The Big Guy

All of the sudden, Jack has changed from a blobby newborn into a spunky little baby. It feels like he learned to sit up overnight and now he's a total wild man in his walker. He's grabbing for everything in site, laughing up a storm, and has even mastered the uber tricky pointer finger - thumb pick up technique... which means he can officially be amused with a small pile of Gerber puffs on his high chair tray for at least eight minutes... which, in turn, means I can feed myself once in a while (yeah food). At 28" and almost 18 lbs, he has also officially outgrown his infant car seat. Yikes. While all this super fast growing up makes me a little bit sad, I'm mostly just happy to see him finally enjoying his world... sleeping more... spitting up less... and giving me enough toothless grins and giggles to make up for the fact that he still seems bent on starting his day at 5:15 every morning.

Nothing New Under The Son

Some twenty-odd years ago, I participated in my last week of Daily Vacation Bible School (DVBS). The Chelten Baptist Church DVBS theme that year? Son Seeker Safari. Frighteningly enough, I still remember a good portion of the theme song and accompanying hand motions. (Amazing what your brain hangs on to). This past week, Anna participated in her first DVBS program and I found that there isn't much new under the sun (or Son if you're going with the single most overused DVBS play-on-words known to man). The theme for her DVBS program was "Kingdom of the Son: A Prayer Safari." Eerily familiar... as were the cotton ball & pipe cleaner-laden craft projects, the 1980's-esqe pop melodies, and the adorably disorganized closing night ceremony. Typical Heebner blog sarcasm aside, I will say that Anna absolutely LOVED Bible school (thanks again Katie for inviting her!). And I loved watching Anna's unbridled and completely unselfconscious enthusiasm. There's something wildly endearing about the wonder and abandon with which a toddler approaches new things and people. She has no fear, no worry, and no expectation of disappointment. If only we could all experience life like a three year old does! So, without further adieu, allow me to present a video from Friday's closing ceremony. No need to strain your eyes to find Anna in the group. She's the one right out front...

Like Mother, Like Daughter (well, sort of)

History has officially repeated itself. Sort of. 27 years ago, I was a flower girl in my aunt & uncle's wedding and, as the tale goes, completed the task in typical Laura fashion, carefully placing small, meticulous piles of petals in several very specific locations. I was quiet, timid, demure, and fulfilled my flower girl duties with no extra fanfare or amusement. Fast forward to July 3, 2010 with Anna as flower girl in her Uncle Ben's wedding. In the lobby beforehand (and the rest of the night for that matter), there was giggling, crying, dancing, twirling and plenty of undefinable flailing. She was up the stairs, down the stairs, scattering church pamphlets, dumping petals preemtively, trying to stand on her head, and generally trying her best to completely destory her dress & hair. And then the big moment came. She headed down the aisle without hesitation, sprinkling her flowers as directed until she got halfway and decided to dump the whole basket, saying, "I just dropped them all right here!" Everyone laughted and she retreated. Fortunately dad-dad was waiting at the back of the church and was able to convince her to head back down the aisle and finish the job -- petals or not. As this all unfolded, I was sitting in the front row getting all choked up. It sounds pathetic, but it was my first experience with feeling nervous for my daughter and it broke my heart! There she was, heading down that aisle all by herself with everyone staring at her. Not that it would have mattered if she did something totally crazy or didn't do anything at all, but it was big for me because I realized it was the first of many times that I'll have to send her out into the world and let her do something on her own. Oh the sadness of realizing that I can't hold her hand forever! This may sound dramatic, but the feeling was real. So anyways, getting back on track... despite a very serious case of the wiggles and an approach which bore no resemblance to the one I took as flower girl, Anna was a true success. Charming. Amusing. Fearless. My girl.

