On a Roll

Adelie is a mover.  She was an extremely active in utero baby, and that hasn't changed.  She is constantly on the move.  I swaddle her at night, but her blanket is always off by morning.  In her crib for naps, she often ends up wedged with her face in the corner when I get her up.  On her floor blanket or play mat, she will end up 180 degrees from where she started.  I don't know how she does it, but my kicking, flailing, wiggling, scooting little gal just doesn't stop.

For the past month or so, Adelie will inconsistently roll from her stomach to her back during tummy time.  It seems deliberate and she will sometimes do it over and over again, but I've never counted it an official 'first' since we help position her arms under her for tummy time.  Today, however, Adelie rolled from her stomach to her back all by herself.  I'm counting it her official 'first roll.'  I put her down for her morning nap on her tummy and when I went to get her up after her nap, she was happily lying on her back.  Kudos to my little gal!!

Losing hair and gaining skills daily

Make Them Talk

Pretend play has been an integral part of Staley's playtime for the past year or so.  Imaginary friends.  Pretend adventures.  Making up stories.  These have all become part of our every day life with Staley.  One of Staley's favorite activities is to have us make her stuffed animals or her princesses or her Dora characters or her Thomas trains talk.  When playing together, she will hand us a toy and ask, "Can you make her talk?"

One of the perks of this favorite activity is that Staley is often much more receptive to suggestions from her toys than she is from us.  So if Staley doesn't want to wear a particular outfit or isn't in the mood to take a potty break or is dawdling on her way to breakfast, having the suggestion come from her Emily train or her Yellow Bear can make her much more agreeable.  And it's amazing how Yellow Bear and I are so often on the same page.

I do enjoy pretending with Staley and have fun making her various toys talk, but I am less enthused about another twist on this play activity.  Lately, when reading books, Staley doesn't want me to read the stories.  She just wants me to make the characters in the book talk. We have to go page by page, but instead of reading the story, I am in charge of making the character on each page talk to Staley.  We do lots of reading, and I'll be honest.  I consider reading time as down time for me.  We can sit together on the couch and I can mindlessly read book after book after book without much effort.  Making the characters talk requires considerable more thought and imagination.  And although Staley doesn't seem to mind, I run out of things for the book characters to say to Staley and begin to feel redundant.  It can be a nice way to reinforce lessons like being nice to friends or being proud of potty use or being helpful when the book characters are in sticky situations, but it can get a little old.

I love that Staley has a great imagination.  I enjoy playing pretend with her.  I don't mind making her toys talk.  And making book characters talk isn't all bad.  But sometimes, just sometimes, all I want to do is sit back, relax, and read the words.

My Cousin, My Friend

Staley and her cousin, Liam, were born on the same day.  Birthday twins!!  Staley loves all her cousins and all her friends, but she and Liam have a special bond.  Of all the kids Staley plays with right now, she and Liam play the best together.  Not just side-by-side playing, but actually playing together. They share toys, mimic one another, chase each other around, hold hands, and have inside jokes that always make them laugh.  Their favorite joke:

Staley:  "Liam, what does Animal [from the Muppets] say?"
Liam:  "Rar-rar-rar...drum!"
Cue Staley laughing hysterically.
Repeat.

I love watching Staley and Liam play together.  Since Liam's mom also works part-time, we try to make time to get the cousins together to play on a regular basis.  With my maternity leave and the nice weather, this summer has given us lots of fun opportunities to spend time with Liam and Aunt Melissa.

Feeding ducks at the Farm Park

Riding horses at the Farm Park

 

Playing at our house

 

Water table fun

 

Running in the Kids Run for Fun race

Water play at a splash park

 

I hope that Staley and Liam continue to hold onto this friendship as they grow up.  There is nothing better than having a best friend.  And having a best friend who is also your family...well, nothing can compete with that!!

Cousins make the best friends!!

Ending With a Fizzle

Our 4th of July started out strong.  Staley was so excited about the parade and the fireworks, and we were all looking forward to a fun family day.  Zach woke up early to run in a 4th of July race with his sister while I stayed home to get the girls up and dressed in their red, white, and blue.  I attempted sister pictures on the porch, but trying to make sure Adelie stayed safe, get both girls to look at me, convince Staley to smile, and actually take the picture proved to be a most difficult feat.

This was the best I could muster.

 

Following my failed photo attempts, we headed over the Zach's parent's house to watch the parade and have lunch.  Staley was excited about the parade, but covered her ears the moment the parade was in view in preparation for the fire trucks.  We tried to explain that the fire trucks didn't come until the end of the parade, but Staley insisted on keeping her ears covered until after the fire trucks (and therefore, the rest of the parade) had passed.  She seemed to enjoy the parade nonetheless.  Adelie also enjoyed the parade UNTIL the fire trucks blasted their sirens.  Then she cried and cried and cried...and fell asleep.

