25/28 isn't that bad i guess ;)

so i didn't exactly reach the goal of posting everyday, but at least i came close to getting 28 posts...

i blame these little time-suckers:

too much giggling. and squealing. and attempts at crawling. and learning new words and phrases like "i think so" and "that'd be cool". and dodging naps expertly. and finding the joy in eating yogurt together. and kissing whenever the mood strikes.

if i'm going to fail at something, at least i have some good things going on around me ;)

maybe she's born with it...

i'm not totally sure, but i think nola's eyelashes doubled in length and number overnight.

roll over, roll over...

overall, the girls are pretty good sleepers. with avery, it took about 9 months to really get the sleeping through the night thing down, but once she did, it's been smooth sailing (with the exception of sickness and other random blips). nola has one-upped avery and has been better at sleeping than not since 4 or 5 months. at night at least. for naps, she'll have a few weeks of excellent naps, then go through little changes that screw up the schedule.

like this week: rolling over.
and getting stuck.
and screaming her head off.
until she's rolled onto her back.
repeat.

a few days ago i put her down for her afternoon nap and everything was going as planned. she fussed for a minute or two when i left the room, then was quiet. 10 minutes later however, she started screaming. i raced upstairs thinking something was terrible wrong and found her on her hands and knees, sobbing. she had backed herself into a corner of her crib and was stuck.

see, she can roll both ways. and she can get on her hands and knees and either rock back and forth or scoot backwards. but going forwards? not happening yet. which is only a problem when there's a really fantastic toy in front of her across the room or when she's trying to go to sleep.

so for the last few days it's been rough.

but then today...

victory!! it may have only lasted 30 minutes, but she fell asleep on her tummy and the crying was minimal :)

crawling is just one of those things you can't teach. shame.

the insanity of the 2 year old.

we try and give avery choices whenever we can. that way, when there are times when plans are non-negotiable- bedtime, shoes/jacket to go outside (though we let her pick which shoes and jacket), getting in her car seat, not standing in the bathtub, putting her feet on the table when we're eating a meal-and we put our feet down she understands for the most part and recognizes that most of the time she does get to choose.

and then there are times when i don't even think to give her a choice and it blows up in my face.

avery wakes up this morning and is in a good mood. i get her out of her crib and on the changing table. as i'm getting her dressed i say,

"avery, you want to know something? i LOVE you! so much. love you!"

her response: "no!"

me: "uh-huh! i love you!"

her: "no, no!"

me: "yes i do! you can't tell me i don't, i LOVE YOU!!!"

her: "nonononononononononoNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" as she dissolves into tears.

ummmmm. oops. :) maybe i should have asked "avery, should i tell you i love you or that i like you a WHOLE LOT?"

5 years.

people ask all the time if we're going to try for a boy. these "people" are often strangers, not friends and family that would have more of a right to ask this question. and usually when i respond with "nah, we've got our two girls and we're done", i'm met with "yeah right! you'll have another!" but really, we're done. before we had kids, we were planning on having 4. and after we were surprised with nola, we were also surprised with the feeling of "our family is complete". it's not about not having enough love to give to another child or about not embracing and recognizing the amazingness of pregnancy and birth or even about not having the money for another child. it's about a lot of other things, but mostly it's about: the gang is all here. it's such an enormous relief to feel satisfaction and completion and contentment with our family. and with that satisfaction that everyone is accounted for, comes visions of the future and plans for making our lives the best they can be.

so. things i'm looking forward to in the next five years...

*having 2 incomes again so we can afford to buy good bread and soda :) me going back to school and hopefully working by the time the girls are both in school will provide all of us with a more secure and comfortable future. i'm really excited about being a contributing member of this family again!

*teaching the girls to pick up all their toys by themselves! avery does a pretty good job right now, but it'll be nice to reclaim our living room. and by reclaiming it, i mean utilizing their rooms, the sunroom and a big yard sale once they outgrow things

*getting a new couch! that doesn't need to be almost brown to cover all the things that come along with little ones ;)

*leaving the house in 5 minutes if we need to. that early morning dunkin' craving just gets a little less intense the longer it takes to get in the car. which, at this stage with our finances, is probably a good thing.

