Babysoroos

 

 

Pictures from Christmas in Ireland and Northern Ireland

Pictures from Halloween(ish)

Somehow I think I have managed to get through an entire pregnancy without mentioning it here at all. I’ve been blogging so little since last winter. I’ll try to go back and add some of the maternity photos at some point.

Baby boy #3 arrived this morning, August 16, at 4:42am, in the pool in our living room. It was a wonderful birth. He weighed 8lbs 9oz, and measured 20″ long. We haven’t named him yet.

More details later, about the pregnancy and birth and all of it, but in the meantime, here are a few photos from today.

Timothy has recently been taking over Ben’s little bike, and Ben had clearly outgrown it. So we got a bigger one for Ben, and now they officially have one each. When the new bike arrived, we just didn’t put the training wheels on it. Eric spent a good few hours on Sunday chasing Ben up and down the driveway, but it only took a short time before it was more moral support than anything else.

He still needs some help starting, and hasn’t quite figured out how to turn at the end of the drive or how to stop effectively, but he’s been having a great time! And Timothy is loving having his own bike too — no more taking turns!

Tim took all my brains!!!

They’re playing with playdough. 

Eric’s sister, the boys’ Aunt Cindy, passed away at the end of September. She took her own life. It was sudden and completely unexpected.

We are very very sad that the boys won’t grow up knowing her. She always sent the best books for the kids.

We will miss her.

Memories of Cindy.

I’ve had another blog for many years at www.blether.org. It’s been updated sporadically, randomly, taking long breaks and changing course and focus. Or not having course and focus, or something. The archives have been deleted several times as I clean up and decide to try again anew.

This blog is about the kids. It’s personal, it’s for family and friends to keep in touch. I don’t want to share this one with the world.

But I also want to blog about things that don’t feel like they fit here. They aren’t about “baby Soroos” specifically, they aren’t only for friends and family to read. In fact, they’re things I really want to share with a wider audience, a community I’m discovering of other women who are crafting, sewing, quilting, embroidering, and finding ways to incorporate their love of “making” into their children’s lives. I want to write about crafts I do, or crafts with the kids. Sewing projects, art projects, things we’re learning, books we’re reading. I just want to write more, actually.

So I’ve resurrected my old blog, this time as Island Mama.

That’s where I’ll write about stuff that isn’t just family “news” and share photos of my/our arts and crafts.

This is where I’ll still post photos of the kids just for the sake of photos of the kids. 🙂

I’ll provide links from here to there whenever I write something about the kids, but you’re all welcome to visit over there as often as you like.

Timothy is one. Wow.

We had a lovely day, with a friend over for the morning, more friends for lunch, then cake and ice cream, and then more friends.

Here’s who Timothy is at one:

• He can walk, really well, and for a long time. Nearly runs sometimes.
• He has started asking us to read books, by handing them to us, then turning around and backing into our laps.
• He still doesn’t eat a lot. Quantity or variety. We offer, he just doesn’t seem that interested.
• He suddenly loves going outside. Get his shoes and coat and hat on, and he heads for the door. Unfortunately, usually the last door he went out of, which is invariably the wrong door for this time.
• He plays with toys in a focused and intentional manner — builds towers (and knocks other people’s down, of course), zooms cars around, puts things in containers, pushes buttons — just uses them mostly the way they were designed…..
• He throws and kicks a ball. Well, dribbles. Not entirely on purpose, but hey.
• He goes to the cupboard where his snacks are kept and gets out his own food and waves it at us.
• He has started signing milk to me! I think it just means “Mum” or “hold me” or something sometimes, but sometimes it distinctly means he wants to nurse.
• He dances. And laughs.
• He loves watching his big brother, and more and more he wants to imitate him.
• He can use the potty. He’s still in diapers, of course, but we do put him on the potty frequently and he knows what to do. He even wakes up during the night to pee and occasionally has a dry diaper in the morning!

This afternoon, after all the sugar and excitement, Ben and Timothy and I walked out to get the mail. Ben wore welly boots, but I just put regular shoes on Timothy. On the way back along the lane, Ben found a puddle to jump in. And jump in. And splash in. Which is fine, remember, welly boots.

Timothy was watching. And laughing.

And he headed for the puddle too. In his sneakers. I wanted to see what he’d do, so I let him. Laughing all the way, he walked right in to the puddle and stomped and cackled even more.

I’m a mother of boys, that’s for sure. And watching them start to interact and amuse each other and want to play sort of together, it’s wonderful. Even if they end up with soggy feet.

Pictures soon, including the cake he hardly ate. (Is it possible he doesn’t – gasp – like chocolate??) We’re having a windstorm tonight and power is flickering. Time to shut things down.

Every so often, we hear a honking or a tapping from the front yard, and this is what we see. They are looking for food, or companionship, or something. They can fly if provoked, as well as run pretty fast and make funny noises. They have been spotted deadheading the mums on the front porch, so they may even make somewhat useful gardeners.