Jeni Rants About the Kids

It's about time for an update on kids, donchathink? Here goes...

Bradford--He told us the other night that he can taste with all parts of his body. I put ice cream on his ear to test him. He told me that he could tell it was good, but it took a long time to eat that way, so he ate the rest with his mouth.

He loves animals. We had a dog, a puppy, and a cat here for a couple of days, and he was very good with them all, especially the puppy.

And then there was the fledgling Phoebe that he found. Once I convinced him that its parents had not abandoned it, how it needed to hop around on the ground to get stronger muscles for flying, etc, he asked if he could keep it for awhile longer to play with. Okay. He then took over the role of mother bird and was teaching it to fly by pushing it gently off of chairs to watch it flutter to the floor. When he came back in from putting it in the nest with its siblings, he told us that they all flew out of the nest saying "Phoee-bee, Phoee-bee" and mentioned to us that he kept the bird warm by carrying it in his jeans pocket.

Benjamin-- I bribed him to stop sucking his thumb--go ten weeks without sucking his thumb and I'd buy him whatever he wanted (within reason). He has at different points in the last nine and a half weeks wanted a rubberband gun, a captain's hat, a pitchback, or a metal detector. He has two more days to contemplate his big decision. He even called Aunt Angie to discuss metal detectors, reading the descriptions from the catalog to her.

He is also enjoying his summer reading with no assigned books. He's taken advantage of the freedom and has worked his way through the the first 9 books of the Hardy Boys series.

Nathaniel--He's as cute as ever. Last night he fell asleep in my bed, and when I got in I had to move him out of my way. He put his arm over my neck and went to sleep with his head face down in the pillows. When Mark tried to move him, Nathaniel used me as a pillow. Very sweet, yet highly uncomfortable for me.

Grace--She's as adorable as ever. Some of the things you might hear her say: "You good daddy" "I do not hate ______" "OOH kay." When Mark is finished praying at meals, at worship, or at bedtime, no matter how long or short his prayer, she will remind him of something he forgot to pray for. Usually the things she mentions are odd things, like Wal-Mart, the windows, or the birds.

As fun as she is during the day, she is no fun to nleep with. For starters, she whispers and moves around a lot before she falls asleep. Once she's asleep, she keeps moving and periodically moaning or crying out. The 7 hours I spent with her recently were not particularly restful.

The boys are camping in the basement tonight in tents courtesy of Aunties Sheila and Brenda. Not wanting to spend the night in the basement with them and not willing to leave them quite alone, we set up the baby monitor. Grace did not like sleeping in the basement without daddy nearby, and of course she could not be expected to sleep alone, so she's up in our bedroom in her sleeping bag listening in on their conversation over the monitor and putting in her .02.

Sadie--She's my canary-swallower. I call her that because she often has a self-satisfied expression on her face. She throws incredible tantrums, prostrating herself and screaming over the silliest things. (These tantrums do not go undisciplined). She loves, loves, loves taking a bath, and she giggles with delight when he catches the reflection of herself in the overflow drain cover. I sometimes tell her she is a bad baby, for instance when she crawls onto the hearth. I must say it in the wrong tone, because she takes it as a compliment. I'm currently training the twins to rug time in preparation for a Friday night Bible study, and it has not been a fun process. I'll put her back on the rug and she will scream. Then I'll put Sophie back on the rug and tell Sophie to stay put, and Sadie will scream.

Sophie--She's so happy and smiley. She's full of fun, too. When I put her and Sadie on my bed to change their diapers, she'll flip and crawl to the end of the bed, cling to the railings, and laugh in that hilarious baby way as I pry her fingers off and grab Sadie's foot as that bad baby has taken the opportunity and flipped and crawled in the opposite direction.

Now it is almost ten o'clock and I still have kids awake. They're probably having fun, but Mommy is Not a Happy Camper. Off I go to be the big bad black bear...