24 months

24 months

Most families don’t talk about this, but there is usually one family member that takes up most of the energy and patience. Sometimes it’s the oldest, sometimes it’s the toddler, sometimes it’s the mom. For the past month, it’s been the almost-two-year-old. It happened out of nowhere. One day I was talking with Tom’s mom

Read More

23 months

23 months

Have you heard the joke about the interrupting cow? It’s one of my favorite jokes, and it goes like this: A: Knock, knock. B: Who’s there? A: The interrupting cow. B: The inte- A: MOOO! Living with Anna feels like living inside that joke, all the time. Anna isn’t talking a ton yet, but it’s

Read More

22 months

22 months

Anna is 22 months old, but I’ve started telling people that she’s almost two. When David was Anna’s age he had a baby sister, was about to start preschool, and was running for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates. Anna’s almost two. It’s high time all you people accept that she’s not a

Read More

20 months

20 months

A lot happened this month, but few things are more monthly-update-worthy than international travel. After flying with a 20-month old I can confidently say, zero out of five stars DO NOT RECOMMEND. It’s not that she screamed the entire time, it’s just that she didn’t stop moving, not once. She seemed like she was in

Read More

17 months

17 months

Last month, when Anna turned 16 months, I decided I’d skip her monthly update. She had just broken her arm (somewhere, Mary Virginia is correcting me, “IT’S HER WRIST!”) and she was whining a little more and sleeping a little less. Plus, she decided she couldn’t feed herself and so for the first time in

Read More

15 months

15 months

At Anna’s 15-month well-visit last week, the nurse let me know that my happy, smiling, gurgling baby had a low grade fever. Um, excuse me, what? A few minutes later we had a diagnosis of two bulging ear infections, one emerging molar, and an otherwise growing, healthy bald baby girl. Happy 15 months, Anna! I

Read More

14 months

14 months

Recently we visited a friend one afternoon, and when we got home I exhaled dramatically, “WHEW! That was crazy! That house is NOT set up for a toddler!” We’d spent the entire evening chasing Anna around their house, keeping her from the stairs, out of the toilet, away from drawers and cabinets and from pulling

Read More

10 months

10 months

As I type this, everyone in Richmond is traveling from grocery store to grocery store, looking for bottled water and batteries in preparation for Hurricane Florence. And me? I’m prioritizing my girl’s 10-month update, because my neighbor told me that the last time a storm this big came through, our neighborhood lost power for TWELVE

Read More

9 months

9 months

Anna is nine months old, but when I sat down to write this post I accidentally wrote “8 months” in the title. I don’t think you can blame me. No one, not anyone, could be expected to keep track of the months when they’re moving as fast as this. I’m not exactly sure what happened

Read More

8 months

8 months

There comes a time in every baby’s life when they realize they are destined to be bipeds — descendants of homo erectus. As soon as the baby realizes this, it is the only thing they can think about. Practicing standing becomes the baby’s only focus, their sole pastime. It’s their browser home screen, their phone

Read More

7 months

7 months

When people read the title of this post, I imagine them doing the same thing I did, “Seven months? That can’t be right.” Then holding up their fingers to count off the months, “November, December, January, February…” Sure enough, seven months with sweet Anna Leigh. But it can’t be seven months… (By the time I

Read More

Month sixty

Month sixty

Mary started preparing for her birthday weeks in advance. She decorated our house with little scraps of paper stuck in cabinet doors and along our shelves. She accessorized her stuffed animals with special clips and jewelry, and she did what Mary does best: she verbally processed. She talked about who to invite, what she would

Read More

5 months

5 months

Tom’s dad has always called Anna Banana. I mean, almost everyone calls her that but he really commits to a nickname. One day he was holding Anna, saying, “Hi Banana! Such a sweet banana!” David walked by and said, “Pops, why are you calling her ‘Banana?’ She doesn’t look like a banana, she looks like

Read More

4 months

4 months

Even though I still feel like Anna was born yesterday, or maybe even five minutes ago, this month she has transformed. She is no longer my sweet, cuddly newborn, but a babbling baby that chews on her fingers and trills when she smiles. So many of the parts of the newborn stage that were so,

Read More

3 months

3 months

Anna is three months old, and the best way I can sum up the past month is: everything has changed, and everything has stayed the same. Certain things are the same. Anna still prefers to be held, fights naps, and wakes up at least twice at night to eat. And just like every other month

Read More

2 months

2 months

We call her fat face. It’s a nickname that stays in the family, though. We wouldn’t want it falling into the wrong hands and resurfacing just in time for middle school. But, for now, if the shoe fits, ya know? This month sweet Anna Leigh had her second cold, celebrated her first Christmas, started smiling,

Read More

1 month

1 month

On the weekend before Anna turned one month old, we got a snowstorm. In the morning we had bacon and pancakes, then bundled up to go outside. Tom helped the kids make an adorable snowman family in our yard (Mary Virginia’s snowgirl is holding snowbaby, Anna) and then everyone came in and warmed up with

Read More

Month 24

Month 24

Thomas turned two over a month ago, but still whenever he hears the word “birthday” he immediately shouts, “IT’S MY BIRFDAY!” Nothing starts a fight in our family like someone saying it’s their birthday. Almost IMMEDIATELY Mary Virginia says, “NO IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!” and David shouts that it’s actually almost Berkley Grace’s birthday! And then

