Quinn's first solid foods! Nov 2008

Quinn is now 4 months old, and he just started his first solid food: rice cereal. He loves it!

Treasured plant

What's with the picture of a half-dead lima-bean plant, you may be asking? This little plant has a big place in Gabriel's heart. Let me explain.....a few weeks ago, at library storytime, the children did "science." Each child sprayed a couple of lima beans wrapped in paper toweling and put them in a plastic baggie, with instructions to give them a home in a sunny window. Gabe was SUPER excited when he checked on his seeds one day and they had GROWN INTO A PLANT! Mom was pretty excited (and shocked) too! I told Gabe that we would pick up potting soil for his plant "one of these days." The days flew by, with mom constantly forgetting --what? Potting soil for little lima bean.

Today, Gabe brought me his little plant in its baggie and said, "Mom, my plant is curbed over, it was straight-up but now it's curby." I took a look, my heart sinking. Yes, my suspicion was correct: the plant was pretty dead. I said something to the effect of, "oh, my, that plant doesn't look well!" Gabe ran off with it, and came back within a few moments. "Mom, I think I fixed it! Look!" I once again took the baggie; the plant did not look any better...I'm not exactly sure what maneuvers Gabe had attempted in order to revive the poor thing. But it hadn't worked.

I said, "Gabe, you know...I think....I think that this plant is, well, dead." Gabe looked at me, and carefully opened the little baggie in his hands. He gently bent his head down and said into the bag, "I'm sorry plant." Then he walked it over to the garbage and placed it in. He hung his head so low that I could not see his eyes, and he walked away from me into the living room. After about ten steps, he burst into deep sobs.

I hugged him as he asked "why, why??" and I began to cry myself. This little boy had done everything he could to make this plant grow. And here my neglect to buy potting soil had killed it! I explained how it wasn't his fault, it was my fault. Then it struck me: I needed to pull that plant out of the gargabe and see if it could be revived. To my AMAZEMENT, inside the mangled contents of a dead plant and it's paper towel wrap...was a LIVING (barely) lima plant--I then remembered: we had planted TWO beans that day!! I revived Gabe's hopes and dried his tears, and Daddy brought home potting soil this very same day.

Gabe hasn't seen the plant's new home yet; he will be waking up to find it at his seat at the dining room table, just in time for breakfast:) I hope this plant lives at least 20 years.

to do: finish 100 piece puzzle...

A boy after Daddy's own heart...

On Saturday, we were blessed with some visitors: Grandma and Grandpa Rollmann, who brought Great-Grandma Schoenicke. That's not all they brought: Gramps came bearing a gift for Gabe and Daddy. Inside the newspaper wrapping was a "Space Jam" PUZZLE sporting Daddy's favorite sports figure (Michael Jordan). Grandpa and Gabe spent the afternoon putting the 100-piece puzzle together. Mommy also spent one evening putting the puzzle together with Gabe--he told me his philosophy on putting together small bits, the "frame" of the outside, and how to use the picture on the box to figure out where "tweetle beetle" goes. (I must laugh here, because this is what he calls tweetie bird). This morning, after four days of practice, Gabe completed the entire 100-piece Space Jam puzzle all by himself! We did a little dance together, and I took his picture next to his big accomplishment:

You may notice that Gabe's shirt is on backwards? He has been learning the responsibility of getting himself dressed in the morning. When I tell him that I will help him turn his shirt/pants around, he declines and says "he likes it that way." And yes, we have left the house with him sporting backwards clothing. Yesterday was the first day of preschool story time at our local library, and Gabe, Quinn, and Mommy were THERE (Gabe in his backwards pants)! There were songs, puppets, crafts, and of course....stories! I still can't believe that it was FREE! Afterwards, I asked Gabe what he thought of story time. Gabe thought for a moment and then said, "I thought...I thought everyone was a genious." There you have it.

Gabe shares ALL of his toys

Oh-the-things-that-can-happen-when-mommy-is-making-lunch-while-talking-on-the-phone-with-Grandma.

