The Children, an update. Part two: Linus

It is a warm, breezy night as I sit here and think about my son. My little boy. My terror. My joy. My most up and down of my days. 

Oh little Linus Cooper. What a bundle he is. I don't have teenagers yet, so I'm not sure I'm qualified to say I know what "Parenting 501" looks like, but he's gotta rank me up there in the upper level courses. Every day is sort of a manic roller coaster with him, ranging from exclaiming how pretty I am after I shower and get dressed in the morning to yelling at me like I killed his best friend or dog or something when he wants to ask me for a cup of water. BUT, he does have the best little giggle in the whole wide world. I love to hear him belly laugh and love watching the way his mouth curves around his little four year old teeth when he busts a gut. I swoon a little bit.                                                                                    
Linus enjoys routines. I've been puzzled the last week or so as to why Linus all of a sudden has been falling apart over more things than normal and I think it is because once summer started any semblance of routine has sort of flown out the window. But he keeps us on schedule as best as he can, starting off the mornings bright and early with a request to use the restroom, even though we tell him every morning that he no longer needs to ask or inform us when he has to go potty. He does anyway, every time. And often informs us as to what exactly he's going to perform in there before he goes in. Sometimes publicly and quite loudly. He often remembers things upon waking that no four year old should remember, so if he's not requesting to use the bathroom upon waking up, he's reminding us of something. Craig will roll over first thing in the morning sometimes in bed and gasp loudly as he suddenly realizes Linus is standing right by his face.  
"DAD" he whispers loudly. " 'member you said that I could have a popsicle after dinner wast night?" Craig scratches his head and rubs his eyes and replies, "Linus, that was two weeks ago, we can get you a popsicle after dinner another night," which will either be followed with a persistent insistence that he needs a popsicle right now to make up for the fact that he forgot two weeks ago or he quietly submits and climbs back into bed, and there really isn't a particular rhyme or reason to when he will comply or not. Flip of the coin really.

His mind is always running a hundred miles an hour. Our days are filled to the brim with questions and comments and reminders and anything that comes off the top of his head. He loves to know what time it is. If there is a future event coming up that he is excited about, we hear about it all the time until we go (let it slip that we are going camping earlier than we meant to, and he has not quit talking about it since). I think he doesn't think that we listen to him (and I suppose after all he says all day long, it's hard to remain excited about everything he says), and often he'll as a question about something like, "Mom, what is this?" "That's a can opener, Linus." "No, Mom, what is this?" I look back at the object he's pulled out of the drawer. "A can opener, Linus, it's can opener." "NO, Mom, THIS!!!!" and then I have to physically walk over to him and grasp the can opener in my hands, look him in the face and say, "This is a can opener, it opens cans for us, Linus, this in my very hand is a can opener..." before he acknowledges that I've said anything at all.
He loves to be outside all the time. He loves playing at the park and running around the backyard with water balloons. He does not like getting his ears wet. Ever. Bath time is all fun and games until we have to wash his hair and then everything sort of explodes and I usually end up soaked at some point. He loves to pick dandelions for me and tell me that I'm pretty. He loves catching bugs and looking them over like he's the first person to ever discover it. He loves helping Mommy when I ask him to do special jobs for me like bringing Grandma a can of olives next door or cleaning up a particular area of the house. He makes his bead every morning and loves to run downstairs and bring me up to show me his clean room and made bed (he does a really good job of this- I see so much of his Dad in him sometimes it's scary!) He loves to watch me bake, cook, clean, work, whatever. If I can get him to keep his hands out of whatever I'm making, some of my most cherished conversations with him are while I'm putting something together in the kitchen and he just sits and watches and asks questions and talks to me. He loves to dance and only likes to listen to "cool songs", so I have to change songs in the car/ at home until I find one he likes. He and Chloe both almost know all the words to "Tonight" by Fun. (as if you don't hear that song enough already) and enjoy belting it out together around the house. And he has a really good ear and picks up a lot of the primary songs we go over at church, even the ones that we have barely started learning. He sweats like no other kid I've ever met. It's kind of comical to look at his pillow when he gets up from his nap or to use the bathroom at night. Just have to wash his sheets a little more often than the other two. He is ambidextrous. I watch him color and draw all the time and I really have no idea which hand he prefers. Not sure if I should be encouraging this or not, but Craig sure seems excited about it. I suppose the prospect of an ambidextrous athlete for a son is exciting and he highly promotes it when they play together.  He likes oatmeal, carrots and cucumbers, cookies, cheese, grapes, cherries (he is very proud that this year he can spit the seeds out himself), apples, oranges, tomatoes, crackers, raisins, frozen peas (all my kids love these, great summer time afternoon snack!) and popsicles, among many other family meals. Hates potatoes.
I'm both nervous and also looking forward to starting preschool with him this year. Mostly just glad for the one on one time I'll get to spend with him and see how focused he can be when we work together. Here's hoping for the best.

