Getting Adventurous
It's Official!
On February 16th at 10:02 a.m. Renn Jackson Bailey became a big brother. His sister is Miss Avery Elizabeth Bailey. Due to swine flu children are not permitted into hospitals which meant Renn was unable to meet his sissy untill we came home from the hospital on the 19th. And thankfully the reaction is LOVE! Renn loves his sissy, The "B" or vry vry. He is very concerned for her at all times, wants to peak on her in the crib, "ug" (hug) her, touch her hair, ears, nose and mouth. We are having to work with him a bit on being gentle and he tends to want on the lap of the person holding her but all in all it is best reaction to a new sibling I could have hoped for. We are praying constantly that they are a loving and caring brother and sister pair forever.
The whole thing is truly helping me examine what is a "no!" in life. Want to make sure the little guy hears the word yes! in life more than he hears no! Parenting is always teaching me something.
Explosion
We are in the midst of a word explosion right now. I won’t even do the list justice, but I wanted to try and capture the words Renn is saying. I am just amazed - everyday it seems to be something new!
Family: Mama, Dada, Enn (Renn), Papa, Addison
School friends: Sue, Occo (Rocco), Nendall (Kendall), Michael
Animals: Dawg, Orsey(Horse), Moo, Eow (Meow), Owl, Iggy (Pig), Goat, Fox, ChIcken, Bird, Uck, Frog, Roar, Phent (Elephant), Ba (Sheep), Bear, Butterfly, Ish (Fish)
Foods: Milk, Wawa, Juice, Cereal, Chicken, Banana, Apple, Egg, Pickle, Cake, Cookie
Shapes and Colors: Circle, Star, Yellow, Green
Body Part: Eyes, Nose, Ead(Head), Mouth, Ears
Things in motion: Motocyle, Us (Bus), Car, Oat(Boat), Tuck (Truck), Choo Choo (Train)
Numbers: He can repeat 1-10 in English and Spanish
Misc: Up, This way, That way, Thank you, Welcome, Bye, Night-Night, Out, Elmo, Medicine, Book, Bonk, Misus (Music), Pease (Please), On, Off, Open, Close, Ickky (Mickey), Ubbles (Bubbles), Ottball (Football), Shoe, Ants(Pants), Socks, Ucket (Bucket), Trash, Mess, Elp(Help), Ug (Hug), No, Bath, Side(Outside), Bag, Clothes, Ooon (Moon), Tickle, Nice, Ouse (House), Barn
Precious Moments
If you read this blog then you have probably figured out my bad habit. I avoid updating the blog because I am attempting to avoid dealing with the feelings at hand. Well, here we are… it is time to stop avoiding and start dealing. We are six weeks from baby girl Bailey’s arrival (saying our prayers and crossing our fingers for the full 6 weeks) and we are of course thrilled, nervous, anxious, excited and many more adjectives but at the same time I have been working so hard to hold tight to all the precious precious moments between the tree frog and me. To watch him grow over the last few months has been incredible. Discovering his independence, learning word after word after word, learning to count in English and Spanish, his continued love of the outdoors, music and dancing (the boy has moves). But, the moments I am cherishing the most right now are his new found love of snuggling and cuddling. He now gives kisses on his own (open mouth), he asks for “ugs” (hugs) and simply enjoys snuggling in my arms as we watch Sesame Street or Word World. These moments are indescribable! All I know is that I never want them to stop, that I want him to need his “mama” forever and that I already bawl like a baby when I think of him being a teenager.
I am certain all these emotions are heightened due to the fact that no matter what I do right now change is on the way with another babies arrival imminent. The truth is I am so worried! Will Renn still feel how much I love him, will I have enough attention to provide him and will there still be cuddle opportunities? EVERYONE tells me it works out! And at this point all I can do is trust - trust that there is enough love in my heart to go around, enough attention to be shared and enough energy to make each day happen. I am all thankful for all the examples of mothering multiples I have in my life – it allows me to have a sense of faith in the adventure that lies ahead.
Goodness, a year and half ago I never would have imagined all that would have been brought into my life by bringing the little tree frog into world and I am certain God has plenty more in store for us for as family. I will continue to hold tight to the precious memories being created in these days for our family of three and I look forward to the memories that are to come once we are four. Read more...
Grieving
It is 2:30 a.m. on moving day and I am up. Up and frustrated that there is much more to do, but I can't be packing while the boys are sleeping. While I am thrilled to be moving into a one story house with a much better floor plan for two kidos I am also grieving leaving this house. There are so many memories here and while my head knows they will still exist the thought of leaving this house makes me tear up.
