Today || Volume 3

Today Cole asked me why some people walk different than other people. When I probed into his question, he specifically asked "why do some people have wheelchairs? How do they get into bed?"

He couldn't have asked a better person. I grew up with a disabled person near and dear to my heart. My grandfather (Cole's middle namesake) suffered from Multiple Sclerosis and it's debilitating effects from the early 1970s until his death in 2003. How did my grandfather get into bed? My grandmother lifted him in using a Hoya lift. In later years, it was my father who did the heavy lifting. How did my grandfather get up and down his stairs? With a chairlift. I drew a picture of the chairlift for Cole and then he decided to draw a picture of my grandpa. He asked me all the different kinds of food Grandpa liked and then he drew those. He asked me if Grandpa ate apple sauce and pears and I told him that grandpa loved pasta and salads and steak and artichokes. I didn't tell him how much Grandpa loved me and how much I loved him. I did tell Cole that I photographed Grandpa when he was in the hospital, but I didn't tell him that the purpose was to document the many expressions of a usually stoic man who never complained about his lot in life.  I also photographed Mom, the dedicated wife who stood by Grandpa and never batted an eye to help him. One day I will tell him these stories and show him those photographs that I captured on slide film. 

I love that Cole did not try to draw a wheelchair but instead drew Grandpa with an arrow for a foot. The rest of the items around him are the many foods he is eating. 

Cole and his books

Today we were reading a Winnie the Pooh book and Cole said:

"Roo lives inside Kanga's pouch. Does he have a room?"

And when we reading Going on a Bear Hunt a month or so ago, Cole said:

"Those people (walking through the high grass) better check their selfs for ticks."

Happy hour (around here)

Wherein she plays dress up...

Wherein he does dishes...and she tries to help...

Wherein everybody enjoys a little milk while Mommy dances to "Go Waggaloo"

Today || Volume 2

Today Cole told me he can walk on air, shoot ants and jump really high. I was instantly reminded of the poem "Turning Ten" by Billy Collins. 

At four I was an Arabian wizard.
I could make myself invisible
by drinking a glass of milk a certain way.
At seven I was a soldier, at nine a prince.

The poem shows that being a child is so innocent and carefree. And those lines in particular bring me back to Cole and his insanely creative imagination. How he runs around the house living in his own made up world, or walking on the trail holding up his sword, or how he squirts water from a bath toy talking about his fish in the sea. 

Today Cole and I got to snuggle up in my bed and read some pretty awesome books together: Night in the Country, Talk It Out, and Lost in the Woods. I love when it's just he and I because then we can take our time, I can ask a billion questions and he can ask a billion and one questions. He revels in the time together, sighing happily and curling up in the crook of my arm with his head on my lap. All this while Bevin sleeps soundly in her crib. 

Today {Volume 1}

Today I stopped Bevin just as she was about to drop a sneaker into a pee filled toilet. 

Today Bevin fell and cut her lip and Cole ran in with a wash cloth that he had wet all on his own without me asking. 

Today I went to work with only a few hours sleep and after spending those precious few hours in the lazy boy recliner. 

Today Cole tried to leave his favorite look and find book open for Kiwi so she could look and find too. 

Today Bevin would not let me put her down for a second after 5:45 rolled around. 

Today I realized that 10-15 years from now when they are teenagers, they will not have remembered these years nor will they appreciate them. In fact, I know that all of the shit we are going through is to help them become the people they are, not to get recognition for the sacrifices. They won't know how much we sacrificed until they have their own kids. 

Today the kids kept themselves entertained while Keith was home with them. He thinks they sensed he was exhausted and not in the mood to play. 

Witching hour separation anxiety...

Keeping themselves busy...

Yesterday Cole took a picture of kiwi and she didn't head for the hills. Progress is being made with these two. Next thing you know she'll be keeping him company at night...

At four

Cole asks so many questions he sometimes has our heads spinning. In fact his preschool teacher said he asks more questions than any kid she's ever met. But when he corrects me in the middle of a response I know he is listening to us!

He can write, spell and read his name. 

He wants to learn about everything. Most especially his interests are in:

Fish

Birds

Worms 

Dirt

Trees

The Earth, Moon and Sun

Other planets 

He hasn't been watching that much tv lately. In fact he probably watches one or two shows a week. This is thanks to the fact that he becomes a monster child when he's done watching the show. So we've been limiting it so much that he doesn't ask us much anymore mostly because he forgets that he watches tv. 

Instead he goes outside and maybe digs dirt or stays inside and plays with toys in the house. His imagination is huge right now and given the right toys and/ or environment he can get immersed in his own world and not even hear you talk. 

He loves climbing things and then jumping off of them. He claims he's flying and can get pretty far. The only downside of this confidence that he'll land in a certain spot is that he thinks he should prove this power by jumping over something. Sometimes that "something" is Bevin. Fortunately, he's been talking to us lately before trying out his jumping and we've been able to stop him from trying his skills out on his baby sister. 

He's getting used to hiking and is down with exploring and finding critters when we hit the trails. His favorites recently are: caterpillars, centipedes and water bugs. He gets upset at bugs that buzz past his ear and often yells at them to go away and leave him alone. 

He has his cooperative and uncooperative moments. Sometimes he will listen to you only if it suits him and other times he will listen to you simply because he wants to help. He loves his friends fiercely and remembers conversations he had months ago with certain little ones. For instance, we went camping with Allishawn last July. Cole continues to remember Juni telling him about her stick collection. In fact during our most recent hike he picked up a stick and pocketed it, saying it was for Juni's collection. 

He loves the camper and is super excited about our camping trips this summer. He loves helping his daddy and learning about fixing things and how things work. He loves reading his three books every night. He loves swimming in the pool with me or Keith and he loves climbing the tree in the backyard. I've noticed when he gets interested in something he is very intense about that thing for a while until he gets what he wants from it and moves on. He is very observant and very aware of his surroundings. 

Cole's sword stick (Cole, too, is a collector of sticks and he didnt even realize it until I told him)

Taking some selfies on the trail...

Climbing the rock scramble at Lost City on the High Peters Kill trail

Cole loves being in costume...

Cole helped plant these geraniums so naturally that means he gets to water them..

Learning about my car's engine. 

Washing my car (thanks Little Dude!)

Rock throwing at its finest...