Nonstop

The past week and a half has been nonstop for the Whitfield 4---spending time back and forth between Spokane and Priest Lake with my family (and a quick work trip to Atlanta for D).

Nonstop Fun: We have been living the life!

Nonstop Excitement: We are still so excited to be calling our little man, Cameron.

Nonstop Growth: Look how big this chunky-monkey is!  He is a tank. But this increased growth means increased strength (and drool).

Nonstop Colic (?): Although we aren't 100% sure of the diagnosis, it appears that our Cam-man is a bit colicky.  There have been some extended periods of screaming lately.  Our sweet, dreamy baby has changed things up on us! Perhaps his crying at all hours is related to a growth spurt.  I hope so.

Nonstop Hilarity: Sophie doesn't shut up.  She talks and talks and talks.  It's hysterical and there is no way for me to adequately capture it on this blog.  One example:  as we drove home today from Spokane, Sophie and I were singing a song together.  At one point, she told me to stop singing and said, "I wish that you had my voice when you sang.  I don't like your singing voice." Another example:   several months ago, my mom bought Sophie a book entitled "The Obstinate Pen" about a pen who wrote the truth rather than what the author wanted the pen to write.  While we have read this book many times, we hadn't talked about it for several weeks.  But, this week, Sophie was scribbling, pretending to be an author.  She asked what story she should write, and I told her to "Write 'my mommy is perfect.'" Without missing a beat, Sophie wrote "My mommy is a slummy mummy.  My mommy is sweaty-bo-betty." Soph then smiled at me and said "This is obstinate pen, mommy." Nonstop hilarity.

Nonstop confidence: Sophie is great in the water.  One night after dinner, she asked to jump into the lake.  Here is the progression of photos to document how her confidence and courage were tested by the chilly evening water...

Nonstop Nephew Love: We got to meet baby Grady, our nephew!  He is one month old and such a handsome, sweet little thing. Obviously, we all laughed at how giant our 3.5 month old son looked next to the 1 month old.  And the photos of these cousins didn't stop all weekend...

I'd love somebody to write a caption for this photo...what are each of these kids thinking??

Nonstop Family Love: The photos tell the story.

Grandma and her girl

The cousins with Grandma and Papa!

 

Papa and his boys

S and C with their Auntie Ali

The boys and their doting fathers

Nonstop Triathlon Success: At Priest Lake, Doug completed his 4th Tri of the summer.  He had THE FASTEST time out of the water!  It was such fun to cheer him on with the lake and the hills in the background.

Sophie making a snow angel on Daddy's wetsuit (her idea!)

Now, as Labor Day comes to a close, we have nonstop gratitude (for an amazing summer), nonstop anticipation (for preschool and a new routine with me at home), and nonstop excitement for a busy fall!

CRW: 3 Months

Here is a copy of an email that we sent out to friends/family this week:

Hi, Whitfield family and friends!

We have an announcement (no, I'm not pregnant again):

We have decided to switch the name of our son! After hours of discussions, some tears, much reflection, and even more time staring at our son, we have decided to switch his first and middle name and call him Cameron Ries Whitfield.  

I know that this is probably odd, awkward, and unconventional, but once we set our pride/egos, guilt, and embarasment aside, we recognized that our smiley, sweet, gentle, and adorable son is Cameron.  We realized that the name Ries didn't sound as natural to us as we had intended.  The name simply doesn't end up fitting our little man.  It is going to take several months,  I'm sure, for everybody in our lives to be comfortable with the switch, but we feel relieved.  

Switching his first and middle name doesn't change who he is or how special he has been to us these 3 months.  Switching the names doesn't change the overwhelming love we felt for him on that first day, 3 months ago.  It doesn't change how he and his sister have bonded .....  and years from now, he will have a great tidbit of information to share on some first-day-of-school icebreaker activity: "My parents switched my name when I was a baby!" The name switch has been the easiest for Sophie who actually told us at one point that she liked the name Cameron better!  

