When our kids were babies, we always sang the song “Sanctuary” before bedtime. Now that they’re older we’ve switched gears a bit to a version of, “IF YOU ASK FOR ONE MORE THING…” Nap times have always been a little different, especially Mary Virginia’s nap. For her nap I tell a story, then sing a
This month Thomas gave me a nose bleed. This isn’t completely out of the ordinary for toddlers. When David was this age he gave me a black eye. In fact, I’m sure many caregivers reading this are nostalgically remembering their own black eyes, bloody noses, and chipped teeth. That’s what living with a toddler will do
I’ve been putting off this post for a long time. There are two reasons. First, I have a lot to say. A lot. Second, I’m not sure how to say it. Describing a baby every month is different than describing a toddler. And describing a toddler is different than describing Mary Virginia. I could not, would
Thomas turned 16 months two weeks ago. I considered skipping this month entirely, but I’m going to do an update because Thomas has reached the age that all he does is change and learn and in two weeks or probably even by the time I finish typing this, he’ll be doing and saying a hundred new things.
This morning my kids woke up at 5:30 a.m. because they were SO EXCITED! SO EXCITED FOR THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! Perhaps they knew I was worried about getting out the door on time. Just doing their part to help; I appreciate it. Mary Virginia looks like she’d been crying for the past 15
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
David is five years old today. FIVE! And he still weighs less than the amount of weight I gained when I was pregnant with him. Everyone knows about the terrible twos, and then you have a three-nager. There is no similar catch-phrase for four-year olds. Or if there is I’ve never heard it. Four was such
Sometime before Thomas’s first birthday, he was standing by the couch and let go, took a few steps, and then plopped down. I watched him and willed the moment to crystalize in my memory. My baby, learning to walk right before my eyes! So beautiful! This moment is why we have children! And then he did the same thing
They way Thomas is standing, it looks like I caught him in the act of something naughty. What I caught him doing was standing. I was taking photos of his fancy three-year old sister in the front yard and I turned around and he was showing off his new trick. Thomas has been pulling up since mid-February, but he just
On her last day of school, Mary Virginia did not want to get dressed, eat breakfast, or let me fix her hair. She definitely did not want to stand on the stairs, and look directly into the sun while I took her photo. She’s dressed and on her way to school because, even though she didn’t want