Kit's Boyz

Special

“I just knew that you were going to be special boys, and you are, my sons. Did you know that I was going to be a special mom?”

Liam, “Yes.”

“When did you know?”

“The second I was born.”

Just so matter o' fact.  I guess when you know, you know!

Lost and Found

We got out of Patrick Bresette's boat, bid our farewells, and he headed back to the cottage across the water.  Loading up the car and settling the boys in for the slog back from the Cape, I discovered that Liam's bud-da was missing.  Tears and near hysteria followed this discovery.  Realizing that I'd tucked one beach bag into a hidden corner of the boat, a frantic phone call caught Patrick just before landing back on his beach, caused a u-turn, and ultimate delivery of said bag. 

Upon finding bud-da IN the bag, Liam, still whimpering, “I have four favorite things in the world….you, Patrick, these jeans and bud-da. I would rather lose my bunk bed than bud-da.” He further reflected later at the dinner table—I took boys out to restaurant by the boat landing for a celebration dinner, of our fabulous family day, and of finding bud-da. “I would break my arm first, rather than lose bud-da.”

"Where does the time go"?!?

ZOOOM!  WOOSH!  Here now and bam...2 years + go by.

In that time....boys begin Nahant Youth soccer, I become a soccer mom AND a soccer coach; trip to Green Bay to visit our cheesehead cousins; goodbye to Andrea and hello to Regi (AKA Heji) from Brazil to join our family; first trip to Boca (and Disney Day!) with Desiree, Dashiel and Julius; Sunshine Mom spring reunion in Nahant; graduation from pre-K; Patrick learns to ride a bike, no training wheels; Liam ditches the leg braces in order to truly correct his short achilles tendons via double leg surgery; Old Lyme High School great 50th birthday party-summer reunion; RAW keeps head above water through the down turn; trip to Boothbay with Mom and Tom, to lighthouses and lobster dinners; begin Kindergarten with the wonderful Blythe Purdin; Mom gets sick and wages her battle with lung cancer; Regi falls in love with Bob; June and September Jenkins family trips each year to the "cabin(et)s at Brandy Pond" with lots of fishing, water fun and campfire singing; Liam learns to ride a bike, ALSO no training wheels; total home make-over project with Regi (goodbye clutter!); harvest our first 19 Spring garden; Stevie Wonder concert with Mom and the boys; Mom loses her battle 1/22/10, we celebrate and say goodbye to her; second trip to Boca (and another DIsney Day) with Desiree and Michelle families; another Sunshine spring weekend; boys become VORACIOUS readers; trip to PA with 50 other single moms and their twins/triplets; goodbye Regi/hello Daniel/goodbye Daniel/hello Bernhard; Niagara Falls/Regi wedding/Alfred University road trip; second trip to Boothbay, this time retracing some steps taken with Mom just the summer before; William moves in with us; first grade and first time boys are in their own classroom; boys become Cub Scouts; RAW becomes a United Way agency; boys begin hip hop dance class; boys begin Saturday AM winter basketball; we get a piano and get filmed for reality TV show doing so; white minivan replaces blue minivan, sold to Will; Chloe moves in with us; boys perform hip hop at nursing homes; RAW thriving but it takes A LOT from me; Ashelyn Joan-Rylee born New Year's Eve (welcome back baby-related clutter).....and today....SNOW DAY! 

What did I miss in this 2 year collage? LOADS of b'day parties--our own and classmates'--sunsets, dinners at Tides, play on the beach, winning coloring contests at Tides, playdates, digging for dinosaur bones in the back yard, apple orchards, getting taller, learning how the world works, whale watch, new friends, surfing with Daniel, I teach a new course, on campus (no more travel teaching for a while), deep corner cuddling up, welcome Harry Potter, break dancing at RAW, berry bushes in the "back 40," trips to Old Lyme, New Hampshire weekends with the Hains, crewcuts, Easter eggs, hikes in Lynn Woods; Christmas Eve caroling with the Keanes and company, Indiana Jones on the big screen in Lynn...and on and on and on. 

Mostly, I want to recommit to chronicling the one-liners, the moments, the slices of life that make us this family.

Out at the Blue Ox the other night and Liam, deep into coloring his place mat, mumbles "It's the family time."  I say "WHAT?!".  "Well, Mom, this IS a nice place, like you said it would be, and the food IS nice.  But it's the family time that makes it great." 

Another one, Christmas night, upon tucking in, "Mom!  You got us so many presents!  (I'd been chastised the year before for being a bit thin on the gifts....seems that Santa brought almost everything!).  Liam reaches over for a hug, while saying "It means so much to me."  I say, "Well, that makes me happy, I'm glad you like your gifts."  "NO!  I'm not talking about the gifts, I mean your heart.  Your heart means so much to me."

Another one.  Over Christmas break, Liam looks up as though discovering something for the very first time, "MOM!  I know why you borned us together!  So that we could have a play date every day!!!"  :-)

Still flirting with me

Wow, June 8 was last post?!?!  In just four months, so much.....Katherine became a teenager, RAW passed its first million dollar + budget, I went camping for the first time with the boys, Liam has learned to swim on his own and Patrick is down to just one "bubble," we spent a weekend with 24 other twins and triplets of single moms, boys caught their first fish, went to their first zoo (with Will and Katherine), Tom Brady was sidelined for the season, we finally got a window in the living room, the boys have started school (pre-K!), and Liam's toe-walking was diagnosed and he is already onto his second set of leg braces to correct a bone malformation.  And so sadly, our buddy Dean was diagnosed, fought and lost his battle with cancer...his service was just this past weekend, and we joined so many home town friends to grieve, remember and celebrate him. 

In the midst of this all, we three are curled up on the sofa tonight watching just a little of a favorite movie, "Ice Age," and Liam looks right at me and declares, "I am going to give you a GORGEOUS kiss"  And he did.

My admirer

I threw a white linen dress on over my swim suit, to spend my sunny birthday afternoon with the boys on the beach.  Walked into the family room, Liam looked up at me, and with a huge smile, spontaneously exclaimed (and I mean EXCLAIMED), "MOM!  You look BEAUTIFUL!!!!!" 

You can't even pay them to say stuff like that.  Nice birthday present!!

Some good ones

In discussing the scene from "Toy Story 2," where Mr. Potato-head gets his foot stuck in a wad of gum on the street, and nearly gets flattened by a tanker truck tank that cuts loose and rolls right across the path that he and Buzz Lightyear have just traveled, I ask the boys to tell me what could have happened, and Liam says, "Well, he almost got to be mashed potatoes!"

