Christmastime

Alright, folks, here’s the rundown. Agathe is 8 months and around 25 lbs and can climb the stairs to the top. I currently have a bet with Hannah that she will be walking by my birthday next month. (The wager is not set, but I am thinking laundry folding or toilet scrubbing.) She is an exceptionally happy baby up until she is restrained for dressing or diaper-changing, then all hell breaks loose. I think her belly has a magnetic attraction to the carpet- it is really hard to keep her from flipping over mid-change. Compound that with the fact that I was using diaper pins for a couple of days and you can imagine the hilarity that ensued. My fingers are still healing.
Assuming a dry bottom, though, she is delightful. She says ma and da, usually when she is upset, and the rest of the time talks to us in strings of quiet vowels. I think it is some Nordic language, but I don’t know when she would have had the time to learn one. Ah, they grow up so fast.
Evie will be exactly 2.5 on Christmas Day. They say that the half year mark is more, um, dramatic with young children than around their birthdays and I have to say that the wisdom is holding true. The trouble is that bad kids are hilarious. She is so cute and funny and expressive that we get sucked in to the crazy every time. So much for laying down the law, right? Seriously, though, Steve is convinced that she is a communication genius. She is really starting to break out of her shell and will talk to people now with a much shorter breaking-in period. It makes me happy that more people get to enjoy the delightful child that I spend my days with.
Hannah is thriving in eighth grade and we are still trying to figure out where high school will be. In the meantime, she is a social butterfly and studies hard. She just started a regular (paid!) babysitting gig and appreciates the responsibility (and money!). Lots of learnin’ is happening at school- I should have her post about what they are studying. Sigh, if she does the IB program at the public high school next year, I will really miss her current school. It is all about freedom and experiential learning- so so cool. So so expensive, though, and I wouldn’t miss that part.

That’s about all the time I can spend away from my duties today. We are still finishing up some Christmas shopping and don’t have a tree yet. I know- we suck. Hannah is having movie night with Gigi tonight, so the plan is to get one tomorrow when she is back home. Steve is working (of course) and the little girls are napping, so I should go get something done. Chances are, if you are reading this, I miss you, so feel free to drop a line or a comment. And Merry Christmas!

Growing and going

Here are the stats about our little miss: at 6mos - 1day, Agathe is 22lbs, 11 oz and is 28.5in long. She is developmentally blazing a trail and her growth is arcing perfectly across the graph-y doctor page. However, we’ve discovered that she ain’t so crazy about going to sleep for other people. Steve and I had our date (yes, we had the anticipated Japanese cuisine) and unfortunately we dropped Agathe off kind of tired. Poor Yiayia rocked her for an hour before she fell asleep, then was afraid to move lest the babe wake. For us, she usually falls asleep in the sling or occasionally nursing, then transfers great into the playpen or crib. I don’t have the luxury of elaborate go-to-sleep rituals (considering the havoc Evie could wreak while I was distracted) or letting her scream and cry (assuming our bread was buttered such) because she shares a room with Evie. I have been working on making some sleep associations- a bunny, a satiny blankie, etc.- but that is the only idea I’ve had. Maybe this warrants some research…

UPDATED: I just went back through the brennaandsteve logs and found that Agathe is the exact same size that Evie was at her 9 month checkup. I KNEW this was my biggest baby!

Go, go, Speedracer

They say you have to learn to crawl before you can walk. Thank GOD. That will give us a couple extra weeks before we’re chasing Agathe around.
This kid is mind-blowing! She will be six months this coming week (Oct. 7) and she not only rolls and scoots to get where she wants, but gets up on hands and knees, gets on hands and FEET, kicks her legs out, walks them forward, and gets up to sitting (which she can do unassisted- sit, I mean). This happens about 300 times a day, but still prompts stunned silence followed by “holy CRAP did you SEE that?”. We will find out for real tomorrow what her weight and length are at her six month checkup. I’m guessing she is 5′7”. No, wait, that’s Hannah.
Yes, that means Hannah is taller than me.
Apropos of nothing, Evie has her moments of roughness with Agathe, but more often she says things like “It’s my baby Agathe, Mama! I luuuuf her!” And she wants to bring her toys. Especially if Agathe is playing with one of Evie’s toys- then she REALLY wants to bring her an Agathe-approved one. And it isn’t me who decides if it is Agathe-approved, either. Have we mentioned that Evie is very bossy? No one believes us. She doesn’t speak in front of other people. And they say “how lovely!” and “so well behaved!” and I think “way to fool ‘em, kid.” She is almost as bossy as Hannah was at that age. Or now, for that matter. ha ha.
So tomorrow I will try to post Aga’s stats. Ooh, then Tuesday, I am going on a date with my husband! Woo-hoo! His company was having a little to-do in their new digs- some fancy mansion in Baltimore- but they canceled it. However, we still have Yiayia Rita all set to babysit, so off we go! I think Japanese food, then a drink. Or two. Ooh, and maybe some music. Crap, we probably can’t be out too long. Gees, we could probably just sit in the car outside of Steve’s mom’s house, achieve a full conversation with complete sentences, and then pick the kids back up. It would be worth it.
How do other people get out more? We manage by bringing Agathe everywhere in the wrap or sling and having Hannah hang out with Evie, if we need to get away or have a function to attend. (Does presidential debate drinking game (Main Street? Drink!) with locavore friends count as a function? Anyway.)

