January

Thank you Aunt Kate for coming most Sundays at 740 am after working late the night before to watch all 3 kids so Adam can surf and I can workout.....

Alex at 8 months....just where he loves being, sandwiched between his brother and dad. Love my boys!

Nighttime reading. Yes, Kate sometimes picks a bathing suit for her pajamas

An early morning attempt at the whole gang photo shoot...never too early to be silly

There you go Charlie and Alex, but what's up with Kate...

There Kate goes again, time to cut her out...

Wait did I get a decent shot?

Charlie now in on the fun! And Alex not so sure anymore...

Charlie reading to Kate at 6 am....

Alex coming over to join the fun...

2012 is off to a great start for us. Everyone in our family is healthy and happy, and truly what more can one want than that. Charlie loves school and his teacher adores him. He has made lots of friends and spends his recesses playing every sport you could imagine. Most of the kids he has connected with our Latino and Adam and I love that he is picking up Spanish and crossing a big cultural divide in our community. I could not be happier with his teacher. She seems to truly love teaching, love the kids and puts endless energy into her class. She teaches thematically with the emphasis all on animals and nature. Charlie comes home every few days with awesome projects he made. I am in the class 2 times a week helping for an hour or so and so I see first hand how the kids are always working together, changing centers, happy, and learning!
About a month ago I handed him a small book and asked if he wanted to try to read it. We have never explicitly taught our kids numbers or letters. I believe they will learn when they are ready, and strongly believe at this age their main focus should be to play and learn how to interact with others. Charlie has shown a lot of interest and skills in numbers and math, and can solve quite complicated problems in his head. When I handed him the book a month or so ago he just started reading. We were shocked. He is of course a beginner, but he sits with us every morning and night and reads little books I get from the library. Last night at dinner he grabbed a book and read to Alex in his high chair.
Kate loves preschool and is thriving at Los Ninos. She has lots of friends and just loves going there. I believe she could pick up reading too as she is super bright and knows letters and sounds just from watching Charlie, but I am making every effort to slow her down so that Charlie can feel special and big. Kate is also an incredible swimmer....bike rider...and fast runner. She takes art in town and excels that as well. She also has the most incredible imagination I have ever witnessed. All her "games" begin with a loud southern and sassy HELLLOOOO...and then she falls right into the character she is. There are currently three: Sensa, Corda, and Sarah. Sarah is a housewife with 5 kids who constantly blows her bangs with her hands on her hips and complains about all the cooking and cleaning and shopping she has to do. She is also sweet and caring....it is a very interesting thing to observe because I know she is being me. And she does it better than I do. I usually play along and yesterday I was Kate and I was being rude and whiny. "sarah" just kept saying what she needed to say but all in a nice, sweet, and calm voice. I asked "sarah" how she stays so calm when I am being so difficult, and she replied: "It is easy, I just say everything in a nice sweet voice." That moment was huge. Maybe I can try to do that when my kids are flipping the f*&* out. Then there is Sensa. When Kate is Sensa, I must be Corda and Charlie must be Tiger, her husband. Sensa has two hubbands (as she calls it): Adam and Tiger. They all have 80 babies. I play Corda, Sensa's sister. When Kate is Corda, Charlie is leopard and Alex is their baby, who is called Cheetah. As you can see it is exhausting, but truly amazing. Charlie plays right along when he is home, although most of the time this comes out when he is in school.
Alex is more amazing every second. He is a super fast crawler and just in the last week started pulling himself to standing position on us or the couch....he just turned 8 months. It is going too fast. He also started truly waving hi a few weeks ago, and mimics this HIIIIIIII sound. He is the happiest, most focused, loved baby around.
I am hanging in there. I have a great group of women around me. From my sister and mom, to about 10 women I really care about, I am well-loved by the women around me. Adam and I really compliment each other. When I feel like I am about to lose my cool with the kids, he steps in with his calm yet firm demeanor. I make sure to support his surfing, and he supports me working out and going out with friends as often as I want. We look foward to a time in our lives where we can go to dinner just the two of us, or even take a full weekend trip...but for now we will settle for our hour or two a night hanging by the fire.
Things aren't perfect. I often times feel this rush inside me to get everything done before we leave the house and not be late. The kids are constantly asking, "are we late?" and I know they get that from me....hurry we are late. I am trying to take deep breaths when I feel everything but calm. I forgive myself when I yell, and apologize when I am wrong. Despite the constant mental countdown until all three kids are asleep, I really do cherish the tiny moments every day.
Yesterday I played Kate's new cooperative game with just her, and I loved all 15 minutes of it. Today while nursing the baby to sleep I couldn't stop loving his thick chunky baby hand, and as I was loving the feel of that hand on my neck I was thinking of all the things he would do with his hands as he got older: hold a spoon, catch a ball, ride a bike, write, ......
And Charlie last night and this morning was delightful. I cherished the moment he saw me walk in from work and raced up to me with a hug. The way he saw the book I brought home called Little Brother and raced to get it and read it to Alex. The laughter that rolled from deep within his body as he read the book about a messy baby.
And in between those wonderful moments are moments where I feel under-appreciated, frustrated, too rushed, and always behind. And I am totally ok with that. As long as I get a few short moments of peace, some quality time with my friends, good hard exercise, and the occasional glass of wine...I am fine with the chaos that is my life.