Happy Sounds

There are many happy sounds that fill the corners of our home these days. (There are also lots of not-so-happy, over-hungry, over-tired, overwhelmed, over-and-out sounds that fill our home too, but that's another post altogether.) 

Having a rough day? 

Here's one to play until the smile is back on your face. 

(Bear with the first few seconds, the cell phone was discovered peeking around the corner.)

Sweet Henry

Sweet, sweet, baby Henry. He is just my joy. Looking at this milk-splattered face, I cannot help but beam, and smile ear-to-ear, even as tired as I am at the end of this long week. A friend at work has two kids, too. She says her daughter, her first, is her heart. And her son, her second, is her smile. And you can't live without your heart, or your smile. I love the way she describes the separate, different but very equal ways a parent loves two very different children. I think it's the thing that will challenge me the most in this balancing act of parenthood. But oh, just look at that angel face...that is most definitely my smile!

Henry is evolving so much. His sweet personality shining through and transcending the lack of verbal communication between us. Having so many years without a baby, and even though I documented and committed so much of Matthew's infancy to memory, I still forgot how magical it is to love and learn a person who speaks an entirely different language than you.

Henry is rather quiet for the most part, but once you get him going, just hold on! The poor child can hardly get in a word edgewise around here. So when he finds he has the floor he will certainly run with it for as long as he's able. 

But where is holds back in speech he more than makes up for in physicality! When I found him face down in his crib, and he rolled over back to front at 3 months, I should have caught on. But this kid is one active little brute. He's so close to crawling we can all taste it. In fact he may have inched his way in his first scoot this morning. Diaper changes and getting dressed are starting to resemble Cirque de Soleil. I'm brainstorming on names for the show. I'm torn between "Frustrasia" and Irritasmia." Voting begins soon. 
 

And his feet. Oh these feet. He is obsessed with them. (Ever seen anyone else so "namaste" with their feet?!) I have actually seen him GAG himself on his own feet he shoved them so far down his own throat. What do I do with that? And he's just as hand-sy as he is foot-sy. Grabs everything. I am surprised Emmitt has any fur left.

But Henry's most favorite thing about his new world, I have to say, has got to be Matthew. When it's late in the day, and he's out of sorts, and nothing I try seems to hit the mark, Matthew can just walk through the door and make it all okay again. I was completely unprepared for the bond between them. Matthew tolerates this foreign creature with quite a lot of grace for someone his age. But Henry unapologetically adores his older brother. My favorite pastime is standing in the shadows while they interact and watching their new dance unfold. I'm not drunk. I know there are fights and arguments and blame games and half-truths ahead of us the likes of which I cannot even imagine at this point. But even these moments are building a forever connection I pray carries them through everything life will undoubtedly throw their way.

White Ninjas!

Matthew is once again trying his hand, er foot, at soccer at Mt. Bethel. And he's having fun and learning a lot. His teammates and coaches are great and we're enjoying watching Matty learn new skills all the time and challenge himself. 

"Great game, Ninjas! But let's face it, I really just want my snack ticket. There's a doughnut up there with my name on it!"

Matthew is 6!

New parents, don't turn around...or before you know it your baby will be 6 years old! What changes in just the past few months. Well, weeks, really to be honest. Ben and I can hardly believe how grown up Matthew has become in such a short time. It's been a roller coaster year of big changes for this young man. And this sweet baby of ours is growing into an amazingly insightful, creative and thoughtful person, and not to mention a pretty wonderful big brother. We recently celebrated Matty's 6th birthday with his Walker classmates at Gymnastics Academy of Atlanta, Minion style. And well...the pictures can do most of the talking.

"What, I'm just hanging out..."

They started out regular Minions...

 

 

But before long...

 

Little by little...

 

Evil Minions!!!!!!

 

But rest assured, once the antidote was administered, peace was once again restored. 

