the do nothing stage

i'm not one of those parents who is anxious for her infant to do something. if you ask me, thomas is the perfect age right now. he's sweet and wonderful and i honestly don't ever want him to grow up - and by grow up i mean turn 2.
not that 2 isn't fun. it is. and it's fascinating. but imagine what a mess you'd be if you couldn't control anything you felt - not jealousy, joy, anger, fear - nothing. and then imagine thinking that was OK but all day people were telling you it wasn't. and then imagine you had a little brother WHO DOESN'T EVEN DO ANYTHING but everyone cooed over anyway, using up valuable time they could be spending with you digging huge holes in the yard and running around in circles until your head fell off. you'd be out-of-your-mind bananas.
cute probably, but bananas.
thank god for curious george. the only time tayloe will sit still during the day (aside from his nap) is to watch george. that little monkey might as well be our third child. i hear william h. macy's voice in my sleep and i've seen every single episode ever made at least 300 times, but it's ok because when it's on my child stays in one place for at least 15 minutes.
anyway all this wonderful madness has earned big t and i a break. we're heading to austin tx on friday for a benefit for one of tayloe's new clients, the african children's choir, and my parents are keeping the babies. until monday. WOW. until monday! WOW! then we're meeting them at nags head for t'giving.
i'm pretty sure i know what i'm thankful for ...

rock bomb, 2 months & a haircut

our kids will never think it's weird or new or different or even historic that a black man can be president. to them it is and always will be the way things are. isn't that awesome?
yesterday i'd ask t2 who we voted for. 'rock bomb' he'd say.
in other news, our little baby ain't so little. i have no idea how much he weighs but i swear it's got to be close to 13 or 14 pounds. he's huge. he's a great night time sleeper but the days? not so much. at least once a day he takes a longish nap, but it's never at the same time. and some days he just cat naps and then konks out at 7:30 for his 7-8 hour stretch of sleep. i have no idea if he's getting close to rolling over because all i ever want to do is hold him and love on him. the sweet, warm, soft baby part goes by so fast, something i feel keenly aware of as i watch t2 run up to me and hurriedly say 'hi mom, bye mom' and then take off running as if there's pure sugar running through is veins.
there isn't, but at times tayloe's so filled with raw emotion and he's seems so confused about how to express himself that he does the only thing he really knows how to do - use his body. he hugs very tightly, he pushes when he means to just touch, he runs into other children instead of just saying hi, he tries to tickle but usually ends up scratching. he knows he can't hit or push when he's angry so he's taken to just walking by and shoulder swiping his victims. it's actually quite clever - neither a hit or a push, a shove or a kick. if she can't name it, she can't tell me not to do it.
none of this really surprises me. he's always been more active than verbal, more tactile than cerebral. to help him get over this aggressive spell (and end the 'pretty little girl' comments), we got his hair cut yesterday.
i kept telling him he was getting his hair trimmed like a grown up boy and grown up boys don't push or kick or spit (yes, spit) they use words and keep their hands to themselves. (play along).
maybe it'll work.
the haircut didn't go so well (notice the choppiness) and at one point i was acting like a human straight jacket and promising him just about everything under the sun. but it'll grow out and hopefully the joy of his mother's love will bury memories of her virtually strangling him in a barber chair.

looking for eggs in the chicken coop.

happy 'ween, pt. 2

this is just after leaving a very scary house (smoke machine, skeletons - the works) so tayloe looks a little freaked out, but i had to get the 'happy ween' on the record.

happy 'ween!

tayloe ran around all day yesterday shouting 'HAPPY 'WEEN! HAPPY 'WEEN!'. his excitement was contagious - despite being pretty wiped from our respective trips, t and i carved pumpkins, trick or treated, ate way too much candy and toted our little pony rider all over scottsville in search of sweet treats. t even rocked it and made us all grilled cheeses for supper when we got home (dad is the best).
and no doubt, we had the cutest little pony rider this side of the james river.
the only thing missing was thomas' costume, which is somewhere downstairs in the dark abyss of our basement. there's no way i wouldn't have dressed tayloe up when he was 2 months old. but poor ol t3 got the shaft cause i just didn't have the energy to go digging for it. as we were trotting through neighborhoods, i imagined him asking me later to show him pics from his first halloween. i started feeling really guilty, so i snapped one of he and i walking.

pics of the boys

aren't they gorgeous?

