Thankful Thursday

For my own bed

For breaks in humidity

For cold milk

For GPS

For running through the rain

23 Months & Things

1. We just returned from a whirlwind trip to MN, and you were the picture of dream-toddler-traveler.
2. A few more molars are making their way through.
3. You  haven't physically grown a ton in the past few months - still wearing 18mths-2T shirts and shorts.
4. The words phrases sentences that fly out of your mouth astound me sometimes.
5. Empathy is beginning to develop; the other day you brought a stuffed animal over to the iPad, "doggies turn iPad," you said. Patting his head, you said, "nice doggie, happy doggie."
6. Whether you push a doll or a stuffed animal around in your toy stroller, they must be wearing sunglasses.

Hey Ma, look, it's only $27,000!

 7. We learned the hard way while in MN that you are a park connoisseur. A park or playground structure is deemed un-playable if it doesn't have swings and a steering wheel. Apparently slides are negligible.
8.  You love having people imitate you at the dinner table - hands on head, stick out tongue, chew with your mouth open. It's like Simon-Says, but no words are spoken.

Thankful Thursday

For central air

For feeling Baby a kicks on the outside

For reminders

For fresh vegetables

For unprompted "tankyou mama"s

On Time

I've been reading quite a few blog posts recently about motherhood and time. (Here are two of my faves.) A quote from the second link really struck me. She writes,

"Sometimes when I am having a rough week, [my mother] will tell me about how she would give anything to hold her babies as babies again."

And that's when I cried. Call it crazy pregnancy hormones or fatigue or whatever the heck you want. But I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried for the baby that I no longer have, replaced by a toddler who seems to grow by the minute. I cried for my future self, for the loss of those weighty little bodies wanting to be carried, needing to be held or fed or rocked. I cried out of sheer sadness that there are moments that pass me by, each and every day, that I can't savor because I'm distracted or tired.

I cried because how cruel is time; how long the days and how short the years. I cried out of a love I never knew, a love that has turned my heart inside out. I cried for the days that are hard, the days that are joyful, and the days that go unnoticed. Because I know there will be days in the not-so-far future where I will cry because I would love to hold my babies as babies again.

Thankful Thursday

For healthy babies

For tiny fingers

For strong hearts

For a perfectly formed spine

For Baby (girl!) a

Overheard

Me: Teddy, do you think there is a little girl or a little boy baby in mama's belly?

Teddy (without hesitation): Little gurl.

We will find out if his brotherly intuition is accurate tomorrow.

22 Months & Things

 1. Dad always jokes that one day soon you will outsmart us. I'm beginning to agree.
2. You learned your colors this month! You can consistently identify blue, red, green, purple, pink, orange, and yellow.
3. You still love to be a helper. The other day I gave you a toddler-safe knife and you went to town on an onion while I chopped veggies for dinner.
4. Second year molars are happening all up in your mouth. The first one was not pretty for about 36 hours.

5. You watched your first full-length movie: Monsters, Inc. (See above re: second year molars. It was the only thing that kept you distracted enough from the pain.)
6. The first blood-shedding injury also happened. Along with first band-aids and  first band-aid-related-freak-out.
7. Four word sentences occur on the regular. (The fact that you can communicate with words still blows my mind.)