July

Here's a little juxtaposition (how often does one get to use that word?!) of my children. One is happy. Needing very little more than the dusty rotating blades of a ceiling fan to coax a gummy delicious smile from. Simply happy to be alive. And absolutely edible when in just a diaper. The other? Mad. Opinionated. Misunderstood (or so he'd claim). Very much the definition of ALL those 'been there done that' parents who have scared other younger mothers about '3 being the new 2'. THEY WERE RIGHT. Those two's were not so terrible, no, not at all. They were downright terrific. The 3's truly are a force to be reckoned with. Thankfully, he isn't the only child anymore, and I don't have the time to cater to his tantrums that happen when the wind changes. He gets the time-out chair. Or sent to his room. And 9 times out of 10, when told he has to leave my presence, he pastes on a fake smile and says 'I'm ready to act right now'. Ok, great. He can stay. Until 4.5 minutes later when the cycle repeats. Some days are veeeery very long. Some days are great though, and the tantrums are very minimal. He truly is a sweet child at heart, and I think a lot of the frustration comes from simply plain ol' boundary testing. He wants to see exactly how far he can push us (me) now, knowing our attention is split with a new little person in the house. And now that he can simply talk to us like a regular little person, with very little lost in translation, well.. he has opinions. On just about everything. But doesn't everyone? He's not a two-year old anymore, he's a little adult. A miniature grown-up with no concept of volume control and a propensity to tell strangers how big his last poop was. Oh, and also to tell strangers that he's sick, following a forced cough, successfully making me look like Mother Of The Year, for taking her sad, sick (but SO NOT) little toddler out into the world. Or, The Gap.
We like to say that our children are on opposing good/bad behavior years. For Andrew, birth to 1 year was good. (yes, exhausting and challenging, but cute babies really can do no wrong) 1 year to 2 years was a little iffy... particularly the last half of the year. LOTS of meltdowns and whatnot. Year 2 to 3 was AWESOME. Just cute and aiming to please and a sweet willing sponge ready to learn and give us kisses and hugs and high-fives. You see the pattern here? Alternating years. I am already betting my chips that Year 3 to 4 is going to challenge us. For HIM. But for her? We are going to totally rock the Year 0 to 1, because cute babies DO NO WRONG! So, we are just grateful that they are on an alternating schedule..  I am not sure we'd fare so well if they were both in the middle of 'off years'.

Sigh, it's not all public embarrassments and manipulative behaviors around here. There's baby back rolls. Lots of them. So, life isn't all that bad. We like to keep her in just a diaper (ok, I do. It's just me with the fat-roll obsession) as much as possible in the evenings, and I just.. gosh.. I want to EAT THEM. The thigh rolls are pretty juicy, too. She has one very noticeable extra roll on her left arm and left thigh.. not really sure what that is about. Perhaps my milk is settling more on her left side? She's got the trademark 2-4 month old bald-patch look going on, and I'm really shocked that I haven't followed suit yet. I remember beginning to lose my hair at the same exact time that Andrew lost his. I am sure I'm not far behind. Super sexy receding hairline, here I come!