 

Staley catching her first glimpse of the parade

Worn out from her parade viewing

 

Following lunch and play time with cousins, we headed home for naps.  Adelie, Staley, and Zach all took nice, long naps in preparation for a late night of fireworks viewing.  After nap time, we tried some more 4th of July pictures (much easier with 2 adults), played, ate dinner, and went for a long walk.  The entire time, Staley kept asking if it was time for the fireworks.  We had told her that the fireworks would start when it was dark, so she kept insisting, "I think it's getting dark now."

 

More successful the second time

 





Although Staley's 4th of July outfit when she was an infant would have fit Adelie, I didn't want Adelie to feel slighted that all her special occasion outfits have already been worn (and photographed).  So I bought Adelie her own, new 4th of July outfit.  However, when she had a major diaper blow-out, it worked out well that I had a second 4th of July outfit waiting in the wings.  Sometimes things just work out.

 

Adelie's 4th of July outfit

Adelie's 4th of July outfit, take 2.

 

After the long, fun day we had, it was FINALLY time for the main attraction.  Staley was SO excited!  We loaded up and headed down to the lower lake for fireworks.  Because it was almost Adelie's bedtime, she cried and cried from the time we put her into her carseat until we almost made it to our viewing spot.  Then she calmed down and didn't seem at all phased by the booming practice shots.  Staley settled onto Uma's lap and the fireworks started. 

 

Waiting for the fireworks to begin

 

We made it about one minute into the fireworks when Staley declared, "I don't like the fireworks.  I want to go home."  Literally one minute.  We asked multiple times if she was sure and finally, about three minutes into the fireworks show, we loaded everything back up and headed home.  We offered to just sit in the car and watch the fireworks without the noise, but Staley still wasn't interested.  She just said, "I want to go home and go to bed."  I'm not sure if it was the noise or just the fact that it was 2 hours past her bedtime, but I was so looking forward to watching Staley enjoy the fireworks.  I thought our 4th would end with a bang...but it just kind of fizzled out.





Let It Go

When I was younger, I was adventurous and spontaneous.  I was a world-class procrastinator, working best under the pressure of a deadline.  My room was a disaster.  I was always up for anything, anytime.  I didn't believe in budgeting (which didn't always work out for me).  I didn't understand those Type A personalities around me.  Where was the fun in schedules and planning and organizing and alphabetizing and working ahead?  Life on the fly was the way I liked it.

Somewhere along the way, however, my mindset started to shift.  Maybe it was when I got married or got a house or started a real job.  Maybe it was closer to the time that we wanted to start a family.  It wasn't a sudden change, thus taking me awhile to realize it was even happening.  And now I look at myself, realizing that I'm the Type A fuddy-duddy that my younger self would shake her head at. 

The current me likes order.  I need my calendars and my lists.  Everything in my home has a place, and when piles start to form, I need to sort them and put them away.  I can't leave dishes in the sink.  I find real pleasure in cleaning out closets.  Organizing makes me feel happy.  I am now a firm believer in schedules, in planning ahead, in shopping in advance.  And I've found that when chaos or clutter starts to form in my life, it causes me anxiety.  When things aren't done in a certain way or in a certain time, I worry.  And anxiety and worry make me lose some of the joy in the every day.

And so my new mantra is to 'let it go.'  Dishes in the sink?  They can wait.  Poop in the naptime pull-up?  Nothing to get frustrated about.  Late bedtime?  The girls can handle it every now and then.  Missing a nap?  Not the end of the world.  Sweets?  Melt downs?  Clutter?  Chaos?  That's part of life with children.  And if I'm going to enjoy these fleeting moments as my children grow up so fast, sometimes I'm going to need to put down the list, throw out the schedule, and just let it go.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

When Staley was born, she had a head full of hair.  She kept her hair for about 3 months, and then began to lose it.  Staley lost all the hair on her head except for a section down the middle, giving her a natural Mohawk for several months.  If you don't remember this rockin' look, feel free to revisit this post.  In the same way, Adelie was born with a nice head of hair.  And in the same way, Adelie is now losing her hair.  Unfortunately, Adelie is losing all the hair on top of her head and only keeping a section around the bottom, giving her a very end-stage-of-male-pattern-baldness look.  Luckily it's nothing that a hat, big bow, or well-placed accessories can't fix. 

 

And if anyone can rock the male pattern baldness look, it's my little gal. 

 



Adelie's Dedication

We had a special end to our vacation week.  Yesterday Adelie was dedicated at church.  Most of Zach's family and my family were there to support us.  Although retired from full-time ministry, my dad was able to perform the dedication service as our current pastor is a close friend of his.  The service was very nice, and Adelie did great.  Staley did fine in front of the church until she noticed the video screen where she was able to see herself.  Then she began to preen and pose, watching herself the whole time on the screen.  Although not really disruptive, I don't think she was catching the true meaning of the moment.

Adelie's dedication (with Staley watching the video screen)

I don't think this acrobatic feat was a planned part of the service.

Zach's family

Our little family

 

Pretty happy about her special day