(photo taken frantically October 1st, 2008)

Sharing stickers

Today Gabe received a letter in the mail from Grandpa Rollmann, and it contained STICKERS! It asked him to guess the number of stickers inside the envelope before opening it, and Gabe guessed: "Three?" After opening it and counting, there were ten according to Gabe. He proceeded to share a sticker or two with everyone in the house. Mommy got one on her hand while she was cooking supper. Daddy was offered one. With lots of activity going on in the house, imagine the surprise when Gabe announced, "Mommy, I stickered Quinn." I looked over, and sure enough...there was a blue smiling sticker on Quinn's little hand, too. Phew, that could have been a lot worse!

GABE-ISMS OF THE WEEK:
I was sitting beside Gabe on the couch, when he leaned over and excitedly proclaimed, "Mom, I am crowning you the Queen of Awful!" as he placed a toy on my head.

IT'S NOT JUST MOMMIES THAT HAVE AUTOPILOT BRAIN: Today we were heading out the door to take Zoe to her annual vet exam. I asked Gabe to get his shoes on, and when I turned my head I saw him pulling down his pants. He sheepishly looked at me and shook his head, and embarrassed-- explained, "oops...that's not what I'm doing right now...." and then quickly pulled up his pants and grabbed his shoes. At least he was being obedient, even if he was doing the wrong task altogether.

Daddy's crazy work hours

Daddy has been putting in a massive quantity of hours at the store he manages on State Street here in Madison. The college kids have gone back to school, which means that Daddy puts in a lot more hours as it is his busy season! He is averaging 14 hour days. Above is a photo of Quinn enjoying some quality time with Dad. I don't know if you can tell--but our dog Zoe is also in the photo, curled up at the foot of the couch. It's a sleep-fest! With Daddy working such long hours, Gabe has stepped up around the house. He's my big helper! Yesterday, as I was preparing Quinn for bed, I noticed that the "poopy" diaper I had set aside for scrubbing was....mysteriously missing. I thought I was loosing my mind. (Oh--by the way, it's important to note here that we use cloth diapers! No, we don't scrub and re-use 'sposies!) I started to retrace my afternoon in my mind. Maybe I had already taken it to the laundry area? Who am I? Where do I live? Guess where I found the dirty thing? In the garbage. Yes, Gabe had seen that thing laying there, and he decided what-on-earth-was-mom-thinking-to-leave-this-here, and he disposed of it for me. A $15 diaper, tossed in the kitchen trash can:) What a helper, bless his little heart. Now, if only I can train him to launder diapers.....and maybe to prepare meals as we are huge take-out fans these days.

But at least one thing was established in all of this: I was NOT losing my mind (at least not this time).

All Thumbs

Week of Sept 7th, 2008:

It's official: Quinn sucks his thumb! He discovered that yes, those little fingers DO belong to his body...and now he is beginning to experiment with what they can do. Gabriel was always a pacifier addict. Although Quinn adores his paci, his thumb is moving right up there on the list, even competing for first place! When I took out the camera to get a picture of this week's thumb sucking milestone, Gabe said, "Mom, look--I'm sucking my fingers too!!" Maybe thumb sucking will become an epidemic around here? Last week Quinn began to respond to all of us with the dearest little gurgles and coo's. If you give him your attention he will give you the most infectious smile, followed by a little baby-conversation. He especially loves to get the attention of his big brother. There is some serious brotherly love happening around here on a daily basis! I must say, it's heart melting.

(both photos taken Sept 8th, 2008.)

The "Gabe story of the Day"

Kids say the darndest things! Here is just one little quip from today...

This morning Gabe was laying on the couch, on his tummy, and he looked at me and said, "Am I squishing God in my heart?"

Okay...one more...

While I was preparing lunch, Quinn began to fuss in his bouncy chair. Since the baby seems to really enjoy the company of his big brother, I told Gabe to tell Quinn a story. Gabe began, "Once upon a time....there was a good baby. And there was no cries. The End!"

Welcome to our family blog!

Because so many of our family members are long-distance, we wanted to keep an online family album with recent pictures of the boys and updates about our family. We sincerely hope you enjoy your visit!
(Photo above: our early fireworks...Quinn Bernard born July 3rd, 2008)