no, this is not some cute thing luca has started saying. rather this title refers to my actual state of being right now. i am home all by myself. as hard as my ears will strain to hear the pitter patters (or stomping) of luca's feet and the squeals of the gia-monster, i will not be able to hear my children from 128 miles away. after driving to my parents home yesterday and settling in the little ones, i left this afternoon with a much lighter load. it is a lot harder to stay awake while driving when you don't have children to distract you (which i had thought was more dangerous, but now disagree).
jesse and i are about to leave for a weekend getaway. it will be the first trip we have taken sans child since luca was born. i am going to spend my first night away from gia for the first time ever tonight. i have mixed emotions. i so need a mental break and an emotional and spiritual retreat, yet i am missing my babies much more than i thought i would for having seen them only a few hours ago.
but (and this i huge but) i am excited to just think about and do whatever i want to think about and do. this is the biggest change since becoming a parent. you need to become much less selfish and you willingly sacrifice your choices and desires for this liitle person you have been charged with. i feel like i am embarking on an expedition to rediscover myself (not in some new-agey way), and i fully expect to miss my children desperately when we get home.
what you all want to see
here is some footage of the girl working on her crawling skills. she just started going up on her hands and knees last tuesday. she can now sustain the position for almost 10 seconds and is known to throw in a push-up or two (hands and toes). stay tuned for the lovely spit-up action at the end (what you really want to see, right).
luca the wing walker
after reading a book about planes in the waiting room at the doctor's office yesterday, luca has professedi interest in being a wing walker. this is the person who stands on the wings, doing stunts and waving hi! fafter looking at the pictures in this book, he thinks this would be really neat. i told him that when he gets older he can choose to be a wing walker, but that it would make me scared. he seemed to take this into consideration.
at dinner tonight he told jesse, "guca ween walka. mama scared. dada scared. guca real careful." basically he is telling us that if he decides to become a wing walker, that he will be considerate of our feelings and be careful. good to see he is developing compassion at such a young age!
at dinner tonight he told jesse, "guca ween walka. mama scared. dada scared. guca real careful." basically he is telling us that if he decides to become a wing walker, that he will be considerate of our feelings and be careful. good to see he is developing compassion at such a young age!
baby got back
look at this cute and round behind! if you are wondering why she looks like an oompa loompa (as jesse calls her), we have officially switched gia to cloth diapers. yes, you heard us right. for the last two weeks.
when luca was born i did not even consider using cloth, for two reasons. the first being my concern that adding anything more to the mix would send my fibro into a complete downward cycle - i was already nervous about late night feedings and the recovery from the birth - and rightfully so. since it was an "option," i went the easy route. the second reason for this lack of real consideration, was my complete ignorance of modern cloth diapering systems. i kept picturing folding white cloths into ill-fitting semblances of diapers, held together with pins, ad covered by an unsightly plastic cover. was i ever wrong.
so far we love our fuzzi bunz. we have had only a few leaks, but only from going to long between diaper changes. see with disposable, you can see and feel the diapers expand as they are filled. with cloth, they don't change shape - i didn't realize how much i relied on this cue. but now that i have unlearned this habit, i am completely satisfied. we have even decided to go ahead and switch luca over for his final diapering months. at first we did not want to buy the extra large size for our extra large boy, seeing as he will not be in diapers (hopefully) for too much longer and we did not know if gia would ever get to that size. but we have found that luca will almost fit in to gia's fuzzi bunz (which are size medium), so we are going to purchase the large size for him and then gia can use them in the future.
some skeptics may ask about the convenience of washing the fuzzi bunz. yes, we do more laundry than before. but there is no pre-washing (outside of the washer) and the benefits outweigh this cost. for one, we are being better stewards of our earth by choosing something reusable. secondly, we are saving so much money in the long run. if we are blessed with more children, other than purchasing the small size of diapers, we will be done buying diapers. done! that is huge!
this the beginning of the cloth diaper chapter for our family. more stories to come, i am sure.
luca has an audience and gia has an entertainer
today was a great day in the story of the hart siblings. although my children continue to be sick (luca's voice is adorably hoarse and gia's nose is completely crusty), they had several opportunities to play together. luca has learned that he can get gia to watch and laugh at him while he acts goofy. gia has learned that her brother is a practically endless source of amusement. both of these things work in my favor when i need to make dinner. i love that they are getting closer as they grow older. my prayer is that they will continue to love and enjoy each other more and more.
peek boo tickets
this evening we went to the world of winnie the pooh play. the production was sponsored by the local library and was held at one of the high schools in town. luca really loves winnie the pooh - he actually calls him peek boo. he can say winnie the pooh now but at an early age started the nickname and it caught. his mwa mwa hart and scrunchies bought him a walking, talking winnie the pooh last fall and it has been love ever since. although luca continued to be sick today, he was excited to go and i really wanted to take him. we had been talking about it all week since picking up the tickets at the library last week. he kept calling the play "peek boo tickets" since i made such a big deal of getting them in the first place. i figured we could always leave if things went south. nothing to fear, aside from throwing his stuffed animals (pooh bear, eeyore, tigger, kanga, and roo) and spending the last 5 minutes jumping on the stairs in the center aisle, it all went fine. even gia got into the music while gnawing on tigger's paw. she just sat and stared at the stage the entire time like the laid back second child she has been thus far. although this photo is a bit grainy, it captures the smiles on their faces so well. when driving home, luca happily sighed, "peek boo tickets."