My Peaceful Little Boy

Since birth, Jack's life has been characterized by complete chaos. In fact, even before Jack was born, Josh and I had already started down that long, disruptive, stressful road toward relocating back to PA, so perhaps my little boy was doomed before he even got out of the gate. When he did finally come into the world, it was abundantly clear that he was not happy about it. While both of my babies came out screaming, Anna was instantly comforted by Josh's voice when he said his first words to her. Jack, on the other hand, just kept on screaming even after the nurse had him resting gently on my chest. At that moment I knew Jack was going to be different. Since then, Jack has busted apart all of my Babywise-driven notions of the normal course for a newborn. At six months he's still spitting up all day long, has yet to sleeping consistently through the night, and cries pretty much any time he's not asleep or being held. As that's the case, you can imagine my joy when I found my angsty, refluxy, needy little boy passed out -- at will -- in our bed this morning. I laid Jack down so I could help Anna get dressed and completely forgot about him because he was so quiet. In fact, when it occurred to me that I had left him on the bed, my heart jumped thinking that if he wasn't crying, he must be dead. (Maybe this is why he cries to so much -- so I don't forget him!). I went back into our room and there was my little belly sleeper, dead asleep on his back! Anna used to fall asleep like this all the time -- on our bed, on her play mat, in the back yard... anywhere. But this was a true first for Jack and it made me happy to see him so peaceful.

Back in PA

A lot has happened since we made our way back to PA three weeks ago. For starters, Anna turned three back on May 29th. We did our best decorating our interesting little temporary house by the dog food factory here in Quakertown with streamers and ballons. It was sub-par at best, but Anna was completely thrilled. Her big gift this year was a bike. She doesn't exactly get the concept of peddling, but she sure looks cute in the helmet. (I love this picture of her going cross-eyed trying to look at it.)

Since we got back, we've been spending lots of time catching up with family which, unfortunately, means driving 45 mintes back and forth from Quakertown to Lansdale and Hatboro over and over (sigh). Anna got to hang out with Eowyn a couple times already, including a trip to the sprinkler park. I was really happy that we were back in town for the last Kulp family event at 544 Melody Lane on Memorial Day. I forgot my camera for the big event, but my cousin Melissa took this great picture of Jack that I've shamelessly stripped off of her blog. So anyways, we're definitely anxious to get into our new house so that we can be closer to civilization (and have cell phone service!) again. We also can't wait to enjoy our big new back yard... we're already making plans for an Octoberfest complete with a Lederhosen-wearing accordian player we just met this weekend (long story)... more details to follow...

Goodbye RI

This is it. Our last night in Rhode Island. When we moved here three years ago, you couldn't have convinced me that I'd ever shed a tear over this place and yet here I am getting that lump in my throat for at least the sixth time today. I still vividly remember sitting in our bedroom one of those first February days we lived here, staring out the window at the abysmal winter weather, listening to the unfamiliar snap and bang of the steam radiators, feeling horribly homesick and absolutely certain we had made the worst mistake of our lives. But here I am on the last night and my heart aches even thinking about taking one last look around and then closing the door behind me forever. While it was only three years, it felt like a very long and very full three years. This house will always hold a special place in my heart because this is where I brought two of my babies home and because I feel like this is where we became our family. So as I think about leaving tomorrow, I have that sad and creepy feeling I get every time I consciously take a turn down a different path, abandoning another possible path forever. It's a feeling that's always been hard for me to put into words, so I'll steal someone elses:

Time present and time past

Are both perhaps present in time future

And time future contained in time past.

Footfalls echo in the memory

Down the passage which we did not take

Towards the door we never opened

Into the rose-garden.

Last Weekend In Rhode Island

Lately our weekend routine has largely been dictated by Jack's nap schedule and his marked aversion to riding in the car, but since this was our last weekend in RI, we decided to live it up for better or for worse. We packed a picnic lunch and drove to Sakkonet Winery in Little Compton (yes, there is a Little Compton, RI), taking one last opportunity to slowly wind our way through all the charming, quintessential RI towns along the way. Wind gusts aside, it was the perfect day for a picnic and Anna had a great time chasing butterflies, picking peanut butter cups (i.e. buttercups), and taking her first crack at watermelon. (For the record, we didn't purposely dress her in that watermelon skirt... sheer coincidence). Jack sat happily in his car seat like a champ and Josh and I got to enjoy a nice bottle of red wine with our lunch.


On our way home, we decided to pay one last visit to our favorite RI beach, Second Beach. It was definitely way too cold for my taste, but I firmly believe that given the chance,Anna would have thrown on her bathing suit and made a day of it.The whole way back to the car, she kept stopping to dig holes in the sand, merrily singing the Seven Dwarves "Dig, Dig, Dig" song as she went. We gave her a good long time to say goodbye to the beach and then put our two over-tired munchkins back in the car and drove home from the beach for the last time.