.Is not wearing a bike helmet and elbow and knee pads to the local Cuban restaurant. But when you have an almost 3 year old that insists they really do want to wear it into the restaurant and you now have three children. The result is that, quite frankly, it doesn't even faze you. At least he had pants on, and they were dry. Thanks goes out to the obliging people at the Black Bean and their very delicious food.

A band of buddies headed east on Highway 90 today to pick strawberries in the, thankfully, bright January sunshine. It was wonderful and I only wished it could have lasted longer, or I could have remembered my own wallet, or I could have a dozen more uses for these delicious fruits. Or that they would just last longer. Either way, I'll enjoy them as they are. In this moment.

Wait, were we talking about strawberries?

There's a book my family kept and passed on to me when I had children called, "The Golden Book of 365 Stories: A Story for Every Day of the Year." I was reading to Ranen before bed and he asked me to read this one:

Wise Little Mice

When little mice sit reading books,
It seems their mother never looks
To see if it is time for bed--
She sits and reads her book, instead.
But when they play noisy charades,
Or have exciting big parades,
It seems no time until, in pairs,
She sends them marching up the stairs
With orders to go straight to bed--
Tonight, they're reading books instead.

I had to laugh out loud. So true now as well as 50 years ago.  Adah and Ranen are always asking, "One more story," and before I know it, it's after 8 PM.

I caught another one of Kaniel's big smiles. He's been going through a phase where he gets upset if I leave the room. He wants to be right next to me (or rather, under foot). I've left chores undone just to take advantage of this phase, hoping I won't be forming any bad habits.

I had one of those days where I felt that I made more messes than I cleaned up. I won't go into the boring details, but Adah and Ranen got into the dirt groove in one of their typical outside play endeavors: making "food" out of yard debris. I didn't take photos of any of the dishes they prepared, but I did catch them intent of the job.

Day 18 was a pretty rough day. I took a few photos, but they didn't turn out well enough to post.

Today, Adah stayed home from school as she was dealing with a head cold. She and Ranen spent about an hour this morning pretending to be mermaids and mermen. I  was required to don a blue piece of fabric and become the mer-mom. They took the fun outside, so I had to take photos of them in bathing suits in January. Though today was very mild.

Adah loves to take photos, she has an old digital camera that is tough as nails, and today she was capturing Kaniel in the bouncy seat. He got stuck looking in the opposite direction and was trying to see what she was up to.

We had the pleasure of sharing Chinese New Year with our friends Laura and Mark, and Rob and Anna. It was delicious, fun, and a great time all around.

Here is Adah trying to be in the picture of the tasty setup:

Here is Kaniel and Seth playing on the floor. They were such good boys!

Kaniel has loved bath time from the first. He loves splashing and kicking his legs. Bath time, though short, is a special time for me.I get to focus on just the little babe and not the crazy world around. In fact, I think I enjoy it most because I am required not to multi task. To look away is danger. The beauty of focus.

I did play it very safe attempting this photo, though.

I realized today that I had yet to take a photo that caught all three of the children in the frame at the same time. So, as much as I try to avoid staged shots (its all about reality, baby), today I asked them all to sit in the same spot and look at me. My expectations were low; Adah had just completed homework and was ready to play, Ranen had just woken up and was Grumpy, and Kaniel was Tired. At least they all wound up looking at me at the same second.

Ever since Adah was a baby, I've always liked shots of her with the sun at her back, illuminating her hair and face. She's a sweet heart and I hope I can continue to try to keep her close. To fight my natural inclination with her is like water fighting up a water fall. We're both so stubborn, it seems too easy to drift into long-standing mutual and constant disagreement. I know she's six, but I want to remind myself to fight for the bond and not let my tendencies get the better of our relationship.

I had the pleasure of hanging out with friends almost all day today, as did Ranen and Kaniel. Ranen's good buddies, Clark and Fox, came over to visit and play. I picked this photo today, despite the lighting issues, because it embodied the day. Fox on one side of the play house, opening the windows and doors and saying, "Hello!"

Thanks, friends, for opening my door and saying, "hello!"

It was freezing today, which I understand is normal for most of the country. And its normal here when it comes to sun down. But, at noon?! So, I was sulking in the kitchen with my Sweater on, enjoying some of these. Liquid Sunshine, the red kind, not the orange kind. One of the many reasons I love Florida. Mainly, I love the idea that the fruit I'm purchasing has only travelled about 250 to 300 miles. I've gotten to the point where I don't buy fruit from anywhere outside the US (if at all possible), but if I can get it from within Florida, even better. This batch of strawberries was perfect, both in looks and in flavor. And, I'm not sorry to say, but a little surprised, that the batch was almost gone by this evening (thanks to the local Rabbit and me, of course).

Ranen was in dire need of a hair cut today so we braved the local barber/salon. They have a cool little yellow car for the small children to sit in to distract from the sharp implement close to their eye balls. When I asked him at lunch time if I could take a picture of his new do, this is the reaction my request received. We then had a conversation that went like this:

Ranen: Mom, I'm going to be grumpy.

