Music Man

So yeah.  Marcus' obsession with music is NOT just a phase.  This passion of his is in his DNA, passed down from all 4 grandparents and his own mom & dad.  It occupies the majority of his day and he says he even dreams about it.  Ha!

As his parents, it thrills us to see him loving something this much, and being so good at it, too.  We have these lofty visions of him having a career in the music industry, participating in the worship team at church, or being a sound engineer.  Who knows how the Lord will use this in his life?  For now, it's a great therapy for him and gives him a sense of success that he doesn't readily find with other things.  I love hearing about other kids with JS love music too.  Watching a video of one friend play the trombone at his school recital and seeing another guy rock out on the electric guitar with his friends in their band, make me so excited for all the experiences Marcus will have in the future as well.

Typical boys his age may read books about Star Wars or their favorite action hero, but not our son.  He geeks out on books like these:





The nerdier the better.



He don't discriminate against the 80s photos either.



For some reason, he also likes to know how each instrument is spelled.  The boy is thorough, I tell you.  Next time you see him, ask him how to spell "music".  It's the equivalent of asking him what his name is.



He makes music everyday.  Sometimes just for fun.



Other times, it's serious practice.



After ordering us to play "Twinkle Twinkle" 1.5 million times, he's learned to finally play it himself.  Thank the Lord!  I'm so sick of playing that song!  Big props to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for writing a tune that has occupied my son for countless hours.  Mastering this song has made him realize that he can play other ones too.  After showing him a few times, he's also added "Mary Had A Little Lamb" and Beethoven's "Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee" to his repertoire.  "Jingle Bells", however, he learned on his own...just started playing it one day.  He's a freak like that.

His newest favorite exercise is quizzing him on what musical family each instrument belongs to. We've got the woodwinds (and a side of snot).



The brass instruments



The percussion instruments



And the strings



Sometimes he puts them in single file.  Just to admire.



Group picture



When he's not playing them in real life, he's playing them virtually.



Or watching others play them.



We've already started training Little Brother to follow in his footsteps.



But we're not sure if he's serious about it.



Some of you already know, but Marcus and Derek came out with a single a few weeks ago.  Here is their debut video, produced by Lady AnteMiriam of Babysitting Records, recorded at Wet Diaper Studios.  Enjoy.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=U028jWonELU]

Remember This

On my wedding day, I kept telling myself, "Remember this."  I didn't want the day to pass without me being fully aware of the day Mike and I became husband and wife.  So now, I have the sweetest memories of that day that even the photographer couldn't capture on film.

Three kids later, my memory-making muscle is always being exercised.  Like every parent, I want to make memories for my children that they can keep for a lifetime.  But lately, I feel like I want these memories for myself as much as I want them for Audrey, Marcus, & Derek.  Time is flying so quickly and I don't want to forget that I was once a mom of 3 young children who were blissfully content and loved being a part of this family.

It's been a season of reprieve for our family, and whenever we get those windows of peace, I just want to soak them up and whole-heartedly thank God for them.  This past month, we had the chance to take a few outings.  I couldn't get the best angles with Big Poppa strapped onto my chest, but I did my best.



So...I want to remember...

How Audrey asked if she could wear this unique outfit on our outing to a nature trail at Newport Back Bay.  She's at a stage where she must wear a skirt at all times, Duggar style.  She also did some interesting layering with her tops.





and then added shades.



I want to remember how Marcus "Whoa-ed" while admiring the view



and did not want to stop hiking up and down, up and down, up and down the trail,



giving Daddy a workout, as usual.



I want to remember how many times Audrey said, "Look!  Look!" at the aquarium.



And that although he was battling a cold, Marcus enjoyed himself too



and still wanted to walk around and give Dad some more exercise.



I want to remember my model parenting:
Me:  Audrey, take a picture in the shark's mouth.
Auj:  I don't want to.  It's scary.
Me:  Audrey, put your face in the shark's mouth NOW.  Obey.



I want to remember how stoked the kids were for their first swim of the season.





And how Marcus was sporting his new shades, male model-style.





