Family: The Best Gift of All

We had a fun-filled holiday week with the entire family. I now understand why my Mom and Dad always ask for "the family to be together" as their gift. It was so much fun seeing our kids interact with their cousins. Spending time with everyone reinforced that my sisters and I are doing the right things with our families to carry on the tradition of a close-knit, low-drama, very functional family.



We spent Christmas Eve with extended family. Bean was in awe of her third cousins. They welcomed her at their table.



Squeaker got some up close time with her 2-month-older cousin, Sam. They wrestled on Christmas Day, and then power napped in nature at the River on the 26th.







Nana helped Bean learn about the tradition of decorating the tree.

Christmas Gifts

We woke up up Christmas morning at 8 o'clock (thank you, Santa, for granting my Christmas wish to sleep late), and enjoyed watching Bean and Squeaker cuddle on T & T's sofa before heading to OpaNana's.

The kids had so much fun opening their stocking and Santa gifts that we pretty much stopped after that. Kate loved her keyboard, headlamp, airplane, books, apron, dress from Grandma, Taki bear, and ballerina stuff.

The Famous Film Director, Pepe Le Snack

My brilliant husband has been directing, filming, and editing our Holiday Video Card. You heard it right, folks. You'll be getting a link to a video from us this year instead of a traditional snail mail card. Now you can't put the video on your wall or mantle with all those other cards, but I guarantee you that the video will be the coolest holiday greeting you've ever received.

Director Husband's been wearing a new driving cap, and he looks tre frenchy. I've been calling him Pepe Le [insert funny word here] for a few days now. The name that's stuck is Pepe Le Snack. Can you hear it? The Oscar for best Holiday Video Card goes to... Pepe Le Snack!

Waking Up on the Right Side of the Crib

About half the time, Bean wakes up in a grumpy mood. Squeaker, on the other hand, is all smiles after sleep. Especially when she's greeted by Mom AND Bean like today. Check out the pure happiness.

How was your day?

On the days that Bean goes to daycare, we always ask her "How was your day?"

Yesterday, she answered "Connie." Connie is one of her babysitters, so we clearly knew that she understood the question.

She followed up with the statement "Popcorn." Translation: "we had popcorn at daycare today."

And she finished up her answer with the word "Laura." Laura is her other babysitter.

Comprehension and memory! SATs here she comes...

Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, Love All

Husband turned me on to this inspirational video. We're not practicing a religion right now, but the ideas in this video really hit home for us. Our extended families have adopted "Spend Less" holiday policies, but we need to work on adding the "Give More" component. Watch it--you'll like it!

Even Smart Girls Like Pretty Shoes

Squeaker got some very pretty new shoes this weekend (thanks, Nordstrom). Keeping socks on an infant is IMPOSSIBLE, and I thought booties might help. They do!

Magnificent Birthdays

Our weekend got off to a fun (kidless dinner out with our favorite neighbors at our favorite Mexican restaurant) then not-so-fun (post Mexican food 12-hour stomach bug) start on Friday night.

But then on Saturday, NanaOpa arrived for a quick visit. By the way, Bean calls her grandma & grandpa by one word: "NanaOpa." Their visit was magnificent! Highlights:

1. NanaOpa drive 14 hours to bring us a beautiful hutch/buffet handmade from the wood of the tree that Husband and I were married under.
2. Bean dances in circles with excitement at NanaOpa's arrival.
3. Husband's birthday breakfast of eggs, sausage, and cinnamon rolls.
4. Husband's and Opa's birthday dinner of buffalo tenderloin with morel cream sauce, mashed potatoes, spinach salad with mushrooms and warm lemon dressing, and skillet apple pie with cinnamon ice cream.
5. Singing the Happy Birthday song 4 times because Bean liked it so much.
6. Sharing Bean and Squeaker with NanaOpa.

We caught a few highlights on film, including Bean making the Hook 'Em sign.

And Bean helping Husband and Opa open gifts.

Still a Peanut

Squeaker had her 4-month checkup today, and she's still small. Hard to believe with the genes she's got, but she's in the 17th percentile for height (23"), 25th for weight (12 lbs 2 oz), and 30th for head circumference (40"). She's on track developmentally, and was healthy overall today.