I completely understand that he draws attention to himself dramatically when he gets upset, especially in public situations. I laugh it off and we work through it together, but it dawned on me while I was working last year that I may be the only person who loves him like I do in this world. There is nothing like the friendship and understanding that exists between a mother and her little boy when they are young. They change so much when they get older and this is really the only time that I have with him when I am really his best friend (although he insists that it's his cousin John, whom he adores even though he only sees him once or twice a year). It made me really sad at the time to think that I could be the only person who really tries to understand him like I do, but then I realized how privileged I am to be the one who gets to help him through this life. I get to be the one that he loves more than anyone else on this earth too, and it totally changed my perspective of our relationship. I am so....SO SO SO SO SO grateful that I can be at home with him. As difficult as it is with him some days, I would not trust this job to anyone else.
I love you, Linus, from the very center of my heart, you warm me over with that smile and that laugh and your never ending bright and inquisitive mind. Not to mention your kindness, however hard you try to bury it sometimes. Never give it up.

The Children, an update. Part 1: Odell

There are just so many things that my children do everyday that I don't want to forget, so it is time for my semi-annual individual updates, starting with the baby.

Ohhhhhhh-dell. What a treasure she is. She has grown up a lot in the last six months or so, it makes me so sad. She's not quite to the terrible twos yet (although I would definitely say she's in the "pre" stage, we've seen a few moments that I'm sure will give a good indication of the storm to come) and I finally have a baby that loves to cuddle while she's still little. My older kids love to cuddle now, but they didn't care much for it when they were little, always too busy with the rest of the world around them. Not Odell. She loves to walk up to me like she wants a hug, I squat down to give her one, then she pulls away, points down at the ground and demands "WAP!", which is her way of saying, "No, Mom, sit down and let me sit in your lap. Right now." She would sit there all day if I let her. She follows me around all day just waiting for me to sit down so she can crawl up and snuggle with me. She still makes that obnoxiously loud clicking sound with her tongue when she is happy and content. I'm surprised it's hung on this long, and sometimes you look at her and go, "Wow. That's really loud, how does she do that?" I don't know. But it's sort of her trademark now. One time she was doing it in the back of the car and I was chewing a piece of gum, so I started popping it really loud in my mouth to match her and she stopped, then stared at me for a minute as if to say, "Whoa, Mom. I'm impressed!"
She's talking a lot more now. I know everyone does this, but I love looking back when my kids are older and looking at all the funny ways they used to say words, so bear with me. Here is a list of words she is working on right now:
Wap: Let me sit in your lap, or time for prayer
Hadadell??: Where's Odell??
HeeKAboo!: Peekaboo!
Aiyayoo!: I love you!
'Too: I love you too
Eye, no', mow, shinnn, eeeow, heeeks, had, han, e'bow, bee-awee, shoe: Eyes, nose, mouth, chin, ears, cheeks, head, hand, elbow, belly, feet.
No: No or Yes
Yesh: just repeats it, but doesn't know what it means
Gum: Okay, yes, sure, whatever. She says this for pretty much everything.
Wha-yer: Water
Peees: Please (with hand sign)
K'you: Thank you (with sign)
Moh: More (with sign)
Eh! Eh! Eh! Eh!: PICK ME UP PA-LEEEEEEEASE!!!!!
Hish: Fish
RUFFRUFF!: Dog
Eeeeeow: Cat
Hewp?: Can I help set the table?
Mmmmaahh!: Kiss
Nana: Banana
Oh-meeoh: Oatmeal
Kacker: Cracker
Huck: Hug
Ssssssshhhhat!: I'm not sure what this means yet, but I've gotten a few looks in public when she says it so I should probably try to determine what it is she's saying.
Poh-Pee!: I pooped my diaper, change me now!
Poh-Pee!: I peed my diaper, change me now! Looks like I'm going to need to get out the potty soon...
Na-Naieee: Goodnight

