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09 February 2016

things remembered

In the highly unlikely event that one of the kids ever accuses me of not doing a stellar (or any) job of recording their interesting little lives and milestones via baby books or photos taken with anything other than a cellular device ... I'll always have painfully detailed posts like these to toss back in my defense. I'm still a novice but I know that as far as parenthood goes ... today's annoyances are tomorrow's funny and eventually forgotten memories. Wait! I'm not saying that the kids are annoying but maybe that quirky and consistent little 4:30 am wake up might not be met with the same starry-eyed laughter that the memory might evoke down the line. Way down, Theodore Rooster Patton.

Not that he really has much of a choice but our resident butter ball is the most laid back Patton baby ... ever. He puts up with Phoebe's loooong strangle-hugs, people often thinking his name is Buster (or recently, "Gospel"), and is happy to eat virtually anything (although his petite figure might have you guessing; sarcasm -- small joke).


Sometimes he gets so overcome with happiness that he throws his head back and then flings it forward full force to hit usually nothing but air but the other day it happened to be my lip -- that is now extra fat.

Forgiven this time, B.

Onward.

I asked Phoebe to say, "cheese" and she responded with ... 


 ... "poop". Every time.

Last night I walked out of the room to put Julia to bed and was gone for no more than one minute and walked back in to find all three boys crying and Phoebe not crying but looking rather pleased with herself and the trucks she had won by way of obvious hair-pulling/arm-pinching/whatever-measure-was-necessary force. She can hold her own at home with the boys during the day while Julia is at school but has yet to grow out of her stranger-danger fears and is a real delight to take out in public.

Moving on to victim #1


Whenever he wants to ask for something that he knows will probably be a big fat, "um, no" such as pouring all my creamer into his sippy cup or skipping his nap he loudly whispers the request as if that will make it sound less ... crazy. He is our earliest riser and when I try to reason with him that it's, "still night time" he rushes to the window to show me that the sun is almost up. Methinks Theo might find one of these tucked in with him one of these early morning/late nights.

Victim #2


Sebastian has gone through such a wild growth spurt recently that he has exactly one pair of pants that wouldn't fit neatly under the capri category of clothing. He talks daily about going to school next year and times his elaborate train track building sessions to coincide right with bedtime. Every night. He's recently discovered the convenience that the great outdoors offers when nature calls which is fine except when we happen to be walking through a highly populated parking lot.

And Julia ...


... the queen of the rat pack recently lost two teeth and wrote a rather compelling note to the tooth fairy. It read: "Come Tooth Fairy". She gave her fifty cent winnings to the collection basket at church the next morning but we're not entirely sure she understands that she won't be getting her extensive coin collection back. She was sick last week and cried fat and ugly tears when she had to miss a day of her beloved school so explaining the concept of summer vacation should be oodles of fun when the time comes.

And lest the kids only remember Mom as groomed and dressed to the Costco-going nines ...


... she'll forever be trying to make sweats+sweaters+serious selfies happen. Even in Florida.

And that'll do until next week when the kids have ALL new quirks to report all over again. Thanks for humoring me.

Happy Fat Tuesday. I trust you're indulging appropriately.

31 comments:

  1. For the longest time, my kids thought that the ONLY thing to do with money was to put it in the collection at church! Now they're hoarders and it's less endearing ;)

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  2. If by "indulging" you mean "eating an entire loaf of monkey bread in (less than) twelve hours before giving up sugar for Lent", then yes.

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    1. And if by "humoring me" you mean "accidentally posting my comment three times with the Google account I made today because I am technologically challenged and slow to jump on the wagon but bound and determined to let the internets know I am a glutton", then yes.

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  5. is it weird that I want to squeeze B? Also, 95% sure Grace and Julia are long-lost twins, right down to the two missing teeth. (except you're a nice mom who takes time to braid hair more than 2x/year)

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  6. Can I just say how very excited I was to see your post show up in my Bloglovin feed?!?!? You were always my fave read and if I was trying to avoid housework or caring for my 4 small littles I would read posts from your archives. Love your take on motherhood.....makes me feel like I'm not alone in the mundane. Cheers from Texas!!

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  7. We just bought that exact sleep trainer/night light! I like it so far... hasn't been a 100% solution but she will at least lay back down if bunny is still sleeping. Small steps :)

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  8. We are 2 nights in with our clock exactly like that! First night was an almost success and last night I told him the bunny was still sleeping so he needed to go back to sleep too and he said "mom just change it to awake" 😳

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  9. We have two of those clocks in our casa and they are going on 5+ years strong!!

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  10. Love your little family! So happy to have their antics back in my life! (in a non creepy way)

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  11. We have a clock similar to that one, but it just changes colors and it is the BEST purchase ever as long as someone ... cough, cough Conor ... doesn't mess with it.

    Loved this post, Grace! Gospel is a cutie.

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  12. I love these kinds of posts, makes me feel like my kids are not out of their minds, and somewhat fit in with the masses. haha ;)

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  13. So happy to get an update on your kids! Looks like you guys are thriving in Florida!

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  14. Loved this post! Everyone is growing up so quickly!

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  15. I'm so glad you're back and loving the fresh new design. The pictures taking up the whole width of the text box is great!

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    1. thank you! that was my one HUGE request -- it drove me nuts before!

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  16. Enjoying the annual Chatfield triple chocolate pancake extravaganza over here for Fat Tuesday!

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  17. Another person with a high review for the owl night time light/sleep trainer thing. It's been a big success for us!

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  18. Year round school, Little J... year round school!

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  19. My 2 cents in the clock debate- if your Rooster is like mine and likes to push buttons (figuratively...as well as metaphorically), I would skip the owl and go for the sleeping/awake bunny clock which doesn't need 24 hours to reset. If you want to go the owl route, I have a spare gathering dust in my closet;) Loved the post.

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  20. Bosco and my son (first bebe) are only a month apart:) - long time reader, you guys were a family of 2 with Theo on the way when I started reading, nice to have you back.
    My son also eats everything (half a chilli off the kitchen floor this morning) but he's thin, I sweat it feels like no matter how much I feed him he stays skinny? Before reading I never thought having kids so close in age was doable but you make it look so easy I want baby no 2 already- I'll probably be sending you 'how the hell do you do it' emails should my wishes come true and we have 2 under 2 haha.

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  21. Ah I've missed your posts! Cutest family ever :)

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  22. I have a rooster as well. Unfortunately he is a clock reprogrammer/messer-upper, too. Those sleep-inducing alarm clocks should come with a lock and keep over the buttons! Just an idea.

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  23. Grace, I'm so glad you're back!!! I've missed seeing pics of those gorgeous kids so much! And reading your hilarious recaps. Yay!!! So happy!

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  24. Can't live without our Onaroo Owl! Definitely get it!

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  25. We also have an OK to wake clock in each of our kids' rooms!! Many lives have probably been saved.

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