Later the same day, we are in Target, purchasing their second-ever brand new sneakers (we thrive on hand-me-downs, yes, shoes too!) and they had gone from trying on Spiderman to Lightning McQueen to the Hot Wheels shoes, which have the flashing lights on the super-speedy-looking blue race car on the side.  Patrick regards them on his feet in amazement, and looks up, wide-eyed, and uses a word for the first time ever "MOM!  These are SNAZZY!!!!!"  Liam pipes in "Snazzy AND comfy!!"

Tonight, I am cooking dinner, and Liam, at my leg, looks up, huge smile, "You are a cute lady."  That of course stops me right in my tracks, I scoop him up, thank him, give him a squeeze, and he adds, with that crinkle-nosed smile and twinkling eyes, "You are a cute Mama too!"

Off to Maine

The boys, Katherine and I are going for the long weekend to join the Jenkins at Samoset.  As I am in my frenzy of packing, I hear Patrick walk into Andrea's room and quietly say, "Goodbye Andrea.  Have a nice relax-shun."

More snippets from Patrick

A cold Friday morning, I am successful in getting the garbage AND the recycling out to the curb in time and before the boys are wide awake enough to jump in on the action.  But in time for Patrick to catch me in the act of coming back in through the front door, and I have to fess up that I was putting out the garbage.  7:28 AM, he bursts into tears, sobbing, "But I missed helping you, Mama!!!"

Another morning, out of the clear blue, Patrick looks at me from across the living room, I am doing nothing much, and simply states, "Mama, I know that you are GREAT."

Another morning, Patrick is chatting away over his cereal, I am standing by, listening to him, and he stops suddenly, looks at me as though I am in the midst of some sly move, and says, "Mama?!?!  You don't have a penis."

Tonight, Bianca is visiting and helping out, we five sit down to dinner, and she asks Patrick, "Pat, will you marry me?"  Very matter of factly, he replies "Yes."  Ten-second delay, "NO!  I can't marry you.  I am too small for a wedding."

Everybody loves us

It's been a trying morning with Patrick.  Constant "run away," up the stairs, getting into mischief in the bathroom, water messes, into Andrea's room and into her Brazilian chocolate....I have come up after him once again, and he scampers into his room, hiding, grumpy.  I am detoured by a phone call from Gale and step around the corner.  Behind me has come Liam, he slips into the bedroom, and I overhear his attempts at bringing Patrick back into our morning, at making peace.  He is in the room with Patrick, standing close in front of him.  He speaks compassionately.

"Brother, I am your brother.  Everybody loves us.  Nobody wants not to be with you.  Come down now."  He is leading Patrick down the stairs by the hand.

It was such a moment, to overhear all of this, complete and whole in itself and as a note right here.  I would not be genuine, however, if I did not provide the epilogue....I emerged from my listening post just a couple of seconds too soon, I guess, with too loud of a congrats to both boys....Patrick rocketed down the stairs, determined to retain his pout at me.  At that, Liam looked at me, now grabbing MY hand, and simply said, "OK, Mama.  Let's teach that boy a lesson."  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello Andrea!

Andrea is in the house!!!  All the way from Brazil, she has finally landed in Nahant, and we are happy!  First full day is spent shopping for food, clothes, and Boston souvenirs, with long tour of Fanuel Hall.  Here we are, the day before, first moments in our home with Bibi, and the next day, emerging from the T into "Our Fair City,"  Welcome Andrea!!!

New terminology

Liam nearly strips naked upon each trip to the toilet.  Pants, undies, shoes, socks, sweatshirt, all off.  Only his SpiderMan tank top ("My secret identity") remains on, and that is hiked all the way up his belly, usually tucked securely under his chin, and double-checked at least once. 

Combine this with the very predictable need to "peep" just as I am running out the door to work every morning, and the charm is a bit tarnished, time after time after time.  Recently, I have been trying to get him to dress himself back up, with hopes to diminish the allure of all of that undressing....isn't working yet, but at least he is trying to put one or two layers on.

The other morning, as I impatiently waited on my little stool in the bathroom, get-to-work voice pounding in my head, I witnessed Liam inspecting his undies carefully as he attempted to determine which way to get them on.  Once he'd gotten the tag in back and aligned the leg openings, he cheerfully looked up and announced to me the proper terminology for the space between the leg openings, "Mama, there's the penis pit."

Bianca was looking in through the door at that point, ready to "take the baton" as soon as I would run out.  She and I had to work hard not to crack up.  The penis pit.

Piling Up

The emails pile up.  Phone messages pile up.  The mail piles up.  Dirty laundry, clean laundry, clothes with fallen-off buttons, plastic grocery bags, unraked leaves, to-do lists, dust under the sofas, they all pile up.  I can get lost in the piles or in trying to beat them back. 

Though I chronically seem to be trying to get to the other side of SOME project, I have also been known for being well-organized, and tending to my piles, staying current with emails, etc.  I have to be careful about that, though.  I apologize in advance to myself and to the world for all of the piles that will gather around me, of undone stuff, now and in days and years to come.  Because of my other piles.

The other piles, they build too, as well they should.  Piles of photos, favorite places, funny things that make us laugh, adventures, piles of stories, memories, they also pile up.  Through the recent days spent with Rosanne's family as they begin to grieve the loss of their beautiful daughter and sister Emily, I am so so aware of the diligence required for my other piles. 

I truly believe every single parent who has ever said "It goes too quickly."  I want the boys and I to have a plethora of piles of time together, like we've had tonight, to feel the contentment of just cuddling up, as Forest Gump says, "for no particular reason at all."  In amongst all of the piles.

One more kiss

Why I love Liam, Bianca and our life:

Bibi had given her usual hug and kiss to each boy when I got home to "take over" the household.  Just at the moment that I was settling each boy into his BIG BOY BED, books, animals and all, and getting the lights out, she poked her head into their room and said a quick goodbye, going out with friends.

Patrick had had his song sung, I was on to Liam's bed, started my good night song (same as always, "You are my sunshine....") and he popped up, "MAMA! I had one more kiss for Bibi!"  No time to chat, I heard the car starting in the driveway.  I sprinted down to the kitchen, flickered the lights, and ran onto the deck gesticulating.  Bibi was just about to throw the car into reverse, her mind already well-into her after-hours plans.  I caught her eye and motioned to roll down the window.  "Bibi, Liam just told me that he has one more kiss for you!!!!!"  And just like that, she stopped everything, jumped out of the car and ran up the stairs, holding her hand over her heart.  "AWWWW......."  and I ran behind her, up into the boys' room.  Little Mr. Sunshine, beaming away, planted a big one on her lips, and fell back into bed, content.

That he would care about one more kiss, that Bianca would stop her world.....that's why I love Liam, Bianca and our life.

Spidermen prowl the neighborhood and don't mince words

Spiderman and Spiderman haunted our neighbors last night.  Many exclamations of "They have gotten SOOO big!" A classic Halloween night out, made even more fun by the addition of Tom and Carol, our California/Caribbean cousins, even though they shivered through the October breeze.  After so many practices of "What do you say when they open the door?" and "What do you say when you leave the house?"  I thought that they were perfectly rehearsed, and that their delivery of "Trickortreeeeat!!!!!" and "Thaaaaaaank youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" was perfectly charming.  At about the tenth house however, after being doted on by each candy-doling neighbor, and encouraged to "Have another," "Take three or four," or just "Take a fistful, boys," they climbed up to the door step and when the door opened, were speechless--perhaps already in an imaginary sugar-induced coma.  I prompt from the sidewalk, "What do you say, boys?"  Silence, "What do   you SAY!?!?"  Patrick snaps to, and gets right to the point--no charming "Trickortreeeeeat," no--simply, "I WANT CANDY!"  Sigh.

From the back seat

Couple of weeks ago we were crossing the causeway on the way home from the gym, it was quiet in the car.  Patrick slowly looked up, he'd not said anything in a while.  "Mama?"  "Yes, Patrick?"  And so slowly, deliberately, and totally out of the blue, he said "I KNOW I love you."  Just delivering that truth to me.  A tone of gravity in his voice.  Wow.  That's worth my 48 years of living, I'd say. 

About 10 days later, today, we are on our way to the grocery.  Again, breaking the unusual quiet of this car ride, Patrick again, in his serious voice, "Mama?"  "Yes, Patrick," in my serious voice. "I STILL love you."  It's like he connected the dots, from his declaration 10 days ago, to this moment, ascertaining that what he stated before was standing the test of time.  That boy is deep.

Big boy beds

Tonight, for the first time here in this house, the boys are not sleeping in their cribs.  After dinner, Tom disassembled their cribs, with their "help" (Patrick brought every single toy tool that they owned into the room) and built the two big boy (toddler) beds.  Liam's bed was done first, and he immediately dove beneath the covers.  He kept lying down and sitting up, swinging assorted limbs out of the bed, checking the distance between the mattress and the floor.  "Mom! I can put my hand on the floor!  I can put my feet on the floor!  MOM!  There is no wall anymore!!!"   

Upon Tom's completion of his (IKEA!) toddler bed, Patrick laid down and piled Green and Star (his two blankies), as well as his penguin fleece and his new World Series fleece (THANK YOU Tom!) on top of him.  He turned right, turned left, and simply said, quietly, to himself, "It's perfect."

It's almost midnight, and I check on them, they are sleeping soundly.  And yes, as I'd imagined, the room feels totally transformed, evidence of baby days all but gone.  The room seems bigger.  For all of the sleepless nights and hard labor of infancy and toddlerhood, which seemed like it would NEVER end, "suddenly" they are not babies any more.  Bittersweet.

Post script....next morning....Patrick is SO confirmed in his big boy-ness, that he requests both the directions for the bed assembly and his tie to put on for reading the directions.   

Post post script...I see that it was close to TWO YEARS ago that I wrote about escaping from cribs for the first time. I can not fathom what it would have been like to move them to toddler beds at 18 months.  I have a feeling that like toilet training at a later-than-the-norm age, shifting to toddler beds at over three years MAY be leading to a smoother transition than if we did this earlier....

PPPS....note added 11/10:  we have NOT ONCE had a night of shenanigans after lights out and mom downstairs.  I think that pairing the move to toddler bed with the end of afternoon naps has been THE TICKET--that and the fact that for over a year, these guys have easily gotten themselves in and out of cribs on their own, with their well-developed climbing skills.  While the novelty of big boy beds is still alluring to them, it's not the same as big boy beds giving them the very first taste of autonomy around letting themselves out of bed.  Peaceful nights continue, knock on wood, knock on forest.

A little part of a big family

Family reunions rock.  Lobster, lakes, laughing, late-night swims, fishing, boats, talking into the night, hammocks, cookouts, decks, cold beer, Jeannie's pasta salad, Merle's chocolate cake, Gale and Frank's log "cabinet" (cabin), football on Larry's lawn, baby Sophie and all those many, many cousins ("their name is Jenkins TOO?!?!?!"), warm morning walks, raucous games of PIT, a Patriots game in the background, celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, babies on the way, marriages to come, marriages just made, or made 50 years ago....being a part of this whole is such great comfort and joy.

Joe's commentary on our arrival at the birthday party

Joe made such a sweet observation.  We were at the community center at Gregory's third birthday party.  A million kids running around in the big room, a million balls on the floor, in the air and getting kicked at grandparents eating sandwiches on the edge of the room.  Joe pulled me aside, by the stage near where Cole, Alexis and Dave's new baby, was snoozing in his little carrier. "I love seeing the boys make an entrance at any event they attend.  There is always something special about it.  Of course there are the boots.  And usually something in hand.  They observe the scene and then dive in with a flair." 

Indeed, this was true today.  Patrick in his bright yellow knee-high rubber boots, Liam in his black Wellies.  Patrick had a wooden spatula in hand, and Liam a lumpy sock.  With the Red Sox in the playoffs now, Liam has been especially partial to red socks.  This morning they were on his hands so that he could raise his arms and fly as Superman through the family room.  When we got ready to leave for the party, he was clutching one of his "new" race cars, from the collection bequethed to him by Jake Whitlock the other day. I told him that there was quite a risk of losing it in the midst of a big birthday party.  He stopped and thought as I continued to load gear into the van.  When I came back to scoop him up, he'd de-socked his hand and placed the race car inside the sock.  "See Mama?!!  I put my car in my red sock, now I have a purse just like you do," and ran off to the van. 

So, Joe was right--two boys, four boots, a spatula, a red lumpy sock, arriving late as always, perched on the threshold surveying the scene, and then the diving in, Patrick skidding belly first across the hardwood floor, Liam racing toward the nearest thrown ball.

A snippet

I sat in my low-slung beach chair, cool breeze brushing my forearms.  What had started as a "Let's go run around on the beach" had turned into a skinny-dipping extravaganza on an Indian summer afternoon--why not?!  I watched late afternoon September sun rays warm their backs and backsides as they nakedly jumped the waves, while holding hands, laughing laughing laughing.  Occasional flights quietly roaring overhead, on the steep ascent over our island, leaving us their puffy jet trails.  When we'd first gotten to the beach and were sitting on the sand together, I tried to explain rhymes, and they were calling out rhyme words as they jumped.  Wow--life is good, SO good. 

At bedtime, Patrick happened to bring me Mother Goose stories and rhymes.  It was fun to continue to teach them the concept of rhyming.  So we read the entire book, ending with "Star bright, star lite, first start I see tonight...have the wish I wish tonight."  I closed the book, asked my sleepy boys both what was their WISH.  Patrick was still working on rhyme words, but Liam looked me straight in the eye, and simply said "YOUR HEART.":

Whatever he meant by that, WHATEVER he meant, it meant the world to me.

That laugh

Mathilda does the day care at the gym.  She is from a Spanish-speaking country, and is a wonderful woman, a very motherly or even grandmotherly figure for the boys.  She is big-hearted, wise, always encouraging and inevitably has a twinkle in her eye.  They love being in her room, playing with her and with the other children in the environment that she creates. 

Once when I was getting ready to leave the children's room for my work out, Patrick burst into gales of laughter, and Matty said to me "That laugh!  It is like a song!"  And I knew just what she meant, that full-body, lilting, laugh-with-abandon laugh that he laughs.  Some weeks later, when the laughter-song came cascading out of him again, as usual, within the first two minutes that he was in the room, Matty looked at me with almost dreamy eyes, and said, "You know, when I die and go to heaven, I think that will be the first sound that I hear." 

Spidermen in the woods

What a treat.  A late-summer Saturday in the woods.  And in the hammock.  With Patrick and Liam.  And Tali.  Who is a brilliant photographer who takes almost 600 pictures of us.  (http://www.talisilver.com/main.php)  A professional photography session with an old friend who knows me so well, even photos that include me--such an exquisite gift for us.  She thinks that we won't see each other for another year, when we'll do another session--it's is hard to believe that a whole year will pass between visits, but that squares with reality so far.  Quality, not quantity, that's what I have to count on these days with my friendships.

Here comes the ring bearers!

It's the magic of Chris and Mandy that I could feel totally fine about sending one of the matched set of ring-bearers down the aisle topless in a tie.  At a searing 5 PM temperature of over 90 degrees, it was actually a struggle to get Liam to even put his pants on.  Naked and a tie just would have been too far out, so topless it was.  Of the 5 or so ensembles that were possible, in my hysteria to get them the cutest possible outfits to add to this celebration of two wonderful people, this particular one was not even on the list....as Chris would say...."There ya go!"

PS  This is the wedding for which I wanted a new dress.  For the first time ever I dragged the boys into a dressing room with me.  When I put on a little black dress, turned around to face the mirror and the boys, Patrick exclaimed, "WOW MAMA!  You look like a fancy lady!"  Yes, I bought the dress!

Out of diapers

At Jabali's third birthday party, Josh and Pat tell me that they got Jabali to the other side of potty training with hard core, unrelenting, merchandise-based bribery.  I am totally against bribery of any kind for my boys.  They look me straight in the eyes, and say, "Three days.  IT WORKED."

Upon leaving the party, I make a beeline to Target to stock up on more "big boy underwear," Hershey's Kisses and merchandise.  We tell every last person that Monday is Underpants Day.  Monday morning comes, we have a big farewell celebration for "THE LAST" diapers, and off they run, bare buts gleaming in the morning sun.  Within three days, they are officially using the toilet every time.  And we have twice as many toys in the house now--OK, not really, but the merchandise ploy WAS used successfully and consistently so, good thing that I found a bag of "extra toys" scooped up from a yard sale.  Lots of tools, Rescue Heroes and rubber lizards.  Thanks for the tip, Josh and Pat!

It's been 13 days, 7 hours and 35 minutes since waking up to Underpants Day, and they have not had to don diapers since then.  Very few accidents (albeit memorable ones), which just seems miraculous to me.  Particularly as there has been a two-day out-of-town work trip for me, AND the HUGE cruise--4 hours on a train, two days in New York City, the cruise itself, the kids club, a day at Disney, toilets on board that are taller than usual, then cabs, buses, train and subway back from New York, and really, just the smallest handful of accidents.

Pretty amazing rite of passage for the three of us, to remove the changing tables and diaper pails from our living space upon last night's return from the cruise.  I remove the baby gate from the top of the stairs too, as long as we are making major changes.  Wow, what a difference not to have that gate there.

And today, I drop the front rail on their cribs, and remove the crib tents.  I still need to locate a second toddler bed before cribs go away for good--that one is bound to hit hard on the "my-babies-aren't-babies-anymore" nerve.

Postscript...early October....I THINK I can safely say that Patrick has REALLY mastered this.  Three weeks of regression hit in September.  THAT was rough, on all of us.  Never did go back to diapers, but there were a LOT LOT LOT of underpants to wash, and floors to swab.  Phew.  Humbling!

How to Horrify your Neighbor OR Toilet-Training Readiness

A little while ago, we visited with a neighbor and her daughter here at home.  The girl is around the same age as the boys.  We were sitting outside, the kids had the run of the house and the deck, and things were starting to wind down at that point in the late afternoon.  The girl was with us, and the boys had been inside for a while.  JUST when I realized that it had been too long and too quiet, I heard the dreaded yelps.  I knew just what we were about to see, when I heard the stampede of feet and crazed laughter, oh no!!!

Oh yes, tearing around the corner, here they came, stark raving naked, running, leaping and slapping their own backsides, “ride ‘em cowboy” style.  And screaming at the top of their lungs, “WE GOT BUTS!!!!  WE GOT BUTS!!!”  My neighbor and her daughter dropped their jaws at the same time, as the boys swarmed around us in a circle, announcing to the world “WE GOT BUTS!!!”  My neighbor quickly gathered their gear, explained to her daughter that the boys were just getting ready for their bath (they weren’t) and that they needed to leave so that we could get to the bath (we didn't).  Seems that her husband would not see the charm in naked boys circling his daughter announcing their body parts.  I guess you would have had to be there. 

Well, I could entitle this “How to Horrify your Neighbor AND Toilet-Training Readiness.”  They are for sure ready to be diaper-free, and as we officially shape that into potty-training, the allure of de-diaping will supposedly decrease. 

Not that I have anything against naked boys, at all.  Just that there’s a time and a place……. ;-)

M&M's--Time lapse photography

That's what it's like, seeing this group of children.  We had our group three-year-old-birthday at a sweet park that I've never been to before, great playgrounds, two beaches, big fields....really wonderful.  It was a celebration with the M&M's, a mom's group (Mommy and Me) that formed up when we all had our newborns, a group begun at the hospital where most of us gave birth.  I'll never forget the first time I made my way (late as always, of course) to the M&M group session. I opened the door to a HUGE (40? more?) circle of new moms and babies.  They all looked well-organized, well-rested, in-control, at peace....OK, so I was hallucinating a bit, in my sleep-deprived state.....what I DID know was that none of them had twins, and soon learned that all had husbands...unlike me, times two.

I learned through this group one of the most profound lessons of mothering.  That mothering is the great equalizer.  I have learned this through all of the moms groups in which I have participated....maybe ten or so, since becoming pregnant.  While our other circumstances may vary wildly, the basic condition of mothering newborns, infants and then toddlers automatically creates such a commonality and therefore such a connection, it is amazing. 

My girlfriends in M&M's will remind me of that first day coming into the group, us all sitting on the floor, many of us nursing, one-by-one sharing our names, the names of our kids, and what we were dealing with....and when it was my turn....I was so bowled over by the whole thing....I only had three words, "WHERE"S THE JOY?!?!?!?!" and into a puddle of tears I dissolved.  I was NOT hanging out in joy, handling 2 full-time-nursing 5-week old newborns on my own  Uh-uh, no way.  I was maxed out.  But I DID have company in this room.

So today, as I frosted cupcakes at the picnic table while our newly three-year-old boys and girls ran, climbed, explored and got into the cupcake frosting, it almost was as though I was witnessing the children through time-lapse photography.  As time passes, and we gather as a large group less and less often, growth seems to happen in huge bounds. Here are a handful of shots from M&M gatherings as our children have grown. 

Today's photo was taken at a distance to fit us all in--too bad, as it was the VERY FIRST M&M group   photo where the boys weren't pouting, squirming away or bawling their eyes out!

FIRST DAY OF "SCHOOL"!!

When I brought the boys to the Marblehead Y preschool program a couple of weeks ago just to check it out, it clearly made a big hit with them.  Patrick explored all of the nooks, crannies and far corners, settling at the train table, and Liam pretty quickly got to painting at the easel.  In fact, I literally had to take them, kicking and screaming out of there when it was time to go.  I had to carry Patrick, he would not leave on his own volition. 

There has been so much eager anticipation of this day, from the outfits to the backpacks to the lunch boxes that we needed to purchase.  In fact they were so excited to get inside the building that there was NO WAY that I could snap a "First Day of School" photo, as soon as we got out of the car, they RAN!!!!!   I did get totally choked up and teary witnessing this, one of the most major milestones of all.   While they won't truly become regular school-goers until they enroll in 2 or 3 mornings/week of pre-K next fall, in preparation for full-day  Kindergarten the next year, I am relieved to know that all of the messages so far about school have been favorable enough, and that they are secure enough in themselves, that their attitude toward school is this incredibly positive.

Village

It was somewhere around the middle of "Happy Birthday."  I have yet to do a traditional birthday party, with kids’ activities, favor bags, a beginning, middle and end.  The three celebrations so far have truly been for me as much as for the boys.  I celebrate what seems at times, most times, a monumental feat, to raise great kids as a full-time working only-parent.  I need OUR people around me on that day as well as THEIR little people, the wide and widening circle which has surrounded and held me and us since before their arrival. 

There was Mom, Tom, Katherine, Mary, Jelena, Bibi, Linda and Bernie, Chris and Mandy, Alex and Tommy, Susan, Marcia, Andy, Amy, Hank, Rosanne, Ed, Sue, Tom, Patricia and Avery, Sandi and Faith, Rebecca and Rachel, Nicolas and Maya, Allura and Grace and Sammy and Jake and Lizanne and Liz and Lissa and Linda and Ann and Randy and the girls and Laurie and Joe and Joseph and Carolyn and and and and and ….. SO MUCH love and encouragement and fun and support.  Mary said it to me as she sat with Bernie and Linda on the sofa, “Kit, it’s the Village.”  She is so right.

Our village is wider and bigger and too far-reaching to ever gather in one place at one time, between everyone here, all of my moms groups, and all of the friends, family, and neighbors not in the room today—even those who’ve never met the boys.  What a glowing moment it was, all of those voices singing to celebrate these boys, and to feel that celebration all day, to be in the midst of all of that goodness and care.   To see the boys take it all in, that was the gift.

The birthday party this year, and last year AND the year before, and the first days home from the hospital and even before the beginning, have been full of village.  We are so rich in friends and family.  Without our village, we would not be the family we are today.  Though I most likely won’t get any thank you cards out in time, if at all, I am so so so eternally grateful for the people in our village.

A family day

This is why I love Bianca.  She accepted my invitation to travel out to Natik for a day on the farm with me and the boys.  Sunshine, orchards, strawberry-picking, up and down the huge tree-house, farm animals, amidst many screaming kids.  Shared the duties of chasing boys, doling snacks, applying sunscreen--it wasn't a work day, just a day to be together at a family event.  She, like Jelena, really is a part of our family.   

Coming home at bed time

I have to work during the day and then again for an evening event.  Boys are upstairs in jammies doing stories when I get home.  I take the baton from Bianca, sit down, finish the story that she was reading, and read a few more.  At that point, Liam falls into my arms, reaches up to hold my chin, and says, in his eyes-nearly-disappeared-into-his-smile-way, "Mama, I LOVE you.  [then slowly, with a touch of drama] And I'm very VERY happy."

Is there an echo in here?!

We came into the kitchen in the morning, once again Lillian's (the cat) water bowl was half spilled onto the floor. 

