Ben Is.... Eight.

Ben is inquisitive. Yesterday Ben took a bucket and shovel outside to the front driveway to catch ants while the rest of the boys decided to play a few minutes of video games in the basement. That is my Ben. He's intrigued by the world around him and is willing to forsake the "thing that everyone else is doing" to seek out new discoveries and be himself. Ben is my explorer, seeking, finding, my little Captain Cook. He breaks open rocks to find the pyrite and crystals inside; he digs deep in the dirt to find treasures, living and organic; he watches wildlife, bugs, birds, and animals, to find how they behave; he hops boulders and climbs trees to find out about his body and how it works.

Ben is constant and true. He wants to make the right choice, and when he doesn't he honestly feels badly about it. He hates getting in trouble, not because he doesn't like consequences but because he knows he's disappointed us and therefore he has disappointed himself. He's sensitive, and can get his feelings hurt easily, but I think that's because he has a tenderness that will serve him well in his life. When he cares for you, as a family member or friend, you know it. He loves his big brother Zach, and looks up to him so much. Because of the importance Zach has in his life, he desires to be the kind of big brother that the littler ones look up to just as he looks up to Zach. Ben loves to be with Adam and I. He will seek out his dad all the time, just to be with him, doing "guy" stuff. And he'll bring his book downstairs at the end of the day while I do dishes, and sit and read at the kitchen counter to be near to me.

Ben is easily distracted, totally picky and energetic. He is so busy and the things around him prick his curiosity so easily that he often completely forgets what you've asked him to do from one moment to the next. Most of the trouble he gets into is from forgetting to do something because before he got to it his mind, followed by his body, wandered off in another direction. He's also an absolutely picky eater. Some days it can drive me batty. He'd live on Ramen if he could! Ben's also packed full of energy. I am glad he's so active in athletics because it gives him an "out" for his busyness. But Ben can sure get his spaz on, that's for sure!

Ben is brilliant. He loves to figure things out. He's a builder and a creator. Legos, blocks, knex, wood and nails, paper: you give him a medium, he'll build you something or create something you probably never thought of. He's also a fabulous student. His teachers are always pleased to have him in class. He is admired for his hard work and determination to do well.

Ben is athletic. He's a great soccer player. He runs hard, passes well and scores frequently. He's not afraid to get bumped and banged up to get the ball. It's a *kick* to see him out on the field, enjoying his team, enjoying his sport. Ben also is an amazing runner. He is quick and has a stride that is shocking on a kid so small. His gait is natural and comfortable. And he loves it. It's his thing.

Ben is faithful. Ben loves his church classes. He loves the things he learns, and loves to share with us the things he's learned. Because he learns about love. Jesus' love. And that makes him feel happy. It makes him feel good. It allows him to know he's never alone. He is so excited to get baptized this Saturday. He can't wait to have his own "official" fancy set of scriptures with his name printed across the front. We got him a scripture case with a little compass on it, to remind him which direction he should always be facing: toward his Lord. Recently he's decided he wants to sing hymns. He gets this serious deep tone to his voice and sings nice and slow to hit all the notes correctly, and even includes a little timbre. It's great.

Ben is Ben. And he's mine. And I love him into the innermost parts of my heart. Today he's eight. Eight. A very happy 8th birthday, Ben! You never cease to amaze me and make me proud!

Repeat, But Sweet

Friday Josh, Luke and I were at it again. Except this time we made strawberry freezer jam.

Josh loves being able to use the sharp knife when he helps me cook. Our mantra for this little project was, "Only stem, less berry." Isn't it nice that Josh made the effort to coordinate colors with our food AND the cutting board?

I believe that Tommy was hoping that if he shared his banana with me I might give him some strawberries to try, he kept trying to pass a bite to me and squawking while looking at the berries, but unfortunately for him, as much as I wanted to share, he's still got a couple of months until he gets the "go-ahead" on those delicious, red tasties.

Luke was thrilled with a reprise of his role. When he saw me pulling out the Cuisinart he ran for his apron and said, "I'm washing my hands! Tie on my apron, Mom! I get to be the button pusher!" He was so excited he actually SMILED for the camera!

Mmmmm...sugar and berries, simple yet divine.

