He's lucky that he's so darn cute.

Well, he finally sucked it up and said "Mama."  This happened a few days before Christmas. I like to think that perhaps this was his baby way of giving me a nice gift, especially since that same day he said very clearly, "Mommy."  But he also said "nose" and "eye" and "ear" that day. Maybe, he thinks I'm also a body part?

His vocabulary is kind of blowing me away these days. He is months ahead of where Lola was at this age. At 15 months, she only had a handful of words that she could say and I remember Josh and I always telling ourselves, what a great little talker she is.  As if we had anything to do with it. Just like we have nothing to do with Beau's speedy progress. Instead, I am enjoying hearing his little voice.

His newest words:

meatball
cheese
cat
meow
baby
Elmo
cookie
Here ya go (and then he'll hand something to you)
knock knock (he laughs when you ask, "who's there?")
Beau
Lola (oh-aw)
Grandma (gam-ma)

Here's a photo of B, running around the house with a dish towel. He thinks it's hilarious to remove them from the kitchen and then abandon them, usually behind the couch.

It's Still Summer

Heat takes on a new meaning when you can feel it with your eyelids. Just when I think that I've grown accustomed to the hot dry summers of this northern California town, the thermostat rises, testing my resolve.  Exiting my very air-conditioned office building, it takes almost three seconds before I feel it. I begin to think, "It's not too ba--" and before I can reach the word's second syllable, I feel a tightness around my eyes.  I squint in defeat, and speed walk toward my car.  It might be September, but it is still so very hot and reminds me that summer isn't quite over yet.

Lola started kindergarten nearly three weeks ago. She is in love. Every afternoon, she arrives home happily chatting about her friends, the various cultural studies they are engaging in (Botany! Zoology! Geography!), how she ate in the cafeteria, and the games that were played at recess. She loves her new backpack, her new teacher, her new lunch pail.  She loves it so much that she is pretty ticked when Saturday arrives.

"Mom, I thought you said kindergarten was 'every day!'" (Which I did say, as she only attended preschool 3 times a week. I should have known that I needed to specify that "every day" meant "business days.")

Given the difficult adjustment that she endured with preschool, it is a relief that the transition to kindergarten is going so well. I would post a photo of her from her first day except that I used the actual camera to take photos and now I can't find the cord that is needed to upload the photos to my laptop.  I did, however, take a photo on my phone of part of the first lunch that I packed for her. I took the photo because I spent ten minutes searching through the container of alphabet cookies to find ones that would spell her name, and then subsequently realized what a ridiculous waste of time the whole thing was and I swore I would never do it again.



Speaking of cuteness, our adorable baby boy is continuing to steal hearts every day. He, after spending the last 11 months quietly observing all of us from a stationary position, has decided that it is time to move and be heard.  In the past month, he has acquired his first two teeth, began crawling, and decided that his first word would be "ut-oh."  If you drop anything, he'll be sure to acknowledge it.

An Extra-Long Video

Summary: I attempt to convince Beau that he should try crawling. He refuses, asserting that he is the Baby Prince, and insists that I bring him whatever he wants, whenever he wants it.

He has Baby Pageant Hair

It's hard to believe that this little dude has been out of the womb longer than he was in it.

I love the photo for several reasons:
1. It demonstrates the height of his baby hair.
2. It shows his preference to use his left hand.
3. It reiterates that he is the Best Baby in the Universe because he loves the cilantro-garlic hummus that I made for him.

I also love lists.
 
Other 9-month-old baby things about Beau:
1. He loves to read books, especially touch-and-feel books.
2. He prefers to feed himself, rather than be fed with a spoon. His new favorite fruits are plums and figs, and avocado is still a top contender.
3. He can sign "milk" and is beginning to sign "all done."
4. He LOVES Gizmo.
5. He is only waking up once at night (usually around 3:00 am), but then nurses and goes back to sleep.
6.When he is playing with his toys, he always gravitates to his blocks. He takes them out of the bucket, and then puts them back in. Then, repeat. OVER and OVER again.

Lady Longlegs

My, how quickly they grow.

As I watch Beau race through his first year, I'm reminded again and again of how our baby girl is no longer baby at all. She barely qualifies for "little girl."  When referred to as such, she usually sneers and says, "I'm a big kid."

This past week she finished preschool.

It was a bittersweet moment for me, as I think all of her most recent milestones have been. It was excitement marred by the ache of watching your child grow at a faster rate than your heart can handle.

On the way to school that morning, Lola talked incessantly about the newly-discovered (to her) Peter Pan. "Why does he get to live on NeverNever Land?" Clearly distressed by the fact that Peter Pan never grows up, she asked, "Why does he never grow up? Why is it only Peter Pan that doesn't grow up?" 