sick days
the last few days have been a rollercoaster of illness for our babies. luca's temp went back up on sunday night and hit 104. the next day he remained between 101 and 103 the whole day. he spent most of the time on the couch reading books and watching way more tv than usual. it was sad when he told me, "head hurt. tummy hurt. eat too many bwueberries (blueberries)." luca loves blueberries so much that i have to cut him off while eating them. i always tell him that if he eats too many it will make his tummy hurt. this makes sense to him and he usually stops asking for more. so now that he is sick, he associated it with eating blueberries at breakfast. gia woke up congested and had a bad cough. she could not get comfortable throughout the day. i spent half of the afternoon rocking and walking her and she cried most of the time even with a paci and blankie.
monday ended peacefully and the next morning, it seemed like luca was on the up and up. when i asked him how he felt, he said, "all bewwer (better)." then when he asked for medicine and i said no, he cried, "head hurt." i did not fall for this tactic - he did not get any medicine. an awesome thunderstorm rolled in after breakfast, blacking out the sky. we played in gia's room with the windows open to listen to the rumbling thunder and crashes of lightning. i love storms and i enjoy sharing the experience with luca and gia. in the afternoon, luca was a bit more subdued and quiet than usual and gia was still a bit irritable. we still went to the weekly church bbq and there were no major problems.
which brings us to sometime after 1am this morning when luca started crying. his temp was 105 and he was burning up. we (i should say jesse, because i stayed in bed - but i didn't know how bad it was and i definitely would have gotten up if he had told me) brought his temp down with more cool, damp cloths. he woke up groggy and cranky and is spending a lot more time in front of the tv and reading books while resting.
i was so tired this morning that it was nice that both of them were peacefully watching the wonder pets (our new fav show) while i took a brief rest. how cute are they? the best part is when luca asked me, "mama two babies?" meaning he wanted me to cuddle with both of them on my lap because when we do that i always say, "mama loves her two babies." that sweetness will get me through the day. please pray for our health and endurance.
playing with friends outside
last week, mama megan brought over ethan, aj, and olivia to play. luca had such a great time running around in cowboys hats around the horsey fort, playing with the gravel in the trailer in the driveway for our path, and splashing with olivia in the water table. olivia even taught him how to play ring around the rosie. with his love of jumping and falling it is an excellent game for him. here is a video of the boys (possibly reluctantly - i mean they are almost 6 years old) joining the young 'uns for a round.
we ended the morning by pulling out some sidewalk chalk. megan drew a hopscotch board and she and the boys used some gravel to play. luca attempted to join them - i wish i had a video of him jumping crazily all over the sidewalk - he passed the end of it by 10 feet easily before turning around and running back. he also showed off his growing knowledge of colors - well, he didn't always label them right but he knows that purple, red, blue, yellow, and green are colors.
these kind of days make me sad for the winter growing closer. has anyone ever tried chalk on hardwood floor?
the funniest part of the time for me was after lunch when olivia informed luca that you know you have to go the bathroom when you start tooting alot.
not as expected
this morning i woke up and asked jesse, "do you want to go to the zoo?"
he smiled and agreed on that being a grand idea. so we asked luca at breakfast what he thought of it. if we could pick one thing luca likes more than anything else, it would probably be animals. as expected, luca's face slowly broke into a huge grin as he realized what we were asking. it was officially a plan. (gia doesn't yet get a vote as she is happy being anywhere we are as long as we pay attention to her.) we packed up a picnic lunch and all of our gear (which continuously surprises us at the sheer volume) and went off to the miller park zoo. the visit started out great. we listed several options for luca to choose from and after i listed "leopards, tigers, and bears. . ." he quickly replied, "uh-huh!" (sing it to the wizard of oz chant "lions, tigers and bear, oh my!" - it made us laugh) the leopard stopped pacing when we approached it's habitat and i swear it was eyeing gia - i know she's cute but this leopard had other things on its mind.
the crazy primates were playing chase and swinging from branch to branch like daredevils. the rainforest exhibit was full of exotic birds. we pet a chinchilla and a boa during the creature feature. the alpaca was a huge hit as luca loves to look at them in his animal encyclopedia. we learned all the names of the goats in the petting zoo (and gia really wanted to chew on the fence for their pen).
he smiled and agreed on that being a grand idea. so we asked luca at breakfast what he thought of it. if we could pick one thing luca likes more than anything else, it would probably be animals. as expected, luca's face slowly broke into a huge grin as he realized what we were asking. it was officially a plan. (gia doesn't yet get a vote as she is happy being anywhere we are as long as we pay attention to her.) we packed up a picnic lunch and all of our gear (which continuously surprises us at the sheer volume) and went off to the miller park zoo. the visit started out great. we listed several options for luca to choose from and after i listed "leopards, tigers, and bears. . ." he quickly replied, "uh-huh!" (sing it to the wizard of oz chant "lions, tigers and bear, oh my!" - it made us laugh) the leopard stopped pacing when we approached it's habitat and i swear it was eyeing gia - i know she's cute but this leopard had other things on its mind.
