A more detailed post with costumes coming (get excited!), but I’ll give you a special treat for today.
I’m not sure why I didn’t do this with E. Probably because I was an overwhelmed first time parent and this was too much work, but it definitely would have been easier. Mostly because E was only 5 months old at his first Halloween and small for his age, and G… isn’t.
I love all the weird sayings and phrases that toddlers come up with. I never correct them, and I always mourn when they disappear. When there’s a loud noise, E used to say “Oh so noise!” but now he says “I herr-d that!” Both are cute, but I miss his ‘so noise’ that he used to say. Just like he didn’t know the word for crayons, so he used to call them colors. The other day he told me he wanted to color with crayons. I’m thrilled he’s learning, but it’s a little sad to let go. No longer do I get the “Um-me!!” when he’s hungry. Now I get “want snacks!”
So nine months snuck up on me, but I’ve been calling you ten months for the past few weeks. I don’t really understand why some months seem longer than others, or you seem seem to grow faster at some points and slower at others. I think because of this, it seems like you haven’t changed much this month, but you actually have!
My goal was to write a post about how tired I am, and explain that’s why I haven’t been posting much anywhere. But I’m so tired it seems overwhelming to do this?
That’s what happens. When I’m tired, overwhelmed, or haven’t had enough down time, my creative brain goes away. I can barely think or form sentences, let alone do anything additional.
October. The month that says summer is finally over, and it’s time to embrace fall. Pumpkin lattes, crisp leaves, sweaters and pumpkins. You can either spend your time mourning the end to a fun summer, or you can have some fall fun.
Which is probably why whenever I look at my phone I see all of my friends at apple orchards and petting zoos and pumpkin patches. It looks like a ton of fun and makes me want to do it too. But it also seems like a lot, and sometimes it stresses me out. Am I making plans because it’s fun, or because I’ll feel like I’m missing out if I don’t?
G is a very different baby than E was. Two years in, we feel like we understand our toddler pretty well. We know how to comfort him, how to put him back to sleep if he wakes up, what makes him happy and what doesn’t. And it’s lead us to a false sense of confidence that we know babies/children in general.
But G is a very different baby.
We’re still obsessed with happy birthday over here. E can almost sing it by himself, but he still prefers it if we sing it, or we watch his two minute clip on Netflix. The drive home from daycare is prime happy birthday singing time. Lately, singing it is no longer enough. He’s requested that we merge his two favorite things, and sing “Orange Happy Birthday.”
It all started with an Instagram ad.
Huh - that’s interesting, I remember thinking. I texted it to Tom as an almost joke – wouldn’t we be crazy if we did this? He immediately was on board and started talking about logistics and I got scared and backed way off. I wasn’t serious! We couldn’t do that! Let me think about it.
And I thought about it the entire way home. And after I put the boys to bed. And it seemed… possible?
So I went back to Tom and told him I think we should attempt it. Because why not. If we failed miserably, at least we’d have something to put in the baby book.
So croup’s fun, huh?
On a Monday recently, I was sitting at my desk at work, leisurely eating my breakfast while planning out my day. What projects I was going to work on, what I was going to get for lunch, and making plans with a co-worker to get coffee after our 8:30 team meeting. It was during that 8:30 meeting that I saw daycare’s number pop up on my phone.
Baby, baby, baby. You are such a fun addition to our family. Your laugh, your faces, your happy little grab onto my arms when I bounce you up and down and you snuggle your face into me.
You’re happy as long as you’re a part of whatever’s going on. If someone walks into another room, you squirm after them as quickly as possible, and if you’re having trouble keeping up, or they vanish out of your sight, you’ll start screaming until someone picks you up. Sometimes you’ll just decide that you’re done on the floor and you’ll squirm right up to someone’s feet and look up at them with your big eyes until we grab you.
It had been coming for a while, but we finally did it. Baby G is no longer in a bucket seat. Poor thing was pretty uncomfortable in there. His feet were hanging way over the edge, which meant that more than once we’d stubbed his toe against a car, door or wall as we were trying to carry him in the seat. His head was nearing the top, and he could easily grab the handle with both of his hands. I’d be driving and look back and he’d be holding on to each side like it was a roller coaster and he was afraid to let go.
Every once in a while, E picks up a new phrase. Sometimes it’s obvious he got it from us, but sometimes it seems random. We assume it comes from daycare, but we never know for sure. Lately his phrase has been “walk away.” It’s equally hilarious and insulting. It usually comes when he’s doing something on his own and we’re trying to help. Like when he decides he wants to feed the baby by shoving food in his mouth, and we try to intervene, he’ll look at me and say “No, Mama. Walk away.” Somehow it’s cuter than if he just told us to go away, and it’s equally as funny when he tells the baby to do it too. We should probably try to encourage him to use different language… but we’re enjoying it for now.
Usually when we put the babies down for the night, it’s pretty easy. Hugs, kisses, place them in their crib and walk away. If anyone gives us trouble, it’s usually G and it’s usually because he’s demanding more food before beginning his 12 hour fast.
But one night recently, it was E that was making noise. If he does wake up, it’s usually the result of a bad dream, and it will be hysterical crying which will bring us running. But this was just small cries, which sometimes happens when he wakes up at the end of a sleep cycle and before he rolls over and goes back to sleep. So we watched him on the monitor and figured that’s what it was. He was lying on his back, rubbing his eyes, and softly crying.
Four day weekends used to be so exciting. A big opportunity to go somewhere, or do something. The opportunities felt endless and we were always excited and counting down. And then you have two very small children, and you realize that as much as you love spending time with them, four days without a break is a lot. It’s tiring.
I remember asking E’s doctor a while ago when I should be bringing him to the dentist. Her answer was a bit funny, and something like this: “If you ask a dentist, they’ll tell you to bring them by 6 months. If you ask a doctor, they’ll say anywhere between 2 and 3 is fine.”
Considering E didn’t get his first tooth until 14 months, I wasn’t going to bring him on the early side so the dentist could… I don’t even know what they would do. Also considering I HATE the dentist and it gives me major anxiety and heart palpitations, I wasn’t rushing the first visit.
Tom and I were talking recently, and realized just how packed our years have been recently. Kind of the opposite of taking things slow. There have been a lot of big milestones, every year, which made us realize that there wasn’t really one this year. It feels weird, it feels a little bit like we’re slacking, but most of all… it feels good?
A few things about our favorite toddler around here.
He changes so quickly that something that is an every day huge part of life could disappear in a month, and we’d all forget about it. So I’m leaving this here so I can better remember this moment of life.
Most Requested Activity: Going outside or cooking
This is how crazy my life feels sometimes. I did something fun and awesome and just for me (ie without kids!) and I stayed up much too late to do it.. and somehow it’s been three weeks now and I’m just telling you about it. Because I still woke up the next morning as the mama to two little humans who did not care if I was tired. They did not want to hear my stories or look at my pictures. They wanted to be carried and sung to and entertained. And so that’s what I did.
There's this thing that happens a lot, where we compare ourselves to others and decide everyone else has their life more together than we do. Other couples who seem to never fight. Other moms who have perfectly well behaved children. People who's house is always clean and have time to make dinner from scratch.
I heard someone say recently that nine months is peak cuteness for a baby, and I’ve got to say we are well on our way! You are just adorable lately. Dimples on full display, giggling all the time, totally squeezable. Just lots of fun. It would be nice if you’d pretend to care about me or Tom at all, but it’s more than obvious that all you want is your brother. It’s everything we dreamed of when we decided to have two kids so close together, so I guess I shouldn’t complain too much.