Calvin at 6 months

He is 6 months old this week. It's flown. Before Calvin's birth my friend Anna, who has two children, mentioned that her second seemed like an infant far longer than her first. As if she had to wait longer to know who that baby was.

It didn't make sense at the time, but now it does. Abigial at 4 months seemed so full of personality. Every new thing she did made her seem so 'old'. Calvin has seemed like a newborn in comparison....because my comparison is running around the house in her underwear  and a tie while making up songs.

So it's been a lot of fun this past month watching Calvin start to blossom. He's sitting up, he's jabbering, he's reaching for what he wants and laughing at Abigail running around in her underwear.  He's 15.5 pounds, 26 inches long, has more smiles than any baby I've ever met, and is generally a good sleeper.

This is also his 5 month photo.....I just never got it up.

He also loves his daddy. And, coincidentally, happens to be wearing his daddy's outfit in this picture. I love that it says 'superbaby' all over. Makes me wonder if this is, perhaps,the precursor to "If you think I'm handsome you should see my daddy." and "I'm cute" .......but Calvin wears it well.

As a side note: One of my favorite aspects of digital cameras is seeing the progression of the photo shoot. Some are hilarious; this particular one was just sweet. So I'll let you see a few ( because I know you're dying to).

He makes me smile. 

It helps that I'm his favorite right now. 

Halfway into his first year we declare him a keeper.

Why Our Bodies Need Water

We were sitting on the potty this morning; nothing new, we do this every day with varying success several times a day. Lately with more failure than success. She went. We cleaned her up and I told her to run get an M&M (current reward candy of choice). She took off. I heard the subsequent rattling of the glass dish and scrape of stool, and Abigail was suddenly back in the bathroom with me. 

"Pee again." She announced gleefully, promptly pulling down her panties and filling up her little potty. 

Up she pulled that underwear ( before I had time to wipe, mind you) and ran for the kitchen and her reward. 

Chuckling I started to clean up when, lo and behold, here she was again.

"Pee more, Mama." she said, confident she had this racket figured out. She plopped down happily and sat, and sat, and sat. Nothing doing. 

"Punkin, you're going to have to drink more water before your body can make more pee." I offered "That's how it works."

Her eyes lit up, up came the panties, and she took off for the living room and her water bottle. In maybe 15 seconds flat she was back, slid down those training pants and sat. She looked up at me, looked down at the empty potty, and came to a decision: " I need mo' water." she stated and off she went again.  

    The funny thing is: I woke up grumpy this morning. I'm tired, we've had a lot of sickness that's kept me up, a lot of Calvin waking up during the night, a decided lack of naps on my part and, well, I'm tired (which happens as a mom, go figure). So I wanted to wallow in my bad attitude. I didn't want to be a parent today. I knew I should let the Holy Spirit handle my attitude and give me His peace and joy, but I didn't want it. I prayed anyway, begrudgingly.  And in His graciousness the Lord made me laugh.
    It started with her holding her baby doll over the trash can so it could puke ( it's fresh on her mind),and continued on throughout the morning so that by naptime I had completely forgotten about my bad attitude and was loving being a mother. God is so soft in how He dealt with me today. I love it. And I love her.

This is my Ouma, my dad's mom. They just recently moved to Birmingham and I can't even begin to express how thankful I am that Abigail and Calvin have the chance to know their Ouma and Oupa.

Ironically, it's now 5:34pm and my attitude is bad again. I've found other things to be grumpy about. I didn't really realize that until sitting down to write the post...this time I want to hand my self-centeredness to the Lord with a willing heart and stop and remind myself of all I have to be thankful for just in today. I have a feeling we'll all have a better evening that way.

With joy,
Katy

I two.

That's what she'll say on a very good day. On a normal day, in response to "How old are you?" she'll say  "I Abigail." which is close, but no banana.

As of December 19th, this is sweet girl is, in fact, two years old. 

She has also had the flu this past week, so when I tried to take pictures, this is the best I got out of four. Yep, just four. That's all she would sit for. Oh well :o0 At least her nose wasn't running at the time. 

 

 

Here are the other three.

