Happy Birthday!

Dear Matilda,
Today you turn two! It’s both hard to believe that you’re already two, and hard to remember a time when you weren’t here. We love you so much and hope that today is really special for you.

It’s a little cloudy out this morning, and we all stayed in bed a bit longer than usual. At 8:30, Daddy, Evelyn and I all burst into your room to sing “Happy Birthday” to you. You were already sitting up in bed, talking to yourself and reading a book. For breakfast you wanted a cup of milk and to hold a banana. You held that banana for over an hour. Grandma, Grandpa and Grandpa Mike are all here to celebrate with you today. In a little while you’ll get a shower (or at least a hot tub!) to get cleaned up, and after nap, I’ll put you in your party dress and take pictures. We’ll give you presents and for lunch you’ll have pizza and watermelon because they are your favorites. I made you a cake. It’s a confetti yellow butter cake with chocolate frosting and red white and blue stars. This morning, I showed it to you and asked if you liked it. You assured me that it was a birthday cake and that you do like it. For dinner (which you usually aren’t too interested in) Daddy will make Chateau Briand to celebrate the 4th of July and 2 years of being your parents. We will spend all day thinking about you and I’ll probably come back to the blog several times just to look at your baby pictures.

You have grown and changed so much in this second year of life. We are so proud of you, the things you are learning, and the little person you are becoming.

You are smart. You are REALLY smart. You’ve been able to count to 10 for ages. You can also count to 10 in Spanish, you can almost count to 20 on your own, you can read Arabic numerals, you can count objects, you know your abcs, colors, shapes, at least 100 animals and their sounds, I think you might know more Spanish words than I do and you conjugate at least one verb properly. I have long ago lost track of how many English words you know. Hundreds? A Thousand? You speak in sentences now. You know at least 5 songs by heart and sing them in tempo with a pretty little tone. You know who is in your family and ask about them when they’re not around.

You are big! You are nearly 3 feet tall already! You wear 2 and 3T clothes and 6 ½-7 shoes. You have all your teeth except your 2 year molars. Your hair is long enough to wear in pig tails, but not quite in a pony tail yet. You hate it when I put your hair up unless I give you something really good to play with while I do it. I do it anyway because it’s so stinking cute. You love to swing at the park and to walk and run. You sing simple little songs while you do it “walk, walk, walk” and “run, run, run! It’s fun, fun, fun!” When we go on walks you like to stop and crouch down and won’t get up until we say “Ready, set, go!” and then you take off like you’re running a race. You can go up and down stairs standing up if we hold your hand and you have started taking some small steps (like off the sidewalk at the playground) standing up all on your own. You are careful and cautious, but are becoming more adventurous, you’re even beginning to go down slides on your bottom instead of your tummy. You like to dance, turn around, shake, and walk on your heels. You love to be tickled. You have been sleeping in a big girl bed for a couple months now, ever since you tried to climb out of your crib. You were singing while you did it. “I climb! I climb! I’m STRONG!” You love to play chase with Daddy; you yell “I’m gonna get you!” and the game is afoot! It's hard to believe that a year ago, you weren't even walking yet.

You are imaginative. Six months ago you loved Yo Gabba Gabba, but now, you adore The Wonderpets and you love to pretend that you are saving animals just like them. You tell me every day that “there’s an animal in trouble!” and “this. Is. Sewious.” You make and serve me pretend tea and cookies. You pretend to be cold and it always makes us laugh the way you ball up your fists, open your eyes wide, grit your teeth and try to shiver. Your baby dolls and stuffed animals and bath toys all go on adventures every day.

You are loving. You greet me and Daddy with heart-melting phrases like “I love you, Daddy, you’re my best friend!” and “I missed you, Mommy! I love you so much!” You are quick to tell me if Evelyn is crying and you try to comfort her, telling her that “it’s ok, baby.” You don’t mind sharing your toys or my attention with your little sister and she adores you. You love the dogs and share everything with Laddie—even your cookies and cheese!