Read More

Month 23

Month 23

Thomas turned 23 months old this week. Since I didn’t write a 22-month update, I’m left with the task of writing about all the way he’s changed in the past two months, which is an impossible task my friend. Toddlers. All they wanna do is grow. One thing I realized while preparing this post is that

Read More

Month 19

Month 19

Last week I was home alone with Thomas, and he was chasing Brigham around the house. Then I saw Brigham walk casually into the living room without Thomas behind him. I looked around the corner and didn’t see Thomas. I kept walking and Thomas was no where. This happens all the time. I lose Thomas

Read More

Month 17

Month 17

Oh jeez, where do I even begin? Thomas is 17 months old, which means we’ve survived another month. Another month of doing nothing but putting things away and taking Thomas off the table. And while we’re taking him off the table? He’s emptying our drawer of cloth napkins. And while I’m franticly throwing the (unfolded) napkins back

Read More

Sixty months

Sixty months

David is worried about getting older because he’s worried that, when he grows up, he’ll like hot sauce and football. He sees how his father and his father’s friends consume hot sauce and football and so it seems inevitable that eventually his weekends will be full of Sriracha and shouting, “COME ON! THAT WAS HOLDING!” And yet, that didn’t keep

Read More

Month 15

Month 15

This month Thomas got a new nickname. We’re calling him Screamy. And it’s not an affectionate nickname or a clever nickname, it is a very literal nickname given by two parents who are exhausted by a sweet little imp named Screamy. Thomas has hit his stride as a toddler. He’s realized that though he is

Read More

Month 14

Month 14

Thomas is 14 months old. By the time his siblings were 14 months old, I was already pregnant, and so they both remember month 14 as “the month Mommy fell asleep.” But this time I’m not pregnant, and I’m still exhausted. Which makes me wonder, was I exhausted the past two times because of pregnancy?

Read More

Month 12

Month 12

This is Thomas’s 12-month update, even though he’s 13 months and two days old. I wrote most of it when he was 12 months — before his birthday, before we moved, before Mary Virginia’s birthday — and then it sat unfinished in my drafts folder. Even though he’s 13 months old, and he’s standing on his

Read More

Month 11

Month 11

I usually try to keep these posts under, say, 5,000 words, but I can’t make any promises this month. Month 11 has been big. HUGE. Thomas has been BUSY and there is a lot to catch up on. He’s hitting milestones like a college senior who checked the syllabus on the last week of the semester and

Read More

Month 10

Month 10

Before I say anything else, I want to say this — month 10 has been so fun. The weather has been warm, and we’ve been playing outside. Thomas is learning more and he’s the happiest, sweetest baby ever. But month 10 has also been brutal. It started with me getting sick. Very, very sick. Sicker than I’ve ever been.

Read More

Month 9

Month 9

This has been a big month for Thomas. I’d even say it’s been “full of firsts” except that’s what I said last month. I suppose Thomas has hit the stage where all he does is learning and growing. A few days ago, I was cooking and Thomas and David were in the living room. I stuck my

Read More

Month 8

Month 8

Things are a little crazy around here, so this will be quick. But because every day is so hectic, keeping up with these updates actually feels like more of a priority. Since I don’t have time to give him actual individual attention, the least I can do is write a couple hundred words each month. Also, I

Read More

Month 6

Month 6

Thomas is six months old, and I can hardly believe it. Six months is when things start to change, it’s the edge of when your baby becomes something entirely different. They start to eat solids, sit up, and soon he will crawl. In no time my sweet little ball of sunshine will be a mobile,

Read More

Month 5

Month 5

I think Thomas has hit the cutest baby stage. But I thought that last month, too. I thought, “No way this baby could get more adorable IT IS NOT POSSIBLE!” But then he nuzzled his head under my chin and giggled as if to say, “You thought I was cute before? Watch this, Ma!” He is

Read More

Month 4

Month 4

Every month before I write these, I go back and read about Thomas’s siblings at the same age (Mary Virginia, David) and here’s what I’ve learned: Thomas is big like his brother, sweet like his sister, and like both of his siblings, he looks great in blue. He looks enough like his siblings that I’m hoping

Read More

Forty-eight months

I started a draft of this post back in June, because I figured that’d give me enough time to create a snapshot of David, my biggest boy. Since then I’ve been procrastinating and now this post is a whole month late. It’s because it took me that long to realize the task is impossible; a personality can never be

Read More

Month 3

Month 3

I love month three. It’s when you get your first real glimpse of your baby’s personality as they start to shake of their newborn newness. It’s all so wonderful that I almost don’t mind that my hair has started falling out by the handful. At the very end of this month, Thomas started sucking on his fingers and waving

Read More

Month Twenty-four

Month Twenty-four

Before I begin, I’d like to answer the two questions people keep asking me about Mary Virginia. First, Mary Virginia has been sleeping like a champion. A CHAMPION. Well, ok. Maybe not a champion, but she’s been sleeping like a normal toddler. She wakes occasionally at night, but no one is singing nursery rhymes from midnight to

Read More