Me: Really, why?

Ranen: Because I want to be grumpy. I like being grumpy.

Me: That's too bad, buddy. It's not really fun being grumpy.

Ranen: Mom, I want to be grumpy.

<Me, returning to my sandwich and, oh so done with the application of logic for the day.>

And, it is just impossible, not to include a picture of Kaniel. Just because. Just because, since he's been teething, he's using his tongue as something to chew on. Poor thing. But, oh so cute.

Adah is a consummate role player. She loves to pretend and create places to be and situations to act out. Today, she was a rabbit, who had a rabbit hole made out of a laundry basket turned upside down over an arm chair.

She asked me to feed her and said that only a carrot or lettuce would do. I had my hands full at that particular moment (with Kaniel), so she jumped in to peel her carrot. Like any good rabbit would. A few years ago (2 or 3) she wanted to try her hand at the peeler and ended up peeling off some skin, so she's stayed away since. This time she did just fine. Growing up. Hopefully to stay away from Mr. McGregor's garden patch.

I usually like to wait as long as possible until 6 months to start feeding my babies real food. Part lazy, part "breast milk rules." I had to start Kaniel 2 weeks early because he was so active, burning more calories than I could keep up with.

He's taken to the whole process of eating like a champ. Opens his mouth and swallows. I feel like it wasn't as easy with Adah and Ranen. I love the faces he makes when he eats a new food. Most of them are, "Wow! That is tart." Today, I had to run out to grab the camera so I gave him the spoon to play with in order to distract him from the task of trying to climb out of the Bumbo. Note: the Bumbo clearly states that you should not use it on raised surfaces! Such as a dining room table.

I am very blessed that Christopher's parents live within driving distance, and are willing and able to come visit the children and help me out (in so many ways). Christopher was out of town at a developer conference, so his parents came over to help me out. Keep me sane. Prolong the days that I am able to make complete sentences.

Here is Christopher's mom hanging out with Kaniel:

From January

Here is Adah, always moving.

From January

Today was a rough day. I'm feeling poorly and my sleep ended last night (I can't even call it morning) around 5 AM when Adah woke up scared. Then Kaniel woke up, then the alarm went off. Five hours sleep does not a good mother make.

Just before 6 PM this evening, I took the kids out to blow off steam before we ate dinner. The entire day had vanished and so my photos had to be taken while attempting to keep Adah (on a bicycle) and Ranen from the rush hour traffic. Ranen asked to bring the red back pack with him, as well as his drink and Tiger.

From January

Taking photos while watching children in a safety-issue situation is not recommended! I only had 5 hours of sleep, so my powers of reasoning were compromised. Really.

Day 6 found me feeling achy and weak, so it took all my energy to get through the day. None left for picking up the camera. Today was better, but still just making it through.

Adah has always been an architect. She would rather spend her time building the play fort than playing in the play fort. For Kaniel today, she built a little play cubby with rings suspended from his pack 'n play and a door handle, rubber mats in the corner and his Fisher Price play house (thank you, Kelly!) as the "door." She is a very attentive big sister for which I am so thankful.

From January

Every time he attempts this standing up bit of trouble, I pull him down and explain to him that he's too young--cut it out!

I like little chubby babies, but have never had one. Mine move around too much! I'm feeling a little yucky tonight, so I'm going to bed early. Hence the short post. I'm not a fan of flash photography, but my day was dwindling and I had to take a photo somehow:

From January

And thank you to Heather for noting tonight that Kaniel looks like me. <Big smile.>

This evening, during dinner, Adah asked Christopher more about how to read music. They've had an informal dialog going on the notes and how music is set up. After a few minutes, this object (something like an electric recorder with saxophone fingerings) was busted out and plugged into the practice bass amp:

From January

I love watching them learn!

Kaniel is six months old today! And doing way too many physically mobile activities; such as pulling himself up into a standing position. It looks just bizarre in such a small tot:

From January

Adah was being a concerned sister...she wanted to protect him from falling, of which he's been doing a lot. And here's a sweet photo of Adah. It's difficult to get a photo of her when she's not being goofy and hamming it up for the camera.

From January

I had cleared off the table before Adah came home from school and in less than an hour, this is how it looked. Granted, we were working on finishing up our Christmas thank you's...

From January

Afterward I caught this sweet moment (read: rare), Adah reading Ranen a book she wrote at school.

From January

I was struck today, as Kaniel crawled across the living room floor at two days before hitting six months old, that I will have no memory of this child's first year. My days are spent dashing. Dashing. Dashing. Where I was once wishing he would allow me to put him down for more than five minutes, I now wish I could hold him longer. He just wants to be put down to play, or put down to sleep.

So, as I was being miserable over this realization, I decided I would take a photo of him (and Adah and Ranen) every day for a month. For posterity. For me to cry over in 20 years. Me, the Stoic. I want to cry over photos. To have Something to cling to when memory fails.

Here is today's photo. And it's dedicated to my friends Darcy and Jeremy Walworth, who bequeathed that Totoro goodness on a very grateful household:

From January