Fall fun

big boys

Halloween clowns.


Ollie had a cold a few weeks ago, and we had some nice time together while Noah went to church with Daddy. Oliver is off all of his asthma medications except for colds. He may go on them again over the winter, but he's definitely doing much better than a year ago. Last winter, we only went outside for any length of time if he a. didn't have a cold b. it wasn't below about 20 degrees and c. there wasn't a pollution advisory (and there were lots of them due to snow, because the pollution gets trapped by the moist air when there's a warm-up and there's a significant thaw). So that meant almost never, and we didn't go sledding beyond the front yard or skating even once. It was a looooong winter with 2 active boys, but with Ollie's health improvement and our YWCA membership, this winter should be a lot better.




They barely fit, but every now and then, both boys still want to sit in our laps at the same time.


Grandma gave the boys a couple of very comfy sweatshirts from her recent trip to Washington. Omie sent some postcards from across the ocean, so the boys got some very exciting mail over the space of a week. We spent lots of time looking at their globe that week!



Sometimes we have to earn back some of our toys by doing a little polishing....


After not much interest over the summer, the boys are really into puzzles again. They make great puzzle partners, each offering their own unique strengths.


Sheer enthusiasm for life is a mutual strength.


As is a love of books and grandparents.




"Look, Mama! We are just one really long boy!"



The boys helped me make some biscuits the other day.




Fall is always kind of tough at our house, with those "half-birthdays" that tend to correlate with rougher patches for a lot of kids, plus school and Jo'el's new schedule starting again. This fall was no different, and October was particularly rough going--the boys were suddenly super high-energy, wrestling all the time and not listening very well. Oh, did I wish for more compliant and obedient children. It's been better lately, and I've kind of adjusted my perspective a bit. Do my kids come running as soon as I call? Nope. Do they tune me out? Yup--with No*ah in particular, I often have to get down on his level, make him look at me, ask him to repeat my request before he'll truly hear me. It's exhausting. However. I've also seen real evidence lately that my children are kind. They are kind to their cousin when she visits, they are kind to other kids, and generally seem concerned for other kids' well being, often telling me who was sad at school, or unkind. I fell down the stairs recently, and was in so much pain for a few minutes that I almost threw up. I lay on the floor moaning, trying to catch my breath and with my hand full of blood, and the boys brought me kisses and water and band aids. They care very much about each other's feelings, and will gladly share their Halloween candy, or anything else so that each boy has some. They are full of love. They are also pretty respectful most of the time, good with their P's and Q's, and considerate. They show the kind of respect that can just as easily come out of good intentions and actually thinking about a situation as from rule-following. They are concerned about the homeless people we see, and about kids who don't have enough to eat (we can't leave the grocery store without buying something from the food shelf, and the other day, Oliv*er talked me into giving some of the canned goods I'd intended for our own pantry). Do I sometimes wish my kids would try to negotiate or argue less and just do what I say? Do I wish they'd wait quietly by my side more often? Do I wish they'd sit more neatly at the table without squirming? Sure I do, but when they're older, respect and kindness are going to be worth a lot more than just obedience and rule-following. It's our job to teach them to listen, but also to teach them about kindness, mercy, love, and grace. We'll keep working on the listening, but I think we have some pretty good kids.

A few weeks ago, we went to a local store to buy two sets of sneakers for the gym. I told them on the way that I wasn't buying superhero sneakers, but when Noah asked if he could get the kind that flashed in the heel, I said I didn't think they'd have those if they weren't superhero (which I personally don't feel the need to buy at this time). They did have one such pair though, but only in No*ah's size. I could tell that Ollie was really disappointed, but he kept it together, and let me help him try on another pair without complaint. I was proud of him for handling his disappointment so well, but then on the way out, I spied a miss-shelved pair of flashing light sneakers in the right size. He was over the moon, and so was No*ah, that his brother would get to have them too.

The next day as was tiding up, I was marveling at how enormous the new sneakers were. I pulled one of their first tiny NICU socks out of the cup in our china cabinet I keep it in, and placed it next to the shoe. That's a quarter, for reference.

They are still changing so fast. We're looking at kindergartens for next fall, they're learning big words like "unusual" and "theory" and "compromise", and asking big, philosophical and complicated questions. They're reading and writing a little. They monkey across the monkey bars, somersault, skip, and pump their own swings. Yesterday, they played quietly until 9 AM. I woke up in a panic, and found them sitting on the couch and playing UNO. How is it even possible that they ever really fit those tiny socks?

apples

We went to the apple orchard again this fall, on a perfect Friday morning, and brought grandma along this time.

I really like this place--it has some of the fun apple orchard stuff, like a maze and goats, but it's very low-key, has reasonable prices, and a beautiful setting.




That's Ollie's "look".






Oliv*er and grandma joking around.










We shared a picnic lunch next to the river after the apple-picking.

woods

Wo*od Lake Nature Center is still a favorite place to go for our family. Look at that cottonwood!



Wo*od Lake is now even better, because there's a Children's Natural Play Area where kids can break all the rules: go off trail, climb the trees, move rocks and logs around, and just generally explore like I remember doing as a kid. The boys are very content there.

When I was eight, we lived in a woodsy suburb of New York City, our house backing up to acres of woods. It was the early eighties—kids still had a lot more free reign than they do now—and I spent a fair bit of time by myself or with my brother in those woods. I remember a spring day, the first flush of green shooting up through the fragrant leaf mould. Wearing rain boots and a red down vest over the play clothes I’d probably hastily pulled on after throwing my parochial school uniform on my bedroom floor, I lay on the plank that served as a bridge over the brook, the sun warming my back as I trailed a stick through a deeper section of water.

At first, I was lost in the rippling patterns the stick made on the surface, the sound of the shallower parts of the brook moving fast full of snow melt, spring birdsong, and flying squirrels disturbing the tree canopy. I startled and almost withdrew the stick as I saw the dark green shell of a turtle moving under the water. It latched onto the stick, and we both froze there for a moment before I gently pulled up, pulling the turtle part way out of the water before it let go and swam to the water’s edge. There it sat looking at me, basking in the same sun that warmed my own back. I was so still and silent that a deer ran close by minutes—or an eternity—later. I thought then that the whole forest would show itself, come to life, if I just sat quietly for long enough.

I didn’t always sit still; I caught frogs in those woods, pulled seed pods apart, looked under rocks and inside logs, and made shapes out of the clay my brother and I dug from the brook’s banks. I read Beverly Cleary books on my favorite rock formation, made obstacle courses out of rocks and logs with neighbor kids, waded barefoot in the brook while looking out for crayfish, and picked blackberries by the side of the dirt road on the other side of the woods. There were untold epiphanies for me there—that the clay might be why the water didn’t all just drain onto the ground, that some seeds are designed to travel with the wind and others by sticking to my shoelaces as burrs, that each creature probably has some type of defense if you think about it hard enough, that a “dead” tree is full of life, that many, many of those seeds must scatter to become even a single mature tree. I remember not only learning these things, but how it felt to learn them through my own free exploration of the natural world, with few rules beyond common sense, and no parental hovering. My mother wisely dressed us in bright red vests that were easily seen from her kitchen window, and shared our interest in what we found there, but beyond that, she mostly let us be.



My own children may never have quite the type of freedom I did (though they might come close at "the Barn" in upstate New York and on camping trips), but I am grateful to at least know what it is I’m looking for when I try to share the natural world with them. When we go to a playground for the second time in as many days and I notice that the boys are spending as much time collecting acorns and small sticks as they are on the monkey bars, its my reminder that it’s time to get in the woods and explore.

words

When they read library books, our boys will often sit next to each other and talk about them together. Both boys love books, but Noah loves them beyond anything else. Stories, nonfiction encyclopedia-type books, easy readers that he's starting to be able to read, you name it. He's been obsessed with books and stories since before he was one.



Below are some Facebook entries you might appreciate if you and I don't Facebook together. People always tell me to write them down, which they technically are, but who knows how permanent Facebook is, so I'll put some of them here. If you want me to invite you to be my FB friend, let me know. I don't really like to mix my work and personal lives too much, so I have my settings set so that I can't be seen in the directory.

Me: "Noa*h, why do you have that funny look on your face?" No*ah: "I'm trying to completely stop thinking, but I can't do it." Oliv*er has spent the last several nights sleeping with his favorite, um, potholder. I think maybe we have quirky children.

[I'm] an auntie again! Welcome to the world, Li*y, and congratulations, Dav*e, Jen*nifer, and Zo*e! Ollie said, "L*ily BLOOMED!"

Heard some noise in the kitchen an hour after the boys' bedtime. Found Ollie standing bare-naked in front of the craft cabinet, rummaging through the beads. Put the chain on the front and back doors so my little sleepwalker doesn't escape altogether.

Ollie, with just his head poking out of the bubbles in his bath: Aaaaah! Look! I'm a terrifying floating head!"

[Min*ke] fell feet first down the basement stairs. Pretty banged up, but very proud of her boys and their gentle kisses, attempts at applying bandaids, and bringing of stuffed animals and water until Joel could get here. Feeling like a klutz, though.

Spent the afternoon finally plantic the garlic with Ollie, who was better, but now has a deep cough. He said "night-night for da winter!" to every clove and sang them a lullabye when he spread the straw over the top. A boy and his, umm, garlic....

[Min*ke] and the boys sniffed the forest floor at N*oah's suggestion. Was asked by a passerby on the trail whether we found what we were looking for. Ollie: "we found fall!"

[Min*ke] is putting in garlic and going to the playground before meeting with her fabulous group of moms who write. All of which will be better than seeing the walls shake after the boys jump off the arms of the couch and crash to the floor. I'm starting to suspect that the boys have a secret stash of caffeine, or worse.

