Benjamin Button

Sean's outfit yesterday made him look like a little collegiate--every time I looked at him all I could think was how he simultaneously looked so grown up and so cute!  He looked so collegiate that Cody and I kept saying how much he reminded us of my cousin Ben, a sophomore at ND right now...what do you think?  (sorry for the facebook-picture-poaching, ben--you do look very "collegiate" in this pic!)

the full effect:  

I can't get enough...

More and more posts seem to be Seannie-isms lately, but every day he says something that just cracks me up.  Today:

Erin: Wow, I think you're growing out of your running shoes...do they feel too tight for you?
Sean: Uh-huh, they are too little.
Erin: Hmm, we'll have to go back to the adidas store and see if they have some shoes for you.
Sean (very seriously): And then we will buy bouncy-shoes for Seannie. 

*"Bouncy-shoes" are often a "mousketool" on Mickey-Mouse Club House (ugh), and are usually used for moon-exploration or jumping 20-40 feet in the air to retrieve something stuck in a tree.  I don't know how to break it to him they aren't for sale outside the Clubhouse. 

Another favorite that gave me that awful "I'm so mad but trying not to laugh" feeling:

Jamesie is crying, all of a sudden, after peacefully playing with Sean.
Erin (incredulously): Sean, did you poke him in the face with that stick?
Sean: No.
Erin: You didn't poke him in the face?
Sean: No.
Erin: Did you poke him?
Sean (casually): Uh huh.
Erin: Where did you poke him?
Sean (matter of factly): In the teeth. 

Oh brother. 

One of those days...

The upstairs smells like toddler poop, our once-tidy family room is now a hurricane of laundry, the kitchen is an explosion of peanut butter, yogurt and bananas, I have nothing planned for dinner, and I spent two hours at my doctor's office with two bored, hungry, antsy boys this morning.  Frazzled and tired, I just spent way more time than necessary wrangling the big boy upstairs for his nap while trying to appease the little boy until I could get him into his crib.  Deep breath...Life.  Monday.  Then, on our way to naps, how could I help but smile and giggle at this:

Even on the most Monday-ish of Mondays, I have to admit i'm pretty lucky in this life. 

 

Baby Showers

Babies seem to be born in waves, and a number of our friends are currently gestating spring babies.  Sean LOVES babies, so I've involved him in picking out a few presents lately.  In Target yesterday he picked out pink hairbows for "mommy's friend Carrie's girl-baby" (because every girl-baby should have pink hairbows-- thank you, Greta).  He also wanted to get Carrie's girl-baby some hangers for her closet, but I convinced him that Carrie would buy those herself.  The other day Sean found a little alligator rattle toy in his room and said he was going to give it to Gabe's little sister who is in Ms. Amanda's belly right now.  He's got the gifts down for the girl-babies.  Boy-babies might be a little more difficult though.  Yesterday I said,

Erin: "Ms. Lauren is going to have a little boy--what do you think we should give him for a present?"
Sean: "eh?"
Erin: "Evelyn is going to have a baby brother soon.  What do you think he would like for a present?"
Sean: "hmmmm [thinking].... some breastmilk." 

Apparently, what all boy-babies want.

I love boy-babies!

Mommy say...

When you have a 2 year old who retains and repeats almost everything you say, you start to realize how often you say certain things you never would have noticed before.  Not only does Sean repeat everything we say, but he reminds us to say certain things when the situation calls for it-- phrases (I guess) we say so often he has internalized them and expects us to say them.  I never would have noticed I say certain phrases or things so often, but Sean has started to direct us about what to say lately.  All of the following examples are things he has actually said to us in the last week or two:

- When Cody and I were in Beaufort and Jamie and Lisa stayed with the boys Sean went poop on the potty and had to call us to tell us the big news.  I said "That's great Seannie!" to which he said, "Mommy say, 'I'm so proud of you.'"

- Last night Cody and Sean were getting ready to play tackle before bed:
Sean: "Mommy, I'm going to play tackle with Daddy"
Erin: "Wow, that's great."
Sean: "Mommy say 'that sounds like fun.'"

-Jamesie is a notorious breath-holder when he cries, to the point that at least 1-2 times a day he turns blue/purple in the face from not breathing, and occassionally sort of collapses in his high chair when he finally does take a breath.  We often have to blow in his face to get him to gasp air.  The other day this happened and I said "Oh no, Jamesie."  Sean said, "Mommy say 'Come on, Jamesie, breathe.'"  (scary that I have a child to whom I have to say this so often that the two year old now knows what to say!)

-I love giving the kids fun nicknames--I think it makes them feel special and gives the parents and special little bond with them.  I have been calling Jamesie something historically silly for the last few weeks, but mostly just under my breath, not thinking anyone else had heard it.  Then, as I was feeding him the other day Sean says, "Mommy say, "Jamesie Madison!'"

-Cody and Sean were goofing around the other night saying silly phrases when I came down from putting James to bed.  I heard: "Daddy say, 'What Seannie talkin' about Willis?'" That one made me chuckle!

-The other night Sean was being *difficult* at bed time-- doing headstands on his bed instead of helping me get his diaper and jammies on.  I said, "Sean, time to cooperate."  nothing.  "Sean, you need to be a good boy and help me."  nothing.  "Come one sean, time to get ready for bed."  nothing.  Then, "Mommy say, 'Come on, young boy.'" I think he meant "young man," but either way, I guess I just wasn't saying the magic words!  Anyway, at that point I laughed so hard I think my "mom voice" lost any tone of authority it might have had!


Sean with Meg this weekend on Aubrey Anne's sailboat and home for the next 6 months!



Golf Holiday

A few weeks ago for President's Day we went up to Anderson and Cody and Jamie took Sean on his first real golf course.  Sean was great.  He said his favorite things about golfing were the flag and the playing in the sand part. 

Very serious golfers.

Good swing Seannie!

Studiously watching DaDa's swing

Like DaDa like Seannie.

Sean actually did quite well on the putting greens. GG got him a cute little 3-piece golf set in which the clubs are pretty real-looking.  He had a driver, something else and a putter.

And just for good measure, another cute little baby wearing a puppy dog on his shirt....

And getting a dunk in a sink-bath! 

Sweet Post-nap Baby James

Thanks to a generous Christmas gift from Cody's parents, Cody and I enjoyed our first weekend away for, oh, about 2.5 years, last weekend.  It was great.  We went to Beaufort SC, because its only an hour away and that's as far as I was willing to be away from the babies. My boss was taking bets on how long I would make it (he bet I would be back saturday morning), but I am proud to say that I made it all the way until Sunday afternoon!  It was GREAT to spend time with Cody without being on a naptime/bedtime/wake-up at 6:30 a.m. schedule.  We talked and sat and ate and played tennis and explored the beach and went to mass in peace and I busted my shin open on a dead tree trunk embedded with oyster shells.  It was fantastic. 

The fantastic time I had with my hubby is not to say I didn't miss a certain two little angels at home--dearly!  I kept saying, "when we get home i'm going to whuffle Jamesie and smell his neck and kiss his cheeks all over.  I'm going to wake him up from his nap all warm and soft and smelly and I'm going to love it!"  Jamesie has the best neck/cheek/mouth area to whuffle, especially right after a nap.  Even though you can't smell him through the computer, enjoy some cute post-nappers:

Plus one of Cody holding Jamesie while he (J) eats his shoe.

Dream a Little Dream

Last night at about 3:30 I heard Sean wailing from his room.  GG and DaDa have been here the last few days while Cody and I took a weekend alone in Beaufort (which was awesome).  So, in his slumber, Sean was wailing for GG to come help him.  I went in and this is what happened:

Sean:  "Clifford burst!  Clifford burst!"
Erin: "Clifford... burst?"
Sean: "Uh-huh." (Now, turning his head to see his stuffed Clifford right next to him, smiling back), "No he didn't, he's right there."  Immediately falls back asleep. 

This morning Sean provided a few more details to fill in the landscape of his dream:

Erin: "Did you have a bad dream last night Seannie?"
Sean: "Yes, there was a little tiny brown bear [holding up his two fingers about an inch apart] that was going to get Seannie.  And Clifford was in a cage and he was knocking with his tail."  (No word on the spontaneous combustion).


