summer

We went to Bri's 9 month dr. appt and one of the milestones was waving bye-bye.  I don't think (for whatever reason) that she had waved bye bye.  I didn't really care but figured we could try while we were waiting for Dr. Browne to come in...so I say, "Bri, can you wave Bye- Bye?" and she looks at me and waves and says "Bah Bah".  So I laugh...I didn't think that could really be her first phrase but I asked her to say bye- bye again and she kept waving and saying "Bah Bah".  So much for that milestone. She totally blew that one out of the water.

Right now she has a fever and it makes me sad.  She hasn't been a very sick baby.  Leah was a pretty sick baby (probably from me bringing germs home from teaching) but Bri's lucked out thus far.  She is still so happy and sweet even though she's feeling icky.

Today Auntie Erica came over and took Leah swimming in the afternoon.  She had a ton of fun.  Leah's one of the silliest kids I've seen.  She loves playing around and laughing.  My sister Jess started this thing where she makes her belly talk to her and it's so annoying but funny when Leah makes her voice really low and starts talking to people's bellies.  I told Jess that she's going to make Leah that weird kid in school, but who cares haha.  When she has us as parents, though, she's bound to be a quirky girl.

Leah's been potty training really well lately. She still says "Don't poo in this!" every time we put on a pull up or underwear.  I appreciate when she doesn't poo in it!  I hope she gets fully potty trained soon.

Over the last weekend, I had time with two of my girlfriends, Shannon and Jess, looking at shops in San Francisco.  I felt just like a girl and not a mom.  I love being a mom, but it felt really great to have the time to chat and look through stores and relax.  I definitely needed some girl time and am really grateful that Julian was so helpful in urging me to go and dropping me off/getting me from bart, etc.  I am lucky to have such a caring partner.

Bri typically only wakes once a night again...Per the Doctor telling me that my 18.5 pound 9 month old doesn't need to feed every 2 hours, I feed her at 7 when she goes to bed andthen when she wakes up about midnight....after that though, she just gets water until about 6 am.  She was pretty pissed the first night but I think she's getting the hang of it.  I just love her so much, I hate the thought of her being hungry, but it's turning out that she was just waking up out of habit and not because she was hungry.

Leah went a few weeks/months sleeping on her own but she's back to waking up and crying for Julian in the middle of the night.  Usually at bedtime she wants us both, in the middle of the night she wants Julian (I think that stems from when I couldn't sleep near her when Bri was born and only Daddy could help her bc I would be nursing Bri) and then in the morning she wants me.  So when I went in last night to lay down with her she says, "No, no no no.  Only Daddy"  I just say "Ok, baby.  I will get Daddy but can Mommy snuggle for a minute."  She let me stay withher for about an hour and then Bri needed milk and Leah wanted Daddy, so it worked out.  After we get back from our Hawaii trip, we'll work on sleep training leah again to sleep without us but it's not worth it now.  We sleep with her at my parents house (this weekend) and she'll sleep with us in Hawaii....She's a snorer though and a wild little sleeper.....throwin 'bows and kickin' faces.

Well, I need to finish the bachelorette and get to bed.  Over and out.

good times with my girls

Today a few things that happened that I would never have guessed would make me smile and laugh.  The first was when I found a pullup (Yes, I know I/she shouldn't be using them and that she should just be in underwear but um, sh*t happens.  Literally.  And I am tired of cleaning it out with my hands.) in Leah's pile that had Minnie Mouse amoungst the package of Cinderella.  I actually searched the entire box and there wasn't another Minnie one and I got bummed.

We headed off to Dance class with Bri in her big girl car seat.  We watched as Leah twirled and tried to show her teacher her painted toe nails and explain later that her daddy likes baseball.  She also explained to the class that drum sticks are not for hitting baby bri with.  At least she is learning :).    The girls in dance are already starting to form friends...Leah still loves to play and hold hands with everyone but some of the girls who are a few months older are already deciding who they want to sit next to and who they don't.  I wonder when Leah will change too...One little girl wouldn't let Leah sit by her (although Leah didn't seem to care), and I found myself unsympathetic when that girl couldn't hop hop hop over the pool noodles.  Then I had to remind myself that she's not even three yet and we will have a decade or two filled with the girls being friends and then not being friends and then including some and some being left out and I guess, at some point, I will get used to it. Or maybe I won't.  I will have to do my best to help teach her that it's good to be friends with everyone and to be nice to everyone.  After class was over, she invited a little girl out to lunch with us (I did not even know her mom's name) and to our surprise, her mom decided to meet us at Noah's bagels for a quick bite.

Once we were home, Leah refused to get out of the car. I had Bri in my arms and Leah would go from her car seat to Bri's.  I would go to Bri's side and she'd run and sit in her own seat again.  It was so frustrating running back and forth that I started laughing hysterically which just made Leah want to do it more.  I laughed so hard that I almost peed my pants.  This led to a conversation I have had to have too many times that starts with, "Leah, I am laughing because this is funny BUT, it's still not ok."  For whatever reason, she gets that...and it was enough for her to get out of the car and come in.  Go figure.

I brought a very tired Bri upstairs to nap and Leah took herself to her small potty.  "I went poo poo, Mommy!  You want to see?"  Bri was almost done eating and I didn't want to walk and nurse her to the poop and then walk and nurse her with the poop to flush in the toilet, so I thought I'd wait a minute before going over.  "Mommy, see?  I did a big poop.  It is ba-nah-nah."  Poop to her is always either a banana or jelly beans.  I can see that.  I looked up and she was walking in with the white basin from her toddler potty and she put it in my hands...well, my one hand free while the other as holding Bri nursing.  We ooohed and awed over the poop and I tried not to study it closely as I lifted bri and the potty towards the bathroom.  Leah took it upon herself to grab it and flush it her self.  Thank God she dumped it without missing.

