the crossley clan

May 7, 2011

Dear Mother

To my mother, and my “mothers”: I love you!

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new. ~Rajneesh

The phrase "working mother" is redundant. ~Jane Sellman

If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands? ~Milton Berle

I love my mother as the trees love water and sunshine - she helps me grow, prosper, and reach great heights. ~Terri Guillemets

Now, as always, the most automated appliance in a household is the mother. ~Beverly Jones

There's nothing like a mama-hug. ~Terri Guillemets

Who ran to help me when I fell,
And would some pretty story tell,
Or kiss the place to make it well?
My mother.
~Ann Taylor

April 11, 2011

I’m definitely not keen on showing my faults to the world. I wouldn’t normally share this side of me in this forum, but my gratefulness and proudness of my son is so overwhelming that I need to share.

My Jack-Jack has become my best teacher.

Lately, I’ve been feeling… out of sorts. Surprises (some good, but mostly not-so-good) have been popping up everywhere I turn. And I lose my pleasing personality sometimes, if you know what I mean.

[Enter Jack] “Mommy - don’t be bad, mommy.”

[Cue my heart breaking] “Okay, baby. I won’t be bad. Thank you, my lovey.”

Those big, gorgeous brown eyes are watching my every move. And can tell that I’m losing my temper faster than I can regain control.

Pete sometimes gets the brunt of my frustration and this morning was an example of that.

[Enter Jack] “Mommy – don’t yell at daddy.”

[Cue my heart breaking – again. Add in a gulp this time] “Okay, baby. I won’t yell at daddy.”

Are these the type of things about me that I want my toddler to learn?

No. Absolutely no.

And I forgot to say thank you. Duh, Keri.

So, here’s my thank you to you, Jack. In front of everyone I know and even some I don’t know:

Thank you, my beautiful son. I’ll do better, I promise!

I am so proud of you.

April 8, 2011

Another One Hit Wonder

My very first blog post was about Jack’s one hit wonders. Well, now he’s teamed up with Tommy and they’ve come out with one more:

Falling asleep on the floor without any effort on my part!

That’s never happened before!

Nor do I expect that it will happen again. Especially since we’ve given all of Jack’s binkies to the Binky Fairy. :-)

April 7, 2011

Jack is 3 years old!

Of course I’m a little late posting this but Jack turned 3 years old on March 18th!

The stats:

Weight: 27 lbs
Height: 35 3/4 inches
Binky: not any more!
Diapers: yes, they are still around
Favorite color: orange
Favorite show: Curious George
Favorite toy: any type of car
Favorite comfort item: a yard of dress lining fabric in white
Favorite candy: chocolate (always said in a whisper – I wish I could record it cuz it is soooo cute)

Some of our favorite things: how he says I love you. How he gently touches and kisses Tommy. How he says thank you or no thank you or your welcome – even for other people who have forgotten their manners. How he wants to cuddle with mommy and only mommy sometimes. How he jumps up and down when he gets excited as though he just can’t control it. How he picks up on some of our phrases: that’s cool, dude and how awesome, etc.

Jack is becoming so independent! He wants to dress himself, brush his own teeth, pour his own drinks, cut his own food, put in the movie by himself, turn on the Wii by himself, take pictures with my camera even though he has his own… you name it, he wants to do it by himself.

Taking a trip through memory lane, we find it incredible that we’ve been parents for three whole years. I know, that sounds pathetic to most. But it seems like yesterday that we were looking at this:

or this:

or even this:

But look how old he is looking now-a-days!

Anyway, we digress…

We celebrated his birthday practically all month long and it was so fun to see that so many people love our little gus as much as we do.

THANK YOU to everyone who helped make his 3rd birthday so memorable!!

April 6, 2011

The Love Affair

Tommy has a crush on Melina, our neighbor. They are two weeks apart and a world apart when it comes to their size. Melina is a petite 9 lbs, while Tommy tips the scale at hardy 18 lbs. It’s like Beauty and the Beast! And they can’t get enough of each other:

Tommy reaches for her every time he sees her - and succeeded this time. :-)

I love how they play with each other during “tummy time” – these cuties are too much fun!

March 11, 2011

Tommy’s Smiles

Tommy smiles

ALL

THE

TIME!

We love you, little Tommy boy!!

Russian Tea Cakes

Darn you, Russian Tea Cakes!

Sorry, baby.

(I ended up throwing away the last five so that I would stop eating them. I gained a few more pounds this winter than I needed to – all because of those cookies.)