ONE

A week from tomorrow my baby will be one. He is just starting to walk and he says so many words that only James, Bea and I can understand. He dances and he laughs all. the. time.

As most people know, we are stopping at two. Which I am fine with and I think it is right for our family. But it does mean that I will be dealing with baby fever for years and years to come. You know, when you want a baby, a newborn, someone to cuddle and fuss over. You want the excitement of planning for your baby and finding out the sex.

Of course, thoughts of poop and paying for 18 years of stress and drama plus college and having three teenagers at the same time don't enter into these fantasies. :/

So I'll stick with my two kids. Not babies anymore, mind you. Kids. Well, technically toddlers. But, gosh, we've come so far: sleeping through the night in the same room, weaning, bottle weaning, self feeding. Soon even diapers will be a thing of the past!

Turn It On Around, Mama

Sometimes being a mama gets overwhelming. There's so much going on and the constant interruptions when I'm trying to get a thing done and somebody needing me. I feel worn out by 9am. And the first nap isn't until 9:30! Well, I was definitely feeling like that today.

Beatrice has reached a very challenging stage. Sometimes I think she is testing every boundary to see how far she can push me. But mostly, I think she is just really wonderstruck by this crazy, huge world that is new to her in almost every way.

There are so many things she doesn't understand yet and so she gets in trouble for not even realizing what she did was wrong. (For example, I'll put Ambrose on the floor and a few minutes later I might move him from sitting to lying on his tummy so he can get around. All she knows is that he got moved by a bigger person. So why can't she just knock him around any old way she might want him to be?)

So the day was going fussily along and I was ready to sell at least one kid. But I took a step back and decided to turn the day around. I stuck Bea in the bath (her favorite place, and good thing because she always needs one) and Ambrose in his excersaucer.

I moved furniture and folded/put away/organized laundry. I sang and made my babies laugh. I read them stories and cuddled them. I chased them and tickled them. Then, I gave them naps.

While they were napping, I found this inspiring blog post and decided that when Daddy got home and after dinner, we would go downtown to play in the fountains. We did it and it was so much fun. I think we will go all summer long! Came home and barely had time to get them out of the bath and jammified before they were long gone to dream-land.

Tired as I was by 8pm, this mama still forced her butt to the gym. Because now that my beautiful yellow swimsuit is here? I'm going to be a more dedicated gym member. At least for the butt machines.