Underwater shark

Zach has been strongly against putting his face underwater.  We have tried bribing, coercing, tricking, everything to get him to try.  Swim classes haven't help, in fact I think the pressure made it worse.  Finally at the beginning of this season I told Zach that he was in complete control over when he wanted to go underwater.  No more pressure.  I told him when he was ready he could do it then.  He was thrilled with that conversation and told me one day he would be an underwater shark, but for now he would stay on top.

While we were at the beach, Zach overheard my aunt and I talking about a couple of strong swimmers that we knew.  Truly I was just making casual conversation with no hidden agenda.  When she and I were done talking, Zach asked me if he was a strong swimmer.  At first I was going to placate him because I didn't want him to feel insulted, but instead I gently told him that no, he wasn't a strong swimmer yet but that I knew he would be one day.  He accepted my answer without arguement and then turned around jumped in the pool and has been swimming underwater ever since.

Apparently honesty is the best policy.

To the beach

Last week we went with my family to the beach.  We had perfect weather and a wonderful week.  It wasn't quite as relaxing as last year's trip because we were trying to keep Marcus off of the beach, so one of us always had to be at the house.  

At first Eli was miserable on the beach and kept asking to go back to the house, but eventually we figured out that he was sensitive to the sunlight and wearing glasses helped.  After that both boys had a great time, especially at low tide when natural tide pools formed.  Zach has gotten more brave each year going out in the surf and this year he played where the waves were breaking.  Eli, completely out of character, was very afraid of the waves and would only play in the tide pools.  Maybe next year both of the older boys will enjoy the ocean.

Can I have a juicy thing?

So what's a juicy thing?....

Why it's a plum, of course.  And as you can tell they are very, very juicy!

After this plum, I learned to take his shirt off
when he eats a 'juicy thing'.

According to rumors...

I have always heard rumors that babies sleep.  I even read somewhere that when a newborn is tired you can't keep them awake and when they aren't, you can't put them to sleep.  Well I have plenty of experience with the second part of this adage but I have had no opportunity to see a baby who likes to sleep.  Until now.....

Marcus sleeps!  

He sleeps in your arms, in the Ergo, in a crib, in a bouncy seat and even with his brothers screaming in the same room!!  I feel like I am witnessing a miracle.  At night he will even go 3-4 hours between nursings.

So not only do I feel reborn from no longer being pregnant, I also don't have that haggard new mother exhausted feeling either.  Life is Good!!

39 weeks and 3 days....

At 8:24pm on Wednesday, May 30th Marcus Alexander was born.  He weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long.  His delivery was fast and hard starting around 3:15 that afternoon.  We are so grateful for a healthy, beautiful baby boy.

Big brothers Zach and Eli have welcomed him with open arms, lots of kisses and frequent requests to hold him.

37 weeks, 6 days and 3 hours

Not that I'm counting......

Baby #3 is due to come soon and I feel like I have been pregnant with him for over a year.  I will spare you the majority of the list of grievances I currently have and only let you know that this little guy is quite comfortable.  Apparently he is so comfortable he is doing somersaults and cannot decide if he wants to be breech or if he wants to cooperate and put his noggin down.  Right now he is fluctuating between the two options.  As I write this entry he is head down, I believe, but I will have an ultrasound later today to verify.  If he's not, I am scheduled to have a 'version' on Tuesday (it will be my second scheduled one).  Basically it will all come down to what position he is in when I go into labor whether I can deliver naturally or if I have to have a c-section.  In the mean time I keep praying he doesn't get tangled up...

Males

Zach's assistant teacher at school had a baby a few weeks ago and today she came in to the classroom for the kids to meet him.  Zach told me about her visit when I picked him up and he asked if her break was over and she would now be coming back to school.  I told him that she wouldn't be back this year, that she was going to stay home and take care of her new baby.  After a minute of silence, Zach asked,

"Do the males ever stay home to take care of the young?"

Brotherly love

(Please don't judge our parenting based on this entry!)

On Saturday morning, Zach and Eli were playing with pretend guns.  Eli was becoming increasingly frustrated at his lack of success with the 'gun'.  As he started getting more and more upset, Zach said,

"Eli, I'm not trying to make you angry.  I'm trying to kill you."

Me too!

The other night at a restaurant I offered Zach a choice of chicken fingers or pizza.  He said that he wanted pizza.  A few minutes later he said,

"Mom, I give up my mind.  I want to have chicken fingers instead."

The Crowd

(This post will only be meaningful to those of you knew my Papou, Marcus Stephanides.)

The other day, while we were leaving swim lessons, we passed by a cemetery and Zach asked what it was.  I told him it was a place where people who had died were buried and that loved ones then put a stone above the spot to remember them.  This led to the question of how a body could be buried but also go to heaven.  So I tried to explain that our bodies stayed here but our spirits went to heaven.  So he asked where Papou was?  I said that his body was buried at a cemetery in town but that his spirit was in heaven.  "Can we go see it?", was his immediate reply.

So...we went to the cemetery.

