Snaggletooth.

For some reason, Bea’s teeth have decided to arrive in a charmingly lopsided manner.

The two on her right appeared first, but the two on the left have poked through and are racing to catch up. Perhaps they have been responsible for some recent fussiness?

Fussy? Me? I am always sunshine itself.

Especially when I am in possession of contraband.

Nothing makes me happier than playing with something small and forbidden.

Except maybe trying to figure out how to open sister’s books.

Why would I bother with baby books when there are so many fun paper ones sitting around?

…

Lest I get behind again, here is week 48.

I realized that, while I have thoroughly exhausted my fabric supply, I somehow forgot about my tablecloth stash. I just don’t know where my brain is these days.

If you see it, please tell it to come home.

47 down, 5 more to go.

It’s been a while since I uploaded my photo project pics. Want to see some super cute girls?

(Week 42)

(Week 43)

(Week 44)

At this point, big sister decided that she wanted her own photo. And since big sister’s cooperation is essential and not always cheerfully offered, I was happy to oblige.

(Week 45)

(Week 46)

(Week 47)

The biggest challenge right now is getting Beatrice to lie on her back long enough to get a decent, non-wailing shot (see week 46). N.B., this would definitely work better as a two-adult project. That girl is a champion crawler and is into everything these days. Apparently, my sleep-deprived mama brain failed to accurately record the crawling baby’s desire to explore. And, in a two-bedroom apartment, all of the legitimate exploration options have been quickly exhausted. Eating small objects off the rug has been (mostly) replaced by seeking out and pulling dangling cords, opening every swinging door, and of course whipping open the toilet seat whenever someone leaves the bathroom door ajar. She’s not walking yet but is very agile at moving along a couch, chair, or wall and will occasionally let go for a few seconds. I had been thinking that I wanted to forestall walking as long as possible, but now I’ve decided I’m up for the challenge because it might keep her away from the walls and their many temptations and because Camilla loves to be outside where Bea can’t join her. So, if it happens soon, I guess that’s okay. Because, you know, I have such a say in this matter.

This girl is really looking forward to spending more time with her daddy in a few weeks, especially since he has promised to begin what we’re calling Summer School. Finally, the teacher gets to spend more time teaching his own kid! A backpack, lined paper, and freshly sharpened No. 2 pencils await.

We are so ready for summer to begin.

Can you believe that she’s going to turn one in just five weeks?

I turned 32 yesterday.

It was awesome.

On Saturday, husband secretly arranged babysitters for the kids and then surprised me with a shopping trip to the outlet mall. Then we went to our favorite (albeit not particularly child-friendly) sandwich place for lunch, to the mall for a bit more shopping, and then Barnes & Noble where we actually got to flip through whole books and magazines and sit next to something other than the train set. If you are a parent with small children, you will appreciate this.

Yesterday we dressed up and went to church in the morning and tried to take a mama-and-the-wiggly-babies photo afterward.

In the afternoon we watched a silly movie, played with kiddos, and ate delicious hamburgers hangubers.

The adult version included bacon, jalapeno cheese, avocado, sauteed onions, and a special sauce that I’m going to give the recipe for below because it is so good on everything: sandwiches, chips, salads, you name it. I think it will be our Official Summer Sauce this year.

Milla’s hanguber had mostly mustard, but that is evidently how she likes it. Bea got avocado and beef and declared them both to be delectable.

It was about as perfect a weekend as I can remember. Many thanks to all the people who made it possible.

……………………………………

Chili Sour Cream Sauce
(taken from here)

1 cup sour cream
1 small garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
2 teaspoons chili-garlic sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Whisk and enjoy!

We return.

The latter half of Lent, it seems, is not the time for blogging. Nor is Holy Week. But we had our great and glorious Paschal celebration (and the joy continues!) and life is finally slowing down a bit.

Except for Beatrice, that is. She’s getting faster. She only did the belly scoot for about a week and then decided it was small potatoes ’cause real women get up on all fours. And then she figured out the whole I-can-pull-myself-to-standing-almost-anywhere thing, so basically the entire apartment is her highway. And oh, the happiness that has resulted from this discovery. She went through a little stage where she wanted to be held all the time, but now that there is so much to do on the floor she’s a lot happier about being set down. Regular installments of mama are still needed, but there’s more playing by herself now. And that’s fine by me. Although I have already noticed that long silences are suspicious and ought to be investigated immediately. Currently, her forbidden favorite destinations are Camilla’s potty seat, the big toilet, and the kitchen pantry (mostly for intriguing underside of the ironing board).

Along with new types of locomotion, she’s also making lots of new noises. Da-da-da, buh-buh-buh, phttthhhh, but no ma-ma. Hrumph. The nursery worker at church coaxed her into saying Jesus twice on Holy Friday (pious child!), but she won’t repeat it for me. Camilla is very interested in her role as teacher, so she’s been trying to get Bea to say all sort of other things without much luck. It’s so sweet to hear her try, though.

Since we’re on the subject of Beatrice, I should also mention that she has two favorite foods at the moment. They are (1) kleenex and (2) anything on the carpet that can be quickly stuffed into your mouth. I don’t think she is ever happier than when she has the opportunity to shred a kleenex into little pieces. I’d let her do it more often, but those little pieces inevitable go in her mouth and she puts up the most ungrateful ruckus when I try to fish them out. Same with leaves, bits of thread, dirt, etc. If I ever suspect that she might be chewing on something, she is. Must remember to vacuum more often.

Camilla’s up to all sorts of stuff these days and is growing increasingly eloquent. She can give a very passable explanation of what we celebrated at Pascha, Good Friday, and Lazarus Saturday (with some minor confusion as to why exactly Lazarus was in the tomb) and stayed up for the entire Saturday night set of services (something like 11 pm – 2:30 am, with a meal afterward). That, combined with about two hours of jumping on a bouncy castle at the picnic the next afternoon, has jump-started the afternoon nap again. Praise God. I seem to spend the entire time cooking, but cooking by myself seems like such a luxury these days (especially festal cooking!).

I feel as though I should have lots of new news to report, but really our life has taken place at church so much recently that we haven’t done a lot at home. Husband somehow keeps finding little bits of time to write interesting things — I especially liked this post.

I’m turning 32 in a little over a week (yikes!) and, in the unlikely event that this suddenly adds a few more hours to my day, I have put together a reading wish list. I want to start with Catching Fire and Mockingjay (I managed to stop for a while after The Hunger Games), and then move on to Nourishing Traditions, An Everlasting Meal, and Babushka’s Beauty Secrets (hey! I am over 30). I do not — ahem — own the last three and they are not available in our library, so if anyone is looking to send me a birthday present, well, there ya go.

I’ll try to be back again soon.

Weeks 33 – 41.

It seems that I got a little, ahem, behind on the week photos. But they all exist, and here they are. Beatrice is such an expert roller now that I get maybe 2 or 3 shots of her on her back before she flips over, and that’s if I’m quick. Note to others who try the same project: this would work far better with two people so one can distract the baby while the other does the camera stuff. But Wednesday is our day and we do the best we can.

(Week 33 — crummy lighting that day, bleh)

(Week 34)

(Week 35)

(Week 36)

(Week 37)

(Week 38)

(Week 39)

(Week 40)

(Week 41)

I’ve lucked out today and Milla is taking a nap. (She woke up at 5 am, so I was really hoping that would happen!) Afternoon silence is a rare and much-appreciated commodity in these parts. I probably ought to be cleaning the bathroom, but when she does sleep I am so afraid of waking her that I don’t do anything that makes noise. Since almost everything related to the household is a little bit noisy, that means I have to relax on the couch for a few minutes. Ah, so sad. I also get to contemplate the paint samples I have taped up in hopes of settling on a color for an accent wall in the living room. We just signed another year’s lease on the ol’ homestead and I find that nothing motivates me to spruce things up like knowing that I’m going to see them for another year. So far I have gone through all the bins in the laundry room and bedrooms, investigated all the boxes under our bed, scoured the kitchen counters, re-arranged the patio furniture, and worked on our container garden. I still need to shuffle around the contents of some closets, especially now that baby things are being put away rather than taken out, and do some more cleaning.