the crazy primates were playing chase and swinging from branch to branch like daredevils. the rainforest exhibit was full of exotic birds. we pet a chinchilla and a boa during the creature feature. the alpaca was a huge hit as luca loves to look at them in his animal encyclopedia. we learned all the names of the goats in the petting zoo (and gia really wanted to chew on the fence for their pen).
but i think it may have been sometime in the zoo lab (a place with "interesting" bugs like walking sticks, meerkats, and a butterfly room) that luca's enthusiasm began to wane. we decided to stop for lunch in case it was just hunger. when we were setting up luca began yawning and when asked if he was tired, he gave a resigned, "uh-huh." he only ate half of his sandwich (a huge deal for our big eater) and wanted to sit in the stroller afterwards (another big deal for him to give up the freedom to run free). jesse and i began wondering what was wrong. there were a few more things to see and do, so we carried on. visited the wallaby walkabout, saw huge tortoises up close, and rode the carousel. luca kept looking more and more exhausted, so we scrapped the plan to get carl's ice cream on the way home. this is the child i could not get to take a nap twice this week. and here we are at the zoo.
while driving back to the house, luca started to look a bit spacey and stopped answering our questions. by the time we got him inside, he felt really hot and his temp was up to 102.9. we gave him some medicine, cooled him down with some wet rags, and got him into bed. the remainder of the afternoon was spent keeping the boy comfortable and rested. thankfully his fever began to break in the early evening and he is now sleeping (for the night, hopefully).
add to the mix, gia refusing to nurse, fighting being fed sweet potatoes, and not wanting her evening bottle - it has been one unexpected day. just shows you that even the best laid plans can be waylaid by a freak fever and a fussy baby. unfortunately, today was not the relaxing family fun day we had hoped for. we did get to spend all of it together, which is a lot more than others have, especially those with loved ones serving our country overseas. just keeping a little perspective.
no plans and loving it
we are winding down another beautiful saturday at the hart home. today has has been full but without any real structure (not counting meals and naps). jesse and i were just reflecting about the difference between this summer and last. we were so busy and it seemed that we were gone more than we were home. between weddings, family, and major house projects we started the fall wanting to hibernate until spring. over the last two months we have enjoyed just being. watching luca enter boyhood more and more everyday and discovering the kind of baby girl gia is.
instead of having an extensive "to-do list" each day, we feel the freedom to get done what we get done. if i could come up with a list at the end of this day to summarize what we accomplished it may look like this.
instead of having an extensive "to-do list" each day, we feel the freedom to get done what we get done. if i could come up with a list at the end of this day to summarize what we accomplished it may look like this.
- gia cuddled with us in bed this morning
- luca built a "fort" for his animals with some toys and books and gia showed off her piano playing skills to her papi before breakfast
- luca and i watered the plants and checked on the still green tomatoes
- luca and jesse played air guitars and rocked out to revolution by the beatles
- gia danced, bobbing her head and swaying side to side, for the first time
- i had my first real extended work-out time since gia was born
- jesse almost finished installing the brick border for our path (yeah!) and got a heck of a tan in the process
- i got two loads of laundry done
- gia and i had an impromptu photo shoot in the backyard
- luca took a super long bubble bath and then peed all over his bedroom floor while laughing
The Movie
so jesse and i saw The Movie on thursday night. you know the one. considering i have had the countdown clock on my blog for the last month and that i am a huge fan of the books, i will throw my two cents in the mix. don't worry, i won't reveal any secrets or spoil anything for those of you who have not taken time in the last four days to see it.
it is what i expected. i enjoyed myself, even if it is about a 10th as good as the book. how much more can we expect from a 2 hour plus movie? one thing i continue to wish was done differently: dumbledore's character - he is much less humble in the movies and a lot of his quiet, understated power is lost. in this movie particularly, several of my favorite scenes from the book were changed or not present.
what helps any bit of disappointment i might have - book seven comes out next week!! to the critics who questioned the wisdom of the close release dates, i say all the better. it keeps die-hards like myself from letting any frustration from the far inferior movie versions of the "boy who lived" grow. in anticipation for next weekend, i say cheers!
it is what i expected. i enjoyed myself, even if it is about a 10th as good as the book. how much more can we expect from a 2 hour plus movie? one thing i continue to wish was done differently: dumbledore's character - he is much less humble in the movies and a lot of his quiet, understated power is lost. in this movie particularly, several of my favorite scenes from the book were changed or not present.
what helps any bit of disappointment i might have - book seven comes out next week!! to the critics who questioned the wisdom of the close release dates, i say all the better. it keeps die-hards like myself from letting any frustration from the far inferior movie versions of the "boy who lived" grow. in anticipation for next weekend, i say cheers!
piano prodigy?
probably not, but she is darn cute. here is the girl discovering the joy of making music. she watched luca and olivia play on the piano first, then scooted herself over, reached up, and started playing while laying on her stomach. when i sat her up to reach more easily, she was consumed with creative juices and played her first song. my review: very abstract and busy. a contemporary piece influenced by her love of loud noises and bangs.
little gentleman
is is funny to me how quickly things can change with young children. one day (or maybe one week) they are complete monsters frustrated with their limited skills and moodier than a teenager (granted i have never had a teenager, but i was one, and i don't remember being that ridiculous - haha - my mom will read this and vehemently disagree i am sure).
today, however is a different story. while leaving the chiropractor's office, i was beginning to tense up about the impending carseat battle. we left the house with little fuss, but that guarantees nothing in my book. i am walking to the car and luca suddenly stops and runs back to the door. i turn, ready to tell him he needs to follow me, and possibly run back and get him if he decides to bolt for the parking lot. instead he gets to the office door and with a little effort, opens it up for an elderly women exiting the building. she was so thankful and told him, "you are such a little gentleman." i wholeheartedly agreed and was quick to praise his thoughtfulness.
i was so much more patient with him the rest of the morning so i am not sure who has changed more - the two year old or the mama. i do know that i need to continue to seek God's supernatural power in this area. thankfully he is merciful and gracious to my shortcomings again and again.
i am glad i did not send luca to the zoo.
today, however is a different story. while leaving the chiropractor's office, i was beginning to tense up about the impending carseat battle. we left the house with little fuss, but that guarantees nothing in my book. i am walking to the car and luca suddenly stops and runs back to the door. i turn, ready to tell him he needs to follow me, and possibly run back and get him if he decides to bolt for the parking lot. instead he gets to the office door and with a little effort, opens it up for an elderly women exiting the building. she was so thankful and told him, "you are such a little gentleman." i wholeheartedly agreed and was quick to praise his thoughtfulness.
i was so much more patient with him the rest of the morning so i am not sure who has changed more - the two year old or the mama. i do know that i need to continue to seek God's supernatural power in this area. thankfully he is merciful and gracious to my shortcomings again and again.
i am glad i did not send luca to the zoo.
questions of the day: can i send him to the zoo? & can i cry now?
so i slept in this morning (until 7am) meaning i missed my chiropractor appointment at 6:30. this also means i had to reschedule for 8:45 and this means i had to bring my two little ones with me to the appointment. which means i had to battle with my two-year old about getting into the carseat twice before 9am. he thinks that he can put the straps over his shoulders all by himself and buckle it. when this was not working and i attempted to help him (not even do it for him but just give him some pointers) he screamed, "mama no, over dare" -and pointed to the other side of the car.
fast forward to lunch time. i am washing dishes at the sink (a never ending task in our house as we don't have a dishwasher) and luca is (supposedly) eating lunch with gia in the high chair next to him. when i walk into the dining room, his plate is empty. so i start cleaning them up and i find most of his lunch stuffed in gia's lap and in her chair.
we move to nap time. well, we move to luca laying in his dark room talking loudly, occasionally singing, and not sleeping for two hours before i finally concede to his refusal to fall asleep. at that point i thought, "can i send him to the zoo?"
the plan for this afternoon was to go to the public pool. we were there several times a week last summer, but decided not to get a pass this summer with opposing nap schedules and adjusting to the whole two children thing. but i thought we would splurge and i would pay for daily admittance and i was excited to get out of the house. after the nap fiasco, i had to decide, "is this still a good idea?" well, the other option was to stay home and have a repeat of yesterday - meaning i would need more than one pina colada tonight. i thought i would rather fight any battles with the distraction of the pool and having other kids to keep him occupied. so i pack up swimsuits, swim diapers, towels, sunblock, water bottles, pool toys, changes of clothes, gia's dinner, and probably a few others things. we fight another carseat battle and drive to the pool. luca sees the water and gets so excited and becomes remarkably compliant to all my wishes while getting unpacked and ready to enter the fun zone. i walk up to the counter with an exhausted yet large smile. what does the young girl behind the counter say?
"the pool closes at 4pm today (it was 3:24)."
i reply, "seriously?"
"yeah, there's a swimmeet. you can drive to fairview (the other pool in town)."
so i just stare at her for a bit. she gave me a "what's the big deal?" look. i wanted to scream, "do you know what it took for me to get here? i am not getting two children back into my car, driving across town, getting them back out, and paying $5 to spend by that time only a little over an hour at the pool!" i also thought, "can i cry now?"
what i actually did was go home, call our friends we were to meet, and have them come over to our house to play in the kiddie pool. the kids had fun (after we calmed them down from their dashed hopes for public pool enjoyment while dangling the use of our elmo sprinkler in front of their faces like carrots) and the moms relaxed.
at the end of the day, i have five more dollars than i thought i would. i think i will also have a piece of dark chocolate.
i hope someday soon, i will have enough mental energy to reflect on my day and find a bit more joy in the chaos. right now i am just relieved it is over.
fast forward to lunch time. i am washing dishes at the sink (a never ending task in our house as we don't have a dishwasher) and luca is (supposedly) eating lunch with gia in the high chair next to him. when i walk into the dining room, his plate is empty. so i start cleaning them up and i find most of his lunch stuffed in gia's lap and in her chair.
we move to nap time. well, we move to luca laying in his dark room talking loudly, occasionally singing, and not sleeping for two hours before i finally concede to his refusal to fall asleep. at that point i thought, "can i send him to the zoo?"
