Fin

But it's not really. In a way we are just getting started.
Miss Koala is now 13 months and a few days and has been walking in that cute I can walk 4-5 steps to mama or daddy and be really proud about it kind of way. She crawls like a champ, but prefers walking SO much more. And Miss Bean is, as I write this, sleeping for the second night in her big girl bed, OFF the floor. And she's potty trained!! Like 87%! She made it all the way down to NYC (with stops to pee, of course) without any accidents. The way home wasn't as good, but since we've been back she's been perfect. She even gets up in the night to potty. We took her changing table out of her room today and with her big girl bed in there instead of the crib, I feel like my baby has grown up really fast.

Speaking of becoming a grown up, in about five weeks or so, it's looking like N and I will become first time homeowners! All big, wonderful, exciting stuff, but I don't feel the urge to write about our daily lives quite so much anymore. In the first place, as the girls become older, I don't want to violate their privacy and also, I don't miss Brooklyn/NYC quite as much as I did when I first stated this blog a little more than three years ago. I'm happy to be here, at this point. I wouldn't want to be back in Brooklyn with two little girls. But there are things I do want to do, like maybe think about getting a part-time job at some point and really trying to make a go of it with my fiction writing. Blogging has been great---it's been a wonderful record of our lives in New Hampshire and, despite me writing about my kids so darn much, something that provided me with an outlet from being a mom.

I'm going to take the summer off and then in September, I might start a new blog. One that will be a little less mommy, a little more worldly. Just like Miss Koala is taking her first steps into the big wide world, I think it's time that I start thinking about my place in it too.

Thanks for reading y'all!
Happy Summer.

Happy 1st Birthday, Baby Girl!

Woohooo! You turned one today, Miss Koala. A year ago, you were a little more than two hours old and I have no idea what I was doing. I don't think we'd gone to bed yet...we were probably calling people with our excellent news.

This is how we celebrated your big day. You got up around 5:30, got bday hugs and kisses, went downstairs with your pops to have some milk and Cheerios. When your big sis got up around 30 mins later, she pointed out the Happy Birthday banner, noticed the presents, and the excellent balloon on your high chair. Actually, I think you noticed the balloon on your own. The Bean got Belle and Snow White figures for being such a good big sis for a whole year. You got a new baby doll (because we don't have enough already) and band in a box so you can form a band now that you're the big 0-1!

After that it was bagels with cream cheese for breakfast!

I am so happy your sis had school this morning. She was a bit of a nutter. When she left, you went down for a good long nap. When you got up, we took you to look at this house we think maybe we should buy. Then we got your sister and had a picnic with some friends at the playground.

The sun finally shone for the first time in a week!

You ate a whole cupcake although I think a lot of the icing ended up on your jeans.

You wore your super cute 1 shirt.

Everyone got tired so we came home and had overlapping naps!

You were cranky when you woke so we gave you milk in a bottle, which is your most favorite thing ever.

When your sister got up we played outside. You went off a tear pushing the little red wagon all over the yard. Dinner was early and pretty good. You were able to eat spinach, which made me happy because I think maybe you don't get enough leafy greens. You loved eating tomatoes, too. You also had chicken and yam. And some more fruit salad (strawberries!) because you only turn one once.

After dinner you played a bit, had a bath, got goofy on your bottle and went to bed. All in all a pretty good day.

You are very mobile now. I find you sitting or standing or lying on your belly in the big kid crib. You talk a lot! You smile a lot! You are still pulling on your ears a lot even though last week Dr. Doug said your ears looked good. I can't believe you got another cold , but I'm hoping it's not that bad. We'll see how you're doing at your well-baby on Monday.

I think you're doing fantastic! You are the most amazing, sweetest, most edible, happy, wonderful baby in all the land.

I feel so lucky to have had you. I can't wait for next year's adventures! Happy Birthday, my little love!
Love,
Mama

My Life Just Got Harder (And Easier)

So, at like the exact same time The Bean decided she was all 100% confident getting out of her crib and opening her door and coming down the hall into our room or walking downstairs (if the gate wasn't locked) AND Miss Koala decided to enter the horrible period of transitioning from 2 naps to 1 or maybe 2, but it's going to be a fight to get that 2nd one mama, you'll have to drive me to Claremont and back or stroller me all over town and if you do get nap number 2 it's going to be short and I'm going to be wanting a brawl when I wake up and see just what you've done.

2011 might be the summer of car/stroller naps.

