Milestones

It is hard to believe that Lydia is 6 months old already. At the same time she is such an important part of my life that I can't imagine being without her. I was holding her today and thinking that she is a little piece of heaven that I am privileged to care for (I feel just as strongly about Renee but this is about Lydia). Lydia has smiles that never end. She loves to be played with and her giggles and smiles come easily. She is joy.

It means so much to me to see her sitting and working hard to crawl. I take very little for granted with her. I look forward to her six month check up because this will be the first appointment that I can take her to the doctor and when he asks how she is doing I will be able to answer without reservation, "She is doing wonderful!" It feels good not to worry. It feels good to see her taking in the world around her and reaching out for toys or objects and bring them to her mouth. We are using fewer bibs and burp cloths these days and that is good too.

There have been surprises in motherhood, between Renee and Lydia I have learned many things and I'm sure there is much more to be learned. Some learnings of less consequence than others but for all my confidence before Renee came I quickly realized you don't know how to be a mother until you are one. I've learned that how long it takes apple juice to become vinegar in a sippy cup, that after a child is born laundry doesn't increase from baby clothes but from all the adult clothes with spit up on them. I've learned that rules have a purpose and that structure can be good. I've learned the value of a nap. I've learned the joy and pride of watching your child bring joy to others. I've learned the pain of hearing a doctor say "I'm sorry" while discussing the health of your child. I've learned that tomorrow I will learn again.

It is such a cliche but it really is true that children grow up fast. I gave Renee her first haircut today. It was time to get the hair out of her eyes and since she won't leave a clip in her hair I finally gave in and cut bangs. I'm not ready for her to look too grown up but even with bangs she is still my little girl.

Barrista Renee

As a few days have passed since this first picture was taken the title for this post has changed several times...Renee's Bright Idea...Breakfast Bedlam...but I settled on Barrista Renee. Breakfast is not a formal affair in my house. The goal is to get enough food into two little tummies for the littlest one to take a good long nap (preferably her usual 3 hours) and for the big one to be able to play happily until lunch. Our routine of bath time after breakfast is proof that the only goal is food consumption, the how, where, and what are lesser matters. So on this particular morning, Renee was eating her breakfast, chocolate cheerios, while standing on a chair at the kitchen counter. I actually thought it was a pretty good idea, easier clean up than the carpet in the dining room. Renee began to eat and I left her to check on Lydia when I came back this (picture above) is what I found. She had added her cheerios to the half inch of coffee left from the previous morning. And that is where the title "Renee's Bright Idea" came from. As soon as she took a bite she quickly switched my bowl of cheerios for the coffee pot. So she ate mine with milk and I ate out of the coffee pot, saved me some time, on a busy morning coffee in the cereal is not a bad idea at all.

This evening I was brewing a pot of coffee (decaf for anyone that is concerned) while Renee helped me do dishes. The scary part of this story is that I had no idea she was messing with the coffee pot only two feet away from me. When we were done I noticed the coffee had strange floaters in it. I looked closer and found that the orange slices I had congratulated Renee for finishing were in the coffee pot. My little barrista once again had a pretty good idea. The orange infused coffee that I'm drinking as I type is quite good.

And now for "Breakfast Bedlam". Lydia has been reaching for her cereal bowl and grabbing the spoon on the way to her mouth. In the interest of encouraging her new sense of exploration I gave her the bowl when she was mostly done eating. Oh my did she have fun! By the way, this is why bath time comes after breakfast.

Big sister wanted to see what the fuss was about. She got a little bit of cereal on her fingertip and was quite unhappy about it. All I heard was "uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh." In a very disgruntled tone. That's ok, Lydia made enough mess for both of them and Renee was quite happy that I put her in the bathtub to get cleaned off.

Little Bag of Treasures

For the past several weeks Renee has been carrying around what we affectionally refer to as her "little bag of treasures." This bag is so loved that she has even learned to say "little bag of treasures." It goes everywhere she goes, and I do mean everywhere.

This outfit was 100% Renee picked, we can discuss her sense of style another time but for the record I'm quite proud of her.

The contents of this bag vary from day to day and I can count on finding whatever I'm missing in that bag...keys, cell phone, glasses, perfume, Lydia's medicine dropper, stray socks, Lydia's shoes, whatever strikes Renee's fancy. Every few days I dump it out while Renee is sleeping to retrieve the items that she really shouldn't be carrying around. Here's what I found a few days ago.


Really she has all the essentials of a well stocked purse or diaper bag...cell phone, sunglasses, bottle, medicine cup, snack and drink. The fact that she thought to stock an extra shoe or two...now that's my girl. I just need to teach her to match.

So this afternoon Renee and I were weeding the garden and planting some onions while Lydia napped. Renee of course had her little bag of treasures with her. That's where we were headed in the first picture. She was doing a good job of helping (throwing the weeds back in the garden as fast as I pulled them out!) when I saw a couple worms. Actually I was startled by two large worms at my fingertips. I tried not to get grossed out, they were after all only worms, not snakes, even though they are the same shape, so I picked one up with my gloved hands and let it dangle over my finger to show Renee our little friend. I thought this would be a fun discovery for her...hmmm...well, she thought it was fun too. She took it from me right away holding it between two fingers and looking at it, chattering away to me or the worm I don't know. Next thing I knew she had that little worm in her first and was going straight for her little bag of treasures! That is not what I want to find next time I empty the little bag of treasures!!! The worm was quickly put back in the ground and I did not show her the next dozen worms that we unearthed! I think I will be a bit more cautious of what critters we make friends with and how I empty her little bag of treasures. Who knows what might be in there!

Hello World!

After a very, very long break I read over my old blog posts this morning and got re-inspired. Will I blog regularly...not likely but its worth a try. A year ago Renee was getting into the tissues...she still thinks its great fun to pull them out of the box but now when she does instead of shredding them she blows her nose, blows my nose, and blows Lydia's nose. Progress? I think so. There is much I could write about Lydia but that's coming in scrapbook form. So in the past year that I've been missing from blogworld Lydia was born, I finished my master's degree, Jeff did his first half ironman and has nearly completed his master's and I'm sure many other things.

The house is quiet, I should be showering, taking a nap, cleaning but instead I'm rambling...that is probably why I won't keep blogging regularly but its kind of nice to take a break and remember the good times.

• My kids are really cute, even more so when they are asleep.




• Renee calls Lydia "honey"




• We befriended a new family this week, their son and Renee both cry when they have to part.




• Renee has more teeth coming, this means she wakes up 6 times a night crying.




• We had snow Sunday...when Renee was 6 months old we took her out for a sled ride, Lydia is 6 months old and I kept her inside under a blanket...mommy's change.




• Renee's valentine's treat this year is blueberries...she was super excited.




• Lydia is so close to being able to balance in a sitting position.

And no post is complete without a picture.