Papou's burial site is in a large cemetery but his particular spot is very isolated by the water.  Most of the sites are very close together but I guess when my grandfather bought his they had opened up a 'new' area and he is one of the first buried there.  So Zach, Eli and I went to see the spot where he was buried and I read the tombstone to them.  Zach accepted all of this as very matter-of-fact and we loaded back into the van to leave.  As we left the isolated sectioned and drove through the very full part, Zach asked,

"Why was Papou buried outside the crowd?"

Little League

  Little League started on April 14th with a parade.  Zach is loving the whole experience!  He wears a big grin on his face the whole way around the bases.

 

At bat

Running to third.

On third base.

Taking the field

While Zach is playing in the real game, Eli has his own pretend game going on the sidelines.  

Every game he asks if he can play today?

32 weeks....and counting

On Easter Sunday I was 32 weeks pregnant.

Easter

Goodbye Hall Drive

 At the beginning of this month we sold our first home!  Looking back I'm not sure how all of the packing and organizing happened while still functioning as a family, but it did and I am glad it is behind us.  Thankfully the weather was beautiful for the month of March and the boys were able to be outside all day while I packed inside.

After we moved out and before settlement, we took the boys back to the empty house to say "goodbye" because Zach was expressing some confusion as to why we couldn't go back there.  He helped us go through the house and pick out a few last minute bits we 'forgot' (such as a washcloth, baby spoon, garden shovel, plastic bags and other treasures).  Zach collected all the items and then said, "Goodbye Hall Dr!"  He hasn't expressed any anxiety about leaving the house since then.

We are currently living with my parents while we look for our next home and await the 8 weeks left until the baby is born.

In the midst of packing we managed to have a picnic lunch!

This was taken at 27 weeks pregnant.

Perhaps we are making progress....

This afternoon, while I folded laundry, the boys were playing really well together in the other room.  Suddenly, I heard a thud and Eli started screaming.  It didn't sound serious (it could have been a book, a toy or a head) so I stayed where I was to see how it played out.  As Eli ran off towards the living room, Zach poked his head in my door and I asked him what had happened?  He said,

  

"Sometimes mom, Eli is right and I am wrong.  I need to give him a turn to be king."

Another boy!

It seems that we are destined to be the parents of three boys!  This week at my 19 week ultrasound we were told to expect another brother.  Of course we are grateful to have a healthy child and I appreciate that we haven't had the heartache that many families go through with trying to conceive, but I confess to being disappointed that our family will not include a daughter.  It is actually surprising that I would feel this way because I think my personality is much more suited to boys.  I really have nothing of girliness or great crafty skills to pass on and enjoy with a daughter (as evidenced by my great cake-making abilities).  I have always gotten along better with boys and I have very little patience for the drama of teenage girls.  So....what is my problem??  I don't know.  I think that while I will not miss having a 'girl', I will miss the bond of not having had a daughter.

Instead, we will anxiously await the birth of a beautiful boy and the perfect fulfillment of our family!

A man of faith

This was Zach's prayer one night at dinner a few months ago:

"Dear Lord, Thank you for this food.  Thank you for Yia yia and Papa and Aunt Stephanie and Thea and Eli.  And please Lord, don't let anyone die. Even though I know they will.  In Your name, Amen."

Eli sayings

Eli has been a little slower to speak than most children.  He really only said the word "no" consistently up until this past summer.  But August brought about a rapid development in his speech and he went from hardly talking to speaking in full sentences.  I have shared with you some of the amusing things that Zach has said and now it is Eli's turn.

1.  Apple Soup:
He likes to jump on our bed (yes, I let the boys jump on the beds, I figure it's better than the couch).  When he jumps up with two feet and lands on his bottom he says, "Apple (while jumping) Soup (when landing)".  No idea where this came from but we have to watch him 'apple soup' every time.

2.  Whoopsy-weasel:
When he falls down or does something clumsy he says, "Whoopsy-weasel".  (Again, this was own expression not initiated by us.)

3.  Pats:
Pacifiers are "pats".  He started off abbreviating pacifier but even now that he can say the full word he still prefers "pats".

4. Lights on:
The other night when I was changing Eli I took his pants off and flipped them over his face.  He said, "Hey!  Who turned the lights on?"

5.  King Tiger:

The other day Eli kept following me around asking to watch "King Tiger".  After he got very frustrated with me I figured out he meant "The Lion King".

Someplace fun

Zach goes to preschool three mornings a week and this morning he declared that he did not want to go.  Okay, I thought, how do I get around this one? 

So I just suggested that he put his coat on and we would go for a drive and try to find something fun to do. (He looked at me skeptically.) 

We start driving towards school and Zach says nothing.  As we turn onto the street where his school is, I suggest we start looking for some place fun to go. (He graces me with a small smirk.) 

I start pointing to houses and ask if that one looks like any fun. (He cuts his eyes at me.) 

Then I say, "Whoa! Wait a minute (as his school comes into view).  This place looks like fun.  Look there is a school bus!  And a playground!  And lots of kids to play with!  Why don't we try this place for something fun to do?" 

Zach (with his telltale smirk) says in a perfectly dry delivery, "This place looks an awful lot like my school."

Christmas and Birthdays

I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around Zach turning 5 years old!  It just doesn't seem possible.  But somewhere in the midst of family-Christmas-craziness Zach did indeed turn 5.