Snapshot: Piper

I love taking pictures of this girl.  It works out well, as she is ready with a “CHEESE!!” when the camera is pointed in her direction.

My friend Susanne has a fast enough camera to capture her many expressions.

 

But I love her 100-watt smile the best.

 

Once, before she was even two, the girls and I were driving somewhere with my dad.  He turned around and looked at her and then said, “Piper has the best smile.”  Dad is not one to throw compliments around lightly. 

Piper loves all things animals and I suspect she’ll be the primary reason we get a dog. A long time from now. 

 

She is all about what she could do herself.  We didn’t have Kyla dress herself or buckle herself up or brush her teeth or make her own sandwiches until Piper insisted on doing those things herself and we realized that her big sister probably could do them, too, if we asked. 

Since she turned 3 last month, she has decided she is a baby.  When she does something naughty, she sticks two fingers in her mouth (ahem, sound familiar, Wesley?) and pretends she doesn’t know what you are talking about, because she’s just a baby.  That drives me crazy! She crawls around and points out when she is taking her “first steps”.  But she still insists on doing things all by herself.  Except potty training.  She was potty trained perfectly all last week.  Then on Sunday—at church—she wet her underwear, tights, and then got her dress wet in the potty when I had her go.  So she finished church wearing pink sweat pants and a shirt that even Wesley has outgrown (with a henley collar, thank goodness).  She decided she doesn’t want to do underwear this week.  She’ll reconsider next week.  (It’s a good thing I didn’t get around to blogging last week about how excited I was that two-thirds of my children used the toilet. How wrong I was.)

She’s got such a silly, happy nature.  No matter what new food she’s about to try, she insists that she’ll love it.  Even if she spits it out after the first bite.  This girl will sneak chocolate, even from Mama’s very special hiding spot, without any guilt. 

She’s my maternal child.  When she’s not a baby herself, she loves taking care of her own baby and she has anointed herself Wesley’s special advisor.  What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and I think Wesley is going to be very, very strong.

This child pokes me in the heart every day.

The Ballet and a Vocabulary Lesson

I got to take Kyla and Piper to see their first ballet today! We met up with three other friends, each with her daughter and made a lady’s event out of it.  It was just an hour (including an intermission) so it was just right for their first real stage production.  Since it was The Little Match Girl, I was a little worried about the questions about death, grandma and the little girl, but the girls saw the dancing far more than they noticed the story.  We all enjoyed it.

I had just bought matching dresses for them to wear at Easter and as flower girls in Brian & Sandi’s May wedding.  I was excited about the dresses as the girls were, so I let them wear them to the ballet.

We changed them just before we left for the ballet.  Before we got shoes on, Piper pulled off the bandage from the finger she had cut the night before.  I grabbed a few bandages just in case and herded them out of the door.  Before either of them was buckled in, there was fresh blood on both their skirts.  Sigh.  Hopefully, they will not use the new word I coined for the occasion: “shitshoot”. 

Fortunately, the blood washed out later that night.

Snapshot: Wesley

Kyla and Piper have been down at Gramma and Papa’s since Wednesday. I’ve actually been trying to blog since Tuesday, but that day got away, Wednesday was full until about 9pm, Thursday was my work/clean/organize day (taking advantage of having only one kid—and one who takes 2 naps). Friday was going to be my fun day, except I started the day by vomiting.  By the time I felt better at the end of the day, Wesley was vomiting.  The pediatrician said there’s a bug going around.  I’m willing to believe it.

I’ve been wanting to blog about each of the kids individually so I focus on the things I Will Always Remember, except that I don’t.

Like for instance, Wesley has completely mastered the stairs crawling up and down that he doesn’t even like to do them much anymore, unless he’s holding one hand in Mama’s (and only one, so he can suck the fingers on his other hand—can’t you just picture it) so that he can walk down like a big person. 

Except last Tuesday.  He actually fell down stairs three times that day.  Oddly, he only got two new head bumps.

It’s really rare to have Wesley without the girls around. After his morning nap on Wednesday, I put shoes on him intending to take him on a walk around the island in front of our house.  If you know the area, this is a very short walk.  We eventually made it one driveway over, but it was so fun just following his footsteps.  Mostly he chased Smokey, who is so neglected since she’s been downgraded to an Outside Cat, that she did figure-eights around our legs.  He stumbled up and down our neighbor’s driveway and occasionally sitting in a mud puddle and splashing his hands in it.  Right before sucking his fingers again.

Like his sisters, he’s already trying to use the curbs as a balance beam.  He did it several times before he fell and bonked his head for a 3rd new bruise in two days.

I noticed after several minutes that our neighbor has a surveillance camera on that driveway.  I hope he got good pictures!

Wesley probably misses his sisters, generally his best source of entertainment, but he is reveling in extra Mama and Daddy time.  He loves playing downstairs and has mastered the slide--climbing up the steps and sliding down on his tummy and his bottom.  He also loves the roller coaster and has figured out how to back it up to the starting point again so Mama can sit him on top of the car and push him down.  We can do that over and over and over and over again.  (When Piper is here, she sits in the car then helps Wesley get in front of her and pushes off.  It’s a tight fit, but they are both grinning from ear to ear during the short ride!)

Not a surprise, but Wesley is an active, adventurous child who always tries to take on height first.  He’s keeping up more and more with his sisters, and the more he can do, the more they slow down to let him join them.

In his first 14 months of life, Wesley has only liked one book enough to allow me to read the whole thing and then ask for it again and again.  The cover of Peek-A-Who is held together with tape and the spine won’t be able to stand up to one more kid.  All other books, he reaches for the last page to close the book and then throws it on the ground.  I remember Kyla didn’t like books until she was 18 months old.

He will let me do anything to him (change a diaper, suck out the snot, etc.) as long as I play peek-a-boo with him or put something silly, like his pants, on my head.  Odd, I don’t have any pictures of me doing that…

This little guy is my happiness, even if I can’t take him to the library until he is passed his “ALL books must come off the shelf” phase.  Even if I can only cook by allowing him to dump out the bottom two shelves of the pantry, the baking goods, and all the pans and half the Tupperware.  Even though he learned to throw things (not garbage, but things, like Mama’s underwear) in garbage cans long before we picked up that he could do that.  Even though this blue-eyed wonder did vomit on my pillow early this morning.  Because this boy’s the male version of his sisters, which means he’s ridiculously lovable, thoroughly delightful, and full of potential and a lot of dreams.

Wine & Chocolate Soiree VIII

Last night was our eighth annual Wine & Chocolate Party!  We skipped last year due to Wesley’s birth, and we were a few weeks past Valentine’s this year, but we pulled it off.  I can’t speak for everyone, but Dwayne and I had an excellent time and Kyla is pretty sure the grown-ups were just killing time while the real party was happening downstairs.  The girl who says “crowds make me tired” when we go out among strangers is quickly blossoming into quite the hostess in her own home.  Hmm, maybe she is more like me than I thought….

Thanks to my friend (and, coincidently, my sister-in-law) Julie who brought The Good Camera and recorded some of the highlights of the evening.

 

I love this shot.  Julie, unfortunately, is taking it, which is why she is the only sibling not it.  This is me & Wes, my brother Keith with his boy, Parker, and my brother Brian with his fiancée, Sandi. Although she lives in the Portland area, she attended SPU and actually knew some of the people at our party beforehand!

 

Rochelle was at her photogenic best, so she gets her own section.

And Marcie is her usually stunning self.

 

The food and fountain. 

 

The Ericksons arrive.

Deanna and Eric managed to leave 2/3s of their kids with grandparents.  See those smiles?!

 

Brian and Sandi were all smiles, too.

 

This may be the only picture I have of Julie, AKA Photographer.

 

Keith, Joel, and Dwayne take time out from talking tech to smile.

 

Joy reminds us why were are at this party…

 

Oh, and to talk to new and old friends.  And their babies are probably chatting it up, too.  (Ann and Joy are both due mid-summer.)

 

I get to hold a 3 month old little lump of Benjamin.  Finally, I got his name right!

 

Margaret got both herself and two young kids to the party on her own.  And on time (that is not a typical Shultz trait anymore than it is a Need trait).  Jeremy came a little later straight from work.  Thanks for making this evening work, M&S!  I can’t imagine having this party without you there!

 

There’s Jeremy! (And Eric.)

 

Wyatt & Eric find a lot to talk about. 

 

Elizabeth, Scott, and Sandi find a convenient location near the food.

 

That’s right, Keith.  There’s lots to try. 

 

Cheers to good friends and in-laws!

 

Sarah shows off lovely Anna.

 

Look at these lovely ladies—Ashlynn’s eyes are identical to her mommy’s.

 

Melissa, this is even a better picture of those beautiful blues.

 

Rachel and Karis tried to break into the kids’ party but were finally convinced that it was even more fun upstairs!  (Okay, I’m kidding a little, but it was so fun to have these friends here.)

 

I kind of like this angled shot of this dress I have worn almost every year.  It was a bridesmaid dress for Kristen’s wedding 6 or 7 years ago.  This is one bridesmaid dress that has gotten a full life!

 

As been alluded to, there was another party going on downstairs.  We had 2 babysitters and 18 kids (down from the original 25 RSVPs).  We only got a few shots of the kids—they’re quick (and absorbed in Kinnect).

 

This is my favorite shot, of course.  I’m running low on time, so I will just have to put in the pictures and hopefully caption them later.

 

 

 

Thanks, everyone, for coming!  And Wilcoxes, I hope your kids are well soon and that you never have to miss another one of these parties.  We missed you!  (And all the other families too sick or on vacation who couldn’t make it this year.)