*toddler and little kid footsteps on saturday mornings, running into our room to wake us up then downstairs for cereal and cartoons (and when we don't run down to follow them, hearing their giggles from a warm bed)

*having ONE bag. that's mine. and doesn't house diapers or pacifiers or baby spoons. (oh, who am i kidding, i'm going to miss this like crazy. there's something really precious about finding a spit-soaked sock that someone used as a chew toy during a lunch out that makes me smile :))

*being able to travel and not worry about them being able to sleep somewhere other than at home

*add to that travelling and not having to carry one or both girls ;)

*the girls entertaining each other for minutes or hours at a time. they're both pretty independent already and don't insist on our attention at all hours, but i have visions of them reading books by themselves and building forts together and playing dolls. it's a nice vision :)

*going out to eat and being able to stay out past 6pm with the girls, without fearing that meltdowns will happen

yes, i'm going to miss the baby-ness and chubiness of the girls. i'm going to miss the babbles and the squeals and the newness of disney movies. and i'll also probably miss being relied on for so much of their daily activities. (i now understand why my mom still insists on feeding me and preparing things for me whenever we're together.) but there are a few times when i see us as a family a few years from now and smile. until then, i'll keep enjoying the smell of banana baby food (the only one that i don't make myself, i love the smell of gerber's too much), the funny sentences that avery's trying to master, the random nights when nola just wants to be held as she falls asleep, the one elmo book that avery insists be read before every.single.time.she.sleeps and the hum of the baby monitor's when both girls are sleeping.
and this little face.

and this little face.

they don't make 'em like this anymore...

please note the pants above. an amazing pair of baby pants. the first choice if they were fresh out of the dryer. in this picture they were matched with the shirt they came with, but in reality, i'd pair anything with these pants and not miss a beat. they were light. but they were warm. they stretched but weren't too big. they outfitted avery from about 6 weeks (see picture) until close to a year. they had feet and were perfect for bedtime, playtime, travel time. anytime.
we loved these pants.

and so did both girls. (but for the life of me i can't find a picture of nola wearing them, though she did plenty of times)

which is why, today, we said goodbye.

we debated cutting the feet off and just keeping the pants footless. but it just wouldn't be the same. so we took a picture and tossed them.

and my guess is that we'll never find this perfect a pant again.

what you say?

avery tries on mema's boots :)

the most common phrases around here (according to what avery choses to repeat the most)

1. "i got you" (especially when we're walking down the stairs)

2. "be gentle"

3. "nolya bear"

4. "really, nolya?" (what i say when nola babbles at us)

5. "avee, stop it!" (i like to think we don't say this very often and that's why it sticks out for her ;))

6. "wait for mama" (said on the stairs when avery's waiting to go up)

7. "turn it off?"

8. "nolya's hungee?" (lol)

9. "in a minute" (she'll say this either a) after she asks for something and i say "in a minute" or b) after she asks for something and i say "no". "yes, in a minute" :))

10. "avee, noooooooo" (again, we try and give choices instead of outright saying "no", but there are times when we just say no ;))

11. "i found it!"

12. "that's hot/warm/cold" we've included her a lot in cooking and kitchen stuff, and are always trying to warn her if something is too hot to touch or if she needs to let her food cool off a bit before she takes a bite. months and months ago, she thought i said something was warm, and when i said "no, it's not warm", she replied with "oh. it's cold."

share and share alike.

these pictures really don't have anything to do with the post title...but they are from today. and i wanted to share them.


sharing. it's the subject/theme of my grad school application essay. and until 2 days ago, the girls had limited success with the concept. yesterday, avery blew us out of the water, brought tears to our eyes and made a couple people very happy.

1. 2/16/10. nola and avery are in avery's crib after morning wake-up. nola usually plays with the variety of animals, blankets or board books in avery's crib, while avery just enjoys that her sister has joined her. on this particular morning, however, avery took it a step further. she has two pacifiers in her crib (more if we can find them at bedtime), and usually sucks on one and hides the other away near where she lays her head at night. instead of hiding her spare "buppa", she pulled it out of her blankets and handed it to nola. nola took it and popped it in her mouth happily-odd, because she doesn't have any interest really in pacifiers. maybe she just realized what a special gesture it was from her sister :)

2. same day. zane and i go up to get avery up from her nap. we're in her room and she says "mama in?" (the day before i had jumped in her crib with her after she said "i love you....mama"-prompted ;)) i got in her crib and she gave me a kiss. a few seconds later, she took her buppa out of her mouth and tried to put it in my mouth. instead of sucking on what she had in her mouth, i turned it around. she dug around to find her spare and put that in her mouth happily.

in just one day, she had shared her most prized possession with nola and i. and believe me, it didn't go un-noticed. nola was thrilled. and i was humbled. and zane got a little teary too. and i think i just may be ready to send out my grad application ;)