Her favorite conversations with me go something like this:
Odell: MAM! MAM! MAM! MAM!
Me: ODELLODELLODELLODELL!
Odell: *laughing* Whattt-uh?!
Me: Hi Odell
Odell: Hi Mommeeee....MAM! MAM! MAM!
Me: Yes, Odell?
Odell: Hi Mommeeee
Me: Hi Odell
Odell: HEE-UH!
She says that last word a lot too, sort of like a end of conversation word, or a "good" or "okay" or "yes" or "okay now I have your attention and I just need to say something" kind of word.
She loves to laugh. She loves mac and cheese, grapes, bananas, will eat heaping bowls of oatmeal mixed with applesauce for breakfast every morning and scarfs it down before either of her siblings, will eat vegetables only when I sneak them in with other food, unless it's Grandma's snow peas out in the garden, loves my bread, but won't eat many other rolls or other kinds of bread, loves pasta with any kind of sauce on it, cheese sticks, and juice, of course.

I've walked into a room where she's in to find her rolling on the floor on her back like a dog in a mud puddle, she does this on any kind of floor surface and seems to genuinely enjoy it. She doesn't get into many things or make huge messes around the house, the only toy she really seems to like to play with is a bag full of plates and cups and utensils for play food that Chloe got for her birthday. Or she likes her baby doll or the stroller. I can take her pretty much anywhere, she loves it when it's just us at the grocery store and she doesn't have to battle for my attention with the other two kids. She loves naptime and goes down without a fit everyday. She will certainly let you know if you are doing something she doesn't like by shrieking loudly (defense mechanism with Linus) OR grabbing your glasses off your face (defense mechanism with Chloe). It seems to have worked with Chloe because she doesn't ask to sit next to her in the car anymore (which put her in reaching distance). Linus just thinks it's funny and rebuttals with a louder shriek like it's a game. That's always fun. She lets her siblings give her a hug and a kiss before bed every night, though, and loves to be silly with them when they goof off at the dinner table by shaking her arms and shoulders around and yelling gobbledy-gook at the top of her lungs when her siblings' focus is no longer on her. That usually sets them off laughing hysterically. They think she's a hoot.
I'm so grateful we have her in our family and it's so fun to see her personality come bursting out amidst all the chaos of our day to day lives. We love our little Odell.

Oh Summer

It is 99 degrees out and we don't have air conditioning in our house.
Sick.
I keep finding excuses to open the freezer and get a blast of the motherload of amazing coming outta that thing. I think I'm going to get a big ol' honking chest freezer, have Craig mount it to our ceiling in our bedroom in lieu of the fan, hook it up, and just leave it open, pouring all it's goodness over us as we sleep. Ahh....I feel a little better just thinking about it.
Aside from this disgusting weather (which is not helping the High Park fire any, no rain in sight for the last week and none to come this week either), the sun has been our friend now and again. Since I got back from Hawaii, we've been out and about enjoying all the things that three kids and a stay at home can enjoy. LIKE:
Catnapping

 Getting our hair cut

 Hanging out at the town barbeque/concert in the park and following Craig around while he works there for his practicum.

 Also facepaint. A MUST.

 Praying for the fire to be contained. :-(

 Getting family pictures taken!! Thank you Candie Giesey, she took a load of wonderful shots for us, here are a couple that I edited. Check out her work HERE. Love her to death.

Reorganizing. 

 And celebrating.

 Making use of old gifts.

 Goofing off. A MUST.

 Learning how to make a BUDDY BURNER at the relief society activity in my backyard. AMAZING. Ask me how to make them, they are really great for fun family activities and really useful in case of an emergency.

 Going to the library a lot. The Denver Zoo came and the kids got to see some of their animals and participate in the activities.

 

Chloe: MOM. I don't want to touch the animals. 

 

 Going as a family to the temple with our primary. A very sweet and fun experience.

 

 Stopping at Krispy Kreams on the way home for a pre-Father's Day treat.

 Getting up early and making caramel apple french toast with bacon and a donut for Daddy on Father's Day.

