First Smiles

 

Oh joy.  Babies first smiles may be one of the best things in the world.  I love this kid.  

Leave it to Beaver

 

 

I just finished watching the first season of Leave it to Beaver on Netflix.  I starting watching it because it was the perfect length of one nursing session with Grayson.  I kept watching it because June and Ward are a couple of great parents and I learned a lot from them.  Life is amazingly different today.  I think I would have liked to raise a family in the 50's.  Because...

 

1.  Wally and Beaver would often leave on Saturday morning and spend the whole day somewhere around the neighborhood and their parents had no idea what they were up to.  No one worried about kidnappers, or perverts or that they wouldn't approve of the video games being played at their friends house.  The whole neighborhood watched out for each others kids. 

 

2.  Ward handled all discipline.  June never punished the boys.  Ever.

 

3.  If the boys needed help with homework Ward handled that to. 

 

4.  School was simple.  They walked to and from school alone.  They went, learned, then came home.  No fundraisers, AR programs, spirit nights, science nights, anti-bullying programs, educational websites to keep track of, or teacher websites to follow.  No folders to sign or conduct marks to keep track of either. 

 

But I am also glad to be raising a family today because on days when I am really exhausted there is always Pizza Hut... so I guess it evens out.

 

 

Goings On

 

**Grayson is growing so fast.  He was 10 1/2 lbs at his 6 week appointment.  I know that's really not incredibly big, but it seems so big to me.  These 6 weeks have flown by and I find myself already missing the 3 week old version of Grayson.  He is so sweet and I simply cannot hold him for more than 5 minutes without putting his soft skin up against mine or kissing his cute cheeks.  He gave his first real smile a few days ago.  They have been few and far between since then even though the other kids work so hard to earn them.

 

**Sam is busy as always being whoever he is being that day.  One morning when I was up in my room I realized that it was too quiet.  The kind of quiet that makes me nervous that something is wrong.  I rushed downstairs to find Sam happily busy as a race car driver.  I'm curious to see which of his many costumes he settles on since he has declared he is going to be at least 7 different things for Halloween this year. 

 **Lizzy is lately obsessed with classical music.  I let her use YouTube to put in classical composers and then she spends hours listening to the orchestra's play.  She knows the composers and their works much better than I ever have.  It is so strange and wonderful to see my girl figuring out what she loves and becoming her own little person.  I think it is good for Lizzy to use the internet in this way and it has been a good chance for us to talk about the need to be careful with the internet and how to make good choices about what we look at.  There is so much garbage so easily accessible it kind of makes me sick to think about.  Aaron just burned her a CD of classical music which I guess was also a good solution.  :)



 **Andrew my non-stop talker is talking a bit less now a'days.  He has decided that he likes to read and now often walks in the door after school and only tells me one or two most essential things about his day before he settles in to read.  He has a way of being absolutely absorbed in whatever he is doing and it is no different with his books.  He's been borrowing Lizzy's Who was? books and I literally cannot get him to answer a question unless I remove the book from his hands and then he'll look up at me as if I just spoke for the first time.  Writing that sentence made me laugh because I can see where Andrew learned his new favorite word.  He says literally all the time, except he says it like "litterly".  He uses it to emphasize all of his stories. i.e.  "I litterly flipped the stick this hard (he shows me) and it flew all the way over the couch." 

 I got spoiled on Mother's Day by Aaron and the kids.  Poems, coupon books, a puzzle from Sam and various school projects.  Andrew's class made little paper teacups for their Mom's and put in bags of tea.  Andrew told his teacher that I don't drink tea.  She was nice enough to bring a small package of lemonade for Andrew to put into my cup. 

 Lizzy's class made these cute hearts out of beans.  Creative I must say. 

Aaron "litterly" did all of the cooking for the day and he did it big.  He spent all morning smoking a chicken and it turned out delicious.  Aaron loves to smoke meat and I enjoy his ribs and brisket etc., but the only one that really gets me super excited is the chicken.  So, so good.  He finished dinner off with these fancy lava cakes.   Aren't I a lucky gal? 

 

The thing going on that has used up most of my worry/stress energy has been me and my crazy teeth problems.  I have never had a cavity in my life, but when I went to the dentist just after Grayson was born, I found that I needed crowns and root canals and all kinds of stuff. Ugghh... It has been awful.  Numerous appointments and thousands of dollars later...I am sore and achy, but glad that it is almost over.   People say that pregnancy can mess with your teeth and I guess I believe it now. 

 

 I got in the mood to reread this series again and I feel inspired all over again.   I love Anne.  I am determined to be like Anne and live life more fully.  She makes me want to enjoy every little moment, and *see* more of the beautiful world around me.  She also makes me want to write poetry which I'm not even a little bit good at.  :)  I'll just work on the enjoying life part.