As I answered her questions with the correct logical answers, "NeverNever Land is his home," and "He doesn't grow up because he's Peter Pan," my mind wandered to a darker place as I thought about the way too frequent tragedies that prevent some children from ever growing up, the real-life Peter Pans. "Only Peter Pan stays little forever, honey," I said in a confident tone, trying to reassure us both.

Grow my dear girl, please grow. And, I will be so lucky to spend my days checking off the milestones with you.

The Art of 4

Thus far, 4 is a spectacular age. I think I may even go as far to say that it's my favorite age.

One of Lola's current interest is biology, particularly human anatomy.  Some days this results in adorable conversations, like her concern over "whether the red blood cells and the platelets were going to form a scab." (Yes, indeed, that is how it works). Other days, she has questions that are too big for me to answer, but she seems satisfied with the response of, "Uh, I don't know. But I'll look into it and get back to you." (This a response that seems to work well with my boss, too.)

And, sometimes, her curiosity and need for exploration, is a bit messy. Like the night I found her facing the toilet, naked, trying to figure out a way to aim her pee into the toilet. When I asked her if she knew why she was having such trouble she sighed and said, "I think I might need a penis."

Part of my love for her new obsession is her expanded vocabulary.  She has added words like pupil and iris, cochlea and intestine, to her list.  It's adorable to hear someone with a tiny, squeaky voice, explain how food is digested. "First, it goes into down your e-soph-o-gus..."

 (Wearing her "drinking glasses" as well as her anatomy shirt.)

Yet, for all this older kid stuff she has started to talk about, there are definitely moments that remind me she is indeed only 4.  Like, when I ask her if she is "sure" about something, and she replies, "I'm sure not."  Or when we sit in our favorite Japanese restaurant, for what I hope will be a calm uneventful meal, and she sprawls herself across her chair and moans about how her Buzz Lightyear action toy MUST AT THIS VERY MOMENT attack the Evil Emperor Zurg, who is, in her mind, the soy sauce bottle sitting on the table next to us occupied by people who looked annoyed with the fact that we have a 4-year-old in a restaurant. Or, like last night, when she woke up 3 times, first at 1:30 AM, then 2:00 AM, and lastly 4:00 AM, with no excuse to be awake except that she wanted me to soothe her back into sleep with my presence.

So, yes, this is all 4.

I read once on another person's blog, of whom his name in particular I cannot recall, that 49% of the time, children are a serious pain in the butt. Like, so awful, that you wonder, why in the world would a person abandon a life of sleeping in and showering without interruption.  A life that was likely focused on exactly what you wanted to do when you wanted to do it, and you didn't have to constantly be watching a small person who enjoys urinating on herself, or placing incredibly dangerous objects in his mouth, or generally being the suicidal maniacs that most babies and toddlers aspire to be.

The author continued and wrote that the reason so many people are willing to deal with such crap is that 51% of the time kids are awesome. They give the most sincere hugs, teach what true unconditional love is, and have belly laughs that compare to no other group on earth.

I've learned that this 1% makes a difference. It's the 1% that make people like me, a woman who wasn't entirely sure the first time around whether she was going down the right path, want to venture down the same road again.

(This time around I'm hoping for more of a 40/60 split, but we'll just see what happens.)

This Kid is 4 Years Old

Intent on making her birthday, a day filled with all of her favorite things, we began with birthday pancakes. Birthday pancakes are different from ordinary pancakes because they are filled with sprinkles, then covered in whip cream and more sprinkles.

Then, in an attempt to burn off a little sugar, we went down to the river. Lola enjoying throwing rocks in the river with her grandma and aunt.

Later, we met up with two of Lola's friends at the local children's museum. They had a great time playing, painting, and eating dinosaur cupcakes. 

That night for dinner, we ate her favorite food, gnocchi with gorgonzola. Afterwards, Lola opened a few gifts before we ended the night with peanut butter ice cream, and of course, more cupcakes.

Lola's Birthday Fun in San Francisco

Every year, I tell myself that I'm just going to do something small for Lola's birthday. I'll plan one activity, but then, I'll want to add a party, you know something involving friends, and then of course there is the actual day itself beginning with the birthday breakfast, birthday lunch, and birthday dinner. And yes, all of them involve dessert and singing Happy Birthday. So when it's 10 o'clock the night before the big day, and I'm in the floral department of the grocery store because I decided at the last minute that I want to surprise her in the morning with birthday balloons, I really shouldn't be surprised.