D and I are maintaining some sense of humor about this, but this is a decision that did not come lightly. The name Ries is a special family name, but we have always loved the name Cameron (which is why we initially chose it as his middle name).  Now, as we see who our little man is becoming, we've realized that his name is Cameron!  

So, we know that there will be slip ups and shocked reactions and some confusion with this name transition.  Yes, we had 9+ months to figure this out, but it took us truly falling in love with this boy to realize the "right" name for him.  Thank you for understanding and dealing with us!  We feel SOOO happy and at peace with this decision.  

Lots of love!

Elizabeth (with Doug, Sophie, and CAMERON)

The support, understanding, and encouragement that we have received has been wonderful. Doug and I are ecstatic that we listened to our gut and made the decision!  Now that the news has spread, many friends have asked the same questions:

1.  Q: Which one of you (D or E) was the first to suggest switching his name? How did that conversation go?

A: Doug was the first to subtly bring it up after I made a comment about liking the name "Cam Newton" (football player who was being discussed on ESPN).  Apparently, I had made a similar comment about the name Cameron at least 2 other times that D had heard.  Doug gently opened the door for discussion, and before we knew it, we had both expressed the same reservations.  Doug was just able to share his opinion without crying or feeling guilty about scarring our son for life....!

2.  Are you going to go back and change the blog to edit out every time you called him Ries?

A: At this point, I think the answer is no.  Each year, I publish the blog entries into a book that serves as my kind of scrapbook-photo album-baby book.  But, baby Cameron was called Ries for 3 months.  I'm not going to alter history and pretend it never happened.  My son's name is Cameron but for the first 3 months of his life, we called him Ries!  And I've got the blog entries to prove it!

3.  What are you going to do later in life when he rebels and wants to legally change his name back to RCW?

A:  He's not allowed to rebel on any level.  End of story.  Plus, the name Cameron is so sweet and stoic---rebellion against his parents won't happen.

Without further ado, here are some 3 month photos of Cameron Ries Whitfield:

And just so you don't think that everything is getting switched around here, here are some photos of Sophie being Sophie:

Everybody needs an umbrella when running under the sprinkler in 90 degree heat!

Post-nap-hair and shaving cream madness

Baby brother watching big sister play with homemade "cloud dough"

Happy 3-month birthday, Cameron!  Sophie, Daddy, and I love you!

Busy Times

D, E, S, and R have been busy this week!  Here is a small glimpse into a couple highlights of the week:

Family picnic dinner along the water

Sibling bonding

Raising the cuteness factor

Two nights of hosting BBQs/Parties at our house with fabulous friends

Night 1 was our Dining Club group, and we borrowed that bouncy house for the kiddos!

Night 1 was Sophie with the boys

Night 2 (bbq with friends and neighbors) was Sophie with some girls! 

Quotes of the week

Sophie: "It's just not fair, mommy.  You need to recognize who I am mommy." (said in response to me repeating that she was not allowed to go wake Ries up from his nap)

Sophie: "Why did God make rabbits? Why did God make awful people?" (I responded in what I thought was a pivotal parenting moment explaining God's love, God's forgiveness, and our choices...when I finished, I asked Sophie if she understood what I was describing.  She responded, "I don't like triangles, mommy."  Insightful questions but toddler attention span!)

Here's to another week of eating summer desserts, playing in water, celebrating great friends, feeling the HEAT, and taking some photos that actually include Doug in them!!

Catching Up

This blog is both a blessing and a curse.  It provides us with a photographic and narrative record of our children's lives.  It allows us to share the joys and celebrations of D, E, S, and R with our families, friends, (and some strangers...).  BUT, I find myself feeling pressure to document everything and to do it on a regular, detailed basis.  Lately, I've lost some of that energy to share all of the excitement of our summer adventures!  And then, I feel guilty and overwhelmed.... which defeats the purpose of this little online journal!

So, here is my feeble attempt at catching up some of the odds and ends of the Whitfield 4. In the words of Sophie, "let's do this thing!"

