I have issues around here.

I have an 18-month-old who wants to do everything for herself. This would be wonderful except she is developmentally incapable of doing so. She wants to feed herself, she wants to put her own shoes on and she wants to brush her own hair. Not only is her independence hard to deal with, but when left unattended it can create chaos.

Contrast that with the four-year-old that lives here who refuses to do anything for himself. He wants me to do everything for him that he is developmentally capable of doing. He wants me to dress him, put his shoes on and he even eats better if I feed him. I try to explain that with two younger siblings I can’t be his maidservant. It’s not sinking in.

Fortunately I am lucky to have a totally compliant two-month-old who allows me to provide all things for him, and a competently independent six-year-old who can also be helpful when called upon.

Richard and I talk about moving away from Boise, to experience a different part of the world. We’ve spent our entire married life in Idaho and neither of us really imagined that we would be here forever. So maybe someday we’ll get the chance to venture away.

But there are many things to love about living here. One of those things is that I get to watch my children participate in things I participated in as a kid. One of those things is the Capitol Classic race. Cameron ran this weekend and did really well, his best race so far. But I just love the atmosphere of it all. It was a beautiful day and the finish line was at a downtown park with trees, happy family-oriented people, and treats. I really do love Boise.

I told Cameron I wanted to take his picture, but didn’t specifically request a pose. I got one anyway. Oh that boy…

Miriam has earned the nickname “Garbage Gut” from her grandpa. This is because she has the bad habit of refusing to eat the food given to her, and instead eats food from others’ plates, off the floor and out of the garbage can. The other day after my fruitless efforts to feed her oatmeal in her highchair, she gathered the other oatmeal bowls from breakfast and finished them off.

I can’t believe I’ve blogged for years and managed to avoid a weekly post with a clever alliterative title. In any case, I have one now.

Meeting people who defy stereotypes gives me a weird satisfaction. I feel like saying “Ha! You’re wrong!” to all the people who perpetuate stereotypes. I’ve been watching these short videos for awhile now, and I find them impressive, inspiring and amusing. I don’t post them just because they are about Mormons, although I do fantasize that having that one thing in common with these amazing people could possibly make me as good or as interesting as they are. I post them because they are everything I just mentioned and I think you will find them equally entertaining.

So let the tradition begin, every Monday a new Mormon.

Miriam is getting old enough to be an enjoyable playmate for Eli. Eli loves being the one in charge for once. I should clarify, she isn’t quite old enough to comprehend and execute his orders, but she a least isn’t giving him any. This works really well while Cameron is at school, and I’m looking forward to the fall when they can play together freely. But when Cameron isn’t at school we have some serious jealousy issues. Cameron’s feelings are hurt that occasionally Eli prefers playing with Miriam, whose inability to comprehend and execute orders prevents Cameron from holding a power position. So Cameron has no desire to play with Miriam, but I am hopeful that he’ll learn to play more cooperatively as an incentive to keep Eli as a play buddy.
It used to be (and still is) that Eli idolized Cameron and did everything, wore everything, said everything that Cameron did. Now Miriam is falling into that pattern with Eli as her idol. She found Cameron’s hat and put it on to look just like Eli.

Simon is two months old today. It has gone by so fast. Of course, everyone says that. He out-weighs all his siblings for this age. He is gaining weight really well despite his reflux. We are still doing lots of laundry though. He is giving us a smile here and there. Oh those baby smiles are priceless. He is also sleeping through the night. Also priceless. He loves the swing and I have to be careful not to leave him there all day. I call him “Little Dude” quite a bit but mostly we call him “Si.” In fact, it is the only family member name Miriam has picked up so far. Actually what she says is “Hi Sise.”