Father's Day, Part 1

We had a great Father's Day, the highlight being our time at Bay Beach. Our first stop there was at a wildlife sanctuary, where we fed the geese, watched birds of prey, and visited the museum. It was such a nice day with Charlie, Will and Jana.

A brother's instinct

People often ask us how Will is adjusting to being a big brother. Much as he was during my pregnancy, Will has remained very protective and, somehow, become the authority on Charlie.

The other day, as Will and Scott were leaving, Will told me, "Mommy, you need to feed the baby when he's hungry."

Thanks Dr. Spock.

"OK, I will. Thanks for being such a good brother," I said.

"Mommy, you need to sing to him or hold him when he cries."

"OK, will do. I've got it under control."

"Mommy, do you need a job to do today?"

"What?" I started getting a bit defensive by this point, "Sure. Do you have a job for me?"

"Yup. You can make me dinner."

He must be so proud of his mother.

The truth hurts

At work, I often tell everyone that I leave "gifts for my future self." Notes about a project to help make things smoother next time around or to help answer the inevitable questions that someone may ask me.

I try to do the same thing for Will ... provide him little hints to make his life easier.

Fairly late in my pregnancy, Will looks at me and says, "Mommy, I still love you even though you're getting so fat."

In my effort to make Will a good husband someday, I quickly corrected him.

"Honey, even if it's true, you never, ever tell a woman that she's fat."

He looked at me, took that in, and said, "Mommy, I still love you even though you're getting so huge."

More Saturday pictures ... some from Will

A few pregnant pauses

Charlie is already a month old now and it's enough to send a new mom reeling. One minute, you're as big as a house. The next minute, you're as big as a house, but without the convenient excuse of an additional human being in your tummy.

With both Will and Charlie, I never got to that point where I thought, "I'd do absolutely anything to get this baby out." That's supposed to happen -- some biological thing that makes you actually want to go through labor. Despite a few aches and pains, I pretty much enjoy being pregnant. A few of my favorite moments from my most recent pregnancy:

-- We were at a park about two weeks before Charlie was born. After having a picnic lunch, Will was playing on the playground equipment, most specifically the "fireman's pole" that he had recently mastered. He challenged Scott to go down the pole too. Scott did, despite the ridiculous image of a 6'2" man sliding down a 5' pole. Scott, always looking for a laugh, decided to extend the challenge to me. Will quickly came to my defense. "No. Mommy can't do that, she has a baby in her tummy," then, looking at me with his serious face, "Mommy, it's my job to keep you off the pole." Perhaps, if we hadn't seen so many Sopranos episodes featuring scenes from the "Bada Bing," that wouldn't have been so funny.

-- My friend Karen saved my life by providing me with pretty much all my maternity clothes. I loved them all, except for one shirt. It would have looked great on a woman with more height, but the gray color with sequin trims made me feel, um, well, like a circus elephant. I told Scott, "I'm that elephant that they dress up in a tutu, pop a big pink plume on her head and cart her around the ring calling, 'Ladies and Gentlemen, say hello to 'Cha Cha', isn't she pretty?'"

-- Months ago, I bought a pink maternity sundress and waited anxiously all spring for it to be warm enough to wear it. I broke it out the week Charlie was born. It did elicit some comments. My doctor said, "You're still shaving your legs! Good for you!" One fellow employee said, "Wow, can't miss you coming down the hall!" And, Scott's inevitable response: "Here's Cha Cha! Isn't she pretty?"

Flying windows

Here's a new one: I'm lying here contemplating our next blog post when I see something large and white fall from the sky. I get up and look at the front yard, and that thing is a window from our bedroom.

Walk upstairs, and who's standing by the window? Our oldest, shutting the main glass window.

As we explain to him the negative outcomes that could have followed punching out a window, he breaks down into tears ...

Track pictures

Here are some shots of Will running and jumping at Saturday's track event for the kids. Don't you just love the smile on his face?

Track meet

Today there was a track meet at the school in Iola. Will was a little reluctant to participate at first, but eventually warmed up to the idea and really enjoyed himself. Jared offered him $4 to run (later rescinded), Will's first brush with being a pampered, overpaid athlete.



He finished third in both the 40-yard dash and the long jump. His time of 10.18 seconds in the 40 was a tad off what the NFL scouts are looking for - in an equipment manager - but Will ran with such joy that it didn't matter what his time was.



We didn't get a distance for him in the long jump, but I thought I heard it was over three feet. He employed three distinctly different styles: a triple jump, a straight long jump (his longest effort), and a run-straight-through-it style.





I'll post some photos tomorrow.

Our caterpillar

We found a caterpillar crawling around in our front yard on Sunday, and Will didn't kill it accidentally, which was something of a surprise. He found a nice spot for it in a clear container, and we put mulch and leaves in there. We're hoping to see it turn into a butterfly. I think Will's hoping it turns into his first pet.

Brothers

Everyone keeps asking how Will is getting along with Charlie. Just fine, thank you.