So this is thirty something....

Amelie goes to school!?

2012-01-04T10:44:00.000-08:00

So today was officially Amelie's first day of school at Montessori. That's right...Amelie. My little tiny baby turned two-year-old ready-for-more! Up until now, I've been dropping in to Miss Cindy's class for extra little people with Amelie. We sit, join in circle-time, sing the good morning song, and work a few puzzles. Then we leave. But today is the first time I've ever said bye-bye to my little girl and let me tell you...it's a little crazy in my head!

In preparation for the worst, instead of driving all the way home (6 minutes with traffic) I decided to stop off at our downtown apartment (2 minute drive) to do some inventorying of what needs to be done before my Mom-in-Law comes to stay there two weeks from now. I figure when they call to tell me Amelie is inconsolable and they need me to come, I'll be there lickety-split.

So I stop in, look around, realize it just needs a basic clean up that can be done two weeks from now, and decide put my feet up, close my eyes and try to catch the elusive sleep that never seems to come around anymore (I've had insomnia for months worrying god-knows-why about Amelie's start at school). But sleep doesn't come. It's 9:00. 9:30. 9:45. Nothing. So I get up and drive home. I come in and realize the kitchen is a mess from breakfast. I could start the laundry too. But I don't want to do any of that...besides I have help later today that can do that stuff.

That's when I realize what the problem is. I'm the one not prepared for alone quiet time. It has been full steam ahead toddler raising for 2 years. Before that? Full steam ahead baby raising.

I. don't. know. what. to. do.

And why hasn't the Montessori called to tell me I'm needed? Could it be that my gut was right and Amelie is absolutely ready for this and will enjoy herself and all the new stimulus? Is it possible that both my girls are already....there?

A trip to the past

2011-12-19T18:42:00.000-08:00

Well, tonight I was toodling around my blog, reacquainting myself with the me of the past, when I came across this post. It's the one I wrote about four years ago, when Ajay and I go to Ruby's for dinner? To be "fun" and acquaint ourselves with the things people with kids do. Yes, we were the married couple sans children at Ruby's for dinner, looking around marveling at how families with small children live their lives, and smiling as the kids nearby melted down, got time outs, were constantly rounded up by frazzled Moms...yep, we were the freak couple looking at these poor souls with warmth and love, nodding at them with hopeful eyes while their kids drove them crazy, hoping that we'd be in their ranks nine months from that moment.

Flash forward 4 years. We have two monkeys. We are the frazzled parents. Ours are the kids melting down. We are the ones looking at expectant parents like they are smoking crack when they nod lovingly at each other and then at us when our child spills milk and loses it.

What. Were. We. Thinking!!!!!!!

A conversation overheard....

2011-12-18T16:20:00.000-08:00

The Sears Repairman: How old are you?
Alia: Three. How old are you?
The Sears Repairman: Really old.
Alia: Like my Dad?

hello? anyone out there?

2011-12-17T14:44:00.000-08:00

Last month I covered Amelie's second birthday here in my little blog. Since then, nada!

In fact, it's been so long since I kept up with a regular daily blog that I couldn't even figure out how to get into my blog and sign in and start writing today...that's how much has changed since even my last entry.

So where am I now? Where is our little family now? Well, of course we're here in Laguna, but we know that's not what I'm asking.

Right now we are getting ready for the holidays. Wrapping presents, listening to endless Christmas music via Pandora, and enjoying the season as best we can. However, this year seems to be busier than ever, and we've been struggling a little just to keep up with the day to day. Ajay has been working like crazy. He's gone at 6AM and returns maybe one day a week before the girls bedtime at 7. The rest of the nights he's been home late late late. And even his days that are supposed to be short have been running long. He's burned out, exhausted, and with all the work has not been able to train at the gym, which means his hips and back are locking up. And the girls? They miss him terribly. Alia has her own brand of naughty when he's not around much, which makes me crazy. And Amelie, our little pack animal, misses him in her own way...she gets sweeter and sweeter and needs cuddles. Lots of cuddles. So like I said...we've had a tough month.

And sure, all that impacts me, too. I'm sad that my husband is working like a maniac and missing home life.

And I'd be lying if I said I'm just awesome at managing all things all the time, especially when my Alia is just about the most head strong person I've ever come across in my life....not most head strong 3 year old...the most head strong person out of all people. At times I feel like I'm failing her because my endless patience and positive outlook ends and turns sour. And Amelie...well, she's easy. Since her colic ended at about 4 months, she has been a gem of a human being.

Lately, I feel like a very fortunate single Mom (that doesn't have to work, but is in charge of all things without a partner many days). With Alia testing me to my maximum nearly every day, I'm a step from tears or pulling my hair out nearly every day. The magic of the season spreading through the air like the magical snow flakes that gave life to Frosty the Snowman eludes us.

But enough of my holiday blues. Actually right now is a very peaceful and wonderful time. Alia and Amelie are napping. Ajay is home and reading in his favorite chair. And I'm here typing away. Nothing could make me happier.

Happy 2nd Birthday, my dear Amelie

2011-11-06T18:55:00.000-08:00

Well, I can't help myself but to say I feel bad that I have not been able to chronicle Amelie's early life in as much detail as I did with Alia...but who knew two kids would be so much more than one! Especially now that they are soooo busy.

Well, lets start with right now, since that's what's on my mind. Amelie turned 2 last week and this weekend we had a wonderful birthday party for her at Alta Laguna Park up the street from our house. I hoped to have the important people in her life there to celebrate and we weren't let down...nearly forty people showed up and it was seriously a wonderful day. The sky was bright blue, big white puffy clouds sprawled, and the sun was as bright as a November sun could be. Amelie was in heaven since she was surrounded by all of her favorite people...Jessica our nanny, Kori our former nanny who moved away about 5 months ago, and of course Mommy, Daddy, Aunt Carol and Uncle Jim, and let's not forget her big sister Alia. All the rest of the people were very comforting to her because they were all the people Amelie has come to know in her life, but let's just say Amelie is a small pack animal.