Clean-up was a cinch with such a tasty concoction.

When the pectin package says that 4-1 pound containers of strawberries equal approximately 4 cups of berry pulp it's a major error (you think I'd have realized that just looking at the quantity of berries, but you have to remember that I have five children and my brain sometimes just overlooks the things it deems unimportant), or maybe 4-1 pound containers have fewer berries than 1-4 pound container...what am I saying?! Is that like the riddle "what weighs more--a pound of feathers or a pound of lead?" Anyhow, we ended up with a lot of berry pulp and not enough pectin, and since I was trusting their "estimate" and wasn't measuring as I poured the berry pulp into the bowl, and since I also must have kind of been in la la land and didn't notice, until it was time to stir it all together, that the amount of berries in the bowl was vastly more than 4 cups, we have jam that is barely set. Oh well! That doesn't mean it's still not ABSOLUTELY deeeelicious!

Maybe we will just have to use this for ice cream topping and crepe filling and try again on the jam...you can imagine we are devastated by that prospect! :)

Taming Mama Bear

Warning: This is a total vent post.

Saturday was Zach's first soccer game of the season. After a long and annoying drive up to south Denver for the game, where we got stuck in major traffic because the freeway was closed while hazmat crews cleaned up the road and we had to take a scenic detour through Douglas and Jefferson Counties, wherein I learned that the job of "county coroner" is an elected position, we finally arrived 25 minutes late for a game that we had left for one-and-a-half hours earlier. So perhaps I started the afternoon off a little peevish anyway.

Zach, who has some great soccer skills and incredible understanding of fundamentals but doesn't really have a lot of natural aggressiveness and who has to push himself to get in there and snag the ball, had this GREAT breakaway run while playing defender. He snaked in, stole the ball and had a clear path up the field, which he ran quickly while in total control of the ball until passing it off to a teammate halfway between midfield and the other team's goal. It was so exciting! Unfortunately, the teammate he passed it to lost the ball and the kid who took it streaked off down the field. Zach, as defender, hauled it back up the field, did his best to intercept the kid, got neck in neck with him, but it was too late, and the kid scored.

After the game one of his teammates, who we will call "Steve," after a kid who treated Adam similarly during Adam's young life in sports, decided to yell at Zach about the play and a couple of teammates joined in. This Steve kid has yelled at Zach before when Zach has done things that weren't perfect ball play in Steve's eyes. Which really ticks me off because Steve is no perfect player himself. Yes, I admit, Steve's a good soccer player, one of the best on the team, but he has his hang-ups too. For example, Steve probably cost our team at least two goals during Saturday's game because he's a total ball hog and won't pass even when he's surrounded by the other team and has a clear pass to a wide-open teammate who has an open shot on goal.

His yelling at Zach annoys me just because it's not nice, not productive, and not appropriate. But in this case it was extra frustrating because Zach was nearly flawless in the play described above. He was fast, he was aggressive, he was in control, he had a great pass; he should not have passed the ball off when he had a wide open run up the field just to stay in position, as Steve was suggesting. The only thing Zach could have really done was an illegal slide-tackle, which would have stopped the ball but given the other team a penalty kick. And we're talking 9-year-olds here. That's just not something most of them would think to do yet. Except perhaps jerky Steve because he's a meanie.

What should have happened, is that one of the midfielders should have seen that Zach had his breakaway run and gone up field to cover the defender role. But did Steve yell at the midfielders who didn't cover the position? No. Instead Zach got reamed by this jerky Steve and ended up in tears. He was heartbroken.

Zach's great breakaway, a fantastic aggressive play from a kid who really has to force himself to get in there like that, totally smashed. He was absolutely deflated. Now what's going to happen next time he has a chance to do something similar? Will he back off? Maybe so, probably, even. Although I hope not. But he doesn't want to get yelled at by the other guys. I'm so frustrated for him, and so mad at that Steve! What did Steve hope to accomplish by yelling at Zach? Did it change what happened? Does it encourage Zach to play harder and do better? No. It just made Steve feel superior, like he would have done better. Unfortunately for Steve, I know better. Steve doesn't have the understanding of positioning that Zach has. And Steve, Ball Hog Steve, would have done the exact same thing. No way he would have passed it off.

