for he's a jolly good fellow

Nicholas turned seven today. We have been celebrating all weekend. Actually, it started in Kansas City over Thanksgiving when my parents got him a couple of early birthday presents (Legos) and he brought another Lego set home with him, which he waited to open today (Legos). Last weekend, Greg's parents came down to celebrate his birthday with him since they were going to Dayton to visit Great Grandma this weekend. So we ordered dinner from Nicholas's favorite Hyde Park restaurant (Piccolo Mondo) and he got to open presents from them (Legos, Legos, and a few other things, including another set of Magna Tiles--one of the best toys EVER). Needless to say, we are up to our ears in Legos. But it's amazing to see some of the things he builds with and I love it when his friend Mason comes over and the two can get lost in Legos while their younger sisters play dress-up. Talk about division along gender lines.

Anyway, yesterday, we took cupcakes to his class. But since we can only take in store-bought treats for the class, these were no ordinary cupcakes. They were cupcakes from Costco and like all things from Costco, these cupcakes were the size of Naomi's head. It was great to see all the kids eat them up (although most did not finish and some wrapped theirs up to take home). Sophia always has so much fun in Nicholas's class that she didn't want to leave. We let her stay for their science class and then Greg had to carry her out crying from the class.

Then today, we had a small birthday party for him with a few of his friends from school (some who also happen to be from church as well). We had lunch and then decorated t-shirts and cookies. We topped it all off with his field of dreams cake and ice cream. Nicholas said he wanted a baseball cake. I thought he wanted a cake that looks like a baseball. No, he wanted a cake with a baseball field. Anyway, since I wanted to keep it in the pan, it was a little harder to get the dimensions and scaling somewhat not too screwed up. Greg helped me draw it out and I think it looked ok. Nicholas thought it was great and that's all that matters, I suppose. It was fun, not too stressful, and Nicholas was just happy to have a big playdate with his good friends. He spent the rest of the day putting together his Legos and enjoying his presents. I thought it was especially funny that he kept saying things like, "this is my first breakfast as a 7 year old" or "this is my first time putting together Legos as a 7 year old" and finally, "this is my first bath as a 7 year old." We are so lucky to have him in our lives. He's so sweet and thoughtful and he's such a good big brother to his sisters. He's grown up so much and we're so proud of him. Happy birthday, my sweet baby boy.

I thought this picture of Sophia and her friend Symmes was hilarious. They were playing dress-up and were a little miffed that it was interrupted for cake and ice cream.

it's a jolly holiday with gnomers

It's hard to believe that Naomi is almost 6 months old. In fact, she'll be 6 months on Christmas. The past several weeks have been a little crazy with her. The Sunday before Thanksgiving, she started pooping a LOT. I mean, between Sunday during church until Tuesday morning, I think she pooped about 30 times. I'll spare you the details of the poops, but it was enough to call the pediatrician. Since we were going out of town, we decided to take her in to get checked out. Well, they think that Naomi may have a milk protein allergy...except none of the other kids had any allergies. Or they think Naomi may have something viral...except no one else in the family is going to the bathroom quite as frequently as she is. So we wait. If it's the former, I go off dairy (goodbye milk, butter, yogurt, ice cream, chocolate...everything made with milk or milk products) and see if that helps (although it takes about 4 to 6 weeks for the protein to clear my system). Or wean her and feed her hypoallergenic formula (which I hear smells and tastes badly). But I'm not quite ready to wean her. Besides, once I go back to work next month, she'll end up weaning soon enough since I won't be able to keep up with her. And it worries me about having to be super careful about what she eats and keeping her safe from certain foods for several years until it (hopefully) resolves itself. If it's the latter, the hope is that it'll work itself out and her poops will go back to normal (in substance and frequency). I know, more than you care to know about someone else's poops, right? But I have no hesitation to talk and write about poops these days -- we have singlehandedly kept Pampers and Desitin in business the past three weeks.

Despite her poopy woes, Naomi is just juicy. In the mornings, when Nicholas and Sophia are at school and it's just me and Naomi hanging out at home, I just want to bottle her up--her smell, her laughs and smiles, her giggles, and jiggly cheeks and thighs--and save it for a day when she's all grown up. She rolls around and eats everything she can get her hands on. She listens for Nicholas and Sophia and looks for them the second she hears them. I love that in the mornings, Nicholas and Sophia listen for Naomi and bolt into see her the second they hear her. Sophia sings to her all the time and calls her Chubby Cheeks. Nicholas loves to hold her and make her laugh. Yes, it's a jolly holiday with Gnomers. Gnomers is the one we love.