FOUR

So, I'm a little behind in my blogging because it's already been more than a week since Brick turned 4, but I just couldn't let this milestone pass us by without sharing a little bit of who our boy is at 4.

A few days after his birthday, he agreed to do some exploring near our neighborhood and taking some "4-year-old" pictures in exchange for skipping his "nap." We had the greatest time. I haven't spent time with Brick alone since well before Calla was born. Let's face it, in a family of 5, there's not really a lot of opportunities for any of us to have one-on-one time. We're definitely going to make more of an effort to do that. During our walk, I thanked Brick for spending the time with me, and he responded, "Yeah. I'm really glad we did this."



At 4, Brick's a pretty interesting kid. We've come a long way since this. Sometime this year, we told us he wanted his own Twitter (after finding the Twitter application on Bryan's iPhone). I'm tempted to take him up on it, because some of the things he says are just priceless. Although, I'm sure it wouldn't be long before he was posting updates himself. He LOVES the computer. In fact, when Bryan got me a new laptop for Christmas, we moved my older computer into the playroom for Brick to use. His favorite website is by far Boowa & Kwala.



He's all boy and loves things like Star Wars, superheroes and, most recently, Scooby Doo, but he's sweet and gentle wherever his sisters are concerned. He's extremely helpful with Quinn. Much more than I would expect a kid his age to be. Sometimes a little too much, like the time he carried Quinn upstairs, all by himself.



His favorite food, according to him, is "cheesy rice casserole" which is really nothing more than a packet of store-bought cheddar & broccoli rice mixed with some EXTRA broccoli (because it's good to eat your vegetables). He just recently given up his naps, a sure sign that he's growing up, in exchange for "quiet time" in his room.



All in all, we expect big things for Brick this year. It's his last year as a "baby." Soon enough, he'll be 5 and heading off to Kindergarten and impressing us with a whole new set of tricks. We love you, little man!

Statistics 101

When we were in the hospital, I was certain Quinn might be our first brown-eyed baby. Her eyes just seemed darker to me than I remember the other kids' being. Bryan and I had several discussions about the likelihood of having ANOTHER blue-eyed baby. The funny thing is, we're no more or less likely to have 3 blue-eyed children just because we ALREADY have 2 blue-eyed children (anyone remember the penny-probability theory).

Secretly, I'm a little happy Quinn has blue eyes. Don't get me wrong, I love my big, brown eyes (no one, and I mean no one, enjoys a "Brown Eyed Girl" sing-a-long more than I do), but in a way, I feel like those beautiful baby blues are a uniting characteristic among the Tucker kids.

Happy Birthday to Brick

It was Brick's 4th birthday last week, and the entire celebration was a complete success. Bryan and I kicked things off Wednesday night (the night before his birthday) by blowing up 150 party balloons and loading them up into his room while he slept. I'll admit, the discovery of the balloons the following morning didn't quite have the level of excitement I was expecting, but it was cute nonetheless.



Brick woke up around 4am and, like he usually does at that hour, tip-toed into our room. He whispered to Bryan, "Dad. My room is full of balloons!" Bryan responded with a half-hearted, sleepy "Oh yeah? Do you want to climb up here?" (into our bed like he usually does). "No," Brick replied "I'll go back to my room." That NEVER happens!

Later that day, my mom and I took Brick to Build-A-Bear. For some reason he had it in his head that he needed to celebrate his birthday at Build-A-Bear, even though we've never set foot inside one before. I was frankly against the idea because I think the place is overpriced, but it was what he really wanted. I'm so glad we did. We had such a great time picking out a bear. And for once, Brick wasn't consumed with being tough or fighting bad guys or rocketing through space. He was my sweet, little boy getting excited over a teddy bear. Of course, even that sweet little boy couldn't pass up the opportunity to dress "Black Bear" up like a clone trooper.



That night we rounded out our day with some ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.



On Saturday, Brick indulged me with a photoshoot and we had a great time at his birthday party on Sunday. I hope to have those pictures ready to share soon.

Oh, and as for the balloons? Well, they're all gone now. Brick got tired of them, so Bryan pulled out some straight pins, and he and Brick went to popping them all. I think that was almost more fun for Brick than waking up to them all!

Chubby Cheeks

Unimpressed

I love Calla's impression in this photo. I can only imagine what a handful she's going to be as a teenager. No doubt she'll give the boys a run for their money.

Sweet Baby Smiles

Quinn's started smiling (YAY!) It looks like Calla's been teaching her a thing or two about smiling. C'mon. You remember the look.



Quinn's got a pretty solid case of newborn acne, but it seems to be clearing up. No worries though because it doesn't keep her from being a super happy baby.



And for the record, it looks like we have another blue-eyed baby on our hands. In the hospital, I couldn't be sure. I thought her eyes looked darker than the other kids, but as Brick reminded me, "She has to have blue eyes. All the kids have blue eyes."

My muse

There's something I really like about this one. I can't totally but my finger on it, but I guess it doesn't really matter.

The strong one

Quinn's doing a pretty good job of holding her head up on her own these days. This "photo shoot" didn't turn out anything like I wanted it to, but hey, at least I'm posting pictures!

28 days...

Does anyone remember why I started blogging? I do. It was my intention to post one picture of Brick each day so that his grandparents - who now live even further from us than they did at the time - could share in his childhood. In fact, my blog was originally named BrickPic in the spirit of sharing photos of the little guy. In time, our family grew, and the blogged morphed into what it is today. Sadly our busy schedules coupled with my increasing passion for photography mean fewer photos and less delightful anecdotes about the kids.

Wait a minute, did I just say that my passion for photography = fewer pictures?! Yep. I sure did. Before you go asking yourself how that could be, I'll explain. Over the years, as I've become more photographically inclined, my self-criticism has increased so much so that I limit myself from posting anything that doesn't immediately wow me. I'm not the only photographer to suffer from this disease. Bryan did help me try to remedy this by buying me an awesome point-and-shoot camera last fall to encourage me to just capture the moment. Having an iPhone has helped a touch too 'cause I find myself posting snapshots to Twitter when the urge hits me.

Where am I going with all this? I've decided to join a couple of very talented ladies in their quest to just take pictures the entire month of February (or as the case may be for me, February + 1 day since I'm getting a late start).

Admittedly, I'm cheating with this post. I took this picture last week, but I love it so. This is Calla right now. The Tinkerbelle accessories were a gift from our dear friends and neighbors who were kind enough to bring gifts for all the kids when they brought us a gift for Quinn. Calla insists on wearing it just about every day. For the record, Calla calls all princesses "Tinkerbelle", though the actual Tinkerbelle is clearly her favorite. And the way she says "Tinkerbelle" in her little 2-year-old voice is one of my favorite things in the whole wide world right now. I've been trying to capture it on video because I know she'll straighten it out before too long.

The baby doll is named "Kinn" as is every baby doll Calla comes into contact with these days. She loves her little sister to no end. Lastly, the dirty jeans and the lopsided pigtails. Well, those are quintessentially our little girl. I suppose it's the result of having a rough and tumble big brother, but dainty little Calla can wrestle with the best of them, and we never make it very far into our day before she's completely unkempt.