The Wilkinson Family Blog: March 2015

Monday, March 23, 2015

Happy Birthday, Clara!

Well, a few weeks late, but happy birthday to Clara! We celebrated our spunky girl with her request for dinner (heart-shaped pancakes), chocolate ice cream and presents.

(Syrup, ice cream and presents = one excited birthday girl.)

Clara was super excited to receive some awesome arts & crafts supplies, a pony, a beautiful handmade quilt, and her Diego rescue pack. A total success.

We had to postpone her birthday party (her first one) by a week because she was so sick the week before. We ended up having quite a few people - mostly friends from the neighborhood and from school. Clara and Grady both did well with their toys being shared with so many people. And they were very patient about waiting for the cupcakes - raspberry with chocolate frosting.

Clean to messy face in 2 seconds

Watch out, Matt!

Grady holding court and cracking up the audience with poop jokes

Happy birthday!

It was a casual and fun party, and nice to have Clara showered with so much love.

A few words about the birthday girl. Clara is one of the strongest people I know, child or adult. She takes up space in a room, and her presence is missed when she's not around. She is a comedienne: she understands timing and her audience. She is vibrant. She loves her brothers fiercely. She is sweet even when she doesn't know anyone is looking. She loves egg noodles with a strange passion. She is stubborn. She is kind. We love her so much.

Not too much else has happened since the last post. Theo is suddenly very mobile. He no longer stays in the room he's left in, and has learned how to climb stairs. He is now saying "mah" which may mean milk or more or food - some sort of put something in my mouth. He is also very conscientious about picking up stray pieces of cat hair ("cah?"), which given the state of our house is a full-time job. He is settling into his new school routine and charming his teacher.

Encouragement

And more encouragement from at least one of the cats

Grady and Clara have been enjoying playing with Clara's (and Theo's) birthday presents and enjoying the weirdly sunny and warm weather in Portland. Not too much new to report about them in the past few weeks. Here are some pictures.

Getting into trouble

Besa cleaning up after the party

Theo becoming part of the crew

Aunt Michelle and Uncle Michael's gifts were a HUGE hit

This game again

All four of us looking at the camera. A miracle.

I do not know what's going on here.

Sand is GROSS

Theo unsure about all the unsolicited help getting his socks on

This was the small size. He didn't finish.

Airborne

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Happy Birthday, Theo!

It's hard to believe our little boy turned one today! We are so blessed to have this giggly, silly, sensitive little ham in our lives. He tries to make people laugh with his silly faces. He adores his brother and sister. He is overjoyed every single time he sees a cat or a dog. He is just perfect. We love him so much.

We kept Theo up past bedtime tonight so we could all eat dinner together (tofu and broccoli) and have some birthday banana cupcakes. The cupcakes were pretty good, but the ice cream was the real winner. I'm just going to let the photos speak for themselves here.

And the inevitable sugar rush that followed.

After dinner, Theo got to open his presents. With quite a bit of unsolicited help from the older siblings. They really are so altruistic those two.

He loved his toy guitar, Spot book, toy duck, and bath letters. Thank you to all the family who sent presents our way!

Just a very quick update on everyone.

Theo started doing proper crawling this past month on his hands and knees.

He also started pulling up - a bit belatedly. This kid is in no hurry, and I kind of love that about him. His initial motivation - this lovely lady.

Although always a social and funny baby, he has become even more interactive and has been really working at making other people laugh. He makes himself laugh all the time too. Here he is moving the hood down on his car seat, which he finds HILARIOUS.

Clara is now potty trained (WOOHOO!) except at night. The trick: after having 4 accidents in approximately 30 minutes, telling her that maybe she wasn't ready yet and we could try again when she was 3. That lit a fire under her. She still occasionally has accidents but she's 95% there.

Clara also graduated from the infant house, where she has been since about 10 months old, to the preschool house. Owned by the same woman, but a different location and, saddest for all of us, a different teacher. Between Grady and Clara, we've had Briana for 4.5 years. She has been a big part of our family and we will sorely miss her. This week was Clara's first week, and she was a bit nervous but overall it seems like it will be a good fit for the next few months, until she moves to Grady's school.

Ringing the bell and becoming a preschooler. Oh except she didn't want to ring it. But you get the point.

Grady and Clara walking to the preschool house

Grady has been doing great. He is picking up more and more French, and laughing derisively at Matt's accident. (Matt; "Aur-revoir, is that how you say it?" Grady: "That's how YOU say it.") We had some great news at the urologist that he may not need to have another surgery. His reflux is still severe, but because he has been doing so well and because his kidney functioning is completely normal, they want to let things be. We are really relieved and encouraged, and hope that continues to be the plan. We will know more after another round of testing this summer.

On to more pictures.