Siblings and Baseball

We have 3 baseball players this season...

Jersey #2 was able to play in her first game of the season this past Saturday. She was so excited. She did great. She was upset that she had to use the tee, but I assured her that her swing will improve as her muscles loosen up over time. It is hard to explain to a 6-year old that surgery actually affects her body.

Jersey #2 and Jersey #3 are on the same team. At first, it was so cute to have siblings on the same team.

And then, I learned that they also serve as a distraction to each other....

They are actually turned away from the infield, ignoring the fact that there is a batter about to take a swing at the ball. If that wasn't amusing enough, they both suddenly walked off the field, before the inning was over. I asked what was going on, and Jersey #3 announced to the crowd, "we have to go potty."

I rushed them over to the restroom, and then suggested that next time they could wait for a break between innings, because their team was depending on their help.

I did manage to get a few pictures before it was time to head over to the other field for Jersey #1's game.

Jersey #1 plays in a higher level, due to her age. It is impressive to see how the kids on her team are gaining the strength and ability to really hit the ball when they are at bat. One boy on the opposing team managed to hit all the way to the grass in the outfield. The coaches are now in danger of being hit, when they pitch for the kids.

Unfortunately, one unsuspecting boy took a hit to the groin during Saturday's game. The coach had to assist him off the field, but he was eventually Ok. I learned a lot that day, about 8-year old boys, and their tales about being hit in *the batteries*. That was a new anatomy term for me. Plus, I was in awe of their level of compassion for the boy who was injured. That is a degree of pain that yields great understanding from those who had experienced it before.....and I heard a lot of tales about those experiences. I was not prepared for those conversations.

As a result, I have decided that my own sons are not allowed to become 8-year old boys.

Horse Painting

We had the great pleasure of visiting that magical place, Galloping Grace Youth Ranch, last week. Jersey #2 was able to spend a little time visiting with her heart friend, Cowboy Max. He praised her amazing recovery. He offered her a ranch critter....a cicada....

She surprised me by being brave enough to hold it. She enjoyed a good laugh when Cowboy Max put his cicada buddy on his shoulder and walked over to a group of kids to see if anyone would notice the bug on his shirt.

There was horse fun at the ranch too.

Jersey #1 amazes me with her comfort level riding a horse. She loves horses. She loves to ride. She learns more and more each time we visit. She is learning how to ride independently, holding the reins to direct the horse, and following the instructions from the ranch volunteer. It stuns me to see her riding on her own like this...

Jersey #3 took a turn riding a horse too. He likes to hold the reins, but has no concept of directing the horse that way. Yet. His favorite part is riding right up along side the corral fence and capturing a plastic horseshoe toy off the fence. His balance and comfort on the horse improves noticeably each time we visit.

Since Jersey #2 was only 5 weeks into recovery from her heart surgery, she is still on restriction from activities, such as horseback riding. Cowboy Max & his lovely wife, Michelle, had a special horse activity planned just for Jersey #2...

PAINTING A HORSE!

Jersey #2 took her time painting a beautiful rainbow on the side of this most patient horse. She had a blast. What a treat!

Jersey #5 thought that painting looked like a lot of fun. He got a hold of a brush with blue paint. Only, instead of painting the horse....

He painted Jersey #4!

Proof of his mischief remained for the rest of our ranch visit. Jersey #4's blue stripe gained quite a few laughs while we scooped poop at the work station.

Thankfully, she did not notice nor care. She was preoccupied with picking the pink rake that matched her pink cowboy boots.

What's Next?

It seems that things are falling apart all around me. Literally.

The plumbing under the kitchen sink has 2 leaks. I have 1 bucket. I discovered the 2nd leak because the bucket did not catch it. We had quite a mess to air out under that poor, old cabinet, that is now falling apart further from the water damage.

The Referee's car won't start. Again. He already towed it to the mechanic last month. Our savings has not yet recovered from that bill. No clue what the problem is at this point. So, we will be sharing 1 vehicle for a while. Ugh.

The dog is still coughing. She is an old dog...almost 12 years old. When I took her to the vet for this cough last February, they ruled out heart worms and cancerous growths. That was good news. They treated her with a steroid for bronchitis. That worked great....for a couple months. The cough returned, so we returned to the vet. Another round of the steroid med, plus the additional cost of another office visit. Only, this time, the med did not fix the problem in its entirety. Cough remains. Vet bills can quickly become outrageous when they are searching for a problem of unknown origin. And then there is the issue of how much do you do for an old dog? I have not even gathered the courage to schedule another vet appointment. The vet keeps pushing for doggie dental work....cleaning her teeth while she is under anesthesia. Sounds expensive.

Our medical insurance company sent a summary of some of the expenses from Jersey #2's heart surgery. The total that they say we will owe is already twice the amount we understood to be our out-of-pocket maximum. Now we get to make a phone call and learn more about our insurance coverage. I sure hope there really is a *maximum* in this situation. Yikes.

