Christmas Cheer!

 

For the medical crowd:

And these are funny because they're true: 

A Very Merry Christmas! 

Halfway to adultood!

I can't believe our oldest is NINE (halfway flown, as we tell him!)

Iver weighs about 62 pounds (too heavy to carry!) and is a 4 feet, 4 inches tall inches (he says), and excited to have "graduated" from car booster seats.  He wears size 4.5 shoes and is partial to shorts, knee-high soccer socks, athletic tees/sports jerseys (many are blue or green), and his beloved "Samba" adidas soccer shoes.  His favorite color is neon green. 

He goes to sleep easily usually around 8 p.m. and sleeps until 6 a.m. (sharing a room with his brother), but is generally the first one awake in our house, not unusually rising in the 5 o'clock hour. He is a pretty good eater, and especially loves pasta, burgers, sausages, spicy foods (he still puts hot sauce on everything), and is becoming quite the cook and baker!  He likes making eggs (except he does not eat eggs), pancakes, and other breakfast treats, as well as smoothies. He eats a good variety of vegetables (including green beans, peas, broccoli, peppers, corn, cucumbers, carrots) and loves most fruits (like his mama, his favorite is mango). He definitely could survive and fix his own food if left "home alone." His favorite ice cream flavor is strawberry. 

breakfast cinnamon rolls (from scratch!)

He attends Spanish-immersion third grade and is doing well in school. He excels at math (recently he's been doing triple and multiple-entry multiplication), and has excellent handwriting. He reads above grade level but isn't super motivated to read books independently, although he can (he prefers to be read to). He hasn't been quite as into art projects these days as he has in past years, but has had renewed interest in Pokémon card collecting and organizing.

He's a great athlete and has excelled in soccer, pick-up kickball, as well as running (cross-country in the fall, track in the spring) and garage pickleball and volleyball. He can ride a bike, roller skate, swim, and hike long distances with us without complaining, still a very high-energy and spirited child.  He loves playing and creating board games (It's in the Bag is a favorite), beating us at chess, and competing in card games including 'Thirteen' and 'Upstairs/Downstairs'.  He has a great memory and is also very motivated by money (mostly hoarding his $10/month allowance and talking his aunts into buying him things he really wants). He still practices piano with me for 15 minutes most weekdays and has improved a lot, also resisting less as he realizes how far he's come and that it's fun to make music.

He seems to be an extrovert and loves humor and pranks. He often acts older than his years (he would love to watch advanced movies, sing along to current pop music that includes swear words, and stay up late) and is a responsible firstborn. He likes technology, video games (Zooba) and would love his own screen, although we do not feel he's remotely ready and have never-to-be-revealed entry codes on our phones and iPads because the temptation is great.   He has gotten better and better with dealing with the uncertainty of life and school, even while he is a pretty regimented kid who always wants to "know the plan" and likes to be in control.  He still is a deeply feeling, sensitive child with strong opinions about how and when things are done and we have continued to work on his tone, manners, frustration tolerance, and flexibility.  When he is feeling connected, he's a very independent, responsible, pleasant, sweet and snuggly kid. 

(early opened) Birthday Gift from Cô Kat 

With friend and fellow Messi-lover, Joah

Having a near-Christmas (winter solstice) birthday sometimes makes celebrations a bit tricky, but he invited a few friends to the Bear River Family Fun Center for pizza, bowling, and laser tag last weekend.  The center (about 40 min from our house) was a really nice place to have a two-hour party-- they did all the decorating, food preparation, and supplied utensils/cups/plates. We provided rides to many of the other guests, brought a party treat and a few veggies/fruits and had no clean up after the event!  Easy peasy!

I play "crafty mom" about once per year!

Laser tag assassins!

He opened several gifts from friends (thanks to all who showered him!)

Shut the Box is a hit!

We saved some gifts to open on his actual (solstice) birthday!  Thank you to the family including my parents, aunts Kat and Vanessa, John and Inara for sending things for him! 

Iver let Niall (who has been excitedly eyeing the Christmas presents under our tree) help open some of the presents! 

new kicks!

Iver tells us he's never leaving home, despite him technically, by age, being halfway flown and (often) chafing under our rules! We shall see! I hope this last year of single digits will be a great one! 

(Bà nội Thao makes the best photo collages)

Here are my past blog posts about Iver:  birth, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight!

A Christmas Poem

A Christmas Poem

by Kaitlin Hardy Shetler

sometimes I wonder
if Mary breastfed Jesus.
if she cried out when he bit her
or if she sobbed when he would not latch.

and sometimes I wonder
if this is all too vulgar
to ask in a church
full of men
without milk stains on their shirts
or coconut oil on their breasts
preaching from pulpits off limits to the Mother of God.

but then i think of feeding Jesus,
birthing Jesus,
the expulsion of blood
and smell of sweat,
the salt of a mother’s tears
onto the soft head of the Salt of the Earth,
feeling lonely
and tired
hungry
annoyed
overwhelmed
loving

and i think,
if the vulgarity of birth is not
honestly preached
by men who carry power but not burden,
who carry privilege but not labor,
who carry authority but not submission,
then it should not be preached at all.

because the real scandal of the Birth of God
lies in the cracked nipples of a
14 year old
and not in the sermons of ministers
who say women
are too delicate
to lead.

Naughty Canine

.

Pepper, who is partially blind and almost entirely deaf (we think) has a very impressive sense of smell, and has become increasingly naughtier in her old age.

When we're out of sight, or out of the house, she sniffs around, and tears through bags, backpacks, and really anything that has a whiff of food in it that is within her reach (even jumping onto furniture!).

A couple of months ago, I accidentally left a snack cabinet open, and found that she'd eaten about half a bag of peppermint bark! Knowing that chocolate is somewhat toxic to dogs, I thought, well... that's it. I probably killed the dog.  But, after about 12 hours of a bloated belly, labored breathing, and violent (and very dark brown) vomiting, she recovered!

She's also gotten into things in our pantry, tearing through a brand new bag of kibble as well as some cups of kids' mac and cheese!

Cheese bandit needed a bath!

We've had various Christmas gifts in stages of wrapping stored in our office room. Kelvin had purchased a gift of liqueur chocolates for Lori, which was in a cardboard carton within another box. On Thursday, when I came home to walk Pepper over lunch (but after the walk), I discovered the carton ripped apart, with several foil-wrapped little chocolates missing. I notified Kelvin and he was shocked. "How is she?" he asked when he called in a panic. "Well, I didn't notice her stumbling around like a drunk dog during the walk if that's what you're asking!" I replied. (She actually was totally fine the rest of the day and overnight. And I haven't even seen foil in her poop....).

When I told the kids later in the day what Pepper had done while they were at school, Niall said, "Well, that's okay. Alcohol isn't too bad, since she's an adult."

Ha ha!  An adult, but, in dog years, maybe the equivalent of a nonagenarian :)  Naughty Canine, although she's still extremely cute and we will cherish these funny memories when she's gone.  I wonder what she'll get her in her stocking this year (if she doesn't tear through it first) -- treats or coal?!