Seannie, Jamesie and an in-tact Clifford (among several other 'guys') last week.

Oh Brother

Happy March Everyone!  To be perfectly honest with you dear readers, the beginning of March is actually never happy around here.  Today/tomorrow will mark 11 years since we've seen my big brother, Sean Galloway, whom Sean Brendan is named after.  My brother Sean had a personality that seemed bigger than life, and maybe it was just that--his spirit and soul were too big, too gregarious, too much to stay confined in his mortal body, and at 22 years old, 11 years ago, he was called home. 

4 years ago I found out I was pregnant for the first time and we were over the moon.  As soon as I could pull out our Natural Family Planning resources to calculate the due-date, I was overwhelmed with emotion.  March 1st.  I thought, finally, that date will have some redemption for our family.  It will be speakable again, and it will be joyful.  Then, as quickly as those thoughts came, our baby too, was called home before his time.  I was supposed to be enjoying a sweet baby in my arms on March 1st, and now i just felt empty and sad again and that dreaded date lingered even more in the dark areas of my heart.

When I spent these dreary days of the beginning of March in Detroit or South Bend or Maryland, the weather always seemed to fit my mood.  The gray perma-cloud always lingered this time of year, all of nature was a brownish-icky color, it was too warm to snow and too cold to do anything fun outside. Its usually the middle of Lent (which starts late this year, as it did in the early days of our grief in 2000), a time of sacrifice and austerity. It was just Blah, and I sort of liked it because it allowed me to wallow inside by myself.

But, today, it is 70 degrees and sunny in Charleston, and Sean Brendan and I just finished our second tour of a preschool.  The two boys and I had a fun lunch including graham crackers for everyone (first try for Jamesie, and it was a smashing success!), and at Sean's request we sang "Sweet Baby James" and "Beautiful Boy" together before naps.  Although I still think about our first pregnancy and it makes me sad, as I looked at my two boys (in matching shirts) today, I was reminded of something a friend once told me-- if it weren't for our first baby, Sean would never be here.  I don't value one more than the other, but it makes it easier to think about the first loss as that baby's sacrifice for his brother Sean.  While I could have been celebrating a 3rd birthday today, I wouldn't be touring preschools with a 2 1/2 year old. 

Speaking of our 2 1/2 year old, he was named after a really great big brother.  Our brother Sean was always imaginative, fun, loud, silly, and always kind to us.  Denise and I never grew up with the big brother that beat us up or threatened us, rather, he showered us with kisses and gifts when we were little (Sean started a tradition that we give our siblings gifts on our own birthday, a tradition I still like to practice once in a while), and compliments when we were older.  When Cody and I had our little guy, we hoped he would one day be a big brother and embody those qualities as well.  Who better to name him after?  Grief is an interesting thing--the feelings of loss at this time of year tend to be just as strong as they were 11 years ago, but as time goes on you have more good days and more happy times in row.  Eventually the happy times out number the bad memories and you start to feel good more often than not.  I still wallow in flashbacks and difficult thoughts at this time of year, but having a little boy named Sean and watching him be a big brother to a little boy named James certainly allows me to have more happy moments than sad.  For that I am very grateful.  And for moments like the following, I am very grateful: 

We both have orange shirts and basketballs. Awesome. Look at Seannie holding Jamesie's hand...so sweet!

The first of many kisses for the day.  Sometimes when Jamesie wakes up from a nap Sean will cover him in kisses on his face and his hands, and take a few good smells of the after-nap-baby-scent (wonder where he learns that???), then say "Jamesie is soft and warm."

Sean teaching Jamesie some game.  I'm not sure what it is, but it entertained both of them for quite some time.

And then it turned into more kisses.

Bedtime silly time!

Which then turns into more kisses and hugs.  When I was taking this picture Sean was actually saying, "Seannie and Jamesie are best buddies."  I have never taught him that-- straight out of his 2-year-old heart! Although, it seems Sean still needs to learn when to give his "best buddy" some personal space.