The Bathtime Giggler...

Enjoy this happy video of Theo giggling (with some entertainment provided by Sophia) at the end of bath time!

Great Quote...

That I need to remember more often:

"The work will wait while you show the child the rainbow, but the
rainbow won't wait while you finish the work."

-- Pat Clifford

Big Bike Rider

We had gotten a balance bike for Sophia a few months ago. She was all excited to ride it. So we strapped on her helmet and headed to the park. Where she proceeded to look at it and go, "No Thank You" much to my dismay.

We knew it would take time. She slowly started riding it around the Condo (inside) and then outside on the patio with our neighbors Eleanor & Zac (who are speed demons on theirs!) and finally, a ride around the block.

We brought it to Newport with the hope she'd take to it more. And she did! (Despite dawdling - see previous post) we made a round trip to the Ash Mart (including bringing the bike inside - but luckily nothing was destroyed).

Here's the little biker girl:

Next up - Tour de France. :)

Things that keep me sane

I know how lucky I am to have a wonderful daughter like Sophia. She is sweet, loving and endearing. Most of the time. Because, in case you forgot, she is also 2.5 years old. Meaning that she is the center of the universe. And she'll happily remind you if you do indeed forget.

Lately, we've had our fair share of frustrating moments. While Dave gets them here and there, she seems to save these extra special "emotions" for Mama - which I'm told that I should feel lucky, as she is comfortable enough in our relationship to do this. For everyone else, she is on best behavior. Sigh...Dave has promised that he & Theo will be living in Newport for long spurts of time come Sophia's 13th birthday.

So whether it's procrastinating at bed time (water Mama! Milk in the Minnie/Daisy Cup. Another Twinkle Twinkle) or dawdling when we're trying to get some place or insisting that everyone sit in their Sophia designated seats and heaven forbid you (or - ekk! an outsider) sit in a seat not assigned to you - I'm trying to remember patience and not hand her off to the gypsy wagon with a free pack of diapers to sweeten the deal.

I've creating a running list of things about her that make me smile and realize how amazing she is.

1) Her smile when she sees me at the end of the day.
2) Her desire to stop and smell the flowers. Literally. We stop & smell ALL of the flowers when we go walking. Even the bushes (which honestly, don't smell like much of anything.)
3) Her kisses for my boo-boos when I say ouch.
4) Her laughter when I tickle her.
5) Watching her run - limbs all over but with sheer joy and disregard for anything in her way
6) Her love of climbing. She wants to go up up up as much as she can. And takes direction really well in getting there.
7) Her taste in music. Currently, she requests to hear the following 3 songs, in this order, EVERY TIME we get in the car:
      1) The Black Key's "Gold on the Ceiling"
      2) Adele's "Rumour Has It"
      3) Old MacDonald
(she has also figured out I have 2 & 3 available to be played on my phone at any point. The Black Keys CD lives in my CD player stuck on track 3.
8) Watching her kiss and sniff her little brother. Yup, sniff. She has this thing about sniffing family lately and just loves to get in Theo's face and sniff him. The report generally is that he is "stinky."
9) That despite her outgoing, often extremely loud front, she is often shy, polite and very loving in groups.
10) Her love of animals. Any dog or cat she sees gets a pet (after letting them sniff her hand like she was taught and the pat is on the back of the dog) and she will happily walk it, hug it or whatever it will put up with.
11) Her love of cooking. She often will go to her kitchen to "cook me dinner"
12) When she sits on the couch with my boppy pillow to "feed" her stuffed animals.
13) How she sings in her cute little voice  with hand motions- either twinkle, twinkle or Caterpillar Crawling on my arm (especially the version I made up that involves the caterpillar nesting in your ear!)

More Theo updates

Theo is almost 5 months. I'm trying to be diligent about recording his milestones and happenings so he isn't totally the "shorted second child!"

- 4 month check up went well. Gained 3lbs & hit 25" long

- Still sleeping like a champ more or less. I'm still not so good at going to be early to take advantage of it.

- Moved him out of the bassinet into the Pack n' Play at Newport and to his crib at home. 
- He went from being a marathon nurser to more of a sprinter. It does make getting out the house easier, but this is a bit of a transition and I'm retraining myself to realize that he'll let me know when he's full.

- Also is apparently an efficient user of his calories. We see a poopy diaper about once/week. After much hand wringing and pediatrician consulting, found out it's totally normal. Definitely a pleasant departure from poopapotamous Sophia.

- He rolled over from his belly to his back. More gravity than anything, but he was quite pleased with himself (or startled?)

- He is getting good with his tummy time. We set up a mirror so he can look at himself. Makes it much more enjoyable.

- Still taking 3 naps - sometimes 4 if the day is a bit spotty. But into bed between 7:30 & 8:30

- No sign of teeth yet, but definitely has found his thumb and enjoys blowing bubbles

- Smiles a ton and loves being sung to. Current favorite is "If you're happy & you know it"

 

- Is a trooper about being hiked around places

- Love standing and looking around

- Hasn't really lost any hair. It's a given that people comment on it (so much so, I'm starting to feel badly for Sophia because he is like a magnet!)

- Dipped his toes in the sand & ocean for the first time this past week in Newport. Seemed pretty ok with it.

I head back to work next week. Looking forward to it, but will miss my little guy (and Sophia too!)