100 Words

We don't spend much time around other kids, so our perspective on toddler development is pretty skewed. I do get a monthly email from BabyCenter that includes some average developmental milestones. Friday's BabyCenter email said that the average vocab for a 22-month-old is 20 words.

"20 words? You've got to be kidding!" husband said. "Bean knows WAY MORE than 20."

So we decided to count. Not that we're competitive or anything ;), but we decided to write down all the words we heard Bean say this weekend. Our rules were that we would only count words we heard (not words we have heard in the past), and we wouldn't count mimicking (because she does a TON of that). Basically, she had to use the word independently and in the proper context. We weren't super diligent about capturing every word, but we easily made it past 100.

"She's BRILLIANT!" husband concluded. I'm more conservative in my judgment: a little gifted.

I think the most telling thing about this experiment is that we had nothing better to do than track our child's speech for a whole weekend.

Bean Do

Bean's sense of herself is growing daily. She has preferences now about what she eats, what she wears, her hairstyle, what she watches on TV... the list goes on an on. Her love of the digital camera is especially telling. When we bring it out these days, she immediately insists "Bean, Bean" meaning that she wants to see herself in the viewfinder. She wants us to take her picture and show it to her. We took this video today just after Nana had called. Bean watched the video about 10 times on the computer and would have watched more if we had let her.



Squeaker, too, is becoming more aware of herself. She's found her voice and likes to have conversations. She and Bean had this one today in the crib.

Heaby and Other Adjectives

Bean is quite good at the 2-word, noun-verb sentences these days:

• "Squeaker sleeping."
• "Daddy work."
• "Papou drop." (translation: Papou dropped a piece of ice on the floor, and I want to pick it up.)
• "Mommy face." (translation: Mommy makes funny faces in the mirror.)

She's started adding in adjectives: soft, hot, cold, empty, dirty, sticky, juicy, yummy, etc. By far, her favorite and most used adjective is "heaby" aka "heavy." Anything that is difficult, heavy, or hard is "heaby." Just today we heard "heaby" in the following scenarios:

• Climbing onto the recliner with Mom.
• Pulling up her pants WAY above her belly button.
• Jamming Squeaker's tiny sock onto Bean's large-by-comparison foot.
• Lifting her bag of lego-like blocks.
• Unfastening the snappy crotch on her overalls.

It is HEABY not to laugh everytime Bean says HEABY. :)

Happy Feeling Fat Day

Sister Laura sent me a text today that said "Happy Feeling Fat Day." And we are feeling fat! Smoked turkey, turkey gravy, Pritchard Cornbread Dressing, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, mashed potatoes, cranberries, green beans with butter and parmesan, homemade rolls, pumpkin pie, and cherry pie. Whew! It was a great dinner.

We're enjoying our visit with Husband's family. The girls have had lots of laughs and smiles with Papou, Grandma, and Uncle Chris. In fact, Squeaker said her first word. Listen closely for "Hi."



Squeaker is getting really good at the SMILES.



We attempted an all family photo, but this is the best we did.

Granny Panties Smother Husband And Other News of the Weird

Baby Runs Control Center for Stock Market



Wonder why your investments are in the tank? Could be that they let babies run the systems.



This baby earned so much money stealing from the middle class that she bought the designer hat in the picture.

Toddler Turns Into Fish



Your Mom always said if you make that face too long, it will stay that way.

Granny Panties Smother Husband



When folding clothes, Dear Husband likes to introduce a little fun by ALWAYS putting my panties on his head. I keep telling him that when we're 80, the panties are going to smother him. Just wait!

I'm a Normal WOHM

We've been struggling with some mundane things around our house since the birth of Squeaker:

1. Getting out of the house in the morning. No matter how early we get up, it seems like we can't get everyone dressed, fed, packed and out of the house earlier than about 8:15. I consider myself pretty organized, but 3 times I have forgotten to take Squeaker's bottle to the sitter's, twice I have forgotten parts to my breast pump, and once I've forgotten my security badge for work. When I do the kid drop off, I look like a Sherpa with my computer bag, breast pump bag, Squeaker's bag of milk and bottles, and the car seat with Squeaker. It's a lot of crap. I'm very into makeovers, so if anyone has suggestions on how to makeover my morning, I'd love to hear them.

2. Doing anything in the evening other than eating, Bean's bedtime, and watching TV. Both girls require constant attention until bedtime. Thankfully, Bean's is around 7, but Squeaker doesn't go down until about 9. This means that until 9 one of us is holding Squeaker while the other tries to clean up the kitchen and prep for the next day. If we haven't gone to the grocery store the weekend before, we are almost certainly playing refrigerator survivor or doing take out. I used to work an hour or two most evenings, but I almost never have the time or energy anymore. We try to eat as a family most evenings which means mealtime is not a time for quality adult interaction.

I go on about these things because they relate to my excitement about my plans last night. I was invited to a dinner with 5 other working out of the house Moms (WOHMs). Eager to hear advice on how to better manage the elusive work/life balance, I have been looking forward to the dinner for a couple of months. The dinner was bit of a bust but highly indicative, I believe, of how normal it is to struggle with the juggle.

We had reservations at 6:30 for 6. At 6:30, 3 of us were there. #4 WOHM had called and said her youngest of 4 had woken up from a nap with her eyes swollen shut, so she was contemplating a visit to urgent care. #5 WOHM called while we were waiting to be seated, and said she and #6 were going to be at least an hour late because her sitter had canceled and she was trying to find a backup. Apparently, #5's husband isn't a pitch-in kind of guy. Against their policy, the restaurant seated the 3 of us at a table for 6. We enjoyed apps, wine, and talk while waiting for #5 and #6 to arrive. At about 8, we still hadn't ordered and we were still a party of 3.

And then, my husband called. With apologies and baby screaming in the background, he said that baby had been wailing for about 45 min, wouldn't eat, and seemed to be laboring to breathe. So I left the restaurant and left 2 at the table for 6. Squeaker is fine, but I did the right thing by cutting my night short.

So I didn't learn if any of the working Moms drive minivans (sorry, Nana), but I did learn:
1. I'm super lucky to have a husband who's an equal parent.
2. Families with nannies have it easier on the getting-out-of-the-house front.
3. Husband and I are fortunate that we have flexible work situations so that we can be late.
4. The sense that everything in life is a compromise and less-than-perfect is totally normal.
5. And I'm not doing so bad as a working Mom. :)

Oh The Plague

The plague that was in Aunt Laura's house recently has made its home here. Fever, coughing, the runs (ughh), snotty noses, blech. Everyone but me has it. Can I avoid it? Does mild sleep deprivation increase your immunities?

A Good Hair Day

With the all-knowing and superior tone of a Big Sister, Bean uttered her 2nd or 3rd sentence ever when she leaned into Squeaker this morning and informed her "Mama dry hair."

Bean insisted on getting in the tub with Squeaker tonight, and then very carefully helped me wash Squeaker's hair. It was adorable!



Just saw several pics from our visit to Austin. Check out the pig tails on the Bean. Nana makes Bean have good hair!

More Magnificence = Less Multi-tasking

I thought it might be a few days for Post #2, and then Baby #2 (a.k.a. The Squeaker) demanded an earlier than usual nighttime snack. So here I am, sitting on the sofa and typing. I'm amazed at how adept I've become at typing one handed and feeding/holding/comforting an infant. I just had a late-night revelation that my life would probably be more magnificent if I did less multi-tasking.

Since I realize that some of you will be reading my Blog not for this narcissistic blather but to view photos of Squeaker and The Bean (Baby #1), here's a cutie of both girls.

Dear Diary

My hopes and dreams for this blog are that 1) I enjoy posting so much that I do it instead of some other time-suck like TV, 2) I capture some of the fleeting joy in my life brought on by all the fabulous people in my life, and 3) I post at least once a week (I must, I must, I must post to my blog)!

Late adopter and luddite,
POB