Pausing Life for Seven Days

It's been one week since little Clark joined our family. I absolutely love the first week of a baby's life. We definitely have our share of sleepless nights, moody four-year-olds, roller coaster hormones, and breastfeeding issues. BUT STILL . . . with each of my children, it has been a cherished time. And with Clark, it has been no different. These minutes and hours are sacred and special to me.

Having four children (four! it's really true!) means that my time will soon be very divided. So I have used this week to get to know Clark. I have held him almost constantly . . . not because he needs it or demands it (although sometimes he does . . . ) but because I need it. I need to kiss his soft cheeks and breathe in his sweet baby smell. I need to stroke his silky hair and gaze into his perceptive eyes. I need to feel the gentle weight of his head on my arm and nestle him on my chest.

evidence of the dimple

Last night I had a sudden realization that with each child, the first week is probably getting more and more difficult for Mike while for me, because I am so adamant about lots of time with the baby, they've stayed relatively the same. The laundry piles up more quickly and the dishes multiply in seconds. There are more older siblings clamoring for attention and more toys to be constantly picking up.

When I mentioned this observation to him, he said, "No, not at all. It actually feels easier this time." That man is a saint. His mother taught him well, and I will always be grateful he knows how important this first week is for me.

I've tried really hard to share the baby with him. He likes little Clark, too.

Speaking of people who like little Clark, those three older brothers are pretty smitten with him. They are constantly squirting on the hand sanitizer or running to the sink to wash their hands so they can hold him again. When they've each had a turn, they're ready to begin the cycle again. Aaron will often hold him for thirty minutes at a time, especially if it's evening and I'm reading to him and Maxwell.

In the mornings, they love running into our room and getting their first look of the day at Clark. A couple days ago, Aaron said to me, "I had no idea our baby would be this cute." He's a little biased to be sure. They love his little yawns, his wrinkly forehead, his unwieldy arms that he whacks himself in the face with or pulls up into a Frankenstein-like pose. Just like me, they find rubbing his head to be extremely addictive. And they are all convinced that each one of them is Clark's favorite because "he was looking at me!"

Last night, I was reminiscing about the last week (can you reminisce if it's only been a week?) and telling Mike how sad I was that the first week was almost over. I told him it went by much too quickly, and he said, "What are you talking about? It feels like it's been much longer than a week! I feel like I haven't been to work in a month!"

If anything, it seems like our perceptions of time should be reversed. I spent the whole week prior living in the future: "In a week, I'll be holding a baby right now." "Next Sunday, I won't go to church because I'll be at home with a baby." "Next week, I'll also be up at 3am, but not because of pregnancy discomfort, but because I'll be feeding a baby." Now that the week is almost past, I'm starting to relive it: "A week ago, I was checking in at the hospital." "Now I was saying I couldn't handle any more contractions." "Now I was holding him for the first time."

But in between the future and the past, there was the present. Seven days. And they were glorious.

Raising Readers: Nonfiction Early Readers

Finding a variety of early readers that don't make you want to poke your eyes out can be challenging. But if you up the ante by adding the qualifier "nonfiction," your task may seem almost impossible.

First of all, at least in our library, nonfiction early readers are shelved with the children's nonfiction, not with the early readers. This means you can peruse by topic easily enough, but if you don't care about the subject per se (you'd just like to see your child reading about volcanoes or the American Revolution instead of Star Wars for a change), it can be beyond frustrating. Trust me, I know. I'm the mom who's wandering down the stacks, pulling hopeful books off the shelves and filling up the reshelving cart with cast-offs.

However, the benefits that come to the emerging reader from reading nonfiction are enormous.

• New vocabulary - nonfiction introduces hundreds of new words your child would never encounter in Green Eggs and Ham or Frog & Toad. Names, places, and scientific terms are all there in short, simple sentences.
• New ideas - not only is your child learning new words, but he is also learning about planets or reptiles or Babe Ruth. Now he not only can read the word "Saturn," but he can also tell you all about its rings and climate and moons. 
• New style - nonfiction is usually presented in a completely different way from fiction. Instead of dialogue and a climax, you have facts and definitions.

