Mark of Fridays: Fall fun!

Mark of Fridays: Making the jump

This would make a cool flip book. 

(Matt was trying out a new camera setting at the orchard.)

Mark of Fridays: Buzz

Matt, Mark and Anne are playing in the living room.
Anne is running around, destroying things.
Mark decides to make up his own game. The rules of his game: Matt is supposed to name an object, then Mark will bring a different - yet tangentially related - object.
For instance: Matt said plate. Mark brought a plastic bowl. Not the same object. But related.
Matt said: book. Mark brought: magazine. Different. But similar. You get it.
Finally, Matt said: hat.
Mark disappeared downstairs.
Matt played with Anne. Mark was gone for a long while. Matt forgot that he was even playing this crazy game with Mark.
Then, Mark returned.
What did you guess he brought? Did you guess glasses? Did you guess coat?
If you did, you were wrong.
Mark brought a chunk of his hair that he had cut himself.
It made sense. Sort of.

Mark of Fridays: Birthday party

Mark wanted a baseball birthday when he turned five. He required that everyone wear the uniform of their favorite player and play in a Whiffle ball game.
Mark, of course, was Jackie Robinson - his favorite player. And wouldn't you know it? He managed to drive in the winning run when he was called in to pinch hit in the bottom of the fourth.
A great time was had by all!

Mark of Fridays: Meeting Adam Eaton

Mark got to meet Adam Eaton, centerfielder for the Chicago White Sox, and all-around nice guy. And rather than have him sign some slick photograph, Mark drew his own picture. And Adam Eaton signed it because he is an all-around nice guy.

Mark of Fridays: Let's go fly a kite!

Mark of Fridays: Reading

 

Mark of Fridays: the long talk

Santa had no idea how much this little boy had to say! 

(Word on the street is the kid has been very good this year.)

Mark of Fridays: The Four Year Mark

Today our Mark is 4 years old.  And he really is becoming a big boy.

In many ways he’s like a lot of other kids his age:  he likes playing outside, practicing his writing, and going to school.  He loves Children’s Chapel, where the kids sit with a pastor and sing, and snack time.  He takes swimming lessons, but he can’t really swim yet.  He enjoys being first and “writing” in our toilet (and walls and floor) with his pee.  He likes to play at the park and go on a walk around the block each night, so he can give a hug to each of the trees in our local park.  He has a few boys he calls his friends.

At 4, there is so much he already knows.  He’s able to read simple books by himself, with very little guidance from us.  He can add and subtract, and he’s starting to use multiplication and division.  He knows all the states (and their postal codes), and he can find them on a map.  He knows most of the presidents, in order, and can tell you which ones died or were assassinated before the end of their term.  He knows Grover Cleveland held two terms, non-consecutive.  He can tell you the story of Jackie Robinson, his favorite baseball player. He knows all the bones in the body and an amazing number of animal facts.  He’s memorized all the holidays and the birthdays of everyone we know.  

He’s also starting to move like a kid, rather than a toddler.  He’s still clumsy—we rarely make it through dinner without a spilled drink or splattered yogurt, and he still gets distracted while walking and trips over toys or bumps into walls—but he runs with the fluid motion of a child.  He can use a big boy swing (with someone pushing), climb up all playground equipment unassisted, and ride a big boy bike.  He still can’t catch, but he can hit a baseball.

Our Mark at age 4 is a comfortable, confident kid.  He talks to everyone—grocery store cashiers, waitresses, strangers in the mall.  He orders his own food in every restaurant, and he’s like a celebrity in our bank.  When he comes in, people come out from behind counters and desks to hear him count the money and tell them which president is on each bill.  He also approaches kids on the playground, asks them their name and if they want to play.  He tells the girls at school they look pretty and approaches other boys on the street to tell them that dogs have phalanges just like people.  He does totally weird stuff—like deciding to pantomime the letters with his body in the middle of the floor at the McDonald’s playland—without regard for who might be watching or what they might think.