Watching Zach walk across the field, melting in tears but doing his best to hold it together, the mama bear in me took over. That instinct to protect, defend, punish those who threaten her cubs flared.

First internal reaction: I want to punch that nasty Steve in the nose! Or tell Zach to do it.

Second internal reaction: I want to tell Zach that if Steve gets in his face again he should say, "Back off Steve! Maybe if you weren't such a ball hog, and would pass a bit more, we could actually score and win."

Third reaction and the actual action taken: Grrr...I can't do ANY of those things because it's not OK. I can't punch anyone, nor would I actually ever do that. And I shouldn't tell Zach to stoop to Steve's level of jerk. Instead I need to hug Zach, reassure him, listen to him, tell him stories of when I was picked on in sports, encourage Adam to do the same, love him, and then secretly think mean thoughts about Steve that I keep to myself. But am I really sure those other two reactions aren't appropriate? {deep sigh} Yeah, yeah. Plus, Zach's so nice, he'd never say mean things to Steve.

Adam mentioned the incident to the team's new coach. Coach said, "Zach, did I yell at you over the play or did your teammates?" Zach replied, "My teammates." Coach: "That's because you didn't do anything wrong. So what matters more, if I had yelled or if they yell at you?" Zach: "My teammates because if you are yelling at me it's because you would be trying to help me play better but they're just being mean." Awwwwww! Mean Steve!!!!!

So frustrating. I feel badly for Zach who is such a nice kid and just wants to be friends with everyone; I feel irritated at Steve, and Steve's parents who must condone such behavior; I feel nervous for Zach's future play because he's not one to face down a challenge but prefers to avoid confrontation; I feel hope that Zach's coach will address the issue in a tactful way at the next practice; I feel thoughtful, trying to figure out how I can encourage Zach to keep it up; I feel love for my sweet boy who had his confidence stomped on today; I feel like a mama bear, who has been tamed, but still burns with the frustration of having to see her cub hurt but still has to act like the tame bear she is.

Today was a hard day for Zach, and it was a hard day for this mama bear too. This is one of the parts of motherhood you aren't told about before you are in it. The fierce love that grips your heart that it hurts when you see your child wounded by his peers; and doing what you can to lift him back up, but knowing how much the pain from those you think are your friends can hurt regardless of how much you are loved by your mom.

Foot Coverings at Altitude

Wednesday night found the entire Conlin Chaos chillin' in the *good* seats at the Fluke Networks' Sky Sox (our local minor league baseball team) party. It was such a nice night for the ballpark: the sky had no trace of a thunderstorm, the air was warm with just enough cool breeze to be comfortable and require a sweatshirt as the sun went down, and the feeling was, well, if you've ever been to an evening baseball game in late summer, you know the feeling. Just ahhhhhhhhh....

Plus, we got to sit on level one of the picnic terrace, so the view was fantastic and the food was paid for. Sox the Fox, the team's mascot, came for a visit so the boys got to give him a hug and I got a photo op...plus he signed Josh's glove (the other boys already had his signature from a birthday party last year). Luke was SO excited about the "fox who is also a baseball guy," at least he was until Sox the Fox was up close. Then Sox the Fox was just a big, weird-looking fuzzy fox guy who Luke would have nothing to do with. There was some watching of the game, but also a lot of chatting with Adam's colleagues, which is always fun. The full moon rose up big and heavy over the horizon, just beside the American flag. And the home team won. Go Sky Sox! We had a great night.

Lookin' For Some Hot Stuff Baby?

On Tuesday, Josh, Luke, Tommy and I came home from the market with this:
Here's an even better, brighter, more delicious view of the 18 pounds of tomatoes, sweet yellow onions, crunchy green bell peppers, fresh garlic, tangy anaheim chilies, spicy serrano peppers, spicier jalapeno peppers, and spiciest fiery-hot-lava habanero peppers that I purchased:On Thursday, after an ill-fated trip to Great Clips to get Josh and Luke haircuts that resulted in 1) a fresh faux-hawk for Josh and 2) a screaming, out-of-control, pinned on my lap and clutched in my arms freak-out-fest by Luke throughout the entire cut while Tommy cried his eyes out because the stylist holding him out of necessity was most emphatically not mom because mom had to vice clamp Luke's head so he didn't get cut by the scissors {deep gasping inhalation}, we made SALSA!

