Toot Toot Chugga Chugga

That's right... the Big Red Car pulled into Mobile today -- and Granna, PapPap, and Will went down to the Civic Arena to meet them!Will was pretty overwhelmed, but, as my parents have reported, got into it more once Granna scored some gear. (Pirate hat, feather sword, light-up rod for the good-night songs, ball cap, and t-shirt! Whoa, thanks, Granna!)

My folks said they had a great time with Will. They also came back filled with important information. One detail about a kids concert in a big Arena is that kids make A Lot of Noise. The only time the drone of chatter changes is when a really popular song starts, when it gets louder. (Note to parents: take headache medicine.)
Fans bring huge posters to the concerts and each are read and admired by the Wiggles. These posters include love notes from mothers to their favorite Wiggle. Not to disappoint, Anthony, Jeff, Murray, and Greg spend a lot of time in the audience, where they are groped by adult women.They also spend a lot of time being incredible nice, thanking kids for the presents they bring for Dorothy (roses) and Wags (doggie bones). (Note to parents: bring your kids gifts if you want them to be able to approach the stage or get a photo-op with Dorothy.)

I also learned that my favorite Wiggle dancer, who we call "That Crazy Guy," was there! I wonder if I brought a fan poster for "Crazy Guy," if they would know who it's for? Will has not taken his pirate hat off, or removed his feather sword from his hand, since the concert. He is currently sleeping with both.

Neat Knit

I want to learn how to knit so that I can make this.

Happy Smiley Baby

 

Boobs and the beasts

Dear Babytalk Magazine,

Thank you for your lovely August cover. The photograph tastefully shows one of the most touching moments of motherhood.

Please direct each person who complains about the cover to me. I'd like to bop them each on the head with my big, milk-filled breast. Get over it, people!

Sincerely,
Holly



Please send your own messages to Babytalk magazine for the beautiful, tasteful, and touching photograph gracing their August issue. (Customer Service information is here, email them here.)

Picture Pages

Who am I to refuse the requests of the mother of my soon-to-arrive nephew?

Favorite pictures of Will and Kate from the past month are available for viewing and ordering here. Enjoy!

Kate: 11 weeks

After bathing Kate this morning, I couldn't resist giving her an Elvis hairdo. It was so darn cute the camera had to come out. I opened up the shutters to bring in more morning light and increased the ISO to 200 (I actually thought I was increasing it to 500, but I must not have saved the settings properly -- ugh.) We started on one of her blankets (bottom picture) where she squirmed like crazy. Since she has been trying so hard to sit up, I thought maybe I could try the Bumbo seat for awhile. First I just put it down in the middle of the floor -- but the pictures were awful, needed more backlight. Then, I hung a sheet from the entertainment center doors and down to the floor. That is how I got these pictures. More directed light would have made a difference; I'll play more with that in the future. But this is what I got! As always, suggestions are appreciated as I try to learn some photography basics!

Tuppence a bag

Yesterday morning, Will, Kate and I headed to Audubon Park to feed the birds. We were fresh out of tuppence, so we brought a bag of bread heals to surrender to the flock. We were barely two steps away from the path when a group of white ducks and a sorry-sounding black and red goose came charging -- and I mean charging -- our way. Will was overpowered by them at first. Then he got cool and started to take control of the situation. Pretty soon, he was telling them, "be nice," "take your turn," and "wait a minute!"
When finished, he ran around the park with them. I was surprised at how little this phased them. Will also periodically stopped and commanded them to "go see Mommy!" (Note picture below.)
In addition to the ducks and goose, Will fed (and chased) squirrels, turtles, and birds. It was a very beautiful -- if not incredibly humid -- morning in the park. I was disappointed (but not surprised) that Will wasn't able to walk far along mediation path. It may be time for a double stroller if I want to really get out walking! 

Translation?

Baby Kate rocks out in her custom t-shirt, made by my friend Hongyun. I think it means "Happy Baby Kate" --- but to be honest, I can't remember!?

Milk makers

Ever the sensitive and helpful boy, Will is intently interested in how Kate eats. From time to time, he approaches her, lifts his shirt, and announces that he wants to feed Baby Kate. I've tried to explain that only Mommy makes milk for Baby Kate. Will simply shows me his chest and says, "No, Mommy, I have bubbies too." Touche.

I was steaming my pumping supplies yesterday in the kitchen, where Will was entertaining himself by "helping" with these chores. Suddenly, he disappeared. After five minutes of silence, I walked to the front room to investigate.

Will was sitting in my chair, with a breast shield properly connected to tubing, which was properly connected to the breast pump. (Impressive, considering it has taken me a few tries on some occassions to get all the contraptions in order.) The pump was turned on low, humming away. Will was holding the breast shield to his stomache, freezing his face in concentration to show he is working on a Very Important Task.

"What are you doing, Will?" I asked.

"I pumping MILK!" He said. And added, "I pumping MILK from my BUBBY."

Now that is a helpful guy.

Share some?

Farmer's Market Lunch: crepes, fruit popsicles, and sack of kettle corn to go --- $18
Getting your 2-year old to share --- priceless

Children of the Sea

 

Fish Soup

We woke up Sunday morning and decided to take Will to see the sharks. We weren't going to let the deluge falling from the sky stop us! We were bold. We got the kids through the rain to the car and drove downtown.

Only to turn around when, after 15 minutes of walking through the Hilton Hotel, realized we couldn't get from their parking garage to Riverwalk and the Aquarium without going up or down 4 different sets of stairs with Kate's stroller. (The Hilton lot is one of the only places to park that is validated by the Aquarium.) Screw it, we said, ticked off that Hilton Hotel doesn't have to follow ADA compliance rules, but Abeona House can't open until it has a handicap ramp and wheelchair access to a bathroom.

We explained to Will that the sharks were closed due to the rain. Rain, rain, go away, we said. Then we came up with the idea of going to the Children's Museum. Will was thrilled at the suggestion. Two minutes later, we were outside the doors of the Museum... which were locked, because it was closed. Damn.

Trying to redeem ourselves, we tried to talk up the fun of going home, making forts, and -- wow -- eating lunch inside the fort! Will was so impressed by our offer that he promptly fell asleep.

Three hours later, Will woke up from his nap. The first words out of his mouth were: "It's not raining. Go see sharks."

So for the second time that day, we set off for the Aquarium.
This is Will watching one of the divers feed the fish in the "walk through" tank.
Visiting his friend the moray eel. I have a picture of Will at this display when he was about 14 months old. Apparently, the fun of watching the eel pop out extends into several age groups.
Checking out the otters. In this picture, Will happens to be watching otter-butt.
Petting a SHARK. Whoa. 

Videos

Thanks for your visit! Sample videos are here, here, here, and here. And Paul juggling is here.

Saturday Visitors!

Skip, Emily, and my Mom visited on Saturday! Our day included: walk to neighborhood bakery for morning muffins, Abeona House for Will and Kate's Music Together class, lunch from Whole Foods, drive around town while Will slept, Audubon Park for Paul's juggling group, dinner at Jacque-Imos, games at home, and hanging out with the kids. Pictures below!

The Family Bed

We are a co-sleeper family. We co-slept with Will for all or part of the night until he was 2. Currently, Kate is so-sleeping with us. We've started to let her sleep in her crib for a few hours each evening, bringing her in with us when we go to sleep. The kids are sharing a room, so we figure this is a test in Will's ability to deep-sleep. If he passes, maybe we can re-start hosting those wild parties we were so famous for before he was born.












Until then, we're sticking with co-sleeping. As a breastfeeding mom, I love co-sleeping because it means I barely have to wake up to comfort my hungry child and I never have to wake up to the sound of a baby crying. It also means I sleep incredibly lightly and rarely ever have deep sleep. Of course, my light sleep isn't only because of sleeping with a baby. I now know that part of being a mother means you always sleep with one eye open, no matter what. And people wonder why we mothers are so easily pushed over the edge.












I've also realized that I don't sleep soundly because everyone in our family makes horrible bed partners. Paul snores. Will sleeps side-ways. Kate is a bedtime rock star. Although I'd like to believe I'm the perfect bed partner, I imagine that I'm no great fun, either. Since we're all incapable of sharing, perhaps one day our family bed will turn into four separate beds. Maybe the Brady parents were on to something with the twin beds in the Master Bedroom.












For now, we're going with the low-on-sleep, high-on-cuddle family bed arrangement. Even with the kicks, punches, feet-in-face, snoring, farting, rock star nights... the mornings (as seen in these pictures) are really fun.

This one would be my favorite...

...if only that shutter moved a little bit faster without the flash!! *sigh* Little Kate just can't keep that head still yet.
This one is my second favorite, done in portrait mode with flash and some color editting in Picasa. Any photographers out there have comments on these to help me as I learn?

To all Mamas and Mamas to be...

... get thee to this website!!

And to the artists of the world: get to work in your chosen mediums. Glorify our unique shapes, colors, and textures. We are Mothers -- these are the bodies that make the world.

Except for the feeling I get when I look at my kids, nothing has made me feel better in my skin than this wonderful site.

Zooped

We went on down to the Audubon Zoo, and they all axed for you...













Today was Michelle's last day babysitting on her regular schedule with us, so we went on a special trip to the Zoo this morning.

It was HOT.

Despite the heat, Will had a great time checking out the animals.








The white tigers and lions were out... although asleep. When I told Will I was disappointed because I couldn't remember what they say, Will was happy to remind me: "Rroooaarr!"

The heat knocked Kate out for most of the visit. I was a Bad Mommy and forgot her sunhat, so I spent most of the visit wheeling her from shade patch to shade patch. (She was protected by her car shade, too... I'm not that bad of a Mommy!)










Most of the animals were ready to show their best sides.

The elephants, in particular, were quite content with our visit to their back-ends.


Will showed us some sweetness, too. Especially when, 90 minutes after our arrival, Little Man asked to be picked up and taken home. Even after his nap, Will was still dragging. We figure that this is a new level of pooped... after a trip to the Zoo, Will is Zooped!