When did I become this....grown up?

Yesterday it hit me. I've lost my spunk.


When Ajay got home, Alia greeted him looking like this....

Her double layer of t-shirts, jeans, a coordinating bindi on her forehead, and also by then her hair was in 3 pigtails. Oh yeah, and matching bunny slippers. You just can't complete a look without matching bunny slippers!

Amelie, too, was dolled up in her Jumperoo, complete with hot pink bindi....

I, on the other hand, have my frumpy in-between stage hair in desperate need of cut and color, makeup I applied at 6 a.m., and the worst clothes you can imagine...a regular Mom uniform of jeans and God knows what shirt (how can I remember yesterday?). Ajay laughed when he saw Alia and said, "do you know who she looks like?" I waited for the answer. He then said, "you! before babies! ...you know, spunky and cute!"

Well, that got me thinking. I felt equally unspunky when my sister visited last month. She had newish clothes, accessories, a fresh cut, good color, and took the time to do her makeup...even touch ups! So I asked myself...what happened?

I remember when my sister was here, we took Alia to one of the carousels that Alia loves to visit. To my delight, as I was getting Alia strapped in, my sister mounted the horse next to her. I mean, why wouldn't you ride a horse on a carousel? I thought about this...I guess since I'm so busy being the Mom and being responsible for the 1.5 year old on the horse that it's no longer an option to default to whimsy. I default to Mom....tired....doing my best...getting through the days with two babies who are totally reliant on me.

But today? It was me in the cute coordinating double t-shirts...one long sleeve, one short sleeve on top. It's me with short cute pigtails, with the sides being held back with Alia's barrettes. Yes, the make up is old, the hair still shows bright strands of gray, but at least I resemble my former self....or at least I think I do.

what's that sound?

So I'm in the kitchen washing bottles. Ajay is finishing up with story time with Alia in her room. Amelie is down for the night in her temporary crib in the playroom/library. These days, I put her down awake after her final bottle and let her find her sleep on her own.

Only tonight? She threw up a big portion of her last feed. Why? I don't know. But that kind of ruined the wind-down of the night since I had to change her clothes, wipe her down, and then put her to bed all amped up.

So I heard her in there cooing away, talking to her favorite painting and mobiles, and then I heard something different...muffled sounds. Not cries. Not shrieks. Little muffled gasps and complaints. I checked the monitor, and to my surprise, I saw a baby head, but with no face. I was looking at my poor little baby stuck on her tummy, doing all she could to right herself, but to no avail since 1) she was in a sleep sac and 2) this was her first time ever flipping from back to front and she hadn't experienced that before.

So in a nutshell, my little baby's big accomplishment happened at a somewhat inopportune time, but we celebrated her accomplishment nonetheless.

I'm only afraid of it sometimes....

I've been working on converting our former library/guest room to Alia and Amelie's play room. My desk and computer are still going to be in here, as I want to be able to oversee the girls. However....last week? Ajay hit "print" and nearly gave Alia a heart attack, sense we have one of those wireless numbers and it's located in the built in shelving just aside all of her favorite toys.

So now? Every time she sits near the printer? She turns to it and wags her finger and says, "no, no, no!"

Amelie is 5 months old!

Last week, Amelie turned 5 months old. As always, I'm amazed at the speed that the months pass...amazed at the physical growth that seems to happen before my eyes, and amazed to watch her little personality develop day to day.

This month, Amelie began rolling over from front to back. While she, like most babies, is a hater of all things related to tummy time, she now rolls over with great squawks and fuss. Amelie also began solids in earnest this past month. The first few weeks of her fourth month, we started rice cereal from time to time, but now she's eating 2-3 servings of rice per day since her 5 month birthday. Amelie is also now a proud little hip monkey....her little legs have finally given way to allow for comfortable positioning on Mommy's nice soft hip.

This month we've notice more hair growing in, although from across the room, it's hard to tell. Amelie sleeps through the night maybe 1 in 4 nights right now due to some ferocious teething issues. I'm not sure when or where those teeth are coming, but my poor baby has been complaining like there's now tomorrow for a couple of weeks now. I half expect her to pop out a dozen teeth at once given the misery they are causing her.

Amelie is a delicate girl. She is sweet. She is interested in her sister. She loves to be showered with attention, compliments, and kisses. She smiles and laughs and reaches for things...mainly faces and toys and her sister.

Right now I'm struggling with naptimes. As with Alia at the same age, Amelie hasn't really hit her stride with naps. She prefers to catnap 3-4 times per day, with one nap being an hour or 90 minutes on a good day, and the remaining naps varying between 30 and 45 minutes. Amelie normally naps in her swing in our master bathroom because it is the most remote room in the house and well-insulated from Alia's shouts and squeals. Given our poured concrete floors, our house carries noises like no other. And while it may sound like a sad place for a nap, it's quite a lovely room and very peaceful! :) Right now I'm still putting Amelie down asleep for naps...I bounce her on the ball or even feed her to sleep. I know I need to crack down on my sleep training in this regard, but I'm telling you, Amelie's cries are the saddest! And she does put herself to sleep at night every night....until she awakes in pain from teething, that is. In that case I give her 5 minutes, and then intervene with motrin or tyelenol and rock her back to sleep. I also give her a little water to wash down the medicine, and that seems to comfort her.

Amelie is not nearly as round as Alia was at this age. While she in no way is a timid eater, she is not quite so demanding of food as Alia was. As a result, I'm currently feeding her 6.5 ounces every 3 to 3.5 hours during the day and rice cereal at 11 and 4 with no night time feedings. However, if it's a particularly rough teething night, I will offer her 2 ounces of formula mixed with 2 ounces of water, but that is maybe one day per week.

Amelie has slotted into our family just as Maya predicted. She has her own personality, her on likes and dislikes, and has planted herself so deep in my heart that I cannot imagine life without her. She is sweet where Alia is sassy. She is oblivious to Alia's No-No-No finger waving in her face and answers her big sister with a huge toothless circle-smile. She is my little bald sweetie pie.

500

Happy Easter!

Today's blog marks my 500th...what do you call it...journal? blog? rantings? Well, anyway, when I started this blog a few years back, 500 entries might have seemed a little daunting. And now? I'm just glad that I've kept it going to record our lives, and to have proof that I'm trying really hard to be a good Mom when my girls are teenagers and know everything.

So. Alia now says "nope" in a very sassy way. She's 20 months old. I wonder what she'll say when she's actually 2. She also says purple, pocket, door, up....all of which were added to her ever-growing vocabulary this week. And Amelie? Gotta say...she is the sweetest of the sweetie pies. Truly.

Yesterday our friends Barry and Z came over to hang out...they brought their little guy who was born on New Years Eve. We were do honored that they asked us (and we accepted) to be the Godparents of their son. Just writing it down gives me chills up and down my arms and legs because now that I know the love that a parent feels for their child, it is without a doubt the highest compliment you can pay anyone...entrusting the upbringing of your child to them.

So that's all there's time for today...Alia has awakened from her nap so duty calls. I wish I had a sassier, quippier entry for such a special entry, but maybe it's enough to just keep writing.

Happy Easter!