Nine Months - wow.

Leah,

How did it happen that all of a sudden, you're nine months old? All of a sudden, you're fitting into the clothes you'll fit into on your first birthday. You're solid. You don't feel breakable anymore. There's not much about you that seems tiny!

You've got two bottom teeth, and you're working on one on the top. You still have very little hair, and what you do have is very short and very light. You're still quite tall. We haven't had your nine month well visit, but I think you're still going to be above average for height. Aside from that, you're built like Daddy. My little skinny minny with the energy to burn as many calories as we can stuff into you. Last time we checked you were 97th percentile for height, 45th for weight. I bet that's close to accurate now too.

One reason you're thin is, babygirl, you Never.Stop.Moving. From the time you wake up until the time you crash in your bed, you're going somewhere, you're doing something. Even when you eat, you do it acrobatically, and when you're done, you want to get down and explore. I can barely remember a time you didn't do this - you started crawling and it was GO TIME.

Last week Uncle John and Aunt Kelli were in town and we moved the furniture so that you and Eden and Quinn could play. You LOVED pushing your walker back and forth, back and forth, smiling so big and so determined. Twice this month you also stood for a few seconds on your own... but once you realized what was happening you plopped down on your bottom.

You've started to pick up on the tone of our voices. If Mommy or Daddy (or your beloved nanny, Angela) says your name in a "warning" tone, you look up so sad, stick your bottom lip out, and start to cry. You get upset if Eden is upset (this is new - you used to laugh at her when she cried). But it doesn't matter what we say to you if we say it in a happy, upbeat way - you're all smiles. And oh, how precious your smiles are. I love that you got your Daddy's sweet dimples!

I say it every time, but girl, you LOVE your sister. You hug her and kiss her and if she's around, you want to be ON her. She can make you laugh so easily, and she loves doing it. It just makes my heart so, so happy when we're in the car and you and Eden hold hands, and she talks to you or makes faces at you and you just laugh, laugh, laugh. There is nothing in this world like having a sister, and I am so happy for both of you that you get to experience that.

You are still such an easy baby. Daddy and I are so thankful for your sweet, easygoing personality. We comment at least once a day about how easy you are. We know the day may come when you become difficult, but we are just so thankful that, right now, you're so happy and content.

One very sad thing happened for me this month, Leah, though it didn't really seem to bother you. I ran out of frozen milk, and my production basically cut itself in half. This, I confess, is largely because I have been very busy at work and I have not been taking very good care of myself, and I feel guilty about that to no end. I'm still producing enough to keep nursing you twice a day, usually, and you don't mind formula one bit. But it still makes me sad to know that I'm not making enough milk for you. I feel like I let you down. You're fine, of course, and it's not as if formula is BAD for you. It's just not what I had planned for you and I'm disappointed. Other than getting a little impatient when the milk comes slowly in the evening, though, you really don't seem to care (a bottle is still a bottle, I suppose, even if the contents are different).

Mostly I think I'm sad about the production issue because it shows me very clearly that the day is coming, soon, when you will be completely weaned, and that means another change in our relationship, which is so precious to me right now, as it is. But, honestly, I know we're going somewhere great, Leah, because every stage is the greatest, and I love you more every day.

Love,
Mommy

Grumpy Grump

Tired.
Billing.
Pumping in my office (not even in the Wellness Room, because it's four floors up and I barely have time to stop and pee).
Saw my kids for about twenty minutes today. Plus nursing Leah this morning (thankful for that time).
Have only eaten one meal today. And one Diet Coke. And a questionable peach from the 5:30 snack tray.
Still so, so much to do I want to cry.

The end.

Considering law school?

Consider this:

http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/law_school_grads_take_this_six-question_survey_on_finding_that_first_job/

The ABA Journal asks six questions of lawyers:
1) How long did it take you to get a job in the legal field?
2) Did you get the position you wanted, or did you compromise?
3) How many interviews did you go on?
4) What was your salary range for that first job?
5) Would you recommend attending law school to a recent graduate?
6) What year did you graduate from law school?