Developmentally, right now Amelie amazes us. She began talking in sentences at about 18 months. Way ahead of the curve. She has known all letters and numbers up to 20 for at least 6 months. She sings Old MacDonald Had a Farm on key. Oh, yeah, and she also speaks Dora Spanish (counts from 1-10, colors, up, down, yes, no, good morning, good night, hello, goodbye, and anything else they teach). She is a very early talker. Amelie expresses herself very well...she never had the frustration-based tears Alia had before learning to talk. I remember teaching Alia to sign because her cognitive skills were so far ahead of her verbal development. Not Amelie...sure she signed because her sister did, but she also learned to speak so early that she's been able to articulate her thoughts with ease.

Physically, Amelie is tall and lean. She is the same as Alia height-wise, but a little leaner in stature. She walked a little earlier than Alia, too...she had some one to catch up to and that really has been the motivator of her life...keeping up with Alia. She walked at 11 months, and since then has been very physically active. She runs so fast that she shouts "Slow down, Mimi!, Slow down!!!" as she rounds corners without slowing. Her favorite thing is to run with her favorite bear held high above her head at full speed ahead and shout "slow down Bear! slow down!" She has quite the sense of humor. Oh, and did I mention she's already showing great progress with potty training daily? Mommy likes this!

Personality wise, Amelie is pure love. She warms my heart with her sweetness. She is loving, funny, and hilarious. Her sense of humor is beyond her years. She hugs and kisses and so far has not shown too much of terrible in her 2. Although I do see signs of her asserting her independence daily, it's not quite so hostile as Alia's display. Amelie's favorite expression is "Mimi does it byzherself!!!". This is shouted any time she is struggling with something and I try to help. Getting something on a fork, unzipping something all the way, unbuttoning something, fitting one thing into another thing.

Activity wise, Amelie has taken toddler gymnastics and toddler ballet through Laguna Beach community programs. She attends lots of play dates with the parents club, and loves going to the park and the beach. She loves television although I limit it to one or two shows like Dora the Explorer or Calliou or Max and Ruby per day, and she loves to draw, paint, and work puzzles. And I cannot believe I am this far into the post to mention her loooooove of the iPad. and iPod. and YouTube. And anything technological. In fact, her technical savvy is frightening.

Her favorite people are 1) Alia her sister 2) Mommy and a close 3) Daddy. She prefers women to men in general. She loves her Noni (my Mom), her Aunty Carol, and Aunty Tina. Amelie really connected with her Aunty Merfe this summer, and always asks about when we see her 'gain.

My last year with Amelie has been a joy. She is so loving, so smart, and a joy to be around. I cannot imagine life without my little love.

2011-09-17T17:24:00.001-07:00

Alia: Mimi! You smell like wild animal poop!

Thank God for video...

2011-08-11T20:57:00.000-07:00

A day in the life...

2011-08-09T13:48:00.000-07:00

So lately, it's busy around here. I know I've been saying this forever, but I just can't seem to find time to keep up with my blog. So how better to determine when I should make time for it than to account for the time I do have.

Well, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, my days go like this....wake up and shower before 6:00AM. Get ready for the day...makeup, shower, dress. Get the girls up around 7:00. Make breakfast and prod them along by singing various songs on demand or telling various stories with or without variations. Clean up breakfast and pack Alia's snack. She's in school from 8:30-11:45 for the next few weeks. Throw in a load of laundry. Round up the girls and lead them to their room to get them ready. Brush teeth. Wash face. Brush hair. Lotion up their little bodies. Get both girls dressed. At this point I allow them to read, work puzzles, do whatever they'd like while I gather my purse, keys, sunglasses, Alia's backpack, Amelie's travel needs (diapers, snacks, milk) and load the car. Put the laundry in the dryer. I then return and attempt to gather up the girls again and move them to the car. Buckle them in. Determine the popular song of the day...Pop Goes the Weasel or the one about the tired horse.

Once we're in the car, we head to the Montessori and drop off Alia. Although drop-off is not quite the reality. Currently it involves 20 hugs, 20 kisses, cuddles, 20 bonus hugs, crying, more hugs, bargaining, promises, and finally Miss Cindy offers the prize...she leads Alia to the corner where she can view me pulling away with Amelie. We stop outside the window, make funny faces, and leave the premises an emotional wreck. (By the way...the moment I'm out of sight, Alia's fine and already painting and making bead bracelets). By now it's 8:45 or so.

From here Amelie and I attend to what needs to be attended to. Grocery, a trip to Target, back home for chores, etc. My nanny arrives at 11, so I've got Amelie all morning. Around 11:30 I start thinking about picking up Alia. I make lunch while nanny plays with Amelie, or I play with Amelie and she makes lunch. I go and pick up Alia at 11:40. I'm back at 12:00 or a little after. Once again I work on rounding up the girls with nanny's help, seat them and offer them lunch. They eat. We sing songs. Then Alia bargains that she wants to play awhile before nap, which is at 1:00. Around 12:40 I put Amelie down for her nap. I leave for exercise at 12:45. Nanny puts Alia down around 1:00.