Just in case anyone didn't already know who we're dealing with here. Greatest Dad EVER. And yes he wore that to church.

In the meantime, melting away in the sauna otherwise known as my living room. LUCKILY we are headed out to Grandma's house in Denver this evening and will hopefully get to dip in the pool to cool off. Maybe by then a nice breeze will come and save our house from opening the portal to the fiery furnaces of the underworld by the time we get back...

Days ten, eleven, and twelve, home again home again...

Okay, I'm home now.

I need to blog the last couple of days before I forget what we did.
SOOOO, Saturday we decided to go visit Waimea Canyon, otherwise known as the grand canyon of Hawaii. We saw some of it from the helicopter, but I'm not gonna lie, I probably wasn't as appreciative of it as I would have liked to be given the "bag of shame", as it has come to be known, that accompanied my helicopter experience (P.S., did I tell you how when we got out of the helicopter I had to bring said bag all the way across the parking lot in full view of the next group waiting to get loaded on the helicopter to put it in the dumpster? I had a small consolation in seeing many other bags of shame in the dumpster as I dropped it off, guess I wasn't the only one who wasn't forewarned....). Anyway, Waimea Canyon was breathtaking. Rose really wanted to do like another 8 mile hike, and that probably would have been awesome, but my body was tired and when Addison voiced the same opinion I had to side with him to appease my aches and pains. We were going to find a shorter one, but I guess no one really looked to see where the trailhead was, and we were running out of gas when we drove up there, so we just went to the lookout point and then came back. Loved the views, though, definitely worth the trip.

 Hee hee...

 Rockstar Addison!

Rose was less sure of her inner rockstar, but she gave it her best shot. 

We came home and wandered the stores at Poi'pu beach resort, then Rose and I cooked up a bunch of vegetables and rice for dinner, then watched the Dailai Lama on CNN until we fell asleep. 

The next day was Sunday! Best day of the week. My mom and I got up early and went to church nearby. The ward we went to on the south side was much bigger than the branch in Hanalei, and the people were very friendly. I'm still amazed at the faith of the people in our church all over the world. It was like I was home. Afterwards we came home and Addison and Rose were tanning on the back deck. We went out as it was getting later and walked to Poi'pu beach at this lookout point to watch the sunset. I decided not to bring my camera so I could just enjoy it, but I couldn't help but snap a few with my iphone while we were there. It was one of those blazing life changingly incredible sunsets and I again sat and marveled, as I did over the whole trip, how beautiful this world is that God has made for us.

Monday was our last day in Hawaii- we spent the morning packing and getting ready to leave the condo we were staying in, then loaded up the car and went to the McBryde and Allerton Botanical Gardens. We heard both were beautiful, but the McBryde gardens had a self-guided tour, which we were more interested, and it was $15 a person instead of $45 a person. We opted for McBryde half-heartedly, mostly because of the cost, but then later on the tram back to the visitor's center the tram driver informed us as we drove by Allerton Gardens that it was on National Geographic's top ten places to visit in the world. Bam. Regret. Oh well, the McBryde Gardens were beautiful too and it was a nice relaxing way to end our trip in Hawaii. 

After the gardens we drove out to Lihue where the airport was and dropped of the rental car and headed to the airport. We were a few hours early, so we headed over to Starbucks to plug in our phones to charge for the overnight flight back to the mainland and watch the helicopter ride video. It was far less "shameful" watching it from the DVD than it was in the actual helicopter. I didn't watch the whole thing, I'll have to watch the rest later- my mom and I went and used one of those massage chairs in the lounge while listening to some live Hawaiin music in the lobby.
Our hearts were a little heavy as we left, and maybe a little heavier when we got home, but I can say that I was very excited to be reunited with my family again. Odell didn't forget who I was (hooray!!), I feel like Craig and I are far more appreciative of each other this week after a two week separation, and the kids are back to climbing all over me and enjoying the outside summer weather! 

It was a much needed reunion with my Mom and brother and sister over the whole trip. It truly is a paradise out there, people don't just say that, and I'm grateful that I was able to experience. Next time I go out there it will not be without my eternal companion and kids by my side, all I could think about the whole time was how much they would enjoy it there. When their older, I think. And we aren't broke. :-)
Aloha Hawaii!!!