Jersey #4 and Jersey #3 both need dental procedures this summer. Low cooperation. No fun. More bills. Ugh.

Oh, and did I mention that the fate of the funding that affects The Referee's job has been decided and will be announced some time this week?

So, we are currently facing a whole slew of bills, repairs, and expenses....at the same time that our primary source of income is unstable.

Yep, that sounds about right!

I wonder what is going to break down next.

Jersey #5

Jersey #5 is my easy-going baby. He is my reward for surviving the unsocial challenges of Jersey #3 and Jersey #4. He is friendly. He is social. He is smiley.

And he is a TANK.

Jersey #5 is a BIG boy. He was born a regular size, and quickly grew from there. He is by far, my largest child. He measures taller and heavier than any of my other children, at any stage of development. His growth runs along the 95 percentile curve for both height and weight. If he continues this trend, we expect him to be well over 6 feet tall in adulthood. The boy is large.

Jersey #5 threw me off course, because he absolutely refused to breastfeed. Refused. He nursed once at birth, and never again. I was convinced that I could over come him. I had already nursed 4 other children, for crying out loud, so I knew what I was doing. The nurses at the hospital were convinced that they could rile him up to help him latch on. The only thing we succeeded at doing was taking a very mellow baby and getting him to scream until his voice was hoarse. I pumped breastmilk for him and continued to coax him to nurse for weeks. Then one day it struck me that he was otherwise always content, mellow, and easy going.....but a split second after I put him to the breast, he would scream. I decided to give up my determination to breastfeed and settled for very mellow, happy bottle-fed baby boy.

I continued to pump breastmilk for him until my supply went away. The pump is just not as good as the baby. My hearty eater would respond to the sound of the breastpump. If he was sleeping, he would wake up when he heard the pump going, and would demand his bottle. The Referee would tend to him and give him the pep talk that if he would just cut out the "middle man" he could have his meals right from the source.

Feeding Jersey #5 became a family activity. We all found it fun to hold him and feed him his bottle. He loves to eat. It was even more fun the day he started eating cereal, because everyone took a turn to spoon feed him. Granny jokes that the reason he is so big is that he has so many people to feed him!

Like his big brother, Jersey #5 was just not content with baby food in jars. We quickly moved to pureeing everything in sight, including meat. He was so good with texture, so young, that we quickly moved away from puree to just squashing food with a fork for him. He has always had a hearty appetite. And he was the happiest well-fed baby.

Jersey #5 is also my most physical child. I am guessing his size plays a role in this trait, because he is accustomed to everything and everyone moving out of his way. He is heavy and he is strong.

He was very young when he started pushing and hitting when things did not go his way. He tested the limits of everyone else's physical strength, which was new to me. I was stunned the day he walked up to me in the kitchen and kicked my leg. He did give a little "hi-ya" as he kicked, so I told him that he was banned from watching Daddy's Tae Kwon Do class.

It did not help that all of his siblings ran from him. He started swinging toys around and throwing them across the room at such a young age, that by the time he could pick up a baseball bat or a stick, and walk with it, all of his older siblings would run out of the room to get away from him. We actually had to teach the older kids to stand their ground with him (and remember their own size), so that we could train him out of being a bully. I had never heard of such a parenting requirement before I had to experience it. Now that he is a toddler, we are finding it easier to start teaching him proper technique for hitting and kicking, as if he were a martial arts student. He likes the praise for practicing in the air, and leaves his siblings alone.

Part of the problem is his great size and part of the problem is his bull-headed personality. Jersey #5 is more than stubborn, he is bull-headed. He does not take the time to work out the details. He just barrels through life. He throws a fit before he thinks about how an obstacle could be easily moved out of his way, and save him the frustration. He does not redirect easily. A tantruming bully....now that is a force to reckon with.

Thankfully, Jersey #5 loves attention. He took to the concept of giving hugs as an apology for his bully behaviors so well, that he is now more of a lover than a fighter. If he hurts one of his siblings by accident, he wraps his arms around them as soon as he hears the word "Ouch!" Since he weighs as much as Jersey #4 already, sometimes his hugs turn into tackling her to the ground. So, there is still room for improvement.

Jersey #5 is our comedic entertainment. He will repeat any behavior that earned a laugh. He giggles and laughs through the day, especially at the sight of his meals. When I looked over the pictures that Granny had taken while the kids stayed with her, I noticed that Jersey #5 was eating and snacking in almost every picture. It takes a lot of food to fill a tank.

Jersey #5 takes after his big sisters in that he is friendly, social, and enjoys meeting new people. He is a quiet kid...and he is not clingy....so I really have to keep an eye on him or he will wander away as things catch his attention, because he does not worry about having me in sight. Jersey #5 is a little Romeo who always stops to smile and wave at the little girl toddlers he sees.

