YOU GUYS!
How has it been this long since I've blogged?
Ugh, I hate when I start out a post that way, because I feel like I used to do it all the time. Then finally I was like, "Stop starting every blog like that and just BLOG more frequently, ya know?"
Ya know?
Ugh. Also I haven't gotten Wix or made this pretty yet *despite being a web person.* Do I suck, or what?
K, let's get down to biz. The last time I blogged about the babes, well ... I am ashamed to report it was more than a year ago.
A YEAR!
Do you remember when I used to do once-a-month updates for Analisa?
I am awful.
"Sorry no one documented your life, Robs!"
Such classic second-child shit. I have to imagine if there's ever a third, (s)he'll be raised by the first two, taking Swedish naps and getting full-on neglected.
Halfffff-kidding?
Plz tell me you know what a Swedish nap is.
Anyway!
Legitimately, I've had notes in my phone all year about these sweet babes. I suppose we should just dive in, right?
Let's start with Robby, because we don't give him the time and attention he deserves:
ROBBY IS THE ABSOLUTE LOVE OF MY LIFE, OMG.
You guys, he spells his name with a Y, not an -ie. But that's just a side rant.
He is the snuggliest little 2-year-old the world has ever known. He turned 2 on New Year's Day, and I can't even believe it. Feels like just yesterday he was puking up my own breastmilk into my hair. And then almost-walking for what felt like eight months straight. And then sleep-regressing randomly for three more. lol, he's had his moments, that's for sure. Sometimes he'll still just like, get in a bad mood and he's unable to shake it. But for real ... the love of my life, no take-backs. The sweetest boy. What was my life before him? Oh, and these aren't just things I say. He is SO NICE and just wants to sit on your lap all day and get carried around the house. No matter how independent he really is (and he really is), he just has so much room in his heart for pure love and joy. It's like he needs me more than Ana ever needed me. And it's not just that he's a mama's boy. He loves everyone he sees regularly. He calls out for Meese and Grandbob (pronounced "Bob-bob"), and says I love you and thank you and so many sweet phrases. If he hurts Ana, he'll say, "I sorry, Ana." I know he's still a baby, but I truly think he's so kind and gentle at times and loving. I am incredibly proud to be his mom, and he melts me every day.
Even when he was MUCH smaller, he had manners. I swear, some of his first words weren't "mama" or "dada" -- they were "thank you." At the Children's Museum one morning, a man handed him a toy that he had dropped, and he said very clearly, "ANK OOO." The guy was like, ... "um, am I imagining it, or did that baby just thank me?" And I was like, "Ah no, he most definitely thanked you. I believe the proper response is, 'You're welcome.'" And we had a laugh.
Robs was the opposite of Ana when it came to walking. They say about the 1-year mark is when kids typically learn to walk, and a week after her first birthday, Ana took a step, another few, and she was off. Forever.
Robby, on the other hand, showed all the signs of readiness early af, pulled up, and THOUGHT ABOUT IT for. Ev. Er.
The doctor was all, "This guy will be walking at his 9-month appointment!" and nope, he sure wasn't. He threw himself around the house recklessly instead. I think he wanted to keep up with Ana, and he wasn't as fast on his feet as he was on all fours, so he stayed crawling.
Then around 14 months, he finally took off and never looked back. I was so relieved. Not because I suspected he was delayed ... just like, the questions from everyone else were insufferable. "Tell me he's walking regularly."
"STILL A HARD NO."
But babies do things when they're ready.
And his crawl was so cute and baby-like! One day I knew he'd stop and I'd never see it again. Why rush things?
Why do we rush our babies to grow up?
(Well, I would love to stop buying diapers).
Anyway, Robby has always been physical (read: crazy) and quite vocal. I still think he talks more than the other 2-year-olds I see him around -- and much more. It's so nice though. He just tells me what he wants, for the most part, and that's so convenient. He loves: juice (ugh, sue me), his family, playing, Wreck-It Ralph, Snowy Day -- he sings along and actually has a really good voice and I'm not just saying that! -- yogurt, BOOKS omg books, cozy blankets, grabbing people's faces 🙄, the woman who checks our badges at Ana's school, sleeping in (thank GOD), Baby Beluga, stealing mama's work things, climbing onto anything he can manage, the outdoors, and repeating back to you anything and everything. He's good-natured, he loves to laugh, will hold your hand and he finally gave up his bottle at about 18 months. I know, I'm a bad mom for letting him keep it that long, but it was essentially his comfort item. And then, proof that all things pass, one day he was just done. And I'm a little sad about that, too, tbh.
Every morning, Ana opens his door when she hears him caw, and they play for a few minutes. It's seriously the cutest thing to overhear. She says, "Good morning, WOBBY," and he squeals, "Hiiiii, Ana!" or "Ana-YEESA!" They are often really good to each other, and other times awful. But not in the mornings. In the mornings, they're the sweetest. Ana used to say he was her husband, but I heard it got annulled or something. The divorce doesn't seem contentious; that's the good news. No matter, watching these two become tiny friends has become life's greatest joy.
What else ... he was slow to cut teeth. Jim used to say, "No one takes you seriously Rob, with those 4 teeth ya got in there. Grow some more, sir, then we'll chat."
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| Robby and Grandbob |
Oh, one final story. Robby started leaping out of his crib earlier than he probably should have. And I don't mean he was slowly finding ways to slink on out of there. We'd hear these CRASH landings and be like, "Shit. This is it. The time he breaks his leg. F." Finally, ready or not, we figured we couldn't stand by and let an accident happen. We had to move him to a toddler bed. So we had to baby-proof the absolute shit out of his room -- actually, I think this was around the time we switched their rooms, so that he couldn't pull a dresser on top of him -- but anyway, it was crazy, having this 18-month baby wandering the room in the dark at night, reckless as all get out.
It took him awhile to get used to it. Sometimes we'd just find him in the morning, passed out in his closet or in a pile of clothes on his floor. What a frat guy. Sometimes he'd make a huge scene and mess and we'd have to go up there 40 times and remind him to get in, and stay in, bed. It was an adjustment. We didn't love it. But we didn't know what other options we had. (Also, he can't open doors, so at least we knew he'd stay in there). Anyway. One day, I swear, he was going absolutely ham in there, on a war path of crime and destruction. I swung open the door and there was just this tiny man -- and he goes, "ey. Peek boo."
OMG I'm laughing out loud just thinking about it. I was like, "YEAH, not peek-a-boo, m-f. You're not scaring or surprising anyone, I thought the upstairs just got bombed, get back in bed!"
He is such a clown. Ugh and he's gotten SO CUTE; should I drop some more pics? Yes. I wish you could hear his laugh, too. So old-man-ish and chortle-y. It always has been, really. It's only getting better with age!
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K, wanna know what's popping with Analisa?
You guys, she goes to school now!
!!!!!!!!!!!!
And she loves it, which truly warms my heart and makes me feel so good about our decision to send her -- I was on the fence about preschool at first, but like, it was just the right move at the right time. She's old-ish for her grade, but not inappropriately so, as she's in the 3-year-old program but turned 4 in early December. But she's just so grown up and none of that even matters. She loves her teachers, her friends, she's still debatably socially awkward at times, but just in a way where we snark on her a bit for being a kid. Kids are strange. She's OBSESSED with her friends but sometimes won't say bye to them. lol, what can you do? I love hearing her stories about who was misbehaving or what they had for a snack or whether or not she napped (she never does).
Also, we were going to opt in for two days a week, mornings only, but then I decided in the 11th hour ... why drive her all the way up there for just two hours? I know, it's only 10 minutes away, but really -- I could use the time to write and work.
So she does full days Tuesdays and Thursdays -- 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. We just threw her in, from 0 socialization (what a scam anyway) and home all day with us, to full school days.
