Lucy goosey

Luce, Here's one that cracks me up. One evening over the weekend, the four of us were upstairs playing in your bedroom. I left you and Janey with your daddy so I could get something on plates for you two to eat. Well, apparently you did NOT appreciate me leaving. I was already down the stairs when I heard you say, "Mom". I didn't reply. "Mama." Still didn't reply. "MOM". Finally, I incredulously listened to you shout "Shelly. SHELLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE". That is some funny stuff, Kid.

La-la-la-la-ladies

Oh Girls.

Where do I even begin? How about with our car ride the other morning when you were both singing with me?! Jane, you started to get fussy (as you are wont to do anytime you're in your carseat for longer than .75 seconds)so I quickly turned off NPR and turned it to one of your fun kid cds (your daddy thinks it's less fun, but that's a different story altogether). And you two got down to business. The business of singing along. You're pretty funny and particular when it comes to music. You certainly have preferences and we have to skip some songs because they make you hollar. Like the Muffin Man song. You guys are NOT fans of the Muffin Man. But the rest of the time, Lucy, you just sit back there sweetly and croon along, getting especially into it when there are any "la-las". And I'm pretty sure that sometimes you're both less than impressed with my singing along, so that's when you start to really belt it out. Who knew that my 15 month old kids would already be drowning me out? When we're in the house listening to music, you girls like to dance. Luce, you get this big smile on your whole face - eyes light up, eyebrows lift, and you start to wiggle. Janey, you've been known to shake your cute little bum or do your fake jump (this is when you're convinced you're jumping - squat down, push up fast, but the feet don't leave floor - well, occasionally the heels come up...).


We've recently had mountains of snow, and our neighbors built a giant snowman, complete with lei, crazy leaf hair, and button nose. The two of you have been SO intrigued by Mr. Snowman. We went over to take a close-up look the day he was built, and since then, the front door is one of your favorite stops as you pull back the curtain and yell, "snowman! snowman!". When he started to melt the other day (hurray for non-freezing temps!), you two seemed confused, sad, and then decided you needed a snack. Thank goodness for short attention spans.

Jane, you're such a sweet girl. And, I'm just going to say it. That surprises me. Because it seems contrary to your nature. You're a speed-demon, an adrenalin junky, a bulldozer. And you're a sweetheart. You plow right through, over, into your sister, and the next second, you bring her a cracker. Or her favorite frog. You race around the house, bare feet slapping the floor at a frantic pace, and you swing by me for a quick kiss.

Lucy, you have oodles of words, but you still won't say your name. Or at least not "Lucy". You have apparently decided to call yourself "Lulu". I hesitate to write that here because I'm definitely not committed to the idea of Lulu being your nickname so I don't want to encourage anyone else to call you that. Let's give it 6 months or so and see if that's what you're still calling yourself. In the meantime, it sure is sweet when I tell you to say Lucy, and you smile at me and announce Lulu.

Ladies, you love your body parts and naming them. Luce, you're most fascinated with your knees and your "baila". I always think you're wanting to dance when you first say that, which must mean that Sra. Schultz really did a good job of frightening the Spanish into me way back in high school, but then I quickly remember that you don't speak Spanish (that I know of), and you're actually talking about your belly. Jane, you recently called it your baby button, but the absolute funniest thing you've done to date was the other morning when you pressed that outie all the way in, smiled at me, and proudly announced "OFF!". You can turn lights on and off, why wouldn't you be able to do the same with your baby button? Good thinking, kiddo.

If it's possible (I write "if" because I'm honestly not certain), you two are becoming more fun, more yourselves, more lovely by the day. And each evening, when I check in on you before I go to bed, my heart does a double beat, and I think, no, there's no way you can get any better. And then you do!

All my love,
Mama

January 2011

Things Jeff and I are learning:

*Lucy, you really like to be naked from the waist down. You have been known to strip off your socks, pants, and diaper in record time when you're supposed to be napping. So far, no dirties...

*Outie belly buttons should be gently finagled inside out more often than once every 14 months to clean out debris. Jane, I don't know what you were storing in there, but seriously. Seriously.

*Our girls have minds of their own. This is a good thing, sure, but I'm surprised by how quickly it has happened. Por ejemplo, if I had a say in it, they would both be delighted to see (and eat) the next homemade (and delicious and relatively healthy) thing we put on their plates. As it turns out, that is actually not at all what happens. Generally, there is a decent amount of wailing and gnashing of teeth (or gums in Lucy's case), and more often than not, the kitchen ends up looking like a small junior high food fight took place. My other example is about books. We have some really lovely little kid books. Funny ones even. With great pictures. What does Jane want to read? What does Jane pitch a fit about if you try to take it from her? What does Jane cart around with her while she's wandering from room to room upstairs? Tony Robbins. Don't tell me it's a coincidence that this kid's book of choice is "Awaken the Giant Within".