hush, baby

little thomas you're a trooper. already you've been on three overnight trips, braved several scrapes, been dumped on and been so overwhelmed by a weekend of wedding events that you just had to tucker out and sleep through the reception despite the loud music.
maybe it seems like we don't love you. afterall, your brother still only calls you 'baby,' generally refusing to say your name. and most of your face time with him consists of him whispering 'hush baby, hush baby, hush baby, hush baby' if you so much as make a peep.
but nothing could be further from the truth. i for one adore you. you sleep from 10 to 4 a.m. nearly every night (knock on wood), you're hardly ever upset and when you are, it's easy to soothe you. you're soft and cuddly and lately you've been showing us your tender, sweet little smile and the dimple on your left cheek that just about melts my heart.
i keep thinking, 'did i love tayloe this much at this age?' i know the answer is yes, though i don't know how because my love seems infinite and i don't know how a person can feel that way twice (three times counting your dad).
i'm filled with pride that you're mine and i adore every ounce of you, from the soft blonde swirl of hair on the top of your head to your teeny, tiny toenails. mmmmmwwwwaaaah.

such a perfect day

minus the formula dumping incident, t2 was a gentleman this weekend. here he is in his finest wedding duds just after walking down the aisle like he'd done it 1,000,000 times before. and then, despite my presumptions and plans to have him whisked away out of site the moment he handed over the pillow, he stayed quietly with his father during the entire ceremony. seeing him toddle down the aisle, dump the pillow with tayloe and climb up into his arms was more than i could handle in my weak emotional state. i cried a river.
mary was a beautiful bride, the food was amazing, mt airy was magical and the fireworks show at the end rivaled many i've seen on the 4th of july. the whole scene brought back a lot of great memories.
but best of all - to me anyway - was our kid. with his little white suit and little shoes and socks, his hair combed, his pink cheeks and rosy lips - the way he'd say 'i'm the wing bearwer' like he had an entire loaf of bread in his mouth. for one moment (one short, fleeting moment) he was an angel.

is little tayloe jealous?

oh i don't know, sometimes. LIKE WHEN HE DUMPS AN ENTIRE CONTAINER OF FORMULA ON HIS BROTHER'S HEAD. he was so shocked by my shrieks, he pretty much put himself in timeout.
for the record - thomas slept through this entire incident, including the clean up.

snap

my digital camera is so slow i am never really able to capture tayloe's expressions. but this once, it happened. this picture cracks me up.

7 years

hey buddy. seven years today you and me. i still dig you like crazy. our life is really bananas right now and it wouldn't be fun with anyone but you.
you're my favorite and if you want to know my plan, well it's to just keep lovin' you of course cause it seems to be workin'.

dum dum dum dum

my sister in law mary is getting married in 11 days. wow! 11 days! that's really soon!
anyway, we're all in the wedding (except thomas, he just gets to be cute). this is little tayloe's ring bearer suit (the shorts and peter pan blouse do da, not the bubble suit. that one is thomas'). i really want to try it on him, but i don't have the guts. i know we'll mess it up.
he also has little white saddle shoe type things. he's gonna slay 'em, even if he doesn't manage to get down the aisle, which is really a toss up at this point. i have a feeling he'll do it, but i don't want to get my hopes up.
so look people, i need you to pray with me that it doesn't rain AT ALL next week. there can't be a puddle anywhere within 10 miles of mt. airy on saturday the 11th. not a single one.
no puddles, no puddles, no puddles ....

t3

ok i'm not sure how we got so lucky, but thomas is seriously the best baby on the planet. tayloe was a good baby. if it's possible, thomas is even better.
and big tayloe is such a sweet husband. all day i sit around and daydream about how my life sucked before tayloe came and rescued me from my evil and disreputable life and drove me away on a silver pumpkin carriage made of love and sacrifice. i've been in AA for 6 years now and sober as a polecat. god bless john mccain and sarah palin.
(obviously t1 hijacked my blogger mid-post while i was putting t2 down for a nap. however, he is a sweet husband and an amazing dad. and he can be rather funny).