You thrive on your routine. You wake up early every morning. You’re almost always the first one up. But you usually just play quietly in your room until Evelyn gets up. Then you start your day with a cup of milk and some cereal. You tell Daddy and me that you love us as you wander around the room and play with Evelyn. Every afternoon you nap from 11:30-2 before having a little lunch. You never eat very much, but you do have some favorite things—chicken, pizza, salmon, turkey mini meat loves, watermelon, prunes, cheerios, raisins, and of course chips and cookies! You like to color and go to the park and when Daddy gets home we all have dinner together. After dinner you and Evelyn take a shower. You like showers better than baths. Then you get your jammies and Daddy reads you stories and puts you down in your big girl bed. You love stories. Your favorites right now are Mr. Brown Can Moo and Go, Dog, Go! You hate to have your door shut. We put up a gate to keep you safe. Most nights you’ll try to get up a few times before you’ll really go to sleep. We walk towards your room and as soon as you see us, you run across the room and jump into bed. You think this is hilarious. Secretly, we do to, but we try to be serious about it.

In your second year, you have been on a car trip to South Dakota in August to visit your great grandma Shirley. We flew out to Rhode Island for Uncle Eric’s thesis defense (he graduated in May). We went to Cape Cod for a week and 3 weeks after we got home, you became a big sister! You’ve been a sweet and gentle big sister from the start and have shown very little jealousy at all, it’s been wonderful to see you get to know each other. We spent Thanksgiving at home just the four of us, and Christmas in Geneva with Grandma, Grandpa, Eric and Kim. Grandpa Mike, Natalie, Chase and Boston came to visit in December and you loved playing with “Bossy.” In March, Grandpa Mike retired and we went to Indianapolis to have a party and you got to play with Boston again. In April and May we visited Door County. In June, Daddy took a trip to California and Beth came to visit us and then we went to Indianapolis to see Great Grandma and Great Grandpa. Every couple of weeks, we have play group and you play with your best friend, Sam. He’s a few months older than you, but you guys have a great time together and are always happy to see each other. And Sam’s mommy makes yummy snacks that you love.

You have changed our lives. They are so much richer now with your hugs and kisses, play time and chatter. Even with the “terrible twos” I’m excited to see you every morning and it’s such a joy to watch you grow and explore. We love every little thing about you, always have, and always will.



Happy Birthday, sweet girl!
Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Already

Tomorrow I will no longer be the mother of "two under two." My first baby is turning into a little girl before my eyes. She wears pigtails! They make her look so big!

She is so big!

She's barely a baby anymore.

8 Months

Evelyn is 8 months old now. She can crawl so fast that I occasionally lose track of her, she can pull herself up to standing on furniture. She is beginning to cruise. She has 5 teeth and loves Cheerios, but has not had any babyfood yet. She is over 20 pounds! She is still a full-time nurser. She does not sleep through the night. She has perfect skin and looks great in bright colors. She is cheerful and easy to please and smiles and laughs more often than not. She is vocalizing all sorts of sounds (including Mamama and Da!) She loves to see Matilda and will follow her just about anywhere. She pulls my hair almost every day, but mostly leaves my glasses alone. She knows her name. She likes to take showers and she rolls around on the shower floor, squeaking and squealing in the most amusing way. Changing her diaper or her clothes is like a wrestling match--one I sometimes think she's going to win! Her eyes are still blue. She still has a birthmark on the back of her arm. Her bald spot has completely filled in with downy hairs. I still can't tell what color hair she's going to have. Her eyebrows are still dark but the majority of the new hairs on her head look white. She is fearless and will crawl through anything, never around, she takes on obsticales head first! Often, she will work so hard getting to where she is going that she will start panting! She likes to be under things too. She crawls under the bed, under the piano, under the play set, under Matilda's chair. Sometimes she gets stuck. She loves to stand at the coffee table and just bang on it. She blows raspberries all day long. She loves to taste fruits from her mesh feeder (Matilda hated it.) She has never been interested in a pacifier, or her thumb. She sleeps on her tummy with her bottom in the air and no blankets. Everyone who meets her remarks on her pleasant disposition. She is not shy. She wears 12 month clothes and size 3 diapers. She is a difficult companion on long road trips. She likes the show "Blue's Clues." She loves to look at books. She is very tall. She is sweet as sugar and growing way too fast.

Happy Father's Day

To a wonderful husband and father who we can always count on for support,

to protect us while showing us the world,

and with whom we always have a good time!

Peek

The Toddler Bed

We converted Matilda's bed to a toddler bed and she has been crib-less since Memorial Day. More often than not, I find her here though.

It could be worse. At least she is sleeping, isn't destroying her room and seems to be spending more time in her bed this week than last week. Hopefully she gets used to it soon.

The Underdog

Her first Sacrament

Evelyn was baptized on Mother's Day. She behaved perfectly and looked absolutely cherubic.

She outgrew my old gown by the time she was a month old, so she got a new gown of her own to wear. Ed chose this beautiful, cheery lace for her.

For those of you who were unable to join us, here is a movie of the ceremony.

Her Godparents were Shanti and Laura who stood up with us for the ceremony.

My dad also came to celebrate with us.

We are grateful to have such wonderful friends who are willing to take on this duty and see it as an honor. Evelyn is a lucky little girl.

And of course Jim and Joanne were with us for this special day as well!

Under

Evelyn is quite the little mover now. She can go under, through or around just about any obstacle. And she's cute while she does it.

Over

Romper is never happier than he is when he's up in Door County. Something about the trees, the lake and the weather just brings out the champ in him. He did this climb more than once.

Welcoming summer

Hi there!

Zoom

When we told Matilda it was time to get in the car because we were going on a road trip, this is what she picked. She has taste!

Just another 14 years, baby girl. Well, technically, in 14 years and 26 days she'll turn 16 and probably start complaining that she will have to wait another whole day to get her license because I so selfishly gave birth to her on a holiday that will close down the BMV. At least it will be a Thursday. I shudder to think what that weekend would be like if her sweet 16 fell on a Friday!

And just a little note to my sweet girl--no, your first car will not be this cool. It will probably be nothing like this.

Fort Bliss

While we were on vacation we set up a fort as a special treat for the girls one evening. There was a big pillow to lay on, a lantern for light, blankets, snacks and their little dvd player. They had such a good time in there that Ed and I even got to watch a show of our own!

Happiness

Ahh, vacation! It is so relaxing. Everything is quiet and peaceful. As soon as you step outside all you hear are the waves gently lapping against the shore, the distant bell of a bouy, occasional breezes rustling throught the trees, and some birds chirping away.


When we woke up on our first morning here, the weather was lovely--mild, sunny, a light breeze. These cheery little blue flowers are popping up everywhere.



After spending a little over 8 hours on the road the day before, the girls were eager to get out and get moving. We took them out to try the new swingset first thing in the morning--Evelyn was still in her jammies!

With Ed's help, Matilda tried out everything thing. She climbed, slid and traversed tall bridges.

She was very brave giving it all a thorough inspection. However, she has now decided that the climbing is too scary. She's very very happy in the swings, and she likes to slide. Every time she goes down the slide she says, "it's FUN!"

Evelyn tried the swings as well.

At first she was pretty surprised:

But later she found it so relaxing that she fell asleep!

Matilda thinks the swings are an absolute joy.

After all that fun outside, it was time for a snack while Evelyn played with toys.

The lake was too beautiful to resist for long though.

Daddy took Matilda and Laddie and Romper out to see the beach.

The boys jumped right in and Matilda was happy to kick around; her swim had to wait another day though.

Evelyn can sit really well now.

She has proven her stability, so she got her first sink bath on the 18th.
She loved it! She played with toys and splashed and splashed and splashed some more!
Look at the chubby, blurry arm--she was just splashing away like it was her job!

Little Monkey

I should be posting today about Mother's Day, or Evelyn's baptism, or her six month check up... but this just happened and had to be documented. The other topics will be addressed in due course.

That's Matilda in the baby swing. For a few weeks now, she's been able to climb into the exersaucer herself and then yell, "Mama! I stuck!" when she's ready to get out. It's hilarious. But today, she climbed up into the baby swing by herself, leaned over to push the button to turn the swing on, and then picked out some music.

She definitely had a good time, and I have a feeling it's going to happen again. Luckily, she's not very heavy!

Art Appreciation

Matilda painted for the first time yesterday with her finger paints. It was pretty exciting for both of us. She told me all about the colors she was using, and then was amazed when orange and purple showed up on her paper. She pointed to them and shouted, "orange! purple!"

She made a rainbow and a more abstract piece and when she was done with each she said "it's a PAINTING! All done!"

I'm sure she ate more paint than she should have, and if you look closely, it's even in her hair, but she did have a good time and we'll do it again soon.

Matilda's art:

Evelyn also worked on a little project. With "ultra washable ink." Yeah... sure.

A Tisket a Tasket...

I swear she did it to herself rolling around on the floor! I just had to take a picture before I helped her out of it.