And He's Off To Get Circumsized

Poor Charlie. He's a boy. And his parents want to circumsize him.

Even so, his Mommy loves him. She made sure he looked extra cute so the Doctor would like him and maybe go easy on him.

What was Edmond doing while Mommy was taking pictures of baby Charlie?

Begging for fruit snacks. Naturally.

Eckos

It all started with Edmond's new monster pajamas. He was posing and prancing around in them, so I pulled out the camera.



Then he decided to show me his "big belly". Well, it's far from big, since he weighs in at the 5th percentile for his age. But, Mommy and Dadda have a big belly, so he thinks his does too.

Then he wanted to show me his "eckos" (nipples). He loves his eckos. He walks around the house with his shirt up and feeling them saying, "two eckos".

This went on for some time, until he informed me it was time for "Edmond dance". (He always refers to himself in the third person."

And so we sang the "Oy yoy yoy" chorus of Bob Marley's Buffalo Soldier while he danced for us.

Charlie's Photo Shoot

When our friend Sara Weir was in town she came to take pictures of our little Christmas baby. He is four days old in these pictures.





I especially love these scrunchy face ones, because they are so him.

Thanks, Sara, for being such an awesome photographer!

That's How We Like It

Last Sunday I decided it was high time for me to go back to church. The concept of preparing myself and two kids to leave the house by 10AM was worrysome. And so, in preparation of the big day, I laid out our wardrobes the night before. Not that getting dressed is the time killer, but deciding what to wear certainly can be.

At 7AM that morning Edmond cheerfully woke up and we had breakfast as Daddy prepared to leave for his early morning meetings. I had three hours to get us there. No problem!

"See you there, baby!" I kissed my Man goodbye with the side of my mouth where my cold sore wasn't.

Thanks to an episode of The Backyardigans, by 9AM I had myself ready. I then fed Charlie, changed his diaper, dressed him, and put him in his car seat. Then I chased Edmond down, changed his diaper, dressed him, and combed his hair. By 9:45 we were all in the car and well on our way.

I was feeling frazzled, as I generally do, and was focusing on trying to relax as I drove down the country road that leads to our chapel. When I turned a corner, I saw the police car.

"Yikes!" I quickly let off the gas before I realized that I wasn't speeding. I tried to remember if I had come to a complete stop at the last stop sign as his lights flashed in my rear view mirror. He approached my car and I rolled down my window, along with my back window. (I'd be a fool not to let him see my cute kids so they could warm his shriveled "I'm giving out tickets on a Sunday morning" heart.)

"Hi." Edmond greeted him.

"Hi." I greeted him, too.

The cop cleared his throat as he eyed the three of us, then said, "I pulled you over because your front windows are tinted and you don't have a license plate on the front of your vehicle."

Blast! I'd forgotten about our gangsta tint. The cop probably thought he was pulling over K Fed, not a church-going Mommy and her two lovable children.

Ten minutes later I pulled away from the curb and eyed the yellow fix-it ticket on my passenger seat. "This is what I get for going to church," I thought glumly. I arrived late, something that I hate to be, and I was still sulking when the youth speaker got up to speak.

She was one of the Young Women in my class before I was released. She began sharing experiences about how her grandmother always made the best of things. If she burnt the cookies, she's say, "Well, that's just how we like them!" If they had to endure a long road trip with screaming kids, she'd laugh and say, "That's how we like it!"

I realized that this talk was for me. I shouldn't be taking my bad experience that morning so personally. Bad things happen to everyone. God didn't hate me.

And so I told myself, "Yeah, I just had a baby and I had to get me and my kids ready for church this morning all by myself, and it was crazy. Then on the way to church I got a ticket. And that's how I like it."

First Outing

I took Edmond and Charlie to the grocery store the other day. All went well until it was time to check out and Charlie woke up and started to cry. Then Edmond started to cry because he wanted to eat his yogurt that we were buying. So the check-out lady called for back-up and someone came over and gave Edmond a sticker and then offered to help us out to the car. For the first time ever, I said "Yes."

It was lovely to have someone else load up my car with groceries. I think I will say "Yes" for now on.

A Taste

"Do you want to taste it?" I asked him.

"Taste." he replied.

And so I let him taste it.



And taste it some more.

Chocolate cake batter is so yummy.

Doing What We Do

Me: "What are you doing, Edmond?"

Him: "Booooooks."



Me: "What are you doing, Charlie?"

Him: "Gruuuuunt."

Dinner at the Orchard's

Just Sitting There Being Cute

I found this little person sitting quietly in his corner of the house. He gave me a few of his loud, manly, baby grunts to let me know he recognized my presence.



Then he flashed his skinny tongue at me to show me that he hadn't forgotten how to use it.




Then he moved his eyes toward the crazy sound that Edmond was making in the toy closet, to show me that he was paying attention and trying to learn all of his older brother's tricks.

After this exchange and a farewell grunt from Charlie, I turned my atttentions back to my demanding one-year-old.

A Moment

Life with two kids is crazier than I imagined it would be. Gone are the days when Edmond and I were free to roam the mall, go to the park, or run to the grocery store. For now, we are on house arrest. Even venturing out to the backyard is almost impossible. We both miss our freedom. Yesterday Edmond pulled on the door that led to the garage and said, "Edmond...work. Edmond...outside." He wants to "go to work" like everyone else that is not at home.

Luckily, Charlie is a good baby. He hardly ever cries and he's a good sleeper. Edmond loves to kiss his "bebe Charie". The other day Edmond was busy playing with Daddy so I had a moment to take a few pictures of our little bebe.

Tricks Up His Sleeve

"Rrrrriiiiip."

I could hear Edmond in the back seat playing with the velcro on his shoes.

"What are you doing?" I playfully asked him. "Are you taking off those shoes?"

"Nnnnooo" was his high-pitched reply.

The boy says no to everything, so this did not phase me. Once we had pulled into a parking spot I turned to see what he was up to.



The kid was making x's with his velcro. I thought that was something that first graders did when they had to sit on the rug at school. And then the teacher always gets mad and says, "I hear velcro!"

Our son is so advanced.

The Day After Christmas

On Christmas Eve, before my contractions began, Santa came to visit us.



And there the presents sat for two days.

As soon as we had been released from the hospital and retrieved Edmond from Jenn's house, we rushed home to see what Santa brought us.





Wow. we found all sorts of treasures under the tree. But here's our favorite one: