William thinks that our "yard" is called our "neighborhood." The other day as I was spraying RoundUp on our walking path, he followed me around with a stick, waving it in the air, telling me, "I'm getting rid of all the flies in our neighborhood!" Later, when I was digging in the front bed, he ran up to me and said, "Mom, while you're.... changing our neighborhood... I'm going to go draw with chalk."
Neva started babbling this week. She makes a T sound and an S sound and then... started saying 'dada!' It's very cute, when I pick her up after she has JUST woken up, she'll be whispering her little word, like she's woken herself up with her new trick. I can't believe she's six months old today. I'm soaking her up, but she's growing too fast. My feelings about her babyhood are much more patient and reflective than they were with William and Barrett. She is a very similar baby to them in a lot of ways. Recently she has been going through a phase where she won't nap for longer than 30 or 40 minutes. When William and Barrett went through that phase I experienced so much frustration. Hearing them wake up on the monitor made me grumble. But it's different with Neva. I feel like I can just see her life racing by. When I hear her wake up on the monitor, I do wonder what's going on (why isn't that little girl wanting to sleep, if she's so cranky?) but I can honestly say I don't get all worked up, like I used to. I know this phase will be over as soon as it came. I wish I had adopted a more laid-back approach with the boys. Those days with them are gone forever, and I wish I could hold a six-month Will or a six-month Barrett one more time.
One of the greatest joys of my day is seeing how my kids love each other. The boys adore Neva. William is always saying things like, "Look at my pretty sister!" Yesterday at lunch time Barrett decided to forgo his food and instead took his blanket and laid on the floor next to her. He spent about 10 minutes just smiling at her and talking to her. I feel like I'm always saying, No, no, no! Gentle, gentle, gentle! Too much, too much, too much! But no matter how fast they want to spin her in her jumping jack (not allowed), or how hard they want to bounce her in her little bouncer (not allowed), or how many stuffed animals they plop on her face (not allowed), she just beams at them with the biggest smile. She just glows at their attention. As Fillmore says in the movie Cars, "There's a lot of love here, man."
Last night Mom and Dad came by and picked up the kids and took them for a few hours. They went to the playground and to McDonald's for a treat. They had such a blast, and they came home beaming, with lots of stories... and to boot, each of the boys had a new Hot Wheels car. As a treat, Brian and I let them take their cars with them to bed. I told Brian I would deal with any of the fallout when the toys inevitably got lost and when the boys woke up in a disoriented haze crying about their lost toy (this is why we have a rule about no toys in bed, because it always happens). Sure enough, around 3 in the morning, William woke up crying because he couldn't find his car. Being in a sleepy haze myself, it still only took me about 2 seconds to find the car, which was right underneath his blanket. I stuffed it in his pillowcase and told him to go back to sleep, that when he woke up in the morning he could play with it. Of course he had no recollection of this moment, and when Neva woke up at 5:45 to nurse, Will was already wide awake and wondering where his toy had gone.
This week has been quite busy, getting ready for William's party on Sunday and also trying to landscape the front beds (which naturally means having to work on other areas of the yard as well). I've gotten a lot done, but it's Saturday now and I am getting tired. I just can't wait to sit and enjoy my kids and my family at the party tomorrow. This is what life is all about. It is a perfect life.