Liam goes right to it, as Patrick is climbing up to his spot at the kitchen table.  Liam says in a very weary voice, as he is "cleaning" the water (aka pushing it around the floor with a little cloth that he's grabbed) "I don't want to clean up all this mess all the time."  Then, looking up through his bangs, he glares and glowers at Patrick, "PATRICK--DID YOU DO THIS?!?!  PAAAAAAAAAAAA-TRICK?!?!" 

Patrick and I just looked at each other and laughed!

These guys these days

Patrick continues to be Mr. Independent, except for the past 10 days, when he was flattened by the stomach bug/fever, which has him in a SUPER clingy phase--so different for him, so hard for me, just physically. I have to carry him everywhere and can't leave the room without him--my new super-sized "handbag," as Doreen would say. He is so whiny, it is making me nuts, but temporary of course. He picked up a football this morning that was next to a heat vent, and said "It's hot! Mama, this ball is sick, please take its temperature."

Patrick continues to be a big hunk, handsome despite a bad haircut from me--my first, should be my last.  Both boys are chatty, Patrick is particularly verbal, with such clear articulation.  I think the fact that from the time they could crawl, I have put a box of books in every room in the house AND that Bianca is a linguist AND that I am a non-stop talker all combine to support their strong verbal development.

Liam has turned a corner on temperament, and is Mr. Joyful pretty consistently these days. The cranky fussiness is fading away. He sings a lot, and tonight when he finished "London Bridge," and I declared that I am indeed a fair lady, he protested once, twice, three times with "NO!" And finally informed me "You no fine lady, you are OUR MAMA!" Hopefully both can coexist.

Liam's point of view

We were at a friend's house for playgroup today, I took the day off. I had been holding a crying Patrick, and didn't see the interchange between Liam and the host's daughter, but it had to do with him hitting her. He was on some kind of Big Wheels thing, she approached, and I think he batted her away. The mom collared him, I felt bad, she felt bad, Liam apologized, the girl kept crying, and on and on. A few hours later when I reiterated, "Liam, NO hit children. You do NOT hit children." He sternly replied. "No, I don't hit children. I eat them."

End of night, I am singing "You are my Sunshine" as I do every night, first to Liam, and he breaks into "Itsy Bitsy Spider," making not a bad go at it, but gets a bit lost toward the end. SO, of course, I pitch in, take it from "Out comes the sun..." and finish up.  He beams at me, "Mama! You are SO smart!"

Figuring out how the "Big Surprise" thing works

It was a full full day, Christmas Day today.  FOURTEEN people in the house, wow, how great, what a celebration.  The Grand Finale of gifts, the boys' Radio Flyer bright red and wooden scooters from G (their grandmother), just like the ones they'd been admiring in the catalogue, were brought up from the basement with great fanfare.  We did the whole "Close your eyes, don't look yet" thing, as we got the scooters with their big bows up the basement stairs and in front of the tree.  The boys were astounded, elated, and immediately got to scooting around the chairs, sofas, through the kitchen, and soon enough outside in the fading gray of the late afternoon.  When I asked Patrick what he thought about his big present, he said, "I think I want to close my eyes AGAIN!"

No Sveta, yes Bianca

ANOTHER visa denial for another Russian au pair, just like Gleb 2 years ago.  Ooooohhhh, it's been a rough couple of weeks around here.  Sveta was crushed, as was I.  Just a few weeks off for summer break, and I am suddenly potentially without childcare for 3 months.  I played two companies off of each other, and in fact just days before I have to get back to the desk, the agency finds Bianca for me, a Brazilian au pair already in the country, actually just about an hour from us, who is looking to change households.  When I spoke with Bianca on the phone, and she let me know that she had to make a decision in the next 2 or 3 days, I felt up against the wall.  We scheduled an interview, and she said, "When you look in my eyes, you will know if I am the right match for you."  Wow, what a statement.  AND she was SOOO RIGHT.  We waited for her on the train platform, and when we found each other, I did indeed look into her eyes, and I felt a knowing that she WOULD be a wonderful au pair for us.  She has had her first full day with the boys today, and once again I can see I am so fortunate to find a great match for our family.  She is both so deep and so bright. 

BIBI'S HERE, RAISE A CHEER!!

Sunshine in Pennsylvania

I not only bought the photo of us posing with Elmo in the blistering Augu st sun, I even bought the Sesame Place FRAME in which to place it!  An awareness that I, with my little-big alternative family, me as an only parent and my beautiful, beautiful boys, am also right in the midst of the American mainstream. We were an American Family on a reunion weekend. It was a BONUS that our Cousie, Katherine, was my dedicated Mother's Helper all weekend.  How the boys love their amazing cousin. 

Sunshine Moms, a group of moms who have supported each other for over three years, is a collection of women who are strong, courageous, funny, smart, resourceful, wise, loyal and determined, who have been a part of my life through one of the most challenging parts of my life--starting my family on my own.  This sunny weekend in PA was also a reunion with the Sunshine Moms, such a special opportunity to be with these women, as well as their sons and daughters, the "Sunshine Babies," AND their husbands and even the siblings of our Sunshine babies.

I am so honored to have met 16 of these moms, so far, moms who are now spread across the entire country.  Here's a toast to Sunshine Moms and ALL moms groups that circle up to support each other through the questions, the worries, the unexpected incidents, the JOYS of mothering.  We are indeed quite a FORCE, and one of the keys to my surviving AND thriving as a single parent of twins

Post script...9/1/07....I must admit (and it is TOTALLY corny, BUT) I was shocked to find myself nearly in tears, as I waved my banner on a stick, literally singing "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy" with the boys in the double stroller holding their American flags, right there on Main Street USA at Disney World, having been swept into their Family Parade...quite a far cry from my days camping out at nuclear power plants in protest of dirty energy...neither scenario canceling the other, but amazed none-the-less at being a parent proudly showing my boys one of the best days of their life at the house of the Mouse in Central Florida!

Na-Na

Going through their room on my way to bed, I am thinking about the fact that tomorrow is Jelena's last day working with us.  Even though she won't move out of the house til the end of the month, I am struck with this moment, the end of this part of our lives, with the amazing, energetic, super-loving and wonderful Jelena.  For them, she has been the other consistent adult in their lives, since 9 months old.  How will they fathom that she will be no longer be in their daily lives, and in another month, not even be in the house, in the room right next door to them?  This all has me stopped in my tracks, and I just listen to their steady breathing.  And then, in a sleeping-voice, from the middle of a dream, Liam softly says, "Na-Na...." This is what they call Jelena.  She won't be gone, even when she moves out.  I hope that Sveta from Russia is even half as wonderful as Jelena is.

Fun with photos

Marna sent me one of these montages, and I'm relieved that I can finally go to bed at 2:15 AM now having made my own....just a little collage of snapshots, set to a tune.

http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=d84ff19509e7d8e224b5b&skin_id=0&pid=624&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

The Golden Orb floats toward me....

.....kind of like Glinda, the Good Witch of the South.

Jelena called my name, I heard it above the echoing splashes and shouts of 8 toddlers and their moms in the cavernous YMCA swim hall, "KEEEEEEEEET!!!  LOOOOOOOOOK, LOOOOOOK!"  And bobbing, fluttering, giggling and sputtering with a mile-wide smile, a being of pure light was coming toward me as I stood waist-deep in the pool.  LIAM, he was SWIMMING RIGHT TO ME!!!!  "MAMA MAMA!!!!"

Of course, "swimming" at this point means moving through the water, free of any holding hands, buoyed up by his belt with three styrofoam flotation blocks on it.  But for the first time since we began swim class in the beginning of the year, he is not being held by Jelena, myself or a teacher.  He is freely moving through the water entirely on his own.  Arms and legs in motion, with the full light of the sun coming through the window behind me, shining right on him, "swimming" all the way into my arms. 

I will never EVER forget this sight, the sound of his laughter, the look of joy and amazement on his face, and the overwhelming pride and delight inside of me. 

Tears at bedtime

They have been laughing up a storm in Patrick's crib, overtired, giddy, big full happy day of running at the beach and their first petting zoo.  "Rollicking" is a good description for the sound....and then, it all crashes.  From what I can see, Liam has pulled Buda (his word for blankie) away from Patrick, which is no laughing matter.  Terrible tears, inconsolable wailing startles both Liam and I.  After holding Patrick tight and being sure that nothing was "really wrong," I turn to go down stairs to fill his sippy cup with water.  Liam has already given him BOTH budas in the crib, as well as his own cup.  And I hear....

Liam~"What wrong, honey sweetheart?!  Feel good.  Hi broduh (brother)!" with big sweet smile, rubbing Patrick's back.

Patrick~(Small whimpery voice) "Big doggie"

Liam~(with tone of parent encouraging a child out of a meltdown)  "Um hum, yes,  B--I--G doggie.  Lion roar (pointing to the lion puppet on the other side of the big doggie)!  Look broduh, lion roar at you!"

I am halfway down the stairs and hear them now playing quietly with doggie and lion.

Baby Jack is here!

Welcome to the world Baby Jack!  Your mom has been a woman on a mission, a journey, a woman who would not rest until she held you in her arms--you have both now found your HOME in each other.  Can't wait til we can chase the waves with you, Jack!

And the rains stopped...

Who saw the moment when the sun burst through last night?!  WOW. 

We'd just finished dinner, were about to go upstairs to start bedtime routine.  And suddenly, it seemed, these Biblical rains stopped and the sun burst through.  The three of us just started cheering, we busted out onto the deck, immediately Patrick and Liam set boats floating on the water table that I'd procured and had set on the deck, just before the storm, which was full to the top with water, of course.  We ran around, yelled, clapped, horns were honking in Nahant, and they proceeded to scoop out half of the water table with their boats....and pour it all over themselves and each other. 

So...the drying of items sans working clothes dryer (disabled when the basement flooded over a week ago)  continues, but at least the sun is back to help us dry out, now!   

THUMBS UP!!!

Lunch out with Will, in Connecticut.  Definitely worth the trek down and back.  Will opened the van door, remarked on how much bigger they'd gotten, and immediately told them "Thumbs up" with his two upturned thumbs.  They have been repeating "thumbs up" ever since then. 

We had lunch at Chili's, a good lunch, and when Liam got restless in the booth, Will volunteered to take him on a walk.  How they looked up to him, literally and figuratively.  Will seems quietly delighted at how much they can understand now, some months since he's lived with them, and how well they begin to communicate with him.  He has the potential to be one of most important guys in their entire life. 

On the ride back from lunch, Will and I began talking about going mini-golfing with them, tossing the baseball--he sounds interested in any warm-weather activities we may do, wow, this would be great.  Still, now whenever I do "thumbs up," and ask them who says this, they know, "WILLIAM!!"

Swearing in Gaelic

The boys are growing!  Each time I look, it seems, I am noticing bigger feet, one of them getting taller, strong and clever hands—Patrick needs his second haircut, though Liam could skip it AGAIN.  There is so much fun with words these days, rapidly expanding vocabulary, intonation, small sentences, it’s great.  Patrick often catches on to a phrase, and I’ll hear it at appropriate and random times for the next month.  “I see big truck” is one of his favorites.  Liam has just started saying “Tank you” to Patrick every time that Patrick does anything in Liam’s direction.  When I found my little antique little duck broken on the floor yesterday, and uttered the Irish curse, “SHITE.”  I happened to be on the phone to my cousin who still cracks up at Patrick’s “nammit,” his version of my one and only audible "dammit" when a butter dish tumbled out of the fridge and shattered.  Literally, just as she said “Watch out, Patrick is going to really like that word,” indeed, he was underfoot picking up some debris off the floor, looking at it and saying, in an exasperated tone, “SHITE!”

Home Coming

Whenever I come home from work, it is always cause for glee, gales of laughter, full-speed running, jumping into my arms, a chorus of “Mama’s here, raise a cheer!”  It makes my day, and flashes me back to my teen and early adult years, when I’d roll my eyes as Daddy would muse about my own running to him as a child when he came home from work, me running down the front walk, “DADDYDADDYDADDY!!!” 

I remember vividly that running. I hope, like my dad, that I still remember my own home coming, when the boys have grown, and will understand their eye-rolling when I tell this tale from their childhood--while I hope that the sweet memory of that joy may last for them, as it does from my own childhood.

Sometimes it REALLY strikes me, that I am smack dab in the middle of their childhood, present in the here and now, a time that will ultimately blend and amass into a vast set of memories.  I am living my now in what will be my and their "good old days."  And loving it. 

I feel a particular responsibility as an only parent, to document, in words and images, these moments.  It is so frustrating to feel sometimes in such a spin and thrash of being a full-time working single mom which doesn't allow me to keep their "baby books" the way that I figure is the duty of all moms.  :-(

Highchairs R (STILL!) Us

There are some things that I give myself coupons for--not yet eating at the table is one of them.  More jar food than I'd want them still eating at this age is another.  I've tried getting them to the table a few times, it is just such a big and instant mess, I back down.  Sorry.

