More than One

Mike was out of town last week. But no fear... we got to talk a few times on Skype. It's so great to live in the 21st century. Getting to not only to talk to Daddy but also see him and show him things made Sam, Levi and Nate's day more than once this week. Too bad Mike can't change diapers long distance. :)

We had friends Anita, Franklyn, Symon and Elsa over on Friday. Nate and Elsa have become fast friends!

Sam is entering this photo in a contest his school is putting on called "Get Caught Reading". Notice the title of the book.

Levi and Nate applaud each other after their own rousing rendition of "the Wheels on the Bus" at lunchtime.

Nate's First Corn on the Cob

I'm going to try this again

Obviously I've fallen off the wagon when it comes to blogging, and I'll tell you why. I thought, mistakenly, that after Nate turned one year old life would get a little easier. He'd be walking, communicating better, eating more on his own, etc. and be a little less dependent on me. These things are all true, but I forgot that along with all this also comes the ability to open doors, play in the toilet, unpack the diaper bag, throw toys in the garbage, and generally undo most of what I've done throughout the day.

He's a mischievous one.

So I've been a little busy, and the thought of sitting down and writing a blog entry was just too overwhelming. And that's saying something!

Thankfully Nate is getting more able to communicate, responds better to correction, and is generally more cooperative the older he gets. Boy, that 12-15 month period is crazy! But I think the craziness is tapering off a little, so I've decided to try something new: a picture a day. This way, I can regularly share/record what's going on but don't plan to write too much.

Here goes nothing!

Catching up

Well, I'm finally back.  I took an unplanned blogging break.  Not because I didn't want to write, but life was getting the best of me.  The holidays rolled around, so I simplified and cut back on everything that didn't have to do with Christmas.  Then I was so spent from Christmas that I simplified yet again in January!

I certainly am not on top of things yet, but I'm not sure that will happen for another several years.  The kids are growing so quickly, and as I've mentioned before, my main regret in not blogging more often revolves around record-keeping and allowing far-off family and friends watch them grow, too.  So here's a very brief recap from the past two months:

Star Wars has become all the rage.

Peek-a-boo is quite popular, as well.

And in general, looking cute is quite acceptable.

Playing together is often successful, except when it's not.

The first snow was a big hit!

We're trying to keep Nate from a future in thievery.

More shenanigans.

Part of the reason I did not write sooner is because Mike got a new computer.  This was a wonderful and unexpected blessing!  It meant that my old Dell could finally give up the ghost as I would inherit Mike's 2 year old Mac book.  But that also meant I'd have to learn a new operating system and get my photos and docs transferred to this computer.  Because of all of this, I'm not exactly where pictures of Nate's birthday, Christmas day, and other important info is stored at this specific moment, but I can confirm that it all happened, and was very fun!

Also, Nate is beginning to walk!  Check this out:

Yes, I'm finally posting again!

Just a quickie...

I read this today and was reminded of how I felt exactly a year ago, when Nate was only days old. Or maybe it is how I felt about 11.5 months ago, when most of the help (i.e. my mom, dad and husband) had to get back to their jobs and lives for most of the time.

Overwhelmed, wonderful, terrified, sweet. Many different feelings all at once.

When I first started reading, I actually had that sense that I think all women get after they're done having kids: I wanted another one! But then I kept reading and I was like, "ok... no."

And now, how are we doing?

Great!

Apart from some sleep issues. (Yes, it is ongoing. I'm hoping it will end when the kids are all past 3 or so. Right?) And the ganging up on the parents issue, which only mischievously happens a couple of times a day, but still. Oh, and the "Nate gets into everything" issue, but that's to be expected of a 12 month old.

There's plenty of giggling that happens around here.

Recently I have lacked the motivation to blog. I have thought of things I'd like to write; I've even jotted down notes, so I wouldn't forget. But when I finish the day, I feel like reading other people's blogs, not writing my own!

But then I remember how fast the kids change, and how I want to record the things they say and do so that they can look back and see that they are cherished, but more than that, see the progress they have made.

On that note, here is a little update of the small men in my life.

Sam

• Sam recently joined a local soccer class that he loves! We got him registered a couple of weeks after the rest of the class started, but he was able to jump in and had no problem with the skills the coaches asked him to do. He really enjoys sports, though his passive nature is still hanging on. He's got a competitive side, so we'll see where that takes him!



• Recently Sam figured out the first several notes of Twinkle Twinkle on his electric guitar. Mike and I didn't even know he was working on it! I think it's time for some formal music training...
  
• Sam loves his baby brother. He's a great big brother to Levi, too, but he dotes on Nate. In fact, both Levi and Sam give Nate kisses and get a kick out of seeing him try to do new things. Sam will sit and play with him on the floor, and Nate loves it.
  
