A Letter to Periwinkle at 18 Months

Dear Periwinkle,

I am constantly reminded of myself when I look at you. It goes beyond our similar facial features and wild, curly hair, though. You are a know-it-all, bossy little kid. You crack me up. If Indigo is doing something you know he shouldn't be doing, you call out to him with your nickname for him, waggle your pointer finger back and forth, and say, "No, no, no!" Then you look to me or Daddy for approval. I love that you are trying to help. It's adorable. But I must warn you to not become a tattle-tale. Sometimes breaking the rules is okay. Of course, sometimes you tattle on yourself, which is perfectly acceptable (and hilarious).

You have such a matter of fact attitude about telling your brother what to do, and about picking out books to read, and about walking from here to there and back again. You are full of confidence. I love that about you. But remember to be humble, too. Remember sometimes other people will struggle with what you find easy, and remember to have compassion when they need help to get there too. Sometimes you will want to help, and that is wonderful, but do it gently, kindly, and without making them feel badly about needing help. This can be a fine line to walk, but I know you will figure it out with grace and charm. Hopefully more quickly than I did. And remember that there will be times when you will require their help, and that you should accept their help with the same grace and kindness.

But all of this is rather serious for an 18-month-old girl, I suppose. You are still a baby. Or perhaps not. A toddler. You still shriek when you don't get your way. You still throw your sippy cup on the floor when you are feeling tempestuous. You still cry in the morning if we don't get you quickly enough. You still toss food on the ground instead of saying "All done!" and waiting for us to remove you from your high chair.

But soon you won't need the high chair. Soon you won't have a crib at daycare. You'll have little benches to sit on and cots to nap on.

In the morning you and your brother sometimes blow each other kisses. I wake up with a smile on my face on those days. We'll hear you say, "Where Mommy, Daddy?" and Indigo will raise his arms up in a questioning manner and say, with his voice dripping concern, "Oh, no!" I love it. And I also feel bad, so I scurry in there, or send Daddy in while I steal a few extra moments snuggled in bed. And you both break out in grins and start jumping up and down, so excited to see us.

Watching you two interact more and more has been the highlight of the past six months. You give each other hugs and kisses. You chatter to each other and make each other laugh. When your brother is crying, you get so worried about him, and you rub his back like you've seen me and Daddy do many times. It is perhaps the sweetest thing I've ever seen. Never mind that you, too, are unhappy it's bedtime. When he cries you reach out to comfort him. When he calls out for his Elmo or his "bankie" you bring him Elmo and his favorite blanket. You are such an amazing little sister to him. He is so lucky to have you.

Worried about your brother crying upstairs.

You saw Daddy blow his nose one day, and you just had to do it. Now if the box of tissues is within reach, you grab a few, hold them to your nose, and blow raspberries to make a similar sound. Then you delicately hand the tissues to me to dispose of. You are so into imitating everything we do. A clean diaper fell on the floor, and you picked it up and tried to shove it into the diaper pail. If you find scrap paper on the floor, you bring it to the trash and put it in. You like when we give you a paper towel to "clean" your tray, and you enjoy studying mail. I even got you to help Swiffer the floors once. I will have to think of other ways to have you help us around the house, while you still enjoy it!

I can't wait to see what the next six months bring. What new skills will you learn? What new funny phrases will you utter with complete seriousness, sounding older than you are? What will scare you, and what will intrigue you? The summer is coming, and with it such adventures!

Just stop calling me "Mom," okay? It's "Mommy" or "Mama." At least for a few more years, please.

Love,
Mama

Where Is Spring?

Who knew, when I last posted in January, that three months later it'd still feel like the middle of winter? We keep getting teasing days of warmth followed by another flurry of snow or frigid "Polar Vortex" days. Uncool, Mother Nature. Uncool.

When it is nice out, the kids love to run around outside.

That's right, run. Since I last posted, they have figured out walking and moved right along into outright running. They cannot be stopped. We take them out the front door and they want "Down" and they want it NOW, and then they want to frolic straight into the street. Or to sit down in some muddy grass.

This is what they've driven me to.

We briefly dabbled with letting them walk in and out of daycare, but soon they realized they had this thing called FREEDOM and another thing called DIVIDE AND CONQUER and we were lost. Indigo would be picking up cigarette butts while Periwinkle cruised into an oil slick. So, no more. At least not for a little while.

We did have one glorious day on which they got to run around outside in the backyard playing with their little house and running after a soccer ball (they get that from Blue), and another day on which we went to the local children's museum. It's so wonderful getting to go and DO things with them, as opposed to just lugging them around to whatever we are doing.

At the children's museum. Can you imagine this many of them?