And he asks questions all the time.  What do polar bears eat, mom?  Why didn’t Gerald Ford get a second turn as president?  Why aren’t there any penguins on the North Pole?  Why did the Saint Louis Browns move to Baltimore, and when will they be back?  Why do the letters look different in cursored (cursive) than in regular writing?  Why is there a tiny country (Lesotho) inside this other country (South Africa), and why doesn’t that happen anywhere else in the world?  How many fives are in thirty?  Which is higher, heaven or space?  Why aren’t there any girl presidents?  It’s wonderful, really… he’s curious, always seeking more information.  But honestly, sometimes it’s also exhausting.

When he’s not asking questions, he’s talking.  Sometimes he’s telling us his plan for the day, step by step, followed by “Okay??” really loud at the end of each sentence.  But a lot of the time he’s just reciting math facts or listing things:  the states, the presidents, letters or numbers in an order that seems random to us but isn’t to him.  And when we’re paying attention to Anne or—heaven forbid—talking to each other, Mark just talks louder.  Or gets closer.  Or repeats himself. Or asks us over and over when it will be his turn to talk.

Sometimes we wish for just a few minutes of silence… for him to go to school, go to bed, or go for a sleepover at Nana’s.  Sometimes we wish he still took a nap.

Sometimes we wish that he were just a little bit older, able to look up information on his own (rather than asking us) or go to a friend’s house and talk to someone else for a little while.

Sometimes we wish he’d grow out of the more bothersome parts about being 4 years old and still adjusting to a new sister.  We’d like to fast-forward through the incredible stalling—especially at bedtime—and the refusal to try new foods.  We’d like to hurry though the terrible fits, when he screams at the top of his lungs in our faces or lashes out to kick or hit.  Or worse, when he gets angry at us in a public place and tries to run away.  We’d like to skip through those nights of holding the doorknob to his room closed while he thrashes and screams inside, those times when we know the rest of the day will full of punishments and talking-tos.  We know we have to bend his will, to teach him to use words and not fists – but doing so isn’t very fun.

And sometimes we’d like to fast-forward through all the competition with his sister, the seemingly endless rounds of questions:  Why is it always her turn?  What happens if she tries to take all my toys away?  What if she ruins my toy?  Why is she screaming?  Why are you holding her?  What will you do if she hits me?  Bites me?  Hurts me?   We try to reassure him, to tell him he’s a good big brother.  We know it’s a huge change for him and that sharing the attention is hard.  But sometimes we wish were through it all—that she were older, more fun, and better able to fend for herself.  We wish he were old enough to understand that she will never take his place, that we have enough love for them both.

Yet every time we express these wishes out loud – our desire to get through early childhood into times that are quieter and easier – we remember that not long from now he’ll be a sulky teenager, plugged into an iPod and unwilling to talk to us.  He’ll have places to go and friends to hang out with, and he’ll be too cool (or, more likely, too awkward and anguished) for mom and dad.

And we remember to cherish our growing boy at 4 years old, who can still – barely – curl up on our laps to hear a story and who cries when we don’t give him enough bedtime kisses.  Our darling boy who can fall asleep at Nana’s house only when he’s clutching our picture, who thinks the ocean is magical, and who starts getting excited about Halloween in July.  Our sweet, special boy who challenges us to be better parents and better people every day, since we are his Good Examples.  Our little boy who tells us we are his #1 and #2 Most Important People, who loves us unconditionally.  And who we love more than words can say.

Anne of Fridays: On the Move

These photos of Annie were taken within minutes (if only we could have time-stamped them!).  She can't quite crawl--she gets her belly off the floor, but can't get the legs going with it--but she army crawls like crazy.  She pulls herself forward with her arms and wiggles her legs, dragging her little body across the house pretty darn quickly. 

Matt says she's preparing for basic training.  But she's really on a hunt for hairballs, lint, and dust bunnies.  The goal is to find them and eat them before anyone can stop her.  It's disgusting.

Looks like the floors in the Hanley house are about to get a lot cleaner!