I create my own stress.
I own that.

This year, I began the festivities a week early by taking Lola to San Francisco to see "Dinosaur Petting Zoo," a performance by ERTH, a Sydney-based puppet troop. I feel strange calling it a puppet show, because these are no ordinary puppets.  Inside the auditorium, I wasn't able to get a very good photo, but you can at least tell that this T-Rex was pretty big. Big enough to intimidate a room full of small kids.

One of my favorite parts of the show involved when they would ask the audience questions. One question was, "When did dinosaurs become extinct?" and a child answered, "The 80s!"

After the show, we were able to meet a baby dinosaur in the lobby. I petted it too. I was surprised at how much it felt like a real animal. (The keeper commented on how he loved Lola's dino hoodie)

Then, we met Amy, Adam, and Shirley at Thorough Bread and Pastry for lunch. I fulfilled Lola's request to have a dinosaur birthday cake by purchasing a yummy chocolate cake from the bakery and throwing a small plastic dinosaur (one that she already owned, but didn't seem to recognize) on top of the cake. 

She was very please with the cake.

After lunch, we took a quick family photo to commemorate the occasion.  Happy SF birthday, Lola.

The First Trick-or-Treat

Here's Lola, prepping for her debut.

Just Me and a Couple of Chickens

In mid-August, Lola experienced her first day of preschool.

I was just going to post a photo of her, but then I felt the need to write about the pre-preschool stuff, because like a lot things that involve this little girl, the back story has to do with me and how mothering has made me even more neurotic than I was before Lola. And of course, it has taken me months to actually sit down and write. So here you go, a photo.

There are a few more below. Feel free to scroll through my ramblings to see them. I won't be offended.

Anyway, where was I? I suppose this story really started many months before the first day of school.

Months and months ago, Josh and I began to discuss what sort of preschool we would like Lola to attend. While we knew that we wanted her to experience two years of preschool before kindergarten, we were unsure of what sort of setting we wanted her to be in. I began to talk to co-workers and friends with older children.  The more I listened, the more I learned, and the more overwhelmed I became because I quickly realized that there are several different types of preschool environments.  Each one seemed to claim that it is the best way to teach a child, and everyone seemed to agree that you should put your child in the environment in which she learns best, but until you put your child in an actual preschool environment, how do you know which way is the best way your child learns? And then, what if you put her in the wrong environment, and that environment doesn't work, and you need to change schools, but your next choice is full, and then fast forward 15 years, your kid doesn't qualify for any financial aid and you're stuck with a $40,000 annual college tuition bill. THERE IS A LOT RIDING ON THIS ISSUE. 

Next time I complain about not being able to sleep and I blame it on Lola, please quietly email this post to me with the subject line: It's your own fault, worrywart.

 In order to resolve this issue, I resorted to my favorite problem solver of all time, the list. First, I made a list of the things that were important to me:

Outdoor play
Affordable tuition 
Balance between "structured academics" and open creative play
Diversity
Experienced teacher


For a while, I was set on sending Lola to a Spanish immersion school, where the entire school day is taught in Spanish.  (Josh nixed this idea when we learned the school was an in-home program, which was something he was not comfortable with.)  Then, I began to lean toward a Montessori school, but when they increased their tuition rates for the school year, it was no longer within our budget.

We finally settled on a co-op school in our neighborhood. This co-op is ran through our local Parks Department and the school program requires parents to volunteer a set number of hours in the classroom each month, as well as expects the parents to perform other specific classroom duties.  (Josh volunteered to be the "laundry" parent, which means he is in charge of washing the kitchen towels, and other various clean up towels used each week. I'm the "preschool librarian" which essentially means that I am in charge of the monthly Scholastic Book Club orders.) The teacher follows a Love and Logic approach, and I think the classroom can be best described as a Montessori-Waldorf hybrid.

This co-op has a reputation of being difficult to get into, and at the tour we took back in February, I was told that in order to get your child admitted, it was necessary to sign-up on the first day of registration. Given that I've heard stories about people camping outside elementary schools in order to get priority kindergarten registration, I took this tidbit of info from the tour and stuck it to my mental Pinterest board titled, "I'll do Anything for my Child."

Fast forward to April, and there I am on registration day, standing outside the Parks Department Building at 6:30 A.M. The office is set to open at 8:00 AM, and other than meeting the Parks maintenance man (who's day I learned began at 5:30 AM), it's just me and a couple of the wild neighborhood chickens. I fully expect a large line to form, one that would wrap around the building, so I wait.

