Everett's Injuries

Everett had a couple of interesting injuries this fall.  First, he had a freak accident when he ran up the stairs with a blanket on his head, tripped, and busted his face on a door frame.

I can't imagine how it would have looked without the blanket cushioning the blow.  Of course, then Everett would have actually been able to see where he was stepping and the whole thing probably wouldn't have happened.

But I had to get some pictures.

The swelling looked much worse in person.  His bashed his forehead and lips in a big way.

Everett had a good story to tell at school, and I never received a concerned phone call ("I ran into a door" is the oldest cover-up in the book, right?), so I figured we were in the clear.

Then, a few weeks later, Everett was playing tag during recess and split his chin open during some sort of bench-jumping maneuver.  

I picked him up from school and took him to get stitches.  Everett was very interested in the process.  He hadn't been to the hospital since before he was two.  The doctors were great--they even put a Star Wars dvd in for him.  

The hospital is five minutes from Joel's work, so Joel came down just in time to see Everett get his stitches.  Everett was thrilled, especially when we told him we'd take him out to McDonald's.  He even got a McFlurry.

On the way back home, I suggested we just go home since there was only 45 minutes left of school.  Everett insisted on going back.  I'm pretty sure that was only because he wanted to show off his stitches to everyone.  The excitement of the stitches quickly dissipated when Everett discovered that a deep gash actually does get sore.  The doctor who stitched him up suggested that we keep some kind of ointment on his wound around the clock, so I sent a tube of neosporin with Everett to school.  The school nurse called and said he was not allowed to apply it in the classroom, and that she was only comfortable with applying it twice a day, as per instructions on the package.  My assurances that the pediatrician specifically said to apply it constantly fell on deaf ears.  

Fortunately Everett felt better after just a few days or I would have had to fight the nurse on that particular issue.  I had Everett keep a tube in his backpack anyway, because I want to teach him to keep rules (har har).  

If you were to ask Everett about his stitches, he'd glow as he described the experience.  He is proud of each and every one of the four stitches he had.  I didn't have the heart to tell him that four stitches is not really that many.

Charlie is 10 Months Old!

 Our Charlie is ten months old.  He is a lot of fun.

These pictures were taken when Charlie was eight and nine months old.  He had discovered crawling in a major way and loved coming over to the kitchen.  There are always crumbs to be found in my kitchen.

It entertains him for a long time.  

He is our little vacuum cleaner.

Once, Charlie got caught in a stool and couldn't figure out how to get out.  The chairs are much easier to navigate.  He grins delightedly when I peek in on him, then he often abandons his quest for finding interesting things and scurries over for some kisses.

The kids love manhandling, er, holding Charlie.

Charlie has started to wisen up to the pattern of attention.  Now that he is highly mobile, he generally prefers to be left alone.

He cannot hang out--in whatever wacky position he is choosing--on his own for too long before someone comes to scoop him up.

Charlie is usually pretty trusting.

He does like the attention.  The kids can get quite a bit of laughter out of him.

Charlie is not as trusting of James.

Even though James shares his prized possessions with Charlie, 

Charlie will loudly complain when James gets too intrusive.

Everyone loves to teach Charlie new tricks.

 Now, at ten months, Charlie is even more mobile and even more fun.

 He can race up the stairs.  He loves to cruise along the furniture.  He knows how to open all of our cupboards.  He delights in reaching the keys of the piano and turning random knobs.

Charlie laughs very easily.  He is a joyful little guy.  He also gets scared easily.  He hates loud noises.  We have a train toy that creaks loudly and Charlie panics every time he hears it.  He has recently gotten over his deadly fear of the vacuum cleaner, but for a while he'd bawl, horrified at the noise and commotion, and shout "Mama!  Mama!  Mama!" while escaping from the room as fast as he could.  He'd settle immediately when I'd pick him up.

Charlie also hates baths.  He cries if I bring him to close to a sink or bathtub with running water.  He gets nervous when I take his diaper off for more than a few seconds.  And he screams and screams for as long as a bath lasts.  I've gotten good at dunking him and washing him quickly.

Charlie has learned to clap, much to the kids' delight.  They encourage him for longer than his attention span lasts.

Charlie is a really lean little guy.  He is in the 25th percentile for height and head size but only barely got back on the growth chart (to the 1st percentile, wahoo!) for weight.  He is always moving, and he must have a hollow leg because he eats constantly.  I think Charlie would live on graham crackers if we'd let him.  

He looooooooves table food.  He eats whatever we are eating and protests very loudly when we don't share with him.  Charlie will not accept crackers or cheerios when he sees the rest of us eating something different.

Joel and I recently took Charlie with us on a lunch date.  Charlie spent the entire time at the restaurant shrieking despite my shoveling food in his mouth as fast as possible.  He ate two graham crackers, a nutrigrain bar, and as many bites of my food as I could give him.  Joel and I rushed through our lunch and got out of there as fast as we could.

He also loves it when we cover and uncover his mouth repeatedly.  He shouts out and loves to hear his vocalizations go on and off with the movement of our hands.  If we pull our hands away, he pulls it right back again so he can hear more of the noisy trick.

Charlie is a big Mama's boy.  He is also a great sleeper.  He sucks his little thumb all night long, and often during the day.  When I pick him up, he leans his head close to mine, puts his left hand along my shoulder and his right thumb in his mouth.

