Two wiggly girls

Eden, Leah, and I were sitting on the deck (oh how I love our deck) while Bryan was grilling our dinner a few nights ago and Eden asked to hold Leah. I of course obliged and tried to get a picture, because they're so cute together. Here's how it went:

Eden: Look at me Mommy! I am holding Leah! So coooooooooool!

Leah: Hair! I found hair!

Eden: Hi, Leah! I'm holding you!

Leah: HAIR! Watch this!

Eden: OOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW Leah!

Leah: Haha. Hair!! Death Grip!!

Mommy: Girls, look at me!! (Sing-song voice)

Eden: CH (eese)

Leah: I want to eat you Mommy. :)

Leah: OK I'm done now. Let me down.

Eden: WOOOOAH Leah! Be careful!

Daddy: Hey girls be careful!

Eden: Daddy! What you doin?

Leah: Daddy! What you doin?

Mommy: Eden, say cheese! Smile! Look at me!

Eden: CHEEEEEEEEEEEEESE.

Leah: Hmm. (ponders quantum physics or something. She's a genius, you know)

Mommy: Hey girls! Boogaboogabooga!

Eden: CHEEEEEEEEEEEEESE!

Leah: Hey Mommy! I love that noise!

So, not really a good picture of both of them together (although the one looking at Daddy isn't so bad, I just wish they were looking at the camera!), but a good glimpse into our lives. :)

5 Months

Hey Little Munchie,

You're five months old and even though time is flying by, I am doing my best to hang on to each moment with you as you are now. You are such a sweet, sweet baby. Our friends have commented on how perfect you are, so it's clearly not just me. :) Really, though, you sleep well (last night from 7:15-6:30), you rarely cry, and you are quick to smile. You smile with your whole face - a big, gummy, open mouth smile I LOVE!

You started solids this month, and probably could have started sooner but we were getting settled in our new place. We're taking it slow, but so far you've had rice cereal and oatmeal and you are a CHAMP. You know how to lean in for the spoon (and try to grab it from our hands, of course) and you can down some serious cereal. The first day you tried it you ate almost three tablespoons!

We started doing a bedtime routine for you (read a book, pray together, sing a song, and put you down awake) and you do so great with it. You pretty much always go to sleep with minimal fussing (maybe 1-2 minutes) and you're out for the night! You suck on your left thumb and roll over to your tummy to sleep. I still feed you one last time before I go to bed, but I think it's getting to be more about me than you; I don't think you really need it because you don't usually nurse very long. But I am not ready to stop, especially because I am hyper protective of my milk supply (you're still on breastmilk only (no formula), and I'd like to keep it that way as long as possible!).

Developmentally, you're doing great. You roll both ways, changing position and rolling across the floor; you can pick up toys and bring them to your mouth or shake them; you can babble some sounds ("ba ba" this morning - I'm trying to get a "Mamamamama" out of you but Daddy is of course sabatoging my efforts by flooding you with "Dadadadada"). Best of all, you can sit up! Unassisted! For significant periods of time! You still have to concentrate really hard to play with a toy and sit up, but you can do it. And when we lay you on your tummy, you've started pulling yourself all the way up to hands and knees.

Your favorite person is still Eden, by a long shot. If she is anywhere near, you are smiling and squealing and trying to get her to pay attention to you. And then grabbing a fistful of her hair and trying to eat it. Thankfully she's being very patient so far!

You're such an easygoing baby. This month you've been fighting a slight fever and the only way we can tell is that you're hot - you are just perfectly content. Turns out you have a UTI, poor baby, and you're not even really bothered by it! (Except the medicine - you like to spit it out. You have to stop that, seriously.)

All in all, you're pretty awesome and Daddy and I (and Eden) love you so much! We are so, so happy you've joined our family and made it complete.

Love,

Mommy

Three. Years. Old.

Sweet Eden,

You've been blessing our lives in amazing ways for three whole years (plus nine months in my belly...). I can't believe what a big girl you are. You're a little person - with opinions, ideas, problem solving capabilities, an imagination (oh, an imagination!), and the sweetest little voice I've ever heard (even when you're saying things like "thay-at" - as I tell you daily, "that" is only one syllable, and I have no idea how you've gotten a southern twang when you've spent your entire life in New England!)

