After Fritz, I learned that it isn’t wise to teach a baby new tricks. A first-time mom can’t wait for her baby to start solid food, sit-up, crawl, walk…

…then a first-time mom learns how sad it is that the child is developing so quickly and you can never go back to those sweet days of holding the baby all day long.

OK, holding a baby all day long is a pain, but from what I gather, once you’re out of that stage you look back with longing. I’ll let you know in another decade or so when I’m out of that stage, since I think I’ll be doing this f.o.r.e.v.e.r…….

So, beginning with Billy, I really didn’t encourage new development. I remember having everybody coo at Jenny, since she hadn’t started doing it and the docs thought she should be. That’s different. I remember trying to teach Fritz to crawl. He was about 9 months old and up on all fours, but going nowhere. I remember when he was a toddler trying to teach him to use a stool to climb on a chair, since he annoyed me so much asking to be helped up, then down, then up. Billy was pushing around on his belly by 6 months of age, and I had to hide the stools, since he would relocate them to climb up wherever, and then fall off.

But now, Child #5 has gotten several lessons on getting from his belly to a crawl position. He keeps scooting around, but then falling forward and landing on his tummy. Sometimes he would then roll to his back and complete the impression that he was a stuck bug kicking his feet and waving his arms and begging for rescue. This has been going on for weeks. I, the confident mom, was sure he would figure out what to do eventually. But he hadn’t and I was tired of coming to the rescue more and more as his desire to get around increased (and so his falling increased).

So, two days ago, I began to assist him in walking his arms back and pushing up. He’s needed very little help, just that beginning part where I put his hands on the ground and walk them back a few steps…he would immediately put his knees down and rock backwards.

And now, my older boys have just informed me that they witnessed him do it all by himself.

yikes.

Last weekend, sunny skies and temperatures in the 80s.

This weekend, possibility of snow.

Blessed sister, holy mother, spirit of the fountain, spirit of the garden,
Suffer us not to mock ourselves with falsehood
Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still
Even among these rocks,
Our peace in His will
And even among these rocks
Sister, mother
And spirit of the river, spirit of the sea,
Suffer me not to be separated

And let my cry come unto Thee.

Ash-Wednesday by T S Eliot

Kansas
Quantico
Kansas
Quantico

Move
Stay
Move
Stay

Oh, we’ve been back and forth for quite a while on what we’re doing this summer. And now we know.

Is it school at Fort Leavenworth?
Or is it school at Quantico, VA?

And here is how the debate ends…

…not with a whimper, but a bang.

The answer is “none of the above.”

We’re staying here, but Bill’s deferring school for a year. He will be a general’s AXO (that is just a fancy way of saying “aide”) for a bit and then he will be THE General’s AXO until it’s time for him to go to school NEXT year.

An interesting turn of events.

Yeah, this really makes me want to pack up right NOW and move to Kansas.

The hallowed ground of Arlington National Cemetery, including a glimpse of Robert E. Lee’s house:

The tomb of the Unknown Soldiers:

The Tomb, the guard, and a view of DC (not a good shot – you can see the Jefferson Memorial from that spot…and the Washington Monument is just behind that big evergreen on the left):

The changing of the guard…a “must-see” ceremony, and the whole reason we went. Did I see it? nope.

The day was very sunny and even hot. Bill got his first sunburn of the year – the earliest, I think. The father of a boy in Fritz’s cub scout den is in the Old Guard and told Bill that they were still on Winter hours and were changing the guard every half hour. I don’t know what happened between Wednesday and Saturday. We arrived at the Cemetery at the top of the hour and missed that ceremony. We got to the Tomb around 10:15 am and loitered in the area for a while before we realized that there wouldn’t be another ceremony until 11 am. I kept deferring the hungry baby, and he was quite happy in the shade, but when I tried to watch the ceremony, he just got too fussy for a rite that demanded SILENCE. So Bill watched it – for the second time – with the 3 older kids while the little ones and I sat on a bench a bit away and listened. It’s ok. The boys really liked it and Billy has been imitating the robotic movements of the guard every since.

