Maine

We have spent the past week in Maine at the beach. I have been spending a summer week or two in Maine since I was born as did my father when he was a child. His family would pack up their car and make the 5 hour trek on a single lane road to an island at Robinhood Point. There they would spend the entire summer and my father would roam the island by himself (he was around 5 or 6 at the time)! Since the boys turned three in June, I figured this would be the start of them really remembering things from their childhood and I wanted to share my summertime memories with them. Like walking down the beach to the jette in search of little crabs to trap in a sand pail. Or going to the Scoop Deck for ice cream as we ran for the door to escape all the mosquitoes. And visiting the York Wild Animal Farm (which seemed larger and much more exotic to me then than it does now).

The weather could have been better but the boys didn't mind. As long as it wasn't raining, they wanted to be at the beach "kicking the waves" as Aidan says.

And Gavin spent the whole week snubbing me and being a total Daddy's boy. One day we went to our favorite fish store to get take out. We had called ahead so we figured I could just hop out and get our order so we wouldn't have to take the kids out of their carseats, etc. Well, the order wasn't quite ready and when I came out the door, I could hear Gavin screeching from the car. I asked Sean what the heck was wrong with him and he said "He told me to leave you at the fish store and just drive back to the beach house." This became the theme of the week as he wanted to leave me everywhere we went from then on. Gee, thanks Gavin. Also, on the beach I could not get a decent picture of him because he refused to look at me. And when he did look at me, I got the 'What are you doing here' look.

This was Ciara's first Maine vacation and she couldn't have loved it more. I remember when the boys were her age on their first vacation. They touched the sand with their hands and immediately pulled them back, a look of disgust on their face. "You expect me to sit on this?" it seemed to say. Not Ciara. She had just started really toddling a few days before we left and as soon as you put her down on the sand and she got her footing, she was off for the water's edge.As I mentioned, the weather was not the best. When the sun is out in Maine, it is absolutely beautiful. Sun shimmering on the water, gentle ocean breezes and warm sand between your toes. But if it is overcast and rainy, it is the dreariest place on earth. Cold, damp, raw. But, again, the kids didn't mind and even ran through the water one day, sweatshirts and all.

As much as the boys loved the beach, they loved having their cousins downstairs just as much. Every morning, they were chomping at the bit to go down and see them. But usually before we got the chance to get them dressed and go down, my niece and nephew were already knocking on our door eager to see the boys and Ciara. My niece is at the age where she just loves babies and she couldn't get enough of Ciara. It was great having playmates there for the boys and they all loved spending timeon the beach together.

As we pulled out of the driveway of the cottage, Gavin was wailing about wanting to stay at "the beach house". He cried a good 30 minutes and finally fell asleep for the rest of the ride home. Aidan, on the other hand, liked his vacation well enough but was ready to go home to his own stuff and veg out on his favorite chair.

I wonder what next year will bring...

Random things they say...

I wanted to write some of these things down before I forget them. They say so many things during the day that make me stop and say "I have got to remember this".

This morning Aidan and Gavin asked for a snack and chose raisins. Now, I know Gavin does not like raisins but he insisted that is what he wanted. So Aidan finds Gavin's box of raisins and I overhear the following conversation:

A: Gavin, here's your box of raisins.
G: I don't want it. You can have it.
A: No, I have my own box.
G: I don't want them.
A: What should we do with them?
G: Give them to Mummy. Mummy will eat them.

Alright, that isn't that funny but I am constantly amazed that they are actually having their own little conversations. They are getting so big.
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Yesterday, Aidan wanted more milk so he follows me around asking for it. It was near nap and he was tired and I was flipping through the mail before going to get his milk. He kept saying "Can I have more milk please?" and I absent-mindedly said "Yes, yes...just a second" and then he says to me "Sir? Sir, can I have more?" Where the heck did that come from?
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Ciara was up in her crib fussing before falling asleep for her morning nap. Aidan comes up to me and tells me that Ciara is crying as if I couldn't hear her. I said "She is just trying to fall asleep". He said "No she is saying (changes his voice to a high pitch) 'I don't want to go to sleep. I want to play with my brothers.' Cute.
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This one is kind of mean of me...the boys have this cheetah mask and I put it on today and snuck up behind Aidan and tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned around, he starteld a little bit but then laughed. The next thing I know I am in the kitchen and Aidan comes out with the mask. I ask what he is doing and he said "I am putting this in the trash so you won't scare me anymore". Can you tell I've done it more than once?

So there you have it...a couple of vignettes more for my memory than for your reading enjoyment I suppose. I am afraid I am going to forget all these cute, funny little stories and I won't recall how they were as small children. Does every mother have this fear or am I the only loon?

Mama!

Ciara has been saying Mama for a few months now. In the very beginning I wasn't sure she really meant me or if it was just that pre-speech babble. Then my brother was holding her and I walked by and she most definitely looked at me and said "Mama!". So now, Mama is just about all she says. All day. Every day. In different tones and inflections to get her point across.