 :o) 

She is growing like a weed, I can tell because I've been holding her a lot this week and her legs drop down much, much further. It's almost unbelievable how much she's changed this year, the unbelievable part being how much I've already forgotten. It's scary that the memories become a distant blur so quickly. If it wasn't for the quick notes I occasionally jot down there's no way I would have any memories of her second year of life.  Because she has changed so much I'm putting up 12 pictures, one a month, so you can enjoy her change too...what more could one ask for, huh?

 

January 

She is playing her chapstick, aka kazoo, I think. She started giving us peeks into her sense of humor around one year old, and I love it. She thoroughly enjoys a good joke, especially if it's on her papa.

 February

This picture makes me laugh, because she still does this ( she's doing the laundry). We start 'em young around these parts.

 

 March

Bringing in the flowers. Nothing funny to say here. She's just cute.

 April

She grew up a lot from March to April, I can see that as I look back. No, we did not start potty traning in April ( though I wish we had....it's taking long enough now), but she had fun experimenting. She also had fun playing in her birthday suit in the backyard. We did that a lot this past summer, a cute tan resulted. 

 

May

She picked up her pacifier the day she was weened from nursing.....and she's kept it ever since. We managed to keep it hidden whie she was  a flower girl in her Aunt Sarah's wedding. I love this last picture. I love my husband and how much fun he has with his little girl. Makes me weak-kneed.

 June

The serious business of blueberry picking requires serious accessories.  

July

we have no pictures in July. John? Papa? Will? anyone? 

 

August

left to right: One of my all-time favorites: Abigial pushing her best-buddy Amelia. Drinking from a 'big' cup. Always take your bike safety seriously: wear your helmet. And last but not least, the value of a well-protected baby doll can never be underestimated.

September

She grew up a lot from August to September as well. Some of that might be the addition of a new baby, but her hair grew too and that lends an appearance of age somehow.

October

Clockwise: Proper black walnut picking costume; a hoe-down skunk; good accessories make the outfit (or make up for the lack thereof); and taking care of the baby (she'll lay down and say "baby, tomach, mama. Baby tomach")

November

She went for her first ever hike over Thanksgiving and loved it (we came back with pockets laden with acorns). She walked at least half of a 2 mile trip, and wanted to carry the backpack for the home stretch. She would fall backwards without extra support. Kind of how the Lord's yoke is light and his burden easy.....

                    I love being with her. She makes me smile, knows how to push my buttons, is growing in understanding every day, and is a delight to know. May the Lord continue to grow her into a woman who loves him wholeheartedly and loves life with abandon.

Happy birthday punkin.

Calvin at 1 and 2 months (now that he's almost 3 months)

I feel like my photography skills have decreased with Calvin's birth. Or maybe it's just that as I try to take a picture of the baby, I am simultaneously trying to keep Abigail from eating dirt. Concentration has been difficult.

One month photo. That's what the following is. The following is this. This, unfortunately , was as good as it got that day. :o) But at least he's upright, has on clothes and the monkey looks cute. 

 Two months

 My skills are improving ( I think Abigail was only eating bark here.) Not only is Calvin upright and clothed, but he's awake. Still no smile ( which is a shame, as he is an incredibly cheerful baby. I thought Abigail was happy....but this little man showed me just how many levels of happy and content there are), but maybe next month. At two months he was a little over 12 pounds, maybe 23ish inches, and now has cute little fat rolls all over. 

Not as cheeky as Abigail.

But he's his own man. And rightly so. 

with joy, 

Katy

Two children show me...

     My brain has felt fried lately. And the days it doesn't feel fried, all I want to do in my 'free' time is read (certainly not compose a blog post...or balance the budget.....or finish projects.....or fold clothes. never that.) Maybe the escape of a good ( or even mediocre) story allows me, for a small space of time, to shrug off the responsibility of running a household and discipling two kiddos. A friend phrased it well the other day. She said having two children is forcefully weaning her off of a need for much alone time.....and it does feel forceful. 

My Ouma always said kids will show you exactly how selfish you are. 

With one child I recognized the truth of this maxim.

