Favorite moments: Conversations with a three year old

Being a pretty verbal person myself, one of my all-time favorite developments of parenthood is watching our children learn to talk. They go from a language of (approximate) imitation, that only you can understand, to an explosion of understanding and then the creation of their own, new ideas. Such as this conversation I had with Eden the other day:

Eden: Do you like Bob Dylan?
Me: Why, do you?
Eden (shocked): No! I don't like Bob Dylan.
Me: Well, a lot of people don't.
Eden: He puts black holes in CANDYLAND!
Me: What?! And then what?
Eden (indignantly): We have to cut them out!
Me: And...then what?
Eden: BROKEN CANDYLAND!

Whoa. Like talking to somebody on acid, but way more kinetic energy.

Happy Birthday, Eden!

Happy birthday to our impish, energetic and delightful girl! I have to say that three might be one of my favorite stages yet--coordinated, capable, hilarious (though still given to major meltdowns). We love hearing her offbeat take on life and impromptu singing sessions. We love you so much, Eden!

Happy 5 Year Anniversary to Us!

It's crazy to think that five years ago today, we were standing on a beach in Mexico getting married. I know everybody says this, but I think we can claim with the best of them that we had no idea what the next five years would hold. We've been through some amazing times and some painful times-- truly, higher highs and lower lows than I think either one of us could have imagined. We've doubled our family size and traveled literally thousands of miles together. Matt, I love you more every day and have only begun to realize the possibilities of our life together. Thank you for all you are and all that you do!

Here today

We're here. We're busy. Life is crazy and sometimes very stressful. Almost three years and two kids into it, I'm starting to realize that parenting will probably never level off and feel easy (again. There was that brief period between about 8 and 14 months of Eden's life when momentarily, we felt like we have this). My friends with teenagers tell me they would kill for toddlers again. Meanwhile, a baby and a toddler (nearly preschooler) is nearly killing ME. And Matt. Somehow lightning struck us twice and we have TWO KIDS WHO BARELY SLEEP. Eden hasn't napped well since she turned one, though she usually sleeps through the night. Eve slept at night for about two weeks a month ago and since then is back to not just night waking, but getting up at 4:30, ready to start the day. Naps for her are hit or miss. They take turns with a 5am wakeup call. I never thought 6 or 6:30am would feel like such luxury, but nowadays it would, as would even a 30 minute daytime interlude where both were sleeping or independently occupied. Throw in a couple of back-to-back sleepless nights at births and WOW, it's amazing we're all doing as well as we are. But both girls seem to be in rather high-needs periods and I feel like I can't set somebody down for a minute without angry, indignant shrieking, reaching, clinging. Eve, like Eden did before her, is shedding her happy-go-lucky baby complacency now that she's turned one and has feelings, opinions, and suddenly (we didn't see this coming) a voice and an appetite to match or even drown out her older sister's. Who knew?

Yet, through it all, we're hanging together and managing to do mostly pretty well. The past week or so, sleep deprivation has had me just putting one foot in front of the other. Today, I actually felt like I got some of my joy of mothering back. Nothing major, just able to savor little moments, like: the pile of small bodies on mine first thing in the morning, looking down at those two little faces, all upturned noses and long eyelashes. Both of them laughing in swings at the park on a perfect spring morning. Eve making steady progress toward independent movement, while Eden is out the door in a flash after a bath and five minutes later is garden-filthy again. Eve nodding off on my shoulder (thankyouGod) at bedtime, and Eden growing heavy on my lap while I read her A Fish Out of Water. A few blessed minutes to actually get some work done before it's time to feed the baby and try to get some sleep.

A good day.

Favorite moments: Coming home

I worked from noon to seven today at the hospital. As soon as I got off work, I called Matt's phone, which he passed over to Eden. She excitedly asked, "When you coming home? You going put me to bed?!" Matt said he would hold her off so that I could, and when I pulled in the driveway, there was a curly-haired little girl in her pajamas waiting for me with a big smile on her face.

And, while Eve was already in bed, Eden was kind enough to let me know that "Eve happy you're home, too." What better thing to come home to?

Another favorite thing? Kids clutching stuffed animals. What is cuter?? In addition to her central favorite, Pound Puppy Hunt Chief (pictured above, and inherited from my childhood), Eden also maintains bedtime ties with a yellow lamb, several Elmos, a few baby dolls, and several farm animal hand puppets. Eve is a bit simpler, focusing mainly on her favorite, a red stuffed octopus. There's nothing better than walking in on them asleep and clutching one of their buddies, or in Eden's case, traipsing into our bedroom in the morning (or the middle of the night) trailing one or all of them.

Favorite moments: Two sick girls

My 6:30am wakeup call this morning consisted of collecting each of the girls from her bed and thinking, "Wow, you feel hot." I wasn't surprised, since I've been trying to sleep off some kind of sinus malady for the past week or so, and the last few days had seen the uptick in clinging and whining (from the children, that is) which so often signal that some kind of illness is afoot. It was reminiscent of this time, only double time, so Matt and I spent the day trading our hot, limp little armfuls so that people could nurse and eat and go to the bathroom as needed. 

