Frid-HEYYY

It's Friday, y'all!

Eeeeek!

I skipped out on a post last week because I was off work. If I'm not werkin, I'm NOT sitting down at my laptop. Anyway, we went to my cousin Sarah's high school graduation party and then visited with Amanda and (baby) Sarah before coming back home (WAY too late) and then packing for up north.

First thing Saturday morning, we headed up to my parents' boat in Cheboygan -- can you believe it was Ana's first time? Right when we moved back to Michigan, it was winter. And then she was tiny that first summer, and I was all, "but where would we set up the Pack n Play?" (The boat is narrow). Last summer was just ... busy, and surprisingly not hot. I think we meant to come up north, but then like, the next thing I knew, it was mid-September and the season had passed. Whoops.

But now, I just feel like, it was time. We're in a *little* bit of a routine with Robs, he's a pretty reliable sleeper, we have the Dock-a-Tot so he can nap anywhere (no P&P setup needed), Analisa is super fun ... so in the words of Ana, I was all, "let's do it!"

So yeah! We arrived at the boat club and jumped in the pool. It was so hot, even up north, which is pretty rare. We played in the pool area for ... an hour? Two hours? Probably two. I didn't really watch the clock. After that, we walked over to the boat and went on a quick sail. Ana was definitely guarded. I think it was really overwhelming for her. She hung out down below in the cabin, and refused to even sit up top. Oh, and then she fell asleep for awhile.

My forever baby.

Robby was a different story. He napped -- just a quick one -- and then I took him to sit with me as my dad sailed. He seemed to like the breeze! It felt really good out on the water. It was a lot cooler than just sitting on the pool deck.

James napped too for a bit (I swear, it's a thing. The boat is relaxing when you're down below!) but he also hung out. We came back to land soon enough, docked the boat and (my brother) Robby picked up pizza from a really delicious restaurant in town. Robby was coming in from Petoskey, where he lives, so the timing worked out for him to snag the food.

Ana was all, "Uncle Robby, Baby Robby! Uncle Robby, Baby Robby!"

After dinner, the four of us (Ganleys) headed over to Boyne Highlands, where Robby works/and had gotten us a room. I briefly entertained the idea of all of us sleeping on the boat, but like, with my parents and Winnie and two babies and me and James ... it would have been a tight squeeze, and just like, stressful if a babe were struggling to get to sleep. We figured it would be easier to stay at Boyne, despite it being like, 45 minutes away.

We set up (baby) Robby's P&P in the far corner of our room (which was ginorm), and then shared our bed with Ana. She was so excited about sleeping with us; it was really cute actually! I was getting in a pump before bed, and she kept leaning over and whispering, "I yuv you, mama!" ... "Ey, mama! I see you!"

Like, yep. I see you too!

We stayed at the Highlands for a good majority of the day Sunday. I'd never really been there in the summer, despite Robby working at BH year-round and the countless number of times we visited, growing up. But it was a great place to sleep and hang, considering our two littles. We did brunch, the pool, and we played outside (they have this huge yard right in front of the hills, with like, mini-golf and games and tennis courts and a big open space to run around). At some point, we got Anz a grilled cheese, sat outside, etc.  Robs went down for a nap, which held the room hostage for a bit, but we had plenty of options to kill time.

It was over to Petoskey for dinner (and way too much money dropped at American Spoon), although we also stopped in real quick at (brother) Robby's house.

We grabbed a drink with Rob and Emily about an hour later, and then (kind of impulsively) decided to pack up and head back.

(Is my timeline all over the place? Prly).

Anyway, we paid for our hotel through Sunday night, and the original plan *was* to come back home Monday morning, seeing as neither of us works until 3 or 3:30. Butttttt the room was super cheap and we were just like, "why prolong the inevitable?" So we packed up as fast as we could and hit the road by 9p-ish. The kids were chill. We just kinda went for it.

Then we were home by midnight! Living an hour closer to all our fav up north destinations is seriously the best.

It was pretty nice to PTFO in our own bed. Even though we were only away for one night! Robby just wasn't sleeping that well in the P&P, and bed-sharing with Ana was kind of exhausting, and at one point Saturday night, all four of us were sharing the bed, and Anz kicked Robby awake, and just like, ... K.

Up north was a lot of things. And it was really fun, don't get me wrong! But RELAXING wasn't one of those things. I think we forget, sometimes, that traveling/existing with two kids under the age of 3 can be a serious haul.

Still, I don't wanna be the people who hole up at home all year just because we have tiny dictators running our lives. It's just a balancing act.

Anyway, we have another trip coming up next! We're heading back up north with my extended family pretty soon here, so I'll just have to figure out how to make the P&P less ... slippery, if that's the right word. I think Robby's still a little young for the P&P mattress, so I'll have to concoct some plan or mattress pad or another cozy option. The Dock-a-Tot is great, just like, not for overnight.

Speaking of Robs!

(Is it confusing yet, with the baby Robby/Uncle Robby situation?)

My guy!

Baby Robs had his 6-month checkup yesterday. He was such an angel baby. Here was the sitch: He had justttt fallen asleep in the car, and then I dragged him into his appointment -- but did he wake up crabby? Nah, not this guy. He was so smiley and happy to see all the nurses and the doctor, and even the girl at the front desk. He is SUCH a joy, seriously. The one nurse felt super guilty giving him his vaccines; she didn't want to be the one to bring down his chipper mood, lulz.

