Micah's getting ready to go mobile... are we ready?

It won't be long before our youngest is getting around on his own. Our house has been pretty well "kid proofed" for the other two, but the other two are the ones who leave all the small chokable toys laying around. They're also the ones who leave the door to the basement open sometimes. So, I'm wondering to myself, "Does Micah have less chance of injury as the third child or more?"

Poor Gavin used to be the "guinie pig kid" for his ignorant first time parents. I didn't know you shouldn't leave the room when your baby's laying on the couch. I didn't know it was important to strap the baby into his highchair everytime. I didn't know that my kids would actually attempt to climb the double-gated bedroom door and be willing to injure themselves for the sake of making a great escape. :) Alright, Sara probably knew of all these things since most of them happened when she was gone, but I don't want to take all the blame for my kids' childhood injuries! :)

The point is, I think Sara and I have learned a lot over the years, but the challenges and obstacles of raising kids never stay the same. It changes as each kid enters into a new phase, and then you have to factor in the different personalities of each kid as well. Just when you think you've got it figured out, the next kid in line might react in a completely different way compared to the older siblings.

Parenting has got to be greatest, yet most challenging, thing we can attempt to do in this life... especially when you're striving to do it well. I can't even imagine what our kids' teenage years will be like, but I'm hoping we can figure out how to get a full night's rest by then :).

My Sweet Baby Boy!

I'm so thankful the Lord has blessed me with Micah. He's just so darn cute! I love the way he looks so much like his daddy too. I could simply kiss on his little chubby cheeks and squishy neck all day long. He's pretty much content doing anything. He loves to make really high pitched noises with his voice...perhaps he's a soprano trapped in a boy's body. He lights up whenever Gavin walks in the room and has a contagious giggle every time you tickle him or play peek a boo with him.

Some things he's been up to lately:

Pulling fur out of Lizzy's coat or playing with her toe nails. Lizzy doesn't seem to mind as long as he will spit up once in a while so she can lick it up. They keep each other equally happy.

Taking baths in the bath ring instead of the baby tub. He's actually started to enjoy baths now that he can sit up and splash.

Listening to daddy play guitar but what he really wants is a piece of that guitar. He inches his way over to the guitar and then starts grabbing on the strings and pounding on the wood. You should see the scared look on his daddy's face when he does this.

Trying to find any tag on any toy he can suck on. Also finding any toys that don't belong to him but to his older brother and sister. They must be cooler to him than his own toys. They are also very chokeable...scary! He can't quite crawl yet but he still manages to work his way across the room. He has been spotted by several family members up on all fours lately, so please start praying for me now. :) Just when I think things can't get any busier...I see what's ahead of me.

Eating solids and then spitting up everywhere or pooping this awful rancid smelling green, orange, or gooey brown poop.

Bouncing as high as he can go in his Johnny Jump Up. It is usually in this or his bouncy seat when you can hear him belt out the high soprano notes!

Grabbing the little hairs behind my ears and pulling as hard as he can. Ouch!

Scratching the sides of his playpen. This is how I can tell he's up in the morning. He'll sit and scratch, scratch, scratch until we get up. I told you he's content.

Thankfully I rarely hear him cry. I'm not one of those people who can tolerate a lot of noise or crying so this is a very good thing. Of course once in a while he cries...but it's usually to tell me something I haven't figured out yet. Also, he is just starting to cry a bit when he is left with someone other than dad or mom.

He's just a happy go-lucky baby.

A side note: It has been difficult to truly capture his smile on pictures because the camera tends to startle him a bit, but he does smile a lot.

You've got to be kidding me.

Why are my kids always up to mischief every time I'm not looking? The day after Gavin's Birthday party his friend Carissa and him were playing. They tend to go off and play a lot on their own which doesn't cause me to worry because Carissa is really responsible (in fact, she will come and inform me if Gavin is doing something he shouldn't be). Anyhow, I was feeding Micah and he was starting to fall asleep when I heard the water running downstairs. I just wanted to finish feeding Micah and get him to sleep. After I laid him down I went downstairs to find the view above. Carissa exclaimed that she could swim forever in the winter. Aubri happily agreed. I thought to myself that I could take them out or since they had already made a mess, just let them swim for a while. So I let them swim. I went upstairs to check on Micah when I heard screams. Aubri peed in the pool and they all had to get out. So they all went into the tub to get clean. You can imagine the mess that was on the floor when they were done with the bath (there's something to say about a tile floor versus peel and stick when you have kids. I'm sure our floor is rotted by now since this is not a rare occasion). Not to mention, cleaning out the downstairs pool since there is no drain in that area of the basement. I had to take bucket by bucket and then cup by cup to the laundry sink until it was all drained. That pretty much sums up my days sometimes. I'm just constantly cleaning up one mess after another. O'well...it looks like they had a pretty good time doesn't it? Ahhh...to be so free again.