Without a doubt, it was one of the finest days I can remember. Both of our girls spent most of their time napping on one or the other of our bodies, the napping itself being almost as remarkable as the extended snuggle time since Eden hasn't napped in many months and Eve seems to have received the same inexplicable transmission that Eden did around the age of a year, whereby she has decided that 30-45 minutes, once a day, is all we get for her nap (or I guess I should say all she gets--but let's face it, delightful as she is, it feels more like the former). Ensconced in feverish bodies, we shared a lazy day all in bed together, just passing time. It's probably the most concentrated time we've all four spent in such close proximity since around a year ago when Eve was born. It's the kind of day I'm sure I'll look back on when I'm old.

That being said, every time the girls get sick and we treasure the extra cuddle time with them, my heart breaks for mothers all over the world for whom the appearance of a fever or diarrhea signals not extra time with their baby or child, but the beginning of the end. I can't ever imagine the frantic desperation of hopelessly watching that listless little life go out.

Favorite Moments: Since regular blogging is clearly beyond me right now...

...and by far the most useful function of the blog is the one it serves for us, kind of a family scrapbook/journal, I've decided to at least try to post periodically some of my favorite everyday moments with our family, so that someday we can look back and remember what life was like with two small children, after (all too soon) they're grown and gone.

Today: spending a long while reading books with Eden, out on the swing on a sunny afternoon. Her current favorites (all from my childhood as well, and actually all written before 1962): A Fish Out of Water, Little Bear's Visit, and A Big Ball of String. She's got a surprisingly long attention span for how active she is, and we spend a lot of time these days reading books. We do a lot of fill-in-the-blanks when we read, both because it keeps her engaged and because I love to hear her talk ("I can do anysing with my big ball of fwing!"). Snuggling on a swing with a wiggly, dirt-smeared, curly-haired little girl: life doesn't get much better than that.

Happy birthday to me

With the best (and most talented) husband ever, the brightest and most charming almost-three-year-old, the very sweetest almost-one-year-old, the most meaningful job I can imagine, and loving extended family and friends near and far, I already have everything I ever wished for, and more.

Happy birthday to me. (And thanks, Mom!)

Happy new year!

2011 has been a crazy year. We settled in Iowa (having moved the previous December 28th), became a family of four, started two jobs, started a business--and countless other moments that were no less significant. So here at the beginning of 2012, what does life look like?

-Matt is still working at the co-op. After a disc injury to his back this fall, he's now trained in multiple departments to avoid the overuse that led to his original injury. Despite having re-aggravated it a few times, it does seem to be on the mend. And in spite of having very little time to devote to it, he's becoming an amazingly skilled hand tool woodworker.

-I've had several births in the past year, and actually rang in the new year at a birth last night! While it's been stressful to try to learn the ins and outs of running a business on the fly, while at the same time keeping busy with our family life, I love what I do and the clients I serve. I also continue to work at the hospital during off months for midwifery, and feel incredibly fortunate to be able to both keep my skills up and supplement our income this way.

-Eden is two and a half, (mostly) potty trained, and beginning to talk a blue streak. She's bright, funny, and generally sensitive to others' needs, including Eve's. As a toddler, she still battles frequent impulses to do things like kicking and throwing, but we admire her high spirits and energy level. She still has the most insane food preferences I've ever known anyone to have, young or old. Favorites include cod liver oil, brussels sprouts, tuna fish, meatballs, broccoli, carrots, lemons, and dried mangos.

-Eve is 8 months old with a lovely, sweet personality. She's sitting up and starting to babble. She loves playing with toys and watching Eden's antics (though is very sensitive about being roughhoused if Eden gets too close). She's really not eating any solid foods yet, as when we've tried them she hasn't seemed quite ready yet.

The less-than-glowing report is that neither girl is a stellar sleeper. And of course, like all good parenting problems, it's a moving target. Sometimes Eden goes down like a dream and sleeps all night. Other times, it's fighting bedtime (with shrieks and screams you wouldn't believe). Still other times it's frequent nighttime wakings. Eve, on the other hand, is adopting Eden's abbreviated nap schedule and still gets up every 2-3 hours to eat or pee. So between the two of them, we're often up every hour throughout the night--not exactly restful. We've tried troubleshooting it every way we can think of--and just wind up feeling like we're chasing our tails. Potty training has taken a similar circuitous, one-step-forward, two-steps-back kind of a route, which is similarly exhausting and frustrating.

For our own part, Matt and I entered this winter feeling bloated and sluggish and out of shape. Our clean, lean, primal eating habits have really taken a hit this past year, and so between the weight gain and back pain and overall low energy level (since sleep isn't an option), we knew we had to do something. I'm pleased to report that the following regimen seems to have us back on the road to good health:

Green smoothies every day. We invested in a refurbished Vitamix blender and for lunch every day we have a mixture of spinach, carrots, apple, pear, lemon, and ginger--all thrown in whole. It's surprisingly palatable, and both girls actually love it.

Yoga every morning. We love the Living Arts yoga series for being approachable for everyone, beginners on up. Matt has long been a huge fan of yoga, and after trying it the past couple of months, I can't believe it was under my nose all this time. I FEEL FANTASTIC after doing yoga, in a way I thought was probably behind me forever. We shoot for at least once a day--two or three times is even better.

Healthy, primal, low-carb eating. No sugars or grains, minimal natural sweeteners (like honey) and moderate amounts of carbs and starches (such as potatoes and corn, though I know the latter is technically a grain).

Next up on our list of constant experiments: trading in our morning coffee for tea. We'll see how that goes...

Anyhow, some recent pictures: