Radio silence

Mothering three children is kicking my backside. Hence the dearth of posts.

Josiah is nearing 3 weeks old. He still thinks that night time doesn't begin until about 11pm, but otherwise is a perfectly delightful baby. He sleeps 3-4 hour stretches during the night and also 3-4 hours in the afternoon, some of it during the other boys' naptime/quiet time. Bless that child. His awake periods are becoming more defined and he has the most beautiful big eyes - he looks around and makes "oh" with his mouth as he takes in the world. It is the sweetest thing you've ever seen. I love the newborn stage, even with the sleep deprivation that comes with the territory. And really, Josiah is being incredibly kind to us in terms of sleep.

Thomas has adjusted well to his new middle child status. He thinks that Josiah is the most fascinating toy he's ever encountered, and I spend a large percentage of my day making sure that he isn't being a little too exuberant with the baby! Thomas is almost always the first one to let me know when Josiah wakes up - he runs up to me and makes excited noises while pointing to Josiah's location and pulling on my hand.

Other favorite pastimes of Thomas' are building with Duplo blocks and playing with Brio trains. He is becoming quite adept at creating Duplo buildings, towers, and airplanes, and while he isn't very good at making Brio tracks yet, he enjoys hooking the trains together and running them across the tracks that Jonathan makes.

Jonathan is being a fantastic eldest brother, except when Thomas takes "his" toys or breaks his Brio tracks. :) Although I have to do my fair share of policing, he and Thomas generally play together really well. I'm particularly grateful for this fact when I'm nursing Josiah. Jonathan also loves Josiah - just the other day he was hanging out beside Josiah on the couch, stroking his head, and he said "Mom, I just love my brother." He has an adorable "baby voice" - high and sweet - that he uses when he's talking to Josiah, and frequently offers to "take Josiah" while I do something else. Of course I can't actually do anything else while helping Jonathan hold Josiah, but isn't it sweet for him to offer?

Jonathan is currently fascinated by knights and monsters. We've read St. George and the Dragon, and recently have been reading Cowardly Clyde (by Bill Peet). Both stories really captured J's imagination, and we are frequently treated to shouts of "a monster! Quick! Oh, it's ok, he went kerpuffle!" and the like. A few days ago he asked, "Dad, do you want to come see the ogre?" Dad agreed, asking "is it your brother?" Jonathan, pointing enthusiastically, cried "Yeah! He's a terrifying ogre!" So far, thankfully, he hasn't tried to make Thomas go "kerpuffle", or stick swords into him. Although I'm sure that eventually he will!

I know that there are other things that I've meant to blog about, but I can't remember them now. It really is taking pretty much all my multitasking/memory ability just to keep up with laundry, pick up the house, keep everyone reasonably clean and fed, not forget crucial things like appointments, and get everyone out of the house on time three times a week (more when there are appointments!) I'm getting better at the juggling act, but it IS a juggling act!

So...posting will probably continue to be sparse for awhile...bear with me while we get ourselves together as a family of five!






Mercy. FIVE!!!