I am so excited to now be the possessor of 7 huge mason jars full of it (um, six-and-a-half now). I've had this salsa before, given to me by others who have made it, and that makes the excitement of now having my own jars all the more thrilling. It's that good. Adam is, quite frankly, in deep, passionate love with this salsa. So my "Raddest Wife in the Universe" status just expanded to include parallel universes. Sweet. To the recipe found at the above link I added a bit more garlic, because mmmm...garlic; the juice of one lime, because I like limey salsa and don't want to get scurvy; about a cup of cilantro, just because it's salsa, and cilantro and salsa are buddies; and an extra serrano plus an extra small habanero because we like our salsa to have a bit of extra pow. Not scorch-the-tastebuds-off-your-tongue pow, but oooh-that's-flavorful-and-ah-cha-cha pow. So I'd say rather than "mild" our salsa came out "medium." I also left out the MSG.

Josh was thrilled to be my kitchen assistant. He helped chop onions before putting them in the food processor, after which we were both crying big onion-induced tears, as well as the tomatoes, which thankfully did not make us cry. Luke was designated "pulse" button-pusher on the Cuisinart, which Tommy was graciously willing to let us use, making the process pretty darn easy. If I didn't have laundry to fold, walls to paint, shedding-dog hairs to vacuum up, strawberry freezer jam to make...oh, and then there's my children to tend to, I might make another batch tomorrow!

My fingers are still stinging a little from seeding the hotter peppers, but the pain is SO worth the gain! As a family we've already consumed over half of one of our large mason jars! And as a bonus, my friend, Shaina, whose recipe I was using, stopped by to bring me a big bag of chips in order to help me consume all the salsa I was making, sample the fruit of my labors, and keep me company through the final steps of canning the hot, cooked-to-perfection salsa. That's the beauty of being friends with the chef! Although, I think if I had run out of chips I would probably just started eating it with a spoon. I hope I did her proud.

While We're On The Subject of Scouts

At the end of last year I finally accepted that as the mother of five boys I am sure to be in and out of Scout callings for church for the rest of my young adult life, and possibly beyond that, far into my retirement. Which is actually OK, because I truly enjoy Scouts and strongly believe in the Scouting Program's many benefits for all boys in helping them grow to be amazing men.

So I did it. I did it to set the example for my Cubs, my own as well as those in my den. I broke down, pulled out the debit card, swallowed my pride and any desire to be attractive, and got the shirt. Yep. That shirt. The one that is impossible to look good in no matter what you do. Add a belt? Not cute. Leave it untucked? Nuh uh. Put long sleeves underneath? Not better. It's like those at Scout Headquarters said, "What's good for a guy is good for a gal!"Too bad no one told them that in the mid-1990's someone figured out that shirts for women should be cut a bit differently than those for men in order to be a little bit more flattering. That trend has caught on everywhere except for the world of Scouting. Don't get me wrong, I don't need something sexy or anything, that's gross; but is it too much to ask for something with a little more shape than "square?" I'm pretty sure even military uniforms are cut differently for men and women.

I guess it was all said succinctly when I sent my sister a picture text of me in my shirt and she said, "Couldn't you have gotten a small one?" And I said, "Sis! This IS a small!!!" Or perhaps, just as good is the time our contractor saw me leaving for a Scout event and he said, "I didn't know you were a cop." Funny right? No. He was serious.

So now I attend all my Scout meetings wearing my shirt. Looking as gender-neutral as clothing can possibly make a person. Oh yeah. At least the great boys that attend Scouts with me distract from the awfulness that is the Scout Leader shirt.

The Newest Member of the Pack

Tuesday night Ben was inducted into our ward's Cub Scout Pack as its newest Wolf. He's VERY excited to finally be a Cub Scout! He can't wait for next year's summer day camp so he can shoot the BB guns. He's also looking forward to "building stuff and the Pinewood Derby." He hasn't even perused the electives section of his Wolf Handbook yet, and when he does, I am pretty sure he will be drooling. He's such a BOY'S boy: dirt, bugs, loud things, figuring stuff out, putting stuff together, that's his kind of fun. He was so cute at tonight's Pack meeting in his shirt and hat, answering the Pack Master's questions with gusto. I know he's going to have a blast. And I am thrilled to be his Wolf Den Leader as he starts this journey.

