In two months time

 It may have all started with my new iPad Mini.  Or maybe with my attempt to work out consistently.  Or perhaps it was that my baby started to talk and then never.stopped.never.  Truly, I don't know, I don't have a specific answer why this glimpse into my life got put to the side, but it did.  I keep saying I am going to make time,  find time, but rarely do I.   It's been two months since I've powered up this page to write.  Two months.  In the words of the great Vizzini "inconceivable".

So here's recap of the past two months, more or less. 

Brenna is a busy little bee.  She loves the playground, the zoo, going to the YMCA and exercise class with me.  She likes to explore our backyard, the new garden and our neighborhood.  She, like her big sister, is a chatterbox.  She never.stops.talking.  Okay, she does take a break to sleep, after she rambles to herself until she passes out.   She also pauses to laugh, something she absolutely loves to do.  And she is forced to stop talking when she is screaming about a perceived injustice, which sadly happens several times a day.  Such injustice could be her toast cut in strips instead of squares, or having to wear her polka dot shoes instead of her red slip- ons.  So, you know, the really important stuff.

Miss B.  has always been a bit more cautious than her sister.  She is just as brave as Addie, but she really assesses her situation before acting.  She can now go up and down stairs unassisted, albeit slowly (goodbye baby gates forever). We have officially retired the baby swing and Brenna often complains that she wants to go on Addie's big swing (she is fine with her big girl swing that is lower to the ground, unless Addie is present.   In that case, she must have the higher swing).  Slides are her  thing though.  She loves to slide and begs to try every slide we pass.  And, like any good two-and-a-half year old, she loves, loves, loves bubbles.  We spend a lot of time, every day, blowing bubbles...kind of like another little girl I knew.

Our mornings, once the school bus has pulled away, are still spent snuggling watching Curious George and sometimes the Cat and The Hat.  Beyond those two shows, B isn't big into TV.  She likes Doc McStuffins and Sofia the First, but rarely sits to watch them.  She adores belting out Let it Go or Do you want to Build a Snowman but won't sit through the entire movie.  She is on the go, she is curious and inquisitive.  She thinks she can be sustained on snacks alone.
Brenna continues to be a total PITA when it comes to eating.   Some days, she eats virtually nothing.  If she had it her way she would exist entirely on fruit snacks, peanuts, milk and strawberries.  There are rare days that she eats whatever we put in front of her, we call those her eating days, but they are truly rare.  Most nights are the dinner table are a nightmare with us having to trick her into eating (don't you eat Cameron's pineapple!  That's not your chicken, don't you eat it!).  And while the eating thing is a pain, and a tad stressful being that she is just a wisp of a thing, we are rounding the corner on potty training.  Brenna is in undies all day except for nap times and bedtime.  She adores her Doc McStuffins and Elmo undies, and heartbroken if she lets a little pee
escape into them.  Two weeks ago she insisted that we no longer need her training potties and she pulled stools up the our regular toilets.  So far she has only fallen in once, and sadly I didn't have my camera handy!
Without a doubt, in the past two months Brenna has become quite a grown up girl, I can't say a big girl, as she has yet to register 25 pounds on the scale.  Such a peanut.

And then there is the endless Miss Addie E.  I call her Addie E. all the time, although a few weeks ago she turned those gigantic gray-green eyes toward me and said "Mamma, I really prefer to be called Addison."  Yep.  She really prefers that.  This past school year, and even these past two months, have really turned my baby into a kid.  A kid with opinions and ideas, a bit too much sass, and tons of energy and creativity.  In first grade Addie, er, Addison, has truly blossomed and bloomed.  She loves learning, and has, to my complete joy, fallen in love with reading.  We still read to her at night - sometimes picture books, sometimes chapter books.  Sometimes she does the listening, and sometimes she does the reading to us.  It's amazing.  In the last four weeks or so, since it is still light at bedtime, she reads a few more pages to herself after we've tucked her in.  Currently we are reading Ramona Quimby, Age 8.  We tried reading this a  year ago or so, but it was a bit beyond her, now it is right up her alley.  The other night she told me "Mom, just like Ramona has Silent Sustained Reading at school, so do I.  I love the part of the day when I can just read to myself."  My heart damn near burst.
It's not just reading that she's kicking butt at - it's school in general.  According to Addie she loves every single thing about school, except for Spanish because the teacher speaks in a different language and "how am I even supposed to understand her?".  In fact Addison told me a few months back that she wishes she could go to school all year long.  I resisted the urge to point at her and yell NERD...because, I totally felt the same way when I was younger.
She continues to be completely enthralled with all things Star Wars and is eagerly anticipating the release of the next episode - I don't think she realizes it doesn't come out until 2015.  She has informed that she "isn't really into" princesses anymore - well, unless those princesses are Elsa or Anna from Frozen.  If it's them, then she's totally still into princesses. 

Miss Thang has been doing dance all year and started soccer back up earlier this Spring.  I love that she continues to do both and love both.  This weekend is the big dance recital - don't worry, the Daddy Daughter dance will be back on stage!  Soccer is just starting to wind down, and Addison has already asked to be signed up for the Fall season.  The difference in her skill and understanding of the game this year compared to last is astounding.  She is a leader on her team, and while she hasn't scored any goals this season, she has blocked a few and assisted a few.

I don't know when I blinked and missed my chubby baby transform into a lithe and long little lady, but she has.  It's next to impossible for her to curl up on my lap, as she is not much shorter than me now.  We are constantly needing to buy new pants, as it seems as soon as we get them home they become floods on her.   Shorts are an absolute nightmare. 
I love her toothless smile and silly ways.  I hate homework time and trying to convince to keep her room tidy. I am not at all prepared for the preteen and teen drama, but I fear it may be just around the corner.

And then there is Andy and I.  We are just, as I often tell anyone who asks, living the dream.  We go to bed exhausted and wake up exhausted and in the middle of all that we make it happen.  Lawns are mowed, gardens are planted, car batteries are changed, cocktails on the patio are enjoyed.  We are both trying to be healthier, to hit the gym consistently, to eat slightly better, to guarantee that our little ladies get decades and decades more of our wisdom.
In April the two of us escaped to Napa and Sonoma for a  long weekend of sleeping, sipping wine and a small bit of silence.  Our summer is about to explode into trips to the beach, summer camps and busy weekends.   Andy is trying to get a few rounds of golf under his belt, I am trying to log a few more miles on to my sneakers, and we are both attempting not to miss all the little miracles and moments that happen each day.