*Sometimes, a little distance between cribs is necessary to prevent one sister from trying to bite off another sister's finger.

*It's hard not to cheer a little when there are stair races going on.

*It doesn't matter how many times we vacuum, sweep, or pick up. We will forever be cruching cheerios under our feet.

AND, my most recent life lesson: I'm going to try really hard to stop judging parents from Johnson County whose kids wear Uggs. Perhaps their grandparents gave them to the kids for Christmas. Perhaps it makes the kids really happy to wear them when they fight their mom about putting on any other pair of shoes. Perhaps they're deliciously warm and cozy and look crazy cute.

Toddlerhood

14 months! It's official. You ladies are toddlers. And I'm reminded of that every moment we spend together, whether Jane, you're walking laps around the house - and it's still that super cute stumbly, drunk woman walk - or whether Lucy, you're playing pretend something or other. When did you figure out how to play make-believe? There's so much about you two that I get to learn. And that you get to teach me. Earlier this week, while you were eating lunch, Jane, you said something that sounded just like "cupcake". And I said, "Cupcake?! There's no cupcake!" (Yes, a lot of my comments to you end in exclamation points, because I'm sooo excited to talk to you.) And you looked at me like, whatever, mom. And Lucy, you pointed to your bib (you were both wearing your birthday bibs that have cupcakes on them). So, I stood corrected. When did the two of you become smarter than me?

We had a delightful Christmas. This year was with the Hartman side of the family, which actually turns out to be more Reiff than Hartman. You two were the hits of the holiday. You both got spoiled rotten - from the ridiculously cute Ugg boots that that you're proudly sporting, to the riding tractor and pull-behind trailor. Luce, you sat in the tractor seat and beamed. Seriously, that grin nearly killed me. Jane, you're not a big fan of the tractor or the trailer yet. I'm cool with that. No rush on the growing up thing. We caught up with the Stroessner side of the family on New Year's. You guys got to play with your cousins and got a lot more great presents. Your little cousin Hannah was asleep in her swing when we got there and neither of you noticed it for a little while. But then Jane, as you were toddling around, you caught sight of her and did your Frankenstein walk/run straight to her side where you stood there rocking her and pulling on her swing toys. It was pretty cute. You both played with your older cousin Eva and her new Potato Head family. I'm so glad you have cousins your age to grow up with. We also got to celebrate Grandma's birthday with a yummy ice cream cake. I believe you each had a substantial piece all to your selves. Good thing we're still trying to fatten you up.

You guys like your ABC book, your shape and color cards, your new dolls (which, quite frankly, are a little scary to me), and chasing the cat. You both like to crawl/race up the stairs, and it never fails to make my heart skip a beat when I walk around the corner and one or both of you are already several stairs up. Jane, you're an expert at coming back down them and recently you decided that you were ready to walk down them. You're not. Lucy, you're a bit more cautious about coming down and start your back up to the stairs a good three feet away. But then as soon as you get to the first one, you go into hyper speed and it's all I can do to keep two steps in front of you.

You're both talking up a storm, and I love to listen, especially when you're talking to each other like you're doing right now in your cribs. It's not just one word things anymore, you two are carrying on conversations (minus the understandable words part), and look at us like you expect us to respond.

I love you little meatballs! I'm excited to see what 2011 holds for our family!

One year already?!

Oh my goodness, I've missed your birthday. Not your actual birthday, but the part where I write about it and you and all the amazing things we're up to. So here goes.

Happy belated birthday Lucy! Happy belated birthday Jane!

You two have been with us now for a whole year, and I can hardly believe that you haven't been with me for my entire life. What did I do without you? Oh right - sleep and eat and run errands with careless abandon. Just joking around. I mean, it's all true, but as it turns out, you're both worth all the sleep deprivation, the eating hot meals cold and cold meals hot, and the packing up of the world to make a "quick" trip to the grocery store.

Speaking of the grocery store, you both were there, but I'm not sure you realized that I got chastised at the grocery store a couple of weeks ago for trying to take one of the kid carts outside. "Those have to stay in the store, ma'am." "Um, I got this one from the parking lot. So it was out of the store. And I can't get both of my kids back out to the car without pushing them in this cart." "Well, it has to stay in the store." And so on... And speaking of kid carts, you both love the grocery store and especially get a kick out of the cart where you each get a steering wheel. Jane, you were a little tired last time, and you leaned your head on Lucy's shoulder at first, but then you got in the spirit of things and started steering. Both wheels. Yours wasn't enough. You needed your sister's wheel, too.

