Don't be surprised...

...if you ask a 10-year-old boy to make an out of order sign for the microwave and later come in to find THIS taped to the offending appliance:

Two more things I never expected to say

"My butt is NEVER base!"

"Only the bathroom and your own room are zoned for farting on purpose. All farts occurring in other rooms must be accidental."

Ch-ch-ch-ch-CHANGES!

Every fall brings new and exciting times, and lots of changes. Maybe because I have an infant, or maybe just because, the changes seem to be coming fast and thick this fall. So, in no particular order...

Wesley is loving his johnny jump up. He's a good little bouncer.Both boys are playing soccer. Gabe is on Team Tsunami.

Wesley is a big fan of soccer. Except when he isn't. Here he is, wearing a hat I made for him.

Timothy got glasses for reading. He jumped about a grade level when he got them. This means that he's reading on about a third grade level. Smarty pants. Over-achiever.

Cute baby is cute. I mean, he's always been cute, but I think he's getting cuter.

Our annual picture outside the Grissom playground. This year I have three boys and two of them are Grissom students.

Wesley is growing and changing faster than you can even imagine. He doesn't quite have sitting up down yet, but he's getting there.

A week ago, Gabe graduated from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. Where does the time go?

Here he is with the ceremony team and his Arrow of Light.

Yes, he's almost as tall as me. Don't remind me!

Also new and different, Gabe got contacts.

Yes, he still looks a lot like his Popple.

More soccer. Timothy is on the Comets.

As you can see, he's making new friends!

Here's another cute one of Wesley. Just because.

Wesley's eyes...

...are a deep, beautiful blue, and they gaze with wonder at the world around him. However, after this week we finally have an answer regarding whether or not he has ocular albinism like Timothy, and it wasn't the answer we wanted to hear.

At almost eight weeks, he developed significant nystagmus (wiggly eyes, for lack of a better explanation) and we were pretty sure he did indeed have the disorder. A trip to the pediatric ophthalmologist confirmed our fears.

So what does this mean for our family, and especially for Wesley? Those of you who know Timothy will agree with me that he hardly "suffers" from ocular albinism. He's a very normal 5-year-old boy in many ways, and well above average in terms of intelligence. I know I'm his mom and I would say that if he were a dull-witted little twit, but trust me, he isn't. He's a sharp-witted little twit, in fact! When we compare Timothy's babyhood with Wesley's, there are a lot of significant differences. For one thing, Wesley's eyes are responsive to light. His pupils dilate and contract normally, and he flinches at bright lights. Timothy had extremely slow and reduced dilation and contraction of his pupils, and did not respond at all to bright lights when he was an infant. For another thing, the nystagmus developed much later in Wesley than it did in Timothy. Finally, Wesley smiles. Timothy didn't smile until he was much older because babies who don't see don't know to mirror their parents' smiles.

We think, and our doctors agree, that Wesley is seeing objects, if only roughly. He can follow toys or people with his eyes somewhat, and his smiles tell us that he does see us. We're hoping this means that he will be even less affected by his abnormal genes than Timothy is, and may have near-normal vision in time. And really, it is only time that will tell. We are full of hope for his future, full of joy at being given such a sweet, wonderful baby, and full of thankfulness for every single smile.

Boys will be boys!

Today I was in Wesley's room changing his diaper, and Timothy followed me in to keep me company. While I was busy with the baby, he was examining my breast pump. I typically feed Wesley in the rocker in the nursery, and Timothy is typically pretty clueless even when I'm feeding Wesley elsewhere. So I was a little surprised to hear, "Mama, where does the milk come out when you feed Wesley?"

I considered this question for a while and then answered as clearly as I could. "It comes out of my nipples, Timothy."

There was a moment of stunned disbelief, followed by peals of laughter. Before I could stop him, Timothy ran from the room, laughing hysterically. "Gabe, Gabe, guess what?" he shouted. "Mama can squirt milk out of her NIPPLES!"

Throughout the course of the day, he shared this information with Chris and then with our waiter at dinner. I have a feeling come Monday, I might be getting a call from his kindergarten teacher.

Introducing...

My newest little savage, Wesley Joseph. OK, I know he's not very savage-looking at the moment, but I seem to recall both his brothers looking this sweet and innocent at one point and you see how they've turned out! I'm a little behind in posting...he was born June 29th at 10:01pm. He weighed 6lbs. 13 oz. and was 21 in. long. He'll be four weeks old tomorrow and he's still a little shrimp. He's up to about 7.5lbs. This makes him a few ounces under what Timothy was when he was born, and more than two pounds less than Gabe's birth weight. Yes, that's pounds. I keep telling him he'd better get to growing if he's going to keep up with the big boys!

Another Question I Never Expected To Ask...

And the strange answer I received...

Should you ever wake up one morning and stick your head into your sons' room on your way into the kitchen for coffee, and should you be forced to ask the five-year-old, "Son, why is the tip of your weewee sticking out of the top of your shorts?", you should be prepared that the answer might be, "So I can make sure no bugs crawl on it!"

You should also not be surprised if the five-year-old in question sees nothing odd about ensuring this little bit of peace of mind for his most prized possession.