Susan's Blog: August 2008

Ro is highly motivated (see pictures below). She wants to get around so badly (crawling doesn't seem good enough anymore) that she'll try and try, grow frustrated, get stuck, and start crying. Little Roji (Romey’s new nickname courtesy of Dan, pronounced like Row-G) is crawling, and attempting to pull herself up, known as “cruising” for our non-mommy readers. This crazy kid will even “walk” (move her feet as if she were walking) when we hold her upright. I’ve heard it before, and now believe it to be true, the second child hits their developmental milestones so much faster than the first did. It's hard to believe that she'll be nine-months old on September 6.

As I’m typing this quick post I can hear (through the monitor) Avery “praying." Her prayer is always the same: “Thank you Jesus for Mommy and Daddy and Romey. Amen!” It always makes me swell up when I hear her “pray.” It’s cute how she has her prayer memorized and races it through it and ends with her little amen finale. We’re talking about thanking Jesus, talking to Jesus, etcetera, which sometimes prompts her to make some additions to her prayer, but mostly she thanks God for her family. It’s hard to believe that she will start school in a few days. I will.............miss her.

Ro: "I see you!"

Ro's newly acquired skill, which has recently turned into finding her in the same spot but on her knees.

Prior to having children most of our friends were like us: kid-less. We did have a few "kid couple" friends. One of these "kid couples" came to mind recently. Dial back five years, and we were having dinner with this couple at their home, and one of the parent-child interactions was quite memorable. It went a little something like this:

The mom (exhausted) said: “Greg, Josh needs an attitude adjustment.” Note: Josh was three at the time, and giving his mom a hard time.

Greg (the dad) said: “Okay, I’m on my way.”

Now, what’s memorable about this isn’t necessarily the interaction between the two parents. What’s memorable is how Dan and I thought it was absolutely hysterical. We laughed about it for weeks, and still remember it to this day. I’ll bet you can see where I’m going with this…..karma has slapped us in the face, and over the past month we’ve seen an eruption of attitude from our dear sweet Avery. Avery’s become increasingly more demanding. She’s sweet as pie as long as she’s getting her way, but whoa to the parental who dares cross her. Avery attitude is best characterized as screaming, hollering, adding the word NOW to every phrase, and the best are the looks and the way she crosses her arms. I’m impressed, really, by her little looks –not particularly effective, but very laughable. Yes, she’s all three-year-old—a little manipulative negoitator swallowing up her parents. Homes where three-year-olds reside really should be outfitted with a trap door. Are you with me on this?

Aside from a little sprinkling of attitude, we’re doing well. Here are a couple highlights from the past several weeks:

*We celebrated my mom’s birthday with the ‘best steak ever.’ While we were indulging Avery was torturing the baby sitter, and ended the evening by doing cartwheels down the stairs. Super.

*We took a tour of Avery’s new pre-school, and, wow, was it awesome. Honestly, I did have a moment of “Wow, we’re here already? I can’t really believe it.” We’re all stoked, but I expect that Dan and I are going to have some first-day jitters (September 2). Avery, though, is going to love it. I’d be kidding myself to say that introducing Romey into the mix hasn’t totally TKO’d Avery’s social life. It has.

*I woke up one morning hearing Avery say, "I cut my hair while mommy and daddy were sleeping." Luckily it isn't very noticeable. Her shorter-layered hairstyle conceals the choppy parts fairly nicely. As typical with Avery type experiences, Dan and I said, "It could of been so much worse."

*Romey continues to be a joyful and happy kid. She’s just pure sunshine. Romey has started crawling and displays fierce determination when she’s got her sights set on a toy. Romey is sitting up, and has started babbling. She’s got one little tooth now, and continues to be such a sweet little girl. We’re still waiting for her to develop a love for solids, but, sadly, it hasn’t really taken off yet. It’s hard to believe that she is 8 ½ months old. Gratefully, though, she’s finally sleeping through the night (well, she won’t tonight cause I’m jinxing myself).

*It seems that there are a lot of babies sprouting up recently. I think I counted five in one week (born to friends/acquaintances). All these new baby pictures cause me to wonder, “Are we really done? Should we try for one more?” And then it occurred to me: I’d love to have another baby in the hospital but I don’t want to bring another baby home. We’re done. So done. Again, am I jinxing myself?

*Dan’s still a weight-loss fool, and we’ve been steering clear of the summer heat by watching some of the past seasons of the TV show 24. Wow, it’s cool. Don’t mess with Jack Bauer. ;)

Enjoy these recent pictures of the girls. We might be a little partial, but we sure think they are beautiful!

Our beautiful little brown-eyed blondie. Check out her first tooth.