for fear of shaken baby syndrome when he gets whipped around). She is super calm and naturally maternal. But she's also got her own stuff going on. That's what's great about having a six year old - she'll help when I need her to but she doesn't crowd me when I'm nursing like a certain three year old. She even keeps that three year old occupied when I need time alone. I wonder if Cruz will like playing Barbies as much as Miles does? He apparently enjoys Barbie books - even at 5 days old.

The flour-sack hold technique I guess.

Cruz and his Dad

I can't speak for Ben but I would say that he likes his new little dude quite a bit. And luckily he got a week of paternity leave (which I didn't even know was an option during residency - but he got lucky) to get to enjoy him...and catch up on his much needed sleep. Often times with both happening simultaneously.

Dad's are really good for taking naps with.