Quill and Toasted Almond

Aren't paint names just great? Those are the names of the two colors I painted my kitchen and living room, respectively, this weekend. I bought the paint awhile back, but with all the basement stuff going on, it wasn't happening. On Friday I had a zing of "just do it-ness" and thought I'd surprise Adam, who arrived home late that night from Everett, by painting the kitchen.

The color is so subtle I was planning on not mentioning that I had painted and wait to see how long it took him to notice. But I just. couldn't. do. that! It was like torture! I was too excited. After he was home for 15 minutes I could no longer contain myself. I told him to turn on the kitchen light and asked if he noticed anything different. Darn me! It took a moment, but of course he saw it then. I'm such a party pooper, I even poop my own party! But I really love it. It's the perfect color, a beigey gray to match the kitchen but not clash with the yellow of the family room.While I was on a roll (hardy har! get it? because you "roll" the paint roller. yuk yuk!) I decided that I would do the living room on Saturday. Man that room has a lot of edges and corners! But the finished product looks great too. Now I'm thinking I want to do an orangey accent in the living room, with pillows and new lampshades, but that will take some time to orchestrate. Even though the colors in either room weren't shazam! colors, I love how they came out and the finished look they give to the rooms. I know it's barely noticeable, especially in photos, but I am just so happy with it I had to share.

I have the garage entry hallway and part of the boys' bathroom upstairs to do now, but I am dragging my feet just looking at all the edging needed for those areas. And if you are looking for paint anytime soon, the low VOC paint (the paint that doesn't contain a lot of the stuff that gives off the stinky paint fumes) is FAB. My basement, almost two months later, still smells smelly--like new paint. The kitchen and living room don't smell at all, Adam didn't even notice it when he came in on Friday night.

This Just *In*

It has arrived! Sunday morning we discovered that the determined efforts of Tommy's first tooth (or "toof," as Luke says) to push its way through Tommy's gums were finally successful. His upper left chomper is through! Tommy is now well on his way to his first set of chops, as we can see six other top teeth slowly maneuvering into position to make their exit through his gums as well, which means those sneaky bottom teeth are also getting ready to pop.

I'm excited for him. It will be nice for Tommy to have teeth to support his deep love of all table foods. Soon he will be able to have some of those foods that are currently forbidden because they are too crunchy or require biting. Plus, once they're through Tommy's teething misery can end. I don't think any of the other boys were so discomforted by teething as is Tommy. We've got a lot of teeth to go, but until the end arrives, at least we've got Hyland's, Tylenol and ibuprophen, the three gifts of teething pain relief that we do not hesitate to take advantage of.

Congrats Tommy!

Just Goin' Where The Day Takes Us

If yesterday was the illness, today was the remedy.

The boys have a couple of "bonus" summer vacation days today and tomorrow since school is out for assessment testing. We had nothing really planned for today other than their testing assignments which don't take long, Josh for 30 minutes and Ben and Zach for 15 each and soccer practice.

We all slept in a little, even my Tommy, who had a great night of sleep for the second night in a row. I'm feeling a little extra tired from all the sleep I am getting! Is that weird? The sounds of giggles and hurried feet woke me up around 8:30. The boys had been up since 8, making paper helicopters that they were tossing over the side of the balcony. What a joy to wake up to the sound of quiet, cooperative fun being had!
I got lucky and was able to schedule all three kids for their testing times at 10am. Just before it was time to go I decided it might be fun to head to the skate park to let the kids ride around after testing. They are always begging to go, but I don't really like having my young boys exposed to the older kids that frequent the park who are usually smoking cigarettes and swearing non-stop. But with school back in, I thought we might avoid a bunch of that. So I called a friend to see if she wanted to meet up, packed up some heavy snacks, loaded Tommy into our completely flat-tired jogger--for which the pump we have did not fit the air intake on the tire (oh well, it still rolls!), had everyone grab a water bottle and something with wheels and took off for testing. Testing was over in a jif and all the boys felt pretty pleased in their performance.

