Two-and-a-quarter. Six months. Pictures, and the sweet spot.

It seems I've finally reached the sweet spot as a mother of two. These girls are so much fun, and I am absolutely loving this season. Babies are adorable and cuddly and cute, but to be perfectly honest, the first six months are not my favorite. Now that Kimberly has passed the six month mark life has been easier, more enjoyable for everyone, and full of great memories. People always talk about how terrible the twos are, but I love them! They are so much fun as everything is new and exciting and language is developing. Thankfully Anna only had a period of a handful of tantrums, and she now (for the most part) seems to have moved past that stage; she is learning how to deal with her emotions and use language to communicate her needs. 

Yes, there are tedious days, a lot of tiredness keeping up with the two of them, and times where it seems all I do is feed and clothe and wash kids. But I know that someday Anna will not need me to comb her hair, put on her clothes, or strap her into the carseat. Someday dancing around the room with Mommy will not be the coolest thing in the world. Someday she will not want to be attached to my heels. Someday a favorite nursery rhyme will not fill her with utter excitement. So I really delight in this time. I try to be fully present and let it all soak into my memory: the sweet feel of Kimberly's skin against mine when she falls asleep in my arms; the giggles from Anna when I tickle her; the way she pops up out of bed when I get her up; the excited shouts of "Mommy!" when I return home from even a short errand.

My mantra has always been that I don’t want to look back and wish I had experienced and appreciated the special moments more. This was important to me way before kids: during my college days dancing for the Georgia Bulldogs, my internship at Wesley, performing ballroom at UGA, mission trips, and India. I knew all of these wonderful, special times only happened once, and I can honestly say that I don’t look back and think “I wish I had known how great those times were. I wish I had appreciated and enjoyed them more." Instead I look back and say, “I’m so glad I realized that those were special times, that I enjoyed them to the fullest, and that I tried to soak in the memories as much as I could.” For this reason I am not a big picture taker because it tends to distract my attention away from being in the moment. However, I know I will want these adorable ages captured so I make myself take them!!

Our yearly trip to the Riverbanks Zoo has become a Father's Day tradition:

I fell asleep on the couch for about ten minutes and woke up to find this:

My parents were able to come visit, something I never thought would happen again. It was tough on my mom who had to stop and get chemo on the way back, but the time was encouraging for them both and special for all of us. She had been working on restoring my old dollhouse and dollhouse pieces that I built with my grandfather to give to Anna when she was older. She decided to go ahead and bring it now. 

Here's my Grandfather and I with the dollhouse back in the day:

Putting Anna down for the occasional nap in our bed:

I lied about not owning anything monogrammed. My friend recently gave me these bloomers. I have to admit, they are super cute!

I think it's pretty funny how Kimberly is rivaling Anna in size. These pictures highlight how tall and thin Anna is, and how round Kimberly is. It's hard to believe they are almost two years apart in age.

My mom's neighbor sent these dresses for the girls. I typically rely on hand-me-downs for clothing so the girls have never had matching outfits.

*Sigh. Someday...

Two Years. Three Months.

I haven't been doing the usual monthly posts, because I simply don't have the time, so here's the latest on my two little pumpkins.


Anna is practically two years old! I can't believe she is so grown up. People always talk about this age as if it's from the devil, but it's my favorite so far. Sure, there are challenging times, but overall it is SO much fun. Anna is learning words a mile a minute, and everything fascinates her. She wants to know what everything is called, and she practices her words in bed when she wakes up. Her current favorites are "avocado" and "outside".


She is still taking a good nap in the afternoon but has started to stay up longer in the morning, which pushes her nap and bedtime later. She is regularly going to bed at 7:30 most nights, but I foresee it moving to 8:00 at some point. She still wakes up between 7 and 7:30 most mornings. One major milestone is that she is now sleeping in a big girl bed! Well, actually it's a mattress on the floor, but she sleeps at night and takes all her naps there. We also moved the baby into Anna's old crib, so they are currently sharing a room! It has gone surprisingly well. They are learning to sleep through each other's noises. I still haven't figured out what to do about napping, though. It's much easier to wake each other up when napping.

She has gone to the bathroom in her little potty several times, and honestly could probably have been potty trained at 20 months, but we haven't had the time or energy with Kimberly. I know I can't get her to the potty in time for the training period! We are thinking about waiting until the summer.


Anna continues to be small and I'm not sure she is even on the growth chart. I don't keep up with it anymore. Last I checked she was below the 3rd percentile. She weighs around 20 pounds, and wears 18-24 month clothes.


Things she is currently into: puzzles, books as usual, and playing with her baby doll and teddy bear. She copies everything I do with her "baby" including dropping saline in her little nose and sucking with the syringe :)  She takes her baby for a walk in her baby stroller and rocks her to sleep in her baby cradle. She has also started to get into dress up clothes thanks to a few items passed down from a friend- sunglasses, butterfly wings, and play shoes. She is learning to help me a lot with household chores- she takes her clean clothes into the bedroom, puts her dirty diapers in the trash can, helps me pick debris off the deck, and put away her toys and books. Whatever Ben and I are doing, she wants to help.


Anna received a water table from her grandparents as a birthday gift and loves to catch her little fishies in the net.

She had adjusted well to her baby sister and is patient and gentle. She giggles at her and is always saying "Mama, Baby!" When I have to tend to the baby, she is usually understanding. For the first three months it was all wonderful, but lately Anna has had some tantrum moments.

I think it's her displaced frustration and adjustment to sharing my attention and often having her needs put on the back burner due to the reality of a newborn. The tantrums usually revolve around food. She either doesn't want what I give her, or she wants something that I won't give her (like crackers for dinner), or she won't eat anything but then twenty minutes later wants to eat again. Unfortunately, her diet is limited to what she is not allergic to. I know she gets tired of the foods I serve her because they are SO limited, but there's not much I can do about the situation. I'm ready for food struggles to be over.


Anna has started to pick up on almost everything we say these days. She knows when you are talking about her, and sometimes she gets upset when people laugh at her or mock her, even if it's in good fun. Ben and I do not talk about her as if she's not there anymore. We try to respect her as we would any adult, and save those conversations for a time when we are alone.


Anna continues to ask "Why?" in regards to her leg on an on-going basis. She often precedes it with "Uh oh". Sometimes when she's really tired it will make her cry. It breaks my heart in two and I have to focus on not becoming visibly upset myself, and am reminded how unprepared I feel. I hope she handles the warm weather well and any resulting attention she might receive. People tell me kids this age have no clue about such things, but I know that's not true for Anna. She is perceptive. She knows she has a difference, and she knows when people talk about it. I have to remind family and friends to be mindful of what they say about her leg in front of her.


The challenges are many but I love my little girl so much. I can't find words to express it.

First attempt to run resulted in a faceplant.

 

 

 

Helping Grandma and Grandpa paint.
 

 

 

Playing on Mommy and Daddy's bed
 

Kimberly is doing great. She's much bigger than Anna, though the doctor said she will probably still be petite. She is 11 pounds and in the 50th percentile for weight, but only the 10th percentile for height (not surprising since Ben's family is on the shorter side).

Kimberly is a very easy baby. It's amazing to me that this is what many moms experience- it feels like a piece of cake compared to Anna's struggles as a newborn! She sleeps and eats well. She goes to bed at 7 and sleeps 8-10 hours, eats sometime between 3 and 5, and then sleeps some more until 7 or so. She is a pretty good napper, fussing just a little and then falling asleep on her own for the majority of the time, though she definitely has her rough nap moments. She still regularly wakes up after a sleep cycle because she's a little too young to be able to self soothe well. She tries to find her fingers but doesn't quite have the control yet. As soon as she does, I think she will take even better naps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I love these two girls.

20 Months

Thanksgiving at the in-laws.

Anna is 20 months old! This has been an exciting month, because she has started to blossom in a lot of ways. She is learning word after word and is able to communicate her wants and needs well. She is showing more of her personality and is so much FUN to be around.

