Penn and Jansen both had some late well check-ups this week. Penn was in for his 3 year old appointment and Janse for his 6 month.
Here's the happy 3 year old...
Penn had his best doctor's visit. He was finally sooooo brave! For the first time ever he didn't cry when he had to get weighed and measured (that's right, age 3 folks). He was so sweet with chatting with our doctor and he was so proud of himself. It was a great confidence building experience. Good job, Penn Rye. So...how does he measure up? He is sooo tall! He's in the 85th percentile at 39 and 1/2 inches! And he's right on track with weight at 32 pounds and 4 oz. smack dab in the 50th percentile. Praise God for a healthy 3 year old!
Now, on to Jansen. Here are his pictures. Had to share all...
Jansen was kind of on edge the whole appointment because I had to wake him up from nap to come and then it was getting right up on his lunchtime, not to mention he is totally developing stranger danger/I-only-love-my-mommy-best. He managed quite well even with his four sad shots. =(
Now, of course we have to report on the stats and compare to the other boys at 6 months (because it's so fun for me!). Jansen is my shortest and second lightest at this stage (although the measurements they take are so inaccurate (wet diaper/dry diaper, stretched out well or squirmy wormy, either way it's fun to look across all 4!)). When I first got the stats, I was concerned a little that maybe he wasn't getting all that he needed (although one glance at those chunky thighs always calls that doubt into question), but then when I compared to my other boys' weights, he is right on track for a Melder baby. Phew!
Jansen
26 and 1/4" (16th percentile)
15 lbs., 8 oz. (8th percentile)
Penn
28 and 1/4" (95th percentile)
15 lbs., 14 oz. (15th percentile)
Tavin
26 and 3/4" (75th percentile)
14 lbs., 13 oz. (10th percentile)
Koen
26 and 1/2" (50th percentile) - quite the sway on the percentiles, only 1/4" longer than J
17 lbs. exactly (45th percentile) - TANKER for a Melder
Jansen checked out great all over, praise the Lord. So thankful for two great reports this week. One grateful momma!!
Koen is an old pro at this whole first day of school thing at this point. He seemed relatively excited, but Tavin put a whole new definition to that word. He just could not wait to start this school year! Here are the two school-age Melder boys at breakfast (I made them blueberry muffins and cheesy scrambled eggs for a healthy, delicious start).
Then I had to take pics on the front porch of course. Here's my Kindergartner! Can't believe it!!
And my very cool and confident 3rd grader.
Doug let me be the one to take the boys to school. And yet again, we took pictures of course... Tavin is sooooo happy!
And Koen is well, "too cool for school."
Koen and I walked Tavin into his classroom. Tavin was happy and excited, absolutely comfortable and not nervous at all. It was an easy and joyful drop off. I'm so happy for him to have this experience. And he is clearly happy!
I didn't want to embarrass Koen with a picture in his classroom, so I held myself back. I just got him dropped off and said hi to his teacher and then it was back home for me. I figured I would cry the whole way home, but I did OK. We had a lovely summer and I pray this will be a good year for the boys at this school where we feel they are well cared for and loved. When I got home, Penn did a great job of getting my mind off of sentimental things. He was his hilarious self. For instance, I turned around from doing dishes at the sink and look what I find... (He was saying, "Look, I'm a baby!")
Well, that's the first day of school drop-off. The boys arrived home from the bus around 3:40pm and they were happy and everything had gone well. Big sigh of relief. I guess we are really doing this. Summer is really over. The school year has begun. I miss my boys already.
Well, we've had a full summer. It's hard to believe that school starts tomorrow. The past few months have been full of adventures and memory-making. As we lived through them, they just seemed like days, but now looking back, it seems like it all went way faster than that. We truly have had summer fun from A to Z. On the day Koen got out of school, we boarded an Airplane to Texas and on the day before school, we had a super fun, long morning at the Zoo. I couldn't resist a full alphabetical (and not chronological) list of a sampling of our summer...