You love life. You bring such joy and laughter to our home! You love to run and play, kick your soccer ball with your Daddy, jump as high as you can, ride on your tricycle and scooter, and DANCE. Oh, how you love to DANCE. Just last week Daddy downloaded "Jump in the Line" by Harry Belafonte (which Daddy and I know as the song from the end of Beetlejuice) for you, and you go crazy when that is on. You love Pete Yorn and Jack Johnson, too. You jump and spin and wave your arms, and smile so big it's completely infectious. Before you know it we are all jumping and spinning and acting crazy. And loving every minute!

You also love art. You love to sit at your little table and do a "project" (aka a "pwojack") together. Paper, crayons, glue, scissors, paint - you love it all (and you're a girl after my own heart). One thing you and I do together a lot is sit and make cards for friends or family. You get a big kick out of it. You also recently got an easel with a chalkboard, white board, and place for paper to paint, and you've been going to town on that. You've made some pretty pieces of art we are thinking of framing. :) You can draw a very good circle, and a nearly-recognizable face (the mouth always ends up being a straight line across the chin, but hey, whatever). You can trace things really well, and you're learning to cut with scissors.

You talk like a grownup. I'm always amazed at how big you sound. You say things like "I don't think that's a very good idea" and "We have to be careful with paint, Mommy." You understand that there are degrees to things - you get that "a little bit" means something different that "a lot." Two words you are still working on understanding are "because" and "otherwise"; right now, sometimes you get them right, but more often you use them both to mean "but" or "and". Your running stream-of-consciousness commentary is often strung together with these words: "We have to be quiet because Leah is sleeping; otherwise the tree is really tall." Um, what?

You're becoming very independent too, and it would be sad except it is so sweet. You are 100% potty trained, and are getting to the point where you can almost go all by yourself. You can dress yourself a little bit, and you're pretty good at undressing. You get yourself in and out of bed, though at night you still want us to tuck you in after you wake up. You feel secure though; you understand that if you need us we're close by (we have a new video monitor and you say "If I need you I have to talk to the camera" ("cram-a")).


You are an amazing big sister. You LOVE Leah. You want to hug her and kiss her all the time, and often ask to burp her or hold her. You always cover her with a blanket when she is lying down, you let us know when she's upset and you try to comfort her. This week she had to go to the doctor's office and you kept telling her the doctor was nice, and when they had to put in a cathider to get a urine sample you gently rubbed her head and told her "it's ok." You still mostly call her "Weah" but you can get out "Leah" - though when you think too hard about it, it comes out "Wa-Leah". That's my favorite. :)

You're very sweet a lot of the time, but you are also three, and all that comes with being three. You have a major meltdown probably once a day, which involves going to time out and staying there (usually for at least 15-20 minutes, which seems WAY longer to EVERYONE) until you can calm down and stop crying and apologize for whatever it was that sent you there.

Your favorite things right now:
1. Color: ORANGE
2. Song (to sing): Jesus Loves Me (or any other words to that tune; you make up songs every day)
3. Breakfast: cereal. usually Special K Red Berries ("pwakes [flakes] with strawberries")
4. Food: crackers. (Triscuts)
5. TV show: Oswald and Yo Gabba Gabba. Probably Yo Gabba Gabba wins a head-to-head, but it would be close. (Daddy puts his thumb on the side of Yo Gabba Gabba because of the music...)
6. Game: Hide and Seek (though you still tell us where you are if we say, "Eeeeedennnn, where aaaaaarrrrre yoooooooouuuu?"). We are thankful you appear to be over the "It's raining on our heads" game, in which we constantly had to very quickly hide underneath covers or toys or in the closet, or otherwise cover our hair. It was fun while it lasted. :)

I love you sweet girl. Someone once told me that at 3 all of a sudden our babies become little people, and he was right - I can't believe what a little lady you're becoming, so quickly. I look at your sister and remember you being that little and it seems like yesterday. But I don't want to go back - I want you just as you are. Maybe sans a tantrum here or there, admittedly, but definitely who you are. I honestly wish I could record every little thing you do, so I can forever remember this moment in your life, because it is so, so, so precious.

Stay sweet my love, and keep growing so big and strong. Hugs and kisses and love all around you! Know you are deeply treasured by your Mama.

Love,
Mommy

WE ARE HOMEOWNERS!

Just a quick post to say the deal closed today, and we are now the proud owners of a slice of Massachusetts, including 4 shiny new keys and a big ol'e mortgage (which I drafted... :) How many people get to draft their own mortgages??).

