Shortly before french toast was devoured around our breakfast table this morning…
Elijah: Oh look! There’s Phoebe… Good morning Phoebe!
Zeke and Noah: Morning Phoebe!
Zeke: Look, look…I think she’s smiling at us!
Elijah: Oh yeah! I think she’s really starting to like us! …Oh!…She just laughed at us! Hey Mommy, I think Phoebe’s really starting to like it here!
Well. That’s a relief!
Noah has always been a thumb sucker. He found his thumb shortly after being born, for which I was very thankful! I had hoped that Phoebe might follow suit, but nothing so far. Anyway, Noah’s thumb-sucking habit is limited to his bed, and his car seat…and now, since Phoebe’s been born, whenever he’s touching her…
This is such an interesting phenomenon to me (not to mention how very cute it is). It’s like a reflex; touch Phoebe, insert thumb in mouth. I wonder what, if any, psychological meaning it has?
Well, Miss Phoebe had her two month old check-up yesterday. Two months old already! Here are her measurements, for those who are interested to know…
Weight: 12lbs, 9 oz - 90%
Legnth: 24 3/4 inches - 90%
Head: 15 1/2 inches - 60%
She’s right up there with those brothers of hers! They were all in the 90th percentile at two months of age too, which is over fifteen pounds for boys. I was so surprised…she seemed so petite to me, but I guess all I had to compare her to were her fifteen pound brothers!
Our pediatrician couldn’t get over how bright she was…she said Phoebe was doing everything that she looked for at the four month old check-up. I smiled, and said, “Really?!”, but I was thinking, “Well, of course she is! She’s a Horsman!” He-he.
Dave was able to come home yesterday, so that I didn’t have to take all four kids to the doctors office wth me. (phewf!) When I got home, Noah was having his nap, and Dave had to run off in order to make it to a scheduled meeting. He shot back at me, “Elijah and Zeke are playing in the mud.”
“OK,” I thought, “playing in the mud. Making mud pies maybe?” It was time for Phoebe to eat, so I sat down to feed her, before going to check on them. About five minutes into the feeding, they showed up at the window, looking like this…
I wonder if Phoebe will keep up with her brothers in every other way too? Yikes!
Stripe Boy, Super Baby, and Flame Man, out to save the world.
After a very rainy weekend, these three superheroes were anxious to emerge from the indoors to defeat the evil Water Monster (who apparently had caused the legntly precipitation). Water, of course, is Flame Man’s weakness, so this task needed to be carried out swiftly. Fortunetly, his sidekick, Stripe Boy, renders the Water Monster’s powers useless, by shooting sticky stripes at him. And Super Baby? Well, his super power has yet to be discovered, but he does have one.
Hope these little excerpts from our vacation will bring a smile to your face, as they did mine…
‘Bite #1: Me-me too! Me-me too! - Noah. Noah’s mandate right now in life: Do whatever his brothers do.
Elijah and Zeke slept in the bed over the cab, and Noah slept down on the little “table bed.” There would have been room for him to sleep up with Elijah and Zeke, but we didn’t think it was good idea. Our doubts were confirmed when he feel out of bed on the first night, and just about every other night as well! They had fun up there together during the day though. I love this picture…
‘Bite #2: No, actually that wasn’t a tee-pee, it was a wig-wam. Tee-pees were made out of furs and animal hides, and wig-wams were made out of birch bark, like the ones we saw. Wig-wams were more of a permanent structure, and tee-pees were more portable… - Elijah, to some fellow visitors at Fort Williams Historical Park,* when he overheard them talking about the “tee-pees.” I still haven’t figured out what to do with my little walking encyclopedia in situations like this. Should I tell him to be quite and mind his own business, or just pretend I don’t know him?
Zeke being thrown in the air by Daddy in the pool. Look how high he is!
‘Bite #3: Waaaa-haa! Noah ate one of my Shreddies! (loud wailing for about twenty seconds) Noah ate one of my Shreddies…and I’m NOT tired! - Zeke, near the end of our camping adventure. He was tired…as we all were!
Noah, throwing stones in the little fishing pond at our second campground. One morning, the boys caught seven little fish in it.
The inevitable flaming marshmellow…
‘Bite #4: Ahh-goo! - Phoebe. My interpretation: I’m a “happy camper!” (I know, I know…corny, but I couldn’t help it.)
*Fort Williams was the North West Company’s inland headquaters from 1803 - 1821. Today, it’s a living history program (kind of like a big museum, with people dressed and acting like people from that time period). The North West Company was a rival to the Hudson Bay Company in the fur trading business. The Hudson Bay Company, as we know, eventually won the battle. Elijah said the historical park was his favorite part of the vacation. (Zeke, on the other hand, said the tim-bits were his favorite part.) It was really cool…a very effective way to learn about history.
The boys rock-skipping on Lake Superior
Yep, we back… having decided that those large double-doubles aren’t enough of a reason to stay in Canada indefinitely. Seriously, we actually discussed it. Ha! Vacation was awesome…swimming, fishing, campfires, s’mores, tim-bits for breakfast…good memories. But I have to say that it feels so good to be home.
I’m finding it really hard to believe, though, that the summer is winding down, and in a couple of weeks I’ll be sending TWO kids off to school five mornings a week!
We decided to come to our homeland…and it feels great to be here, even if we are still thousands of miles from “home.” 
I’m sitting by the pool right now with Phoebe, watching the four boys swim. Mmmm…vacation…nice.
Camping with Phoebe has indeed turned out to be easy. In fact, she slept eight hours straight last night! It must be the hearty Canadian air. Camping with our two year old, however, is not as easy. Noah is about as adventurous as they come, and it seems like everywhere we turn, there’s an accident waiting to happen! Thankfully, there have not been any yet. He’s having the time of his life…I guess it’s just mentally stressful for us parents. Elijah and Zeke are having great fun too…campgrounds are an easy spot to make friends. They made friends with four kids named Israel, Shekinah, Corban, and Zion at our campground on the way here. Their parents were even more hard core about the Bible names than we were! Cool.
Well, I should go. This somehow doesn’t feel right, blogging on vacation. Just wanted to let family and friends know where we were. Later…