Bone Breakage

Kent is the first child of our Archibald clan to break a bone. He was getting out of the back of the gator and ended up head down and then in a heap on the ground. The sister missionaries were over helping us work on a fence and one of them said, "oh, he broke his arm." I was ready to tell him to get up and he'd be ok when I realized Sister Olson was right! Kent had broken his arm! I picked him up, ran inside, got him ice. Erik gave him a blessing and ibuprofen and then I took him to the ER. Erik blessed Kent that he would be able to endure the pain and Kent was truly blessed with that. He hardly cried and was calm on the 40 minute drive to the hospital. We were also blessed to make almost every light green on the drive. A true miracle for 290, especially through Manor!

We went to the children's hospital where they know how to make your experience as smooth sailing as possible. They numbed his skin for an IV, gave him nasal pain medication so when they x-rayed it, he wouldn't have as much pain, and then heavily sedated him when they set it. He says when he woke up he didn't know where he was and he had forgotten that he had broken his arm!

When Kent got home, Taft gave him a kit of goodies to help him feel better. 

Kent has been mostly rolling around the living room. He discovered he can still play Bomber Man with some assistance. 

Evan has been a great assistant. He gave Kent some ibuprofen tonight! Everyone has been kind and helpful to Kent. We're just trying to remind everyone that breaking your arm is not fun and should not be attempted, even for goodly amounts of attention.

 

Update: Kent

Kent is a little firecracker. He is vivacious, active and attentive to what is going on. He likes to be a part of the scene if more than one person is involved in anything. He catches on quickly to family activities, family chores, and anything that poses a potential benefit or reward. It makes him kind of messy and at times, confrontational, but he seems to enjoy all that he does!

He was more than happy to be a part of the painting afternoon this week. He had more paint on his body than on his paper. He had even dabbed his lips once with the dabber making them look very red right in the center!

Kent also has a funny assortment of his daily favorite he likes to take to bed with him. It usually involves his favorite car from the day. I don't know if they are very snuggly, but he doesn't seem to mind! He also loves having books in his bed. He lines them all up along one side, tucked in between the matress and the pack n play. When he is stalling to go to sleep, he pulls out book after book to be read to him while he stands attentively in his crib. His favorite is good night moon and he says, "ssshhhh" the whole time because of the "quiet old lady whispering hush".

Snapshots: Boys in the Bathroom

Joel is potty training. His greatest motivation to sit down and poop is to watch 2 minute Paw Patrol clips. He can watch one for sitting down and another one if he has success. All the boys take advantage of this time to catch a glimpse of Paw Patrol at least once a day!

 

Snapshots: Sibling Symbiosis

Our kids have a beautiful symbiotic relationship. They look out for each other, help each other, spend all day together, and live happily together. I hope their relationship will only grow and flourish from here and that they will always enjoy the love and comradery that they enjoy now.

Taft earned enough money to by a garbage truck - which if you have video chatted with him in the last month he has told you about. He finally got it and they all put it together. We ordered it the day after he paid his tithing on Amazon and the price had dropped $5! 

These two sat outside with me during a baptism following church on Sunday. They ran around the grass. Kent started yelling "Joe(l)! Joe(l)!" in their play. They are silly and have fun together.

Boy Bathtime with Bubbles! These 3 are crazy in the bathtub. More water is usually on the floor when they are done and it is often a very loud time as they all try to claim their space in the small tub.

The library had a take home craft the week of Halloween. It was a little cat luminary. Alyssa helped everyone make theirs. Having Alyssa home all the time is a game changer around her. I was not brave enough to take her out of school just because homeschool sounded great, so I am grateful for this excuse of the pandemic that I had to start homeschooling. She is so much happier being home and I think she and the boys get along better because she is always here. 

(Christina, you're right. Homeschooling is the celestial kingdom on earth.)

One afternoon when I pried my eyes open after a nap, this is what I found:

And a couple of other photos for good measure...

We make pizza often. This pizza had a GIANT bubble in it and it was super delish!

Kent is funny. He likes to put things on his head. On this particular day he found the panda headphones. Doesn't he look great?!

And on this day, Erik dressed him in Native American headwear and a Peruvian sweater as we were having a Pow Wow to celebrate the end of our Native American studies and Alyssa's Native American project.

 

Kent Turns 1

Kent turned 1 year old this week!

Kent is a vivacious little lad! He is curious and into everything! He likes to pull out all of the dishes in the bottom cupboards in the kitchen when I am working in the kitchen. He enjoys unrolling the toilet paper and sticking his hands in the toilet. He is the stereotypical one year old! 

Some favorite foods of Kent include mandarin oranges, blueberries, cheese, pretzels, raisins, graham crackers, noodles, and cake! He likes to eat and he will eat a lot! He went through a phase of weight loss from 2 - 4 months. He fell below the 1st percentile range. Today he had his 1 year old check up and he is now in the 93rd percentile for weight! When he has the privilege of eating, eat he will!