but he looks so sweet

doesn't he? he certainly has moments, but don't be fooled.
obviously having a little brother is confusing. he cries, he stinks sometimes, he doesn't do much and yet he takes up a remarkable amount of his parent's time. what's a 2 year old to do? why, act like a blazing, mad maniac of course.
some clips from the week's highlight reel:
* at the park, he shoved a friend into the soccer goal and ran away with his arms in the air yelling 'GOOOOAAAALLL'
* swat, spit or do both at any human who tries to say hello in public. scowl when someone says 'you're adorable' or 'what beautiful hair.'
* launch tv remotes and the phone off the couch onto wolly's peacefully sleeping head.
* dive bomb off a chair. when you're ignored, stand in the middle of the living room and drop suddenly from standing to lying down (the way someone would if they'd just dropped dead) over and over until someone notices and tells you to stop.
* take your diaper off when you're supposed to be napping and scream 'PEE PEE, PEE PEE, PEE PEE, PEE PEE' until someone comes in and takes you to the toilet
on the plus side, he didn't pee all over his bed. for this, i'm thankful and also slightly proud.
luckily, none of this awfully offensive and at times embarrassing behavior (because none of it limited to the confines of our home) has been directed at his little brother. to him, he's incredibly tender and sweet. to us, though - specifically to me - he's punishing.
so unfortunately, the honeymoon is over. do you have any idea how difficult it is to be compassionate but really firm with a wailing, flailing little rager? sometimes i seriously want to poke his eyes out.
on the plus side, this can't possibly last forever and it certainly can't get much worse (knock on wood).
and he is pretty cute.
it's a damn good thing.

naptime

what a gorgeous saturday afternoon looks like at our house. i could nap too, but i can't resist the urge to just sit here and listen to the silence and enjoy no one needing anything. even wolly's asleep on his bed.
aaaaahhhh.

2 weeks

some recent shots. thomas went for his 2 week appt on tuesday. he's gained 21 ounces since friday the 5th. so he's up to 8 lbs, 15 oz, only i'm sure he's at least 9 lbs by now because he's a piggy.
here's how our night went last night. bed at 10, up at 1:30 with thomas. asleep again at 2:15. 3:30, tayloe comes in our room - something he never does. we're both too sleepy to get up, so he stays in bed with us until i can't take it any more and return him to his bed at 4:15. 4:20 the baby starts crying. i leave tayloe and get up to feed thomas. thomas goes back to sleep at 4:35 and t2 starts crying. i get in bed with t2 and fall asleep (of course) until i hear the rooster crow at 6. i go get in our bed, taking thomas with me because i know he's bound to wake up the moment i fall back to sleep. we sleep until 8:30.
somehow, i feel rested. i'm not even sure how that's possible.
that was one of only two (maybe three, i can't remember) really unsettling nights we've had. thank god for the new coffee shop down the street that makes a killer double latte.

1 week

one week down, 1,203,357 to go. or maybe more. but who's counting?
t2 managed to catch himself a cold, so he's been at his grandparents house since saturday. that's given t1 and i time with thomas and i gotta say, it's been awesome. so far he's an easy baby and is really predictable. i like that in a kid. he's also very sweet and warm and soft and i like that in a kid, too.
t2 is back tomorrow. today i called my parent's house and he answered the phone. hhhiii mama, he said. then he told me how he's been playing with pop and pop and grandjane's dog eddie and that at that very moment he was watching choo choo. he sounded so grown up. since when does he answer the phone and carry on a conversation?
i like this photo of thomas because of the furrowed brow. it's so hard to determine any features belonging to one parent or another at such a young age, but this brow is very very hard to mistake.
am i the only one who recognizes it?

happy birthday thomas bouldin

well, wouldn't you know the weekend tayloe and little t go away for 48 hours is the weekend i go into labor.
thomas bouldin emery was born monday morning (labor day!) at 7:52 a.m. he weighed 8 lbs 2 oz and is 22 inches long. he's got a sweet head of blonde hair and eats and sleeps just the way a baby should. he's named after my dad. we can only hope he's as kind, good natured and loving.
as promised, here's the charity water link. (note that i had to put that his birthday is sept 1 2007 because choosing 2008 wasn't an option). more soon ...

guesses

the tally so far ...
cat: sept 7
tayloe: sept 1, high noon
grandjane: aug. 31
cousin suzie: aug 31
kate: aug. 7
pierce posse: sept 7
ganny: sept 6
grandpolly: sept 4
aunt c: sept 9
276 main street: aug 31
linz: sept. 5

anyone else?

as a side note, if he is born in september and you're thinking of sending a little something, we'd much rather you watch this trailer (click on the blue link, silly) and consider making a donation to charity water. once he's here, we'll set up a birthday page for him and link to it from this site.