Airplane rides
Bedroom change-up
Creek walk
Digging
Evening campfires
Fireworks
Gramma & Grampa
Hilton Head
Ice cream
Jumping Jansen
Kidz Gig
Libraries
Museums
Nana & PopPop
Osceola Parklet
Picnics
Quiet afternoons
Rest
Spray parks
Texas
Uncle Zac & Aunt Abbie
Van rides
Water fun (pools, the ocean, canoeing, etc)
X-ploring
Yardwork
Zoo
Ha! Anyways, we had a great visit to the zoo to mark our final day of summer. We went with Deborah and the kids, but we had Emmett, our neighbor buddy along as well (that's right folks, I took 5 boys to the zoo). All of our visits to the zoo this year have been memorable and this was no exception. Of course I have pictures for a review of some of the highlights....
The Amur Leopard was doing its thing where it paces along the glass. It's amazing. Look at how the boys are right up against him!!
We got to the elephants just as they were having bathtime and their brunch. It was so much fun to watch them get washed down. We stayed in there for about 15 minutes. I could watch elephants all day, they are such amazing creatures!
On the way out of the elephant area, we passed a cage used for transporting elephants. We couldn't resist forcing the kids to do a picture. We tried to have them do their wild animal faces, but this is what we got.
(Tavin and Penn played along in this one and are being elephants).
The cheetahs were also pacing along the edge of their exhibit, so we got some great views of their amazing coats and tails.
The cutest creatures at the zoo were our kids of course. =) Possibly headed up by these two adorable buddies...Penn Rye and Hazel holding hands.
It was one of our priorities to see the new indoor part of The Islands area. There was some fun and interesting hands-on stuff there for the kids to check out.
Next we headed up to the aquarium. This time we went inside and got to see the penguins and made sure to visit the sting rays and the boys all crawled through the underwater tunnel. I didn't get any pics though because I was off nursing Jansen. I had to snap a shot (just my face). Because I've spent a summer of nursing this sweet babe on the go during the day. I'm a private person, I like nursing where no one can see, but with 3 other kiddos, that's just not always an option. So, I do what I must. And this frames it up.
What was hilarious is that I was trying to be in a quiet spot with few people around and then out of nowhere a huge peacock flew down from an upper level of the building and rested about 6 feet from me. Then people just started crowding around with their cameras to check she and her plume around. I was trying to turn invisible! Anyways, it was hilarious...classic! After I finished feeding Jansen and recovered from my embarrassment, I met the others in the aquarium and shortly after we all got outside where we saw that one polar bear was in the water, so we quickly rushed down to check it out. On the way, Penn wanted to pose (while make polar bear noises) in the polar bear transportation cage.
See the cute polar bear in the water??
And here's the other one up on top of the rocks. He was moving all around from side to side, doing some sort of dance. Not sure if it was almost lunchtime or mating season.
We went down into the underwater tunnel to try and get a glimpse of the polar bear in the water and all we could see was his big, furry backside (still cute though, gotta say).
Another goal was to visit the playground we've had to skip during every other visit to the zoo this summer. The boys were thrilled to climb through the multi-level tunnels and enjoy the slides, etc. Penn liked the animals he could climb on.
Hazel did too.
Before we left the house in the morning, Koen had asked me if he could bring some of his money along. I said yes with a few simple rules attached. He really had one thing on his mind. The log ride. I thought this was so sweet because these logs go sooooo slowly along a little lazy river. But he'd never gotten to go, so he was sure this was going to be great. It was a dollar a ticket and he offered to buy his brothers a ride too! I was so proud of him for being generous and thoughtful! Funny enough, Miles had also asked his mom if he could bring some money along and so he also wanted to do this ride and paid for his siblings. Great big brother moment for these two!! Here's Koen and Penn enjoying the ride.
Tavin and Claire buddied up of course.
After the log ride, we slowly headed out of the zoo (poor Jansen was soooo tired, but it took us forever to work our way back to the van because of about ten random elongations!). Here's a quick pit stop for a group pic which a few kids bailed on at the last minute.
We didn't leave the zoo until 1:40pm and when we got home I put Jansen and Penn to bed so fast! I was hoping to get a picture of my 4 boys and I, but it just wasn't in the cards. Oh well. We have so many from the summer. I just wanted one last one to capture this last fun morning out of this glorious summer we've enjoyed together. It's truly been a special time for me as a mom. What a blessing to have four healthy boys to explore the world with each and every day. Sometimes we just did the simple stuff and other times enjoying some elaborate adventures. I will always remember this summer and I'm going to have a hard time letting it go.