In the morning, she happily babbles and plays in her crib for about 30 minutes: Mamamamamama (I just woke up and am happy right now). Then she questions: Mama? Maaaamaaaa? (Are you there? Are you going to come get me anytime soon?) Then demands: Mama! MaMA! MAMA!!! (I am ready to get out of here now!)

When I leave the room while she is playing with her brothers and she suddenly realizes I am gone she crawls to find me all the while saying "Mama...maamaa...". When she is tired she crawls up to my leg and lifts her arms up to be cuddled. "Mama". The best is when I return from an errand and she has been with her grandparents. I walk through the door and call out "Hello?" and she makes a beeline for the front door with a huge grin on her face and a happy "Mama!!".

Perhaps the funniest though, is when her daddy gets home and walks in the front door. She crawls right over to him and gives him a big smile and says "Mama?". We're working on that one.

Any reservations about preschool are gone, gone, gone

I have been feeling melancholy the past few months because I registered the boys for preschool in May. Where did my baby boys go? I dragged my feet sending in the first tuition payment while I made up my mind. Did I really want to send them off into the world? Did I really want their world to expand beyond "Mommy"? In May I was teetering back and forth. Maybe I'll just keep them home, I thought. But then I finally just sent in the payment so there was no going back. And boy, am I glad I did. My boys have turned into small Napoleans since they have turned three. Manners that I used to pride myself on have gone out the window only to be replaced by demands. "Get me a juice box." "I want more crackers." and the worst "Gimme it!". I am shocked and appalled. And looking forward to shipping them out two days a week. I can now spend a little quality time with Ciara who cannot talk back to me...yet.

My son, the ar-teest

For the past several months, Aidan has found joy in sitting at his table for upwards of an hour (amazing for Mr. Short Attention span) coloring with crayons and markers. My sister pounced on this and bought the boys all kinds of art supplies for their birthday. A whole Rubbermaid tub full in fact. She herself is an artist and so I think she is trying to foster their creativity in a way our mom never fostered hers. Nothing against my mom, of course, but she had her own issues with self-esteem which she passed on to pretty much all of her 4 kids. Even if we were really good at something (like my sister and her art) she never really encourtaged it. But, I digress...

So, in this box was stickers, pom-poms, finger paint, crayons, markers, glue sticks, and paper. Oh, the paper. She bought them "real" artist sketch pads in a few different sizes. When I protested that those were too nice for them to just scribble in and fill up in a day or two, my sister shushed me and said she got them at a discount art supply store. Well, ok then. But now, those are the only things that Aidan wants to color in. He even uses the term sketch pad. "Mummy, where is my sketch pad?" I have tried substituting some little pads of paper I have found here and there but, no. He must have a sketch pad. So now almost every week we make a trip to Michael's to buy him and his brother (who really doesn't care what kind of paper he draws on but must have exactly what his brother has) the smallest sketch pads they make because those are the size Aidan prefers. And they must be the exact ones that Auntie got him. I am now coveting those 40% coupons you get in the mail every week for Michael's and I have my parents and in-laws on the look out for theirs.

Got any to spare? lol

Because every girl should have a few dolls

Or six. Or 7 if you count the "authentic" Irish ragdoll Ciara got for her birthday (which I think was quite expensive so it will probably sit on a shelf until she is 12). I bought Ciara a soft, plush doll for her first Christmas. The boys then gave her their doll that I had bought for them. Ciara happily chewed on the doll's extremities and the boys were excited that she clearly enjoyed their gift. Then, my 8 year old niece came to Ciara's party on Saturday with her arms full of 4 baby dolls she doesn't play with any more and was passing on to her.

I had a feeling my house would be overrun with dolls. I just didn't realize it would be so soon.

Birthday Cupcake

Good to the very last drop!

One

My baby girl turns one today! How is it possible that exactly one year ago today she lay in her hospital bassinet sleeping, oblivious to most everything around her and now she is taking first steps, saying first words and charming the pants off of us every day?

In Aidan and Gavin's birthday post, I explained how my pregnancy with them was very special for different reasons than Ciara's. That is because Ciara's happened naturally, all on its own, without any medical intervention. I will never forget how worried I was that we would have trouble conceiving again and I was in such a rush to do it. I was on a biological timetable because of these weird cysts I get on my ovaries. It was a strong possibility that these cysts could comeon and I would lose one or both ovaries.

So, when the boys were about 7 months old, I got pregnant and had a miscarriage. That at least gave us hope that we could conceive on our own. But, after another 9 months of trying and no pregnancy, we headed back to our fertility doctor. When we met with him I remember saying how I didn't feel our family was complete and we wanted to try again. He said "Well, if you have another set of twins, will your family be complete?". I was kind of annoyed at that comment. As if he were saying I should be happy with the two beautiful boys I had and be content with that. Well, of course I was happy with my boys but I also felt that our family was missing someone. I can't explain it--just a feeling of not being "done". We left there and I was feeling kind of down. Little did I know that the whole time I was sitting discussing all the medications I would need to take again to get pregnant, I already was! We found out the next week that we were expecting again and the rest is......Ciara. lol

Happy Birthday!!

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