,

TWO

,

Two. TWO. TWO?????

Have you really been here for two full years?

I feel a little bad that this year is starting with so many changes, but I’m sure you’re going to be absolutely THRILLED with all the upcoming visitors. I have a feeling you’ll be a little less thrilled with my maternity leave ending. For whatever reason, you’ve decided that you need to be attached to me at all times. You want me to put on your bib or lift you out of your high chair or clean your hands. You want to be in my arms, carried everywhere, in my sight, with me, at all times. You ask for me the minute you wake up. And lately that’s been fine, since I’m always home. But tomorrow you’re going to wake up, and I won’t be here, and it breaks my heart to know how unhappy you’ll be. Because I live to make you happy and hear those giggles.

,

Five Months

,

Didn’t I just post one of these? This month FLEW by. I wish I could say it’s because you’re sleeping, but nothing is consistent there. We actually started out the month with you sleeping through the night and doing GREAT, but then you started rolling and hit your 4 month sleep regression and everything changed. You can’t really roll from your belly to your back, so that makes you incredibly angry in the middle of the night, and you’re still trying to figure out what to do with your hands. So we’re all tired. So tired.

Mother's Day

Yeah, yeah, it’s a little late. I’m going to stand by my statement that Mother’s Day should be moved to a less busy month. May is just so full already, that I don’t really have time for Mother’s Day. Which is probably why I did my hotel getaway months after Mother’s Day last year, and why I planned a family photoshoot for the fall this year, which is when (and how) I’d really like to celebrate.

,

And How Was Your Night?

,

Every time I pick E up at daycare, I think that there has to be an easier way. I lug G in his carseat, which is heavy and hurts my wrists and back. I get into the room and am swarmed by toddlers who all try to climb in on top of G, or rock him like crazy until he cries. Then when I’m at the car with both kids, I try to hold E’s hand while I maneuver G’s carseat into the car. It’s not pretty, and it’s super hard on my back. I’m just not strong enough.

I see other mom’s use their stroller, but that seemed like a lot of work too. But today I finally decided to try it. I clicked G into the stroller, and headed to the door. Oh. This is harder. I had to type in my code, open the door towards me, move the stroller out of the way and then try to hold the door open and get the stroller through the door. For three doors. Phew.

Outside!

Once E learned this word, we were done. With his big brown eyes and cute little voice, he jumps up and down and declares “Outside! Outside!” Now that it’s not freezing and a huge undertaking to get us all out, we agree more often. And we’ve been taking steps to make it easier and more fun to be in our yard too.

We recently fenced in our porch, which has become a toddler’s wonderland. There’s a play structure with a slide, and a sandbox, and even a chair for Mama. We’re working on our patio still, but this year we finally did something I’ve been wanting to do since we moved in.

,

These Days

,

These days…

E has been dumping all of his toys into an empty laundry basket, and then crawling inside. He’ll sit in there and play with his toys or read books for longer than he’ll do anything else at this point. Every time I try to clean it up during the day, he’ll come home from daycare and within minutes he’ll be back in that basket.

,

Four Months

,

You’ve done a lot of growing this past month, and I finally feel like I can say that I know you a bit. While you’re getting more and more content playing alone, you’re still happiest hanging out in our arms. When I do set you down to play, you’ve started to bat at toys and grab a few even. You’re getting frustrated that your hands don’t work the way you want them to, but you get so excited when you actually grab a toy.

You suck on everything, especially your fingers. You often have at least three fingers in your mouth at a time, and recently you’ve started sucking on your arm. Whatever you can get. (And when you can get one of our fingers, you go for that too!)

,

BUNNIES

,

We’re still figuring out what Easter will look like for our family, but this year is making me very excited for the future. E is old enough that he understands egg hunts now, and they’re my new favorite things. We don’t hide the eggs very hard, but he loves running around finding them, and now that he knows that they’re filled with treats, he’s extra excited.

,

Finished(ish) Closet!

,

There are certain things in life that I have an irrational (or maybe not) hatred of, and that make me incredibly angry. And I’m always puzzled when other people don’t seem bothered by them. One sign that Tom and I were right for each other, was that we tend to agree on which things we hate.

One of them? Those wire, ventilated, closet rack systems. They usually come standard in any closet, and they’re the absolute worst.

,

Bits and Pieces

,

A few random stories that I want to remember, but aren’t really related beyond that:
…..
E has a new(ish) teacher in his room, and he has slowly but surely winning her over. She’s pretty quiet, so it’s taken me a bit longer to get to know her, and get a read on her. She was asking me a few questions about him recently which left me wondering if she was worried about his speech. I was talking to Tom about it, and mentioned that she kept asking about what he can say, and seemed surprised that he couldn’t say his name. To be clear, Tom and I aren’t worried. But the conversation led me to believe that maybe she was.

,

Goodbye Dressers

,

Before I had children, baby-proofing seemed like a one time thing you did. Your house wasn’t safe, you baby-proofed it, and now it was. Instead I’ve learned it’s an almost constant state. First you move things out of reach, and then what they can reach changes. They learn to climb, and then more things need to be moved or secured. We’ve done a pretty good job, but it’s getting to the point where we need to do another pass through the house.

First up? Our bedroom.

,

Yup, That Happened

,

I saw it stopped at the cross street ahead, and started hoping. As it slowly pulled out, I got excited and sped up just a tiny bit. Pretty soon we were side by side on the road, me purposely matching their speed, and it hit me. Wow we do weird things for our kids. Still, I called out to E and told him to look out his window, and got exactly the reaction I was looking for. “Bus! Bus! BUS BUSBUSBUS!” Yes, I was in the passing lane, speed matching the slow transit bus on the drive home from daycare so my son could see his latest obsession.

,

Things We've Been Doing

,

A lot of little things happen around here, and it’s hard to keep up. And since my brain is so fragmented anyway, here’s a brain dump of a post. Random things we’ve done or things that are floating around in my head. Enjoy!
…
Baby G has this thing he does, where every time we go to lie him down after we’ve been holding him, he gets this terrified look on his face and his arms flail up like he’s afraid we’re going to drop him. He totally does not trust us. Every single time. He is not someone who can hide his expression, and his expression says “Holy cow I’m falling and they’re not going to catch me!”