I've been working out with a trainer since January on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1:30. It takes me a little over 20 minutes to drive there which is nice because it's the only time of the week that I'm alone with my thoughts. I can listen to podcasts, call friends, or just space out and drive....for 20 minutes. I start the workout by running a mile or so, or if my knees feel wonky, I'll walk at 15% incline at 3.2 for about 20 minutes or however long I have until the trainer shows. He systematically kicks my ass for about an hour, and then I go home. I arrive at 3:15. The girls are waking up. They are hungry. Nanny has packed my swim bag. We have Mommy and Me swim lessons every day at 4:00PM. I change to my bathing suit and grab whatever girl is joining me, and head out. Sometimes I'll drop nanny off at the park with whichever girl isn't partaking in the day's swim lesson. Go to swim. Finish swim. Pick up nanny at park. Go home. Start dinner while nanny plays outside with girls, or sometimes we reverse this role. At 5:30 or so it's dinner time. After dinner we move to bath. Every other day we wash Alia's long lustrous hair before moving to bath. Around 6:15 we finish with bath and it's cozy time! That's when the girls line up on the couch and get to watch one, perhaps two episodes of Dora the Explorer. And then, around 7:00PM we make the pilgrimage to the girls' room. We brush teeth. We read stories. Alia goes potty for the last time. Amelie gets her last fresh diaper. And we toss them in the bed and sing the last song of the day...Amelie likes to hear her ABCs and Alia prefers 5 Green and Speckled Frogs.

Tuesday, Thursday are very similar, however, there is no meeting with the trainer, so I typically use the time between 1 and 3:00 to either 1) nap or 2) attend to whatever little projects pop up, such as reorganizing the play room, boxing up old clothes the girls have outgrown, pre-making snacks for weekday snack, attempting to organize my iPhoto events, or call me crazy, going to pick up miscellaneous items without 2 girls in tow. We still have swim at 4:00PM. We still have the same morning and nighttime routine...it's just that I'm not spending nap time at the gym.

And every day of the week? After the girls are in bed? I make dinner for Ajay and myself. We spend the remaining hour or so of our day eating, cleaning up, catching the latest show that Tivo caught for us, and call it a night at 9:00PM. From that point, I may be awakened throughout the night by Amelie's cries perhaps 1, perhaps 3 times, or perhaps rarely not at all. But on the not-at-all nights, I awaken myself, in fear of being awakened, and wait for the crying. Which, if it isn't happening, really sucks because I'll lie there awake all night waiting to be awakened.

Saturday and Sundays are family days when Ajay isn't working. We try to do something together as a family in the morning, like going to the park, the beach, the carousel, and as of recent, the movies (Winnie the Pooh is the first movie that both girls have gone to and we've seen it twice in one week!). We have lunch together, and then during nap time, Ajay and I usually take advantage of the silence and grab some rest ourselves. After nap, we swim in our pool, play in the playhouse, or go to a park or a local outing. Then again, it's time for dinner, bath, and the bedtime routine.

So, where might I find time to write? Well, I could get up earlier. But typically I'm bargaining for the love of whatever God might be out there for more time in bed when my alarm rings, so the idea of facing the day earlier is well, just sad. There's Tuesday and Thursday nap time...which is when I'm writing this...but typically I schedule myself to the hill with my doctor, dentist, haircuts, errands, etc. on those days. So where does that leave me? In my mind, the weekends are kind of off limits because I really like for us to spend what time we have together as a family as a family and second, I typically put Ajay's have-tos ahead of my want-tos. If he needs to call his patients for work on something for his job, I'll cover the girls so he can do what he needs.

So I suppose I'm going to have to keep eking out little bits of time here and there and record what I can. In the meantime, trust that my girls are growing, healthy, adorable, challenging, smart, funny and beautiful. Totally worth falling behind in the blog I've dedicated to them!

2011-07-19T14:53:00.001-07:00

Alia this morning: But Mommy, I can't eat right now. I need to dance.

...a little wedding in France

2011-07-01T07:46:00.000-07:00

So at the end of our holiday, we stopped in Crouttes, France for a beautiful family wedding. The bride was gorgeous. The family traveled from far and wide to attend. And my girls? And their cousins? Were flower girls.

Here, Alia sits with her cousin Haylah with her Aunt Shefali and Uncle Shuja behind.

Thank God for the iPhone...

Did I mention my girls love the iPhone?

My handsome husband with his beautiful mother

...and me with Amelie, and Amelie with her iPhone...and Buttah Bear

...with thanks to my trainer for getting those arms in shape for this dress!

Alia with my first niece Haylah and her lovely Mama Lena

...and Amelie with her iPhone...again...

And me the proud Mommy of two beautiful girls...

...how proud am I?

and let's not forget the most beautiful bride, Lia, and her lovely party!

Wagon!!!!

2011-06-30T19:29:00.000-07:00

Amelie. She is a funny little girl. She understands that a wagon is something I pull, right? Well, now? Everything pulled is a wagon.

The wooden Melissa and Doug green frog on a string? Froggy wagon.

A chair pulled behind her? Chair wagon.

My new bikini top pulled behind her? Bikini wagon.

A shopping cart pulled behind her? Well.....

The honeymoon....

2011-06-04T13:16:00.000-07:00

So, we've been in Turkbuku for about a week, and it occurred to me that we will never again have an opportunity like this...the girls are comfortable, have transitioned to the change of 10 time zones, and we have lots of family around who are completely capable of watching them. And not to mention a world class resort about 500 yards from our home here where Bill Clinton, Caroline Kennedy and Gwenyth Paltrow have stayed. So Ajay and I? We went and stayed at Macakizi last night.

We packed our carry on bag with what we needed for a dinner out and a workout in the morning. We asked Ajay's Mom Maya to book their smallest room. The place is very pricey to say the least and all we were hoping for was a solid night of sleep in which no one cried or called out for us...and maybe a little romance...and a nice dinner without wrappers and sippy cups. And upon check in? We were informed that our room was complimentary. And as we walked the pebbled path to our room, we walked right past all the little rooms in the back of the lot, all the little rooms in the front of the lot....to out Junior Suite. The door opened and I was struck by the white on white decor with the simplest of Turkish furnishings....through the double balcony doors peeked the deep blue Aegean with yachts creeping by.

