Chickadee's Artwork

"That's you and me. See your necklace? And I'm in your tummy. I have beads in my hair. We are in the house."

Say Cheese!

Big Feelings About a Little Bed

I sold Chickadee's toddler bed tonight. That is to say, I sold Little Howler Monkey's, Big Sister's, Peanut's, Sunshine's, AND Chickadee's bed.

I originally bought this bed when I went from two kids to three. Someone described me as a "glutton for punishment" the day I was putting that together when I knew that the Howler Monkey was on her way.

I remember squishing my body into that bed with Big Sister when she arrived because she was so, so scared and cried all night.

When Peanut arrived, I put her in the pack n play. Then I heard a thump and saw that she found her way to the bed instead.

And Sunshine? She used to be soooo tiny in this HUGE bed. She was in it till Chickadee moved out of the pack n play. Since then, it has been hers, though she inconsistently slept in it.

No shortage of stuffed friends here.

Chickadee wasn't super excited about her bed leaving tonight, but the reality is she doesn't sleep in it, she has a big girl bed and well, this: 

That's my spot in the middle there.

 So we carried this memory holder of a bed out to someone's truck tonight. Hopefully, they will have some memories of their kid in it one day too. Can't imagine how nostalgic I will feel when I am sending kids off to college if a little bed makes me scroll through a million pictures!!

More on Eagle

Sometimes you just drive down the road and remember things you don't want to forget. Chickadee was singing in the car yesterday and it reminded me of 2 more things about Eagle:

1. Eagle sang songs by saying one syllable of one line four beats behind everyone else. Example: Twinkle, twinkle little star....STAR...How I wonder what you are....ARE!!!

and....

(don't judge)

2. His favorite song was "Watch me", aka "whip/nae nae". I have the BEST video of him singing this. Hysterical. (and at least it was the Kids Bop version....)

#sucker

"Carry me in the carrier, Mama?" she says.
"Why?" I say, "You're getting very tall for the carrier."
"I just want to be close to you, Mama. Please?"

A mile there. A mile back. Chickadee for the win.

Eagle's Top Ten

Eagle left our nest today. True to himself, his last words were "no", "no", and "NO!". The kids each climbed in the caseworker's car to give Eagle a hug and kiss, and we stood in the driveway waving till his car was out of sight.

Eagle was NOT THE EASIEST two-year-old to walk through this door, but we will miss him all the same.

10.  Eagle had exactly two haircuts in eight months. He needed way more than that, but my offers to take him were always declined.
9. Eagle loved laps. He was much like Junebug in this regard and would rotate from lap to lap to lap. He even frequented Chickadee's lap despite weighing 5 pounds more than her.
8. Eagle and Stubby were fast friends. Not exactly sure how that happened, but soon after Eagle's arrival, Stubby was following him and checking on him and tolerating all the "gentle" pets Eagle gave.
7. Eagle could live on milk and white flour alone. In fact, some days, he did. Not a fan of veggies. An occasional fan of fruit and meat. Not even a fan of french fries or macaroni. But put a roll or a flour tortilla in front of the guy and it was gone.
6. Eagle fell a million times a day. Well, maybe not a million, but one time I counted and he fell 14 times between leaving our house, dropping the bigs at school, and arriving at daycare himself.
5.  Never EVER spoke in an inside voice. Never. He was so, so loud.
4. Used "so so" as his descriptor for everything. Trucks were so, so big. People were so, so nice and so, so funny. Cars were so, so fast. Brownies were so, so yummy.
3. As hard as I tried to make things otherwise, Eagle called me Mommy. So we "trained" him to call his mother Mama. He learned pretty quickly and would distinguish between the two of us very clearly.
2. Had a baby sister that he seemed to enjoy based on what he said. Her name was one of his first words. He gave run downs of what she did (as a six month old) during visits and was tickled if she rode in the car with him to visits.
1. Eagle was a hug monster. He often walked around hugging things saying: I hug you leg. I hug you purse. I hug you backpack. I hug Speed jacket. He never stopped the hugging but the words eventually morphed into I love you leg. I love you purse. I love you backpack. Or I love Speed jacket. As much as he screamed, he was a love bug who had noooo issue at all expressing his feelings.

 Love you, Eagle! I am missing your hugs already.

I have finally learned how to get photos off of my phone....

A few random photos:

At our friend's house after Halloween

Star Wars in the front yard

What everyone wears to play hopscotch

A day at the park

Our very recent trip "camping" (we came home after s'mores)

Chickadee and Eagle waiting for baths

What Chickadee Wore Today

Not pictured: Golden sparkly ballet flats

A Weekend Without Eagle

Eagle is transitioning out so we have had 3 full days without him. His loud self will be back tomorrow. It has been soooooo quiet the past three days. Eagle is a yeller when he's happy and a screamer when he's not. He does not know not to interrupt and he's in that phase that I remember Sunshine going through where he repeats himself over and over until you give him the response he wants.

Example:
Mommy, big truck.
Oh, you see a big truck?
No. Mommy, big truck.
There's a truck over there?
No. Mommy, big truck....

And the guessing continues.

The sound out of Eagle's mouth is NON-STOP.

But we miss Eagle for sure. The kids have been wondering aloud what he is doing right now and then guessing. Chickadee has been sitting in his carseat so "it won't be empty". Speed, in his little OCD way, is already ticking off things we have to be sure we send with Eagle when he leaves for good. Tomorrow, we will go fetch our friend and the noise in the house will, once again, be off the charts.

Best Sentence from Eagle

"I love you eyes, Mommy."