Because The Bean no longer has to stay in bed, she no longer stays in bed. The girl hasn't had a decent nap since Sunday and man she was just deliriously tired tonight. The only people who should have dark bags under their eyes like that are frat boys snorting Ritalin all night to write their term papers. I took the crib mattress out of the crib this afternoon and was all like "here's your big girl bed" but she still wouldn't nap. It probably didn't help that her sister was up and hanging out in my room. It's hard to explain to an almost 3 year old, that the baby already took one nap and since she's transitioning she might be up till 4. They did have a good 15 mins of sisterly love cracking each other up. Every time, MB would get out of her bed, she'd come running into my room, saying "what's going on guys?" and her sister would just bust a gut.

Anyway. The Bean is sleeping on the mattress sans crib now. It took some stories from papa and a few lullabies from mama, but she was out. She already woke herself up once by rolling off the mattress and onto the pad we have next to her. Who knows where she'll end up, but please could whoever is up there let the girl sleep in tomorrow. She's been up at 5ish for weeks now and it's making everyone so tired. How sad is it that 6:30 would feel late?

Even though the girls haven't been really overlapping naps for a while, occasionally I might get 20-30 mins and man, was that good. Or just having one of them is so much easier. But having both of them? From like 7:30 (when N left for work) till 5:00 (when he came home early)? It's killing me. Just thinking about makes me need a drink. I can't believe I didn't have a cocktail this evening. I'm trying to only drink on weekends and holidays...not that I drank too much, but because I'd really like to lose the last ten pounds of baby weight left over from baby #1 and also because drinking and women and breast cancer blah blah. And it makes it more special, you know.

Anyway.

So this is The Bean's first night out of a crib and N and I feel kind of sad. Kind of like we want to swaddle her in her old miracle wrap and put her back in the bassinet with a binky. But not really.

Miss K loves her morning nap still. Would probably take a nap at 8 if I let her, but we really need to push it back back back. I bet once that finally happens, her sister will probably have dropped her nap entirely. I think we might have to move the occasional milk and Sesame on the couch at 4:30 to the early afternoon. I'd really her to stay in her room quietly reading Proust from her quiet time, but the reality might involve a little more Elmo time. I don't know why I feel bad about it. She watches far less TV that all the other kids we know. She rarely watches more than 45 mins at a time. I don't know. I know everything will settle eventually....

But in wonderful, fantastic, my life got so much easier news, tomorrow is N's last day at school!! Woohooo!! 3 months of daddy-day care!

On Little Girls and The Pain of Shopping at Xmart*

Tomorrow I'm taking Miss Bean (and her sister because N is working) to a doll and tea party at our local rec center. I'm a little nervous because Miss Bean is on the young end and it more or less starts at her nap time and it might be a huge American Girl fest. The Bean is not yet hip to AG, but apparently I want to keep her away from it as long as possible. I guess they're expensive, but honestly they seem a little better than Barbie and Bean is definitely hip to that.

Today I was shopping and I felt like stores like Xmart and the grocery stores would soon become battle grounds with my kids. Everything is princess pink crap this and Dora crap that and SUGAR SUGAR SUGAR. I can imagine having to say no a million times as we walk down the aisles and really who can blame the kids? The crap is pretty and pink and sweet. And I have to battle myself too. Like, Bean loves princesses and I wanted to get her some new summer pj's and they had a set of horrible Disney princess ones and I bought them because I knew how much she would like them. For a while I considered buying her the "boy" ones, which were a much cooler orange with a tractor, but in end I went for the princesses because it was more bang for the buck and I thought it was a cheap way to make her happy.

But am I feeding into this? Should I have bought the tractor set in defense against the princess thing?

Shopping today made me feel worried about having girls and the issues ahead of them. I feel like it's them against these ginormous corporations that want them to buy all the princess stuff and then buy all the sweet stuff and then worry about being too fat and not princessy enough and then drink nothing but Diet Coke and fat-free pretzels when they're 19.

Maybe I'm projecting.

But shit. I'm a 35 year old woman and I still feel like I have to deal with body issues and materialism. And now I have to deal with what stuff I should and shouldn't buy for my girls too.

I don't know. There's no real ending for this post. Cuz it aint no fairy tale.
*Not Walmart.

Blogging!?

I'm going to try to blog a little more this month and then, when Miss K turns the big 01, I'm going to shut this baby down.

Why?

You know, this blog used to be about missing Brooklyn and having to move to NH and how weird it is up here and how terrible the winters are and also it was about books and general updates. And now, or for the past 2 years, I feel like it's only about my kids and that's great and all but really, isn't it also a little bit boring?

I'm finding it boring and they're my kids so I'm actually interested in what time Miss K got up from her nap and how many poops were pooped on Tuesday. But you shouldn't be.