I want to remember how bad of  a swimmer Audrey still was, after flunking her swim lessons last year.  This girl thinks she is HOT STUFF when she puts her head in the water for a few seconds.  She says she doesn't need lessons because she already knows how to swim with a vest on.  (????)



I want to remember how Derek woke up from a nap one day and found himself at the beach for the first time.





And Big Brother thought Lil' Biggie looked pretty cute.



I want to remember how Audrey had a perpetual smile on her face the whole day.



And although he was only able to take catnaps, Derek was super happy to be in the sun too.



I want to remember how much the kids liked picnicking on the sand.





And how Audrey could have jumped waves for hours.









I want to remember that although Marcus was scared of the ocean,



he was King of the sand



and couldn't be happier.



He loved ordering his father to "Get more water....pleeeeaase."



And Mike fulfilled his wishes again and again and again.



I want to remember how stoked I was to still be married to this guy



And thankful to add more pages to my mental wedding album.

Big D: Wonder Boy

When Derek was born at 8 pounds 10 ounces with man-hands and man-feet, I should have known that he would be something of a phenomenon.  Today, at 6 months old and 20 pounds, he's proven to be our wonder boy.  Almost everything about him is different than I've experienced with the other two.

First of all, he's by far the earliest teether of the 3.  He started around 3 months old and now he is going on his 7th chomper.  I will be feeding him a T-bone steak tomorrow.



When he's especially hungry and wants to nurse, he opens his mouth as wide as possible, shows me his fangs, does a crazy little head shake as if to go in for the kill, and latches on with his teeth before sucking.  The sound effects that come from his mouth make it seem like he is eating me alive.  During the nursing session, he lets out a few cleansing man-farts.  When he's done, I put him over my shoulder and he releases a beer-belly belch followed by a wet burp which leads to a stream of spit-up that runs down my back.  When I stand up, I look down and see that I've just sat in a puddle of breastmilk.  My pants are all wet.

Clothes are a bit of an issue.  He grows at a rate faster than my ability to find suitable clothes for him.  For a while, his onesies were off-the-shoulder with only 1 out of 3 buttons closed on his crotch.  I finally pulled out the 6-12 month size, so he's a bit more comfortable now.  No more off-the-shoulder or boatneck onesies, but they are V-neck from time to time.  And sometimes, they show off a bit of baby cleavage.





He doesn't crawl on his belly yet, but he's managed to get around for a few months now...on his back.  Think inchworm, but upside down.  He gets into a bridge pose balancing on just his head and feet like this:



Then he straightens out and bends again.  That's how he travels from one end of the rug to the other.  Here's a frontal view:



Bird's eye view:



Sometimes he'll do a one arm stabilizer:



Since he was born, he's made us wrestle him for everything.  From diaper changes to changing his clothes, he makes us pry his extremities open.  Sometimes he is so strong and I'm so tired that I just want to forfeit and let him win the arm wrestling competitions.  What makes diaper changes even more challenging is that he feels that he must squeeze his nether regions whenever his diaper is open.  He squeezes so hard that it looks like he's trying to make lemonade.  Needless to say, this gets a bit messy when I'm changing a poopy diaper.  Add to this his love of doing back bends.  I get sweaty at each diaper change.

Since he outgrew his infant carseat at birth, getting him in the car has been sort of an issue.  Due to his girth, it is quite uncomfortable for him.  Therefore, he likes to stay sitting upright.  I have to push him down with all my might or do a tug-of-war with the seatbelt adjustment strap to make him recline like he's supposed to.  Even then, I sometimes give up and he'll just ride across town sitting up.



Who does he inherit these traits from?  He seems to resemble someone else quite notorious:



O Derek, I love to wrestle you and shovel food in your mouth really fast.  I love having to pull my hair out of your grip of death.  I love how you almost bite our fingers off.  I love how you sweat like your sister and your father.   I love that now I know what it's  like to bathe a seal. I love how you giggle when I put you in your bed.  I love how you give us your generous smiles.  I love burying my face in your rolls.  I love that you are so happy and that you love being in our family.  I love that God created you in my womb and sent you to us even when I couldn't dare to even ask the Lord for another child.  I love that I'm so undeserving of you.  I love you.