January

Gus is definitely two. He enjoys garbage trucks, going to the library, parties, singing, contradicting his parents, keeping his sister out of trouble, running "really fast," and he picks one song in the car that he wants to hear over and over again (Lauryn Hill's "Zion") and then he gets tired of it and selects a new song (Justin Bieber's "Baby Baby")(don't put him in a box).

Two words he consistently mispronounces are oatmeal ("eatmeal") and music ("muse-get")(yes, still, and I still love it). In the middle of a meal, he'll often grab my hand or Adam's and ask us to pray.

He runs to his sister's aid any time she cries cooing "Sweet girl! You're loved, Lucia! I love you so much!" Then he scales her crib and attempts to drag her out by her neck.

Luci is one tough cookie.

Baby girl had a big month: she perfected her sitting, crawling, and pulling up skills, and there's no stopping her now. She also found her voice and her pterodactyl shriek lets us know when she's excited about something.

Things she gets excited about include Kona, Kona's water bowl, mama (after an absence), and Gus when she's in the right mood.

Luci dislikes having her nose wiped, getting down the one step in our house (hint: her usual method involves falling), and being put in her crib.

I Need a Break, Yo

2012 has been difficult so far. Nothing in particular, just all of life.

Gus is two and a half (VERY two and a half) and Luci is seven months (going on 18 months) and I am 32 going on OUT OF MY EVER LOVIN MIND.

Seriously.

Misery.

Let's discuss.

I've heard that two and a half is often a bit rough. An age of disequilibrium, apparently. It seems that it's fairly normal to want to disagree with your mother about EVERYTHING. Before I had children, I knew exactly how to avoid the "terrible twos." I want to sock my former self in the face. Of course she knew what to do with all of her regular sleep, and introvert time, and her pedicured toes, and her life that was generally devoid of fussing children. A shame she can't come babysit while I hide out at Starbucks.

Then there's the girl. In late December/early January she learned to sit, crawl, and pull up--all at the same time. That's an appropriate age for sitting, but the crawling and pulling up I was not prepared for. Holy schnikes. Girlfriend is all up in the dog bowl, she's shutting her fingers in drawers, she's climbing up and then falling down the one step in our house. She's finding her brother's most valuable possessions and then paying dearly for it.Also, she totally skipped that lovely stage where you can SIT them down on the floor but trust that they will still be in the same spot when you turn back around. And why, WHY would a girl sleep when she could crawl?

Speaking of, a few moms have told me that their older child had more issues when the baby started crawling than when the baby first came home. So we're probably dealing with that too. I guess you can deal with a blob who takes up a lot of mom's attention, but when the blob comes alive and starts grabbing at your stuff and following you around, oh and by the way, still takes up mom's attention, well, that cannot be tolerated. Nope. You have no choice but to complain to the management.

I cannot leave the two of them in the room without SCREAMING following me. It's not always Gus attacking Lu. Sometimes he's merely trying to keep her away from something she's not supposed to be into...by dragging her away by her neck. Then too, sometimes Luci just cries when I leave the room. I'd forgotten about that fun little stage.

And then there's me. I hardly recognize myself. The extra weight from my pregnancy with Lu has just stayed. It's like an unwelcome house guest who won't leave. When Lu was about two months, I had faith that it would just melt off eventually. I also had determination that I wouldn't walk around looking like a sad housewife all of the time. I...am not sure where I put that faith and determination. There is a chubby, frumpy lady walking around my house calling herself mom. And all of my clothes have shrunk!

I constantly have stains on my clothing from various bodily fluids--sometimes from up to three different bodies at once. This despite constantly doing laundry (seriously, I do at least one load a day) and trying to change just before we leave the house. My kids see my fresh outfit as an invitation bleed, puke, or poo.

Around Groundhog Day I saw several posts from moms about how our life is like Groundhog Day the movie. Same thing over and over again. Hopefully I'm learning something.

In December

We had such a great month. Gus was old enough to appreciate Christmas time this year, and it was so fun to show him everything. He loved wishing people Merry Christmas and he really loved the chocolate coins he got in his stocking. He hasn't stopped talking about those...

It was a busy month filled with fun moments, and I think the pictures tell it best.

