Fall 09

click on the pictures for clearer images

Mommy are you mad?

This past weekend, after taking out Easter baskets, grass, plastic eggs (one still filled with forgotten candy--score!), and all Halloween party supplies for our upcoming playgroup party and leaving them all around the basement floor, Phoebe proceeded to empty the entire contents of her closet onto her bedroom floor instead of getting dressed, and topped off the morning by drawing on her (off-white) bedroom carpet with pink sidewalk chalk. She then asked, "Mommy, are you mad at me?" and innocently added, "Why can't I go with you?"

Meanwhile that same morning, Beckett, being momentarily ignored and left to his own devices was happily dumping the dog dishes onto the hardwood floor, splashing in the puddle and eating stray pieces of dog food as quickly as he could before I ran down to pick them up (which I hurried to do right as I was about to Resolve the pink chalk and heard the distinctive clink of the stainless steel bowls that reminded me I hadn't put them up before taking Beckett out of his crib).

All the while, Brett was ranting about how he could not get anything done and "can everyone just be quiet?!"--so that he could grade his papers.

Let the good times roll.

Daddy Mountain

Here is Phoebe reading The Daddy Mountain.

Rumpelstiltskin

Here is Phoebe and Brett reading Rumpelstiltskin.

Part 1
Part 2

Ain't Gonna Paint Audio by Phoebe

Phoebe's newest hobby has been recording audio books with Brett. Their first one was Rumpelstiltskin, which had more of Brett reading than Phoebe; but this last one was I Ain't Gonna Paint No More by Karen Beaumont and David Catrow which you can listen to by clicking on the title.

Phoebe's story

Be sure to click on picture so you can read the story.

Saint Louis Vacation

Beckett's first vacation and Phoebe's second! We didn't get very creative, since we took Phoebe to the same place last year, but it worked out well and it's so kid-friendly. We did not go to that sculpture garden last year--which was amazing. Though she might say otherwise, I think that was Phoebe's favorite place because she just ran and ran and was excited to see each new thing the whole time we were there. I'm not sure what Beckett enjoyed most--probably the hotel or the garden because he got to explore a new place on his hands and knees. Most other places he was confined to the stroller or the mei tai. He was more leary than thrilled the entire time we were at the zoo and Grant's Farm because he didn't know which animals were going to be rearing their heads in his general vicinity. Beckett got a little concerned when the animals seemed to be too close. He isn't so cautious when it comes to inanimate objects, but things that move give him pause, apparently.

Summer 09

In this group, a trip to the Aquarium with Sydney and Grandpa and the Chalk festival (pretty amazing drawings) which was held in Oz Park. Phoebe insisted on having her picture taken with each statue of the characters in the Wizard of Oz. Also, she apparently walked around the entire time holding an imaginary cup of coffee that she was bringing home to me because Beckett and I stayed home that day. Brett said, occasionally, she would ask him to hold it while she did something.

More Summer 2009

More MCA pictures and Millenium Park--this year's sculptures by the Crown Fountain were from China--and the Art Institute. Apparently, random strangers were photographing my child at the same time as we were. She was just resting in a room and drawing.

School Starts Next Week

Recap of Summer activities. We did a lot this summer despite my intense 4 week American Lit course and Brett's duties as summer school principal, so I want to post the pictures of some of the memorable events.

This first set of images includes a visit to the Chicago Botanic Gardens, the MCA, and some play time in the back yard with the sprinkler, which mostly sprinkled the lawn while Phoebe ran on its outskirts.

heart melting

So I just wanted to remember this:
As I was driving Phoebe over to my mom's house, Phoebe said to me, "Mommy, I miss you when you're not with me." Sincere and sweet and with no reward in sight. I was dropping Beckett and Phoebe off because I was going to teach my class and Brett was at a meeting.

I realize most of my posts are about Phoebe still, but she speaks. You know what they say about the squeaky wheel. And Beckett is just a ball of cuddly, laughing goodness. I'm sure I'll have more to report when he starts talking back. pun intended.

"I'm gonna kick him out!"