Being outside is one of Kent's favorite things. He crawls around in the rocks at the playground and is learning to master the slide. Depending on the playground we are at, he can even crawl up to the top of the slide. As soon as a door opens to the outside he is the first one through it. He does not mind getting dirty. He likes to push and ride a small push car we have. He is also interested in Taft and Joel's bike as well. When he is restless inside, we go outside and it immediately calms him.

Our favorite books to read together are Peek A Boo books. He likes to lift the flaps to see familiar friends like bear, doll, kitty, and baby. He also likes Peek A Who!

Kent's comfort items are the soft muslin blankets. He really likes the tag on them and will suck on them in the morning when he is waiting to get out of bed, which is sometimes a few minutes because Kent is an early riser. He is often awake before 6 am, no matter how quiet I try to be! 

Kent is a talker. He is already doing "mamama" and "dadada" sounds. He also likes to make other noises including yelling, growling and blowing raspberries. He makes sure that he is heard, which is important when you are the 4th child.

Back to his birthday...

We had a ball themed birthday! He received a homemade basketball hoop and all the balls in the house gathered into one place! He also go a few new bath toys, which Taft and Joel tried out for him that night in the bathtub. 

He enjoyed his cake very much. He was not shy about sticking his fingers in it and he ate the entire thing!

We sent a special invitation to Alyssa to come to the birthday party. All the boys had signs on their backs. I think Kent's sign said "Come to my birthday & eat ice cream".

Kent is well-loved by everyone in the family. He is happy and excited! He likes to play with his brothers, even though they aren't always too excited to have him wreck their creations. He is our little blonde boy and we couldn't be happier that he is in our family!

Kent's Growth

At Kent's 4 month doctor's appointment I found out that my skinny little baby, was indeed skinnier than he should be. He had last weight since his 2 month appointment and had fallen off the growth chart, though the nice nurse rounded up to the 1 percentile. This was a little shocking, embarrassing, and devastating. I felt so bad as a mother. How could I let this happen? Where had we gone wrong? Was it my marathon training? Did I let him sleep too much at night? All those times he cried before falling asleep for a nap, was it because he was STARVING?!

I do not have all the answers, but I am thankful for well child check ups and for bottles and formula. I am thankful I had actually started helping Kent take a bottle before I found this out, because it made supplementing so much easier. 

I'm thankful for this adorable romper my friend sewed for Kent while finishing her last semester of grad school (super woman, my friends) that came in the mail shortly after I found out about Kent's weight. It fit him, partially because he was so skinny, and made me feel very loved and remembered while I was going through my good mom, bad mom crisis.

I am also thankful for the prayers of family and friends on his behalf. I am thankful for the sister who approached me at church the Sunday after, knowing nothing of the weight discovery telling me that all her babies were skinny and they all grew up healthy and happy. I am thankful that even though this was a very minor thing, the Lord showered tender mercies on me as a mother and blessed Kent to grow.

I'm happy to report that Kent ate and ate and ate and now he is no longer a little caterpillar.

He is a great big fat caterpillar!

And so cute. And so fun! He wrinkles his nose when he smiles.

He is starting to clap his hands (fists) when he hears music or is excited. He plays peek a boo. And he is so big!

Kent's weight was not about me. It was about Kent needing to get more nourishment so he could grow big and strong. But it also was about me. It was an opportunity for me to humble myself and set aside my judgments to make sure my baby got what he needed. I wanted my milk supply to miraculously increase. But the reality is, Kent's never really loved nursing. He has a hard time really settling in and enjoying the moment. Formula and bottles has really helped keep him full and happy and what a blessing they are! I am still a good mom even though my milk supply could not support my baby. Maybe it was my half marathon training or maybe not. I won't really every know. But I am thankful that Kent is big and squishy and robust now and I am thankful that I grew a little too.

It's Summer!

Summer time is here! Last week Alyssa enjoyed having Nana all to herself in Dallas! They saw Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat, went to the Dallas aquarium, and swam everyday.  She is back now and our family summer has begun! 

It is day 2 and so far, so good! 

We went with some friends to Michael's craft store and made woven turtles. 

We're eating summer lunches like Ramen and quesadillas.

We signed up for the summer reading program. You are supposed to read 20 minutes a day 25 days, or so which comes out to about 500 minutes for the summer. Alyssa is on track to read all of those 500 minutes in about six days. The fun part has been that she enjoys reading to the boys, particularly Kent who loves to watch her as she reads to him! I think everybody will meet their summer reading goal this year!

Kent is growing. Tomorrow he will be 4 month old officially! He is very tall and all of his hair is turning blond! Though I do believe his eyelashes have a tint of red to them. He is an Archibald after all! he's such an easy baby. He naps well and sleeps well at night. I couldn't ask for any thing better!

In general summer is going well! Despite the 90 degree temperatures and hundred percent humidity we are still finding ways to have fun inside and out. The kids are getting along very well and having Alyssa around makes it easy to keep everybody entertained. I am grateful for all of my little children and the joy they bring me! Nothing makes my heart happier than to see them all together playing and enjoying one another's company. I know we'll probably have days where I wish that I could just lock them each in a separate room so that they will stop fighting, but so far I've enjoyed the two lovely days we've had together!