His Second Loop Around The Sun!

Our littlest one is TWO...

And it is bittersweet. So sweet because he is an adorable toddler, playful and just amazing to watch grow up with his two older siblings. He brings to our big kid family the tender/rough touch of toddlerhood and it is so much fun to watch L and M play all the baby games- blocks, trains, balls- with him that would otherwise be a long gone memory in this house if it weren't for little R (though the kids really do still enjoy playing these things, but would be inhibited to if it weren't for the excuse that they are "taking care" of R) .

Back when we were agonizing over whether a third child was a wise decision for our family we thoroughly, for 2 years, weighed in what we thought were all the big considerations including but not limited to: parental stamina, resources, overpopulation, personal life goals and things we wanted to do in our grown-up (but not too grown-up) life time, and we really came up a wash. That nagging feeling that we were just not done pervaded and, obviously, we went for #3 as an unlikely one shot attempt the night before Rob left for a trip to India leaving it up to the higher power to make the final decision for us. And voila, upon Rob's return I had added a new row of empty picture frames under the rows already on the wall of Baby #1 and #2 to let him know what to expect in 8 months. What I didn't expect, or factor into my micro-analyzing during the deep consideration of #3, was what a wonderful experience having a baby in the home is for the older sibs. It so brings them to a kinder, gentler, nurturing level. They too take pride in the little achievements of R, just like his mom and dad do. It is endearing to watch their faces light up when he says a new word or hits a ball of the T.

A tiny bit bitter, because he is the last of our little ones and I just don't like endings of happy times. He marks the end of the child-bearing stage over here and after 2 years of letting that sink in I am seeing that we are almost at the end of the early childhood-rearing years too. Close to done, but certainly as not done done as I recently have been feeling. I need to slow myself down with how I sometimes perceive his age, which is older than he truly is. It really hit me on his birthday that he has only been on this earth for two years . When I think of it as nights of poor sleep, it seems like a long time, but when I think of it in the big picture of how much more life is ahead of him, how many more baby milestones have yet to be passed, two years is a minuscule fraction.

So more about the birthday boy...

Had I written this on his actual Bday I would have proven to be prompt, which I am not, but I would not have been able to tell you the leaps and bounds he has made since the the day after his birthday. Really, isn't it just amazing how they make huge developmental strides so suddenly sometimes? One day you're worrying that they are behind on something, then the next day they are doing just that thing. He went from sounds that had meaning only to us, to saying "I wan muk" ("I want milk" for those who are a few years out of deciphering toddler talk) in one day. Two had a wonderful start!

Good thing I chickened out, I mean postponed his 24 mos. check up until next week, so now I can report his progress with speech to the MD. This may offset the fact that per my calculations his weight is still at the 5% mark. Maybe next week he'll make leaps and bounds with eating.

Here's a little stroll down Memory Lane de Ryan:

First words: Ma, Da, oh no (said fast), Wii, Dunda aaaaa aaa (that would be to the tune of ACDC Thunderstruck, not because of our hard core love for rock, but because M's soccer team was named Thunder and that chorus was their practice theme song)

Favorite Things: anything that flies, trains, cars, blocks, sand, water, balls, paci, reading find-it books, sports (I should upload the video of him playing soccer at 12 mos when he could only crawl between the goals, too cute!)


Favorite Food: Ice cream, and ...

Happy Easter!

Hope you had a wonderful Easter Day! It was a really special day for us, one of those days when everything seems to go smoothly. The kids woke up super early and were super patient apparently just sitting staring at their Easter baskets and the backyard full of hidden eggs while Rob, Ryan and I slept in...for 45 minutes! Patience like they have never before displayed, and they had gotten themselves dressed in their Easter finest! After the bunny magic, a breakfast of hardboiled eggs and candy, we went to church were again, manners and patience were beyond expectation, long 1.5 hour service with hardly a peep, Ryan lasted 20 mins in the baby room, a record! So what do I attribute this burst of lovely children too? They have eagerly awaited Easter since Christmas, but the bigger reason is that we spent the two days before talking about the real meaning behind Easter and the events that it reminds us about. They are starting to really get it! I found a great kids article about the life of Jesus, edited out some harsher parts as I still believe they are too young to hear/understand all of it and I do not want this to ever cause fear but always strength in their lives...and it was on this Easter Day:)



Here are some of my favorite pix from the day. Every now and then I find a toy that I really love and these glittery water balls are the new it! Really fun and bouncy!



Here is a pic of Matt and Rob having an egg-war ( needs a more peaceful name). It is a Lithuanian tradition that makes cracking eggs even more fun. You pick your egg, find a partner and knock the tips together. The egg that does not crack is the winner. Cracked egg gets to be eaten.