From there we went to the hotel gym which is indoor/outdoor by design with the ocean peeking through the trees and beautiful pathways. We exercised. We took our time. Then, like other civilized human beings, we showered, readied ourselves for dinner, and retreated to the bar where I enjoyed a watermelon martini....made with real watermelon,...locally grown...that tasted like watermelon.

Friends joined us at the bar. The lady in charge overheard it was our friend's birthday and graciously offered champagne on the house to celebrate. Not a glass. A Bottle. And not a semi-decent bottle. A €400 bottle. And a phenomenal night just got better.

After the champagne, our friends left us to our lovely dinner overlooking the Agean. I had the sea bass. Ajay had the lamb. More wine was enjoyed. They brought dessert...with a candle and a sparkler on top...to celebrate our honeymoon. We indulged. And that's the end of what I'm sharing.

We're in Turkey!

2011-05-28T07:31:00.000-07:00

We arrived here in Turkbuku late Wednesday night. This time we decided to break journey in Frankfurt, which lengthened the journey but provided a much needed bed and place for the girls to run around. And the crazy thing about traveling 8 timezones is sleep is very confused...in fact, as I lie awake in my bed at 2 AM, I began wondering when the gym in the hotel would open. So around 5 AM I got up and decided to find out. But first, coffee! I went downstairs to the lobby where I found a very empty cafe. I ordered a coffee and inquired about the gym, and mentioned our flight out was at 1pm. The lady then informed me that the volcano? In Iceland? Caused a how-do-you-say-in-English? Smoke cloud? And very many flights and airports have closed? Yes...perhaps call your agent?

So...knowing Ajay and the girls were finally sleeping, I decided to check out the gym, which was still closed since it was 5:15 in the morning and you'd have to be crazy to want to exercise at that time. So I returned to the room, and eventually Ajay woke up and got the wheels in motion to gather the necessary information that would determine our destiny. And luckily? We weren't impacted at all and arrived Istanbul with just the right amount of time to catch our connection to Bodrum.

And once we were finally on what was the newest plane I had ever been on (it actually had the new car smell!) just as we were about to close the door and prepare for take off? The baggage cart hit the landing gear of this sparkly new aircraft, and once again, we deplaned, but not at our final destination. And the spoiled child in me? What did I think? Not I hope they have a different plane for us so we are not stranded. No, no! I thought, I hope they have another brand new plane for us! And they did!

Amelie is 18 months old

2011-05-15T13:39:00.000-07:00

The past months have been busy ones. I have been inconsistent to say the least at keeping up with the girls monthly blogs. But here we are...getting ready to go to Turkey in a week. Amelie is 18 months old.

Amelie amazes us on a daily basis with her language development. Similar to her cousin Allison, she is a very early talker and can repeat just about anything you say. She has a true understanding of hundreds of words. Amelie counts to 10 easily and is actually quantifying while doing so. I'll watch her move 10 blocks, one at a time, from one side of the room to the other. 1! 2! 3! she counts all the way to 10. And happy? Nothing makes her happier than showing off her mad skills.

Amelie chains 3 and 4 words together now to get her point across. Yesterday at the bank, she found a penny, picked it up, and pleaded with me with desperation in her big beautiful sad eyes. "MIMI! PENNY! THROW!" she said with all the emotion an 18 month old can muster. She wanted to throw the penny in the fountain. So we did.

Amelie is only happy with one shoe off. I put them both on. She takes one off. Then the accompanying sock. So anytime we get anywhere, I have to find the shoe that she's thrown behind her in the car, and do my best to get it back on. But lately? I just let it go. So she won't wear both shoes....who cares? But what will she wear? Her jeans jacket. All the time. She puts it on and smiles as big as she can, and runs around shouting "Mimi Jacket Cute!!!!!"

And speaking of running around....Amelie is a little rascal. In fact, after every diaper comes off her sweet little bottom (ok, not always so sweet if you catch my drift), she takes off running shouting "Rascal! Rascal!" because some time ago, she just happened to take off when the diaper was off and I followed her, tickling her, saying "you little rascal"...and the game was born.

Amelie has full command of the the brand new iPad. She plays lots of games, her favorites being iTots Flashcards and A Bee Sees but sometimes accidentally deletes her favorite apps by holding down the home button for too long...the icons wiggle and she deletes them. She also has full command of YouTube on the iPad, and watches endless videos. She prefers Elmo videos to anything...her favorite is the Outdoors song with James Mraz. She knows all the Sesame Street characters on sight and calls them by name. She also knows the letters of the alphabet, although not in order.

Amelie is showing that she is very socially aware. Take today for example. She was absolutely humiliated when I confiscated the paper cup of milk with a straw in it at Ruby's. See, she becomes obsessed with taking the straw out, putting it back in, taking the straw out, putting it back in until it inevitably ends up on the floor, spilled everywhere with her in tears. So when I took it from her and poured the milk from the straw cup to her very babylike sippy cup, the look on her face said, "how dare you humiliate me in front of all these people". And she cried. And cried. And cried. Baaaaad Mommy.

Amelie loves to dance. She has a little electronic piano that plays a variety of songs; she will push the button again and again until it plays the Hokey Pokey. And when it comes on? She busts a move.

Amelie has a very sweet disposition. She is a total Mommy's Girl and plays the innocent roll very well. Although I am aware of her evil darker side when I leave the room. She will taunt and provoke Alia to a point of hysteria, and inevitably Alia will snap and push her away, and Amelie will cry pathetically with the "but I'm the baby!" look on her face.

