A Pretty Typical Day...

The kids have been crazy today. I think they are conspiring together to wear me down so I will just completely cave, let Sophie chew on anything she wants and let Max watch t.v. all day. 

Some of the highlights...

Sophie was not able to sleep at all due to Mr. Max. I would have her in her room, rocking her, almost completely asleep, after giving Max strict orders to stay downstairs and play. Instead, he would sneak up the stairs like a Ninja, burst into her room in full costume, and yell, "Captain America is here!", before trying to get the "bad guys" out of her room. Sophie would cry, and we would start all over.

At the library, I was changing Sophie's diaper and turned around to see Max had a HUGE stack of toilet paper pulled off. He said his shark was hungry and needed a snack. We cleaned it up, I put Sophie in her seat, and went to wash my hands. He stated his shark was hungry again, and was spinning the toilet paper off the roll like his life depended on it. Yeah, I received some looks from others....they must not have kids!

Our First Visit to the Kalamazoo Nature Center

We were just able to see a little bit of it, but we'll be back-we're now members!

Sophia is on the Move!

Sophia, in continuing her competitive nature with her brother in regards to all milestones, is THIS close to crawling. She's rolling across entire rooms, scooting in every direction, rocking on all floors, and projecting herself toward objects. It's going to be busy with two on the move.

Oh, to be a kid again

I want someone to encourage me to go play, read me stories, and make me special snacks. I want someone to clean up my messes, pay all the bills, and make me dinner every night, without fail. I want someone to make me take naps, and do so by tucking me in, reading me a story, and rubbing my back. And to think, when I was a kid, all I wanted to do was grow up. Sometimes, when I'm in the midst of paying the mortgage, taking care of the kids, and doing other adult stuff, I stop and think, "Wait, I'M in charge of this? How did this happen?"

Sophia Slept Through the Night...for the 3rd Time!

Well, I'm so sleep deprived I get excited by the little things. I really hope we're on to something here.

Until we started her on solids, she was waking up 4 times a night. Then, it's gradually decreased to 1-2 times on a pretty consistent basis. I looked back to see where Max was at this point, and he was also still up once a night, so I hope she can show him up!

She's not napping as well as he was though; he consistently took 3 naps like clockwork, but she takes 2 that can vary, and some days, it's only 1.

Looking back at Max at 6 months, it's amazing how much his looks have changed; I wonder if Sophia's hair will lighten up that much, too.

Sophia at 6 Months and Max at 3 Years

They are within 2 days of being exactly 2.5 years apart, which I think is a great gap.

The time since Sophia has been born has been one, long blur, and since this current semester started, each day has felt like a marathon. It's truly amazing how much I can do in one day-more than I ever thought possible. I also have less free time than ever before; I can't believe I thought I was busy with Max!

I truly love to watch the exchanges between them, and my heart grows with love for them every day. Max isn't completely into her yet, though. Oh, he loves her, and tells her so, tries to make her laugh, and brings her toys, but then he likes to run away and do his own thing too:) Sophia, on the other hand, is completely smitten. For the first few months, she seemed quite skeptical and just observed him with a very serious look; it was as if she could not decide what to make of him and his bouncing antics, but she's since decided she adores him.

She has continued to be a good eater, and we started her on solids at 5 months; she took to it like she had been eating her entire life and continues to astound me with the amount she is able to put away. She is sitting up for brief periods on her own, rolling across the room, and scooting all over the place. At the rate she's going, I'm sure she'll be crawling soon, and this was the age Max was crawling, so there's some competition!

Max is entering a fun stage. Sure, he still fights going to bed, brushing his teeth, refuses to go to the bathroom on his own, and still has temper tantrums, but he is a bit more portable (that is, we can take him some places in public and not expect meltdowns), and he is in a really fun, imaginative stage. I love his creative little mind and the level of scenarios he conjures up during play. He is also really getting into dress up, and there have been a couple of days he insisted on dressing up as a fireman or Spiderman for school.

He's still as spirited and stubborn as ever, and I love that he's still a mama's boy:)

 

The Past Couple of Months, and Oh, Poor Sophia!

 For the first few months of Max's life, I took so many pictures, I actually had them organized by week. By WEEK! And I thought I was busy!! How did I ever manage to be so organized! I remember looking at all of the pictures my parents took of me and noting how few there were of my sister thinking I wanted to try to avoid that 2nd child trap, but I knew it would be difficult to avoid. It's not that we don't take pictures of Sophia, but there aren't as many, and I don't have time to post them!

Oh, how the last couple of months have gone by! It was a nice transition back into work, only going in a few days before Christmas break, but this spring semester has been really chaotic. Even though I'm only at work part-time, with the number of online classes I am teaching, not to mention grading for my traditional classes, I am doing quite a bit on the weeknights and weekends, which means I am working full-time +. At least it gives me more time with the kids, though, and they are only in daycare 2.5 days a week.

 Sophia has some funny sleeping poses, and she's still loving her swing! She is a very content, happy baby, smiling and laughing a lot. She rarely spits up (as Max always did), so she's making the laundry a bit easier for me:)

This Christmas was a lot of fun, and during my time off, I really thought I might like the full-time stay at home mom gig! However, it is not a possibility, financially, and I really think I would miss it after awhile. I just like that I have a job that allows me to have some time off.

Here is Max's note for Santa: 

This was the first year that Max really got into opening presents. 

 Charly really liked opening his too:)

Sophia had 3 different Christmas outfits, and doesn't she look excited??

 Charly liked to place Darth Vader around the house; he is currently housed in our basement. 

 

Sophia has grown-a lot! She is a great eater, even if it means I don't get much sleep at night...more on this later.

 It's been so fun to watch Max grow and change (again, more on this later)...he's really getting into legos. I'm writing this as I am making dinner, Sophia is sleeping, I'm grading papers, and Max is crawling in and out of my lap. Oh, he just ran off to play legos:) Two kids is quite busy. How do some people manage with more??? Well, really we have 2.5 with Alex here on the weekends.

 Sophia at 3 months....she rolled over for the first time at 12 weeks, and she's starting to grasp onto things and chew them. One of her favorites is her ball.

  I love having a girl to dress! It's so much more fun to choose outfits for her than it is for Max!