We are so excited, but my anxiety about moving has just ramped up to a ridiculous fever pitch since (1) work has been getting pretty crazy; (2) my first baby is turning 3 tomorrow and her sweet birthday party is this weekend, along with the second-in-a-row busy weekend for Bryan; (3) our landlord has found tenants to move into our apartment, but they want to move in on Tuesday (a week from today (!)) so we are going to try to move and semi-unpack BEFORE Eden's party on Saturday (in 4 days (!)); (4) we have done basically no packing; and (5) we have a bunch of stuff (especially painting) to do at the condo before we can move in. Yikes!!

But.

We are homeowners. We no longer pay rent. That makes me smile every time.

(The deflated balloons are gone now. More pictures to follow when I have a second to breathe).

Tidbits

Some VERY RANDOM thoughts somewhat related to this weekend:

1. We have a contract on the house! AHHHH! It's official: we're closing July 1, but we are moving in 3 weeks!!

2. I haven't had time to pack because I've been (a) enjoying my family and (b) working this weekend!! AHHHH!!! We're moving in 3 weeks!!

3. We need to find a home for our little Nino. Condo association has a no-pet policy. Anyone looking to adopt a cat?? AHHH!!! We're moving in 3 weeks!

4. Eden started singing a new (to us) song this weekend (to the tune of that B-I-N-G-O song about the dog): "I have a friend that we all know, and "We-ah" is her na-ame. Jump! Jump! We-ah! Jump! Jump! We-ah! Jump! Jump! We-ah! We're glad you came today!" She clearly learned it at daycare, because at first all the names were her friends from there. But it expanded to include our family, and I got a video on my phone of her singing it about Leah. It is incredibly cute and so grown up I can hardly stand it. My baby is almost three. (Actually, she turns three on the 15th, and then we're having her birthday party in just under 2 weeks, which will be awesome but takes out another day of packing - and did I mention we're moving in 3 weeks? AHHH!!)

5. We bought our first large appliances this weekend (washer and dryer). For some reason this freaks me out a little bit. (Maybe because? We're moving in 3 weeks! AHHHH!!!!)

6. I'm getting a cold. Actually I have a cold. Thought it was allergies (which I have been battling this spring but, weirdly, I did not have problems with until Miss Leah came along...?) but now I'm pretty convinced that cute little toddler brought home more than just songs from daycare. This is a TERRIBLE week to have a cold: an important meeting, a very important hearing, a deal closing, and about five or six other work-related things that are going to make sure I see very little of my bed. :( (Plus, you know, I need to start PACKING). Oh, such is life.

7. Despite having to work this weekend, still managed to spend a lot of time together with my 3 favorite people, including dinner tonight at my favorite restaurant in Harvard Square (oh, how I love Border Cafe... even if I do smell like it for forever afterwards...). Eden wanted to stop for ice cream too but somehow convinced herself that the scoop of sour cream on Daddy's plate was ice cream, and he gave her a couple of bites and she was happy. Weird kid. :)

That is all. :) Going to feed a baby and go to bed now. :)

4-month stats

Leah's 4-month checkup by the numbers:

26.5: inches in length (99th percentile - WHAT?)
14 lb 13 oz: weight (75th percentile)
41: centimeters of head circumference (50th percentile)
2: number of shots given (plus one oral vaccine)
40: approximate number of seconds she cried after said shots.

Also the doc said we can start solids at any time because she's developmentally ready (she's eating around 30 ounces of breastmilk a day, she can hold her head up and sit supported very well, etc). We will probably still wait at least a few weeks before starting though. She doesn't always empty her bottles so I'm not sure she needs it quite yet. But we might use solids as a way to control her poop a little bit.

The end of the appointment is always reserved for the "here's what you can expect from her between now and the next time I see her" talk. But this time, she was baffled, because our little lady is already doing almost all of the 6 month developmental things (she rolls well both ways, giggles, sits unsupported momentarily, "swims" on her belly, grabs toys and brings them to her mouth, does a "raking" motion with her hands, etc). So she said be on the lookout for better sitting, possibly crawling (WHAT??), maybe even pulling up a little bit. Um, seriously? I'm really not ready to have a crawler yet! But wouldn't you know, two days later and she's starting to pull her knees underneath her. She's not pushing up yet from that position, but still. Yikes!

But. We're so happy she's happy and healthy and trucking right along! :) If that means crawling in a couple of months, so be it.

Little Mommy

This is how Eden loves on her little sister (be still my heart...):

FOUR MONTHS!