The comments on this article are so. incredibly. eye-opening. And I only read through five or six before I said a little thank you prayer for my job. For the record:

1) How long did it take you to get a job in the legal field?
- I had a job before graduating. In fact I sat on my offer for months (without worrying about its security) while I tried - unsuccessfully - to get a job at a firm in Portland, OR.

2) Did you get the position you wanted, or did you compromise?
- Aside from thinking we wanted to be in Portland, I got the job I wanted, in the group I wanted, at the firm I wanted.

3) How many interviews did you go on?
- I think I did about 18 or so on campus my 2L year, and then whittled it down to 5 or 6 callbacks. Then I did 5 or 6 on campus (I think) 3L year, plus 2 or 3 callbacks in Portland.

4) What was your salary range for that first job?
- Market. (You either know what "market" was in Boston in 2008 or not, but I'm not going to put it up here)

5) Would you recommend attending law school to a recent graduate?
- I think if you know you really want to be a lawyer, then yes. But go in with open eyes. Do everything you can to go to the best school you can afford, taking into account that student loans must.be.repaid. (We call our loan payments our "second mortgage" - actually, they total more than our mortgage. We live in Boston. Housing is not cheap. This should tell you something.) If you're looking to catapult yourself into wealth, or even moderate wealth, BWAHAHAHAHA. Do not go for this reason. I'd say even if you're just looking for a career that is intellectually challenging (and law is), look long and hard for something else; make sure that law is what you want. Talk to lawyers about what their lives are like, about what they do every day. Think about what you want from your life, long term. And if you're still interested, do it.

6) What year did you graduate from law school?
- 2008.

My baby brother is married...

So, my baby brother got married last month.

Crazy, I know.

He used to be smaller than me.
For a long time he was smaller than me.

He's pretty much always been stronger than me, since he was about 3 years old and I was 9. Yep, he was a strong kid.

Now he's bigger than me, and he's a marine, and he's all grown up and muscle-y, and he's a very, very good man, with a great head on his shoulders.



And now, too, he's head over heels for a good woman, and he's married to her.

Crazy.
I couldn't be more proud of this guy. Love him. :)

Here's where I would put a picture of me and him on his wedding day - wouldn't that be great? But because I was toting around a baby I didn't really ever get the chance. :( It's OK, I know I was there, and I got to give him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. And there are lots of pictures of these two, who were in the wedding party:


These landmarks in the lives of people I love, people I've known their whole lives, make me so sentimental. Time slips by so quickly. That sounds trite and cliche. Whatever, cliches are only cliches because they are so true.

Anyway. Happy wedding Tyler, and welcome to the insanity Tara. I wish you both a lifetime of happiness and cliches. :)

First Conversation

The girls had their first "conversation" on the way to church on Sunday morning:

Eden: Leah, we're going to church!
Leah: ba, ba, ba, ba
Eden: No, not "ba, ba.." - CHURCH!
Leah: ba, ba, ba, ba
Eden: No, Leah, [which almost comes out as one word - NoLeah] CHURCH. Say CHURCH
Leah: ba, ba, ba, ba
Eden: MOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEE! Leah just keeps saying "ba, ba"! She won't say "church"!

I'm going to count it.

She's a hurricane

Three year olds are (well, at least my three year old is) exhausting - passionately emotional about everything with no real editing mechanism (<-- yes, that's in my head from the judges' comments about Josh on Project Runway - the whole time they were speaking I thought of Eden!). BUT. As frustrating and difficult as she can be, she's also so, so, so much fun. Especially when you just throw up your arms, give in, and become 3 again yourself.

Like today. After church. For the first time in a long time, Eden and I had a dance party. She dances with such abandon, she doesn't give a flip about what anyone thinks - she just throws her hands up and spins around and does what she loves. I learn so much from that kid. She's crazy, and I love her so much. This is her song - and if it doesn't make you want to dance, there is something wrong with you. No, really:



The best part, and it describes Eden so perfectly:

My girl's name is Senora
I tell you friends, I adore her
And when she dances, oh brother!
She's a hurricane in all kinds of weather

(Ever tried to get a non-blurry picture of a hurricane?) :)

Edited to add, by popular request (or one comment, whatever...):



Note that Leah is pretty into it as well - won't it be fun when they're both spinning around so crazy? :) And also typical Eden is the break in the middle for a sister hug... Love it!!