to the left

Every time Miss Lydia falls asleep, she turns her head to the left. It doesn't matter if she is in her chair or in the co-sleeper, or which way she is turned in the co-sleeper. When she's really going to sleep, her head is always turned to the left.

On a few occasions, she has actually slept in her crib. When she does, we have to check on her quite often ...

things she said, part ii

Graham was sitting with Eden in the bathroom while she was on the potty. I walked into the hallway with my camera, and she said,

"Mom, can I have some privacy? Don't take my picture while I'm naked."

At bedtime, talking to Graham ...

"Dad, in the morning will you play Winnie the Pooh with me?"
G: " Yeah, baby, I'll play Winnie the Pooh with you in the morning."
E: "Ok. Is it morning yet?"

During the day at different times ...

"Mom, I wish Daddy didn't have to work everyday. Wish he could stay here all day with us."

"You know, I like being here with just you. Daddy doesn't have to come home from work."

As we pulled into the church parking lot ...

"I don't think I'm gonna go to Sunday School. I'm probably going to cry a lot and probably scream a lot because I will miss you. So, I'll just stay with you instead. That's a good plan. Okay?"

So, she stayed with me while I nursed Lydia in the nursery and sat in a chair right beside the rocking chair I was in and read some books.

She has also started calling me Mother when she gets a bit agitated ... Yes, Mother. She got this from a scene in the classic Winnie the Pooh where Roo gets agitated with his mother, Kanga. She keeps telling me she likes saying mother.

Getting ready to go to church ...

Me: Do you want to take Georgia to church today?
E: No.
Me: Do you want to go get one of your friends [stuffed animals] to take with you?
E: No. We can just take Lydia. She's my best friend.

Instead of saying tomorrow, she always says "after this night" ... as in "After this night, are we going to school?"

At bedtime on the third day of school,

"Momma, I wish you could stay with me and teach me things. I wish you could stay all day." Made me just about want to become her preschool teacher.


While pretending to write a letter on a notepad while Graham and I were in the room, she started reading the letter outloud while "writing" ...

Dear Daddy,
Thank you for going swimming with me today.
Thank you for taking me to Whole Foods. Thank you for the pizza and icecream.
I love you.

Dear Momma,
I love you very much. I love you alllll the time.
Thank you for playing with me.
Amen.

first day of school

Monday marked Eden's first day of school for this new year. She is in the Swinging Monkey's class with Ms. Janet and Ms. Kyra. She started to get excited on Thursday night - although she was sick she got to "meet" her teachers. I went to orientation and, on Ashley's recommendation from CC, took a video camera. I filmed her teachers saying hello to her - she watched each video a hundred times before bed and smiled big every time. By the time we got to school on Monday she forgot I even brought her - had to ask for a hug and kiss ... drastic shift from last year. Also a big change is the way she looks ... holy cow!

The report at the end of day 1 was that she is a great listener and a joy to have in their class. On day 2, she was the line leader, aka the top banana, and got to walk with her teachers. She loved it!

Lydia was also excited - getting to spend some QT with mom. Ashley is teaching 2 online classes and only goes to campus Monday and Wednesday at 3:00 for one traditional class - so I also get a little QT with my girls while Ashley is teaching ...

Other recent firts include ... my first invited luncheon keynote speaker (first time wearing a new seersucker suit and purple tie, too)...

first solo ride in the inglesina stroller ...

Here is Eden on one of her first rides @ a year old ...

first painters' tape "car seat" ...

and first time pretending to be Kanga and Roo ...

some other firsts this week:

• first blowout diaper from Lydia, Ashley couldn't figure out what was on her hand
• first time Eden said, "No, I don't want to wear that bow; I already wore it. I want ... ... this one." -- Ashley says it's so much easier to just dress her without comments
• first time I took the girls by myself outside of the house. We went to Whole Foods. Lydia was quiet most of the time, sleeping in the Baby Bjorn. Before we left, however,  I had to sit in the food court and feed her a bottle while Eden asked to eat everything we had just purchased in the store.
• Lydia rolled over from her stomach to her back. She was doing tummy-time on her elephant pillow with her arms tucked in and flipped over three times.
  
  

today

the play mat

Our newest purchase is a large play mat with lots of hanging toys, lights, music, tummy time mirror, and elephant pillowgiven to us by Ashley's Uncle Chip and Aunt Linda ...

Eden likes to lie down with Lydia and show her all the cool stuff ...

... and Lydia likes to smile at her helpful big sister.

the swing

Lydia also likes to take naps in her swing ... if it looks familiar it belonged to her big sister ...

Her first attempt lastest just a few minutes ....

For a while she napped in her swing, the motion seemed to soothe her ...

Now, she just chills in it every now and then ...

the chair

When Lydia first came home, we had trouble getting her to sleep any way other than slightly upright. We did not have a mechanism for the co-sleeper, and most everything we could find was only suitable for 8 lbs and up ... everything except this chair ... this magical chair.

Ashley looked online for a store with it in stock between here and Jackson - there was one, but when Chip and Christy got to the store the only color they had was fuschia and black ... which Ashley said would not go with our decor. Chip surprised us by going to the Target in Jackson (on his own) to get this one and brought it to us when Lydia was a week old ... and it has worked wonderfully ever since.

