For Our Guests

The other day Alexander was taking a long time in the bathroom. I called to him to ask him if he was done and ready for help. He said, "No, not yet." After about ten minutes I went to check on him, but when he heard my footsteps approaching he called, "No! Don't come yet. Don't look!" So I thought I'd give the boy some privacy.


Finally, when he said he was done, I came in and found that he had scrunched up about 15 balls of toilet paper and arranged them neatly on the counter. He had used up at least half a roll.


He said, "Look, Mom. Look what I did."


My first thought was to chide him about it, but I opted for a less confrontational route (for once). "Wow, what are all those for?"


He looked up at me and smiled magnanimously. "They're for our guests."


We were having a potluck that night and had lots of people in the house.


I suppose there are worse things he could be doing while pooping.

Starting School

Alexander isn't the only one in our family starting school this fall. At the end of August Michiel started his MAT program at Willamette. Ahead of us he's got two years of evening and weekend classes along with student teaching in year two. Then he'll have his masters in teaching with a special ed endorsement.

It's crazy that he's back to homework and papers and tests again after being out of school for so long. (In truth, I'm a little envious...I love being a student.) He's doing really well so far. I love it when he comes home excited to talk about his evening of classes--the ideas, the applications. Now if we can work on his organization... :)

She Crawls!

Annabel is exactly seven months old today, and she officially crawls. Check it out:

Beach Trip

Wow, I realized I never said anything about our beach trip. There's been so much going on that I must have skipped right over it. One house, right on the beach in Lincoln City. Nine people, one child, and one baby. We had a lovely time just being away with the whole family where all we really had to do in the day was figure out what to eat and how long we could stay in our pajamas before having to get dressed.


We went for a hike at Drift Creek Falls,
visited the Aquarium in Newport,
and saw a whale at Depoe Bay. (no picture.)

The floor of the living room was constantly set up with wooden train tracks and baby toys.
We got in a few games of pinochle. And the food was good and plentiful. Not much more to ask for out of a vacation. And Maarten was there for the second half of it, so it was extra special.

More Fun Sayings from the Desk of Alexander

I've been asking Alexander about how he's liking preschool, what he does there, if he's making friends with other kids, etc. But his replies are short. I don't think he has the words yet to describe everything going on with him.

A couple of days ago, over lunch, when I was badgering him to tell me about his day, he said:

"I'm not going to say any more because I'm eating and I don't want to bother myself. That's why I don't want to talk."

Who can blame him?

Later that same day, we were talking about Oom Maarten leaving and flying over the ocean back to the Netherlands. Alexander looked troubled and said:

"But why is his land not hitched up to our land?"

Gotta love it!

Milestones

Well, our little girl is eating solid foods now...well, sort of. Mostly she spits it back out, but she does seems to like it. She's had homemade pearsauce, squash, carrots, smashed banana, and rice cereal. Oh, and she likes to suck on watermellon and cantaloup.

Alexander is thrilled to watch her eat and likes to hand her more and more spoons. So, we're entering the messy-baby-in-highchair phase of parenting again. I have to remind myself that the mess is okay. :)

And Alexander has started preschool. He goes to Bluebird Montesorri here in Silverton. Three and a half hours a day, five days a week. This is his first full week of school. So far, he's loving it, but he tends to have little meltdowns after keeping it together for half the day at school. He'll come home and let it all out.

Here's a picture of him on the front porch of his school:

Stranger Anxiety

Annabel is driving me a little bit crazy right now. She's pretty fussy and clingy, howling every time I set her down or walk out of eyesight. I hope this phase doesn't last long.

Of course, before I know it she'll be so independent she doesn't want to cuddle with me anymore, so I'm trying to move through it with grace. It could be that she's teething, but then, we've been saying she's teething for at least two months now and there is nary a tooth in sight. Actually, that's not true. (I just wanted to say 'nary.') We can see (and feel) a little white tooth just waiting to poke through. Any day now...

More Alexanderisms

"Oh, Lisa dear, you're so wonderful 'cause I was really wanting to make this." -when I asked him to help me stir the pear sauce I was making.

Camping: "I'm going with those other siblings."

"The sparks go up from the fire and go up to the stars and make them bigger."

And here's a conversation he had with Therese while on a walk:

"Look at all the acorns," Alexander said.

"Those are pinecones," said Therese.

"I know, but acorns eat pinecones."

Highlights from Camping

Here are a few highlights from our sibling camping trip this weekend. We camped at Suttle lake, near Sisters, OR. And almost all of the Gerlits-and-extended siblings were there...Me, Kev and Jo, along with our spouses and their siblings (Michiel and Maarten, visiting from the Netherlands; Therese, Ken, Tony, and Gabe; Eric, Jude w/friend Rachael, and Rachael and Sheldon)...and kids, of course (ours + Gwyn, Karis, and my cousin's daughter, Lauren). We had a great time!

Kev and Therese got their boat in the water for the first time. The kids spent a lot of time riding bikes and scooters (and eating lots of treats). Annabel got to experience staring at the fire and getting really grubby.

Annabel working on her standing:

Alexander working on his braking:

In the boat:

Girl on the Go

This little girl can not sit still. She really wants to be on the go, but she can't quite get herself into crawling position. She's always got one leg tucked up underneath. Lately, she's been pulling herself up to standing, looking so proud once she gets herself there. That little tongue comes out and she grins and grins. Then she doesn't know what to do. She'll let go with both hands and flop forward or wobble until she plops down.

Here she is with her oom Maarten:


And here we are at the Oregon Coast Aquarium: