Nightmares

I'm pretty sure my daughter has dreams about being told she can't do things. She talks in her sleep, but it's usually "Nooo!"

From Three to Four!

On November 1 we welcomed baby Felix into our family - hard to believe he's almost a month old already!

At 9 lbs 5 oz, he was the petite one of our two kids. He has now surpassed his big sister's birthweight, and is already exhibiting his different personality. One positive difference is that he'll actually sleep in his bassinet without too much fighting (he's sleeping there now) - such a luxury!

I was a bit concerned when he rolled over a week or so ago. He did it twice (stomach to back), but hasn't done it since. I fear he may be climbing the furniture at 8 months after all...well, I can always hope it was a fluke!

Laurna seems quite pleased with having her baby brother around, and mostly wants to constantly smother him with kisses and hugs. She also informs us whenever he's crying. It's all very cute.

Something new every day

I just witnessed Laurna reading one of her books out loud to herself. How time flies!

(Clearly she wasn't actually reading...but it was sooo cute!)

Word explosion!

It seems to me that in the past couple of days, Laurna has all of a sudden started pulling out a lot of words I've never heard her say before. For one thing, dogs are now "doggy," instead of "da da;" also "pocky" instead of "pop pop" (yes, Pocky, the Japanese snack...). I wonder what suddenly clicked in her brain? Overall her word acquisition has been a fairly gradual process, but there definitely has been a sudden change over the last few days.

What will she come up with next??!

She's also taken to lying on the floor in her room listening to kids' music on a boom box (that's what she's doing right now) - it seems like a weird precursor to the teenager-on-a-bed-with-headphones. Yeesh, I thought we had a bit more time!

It's late...

...and of course, rather than going to bed as I ought, I decided now was a good time for a blog update (I'm so contrary!).

First the new year and then my birthday - it's hard to believe another year has gone by already. I'm sure I say that every year, but it's always true. The next big milestone is Laurna's birthday - 2 years old! How did that happen?

We had a small birthday party for me today - we totally overbought pizza, so we'll be eating Zachary's deep dish for the rest of the week, most likely (what a chore!). As a few people were preparing to leave, Laurna started playing a game with me where I would tell here to go get someone, then she would go running off and "get" him/her (by grabbing a leg, mostly). She'd then come careening back down the hallway towards me giggling and saying "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" and I'd catch her in a hug - then she was ready to run off again. I wish I could capture the look of her running towards me in my mind's eye. It felt great to be part of her fun and excitement. Why is that so hard to recapture as we get older? That's just one way kids are amazing - they give us another chance to discover the magic.

Here's to another year.