But two children have shown me that I most emphatically own it. 

This is incredibly fuzzy and makes Abigail look extra chubby. But I still love both of their expressions

I know that selfishness is something I'll be combating my whole life. But it's been a shock to my system to see how far I'll go to 'rest' a little. Like trying to manipulate the situation, even when I know he's had a long day, so John will put Abigail to bed without my having to do anything but give her a kiss. 

And my kind husband often does so, without a complaint, even though I know he can see right through my ruse. Have I mentioned that selfishness also brings out my manipulating nature?

This little girl is good at it too. But when one is almost 2 and precocious, the rest of the world doesn't mind so much. (you should see her at bedtime: she is a master of procrastination and prevarication. Calvin has his work cut out for him keeping up with her.)

 I think he'll be okay though.

 

He can disarm her with his charming smile and infectious chuckle 

 (he laughs already! It's tiny, but it's adorable). 

And then quickly make his escape before she's realized what's happened. Truthfully though, as much as I dislike seeing my own sin; I adore having both of these kids. They are and will continue to be a joy. And if I have to learn to be unselfish I couldn't ask for a sweeter way to have it happen.

snapshots of enjoyment

I'm hoping to do a couple of short posts in the next week, mostly pictures; but since pictures are generally what family and friends far away want, I sure this will please :o). 

One of Abigail's favorite parts of receiving a new sibling was all the extra time she got with some of her favorite people (although none of John's family have been able to meet Calvin yet. Mom and Aunt Pat arrive this Saturday and I am thrilled. Especially at times like this it's frustrating to be so spread out!) 

Abigail got abundant outside playtime with everyone and I got some ( I think) really cute picture showing her enjoyment. 

She now, every time we're outside, asks to "pin"; and, since only Uncle Nate has the ability to do this long enough to satisfy her, she is inevitably diasappointed. 

This is one of my new favorite pictures. I love how much they're both enjoying themselves. She even took her doll outside the other day, showed her the tomatoes and then spun her around just like Uncle Nate spins her. It was sweet. 

John had two weeks off of work right after Calvin was born and Abigail soaked up all the extra time with her Daddy. It's his job to take her to new heights, and they both take this task seriously. It often begins with a run around the yard to heighten anticipation. 

She's telling him to "tay, Daddy, 'tay ", as she apparently needs a break from the chasing. She'll confidently hold out her hand like a policeman directing traffic when she makes her pronouncement.

A little victory lap around the perimeter.

I'm pretty sure she'll take the addition of a new baby any day as it means lots of fun attention for her. We'll do our best to continue that trend if the Lord blesses us with more kids.

Calvin took it all in stride.

3 weeks and 3 days ago

John Calvin Kirkwood Jr. was born ( at least I think he's a junior.....I was the only one present when the midwife filled out the birth certificate and, well, I can't remember.....we'll just have to wait and see.....I'm sure it's fixable. Right?)

He was 8 lbs, 6 oz; 21 inches long and came out yelling

Three weeks later he's proving to be a wonderfully content baby (except when he's crying)  and is starting to 'chub' up just a bit. 

His head still looks a bit like a kidney bean....but we try not to mention that in his presence.

(truthfully, this picture makes it look more pronounced than actuality)

We've survived our first week as a family of four.....a large part of that due to the fact that John worked half-days (Abigail has been crying when he leaves for work...it's adorable and sad)

Although here she's crying because we told her she couldn't stand in her umbrella. 

This is her umbrella: 

Mimi brought it. It's provided much entertainment....I still remember getting my first umbrella and raincoat not much older than Abigail. It's big stuff. 

Truthfully Abigail has done great with Calvin. 

With a face this cute how could you not? 

Another example of cuteness, this being a pensive cuteness. I had forgotten how much babies simply gaze at you, it melts my heart .

Abby ( as she calls herself) delights in holding him 

...as long as he's not crying. She then moves quickly to hand him off, saying "Hol' Mama. Baby cwhy. Milk Mama." which is her way of saying it's time for him to nurse. :o) She knows food is the way to a man's heart and, in her small world, milk fixes everything. 

I think he agrees.