As we were leaving, we stopped by the grave of Audie Murphy, which is the second most popular (JFK is #1). Bill was pretty disgusted that I didn’t know who Audie Murphy was. He is the most decorated WWII vet. And then he went into Hollywood.

His grave is very plain and at the end of a row near a sidewalk. There is a little sign near his grave that requests that no coins be thrown. Sure enough, there was a quarter on the grass in front of his grave. As we turned to leave, I noticed a pile of coins on the sidewalk next to his grave. I asked Bill if he knew what it was all about, and he said no. Then Billy asked why you weren’t supposed to throw coins. I said you aren’t supposed to throw coins because it makes lawn mowing difficult…but the question really is this: why would anyone WANT to throw coins?

As we left, we passed memorial after memorial. The whole way to the car, BIlly asked, “Who died here, Mom?”

“Nobody died here, Billy. This is a memorial saying that this tree is dedicated to the soldiers from this unit.”

“Oh….who died here, Mom?” At the next tree.

“Nobody, Billy. It says that THIS tree is dedicated to the soldiers from THIS unit.”

“Oh…who died HERE, Mom?” At the next tree.

It was a long walk to the car.

Even if I were a rookie parent, there’s simply no excuse for my stupidity. Every time I eat an excessive amount of dairy, Pete has a reaction. I’ve been eating a lot of cheese recently, but I thought, “Gee, Pete seems to be doing ok?” Why did I think this? Because he wasn’t spitting up, having excessive gas or having long bouts of inconsolable crying. But I also said to myself, “Oh, what is this boy’s problem? Why is he so fussy at night? I’m not getting any sleep.”

But did I add 2 and 2? Oh no. I continued to eat cheese.

And that right there is the problem, really…I mean, why did I feel the need to “test” Pete to see if he would have this reaction? Or at least, why did I have to OD on cheese for a week? Why couldn’t I just have a little bit more and see how that was and slowly introduce more dairy into my diet?

And so, this goes on for a week – me eating cheese and more cheese, and Pete being more and more miserable between 2 and 5 in the morning. And finally I asked myself, “How long has this been going on?” And I answered, “About a week.” And then I asked myself accusingly, “And how long have you been indulging in a 10 am cheese break?” “About a week,” came my sheepish reply.

So it is all my fault that I’ve been missing sleep…and will continue to miss sleep for at least 3 or 4 more nights as the proteins leave my body.

Mea culpa.

Today’s forecast: morning rain but high of 75 degrees. All weekend long we have the same forecast.

I can’t wait to open the windows!

Yes, math is best understood when one can see how it applies to your everyday life.

So, Billy’s math every so often has a series of addition problems with the answer given, but one of the addends missing. Today, they all equalled 9. Three plus what equals nine? Five plus what equals nine? Zero plus what equals nine? He has had a tough time figuring these out. I use Base Ten blocks so he can visualize it, but it really didn’t click for him.

Today, though, there was a picture of a birthday cake with nine candles on it. So I said, “Let’s suppose it’s your ninth birthday. Your mom puts six candles on the cake before she has to go and change your brother’s stinky diaper. How many candles do you need to put on your cake so it’s ready?” Amazingly, it took mere seconds for him to reply: “Three!”

Again, I said, “Let’s suppose it’s your ninth birthday. Your mom puts two candles on the cake before she has to go and break up a fight between your two sisters in the living room. How many candles do you need to put on the cake then?”

“Seven!”

“Good job! Now, you do one.”

“OK. Let’s supposes it’s my ninth birthday. My mom puts five candles on my cake before she has to go and clean up a mess that Jenny made. How many candles do I need to put on the cake? Hmmm…four! OK…It’s my ninth birthday. My mom puts three candles on my cake when…”

He got them all right.

From Catholic Exchange:

When I am able to remember these things and keep my focus, I realize that my children help me attain holiness. Perhaps, without their needs, I would be drawn towards the capital sin of sloth. Maybe, if they behaved perfectly at Mass, I would be guilty of pride. If my food was ever warm, I might fall into gluttony. The Lord knows my weaknesses. In His mercy, my kids are actually protecting me from myself!

This article could have been written by me!