Tron Be Gone

The kids and I took our last trip to Phoenix Children's Hospital this week (on his 7-month-old b-day) and Dray's head is officially helmet free! Hooray! The upside is that he no longer has to wear a tight, sweaty, stinky helmet. The downside is that without the protection of the helmet, he's bonked his head about six times. He insists on pulling himself to a stand on everything around him and then trying to walk. He also seems to crawl at the speed of light. He is without a doubt one of those busy babies who wants to get into everything, pull everything down, and attempt as many physical stunts as possible. I don't think he has a cautious bone in his lil' body. It's even hard to get him to stay still long enough for me to feed him in his highchair. He is constantly squirming and trying to escape.
Alan and Ellie are enjoying their summer break. Alan loves staying in his PJs and getting his fill of computer and video games. He'd be happy if he never had to leave the house again. He's been a great help with his little bro. lately. He sits next to him while we drive and stays vigilant on pacifier patrol. He also keeps and eye on him while I straighten up the house.
Ellie has been busy practicing for her play. She'll be playing the queen in Snow White next Friday evening with Copperstar Theater Company. She's been working hard to memorize her lines and get into her "evil" character. I think I've heard "Mirror, mirror on the wall," atleast 200 times this week.

And now...in the spirit of the recent Lost Finale, Lana created this photoshop masterpiece. Hee hee.

Characters-(from left to right)

Hurley: Ellie
Claire: Jessie
Sawyer: Chad
Kate: Me
Jack: Ken
Jin: Mom
Sun: Abby
Juliet: Pam
John Locke: Dray
Sayid: Aaron
Ben Linus: Alan
Desmond: Josh

Japanese Juggling

We celebrated Ken's birthday a couple of weeks ago. We decided to take the family to Benihana so we could watch the chef perform his fancy tricks and enjoy the tasty Japanese food. The kids loved when the chef made a choo-choo train out of onions, juggled eggs, and flipped shrimp tails into his hat. It was like a delicious circus of flying food. Though the entertainment was great, the best part of the day had to be on the way to the restaurant, where endless jokes were directed toward Alan and Ellie about Beni and his wife Hana inviting us to eat with them. Despite the lame jokes, they said they still had a good time.
After eating, we went home and enjoyed a delicious oreo icecream cake and the birthday boy opened his presents. Fun had by all.

Here is the Ellie-ism of the week:
"Mom, we should really read that book called "Diarrhea of a Wimpy Kid. It sure sounds funny."

I'm sure that title would make for a very interesting plot. Hee hee.

The kids after Ellie's school choir concert

Ellie temporarliy suppressing her sillies.

They can't be held back for long.

Favorite recent picture of Pooshus.

Half a Year of Pooshus

Dray at six months old:


• Is 95th percentile for height and 75th for weight.

• Wears 18-month-old Onesies.

• Has been sitting up by himself for a few weeks.

• Is starting to crawl and pull himself into a standing position! We are going to have to finish baby proofing a lot sooner than planned.

• Still wakes often during the night and stays awake (yawn).

• Likes all of the baby food that he’s tried, except for beef and green beans.

• Shakes his head when someone shakes their head at him.

• Imitates high pitched singing when we sing.

• Squawks and squeaks often (by far his favorite noises.)

• Loves to stare at Alan and Ellie.

• Has his pacifier in his mouth most of the day.

• Is still an extremely gassy little dude.

• Only has around five more weeks to wear his helmet. We started so young, that his head has grown right into shape!

• Still has a variety of nicknames, most commonly "Dray-Dray" and "Pooshus".

• Laughs when Alan laughs, no matter what mood he’s in.

We love him so!

Al Pal and El Bell

Mr. Rogers often said, "You always make each day a special day, by just you being you."  I'm going to borrow this quote to express my sentiments to Alan and Ellie. Lately, all of my blogs and most of my time and attention has gone toward Dray. He is a baby, after all, and babies need constant feeding, burping, changing, etc.. But I wanted to devote this particular blog to my older kids. First, I'll start with Alan.

