Photo Dump

I really need to come up with an alternative to photo “dump.”  I just don’t like that word…  Here we are, though, with a bunch of pictures and no place for them to be, so I’m giving them a home here because I can, and also because I’m not going to be posting as much this month in general.  I’ve decided to change the blog (this time it’ll be the last time), but it will take some time to move everything, so in the meantime I want to focus on that a bit and not add too much more to this blog that will just need to be moved later.  I figure we might as well start off 2015 fresh, so that is my plan.

Anyhoo… pictures!

Alas, photos like this are a thing of the past as Enzo is waaay too loud for the cats and Phoebe is now far too mobile and doesn’t understand “gentle.”

Before she was a stair master.  We’ve had a couple of tumbles, but for the most part she can go up and down by herself.

I haven’t done a Munchkin Meals linkup in a bit, but it wouldn’t be much different then before except that Enzo has gotten a tad more picky in many ways and only ever wants pizza.  Go figure.

This lady started the day care food program this week, which thankfully saves me some time as I don’t have to pack a lunch for her now.  Food of any kind is hit or miss with Enzo, but Phoebe will try just about anything… at the very least I can count on her to eat all her fruits and veggies, so what more could you want?

These two are still hooked on firetrucks.

Yep.  It’s been a long week with much interrupted sleep, so Happy Tuesday.

Busy Bee

Our little Phoebe has always been a busy bee, but now she’s really into anything and everything, and her frustration grows when she can’t have what she wants or lack of coordination gets in the way. Most of the time she’s as happy as can be, though, just exploring or chasing after her big brother.

I love to sit and watch her brain work as she carefully picks items up and then thoughtfully examines them before putting them in her mouth to chew on, or perhaps banging them against something else, or if it’s a car decide to take it for a drive.

It’s always a mystery to me which toys will hold her interest at any given moment, but more often than not she wants what Enzo has because clearly it must be the hot ticket item of the moment or he wouldn’t be playing with it.  We’re also finally at that stage where her big brother can’t just get away with grabbing a toy from her. Some toys she may not care about, but for the most part she wants it back and has no problem trying to take it back. She is no delicate flower.

Which is good because I want her to be strong and stand up for herself.  We’re now trying to get her brother to stop teaching her how to hit, although it’s really his own fault now when she whacks him for taking her toy.  We’ll keep working on that, and in the meantime keep encouraging them to play together or at least peacefully next to each other occasionally using the same toys.

One great thing about day care is how quickly Enzo learned to play with and share with others.  That doesn’t mean he always shares nicely, but overall he does very well and we know Phoebe will learn to do the same. It’s also nice that we’re able to all play together at the same time and that Phoebe is learning so quickly.  She’s picking up new words almost daily and can point to her nose as well her mouth and say both (well, they mostly sound like they’re supposed to). She also prefers saying “Hi” over “Bye” and likes to wave and give high fives. I can only imagine what I’ll be adding in a few weeks when she’s officially 13 months old.

Send coffee… and donuts while you’re at it.

I am especially thankful for a short work week after a not so very restful night… or rather several nights.  We’re adjusting things and hoping that Enzo will not keep fighting bedtime and will also not keep waking up in the middle of the night, but in the meantime, Phoebe has also decided not to sleep through the night.  We’ve all been a bit fussy due to lack of sleep.  Remember moments like this? I do… I do.

Last night it started with an earlier bedtime for Enzo, however it was still an hour later before he finally stayed put in bed.  We think his clock may be too bright now… go figure.  However, he still woke up at midnight, so I stumbled into his room and ended up laying down with him, only to wake up at 2:00am because I could hear Phoebe squirming and fussing in her crib.  Josh was blissfully sleeping, despite the monitor by his head, so I found her pacifier and crawled back into our bed.  Around 3:00, though, Phoebe was standing up in her crib and fussing.  I may have swatted Josh a few times and told him it was his turn to get up.  Baby girl was wide awake, though. Josh changed her and she continued to stay wide awake in our bed rolling around, crawling on top of us.

