My big girl, now a whopping 3 1/2 , was a precocious talker. She had more words than I could count at 14 months old, and by 18 months old was talking in complete sentences. Around this time we noticed she was even using grammatically correct language. When she caught herself saying something like "I be tired," she would stop, all on her own, wait a moment and then say it correctly. Since she was my first, I just took it for granted. Now that I have another kid whose verbal development is how it should be, I see how amazing it was to be talking in full sentences with my 18-month-old daughter. 

Anna doesn't stop talking from the time she pops out of bed at a much too-early time, until we tuck her back into bed at night. She always has a lot to say and simply loves to express herself. She tells the best stories, and people love to listen to her. 

 

I dropped her off at the childcare center at the Y a few days ago, and as soon as Anna saw the teacher there, she erupted into a huge story about something that had occurred that morning at nursery school, gesticulating wildly for emphasis. The teacher told her that she should be a reporter one day. 

I bet she will go into a profession that involved some kind of self-expression. We'll just have to wait and see.

It has only been a week since I last posted, but it feels as though it has been a year. Steve and Anna have been on their February Winter Break this past week, and I thought I'd have more time to blog, but as it turns out, not being on our regular schedule has led my day to be less structured and focused.  I usually cherish our routine, which I think is quite helpful in the parenting of very young children.  

But I can certainly give it up for a week if it means having a second parent home during the days.  With Steve home, it means Anna and I can go on morning outings while he stays home (read: plays with his ipad) while  the toddler naps. It also means being able to take of the breakfast dishes at, say, breakfast time, instead of watching them pile up throughout the day. (My children have a strong habit of needing me at the exact moment I begin a cleaning chore, which means that the house is a bit. . . cluttered. . . during the day until Steve returns from work). But during vacation week, one of us does the dishes while the other one shepherds the children into the playroom. So the dishes get done in a timely manner and it is just lovely to not have a sink piled high with sippy cups, plastic plates, and the oatmeal pot. Especially the oatmeal pot. 

We've also had house-guests for part of vacation week. Uncle Mike and Auntie Jen are visiting from California, much to everyone's delight. 

Here's a little glimpse into our week:

Listening to "You and Me" on Dada's new ipad.

Anna's first film experience! And at the Academy of Music! Lucky girl.

Ohhh, the sweetest little girls ever.

Yes, that is a naked Anna with underwear on her head reading to Eliza.

Cheese and crackers! The favorite snack of the week.

Auntie Jen getting some cozy time with her nieces.

As much as we love our time together during vacation week, Anna will be thrilled on Monday to go back to nursery school, it will feel good to Steve to don the work-clothes and shed the sweats, and Eliza and I will get back to our morning routine. Besides, April vacation is less than two months away.

We live in a modest-sized, ranch-style house with two girls who may or may not be "light sleepers."  I treat them as such because it took our oldest daughter almost two years to be able to nap on her own and now I am fiercely overprotective of their naps and nighttime sleep.  Those were long years when Anna needed 100% parental assistance to nap, where it felt like every hour was spent planning the next nap, "doing" the nap (because I had to hold her, rock her, or nurse her during her the entirety of her nap, or simply thinking/agonizing about sleep.  Getting her to sleep at night was so very difficult too. She would stir and wake if the dog shook near her room. If we walked in the hallway. If we flushed the toilet. Every morning when my husband stirred half and half into his coffee. 

So we bought carpet pallets for the hallway, we learned to take off our slippers and tip-toe near her room, we stopped flushing the toilet when she slept, and I begged Steve to use a plastic spoon in the morning while stirring his coffee. 

We also, as a last-ditch effort, shoved a green towel under her door to muffle the sounds. 

That towel stayed there for years. And its identical twin found a home at the bottom of Eliza's door.  While they served their purpose by creating, in my mind, a quiet cocoon for my sleeping girls, they always looked messy, were tripping hazards, and were prime collectors of dog hair.

It recently occurred to me to fix this problem. So I did. 

 My idea in its early stage, inside out, after sewing the initial seam closed. I even pressed it, as directed.

I had to keep her busy somehow, so she's filling snack-sized bags with the pellets I'll be filling the tubes with. 

 Voila! My measurements were on target. 

Much nicer than those green towels.

Sleep tight, my girls.

Sharing lunchtime. . .

Sharing love. . .

 And yes, that is a shiner on my baby girl's left eye. And yes, she is okay.

This is my child.

This is my child eating Smart Balance with her bare hands.

And she's clearly enjoying it. Not throwing her arm up to cover her mouth, and not shrinking away from the offending edible item in front of her while pursing her tiny lips, saying, "nooooo."

 So, yes, I let her clutch onto the container and dip her little fingers into it. According to the nutritionist which we were sent to, Smart Balance has as many calories as butter, so if she wants to lick the Smart Balance, it's okay.  More power to her. 

Licking the Smart Balance with her fingers was a last ditch effort on that particular day to get some high-calorie foods into her. I had tried smearing it on tiny pieces of home-made bread.  That was a big old no thank you. Then I had tried giving her tasty crackers from Trader Joe's to dip herself.  Yep, rejected again.  So when the child discovered that she could dip her own fingers, and then proceeded to grab onto the container and clutch it close to make the process that much easier, I let her. I told her to go for it. Eat your heart out. Not many of us have the green light to eat in this way, but she does.

After our appointment last Thursday with the nutritionist, I went directly to the nearby Trader Joe's and bought items such as ricotta cheese, peanut butter cream cheese, almond butter, ranch dressing and full-fat mayonnaise. I've made peanut butter balls, double-strength milk, home-made whipped cream, and egg salad.

She has eaten blueberries. And tomatoes. 

 So if this sweet, fiercely picky girl wants to lick the Smart Balance with her dainty little fingers, she has my every blessing. 

In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight.

But in my jungle, the little lion toddles around, and throws up her hands and roars. 

 

Much to the delight of the magic fairy princess.

Yesterday I dug out a pair of Anna's sandals that Mimi bought for her when she still a crawler. Unfortunately, by the time she started walking, her foot shot up in size and she missed the chance to wear these sweet little things (size 4 1/2) and went straight to a size 6. I wanted to see how they fit Eliza and they were a little big. Since Eliza was practicing wearing her "new" shoes, I reached into Anna's closet and showed her a new pair of shoes that she would wear in the summer. Even though they're two sizes too big at the moment, she had to wear them all day. 

Who says you can't wear summer shoes in. . .  February?

We've had so many snow days this season where we've been stuck inside for most or all the day, and one of the ways Anna gets through it is to play in her forts. This entails requests from Anna such as "I want to stand up in it" or "I need it very dark so I can nap" or the most interesting so far: "I need a pig house." 

So Steve and I find ourselves working to meet these requests and using various tools like the vice grip or the chip clip to get the blankets to stay put. By the way, the pig house is not featured in these photos. Which is unfortunate because we worked the hardest on that one and it came out awesome.

{this moment}

 {this moment} is a Friday ritual inspired by Soule Mama.
A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.
A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Finally! The sled I bought on Saturday, that I had meant to buy before the first snowstorm of the season, was put to good use. And did we have fun! This first snowstorm ceased around lunchtime, having dropped maybe 6-8 inches on top of at least 2 1/2 feet of snow from previous storms. I decided to take the girls out at this time. We very much needed fresh air, and Steve very much needed a rest, after climbing upon our roof and spending at least an hour shoveling from up there. (No ice dams for us, thank you very much). 

So I bundled the girls up, threw Eliza on my back, and told Anna to hop in the sled. I took them for a walk around the neighborhood as Anna giggled away, holding tightly onto the sides of the sled and telling me I was her reindeer and she was Santa.

Even little Bubba-Baby figured out how to have fun in the snow. At first she just sat in it, not wanting to touch it. Then she gave it a taste, and it clearly passed the test, because the next thing I knew, she was throwing the snow in the air over and over again.

And wait, the fun isn't over yet! Eleven more inches are expected between the wee hours of the morning and tomorrow afternoon!

I'm back! Sorry to all my readers (I mean, my mom). Nothing in particular besides dysfunctional organization was going on. Today we are experiencing another snowstorm. It's supposed to be a big one, a snowpacalypse. But I finally bought us a sled last Saturday, so when there's a lull in the snow, I'm bundling up the big girl and taking her out.  I can't wait. But in the meantime, the snow is pounding us and we are keeping refuge in our warm home.

Here are a few precious photos from the past two weeks for your viewing delight:

This was taken the morning of the January 18th snowstorm. Anna was excited about playing Candy Land with Dada and having a snow day.

Baby Girl loves sitting on the potty seat, just like Big Sis.

Anna just looked at this photo and said, "Who is that wearing my beautiful sun hat?"

Sweetness.

My girl is quite the little fish.

At Aunt Tricia's, sitting amongst all the skis.

Tucker Terrific and Anna sharing a moment. Both girls adored that cute doggie.

And finally, today is Eliza's 15-month birthday. Happy Birthday, my little peanut.