I'm thinking about starting a new and improved, less kid-friendly blog. Maybe after the summer. Maybe before. Maybe not at all. Anyway, keep reading for now. I will write through mid-May at least.

And, fyi, Miss K was up a few minutes after 10:00 AM today. Not such a good morning nap.

11 Months!!

Today, Miss Koala is an amazing 11 months, which means in one short month she'll be eating some 1st birthday cake! Wow. Can't believe my baby is going to be one. I think it took 3 years for Miss Bean to turn 1, but about 5 months for Baby Meow-Meow.
Let's see what you've been up to:

Sick: You've basically been sick the entire month. Two ear infections, high fevers, a terrible cough, and lots of horrible boogers, which lead to the even more horrible face wiping. You haven't been the happiest of babies, but the last few days have shown dramatic improvement.

Sleeping: Knock on wood, your sleeping seems to have improved. You slept through the night last night. You had one really horrible night and a lots of needing-the-paci back nights this month. But hopefully your improving health will help you sleep better. Your napping has gotten a little wacky. You've been taking one long morning nap from about 9-10:30 or so. But then you don't get tired again till around 3 and that nap has been on the short side. I think you're probably starting the long and annoying process of dropping a nap. We're going to have to start pushing the morning one later and later, but you are truly exhausted by 9 so I'm not looking forward to it.

Talking: You are very talkative. You can say "hi" and "bye" and of course "da-da" and "mama." You do a lot of squawk-talking and maybe wonderful happy bird noises when you're happy.

Eating: You can pretty much each everything these days, but you've been shaking your head "no" a lot. I think you like doing it rather than really meaning it because sometimes you'll shake no and then put a handful of food in your mouth. You're definitely drinking less formula these days. I think it's partly to do with being sick, but also it's time to start thinking about getting you off the bottle. In a month, we'll start you on whole milk. I'm interested to see if you like it or not. You don't like water, that's for sure. I hope in the summer we can get you to start drinking more of it. You loved corn bread and the itsy bits of cupcake crumbs I snuck you. I'm starting to lose track of all the new foods you've tried.

Moving: You can move, but it's not what I would call directed crawling. You do come over when you want to be picked up, but you still can't move your leg out of the way, which makes you incredibly frustrated. You are a terrific stander, but unable to pull yourself up. I think I'm going to make you try more instead of placing you feet down in front of the coffee table/upside down laundry basket. For the first time, this month, you started sleeping not on your back sometimes. I think you like being on your side. I wonder if you'll ever be a belly down, butt up sleeper like your sister was.

Teeth: You have two bottom teeth now. Not sure if you had them last month.

Likes: You are getting much more vocal about your likes and dislikes. You LOVE birds, being outside, and being silly with mommy when you should be going to bed. You dislike drinking water and having your face wiped. You are fascinated/unsure with/by dogs. You still love measuring spoons, banging things together, and your Mickey Mouse. You love screaming contests with your big sister and being danced around the room. I'm pretty sure, baby girl, that you're going to love the cake you'll get to eat next month.

Wow!

I can't wait to celebrate you!
xo,
Mama

April is the new new February

Sorry for the silence but it's been sick, sick, sick round these parts. We've had high fevers, stomach bugs, sore throats, croupy coughs, ear infections, goopy eyes, and more boogers than....you probably care to think about. I think we had 3 sick free days between the stomach virus that N and the girls brought back from Florida and the nasty colds that have been going back and forth between us all. Oh, and somehow there was a second stomach bug that N had all weekend and I had part of Tuesday. Miss Koala has probably had the worst of it. She's on her second ear infection and is still pretty sick.

In unrelated news:

I read Tina Fey's Bossypants! Fun book, but lite. And left me wanting to know more. I watched No Impact Man, which I thought would annoy me, but actually I found it interesting and also made me feel super guilty about all of our garbage. One day we will compost! And our children will be diaper free! Speaking of diaper free, Miss Beanie Bean is right now wearing her very own princess underpants! We're just testing them out at home this evening, but hopefully potty training will happen sooner.

What else?

OMG the snow is gone from our lawn and our grass has mostly gone from depressing brown to happy green! We've been going about in the stroller! It's still pretty cold most of the time though.

But this has come to our green! Come visit. Mmmm.....

There Are People Who Don't Ever Deal With Snow

Apparently, I am not one of them.