Then at around 4:00, I heard Enzo again… he was back and whining at the gate in his doorway.  Up I got, and talked Enzo into crawling back into bed by agreeing to lay down with him again.  He put his hand on my arm this time – probably trying to make sure I wouldn’t get up again.  He fell asleep, though, and aroudn 4:30 I headed back to our bed… only to find Baby Girl had completely taken over my side of the bed.  I gave up and made Josh give up part of his half and managed to close my eyes for half an hour before it was time to get up.  All this to say… I’m tired and really looking forward to a short week even though it won’t mean sleeping in like it would have in the past.  Ha ha.  Maybe we can convince the kiddos to sleep until 6:00 or 7:00 if we’re lucky.  😉

Morning Routines

I used to be a morning person… even during the week I’d get up early so I had at least half an hour or so to read a book while I slowly drank my coffee and ate some breakfast and enjoyed the morning quiet all by myself. Weekends were even better because I could just read until whenever… heck, I could just read all day if I wanted to and it was magical. Magical, I tell you!

Oh, how things change.  Now I get up as late as I can, which isn’t very late… 5:00am is a horrible time of day. I shower, feed the cats and then proceed to get the kiddo’s stuff ready (bottles, breakfast, lunch) and hope that no one gets up early otherwise everything is thrown off kilter.

Granted, in the past couple of weeks since I took these photos, Phoebe is no longer on formula, and only takes one bottle of milk to day care, which saves me a few minutes in the morning. Hey, every second counts.

On a great morning the kids sleep until 6:15-6:30 and hopefully Josh is out of the shower by that time so I can start blow-drying my hair and then feed Phoebe her morning bottle because baby girl is like me and needs food in her tummy fairly quick.

 

Due to lack of time, my own breakfast usually waits until I get to work.  Enzo will wake up and depending on his mood be happy and joyful and want to watch an episode of one of his favorite shows, or will tell us all to go away and stay in bed as long as possible before wandering out and demanding a snack. He’ll either accept breakfast as an alternative or fuss for a bit if we tell him he can have breakfast, but not snacks.

At some point I’ll find time to get myself ready. Thankfully, I don’t really take that long unless I have no idea what to wear and then the morning ends with me rushing around trying to finish while helping Josh dress the kiddos and keep them amused.

Somehow we always end up somewhat rushed the last 10-15 minutes, especially now that cars need to be warmed up and the kids need to be bundled up to brace the cold.  Generally the kiddos will amuse themselves fairly well, but lately Phoebe has been a tad clingy in the morning, which can make rushing around difficult.

On the mornings when they wake up early, we are sometimes able to get out the door on time, but the morning is more stressful because we have tired, whiny munchkins to trip over, so I’d almost rather trade being late for happier kids.  One of these days I’ll hopefully work closer to the kids’ day care, which would be ideal. My office move really threw things off and added driving time.  Oh well, in the meantime we do our best to manage the chaos and as long as everyone is smiling by the time we get to day care, I call it a fairly good morning. 😉

1 Year

It’s hard to believe that our little Phoebe (or Squish as we often call her) is a year old today.  We’ve been through it before, but it never ceases to amaze me how much a baby can grow and change in just one year. Without a doubt this little lady is going to be a bit of a handful, but with her winning personality she’s practically irresistible.

Mornings can be a struggle considering she would rather not wear clothes at all and gets a bit sassy when it’s time to get dressed. Who can blame her, though? Clothes are so confining and this girl has places to go and things to do.  Her curiosity is endless and she has a stubborn independent streak. In so many ways she’s very much like her brother at this age – into everything with a naughty giggle.

When she’s not reading books (her favorite is ‘Moo, Baa, La-La-La’) she can often be found playing with hot wheels, trains, or more often than not the toy workbench where she can hammer away or just throw the tools down the stairs.  Though she’s not walking yet, she’s getting close and can go up the stairs with no problems at all.  She’s almost going down the stairs by herself (the 3 steps that separate kitchen from play room) – she still needs a little guidance getting turned around on that top step, but not for long.

One of her biggest “accomplishments” recently is finally getting some teeth!  She’s got two on the bottom and one on the top, with the other slowly following. She reminds me a little of Ellie from ‘Up’ with the one big tooth up front, but also the hair and how much I can completely see Phoebe being an outspoken, rowdy tomboy.

See the resemblance? (Just imagine the teeth, she never shows me her teeth for pictures). 😉

We’re in that stage where Phoebe still wants to be held a lot, and gets some separation anxiety from time to time.  She really wants to be independent, but it’s clear she hasn’t outgrown us yet. While not always convenient, it’s nice to be needed and it’s busy mornings and evenings where I’m so grateful that she doesn’t mind being worn.  I’m thinking we may need to end up getting a larger carrier so I can continue to wear her as she gets even older (or a fun carrier that Josh doesn’t mind wearing). 😉

Miss, Phoebe, you are and always will be our shining light.