When Beckham was a baby, I took time each month to write about all of the cute things he was doing at that stage in his life. At the time, I remember thinking I would never forget about all of those wonderfully adorable things that he did, but wrote them down anyway, just to have them recorded. Now that he's 4 years old, I am so glad I wrote it all down because I have forgotten so many things so fast! I blame the "mom brain." I am perpetually exhausted and have so many things I have to do and think about all at once that it's amazing my brain hasn't completely short-circuited by now! But, here I am, with very little time for sitting and writing (which is ironic because my degree is in Creative Writing, go figure) and wishing I still took the time to chart those wonderful moments shared between me and my children. I was sitting at the computer paying bills and reminiscing about those quiet moments during Beckham's naps when he was a baby. I would take him on long walks and as soon as he fell asleep I would pull out my journal and quickly jot down as much as I could before he woke up. I no longer have that luxury. If I had only known what a rare thing it was to have a quiet moment, I sure would have appreciated it more. But, here I am, reminiscing, and decided that while I am at my computer I am just going to quickly jot down a few things about each of my kids before I forget. This is for me, so I can some day scroll back down to this post and either print it out or copy it in my journal, but feel free to read on if you dare venture into my long-winded world of writing.
Ava is a very dainty little girl. She likes to stand on her tippy toes as she holds on to furniture, and sometimes even extends one leg behind her with her toe perfectly pointed like a ballerina. When she lets out her little sneezes and I say, "Oh my! Bless you!" she smiles so big and then lets out little pretend sneezes just so I'll say it again. When she's thirsty she does a pretend cough like she's absolutely parched and as soon as she gets what she wants, whether it is water or breastmilk, she takes a drink and then pulls away and gives a devious grin like she just got her way and got the best of you somehow. She loves to play games of peek-a-boo. She will grab anything nearby like a jacket or blanket or toy to put over her face and then pull it off and wait for you to say "boo!" Especially when she is in the bathtub, though, she likes to crouch down and then pop back up with a big smile on her face and wait for that "boo!" When she crawls she likes to be chased, especially by Beckham. We all take turns crawling after her and she giggles and crawls as fast as she can, periodically looking behind her to make sure you're still chasing her, until she face-plants into the floor because she's trying to go faster than her little arms can carry her. She didn't stick with the mushy baby food for too long. She was a late starter with solids, not showing any interest until 6 months (with Beckham we had to start right at 4 months because he was always hungry!), but after a month or two of eating the mushed up food she decided that she was ready for finger foods. She eats so daintily, taking one little tiny piece of food at a time and placing it in her mouth. It can take her over an hour to eat her meal, but if you try to take her out of her highchair before she is done she will scream out in rage and let you know just how upset you have made her. She has very expressive eyes. When she's furious, you can see it in her eyes. Then she becomes instantly happy and you can see that in her eyes too. She loves to drink water out of a glass, not a sippy cup. She gets so excited when she sees me pour a glass of water, letting out a big excited gasp and banging her hands up and down on her high chair. She learned to clap recently. We always clap to cheer for our kids' achievements and one day she picked up on it and started to clap her hands together. Now she claps every time she gets excited. She also likes to eat bugs. It is disgusting. There are these beetles out here in Maryland that are everywhere... kind of like the June bugs in Utah. Anyhow, they are harmless little bugs, but when they sense danger they will let out this odor that smells like Aquanet hairspray... a very strong odor. One day I smelled it, and saw that Ava was making a face... sure enough, it was in her mouth. When I swiped it out of her mouth she was absolutely outraged that I took it from her. I washed her mouth out in the bathtub and thought at least she had learned her lesson about eating bugs. Nope. About a week later she tried it again. Funny girl. I don't remember Beckham ever trying to put so many random things in his mouth. Ava is not quite as adventurous as her brother, but she adores him more than anybody and tries so hard to keep up with him at the park or around the house. She crawls quickly after him wherever he goes. If she starts crawling somewhere we don't want her to go, all we have to do is say, in a stern voice, "Ava, come back" and SHE COMES BACK! Amazing! Beckham would have looked us straight in the face and done exactly the opposite at that age (and now, too!)