A few of the things that have stood out to me this month are how much she LOVES books. She spends 75% of her play 'reading' books. She also loves to play pretend with her doll. I finally broke down and got her a pretend bottle after a few weeks of her feeding baby crayons :). She's started playing very well on her own, too! She will go into the play area and sit there for up to 45 minutes, looking at books and playing with her doll and bear. Sometimes I peek in to see what she's doing and it's so cute to watch her talking and playing by herself. Love it.

Anna has also GROWN. She gained 0 weight from 12-15 months, and a little bit at 18 months, but lately she has  shot up. For the first time, she is wearing clothes that are almost for her actual age range, rather than 6-9 months younger. She has grown out of a majority of her 12 month clothes and is wearing almost all 18 months!

I love this age and am really enjoying it. It's fun to discover her likes and dislikes and to see her temperament coming out more and more. She continues to be a cautious child- she likes to sit back and observe things rather than jumping right in. When she saw the Christmas tree up for the first time, she didn't go near it for the first 10 minutes, but then she was all about it. She can be the same with people she's unsure of. I know this is how she is wired so I try to respect her and let her do things in her time rather than push her... and in a lot of ways it's a blessing because she seems to be a 'think before I act' toddler. 

It comes out more and more that she is a particular child, as well. I don't use the word stubborn, because she listens well, but she is quite particular. This can be a challenge because I have to learn when and how often to cater to her preferences. Some things I do, some things I don't. I try to find a balance so she learns that I love her but that she can't always have things the way she wants them! The biggest challenge in this area is definitely in the food department.  I don't do multiple meals. I feed her one meal and if she doesn't want it, she doesn't have to eat it. But I rarely make other options. Part of this is because her food takes so long to make and is so expensive that I simply can't lest I lose my mind. So I pray for patience and sanity and know that I can only do the best I can with her allergies and she will have to learn to eat what is available to her. When she sticks her nose up at something allergy-free that that took me hours to make, I remind myself that many children in the world do not have a choice in what they eat, and that being a picky eater is- in a sense- a luxury. That makes me feel better when I am not always able to cater to her preferences.

All in all, I love observing the little person she is becoming. Here are some of our latest pictures:

Wants to get right in the middle of all the action. Here she is with Daddy putting together a bookcase.

Playing in the children's museum library.

We are all decorated for Christmas and enjoying this season. Don't you love the beautiful tree my parents handed down to us? Now we are awaiting the arrival of our new little one. It's hard to believe she could be here any time. Praying for a safe delivery and healthy baby girl. We cannot wait to meet her!

Sixteen months and more beach pictures

Our little girl is sixteen months old today! She has been starting to take off in a lot of ways and it's so fun to see her connect the dots. She remains a quiet observer and has the most gentle, loving personality. I am so proud of how well she listens and her patience at this age! I feel like all the teaching and consistency is really starting to pay off. 





Sometimes I am amazed when I look at her now and then think back to her first six months and how unsettled and unhappy she was. I am certain a majority of her colicky symptoms were from nursing with food sensitivity issues, which was so hard because nothing would fix it except when I stopped nursing altogether. Praying that our new little one will have a pain-free infanthood!


Anna is really into loving on her baby doll or stuffed animals right now- she likes to give them lots of hugs and kisses! She loves to sit and look at the pictures in her books, her favorite being Pat the Bunny. She's getting better at eating with a spoon which frees us up to enjoy our meal a little more. She continues to get better with her leg, though it's a slow process. I can't wait for the day when she can walk.

We use a silicone sleeve to keep her leg from falling off while she crawls.

My brother-in-law Jon is the official family photographer and I love that he snaps so many memories of family time. I prefer not to take a million pictures so it's great for someone who enjoys it to take on that role. Here are some more cute pics from the beach. Good luck telling Ben and his two brothers apart!

 The big-wave days kind of freaked Anna out, lol.

Which of these hair colors doesn't belong?
Ben's whole family minus middle sister Jessica.

A funny video from the beach of Anna and her baby that she loves soo much and can't sleep without.