At 6:45, I go back to my car to get a jacket. At 7:15, I pull out my cell phone and start texting friends who might be on their commute to work. At 7:45 AM, still alone, I realize just how crazy I am. At 7:55 AM, employees begin to pull into the parking lot and I feel a way of ridiculousness wash over me, as I quickly hide my book in my purse. One of the women invites me inside.  "Have you been waiting very long?" No, not at all, I tell her. I quickly register Lola for school, and then leave, hoping that I won't have to come back to the office any time soon.

Later, I find out that my craziness was worth it, as the returning children received priority registration, and Lola is only one out of four new children in the class.

So far, being that we are now almost two months in, we are pleased with our choice. As far as my list goes, the only area lacking is diversity, but given the demographics of our neighborhood, that isn't entirely surprising.  Lola loves school, and when she comes home she excitedly shares stories about the friends that she has made, the things she has built, the many many puzzles she has put together (our girl loves puzzles!), and is always pulling some sort of crazy craft project out of her backpack.

What has surprised Josh and I the most about our experience with our community-based school, is just how much of a community it is. Rarely do we leave the house and not run into someone we know. We still go to the same parks, the same library, the same grocery store, as we did before, but now when we go, we hear, "Lola!" and then turn to see a smiling parent with child in tow. As Lola is making friends, Josh and I are beginning to form friendships too, and that feels really good.

Chopsticks, the wooden kind.

Last week for my birthday, we went to dinner at my favorite sushi restaurant.  Out of the blue, Lola picked up her chopsticks and CORRECTLY used them. I didn't figure out how to use chopsticks until well into my teenage years, so it's needless to say I was blown away. Besides, this kid can barely use a fork.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Lola Jane.

For weeks, I agonized over what to do for Lola's birthday. Should I throw a big party at our home? Should we go sledding in Tahoe? Should we drive out to SF and see friends? Given that her birthday is in February, and that our winter weather has been completely unpredictable this year (no snow in Tahoe and yet it rained on her birthday), I opted for a small gathering. 

On the morning of her birthday, she woke up to see her birthday crown that I had, once again, stayed up late the night before to handcraft for my birthday girl. You would think, given that this is the 3rd crown I've bejeweled, that I would have remembered to do it in advance. Nope.

Lola loved it.

 

She wore it as she ate her banana pancake breakfast. And, she enjoyed the birthday cake candle warm-up.

After breakfast Josh, Lola, and Auntie Andy (who was in town to visit), took off to meet Josh and Lola's daddy-playgroup pals at the library for story time. I stayed at home to prep for lunch. 

I made all of Lola's favorite foods:

Homemade Hummus

Trader Joe's Gnocchi with Gorgonzola Sauce

Roasted Broccoli

and of course, Birthday Cake with Ice Cream

 

Lola loved her birthday cake, but had a little trouble with the candles.

Lola had a wonderful day. She was, and is, a happy girl.

Let's Slow That Clock Down

Last week, we celebrated Lola's birthday.

It was a whirlwind which turned into a busy couple of days and a nonstop weekend, and now here I am, nine days later, finally finding the time to sit down and write a little bit about it.

I can't believe she is three years old.

I mean, I can.
I have been awake for probably 70% of it. Maybe more. But still, in my chronic sleep deprived (yet highly functional state), it is just hard to believe that three years has passed since her birth.

This past year, like the ones before it, has been one of many transitions. The clingy, nursing, crib-sleeping, diaper-wearing, sippy cup yielding toddler has been replaced by a little girl who tonight was rocked to sleep with a story of a duck riding a bike, while she wore her Hello Kitty underwear and snuggled Mr. Bun Bun in her "big girl" bed.

While her strong spirit has always been fiercely independent at home, she has started to feel more comfortable in the world and occasionally, she detaches herself from my hip and interacts with other pint-size kids. The relief this has provided me is immense. On occasion, she will even request to go to the gym or the grocery store, just so she can participate in the daycare services those places provide.

This weekend will mark the start of another transition as she has her first independent swim lesson. Lola and I have had many discussions regarding how her lesson on Saturday will be different from the usual parent-and-tot class we take together. At the end of these conversations, she always quick to remind me that in exchange for her cooperation (i.e., getting the pool by herself), I have promised a lollipop.

Her ability to remember things, even the tiniest of details, always surprises me. I know that it shouldn't, but it does. Her curiosity, her ability to absorb information and process it in a way so she can understand the world, her need to slow down and just observe. I feel as those these things are uniquely Lola, while simultaneously knowing that they are part of this new age.

Tonight, when we left the gym, she asked if we could pause our walk to look up at the night sky. She likes to look at the stars, search for an airplane, and tell me that she is going to catch the moon.  So we stood there in the cold, bundled in our coats, holding hands on the sidewalk, and stared at the blackness above us.

She is a wonder.
She is 3 years old.

A whole lot of two.

She is 34 and a half inches tall. (65% percentile.)
She is 25 pounds (35% percentile.)

I couldn't resist putting her stats in an adult height predictor/calculator that I found online. According to that thing, she will most likely be 5'5" as an adult. I can't imagine her being taller than me.

-------------

Other current Lola facts:

Her favorite songs to sing are"The Wheels on the Bus," "The Alphabet Song," and "Itsty Bitsy Spider."

She can properly identify things that are purple. According to her, everything else is "blue."

She can count to fourteen. All. by. herself.

Her favorite dinner meal is gnocchi with gorgonzola cheese.

Her favorite snacks are goldfish crackers and freeze dried mangoes.

Her favorite book is Farmyard Tales.

Sometimes she refers to Josh as, "Daddy (LastName)." She also refers to Archie in the same manner.

Every time she sees or hears a motorcycle, she yells, "Curtis! Motorcycle!"

Every time she sees or hears an airplane, she comments on how "Airplanes go to Grandma's house."

She believes everyone has a mustache. She often points to her mustache (upper lip) and comments on other people's mustaches too.

Every night when I ask her which pajamas she would like to wear, she says, "Moon jammies!" Usually, I have to tell her that they are dirty. Then, she says, "Mommy, clean them up!"

She loves using Skype to talk to my parents.

She loves accessories: necklaces, bracelets, sunglasses, hats, headbands, purses. She can't get enough of them.

-------

Tonight, as I put her to bed and told her that I loved her, she said, "I love you soooooo much." And it was adorable.

Lola the Explorer

I'm not quite sure when the transformation occurred. It's like we went to bed one night with a sweet baby (and woke up six times before daylight), and then in the morning, we had this daring toddler.

Her favorite activities include:

1. Doing totally crazy things. Like biting the couch.

2. Racing around super hero style, while shrieking and screaming at levels so high that I'm beginning to think she might have the ability to communicate with dolphins.

3. Tasting and feeling and stacking and throwing all of the rocks in the backyard.

4. Climbing on things that she shouldn't be climbing on.

5. And lastly, putting things on her head. You know, so she'll be able to find them later, when she needs them.

It's exhausting. For all of us. :)

For Rachel

Lola is starting to venture into the world of pretend.

We were first offered a glimpse of this treasure when she grabbed Josh's coffee cup on Christmas Eve and starting "drinking" from it. The next day, upon receipt of her chatter phone, we began to make phone calls. Most of our conversations go like this.



Brrrrring, brrrrring.
Me: "Hello?"
Lola (curious look)
Me: "Oh, hi _____ (insert Auntie/Grandma). Would you like to talk to Lola?"
Me, give phone to Lola.
Lola looks at phone. Holds it. Says nothing.
Me, take phone back.
Me: "She doesn't feel like talking right now. Can you call later?"
Me: "OK. I'll tell her. Bye."
Me, hang up phone.
Me (look at Lola): She's going to call you back later.

After repeating this scenario, oh 150 times or so, with Lola never taking the receiver to talk to someone, I saw her do the most bizarre thing last week. She crawled over to her high chair, picked up the loose nylon strap, held it up to her ear and said, "Bababa? Uh. Dadama." Then, she proceeded to have an entire conversation.

The next day, she grabbed our cell phones and started to "make calls." And, then, I saw her use these as her "phone" and it cracked me up so much that I had to catch it on video.

In case my videos weren't already boring you

Here is another one. I will title it, "Mastering the Straw."

Next up, a video of Lola's amazing afternoon poop. I will title that one, "The PM BM."

Jusssst kidding. :)

The Dolphin Puppet Eats Panda Shoes

A co-worker of mine passed on a pair of shoes to Lola. They are black, a mary jane style, with an ankle strap. The face of a panda bear shapes the toe and while Lola never really wore them (originally, they were too wide and then later on, too short), she absolutely adores them. She often crawls around the house with one of the shoes clutched in her hand with the other one hidden under the seat of ride on airplane toy.

Yesterday, as we were playing with Lola, we found a new purpose for the shoes.

An Important Skill

Somehow Lola figured out that having a fake laugh is necessary for surviving awkward social situations.

Birthday Girl, Part II

On Lola's actual birthday, we re-sang Happy Birthday to her and allowed her to have a cupcake. Unfortunately, because we had to pick my parents up from the airport, we started the festivities a little late and, at first, she almost had a meltdown.

But then, the sugar kicked in!