Irresistible Mickey

It's innate.
Cute babies are irresistible. Cute Mickey Mouse-clad babies even moreso. But cute Mickey Mouse babies that clean up after a party? Bring it, Mickey! My neighbor/ friend Rachael had Vega's 3rd birthday party on Halloween, and little Mickey saw the mess and went straight for the vaccuum.



The ultimate party guest...

Go, Mickey, go! Turn that hoover on a dime! Thanks to Rick's Mom for that Lanese cleaning gene. :) Phoenix can sure Lanese around...

This one I love, because he can't stop looking at the gloves. Next, he poked at the round white buttons - and thought they were giant eyes. He was a little bit "seared" of them.

I don't know why a baby boy in black tights & a puffy Mickey suit is so hilarious - but we smiled all evening as he puttered around in that round dumpling. So I thought I'd spread more smiles... and work the Mickey suit for one more day.

My Mom did tell you she likes awesome

Hi, My name is trouble. Because of me, many projects of organizing and locking away and hiding and hanging have been started recently.

Yesterday, our counter looked like this. Because people kept putting all the good stuff up there, where I couldn't reach it. This worked, but was a big mess. I should show you where a lot of that stuff *used* to be. There's a picture of me up top of a big white climby-thingy-platform that I like to get on every chance I get. Whenever it's cluttered up with stuff, I throw it off. It looks better on the floor, and gives me more space to slide around and jump. If I find markers or drinks, my life is good. My siblings like to draw, so markers and paper are a good bet for that table.

But then, Mom had an idea. All the colorful drawings should go in the playroom! And they should hang on a wire that seemed made for the job! Because it certainly wasn't made for the job of hanging sheers. They were horribly droopy on that wire. So with a lot of help from me, and a lot of tools and a few shouts of "Phoenix! Drop that hammer NOW!"... she got it all up on the wall.

Halloween can't come soon enough for the kids. It's all they talk about, and I'm ready to say all right! Enough with the scary masks and pumpkin faces! I am not a fan of masks, as you might have heard. I tell them "I seared! I seared!" But they laugh at my fear, and just keep right on drawing scary pumpkin faces.

This worked out great and really made my Mom smile. She said to keep in mind that she likes awesome. And this is one awesome artwork wire.

Pickpocket

Yes, yes, this has become The Phoenix show lately. I am well aware that He Is The Star right now. My sidekick cracks me up though, and last night was a hoot.

He has learned to climb, and climb he does, onto anything and everything. Why, oh why, and how, oh how, did I manage to bear FOUR climbers?? Most families seem to get one certified monkey, but not us.

So anyway, Phoenix's favorite new spot is the bench and the table. So, when he saw Cole & Isabella sitting there coloring, he climbed right up beside them. And proceeded to pick Cole's pocket and go through his wallet. I glanced over when I heard the velcro, and then started snickering. Cole hadn't felt or noticed a thing, and kept right on coloring.

This is the kind of scalliwag we have been granted. Did you think Jadyn took the cake? Phoenix gives her a run for the money. Up for grabs? Title of Family Scamp. Those of you who knew Jadyn at this age will quake to learn that Phoenix is also a Phantom. He can disappear from view at a park in 5 seconds. Gone. And apparently lift a wallet without getting caught.

I feel the grays popping up all over my head, again.

A little dance for your enjoyment

Happy weekend, All!

Please enjoy some dancing.

Phoenix Does The Boogie from Bethany Lear on Vimeo.

Hawks a-swooping

Phoenix is deeply enamored with trees (said the woman who named him after a bird, sheepishly) (not that I named him sheepishly, no, that was with confidence. Just that I am noticing his avian tendencies rather sheepishly!). He will lie on a blanket in the back yard for a very long time, delightedly cooing and kicking. We call it “watching the leaves dance.” He gets all of his appendages a-going, just a-thrashing away, and is so a-thrilled when the wind a-blows and all of the branches a-wave. Haha. That was a-irresistible.

I discovered today that it works from inside too. He was discontent, and it was raining out. So I put him on a blanket by the back door, which is glass, so he could see the tree right outside the door. Magic in the forest – it worked! He saw those branches, with the rain all drip-dripping through them, and the leaves all jiggly with the breeze, and he became content.

But yesterday when we were out back, Phoenix wriggling in delight, me reading alongside him in delight, a hawk flew into the yard again. It was smaller than the one that visited earlier in the spring (pictured in my blog headline, and responsible for the confirmation of Phoenix’s name), but still very cool. It landed briefly in the tree near me, then swooped down into the neighbor’s yard. I soon heard small squeaks and assumed it caught whatever it was after. I couldn’t stand up to look over the fence though, because I was all of a sudden struck by the notion that it might swoop in and take Phoenix!

And that notion snowballed until I was decidedly & weirdly superstitious about leaving his side at all. Like the tales of fairies returning for changeling infants, my mind raced with the idea that my boy might return to his home in the sky… I mean, really. He does a great hawk cry – truly authentic. He would be an asset to any raptor family.
I know. I clearly spend too much time in the company of kids, fairy-tales, my lonesome, and reading sci-fi/fantasy. Part-bird, part-boy! Maybe he has owl blood, which could explain his nocturnal tendencies. Well, no, he doesn't exactly hoot. He only screeches. I'll have to think about this some more.