Milestones

Olivia is one month old! She is actually almost 2 months old. I started this post 3 weeks ago and am just now getting the pictures on to finish it.

Charlie is losing teeth! His sentiments about it: "I don't want my new teeth to grow in. I like how it looks with my front teeth missing."

Frankie is done wearing diapers! After many attempts and forms of persuasion, Frankie finally switched to underwear shortly after Olivia was born....sometimes that is all he wears. The other day I had to convince him to go back and get clothes when he tried to go to the park wearing nothing but underwear and cowboy boots. He is very proud of his accomplishment and frequently tells us that he is "a big boy" and "so proud." The sticker chart below finally seemed to do the trick - although getting through that first row of 5 times using the potty took a good 2 weeks. By the end, he got 5 in one day. The only drawback was that between a baby who spits up constantly and potty training accidents (which have pretty much stopped) my laundry load feels like it has tripled. We were playing catch phrase the other day, and Elena's clue was "Mom does this all day long every day and is still never done." The immediate guesses where cleaning, nursing the baby and laundry. It was laundry, but all 3 were good choices :)

Elena has reached baby-sitting age! She has started her first official job as a "Mother's helper" for a mom who recently had a baby. Elena helps watch her 2 and 4 year-olds a few hours a day so Mom can focus on the baby. The fun part it that the mom used to be Elena's babysitter. How quickly things turn around! She also gets in lots of babysitting experience at home with her younger siblings!

Sam can hold a can between his shoulder blades! That's probably not a milestone, but I couldn't leave him out and we recently discovered this fact when he was showing our neighbor how his shoulder blades can stick out like a set of chicken wings on his back. The neighbor's brother used to crush cans with his shoulder blades so we gave it a shot. In other news, Sam's baseball team took 2nd place in their tournament this year....on an intensely hot summer day - at a field with absolutely no shade. It was fun to watch them play, but a little tricky to make sure we kept Olivia cool so I didn't get a chance to take any good pictures.

Seth's helping deliver babies! You can read the article here. He's be a first responder less than 6 months and already had a call (probably his last) that a baby was being born in town. He made it there in 3 minutes and barely had time to get the baby kit open and ready for the new little guy.

Bringing (Olivia) Joy our local Sisters

I love visiting with the Sisters of Mary Morning Star, even though I don't manage to do so as often as I would like. I always leave with a greater sense of peace and joy which seems to be transmitted through osmosis. It was nice to hear Sister Jean Marie say as soon as she held Olivia how she felt an immediate sense of calm and peace from holding a newborn in the middle of a busy day.

With Sister ? and Sister Jean Marie

With Sister Pauline Thomas

With Sister Teresa Immaculata

Quotes of the Month

1) "Olivia! Olivia! Olivia! I like you on Tuesdays" - this was sung by Frankie as his own verse to a song Charlie was singing to the tune of I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy. Here is one verse for you to hear. There were many more:

Other verses (by Charlie) included "I am 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 years....older than you, older than you..."
And I eventually figured out why Frankie said "Tuesdays" in his verse. The actual song goes "down in my heart to stay," and he had mistaken to stay for Tuesday.

2)"Mama, I like your hot lips" - Frankie, when I wore slightly brighter than usual lipstick

3) "So...Charlie may have baptized Olivia today." That was me, letting Seth know that while I was washing the dishes, Charlie got out the holy water to bless Olivia. I didn't think much of it until I heard him say, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit," while making the sign of the cross on her head with the water. This was before her baptism, so I had to look up the requirements of a valid baptism to see if the deed was already done.
It was not valid, by the way. The water should be poured (or the person immersed) and their needs to be a proper intention to baptize, which I'm not sure a 6-year-old playing around would have.

4) "I love you, Mother!!" That was Sam, yelling to me from the field right in the middle of baseball practice.  So far he hasn't developed that pre-teen tendency to be embarrassed by public parental affection. Here he is as catcher at his last game.We are enjoying another great baseball season.

5) "Remember when we went to church and they brought out the crucifix for everyone to kiss and everyone else was kissing the cross up higher, but I couldn't reach so I kissed Jesus' feet? Well, I think I became famous because this year, everyone was kissing his feet." - Charlie, referring to the veneration of the Cross on Good Friday, which I'm guessing he misremembered from the year before. 

6) "Mom! When I smile like this, don't I look like a drunk guy because of my loose tooth?"