Thank you aunties, and gran -mas, pas, for the Easter treats!

Our Wicked Ways

Last weekend we took L & M to their first play! I had booked these tickets late last year after I had spent a wonderful weekend with my dearest friend Lisa in NY living the Manhattan life which of course included a matinee at the Gershwin. I so loved this play that I immediately wanted the rest of the fam to see it as soon as I found out it was coming back to SF. I got caught up in feeling the city vibes and culture of attending a play that really got my brain thinking on a long-gone level, things that are not really familiar in my daily mom life in the suburbs, I think I kind of misjudged the benefit the kids would get out it. Sure it tied into the Wizard of Oz and they liked the liveness of it, but they didn't really understand it and there was a lot I am glad that they didn't understand. A bit too complex on many levels. And then their was the element of my analytical engineer husband's questions "Why didn't they establish the importance of the animals' ability to speak before they started to lose it?" "Why did they make the transition from the Wizard and the schoolmaster being unquestioned to completely discredited so unrealistically quick just because Glinda suddenly said so?" Indeed, but can't I just go along with the energy of the performance without his analysis and worrying I am over-exposing the kids? We did have the pleasure of going with our great friends J & L and their 3 kids and we all had a fun time running around in the Japan town square after dinner and I love that we got to do this together. Don't get me wrong, we really liked Wicked and thought Glinda was fantastic, but the Orpheum really has nothing on Broadway and, well, we probably should have researched age-appropriateness a bit more.

Enough with the critiquing, now I need some thoughts on what you think about this:

Is it wrong? No not that fact that he is teetering on the edge of the countertop, nor that just out of the frame is a block of knives and a cooking grilled cheese. But is it wrong that he is eating a stick of butter? This isn't the easy straight forward question and answer I would give myself with the first 2 kids ("yes"). R is much smaller than L &M, who some of you remember were quite big, especially L whom for the first 4 months resembled the hungry caterpillar when "he wasn't a little caterpillar anymore" think rolly-polly, chub upon chub in place of a neck. They were big babies and had identical weights at every benchmark. I always thought they grew so fast, blowing through clothing sizes and car seat limits, and just plain uncomfortably heavy to wear in those cute slings. When R, our third and most likely last child was born, I wished that baby stages and appearance would not be as quickly fleeting...and this is a lesson in be careful what you wish for. He just is not a hungry caterpillar. Never was. I knew something wasn't the same with him as an infant when he would only ask to breastfeed every 4 hours (would have made the old textbooks proud) it was super convenient, but just not enough. At 18mos he had dropped to the 5th weight %tile with a disparity of more than 50% height to weight ratio and was given a label of FTT, which I cannot bear to define as it is just too suggestive of failure to my abilities to feed my child. Rob's response to my worries and disappointment when I told him about the label was "Isn't Kaiser taking this "Thrive" marketing a little too far?" Kind of funny. So we had labs drawn, all fine, and have contacted 2 nutritionists one who is an old high school friend who I reconnected with on FB (see good things do come out of FB) and she recommended 2 books by Ellyn Satter, Child of Mine and Feeding a Healthy Family that have been super helpful. I guess I am getting more nervous about his weight again as out Little Boy is turning 2 next week and we will be doing another weigh in. He is happy, active, a little slow with talking, but he gets it, really a fun baby and so fun and silly to see with his sibs. I have faith that he is just not a big eater and he has the appetite he does just because it is who he is, that he is in balance with what his body needs and I am not one to go down the path of force-feeding, nor evidently am I one to take away a stick of butter anymore, but I am also a worrier...

April Fools

Posting this pic is an absolute, irremissible requirement of the "You've been tagged" blog game (you must take a a pic of yourself as is at the moment you are tagged and post) so in case you are concerned about why on earth I would choose to post a pic like this, I'm a team player and couldn't let down all the other gals who have kept the spirit going. Thanks Ora! I did have Matt take this pic as soon as I saw your tag , and see I included your belly post in the background to prove it! Ryan wanted in too, and voila, sneaked a pick at just the right moment to further prove authenticity. It just took me 3 days to post, oh, and I did alter the scene a bit by pushing the Pringles and Starbucks out of the frame, gotta portray some standards as I am likely to write about the merits of eating organic, seasonal, local at some point.

And here is another authentic pic from later, no that is not Joe Pavelski hanging out with us, this is just what our family room looks like whenever the Sharks are playing.

So now I must "tag" 5 other to continue the spirit, so I'll tag :

Shannon, Jo (now you must blog), Tiff (it is probably fine to do this on FB, I dare you!), Gabi and I think that is all I can tag.