Anne and Her Reflection of Fridays: Kiss the Baby

"Because I'm good enough, and I'm smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like me!!"

Mark of Fridays: Making Lists

Mark is big into making lists.  Lists of the planets, the months, the birthdays of everyone he knows, animals at the zoo, reptiles, his baseball cards.  Somtimes he finds paper laying around the house, then borrows it to make all of the words or numbers on the page into a list. 

The pictures below feature list-making at work.  On the right, Mark is working on his grocery list for the weekly Hanley Family Grocery Store Run. He then carried his list through the store and checked items off as we put them into the cart.

On the right is Mark's answer to mom and dad's daily questions about his day.  The title:  Fun Day.  Then he listed everything he did.  When we asked further questions, he told us to refer to the front sidewalk.

Mark of Fridays: Play Ball!

Matt and Mark, after their first-ever father-son game of catch.  Matt says in was one of his Top 5 Days, ever.  And that's despite the fact that the ball didn't land in Mark's glove even once.  But he did catch one with his chin.

Mark of Fridays: At the home of Benjamin Harrison

Well, Matt insisted that the family make an important stop on the way to South Carolina: at the home of Benjamin Harrison, 23rd president of the United States. A perfect place for kids. Here's Mark thinking about how lucky he is to have a dad with such great taste in pit stops.

Not every kid gets to visit Benjamin Harrison and Rutherford B. Hayes' house in one year!

Mark of Fridays: Sister and brother!

Anne of Fridays: Adventures in Eating

At Anne's 4 month check-up, our pediatrician gave us the green light to start feeding with a spoon.  So far, her diet is restricted to rice cereal and some pureed veggies.  Anne herself has not been terribly excited about these new options.

Mark, on the other hand, is pumped.  He really enjoys feeding her.

Matt and Lynne are also excited.  At some point, we told Mark that once Anne started eating food, we were going to stop making him separate dinners of chicken nuggets, pizza, or spaghetti.  Mommy, we explained, is tired of cooking him separate food, and she is certainly not going to cook THREE dinners.  Once Anne starts eating, we all eat the same thing.

Mark, of course, took this very literally.  As soon as the doctor gave Anne permission to eat, Mark started asking to try what we're eating.  Then we tapped into his competitive streak. 

"You wouldn't want Anne to be able to eat more things than you, right?"  we say.  "You wouldn't want Anne to be a better trier than you, right?"  "You'd better hurry up and try more foods--she's going to catch up!"

So far, our mind games seem to be working.

Mark and Anne of Fridays: Cousins!

Mark, Anne, Cousin Hannah, Nana, and Bababoo

Mark of Fridays: Chalk talk

On a recent afternoon at home, Mark and Matt worked on a big project together. It looked pretty cool!

Mark of Fridays: AU graduation

As many of you know, Matt has changed his career course. About two years ago, he started taking elementary education classes at Aurora University. His last day at the Beacon-News was Jan. 4.

The reasons for leaving the newspaper industry are pretty obvious, but so is the choice to go into education. Matt loved newspapers because it was a chance to make his community a better place. Hey, schools do that, too!
And a second reason: Matt has a plethora of incredibly gifted teachers in his family that he can steal good ideas from!

Anyhow, after a year and a half of night classes, and four months of student teaching in a fifth grade class in Naperville, Matt graduated from Aurora University with his family in the audience.

There were so many people who helped make this proud day possible. Grandparents who babysat kids, offered up meals and gave support; sisters/cousins/sisters-in-law/wives who suggested lesson plan ideas and activities; bosses who let Matt out early; teachers who mentored Matt; and a wife who said, "Sure, let's turn our lives upside down!" Lynne did a yeoman's work without complaining.
Matt just feels like the luckiest guy in the world.

Mark wearing his dad's "funny hat".

Mark and Anne of Fridays: Brother-Sister Bonding

Storytime at the Hanley house has taken on a whole new dimension since Mark has embraced his role as Big Brother. 

Looks like Mom & Dad might be out of a job!