I will always remember that Eric got the keys to this house the day before our first date and I was impressed that he even kept the date. Eric and I watching Narnia on the floor because he had no furniture, picking out paint colors, being on my best detailed behavior as I helped paint; my way of impressing him. Seeing the sky of the backyard filled with hot air balloons and knowing I was "home", coming home from our wedding to a broken heater in January (even though it is Phoenix it still gets cold), how we watch movies and how we each have "our" spot on the couch, Eric cooking dinner for me on our first married Valentines, Eric's bird watching obsession and then there was the grandpa scorpion. Telling Eric I was prego, bringing Renn "home", the rattlesnake found in the backyard when Renn was just a few weeks old, the neighborhood walks, the beautiful sunrises, Renn crawling, pulling up, walking, the way he loves the stairs and how he always shuts the baby gates. Playing hide and go seek in the closet, creating Renn's playroom out of the office, Renn's first birthday party, bike rides, watching Renn learn to open doors and how he always want to visit people in the bathroom. Telling Eric I was prego again! and the realization this sweet sweet house just wasn't going to cut it.
It has been a great first house for us and I will miss it and the incredible dessert view. It provided shelter, comfort, peace, many a great meals and a beautiful place for us to grow as a family. Thank you house - we pray you are blessing to others.
Like Father, Like Son
Believe me I really do think about blogging everyday. The thoughts are there. I truly just get overwhelmed with Renn's development and changes that I can't process them fast enough. With Baby Bailey II on the way I have been reflecting so much on where we have been to where we are now that it is hard to believe that this 16 month old toddler was once completely helpless.
I still sit in awe that he now reasons and rationalizes. That he uses and understands words like baoon (balloon and ball), dawg (dog), uck (duck), ut-oh (also includes a backwards wave), wht's at? (what's that?), lmo (Elmo) and then there is the one we are working on which is sheep...it always comes out sounding like s@i#. Trying to perfect this one a little better. He has attachment to things. His sheep puppet (thus the need to work on how he asks for it), Elmo doll, stacking toy, multiple books that we must read multiple times in a row and balloons. You can now see him have a range of emotions; frustration (comes with a whine), sadness (comes with a pouty face), happy (the most common), glad (usually when mama or daddy enters the room) and my personal favorite is excited (comes with yeah! and clapping or sometimes you get a ta-da!)
The funniest thing to discover about Renn is that he has so many likeness to his daddy. We begin the list!
1. They both love to car dance. Since I have met Eric he is what a I call an excellent car dancer. The boy has seated moves and they have rubbed off. The two of them can sit in the driveway one in the passenger seat one in the drivers seat grooving to some tunes. Heads moving in sync.
2. Ear scratch. Eric has a unique way he scratches his ear. He flips one finger backwards and then in a very fast motion swipes the inside of his ear. We have noticed that Renn does it the exact same way - finger flip and all.
3. Organizationally obsessed. My hubby loves the tupperware organized just so and the pantry just right and the fridge has to have things perfecto. And thank God he does it! But, now I have a mini him. Renn has taken to the side door. Every time the fridge is open he heads over to remove all that he can from the side door and then quickly rearrange it as needed. I honestly wonder how much of our power bill goes to fridge organization.
4. Laundry guru's. My sweet hubby does the laundry due to the fact that I work the weekends and this is generally when he needs his laundry done. Renn is now an excellent assistant. Handing daddy clothes, putting clothes in the hamper, helping with the folding. Renn also decides what is important to have upstairs and what needs to come down. His favorite thing to do once things come out of the dryer is throw it over the stair banister. Besides laundry Renn also sweeps, puts dishes in the dishwasher, takes them out and the latest is you can ask him to throw something away and he takes it to the trash can, lifts the lid and adds the item to the garbage. So excellent!
5. The Bailey walk. If you know Eric then you know that he has a distinctive walk. Eric's dad also has the same walk. Honestly, the family kinda giggles about it. I wish I could figure out a clever way to describe it. It is head held high short man's kinda strut...that is the best I got. Well, I am going on the record right now as saying that Renn has the walk. Eric doesn't see it, but I promise it is there. Bailey walker III on the way!
With all this development going on it is hard not to love it all. But, the thing I LOVE LOVE the most is that I can now say "Renn, give mama a kiss." and he walks over, grabs my face and plants one on me. AHHHHHH....love! Love you Tree Frog!
The Greatest Disappointment
The greatest disappointment in becoming a parent is that I now don't possess some mad Harry Potter skill to stop time. There are multiple moments in a day that I just want everything to freeze so that life can just continue on exactly as is or so that I can run and grab the camera. A few such moments not to be forgotten.
. Getting your first Happy Meal on your 1st Birthday
. "Losing" your stroller on your 1st birthday in Anthem Park
. Watching you have your first bite of cake and ice cream
. Having you reach for and hold my hand
. Our walk and talk from the car to your classroom
. How much you love outside. Please love outside forever.
. Your first time in a baby pool
. Discovering magnets
. Discovering magnets stick to the walls
. Crawling DOWN the stairs for the first time
. Your mad dancing skills
. Your woody woodpecker laugh
. "That?"
. How you enjoy playing with other kids. Thank you preschool.
. Watching you learn to problem solve
. Your love of music
. My excitement when you put banana chunks in your mouth. You would have thought he had just been accepted to Julliard.
. Your smile when we clap for you
. We think your love language is touch or pinching
. Watching you experience dogs for the first time
We enjoy you always little tree frog!
