Vitals

Each girl had a check up recently. Jellybean for the 9month mark, and Monkey for three years (gulp - how did that go by so fast?).

Jellybean:
*In great health.
*Eating well and on track developmentally.
*Can add more foods to her repertoire of items to cram in her mouth.
*Weight: 15lbs 4oz, OMG about the 7th percentile - woohoo!!!!
*Height: 27” so about the 30th% in height.

Monkey:
*Mulish and stubborn but in great health (as far as we can tell - see below)..
*May be deaf - refused to do hearing test (can hear just fine, NO REALLY)
*May be blind - refused to do vision test (SAME).
*Weight: 30lbs so in the 25-50%
*Height: 37.5inches so the 50-75%

But those are just their vital statistics.

You ask their parents, or their grandparents (or godparents)? They're perfect. The end.

What is your favorite synonym for stubborn? Me, I like mulish.

Monkey had her 3-year check up this morning and, if I hadn’t been there to assure the doctor otherwise, the pediatrician might have thought the kid was blind, deaf, mute and practically immobile, considering the pig-headed, mulish stubbornness she exhibited in her refusal to: (1) answer any questions, including what is your name; (2) exhibit any physical skills other than shrinking backwards; (3) acknowledge that the dreaded headphones on her ears were emitting a series of beeps; or (4) acknowledge that she could both see and identify the shapes on the wall in the vision test.

Now mind you that when she is NOT in the doctors office she is: (1) a freaking chatterbox that asks more questions that you can answer and engages in a running dialogue with her friends and/or toys, whomever is closest; (2) running and jumping and saying “mommy watch me do this trick” as she endangers my health with her fearless acrobatics on the playground; (3) able to overhear every single conversation and (bad) word we want her to miss; and (4) able to spot the smallest Elmo a million miles off and then beg for it (see #1, above).

Sigh.

She is the walking definition of stubborn.

Vacation recap in 170 words or less (I'm counting.....)

Vini vidi vici.

We came, we saw, we conquered: what’s the children’s version of that one? Because Monkey and Jellybean had one hell of a good vacation! They had both sets of grandparents’ wrapped around their pinkies. And that is as it should be.

Some highlights:

Jellybean rapturous with joy and wonder, watching ‘Andpa play the guitar

Monkey screeching for joy when Granddad or Nana turned the sprinkler on for the bounce slide & pool combination

Monkey begging for one more Grandma-made muffin “for the road”

Jellybean leaning out of the arms of whoever was holding her, anytime Nana or Grandma walked by…just begging to be cuddled one more time

Jellybean mastering the stairs (up only) and climbing them again and again at ‘Andpa and Grandma’s house

Monkey climbing up on the piano bench and pounding away at both grandparent households

Me taking so many photos I (first time ever) ran out of space on the CF card!

Photos to follow, I promise. As soon as I catch my breath.

On Milestone Charts

Milestone charts were a secret obsession of mine when Monkey was little. I read them ALL THE TIME to make sure Monkey was doing OK. Or to obsess because she *might* be delayed, or better yet gloat because she *might* be ahead woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gentle readers – no one will know, you can nod your head in silent recognition of your version of this common malady…..

No, really - go ahead, I’ll wait a moment................
..............
................
OK, we can move on now.

This time around, I might remember to check in once or twice, but I now realize their value. They are truly helpful at…………driving traffic to those websites. Aaaaaaaand, that’s about it.

Because really, sometimes they are SO wrong it is pitiful.

To wit: one popular website (cough cough cough BabyCenter cough) lists 16 months as the point that “most” children have temper tantrums when they are frustrated.

Jellybean already does that. She’s 8.5 months old.

Yeah, um, so I don’t know if I want to gloat about my baby being “advanced” on that one. Kind of feels like a karmic bite in the ass, if you know what I mean.

Time keeps on slipping, slippin' slippin'... into the future

Today is Monkey and Jellybean's last day of summer camp at school.

For Monkey, it marks a transition from "toddler" to early childhood. Jellybean will continue in the infant room, but she's going to walk (sooner than later, to keep up with her sister). And this feels like a big deal to me. I know, it's not exactly graduation from college, but it is a moment in time that needs to be marked never the less.

Mostly because OH MAH GAWD when did they grow up on me? Seriously? They are this big ALREADY? But.....they are my babies!

I remember sleepless nights with Monkey thinking dawn would never break. I remember cradling Jellybean's tiny little hands in my hands, wondering at how a creature so beautiful and durable could be so small and fragile.

And now I have these two KIDS.

Ok, granted, Monkey is barely 3 and Jellybean hasn't even hit 9 months yet, but boy do the days fly by.

Monkey haggles like a senior litigator, sleeps like a teenager, and wants to paint her fingernails red. Jellybean shows her teeth when she grins, desperately wants to walk, and knows how to work a room. They are impossibly small and yet impossibly grown up.

And I love them both dearly. Not a day goes by where I can't believe how lucky I am to be their mom. And how grateful I am to have M as my husband and their father.