Leah,

You are officially an infant. Nothing about you is "newborn" anymore. You are a full-on baby, and you're so perfect right now I can barely stand it! Your daddy and I keep knocking on wood that you stay so easy.

You so rarely cry. You occasionally get upset if it's past time to eat, or if you're tired and not in your bed, but you mostly just go with the flow, and smile and squeal and - lately - GIGGLE your way through the day! You love to sit in your exersaucer or your Bumbo seat, if you've got toys to keep you busy. You love to lie on your play mat, either on your tummy or on your back, and chew on anything you can reach.

You're consistently able to roll from your tummy to your back AND from your back to your tummy (just like your sister, you learned back to tummy first, and it would upset you when you'd find yourself on your tummy!). Over the last few days, you have started being able to sit for a few seconds by yourself, or "tripod" yourself for a few seconds (before you topple over head first!).

You think (other people) sneezing is HILARIOUS. You think fake sneezing is sort of funny, but real sneezing is HILARIOUS.

You love to be tickled, and you love it when we kiss your cheeks and neck and belly. I love to pretend to eat your jellyroll legs. Sometimes I can get some chuckles out of you for that. :)

Your FAVORITE thing, though, by far... is your sister. You always smile when you see her; you squeal when she looks at you; and you just love it when she gets down on the floor with you and plays. Just so you know, she loves you very much too. She loves helping Mommy and Daddy take care of you, she loves playing with you, she loves talking to you and telling you all about things she knows. It melts my heart to see that. I wanted so badly for you both to love each other, and I hope you continue to be close and loving sisters. There is no relationship in the world like between sisters.

You're the perfect baby. I want to freeze you here, but I know it keeps getting better. I'm just trying to be in every moment I have with this sweet baby-you. I love you so much, Leah, and I hope you always know just how cherished you are.

Love,
Mommy

Leaving Home

Some days it's just so hard to leave my house for work. Today, for instance. I had a dentist appointment for fillings at 8:45 so I had to go in late and my family had fully started their day by the time I was actually leaving for work.

As I was standing at the top of the stairs that lead down to our front door, Eden asked for an extra hug and a kiss. I complied, of course, and then she ran back into the living room and
I stood there surveying the scene. Bryan had started some music (Eden's favorite, according to him: Pete Yorn). Eden was twirling and dancing in a sweet purple gauzy summer dress. Bryan was sitting on the floor in front of the couch with Leah sitting on his lap, and they were both watching Eden twirl and smiling with their whole faces, dimples and everything (I couldn't see Bryan's, of course, because of the facial hair, but I knew they were in full force!) The windows were open, a soft breeze and sweet sunshine flowing in with the warm, 72-degree air.

It was such a perfect scene. I wanted nothing more in that moment than to freeze time, or to pretend it was Saturday and join the dance party with these three people I love more than i think my heart can even stand. My eyes filled up and it broke my heart but I turned around, choked out an "I love you guys! Be good!" and walked out.

Training Update

Training. Oh yeah. :)

My goal was to hit the gym 4 days/week, but with our crazy schedule, it just isn't happening. I am managing to make it at least once a week, and I'm doing well when I'm there, but it's difficult. Anyway, here's where things stand right now:

1. Running: I'm slacking on running because I hate it so much. I've gotten up to 2 miles but I'm really not motivated to do it again. Next time I hit the gym, though, I'm hitting the treadmill. And I'm going to try for 2.5.

2. Biking: Ever since I got my anniversary present, I refuse to work out on a stationary bike at the gym. It is SO much better riding outside. This past week was Bike to Work week or something and there was a convoy from the local bike shop to City Hall, and I joined in. Yep, I biked to work. I couldn't get Google Maps to cooperate to get the exact mileage, but my best educated guess is somewhere around 8-8.5 miles. So on Friday I biked 16-17 miles. And SURVIVED! :) I think I might start biking to work 1-2 days a week. Today I went to the bike shop and had the bike "fitted" and I bought clip-in pedals and cleats. I've only ridden home from the bike shop (about a mile or so) but I love them so far, and I think it's going to make commuting MUCH easier.

3. Swimming: last week I managed to swim the entire distance!! I didn't wear contacts so I couldn't see the clock and I think it made a huge difference. I wasn't pushing as hard, I was concentrating on getting breathing down, and I swam a whole 1/4 mile! ;) I know it's not that far, but I was excited to see that I can at least do the distance, and now I just have to build speed and endurance. And practice swimming in open water a bit.