But just because nonfiction early readers are difficult to find doesn't mean they're not out there. Over the last year, we've stumbled across some really stellar ones. And the great news is that once you've found one, you can usually find dozens more in the same series. Just put them on hold, and you can just pick up a big stack of them and skip the aimless wandering entirely.

1. Record Breakers: The Biggest (and other Kingfisher Readers)
This one is fun because it doesn't focus on one subject specifically but, in a Guinness Book of World Records style, showcases the world record breakers in the biggest category: biggest insect, biggest building, etc. Here is a complete list of Kingfisher Readers. They come in a variety of levels, tackle a variety of topics, and feature great illustrations and photographs.

2. Eat My Dust! Henry Ford's First Race (and other biographies from Step Into Reading)
One day Aaron came home from school with a book called Abe Lincoln's Hat. It was all about the way President Lincoln used his hat to keep himself organized during his presidency. Aaron loved it, and I thought, There must be other biographies like this one. There are! Step Into Reading has a whole collection of early reader biographies. (I couldn't find a list of just the biographies, but here is a list of all their nonfiction early readers, which are all well worth checking out.) You know how much I love picture book biographies, and these ones are great whether you're reading them out loud or having your child read them to you. They all feature a unique story about the person being highlighted, rather than just a broad overview of his/her life.

3. The Dog That Dug for Dinosaurs (and other Ready-to-Read nonfiction)
Ready-to-Read also has a great line of nonfiction early readers. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a list grouping them together, but here is a link to all of the Ready-to-Read books, and it isn't too difficult to scroll through and pick out the nonfiction ones. The one I'm featuring here is about a dog named Tray and his owner named Mary Ann Anning. I like this one because it's a great introduction to archeology, as well as being about different kinds of dinosaurs.

4. Volcanoes! (and all the other National Geographic Leveled Readers)
I don't think I can express how much I love these leveled readers published by National Geographic. Aaron has explored a host of interests between these covers: volcanoes, sharks, planets, tornadoes, snakes, and more. And also, just as you would expect, the photography is spectacular, so they are a treat just to look through without even reading the text. One of Aaron's favorite components in these books are the jokes at the top of most pages. It's like a little reward for him after he's read the rest of the page. If you'd like to see all of the National Geographic titles in one place, visit this link.

5. Hark! A Shark! (and other Cat in the Hat Learning Library Books)
Out of all the books I've discussed today, these are definitely the most commercialized. But I can't deny that they present good information in a fun, engaging way. In fact, I have to say I'm pretty impressed with both the quality and quantity of facts that are all told through simple rhymes. New titles are being added all the time, but here is the most current list (I think). (Also, it's worth noting that these are different titles than the Cat in the Hat ones on the Step Into Reading list.)

With summer break already underway (Aaron's last day of kindergarten was today! Sob!), hopefully these lists will get you started on some fun and educational reading for those lazy afternoons. Use your library's hold system. I'm serious. You won't regret it.

(For more Raising Readers posts, click here.)

Announcing the Arrival of . . .

 Clark Elson Johnson

Born Wednesday, May 28, 2014 at 5:51 pm

8.0 lbs., 20 inches

It goes without saying that we are thrilled to have little Clark here. We are all smitten with him. I love the newborn phase, so I have been doing a lot of kissing and holding and snuggling. Luckily, he doesn't seem to mind.

I have many details to share, but right now I'm going to go take a nap with this sweet baby.

Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary

Soon after I checked out this book from the library, it disappeared. Completely. I literally searched for it for weeks . . . under all the beds, couches, tables, behind dressers, in closets, in every bag we own. I was very thorough. I began to wonder if maybe I had returned it to the library accidentally, and it hadn't been checked back in properly (I have had that happen before . . . ). I was running out of renewals when one evening, I was sitting on the floor sorting the laundry. I glanced over to my bed, and there, under one of the corners in plain view, was Beezus and Ramona.