While at the school I ran into a friend and fellow soccer mom and invited her son, Owen, one of Ben's best buddies, to join us at the park. Zach, good guy that he is, even rode home quickly to grab our extra scooter for Owen to ride and to grab me my sunglasses, which I had forgotten in the rush out the door. Off we walked to the skate park. It was a beautiful day with a light breeze and the kids were so happy, it felt good. We even got a "hello" honk from some of our great friends when they passed us on the road.

We had a wonderful visit with our friends at the park. The kids were all over the skate ramps, chasing the few teens hanging out there away (sorry, guys!). Up, down, over, around. They were having the best time. Josh, apparently bored with wheels, decided to slide down the quarter pipe on his bum enough times that he ripped a hole in his shorts. Hmmm, this sounds familiar. He's done it before! Only when some big fat raindrops started to fall were we thinking it might be best to go home. Thankfully, it didn't rain much, because we still had to walk all the way back home. But it is good that the rain made a brief appearance, because if it hadn't we might still be there chatting away and riding ruts in the ramps!On the way home, we passed by the Papa Murphy's and I remembered that I had a full stamp-card to cash in. Score! So we grabbed a pizza for dinner and continued our walk home.

Then we stopped back by the school. This week, Ben, my bug lover, had discovered that it is grasshopper season here in Colorado, and that the school field and surrounding greenspace was a fantastic place to find them. He was determined to catch a few for pets. Fine by me, as long as they can be outdoor pets! It's amazing how easily I was pulled into the pleasure of chasing grasshoppers. We were there much longer than planned, searching the long grasses, making them fly about, then trying to track one until we could get close enough to possibly catch it. Josh was the designated cage holder and dutifully followed Ben around waiting for the little buggy prisoners to be caught. Ben was very excited about the potential bug home provided by my Tupperware stay-fresh veggie containers because they had holes already in them to allow the bugs to get air. In the end Ben caught two grasshoppers, who currently reside in the Tupperware box under a tree in our backyard.Tommy was wiped out by his role as water bottle holder and didn't make it home awake.
We spent the afternoon playing around the house and baking some goodies before heading off to Zach's soccer practice, chanting "Here come the Conlins! In the noisiest car on the road!" (our belt still needs replacing and with Adam gone I can't get to and from the shop, so instead I get to drive around in the squealhicle). It was a perfect evening at the field. I talked with the other moms on the sidelines, Luke played at the playground, Tommy ate grass, dirt and dried leaves, and Josh and Ben found cactus fruit with some of the other kids and broke them open to find fun little wormies inside. Those are now residing in a water bottle under the tree in our backyard alongside the grasshoppers.

The evening was completed with our pizza feast and chowing down on the treats we had made earlier in the day. S'mores pie. Oh yeah. And then an episode of Curious George for Luke and Avatar: The Last Airbender the series for the big boys.
It felt like the day had such a nice flow. Nothing really planned other than the testing and soccer practice, and everything else just kind of seemed to fall into place. I needed today. I couldn't have planned it better.

The kids are tucked in, there's a thunderstorm raging outside and I'm heading up to bed to watch Antonio Banderas in Take the Lead on Netflix.

What Do You Mean "I Don't Have My SHOES?"!

Tonight, as a "Hooray for the First Week of School/Adam's Traveling for Work and I Hate to Cook When He's Gone" dinner, I took the kids to Applebee's (yes, the first week of school is already over since our school district likes to slowly chug to a start and break just three days into the new school year for two days of assessment testing, and yes, Adam's traveling again). It was 99 cent kids-meal Wednesday after all, and we had two coupons for free sundaes to boot! I was looking forward to a night out with my five little dudes, so we cleaned up the house and left around 5:30pm.

I probably should have just taken what happened upon our arrival at Applebee's as a danger sign, saying "Warning: Annoyance ahead! Just turn around and go home!" But instead I sallied forth. What happened you ask? Please see the picture below. Those are the "shoes" I had to make for Ben when, upon arriving at Applebee's, he discovered that he had climbed into the car and failed to notice, for the entire drive, that he did not have shoes on his feet. I refused to turn back and go home to get the shoes and then go back to Applebee's, even though he was rather unhappy with my grocery sack invention. I thought I was rather brilliant and was just glad I had a bunch of plastic sacks still sitting in the back of the van waiting to be dropped off at the grocery sack recycle bin!
Next, after being seated, Zach cried, big, fat, streaming-down-the-face tears, for 15 minutes because I didn't want to get him something from the regular menu, but rather, expected him to pick something from the kids' menu. Isn't that awful of me?! The kids' menu of all things? How dare I! "But that's not enough FOOD for me!" So I said he could pick two things. They were only 99 cents, no biggie. But nope, that wasn't good enough. By this time I was ready to pick up and walk on out, but that would mean I'd still have to get home and make dinner for everyone, plus Josh and Luke were so excited to be there and acting superbly well, and I didn't want to punish them for their big brothers' annoying behavior.

After we got over that speed bump by me agreeing to share my meal with Zach, the evening actually progressed nicely. Everyone was fabulous and well-behaved. That is, other than Tommy, who was desperately in love with Luke's mac and cheese and let out a shrill, loud screech every time he was ready for another bite. We we thought it was funny but I am sure the surrounding booths were wishing they had packed earplugs. But I was so annoyed by that point that I just wanted it all to be over and have everyone in bed. I did my best to chill and shake it off, but really, it was just a dud of a date with my boys. So disappointing.

As I sit here, still feeling a little perturbed, even though Ben thought his shoes were funny by the time we got home and Zach apologized for his behavior, I am trying to pull the good parts of the day to the forefront of my memory and push the bad parts of dinner to the recesses. Like Josh's earnest excitement over our shared chocolate chip cookie sundae; he was absolutely GIDDY! Or Tommy's total infatuation with table foods, he's so excited to have what we are eating and I love his enthusiasm for it. Then there was seeing Ben and Zach walk in through the back gate at the end of the first week of school, huge grins on their faces, laughing with one another. And visiting with good friends at the park during playgroup on a deliciously warm day. I also enjoyed brushing Ruby outside, knowing she was in doggy heaven. And sitting outside in the cool shade of the house, with a warm breeze on my face, watching Luke and Josh splash in the water table and hearing Tommy laughing at their splashing. There was a lot of good today. {sigh} Better now.

Some Things You Should Know About Tommy: Month Ten!

