See those teeth? Look at how crowded they are already. I see braces in our future for this little guy. By the way...this is the face he makes when you ask for a kiss. He does this along with a humming noise. I hope he keeps doing it for a while longer...I could ask him for kisses all day long simply to see this face.
This week marked the beginning of Colton's potty training, and the end of diapers during the day.
When he woke Monday morning with a dry diaper, I put him on the potty to pee, like I have done before. Afterward, I decided this time to put him in underwear and just remind him (constantly) to NOT go in his pants. We escaped the day without any accidents. But we did go through three pair of underwear. Good old Skid left his marks in two of them.
Tuesday there were two accidents, and since then we've been accident free. I just knew that when he was ready, he would really be ready. He even wakes from naps with a dry diaper (I put one on him for sleep).
I'm sure my brother, who will be watching them for 6 days in the near future, will thank me profusely for not having to change the poopy diapers of a 3 year old. Because, seriously...it's nasty. It is NOT baby poop anymore. Let's face it...it stopped being baby poop when he started consuming something other than breast milk, and just got worse from there.
So. My little man is out of diapers during the day, and I am now making thirty trips to the toilet with one of the children each day. I have promoted myself from professional butt-wiper to master butt-wiper. Sorta like a master chef.
Recently I traveled to Maine to assist another photographer with a wedding there. Well, I traveled to Providence, stayed in Massachusetts and shot the wedding in Maine to be precise. I posted some of the photos I took both here and on my Facebook fan page.
I had a small layover both ways in Chicago. While waiting there on the way out, I received a text message from my husband that he and my son threw away his last pacifier. I did what any self respecting mother would do. I cried. There in the airport, for all around me to see. Tears streamed down my cheeks at the thought of my baby...simply not being a baby anymore.
Now, I admit...I allowed him to have the pacifier far longer than I should have (he'll be three at the end of August). But what can I say? When it comes to this little man, I'm as soft as butter left out on a warm day.
I just love him.
My four year old spent the day today as "Willy." As in Willy of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. As in Johnny Depp, Willy. No, she didn't dress up. There was nothing going on for which she had to play a role. She simply decided that today...she was Willy. And Willy constantly referred to herself in third person. "Willy's full of this sandwich. Willy doesn't like animal crackers." I honestly didn't even know talking in third person was a skill a four year old would have. I should have known better.
Fast forward to bath time. Colton was already toweled off and went running, naked, out to the kitchen. I was drying off Willy when I hear Colton say to Finnegan (our dog) "wick my bunghole!" Yes. That was the cherry on the sundae that was my day. This is my life.
Saturday is our out to eat night with the kids. They look forward to it all week. After dinner they are allowed to choose where we go to dessert.
So, this past Saturday we are riding in the car to dinner, and Addyson and Colton are talking about which ice cream place they'd like to have. Addyson says Cold Stone and Colton says Frost. Of course. Never could they simply agree. That would be too...well, simple.
Then, Colton, in a voice as sweet and smooth as honey, says to Addyson "Do you want Kona Beri, Addyson?" Addyson says, in a sassy voice, "No!" Colton's logical reply to this is "Well, then I'm gonna fart!"
You bet your sweet a$$ that I found this hilarious!
I have this picture that Andy took of me holding Colton. He was a brand new little guy, and I was in love. So in love that it floored me. I experienced it once before when Addyson entered the world, but I didn't really believe my heart could hold that much more. What a fool I was. The second I heard his cry, my eyes flooded and my heart expanded. God had blessed me with another little soul, and Colton immediately found his place.
When I learned I was pregnant with Colton I was a bit surprised. Not, of course, at the how of it...just at the how soon of it. Andy and I had decided it was time to let nature take its course again...and let me just say, nature had the fast track in mind. I was worried about my little Addyson. She was 9 months old when Colton was conceived, and I fretted over her being kicked from the nest too soon. It broke my heart.
As Colton's scheduled due date arrived I fretted over that too. I had tremendous guilt that my babes needed to be born via c-section. With Addyson, I at least went into labor with her, and was able to give it the good ole' college try. But with Colton, I chose his birthday. I hated that (and I don't usually say hate). What if we were taking him out before he was really ready? Shouldn't he have been the one to say "okay guys...here I come!" It took me a long time to be okay with that.
So, here are two pictures actually. The first is one of my holding Addyson after they wheeled me back from surgery. My eyes (and entire face) were so puffy. It's a wonder I could stop crying long enough to have a picture with her. My little baby...too soon the big girl.
Here she is, so unsure of what is all happening. Only 18 months old. But a brave little face nonetheless. She obviously knew something I had yet to learn. That Colton was a precious gift to her. God gave her a new best friend.
And here I am with my newest little addition. I am looking at my screen through a filter of tears as I remember how I felt then...and how even that doesn't compare to what I feel today.
Thanks, Julie for hosting such a wonderful theme. It has afforded me with some wonderful knew photos, and has enabled me to relive some very treasured memories.
Please go join up with Julie for some more Mom N' Me posts.
I have never jumped on the Long Road to China Train...but today seemed as good a day as any. This, of course, is my little Colton. I originally took this in color, and Andy was in it too. Andy despised it of himself. So I cropped in on Colton, changed it to black and white, and upped the contrast a little bit. Much better. Colton is, 90% of the time, just this snuggly.
I wonder what is going through his active little mind when he looks like this. All the world is still a wonder. Trees, birds, dogs...fascinating, all of them. Often I tell myself I should try to remember to look at the world through the eyes of a child. Seldom I do. How jaded we become as adults. How wary, weary, and burdened. What a refreshing change of pace it is when we can get down on our knees, next to our child, and look at an object in unison. What a wonder when we can rediscover that object and marvel at how it brings light to the face of someone we love so much. In a moment such as this, all else fades away. As it should. Too quickly, this child of mine will grow. Unfairly, time, like a thief, will steal away the innocent way he views the world. That same world will make him wary, weary and burdened. Until he, like I have, gets down on his knees, and looks at the world anew, through the eyes of a child he loves.
Since I am all about feeding my children healthy foods, all of the time, this most certainly wouldn't be photographic evidence to the contrary. This is Colton. At the park. Sporting camo...and the remnants of his very first McDonald's cheeseburger. Sigh. It pretty much goes without saying, he loved it. Oh, and just to be very clear...I didn't wipe his face until we were ready to leave the park. That way, I was certain to be one of those mothers who let their kids run around looking like raggamuffins. As his mommy(ever biased), I do have to say that he is one adorable little raggamuffin!
things look a tad wintry. This is afterall, Arizona and we are not used to this view. Here are a few peeks (and peaks) into what we see from our backyard.
Addyson
Colton
Drew
A wash that runs(in weather like we've had recently) directly behind us...
And how 'bout a Saguaro so we can tell it's still Arizona
Currently, these are the views from our perspective.
