A Letter to my Son on his 10 Month Birthday

Dear Decker,

The months are passing faster than I can get these letters written. I am sure this comes as a surprise to no one.  And, you've made it clear you aren't waiting for anyone or anything.  In fact, it seems your goal is to outpace time. 

Every day is something new with you; something wonderful.  One morning you woke up and the beautiful hair on your head was several inches longer.  You always had a lot of hair; thick and beautiful, with a healthy shine- hair that was noticed by every passerby.  But, truly, you woke up one morning and it was suddenly long, and super curly (and still beautiful.)   Although it still is fine baby hair, and difficult to control, we do try to keep the bangs out of your face with a nice side part.

If there is a skill you are working on we know it is just a few short days before you figure it out. This month you have learned to clap, which is fantastic, because now everything, EVERYTHING, is met with an applause.  You applaud all of us and you love it when we applaud you.  You can now climb up the steps with ease and have learned to climb down the steps, as well.  Finally learning to turn around at the top and go down feet first you now climb up just to come down.  Although you do it correctly, and we have a lot of confidence in your abilities (reducing our fear) I am pretty sure you have rug burns up and down the front of your legs.  Luckily, you don't seem to bothered by it.

You can now stand up on your own for 30 seconds or more, and have begun cruising.  It won't be long before you are walking.  Then running.  You continue to pay close attention to what is around you.  You seem to study the way our lips move when we speak and you will try to mimic the motion, though not necessarily the sound.  But, with that said, you babble often and your sounds are becoming much more clear.  "More" is a word you say, and sign, and we also think you say Up.  Speaking of up, you point up a lot.  We all assume you are fascinated by the lights as you will point directly at each of the fixtures.  And, of course, there is a lot of "ma ma ma" and "da da da" and you have your consistent hum which you do as you are putting yourself to sleep.

As serious and as focused as you can be you have started to find the silly in things.  A game of peekaboo, a tickle to the neck, or just the silly dances and sounds that your brothers entertain you with can get you giggling and laughing.  We all love it.

You eat just about anything we give you now, you still love your bottles, and bath time is one of your favorite things to do.

We celebrated hanukkah, which was mostly uneventful for you (sorry little guy, next year you will make out just fine) and enjoyed some relaxation and time off together over Christmas.  On New Years we had the Cohens and the Levins here, and of course Uncle Mat, and though you did not make it to midnight, nor did we try, you were a wonderful addition to our small soiree.

You love to touch everyone's noses, touch everything with one finger, and put too much in your mouth.  You like to bounce on your toosh on the beds around the house and enjoy touching the pages of any book we put in your hand.  You also love to touch the television, assuming, like the phone, something happens when you touch it, and when you hear familiar voices "coming through the small box" you grin from ear to ear- fascinated that Mom-Mom or anyone can fit inside the box.

You are truly a pleasure, sunshine on a rainy day.  Just your being, your presence, makes all of us happier and lighter, and it is amazing to be a person that can have such a profound effect on so many, even at only 10 months old.

Everyday I look forward to the things you will show me and the things you will teach me....even as I write this, I can't wait for tomorrow.

Keep being you, keep learning and doing and grinning.  We could not be more proud.

I love you so....

Mommy

Up you go

Mommy Decker selfie

Where's your tongue?

Turner at 10 months

Chase and Ryder at 10 months

He Laughs

His laughter is contagious!

A Letter to my Son on his 17th Month Birthday!

Dear Turner,

Happy 17th month birthday! It doesn't matter if you have raised toddlers before, it seems that you forget what toddlerhood actually means until you are in the midst of raising another one. You, my dear son, are everything a toddler should be, and all the adorableness and exhaustion that comes along with it. Bowls must be dumped, juice boxes must be squirted, and buttons must be pushed! In our house, lights are on and off like a disco club and the TV's is turned off at every climactic moment of any given show. You have to touch everything that comes in your contact and, like Ryder, you seem to have a fascination for lids and can spend some time attempting to screw one on. You've taken on the eating habits of a choosy toddler and eat randomly and in spurts. You rarely sit for a meal and, instead, take a bite, run around, come back for a bite, and so on. You prefer noodles, soft pretzels, and pizza. You are your daddy's boy!
You've begun talking, to a degree. Included in your list of words are: Ball, Balloon, Bubble, Ba-Ba, which I believe is how you ask for Barney.   Though he makes you smile you have yet to sit through a show.  You say outside, and down, and just started saying cracker and sishy, which is fishy, meaning the goldfish snack.  You say, of course, NO, perfectly clear and to everything, even if you mea n yes.  You still say "Ry-yer" for Ryder and have begun, occasionally, saying "Sayse," as in the Spanish number six,  for Chase.  You say mommy, dadddy, mom-mom, pop-pop and can sign for "more" and for "milk," though you don't always want milk.  You squeeze your hand like you are wringing an udder and say "ma ma ma" with determination.  You can also say, "bye-bye," which is most often sung, as in "bye-bye bubbles, until next time" just like we learned at the Little Gym!  We often hear thank you, and down, and cracker. Everyday you add more words, soon we will be having conversations.
You are very active, you do not sit still, and everything must be touched.  Everything.  You get a kick out of putting something that does not belong into your mouth just to hear me say no.  You laugh,  Out loud. It's cute, even if it is a choking hazard.
You've learned to run and to climb with ease. You are fearless. You love the pool and dive right in, all too literally.  Your sense of humor seems to be developing and you love to laugh and make us laugh.  You can laugh out loud, with absolute hysterics, or just smile and chuckle sweetly. Either way,  I want to laugh along with you!
We've been going to the beach and you absolutely love it.  Unlike your brothers, you do not eat sand by the handful, but you do enjoy being covered head to toe in it. Perfect for diaper changing.
Your curls are getting curlier, and blonder in the summer sun.  Your eyes are stormy.  Your smile is dimpled and bright and lights up the world. My world.

I know that time is passing quickly.  Today you are 17 months, tomorrow you are 4.  That's what it feels like.  You and I spend so much time together.  Even though it is often running errands or doing something, you should know I love the one on one time I have you with you.  You should know how you make errand running more fun.  You should know how you make a moment sweeter, a day brighter, a life better.  You should know how much I love you so.!!

All of my love,
Mommy

Six Months with Three

I remember the day I found out I was pregnant with Turner. I was blown away. I was a bit surprised, very excited, and I admit, I was scared. Perhaps scared is not the right word, nervous. Yes, I was nervous. I will be the first one to say I always wanted three kids, in fact, I wanted four but that is for another story. I pushed for a third child not unaware that I would be complicating our lives.
When I saw the two lines I was beyond thrilled for my growing baby. As my heart beat faster in delight it would, occasionally, also skip a beat in fear. Holy cow, how on earth would I handle three kids under three?
When Chase and Ryder were born I was told by many to get through the first six months and things would get much easier. Interestingly, be it the first time mom high, or the few years younger self, or even the thrill of knowing we had overcome so much to get that far, I did not find the first six months of thier life all that difficult. (Ask me about twin toddlerhood, and well, it is a different answer.) But, still, when that six month marker came I felt the need to say, "OK, we did it!"

Here we are six months into life with three and things are a bit different this go round. Turner is an angel of baby. I call him "my angel" because he is as laid back, easy-going and as flexible as they come. He laughs and smiles all of the time, despite minor neglect, a schedule dictated by his brothers, and form of love from Chase and Ryder that borders abuse.
But, happy baby aside, life with three young kids is even more hectic than I had initially been nervous about. Even more hectic than life with twinfants. Someone always needs something, always. Sitting only happens at night and by then it is more of an exhausted crash into the first safe and soft piece of furniture that my body passes. Chaos is just a natural part of our day, promptness is impossible, an absurd level of hectic is the new bar for normal, and until the recent potty training, the number of diapers we went through in a day was higher than my children can count. I have to find the time to squeeze in a shower, and I have not cooked a meal in way too long. I probably have not returned your phone call nor your email, and I mean to, both are probably sitting in the "saved message box" waiting for my first five minutes free. Waiting.

But, so what? All of this is just a hiccup, a minor hurdle into the rest of our lives. There was a time when I took a shower everyday, which was nice, but then I did not have a daily dose of a child's love.
Believe me, there are days when I crave nothing more than some "me" time and from the outside it may sound like walls are crumbling, but along with all of this chaos comes much more laughter, and much more love!

I have always felt honored to be a mom to twins. The relationship and dynamic of twins, or at least of my twins, is thrilling and interesting to watch, and irreplaceable. It was also all that I knew until January. Now, I know that the dynamic between older and younger siblings, at least my older and younger siblings, is thrilling and interesting and irreplaceable, as well. Only different.
I love watching as Chase and Ryder encourage Turner as he tries to crawl or sit up. They clap and they cheer and look at him proudly, as only a mentor could. True, Chase and Ryder encourage each other as, together, they learn new skills, and that too is heartwarming. But, they watch their brother through older, wiser eyes and you can see them wanting to teach, to help, to be a big brother!!
Turner looks up to his big brother's in every way. He laughs when they are in the room, no matter what they are doing. Of course, his laughter is the catalyst for a room full of hysterics because Chase and Ryder want to keep making him laugh so they act silly and before you know it we are all doing the crazy dance in our underpants. He wants to be where they are which is igniting his spark to crawl and as long as he is in the same room as them he will endure the smothering of hugs and kisses, the loud screams of excitement, and the occasional bop on the head. All of this, often, while skipping a nap.
We are climbing a mountain right now, we knew the beginning would be a hands full while tied in knots type of chaos. And, it is.
Want to come over? The door is open, but watch the toy in the middle of the floor! The house is messier, the laundry is unfolded, and if you need a plate we, apparantly, now store them in the dishwasher. It is clean, just unloaded.

Perhaps all of this has nothing to do with the three little kids and everything to do with the time management skills of the person in charge of it all? But, if you had a choice between folding laundry or playing a game of tickle monster with three adorable boys, what would you choose?

Look Mommy, There's Daddy

When I first started dating Todd he would say I had a hundred different laughs. A lot of that may have been the young girl in me, smitten with her new man, being coy. But, I suppose I have a range of laughs from giggles and chuckles to big belly laughs. Most of these laughs are not out loud laughs, and though the big belly laugh is seldom it feels so great to experience.
The other day Ryder, along with my own airheadedness, made me laugh so hard I cried. In fact, I am still laughing at the incident even days later, and the laugh is still out loud though I am no longer shedding tears.
Saturday we were having our first family day out since we have become five. Todd had to drop off his car for service at a local gas station and I had the kids and was picking him up. I am not sure where my mind was, but being only four weeks post-partum I will blame baby brain, as I drove right past the gas station I was to get Todd. As we drove past, Ryder said in his cute little voice, "Look Mommy, there's Daddy." His reminder allowed me to turn around quickly but also sent me into absolute hysterics. I laughed so hard tears came down my face. I laughed so hard Chase and Ryder laughed too. I laughed so hard that when Todd called to say "yo dumbass you forgot me" I answered the phone but could not speak and all he heard was my laugh. I did pick him up, we did have our day, but we can't help but wonder how far I would have gotten if Ryder was not in the car.

Peek a Boo Slats

Chase and Ryder love Peek-a-boo. I suppose they are no different than any other kid. I play this game with them all of the time and there is no more enjoyment in this world then hearing their laughter when I come out from hiding and shout "Boo". They crack up with out tire as I repeat too many times to count. I have noticed they love this game with other people, almost as much.
Tonight, however, something new happened. The boys learned for the first time that they can see each other through the crib slats when they push down the bumpers. They noticed, the laughter followed, and I stood there and watched in delight. When they repeated these actions I called for Todd, for he needed to witness this moment for himself.
What is most interesting about this however, is that they barely notice each other throughout the day. People ask all the time if they are aware of the other one, and though they are making strides in this area they never get such delight from each other. Until tonight.
They tend to reach for one another, and I often catch them holding hands, but the shared smile is rare, and when the tender moment happens I always stop to watch.
So, you can imagine my surprise and joy to see them finding the humor in the peek-a-boo game, only this time with each other.
It's funny, when I picked out the cribs this time last year I insisted on cribs that had open slats all the way around. I wanted to know that no matter how we set the room up, they could always see each other through their cribs. I had no idea, at the time, that this simple demand on the kind of crib to purchase would bring such wonderful rewards. But there is no sweeter sound than your children's laughter, and it is doubly as sweet when they are laughing with each other.