This morning, I was finally sleeping after a horrible long night of elusive sleep. At 3 a.m., Phoebe called out for me which was about 5 minutes after Beckett cried. Do you know what she wanted? She wanted a kiss and a hug and to tell me that we need to plan a night for Sydney to sleep over. These are the things occuring to Phoebe at 3 o'clock in the morning. I went back to bed hoping that now I might finally sleep soundly--no such luck. I tossed and turned and stayed largely awake until 6:15. Brett left for work and I fell soundly asleep (also after I discovered the notebook Phoebe left under my pillow--I think it was a princess test). Apparently, around 6:45, Beckett woke up and was making a lot of noise which woke Phoebe up, but I didn't hear it. Phoebe came into my room "Mom!...Mom!"
to which I replied with a sleepy "hmmmm?"
"Beckett woke up and he woke me up and now I can't go back to sleep, can you come get him?!" in her best valley girl tone.
"But that would mean I would have to get up, and I was sleeping so nicely. Why don't you climb in bed with me and we can both go back to sleep and we'll ignore Beckett." (I know this is my parenting at it's best)
"Okay, but I don't like your bed. My bed is so much more comfortable and I love my bed and I just want to sleep there."
"What's wrong with my bed?" (my bed, the extremely comfortable latex foam mattress, the special soft pillows, etc. vs. her 20 year old twin mattress with no padding and a flat pillow)
"your sheets are kind of rough and mine are so much more comfortable." (my sheets are jersey knit--I have no idea what she is talking about)
"But lets just rest here for a few minutes."
"I'm going back to my bed and I don't want Beckett in there anymore! I'm going to kick him out"
"Phoebe, how are you going to kick him out?"
"With my foot," was her matter of fact reply.
So she went back into her bedroom apparently intending to kick my son out of his crib. I waited in my bed to see what ensued. When she returned to their bedroom, she spat through clenched teeth "GO BACK TO SLEEP, BECKETT!"
and then almost in the same breath, her other personality jumped in and I heard in a sweet voice, "but I really love you, Beckett." Then Phoebe got in the crib and I heard the bouncing begin, so I knew it was time to go rescue the boy and feed the girl--she wasn't going back to bed and my half hour of solid sleep would have to do for the day. :)

Blueberry pancakes

Beckett really loved the blueberry pancakes and he has the blueberry goodness all over his face to prove it.

BERRIES!

We went strawberry and blueberry picking recently. Blueberry picking is decidedly better than strawberry picking because the blueberries are on bushes--no bending. The strawberries came from Garwood Orchard and we were interviewed by an AM radio station on the way out--that was weird. We made strawberry pie and topping for ice cream. We also ate and gave away many strawberries. We were more creative with the blueberries which came from Billy Boy's Blueberry Barn. We made blueberry pie, blueberry pancakes, blueberry muffins, waffles with fresh blueberry topping, and ate a lot of blueberries.

Beckett's almost one

At eleven months, Beckett is doing so many things. I don't remember what I last updated about his abilities, but he has been crawling since the beginning of May, and as soon as he started crawling, he started climbing. He can climb just about anything--which makes life adventuresome and keeps me on my toes. These days, most things he climbs onto, he also figures out how to get down from. He stands without aid for minutes at a time, but when it is time to move on, he'll sit down and crawl away. He doesn't have a great interest in walking, yet. He chatters incessantly but isn't saying much of anything coherent. His favorite expression is "Yeah, yeah!" Which he repeats over and over when I begin preparing his food until it gets into his mouth. His favorite activity is eating--but you wouldn't know it by his size. He is still small compared to other babies his age, but besides his size, he is developing very well physically and cognitively. He is coordinated and determined. He is extremely loud when food isn't coming fast enough or when he is not getting something that he wants. He says Mama and Dada, but not often. All items still go directly into his mouth. If music is on, Beckett is dancing. He grabs on to anything nearby so that he can bounce and sway. He loves moving to the beat. He sleeps through the night and has for at least a month. He and Phoebe share a room, and they do great--especially at night. For a little while, Phoebe was waking up when Beckett did which was making for early mornings and long days, but now she sleeps through his wake up. They even take their afternoon nap together (as long as I stagger their time for going down by about a half an hour). If they both go in for their naps awake at the same time, they end up entertaining each other for an hour or more before they fall asleep. He still takes two naps a day--more than an hour at a time. But he also does ok if he misses one of his naps or gets a shortened one because of a family activity. Though his grin is still toothless, it's infectious and almost always on his face. Beckett has a wonderful sense of humor. Today, Brett saw a fixture on a wall outside the library that had two large caps that looked like eyes and a spout that looked like a nose, so he pretended to poke the fixture in the eyes and pull it's nose. Beckett found that laugh-out-loud funny. I say he's happy all the time, except, of course, when he isn't. He's a mama's boy--if someone else is holding him and I walk by, he gets very upset and begins reaching and yelling, unless that 'somebody else' is Brett. He love, love, loves his daddy!

More to do

We began "cleaning" Phoebe's room about twenty minutes ago (it's about 9 am). We have managed to pick up about three things as I listen to her justify why some messes need to stay where they are and as she applies lotion to her legs and arms so she can smell good and have soft skin. Then she says to me "well, I can't clean all day! I'll have to eat." Great! We are never going to accomplish anything in this house.