And ... OMG it's glorious. Some days we're like, "Wait, is this a preview of the rest of our lives? We can just send our kids to school and keep existing? The teachers take it from here?" I know I said I don't like to rush the present but LORD does that sound good. When I send Anz to school and Jim's home with Rob, I can get 6 hours -- the bulk of my work day! -- done. Sometimes Rob even naps and Jim can go back to bed. And like, what is life? SCHOOL IS AMAZING.
Ana remains such a talker, always learning and challenging herself without even knowing it and teaching me new things. Not a joke; she's currently obsessed with dinosaurs and she knows SO much. The other day, she was like, "Mumma, what's that dinosaur that looks like a lion?" And I was like, "Hmm, do you just mean like, a basic-ass lion?" And she got frustrated for a second because she had some type of dino specifically in mind.
Turns out, she was right. What do I know?*
*Nothing.
She asks me SUCH good questions.
She'll be like, "Where does the sun go, when I go to bed?" And I'm like ... "It revolves around ... no wait, we revolve ... no, we're tilted? That's not right ... ummm, the kids around on the other side of the world need the sun! It's just ... taking a break."
"What are clouds made of?"
...
"Does Minnie Mouse have bones?"
...
"Are dinosaur bones in the ocean?"
OMG I should have paid attention in elementary school. And like, wtf do you even say about Minnie? In theory, she WOULD have bones?
I still don't really believe in terrible 2s. Her 2s were delightful; she had like, one bad day, relax.
Most of 3 was Gucci.
She did kinda turn into a tiny terrorist for a hot second (don't even make me type out the story of when she assaulted me and Robby at the park, not to mention the innocent bystanders), but I'd still say 3, overall, was fine. Four's been much of the same -- every now and then, she gets irrational, but it's not bad. I will say, I do a lot of Googling to make sure she feels heard and validated. I'm not mom of the year, but if you look up "Why do kids whine?" it really does help you address the issue head on. The internet is incredible and I love parenting in the age of. <--- I know, this sentence is jacked and it hurts my copy editor heart, but you feel me.
Some of the notes I had written down for Ana include:
One day, maybe six months ago? She got super attached to a bunny. But she didn't just say, "Have you seen my bunny?" or "Have you seen my rabbit?" Out of the blue, she was just like, "Mumma? Daddy? Have you seen my SWEET, SWEET, SWEET, SWEET BUNNY?"
OMG we couldn't stop laughing. Like, what makes the bunny so sweet? Why all of a sudden? She really referred to him that way for a few weeks. The other day I asked about him, and if she remembered her sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet bunny -- and she was just like, yeet.*
*not really.
In the car after school, she scolded me even and said, "We don't say YEET, mommy. We say yes."
😳😳😳
Or she got on a big tear even longer ago, called WHAT SAID?
Where, any time she needed something repeated, she would just go real fast, "WHAT SAID?" (which might have even been "what did you say?" But that quickly, it just came out as one garbled WHATSAID?")
We would laugh and laugh.
She still loves dancing and performing. She loves movies and shows and books and memorizes anything you read to her at least five times. She reads "Too Purpley" to Robby almost every night and takes it upon herself to show him her books and teach him things. She loves him and she's a pretty tolerant big sister, for the most part. I think having a sibling close in age makes you better. She's proof of that. Sometimes I rock her at night and tell her how grateful I am for her. I know it's hard to be the big sister some days.
You have to watch what you say in front of her because she remembers it alllllll. Also she just picks up on everything. If I hand her my cellphone, she pretends she's talking to Natalie, Candace or James and uses all my same phrases. "You will not believe this, guys!" ... "I am *obsessed* with Frozen!" <--- really said dat
She really does love Frozen. Obsessed is not the wrong word, or an exaggeration. She's been to the movies twice now -- Toy Story 4 and Frozen 2, but she talks about F2 relentlessly.
She gets a kick out of the fact that we have real names, and calls us James and Michelle. Or even Jims P or a silly nickname. "Daddy? Why do you call mumma 'boo?'" She'll ask.
