Daily fun

I often wish I were together enough to record the daily (or even weekly) changes in my children - I know there is so much I have already forgotten and so much more I am going to forget in years to come. But there's no real point in wishing if it doesn't become action, is there? So I do what I can and have to let the rest go.

Laurna and Felix had joint doctors' appointments this week - Felix is now 6 months old - and I was so relieved when Laurna didn't have to get shots! I wasn't looking forward to that. It's always awful when babies have to get shots, but at least they don't remember an hour later. A 3-year-old would remember, at least for a while.

It was interesting seeing the way they do a vision test for kids - instead of letters, they have various shapes that the kids are supposed to name. That makes total sense, but I didn't think about it - I'm so used to being able to recognize letters, that the need for an alternative didn't occur to me. Of course, after a while Laurna thought it was a game and started to intentionally give the wrong answers. I assume she's not the first 3-year-old who's had this idea, though, so I wasn't too worried.

Laurna is sick *again*, this time with a fever and cough, and once again I'm holding out hope that she somehow won't give it to Felix. I'll find out in the next couple of days!

Future musician?

Today Laurna put on her pink dress and sparkly shoes so she could stand up in front of me with her "music" (a small game board) and perform "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" while I accompanied her (poorly) on the piano. Quite possibly the cutest thing ever. And yes, there's a video.

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.