Stay Awake

So, we've watched Mary Poppins 1,000 times in the last year and the children love it. I sing the lullaby "Stay Awake" that Mary Poppins sings to the children in the movie. If you are not familiar with it, it goes like this:

Stay awake, don't rest your head.

Don't lie down upon your bed.

Though the moon drifts in the skies,

Stay awake, don't close your eyes.

Though the world is fast asleep,

Though your pillow 's soft and deep,

You're not sleepy, as you seem,

Stay awake, don't nod and dream,

Stay awake, don't nod and dream.

Sweet Caleb ALWAYS relaxes to this song. I pull it out almost every time and he just drifts away. (He is kind of a rascal that way, actually...consistently doing the opposite of what is requested at any given time....) Well, the other night, he tried to sing right along. His eyes we're rolling back and he just kept adding his little words in, matching mine, making known to me that he has it memorized. He loves to be sung to, but I don't remember him ever singing along before. It was a moment of littleness and sweetness and the fulfillingness of motherhood I hope I never forget. Love that kid!

Firsts

This is the First time writing about our

First girl.

Delivering her into this world was our First normal birth.

When Elijah was asked at church who he loved very much, hers was the First and only name listed.

Allison is Caleb's First baby sibling. He and her daddy call her "Baby Love."

Allison has now been alive for her First 5 months, and rolls, squeals, and has probably given her

First million smiles.

The other day, she laughed for the First time.

As of about a week ago, Allison has her First tooth!

We are still waiting for her First full night's sleep, and her First solid foods.

Last Friday, she went swimming for the First time, and seemed unimpressed, but not upset.

Though she is not in the First percentile for weight or height, she is on the petite side...a most definite First for our offspring! (hence the First thing listed in this list).

She has already had her First cold, and First stuffy cute little nose.

Allisons First hairs are quite varied in length. She's bald in the back where she rubs her head a lot, making it look like she's had a really bad First hair cut. But right on top are some really long hairs, just 3 or 4, that are a good 4 or 5 inches long. I have yet to do her hair in her First ponytail, though I've been tempted to do one of those Bam-Bam style ones.

Allison, you are Fun, Irresistible, Radiant, Sweet, and Talkative. Welcome to your First year! We love you!

E - L - I - J - A - H spells "AWESOME!"

Tonight at dinner Elijah just sat there and tried to sound out all the words on the OJ container, like potassium, premium, squeezed, vitamin, original, etc. and it was so fulfilling and fun for me. I was thrilled and excited to see how long he would try and try without any elements of frustration or anything other than sheer interest. No fear of failure. I admired him. He was enjoying something hard. Something he knew he did not know. I want to be more like him. Thanks for making my day kiddo!

Bitter and Sweet

Bitter: Elijah threw up tonight.

Sweet: Allison laughed for the first time today.

Phil is in the middle of his surgery rotation and we are all exausted. I'm doing "Insanity" and losing weight finally. Caleb is talking up a cute storm. Almost no one is sleeping through the night. We go through a lot of bananas, crackers, peanut butter, feta, ranch, cereal, milk, veggie juice, eggs, diapers, wipes, detergent and deoderant. Elijah loves to take pictures. Caleb is spending a lot of time in time out. He also loves trains. Allison likes to grab toys.

Bitter: It's January. Cold, gray, and long.

Sweet: It's January. A new start, tons to look forward to, and kids that wear snow pants, push their trucks in the snow, and then come in for some hot chocolate. Good times.

ps. I know I need to update/add pictures. I'm working on it.

Rites of Passage

So, this morning Caleb approached me with a finger in his nose. He was pretty sad. I said, "Oh, you need a tissue? Here you go!" I got him a tissue and moved on with my life. Then he had a little bloody nose all day.

Phil got home from being on surgery call all night and within minutes said, "Caleb, do you have a bead up your nose?" And he did. A nice turquoise one and it was pretty far up there.

So, no nap for Dr. Dad. Instead, it was time for more surgery. Poor Caleb. We tried for a while to teach him how to blow out of his nose which resulted in a lot of spitting. But he eventually got it! We tried to make him sneeze with nose tickles, etc. We also used a nose-sucker thing, and Phil used his engineering expertise to craft a safe, sturdy hook from common household goods. Elijah felt pretty bad for his little brother and wanted to yell out into the street for helpers. It was sweet. Allison was crying out, too, but I think she was more concered that her adorableness was momentarily being upstaged. Once he held still, and after a little prayer, it came out pretty easily.

So, Caleb is our Rites of Passage kid. Tumbled down full flight of stairs: check. Stitches in face: check. Now, bead up nose: check. Anything else I should expect?

AAAHHHHHH!!!!

Great news! I just checked weather.com and there's a sun picture on the 10th day of the 10 day forecast!!!!!!! Mind you it is covered part-way with a cloud and the description is "mostly cloudy," but my heart just lept with the pure joy of hope! I don't know about any of you, but I'm really looking forward to a sunny day. Warm would be amazing, too, but sunny would be a fantastic start! Yeah!! We just have to wait til the 27th!

Elastigirl

I've given this a lot of thought. Elastigirl is like the perfect symbol for what womanhood is. More specifically, a woman who is focusing on the task of home production. Think about it: What makes an elastic valuable? The opposing qualities of rigid structure, and flexiblity. If it didn't fight to retain its original shape, it wouldn't hold anything together. But if it wasn't flexible, it couldn't gather within its grasp everything it wanted to hold. Women of the world...don't you feel this way!? It's like, my family completely falls apart when I fall apart (which by the way is currently happening because NEWS!! we have baby number 3 on the way, which we are way excited about! But the elistigirl in our family is in a bunched up knot on the couch or in bed. I'm really not that sick, just sick and tired enough to be falling apart). Anyway, I administer (or not) any and all structure for all members of my family when it comes to home. Meals, training children to take care of their things, having fun together, family worship, clean socks in their place, etc. It is a fulfilling and challenging task, and women who pull it off well truly amaze me. And then there's the flexibility. I love Helen Parr and all the ways she uses her elasticity, it cracks me up. Because it's so a mom! Who doesn't hold their toddler sideways in one arm while they reach for a rag and then pour someone else a glass of milk with the other? What mom isn't the parachute and lifesaver for every issue under her roof? Even Mr. Incredible, a symbol of strength, fell apart without her. Here's the paradox: everything has to remain flexible in order to keep its stability.

I'm so thankful for my role. I'm so thankful that I am asked to develop what it takes to be an elastigirl. I want to reach out, to stretch myself!, to include every person and every joy available. I want to create that stable dream home, where children say, "Ahhhhh. I'm home. I'm safe. I'm loved. I'm happy."

And I guess what I'm learning now is that part of what needs to be flexible is even my expectation for myself. I'm not a very strong elastic, really. I'm more like silly putty that just keeps stretching. As I work on my discipline, I'm thankful for the hope I have that Someone wants to help bear my yoke. And I'm so humbled to be sealed to a partner who sees WonderWoman just by opening my eyes every morning.

Have a happy, happy day doing just what we do best: elastigate. :)