My First Blog Ever...

Greetings From the Monkey House!!

These are the Monkeys. We have 5 of them. From left to right, we have "G" ["big G"] who is 5, "g" ["little G"] who is almost 2, "I" who is almost 4, "S" who is 8, and "A" who is 9 weeks old.

People seem to ask me "Are these all yours?" a lot. I also hear "Boy, you've got your hands full!" a lot. People seem totally confounded that I would voluntarily and on purpose have "so many" kids.

It always kind of confuses me when I get these responses. I love my kids. No, I mean I really LOVE my kids. They are fun. They are cool. They are smart. Every single one of them sees the world in such a totally different and unique way. They came from the same gene pool with the same mama and daddy and the same basic child rearing techniques, and yet every one of them manages to be totally unique - and truly amazing in their own special way. I enjoy the heck out of my kids.

When people ask me why I would want so many kids, I always want to ask them "Why don't you?" My usual response these days is "Yeah, I have my hands full but we sure have a lot of fun." And that's the God's honest truth. It doesn't get any more fun than a house full of kids who are loved and cherished. I never have a dull moment, believe me.

This is what passes for sibling rivalry at our house. Who gets to hold the baby? No, I want to hold the baby. No! It is MY turn to hold the baby! And they hold the baby very well. They can calm the baby [who is often very fussy in keeping with true Monkey tradition]. They delight in the baby. Having the baby is WAY better than a trip to Disneyland. [Though they wouldn't turn down a trip to Disneyland mind you!].

I used to worry about having another child - that somehow there wouldn't be enough mommy to go around, that somehow I wouldn't possibly be able to love that new baby as much as I loved the first [and the Good Lord knows I adored that first one!]. I don't worry any more. Not only have I learned that each new baby comes along with such an endearing set of unique characteristics that you couldn't help but adore them, but I have also learned that being the 3rd or 4th or 5th or .... baby is good. You not only have adoring parents, but you also get adoring siblings who can be WAY more entertaining.

Older siblings also are quite willing to do the bidding of the younger ones. They too are entranced with the total cuteness and adorable qualities possessed by the younger ones. Our 4th baby didn't walk until she was 16 months old and she didn't bother to talk much either. That was because all she had to do was point at anything she wanted and grunt and her older sisters and brother would fall all over themselves to obtain that item for her immediately. She was "Queen of all she surveyed", quite literally. Who needs to walk when you have Minions?
And who says boys aren't good with babies? "G", our lone son [and boy does he feel that sometimes!] is a real "fix it" kind of guy. He's really a genius - I know you think mommies are biased [and we are], but this kid is scary smart and you don't have to be a mommy to notice it. He can figure out any electronic device, any mechanical device, and I imagine if I let him he could take them apart and make them better. Regardless, whenever I can't figure out how to work something, like my camera or my cell phone or the TiVo, I just hand it over to "G" and he figures it out and gives it back to me with a little class on how to use it. [Don't laugh, its true!]

So, Mr. Fix it "G-man" has really learned how to fix the baby. He likes to hold the baby, and when she cries he likes to make her happy. I found this out one day when I finally got tired of him begging to hold her while she was crying and just handed her little colicky self over to him. Within 2 minutes he had her quiet and within 5 minutes he had her asleep.

From that moment on, I never questioned him when he said "Mommy, I can do that" [after the embarrassment over my cell phone and its photo capabilities I should have known better anyway LOL!]

If he says he can do it, he can.

And here is the original Monkey. We only wanted one when we had her, but she was so fascinating that we ended up addicted and had to add several more.

She's getting big. I mean, she's turning into a young lady right before my very eyes and I know it is such a cliche, but really - how DOES that happen so fast?

Today we were discussing parties. We've decided to do small parties on our birthdays and then have a big old bash in the summer to celebrate all of our birthdays with all our friends. Now we just need a theme. Monkey #1 came up with the brilliant idea of a "Come as your favorite Historical figure" party. This led to the need to actually pick a favorite historical figure, and she was really having trouble with this. She is a total history buff and has numerous favorites. This led to the following discussion:

"Well, I could be Cleopatra...of course, she committed suicide with snakes. So, I could be Queen Dido who founded Carthage ...of course, she stabbed herself. Hmmm....I really like Joan of Arc, I could be her. Well, but she also died horribly, she was burned at the stake.....I never realized how many famous historical figures died horribly!"

To which mom replied "Yeah, much better to be a farmer!"



So, that's all for now from the Monkey House. Join us next time when we discuss the finer points of rendering the death star in colored pencil and using legos as a weapon.