She slept in the chair exclusively for the first 3 months. Then we transitioned to her co-sleeper. We now use the chair for nap time when she won't settle in her crib. It is highly portable, rocks, is light weight, and convenient ... all in all, a great gift!

last day of summer, first day of work

Last Friday was our last day of summer.

I told Graham it was our last real day of summer because it was the last weekday untainted by the official work of the semester. It ended up being a really great day spent at home with my girls.

I had been reading some about breastfeeding (from "Child of Mine: How to Feed with Love and Good Sense" by Ellyn Satter - love the perspective she offers) and was determined to try really hard with Lydia that day. So, after her morning nursing, I kept her awake and entertained and then swooped in to swaddle and rock her at the first real signs of her being tired. After rocking just a few minutes, I put her down drowsy in her crib in her room with the sound machine on. I did have to go back in and shoosh her and give her her paci, but she took a nap on her own in her own bed!! She took three real naps that day by herself -- one of them was a few hours long!! It was amazing.

Eden and I enjoyed our time together during Lydia's naps. We went for a short walk in front of the house, picked flowers from the garden, ate lunch at the table, and played a lot. We also made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and ate them warm for our afternoon snack. Yum.

While we were sitting at her little kitchen table next to the window, she said while gazing out, "I really like just being here with you, Momma." It was awesome -- It took all summer to get there, but it was one of those days that made me think I could really do this stay-at-home thing.

Monday was my first real day of work.

I woke up that morning and everything felt different. It felt as if the air and energy had shifted overnight -- as if summer had slipped away while I was asleep. Made me a bit sick to my stomach. I found out later that a front had actually come through on Sunday night bringing slightly lower temps. I wasn't crazy, but it was still a weird experience.

Eden could also sense something was different. She lost it when Graham left for work that morning even though he has gone to work nearly every day this summer.

Thankfully, my mom came into town before lunch on Monday to keep the girls while I went to a few meetings on campus. She brilliantly brought some "surprises" for Eden that could only be opened once I went to work. Eden had been saying all morning that she didn't want me to leave. A little while after CC mentioned the surprises, Eden said, "Can you go to work now?" It was a great way to start the semester. I'm lucky to have a brilliant mom.

So, I got all showered and dressed and attempted to do my hair like Whitney had done it. I went to campus hopefully looking like I had it all together. I left campus thinking, "I really like this ... I can do this." That feeling didn't last too long once I realized I had overlooked a faculty meeting, but at least I felt that way for awhile.

We spent the next day playing and shopping for some clothes that actually fit me. I successfully nursed Miss L mid shopping in a dressing room, and found some good things to start the semester with. With CC along, I actually got to ride the carousel with Eden. I just stared up at Eden and her smile as we were circling around on the carousel. As we left the ride, Eden wrapped her arms around my neck and said, "Momma, I am so glad you are here with me." It was awesome.

Just as I did last year, I'll end this with a letter to my dear friend ... ...

Dear Summer,

Why did you have to disappear so soon?

We have been challenged by you this year -- our very first summer as a family of four. You have been amazing, hard, tiring, exciting, joy-filled, at times a bit depressed, unorganized, full of family and love, and have been the most emotional and thankful summer I've ever had.

Please come back soon.

Love,
Eden and Lydia's Momma

Happy Birthday, Aunt Beverly!

Few months go by that don't include a USPS box arriving at our front door and a 3 year old getting extremely excited about her new books. Recently, one of our gifts in the mail included the instructions to get a special baby gift from Aunt Beverly for Miss Lydia. We decided that one of the things that Lydia (and Ashley and Eden) really needed was a new stroller that could hold both of our girls at the same time.  

Since Eden's room is full of Aunt Beverly presents, we had planned to film Eden giving a tour of her room and along with the new stroller as a present for Aunt Beverly's birthday today (we hear she is turning 5 which is what Eden says when you ask how old someone is). Then, around 6:00 last night, Eden started complaining about being tired ... come to find out she had a 102 fever.

We are sure Miss E will be better soon, and we promise to make and post that video shortly ... until then, these pictures of the new stroller are quite cute.

As you can tell, both Eden and Lydia enjoy it ... Lydia tends to fall asleep almost the instant Ashley starts pushing it down the street on their daily neighborhood walk. Eden really loves being able to check on her little sister. In fact, Eden has asked for a double stroller for a while now - before Lydia was born we were in Babies-R-Us trying them out for 20 minutes and Eden still wanted more!

And Ashley and I really love this particular model because it fits in the trunk of our cars and through all standard doorways without fail. Thank you, Aunt Beverly!

cousins weekend and first girls-only drive

The weekend before Lydia's Christening Ashley took the girls up to Jackson for a cousins weekend - the first time they drove long distance without me ... the story is that Lydia slept the entire time while Eden was content until 20 minutes outside of Jackson when they stopped for lunch. Crazy!

Here are the famous Fable and Ever (and their mom, Allison) from whom we get all the wonderful clothes seen on this blog.

There was lots of swimming (Eden has mad new skills after her lessons including knowing how to put her goggles on her forehead when not using them)...

...and lots of hanging out, snuggling on the couch.

{Eden said she was being a baby, hence not smiling in the picture above.}

...and just general goofing around, playing doctor, and having a good time.

Can you tell that Ever is about to have a baby in the pictures below? Of course Eden had to take down notes while being the doctor.