Yesterday

C has no concept of time. If something has happened in the past, be it five minutes or five months ago, it happened esterday. I'll file that under words that will sadden me when finally pronounced correctly along with o'mana (banana) and siwwy (silly). 

She often says things like, "esterday, when I was a baby, I used to eat puffs just like Wilson. Right, Mom?" And I think to myself, she has no idea how right she is. Because, I'm pretty sure it was only yesterday that I was feeding Catherine puffs, breaking them into quarters, watching intently as she rolled them around in her mouth, trying to figure out this new thing, this new sensation, this new skill. 

It was only yesterday that I was on all fours on my living room floor, showing her how to crawl; and somehow, though only a day has passed, she is three and a half and is helping me teach her baby brother this same skill. 

It was only yesterday, that I marveled at her ability to hold a toy in her hand, that I taught her how to wave, how to clap. It was only yesterday that I watched her reject the brown tinted pureed peas the same way her brother does. 

It was only yesterday that she learned to walk, learned to talk. She toddled through the living room, chubby legs, chubby cheeks, that sweet toddler belly, a mess of curls, giggling with her every move.

Today, she is tall and lean. Her baby belly is gone, her cheeks have lost their chubbiness. She says things like, "Mom, we live in Birmingham, Alabama" and, "Mom, did you know that a ball is a sphere?" She is potty trained and brushes her own teeth and dresses herself. 

She is strong-willed and independent, smart and funny. She plays soccer and dances and goes to school. She introduces herself to adults and children alike, makes friends in an instant. She is a miniature version of Husband in so many ways. I'm watching her grow into a person and it's dazzling. I can't think of a better word - I am dazzled by her.

Yesterday, we learned we would be a family of four. It was only yesterday that a baby boy entered this world of pink and glitter and princesses. It was only yesterday that he established his place in our family. 

I'm fairly certain that it was only yesterday that he fit snugly in his infant carrier, that he slept soundly on every car ride, that he snuggled calmly in my arms. It was only yesterday that he rolled over and learned to sit on his own.

Somehow, eight months have passed by overnight. Somehow, life refused to slow down and our newborn grew up a little too fast for my liking. At eight months old, Wilson is mobile enough to steal toys from his sister and strong and fast enough to tear a paper towel into 347 pieces while I'm not looking. He is cutting teeth and sitting up and playing with toys. He is busy all the time and talking all the time. He is this tiny person, this little man, weighing almost as much as his sister three years his senior. 

He is sweet and happy and easy going. He seamlessly transitions from the beach to the car to a football game to a soccer field and everywhere in between. He is my little buddy, my mini me. 

I'm trying to wrap my head around it all, but I just can't. Yesterday, my babies were babies and I find myself in a place where I simultaneously wish for them to grow up and stay the same. I beg for them to go to sleep while hoping they still need me in the morning. I live under a mountain of bottles and dishes and laundry and crayons, but secretly dread the day that I no longer trip over toys on my way to bed. 

But I think that's one of the many joys of raising children - the tomorrows are equally as great as all the esterdays.

Catch Up: The First Month

My little man turns three months old tomorrow, so I thought it was probably time for his one and two month updates. I actually wrote the one month post on time, but as I was editing, I thought it sounded too perfect. It was very we-had-another-baby-and-nothing-was-hard-and-life-is-perfect sounding, which we all know is far from the truth. 

The truth is, the first month was really tough. It was wonderful and beautiful and everything else that a newborn baby is, but it was also exhausting and kind of scary. With Husband's work schedule being as crazy as usual, I was sort of thrown into this at home by yourself with two kids thing pretty quickly with very little relief. It was an adjustment. 

Most nights, I knew the day was over when everyone, including me, was crying. My patience with C was unusually short and her tantrums were unusually frequent. I served a lot of frozen waffles, cereal with bananas, and Chick-fil-A.  C was late to school once a week, forcing me to walk her in, with baby brother in tow, often while wearing yesterday's stains on my yoga pants. 

I started playing games like see how high you can jump on my bed just so I could pee all by myself.

Then, two weeks in, there was a really fun snow storm which no one predicted, making my usual ten minute trip down the highway to pick up C from school a three hour journey with a two week old baby in the back seat. We were snowed out of our neighborhood and I was suddenly really thankful for all wheel drive, my neurotic extra clothes packing in the diaper bag, and my laziness in unloading heavy things from my car which resulted in my having a whole case of formula on hand as we spent the night in the only hotel room we could find within safe driving distance.

It certainly made for an entertaining few days for our newborn (and his big sister).

Hanging out in Daddy's office (where we thought we might have to spend the night) with M&Ms and Peg + Cat

Not too sure about this snow

Snuggled up in the hotel room

C and Daddy getting some work done in the hotel room

After we were able to get to our house, we were then snowed IN, which is remarkably better than being snowed OUT, but still pretty inconvenient. Winter is not my favorite season.

So, Wilson spent his first month bundled in layers, inside, napping peacefully in between bottles. 

If we learned anything about him in his first month, it was that he wants to be warm; he wants to be full; and he wants to sleep ON you (a preference I do not mind in the least). He is just so snuggly and sweet.

At one month, he loves bottles, his hands, and his elephant lovie

In the first month, I learned how to cook while entertaining two children; I learned how to juggle baths and bottles and books and bedtime; I learned how to snuggle two kids at once; and I learned that my heart can expand and my love can grow every single day. It was scary, but it was so wonderful. We survived!

Conversations with Catherine: Anatomy Lesson

At her three year old check up, C's doctor mentioned that she should be drawing circles and lines well by now. As I assured him that she was, it occurred to me that I really didn't know. We do a lot of coloring and drawing, but I've never studied her skill level.

So, I used bath time as an opportunity to test her skills with bath crayons. We were drawing stick figures and drew our family. I drew a little boy and said, "look it's Wilson!"

Catherine looked at the drawing, cocked her head to the side, scrunched her nose, and said, "no, he needs a body."

"Catherine, he has a body. What do you mean?" I asked as I handed her the crayon.

With one quick motion, she added the missing component - his "body."

She doesn't miss a thing.