the plan for this afternoon was to go to the public pool. we were there several times a week last summer, but decided not to get a pass this summer with opposing nap schedules and adjusting to the whole two children thing. but i thought we would splurge and i would pay for daily admittance and i was excited to get out of the house. after the nap fiasco, i had to decide, "is this still a good idea?" well, the other option was to stay home and have a repeat of yesterday - meaning i would need more than one pina colada tonight. i thought i would rather fight any battles with the distraction of the pool and having other kids to keep him occupied. so i pack up swimsuits, swim diapers, towels, sunblock, water bottles, pool toys, changes of clothes, gia's dinner, and probably a few others things. we fight another carseat battle and drive to the pool. luca sees the water and gets so excited and becomes remarkably compliant to all my wishes while getting unpacked and ready to enter the fun zone. i walk up to the counter with an exhausted yet large smile. what does the young girl behind the counter say?
"the pool closes at 4pm today (it was 3:24)."
i reply, "seriously?"
"yeah, there's a swimmeet. you can drive to fairview (the other pool in town)."
so i just stare at her for a bit. she gave me a "what's the big deal?" look. i wanted to scream, "do you know what it took for me to get here? i am not getting two children back into my car, driving across town, getting them back out, and paying $5 to spend by that time only a little over an hour at the pool!" i also thought, "can i cry now?"
what i actually did was go home, call our friends we were to meet, and have them come over to our house to play in the kiddie pool. the kids had fun (after we calmed them down from their dashed hopes for public pool enjoyment while dangling the use of our elmo sprinkler in front of their faces like carrots) and the moms relaxed.
at the end of the day, i have five more dollars than i thought i would. i think i will also have a piece of dark chocolate.
i hope someday soon, i will have enough mental energy to reflect on my day and find a bit more joy in the chaos. right now i am just relieved it is over.
a pina colada night
you know you've had a long day when you want to skip dinner and go right to the alcohol. i am not a big drinker, but i do enjoy the occasional glass of wine or mixed drink (especially the fruity kind). but since getting pregnant with luca, my drinking is limited to a few times a year. last night when jesse cam home from work i was spent. i kind of hid out from the three of them - i admit i let jesse deal with a teething baby and a strong willed and unruly two-year old. but i had them all day, so cut me some slack. i even skipped dinner, thinking what i really needed was a stiff drink. well, when the night wound down and jesse finally got them into bed, he came downstairs and said, "if only we had some vodka or tequila in the house." so it was not just me who needed something to take the edge off. well, we then had the bright idea to run and get the fixin's for pina coladas (jesse went and i stayed home - we weren't that far gone to leave our children home alone). so last night you could find us sipping ice cold, yummy pina coladas in our living room. we just had to close our eyes and pretend to be poolside in costa rica with some phil collins playing in the background - just like our honeymoon almost seven years ago.
two videos to enjoy
here is some footage of the weekend. the first luca discussing his love of numbers with us in the car. his grandpa is squeezed in the middle of two carseats and i am taping from the front. this was the tail end of a long talk, so he gets distracted after a while and wants to eat his necklace. the second is gia getting her groove on at the concert. it ends abruptly so i can catch her before she falls out of the stroller.
my way
one of our personal goals as parents is to reach the heart of our children, not just make them well-behaved. it is so important to us that we communicate this to luca and gia at an early age. i want them to understand that my goal is for obedience and discipline interanlly- not just good manners. at the hearts at home conference i went to in march, one of the presenters, ginger plowman, spoke on this subject. she uses a three-part approach to obedience that i loved and implemented once i came home. when luca is not minding me, i simply ask, "how do you obey?"
then (hopefully) he will respond, "right away. all the way. with a joyful heart."
well, he is only two, so we are still working on this, but it is amazing what an influence that question will have on his behavior. i love it because, although he might not understand the words yet, it shows him that, yes i want him to act a certain way, but i also want his heart to be in the right place. as he and gia get older, we will continue to discover who God has created these kiddos to be and how to reach them at a profound level.
luca has been intent on doing everything for himself lately. pouring the milk in his cup, making his sandwich at lunch, opening doors, putting on clothes, etc. for the most part this is great. sure things may take a bit longer, but this independence shows that he is willing to try new things and learn more skills. sometimes it is frustrating, like when he gets mad (yells, throws, and cries) because i won't let him get gia out of her crib or use a sharp knife to cut fruit. and sometimes, it is just funny. this weekend, while driving in the car, luca was taking off his sandals, which is another new habit. he went to throw the sandal into the front seat and i told him, "no, luca, please put your sandal down."
well, my polite command was followed by him raising the sandal again in preparation to throw. i took the sandal (jesse was driving) and said, "luca, how do you obey?"
the boy looked me in the eye and said, "my way!"
what do you say after that? well, i am sure there is a better response than quickly turning around and laughing so he could not see my face. jesse and i could not make eye contact for several minutes for fear of letting him know how humorous it was. i guess we still need to work on this one. such is life, and parenthood.
then (hopefully) he will respond, "right away. all the way. with a joyful heart."