At 21 months old now, Jersey #5 is right-handed and counting 1-5. He is our little parrot who repeats everything he hears us say. I especially appreciate his "Yes Ma'm" obedience right now. It helps me know that he is actually complying with my requests because he nods and says "Es A'am." I know it won't be long before he leaves this phase of compliance and moves into another phase of testing limits, so I am enjoying it while it lasts.

Jersey #4

Jersey #4 turned our life upside-down. She is determined to go against the plan. This trait of hers started in the womb, where she was upside-down. She was a footling breech baby. Instead of being in the head-down position ready for birth, she was standing on 1 foot like a flamingo. We scheduled a c-section delivery, and she insisted on arriving 2 days prior than her scheduled surgical date.

Jersey #4 was a beautiful, bald baby. She was born with blue eyes and no hair. She took a full year to grow a little bit of hair, which was hard to see because it was so blonde. She has the same coloring as most of her siblings...and looks a lot like Jersey #1....only with a dainty shape to her bone structure. Jersey #4 grew along the 50-60th percentile growth curve, but always looked so petite compared to chubby Jersey #3. She has been gaining in height quite a bit this year, so it looks like she may become a taller child afterall.

Jersey #4 believed she was born into royalty, and we were her servants. I wrongly expected a 4th child to be easy-going and just blend into the family. It took Jersey #4 just under 24 hours to have the entire family running to tend to her every wail. She was fiesty and strong-willed even in infancy. She is also introverted. She likes to play by herself most of the time. And she prefers to be home. In the early months, we left every playdate and activity with Jersey #4 screaming. When she was tired, she wanted to nap at home. She would maintain a constant scream until we arrived home and walked through the door of our house. Then, she was instantly content.

Thankfully, Jersey #4 slept. She was sleeping for 8 hours stretches at night at 5 months old. That was such a welcome relief after the level of sleep trauma we endured with Jersey #3. It was so nice to have a baby who slept again. Jersey #4 proved quite challenging all day long, then blessed us with her angelic sleep at night.

As long as Jersey #4 was getting everything her way, she was the happiest child. But, she was not friendly. She did not smile at strangers. She was not interested in making strangers into friends. Granny had to win over Jersey #4's acceptance by feeding her powdered sugar donuts. Jersey #4 would smile for Granny and let Granny hold her, as long as there were powdered sugar donuts available. Jersey #4 had 1 exception to her rule....there is a girl at church who is 9 months younger, and they have been instant friends. They broke all the rules of parallel play, by interacting with each other and making each other laugh at very young ages. All of Jersey #4's baby dolls are named after her friend.

Jersey #4 was so unfriendly to all of our friends and family, that most folks assumed she couldn't talk. As she grew into a young toddler who never said a word out in public, folks started to inquire about her verbal deficit. We were amused, because she was actually a chatterbox at home. She was a completely different child at home than she was in public.

We had to cancel Jersey #4's first birthday party. She was sick with the flu. That was a first for our family (not the flu, but having to cancel a birthday party). That is just how things go with Jersey #4.....not as planned.

I joke that I am raising Jersey #4 to take care of me in my old age. She pays such close attention to detail, that I am certain she will keep me from getting bed sores. She is our only child who can thoroughly clean up every toy in the room. She puts things where they belong. She likes routine and she likes clean. As a result, she was very easy to potty train. She preferred to be dry and clean versus soiled. She does not even require a reminder to wash her hands....with soap....she does that all on her own, as part of her routine.

Jersey #4 would prefer to be the eldest child in the family. She is pretty certain that she should be in charge, and that she should have authority over all of her siblings. She used to try to make her older siblings leave her path, but she eventually faced the fact that they were bigger and stronger. Now, she focuses her energy on mothering her little brother, Jersey #5. She bosses him around, and assists him when he needs help. She can be quite caring when she wants to.

Jersey #4 has been able to dribble a basketball since she was 2 years old. That is how she entertained herself during her older sisters' basketball practices. I look forward to seeing how she does when she is old enough to play sports. She seems fairly coordinated for a little kid. She has been quick to learn to pedal her tricycle and to pump her legs to go higher on the swing. She has not been quick to climb up into that big chair at the dentist though. She is quite resistant there.

Jersey #4 loves baby dolls and dogs. She is usually found with at least one in her arms at all times. She loves to play house...to be the Mom....and to take care of the baby, or the dog. She will dress up like a princess about as often as she will dress up as Bob or Larry from the Veggie Tales. Dress-up clothes are not near as exciting for her as her regular clothes. Jersey #4 loves clothes and shoes (which is very odd, considering she also loves to be naked). She comments about how pretty an outfit is in the store. She is very picky about what clothes she wears each day. She prefers to dress herself. She would rather fuss and whine in frustration than to have one of us help her put her shirt on. Dresses that twirl are her favorite, along with shiny shoes.

