August 25, 2010

3 Years!

Got hitched 3 years ago today.
Seems longer. In a good way:)

August 24, 2010

2 Years!

Two years ago today we moved in here with our 3 week old bambino. It was crazy. My dad and brother drove up the Uhaul with the remnants from our Bklyn apt. My aunt, her partner, my sister-in-law, and her friend all helped unload it. I was forced to nurse at a rest stop without my beloved Boppy since N had mistakenly sent it on the Uhaul. The Bean was wearing this terrible flowered outfit/pajamas. Granny ran like a crazy lady with her through the parking lot. I got a terrible dehydration headache from so much nursing and not enough water. The bed we were sleeping on collapsed and we ended up on a deflated aerobed in what's now Miss Bean's room. The Bean wouldn't go to sleep so N drove her around to the shopping horror that is 12A at eleven at night.

And today? The GIRLS!! slept until 6:30. We hung out. Our almost 13 year old neighbor came over to play with The Bean. She gave her 5! slightly loved stuffed animals as a bday present and now she has a new doggie with a PINK collar that she loves. Miss Koala took two short morning naps. She also had some rocking tummy and standing time. She smiled a lot. N went to 12A to take pictures, buy stuff, and do the recycling. Bean and Mama had eggs and tomato soup for lunch. I walked to the gym and lifted some weights. In the afternoon, The Bean and I took the bus to Hanover, which was super exciting as The Bean is very into taking the bus. We met Miss Koala and Papa N there, walked around, looked at art, bought some presents amazingly not for Bean, ran around The Green, and had an early burrito dinner outside. Everyone cried a little before bedtime, but that's par for the course when you're three months and 2 (and 34 and 35). Now, all is quiet except for the lovely sounds of N unloading the dishwasher, which I will soon load, which will hum into the night as the four of us snooze in our beds on a street in a town in a state called New Hampshire.

August 19, 2010

3 Months Miss Koala!!

Oh Miss Koala,
Today you are three months! Go you! As I told you when we were chillaxing on the bed earlier this evening, things should start getting a lot better. Soon, you should be able to sleep unswaddled and then you might start rolling over and being able to sleep on your belly and grabbing things and putting things that your not supposed to in your mouth and playing with toys and eating things like bananas and apple sauce.

I feel like you've gotten especially huge this month. And cute! But you're already wearing 3-6 month clothes. Your dad accidentally put you in a 6-12 month onsie and while it was big, it wasn't that big.

You did great at sleeping this past month although for the first time in a long while we had to put you to sleep in your swing tonight:(. I'm not exactly sure why though. Normally you've been sleeping in your bassinet with minimal fussing and, even better, a few times, you've been technically sleeping through the night! Last week I nursed you at 2 because I was in a little bit o boob pain, but you slept through it and didn't wake up till 5:00. The other night you went till 2:45 without having to nurse, which was awesome. You really like your naps too. The other day you needed to nap about four or five times during the day. Maybe it's a 3 month growth spurt or maybe it was the stimulation from traveling. We finally took you to New York State! We went to the Adirondacks this week to see the grandparents, eat some Donnely's ice cream (next summer you can get your own cone!), hike, swim, see friends and test out traveling as a foursome. I'm happy to report that you and your sister were awesome. Both car rides were super easy---you slept the entire way on both trips and you and Miss Bean both slept well even though your rooms were right next to each other and the walls are super thin. The only bad part of the trip was that my back got a little wonky and we ended up leaving a day early.

You are definitely more aware of the things, my darling bear. You track me and your sister. You liked looking at the stuffed Snoopy. You give lots of social smiles when you're in the mood. You're starting to use your voice and make cute, bird-like coos. Today in the car I watched you put your sinking pacifier back in your mouth. I think that was mostly luck, but tonight you reached for my finger in what seemed like an aware way rather than the sort of instinctual grabby thing all babies do.

Your sister has improved a lot this month too. Except for a few infractions today, the hitting has gone down tremendously. But I'm afraid, Lovey that there's nothing I can do about her volume. She is just 2, you know. We might as well just try and get used to it.

I can't wait to see what happens in month 4!

Love,
Mama Bear

August 2, 2010

Happy Second Birthday, Big Girl!


Today Miss Bean is 2! Can you believe it? Seems like just yesterday we were telling you she was in fact a baby, not a bean. Remember? Now she's a talking, running, playing, eating machine. Yesterday we had a smallish family party, which, in addition to the new doll family she got from her grandparents, she found a bit overwhelming and as such as spent today overtired from not going to bed till late and getting up much too early this morning. We're kind of pretending this is just a regular day since we're (insanely) having a pizza and cupcake party with a bunch of kids tomorrow.

Miss Bean is an awesome little kid. She's obviously cute, but she's also really smart and funny and, most of the time, sweet. She has an incredible memory, which is wonderful and a little scary as she won't forget things for months. She loves books and can play by herself, putting her babies and doggies to bed or organizing things, for long periods. Now she's starting to sort of learn of her numbers and ABC's. Her granny says she even smarter than her own two kids were at 2. But she might be a little biased and a little forgetful. But now that she's 2 though things are going to change. We're going to start making sure her teeth get brushed with toothpaste twice a day. Hopefully in a few weeks she'll be able to spit the toothpaste water out of her mouth instead of a.) pouring it down the drain or b.) drinking it. The other thing we're going to work on is having her pick up her toys before she goes to bed. I know this is probably futile, but you know, we've got an actual baby round these parts now so Miss Bean has to start earning her keep.

Happy Birthday, Miss Bean! We're so lucky to have you! This past year has been incredible and we look forward to all the great things your third year will bring.
Love,
Mama