Potty training is hit or miss....If we are at home and she can have no bottoms on (or find any bottoms to put on) then we are great.  If she has underwear on, she'll go in it.  If she has a pull up- she'll go in it.  But we celebrate our successes as we go.

Before nap, Leah asked to see my armpits.  "This ahm-pit", she lifts up and inspects.  "No hair!"  I don't know why she is so excited.  I tend to keep my pits shaved, I mean usually....  "Let me see other ahm-pit....nope. no hairs der either."  That's good because I am wearing a short sleeve shirt.

Trains

Leah likes trains a lot these days and kept asking and asking us to go on a cable car...(or Table Car as she says). Once a few months ago we rode a bus that looked like a train and she was so excited that we told her that maybe soon we could go on a Cable Car. (When we were waiting for that bus, a regular looking bus came up and she waved at it fast saying No No No Bye!) So after that we knew she'd love to go back for a Cable car ride. "Go in there? In the train? Table Car? Maybe tomorrow. next Time"....We didn't want her to have to keep saying next time so we took her this weekend. She was SO excited. We sat on the benches while Julian stood on the side. Bri was her happy self as well.

We ate at Hard Rock Cafe and I got sick from their awful salmon. My stomach is still nauseated from it today....so the cable car ride back from dinner was not enjoyable for me, but Little Leah still loved it. She didn't want to get off of the Cable Car and asked for one more minute.

Today we went to Palo Alto and I picked up a train set for her at Ikea. Julian has been wanting to build a train with her for quite some time now but it didn't quite go as planned. Instead of pushing the trains along the looped tracks, she tried instead to pick up the loop and use it as a hoola hoop. He would rebuild it and then she'd try again asking for a hoola hoop. Then, dressed up in her dress from her Auntie Erica from Thailand, holding a new doll, she stood amongst the broken train tracks and smiled and said , "Oooh, I love my dollie!" Poor Julian. He says Bri will play the train tracks with him when she's older...

We started really sleep training Bri and we've had a good go of things. Bri has been only waking up once or twice at most a night now (once a night for 2 of the days but 2 times last night). I hope it stays like this!

Leah's recent favorite thing to tell people is "Daddy has nipples!" Thank you, Leah, for sharing!!!

growing so fast

Leah turned 2 and a half this week and bri is getting close to 6 months. I can't believe how big they are getting. Bri is starting to sit up and laughs and has started sticking her tongue out and spitting which is pretty funny. She tends to scream LOUDLY when she's tired. I guess she's learned how to get attention! Other than that, she is still REALLY chill and just hangs out and is easy going. Thank God for that! She went through a patch where her sleep got really bad but it's better now.....she sleeps about 4 hours straight but up to 8. Her teeth look like they are coming in and that's bothering her.

Leah is getting to be such a good talker. Yesterday she yelled at nap time, "Mommy, can you open the door?" That has been her longest sentence. This morning she brought me glue and paper and wanted to make her Daddy a tree. She said "Make this for Daddy? Leah love daddy!"

We took the girls to Disneyland and they both had fun. Bri's face lit up and she loved watching the people and the lights. Leah loved it so much too. She enjoyed meeting the princesses (especially Rapunzel from Tangled) although now she's into the Little Mermaid a bit more. Leah's favorite ride was the Dumbo ride and it's a small world. She has been asking to go on those a lot since we've been back. Yesterday she was trying to tell me that she wanted to show Peter Pan her outfit. She got a balloon in Disneyland but was terrified of losing it that she started crying and told us to put it away. "Throw it in the gaw-bage". She even had a nightmare that she lost it and woke up crying hysterically. We showed her that it was still there and she was okay.

christmas 2011

dance class

Dance class is Leah's favorite topic these days....last weekend Santa saw Leah off to the side of his station at the mall and he waved to her. She did what she thought was appropriate and yelled out, "Dance Class!!!" and proceeded to show her some of her shuffle moves. Tonight before bed she told me, "Daddy work pay dance class?" and I said, "That's right, baby, Daddy works so he can pay for your dance class." Ths answer alone has made sense to her every time she mentions Julian goign to work instead of being here.

Bri is almost 3 months old...she's sleeping really well (5-7 hours straight still) and is a really chill baby.

Other than kicking Bri in the head....yes, she did.....Leah is adjusting much better to having Bri here. Leah loves Bri so much. I am so happy that they will have each other growing up....

Leah has a fever tonight and it's so sad to see her sick. She was crying, "Mommy? Medicine?" and her fever was 102.1. She asks for us to snuggle a lot with her these days and I love that. I hope that Bri wants to snuggle a lot with us too...I wonder if she will or not or if Leah is more cuddly bc we slept with her for so long. I will make them both cuddle with me, though, for way too long. They'll want to go out when they are 16 and I see it now>

"Mom, we want to go to our friend's house.. Can I take your car?"

"Sure, girls, but come snuggle with me first."

"No! Gaaaawwwwd! You are so unfair!"

"Well, then you can't go. Just one minute" (this makes me sad bc at night Leah asks for more minutes and I know one day I will be the one asking for more minutes).

"Ugh. God. Fine. Let's just get this over with."

*Smile*

convo

Yes, we had this conversation.

me: "sh*t, Bri just peed on me, I don't have other jeans that fit me."

julian- "so? it will dry."

me- Ok, I'll just try to wash this spot."

julian- "meh, doesn't matter."

me- "ok"