He's growing so well, and the doctor always comments on how strong he seems. She predicted he could be a 9-month walker, but like, how do you even predict these things? Dr. T was kinda full of shit (my ob-gyn), so like, I always kinda take this stuff with a grain of salt.

Regardless, Robby is definitely up in the crawl position, on hands and knees, and he looks like he's ready to take off -- even if all he's REALLY doing is rocking back and forth. He is very busy, working on his crawl game.

If Ana is any indication, I feel like this next part is about to go SO FAST. Ana went from rocking in the crawl position, to crawling, to crawling FAST, to pulling up, to cruising along the furniture, to walking. I swear that was just a few months ago, right?

Stay little, Mr. Robs!

For reference, Ana walked at a pretty standard age: about 2-3 weeks after her first birthday.

What else ... Robby is eating solids! We were planning on doing baby-led weaning, just like with Ana, but I have a feeling we'll do a modified version (well, which is also just like what we did with Ana). I jumped straight to avocado, green beans and blueberries with Robs ... and he spit them up, like a LOT. Yet he did pretty well with Cheerios. Because he's a reflux-y guy in general, Dr. C advised sticking with the dry stuff -- like the Cheerios. She said maybe give him some baby oatmeal on a spoon, and maybe even mash up some fruit and veg in there, if he'll let us. The weight of it might help with his tummy probs, is the thought here.

But yeah, other than some barfy talk (per usual), our appointment was pretty uneventful. He's obviously keeping something down, because baby boy is still in the 50th percentile for weight (and nearly the 90th for height. You tall, old fella, you).

And I'm not gonna lie: I kinda love shots day. It hurts my heart *so bad* in the heat of the moment, but then he's forgotten about those vaccines a minute later and he proceeds to nap all day. That part's kinda nice.

As for my darling Anza-bear, she is just ... OMG insane. In the best way ever. The sweetest girl I've ever known. Back to her cuddly ways (!!!) which makes my heart melt and ooze. And she's so funny! Did I talk last time, about how she has the best sense of humor? K, I'm sure you're like, "Right Michelle, you're officially that mom, I'm suuuure your 2-year-old is *super funny*." But she just IS and there's no denying it.

She also appreciates humor. If she knows she's doing something that's making us laugh, she'll do it like, again and again and again. She nails her timing. We'll laugh together about the silliest stuff.

That girl loves life.

I walked in her room this morning to grab her and bring her downstairs, and she like, told me a seven-part story. She was like, "I bump my elbow! And it really hurt! And I almost cry! But no cry. I read Blue One Truck! I see toad's booty. Where Dada? Kiss my elbow now, Mama? See baby Robert now, Mama? Feed Baby Robert?"

I hope I never forget when we taught her how to say, "Bonjour!" and she was yelling it to passers-by at Boyne Highlands. People knew what she was saying, too, because they were calling back, "Oh, Bonjour!"

Oh and then yesterday, James was like, "if we could just freeze her like this, for the rest of our lives, I would be happy with that." <-- And I'm not even kidding, because I thought it was precious and typed the quote into the Notes part of my phone. I swear, we lovvvvve having a 2-year-old and talk about it all the time!

Does this not melt your damn HEART?

My final Anz story will involve our babysitter Olivia, and how earlier this week, she was just jumping into a reading of The Pout-Pout Fish, without giving the cover the proper love that it deserves. (I always make a big show of presenting the title, author's name, and sometimes even the illustrator).

No shade though -- like, I'm not sure that's standard, to present the cover, and we lovvvve Olivia.

Anyway, I heard Ana yelling something from the other room where they were reading (I was working at the time). It was muffled, so I peeked in to investigate. Finally, I understood. Ana was insisting that Olivia say the title of the book, followed by the words, "BY DEBORAH DIESEN." Olivia was all, "I'm not sure I understand." And I came in and explained with a laugh. We were rolling. Olivia was like, "She know the author's name?" all incredulously. I was like, apparently so! Then she asked Ana, "Who wrote Little Blue Truck?" And I wasn't even sure Ana would know, offhand. So I re-phrased, since Ana didn't seem to get the question. I was like, "Ana, who is Little Blue Truck by? Alice ...?" And she yelled, "ALICE SCHERTLE," no joke. We were dying.

Potty-training is still happening! Anz definitely doesn't pee in the potty every time, but it's probably getting a little better every day. Also, she's pretty opposed to wearing underwear, so we're still hanging in the diaper, but I think I'll get that one book everyone recommended on my FB two-ish weeks ago. No rush, really! I still think she's right on time. Our new fav thing is when Ana needs a second alone to pee, and she'll be all, "Have a yittah privacy?" She asked my mom that on Tuesday, and Meese was all, "Did Ana just say 'privacy'?"

Oh and Tinky-Winky (who you're familiar with if you follow us at all online) is officially her baby. Today she had him doing tummy-time, down for a nap, in several diapers, etc.  But when she tried to feed him a bagel (which, she tries to feed Robby food ALL THE TIME -- like, things he shouldn't be eating, such as pennies), Anz was suddenly a bit of a know-it-all. She's so cute when she narrates her playtime (which is constant). I heard her saying, "Nooooo, Tinks can't have a bagel. Tinks a baby. DAT WOULD BE SILLAYYYYY."

OMG that girl.

K I said "one more Ana thing" and now I've given you five. It's clear that I'm not that into my kids.

I'm outta here! xoxo