Amelie enjoys fairly bland, simple foods. Turkey lunchmeat is still among her favorites, along with smoked Gouda cheese, yogurt, macaroni and cheese, and cheese pizza, and ripe pears and avocados (which she calls Da-Does) are sure to please.

Amelie has made it through her first ear infection. Poor thing catches everything Alia brings her from school. Amelie is a leaner version of Alia right now....she ranks in the 95th percentile on height but 75th percentile on weight. And her hair is starting to show signs of coming in...finally! A couple of months back we eliminated bottles and she ajdusted well and easily. Alia held on to her bottle for let's just say much longer.

Amelie is very sweet natured. Since Alia loves all things Froggy or green, Amelie is on a constant quest to gather such items and run them to her sister. Green balls, green crayons, green bowls, green legos...nothing makes her happier than sharing her newfound booty with her sister...who promptly shouts at her for doing so. Poor Amelie. But did I mention her latest favorite trick? She has conquered the zipper on her pjs and undresses herself in her crib. Every morning I find her looking up at me pathetically with one arm out and a look of distress on her lovely little face.

Amelie hugs and kisses animal pictures in her books, and her current favorite book is a new counting book her babysitter brought for her. She loves Mickey Mouse, Dora, and blowing bubbles. Amelie loves to paint, and basically wants to do everything Alia does. She loves going with me to drop off Alia at preschool. She is always so excited to see all the neat things at Montessori. While she could technically start in January, I'm not sure I'll be ready for that. I absolutely love her age...it may be my favorite age...she's still a baby but can do so many things and is happy all the time.

The big catch-up

2011-04-11T14:52:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official.
I've totally dropped my blog ball. I have fallen behind in not only daily posts but my "the least I can do is write one entry per month per girl" posts. Why? Well, I suppose it has to do with relative busyness, priorities, and not taking the time I do have free to do this...what changed?

Well, about three months ago, give or take, I decided to do some work on myself. I got tired of hating what I looked like in the mirror. I got tired of my jeans looking big. So I started training. With Ajay's trainer. Three days a week. The catalyst (in addition to seeing my large butt print on the couch) is that the girls' naps finally synchronized. Every day, they nap from 1 to 3. So that's my time. I figure if I'm going to make time for myself, I can start with baby steps and go away while the girls are sleeping. Yes, some one watches them...I'm not an idiot! So now, I'm conditioned. I'm toned. I'm back to my former size. I feel better than I ever have (except for the aches that remind me I'm pushing 40). But with that comes the price of not spending time on other things...my blog, keeping my iPhoto organized, not staying on top of what's in fashion, not keeping up with friends like I should. But regardless, sometimes you gotta put yourself first.

So here's the catch-up. Amelie is 17 months old. Alia is 33 months in a few days. They are hilarious.

In the beginning, like the first few weeks, we worried that Amelie wasn't smiling or laughing as early as Alia. Now, we no longer worry about her progress. She talks like Alia did at 2. She runs like a mad woman. She jokes. She "jumps". She is the sweetest thing in the whole world. She's my little Mimi.

Alia? Well, she is frighteningly precocious. She is also the quintessential first child. She gets flustered by Amelie's lack of regard for the rules. She can be concerned and guarded in new situations. She also lights up the room with her smile and pretends to catch teeny tiny pretend froggies and horsies. And offers them to you. She is concerned when Mommy or Daddy has boo-boos and kisses them gently. She also thumps her sister any time she gets a chance. And pushes her. And takes her toys. On that note, when Amelie is upset, Alia will gently pat her and tell her "it's okay, Amenie, don't cry. do you want your bear?" and then hands her the same bear that she just swiped that started the tears in the first place.

Amelie and Alia have also begun what we call "cozy time" after their baths. This is a time in which we all sit on the couch with blankets, stuffed animals, and other cuddly things and watch Dora the Explorer at the end of the day. I figure sooner or later I need to sit down and sooner or later, they are going to find out about television.

So that's us in a nutshell. We are counting down the days until our annual trip to Turkey. We are enjoying and surviving the trials and joys of parenting (have I mentioned terrible 2? oh, it's terrible some days...)

uh oh!

2011-03-15T06:46:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks back, it happened...a light turned yellow and I was going a little too fast to slow down and a not fast enough to make it. And considering the camera mounted to the light, my only option was to slam the breaks. And while slamming the breaks, something slipped out of my mouth, under my breath, through clenched teeth....it was F*ck!

And from the back seat? Alia said F*ck! When the same clenched teeth, the same inflection, same everything. She nailed it. And so what did I do? I lied.

I told her, "Mommy said FOX! you know, like Swiper! on Dora!"

And from the back, she replied with, "F*CK!"

Amelie is 14, no 15 months old!

2011-02-02T09:57:00.000-08:00

As I sit here to write about Amelie's 14th month, I look at the calendar and realize it's her 15th month birthday today! So, it's official...the months are slipping by and I really need to challenge myself to keep up!

As mentioned in my last post, things here are busy, but my little Amelie does her best to assert herself and keep my focus. She is still my baby. She still loves to cuddle on my lap before bed every night. She has a favorite bear that makes her shriek every time she sees him. I recently bought a couple of identical back-ups because we learned this is imperative when Original Froggy began showing his age and busted a few seems.

Amelie is incredibly bright and social. She can read books hour after hour. She refuses to be fed anything and happily uses a spoon and a fork with very little assistance. Sometimes she'll allow help with extra slippery food like ripe mangos, but basically, she wants to feed herself and she wants to do it just like her sister...no fingers. Amelie loves greeting people on the street. She waves and smiles and does little circles to get attention. She is a lovely little human being!

Amelie has lost her hero-worship for her sister to some degree. After a year of marveling at Alia's superiority, and taking Alia's rejection, she seems to basically be over it. Sure, she's interested in what Alia's up to, but for the most part, she's got her own stuff to do. And now, instead of dying for Alia's love and mutual respect, Amelie greets Alia with a strong "NO!" every time she sees her. Perhaps her independence could use some tempering. Amelie's independence is really amazing...she jumps right into the middle of things that she's interested in....many times ahead of her sister who contemplates from the sidelines.

Amelie has suffered through more than her share of illnesses this winter. Unfortunately her sister brings every little germ home from Montessori and Amelie is right there swapping slobbery items and catching every last bug. So in addition to new molars keeping her up, she's also suffering from cold after cold. Let's just hope that this means she'll have a better immune system when she starts preschool!

Amelie still loves Elmo. She can say roughly 15 words...Mama, Dada, Lala (her name for Alia), Elmo, walk, sock, shoe, No, hat, hot, cheese, shirt, bow wow, wow, and a few others that are escaping me right now. She also signs like a champ. She basically signs every sign on Baby Signing Time. She's very communicative.

Amelie's walk has graduated to a full blown run now...she will run to see Daddy when he comes home, and likewise anyone she hasn't seen in awhile. I can't believe she's at the age Alia was when Amelie joined us. It forced Alia into being a "big girl" and big sister role model while she was just a baby herself. And now that Amelie is that same age it's apparent that birth order dictates the role each plays in our family...Amelie is still very much a walking talking baby! Who feeds her self with a fork. And stops at nothing to get her way.

Hello 2011

2011-02-02T09:27:00.001-08:00

These past two months have been very very busy. In addition to having two little girls that are two and under, we bought a new apartment in downtown Laguna and I'm gutting it. That's right...down to the studs in some areas. Which means a lot of time decisions going into it...cabinets, plumbing, tile, carpet, paint, furniture....you get the idea. On top of that I've started working out with a trainer 3 days a week because this booty isn't going to slim itself...believe me, I've given it plenty of opportunity to do so and it's not cooperating! Oh! And my beloved nanny moved away so I've been interviewing and hiring and training my new helper. Whew. I'm tired just thinking about it. And speaking of sleep? Not much! With Alia's potty training and Mimi's cold, let's just say there's a lot of waking up these days. Alia is doing so well with potty training, but still will wake from time to time having to go pee pee in the potty because she's repulsed by the idea of wetting her night-time-only pull-ups...which is a good thing, but still...!

Alia is 29 Months old!

2011-01-18T06:54:00.000-08:00

So let's see, where are we this month....
Well, first of all, Alia says some really funny things. The other evening she was attempting to make a bead necklace in the shape of a square on the floor, and as she pulled one corner, the opposite corner followed. We heard Alia say "Hold on, Tiger!". Seriously. Where does she get this stuff? She also told us this week to hold on, she has to go "wipe Froggy's butt". We can thank pre-school for that one, since we call her cute little bottom a bum-bum and have never even said butt in her presence!

So what else? Well I can't believe I didn't just dive right in with this news....Alia is pottytrained!!!!! For the most part. Still wearing pull-ups at night. And still terrified of poo-poo in the potty. We had 3 accidents but it finally seems to have stuck...We are now 4 for 4 on getting the stinky stuff in the potty. Woo hoo!

This month Alia's level of interaction and engagement has reached an all time high. She demands story after story, whether it's my nanny's story about when her dog climbed on the table and ate all the spaghetti or my sister's story of her dog Lyla's favorite toy, Chicken. My sister even sent a photo spread email of all of Chicken's adventures...when Chicken takes a nap in Lyla's bed, when Chicken sneaks out and plays in the snow...you get the idea...anything is a story...to be repeated and repeated! Based on my sister's story, I made my own photo shoot of Wee Wee Wah, one of Alia's frogs for whom we've adopted a very silly and sometimes naughty personality. Alia thinks is the best thing ever looking at Wee Wee Wah trying to climb the Christmas tree, trying to climb in the oven, sitting too close to the fireplace while there's a fire inside.

Speaking of Christmas, this year Alia was fully engaged. She left cookies for Santa and did her very best to be a good girl for Santa...of course, it was because she wanted toys and presents, but who cares!

Alia's vocabulary is growing tremendously. She told us "I decorated that" while pointing to the Christmas tree. I have to laugh considering no one in the family decorated it...finally my nanny took it into her own hands and knocked it out in an afternoon because we tend to collapse after the girls go to bed at 7PM!

Alia had a two week hiatus from school and Mommy became just like every other Mommy that Mommy previously judged and happily counted down the minutes for those school doors to reopen...you know, so she can keep learning stuff and stop shouting at me.

See, we've been rained in here in Laguna Beach...more rain than sunshine this month which had us insane with cabin fever but finally provided me with the opportunity to be consistent with her potty...situation. On the other hand, there are those days. You know,, the ones that make you feel like "I can't believe this...I actually don't like my kid". I love her. But there are days I don't like her very much. The funny thing is this whole Mommy job is much different than I imagined...the amount of love I have felt for Alia is a love I have never known before. But the 13th day in the house with two that are two and under, with colds that won't go away, bored because there is nothing but rain in sight....well, it's tough.

But all in all? I wouldn't trade her. She's my Alia. Testing. Pushing boundaries. Trying to find limits. And smiling and laughing and jumping and hugging her baby sister and and and...

Amelie is 13 months old

2010-12-09T15:11:00.000-08:00

So where were we...oh, yes. We're at 13 months for my little bitty baby. Of course, she weighs more now, but in my heart, I'm holding on for dear life for her to remain her sweet baby-self. I still hold her in my arms for her before-bed bottle every night. It's my favorite part of the day! Alia would have nothing to do with this feeding/cuddle session after about 6 months old...she was a big girl so fast.