He is always game for snuggles.  He leans all the way into me, his head on my shoulder and his forehead against my cheek or neck.  I love feeling his soft little belly go out and in with his breathing.  When he is breastfeeding, he loves to stroke my face.  

I have a huge soft spot for this little guy.  I admit it.  I can't help it--he always laughs at my jokes!

He has taken to a fleece quilt my grandma make him.  He strokes the edge and rubs it against his face.  Charlie is our little Linus.  He loves cuddling but if he can cuddle with me AND have his special blanket, he is set for a very long time.

Charlie loves going to Joel, too.  He loves to come in bed with us and crawl over to his papa.  

We all love Charlie.  He is doted upon and cherished.  I think he's in a pretty good spot in life.  We will see if he says the same when he is old enough to resent everyone telling him what to do!

Fourth of July with the Johnsons

We had a great time with the Johnsons on the Fourth of July.  Joel's brother-in-law has a great neighborhood to visit during this particular holiday.  A lot of the neighbors pool their money for an extremely impressive (and extremely loud) show of aerial fireworks.  Sitting right underneath enormous fireworks definitely beats a long-distance view of a city show.

Besides the fireworks, the cousins are a huge draw for my kids.  They love their cousins.

There are lots of girls for Ashley to play with.  Since Ashley lives with only brothers, she soaks up every bit of girl time she can.

It is easy to like spending time with such fun girls.

There is always someone around to hold the babies.  There are so many eager hands, the babies could easily spend all day never touching the ground.  Charlie mostly liked it, as long as he couldn't see me.

The boy cousins are all older than Everett but he deals with it pretty well.

They teach him lots of cool stuff and Everett really looks up to them.

It was a great night, almost the best Fourth of July we've had except that Joel was stuck working back in Iowa.

Almost all the cousins sat one one bench at church on Sunday.  They were a busy bunch.  My kids were wholly entertained so it was one of the easiest Sundays I've had in a while.

And no trip to Utah is complete without an overnight party at Aunt Rebekah's house.  She has all the toys any child could possibly want, including a cotton candy machine.  

My kids love going to her house.

Lots of girly things for Ashley to do--like get a makeover.

Ashley also has never forgotten last summer when Aunt Rebekah told her she could kick Joel's butt.  Ashley brings it up regularly as a hail mary to top any of Joel's antics.

And Grandma Johnson's house is tons of fun as well.  She has just the right toys for my kids and they love the relaxed atmosphere.

When all the cousins are there, the legos always come out.

And more and more kids come over to play.

On this particular day, the Lego Movie was on and I think it inspired some creativity.

Lots of luggage is necessary when traveling!

Great Grandparents

This past Fourth of July, we visited my Grandma's house.  I feel like a kid again when I walk through her door.  My kids know her as Oma and my Grandpa as Opa.  They are "great" grandparents in every sense.  The kids look forward to going to their house all year.  We have a big, wonderful breakfast of my Grandma's famous pancakes (with all the sides you could dream of) and two different kinds of syrup.  Then, after we loosen our belts, we spend the day outside in their spacious yard playing games, swapping stories, and stuffing our faces with more delicious food.

The babies love Oma.  Charlie was taken with her.  He smiled and cooed at her.  But who wouldn't?  My Grandma is the epitome of wonderful grandmotherliness.  Everyone should be lucky enough to have a grandma (or great-grandma) like her.  

My grandparents had 8 children who all had children of their own. . .which means that these days, the great-grandchildren are sprouting up at every turn.  These babies were all born within a few months of each other, and another was born just after this picture was taken.  What fun!

Charlie enjoyed having like-sized little people to grab, but I think he will especially enjoy having some great playmates as he gets older.

The sandbox is always a hit.  James and William loved it this year.  Oma always packs it full of great toys.

The slip-n-slide my Opa put together years ago is also very fun.  My Opa can build anything.  You should see his woodworking skills in action.

I have similar pictures of myself from when I was young.  This slip-n-slide has gotten a lot of love over the years.

It is always enjoyable.

Oma always has little trinkets to give the kids.  Somehow she knows just what they will like.

There are many fun great-Aunts to dote on the kids.  My Aunt Pat made these amazingly fun streamer wands.

Ashley especially took to them.  We even got to take them home with us!

Aunt Pat also made these pool noodle swords.  She is so clever!  All of the kids loved these, as well.  

Ashley was not intimidated by the size of her opponents.

She has too much confidence in herself to back down from a fight.

Of course, she was not the only one.

My kids, and the other great-grand kids, are lucky to have Aunts like Aunt Pat to spoil them rotten.

I don't know what a large gathering at Oma's house would be like without homemade root beer.  The dry ice is a hit every time.

Oma had goody bags ready for each of the kids.  They loved them.  There was so much else that was good to eat, I don't know how they even managed to enjoy it all!

But enjoy it they did.  No one can come to Oma's house in the summer without having an ice cream cone.

Other notable enjoyments: 

Picking raspberries from Oma's forty raspberry bushes.  Everett looks forward to this every year and Oma always indulges him.

Playing in the two-story playhouse.  It has been around for decades so there is not a member of the family that doesn't have fond memories of it.

Jumping on the trampoline.  With so many cousins around, there is always someone to jump with or play poison with.

I had to get our annual picture.  The kids are worn out by the end of a fun-filled day with Oma and Opa.  But it is the best kind of worn-out in the world.