Of course, I was overjoyed to find it, especially since the boys and I were just ready for another chapter book. But I was also completely baffled. I had looked under my bed close to a million times in search of that book. I absolutely, positively know it wasn't there before. So where was it all that time? These kinds of happenings drive me insane.

The good news is, we still had enough time to read it before its final due date, and it was (almost) good enough to be worth the mental stress it put me through.

Ramona is four years old, and she can be, in the words of her older sister, Beezus, "exasperating." Everyone thinks she is so adorable and imaginative, but Beezus knows better. She's the one who finds Ramona eating one bite out of every apple in a big box. She's the one who has her checker game ruined when Ramona locks Ribsy in the bathroom. She's the one who has to scramble to find activities for a dozen children on a rainy afternoon when Ramona invites them all over for a party. And she's the one whose birthday is almost ruined when Ramona decides to put her doll into the oven with the cake. Ramona can be so exasperating that sometimes Beezus not only doesn't like her, she doesn't love her either. And Beezus feels absolutely awful about that . . . until she gets a glance at the other side from her mom and Aunt Beatrice.

One of Aaron and Maxwell's favorite characters from the Henry Huggins books was Ramona, so I thought it might be fun to switch series and read about Ramona in a starring role.They loved it.

I had to laugh when we had read just the first page, and I paused for a moment and asked, "How old do you think Ramona is?" Aaron and Max guessed, "Two? Or maybe one?" They were shocked when I turned the page and we found out she was four years old. It's one thing to be reading this book as a nine-year-old where you have years of wisdom between yourself now and the lowly age of four and to be an actual four-year-old (like Max) and look at all Ramona's antics and think, "I would never do something like her" (even though your mother knows you very well might).

But whether they were enchanted or offended that Ramona was close to their own ages, they loved her anyway. Maxwell is still marching around the house shouting, "Bingle-bongle-by!" I don't blame him. Even if you're not part of a kid-parade, it is still such a fun thing to say. I think they both felt the most empathy for Beezus when Ramona ruined her birthday cake (twice). At that point, they weren't laughing at Ramona's actions (which they were for most of the book). They just felt so sorry for poor Beezus.

I loved this book for different reasons. Having just finished Quinny & Hopper, where I mentioned my disappointment in the way Quinny talked about her two younger sisters, it was really refreshing to see the older sister/younger sister dynamic played out in a different way. It wasn't that Beezus was always kind to Ramona (she wasn't) or that she always watched her willingly and cheerfully (she didn't) or that she was full of patience and love (she wasn't). However, Beezus acknowledged the way she sometimes felt, and she had the sincere desire to be a nicer sister. In fact, the sister relationship is probably the main theme (which, in Quinny's defense, it wasn't), and I think it's very relatable to all siblings, not just sisters. Several times as we were reading, I stopped and asked Aaron and Max if that's how they sometimes felt with Bradley or with each other. I don't want my kids to only read books with perfect examples of sibling relationships. But I do want them to see how to work through these differences and frustrations in a meaningful way.

This was such an enjoyable book for us to read. At the end of the edition we read, they included the first pages of Ramona the Pest. Aaron begged for me to read it, but I told him we'll just check out the whole book from the library (and pray we don't lose it!).

Sunlit Pages Turns Two

Last year, I pulled out all the stops to celebrate Sunlit Pages' first birthday. This year, out of necessity, things will be simpler and quieter, but I didn't want the week to go by without at least mentioning the fact that I've been dedicated to my blog for a full two years. I'm patting myself on the back a little because it has been time consuming (and forced me to give up other things), but it's also been very rewarding.

As I end this second year and embark on year number three, I have a few thoughts to share with you all:

First,  I had to laugh when I looked back at the post from last year about my future plans for Sunlit Pages. I've been rather lax, it seems. Take a look:

• Join Twitter. Yes, I joined. And in the last year, I've tweeted 54 times. About once a week. You can tell, I've really caught the vision (haha). I'm still working at it, but if Twitter is your thing, feel free to follow me: @sunlitpages.
• Facebook and Google+. I set up my Facebook page and my Google+ profile . . . and I've done even less with them than with Twitter. You guys, maybe social media just isn't my thing. I keep trying though.
• New look. Sunlit Pages finally got a facelift in January, but it wasn't as complete as I wanted. Still a lot of tweaking to do.
• Learn to use Photoshop. No, not at all. I'm very disappointed in myself.
• Continue reading, writing about, and exploring the world of literature. At least I can answer this one with a resounding YES!!!

In spite of all my failures, Sunlit Pages still had an exciting year. Here are some of the things I DID do:

• Received review copies of several books. There's nothing quite like getting a free book in the mail. I think I was especially excited when Disney-Hyperion contacted me to ask for a review of Quinny & Hopper.  I also loved reviewing Blackmoore, Christmas From Heaven, and Number One Sam. I'm learning how to pace myself so I don't commit to too many reviews at one time. I never want to get so swamped I don't have enough time to read and write about whatever strikes my fancy.
• Wrote my first ever guest post. Last fall, Erica at What Do We Do All Day asked me to write a guest post. She is one of my favorite bloggers, so I was beyond flattered. I wrote about how to help young children love chapter books.
• Started a new series. Last summer, I decided to talk more about ways I was helping my kids develop a love of reading. Thus, the series Raising Readers was born. I try to post on the first Monday of every month.
• Connected with many readers across the country. Thanks for all your comments!

I try to write three posts on this blog each week (ideally on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). This doesn't always happen (as in the month of our move), but overall I've been fairly consistent. So here is a look back at some of my favorite posts over the last year:

Crafty: Art Worth Wearing (a fun project for Father's Day next month!)

Rant: Borrow, But Don't Read (in which I talked about my outrage over a $29.00 library fee--yikes!)

Nostalgic: An Early Christmas Present (My sentimental side took over when I saw that little train.)

Book Review: Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool (This was one of my favorite books last year, and I just re-read it this month and loved it just as much.)

Personal: How Do You Forget to Breathe? (I'm still baffled I could forget to write in my journal, but I haven't missed a day since.)

Meeting an Author: Starstruck Over Kate DiCamillo (I'm still so happy I got to hear her speak and talk to her in person. She's awesome.) 

Preschool: Walter the Baker (I still love that I was brave enough to let the kids create their own recipe!)

Holiday: Bah Humbug (Yes, I bashed Elf on the Shelf. Perhaps I should do another post about how much I despise the Easter Bunny.)

KidPages: Three Incredible Biographies (I always feel super proud of myself when I find an inspiring biography in picture book form. My kids always wonder why such books make me cry.)

Accomplishment: Reading Goals, End of the Year Report (I may not be able to accomplish all my social media goals, but when it comes to reading goals, that's something I can handle.)

Many thanks to all you loyal and faithful readers of Sunlit Pages. I write for myself but also for you.  I'd love it if you'd leave a comment so we can connect!

On Having Four Boys

Lest you think the title means we now have four boys, we don't. At least not four boys that we can hug and snuggle and kiss. In spite of this mother's daily pleas, the fourth boy is hanging tight for probably a couple more weeks.

So no, I can't speak to what it's like to have four boys (yet).

But I can describe what it feels like to be on the brink.

Just the other day, I was standing in line at Costco with Aaron, Max, and Bradley. They were being typical boys--poking, pulling, and pushing each other while laughing uproariously the whole time. The gentleman behind me watched them for a moment, then with a half-amused expression, pointed at my ball of a stomach and critically asked, "Is that a boy?"

You'd be surprised the number of random strangers that stop me on any given day to ask me if I'm having another boy. When I answer in the affirmative, I'm met with a lot of sympathy, a few chuckles, and very little congratulations.

And almost always the question: Do you think you'll try again for a girl?

As if I was trying for a girl this time. As if the only reason I could possibly want four kids would be if one of them was a girl. As if the prospect of four boys should fill me with disappointment and regret.

I know many fellow moms out there who desperately want a girl; moms who, the more boys they have, the more they want a girl; moms who say, "I would consider having another baby if only I could guarantee that it would be a girl."

My thoughts have taken the opposite route. With my first, I very much wanted a girl. And yes, I was disappointed when I found out he was a boy. With my second, I was indifferent. By that time, I'd discovered that boys could be pretty fun, but I also thought it would be nice to have one of each. With my third, I was on my knees praying that it would be another boy because I didn't know how I could possibly handle three kids in three years otherwise. And with my fourth, I didn't know why we should change a good thing and create an upheaval in our family dynamic.

So when people ask, "Do you think you'll try again?" I want to say, "Maybe [although really, I can hardly wrap my head around four kids, so let's not even talk about five], but only if I can be guaranteed another boy" and then watch them shake their heads in flabbergasted disbelief.

Let me just give you an insider's glimpse into the awesomeness of boys:

Cheap. For apparel: shorts, t-shirts (the rattier, the better), no shoes, no accessories. For entertainment: sticks, dirt, bugs, a brother or two.

Easy. It takes thirty seconds to comb their hair, and even that is optional.

Competitive. They will do practically anything (clean up toys, put on pajamas, get into the car) if it's a competition. (Of course, this also leads to a lot of angry tears for the ones who lose, but we won't talk about that part.)

Exclusive. There's something so nice about going to the store and being able to pick up three of the same thing and not even having to consider the girl counterparts. (I'm sure you who have all girls feel the same way.)

Limited drama. I hesitated listing this one because it's so stereotypical as to almost be unfair. But the truth is, in our home, even though there's still plenty of screaming and crying and fighting, it's pretty straightforward and over with very quickly.

No competition. I'm talking about myself here. I am surrounded by boys who love me. It's pretty great. (I've also noticed that my boys are highly tuned-in to what is feminine, and even though they shun those things themselves, they want to make sure I'm wearing earrings or enjoying other pretty things.)

Of course, I've considered the downsides to having only boys, namely that all of them will grow up and stop talking to me, and I will be left the despised mother-in-law.

But for right now, I look at these three cute faces and think, "I get another one of these? I am so lucky."

Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan

It was my brother, Gordy, who first introduced me to Jim Gaffigan's comedy sketches. I think the first one I watched was his ode to bacon. I laughed. A lot.

(But I think I laughed even harder when I watched the one about natural childbirth.)

When I saw that he had a book coming out last year, I knew I would eventually want to read it. But it wasn't until last month that I finally checked out the audiobook. And I admit, I had ulterior motives. I was hoping I could entice Mike with it so that he would paint Aaron's bedroom. (It worked.)

What I wasn't planning on was how easily I'd get pulled into the book every time I went into the room to check on Mike's progress. (Okay, I'm a liar. Mike didn't need any supervision. But after I got so bogged down in so many half-finished books, I told myself I could not start anything else until I'd caught up with myself. Hence, the excuses to check on the painting status so I could sneak a listen here and there.) It was easy to just jump in and enjoy any of the essays in any order.

Finally though, I finished the other audiobooks I was in the middle of, and I got to enjoy the entire book from start to finish.

Jim Gaffigan and his wife, Jeannie, are the parents of five children. Dad is Fat (the title of which is taken from the first complete sentence written by one of his sons) is a collection of essays, all with the general theme of parenthood. He talks about everything from the nightmare that is taking your children out to eat to the impossibility of quickly leaving the house to comparing dogs to children. Some of the essays are taken from his stand-up routines, but most of it was new to me.

Having come from a large family (the oldest of eight kids), and on the brink of having four children myself, I found this book absolutely hilarious; I could identify or relate to it in so many ways.

