Play-Learn-Grow-Repeat

From Monday Mom – Neetika:
We have had quite a busy April so far. Haley recently celebrated her fourth birthday. We took our annual trip to the toy store and “fancy restaurant,” this time with baby in tow. Haley and I baked homemade banana cupcakes for her party at preschool. And, we had a party with our extended family—this time with a ‘Bubble Guppies’ theme.

As soon as the birthday festivities ended, it was time to switch gears and have a proper Easter. We colored eggs, had an egg hunt and enjoyed lots of Easter candy. We don’t go to church for the holiday so it’s really an excuse for Haley to wear a cute dress. Hudson’s not even crawling yet, but he was included in the photos and the Easter bunny (with the help of his grandmothers) did remember to leave him a few toys.

It’s always difficult to give each holiday and special occasion its proper due when they occur simultaneously. Perhaps when the kids are a bit older I’ll have a better sense for how to merge celebrations—a pastel bunny birthday party, anyone? For now, I’ll just try not getting too worked up about making each event perfect. I love providing the kids with fun rituals they can look back on fondly, but I know what matters more is the quality time we spend together. As we’re rushing around this spring, hopefully we’ll remember to appreciate the most important aspect of these celebrations—spending time with the people we love.

From Friday Mom – Erin:
Charlotte is almost three months old now. I blinked and time flew by. I’ve written a lot about her brother lately—about his adjustment to being a big brother, about his toddler tantrums, and about how he keeps himself entertained. Meanwhile, little Charlotte is starting to engage much more actively with the world around her. She’s grasping at toys on her bouncy seat, smiling back at her mother’s silly antics, and coming pretty darn close to a giggle when we play peek-a-boo.

Like the second child she is, she also has perfected sitting patiently and watching. No, she isn’t ALWAYS patient, but she does cooperate most mornings while we wrangle her brother and get him out the door for school. She’ll stare quietly from her bassinet with her eyes locked on me, and her head will follow the voices around the main floor of our house.

Once Rory and his daddy head out the door to school, Charlotte and I begin what is one of my absolutely favorite times of the day. I usually feed her right after they leave if I haven’t done so already. Then, we either play together on her play mat or give Charlotte a chance to do some tummy time on her blanket.

Her eyes always light up at the one-on-one attention, and I get a small glimpse of her personality. From what I can tell so far, she’s pretty easy-going and generally happy. She smiles from ear to ear and coos sweetly when I talk to her, and she loves ceiling fans and bright lights. Although her milestones are measured in much smaller increments than her older brother’s, I’m doing my best to enjoy them and savor all of these little baby moments. Because even though I know she’ll get far more fun as she grows older, this is likely the last time I’ll enjoy these early stages, so I don’t want to wish them away too quickly

From Wednesday Mom – Janelle:
I try to spend quality time with my children daily. However, our busy schedules can hinder my ability to do so. I try to at least take a few minutes a day to talk to Jack and Tate, one on one, about what’s going on in their lives.

Tate is only in school for half the day, so we get lots of quality time together. It’s fun to play hide and seek in the backyard, or go out to lunch. Lately, it’s been very rainy, so puzzles are our new thing. He is beginning to read and is very interested in reading me books. Even if it’s the same 5 books, I love hearing him sound out the words and laugh at the silly parts. He will start Kindergarten soon, and I’m feeling a little nervous. I keep asking myself if I have done everything I could possibly do to get him ready for “big school.” Have we made the most of our time together before he starts full day school?

Jack is approaching his 8^th birthday. How did that happen so fast? Due to daddy being deployed several times when Jack was a toddler, we spent months and months together. He was attached at the hip and we would play, play, play. We met up with our friends several times a week and socialized. We shared a lot of time together his first few years, but lately, it’s hard to find extra time to spend with just Jack. He is so busy with school, homework, sports, and playing or reading on his own free time.

Over the weekend, Jack and I spent an afternoon to ourselves. It was very impromptu and I loved every minute of it. We were on a mission to find new baseball gear since he outgrew everything from last season. We purchased some new equipment and even managed to stop and eat some frozen yogurt. We sat outside in the warm sunshine and enjoyed a nice conversation. It was very refreshing for both of us. He’s in denial 2^nd grade is coming to an end. He’s excited for next year because he heard they switch classes. Oh, to be in the 3^rd grade again!

I’m lucky I get to spend time with my kids. I’m also lucky they still want to spend time with their mom. I know there will come a day when they will be too cool to hang out with me. It is nice to let them know that I appreciate their company and I really want to know what is important in their lives, even if that is Legos and baseball. I’m lucky to be their mom.