1.  D and E:  We celebrated 8 years of marriage with a lovely day centered mainly around the kiddos, but we did get to sneak out for a date!  D also completed his 3rd summer triathlon a few weeks ago, and the kids and I cheered him on early, early in the morn!  We have enjoyed fun BBQs with friends, dinners outside as a family, and relaxing nights sitting outside in the backyard after both kids are asleep.  D and I really do make a good team, especially on those evenings when it seems like we're both in overdrive trying to make sure 2 kids are eating, 2 kids are bathing, 2 kids are sleeping....it's busy!  But I wouldn't do this with any other man in the world!

--self photo on a hike this weekend with the kids--

2.  S: Sophie is hysterical.  I've given up trying to keep a record of all of the hysterical things she says.  The girl doesn't shut up! She is observant, imaginative, silly, and smart.  She can sit for at least an hour as Doug and I make up stories.  I've created a character named "Mophie" who has a baby brother named "Bies."  Mophie is naughty and I've probably told 100+ stories about everything awful that Mophie has done this summer.  Doug created a whole cast of characters about these hermit crabs, eels, and other sea creatures.  Sophie sits completely still and quiet while we make up these silly stories.  Once we finish, she ALWAYS repeats the same response: "Are you done with that story? Now tell me about the time when _(character name)_....." The other night, she began spinning her own tales about Bert and Ernie.  We did get part of it on video and here it is....all 10 minutes of it.  We live with Sophie, so we can understand all of her words which may be hard to hear/understand for the rest of you!  Either way, enjoy this video:

Sophie Telling Stories

Sophie has enjoyed many playdates, outdoor concerts, arts and crafts, field trips and adventures all over... here is another cell phone-quality-video of her dancing at a recent outdoor concert.  She's just such an adorable dork!

S at Concert

3.  R: Ries continues to be wonderful baby.  It's difficult to balance the needs of a nearly 3 month old with the needs of a nearly 3 year old.  They both require and deserve such different types of attention, and I often feel like the 3 year old wins out.  So, my precious moments with Ries are much appreciated and cherished.  This boy smiles and laughs so easily.  Sophie is a happy, silly, hysterical little girl, BUT she doesn't smile or laugh unless she thinks you've really earned it! Ries, on the other hand, wakes up from every nap with a huge grin.  He thinks it's hysterical when I pull shirts on/off his head.  His laugh is basically a grunt of air pushed out, but the sounds of his voice laughing often startle him. And this just makes us all laugh even more.  He still wakes up once in the middle of the night to feed, but otherwise, he remains a champion eater and sleeper.  My little baby is the ideal 2nd child-- happy-go-lucky, sweet, loving, easy, happy.

Ries is asleep in these photos...D left for 30 seconds after changing his diaper and returned to find Ries sound asleep.  

I'm saving out for a summer recap post, but as I've mentioned before, Sophie and I wrote a list of everything that she wanted to do this summer.  We've completed a lot of the items but have yet to "build a tractor", "touch an ambulance" and a couple other random items!  One of the items on her list was to camp in a tent with Daddy.  This weekend, Sophie slept in a tent with Daddy in our backyard!  This was a big deal for a lot of reasons.  Sophie got her first sleeping bag, ate marshmallows, stayed up 3 hours past her bedtime to welcome the stars and moon, played with flashlights and told stories, and ate Frosted Flakes out of the little, cardboard box in the morning.  Ries and I joined them for bbq hotdogs, but then it was Daddy and Sophie time! I left my bedroom windows open, and I could hear Sophie and Daddy laughing, reading, and talking hour after hour.  It was so sweet.  She brought all of her lovies from her bed out into the tent.  Doug said that she rolled off her sleeping mat many times, but he was so excited that she lasted out there the entire night!  In the morning, the look of pride on her face was priceless.

Setting up the tent 

Getting sooooo excited!

(I think this would make a great REI advertisement...)

The tent stayed up the following day for more reading/story adventures!

And now that Western Washington's weather has finally become HOT, we still have more summer fun to be had!