Afternoon

We don't have nearly enough quiet afternoons at home, but today the kids and I took advantage of having no obligations and the beautiful fall weather to play outside together.  As always, the personality of each kid shone through.

Exhibit A:  Ella.  Always cold.  Always climbing (she's in the back of the pick-up truck).

Exhibit B:  Dash.  Always moving.  Loving basketball.  Making great shapes with his body.  And look - he can get the ball in the hoop much of the time!

Exhibit C:  Max.  Just chilling.  So what if it's kind of cool outside and he's forced to sit in a stroller in the driveway and watch the rest of us play?  He played with his toys for awhile and then fell asleep.  What an amazing baby.

Goal setting

Young Max has finally achieved something we have watched him try in vain to accomplish for many weeks.  Tonight he managed to get his toes all the way IN his mouth.  Way to set a goal and work towards it, buddy.

Sitting baby

It dawned on me AFTER I took a series of pictures of Max sitting in the front yard that... HE CAN SIT!  I kind of knew he could sit.  He does it sometimes inside, usually with the support of several pillows.  And I probably wouldn't test him on a hard surface yet.  But he very cheerfully sat unsupported in the grass while I took several dozen pictures and only fell over at the very end.  And that was after a mosquito landed on his head so he might have just been mad.

Where does the time go?  Wasn't he just born?

One day old.... seems like yesterday

Can't believe he's 5 months old this week

The good pictures

I ran into a friend recently at the JCC who asked me how in the world I manage to capture such "perfect" pictures of my kids.  I laughed and told him that I have a few secrets.  One is to take 100 pictures and only post the best few - very few!  And the second is to ask the kids to be outright silly in some pictures so they get it out of their systems.  And the third is to have some silly sayings that make them smile and laugh using their real expressions instead of saying just "smile" and getting their contorted, contrived, and frankly rather frightening fake smiles.  My current weapon to produce real grins is to say "Don't think about my butt!"  This is apparently really funny to them and usually results in a genuine grin.  Of course, this begs the question of what, exactly, is just so funny about my butt.

So for example.... the picture that went to Facebook looks like this (my beautiful happy boy on the beach):

But first I had to endure this (Dash's fake smile results in closed eyes 100% of the time):

And this (purposeful silliness):

And then I told my friend that some days I just get nothing but crummy pictures.  And I remind myself that in 20 years what feels like a crappy set of photos to me today will be a precious reminder of a time when these little people were small.  So I just keep taking the pictures and hope for a few gems that really capture who they are in this moment.

Penny a pinecone

We told the kids we'd pay them a penny for every pinecone they pick up in the yard, and they got to 262 pinecones before they decided it wasn't fun anymore.  Glad we said a penny and not a dime!  Since I can't find the time to do yardwork, I'm glad they can.

Return to running

This morning. I returned to running after a very long pregnancy and post-partum hiatus.  As I remembered from the first two babies, finding a chance to run requires a nearly impossible golden moment of childcare availability, sufficient energy to get myself going, light in the sky, and the all-important empty boobs.  For this week, I think I have a plan in place that will work, but as the seasons change, it will be a moving target.  I'm determined to get back out there and to run a race in the spring, so here we go!  Day one, success!

A teeny, tiny space

Both Dash and Ella are obsessed with the idea of our family being together in a "teeny, tiny space" and get very excited whenever they notice that we're all together in close proximity.  It often starts as a hug between two family members that they quickly turn into a massive family hug.  Sometimes it happens when we all end up in one of our (tiny) bathrooms trying to get everyone ready to go.  Sometimes it happens when we pile in to read books in our bed.  They always notice when we're all together and then reach out to make sure that they can touch everyone at once, and then proclaim "It's our whole family in a teeny tiny space!" Their excitement at all of us being together in a "teeny tiny space" is super endearing and will be a good one to remind them about someday when maybe all of us being squeezed in together isn't so much fun.  I can already hear the teenage groans on a future road trip but it will make Josh and I laugh for sure,