Brothers like us

I often tell Madigan, "You know, I wish I had a big brother like you when I was growing up." And it's true... he's the best big brother and his little brother loves him so much. We often catch Declan just staring at Madigan and then trying to mimic his actions. We just set up a play room for the boys (oh my gosh, I love it!) and they love spending time in there with one another. Declan chews on all his toyhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifs and Madigan dissects all of his to figure out how they mechanically function.

Below are some pictures of the boys together, and the last one is of their new play room... sorry about the quality of the last photo... taken with my cell phone. All other photos taken by Auntie K.

Defiance and other great things

Theme of the week: defiance. It's been a clear case of first born (red head/Tiger/child) vs. second born (people-pleaser/mommy). I've always felt like a pretty confident person, and not exactly a push-over. Nevertheless, I think I was given a Tiger to keep me humble and to make me stronger. :-) Each day this past week was "opposite day" in our house: whatever mommy says, make sure you do the opposite. And do it over and over. It's like a wonderful scientific experiment. So this is where gray hair comes from!

Other (possibly more noteworthy, and definitely more encouraging) notes:

Declan is now sitting up on his own like a total pro! When he's not in the throws of teething, he is smiling and delightful... by far the happiest baby I've ever known. How can one little person be so much precious in one place?

Declan got his first tooth!

Madigan's vocabulary is so incredibly much fun! A few examples include: diggadoos (feet), ninian (Madison), Go-Go (Valiant, aka Good Girl), ewieyewieyewie (Ella Berry), CUUM (vacuum), Devs (Devany), Fantz (Fancy), Gains (grains, as in horses), Hump (baby monitor), Hots (diffuser), Tie (Chai), etc.

We've been making Madigan a Vanilla Steamer before bed at night and he is SPOILED! He loves them. We mix steamed milk with 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1 teaspoon honey (almost) and they are delicious.

Madigan has been helping us mix the feed (grains) in the morning at the barn and he's starting to really pick up on how to measure things and which color of buckets are which. It's incredible to watch him go out of his way to help us, often taking his own initiative to start picking out the stall and getting hay ready to go into the hay bags. He's a born helper! And, he loves to work!

And, it looks like Declan might be potty trained before Madigan. Seriously. He goes on the potty several times a day, making cloth diapers a much more rewarding option for him (and Mommy's happy too!). Even at Chipotle today, he acted like he needed to go potty, so I rushed him in the bathroom where he took care of his business straight away. I'm astounded!

Skills that pay the bills (we pretend)

Declan and Madigan are both very skilled young men. Declan is currently cutting teeth, so everything is considered edible and he loves coaching Daddy on the subject. Here we see a coaching session in progress.

And Madigan... well, he can always be found with his trusty vacuum. He finds clever ways to plug it in and get to work, when Mommy is distracted or unavailable for such important work. This house would look a sight different without the diligent (OCD) efforts of the Tiger.

Abigail Adams, the industrious

I love history, it's true. I loved living in Virginia Beach where we were able to spend so much time in Williamsburg, Washington DC, Jamestown, etc. They are places full of America's rich history.

One historical couple, in particular, always intrigued me: the Adams. John and Abigail Adams had a 50 year marriage that was filled with incredible suffering and trials, and they personally sacrificed so much for the correct/careful establishment and defense of this great nation. Though they spent most of their married life apart from one another, their letters back and forth reflect mutual love, respect and devotion to each other. I thought this additional nugget of history on Abigail Adams was particularly interesting.

Differences - highlighted

Krista's blog entry regarding the notable differences between these three sisters inspired the following example:

Jessica's version:
Only at midnight
When the hands of the clock stood up tall
Did we guess how large
The world was

When the round curve
Of the moon in unbroken deeps
Shivered the scudding clouds
And burst past branches
With a revelation:
The loneliness betwixt
Might be, not in her,
But us. It may be we
(An old deep legend) who
Are broken, while the world
Dances through unspoken
Atmospheres and
Beauty confounds us
By being good.

It is not the dead that
Walk at this deep birth
Of dawn, but the Living
And all things shake loose
Our words, brimming to
Being, and sow us
Speechless with wonder.

Krista's version:

• It's 12:00AM
• The Moon said something
  
  1. People are lonely
  2. The beauty of nature confuses people
• Living people are awake at this hour (I cannot imagine why/how)
• I want to talk but I can't
  

Eryn's Version:
Only at midnight did I finally have a moment to think, with the blissful quiet that comes when kids are fast asleep.

The moon is a reminder that someone much bigger is in control, even when the world is spinning (after all, it is).

I'm alive and happy, but too tired to say anything else.

...And Virginia's Version:
At midnight, we saw the moon. It was round, and clearly in space. As we saw it through the clouds and branches, there was a revelation. The reason the moon seems so lonely, is because we are interpreting it through our own pitiful existence. Nature is far-reaching and beauty is good.

Zombies don't walk around at midnight, but weird humans do. Our words bring us into being, but our mouths have been duct-taped with wonder.