We've been able to watch you two grow and change over this past year, and I have to tell you, it has been like an observation in nature vs. nurture. We treat you the same, but you are DEFINITELY not the same. I hope that helps as you continue to grow and become. I worry already about the twin thing and making sure that people treat you as individuals rather than "the twins".

Some highlights of our year (in no particular order):

Bringing you home from the NICU. I hadn't prepared myself for the possibility that we'd be going home from the hospital without you. Your dad and I cried ourselves silly on that drive home. We were with you every day. I held you and fed you and read magazines to you and changed diapers and sang to you and finally, after twelve very long days, the doctor said that you, my little feeder-growers, were eating well enough on your own to be released. And you were still soooo tiny. Ay caramba. I look at pictures of you now from back then and think it's amazing that we didn't break you. Your little legs were like pipe cleaners and your pacifier took up most of your face.


So many diapers! Your Uncle Eric started stocking up on diapers for us before you were born, and thank goodness he did! Anytime your Nana and Pops came over to visit, they'd bring a big box of diapers. I'm pretty sure that I'm a favorite customer of diapers.com where, get this folks, your order is delivered the next day! And, if you deliver to an address in KS (thanks Shawna and Amanda!), no tax! This is just an approximation, but I believe we've gone through about 18 millions diapers this year. No pressure or anything, but if you want to be early potty-trainers, I'm all for it.


We took your first long road trip when you were only five months old so you could meet your great-grandma, great aunt and uncle, and many cousins in South Dakota. I can't decide if your daddy and I were brave or crazy or a little of both, but you did better than we ever expected, and you even got to see the Corn Palace.

Food. Sometimes you love something, sometimes you hate it, but it's always an adventure. Things you've loved: peaches, quiche (spoiled little Room 39 quiche eaters!), yogurt, smoothie pops, oranges, pasta with pesto sauce, cheerios, pineapple, macaroni and cheese, biscuits and gravy, oatmeal. Things you haven't loved so much: hummus, quinou, green beans. I completely understand why gerber and those nasty looking gerber graduates meals exist. Because sometimes little people don't care that mama or daddy just made them some amazingly delicious, homemade, good-for-you food and choose to spit it out or throw it at the cat or stuff it in their little ears.If we have to go through a phase where all you eat is white or chicken nuggets or something equally disturbing, I think a part of my soul will shrivel up and die. Right now, since one of you (Lucy) is at the 7th percentile for weight, and the other of you (Jane) is at the 10th percentile, you're getting ice cream after dinner, pudding for snack, and all the pumpkin bread you can eat. I feel like we're fattening up the Christmas goose or something.

Peekaboo, That's Not My Monkey, and our morning wrestling match. You both love peekaboo, especially when you play with your dad. It involves hiding under a blanket and flapping around with glee both while you're under there and when it gets pulled off and we scream "PEEKABOO" at you. Watching you sit in the middle of the living room floor with a blanket thrown over you while you wiggle and squirm and wave those little arms is adorable. We have read, re-read, and re-re-read That's Not My Monkey and other favorites so many times now, but there are a handful that are still your favorites, so how can we say no more monkey book? We can't. Now that it's getting cold, you have to wear coats when we leave the house. It doesn't matter how early I try to start the getting ready to go process, it always takes us right up until 5 minutes after I wanted to leave. That may be because I have to chase you two little rugrats all over the place trying to put socks on and then your coats, ah, your coats. Lucy, you scream like the world is coming to an end when I try to put shoes on you. And Jane, you become a WWF woman (minus the greasy body and weird costume) when you see me coming at you with your coat. If you don't believe me, know that it took three grown women to hold you down when you had to have blood drawn for your 1 year appointment. I am impressed with myself every morning when I get the three of us out of the house dressed and more or less ready for the rest of the day.

Snuggles, hugs, and more baby love. I can't tell you how much I love the hugs you girls give. Or when you rest your little head right into that crook of my neck. Or when I'm working in the kitchen, and Jane, you crawl up behind, stand up, grab the back of my legs and hang on. I don't think I'll ever care how dirty you've just gotten my work pants. That's how much I love it.

Words. Things you said when you were born: WAAAAAA. Things one or both of you say now: yellow, more, wa-wa, poop, windmill, ball, light, block, cookie, amy, pops, pa-pop, nana (both for grandma and banana), mama, dad, knee, bath, yo-yo, watch, hippo, car, truck, and more every day! And your animal noises! oh my! you know what a cow says (moo), what a rooster says (cock-a-doo), what a tiger says (roaar), what a kitty says (meeow), what a monkey says (ooh-ooh-ahh-ahh), what a sheep says (baa), what a doggy says (woof), what an owl says (whoo-hoo). I can't wait until I get to ask you how your day was and you tell me!

