Lawyer Mama

The Holden Chronicles

A montage of my favorite Holden photos over the last 4 years.  Happy birthday, my sweet boy.

(Click to enlarge)

1. Conspiring?, 2. Ewwww!, 3. Blue Star Kids 003, 4. My bad boy, 5. The Laugh, 6. It's a good thing he's so cute..., 7. Prince of hearts, 8. Reflection of Me, 9. Walker&Holden 003 copy, 10. Toes, 11. Do I have to rinse?, 12. My Love, My Little H, 13. Splash, 14. Put the Camera Down, Mommy, 15. Beautiful, 16. Toddler Toss, 17. Painting Feet Edited, 18. Star, 19. Boo Boo to Kiss, 20. He Makes My Heart Stop, 21. Are you posing?!?, 22. Helping hand?, 23. Toddler Toes, 24. Splash, 25. Frolicking Fountain, 26. Joy, 27. Am I in Trouble?, 28. Tickle Me Holden TMX, 29. Crayon up nose, 30. Persecuted, 31. Holden on the Porch, 32. Sewing Shadows, 33. Vintage Snow, 34. Vintage Holden 2, 35. Ouch!, 36. Laughing

Do Elf Ears Run in the Family?

Hollis's ears stick out a bit, just like his father's. Our very observant 3 year old has now noticed. At dinner tonight he declared that, "Hollis has elf ears!" When Hollis protested, Holden stood up, pointed us to a photo of Hollis and said, "See? Elf ears!"

We were not successful in holding back the laughter, although we did assure Hollis that elf ears are much more pointy. 

Where is Thumper?

I realize I'm a bit biased, but I think I have one of the cutest kids ever! Here is Little H singing a song he just learned in "song class," as he calls it, in preschool:

Yes, those are Spider Man stickers all over his hands. It just adds to the cuteness.

The Soccer Strike

This year I officially became a soccer mom.  I signed my two boys, ages 5 and 3, up for Y soccer.  For my 3 year old, Holden, this is a first attempt at a team sport.

Holden had several months of swimming lessons this Summer and actually sat still, listened to his instructor and generally cooperated.  So we decided to raise the stakes a bit and try soccer.  The Y program is geared towards 3 to 5 yearolds and it's only once a week.  Every Saturday they have a 30 minute practice and then a 30 minute "game."  The kids rotate in and out every 7 minutes or so.  We thought this would be a good way to ease Holden into a sport.

Wrong.

The first Saturday wasn't bad.  Holden only wandered off of the field about 10 times.  He generally paid attention, although he found it necessary to play in the goal net every time he got near it.  He also picked up the ball whenever it ended up in a scrum of 3 and 4 year olds.  He thought it was much more efficient to just pick it up than to try to kick it.  Holden was, at least, a great source of amusement for all of the parents at the soccer field!

Read the rest of this post at D.C. Metro Moms.

A Boy and His Dog

Well, it's actually two boys and their dog, but "a boy and his dog" just sounds better, don't you think?

We got Buddy a few days ago.  We've been talking about getting the boys a dog for awhile now in a very abstract sort of way.  But after the break-in, I decided it was time to make it a reality.  Of course, up until the bitter end Holden was insisting that he didn't want a dog, he wanted a sheep and then a hamster.  But now that Buddy is here, he's gotten on board with the whole dog thing.

I promise I'll post some video soon because it is just too darn cute when Buddy goes galloping after Hollis or Holden on his stumpy little legs with his ears flopping around.

A Boy's Best Friend

Conversation over dinner:

Hollis: "Mommy has Hilly (cat #1). Gary is my kitty. Daddy, you have Patches."

T: "Oh, Patches is my cat?"

Hollis: "Yes, Daddy.  Patches is your kitty."  "Where is Holden's kitty?"

Me: "We're getting Holden a puppy."

Holden: "I don't want a puppy.  I want a sheep."

My Four Year Old Now Speaks in Bullet Points....

This morning in the car, Big H told me that Little H was "trying to rip me in half."  When I expressed skepticism, he replied with the following bullet points, complete with numbers:

1. When I tried to hug him, he bited me.
2. When  I tried to give him a kiss, he kicked me in the tushie.
3. When I was trying to play with him, he punched me right in the eye.
4. I don't think he likes me.

     7.  He's not really my brother.

And yes, those are the numbers he used.

For the record, Holden did not deny charges 1 through 4.  I took care of 7 on my own.

The First Rule of Poop

In January, right after my son Holden turned 3, we decided to potty train him.  He was showing every sign of being ready.  He's incredibly verbal.  He knows how to tell us when he has to go.  Hell, he'll pee on demand for a piece of candy corn.  (Don't judge me!)  So we ditched the diapers and went for it.

On Day Two, I walked into the living room and discovered (through nose power) that Holden had pooped and went foraging for treasure in his underwear.  I controlled my gag reflex, cleaned the kid up, and we discussed an important Rule of Poo: Don't put your hands in your tushie.  We'll call this the Second Rule of Poo.

On Day Three, I walked into the boys' bedroom and discovered an even bigger mess.  Not only had Holden ignored the Second Rule of Poo, he had smeared it all over his bed, his stuffed animals, and down the track of his plastic Thomas the Train set.  Apparently he thought a nice poo slalom would be exciting for Thomas and Percy and anyone else unfortunate enough to visit the Island of Sodor that evening.  After a lot of scrubbing, some bleach, a shower and a lot of gagging, we discussed the Third Rule of Poo: Keep it in the Pull Up, and it's corollary, "Don't gross out Sir Topham Hat."

Read the rest of The First Rule of Poop at D.C. Metro Moms Blog.

The Twelfth Day of Christmas

In Christianity, the twelve days of Christmas and its festivities begin the evening of December 25th, Christmas Day, and run through the morning of January 6th, otherwise known as Epiphany.  Epiphany is a feast celebrating the revelation of God to mankind in human form, as Jesus Christ.  In fact, in the Eastern Christian church, January 6th is still treated as the day of Jesus's birth and is celebrated as such.

Growing up, my Louisiana family always treated the Christmas season as if it ran until January 6th.  I just assumed it was because the Mardi Gras season started the next day.  God and Jesus didn't play much of a role in leaving our decorations up until a week and a half after Christmas Day.  Clearly, we were a family of heathens and my family's "tradition" didn't mean much to me. As an adult, however, the Twelfth Day of Christmas has come to mean so much more. 

On Twelfth Night in 2006, I couldn't sleep.  I was 8 months pregnant and scheduled to deliver the next morning.  On the eve of the birth of my second son I was worried, of course.  Worried that we were having our children too close together.  (We were.)  Worried that we were going to be overwhelmed.  (We were.)  And worried that our oldest was getting the short end of the stick and would suffer from the loss of our undivided attention.  (We were first time parents.  Give us a break!)

I also worried that I couldn't possibly love another child as much as I loved my first.

Continue reading The Twelth Day of Christmas....

Candlelight Reflection

Look at that!  There I go posting again.  Don't get used to it though. LOL!

I've emerged from my campaign chaos to participate in the Greeblepix Photo Contest for October.  I hear Amiee and she's an honorary MOMocrat.  I got to see her twice this summer - at BlogHer and at the DNC - where she was nice enough to ignore the fact that all the MOMos smelled after roasting at Invesco for oh, 12 hours.

I took the photo below of Holden, after we lit the candles on my birthday cake last Saturday evening.  I knew I had to take a photo when I saw the candlelight reflected in his eyes.  I did not use a flash.