I try my hardest to live in the moment, to be present for all those wonderful milestones that happen in the course of family life, both significant and mundane.
But the thing about living in the moment is that you find yourself sometimes at a loss when it comes time to recall the details later. The memories are etched in my brain, yes, and I’ll always remember the experiences in a “can’t-really-put-it-into-words” way, but when it comes time to put pen to paper, so to speak, it’s difficult to recap. Very often I’ll have the passing thought that “I need to remember to put that in the blog,” but then life happens and when I finally have time to sit down and write, all those details I lived so acutely feel much more distant. I want to remember all of those details, though it’s impossible. Still, I try to capture what I can here…it’s better than nothing, and I find that when I go back and read my entries, it helps stir up all the other details and feelings I’m unable to capture in words at the time.
The Big Sis is doing well. Her behavior continues to be excellent overall, which we’re all very pleased about (obviously). She’ll have some times when she is uncooperative, but I remind myself that that’s her job, and I feel like it’s all within the realm of normal for her age. She loves to play with her kitchen and is an expert game-maker-upper. Her imagination continues to reach new heights, and I love to see her take something like a regular box and get two hours of play from it. She continues to be a model big sister. I always thought she would have been a great little sister since she’s always been drawn to slightly older kids at the playground, but I stand corrected: She was made to be a big sister, without a doubt. Her hair continues to get long, and she says she wants it to get as long as Rapunzel’s hair. Her favorite movie right now is Mary Poppins, and she just learned how to say “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” Her energy and enthusiasm are contagious, and I adore my little firecracker. She keeps me on my toes, but sometimes — very often, in fact — that’s not such a bad thing.
The Little Sis is reaching milestone after milestone — I forgot how quickly it happens sometimes once they start rolling over. It seems like every day is something new. She is pulling up on everything she can get her hands on, and she’ll cruise a little if she has something in her sights that she wants. (Her favorite things? Either the dog toy [of course] or The Big Sis’ toy dinosaur.) She’s going through another phase where she has trouble going to sleep (teething?), but she’s simply adorable when I look on the monitor and catch her sleeping on her knees with her butt in the air, just as The Big Sis used to do. She sleeps much lighter than The Big Sis did as a baby (and does now); I can go in and out of The Big Sis’ room as I wish after she’s asleep, but I don’t dare do that with The Little Sis unless there’s no choice. She’s still happy nearly all of the time, and she especially lights up when she sees a camera — I swear sometimes she sits there and poses while we get the shot we want. She adores her big sister, who is always willing to spend time with her, give her a helping hand, or keep her company. The Little Sis can say “mama” (and knows what it means) in addition to other random baby babble, and I’m about 90% sure she says “more” (“mah!”) in the appropriate context, when asking for additional food at lunch and dinner.
As for me…I’ve weaned down my pumping sessions so that now I’m pumping only if, for some reason, I don’t feed The Little Sis in the morning or at bedtime (that’s rare and hasn’t happened lately, though it’ll happen when I go to Chicago alone next month). We started table foods with her right after she turned 8 months old, which is earlier than we did with The Big Sis, but she loves them, so we’re going with it. We send a puree to school for lunch (I’ve made everything this time as well), but she gets 100% table food at dinner now. Anyway, I can’t quite say I’m done pumping yet, but I’m glad that it’s mostly done now.
We’re about to get rid of another round of baby stuff soon, hopefully giving some stuff to some coworkers of The Husband who are having their first kids. We already gave our swing to daycare, and next we’ll get rid of things like the Bumbo, bouncer, and activity mat. These are all physical reminders that The Little Sis is quickly growing out of infanthood, but I find it exciting to see the changes right before my eyes. Not that long ago, she was that itty-bitty baby who could nearly fit in one hand, and now she’s finding out for herself just how big our house — and the world — is. Life really is amazing.
Evenings are still pretty hectic with getting both kids fed, bathed, and to bed, getting dinner made for ourselves, making bottles, washing bottles, making lunches, washing dishes, washing clothes, cleaning the house…there’s a lot to get done.
Sometimes our house isn’t dusted.
Sometimes I’m behind on posting pictures for family and friends.
Sometimes I’m low on sleep.
But I wouldn’t trade any of this away. My girls…my husband — they are why I get up in the morning.
This is a really great post, D!! Do you care if I quote part of it in a blog post I’m working on? I will obviously reference you and give you credit, but you’ve put so eloquently into words what I’ve been wanting to express for awhile now — the part about living in the moment and not writing down all the details. It’s perfect! EXACTLY what’s going through my head.
Sure, go for it!