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
Every morning the kids wake up way earlier than they have to. Then, for two full hours, they chase their tails until the five minutes before they have to leave for the bus when they scramble to find shoes and jackets. We have a checklist, we have alarms, we have reminders. And yet almost every
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
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
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
As I sit down to write this, Anna is babbling in her crib. I put her to bed five minutes ago, and I’m wondering what will happen. Will toddler Anna babble and play and put herself to sleep? Or will baby Anna babble, and fuss, and cry, and eventually need Mama to come in and
Anna is 18 months old and she is as independent in the pool as an 18-month old can be. She can jump in, she goes down the slide, and she kicks herself where ever she needs to go. When David was a baby, he was happiest in the water. It was so much fun to
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
We spent so much of spring break doing yard work that I barely recognize myself. Or my yard. The last time we did any significant yard work was the same week I cut my thumb, nearly two years ago. Since then our yard is making our house look increasingly abandoned. We got a giant load
We started spring break at the passport office and ended it at the orthopedist’s office. No new injuries this time, we were there to get Anna’s cast taken off.(Or as Tom’s dad said, “They peeled Anna Banana!”) Thankfully, her fracture has completely healed and we’ve moved on to the “remember when Anna had a cast?”