Kid Updates

Clark, who has always been my BIG boy is growing up. He is now adjusting to our life here in Jakarta. We have all been excited for him to start his last year of preschool and so far he loves it. My mom sent us the cutest red white and blue clothes for the kids, and Clark just loves his shirt and I have to tell him he is only allowed to wear it once a week. He is so much like me (peach skirt anyone?), even down to the skipping over the cracks in the ground outside just for fun. I still remember doing that. He never wants to be alone (me), he only wants to do fun stuff (me), and he always makes up creative excuses as to why he can't do the hard things (me also). He is fun to be around and he is a good big brother and it is fun to watch him and Andrew play together. He still takes naps everyday for about 2 hours after school and I love him for that as well as his big bright eyes and happy go lucky personality.


Andrew is my happy to play by himself kid as long as you are okay with him getting eggs out of the refrigerator and rolling them across the floor, flooding the floor with the water from the Aqua dispenser, or bringing half a watermelon from the fridge upstairs to me first thing in the morning while I am still trying to get out of bed and saying "Mom, please can I have some watermelon?" in the sweetest voice ever that I almost don't care that he has dripped watermelon juice all the way through the house (that's the longest run on sentence EVER! No, I am not going to fix it honey). We have nicknamed him "the destroyer" and not having known that we call him that, the nursery leader on Sunday said that he is just great except that they call him "destructo" because he topples everyone's building blocks....but he then flashes this big 'ol cute smile and it's just so endearing. That's Andrew, also known as Andoozie (he is SO clumsy) and Pain-in-the-A (see above regarding eggs and water). :-) He also wants to go to school SO badly. He is always on the go team, and after we get back from dropping Clark off everyday, he rides his bike (which he rides better than Clark I might add). He reminds me in both looks and charm of my dear husband, and I just can't help but melt at the sight of his cute face, which is why I must march him straight to his room after said egg and water episode(s), because otherwise he just might flash me that sly grin of his and I'll be done. One thing he does get from me is he can do the Bruce Carter lip lift, which I can also do. Whenever he thinks something I say is weird or funny, he will repeat it back to me, and do the Bruce Carter lip lift...it's hilarious.


Andrew charming LaLa, our driver.

...and then there is Audrey. She is super cute...or as Andrew says "SUPA COOT". She is smiley, giggly, and is getting some pudge around her wrists and legs. She is 5 months old and weighs about 14 pounds...so she is packing it on nicely. Our pembantu, Siti, doesn't know how she is so big only drinking my milk (Indonesians rarely breastfeed for very long because they all have to work). She is just dying to feed her some real food, and I am equally dying to not. I have to say that starting solids is NOT one of my favorite things and I put it off for as long as I feasibly can. She sleeps great, eats great, and is starting to chill out more on her own for longer periods. She is like Houdini because we kept seeing that she HAD rolled over but had yet to see it. One time she did it as Tanner and I were supposed to both be watching and waiting for it, but somehow we both got distracted and the sly girl busted a move. Finally the fifth time was the charm and we actually saw her skills. She loves being outside and playing peek-a-boo, but don't even think about tossing her in the air. YOU....WILL...PAY a la blood curdling scream. She is starting to find her voice and squawks a lot when she's just hanging out. I have a feeling she is going to be a talker just like her mama. She still has her birth marks on her forehead and in between her eyes, and I really wasn't conscious of them when we were in the states, but then when we came here, a lot of the locals ask about it i.e. "What happened to her face?!" I read that they are most likely going to go away by the time she is 2 or 3, so it will be interesting to see if/when they go. She has daddy (and mommy for that matter) wrapped around her pudgy little thumb and I think Andrew is just biding his time until he can play WITH her instead of ON her. I say the line "Andrew, please don't squeeze your sister's head" at least once a day. All of her darker newbie hair has fallen out and the blonde is starting to thicken up. I think Clark wraps it up nicely when is says on a fairly regular basis "Mom, Audrey's so cute at being zero." AND "Mom, Audrey's the best."




As for me...Clark starting school was a big thing for me just for the sake of having a forced routine. I like routines, but I am not very disciplined to keep them going. So, I like the fact that we have a schedule now to work around. I read to the kids in the car on the way to and from school and I love pick up and drop off. It's just such a traditional mom thing to do, and I find a lot of joy in it. I like my alone time with Andrew when we get back to go play outside together, and I always get good snuggle time in with Audrey during feedings. I have to say I was wondering about the whole 3 kid thing there for a minute, but now that there is some method to the madness, I am enjoying it a lot. The things that I thought were going to be difficult moving here have turned out not to be such a biggie and some things that I thought were going to be easy are not. I'll save that for another post. Suffice it to say, I am happy and at peace with the stage of life I am in. My kids are my life, and it's great. There is a lot going on around me and there are temptations to do a lot for myself and leave my kids home (because I can), but most of the time that doesn't sit well with me, and I think I have finally found the right balance and am learning to shut out everything and everyone else around me that tries to tell me otherwise.

While my friend Kelly was visiting us from East Timor (get your atlas out yo), she took some cute pics of the kids while they were playing outside (see the good ones up above). Kelly's visit deserves a blog or two on their own, so stay tuned, and fasten your seat belts because it was a wild and crazy ride...and I was just in the passenger seat most of the time!