Catfood27Cents

6/52

A portrait of my children each week. 

Ronan: Looks forward to coming home for some iPad time after school to play his new favorite game, Terraria. 

Isla: Attended her first formal dance with her father, the Sweetheart Ball.  She loved the dressing up, getting fancy hair and all the attention. Only two more days in that cast!!!! YAY!

Stellan: Wild thing wouldn't let me get a good pic of him.  But man o man, do I love his Max costume. 

Wolf: Oh, you know, just innocently tearing through every and all cabinet, basket, drawer, bin, what have you that he gan get his hands into.  :) 

Until next week...

4/52

4/52

A portrait a week of my children

Stellan: He looks a bit sad in this swing, but he was having a fun time playing just moments before with his dinos. 

Isla: Still game for dressing up whenever she can and always thinking of ways to get into my make up. Clearly the arm in the cast only ups her game. 

Ronan: Really wanting to be in Wolf's photo without letting me take one of him just on his own.  Sigh * seven. 

Wolf:  Was not enjoying my Mohawk.  Now that he's crawling, he does not want to stand still for anything!  

a 52 project? A photo of my children every week?

Well, I want to try.  I'm quite keen on these things.  Watching other people's children grow and change throughout one year has been really interesting see.  I'd love to create a book at the end of the year of all of the photos I put in this series.  How lovely would that be?  I've actually been taking photos quite regularly, but nothing to get too excited about.  So, I'll catch up in this post... then, ideally, I hope to update with a 52 photo every weekend at the end of each week.  Who will be in these photos?  Well, ideally I'll have a picture of each kiddo, but hey, more than one in a frame counts, and really I'll take whoever I can get.  At least one child each week.  Ideally all four, but, you know.  I'll do the best I can.  If you're doing a 52 project let me know?  Maybe we can inspire each other to keep it through to the end of the year?  

1/52 

 

 

 

 

 

2/52

 

 

3/52

 

And, just for some quick recap of the last few weeks...

Isla broke her left arm.  Mending it required pins and five+ weeks in a full arm cast.  That sucked. A lot. But happily (?) surprisingly (?) she's totally unfazed and continues to play hard.  Can't keep a good 5 year old down, I suppose.  

Stellan's vocabulary has exploded.  He knows all of the things.  All the colors.  All the animals.  All the sounds.  All the nuances.  It's pretty much blown my mind.  He even knows the names of dinosaurs.  Crazy I tell you.  I'm glad I wasn't worried because he wasn't talking as early as his siblings, because yeah, he's just fine.  Oh, did I mention he's beginning to speak in Spanish to our nanny?  Yeah, that too.  He knows Spanish.  I don't know Spanish.  That's crazy.  And his voice is super cute.  Almost three is peak cuteness.  So so cute. 

Ronan is a Minecraft master.  Loves school.  Might have a couple girl crushes.  (I approve of them all) And is pretty much just becoming a big kid.  How?  Yeah, it's madness.  

Wolf is crawling now and cruising like a boss in his hula walker thing that we unearthed from the attic that used to belong to Ronan.  He mastered that in a few quick beats and is tooling all over the downstairs of our house.  He's thoroughly enjoying his power.  

I hope your New Years has been off to a wonderful start.  

xo Cat

 

2015

While 2014 was not epically hard in really any particular way, I am not sad to see it go and say hello to 2015.  The New Year always inspires me.  I can start again!  I make goals!  (Not really into resolutions)  Things are going to be BETTER this year! LOL   Perhaps I place some unrealistic expectations on the flip of a calendar page, but whatever, at 37, I probably won't be changing my thoughts about this too soon.

Anyway, to briefly recap, Christmas was nice.  Seeing it through the eyes of your children always brings back the magic of the holidays.  While I felt like it blasted past faster than you can say Rudolf, it was full of family and fun.  

With four little ones, we've been busy.  Really busy.  In fact, carving out time to blog has seemed SO low on the list of things I need to prioritize that it's ridiculous, but I did make it one of my um, goals, for the new year- somewhat more regular post updates.  

The kids start back to school on Monday (oh yeah, I never really posted about why we stopped homeschooling) but needless to say, they are actually excited to be getting back to their (wonderful amazing) school, and I am looking forward to finishing the last two episodes of Serial (remember that time thing?) so nobody spoil it for me!!! I want to see if my theories of how it ends are correct!  

And as far as all that goes, we are all doing okay here.  There's been a little flu, a little (okay a lot) of congestion, lots of drizzly weather and a really wonderful sense of friendship with the people with whom we spend our days.  Things are good.  I'm looking forward to making them better and better.  

With that, here's a few photos.  

Jan. 1

January 2

Wolf: Seven Months

I'm so behind.  Wolf is almost nine months old!  But here's SEVEN!  Eight to follow shortly (I hope). 

insert janky backdrop shot here.  barely even trying here people.

Stellan

Stellan is my challenging, frustrating, passionate, impulsive, strong, brave, funny, sweet, tender, loving little two year old.  He loves so hard.  I've had two dreams now where I've been seperated from him, once by fire and once by a snake and I was (desperately, frantically) trying to figure out how to get to him.  It doesn't take a psychologist to figure those dreams out.  

I know that love will win.  I know that that isn't just enough, too.  Parenting is hard.  I wouldn't wish to ever go back to life before kids, but still, it's hard.  Until then, we weather the storms knowing we're going to get wet.  But we also know that the storms will pass.  I will love you just as hard, Stelly, until we both become soft. 

 

Wolf: Six Months

Here he is, in all his half-way to one glory!

Wolf: Five Months

Oh Wolfie, five months already.  Geez.  Well, you enjoyed your first vacation which was our long summer trip to Ohio.  Three weeks being spoiled by Nana and Papa, it went too fast.  You had a lot of fun being snuggled by everyone, being Baptized, rolling over and such.  

We're used to hearing comments from random people such as, "wow, he's the most adorable baby I've ever seen", and the like.  Yawn - tell me about it.  But you're more than just skin deep baby person - you've got soul.  Lots of laughter and happiness pours out of you.  And if someone near you is upset?  You cry too.  It's hard to believe that in a month you will be theoretically old enough to give solids.  But you're not near sitting up on your own yet, so I'm in no hurry whatsoever.  You're doing just fine with mama as your main meal.  I'm happy to keep it that way for a while.  Don't grow up too fast little babers.  We want to enjoy this last run of infancy for as long as possible.  Love you lambie.  

Stellan, growing

As your year cranks towards 2 1/2, you are changing so much. Your words, the things you say. I still think of you as a baby sometimes. Occasionally I'll call Wolf by your name, as mamas of many are want to do. Your babyhood is sliding away quickly. Your boyhood eroding the baby away like the sea to the beach. I try not to let nostalgia bring me down, but every so often I'll let it in a little. Feel the loss of these little years while

You say: 

"Choo Choo Rawr" - Dinosaur Train

"Mama, I wan go see rawrs" - I want to go to the zoo (or take a walk in the woods)

"mmmwah baby" "mmmwah mama" - Kiss baby. Kiss mama

"Bop" - lollipop

"dink" - drink or anything fluid

"ooh ooh ah ah" - monkeys and apes

Today you completely flipped over your sister, feet over head, on asphalt.  And you got up without a peep (while I ran to you freaking out inside).  You are epic, Stelly.  Epic.

Rawr!!!!

 

Freeze Frame

Just always stay true to yourself.