ESCAPE from Alcatraz!!!

Not once, but twice today, Liam hopped right out of the crib.  I have a small set of drawers next to each of their beds, so he did not exactly hop out of the crib, but rather figured out how to climb over the rail, maneuver onto the top of the drawers and scale down the drawers onto the floor. 

I have three choices: 

1--crib tents, highly recommended by moms of twins who try to preserve nap-time for TWO at once, a sort of vaulted dome attached to the top of the crib, able to be zipped to keep the monkeys in their tents;

2--contemplate the move to toddler beds, which seems WAY too early, as I believe that naps will likely evaporate once the containment of cribs is removed, or....yikes.....

3--help teach them how to get out safely, demystify the whole notion of the escape, and try to keep them in the cribs for longer....for as long as possible.  Hmmmmmmmm..........

Our Jelena

I am so so so lucky to have found Jelena.  Her term is up at end of February, but she will extend her stay until the end of August, an additional 6 months.  She is so great with the babies, a great traveling partner, I am counting five major trips that she will be part of by the end of her work with us--teaching weekends in Wyoming and Atlanta, a work week in Dallas, a ski week in Idaho, and a weekend at the lake in Maine.  She is a dream to live with, we have a smooth rhythm worked out in terms of taking care of the house, and she pitches in just like a housemate.  She takes pride in helping to keep the house looking good. She really went all out with Christmas.  She just took it upon herself to make all of these wreathes with gear from the craft store, purchased on her own dime, and dressed up the place so happily.  She even got William helping out one night that I was out at a meeting.  She has found the local Bosnian community, has made many new friends, and I am grateful that she is very happy here.  We truly are blessed.

October check in-One year later

Boys are doing great, super cute, running, climbing, still cuddling, still nursing 2-3 times per day, lots of laughs most of the time.  And they ADORE trucks almost as much or maybe a little more than their mama.  I have even heard Patrick talking about trucks in his sleep.  Really!  Sometimes he’ll look lovingly into my eyes upon waking, or after nursing, open his mouth, and coo, “Trrrruck.”  Still happy, happy babies.  Oops.  Are we still calling our little ones babies?  Well, I am.  Toddler, while probably more accurate, still seems too grown up.  Will go to 15-month check later today. 

Just did first big trip with them, brought Jelena, this past long weekend for Fri night-Sunday teach ing in Wyoming.  Boys traveled really well, handled time zones, hotel, all changes really well.  We had a magical vacation day on Columbus Day exploring Wyoming towns and backroads.  So fun.  Stopped the car on a dirt road in the middle of late afternoon, streaming sun across the mountains and high plateau, to watch a river of deer and antelope flow across the road.  Wow.  All four of us, just with our eyes and mouths wide open. 

Jelena continues to be wonderful wonderful.  She adds so much to the babies' daily experience and to our home.  I feel like I hit the karma jackpot and it is paying out in hundreds, in finding her.  She's very sweet with and encouraging to William, who is amazingly about to turn 17.  I am wishing for a different set of friends for Will right about now.  :-(

So much of the time I just go about my life deeply content and happy.  Waking to them, coming home from work to them, exploring with, reading to, playing with, singing, banging on stuff and being generally pretty nutty with them renews me each day.  I am madly in love with them and I think that the feeling is mutual.

Slice of life

Today...
6:15 up, and into the babies' room

nurse and change them.  play in their room
down to kitchen, water into the oatmeal which I set up last night, practice with Liam for spoon feeding himself breakfast, while shoveling oatmeal into Patrick's mouth, most but not all of it gets in                  

kill a bunch of flies, now that I have found flyswatter.  I have to swat when I can, as swatter usually goes missing every day (thanks Patrick!)
6-minute shower while boys play with a new toy, as Jelena doesn't start til 8 am Fridays.
continue working on teaching them how to lift big truck, little truck, mowers and new scooters over the tracks of the sliding door which lead from kitchen to deck and are so frustrating for them to try to cross
clean dishes, put away, set up cuppies for Jelena to give them morning nap cuppies
at 8, fill  in Jelena on the night and the morning, passing baton to her, kiss babies good-bye, disappear upstairs to my desk, calls to insurance company to straighten out coverage from old house still on my new policy because I never sent them something I was supposed to send
letter finally printed to au pair agency detailing my horror about how the agency dealt with the leaving of Lucas, the au pair that I had to fire.  Demand a meeting.  Major accomplishment to get letter in envelope with address and stamp.  Still need to accomplish getting it to mailbox, can't guarantee when and if that will happen
run to RAW for an hour which becomes 2 1/2 hours, everything I do is urgent.
go to bank and forget to get money
go to store for baby jar food and forget to get milk
home and pack babies up for driving practice driving for Jelena.                                                         

play with babies for 30 minutes before their dinner
feed babies, play, sing, nurse, nite nite
nuke frozen dinners for me and Will, love Frozen Fridays! I never ever cook Fridays anymore
run to Nahant country Club champagne reception, after babies asleep, Jelena monitoring them, for 45 minutes, and have glass of champagne while Mary's Chris tells us why we should join, hang out with other new-mom new-friends there and plot apple-picking adventure for next week
home and clean kitchen, set up bowls and cereal for the morning                                                   

wrangle with Will about time he needs to be home, have to threaten not to take him to his video tournament at 8 am tomorrow in Fitchburg if he doesn't get home in time, which he does

10:30 konk out

See Patrick Run

Patrick went bananas today at Cousie's ROLLER RINK party for her tenth birthday.  A milestone, the first time that he has run at full tilt.  Whenever he wasn't being held, danced with, cuddled or otherwise contained by all of Katherine's gaga-for-babies girlfriends, he would break free from the little party/cake room, and just make a dash for the roller skating floor--mirror ball, disco music and all!  I can only imagine what a career I am about to begin, effective immediately, as a baby-chaser.  That boy is fast, ALREADY!  Of course the easy part will be the babY chaser--the babIES chaser will be a challenge, to say the least.

Liam wasn't interested in sprinting, he was consumed by getting into the boys and girls bathrooms, which both had the outer doors propped open.  ALL THOSE STALLS, ALL THOSE DOORS!!  Both of my babies may be destined for careers as doormen.