So, our last day wasn't done quite yet...
Once the little guys were down and Emmett went home, the boys and I made chocolate chip cookies. Baking together was a favorite at-home activity and I wanted to have something fun to put into the boys' lunchboxes on the first day. Yum!
Our final activity before the little guys were up from their naps was packing up the school supplies we'd been collecting over the last few weeks. Tav was particularly excited. First day of school, first backpack full of supplies, everything so new and fresh and exciting!!
Well, that's the end of our summer. Let the new season of life begin (well, I guess I can't keep it from happening so I'm accepting it). I pray it's a great school year for Koen and Tavin and I'm already excited for next summer. =) Love you boys. I'll miss you every day, but I'm excited to see all you learn and experience at school this year.
Miss Kylie asked me before the weekend if she could stop by before school started and take Koen and Tavin out on an ice cream date to celebrate the start of school (can you tell she's an elementary school teacher?!). Of course we said yes. We love Miss Kylie and the boys do too. So, we set the date for Monday night. First, Kylie had dinner with us (which she said was the most entertaining dinner she'd had in a long time (i.e. loud chaos)). Then she and Koen and Tavin walked down to Scoops in Bloomfield. Koen got a milkshake, Tav got chocolate ice cream (and of course got it all over his face). Here's the few shots she got of their little time together.
Kylie, thanks so much for caring so well for our family. It was great you take the boys out for this fun time to get psyched up for school (and hear your encouragement on what to expect and some helpful reminders about getting back into school year gear). We appreciate your friendship so much. Here's to a great school year!!
On Monday, it was a beautiful day, but a little cool for the pool, so we spent our morning at a favorite playground...Blue Slide at Frick Park. Koen was on the ball and worked on preparing appropriately sized cardboard boxes for he, Tav and Penn much of the morning. They worked great at the park...the boys were flying on the slide! I video'd each one.
Here's Koen...
Here's Tavin...
Here's Penn...
It was such a nice time at the playground. We ran into a family we'd met a long time ago and the mom and I had a blast catching up and the boys had so much fun making new friends (they played chase for over an hour!). Such a lovely summer morning in the Burgh. Days like these fill me with gratefulness to the Lord for my boys, this beautiful world he's created for us to enjoy and the amazing people he places in our lives whether for a long time or just for a few hours. (Then we went to Aldi and the 3 older boys acted like nutcases and Jansen started crying because he was overtired and I had to keep reminding myself of all that joy from just a few minutes before. We couldn't get out of there fast enough...ha!)
On Sunday, we had a special family-oriented worship service at church. The leader of the Kidz Church asked Koen to help lead the congregation in the motions to the Kidz song. I couldn't believe the confident way he just jumped up and dove in. Good job, Koen!
A little bit later in the service I laid Jansen down for a nap in Doug's office in his car seat. I went to get him at the end of the service...passed out!
After church I had the opportunity to get out for a few hours (thanks to the Troxells who took the three big boys after church) and attend my friend, Genna's, baby shower. Genna was gracious enough to allow me to bring Jansen along. He had fun because his buddy, Fitz, was there (and because I was there...his favorite).
Here are the small group girls (plus the babies of course). Check out how Jansen is totally smiling for the camera!
It was a lovely morning celebrating with Genna and a special treat for me to have a little time off from my normal routine with all the boys on a Sunday. We are so excited to add another baby to our group and cannot wait to meet her and support Rob and Genna in this exciting new season of life!
So on Thursday, when I was with Deborah, I learned that she needed someone to have the kids overnight on Friday. I immediately was excited because we had no Friday plans and I was pretty sure this was something Doug and I could handle and I just love an opportunity to serve this dear friend who has gone above and beyond to serve me over the years. I checked with Doug via text, he was totally game and then I extended the offer to Deborah. She asked several times, "are you sure??" Sure, why not? Their kids are so sweet, we know them well, they all sleep through the night and the three of them pair great with our older three in sets of pairs, so it meant built-in playmates for Saturday morning. So, it was a plan!