The Magic Of Disney

For years we heard the question: "When are we going to Disney World?" And for years we said, "soon, we will plan it soon."  It's not that we were entirely avoiding the inevitable, although, to be honest, the prospect of spending days edging our way through crowds of harried families trying to suck all the marrow out of Disney hardly sounded magical to Ben and I. We just felt if we were going to drop all that bank and head south for a 100% child-focused vacation, we were going to make darn sure Matthew was old enough to remember it! 

The time was finally right, and last year I started planning our trip for Matthew's winter break from school, right before I returned to work. It sounded perfect actually. Matthew would be almost 6 and able to do lots of stuff (and remember it!). And Henry would be out of the baby coma of the early months, but not so big he was not willing to be strapped down for days at a stretch. And I had the perfect distraction prior to entering my new life as a working mother of 2. 

Perfect plan right? Well if you know us, you know how our best laid plans typically go. Our plane was scheduled to leave Atlanta on Thursday morning for 4 days in Orlando. Then on the frigid Tuesday morning just before, I awoke to a text from Mama P: "Delta has cancelled Atl to Orlando flight. Call when you have a plan." Another winter storm was heading to a very unprepared southern city and with everyone still reeling from Snow Jam '14 everything was shutting down. Ben and I decided I needed to pack the boys and get the heck out of Dodge before we ended up stuck once the ice started down. So like a woman possessed I raced to finish packing myself, a 6-year old, 4-month old and my husband (who of course was out of town at the time). And so began our adventure, driving to Disney World by way of Macon, Tifton, St. Simons, one speeding ticket and 48 hours of typical Browning dram-edy. It took 2 days to get there but she was well worth the wait. The warm Florida sun welcomed us in a warm hug, and there was not even a cloud in the sky! 

When finally we walked through the front gates, Matty was of course hungry and this was the sign that greeted us mere feet from the entrance. I shot this as it reminded me of Caroline McNeely saying, "you just can't think about the money." And this was the last time I did.

Been here 15 minutes, and I'm still doing ok.

The parade welcomed us just as we were walking in.

You know all those picturesque photos of families in front of Cinderella's castle that you see on TV and in the brochures?

That's not us.

I took about 30 pictures of these two and this was as calm and focused as we ever got Matty.

Our first Disney ride! The line was very short.

A wild ride at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. 

Daddy savoring the moments...

...While they last.

There was so much to see, it was just fun to snap pictures as we walked. 

Matty turning a penny into something you can never use as money again. And it cost 50 cents to do it. (Ok, so maybe we thought about money a little bit again.)

Dinner at Chef Mickey's our first night. I love this picture. Our autograph book was full up by the time we left and this dinner got us a good start. Matty drew pictures of all the characters in this book and had each new friend sign his own page. 

"Is this guy for real?"

Poor Pluto. The nugget was never set down for that introduction. 

"High five dude!"

Enjoying some much needed down time in the room for a bit. Henry says, "playing with Mama P makes every place the happiest place on Earth!"

3 generations dining at Downtown Disney. 

"I'm approaching 'over it' for today guys."

Matty was starving at this point. After the 98th time he whined he was hungry, I suggested he start writing how he felt rather than saying it out loud. Please note the red crayon "hungry."

The Lego boys appreciate a larger than life Buzz and Woody. 

Batteries recharged, ready for Hollywood Studios! 

4 of Matty's classmates were at Disney for Winter Break, and I knew somehow even with all those people we'd see someone, and we did! Matty and Walker pal Marley Mishra in front of the 3D Muppet Show. 

Waiting for lunch at Hollywood and Vine. 

Lots more friends to meet and autograph pages to fill up! 

 

Matty says, "his brother thing is fun sometimes. Look how funny he thinks it is when I tear up paper and throw it on him."

Matty becomes part of a keystone cop-like street performance at Hollywood Studios. Not sure if it was a part of the act or not but when this guy drops his hard hat without missing a beat, Matty runs out and picks it up for him.

That's our fearless star.