Buddha 1, Jackson 0

We have a little statue of Buddha in our master bathroom. Jackson was playing around with it this morning and you know what? Right out of nowhere, it attacked him! Look under 0his left eye (your right) he's got a little cut. That Buddha has a mean left hook. John and I were completely shocked as we were always under the impression that Buddha was a peacemaker. This behavior is not what you'd expect from a deity of his caliber. Buddha, that is.

Jackson getting him back.

You should see the other guy.
(Well, honestly, the other guy is made of stone, he looks about the same.)

Happy Birthday to That Baby

That baby really enjoyed playing in the mulch.

The amazingly gratuitous cuteness of it all.

Behold the birthday boy in all his voluptuous glory.

Hair today, gone tomorrow

What Bella used to look like

John and I went out to a concert and left Liam, Bella and Jackson with our favorite babysitter. When we woke up this morning, John said, "Hey. There's blonde hair on the floor in our bathroom."

I went and checked it out. Isabella was still asleep and I very nearly woke her to survey the damage, but she was asleep face down, so I had to wait.

When she awoke, it was pretty clear what had happened. I asked her to tell me the story. Apparently, Bella went into our master bathroom to look for her toothbrush and found haircutting scissors instead. She spontaneously decided that her bangs were really long and bothering her and she just couldn't wait one more minute.

Kat: "So, when you came out of the bathroom, what did the babysitter say?"

Bella: "She didn't even notice! I guess I did a good job!"

See for yourselves... The "after" shot:

What Bella looks like now

There was just a touch of deja vu. On Father's Day 2003, Maddie decided that she really wanted her hair cut and just couldn't wait one more minute. I had some wrapping paper and scissors out upstairs in our bedroom. She took huge sewing scissors out and cut her hair. Lots of hair. And all on the one side of her head. From one side, her hair looked absolutely perfect. From the other side, full blown mullet.

Boys on the Side

I just love these boys. Jackson is finally to the age where he's not so fragile. For some time, I could only really leave Jackson in Maddie's care because she knows her own strength and doesn't play too aggressively with the babe. Liam and Bella tended to overestimate how much roughhousing he could handle. Now, he can actually fight back for the most part, so I can trust the other kids to watch him. Also, Maddie is gone for the week in Ohio and I need to shower. As they say, necessity is the mother of compromise. That is what they say, right?

Tub fun

Jackson loves the bathtub. We spent the afternoon at the pool and he and Bella really needed rinsed off. It was easier to just throw them in together. I've had to segregate tub time since the kids are getting older, but Jackson and Bella in the tub together was pretty funny.

A few months ago, I had to have a serious conversation with Liam about, well, urinating in the bathtub. Especially when the girls are next in line to get in after him. As soon as I put Jackson in the tub with Bella tonight, he stood in the water and peed directly into the water. Bella found it disgusting and quite offensive. I had to give her the same explanation that we have to give when they ask why we would encourage baby Jackson to burp, but we yell at them when they do it. Life is full of inequities.

Sympathy for the Devil

I went into Ohio for the weekend and took the two kids that look and act more like me (Maddie and Jackson). I left John with the two kids that look and act more like him (the other two).

We recently received the Guitar Hero video game as a gift. For those who don't know - it comes with a "guitar" that you play different songs on. It's cool and kinda like the video game equivalent of crack. Saturday afternoon, John and Liam were having a Guitar Hero mini-marathon. The doorbell rang and John went to get it. Liam doesn't miss a beat. Literally. John answers the door and finds a... well, a door-to-door religion salesman. We're not really sure whether he was a Jehovah's Witness or from Latter-Day Saints or what. He was chatting away with John. Suddenly, Liam starts a new song. "dun dun DUN, dun dun DUN, dun dun DUN, SHOUT AT THE DEVIL! dun dun DUN, dun dun DUN, dun dun DUN, SHOUT AT THE DEVIL!"

John smiles and shrugs his shoulders at the friendly religious guy at the door.

John: "Kids."

A Little Reggae, A Little Rum

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Excuses? Hmmm....

There are always excuses for long blog hiatuses. I won't bore you. It's just life. It's been happening to me in the most unexpected ways and at the most unexpected times. It has just been full. Full of laughter and tears. Beginnings and endings. Planning and executing. Laundry and dishes.

Most importantly, I can't get enough of that baby. Sound asleep in my arms, yet I can't bring myself to lay him down. The time is slipping away too quickly and my last baby can get up and walk away. I'm not ready.

Freeze this moment for me? Please?

A Warped Sense of Reality

I found an old post that I never published. I guess it never felt complete, but here it is...

This is a difficult post to write. I have to find that delicate place between honesty and conceit. The fact is, our kids have always done well at things - excelled in certain areas. Don't get me wrong - we've had our fair share of "constructive criticism" at parent-teacher conferences, too. They are human. Partly, at least. We think the other part may be North American Hairless Monkey.

So, unfortunately for each subsequent Hickey child, the bar has been set pretty high. For example, after three years in a Waldorf preschool, having no exposure to letters before his first day of first grade, Liam learned to read in about four weeks. Not to be outdone, Maddie learned in the first three weeks of first grade.

Often, Maddie and Bella will be working on a drawing at the kitchen table. Bella will be blissfully drawing and after a while, look over at Maddie's work. Maddie has a level of intensity when drawing that cannot be matched. We just have to protect her space and let her work. Bella looks at Maddie's drawing, then at hers, then back at Maddie's. "I'm not a good artist," Bella inevitably replies. What do I say? No, Bella, you are an extraordinary artist. Your drawings, for age four, are quite advanced. Bella's teachers are impressed by how fully formed and fleshed out her drawings are. However, Maddie is almost three years older. Oh, and she's a freak of nature. How do you explain that to a four year-old who just wants her drawings to look as good as her sister's?

And then there's that baby. We have very athletic children. The kids have all spent most of their lives outside, so they learned to climb trees and build snowmen and generally are pretty coordinated. As babies, they all were ahead of the "typical" curve of baby development. Everyone sat up, crawled and walked before a year. Jackson will be 8 months in a few days and he's not walking yet. Ever since that Maddie walked at 7 months, the bar is high. It's sad to be a tiny bit disappointed in a baby that's just not walking yet.