Casually Pondering My Four Monkeys

Is it odd that I am still - after giving birth to four children - amazed to find myself smack dab in the middle of all this motherhood stuff? It was one thing when they were just crawling around and eating goldfish as their main source of nutrition, but we're quickly moving on here. I have a feeling that I need to tighten up my seatbelt and hang on for dear life. This is going to be one heck of a ride.....

Joshua

Just today my little 15 month old man learned to give me the biggest slobbery kisses ever. That is always one of my most favorite moments of babyhood. It's just heart melting.

The lazy guy still isn't walking, but I figure that's probably better anyway. Aren't they a lot harder to manage once they start walking? I think I remember learning that from before.

He says banana and dada and once he said "thank you" to Aulora when she gave him a toy. I had a witness who also heard it. Clearly, this is genius material we've got here.

Aulora

This one is going to be 3 before I turn around. Her vocabulary and speaking skills blow me away. She is the sweetest thing you've ever met and is always ready to give hugs and sugar.

Aulora is a second mommy to Joshua and nothing makes her happier (well, except for maybe candy) than to bring him a toy or a bottle or to share her food with him. She's a big help to me most of the time.

She is absolutely in love with all things Dora and I often employ Swiper's help to get her dressed or to accomplish other tasks. ("Aulora, hurry and get your clothes on before Swiper gets them! I think I hear him in the hall!") Sometimes a mommy's got to do what a mommy's got to do.

She loves to sing and will frequently sit at the piano and "play" and write in my piano books. Not scribbles and not banging - neat marks and gently notes. So sweet.

Julia

I wasn't ready for how fast she is growing up and maturing. She's five, but good grief, sometimes she's like a teenager.

Lipstick, hairbrushes, jewelry, perfume, and clothes are all very important to her. She has taken to calling me "Mom" and "Mother". She often has pretend cell phone calls with her friends which are hilariously grown up sounding.

She's pretty much as picky as ever when it comes to eating (remember this and this?), but we've made some improvements. She'll eat steak and grilled chicken now. She even ate a vegetable lasagna at her grandmother's house. Wow!

Tonight we discovered she has her first two loose teeth. They are pretty loose and will probably come out before very long. Why is it that the first loose tooth seems like such a big deal?

I'm continually impressed by her ability to learn and memorize. She's a smart one!

John David

My boy is almost a third grader. That right there almost stops me in my tracks. How did this happen???

He devours books and his National Geographic magazines. He still builds legos like crazy.

He likes to sing a made up song that goes like this:

"Oh I want to eat, eat, eat the Pulias,
Cause she's so deli -i - i - i - cious!
Cious cious cious cious!"

"Pulias" is his nickname for Julia and, as you can imagine, this song usually aggravates the snot out of his intended target. You really just have to be around and hear it in person to fully appreciate it. It's usually very random and very loud. And funny. Even the "Pulias" laughs sometimes.

Daddy has had a small "talk" with him a number of months ago, but I feel "THE TALK" is coming soon. Maybe we just give him the "down and out" and "up and in" explanation my blogger friend Kristen used.

Our beloved 8 year old has also started playing with his bellybutton again. We sent him to school with tape on his belly today, but he took it off before chapel was even done. I really don't know what we're going to do about this. It's ridiculous, really.


All in all, I think our monkeys are pretty great.

Such treasures.

Blessings.

Gifts indeed.....