Mums the word....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY G-MOMMY LACKEY!!!!!

We love you!!!

In addition to a G-Mum birthday, lots of other "mum" news.

Remember how I was complaining about the rabbits eating all of the blooms off of our mums? Well-- Go figure. The mums grew back recently--fuller than before:

It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes--"Pause and reflect to witness nature's perfect harmony." I have no clue who said it, but its on a little painting of a flower in our bedroom.  This morning, Evans asked "Do you think those rabbits always eating the blooms made the plants grow back bigger?"

Yep. That is what I think happened. Rabbits contributing a little natural pruning helped these beauties get stronger. {...May not be the case, but its a nice thought that this all works symbiotically, and saves us some yard work.}

Another nice thought is what this mum arrived home from work to find in her mailbox:

Woohooo!!

There are only a few things in my life I have been this proud to accomplish.  Another one of those things obviously being the daily challenges of mommy-hood. 

For example.  Let me share with you a little preview of our newest naptime difficulty {Van is typically grinning ear-to-ear when its naptime because he loves his little stuffed animal, Muddy...}

but recently, he has been discovering that he can pull himself up onto things like:

{Perhaps you can see where this is going...}

So today, Van is smiling....

oh so happy to be home,

gets in his crib...

yawning/rubbing eyes...

life sure is peaceful.

{And mommy gets to go eat lunch ...insert stomach growl}...

Not. So. Fast.

"BOOOOM" on the monitor.  

Mommy runs back to nursery and finds:

Bud-bud has used his greasy little feet to climb up the poles of his crib

and propel his chest on the top of the crib. 

Not good. 

We repeated this:

Mommy lays me down.

Van pulls himself up.

Mommy lays me down.

Van pulls himself up.

Until I felt confident he was going to give up and fall asleep.

This is the diet they call motherhood, I suppose.

Lastly. Fellow "mum" Auntie Snags brilliantly taught cousin Fray how to ask for more. 

 I stored this gesture in my memory bank to use with Van because I saw how instrumental it was in facilitating their daily communication.

{Auntie Snags reading a book Fray likes...Fray signs "more please"...Auntie Snags giving Fray sweet sugar cuddles...Fray signs "more please"... Lots of yummy food in Fray's tummy..."more please")...

You get the idea.

Just to fill you in, this is the sign for more:

A motion I have been repeating to Van over and over for a few months now. 

Finally!! Van has unleashed his version of "more please":