Amelie has 9 teeth, including one big, bad molar that gives her endless pain. She "talks" constantly. When she's upset she will look you right in the face and cry and shout "baba-baba-baaaa! boka boga!" as if we're having a conversation. Amelie loves to look at family photographs in frames. Every morning when I wake up and pick her up from her bed, we walk by a series of our framed wedding photos on the wall just outside her door. She insists we stop and she points to each and every face and I name the person. When we get to Daddy, she says Dha-Dha! and for Mommy, she says "Ma-Ma!". For everyone else, she just looks directly and intently at my mouth to get maximum understanding of what I'm saying and how to say it.

Amelie has a few new favorite things to do...the first is she zooms away after we get her dried off after her nightly bath. We have a happy streaker on our hands. And if you try to stop her? She goes completely limp and falls to the ground and cries. So best to leave her to streak for a few minutes and then basically work her into her clothes without disrupting whatever she's engaged with...which, after her bath, is usually the ball-popper in the hallway where the balls can't get to far away (we used to play with this in the play room but all the balls end up under the desk and result in head bumping and tears). Amelie also loves television. I know...I silently and unsilently judge myself for this fact. Alia wasn't even allowed TV until she was 15 months old when I decided to allow her to watch Baby Signing Time. But Amelie has been watching and signing for quite awhile. Amelie also loves my best home-made toy ever...I stuffed an old wallet with old and useless cards (grocery store club cards, etc.) and let her pull them all out. Every trip to the grocery store ended with her pining for my wallet, and once she had it she disassembled it....thus, the creation of her very own wallet. And the neat thing is? Once Amelie takes all the cards out? I can ask Alia to put them all back and it's just the right task to challenge her dexterity! A win win! And Mommy gets to keep her platinum card where it belongs!

Amelie is a lover. She hugs. She cuddles. She tilts her head to the side and rests it on the couch while looking up at me with her sweetest little Amelie smile.

And when she's tired? She likes to walk around and around and around while shouting aaaaaaaaaaah! aaaaaaaaaaaaaah! It's quite a sight.

Amelie transitioned away from formula last month and has a love of whole milk now. In fact, as of today, we're re-strategizing her feeding times and volumes because she would basically go without food entirely (except for her beloved Cheerios) in favor of milk. Which has had some issues, mainly of the tiny little constipated poop variety. But all in all, we're progressing. I know she's a toddler now. But not in my head. In my head she is Baby.

Alia is 28 months old!

2010-12-01T16:18:00.000-08:00

Alia is busy. Alia sings her ABC's with certainty. Alia runs and hops and sings and shouts. All the time.

Alia is funny and quirky and lovely and silly. She says funny things like "Mommy got a haircut!" when I haven't changed my hair in, well, months! Alia tells me that she "loves Froggy soooo much. She loves Amelie soooo much! She's my little baby sister! Ahhhh, pooooor little baby Amelie! (pronounced Amony by Alia). Froggy loves his little baby sister too!" Froggy is her little diplomat to the world. He shares in all she does. When we're in the car, we point out the big orange auto-mall balloon to Alia, and she points it out to Froggy. We point out new Christmas lights on an evening drive? She points them out to Froggy. She catches a cold? Froggy sneezes. Really.

This week Alia got a new Froggy, which she promptly named Wee-Wee-Wa. She thinks the name is hilarious, but it is definitely a name that stuck from the moment she brought him home. I venture to say that he won't take the place of her original Froggy (of which there are currently 4 in rotation since they are washed twice a week), but he has added to her flock. Let's see...how many Froggies has my funny little girl collected in her 28 months? Well, there's Regular Froggy (this is what she calls him...also known as Gai Kai, her originally Froggy love). Then there's his invisible backups of which she knows nothing about. There's Baby Froggy (who's small), Easter Froggy (that came in from Aunty Carol in her Easter basket), Poo Poo Froggy (who's hands she holds when she has to go poo poo), Noni Froggy that her Grandma Noni bought her, and Pokey Dot Froggy (a gift from my Dad) who has a polka dot belly...a recent gift for Amelie which was taken over by Alia....my Dad had to buy a second one for Amelie.

I recently had Alia's very first parent-teacher conference at Montessori. Her teacher was very complimentary of the progress she has made since she began only a few months ago. She felt that Alia had transformed from a baby to a little girl before her eyes. Her social skills and awareness has also developed considerably...she is a good friend and sensitive to others. She has also recently began playing with other kids rather than around other kids. She's no longer on the periphery.

Alia has been very challenging for me from a discipline perspective. She can be very stubborn and it frustrates me beyond imagination at times. Sometimes I should be sending myself to time out but I tend to forget in the heat of the moment. As a parent, I am trying very hard. I guess we all are, huh? I have to remind myself that she challenges me (sometimes it seems constantly) because she is so bright and it's her job to try to manipulate her environment to her liking...but it's my job to steer her, keep her safe, and love her. But on those days? I'm doing good to get through the day.

This month, Alia has found a love of painting. Nearly every afternoon we paint together while Amelie naps. She also loves Play-Doh and recently discovered a love of Legos. In fact, a trip to Pottery Barn Kids is all it takes to take up a tough hour at the end of the day because they have a prominently displayed Lego Table right in the front of the store that captures her attention...she's even willing to share with the other kids!

So that's it in a nutshell. Alia is blowing us away all the time with what she's capable of doing, her newly found independence, and comfort of doing things "big girl self". She is transitioning before our eyes from a toddler that was wobbly not too long ago to a little girl that loves to show off her morning fashion for the camera.

Amelie is 12 Months!

