The Farm Report – Page 132 – Archiving the early years

Milestones

July 22, 2007

I feel a little behind on updates for Ellery. Once she gets bigger and louder, I’m sure she’ll demand her share, but for now, she’s mostly just hanging back.

Ellery, you’re just so…easygoing. Neither of your siblings were like this. Neko was chomping at the bit from day one, and Shep cried and screamed his way to six months. But you’re just hanging out. You love to watch the world go by. Although you’ve recently shown some interest in toys, you’re really just happiest if someone talks and laughs and smiles at you. Clearly a people person from the get-go.

And that interest in toys? We think it may be due to your first tooth, which we discovered yesterday. Chewing on all those things must feel good. And now I have something to pin your non-stop drooling on. Excellent.

You’ve also recently begun exploring sitting for a few seconds on your own. Although, you quickly clunk to the ground or end up with your forehead on the ground in some near-impossible yoga move, you’re giving it a try, and I applaud that.

This morning we gave you a chance to stand at the exersaucer, something that requires me to be three inches away and unoccupied which happens, well, never, thanks to your siblings. Much to my surprise, you could hang out for quite some time if we propped you in the right position.

So even though I don’t have all the time I had with the first two, you seem to be zipping along quite well. And maybe that’s the thing about third children—they’re independent and figure out how to do it on their own. Because they have to. And maybe that’s not such a bad thing at all.
Shep’s new room

July 21, 2007

It was time. Shep was on the verge of crawling out of his crib and he was still in bedroom with the stairs that Neko kindly showed him how to scale…on the outside, cleverly outsmarting our gate at the base of the stairs.

So we’ve been quietly working on the back bedroom. Friday night they spent the evening with R&D, so it gave us a chance to do the finishing touches. Saturday, upon his return, we showed him his new room. He is ecstatic, and hasn’t even given his old room (now Ellery’s new room) a second glance.

His favorite part? A hook so he can hang up his guitar.
Photography for Preschoolers

July 20, 2007

Today we went to Highfield, one of our favorite spots. When I took out the camera to take some photos of the kids, Neko asked if she could have a turn. And then for the next half hour, she ran around taking her own photos. You can see my favorite shots here, uncropped and in the order they were taken.
Snuggle buddies

July 19, 2007

I admit…by the time the kids have been fed dinner and we manage to get them bathed and ready for bed, we’re pooped. All we want to do is sit in front of our laptops and pretend our only responsibility is to catch on celebrity gossip (me) or read up on what albums are being released next week (Tom). We ping-pong the kids back and forth until we finally get them in bed and then collapse in a heap of exhaustion.

After we got Shep settled, Tom went to put Ellery down, and I headed toward my laptop, when out of the corner of my eye I saw Neko, diving off the edge of the couch in an effort to gain my attention. Instead of communing with my electronic friend, I grabbed a blanket and headed for the couch. “I need a Snuggle Buddy,” I announced.

Neko and I buried ourselves under a blanket and tuned in to see what Elmo was up to today. And then Ellery decided that sleep was for the weak, so she joined us. And then when Otto climbed on the couch, Neko noticed we were out of blanket, so she thoughtfully went to her bedroom and got one for him. Because, clearly, you cannot be a snuggle buddy without a blanket.
Sprouts

July 18, 2007

Neko and my mom have been working on growing avacados. Or making the seeds sprout. Or the pits. Or whatever…I don’t know the correct terminology. Regardless, they’re doing that thing where you put an avacado seed in water and wait for it to sprout. And at some point you have an avacado plant.

My mom was over the other day and was happy to report that the seed had broken open and was sprouting, and that Neko should come down and check on the progress. We decided, for the first time, she could walk down the driveway all by herself. But she didn’t walk—she sprinted. She was so excited to be doing it all by herself. And when she came back, she had to immediately turn around and go back again on the premise that she had to “deliver Doot flowers” as she hastily grabbed for clover from the yard.

When I finally got her in the house, she was busting at the seams, telling Shep all about her trip down to Doot’s house and how she went all by herself, and that is what you get to do when are a BIG KID.
Shep’s turn

July 16, 2007

Shep is a second child. And I’m ashamed to say that he owns very few things. We got all this stuff during the first few years of Neko’s life because she needed them first. And they aren’t really hers, as we often say, they “belong to the whole family.” But let’s be honest, she’s the one who plays with them. And Shep’s not really a “thing” guy. He loves that guitar and a ball of any kind. But he’s not often particular about which ball he has, and Neko just doesn’t really care about the guitar.

For the last two nights Shep has asked to sleep with Neko’s Woody (the character from Toy Story, people). I’ve had to stealthly sneak it out of her bedroom while she isnt looking, because even though Woody isn’t in heavy circulation at the time, the minute she discovers Shep wants him, she then demands him back. This is the first time he’s really ever expressed a desire for a thing, so when Tom called from Chicago saying he wanted to bring something home for the kids and he happened to be standing in the Disney store, I had an Oprah lightbulb moment. It was time for Shep to have his own Woody. And Jessie.

Tom didn’t really have to buy one, though, because when they became big favorites of Neko, I ordered another set because they were limited edition and they don’t make that kind anymore and it always pays to have a back-up. So when he arrived home, I just had to get the box from the basement.

This was tough for Neko. She really wanted Shep’s new Woody. She offered that he could have hers and she could have the new one. But we stuck by our guns, and she ultimately conceded.

And tonight, Shep snuggled in with his new Woody and Jessie. His very own, with “Shep” written across the bottom of Andy’s boot.
Tired. So tired.

July 15, 2007

Day three.

There is no picture for today. If there was, it would be me with my head on the counter, drooling into my coffee.

Since Tom was gone and I was already going to be exhausted, I decided it was a good time to cry-it-out with Ellery.

Now, I know some people don’t believe in cry-it-out, but I think if these people birthed my children, they might come to my way of thinking. My children don’t sleep hours and hours in a row. When they are born, they wake up every 2-3 hours to eat because they need to. But then they don’t really need to eat that often, but let’s face it, if you could just roll over at 3am and take a few sips of a latte and then get tucked back into bed, it sounds kind of cozy and appealing. My children agree.

With Neko, we didn’t cry it out until she was nine months old. Nine months old and still eating every 2-3 hours. With Shep, we waited until he was six months old. My intent was to wait that long with Ellery, but when last week she ditched the 2-3 hour gap and decided to eat every hour on the hour all night, I decided I’d had enough. And, no, this pattern did not continue during the day. She lasted nearly five hours the next morning before she ate again. So I know she’s capable. And clearly not starving.

And if she were my only one, I might feel differently, but when you’ve been awakened every hour all night and then these two other needy people wake up at 7am and demand to be fed real food and changed into clean clothes and stuff, my grip on emotional stability becomes a little dicey.

Anyway, last night Ellery cried a lot and I did a lot of useless middle-of-the-night tasks, resulting in not a lot of sleep for either of us.

Fortunately, my aunt was lined up to take Neko and Shep in the morning, and I crazily thought Ellery and I would take a nap since neither of us slept the night before. Ellery had other ideas and stayed wide awake until about half an hour before it was time to pick up the other kids. Ellery then slept the whole time in the car and while the other kids ate lunch, promptly waking up as I put the others down for naps. (Libby, this is the collaborative effort I speak of.)

But wait! My kind mother takes Ellery for nap time so I can sleep. But then Neko decides not to nap, and I am kept awake by the adventures of Lightning McQueen and Sally and some other characters. I have no idea who, but they sure are loud.

This whole entry probably doesn’t make any sense at all, but it’s managed to keep me awake long enough for Ellery to conk out. Blahblahblah. I promise to be more fun tomorrow.
Trucks and wild animals

July 14, 2007

Today was day two of No Husband. But I had a game plan.

First stop: the zoo. It was a special day where they park all sorts of big trucks and vehicles in the lot and let kids climb in and out of them. It was the first year of this event, and it showed. They could have used about 10-20 more things. Maybe a dump truck and a cement mixer. How about a tractor? We spent most of our time waiting in lines and climbing in and out of the stroller.

But the zoo is always fun, and we got there early, so we got to see a bunch of stuff without fighting the crowd.

Second stop: haircuts. Shep was a trooper, Neko was a nightmare. Her hair looks a bit choppy, but I’m willing to look past it so I don’t have to go through the whole experience again. It’s edgy, right?

Third stop: Home for naps. Except Neko didn’t nap. And Ellery was spotty.

Fourth stop: Susie and Doug play the role of Angelic Superheroes and take my kids for a few hours. All three of them. And I ran around like a crazy person, trying to get things done in the house that I can’t do with kids there.

Fifth stop: bed. Except they hadn’t really been home all day, so they managed to stay up until nearly 9:30pm. Which is too late for this tired lady.
Kaitlin

July 13, 2007

Tom left town today to attend the Pitchfork festival in Chicago. It’s essentially nirvana for people who love the whole indie music scene, so he gets to spend a long weekend soaking up music while I watch the kids. But come August, it’s my turn to get away. I just have pump like the dickens until then.

But we’re keeping busy.

Today our friends Bena and Kaitlin came into town for a wedding. Kaitlin was one of Neko’s very first friends from way back in the days where we moms sat around a big blanket and watched our kids figure out what their hands were for and attempt to roll over. We sipped our coffee and talked about how hard this motherhood thing was. I suppose it was hard at the time, but we had no idea what challenges lay ahead of us.

We got the kids together at Nancy’s house, and they romped and played and squabbled over big plastic vehicles, and it was almost like Bena had never picked up and moved to New York. If only we could have transported Marlo and her crew across a state or two, things would have felt complete.

It’s hard to get a good picture of three four-year-olds. This is the best I could do. Yes, Neko is hamming it up, but at least she’s not picking her nose.
The butterflies are multiplying

July 12, 2007

Nothing makes Neko happier than when someone plays dress-up with her. During playgroup she conned Aaron into dressing up like butterflies and running around the yard. Susie was a good sport and ran around with the butterfly net, trying to catch them.

This picture doesn’t really do it it justice, and perhaps that’s good, because you might not be able to handle the immense amount of cuteness the whole scene was exuding.