Deborah, Grant and the kids joined us for family dinner on Friday night. The kids got some playtime out of their systems after dinner and then Grant, Deborah, Doug and I laid 7 kids down in an hour. Miles and Koen used the bunk bed in Tav's room. Tav slept in Koen's room. Penn had his room. Claire and Hazel slept in the guest room/office and Jansen slept in our rooms. Just a little switcharoo and there you have it...room for 7 kids to sleep. Crazy! Grant and Deborah stayed to visit with us until about 9pm and then they headed home. The reason we had the kids over is because they had to go to a cabinet outlet store in Ohio the next morning to hopefully find a steal on kitchen cabinets for the home they just purchased. They had to leave at 4am to attempt to even get in the door to have a chance at finding what they needed. Not a good trip for a family of 5. We were happy to take the kids and were all praying they'd get the good deal they were hoping for!
Thankfully the kids all slept great. And there were no nighttime or even pre-breakfast morning issues. We had a big pancake breakfast for the kids. They were good eaters! Miles won for most pancakes...he had five! Here's all 7 kiddos (Jansen is way in the background...jumping as usual).
After breakfast all the bigger kids wanted to play "spy" (which basically means make use of all our staircases and run around with hushed voices and loud thuds). Hazel, Penn and Jansen hung out in the living room. Doug put the Jeep where Janse could get at it and he was so interested in it. Kept him busy on his tummy for about 7 minutes (that's a long time). I had to get a picture of the big boy play (and those big blue eyes!).
A little before 10am, Doug took Claire and Tav on an outing to the Williams Sonoma shop in Shadyside. They host weeky free kids cooking classes on Saturday mornings. Claire was so excited. And Tav was happy to hang with his buddy. They are so cute together. Claire adores Tavin, it's so precious.
When Tav and Claire were gone, Koen and Miles built with Legos. Hazel and Penn played in the living room for awhile, then spent time playing in the backyard.
Then they played in Penn's room with stuffed animals. Oh my goodness, can't take the cuteness with those two! It was amazing though. I had 5 kids at home and it was silent. Janse was napping, Miles and K were doing their Legos quietly on the 3rd floor and Hazel and Penn were doing their quiet play in Penn's room. After getting all my cleaning up from breakfast done, I was able to start the laundry and even do some bill paying online while enjoying my second cup of cocoa. Maybe we should have buddy-up friends over more often?!
Before we had committed to having these friends over, we had already made plans to walk down to Little Italy days in nearby Bloomfield with some friends that live outside of the city. One family has 5 kids, the other has 4. Yep, that's right. We had 16 kids and 6 adults. We looked like a huge daycare in our long procession down to Liberty Ave. for the festivities. Hilarious. The kids all enjoyed all the extra friends along even though some they were meeting for the first time. It was especially cute to watch Koen and Miles enjoy the other boys their age and those that were a little older than they were. After we walked down, I parked in a shady spot with a bunch of the kids and Doug went and got some food for our party (I also brought a ton of snacks). Here are some shots of most of the group eventually enjoying some Italian and festival foods and the shade.
And more pictures of the adorable buddies. They all did so well. It was such a good distraction to have the friends along. It definitely helped keep the brother in-fighting to a minimum! Here's Hazel and Penn who enjoyed sharing the wagon much of the outing.
Tav and Claire sharing a chocolate gelato. Yum!
Janse-man dancing to the blaring Italian music with Daddy.
The kids really enjoyed watching the Bocce tournament. The players were very serious, but absolutely didn't mind the boys' close-up view.
We headed home a little after 1pm. Some of our troupe ended up hanging back (they ran into an entertaining clown I guess...you'll have that at a festival I guess!). But we managed to get a picture of all the other kids (plus Doug since he was wearing Janse!). 12 kids!
Our friends all left shortly after their arrival back to our place and Deborah and Grant came to pick up their kids around 2pm. They had had huge success and bought most of the cabinetry they needed in the color they wanted and for an unbelievably low price. Praise God for providing! We were thrilled. The kids didn't want to leave. Claire even broke down and cried because she didn't want to leave Tavin. This will be a really great memory for these little, long-time friends. And honestly, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Miles, Claire and Hazel are a joy...so sweet and respectful. We are so blessed to share our lives and families with these friends.
