Brothers

One thing I have been enjoying lately is hearing the boys chatting while they play together. Our two-year-old is still in the stage where what he says has to be translated to most people outside of our family but I didn't realize just how well the boys knew each other until several recent occasions where I was stumped as to what he meant but his older brother easily translated for me. When my eldest was this age I was the one who knew best what he was thinking and saying. So, despite knowing that this is generally the way it goes and will go, it is with mixed feelings that I realize that I am no longer the closest. But it is good to have a close brother!

Third

Our poor neglected third child obviously has had barely any pictures taken of her. Having abundant natural light in our house certainly helps with the quality of the pictures, too.

So last week

Newborns change so much that I sometimes find I don't want to post pictures that were taken more than a day or two earlier. These were taken a while ago (in baby terms) but I thought I'd like to put them up in any case. I think I'm the only one who would notice that she looks a little young here (and even I will find that hard to discern in another couple weeks from now).

The bathroom sink

During our bathroom renovation our new vanity has enjoyed pride of place in the middle of our livingroom until such a time as it can be moved to its permanent home upstairs. It is not unusual for something new in the house to attract the attention of the boys and cats -- indeed it would be unusual if something James was working on didn't fascinate them all. But usually the original sheen wears off after a little and they move on to explore other ways of playing with other things. But this vanity has held their interest and attention consistently for such a length of time that James has suggested we buy a second so as not to disappoint them when we have to move it upstairs. I'm glad they're enjoying it now but I like having a livingroom too much to agree.

Deeper

Most of the times when my children come to understand a more abstract or complex concept I am pretty excited for them. A few months ago, while practicing adding by counting fingers was a fairly new activity for my four-year-old, he excitedly explained to me that 4 + 1 is the very same thing as 1 + 4! Pretty awesome stuff. The other day it seemed to come home to him that the world existed before he was born. It seems as though he knew that there was time that he doesn't remember from when he was a baby but I don't think it really occurred to him to think beyond that (understandably). But I can't say I really enjoyed it when, last night as he sat with our older cat, he started to extrapolate from what he knows of death in the context of cats (our other older cat died last year) and apply it to himself. He mentioned that one day he would get old and die. As he spoke his voice caught and he gave a puzzled look and mentioned his throat felt strange. He went on to say that he was sad because when he died he wouldn't see his brother anymore and that he wouldn't be here anymore and he liked it here. Ooof! Where to begin? We have talked about various aspects of this issue before but much more is at steak when concrete assurance and comfort is called for. How much can I say and how much will he understand? I'm just so thankful that life often gives us more than one opportunity to address issues and discuss things with our children.

Polkadots and smiles

I finally caught a couple smiles on camera. Still working on being quick enough to catch a grin or two.