2010-11-25T07:26:00.000-08:00

I have a new one year old! Amelie has left her infancy and babyhood and has now entered the world of toddler! So what's new with Amelie?

Amelie has a definite sense of humor. Among the funnier things she does (after refusing to lie down during diaper changes a couple of months back) is she demands that I sing to her while she has her bottle and gets her diaper changed...on my lap. Her little maestro finger bobs up and down while her little mouth forms a milky smile. Sing, Mommy, sing! And not that song!
Amelie plays keep away with whatever object she gets her hands on...be it Alia's beloved Froggy or a piece of fuzz off the floor.

Amelie signs for sleep, banana, stars, more, and says "Yeah, shoes, bow wow" of which bow wow is her first real word.

Amelie walks around like crazy...we have counted 50 little wobbley steps in a row. She enjoys being in the center of groups of people. She is truly a social little girl when surrounded by people she is comfortable with.

Amelie, too likes to be tossed in the air when daddy comes home, although is quickly and easily frightened when there is the slightest bit of air between her and daddy's hands...unlike her sister who isn't happy until she hits the rafters.

Amelie now eats on her own and hates to be fed; if we put something on a fork, she gets it in her mouth. Amelie loves eating anything from pouches...you know, the Ella's Kitchen pouches? We take the top off and she sucks away happily. Amelie also drinks from sippy cup now, and has transitioned off formula for most part; in the interest of using up the last bit of formula, she still has an a.m. and p.m. bottle. She loves to eat smoked turkey breast, cheese, avacado, goldfish crackers, and as said before, anything in a pouch.

Amelie is outgrowing clothes left and right and is in the 97th percentile of height and 80th percentile of weight, which is what she has always measured.

Amelie is still much more of a baby at one year than Alia was. She still loves to be held during her early morning bottle, and cuddles in to my chest and drifts back to sleep when she's done. I have to say, the second time around, I'm not in such a hurry for Amelie to hit milestones and grow out of this phase....although she is hitting all of her milestones ahead of time. I treasure her little body going heavy on my lap after her bottle. I drink in the way her little pudgy hands grasp things. I know our time in this little wonderful part of her life is going to be gone before I know it so I'm focused on filling my heart with her sweet baby-self.

Twins...not Froggies

2010-11-23T11:10:00.000-08:00

Yesterday while waiting to get Alia's immunizations up to date, there was a tandom stroller in the pediatrician's office with two tiny new babies in it. It captured Alia's attentnion that there were two babies.

I told her, "when people get two babies instead of one, they are called twins". She pondered that for a minute.

Then she looked at me and said "they're twins....not froggies".

It was all I could do to keep it together. I always try not to laugh when she says things like that because I remember feeling like people were laughing at me as a kid and I hated it. But anyway, I replied, "you're right Alia. Those are twins. Not froggies." And she said "Yeaaaah" while nodding knowingly.

2010-11-19T09:57:00.001-08:00

This morning, I was putting Amelie down for her nap, so Kori took Alia to her room to play quietly. When I walked in, Alia (who has been refusing potty training) was on the potty with no pants, and Kori was painting her little toes. Pink. How cute is that?

Thoughts from a stay at home Mom (ages 1 and 2)

2010-11-05T09:38:00.000-07:00

I recently received an email from a long time friend that expressed concern that my life has become out of balance. Now to be fair, I do mention being tired a lot, and it's true that up until last month, I rarely had so much as 5 minutes in the car by myself because we have a 1 year old and a 2 year old. That's just the way it is.

Now, my concerned friend very cautiously presented a few ideas. She stated that, "you need to build more time into your day for you. I mean, even me, a single, working mom gets a pedicure when I want one - I have to! It's what keeps me balanced." She went on to assure me that ,"I'm totally expressing my opinions here and don't intend to be pushy or shove my ideas of motherhood on you. Just some ideas. I'm wondering if maybe you feel like, because you're stay at home, you're supposed to be "on" and in Mommy mode all day long every day. Well, in my opinion, that just doesn't have to be the case."

She suggested putting my eldest daughter in school more days/times. She suggested using my nanny in different ways to free up my time (which, let me tell you, 1-2 hours alone with these little ones is a lot for me, and I'm their Mom!!) She suggested that I "go to a coffee shop nearby and getting a coffee and reading a book. One hour or two hours won't hurt anything." She went on to mention that she takes 3 hours on a Saturday once a month or so for herself.

After reading her email, I thought I should do stuff for myself every day! And then I was thinking back to when I was working outside the home...and I realized, I didn't take pedicure breaks then. I didn't go to a coffee shop and read a book during my business day. Can you imagine telling your peers, "guys, I'm outta here for awhile...I need some me-time". And then it occurred to me that no matter how far women have come at being liberated and being able to have a choice in their careers, no one, even my progressive contemporaries consider staying at home to be a job.

For the decade-plus I was in the paid workforce, I chatted endlessly with my peers about the challenges of our industry, the limitations of the company I worked for, the shortcomings of certain products, and the general stresses of the day. But now I realize that Mom's that stay at home aren't allowed to bitch about their days or stresses to their friends without being labeled as "out of balance". Perhaps it's because somewhere in there, we all have held the opinion that being a stay at home Mom is the "after working my career, I'll slow down a little and stay at home with the kids." God knows I thought that and I had a very rude awakening.

Now this is all being said as an intellectual assessment, a comment on perspectives (including my own!). This is an awakening in my own mind because for the life of me, I couldn't figure out why when I had a hard time at work, it was considered the norm and accepted. But when I talk about a lack of sleep and being busier than ever in the home setting, it must be that I'm over-doing it because home shouldn't be that hard...especially with all the help I have. But isn't it funny that we never think that and Executive shouldn't be busy because he has a secretary?