9 Months of Bea

To be fair, I was warned.

Time would move twice as fast with two little ones around.

And I honestly do not know what happened to the last 9 months.  I looks back at pictures when Bea arrived and I can't remember the tiny baby snuggles, and Tillie looks like she is still a baby herself in those pictures.

And Bea is starting to seem less and less like a baby. 

Perhaps it is because she is like a micro-machine. Tiny, fast, and moves everywhere.

She doesn't quit moving.

It almost makes me long for those newborn days where I was scared to move for fear she would wake up.

Almost.

But we are loving this stage. Bea is taking in more table foods, and is definitely enjoying food more now that she can attempt to put some in her mouth by herself. 

Taking fistfuls of food at one time and hoping at least one piece makes it into her mouth.

Again..a perfect house for a dog right now....anyone want to drop theirs off from 6:45-7:00 PM each night?

But even with her increased interest in food, she remains our little nugget, 

or more accurately our string BEAn. :)

9 Month Stats:

Height: 28.5" (98%)

Weight: 16lbs, 10 ounces (25%)

Perhaps she would be able to pack on the weight easier if she quit moving.

Ever.

I am not kidding you, she climbed up our entire flight of stairs on Friday night. 

Which just boggles our minds...we are used to a child that didn't move until she was 12 months. Period. No moving. Just sitting and bossing.

Where did this girl get her motorin' skills?

And she has such a great little personality emerging.

Daycare has picked up on her maniacal laughter too, which helped Nate and I  ensure we weren't going crazy.

Beatrice will beeline for something she has spotted on the floor. 

And then when she reaches to grab it (with precision I would expect to carry over to actual table eating, but does not), she pops it into her mouth and lets out this devlish little giggle.

She will actually partake in giggle wars with you if she is in the right mood.

And, of course, she always wins.

We love our little Baby Bea. She is quite the catch and continues to steal our hearts day after day. Matilda may feel a little differently now that that also includes stealing her toys..but I think she is pretty jazzed by her baby sister...

**Fun game--of the weekly pictures listed above, Nate took one. Can anyone guess which one it is??

The Growing Bond

As Beatrice gets more mobile and interactive, Matilda vacillates between adoring her younger sister and staging a turf war to ensure that Bea in no way touches, or comes near, whatever toy she is currently playing with.

She loves seeing her face first thing in the moring, happily exclaiming "Good Morning, Bea!"

And in the next breath will make sure that Bea knows that those are her baby dolls.

Bea, on the other hand, 100% of the time love love loves Matilda.

Cracks up at her. With her. Crawls for her (and of course, all of her toys all of the time....you can see our dilemma here)

And now that Beatrice is starting to walk/cruise it gets a little dicey because it feels like the damage of pushing down a standing baby vs. a baby that is just sitting up is much more signifcant.

So it's kind of full court press all of the time.

Most of the time, Bea surprises me with what she will tolerate and what she can endure without crying.

And now that she is an expert crawler, she can at least hatch her own escape route.

But most of all, we are seeing glimmers of a sister bond that I know will be unique. Unreplicable for anyone but the two of them. And I know that will also mean fighting about clothes. Friends. Boys. And probably things I can't even imagine at this point.

But I am excited for them. For the adventures they will have, and the memories they will create. Just the two of them, together.

Tillie Talks

Oh, the hilarious things that come out of a two-year old's mouth. She is really starting to talk and my favorite starting to tell stories. Like if you ask her "what did you do today?"...she will legit answer us.

And she gets a super serious look on her face like she is concentrating so hard, and most of the times that involves bringing her hands up close to her face with both of her pointer fingers out. Because apparently that helps her concentrate more. :)

Anyway, with this new-found ability to answer questions we have been having lots of fun with it. Here are a few of my favorite excerpts from the last few weeks...

Us: "Matilda, what do you want to plant in our new garden?"
Tillie: (without skipping a beat). Watermelon.
Us: "Anything else?"
Tillie: "Pizza"
Us: Is that it?
Tillie: Broccoli!

Hey...at least the girl has her priorities straight, and technically I think all of the food groups are represented.
_____    __   _____


If she sees us doing ANYTHING that she wants to do, she immediately yells: "That's my job!!".

