I am Mother

The strangest thing happened last night: Curran was having a really rough time settling down to bed. Aric and I were trying to watch a movie, and had been interrupted at least three times as he woke up about 10 minutes after I'd put him down fully asleep. So there I was rocking him again, and just at the point where I might normally get upset that he was wakeful for no apparent reason, there was a cosmic *ca-chunk*. I felt peaceful, and suddenly I felt like a Mother.

"Silly Stacia," you might say,"you've been a mother for over three years now!" Yeah, but I've felt more like a young woman babysitting, compared to my image of my mother. There is a physical and emotional kind of presence I associate with mothers, and until last night I didn't feel that I possessed it. 'Mother' settled into me. I looked at my legs rocking the chair and realized those legs would hold children for years of reading and carry me on walks with them. I looked at my arms holding Curran and realized those arms would cuddle sick children and try to protect them when they got hurt. I felt like an anchor manifested for my kids, as my mother was for me.

This was a singular and unexpected experience, so I just thought I'd share :)
It feels good.

Dancing Green Ghosts, Batman!

Here is Avery to the right, very happy to be a green ghost for Halloween just like he wanted. (Mama's happy she managed to cut a circle with armholes, then hem it!) I also made his little treats bag out of skeleton fabric. We had to cut out the ghost's whole face because eyeholes and 3-year-olds just don't mix :) He made it to quite a few houses, but Grandpa did end up carrying him the last stretch home. Lollipops were his favorite to eat the rest of the night.

I thought the length of the the costume was perfect, but was unfortunately bad for stairs. And it seemed like EVERYONE around us had stairs - go figure!




To the left is Avery just before his first ballet class on Nov 2nd. He is with our neighbor Jane who happens to be taking the same class! He did really well following directions, and just did a lot of looking around during the free dance time, trying to figure out what he was supposed to be doing. His class has eleven other girls in it, so fairly sizable, but the teacher handles them really well. I was so proud of his 'leap over the pond'; he even held his arms out in 2nd!

Tickle-me-Curran

Curran is a very ticklish boy, and he loves having his tummy nibbled on. Of course I always advise changing the diaper before you nibble on his belly :)

He also just loves getting his diaper changed. I don't know if he just really likes to be dry, or if he likes to be undressed. I hope it's the former, because that would make potty learning much easier!

The Halloween Carnival

The church where Aric is interning, St Luke Presbyterian, had a Halloween carnival yesterday. Avery LOVED it! He started out fishing (for toys), then had to try out the giant castle bouncy house.









Then he got his face painted with a very cool dragon - he said he wanted something scary and green. Below you see him wielding the dart for the dart game (where he popped one balloon).

The new shoes:

Ta da! Here is Avery's first pair of ballet slippers. His are the black ones of course. When we came home from the dance store, mama had to get out her well-worn ballet slippers so we could practice positions together :)

Like every child I have ever known, he loves to see how wide he can get his feet in 2nd position!

Whether or not he enjoys creative movement/ballet is yet to be seen, since class starts on November 2nd. Wish him luck!