Ten months has arrived in the blink of an eye and our little squishy sweet baby, Tommy, is growing and becoming his own little person more and more every day!1. At his 9 month (really 9.5 month) check-up, Tommy weighed in at 20 pounds even. Zach was our biggest 1-year-old at 23 pounds, so Tommy's still got some catching up to do to meet that mark. Also, Luke still has about three to four pounds on him and has started eating more, so maybe they won't cross weights anytime soon...maybe.2. The big news from the past month had its own post: crawling. Tommy's getting faster and more brave. For the first few days he wouldn't go off the carpet, but he's comfortable on the hardwood now. He still won't crawl on the grass, so for now I can keep him stationary when we are outside, but I am sure that will change soon too. He does try to pull himself up on things, but has only gotten his feet underneath him a couple of times when all the circumstances aligned perfectly, so for now he mostly ends up on his knees.3. Speaking of knees, once Tommy is on them he has not yet figured out how to get back down to his bum. Sometimes he gets irritated enough he lets go of whatever he's pulled himself up on and solves the problem for himself, but often he needs a little help getting back down. It's so frustrating for him! And for us too, since he will pull himself up onto his knees using the slats of his crib at night and get stuck there and cry for rescue.4. Speaking of cribs at night, this last month we've been working on some sleep training with the little man in order to reduce the number of times he's up at night to nurse from 4 or 5 to none or 1. We're fans of the Ferber method, although when it comes to sleep training to say "fans" isn't even kind of close to accurate. It is a miserable process, not just for Tommy, but for me too! I hate it! If it were up to me and I didn't have to take Adam's feelings into account at all, I would sleep with my babies until they were 5. But since I love my hubby and respect his wishes, and because I know, from experience, that the ability to fall asleep on their own is one of the keys to a happy child, it is usually about this time (9 to 10 months) that we work on getting better rest at night for all of us. Tommy has actually done pretty well. The first night sucked, Tommy in tears, mommy in tears, but he has had a lot of good nights since then--with only a few sucky ones thrown in just to keep us guessing (like last night, ug!). The naps have never been bad, and he will often lay down semi-awake for those and fall asleep on his own; however, since sleep training started he has had a few days where he just refused to nap completely, just to get back at me for this sleep training nonsense I think. Oh how I miss the frequent sleeping cuddles!
5. Speaking of sleeping, in the next week or so you are likely to see a post on Tommy's first teeth. Yep! His two top front teeth are SO close to popping through, I can see the white underneath his skin. It's definitely discomforted his life a little, and he needs a bit of medicinal assistance to get a nice long stretch of sleep. Our other boys teethed later (with the exception of Ben) so the sleep training and the teething didn't coincide for them like it is for Tommy. It feels a little bit cruel, but there you have it. I can't see any bottom teeth yet, but I am sure they will be right behind their little top-of-the-mouth friends!6. Tommy is our little Tarzan. He loves to mimic the sounds he hears if he can. The other day Adam was sending out the "come home" whistle to the big boys who were out playing in the neighborhood. A second after I heard Adam whistle, Tommy made a sound nearly identical, just a little quieter. When Adam whistled a second time, Tommy did too! It was HILARIOUS! He will also "whisper" when you whisper (unless he just wants to be loud, and he's still a loud child so that is pretty often) and if it's in his repertoire of sound abilities, he will repeat some of the sounds of the words he hears you say. Like when I sing him a little "Tommy" song, singing his name over and over, he'll go "t-t-t-t-t."7. His current favorite games are: Peek-a-Boo, he loves to be in charge of covering his face with a blanket as well as pulling it off himself to surprise you, he gets a good laugh out of that one; Pass-the-Toy, where he hands you a toy or his binkie and then you had it back, repeat endlessly; and Chase-the-Ball, he will throw a ball so it rolls away, and then he crawls after it, then throws it again, then crawls to get it again, repeat endlessly; and finally Empty-the-Shelves (or bag or bucket or anything that can create the biggest mess possible), this game needs no explanation, the name is self-explanatory, you get the idea.8. Tommy loves his daddy too. Of all our boys, Tommy is the first who has been almost as happy with daddy as with mommy. He's still a little partial to me, but I think that's just because 1) I'm with him almost all the time and 2) I'm his favorite meal. But I think it's wonderful that he's so attached to his dad at such an early age, and Adam kinda digs it too. :)9. Tommy enjoys finding the tiniest pieces possible of gross things on the floor and putting them in his mouth. Some samples of things I have fished out of his mouth that I didn't even see on the ground near him are: a Trident gum wrapper, an airsoft rifle bb, the inspector number sticker from a new shirt, myriad blades of grass, loose carpet fibers from the new carpet in the basement. There are many ways that we see Tommy as being so similar to Zach when he was this age, but this is one HUGE area where the two veer. Zach would find tiny things but would just hand them to us, totally disinterested in choking himself to death. Tommy seems to be intent on being the first of our children to need the Heimlich Maneuver or at least be the first to swallow some really random item like a Lego man or a handful of pebbles.10. Just after his 9 month mark, Tommy started clapping. Almost anytime you say, "YAY!" he will stop what he's doing and start to clap. Or when he does something he thinks might get a "YAY!" out of you, he'll just start clapping on his own. Like, "Did you see that?! Good for me!" He gets it mixed up with the sign for "more;" I think the two are close enough he can't tell the difference and it confuses him a bit. Or maybe he's just that excited for another bite, that would definitely be characteristic of him, the kid loves food (especially food off MY plate)! Either way, it's so darn cute! 11. Tommy's good nature is truly a thing to behold. Toward the end of our trip he got sick and was really out of sorts. It was so unusual for him I knew right away that he wasn't feeling well, even before I could get to taking his temperature and discovered he had a fever. Tommy loves to smile and laugh, and he's really easy to get giggles from (oh the laughs you can get just from putting his binky on your head!). He's so easy going, takes the bumps of life with nonchalance (and with four big brothers around, you know there are more than a few of those) and handles stressful situations with true baby class.I've said it before and I'll say it again, Tommy's a dream baby, and I love the beans out of him! Happy 10 months my darling little one! I do want you to grow, grow, grow, but could you make it a little more slow, slow, slow?