So ends my rambling for the moment. I’ll ramble more tomorrow after A’s appt. Oh, and after my appt. I am consulting with a dental surgeon about removing my mouth-banes, I mean wisdom teeth. I’m thirty- I can only put it off for so long…

Dude! New Pictures!

In addition to posting, I have now added New Pictures! It was probably time, considering the last time I did that, I was not even pregnant with Agathe. I suck, but I suck less now. Enjoy!!

Cuteness and luckiness

Sometimes I think my head will crack open from the cuteness. Agathe is a chubby dumpling of happy. Evie is in the thick of language acquisition and putting together new thoughts every day- showing us the hilarious wonderland of the ridiculous inside her head. Hannah is clever and ironic and a smart-arse, just as she has been raised to be.
(A few weeks ago, Hannah and I were explaining to a friend of ours how we feel about Hannah’s impending teenage-hood. I said I could feel it barreling towards me like a freight train. Hannah fixed me with her most serious dramatic stare and said, “And you’re playing chicken on the tracks.” Hilarious and true.)
Anyway, I could gobble them all up, they are so adorable. But what takes it from happy snapshots to a rich life lived is my husband. We both lovelovelove being parents, especially to this unique band of nutbars. We are equally amazed when Evie puts disparate concepts together for the first time, we are both enchanted when Agathe gazes and coos, both exasperated and entertained by Hannah’s ploys to stay up past her bedtime. We help cement these memories of our children for each other.
At the end of next month, my relationship with Steve will be eight years old. That is more than a quarter of my life that I have spent with this man, but it feels like we just got started. Like we are just-now settling in with one another.
Marriage is work just like parenthood is work- but it is the happiest work I know.

Evie 2.0

Evie is turning 2 tomorrow! Can you believe it? Well, I can because she was acting like a two year old all day yesterday. She is usually a sweet, inquisitive, and fairly compliant child, but yesterday she was a pip. It makes sense if you consider all of the changes she is adjusting to. And I don’t just mean Agathe the Usurper. Evie has been sleeping in her toddler bed full time (she loves her crib like the fish love the ocean), she is potty-training herself so she is in cloth diapers full time and using the potty, Hannah the Beloved is home from school but that changes the rhythm of the day (especially since she insists on talking with Mama so much, the nerve). Poor little Peanut, a lot is going on for her.
However, this Sunday is All About Evie. We have an exciting little shindig planned for her at Quiet Waters Park. We rented a pavilion that day and are cooking out and she can run amok and be the princess.
Now Mama and Baba need to pull all those party details together…

Checking in…

Wow. Our lives have been busy and it shows in how often we post on our blog!

Agathe just turned 2 months today. Shes already 24.5″ and 15lbs 6oz! Yes, that’s a big baby.

We’ll get back with more pictures soon(ish).

I Am a Prophet

On Friday, I spent the night at Gigi’s after watching three movies and eating homemade pizzas. That night, I had a dream. I dreamed that I was changing a very poopy diaper of Evie’s and I told my mother she needed to be potty trained. On Saturday evening, (see prior post) Evie potty trained herself! I AM A PROPHET!!!

Now that I’ve explained my magical powers, I can talk about other things. I’m going to school tomorrow after a week off (Spring Break, woohoo!). I’ve been working on a project for French class about a country in Africa named Djibouti (I picked it because of the name). That’s pretty much it. My life is now pretty boring. I shouldn’t even post this. But I’m going to because otherwise there is no record of my prophetness.

Potty-Breaking News!

Evie potty trained herself last night!

With a rapt audience cheering her on, she successfully urinated in her pretty plastic potty bowl. As far as I know, this is the first case of a self-taught sub-two-year old peeing in a bucket.

In related news,

Evie’s little sister, Agathe, has now mastered the Art of Voiding & Evacuation.
Read the rest of this entry »

New Baby - New Website!

Here we go again with another round of updates!

New baby! Agathe Helena

New website! You’re looking at it. It’s under construction : |

Baby pictures will be posted soon-ish. I’m so busy!