• Daddy is the apple of Sam's eye. They play an indoor version of baseball every evening before bed; I think this must be Sam's favorite time of the day.


• I've been trying to find creative outlets for him recently, crafty things that he, as a boy, might enjoy doing. Playdo, water-play, and cooking have all been things he enjoys, but this project was also a favorite. It doesn't look like much, but it was fun to make! It came from this website; I'm waiting with baited breath for her a month of "boycrafts" in November.





• He loves pretend play. He always seems to be conducting a little play in his head, usually him vs. the bad guys, and if you listen carefully you can hear him whispering the dialogue. He also loves to play dress up, boy-style. In the picture above he said he's a boxer-pirate. We've already gotten some good playtime from his Halloween costume. And one long weekend afternoon recently we all got into the spirit and "camped" in the living room.

Levi

• Levi turned 2 1/2 years old this month! I've read that the terrible twos peak at 28 months, and so far that holds true for us. He seems to be a little more cooperative now than he was just 6 weeks ago, so I'm planning on potty training soon. Except that I've been saying that for the past 6 weeks!


• Levi has had a terrible case of stranger/separation anxiety for most of the year. It was bad. So bad that he would cry and cling to me if anyone so much as spoke to him. But in September, Levi had a breakthrough. After 4 months of not being able to leave him with anyone other than Daddy, Levi is willingly going to kids' church and the childcare at my weekly Bible study. I'm so proud of him... and wow, do I feel liberated!
  
• He loves music! Recently he's been trying to play the guitars that are hanging around our play area. They are too big for him, so he has his own method of strumming - a little like stand-up bass. He also loves to sing.
• Levi has been "talking" for a long time, but he's really hard to understand. Some days are better than others, but it's progressively easier to catch what he's saying, and he regularly surprises me when I understand him. He can pick out most letters of the alphabet and can count to 20. And he loves to call Mike and I by our first names!
  
• He loves to play in sandboxes, and loves anything with wheels.
  
  

• Recently, he has a new lovey. It is this orange block. If it goes missing for more than 20 minutes or so, he runs around trying to find it, asking me, "orange block, mommy?" It comes with us to the park, to the store, to Bible study, to bed, to meals.

• Levi is very physical. He loves to wrestle, jump and climb. For the past two months he's been able to climb in and out of his crib. We tried moving him over to the bottom bunk, but he wouldn't go to sleep, so we've just kept him in his crib. Strangely enough, he doesn't mind the top bunk. Sometimes we'll find him there in the morning sleeping with Sam!
  

Nate

• Nate is now 10 months old. His favorite activity is sitting in the middle of our play area with lots of little toys surrounding him. He's not crawling or walking yet, but he's getting really close! He gets up on all fours to reach a toy, but then scoots back into a seated position. Not long now, though.


• Nate has learned that if he needs to communicate something, he'd better be clear. If he doesn't want to eat something, he tightens his lips and shakes his head. If he doesn't want to sit somewhere, he'll arch his back. If he doesn't want a toy, he'll throw it across the room. If he doesn't want to wear a bib, he'll pull it off!
• As you've seen in prior posts, he's also a budding musician. He loves to move to music. And is this a little foreshadowing?
• Nate had a milestone recently: His first shiner! He fell over in an attempt to reach something, and hit his eye on a toy. Thankfully it healed within a day.
• Nate already likes to ham it up for the camera. When he sees the red eye reduction light on my camera start to blink, he puts on his best grin!
• He loves his brothers, and is aching to run after them!

There's the news of the Godzwa boys in a nutshell. Next up... our visit to the pumpkin patch!

Better Than The Best

A couple of weeks ago, when the weather was unseasonably warm and the mosquitos were making a huge comeback, Sam and I were talking about his bug-bitten legs. Mosquitos love him.

He brought up the question: will there be mosquitos in Heaven? I had to think about that for a minute, but came to the conclusion and answered that maybe mosquitos would be there, but that they wouldn't bite us, since there is nothing sad in heaven and nothing that can harm us there. Only good things will be in heaven. In fact, the Bible says that Heaven is better than the best thing we can imagine.

A minute later, Sam said, "So there will be moon bounces in Heaven?"

*

Dancing

Nobody can say Nate doesn't have rhythm.

The large "box" you see Sam and Levi playing in is actually the shelf that belongs in our bedroom. We had left the back off so that it didn't cover up our thermostat control, but the shelf wasn't sturdy enough without it. So yesterday I brought it out to the living room to finish up. I figured Sam would have a great time helping me nail (which he did). I put on some music to help us work, and the shelf was christened "the dancing box".