Jersey #4's social skills flipped like a light switch as she was approaching age 3. All of a sudden, she was very independent, compliant, and friendly toward others. She started speaking of other children as her friends. She started talking to the people we see regularly at the park, activities, and church. People who had been snubbed by Jersey #4 her whole life, were ready to faint when she suddenly started talking to them and smiling at them.

While Jersey #4 was participating in Awana this past year, we learned she really likes songs that have motions to accompany them. She enjoyed learning the lessons, but she most enjoyed the arts and crafts. She is also left-handed.

After Jersey #4 stayed with Granny & PawPaw so we could take Jersey #2 for surgery, they reported that she was the perfect child. I admit, my jaw dropped. I asked for clarification that they were speaking of MY Jersey #4? The child who tests limits with a vengence. The child who announces that she is 5 years old, even though she is only 3. The child who just wakes up one day and makes it her mission to challenge my every instruction.....just for fun.

Yes. Apparently, Granny & PawPaw saw a Jersey #4 who played nicely on her own. She did not wander off. She did not mess with things that were not hers. She followed the rules, and remembered to wash her hands. Plus, she still sleeps well.

Actually, she sleeps in late in the mornings. I am pretty convinced she is just recharging so that she can throw my best laid plans off course every chance she gets. But, she is so smart, and so beautiful. So caring and so clean. And, she is going to take care of me when I am old.

Jersey #3

This Lil' Cowboy changed our life dramatically. For starters, he is a boy. Boys are just different than girls. As if that wasn't challenging enough, he is an extremely introverted child. He does not handle social situations well, especially new social situations. As if that was challenging enough, he was a VERY high maintenance infant. Very high maintenance. There is a reason that the largest age gap of our children comes after Jersey #3. Let's just say that our lifestyle was severely altered just to maintain the care of Jersey #3 as a baby, and we needed time to recover.

Jersey #3 shot into the world like a rocket. The medical term for that was "precipitous delivery." Apparently, there is great benefit to being squished through the birth canal at a moderate pace. We learned the hard way that blasting through the birth canal leads to "transitional issues." Jersey #3 started his life outside the womb, having a hard time adjusting to the new environment. That should have told us something about what it was going to be like raising this kid.

Jersey #3 lacked self soothing skills. He had none. Most babies will put their hand to their mouths, move around, rub their cheek against a blanket, suck a pacifier, or catch their attention on something they hear. Jersey #3 screamed hysterically instead. The only thing that kept him quiet was feeding him. He wanted to nurse 24 hours a day. He was not picky, though...he would be just as happy with a bottle in his mouth 24 hours a day. That was his idea of soothing. He became very fat, very fast. I'm not talking chubby baby, here, I'm talking milk fat!

Jersey #3 came out of the womb with stranger anxiety. He only wanted to be held by Mom or Dad for the entire first year of his life. Even as a newborn, when the ladies at church ran up to greet the new baby, Jersey #3 screamed hysterically if anyone else tried to hold him. We spent the first 2 months of his life taking turns holding him in our arms, feeding him...around the clock. The Referee still remembers what shows were on television in the wee hours of night, as he sat in the recliner feeding Jersey #3. With that level of nursing or pumping, I had an abundance of breastmilk. But, it took its toll on my body. I returned to my prepregnancy weight within 4 weeks postpartum. I threw out the idea of a balanced diet, and just ate to survive....steaks, hamburgers, and Mountain Dew. If I did not eat enough meat, I would physically shake.

I took Jersey #3 for his 2-month check-up and informed our beloved family doctor that he had given me a broken baby, and he needed to fix Jersey #3 immediately. Dr. S. almost laughed, but I was dead serious. I informed him that I had emailed every mommy friend I knew for ideas on how to manage the crazed eating, and the popular recommendation was to start cereal. I was giving the doctor that moment to fix this problem, or I was going to start trying every piece of advice I received, no matter how crazy it sounded. I had tested the amount of breastmilk Jersey #2 was eating...by pumping all his feedings for a 24 hour period....and he was drinking 52 ounces! At 2-months old!! It was madness!!! Dr. S took me very seriously and talked me down from the ledge. He then went on to explain that Jersey #3 lacked self-soothing skills. If we wanted to find peace again, we needed to teach him a way to soothe that did not involve eating. He started to suggest the cry-it-out method, but stopped as soon as I reminded him that Jersey #3 screams hysterically.....at a constant rate until milk is inserted in his mouth....and we already know he can go great lengths of time, and outlast us, because we had attempted car trips. (We actually became very agile at driving while holding a bottle in his mouth, to stop the screaming). And we were not about to endure another minute of screaming, because our nerves were shot! Besides, I was not convinced he has the ability to calm down on his own anyway. He seemed to be lacking something for that. Dr. S armed me with a list of suggestions. [Here we are 5 years later, and Dr. S brings up that visit just about every time we see him. It left a lasting impression. Dr. S says that I was as frazzled as parents with a colicky baby, only I didn't have a colicky baby. That was the closest similarity he could find. Jersey #3 was a unique one].

