tutu much

Maggie will not take off her "princess dress" — not to eat, sleep or daydream. 

It has begun.

catch 'em if you can

I came out from putting Lydia down for a nap to find this:

In case you can't tell, it's Adam sliding goldfish crackers down measuring tape into a swaddled-Maggie's mouth. 


You know ... typical Thursday. 

So happy. 

Taking a breather.

It's coming ... focus, focus.

Goal!

hot stuff

How does Maggie feel about the 79-degree weather?


Meh.

love letters

My daughter is a nerd.


She is obsessed with her ABCs. Like, seriously obsessed. 


She sings them. She recognizes them. (There are one gajillion "Xs" on the freeway, I'll have you know.) She giggles at them. She uses funny voices to recite them. She longs to watch YouTube videos about them. 


And yes, I think she loves them so much she wants to marry them. 


She even loves letters when she thinks no one is listening, as evidenced by this sneaky audio recording we took of Mags when she was supposed to be falling asleep. (We're stealth like that.) Her room was pitch black, but nothing could keep her from basking in the light of letter love. 

moms say the darndest things

THINGS I APPARENTLY SAY TO MY DAUGHTER:
(Because, you know, she totally now says them to me.)


"It's not a toy!"


"Just a minute."


"Sure!"


"You hungry?" 
(This is, naturally, how she states that SHE is hungry. I love it too much to correct her.)


"Bye you hungry."
(I don't say this one, but Maggie does when I tell her it's not time for lunch yet. I won't be correcting this one, either.)


"Hey look at this."


"Or ... " 
(Usually after I've offered a suggestion for lunch.)


"How 'bout this one?"


"Don't bite it!"


"I'm coming, Lydi!" or "It's OK, Lydi!" 
(Said to Lydi when she cries. And don't worry — Maggie likes to cry while she's saying it. Sister solidarity? Try, "That's so super annoying, Lydi.")


"Oh so pretty!"


"No splashing!"


"What did you do?!"


"Crying's not gonna help you." 
(Typically said whilst she's sobbing, of course. But my favorite moment? When she told a tearful Lydia that crying wasn't going to help her, either. It's hard out there for a toddler.) 

take five

Oh, hello.

Five things I've learned from being a mother of two (so far) ...


1. You will call each child by the other child's name. A lot. 


2. If you AND your two girls are all crying at the same time, your husband will laugh good naturedly whilst simultaneously praying your third child will be a boy. (Not that this has ever happened to me.)


3. Sometimes I pray (like, literally pray) no one will ever knock on my door for fear that they'll see my house between designated "pick up after Maggie" times. Or, you know, for fear that they'll catch me in my pajamas. At 11 a.m. 


4. Matching sister PJs are ah-dorable. But if both children are indeed babies — and you attempt to take a picture of them whilst being alone (rookie alert!) — it's so not gonna happen. 

See ya, sister.

5. My heart almost can't handle all this love. It's kind of totally insane. 

listing lydia

Have you met my Lydi? You should. 


She's little, she's lovely, and she's, oh, so listable. (And we all know how I feel about lists.)


1. Lydia is a cuddler. She'll sleep anywhere, but she prefers your chest or shoulder, thank you very much. 


2. Oh, and sleeping? She LOVES it. This 4-week-old is already giving me six-hour stretches at night. (Do you think this has anything to do with us threatening her in the womb?)


3. She reminds me so much of newborn Maggie. She even pulls some of the exact same faces Maggie did at this age. It makes my heart burst. 


4. Lydi's obsessed with being tightly swaddled — just like Maggie was. Have you seen these swaddle blankets? I'm almost positive they're the reason my girls love to sleep.


5. She is greeted every morning to Maggie sprinting into her room screaming, "Good morning, Lydia!" It's very soothing, I'm sure. 


6. She loves to stick her legs out crazy straight and up in the air. She actually did it moments after being born, which the nurses thought was hilarious.


7. Lydi's labor and delivery was as sweet as she is. Makes me want to give birth 100 times. 


8. She forgave me for sobbing at random the week after she was born, since I get weepy for circa six days after I have babies. (Makes me want to re-think the 100 births. Oh, hormones.)


9. Lydia's middle name is Carol — after Adam's mom. Both my girls are named after their grandmas (Mags is Margaret Diane), and it makes me so, so happy. I can't wait for them to realize the incredible women they're connected to.  


10. She's already being a good sport about me taking hundreds of pictures of her for Lydia by the Week. (Yep! I'm doing it again.) If you're not careful, the cuteness will make you week in the knees. 


Here are some outtakes from Week 4 (with fake captions by Lydia, obviously).

"Let's do this, yo."

"What pose should I do next?"

"Pensive — always a winner."

"What the what?"

 "Oh, you wanted a smile, didn't you? Typical."