Girls, I love you so much. You are two of my very best people in the whole world. Thanks for being my babies

The tenth month

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Things we've done, experienced, and eaten:

Road trip to Colorado! We took a long Labor Day weekend and stayed with an old high school friend of mine, Heather, and her family in Fort Collins. Lucy and Jane were so much easier in the car than either of us expected. Of course, it probably helped that we stopped about 134 times on the way there and back. There were planned rest stops for breakfast, lunch, and bottles; there were multiple unplanned diaper change stops (the "uh-oh, that smell cannot be a good sign" stop); and there were a few freakout "why are there bees in the car; GET THE BEES OUT OF THE CAR!" stops.


Jane and Lucy had their first tastes of Ethiopian food - both are fans. They had their first tastes of Mediterranean food - Lucy likes falafel; Jane does NOT like falafel. They both are crazy for peaches. We've learned about the BRAT diet. That's what they're on right now because of a yucky virus. Bananas, rice, applesauce, toast. It's definitely not as adventurous or as tasty as they prefer, but if it takes care of the diarrhea, well, who am I to argue?











Our girls are crazy fast crawlers. Safety gates are installed and are being used as monkey bars by one Jane Stroessner. Lucy just watches like she's waiting for Jane to crack her head open. Which is a real concern. They like to chase their daddy, Mark the cat, and toys that roll. Jane finally figured out how to sit back down when she's tired of standing, but apparently she doesn't have that mastered yet at daycare. Miss Hattie said that she was fussing and fussing the other day when she was standing at the toy cube and Miss Hattie finally figured out that she just wanted to sit!

The girls have been trying to mimic words and sounds for a little while now, but it has gotten painfully cute recently. Jane says "cock-a-doooooo" after we tell her that's what a rooster says, and Lucy answers "mooooo" when asked what a cow says.





I cannot believe these little ladies are now eleven months old. They aren't babies anymore! We are having the best time loving our girls. Can hardly wait to see what the next month has in store...

Ten months

When did this happen?! How is it that you have been living with us for ten months now? You girls are such a joy. Lucy, this month you have started to crawl. And I can't put into words how ridiculously cute it is to watch you cautiously maneuver around. But, at the same time, you're like a tonka truck, climbing over anything (or anyone - watch out Jane!) in your path. Jane, you continue to show us you're excited by stiffening your legs, flapping your arms, and making a big O with your mouth. It's adorable. And, not to be outdone, you've also begun crawling, just a week after your sister.


You ladies started daycare this month. So now your schedules are completely jacked up! You still spend Mondays with me, two days with Nana and two days now at daycare. The first day I dropped you off, Lucy, you cried and cried when Miss Linda took you from me. Jane, you were pretty happy playing on the floor with some new toys. As much as I wanted to take you back Luce, and make it all better, I knew that the best thing for both of you was for me to hightail it out of that room. And I did. And then I cried my eyes out in the hallway. However, your daddy and I are so excited about this place we've found for you. You are going to grow and learn so much over this next year with your new friends and Miss Carla and Miss Hattie.


Lucy, you've just started clapping your hands together. I can even get you to give the occasional high five. The funny part to me is that you actually clap at appropriate times. If you're proud of yourself, you clap. If we say, "good job, Luce", you clap. You're a freakin' genius. Jane, just the other day, you were watching Lucy do this and decided to get with the program. Only, you can't figure out how to clap your palms together and instead you hit your fists together and then seem confused about why your knuckles don't make the same noise Lucy's claps make.


It's funny to see some of your differences. Like eating. Lucy, you're the neatest little baby eater I've ever seen. I can put macaroni covered in pesto sauce on your tray, and you pluck up one piece between your thumb and finger and pop it into your mouth. Repeat. Jane, you pick up a similar piece of pesto macaroni and first it gets rubbed in your hair. Then you see if it will fit in your ear. Next, you check the smushability factor by squishing it in your little baby fist. Finally, any remnants are pushed into your mouth. I'm pretty sure your favorite part of mealtime is getting your hands as dirty and sticky as possible and then waiting for Maggie to walk by your high chair so you can pet her and collect a handful of dog hair. This has made you squeal with delight on more than one occasion. It has made me squeal with something a little less than delight.


There's so much about you two that I just want to hold onto forever. The way you crawl and climb all over your daddy. Your sweet baby hands grabbing my neck (even though that really hurts!). The way we can be in the car or going for a walk, and Lucy, you'll start in on your humming, and I'll join in, and then Jane will join us. Your daddy seems to think this is the three of us "droning", but I love it. The way you grab food from your sister's tray, even though you have the exact same thing on your own. Your soft breath at night when we go in to whisper good night and make sure you're covered.

How did I get so lucky?

All my love and then some,
Mama