The older girls have been gone all week to girls camp. For most of the day it’s just been me and the “younger” crowd at home. We’ve been making cookies, watching movies, playing card games and board games, listening to the piano being practiced without older siblings grumbling about all the ‘noise’, and doing chores. LOTS of chores. I forgot how much I used to do when I didn’t have older children to help with the harder chores around the house.
It’s amazing to me how the the older ones of the younger set step up to help. Bon Bon commented that she thinks Fudge and Cookie are better babysitters then she was at their age. They just seem to display more patience. I think they probably have some pretty good examples in their older sisters too. I just love watching them all interact with one another and learn from each other.
Junior Mint’s new favorite thing to do is climb on the piano bench and pound on the piano keys. He has been my most musical child at just 16 months old. I will hum various tunes or melodies while he is playing with his toys and he will start humming what ever tune I was doing.
Cookie is the best cookie maker at our house. She follows the same recipe we do but she has the magical touch. Yesterday’s goodies were peanut butter.
Hershey’s hair has finally grown out! It took a full seven months. She is a spit fire, a singer, and Miss Independent. At the end of every day as I walk out of her room after tucking her into bed she say, “Good night, Mom. Have sweet dreams!”
Special Dark has done a lot of growing up this past year. He is Mr. Ferrero Rocher’s right hand man and quite a comedian. He is a good sport and is in love with soccer.
Ganache is our bull in a china shop right now. He is full bore all the time. This week he’s sporting a black eye from falling and hitting it on the piano bench. He is a mama’s boy through and through.
You get a double dose of the baby. He is one of the most happy-go-lucky kids ever. He loves to laugh and also to joke around. One of these days I will try and get a video of his favorite joke to play right now. He will lift up the lid on the piano keys, put his hand under it and slowly lower the lid so it looks like his fingers are being squished. Then he turns around to whoever is in the room and starts pretending to cry. At first we would run up to him and take the lid off and hold him thinking he really had squished his fingers. Then one day I watched him and couldn’t believe what I was seeing, the little stinker!
Oh, encourage that little musician! Our daughter played Suzuki violin since she was three. It is all based on the premise that you learn to speak before you learn to read, so therefore you play music by ear before you learn to read music. Sounds like a candidate for that type of learning to me!
Oh that sneaky little baby! What a doll.
My baby likes to stand nearby and do this little fake cry, “Wah haaah, wah, haaaaaaaaaaaaah” in a really fake whimpery voice. It probably won’t last long because I keep laughing when he does it.
Mr. Neo, Classic Rock and Zydeco left at 6 this morning for a week of backpacking on the Appalachian Trail. The girls and I are going to enjoy a week of sleepovers, Girl Scout fun, nail polish and goofy movies. I am looking forward to their chance to shine. They always seem older when the older siblings aren’t around to do for them.
I, too, will miss my house help. Classic Rock puts dinner on the table a few times a week and Zydeco is a laundry machine. Is it horrible that I might miss the help more than the boys??? Just joking!
Love the story about his fingers being ‘smashed’ in the piano. What a tricker!
What sweet little ones you have! Ganache is awfully clever to have figured out how to get a room full of attention at such a young age!!!
What wonderful children you have! They are all adorable.
What a wonderful update. I love seeing your beautiful family! That makes me smile about the chores. One day when I was feeling really overwhelmed with my three under the age of five a friend told me that her sister (who as 10 children) said that having three or four little ones is harder than having ten kids because you don’t have the older ones to help. Which made me feel a lot better!
Heather that is so true! The hardest time I ever had as a mother was when I had three under the age of three. The next stage that was hardest was having 6 under the age of 8. Then once my kids started to reach the magical age of eight they seemed to grow up a lot more, realize they could be more independent, and also be more helpful around the house. 10 kids is a breeze compared to those times.