Christmas in the Park:

When mama leaves the room...

...Gus hops on my computer and Lucia makes her move on a paper bag (girl is half goat, I swear).

We had fun at Downtown Campbell's holiday festival. Luci stayed bundled in her carseat stroller enjoying the lights.

Gus, of course, wanted to check out the fire truck. I got a picture of him saying "no" to the next kid in line to sit in the driver's seat, but I'll just post this one of him and dad. He's still recovering from the pain of leaving the fire truck, as you can see.

I will say that it's pretty great we have playground weather year round in California.

 Our Lussekatt is growing up fast.

 

She started popping up on all fours early in the month, and by month's end she was crawling. She wasn't even six months old yet. I was not prepared.

Guitar

We got Gus a guitar for Christmas and he instantly became too cool for us.

 

We got Luci a tambourine, but she knows the guitar is cooler and tries to steal it regularly. 

In November

We took a "colors of nature" walk and found a rainbow of treasures.

We did some "bubble art" (I think this is right after he took a small swig despite repeated warnings not to).
He donned his sister's hat and used her sock as a puppet.

He and his sister occasionally played togetherish!


And he persisted in being ridiculously handsome.


In the meantime, Luci perfected her grabbing skills. "Quietly determined" is what my mom called her, and that's about right.


She watched her brother build towers.


And continued to supply an abundance of joy to our family.

Also, I'm going to go ahead and call it now: I think we're two for two as far as our kids loving the dog. She giggles when Kona comes near and grabs for him. Kona is definitely earning his sainthood these days.

On the Road Again

What I've Been Reading

Food for Thought: Labels are for Clothes Not for Children
I've been thinking about this ever since reading that article that went around a while ago about how Siblings Share Genes But Rarely Personalities (there are a lot of great thoughts in this article, but the part about comparisons really stuck with me as a mother--have I posted this before?). Goes to show that if you wait long enough, someone will write the post you were meaning to write, and probably do a better job than you would have (this post happens to be about twins, but it totally applies to siblings in general).

Hilarious: Teshing It Up a Notch
Simcha Fisher may be the funniest woman I've ever read.

For the To-Do List: A Toddler Friendly House
Since we're going to have littles for a while, I've been working on making our house more accommodating for them.

In which I Identify: In Which I Find Grace to be Dry Land
This made me cry because I've so been there.

More for the To-Do List: 31 Days of William Morris
Last month a bunch of bloggers tried to blog for 31 days straight about a chosen subject. This one was one of my favorites (and she successfully completed all 31 days, which is a miracle in itself). William Morris is the originator of the quote "Have nothing in your homes that you do not know to be useful and believe to be beautiful." Anyway, she decluttered, fixed, organized, etc. every day for 31 days, and I found it very inspiring.

All About Three Months with Lucia

Our sweet girl just keeps growing.

At her four month well-baby check up today, she was still topping the charts.

She's become so much more interactive, checking out her toys.

She wants to sit. She really wants to sit. I think the Bumbo gave her a new perspective on life, and she's no longer crazy about reclining.

If she can't sit, and mama's left her unstrapped, she'll go ahead and turn over.

So strap her in we must.

(We officially outgrew the swing this month.)

When she's not trying to escape, she's munching on her hands.

She hasn't succeeded in eating her fingers off yet, but she's giving it her best shot.

Unless she can find some dress to munch on.

She was baptized along with her brother this month.

And she spent a whole lot of time like this.

We love Luci.

Yes, we do.

\\

Gus in October

A few things this month...

He learned how to pedal his tricycle.

And ride a scooter.



He did some crafts.


He went to the pumpkin patch.



He got baptized. His take: "My hair got wet. I got baptized."

He colored.

He went for walks.

He had an explosion of imaginary play: He's cut up pieces of "dinosaur" for me for dinner (?!), shared his napkin ring "cup of juice" with me, and asked me to hold his "piece" and his "circle" for him while he rode his tricycle.

He hates this sweater. It's not itchy or stiff...I have no idea what the problem is. I think it's adorable. We are at an impasse.

He went trick or treating for the first time. At the first couple of houses he seemed confused that we were not going to go inside and hang out. But then he got the hang of it and didn't want to stop.