[Min*ke] thinks we may just have to get it over with and score some of that awesome Tumbling Class-type equipment for the living room. Or go to Tumbling Class twice every day. Please let this very-high-energy-boisterous... phase pass before we go visit the Apartment of Lovely Antiques at Thanksgiving...

stoptouchingyourface, getoffyourbrother, putthatdown, Ialreadysaidno. Sigh.

Noa*h's response to dropping a big pile of books he was hauling to his room for Quiet Time: "Oh that's just fabulous!" Then he looked at me and said, "Was that a rude thing to say?"

[Min*ke] had some nice "only boy time" with No*ah this morning. Now laughing about O*liver's assertion that "Harold doesn't hold that purple crayon properly AT ALL!"

[Min*ke] hit the Lego jackpot at the thrift store. I sense that these little tiny foot-bruising plastic bricks are going to be a part of our lives for some time. Pick-em-up or lose em', kiddos.

[Min*ke] thinks this is good wholesome Dutch weather. Or, it would be if I could have some split pea soup with ham after a nice bike ride over the cobblestones with umbrella in hand and a bike-basket overflowing with flowers. Not quite the same.

[Min*ke] says bless those boys who let her sleep past 8 this morning making "countries" together with their own special combination of Legos, train tracks, Playmobil, and bingo chips

No*ah learned to skip today, and skipped everywhere one would normally walk. Wheeeeeee!

I have orangutans for children. Not a week goes by that my boys' climbing doesn't alarm someone. I've learned to relax because they're pretty darn surefooted, but my apologies to the sometimes shocked onlookers.

Me: No*ah, why are you removing a dollar from my purse?" No*ah: "I'm paying Ollie to clear the table for me." Can't say he's particularly sneaky, at least.

[Min*ke] probably lost her East-coast directness years ago, but is only now coming around to the resultant identity shift. Still says "I'll be having" instaid of "I'm thinking maybeeeee" in restaurants, though.

[Min*ke] has as much in common with Kate Gosselin as your bank account does with that of Bill Gates because here are dollars in both yours and his. Keeps coming up anyway somehow, though.

Oliv*r's take on gravity: "Good thing". Lots of discussions about this lately.

[Min*ke] was happy to disabuse Ol*iver of the notion that the Lego sizes get smaller indefinately. Quatro, Duplo, Lego......he was a little worried about what comes next.

[Min*ke] thinks that even though he's obviously imitating his mother, it's still hilarious when No*ah sighs deeply and starts out giving his brother heck by saying, "O*liver, my sweet child"...

Ollie: "You should always sing a whole "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" when you wash your hands after peeing. I call it, "tinkle, tinkle, twinkle twinkle".

[Min*ke] is glad the boys had a great first day at school, but had to put the kabosh on their idea to meet in the hallway between their classrooms and trade baskets of toys.

September

The video above should have been in the last post.



First day of school. Grandma and Daddy brought them, and I was there to welcome them home.


Then we went out for iced cream with grandma, the cousins, and their moms.



Legos are a current obsession. After a couple of months of consistent effort, the boys now usually remember to pick them up and save our feet from the bruises, because they know that if they don't, they'll have to earn them back.

Itasca

I am very behind on photos, so let me begin to catch up. I've got them culled and sorted, so I should have some posts besides this one in the next few days. Skipping ahead a little, I am very happy and excited to announce that Lil*y Patrick is here, a new cousin for the boys and niece for Jo*el and I. We haven't met her yet, because she's still in the NICU and visitors are very restricted due to H1N1. She is in the same department of the same hospital that the boys spent some time in after they were born a bit early. Like I was, Jen is locked in "baby jail" for now, helping Lil*y learn to nurse and bottle feed better so she can go home, but she also has Zo*e, who she misses terribly. We know that Li*ly is getting excellent care, and that even though there are some challenges ahead for Lil*y and her family, she will be another blessed addition to our family. We can't wait to get to know her. If you'd like to see pictures or hear more about how she's doing, you can do that here.

In late August, we took a lovely weekend camping trip to Itas*ca State Park, which is home to tall ancient pines and the headwaters of the Mississippi River.


We took the long way up there, and stopped to picnic along Lake Mille Lacs.


Ollie was fascinated by the fact that rocks get warm in the sun.

No*ah loves the feel of the wind.




I am the biggest fire-lover in the family so far, but Oli*ver loves marshmallows even more than I do.




Singing some songs with Daddy.


Ollie looking at an enormous 300-year-old red pine.


Jo*el and I took a day trip here on our honeymoon, and it was pretty special to come back 9 years later with these two little guys in tow.


Preacher's Gr*ove




Ollie and his warm rocks.



The headwaters of the Mississippi River (read the sign on the log above)




It was sobering to think about how clean this river starts out, and the fact that it's not even swimmable by the time it flows through the Twin Cities. That's starting to get better, but we have a long way to go.






Camping food just has a way of tasting amazing. It was quite cold at night, but the boys slept well, played hard, and generally had a grand time. So did their parents!


Bye bye!