We chose teaching Jersey #3 to take a pacifier, and rocking him to sleep. Simultaneously. He was not originally a fan of the pacifier, but I put one in his mouth, pressed his face against my chest to hold the pacifier in, held him close, and rocked him in the recliner as fast and as steady as I could. I actually managed to get him to sleep that way the first night. (Granted, he only slept for 1.5 hours, but it was a start). We functioned with Jersey #3 swaddled to my chest, with a pacifier in his mouth, always rocking, swaying, or in motion. I "wore" him in a baby carrier most of the time, because that brought him comfort and also kept my hands free to keep a grip on my very active toddler, Jersey #2. Eventually, Jersey #3 accepted being in motion in the baby swing, with a pacifier in his mouth, which gave small bits of time to attempt to be human again. He continued to be a voracious eater, so Dr. S recommended I start cereal a little early (3.5 months old), because I had tried all of his other suggestions.

His appetite and his lack of sleep are mostly all I remember about Jersey #3's infancy. Even starting solids early was not enough for him. He acted as if pureed baby food was as filling as water. He skipped the size 1 jars entirely. When Jersey #3 was only 6 months old, I pureed all the components of our dinner for him....mashed potatoes, salisbury steak, corn, and gravy. The child smiled and cooed with every bite. It was the most content we had ever seen him. By the time he was 9 months old, he was eating portion sizes the same as his older sisters. Now, he out-eats all 3 of his sisters combined. I am not sure where he puts all that food, but he claims he is always hungry. He tells me everyday that I make the best lunch ever.

The theory that starting solids would help a baby sleep through the night did not work with Jersey #3. He did not sleep a full 8-hour stretch of night until he was 15 months old! He was a very light sleeper, in addition to wanting to eat throughout the night. He finally grew into the schedule of sleeping 10-12 hours a night, and taking an afternoon nap, by the time he was age 2. That is a long time for parents to endure sleep deprivation. It is a good thing that he is so adorably cute, especially when he smiles. His chubby, dimpled smile made me melt, and helped me endure yet another day with my high-maintenance baby boy.

Jersey #3 took to a teen girl at our church from the first time he met her (almost 1 year old). We joke that she is his first love. She quickly became our beloved babysitter, because she was the only other person he would let care for him without hysterics. I had already dropped every activity I was doing that required Jersey #3 to be in the provided childcare nursery. He would become so hysterical if I tried to hand him over to other caregivers, that there was no point in me trying to do those activities. My child needed me more at that time. He was very insecure and needed more time with Mommy to develop his independence.

Jersey #3 was so challenging during infancy, that his "terrible 2's" were a breeze. He was a shy, clingy child, so he always stayed near me whenever we were out. He never wandered off. He was a dedicated napper. He took a nap every afternoon, no matter where we were. Even if we were at home, with a group of friends over for a playdate, Jersey #3 would leave the fun right after lunch, and go nap in his bed. He stuck to his own routine and schedule. He was happy that way.

When Jersey #3 turned 3 years old, we set the limit with him that he had to move up to the preschool-level gymnastics class, instead of the Mom-n-tot class. We had been taking the kids to this same gym since his birth, so he was very comfortable with the setting and the coaches. It was a good location to stretch him a bit. We knew he needed to learn to interact with other children, without the help of his Mom. He grew to love that gymnastics class, and the opportunity to run around with other rough-n-tumble boys his age. He kept a very close eye on me though, waving periodically to me to make sure I was still in the viewing area.

Jersey #3 has slowly-but-surely gained skills for coping in social settings. He took a while to warm up to his teachers at Awana, before he didn't need me there with him anymore. Now, he loves Awana and made his very first friend there. He is starting to talk and interact with kids at playgrounds and parks. He does well when he finds a boy who is playing a sport or riding a bike, since those are big interests for him. He was able to participate in a pre-K class with our homeschool co-op this past year. His teacher thought he was delightful. As he is approaching kindergarten this Fall, I am pleased with the way his social skills have matured and developed. It is hard for me to believe that my hysterically clingy baby boy is fully capable of interacting with peers in a classroom setting (without me) now. It also brings me great comfort to know that following my instinct on his insecurity needs when he was an infant/toddler....instead of forcing the issue of separation from me, as was recommended at the time...worked out so well to give him that extra time to develop.