There have been meltdowns (Periwinkle) and pretzel binges (Indigo) and sleepless nights (all of us) but mainly, we are doing well. This age is truly a blast, and I'll be writing more about their individual progress in their 18 month letters. (crap, I just realized they turned 17 months this week and I didn't even realize it! Worst mom ever over here...)

Sorry for the blurry photo.

I just wanted to say hi to whoever is still out there reading. I'm going to try to post more often as we get out and about more and experience life with two TODDLERS.

Taking a break from toddling and looking adorable. They're lucky they are cute!

(On a side note, I've lost 20 pounds since starting Project Sheep Rescue in January 2013 and for the life of me I can't find the damned sheep sweater for a "midway" photo. 20 pounds to go...)

365 Days of Indigo and Periwinkle

I started a bit late, on January 4th, 2013, and finished up today, January 3rd, 2014. I missed about 20 days (some days I sadly barely saw them and spent my short time hanging with them instead of snapping a photo) and filled in with a few of my favorites, for a total of 351 pictures from 2013-2014.

I have to credit Momtog.com for the step-by-step instructions on the super easy collage making. I should have paid more attention to the "Choose a tag no one else has" because when I went to use Instaport to download all my #project365 images from Instagram, I got everyone else's images too. Oy. So if I do it again, I will have to find a unique tag!

So here's my collage! It's been fun and it's so fascinating to see how much they changed.

I'm going to print it at 16x16 so I'll be able to see the individual photos better. I'm sorry it's probably pretty impossible to see them here, but I just wanted to show you the cool effect they all have together. If you know us and want a copy so you can zoom in, just comment and I'll send it along!

2013: A Year in Review

My, my, my, we've come a long way.

I begrudgingly went back to work in February 2013. I was miserable for many reasons, not least that I missed being with my babies. A new job closer to home in October 2013 has helped tremendously, and I'm entering 2014 a much happier and more optimistic person. My freelance work has also taken off like a rocket, and I hope to keep increasing that business as well. On the mom front, I continue to love it. It's frustrating and exhausting and inspiring and fulfilling in ways I never knew existed. Watching these two little people grow into full-fledged personalities is just incredible.

Blue has continued to kick butt at his job and has shown himself to be an amazing father to Periwinkle and Indigo. I hear horror stories from other moms about their useless husbands and count my lucky stars I married someone who believes parenting is a partnership. He's home with the kids today. Did I detect a slight look of desperation as I left him with one baby toddler crying and the other climbing the stairs? Perhaps. But I know he pulled it together. I hope he still has the energy to give me a kiss at midnight.

Indigo has gone from a watchful, cautious, worrying baby with a powerful set of lungs to an active, hilarious, somewhat less cautious boy with a powerful set of lungs. He figured out how to climb the stairs first and has taken a few shaky steps all on his own in the past few days. His laugh is one of my favorite sounds in the world. It is so full-bodied and joyous. Everyone should laugh like that. He is, thankfully, still my snuggle bear. I just wish he'd get over wanting mama snuggles at 2am.

Periwinkle is sassy and knows what she wants. She is vocal and her vocabulary seems to increase every day, and she is starting to use the sign language as well. She is determined and strong-willed. She saw her brother climbing the stairs and within a day was doing the same. She wants to walk everywhere holding my hand. She is exhausting. And she is still my mini-me, right down to the curls at the nape of her neck. She is always looking around and taking it in, as she has since the hour she was born. Seeing her discover new things is one of the true delights of being a mother.

On the horizon for 2014: selling our house (I'll be a wreck) and buying a new one (exciting but daunting) and continuing to raise two of the most amazing kiddos anywhere. And yes, I am biased.

Happy New Year, all!

January 4, 2013

December 30, 2013

Fun Facts

1. Indigo hasn't bitten anyone in over a week. Yay! I feel like we should have a countdown (countup?) for this. Something like this:

2. Black Cat knocked over our tree this weekend, scaring the beejeezus out of all of us, but especially Indigo, who was perilously close to said tree. I thought we'd lost all our glass ornaments, but shockingly only two were shattered and three were broken and hopefully fixable.

3. Periwinkle and Indigo are apparently the "mayors" of their daycare room. They wave and say "Hi" and "Bye" to everyone who comes in. Everyone. When should I start teaching them to not talk to strangers?

4. They have perfected the "Who, me?" face. For example:

5. They look ridiculously cute in their hats. See here:

6. Periwinkle is really into mimicking. We've gotten her saying, "Wow", "Boomer" (White Cat's name, although it is more like "Booma" so she's got the Boston accent down even though we live nowhere near there), and "Tree," which is more like "tee". Pretty exciting stuff. Time to stop swearing, pronto!

7. They are obsessed with pouches. If they see me packing them in the diaper bag they flip out until I give them one. We have to be very stealthy with the pouches, or it's meltdown time. Luckily this means they eat all sorts of veggies quite willingly via these pouches. They do also eat whole veggies, but the pouches are great for when we are out and about. I recommend Ella's Kitchen, Sprout, and Plum Organics.

And that's it for today. I just thought you'd all like to know these things. Have a great day!

A Letter to Periwinkle at One Year (or 13 months)

Dear Periwinkle.

Happy thirteen months! So much has happened since I last wrote I just couldn't bring myself to sit down and write it all down. I'd much rather hang out with you.

You say several words now: kitty, ball, book, hi, bye, uh-oh, mama, dada, and more. You also sign "more" and "all done" and "milk." And when I ask you how old you are, half the time you stick up your index finger: ONE! You also babble quite a bit, making up words as you go. You and your brother both say "Ah-boo" constantly, and I just wish I knew what that meant.

You are a trouper when your brother tries to bite you, but you exact your revenge by often bonking him over the head with whatever toy you have in your hand. So you each have your own behavior issues that we need to work on!

You cruise like a pro, and can even walk a few steps holding only one of my hands. I definitely see you walking by Christmas! You wear us down by insisting on walking from here to there, there to here, and back and forth again and again. You are so proud of your walking skills, I just love how your face lights up with such joy.

You've become a pickier eater lately, refusing eggs and avocado, so I am constantly on the hunt for new foods you will try and eat. I made cauliflower tots that you really enjoyed, so I will have to make them again soon! At least you still like cheese.

Your hair is getting longer and curlier. You definitely have my hair! I need to find barrettes, or you will be in pigtails every day! Either that or we cut your bangs, which I don't want to do yet. You don't seem to mind your hair in your face though.

You have transitioned to sippy cups very well, although we still do bottles in the morning and at night. I'm hoping you transition off the pacifier at naptime as easily, but somehow I don't think that will be the case. When you are done eating your solid food, you let us know by dropping pieces onto the floor next to your high chair. Sometimes you do the "all done" sign. I prefer that, just so you know.

I can't wait to see what changes the next year brings! You are such a fun and loving little girl (although feel free to get over the "Mommy all the time" stage any time now) and I just love spending time with you, even if I do collapse into bed at the end of the day.

Happy (belated) birthday, little girl!

Love,

Mama

A Letter to Indigo at One Year (actually, 13 months)

Dear Indigo,

As I sat here wondering where the past year went, another month went by. Now you are on the cusp of walking, taking jolting, Frankenstein-like steps while holding our hands, with such pride. You crawl like a speed demon, and are now able to get up to the second step on the stairs. You unsteadily get yourself halfway standing, from the floor, holding onto nothing at all. We've even seen you stand on your own for a few seconds here and there. You are a baby on the move. Actually, you are a little boy on the move.

You weighed 23lb 6oz and were 30 inches tall at your one-year visit. Your face looks more toddler than baby, and it's about time I got you fitted for shoes.  Most of your clothes are size 24 months. Yikes!

Thankfully you seem to be going to sleep easier. All it takes is my horrendous rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle" while rubbing your chest. If only we knew this months ago! It makes all of our evenings so much better, and I'm sure Periwinkle appreciates it too!

You can say so many words now! Kitty, book, ball, more (I think), hi, uh-oh, mama, and dada. You also say something that sounds like "Ah-boo" repeatedly but I don't know what it means. Your sister says it too, so I'm wondering if it's some kind of twin code. It probably means "Cause chaos!" because you two often do.

I'm hoping you catch on to more words and signs, because you are getting very frustrated lately. I feel so helpless when you get that way, because I just want to help you but I don't know how. You've even taken to biting, but I'm hoping we can put a stop to that soon. We worked on sharing a lot this weekend, so we'll see what daycare says when I pick you up.

We are also taking away the pacifier during naps, have switched to milk from formula, and you now get two sippies and two bottles instead of four bottles, although you are drinking far less now that it is milk. But never fear, because you are a bottomless pit! You shovel food in without a care and somehow manage to swallow it all without choking. Thank god. You scare me sometimes!

You love putting things together and taking them apart. You especially love knocking down towers we build with stackable things. You are fascinated by the Megablocks and can spend quite a while (in baby time) assembling and disassembling. You love your giant Mickey Mouse stuffed animal and pusher toy, too.

You are exhausting. By the end of the day Daddy and I are in need of a vacation, but we wouldn't have it any other way. Watching you learn day in and day out, watching you explore, make friends (or enemies), discover new toys or new ways of playing with old toys, seeing your devilish grin as you go after things you know you shouldn't, and seeing you finally, peacefully, sleeping fills me with such joy. You are such an incredible little boy and I am just in awe that I had anything at all to do with that. Daddy and I will help you navigate this great big world as best as we can, but you've definitely already made a place for yourself in it.

Happy (belated) Birthday, little man!

Love,

Mama