Speaking of babies: I almost forgot to mention that Bea is a crawler now! It’s a slow and slightly painful-looking crawl, but it works. She can scoot much faster with a funny little maneuver that uses just her toes and elbows. She is currently reveling in her newfound mobility and pulling herself up on everything she can. The world is her oyster, it seems.

Oh, to be a baby who has just learned to crawl!

 

March snippets.

It’s been a while since I posted a general update. And now Bea is 9 months old. NINE. Her checkup was this morning, so I know that my math isn’t off.

I think of this as the “daddy look.” What do you mean, you don’t know who Dante is?

There hasn’t been much posting lately because I inadvertently kissed most of my free time away when we potty-trained the toddler. We did a three day, stay-home-and-do-nothing-but-race-to-the-toilet boot camp and she caught on really fast. Then she started showing up dry in the morning so we decided to quit diapers at night as well. So far, so good! It wasn’t particularly easy or fun, but she was so fast that I don’t think I can credit my mothering skills with the victory. Camilla is just a smart little kid. She also figured out around day 2 that more potty = more candy. We’ve let that one slide for now, but I think we’ll start weaning off the treats in another week or two. Hopefully I can wean myself off of the word “potty” as well. Dang, I hate that word. And I feel like I say it all. the. time.

Anyhow, here are some other snippets about the gang:

Camilla (2.75 yrs)

– She still dances all the time. We really need to get some new ballet scores, since our Nutcracker/Swan Lake Suite CD has lost it’s charm for everyone but Camilla.
– She still loves to draw and can produce a recognizable face with eyes, nose, a mouth, etc.  That started about two weeks ago and I still haven’t put up the photos. Argh.
– She often speaks in full sentences and will pick a favorite if you ask which color, flower, etc. she likes best.
– Some of her favorite books are Freight Train (I make lots of train noises), Harry the Dirty Dog, Dogger, The Selfish Giant, and The Nutcracker. I admit that I groan a bit when she asks for the last one because it has way too much text and I have to work to abbreviate it, but the illustrations are so lovely that it’s not the worst problem ever.

Beatrice (9 mo.)

– She weighs 19 lb 4 oz, which means that the chub has started to plateau. It’s not for lack of eating, so I think she’s just more active.
– She can finally scootch! She gets up on all fours quite nicely but just can’t work out the proper crawling motion. So then she flops on her belly and inches her way laboriously to that tasty-looking speck on the carpet. She sits pretty well if I put her there and can work her way sideways along the sofa. She’s been wanting to be held a lot, though, so there hasn’t been a whole lot of practice.
– She loooooves to eat. If she thinks that something is for her, all her limbs start flapping wildly and she shakes with excitement. Fruity baby foods go down well and I started her on finger foods since her pincer grasp is quite good. Vegetables, bread, cheerios, etc. are very fun and have been a life-saver in the car. An eating baby is a happy baby.
– She is a, um, voracious reader who really loves books. Gnawing on the spine and trying to turn the pages are the main attractions, but I notice her looking at the pictures too.
– She has two little razors teeth now and probably some more right under the surface.  There has been some sadness as a result.
– Either because of the teeth or because of the age, she wants mama a lot. I am so glad I invested in an Ergo. Don’t know what I would do without it.

Me

– Mostly I am just mothering these days, and that’s okay. Laundry and meals always happen, and sometimes bread gets baked and the bathroom gets cleaned. When I draw, it’s usually with crayons. Every once on a while I take on an organizing project and I promised Camilla a homemade felt crown in lieu of the hideous hot pink number she wanted at the thrift store. I am also trying to finish our 2011 photo album, since I don’t think Camilla “remembers” last year as well as 2010 because she looks at our 2010 album all the time. The trick is to make up the album slowly and then sit on it till a good coupon code comes along (I usually use Snapfish). I’ve tried doing a rush job in the past and I always forget something.
– I’ve dropped my diet plans for now because I decided that I don’t want to think about my weight all the time. There are more important things in life than whether I lose 10 more pounds. Lenten fasting and dieting are too close for comfort, and I don’t want to mix the former with the latter.
– My heart is grieving for a family at Josh’s school who just lost their husband/father to a very aggressive brain tumor. I hadn’t seen him for a while, but in my memory he was a very kind man and the family has had so many difficult things happen in the last few years. We pray for them every day.