Jersey #3 has some fun traits too. He is left-handed when he writes, but right-handed when he throws a ball. He has such good dexterity that he will play video games on the Wii with a controller in each hand....that way he can play both sides of a boxing match or a sword fight simultaneously. Jersey #3 has such an arm on him, that we had to ban him from throwing a ball in the house....even a soft, squishy ball....from the time he was 18 months old. He loves sports of all kinds. He has been asking to play football since he was 3. I am not even sure how he came to know what football was, but he is certain he needs to play it. He was finally old enough to play baseball this summer, and loves it. He is in the age group that normally uses a Tee to hit the ball, but he is able to hit from the coach's pitch, the first time each time he is at bat. Jersey #3 is genetically blessed with an athletic build, and the physical strength to go with it. I am amazed by the degree of his upper arm strength already.

One thing that I am still getting used to is this concept of Jersey #3 being "All Boy." If I understand correctly, this means that he finds dangerous activities to be inviting, and will risk life and limb to try them out, before thinking about the consequences. He seems to believe that most objects should become projectiles. He is very impulsive. And, he pays no attention to most of his stumbles and falls. He has already knocked out 3 of his teeth. I do not know what is he is doing with the knees to his jeans, but they are always gaping with holes. There is such a difference between raising boys and girls...with my girls I can take the time to teach and train them. With Jersey #3, I spend all of my time just trying to keep the boy alive!"

I actually questioned if Jersey #3 had the intelligence of his older sisters, or if he had knocked himself in the head one too many times. But in this past year, he has been demonstrating the same memorization skills as Jersey #1 and similar math skills as Jersey #2. He is learning to read along the expected progression of our phonics-based curriculum, and doing real well with that. So, I am looking forward to analyzing his learning style in the coming school year.

Jersey #3 has been a huge fan of Thomas the tank train engine for years. That is the toy that keeps on growing with him. He loves to build the track, drive the trains, and match up the story lines with the cartoon movies about Thomas. Jersey #3 says that when he grows up, he is going to be a train conductor.

Jersey #2

Jersey #2 is a living miracle. Everything about her defies our logical limits. She was our only "surprise" baby. My heart was already wishing for another child. The Referee and I attempted an intellectual conversation about the best spacing of children...but it was of no use...I was already pregnant with her, and did not know it at the time. Her conception did not follow the "window" of my well-tracked cycles....and the entire pregnancy continued with the possible statistical error of 1 week. According to my cycle, she was a week behind in growth, but the early ultrasound sided with my calculated conception date. That week difference was just the thing we needed to be able to induce labor at 40 weeks, on the grounds that she could also be a week overdue.

Ironically, my healthiest, easiest, most textbook pregnancy was with Jersey #2. There was not a single identified complication or concern with her health or mine. Hers was also my simplest, smoothest delivery. I chose to be induced. I chose to get an epidural at 4cm. I slept through labor. I woke up and pushed her out just as the epidural was wearing off. She looked great right from the start, and nursed like a champ. In spite of having a loud heart murmur at birth, she showed no other signs or symptoms of heart trouble.

Jersey #2 was the easiest baby on the face of the planet (except for that whole heart-defect stress). She was a very efficient nurser who ate quickly and grew big. She preferred to sleep on her back, on her own in the bassinet (not in our bed), with her hands up next to her head. She came home from the hospital sleeping for 4-hour stretches, and proceeded to lengthen her sleep even more as the weeks went by. When she was awake, she was the happiest, most easy-going child. She was an absolutely delightful infant.

Jersey #2 is a beauty. She was born with all of the best features found on my side of the family. She has BIG, blue eyes, long, thick lashes, dimples, and dark brown hair. In spite of having two extremely pale parents, Jersey #2 has skin that will tan.

She has the best personality for having to endure such extensive medical care. She is tough, sweet, and accepts her burdens in stride, appreciating all of the positives along the way. She makes friends with everyone she meets, regardless of age, but is convinced that all children her own age are her "best" friend. She pays close attention to every detail of her care, and knows what to expect and who to trust. She will comply with her medical care providers as long as they are honest with her at all times. She is very direct in her verbal skills. When she was 3 years old, she informed an oral surgeon that she was the very last person in his waiting room. Having never met him before, she looked him right in the eye and said, "You made me go last!" He was speechless.....and smitten....like just about every other health provider who encounters her. She wears her chest scars as a badge of honor, and is happy to know that so many people pray for her health.

After raising such an easy-going infant, we were not prepared for Jersey #2 to become an active toddler. We wrongly thought our home was already baby-proofed after having Jersey #1. Well, Jersey #2 forced us to baby proof all over again, because she sought more danger. Pressure-mounted baby gates were no match to contain her. She simply shook them until the pressure released. When they fell to the ground, she would crawl right over the top of them and continue on her path. She was such a high-energy child that her cardiologist once jokingly asked, "Do you want me to ask the surgeon to put the hole back in her heart to slow her down a little?" Between the ages of 9 months and 4 years old, we were convinced that fear must be located in the heart, and her heart surgeon must have accidentally removed her fear when he fixed her heart defect. I did not believe Jersey #2 would make it to her first birthday without a concussion or a serious trip to the Emergency Room. She made my own heart stop on numerous occasions. She climbed and she jumped.....and she paid no attention to height, depth or safety. She did eventually break a leg. She was 4 years old and landed wrong after going down a slide....