____ ___ _____ ____

(overheard while Matilda and Nate were playing)
Tillie: I have your keys dada
Dada: oh, why do you have my keys 
Tillie: because I'm going to work
Dada: where are you going to work?
Tillie: the zoo, to watch owls
Dada: oh, are they going to pay you to so that?
Tillie: yes
Dada: great how much money are they going to pay you?
Tillie: two
Dada:  what are you going to buy with your money?
Tillie: ice cream

______   ___   ____________

If you want to know what word or phrase you say too often, just listen to your two-year-old. We quickly learned what we say all of the time when Matilda coughs as she coughed the other day and after she was done said: Uff-da!

She also said "Uff-da!" as she was trying to carry a milk jug of water in to the living room to help Nate water the tree.

_____________   _______   ________
 
The other day I was letting her go through (a.k.a. destroy) my wallet as it is an activity that keeps her nice and occupied for long enough to get myself and the babe ready. As she pulls out cards, and stamps, she discovered the zipper pocket. Much to my surprise, she figured out how to get it open and found my bills. And as she pulled them out she yelled: "I takin' your money,Mama!"

Yup, you are. And I am guessing this is just the beginning....

______________  ____________  __________

The other night after a nice round of foot rubs (seriously, what two year old is obsessed with giving foot rubs...?!?), Matilda decided to also do backrubs. So she started rubbing my back. Nate walked in and asked her "Are you giving Mama a back rub?" To which Tillie replied...."I rubbing your mole".

I didn't even know she knew what a mole was....

_______  _____________    _____________

She is also going to be a serious tattle tale.

Every night as we are eating dinner and we ask her what she did at school, inevitably it starts with "evan pushed me", "someone bit me", "fall down, cry, ice pack..." so on and so forth.



I can only assume the stories get longer, more elaborate and hilarious as she gets older!

#whatsinBeasmouthnow

Bea is an early mover. Like way early. Like attempting to walk with a walking toy at 8 months early. As in pulling herself onto a chair by herself already early.

 And since Matilda was a late mover, it sort of makes Nate and I feel like we don't know what the hell we are doing sometimes. Namely, because about 3 times a day we realize there is something crazy in Bea's mouth that shouldn't be there.

We really didn't have to baby proof at all for Tillie. She just sat there and whined until we brought her things that made her happy.

This one, not so much.

She moves. Scratch that. She scavenges. 

She will sniff out a dried up crusty kix from a mile away and then she will crawl like the wind is at her back to get it.

We are finding it is very very tricky to babyproof crumbs, and other choking hazards with a toddler also creating her own little hurricane of crumbs every day.

Things we have found in Bea's mouth so far:

Dried up Cheerios

Dried up Kix

An entire unopened packet of Equal

A small wound up strand of string

one of Matilda's band-aids

Unrecognizable fuzz from behind a chair

It's times like these that I suppose I wished we had a dog.... :)

The Day My Childhood Died (a little)

I've gone through the past 10 years of my life wondering when I would finally feel like a 'real' adult.
When I would stop fooling people into thinking I wasn't just a kid who doesn't know anything.

And it never happened. I signed a mortgage. I pay (way too much) every month to the bank to keep my house. Yet, I still fee like maybe I am just playing house.

I had a baby. Scratch that...TWO babies. I literally walked them out of the hospital and no one followed after me saying 'just kidding, you can't be trusted with those babies.' Yet, there is a piece of me that feels closer to 15 than 40 (and to be clear, that is so not the case).

UNTIL, last Friday.

When the whole fam headed out to the annual tradition of dinner at The Viking (think old school WI supperclub) and then to the Twinkle Parade.

The lights came on

the kids were excited (and a little scared)

and then the candy began to rain down. It was the single most candy I think I have ever seen thrown in a parade. Ever. Candy littered the streets. The floats were crunching un-claimed candy. It was bananas. Grandma even had to protect our growing stash from kids that were just straight-up too lazy to run in the middle of the street to get their own.

Now, for anyone that knows me, you know that I love all things sugar and sweet and unadultlike gummy goodness. It was 1000 times better than Halloween.

As I picked through the loot, I was most excited for two things: Christmas Dots and Sugar Babies.