Beckham is a wonderful older brother, although he likes to push his little sister around and knock her over quite often. He is in the phase where he insists on dressing himself and he comes up with the most creative outfits. One day he will don his 3D glasses, rocker baseball cap, soccer wrist band, t-shirt, khakis, and fully-loaded backpack, ... The next day he will have on his construction worker hat, a mix of various t-shirts layered on top each other, jeans, and rainboots. He also follows themes. He will dress in all Army one day, all rocker clothes another. He is always very proud of his ensembles. I wake up to him standing over me on my bed showing off the day's outfit. Yesterday I woke up to him standing over me wearing a normal-looking outfit at first glance... then he turned around and I saw the bright orange six-shooters stuffed in his pants at each hip. He is such a funny, cool kid. He loves having popcorn movie parties in the living room, but doesn't like to do them alone - it has to be a social event. He likes to play games where everyone fights with superpowers, like blowing each other away, shocking each other through electrical currents in the ground, freezing each other, shooting spider web nets at each other, etc. In the end, Beckham has all of the superpowers and conquers us all. He also likes to play a game called "Dragon." He hides as you look for the dragon, and then he comes out of his hiding spot and chases you as you scream, "Ahhhhhh, Dragon!!!!" One day I took him to the park... I'll mention here that he had insisted on wearing the Captain America costume to the park that day... and he was a little shy as soon as he saw all of the kids there. He asked me, before we even entered the gates, if I would ask the kids to play with him so he wouldn't have to play alone. But, as soon as we entered the park, all of the kids started to point in awe and say, "Wow, that kid is Captain America!" and "Cool, look at his Captain America costume!" That's all it took for him to break out of his shell. He proudly walked up to the kids, hands on hips in true superhero fashion, and said in his deep "official" voice, "I'm Beckham." Everyone introduced themselves and then they all started playing together. I heard Beckham mention a few times, "I am a big brother because I take care of my baby sister over there," as he pointed in Ava's direction. Pretty soon we had every kid at the park running around playing Dragon with Beckham. The parents all sat on the bench as the sun started to set and joked with me that they needed to hire me to wear out their kids every night before bed. It was a fun day at the park. Beckham is always quite the helper in the kitchen as well. He loves to make smoothies, and has become quite good at doing it himself with very little help. Impressive for a 4-year-old. He has been bringing me breakfast in bed lately, consisting of string cheese and raisins and water. Mmmmm... ha ha ha! Isn't that what everyone loves to eat to start their day? It is hilarious. He is a loving boy, despite his all-boy rambunctiousness and fearless, adventurous spirit and tough kid attitude. He draws me pictures of hearts and says, "it's for love because I love you." He climbs into bed with me anytime Jordan is working at night but doesn't do that when Jordan is home. He is sensitive and caring, which is almost surprising because he is so hard-core himself. He doesn't cry unless he is really badly hurt, yet he is very in tune to everyone else's feelings. He's such a good boy. And smart! He asks so many intelligent questions. The other day he asked Jordan the question, "Dad, what is cell regeneration?" I was impressed. He asks questions like "What is blood made out of?" and "If Heaven is up in the sky, do we take a plane there when we die?" and "Why do people go to a bunch of different churches? Why doesn't everyone go to the same church??" and "Are my eyeballs connected to my brain?" He asks questions all day long, wanting to know about everything. His favorite book right now is one of Jordan's med school anatomy books. What impresses me the very most is the level of questions he asks as he looks through this book. He sounds so intelligent. Well, the kid was born in medical school... the morning of Jordan's first exam... It's no wonder.
We love our kids so much. Of all the things in my life, having kids is by far the greatest thing I have ever done or will do. They are everything to me.
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