The cast almost slowed her down. I verified with the doctor that he was really sure, when he said that she could walk on that cast as soon as she felt up for it. I don't think he was expecting her to be out on the soccer field, running and kicking a soccer ball before the 6 weeks was up. But, he had her all figured out immediately. When I asked if we should be concerned about the strength of her bones, considering how easily she broke her leg, his answer was that children who swing from the rafters will eventually fall and break something.

Jersey #2 greeted her new baby brother (Jersey #3) in an unusual way....she picked his nose.

She did not struggle with sibling rivalry, but she is not interested in being a caregiver either. She likes her siblings when she wants friends to play with, or when they are following her games. But, she is not one to be concerned over their boo boos, or helping them find their shoes or anything like that. She enjoys a brief holding session with babies, and is then ready to move on to more exciting things. She finds the misbehavior of toddlers to be highly amusing. She is our informer to make sure that none of her siblings get away with any behavior that is deemed punishable. Jersey #2 likes the structure of rules and consequences....but she tests those limits with every ounce of her strength. Staying one step ahead of her can be a full-time job.

Jersey #2 has a head for numbers. She is strong in mental math and musical rhythm. She did not start talking until she was almost 2. She was a very expressive grunter. The month she turned 2 years old, she suddenly started speaking in complete sentences, out of the blue. She just did not follow the natural language progression. She also potty trained herself. She would follow her big sister into the restroom and sit on the potty chair while her sister sat on the toilet. By imitating her sister, the concept just clicked with her one day. She has an understanding of things beyond what would be expected of someone her age. She seems to be able to think through the consequences of certain choices or behaviors... but will sometimes rationalize the consequence is worth it. She is a clever girl, convinced that she can outsmart the adults around her. She pays close attention to all the details. Whether she is being compliant, or looking for trouble, Jersey #2 does everything to the best of her ability, and with great joy.

Jersey #2 has her own sense of style. She loves to wear mis-matched socks. She loves bold, bright colored clothes. Her favorite color is rainbow. She went through the Princess phase of girlhood, but diverted from the standard course. Instead of the popular choices of Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty, Jersey #2 preferred Pocahontas and Snow White. She also likes to dress up as a pirate or a spy. Jersey #2 makes a great middle child, because she can be very girly along with her big sister, or rough-n-tumble with her younger brother, depending on her mood at the time.

Jersey #2 marches to the beat of her own drum, and she is the drummer. She does not spend much attention on the wishes of others. If she does not see eye-to-eye with her peers, she moves on and does her own thing. She has so much fun on her own, that she often draws the crowd back to her....and then proceeds to call the shots. I am challenged to try to bend the strength of her will toward good behaviors, and caring about the needs of others....while encouraging her to keep the level of independent strength that helps her endure times like this....

It is hard for a mother to know her child battles pain. It is just not fair. I also see that out of all of my children, Jersey #2 is created to overcome. She is built tough. After one medical test last year, Jersey #2 announced to her dramatic big sister, "It is a good thing you are not a heart patient, because it takes a lot of tough!" I am learning to embrace her strong-willed personality when it is testing my authority....because I know that she turns that same strength of will into determination to conquer her cardiology mountain.

She faces each health challenge head-on, without complaint. She pushes the limits of the textbooks. She dismisses the odds. She challenges the predictions of her cardiology team. She celebrates each amazing recovery.

Her very life is a miracle.

Jersey #1

Jersey #1 is our first live-born child. Our beautiful, intelligent, creative daughter. She is a social butterfly who migrates to the crowd...where the most potential friends are available...the moment she arrives. As far as she is concerned, everyone is her friend.

She was blessed with blonde hair and light blue eyes. Her eyes are so light blue, they capture attention. She has even been given free cookies at McDonalds, just because her blue eyes delighted the cashier so much.

Jersey #1 was an incredibly easy baby. She ate well, slept well, played well, and smiled at everyone. As new parents, we were blessed to have her first, because she made all of our parenting choices easy. She did well in Mommy's care, in Daddy's care, and even in day care. To this day, we say that she would be successful no matter which schooling option we had chosen. She is an adaptable kid.

When Jersey #1 was only 6 months old, we noticed her keen memory. She only had to be shown something once, and she remembered it. This ability has grown with her to the point that she has an incredible comprehension of any book she reads. She does not forget a Bible verse that she has previously memorized. And, she has a gift for languages. She has always been a verbal child. She was identifying basic animals and their sounds at 9 months old. We assumed that was the norm, because we didn't know any better. (We later learned that none of our other children talked as well, as early).