8 months revisited

nola is 8 months today! *silent cheer, followed by tears* i was looking back at when avery was 8 months and was astounded at my post. with the exception of a few things, i could have written an identical post for nola.:

avery is 8 months old today! (in about an hour) she's been growing up tremendously in just the last few days/weeks. we're so proud of all she's accomplishing and learning and doing :) she looks at us with such a huge grin after she's crawled or clapped or danced her little wiggle dance on the floor. she slaps her hands down hard on her legs or belly when she's really excited to se us. she loves her arrowroot cookies and would eat them all day if we let her. she can't get enough of the dogs paws (though it's certainly getting to be old for them). she lifts her arms up when she wants us or when we say "up up up!" she lays her head down to take a micro-second rest and then flips up her head so her hair flops all around (we call it the fraggle head :)). she still has no teeth, but just tonight we noticed that her bottom gums look swollen. she likes to start out in the rocking chair to have a few ounces of her bottle, then squirms out of control until you lay her down in her crib and feed her the rest of her bottle before bed. she's got an amazing pincer grasp and will pick up things that we wouldn't see in a million years. she gives the best wide-open-mouthed kisses and will try to suck on our faces when she gets really tired :) we adore her.

as far as nola goes:

*she's changed a bunch since last friday. suddenly acts older and more aware of everything going on around her

*she claps and dances a wiggle dance constantly. and is thrilled with herself every time. (no crawling yet, though. i'm not rushing it ;))

*has started to lift her arms when we're picking her up.

in addition to...

*she has 3 bottles a day. one before each nap and then before bed.

*food: eats 3 meals and one snack a day. mostly homemade stuff (peas, carrots, squash, sweet potato, etc.) but has recently started to eat stage 3 foods which she loves. and tonight, i gave her tiny pieces of the steamed broccoli we were having and she kept opening for more (without gagging like she's done in the past!)

*her cry has changed. tonight we put her down and instead of her hungry cry or her tired cry, there was a "where did you people go/i'm sad/i'm a social little butterfly now and i don't want you to leave" cry :( heartbreaking.
*her 2nd tooth is just about to come out i think
*avery is the center of her world. any time avery comes close, nola stops what she's doing to look at/smile at/gaze at/adore her.
*over the weekend, she learned that she loves to stand holding onto something (and sometimes fall back to be caught)
*she is so laid back. so easy. so go with the flow. avery was a very happy, content baby. but nola is a HAPPY baby.
*she is one silly, happy, adorable, funny, sweet little girl.

and we adore her.

ps, i give up on trying to figure out why some font is normal size, other is giant.

*grin*

could our day get any better than this?

seriously. wonderful.

the land of giant dwight schrutes

ok, not really. there were giants and there were dwight schrutes, but not necessarily together.

:)

zane asked me to be his girlfriend on february 13th. the next year, he asked me to be his wife. this year, we celebrated being parents to our 2 wonderful girls together. it's nice to have this anniversary day to ourselves and then get to enjoy valentine's with the girls.

last night we went out to dinner and then saw some live music. the dinner was great, we talked a little about the kids, but also got a chance to talk about everything else under the sun-something we haven't done for a loooong time.

then we went to buy our tickets to the show. first, we were standing among old folk. kind of. once we got inside, we found one stool to share and waited for the music to start. at some point, i realized we were standing amongst giants. zane is tall. and he's usually taller than the majority of guys in a group. not last night. everywhere you looked, tall. and taller.

that was strange enough, but then zane discovered something else. we were also standing among dwights schrutes. they were everywhere in different forms and for different reasons.

we had some good laughs, left the show early, not because of the tallness or dwights, but because we were tired and the music wasn't all that good. it was really nice to come home to sleeping girls that slept all night without a sound and to wake up this morning with gifts galore for them for valentine's day.



there's lots of love to celebrate around here. and we're having a good time celebrating.

it does get easier, right?

there have been many phases and stages since becoming a parent that have made me ask myself "this will get easier, right?" and there have probably been just as many that lead me to ask other parents the same question, praying for a positive answer.

a few big ones...

-the realization after you bring the baby home from the hospital and the adrenaline wears off where you think, wait, this child is mine every minute of every hour of every day? amazing how something so simple and obvious makes such a big impression. this was huge for me.

-the stage when something/everything is getting the way of sleep (yours, the baby's, etc.). and as soon as you figure one thing out, another pops up and shatters all your answers.