well, he is only two, so we are still working on this, but it is amazing what an influence that question will have on his behavior. i love it because, although he might not understand the words yet, it shows him that, yes i want him to act a certain way, but i also want his heart to be in the right place. as he and gia get older, we will continue to discover who God has created these kiddos to be and how to reach them at a profound level.
luca has been intent on doing everything for himself lately. pouring the milk in his cup, making his sandwich at lunch, opening doors, putting on clothes, etc. for the most part this is great. sure things may take a bit longer, but this independence shows that he is willing to try new things and learn more skills. sometimes it is frustrating, like when he gets mad (yells, throws, and cries) because i won't let him get gia out of her crib or use a sharp knife to cut fruit. and sometimes, it is just funny. this weekend, while driving in the car, luca was taking off his sandals, which is another new habit. he went to throw the sandal into the front seat and i told him, "no, luca, please put your sandal down."
well, my polite command was followed by him raising the sandal again in preparation to throw. i took the sandal (jesse was driving) and said, "luca, how do you obey?"
the boy looked me in the eye and said, "my way!"
what do you say after that? well, i am sure there is a better response than quickly turning around and laughing so he could not see my face. jesse and i could not make eye contact for several minutes for fear of letting him know how humorous it was. i guess we still need to work on this one. such is life, and parenthood.
a hot weekend for a fest
this weekend was the local arts fest and you could find our clan there both afternoons. on saturday, we toured the vendor booths (beautiful but kinda pricey jewelry, glass, pottery, etc.), watched luca make crafts in the children's area, and enjoy some tasty food. we considered letting luca have his face painted, but considering he sweats about as bad as i do (his nose since infancy has had almost perpetual beads of sweat on it) and not being sure he could sit for that long without fussing, we went with the leg stamp. he chose a giraffe. we then made a necklace with foam beads, spelling out his name and choosing wild animals as spacers. (other crafts included a plate with food stickers and a thermatrope from the library). it was so hot (and of course i could not find a single hair clip or rubber band in my huge diaper bag), so we left a bit earlier than planned. jesse's dad came out again and stayed the night. he took us out for dinner to celebrate jesse's professional engineer license. after eating two breadsticks in the first 10 minutes at the table, luca went on to eat a ton of salad - a great moment in parenthood. the boy used to eat anything i put in front of him in his first year and a half - but it has become much more difficult to get him to make good, well-balanced choices (what do you mean i can't just eat bread, cereal, and crackers?). so yeah for a whole plate of lettuce, tomatoes, and maybe a few croutons!
after church today, we went back to the fest and ate a picnic lunch on the quad near the stage. listening to some amazing blues, luca enjoyed the trumpet. he looked at us in some disbelief when we told him his uncle jay and olivia's mama megan use to play the trumpet - he will reserve judgement on that fact until he sees it for himself. some friends from my mom's group were nearby and luca and their little guy did a fantastic job sharing - two 2 year old's people - while playing "golf." since it was another scorcher (granted it was only in the nineties, so i should probably save that one for the days closer to the triple digits) we had to get ice cream. it melted so fast that our hands were incredibly messy at the end.
to prep for the upcoming release of the new harry potter movie, jesse and i also rewatched the third and fourth movies over the last few days and are hyped for the fifth installment. while watching, jesse gets to ask me a million questions about what is different in the books and for insight on the backstories; considering i have read them 5-8 times depending on the book, i am more than happy to give him the low-down. watching movies in the air conditioning was a nice retreat from the heat.
friends, food, fireworks ,the fourth
some of our closest friends joel, rebecca, and baby stella came to celebrate the fourth at our house. oh and i shouldn't forget their dog hurley. luca wouldn't come outside to play because he wanted to wait at the window to watch for "hurdie doggie" to arrive. once they did, we set up camp in the backyard. of course, we needed to have a photo shoot while all of the children were cooperating. the girlies were picture perfect in their red and white striped outfits, and they were very interested in their papi's beer bottles.
it gets so much harder to see the people we love when you add kids to the mix, so we were thankful to have such a long chunk of time with them. once both of our families get more accustomed to the newest additions, i hope it won't be as difficult to hang out. giavanna and stella were born only 10 weeks apart, so we have big plans for these two to be bosom buddies.
"joel doggie dada" (luca really does call him this every time) taught luca how to make hurley do tricks for crackers.
one of the great things about celebrating the fourth at our house is that you only have to walk across the street to watch our town's fireworks display. our street becomes packed with cars about 8:30 and the sidewalks are full of others in pursuit of bright, loud, and fiery entertainment. for the past few days, luca had been hearing firecrackers and was imiatating the noises (eeeewwwwwww, boom!). he was excited to go see the fireworks ("guca ecited firewooks!"), but since it was past his bedtime, he needed his paci and blankie for the trip. we were brave bringing two babies to an obnoxiously loud event, but when luca was three months old he was mesmerized by the show, so we were willing to take the chance. well, not to worry, my super laid back baby girl not only kicked her legs in enjoyment for the first 15 minutes, but slowly drifted off to sleep as if hypnotized by the pinwheels and wheeping willows. rebecca and i had the babies sitting on our laps with our hands over the ears to deaden some of the booming. luca jumped with surprise after the first one went off and slowly backed up until he hit a chair. he then had whole body shivers and wouldn't move a muscle. we eventually persuaded him to sit on jesse's lap and he continued to be a bit unnerved by the whole thing. jesse said he had shivers 4 or 5 more times. when it ended, he said "more boom booms" so we know he did enjoy himself. he described them to me later as "real loud" and "up high." after walking back to the house, (we had added 4 to our group after seeing friends at the park) everyone packed into their cars (with luca saying "stay here" as he pointed to joel, rebecca, and stella) and we lumbered into chez hart. i was exhausted, but what a night! i love celebrating - seeing people dear to our hearts, eating yummy food (grilled sweet corn tastes sooooo good in central illinois especially with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top), an amazing pyrotechnics display, and honoring the birth (kind of, right rox?) of our nation.