So, that’s where we are right now. The weather is lovely (March is probably Pensacola’s nicest month), I got my container garden going again, and we just finished three wonderful days with my brother and sister-in-law. Camilla happened to fall asleep (huzzah!) so I am getting a little rest on the sofa before I go finish our dinner prep. Got to have everything ready ready when Community returns tonight!

(All photos are by my awesome friend + photographer Marty Hadding.)

Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo.

[Sorry for the delay...we have been potty-training (on top of a bunch of other things) and there is quite literally no time to spend on the internet after Camilla wakes up. But that's a whole 'nother post. Please believe that we're still missing grandma!]

We learned two years ago that we live about 40 minutes from a totally decent zoo. In the summer it is so hot here that it’s not worth visiting since almost all the exhibits are outside. But Camilla has been twice during the cooler parts of the year and we decided to take Beatrice for the first time when grandma was here (Bea was in the Ergo most of the time so you don’t see her till she takes a turn in the stroller at the end).

If you look close, there are some lemurs hanging out on an island in the background.

Camilla remembered coming here with her Gibbs grandparents in October, which meant that she wanted to go on the playground first. It’s a little hard as a parent to admit that your child prefers a nice slide to exotic animals, but there’s no point in fighting it.

Then she caught sight of the coin-operated carousel…

Is it just me, or are grandmas way more forthcoming with quarters for grandbabies than they were for their own children? :)

Alas, no animal produced as much pleasure as the carousel.

The zoo grounds have a lot of birds wandering around, including chickens (which Bea noted with interest) and some lovely peacocks.

This fellow decided to put on a show for us.

When we did start looking at the animals in earnest, Camilla gave them each a glance and then announced, “Another one!”

It was probably helpful in the long run since we still didn’t move fast enough to see everything before the kids were tuckered out.

They had the most gorgeous macaws.

And a big tiger.

Happily, toddlers like to try out all the photo props.

We saved feeding the animals for the very end. Mom grabbed the camera, so there are a few pics of me (which, I’ve realized, doesn’t happen all that often).

We even got to feed some giraffes!

Camilla is currently obsessed with picking up fallen blossoms. We’ve told her that the camellia is “her” flower (the magnolia is Beatrice’s), so she made a little bouquet.

Here I am with my sweet little Bea, who was good as gold the whole time.

We got a little stick of food to feed the budgies, but Camilla ended up being unnerved.

Beatrice, on the other hand, thought they were the best.

…

So that was our little zoo visit. Hopefully we will get to go back again before the weather gets too hot!

Grandma came.

And then she left.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Rather than dwelling on my sorrow, I am trying to channel it into photo posting. The weather was quite overcast while she was here, so I only got a few pics in the house. There are some others from our very fun trip to the zoo that I will also post soon.

What could be nicer than a grandma, a toddler, and a yummy little baby?

We’ve told Camilla that we will (hopefully) be visiting Washington in July, and she’s been asking me to make it July now.

I wish I could, babe.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

From the two cutest ballerinas ever.

(Many thanks to Grandma Gibbs for the new shirts and the tube-tus.)

(Last year’s pics are here, and the year before is here. I do love Valentine’s Day.)

Mostly Milla.

The object of the post is currently taking a little nap for the first time in days (huzzah!) so I’m going to whip out some photos of her 2.5 year old cuteness.

Our property manager gave her a balloon last week. She hasn’t mastered the art of sealing her lips around it and blowing, but she tried and tried.

Oh, she also got her first tootsie roll. What could be more fun than a new balloon and a tootsie roll?

I left my heels out after church and this is what happened. I guess I should do it more.

And here’s Daddy reading one of many rounds of Frances to Camilla. We read a lot of Frances. Every single day. If I wasn’t so fond of that clever badger, I might get a little annoyed. But she holds up pretty well, even if it’s the 10th time that week.

I like to compare them to these photos from October 2010 (she was 16 months old).

Both Camilla and daddy’s beard are getting so big.