Christmas Dots were first. Scrumptious as always.
Sugar Babies were next. I popped a few. Hmmm...maybe they are just too cold from being outside.

A few more....nope--still am not liking this.

A couple more for good measure because it can't possibly be that I no longer like these.....

Nope. Sugar babies are officially disgusting.

And in that moment, I officially become (a little bit more of) an adult.

A Tale of Two Dinners

Last night, we had quite possible one of the best dinners we have made for ourselves in a long long time. Don't get me wrong, we have actually done a really good job of continuing to cook and try new things (although I don't seem to get around to blogging about it), but we do. We still menu plan, and cook, and try new things.

So yesterday, as we were watching the Packer game, I told Nate he was on dinner duty. We hadn't planned anything and I was swamped with work, house and shower stuff. So he planned it out. About 30 minutes before we were going to eat, he gives me this warning:

"Umm..so the dinner I planned is really complicated, sooooooo you are going to have to keep the girls busy".

Me: slightly annoyed, but up to the challenge.

AND IT WAS SO WORTH IT. OMG...delicious. You need to put this Chicken Piccata and this Brussel Sprout recipe on your next 'to try' list IMMEDIATELY.

All I can say is you know you have struck the brussel sprout jackpot when your TWO year old asks for not one, not two, but THREE helpings of them, and literally (and I kid you not) claps her hands when you ask her if she wants more.

Contrast that to tonight, where we were so proud of ourselves for pre-making the turkey meatballs for our spaghetti last night, and somehow the whole dish smelled and tasted like raw turkey. It was sooooo gross Nate wouldn't even eat it.

Ugh. We both were horrified. The worst thing is that we have made this recipe numerous times before too. Epic fail. Would have felt much worse if it wasn't for the delicious amazingness that occurred last night.

Life lesson learned: this is why we always try new recipes. Because that way you can always blame the bad recipe vs. your bad cooking skills. :)

Race Against the (Bedtime) Clock

Traveling for work used to be glamorous. Exciting. Exotic even.

Now, not so much. Although one could argue that pumping in the back of a massive SUV while your entire team goes into a Wal-Mart on a store visit, is quite exotic. Meanwhile--the whole time you are just saying a prayer that no one forgot something in the car and decides to run back out real quick....

No, work travel has taken on a whole new meaning for me. I MISS the girls so. much. when I am gone. I feel SO guilty leaving Nate to fend for himself. And the damndest thing of it all--in my mind I am going to get the best night of sleep ever, but in reality I am totally ruined and am up at 5AM anyway (which by the way in Denver is 4AM).

But on this trip, I had my first realization of the best part of work travel.

And no, I am not talking about getting to go to an amazing farm-to-table dinner at The Kitchen and actually have long, slow courses and adult conversation the entire time. (although that did happen and it was AMAZING--shhh don't tell Nate).

No, I am talking about getting on an earlier flight home and flying into the house just.as.the.footed.jammies. went on. Seeing the super excited face of one Matilda Mae. Being the recipient of one giant bear hug. Questioned about my airplane ride, and then getting to snuggle in to read bedtime stories.

Bliss.

Translation Tuesday: Tummy Treat

We are big into re-branding in our house. Medicine still remains a 'fruit snack' and I fear the day that Matilda puts 2 and 2 together and realizes we have been pulling the wool over her eyes for pretty much her entire life at this point.

And it hasn't stopped there...recently Matilda has been having troubles getting things...er...moving. But she wasn't so keen on the prunes and would demand raisins--which didn't help the problem.

Enter: Tummy Treat.

No joke--the second we called them a tummy treat, and it's was magic. Viola! Eats them like a champ.

Asks for more.

WHAT?!?!

But it works. And the tummy treats work too.

And now when Matilda's tummy hurts she will tell us, and then say "I need a tummy treat"

Who knew I would get branding practice at home?

Trick or Treat!

Halloween is sort of becoming one of my favorite holidays.

First of all it should really surprise no one since it revolves around candy.

And it only gets better when you have children to collect candy for you and then you steal every last piece of it.

But also it is a lower stakes holiday. Less expectations, less fuss about food.

And again, all about the candy.

And there are always so many fun parties to go to. Neighborhood parties. Friend parties. Trick or Treating. Parties with the AMMA babes.

And then there was the costume making.

I have tried to pick costumes that represent something Matilda is 'into'. 

And she loves nothing more than owls right now. Every time we go to the zoo, all she really cares about is the owl. The owl show. The owls that swoop and touch her head.

And so, owl costumes were made (because let's be honest, Bea doesn't exactly have interests at this point, and if she did it would be doing whatever Tillie was doing so it was quite fitting). My Mom made Beatrice's perfect costume. And I made Tillie's. It was quite the sewing adventure.

Tillie LOVED trick or treating. Going to each house. Knocking on the door.

Saying "Trick or Treat"

And then immediately saying "thank you" and "another house, Mama" as soon as the door closed.

We rodeo clowned her into thinking the candy was a surprise and that it had to go in her bucket in order to go another house, so she didn't actually get any candy.

but have NO FEAR people. She did get a treat. We made an "owl" pizza and she got a warm chocolate chip cookie fresh from the over--which is something she has never gotten at home before.

We were lucky enough to have Grandma up the weekend before to partake in the fun Halloween festivities, and she helped us capture lots of fun pictures of the girls in their costumes.

And since Halloween has concluded, Tillie asks me to take her Trick or Treating approximately 4 times a day, and predictably every night as we are driving home from daycare.....

Future Paparazzi

Look out, Hollywood!

There is a soon-to-be new photographer on the loose.

Matilda has found our old point and shoot, and is NOT shy about declaring what is worth running to get the camera for, and what isn't. 

About two weeks ago she would ask to have it turned on, and would only take pictures pointing down at the ground.

Within a week, she is turning it on, and blinding everyone with a million flashes.

Bea doesn't mind being her main subject....

Maybe someday I'll figure out how to get all of these amazing shots off of this camera and post them for you....she has taken some doozies.

But I feel like I should keep them in case she is a famous photographer some day. :)

DST Hell

One hour.

60 Minutes.

A normally swift, brief and un-noticeable amount of time.

Unless, of course, it is an hour that gets ADDED to your day, in the middle of the night.

And renders your children (correction, your eldest child) a monster.

Don't get my wrong, I love Matilda. So much.

But today was a day that tried even Nate's patience--which extends far beyond mine.

Beatrice acted like the extra hour never happened (unless of course you count her wake-up time of 4:17AM this morning).

But Tillie....Tillie, Tillie, Tillie.

Woof.

Whining. Crying. Cutting a molar. Hungry all day. Tired all day. Sassy all day.

Only wanting the Daddy all day.

At one point she burped and barfed a little at the same time.

Seriously, that legit happened.

It was one of those days that Nate turns to me and says I know how I am getting through the evening, and it's in the fridge (i.e. beer), how are you?

And since I am not a fan of beer, I turned to the Halloween bowl and ate about 374 tootsie rolls.

And I felt better and worse all at the same time.

But tomorrow is a new day, and I am hoping the little "alarm" goes off later than 4:17.

And even if it doesn't, at least this alarm is quite cute.

Early Morning update: Both of the girls are still totally screwed up. 4:30 wake-ups all around.

I am currently toggling between exhausted despair that we are in for another 6 months of this (which is pretty much what happened last year with Tillie and was and I wish I was kidding JUST getting back to normal people time) and pure fury at whoever is still allowing this madness to occur in modern day and age.

Who cares if it is dark out at 8AM and light out at 6PM? Not me. I prefer it that way. Although the truth is I prefer it any way that gets my kids to sleep.

The Whirlwind Weekend

Super spontaneous trip to Viroqua to see the cousins means super fun spontaneous shots of the kidlets with their favorite people in the universe: Finnegan and Leo.

Of course, Bea loves her Auntie too....

And since we are still successfully rodeo-clowning Matilda to believe that Elmo only lives on Grandma's TV (who wants to start a bet on how long that lasts), she was VERY excited to watch Elmo the second she woke up on Sunday, although slightly less enthused to share the moment with the little one....

And we carved pumpkins!!! First time for Tillie, and she was all about it. Got in there and squished the guts, and if we would have let her--she probably would have grabbed a knife and tried to carve it herself.

And then there was this amazingness that followed....love these kids...

More Halloween fun to follow.....