it gets so much harder to see the people we love when you add kids to the mix, so we were thankful to have such a long chunk of time with them. once both of our families get more accustomed to the newest additions, i hope it won't be as difficult to hang out. giavanna and stella were born only 10 weeks apart, so we have big plans for these two to be bosom buddies.
"joel doggie dada" (luca really does call him this every time) taught luca how to make hurley do tricks for crackers.
one of the great things about celebrating the fourth at our house is that you only have to walk across the street to watch our town's fireworks display. our street becomes packed with cars about 8:30 and the sidewalks are full of others in pursuit of bright, loud, and fiery entertainment. for the past few days, luca had been hearing firecrackers and was imiatating the noises (eeeewwwwwww, boom!). he was excited to go see the fireworks ("guca ecited firewooks!"), but since it was past his bedtime, he needed his paci and blankie for the trip. we were brave bringing two babies to an obnoxiously loud event, but when luca was three months old he was mesmerized by the show, so we were willing to take the chance. well, not to worry, my super laid back baby girl not only kicked her legs in enjoyment for the first 15 minutes, but slowly drifted off to sleep as if hypnotized by the pinwheels and wheeping willows. rebecca and i had the babies sitting on our laps with our hands over the ears to deaden some of the booming. luca jumped with surprise after the first one went off and slowly backed up until he hit a chair. he then had whole body shivers and wouldn't move a muscle. we eventually persuaded him to sit on jesse's lap and he continued to be a bit unnerved by the whole thing. jesse said he had shivers 4 or 5 more times. when it ended, he said "more boom booms" so we know he did enjoy himself. he described them to me later as "real loud" and "up high." after walking back to the house, (we had added 4 to our group after seeing friends at the park) everyone packed into their cars (with luca saying "stay here" as he pointed to joel, rebecca, and stella) and we lumbered into chez hart. i was exhausted, but what a night! i love celebrating - seeing people dear to our hearts, eating yummy food (grilled sweet corn tastes sooooo good in central illinois especially with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top), an amazing pyrotechnics display, and honoring the birth (kind of, right rox?) of our nation.
too young to call me that
no not anything inappropriate, but luca has begun calling me "mom" over the last few days. my response to him after the first time, "you're too young to call me mom luca." he is my little guy still and "mama" should flow from his lips. we have always referred to ourselves as "mama" and "papi" (sometimes "dada" since it was so easy for luca to say last year). so where did he learn this new, sad habit? probably observing other little ones addressing their mothers. or adults who tell him to "go by your mom" or "what did your mom say you can do?" well, i don't want to be a stickler about it , but i will try to break him of this yet.
to the right, some sickly-sweet pics of the kiddos playing in gia's room this morning. in case you were wondering, today was not like yesterday; luca has needed multiple timeouts in his room - but i kept my wits about me (and a healthy dose of the holy spirit!).
he passed! (or what happens when your toddler wakes up happy)
at 8:30 this morning i couldn't believe how great the day was going. yes, i only slept four hours last night (not consecutively) and upon waking i was determined to be cranky and misunderstood (its not only two year olds who throw tantrums). but what happened next jolted me out of my funk. luca woke up and was in a good mood. good doesn't do it justice - he was gleeful. i pulled out his clothes and he exclaimed happily, "guca get dressed!" now this is the child who often yells in reply to this same action, " no get dressed!" and starts running out of the room. i wasn't completely convinced to give up my grouchiness just yet. but things kept going well - all of the morning routine went smoothly - breakfast, diaper changes, clean-up, and getting in the car to go to the chiropractor. i was driving to this appointment at 8:30 when i realized how shocked i was by this lack of difficulty.
things continued along this surprising trend for most of the day. i won't pretend luca didn't occasionally back talk or disobey - but i was patient and gracious. it was so refreshing. what brought this change? i think God softened my heart this morning when i saw the joy in luca's face - a reflection of Him and what He has to offer me. God doesn't require me to enjoy my lack of sleep or pain felt throughout my body. but He does desire for me to seek Him regardless of the day (or night in this case) that i have had. i think this is an awesome example of how God uses our children to disciple and teach us. i am constantly being stretched in new ways. if i have grown this much in only two years - how much more when my children are teenagers (which i am told is way more trying than infancy and toddlerhood)?
even though gia wouldn't take a nap, she was content to squirm around the living room while i rested and luca napped. and when we were all up and about, what could happen to make the day even more satisfying? the mail came bringing jesse's professional engineer licencing exam results. i had a good feeling about it (even though i couldn't read through the envelope when holding it up to the sunlight). i decided to get the three of us ready to take jesse out to a surprise (celebration, hopefully) dinner. well, he passed folks, and we ate a yummy meal at famous daves (a fantastic bbq joint). this day felt blessed - not perfect - but God showed mercy to and had favor for me.
here is our family pic in front of the pig.
post script: to sweeten the deal, we discovered when we arrived that it was kid's eat for a dollar night at the restaurant. since when did a day go this well?
p.p.s.: i just want to say congrats to my husband - who studied so hard and so long for this test, not to mention working hard in his field for the past 7 years. we sacrificed a lot this past spring while he reviewed a duffel bag full of textbooks and notes. he was not feeling very confident and thought he would need to retake it this fall. i was impressed with his dedication and am proud of his accomplishment.
things continued along this surprising trend for most of the day. i won't pretend luca didn't occasionally back talk or disobey - but i was patient and gracious. it was so refreshing. what brought this change? i think God softened my heart this morning when i saw the joy in luca's face - a reflection of Him and what He has to offer me. God doesn't require me to enjoy my lack of sleep or pain felt throughout my body. but He does desire for me to seek Him regardless of the day (or night in this case) that i have had. i think this is an awesome example of how God uses our children to disciple and teach us. i am constantly being stretched in new ways. if i have grown this much in only two years - how much more when my children are teenagers (which i am told is way more trying than infancy and toddlerhood)?
even though gia wouldn't take a nap, she was content to squirm around the living room while i rested and luca napped. and when we were all up and about, what could happen to make the day even more satisfying? the mail came bringing jesse's professional engineer licencing exam results. i had a good feeling about it (even though i couldn't read through the envelope when holding it up to the sunlight). i decided to get the three of us ready to take jesse out to a surprise (celebration, hopefully) dinner. well, he passed folks, and we ate a yummy meal at famous daves (a fantastic bbq joint). this day felt blessed - not perfect - but God showed mercy to and had favor for me.
here is our family pic in front of the pig.
post script: to sweeten the deal, we discovered when we arrived that it was kid's eat for a dollar night at the restaurant. since when did a day go this well?
p.p.s.: i just want to say congrats to my husband - who studied so hard and so long for this test, not to mention working hard in his field for the past 7 years. we sacrificed a lot this past spring while he reviewed a duffel bag full of textbooks and notes. he was not feeling very confident and thought he would need to retake it this fall. i was impressed with his dedication and am proud of his accomplishment.
mwa mwa hart comes to town and other fun adventures
we are exhausted, but have had fun getting there. this weekend began with gia's second tooth crowning - yeah, a little less crankiness! she is definitely an overachiever when it comes to this teething thing. i think luca had only two teeth at his first birthday party - since i am so tired i have license to be wrong about this. i will check his baby book later and make my apologies if i am incorrect.
we then took a family trip to menards and a local building materials dealer to buy the supplies for our garden path. since finishing our fence, we have had a muddy mess around the gate every time it rains. we desperately need to finish this path. actually we were at menards when we noticed gia's tooth. luca enjoyed making her laugh while they hung out in the mondo carts. she has taken a page out of baby anni's book and will now scrunch her nose up and open her mouth wide when she laughs and smiles. it is really cute, especially since it is accompanied by some funny breathy noises.
when we got home, i got a little crazy and decided to start scraping the peeling paint off of our front door so it can be repainted. add the prep work for the path and we were working hard. it helped that one of our favorite people - mwa mwa hart (jesse's dad) - was on his way to visit! he arrived with excellent timing (right when luca woke up from his nap). we grilled out while lovin' the gorgeous weather. mwa mwa hart helped luca refine his taquito making skills.
luca thinks his grandpa is a big toy for his enjoyment. he did not want mwa mwa to hold gia and or to sit and relax. they played tee-ball and luca impressed us all with his skills. he hit the fence at the back of the yard consistently. in this video i had the nerve to accuse luca of getting tired. he quickly proved me wrong. i should note, that luca is right handed, yet you can see he chooses to bat lefty.
after a hearty breakfast (eggs, beans, rice, chorizo, tortillas, smothered with salsa), we continued to work on our path and front door, but mostly just took in more of the beautiful summer. here are some great pics from the day.
luca walking on our brick path border.
gia being adorable showing off her standing skills.
mwa mwa helping scrape the front door.
luca and mwa mwa talking to grandma scrunchies on the phone.
mmmm - peanut butter and jelly!
how sweet are these two!
we ended the weekend by going to the mall for a very special event. i have been looking forward to this since i found out we were having a girl last august. gia got her ear's pierced! she was a trooper. the girl in the shop was surprised she didn't cry more. i had to hold her in a death lock so she couldn't move - one arm wrapped around her body and one hand on her forehead. she did have some tears, but cheered up once she saw my matching earrings (jesse bought them as a late promised birthday present). i love baby earrings!
jesse thought this was hilarious.
i know, we made our baby cry.
a happy girl once again.
and to top it off, here is an update of our horsey fort. everyone who could fit (meaning the children and the little grandpa) played inside.
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