One of my favorite essays was about how noisy children are. Gaffigan said, "We make efforts to stop our children from making noise, but it's like trying to stop the sun from coming up." I seriously wish I could go back in time and hand a copy of that essay to our former neighbors (their bedroom wall backed up against our living room wall). They were never mean, but they definitely didn't understand how impossible it was to try and keep three young boys quiet before 8:00 in the morning. It took me almost a month of living in our own home before I stopped automatically shushing my kids when they woke up each morning. Jim Gaffigan houses his family of seven in a two-bedroom apartment in New York City, which makes our current home feel practically palatial in comparison (and makes me feel indescribably grateful).

I also enjoyed listening to his accurate description of what it's like to try and leave the house with several children in tow. He said: "You must always add 'find the shoe time' to your calculation of estimated time of departure. If you have a child in diapers, you must realize that they time their soiling of the diaper to the precise moment you say, 'Okay, we are all finally ready to go.' If it is winter and there are hats, gloves, scarves, and mittens involved, just forget it. You might as well just stay in. It will be the spring thaw by the time you get them bundled." This is exactly why I am enjoying our current weather so much; sometimes, depending on where we're going, I don't even make my kids bring shoes. Oh glorious 80-degrees! May you never go away! (This is also why, in about two weeks' times, I won't be scheduling anything since it is nearly impossible to get out the door on time, or at all, with a newborn.)

And just for fun, here are three more of my favorite quotes that literally had me laughing out loud:

"If you ever take your kids to a situation where they must be quiet, bring lollipops. They're like flavored muzzles. Mothers-to-be should be given bouquets of lollipops at baby showers. At the hospital, people should hand lollipops  to new fathers and say, 'Here, you're going to need this.' It's the parents' secret weapon."

(Have I ever mentioned the magic of lollipops and immunizations? I am amazed every time when my kids don't make a peep while getting poked because they're so consumed with enjoying their lollipops.)

"The Black Hills of South Dakota are breathtaking. They are sacred to the Lakota Indians, and out of respect, our government has carved four white guys into one of the mountains. 'These hills are sacred to us.' Carver: 'Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll be done in a couple of decades. These guys I'm carving were all about freedom, especially the two who owned slaves. Just consider it a gift from us white people, a reminder of all the good things we've done for you.'" 

(Funny, but also a little sad.)

"Because of our cell phone cameras, we have way more photos than we will ever need. What are we supposed to do with all these photos of our kids? Yes, there is the benefit of our computers running really slow, clogged with thousands of photos of the same pose. But outside of that, it's pointless. Yet we keep taking pictures. Click, click, click, click. We download all of them. We don't even weed out the bad ones. 'Aw, I'll just get another computer. This will be my Disney trip computer.'"

(My brother, Ben, should read this one since he's always chastising my mom for filling up her laptop with blurry pictures.)

Even though Jim Gaffigan's humor is usually considered clean (or as he laments, "family friendly"), it is peppered with some mild language and some mildly crude humor, so just be forewarned.

Also, I will say that I didn't find him funny all the time. There were passages like this one, "Why don't we eat something? Then we'll go get something to eat. Then we should see that thing we're supposed to see. They've probably got a snack bar there so we can get something to eat. But after that, we've definitely got to go get something to eat," that just seemed a bit dumb and juvenile.

But underneath all the humor and sarcasm and dry wit, there was a surprising streak of sentimentality and seriousness. For all of his making fun of his family, Jim Gaffigan loves his kids, and he loves having five of them. I loved the way he defended the family (and defended big families at that). This is a side of him that I don't think gets showcased in his routines too often, but it was so touching to hear him talk about his transition from not really wanting any kids to renting a tour bus in the summer so he won't have to spend weeks away from them.

So listen to it (yes, listen . . . why would you want to read it if you could hear Jim Gaffigan narrate it himself?). Listen to it because it's funny. But also listen to it because it will make you love your family just a little more (and also be willing to cut them a little slack).