I am proud of Alan for, but not limited to, the following reasons:
* He is doing great in school. Not only did his teacher say he's a wiz at math (doesn't get that from Ken and I), she also said that he's kind, mindful of others, and a great friend.
* He and his sister, despite the occasional fight..errr, I mean disagreement, are the best of friends. The other day I  heard him say, "Ellie you are cute, I love you so much!"  Not many 8-year-old big brothers would say that to a little sister.
* He takes time to teach Ellie random facts and multiplication problems. On the way home from school yesterday he explained to her the concept of division.
* He's interested in things. At the library, he seeks out books about natural disasters, bugs, etc... Last night, he explained to me how important Beethoven was to classical music (a fact he learned from the internet.) He also informed me that he wants to visit an "important historical landmark in Gilbert sometime."
* When Dray cries, he is always extra concerned. He also gets upset when Ellie gets hurt. He is very empathetic, sensitive, and caring.
* He never complains about going to church or having family home evening. He has a testimony and tries to do what's right.
* He's a great cub scout, always enthusiastic about participating in activities and learning new things. He worked hard on his pinewood derby car and came in first place for a few races.
* He likes to read. He just finished a Spiderwick Chronicles book and Abby is reading Harry Potter to him at night. He looks forward to each chapter!
* He's very detail oriented when it comes to things he's interested in. He memorizes dozens and dozens of levels and characters in his favorite computer and video games and then often lists and diagrams them all on paper.
* He is a homebody. After school, he extremely dislikes to run errands with me. He needs his down time, which is enjoying a snack and quietly playing a computer game. Despite being somewhat of a homebody, he is always excited about vacations or playing with friends.
* He is a wonderful, sweet, sensitive, enthusiastic, inquisitive, and fun person. I am so glad that Heavenly Father sent him to this family!

Ellie is up next! I'm proud of Ellie for, but also not limited to, the following:

* She's also doing great in school! I'm amazed at how well she can read as a Kindergartener. She's currently reading at a second grade level and enjoys learning about new things through books.
* She says things daily that make everyone laugh. I need to do a better job about recording all of her funny quotes. She recently brought home a school library book, held it up enthusiatically, and said, "Look Mom, I checked out a book about Jack Russell Terrorists!" She proceeded to point out the photo of the cute dog on the cover.
* She's a natural entertainer. Ellie is in a drama workshop at the East Valley Children's Theater. She recently asked if she could go to drama class all day instead of school. She loves it.
* She walks around the house singing made-up songs in an enthusiastic, vibrato voice. Some of her original songs are pretty catchy!
* She's a fantastic snuggler. Sometimes she'll just ask for a good snuggle.
* She is very curious about things and never hesitates to ask deep, thought provoking questions. She asks about insects, eternity, astronomy, and other interesting subjects. One of my favorites is from when she was two years old. After she and I said a little prayer one night, I said something to her along the lines of, "Jesus is always watching from above and he loves us." She sat up, looked straight at the ceiling, and asked in alarm, "Is Jesus on our roof right now?!" I guess that was her concept of "from above."
* She has all the energy in the world. She accomplishes everything she sets out to accomplish, and with much enthusiasm!
* She's a social butterfly and always works hard to include others. I've heard from teachers and parents of students in her class that she always befriends those around her and makes others laugh and feel comfortable. The kids in the neighborhood fight to invite her over first after school.
* She somehow mainatins an EXTRA LOUD speaking voice at all times without ever wearing out her voice box. Hee hee.
* She's an adventurer and always willing to try something new. She loves exploring new places.
* She is quite the artist. One of her favorite things to draw lately is the pigeon from the "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" books. Sometimes I sit down with her at her request and give her "drawing lessons." She's always excited to learn and does a great job! She especially good at drawing faces.
* She's an outgoing, sweet, entertaining, enthusiastic, clever person and I'm so glad that I'm her mother!

Helmet Head

Dray has gone from resembling Charlie to Brown to looking like a miniature Tron. Too bad the helmet doesn't come with neon lighting.

He started wearing his helmet on Friday and it's already been quite a journey. I think he's adjusting to it well, but I'm not. I miss kissing his bald little head while I hold him. I think the hardest part for him is being hot and sweaty all the time. When I take the helmet off for the daily cleaning, it smells like sweaty sneakers. Poor little guy. I keep reminding myself that he won't be wearing it for long. Because he started so young, there's a possibility he may only have to wear it for a couple of months. I'm thinking of decorating the helmet, but am undecided on the theme. A fellow helmet mom told me that adorning it with cute colors and patterns can help a lot with the quiet stares that we get at the store. Strangers have gone from talking and smiling at Dray to mostly just staring quickly and averting their eyes or telling their kids to hush when they comment or ask questions about the helmet. I have heard some pretty cute comments from kids such as, "He looks like a race car driver," "Did you drop him on his head?" and "Does that baby play football?"
Anyway, we love Dray lots and know that wearing this helmet is what's best for him. Soon we'll have that kissable head back and his Tron phase will be a distant memory.