Jersey #1 has always been in a big hurry to grow up. When she was 2 years old she climbed into the driver's seat of the van. She started crying when we told her to sit in her car seat. When we asked her what she was crying about, she answered, "I want to drive." We laughed, but she was serious. Now, at 8 years old, she is anxiously awaiting the opportunity to become a teenager.

Jersey #1 was a tall kid right from birth, but her height went off the top of the growth charts by the time she was 2 years old. She had the weight ratio to go with it, at first, so she was a BIG toddler. She wore clothes that were 2-3 sizes higher than her age. By the time she was 4 years old, her height returned to the chart, and her weight ratio was slimming fast. For the past few years, she has been holding steady with a height above the 90th percentile and weight in the 80-85th percentile. This gives her a really healthy (genetically blessed) height/weight proportion and BMI. She continues to receive a lot of attention about her height. She does suffer with some awkward strides and growing pains at times.

We have joked that Jersey #1 is going to be a lawyer, because of the way that she seeks a loophole to any rule. As a preschooler, when she was told she had to clean her plate before she could get up from the table, she promptly tossed her sandwich to the dog and then said her plate was clean. We have also joked that Jersey #1 is going to be a corporate executive because she always wants to be in charge. She looked at us with a confused expression and replied, "I don't know what that is, but I just want to be the BOSS!" As she grows, it is nice to see her use those loophole skills to find the logic behind the rules, and to see that bossiness be replaced with skills of leadership.

Jersey #1 loves to dream and create. She almost always has a journal in her arms, because she likes to write. She likes to think about things, talk about her thoughts and dreams, and write lists and notes about her thoughts. She has always enjoyed arts and craft activities, and recently took up sewing. After being shown once how to follow a pattern, she sewed a new shirt for her doll. I had no idea she could do such a thing.

Jersey #1 taught us the meaning of Princess. She is a girly-girl....to the extreme. There have been many times when The Referee has thrown up his hands in exasperation and announced to me that "she is such a girl!" She admires beautiful things and beautiful people. She has always taken great care to match up her outfits and accessories, including making sure her outfit matches the theme of the event she is attending. With her "It's all about the outfit." She will put on her basketball uniform to practice basketball, then change into her ballerina outfit to dance in the living room. She changes clothes at least 8 times a day. She went through such a big Princess phase, that she even wore her Princess dress-up clothes to church, or out to the store. She did not cry for her first haircut. She smiled at herself in the mirror. She enjoys the entire beauty shop process, and has taken to explaining her hair style wishes with the stylist herself. (Thankfully, the stylist runs every decision past me before making that first cut). At 8 years old, she is already a fan of manicures and pedicures.

On of the greatest things I love about Jersey #1 is her heart for others. She has a nurturing spirit. She is a great oldest child of a large family, because she is the best big sister to many siblings. She takes the role to super hero status, calling herself "Super Big Sister." She has been happy to help from the age of 19 months, when Jersey #2 arrived. When Jersey #2 would cry, Jersey #1 would drop whatever she was playing with on the spot, and run toward Jersey #2 yelling over her shoulder, "I got it!" She has welcomed each of her siblings into our family with open arms....and continues to ask for more siblings to arrive. She loves to hold babies (she especially loves those precious baby feet). She knows how to hold a bottle, dress a toddler, and rock a younger sibling to sleep for a nap. Actually, she knows so much about taking care of babies, that she sometimes tries to tell her Mom and Dad how to do things, forgetting who taught her in the first place. Jersey #1 will cheerfully be a companion to her own younger siblings, as well as the siblings of her peers, so they can ride the kiddie rides at the amusement park. She will climb into any playstructure to rescue a crying child, even a stranger's child. Younger children trust her, smile at her, and enjoy her care.

Jersey #1 is a sensitive child. She has a lot of empathy for others. Tears come to her eyes whenever she sees someone else crying. She doesn't want anyone to feel bad, and tries to bring comfort whenever she can. She seeks to please her parents, and is compliant to our rulse and instruction.

My biggest concern for Jersey #1 is the influence of her peers. She is at an age where the importance of the opinons of her peers is growing. Her feelings hurt easily. She wants to identify with the same likes and dislikes of her friends. I worry about her being poorly influenced, and not having the strength to take an opposing stand. She likes to be part of the crowd and will often give in to the activity choice of a friend, just to keep the peace. We are focusing on helping her internalize her values, see the height of her self-esteem, and verbalize her feelings and emotions.

Jersey #1 is a precious gem. Even though she is growing up way too fast for my liking, it is so amazing to watch her gifts and talents grow too. It is fun to dream about where these skills may take her. Will she become fluent in another language? Will she take on a career with a leadership role? Will she raise a large family? Will she serve the needs of others? I don't have the answers now, so we will have to wait and see what the future holds.