Ana's big into the Disney princesses, picking out her own outfits, doing things by herself, and trying to make us laugh. She's gotten a little less reserved and will talk to strangers at TJ Maxx about how she just got the Rapunzel doll and she's hoping for Belle next. She lovedddddd Christmas and finally *got* the magic of it all. It was so fun to witness. "How does Santa get in my house?" she asked on Christmas Eve. "Erm, the chimney I guess," I said. "Is that safe?" she asked. "That doesn't make sense."
I was just like, ... "Yeah, that's just the rumor."
She's not as cuddly as Robs (never has been), but wants you to lie in bed with her as she falls asleep and will shadow you around the house all day, every day. She wants to learn from you and talk to you and laugh with you. She loves my friends to pieces, along with all her sitters. She's very curious about the world, like I said, and just asks good questions daily: "Mama, when will I stop being a kid?" she asked yesterday. "Because I like being a kid."
She remembers everything. Her memory is SCARY good; she'll bring up things from when she was a baby, and we're like, "Does she really know? Or were we recently talking about this and she overheard?"
Ana loves crappy snacks (although, some days we achieve balance with some carrot sticks), waffles with peanut butter, dressing up in costumes, getting a rise out of the people around her, playdates with her friends, learning to write her letters, Disney+, school days -- "Tuesdays and Thursdays, mumma!", sleeping in our bed, Blue (although he's slowly getting phased out!), showing Robby the world, playing in the garage, pretending, winter hats, bath time, tickle monster daddy, pretending to "work," hide-and-go seek, art projects, making little tasks for everyone -- and avoiding dinner, then requesting a Nutrigrain bar 10 minutes after she's brushed her teeth.
She is the absolute best.
Some funny things she's said semi-recently that were in my phone:
"Hey yidda buddy!" <--- how she used to refer to Robs (little buddy)
"Who bought this for me?" (about everything) ... "I dunno Anz, it's a light switch, it came with the house. I guess we did?"
"Jim. Stop. Listen to me." lololol
"You know who's a creep, Baby Wobert? YOU ARE." Again, we had to leave the room, we were laughing too hard.
"You are so, so, so, SO handsome, Baby Wobert." xoxoxo
<when an alarm was going off and we were ignoring it> "Mama? Daddy? Mom? Dad? Or Jim? Or Michelle? Hello? Help?"
"I'm all done pee-peeing WOBBY!"
"Good idea, mumma. Really a good idea."
"Wobby! Do you want to see my new bathing suit? It has WHALES ON it!" <meanwhile BR DGAF -- he's just sitting there sobbing, mad that he woke up from nap earlier than intended.>
"What is a metaphor, mommy? I heard you say dat word to daddy."
"May I use the cupholder for my milk?"
Me: "Ana, Daddy's coming. Better hide!" Ana: "OK, I hide BEHIND THE RED CASTLE THEN."
"Hello? Dis is Mickey!" <--- inside joke with Robs
Oh and her constipation went away when she finally started using the potty. THANK GOD. Longtime blog followers (all six of you) will remember that dominated our lives for ... most of her life! Robby goes around the clock, so it's never been an issue for him. Now you know too much.
Also, she self-potty trained at 3 1/2, maybe just a touch before. Again, kids just kinda do stuff when they're ready, right?
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Ugh. No more excuses. Need to blog semi-regularly again before they're 14 and 16 and I've missed everything. I got promoted (humble brag? Sorry) mid-last year, then became a birth doula but not really because I still need to do some certifying births ... so @ me if you're pregnant? lol
And a lot of the days I'm just like, up with the kids early and then I work 10 hours and I'm up late editing and I sleep sometimes, then a year passes and I haven't written about my kids at all. And they're everything. And now we're moving out of state. And I'm not ready to write about that.
Shoutout to anyone who read this insanely long rambling!
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| Because I am unable to end this, doesn't Baby Rob look like Uncle Rob? Here's (my brother) Robby and my mom, circa probably ... 1992? |
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