-the transition from one to two, where all of a sudden there's no downtime. the dread when you realize that if you're up all night with one child, there's no sleeping in in the morning, or napping it off when they do. there's another one that wasn't up all night and will be up at the usual time.

well, i could be wrong, but i think i've entered a phase that will be lifelong. and i don't see it getting any easier.

before we had nola, i was convinced that there was no way we could ever love another child as much as we loved avery. and then there were brief moments where i'd assume i'd feel the same amount of love for #2 and i'd feel guilty like i was somehow neglecting or disrespecting avery. i think every parent of more than one child probably goes through this. and until you experience the next child coming into the world and expanding your heart and emotion and love, it doesn't seem possible. but it is. loving nola so fiercely came as naturally as it did with avery. and i don't feel guilty for loving either one of them to the moon and back. it just all works. and it's amazing.

but...

2 kids. 2 personalities. 2 situations. 2 lives to pay attention to, give attention to, encourage, teach, snuggle, adore...and i WANT to give 110% to each at every point of every day.

but there just aren't enough minutes in the day. i've mentioned it before, but one of the reasons why i like their staggered naps (most days) is that i get to focus on each girl for however brief a time. when they're both awake, fed, changed and happy, that's when it's hard. a really good and fulfilling hard, but hard nonetheless. we're definitely at the stage where each girl knows that she wants attention and special connections, but not really at the stage where we can all enjoy doing the same thing.

avery wants conversation (either from me directly or from me talking through her toys), running around, tickling, new ways to use old toys, stickers, lotion on her hands.
nola wants funny noises, help crawling, testing and exploring with old and new toys, kisses on her neck that make her squeal.
and they'll both be in new phases before we know it. it'll be a transition for all of us.

tonight zane was getting ready to take nola upstairs for bed. he asked avery if she wanted to give nola a kiss. she rushed over to nola and was so careful to gently kiss her head. she started to run away and i called her over to me and pulled her close. i told her how proud i am of her and what a good sister she is. how, when nola is a little older they will be able to play all the time together and will have so much fun.

maybe i was telling avery as much as i was telling myself...just wait. things are wonderful right now. but they're going to get even more wonderful. and enjoyable. and fun. and a little easier?

feel free to answer :)

ps, i'm using this as tomorrow's post. mema's coming to town!

sneaky little...

9am every morning is pretty similar around here. avery lays in our bed with strawberry milk watching sesame street while i feed nola in her room and put her down for a nap. the past few days i've had the priviledge of watching the sneakiness of avery be unleashed.

(try to ignore the laundry on the floor and the crooked new orleans painting. friday is my day to get our acts together ;))

innocent enough in our bed. cup in hand, relaxing with a show.


suddenly, she slinks off the bed and goes through the sunroom connecting our two rooms.
slowly, the back door to her room creaks open some...


and then some more...she looks around the room to make sure no one is there...


she can't really see me in nola's room but must be suspicious that i sense something going on...
she slooooowly tiptoes around the door, over to her crib, grabs her things and heads back to our room...


where i'm waiting to catch her red-handed.


gotcha! tomorrow morning i might try to video all of this. it's pretty funny.

one morning as i caught her, she took her pacifier out quick and gave me the guiltiest, cutest grin ever. another morning as i caught her, she threw the pacifier on our bed and buried her head in her blanket. this morning, she didn't have a chance to get rid of any of the evidence. :)

the first morning she did this, i happened to be in her room already, putting clothes away. i heard the door start to open and stood there waiting out of her sight. how did she learn to peer around a door so effectively?! i have flashes of 13 years down the road and i'm scared...

warm and fuzzy

before we had kids we used to daydream about "one day" when we'd all make cookies and treats together. then avery was born and we got to talk about those future days in a more concrete way. and now those days are here. she loves to stir (or as she says "toursh"), help us crack eggs and pour ingredients into big bowls. holidays are the perfect excuse to make sweets and get her involved.

putting everything together...


taking a picture while it's all in one piece...


enoying the reward of hard work...


delicious. today we made cookies (not many pictures) and nola was in the kitchen with us, eating puffs in her little chair. looking forward to the days when they'll be fighting over who gets to do the eggs and who gets to pour in the oil ;)

ps, the big snowstorm we were getting? HA! it's now 9pm and we might have half an inch on the ground (as opposed to the 8-12 inches they expected). as one website put it "the nor'easter that was a non'easter for most." good thing zane had a half day and not a snow day like a lot of other towns around here. he won't have to make it up in june, they will :) ridiculous.

yogurt sisters

don't want to end on such a sour note tonight...

still loves wearing hats


still loves eating food