10 Months!

Go Baby Go! You are an 10 amazing months today. I can't believe we're already starting to think about your 1st birthday...well, actually I can since your big sister is birthday obsessed (even for yours) and I'm rather forward thinking. But what a month, baby girl. You want to move so badly. Well, you are moving, just not in the right direction. You can't seem to get the hang of crawling forward. Most of the time your knee is in the way; and when you do get to your belly, you mostly scooch backwards. You are frustrated no end! But you're moving around and getting into things in a way you haven't done yet. You were crying earlier this evening and when I went to give you your binky, you were laying diagonally in your crib. Your dad moved your crib to the lowest setting last week because you have been flipping over more too.

You were a great traveler to Florida. You enjoyed being outside, playing in (and trying to eat) sand for the first time, and swimming in outside pools. You don't like sunblock at all! Your eyes got very red each time we put it on. You also figured out how to take off your hat on our trip. And down there you made it clear you're so done with baby food even though we sometimes have to give it to you if only to use it up. You have your first tooth and can eat most everything as long as it's small enough. You had your first fish stick today for lunch and seemed to like it. And you got really mad that everyone else was eating pizza for lunch. You love feeding yourself---you don't want to be fed unless you're super hungry or it's something super delicious like applesauce. Your hand-eye coordination is so much better too. You probably feed yourself 7 out of 10 Cheerios these days.

One of your favorite things to do these days is to give your paci to me or your dad. You think it's so funny when we have it in one of our mouths. You also laugh when I put a silly hat on. I love seeing your sense of humor develop.

You and your sister and dad all got a nasty stomach bugs when we got back from our trip. It was so sad having you so sick. But the next day, after being vomit-free for 12+ hours, you were hungry and SO mad when I tried to give you 50% formula (doctor's orders) or took away the pedialyte after a few ounces. Hopefully you won't get a bug like that for a long time.

You're starting to "talk." You like to say "da-da-da-da-da." When you say that The Bean says, "he's at work" or "I'm not da-da" or "that's mama, not da-da." You do say "ma-ma" but it tends to be when you're upset. You can also say "uh-oh" and "hi." You're a really good clapper now, too and starting to get the hang of waving. You seem very responsive to music and love shaking rattley things. You also love birds! You have this little noise you make when you see them.

For the most part, you are sleeping better. You've slept through the night a few times and before we left for Florida, you were taking one very long nap during the day. Since we've gotten back, your naps have gotten a little shorter and worse, you've taken to waking up at 4AM. It's much too early! We've been giving you a bottle at 5 AM, but I think we should try to make it even later.

You are such a big, strong girl! I don't put you in anything but 12 months and you can even wear some 18 month clothes. I ordered you a sweet little jumper in 18-24 months and hope that it will be warm enough for you to wear it on your bday. You are probably getting close to 24 pounds, honeybunch, and killing my back, but I wouldn't want you any other way.

xo,
mama

Puke: Not Just Another 4 Letter Word

Oh, man. March is the new February. On the good side of the month, our travels were a success---we sunned, swam, those 21 + drank copious amounts of pina coladas, those closer to 3 drank loads of pineapple juice and chocolate milk; there was much eating, a massage, a golf lesson, and even some childcare. Oh, and we rode in a Hummer Stretch Limo cuz that's how we roll.

The girls were troopers, great on both flights. And the sleeping wasn't as bad as I thought it might be considering we were all sharing a room.

The negative was that my brand new Verizon iPhone was lost/stolen with lots of our vacation pics on it:( And Miss Bean fell out of the bed twice! The good part was that she wasn't hurt either time .

On the bad side of the month, around 3AM on Sunday, our first night back in NH, I go into Miss Bean's room after hearing her yell for water a few times and discovered that she had puked great buckets all over her crib, wall, floor, and the 800 "lovies" she sleeps with each night.

I'm not all that squeamish about the puke thing, but this was so super gross. Her sheets had to be washed twice to get the stink out! And I kept finding puke hiding in the crevices of her crib.

She was low-energy on Sunday, but not too bad. All I wanted to do yesterday was go to the gym, you can only drink so many pinas without feeling a bit on the fat side, but N came home ashen and pukey and went straight to bed at 4:00 and then Miss Koala yaked up her entire dinner all over the high chair. I cleaned her up only to have her yak again and again..all over me, the living room rug, her rug and many articles of her clothing. I felt so bad for her...The Bean rarely pukes and never did as a baby. In fact, I think The Bean solely pukes in her crib, which while messy and gross is much more contained. Hmmm.....

Needless to say, I did not make it to the gym. Monday was puke fest 2011.

24 hours later, things are much better. Miss Koala was on liquids for most of the day, but was hungry for her dinner of chicken soup and toast which she kept down. N pushed through and gave his artist talk this afternoon and has been eating various crackery things this evening.

I finally made it to the gym too.
I better not get sick! March has already caused enough damage!