Happy five-month-old birthday, Dray (yesterday)! Here are some photos from the last couple of months.

Here is an example of Lana's photoshop expertise. She transformed Dray into a baby chick!

Charlie

It’s no secret that Dray looks a lot like Charlie Brown. In fact, I’ve been told this by more than a handful of people. I do see the resemblance. He shares Charlie’s upturned nose and big, wide, white baldish head. We also started to notice a few weeks back that his head is pretty flat in back (despite supervised tummy time). We weren’t too concerned. We thought it was normal. Some babies have strange shaped heads right, right? Well, according to the pediatrician, Dray’s head is stranger than a little strange. During his four-month-old check-up she examined his head with a look of concern on her face and told us that we needed to see a cranial specialist ASAP. Apparently Dray has Brachycelphy, which basically means a squished head.

Here's a brief look at brachycephaly:

• Head is wider than normal

• Head has shorter length than width

• Back of head is flat

• Head is taller than normal

• Extreme forehead incline

• Bumps/bulging above ears

• Face appears small in proportion to head

It can be caused by a number of things, including a high birth weight, abnormal skull growth, and preferred sleep position. Usually it's a combo of all of those. According to the doctor, if it becomes severe enough it can cause jaw displacement and more. That and as cute as it is now, looking like Charlie Brown during the dating years might not be such a good thing. So, we’ll be visiting the cranial specialist in downtown Phoenix on Friday and they’ll be possibly fitting Dray for a helmet that he’ll wear 23 hours a day, every day, for a few months. Poor little guy. Because Dray has a severe case of brachycephaly, we’re told that insurance will probably cover most of it. That’s a good thing because the treatment has a hefty price tag. If not, this year’s vacation money will be used to purchase a swanky headpiece such as this:

At four months old, Dray:

• Is always reaching for objects, grabbing them, and sticking them in his mouth.

• Is constantly grinning when his tummy doesn’t hurt (almost as if he feels obligated to smile. when someone smiles at him.)

• Rolls from back to front and front to back.

• Loves to stand in his saucer and play with toys.

• Has tried rice cereal and loves it.

• Weighs over 16 lbs. (85th percentile) and is 100th percentile in height.

• Still taking meds for reflux. He’s definitely a spitter-upper.

• Gets very grumpy in the evening and night, but is pretty sweet during the day.

• Has a hearty little laugh and when in the mood, will laugh at almost anything.

• Blows out through his loose lips and makes a bubbly noise.

• Slobbers everywhere.

• Hates his car seat. When we put him in, he arches his back and does a backbend to try and get out.

• Is sometimes only soothed by the sound of the vacuum.

• Laughs at everything Alan does.

• Sleeps on a foam ramp for his reflux.

• Chews on his bottom lip.

• Does the “Crandall eyebrow” (raises one eyebrow extremely high.)

• Hums himself to sleep.

• Chews on his toes.

• Grabs for grown-up food while at the table.

• Already enjoys Baby Einstein movies.

• Likes to sit on his Daddy’s lap and listen to music on the computer.

• LOVES to look in the mirror.

• Can scoot a few inches on his tummy.

• Will only eat when sleeping.

We love him and are so glad that Heavenly Father sent him to our family!

I Have a Dream...

Why did my kids not inherit my love of sleep? My favorite time of night is when I'm snuggled under my covers, exhausted and ready to snooze. In fact, I love sleep so much that I fantasize about taking naps...long, quiet, un-inturrupted naps. When Ken and the kids were searching for a birthdays present for me, Ken asked the kids for present ideas. "What does Mom like to do?" he asked. Both Alan and Ellie answered, "Sleep!" So they ended up getting me a set of silky satin sheets. (I do by the way have other things that I enjoy doing; drawing, painting, writing, reading, astronomy, etc... But it says a lot that "sleep" was the first thing they mentioned.)

It wasn't always this way. It all started when Alan was born. He would cry for five, sometimes six hours straight at night and refused to sleep for more than an hour at a time. Just when he started snoozing better, Ellie came along. She wasn't collicky like Alan, but she definately wasn't interested in sleeping. Even now, both will often lay wide awake in bed late at night and then awaken at 4 a.m. and be up for the day. And let's not forget the night terrors. I don't know how they function. Maybe they're mutants.

Anyway, sleep has become something precious, rare, and wonderful. When I was awake last night for the fifth time at 3 a.m. with Dray, I longed for sweet slumber like nobody's business.

But, when it comes down to it, as sweet as sleep is... there are three things much sweeter...

...and in the end, it's all worth it.