Lots of Catching Up to Do...

Some computer gliches at work have prevented me from being able to log on to blogger, but they have finally been resolved and, as usual, I have a lot of catching up to do on the blogosphere.

Little baby Maeve is not so little anymore! At her 7-month checkup she weighed in at 17 lbs and was 27 inches long. She loves grabbing things (including her sisters hair, Mommy's coffee cup and Brady's tail). Maeve is, in one word, DETERMINED. She just started crawling on Christmas Day, and within two days was pulling herself to a stand. This we discovered purely by accident, when I entered her room at 11:00 last night to put something away and she was standing straight up giving me the most precocious little smirk. So, needless to say at midnight, there we were lowering the crib. She doesn't give up, no matter how hard she has to work to get what she wants. I think this one is going to be a major handful. On the other hand, she is so much fun and so easygoing. Maeve took the holidays in stride...staying up late, skipping naps, and never really complaining. All it takes is one little look in her direction and you are rewarded with a big grin, ear to ear with those beautiful eyes.

Delaney is growing and maturing so much every day. I feel like I should have a new blog entry every week just to keep track of everything she is learning and talking about. She was much more into Christmas this year than I ever expected. Singing her out-of-tune "Frosty the Snowman" and making me sing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" over and over...I don't know what will do for entertainment in the car while we wait for next holiday season. She was very excited to tell me that Santa had been on the roof and came down the chimney on Christmas, she must have really been paying attention when we were reading 'Twas the Night before Christmas.

Delaney is such a nurturer. She loves her baby sister, and is all about taking care of her babies, Jello and Tiffany. Listening to her sing "Happy Birthday to You" in her crib to her babies is enough to make your heart just melt. She has also mastered sharing. I absolutely love the way her voice goes into this really high pitch when she offers something. "You want some too?", she will say, with each word being higher than the last. Her favorite activities are coloring, running, and now, cooking (with her new kitchen that Santa brought for her). She cracked me up when she poured all of the different pieces of food into a tray and presented it to me as a "pie, but be careful, it is very hot." I can hear her father saying those exact words to her : )

I am loving watching the relationship develop between the girls. They can already make each other laugh, cry and give hugs and kisses.


Although this past year has not been an easy one for Linwood and me, I know we must be doing something right because our girls are just so special...

2nd year and 4-month stats

Wow, my big little girl is 2, and my baby is 4 months. Delaney weighed in at 27 lbs, and is in the 90% for her height...I still haven't really figured out where she gets the height from. The Dr. was very impressed that Delaney already knows all her colors, and she is counting to 5! She can recognize the letters in her name, thanks to Daddy practicing them with her using the wooden letters he hung on her wall. Maeve's appt is coming up, but I am sure she will be right up there for her size, too...Little Maeve has found her voice and already loves to hear herself talk. She has started eating cereal and is just so close to rolling over, she is driving herself crazy! Maaeve is full of smiles, and loves attention, especially from her big sister.
We celebrated D's birthday with a morning at the park and a party in the afternoon. Considering she came down with a bug the next day, she really enjoyed herself! My favorite part of the day was when she was saying (in her little muppet singsong voice) "time to open the presents!" Another classic moment was a naked Delaney enjoying her dinner with her friends.
A It was a purple themed party, of course, and she spent the whole party carrying around her purple giftbag from Carly...I told Mary she shouldn't have even bothered to put a gift in it, she was so happy about the bag!
Other gifts were a power wheels ATV from Mommy and Daddy, Little Bear books from Maeve, a Dollhouse from Grammy, a teaset from cousins Jack and Chad, a Princess Palace from Auntie and Uncle Chris, and turtle backpack from Grandad Pete. Delaney insisted on bringing every gift she opened over to Grammy to show her each time. It was adorable. Maeve was such a good sport for the whole party, even though I am sure she was absolutely pooped by the end of the day!

Just a few thoughts...

Things about my girls that make me smile:
1. The way Delaney splits one syllable words into two and the fact that she already has a wicked Boston accent.
2. The sound of Maeve giggling because she is so excited to nurse when I get home from work.
3. The sight of Delaney, clomping around in my pumps while carrying my Kate Spade bag, shouting "Laney coming," as she tries to follow me out the door when I leave for work.
4. Maeve's beautiful smile and her big blue eyes.
5. Delaney's obsession with purple, Ellen, mama's boobies, and the word "poop."
6. Watching my mom sing to them...she literally has a song for every ocassion.
7. Reading books before bedtime. It cracks me up that Delaney loves reading the non-fiction book about North American species of fish.
8. The fact that, without being taught, Delaney can recognize the Red Sox on TV and by any one of their logos.

That is it for today. More to come...

Finally coming above water...

Wow, I knew having two children would be a challenge, but I had absolutely no idea just how fast the time would pass. I really can't believe that I am sitting here, just 4 days before Maeve will be 3 months old, and just now finding the time to write. And of course I will never be able to do justice to the whole experience of bringing Maeve into our family, but I will try my best...

I know it sounds obnoxious to say, but Maeve's labor and delivery were really wonderful. The contractions weren't terrible, the epidural was magical, and the delivery process was truly beautiful. All of the stress and anxiety I had due to Delaney's difficult birth was for nothing. After just 4 pushes, I remember the first thing I noticed about Maeve were her beautiful, full lips. Because we couldn't decide on a name for her right away, the nurses nicknamed her "Angelina."


Delaney was just beside herself with happiness over having a baby at home. If we had a nickel for everytime she said the word "baby," we would have a good headstart on her college fund! Of course, the honeymoon has passed, but for the most part Delaney is still adjusting well. Maeve's first smile was at Delenay, and now Delaney gets the biggest kick out of getting her to smile.




Fast forward 3 months...Maeve is getting even more beautiful everyday. She is a pretty big girl, and weighed 13.2lbs at her 2 month checkup. She is so strong, and is already holding her head up and sitting with support. I am frequently struck by how similar her personality is to her big sister. Both girls have quite a strong will, which I am hoping will serve them well in the future.

One pleasantly surprising side effect of having a new baby in the house is how much closer Delaney and Linwood have become. She is quite the Daddy's girl, and Linwood is such a great father to her. I love watching him do the little things with her, like combing her hair or teaching her new things. She has become quite the little talker, and is just starting to use short sentences. She seems to be finally coming out of her "colors" phase, where she would literally just point to everything she could see and tell you what color it is, but is still fully entrenched in her "obsession with purple" phase, and man, she is headstrong when she wants something!


At the risk of repeating myself, I really am going to do better at posting more often. The girls really are growing up so fast, and I find that motherhood provides almost daily examples of how precious life is. I know the day will come when I will wish I could remember what these years were like, so this is my forum to make sure that those memories last. There have been days where I have literally felt like I was drowning, and most days I am barely treading water. But on those days that my head is above water, and I catch a glimpse of just how lucky I am to have my beautiful girls, I can say with certainty that the view is pretty special.

18 month-stats

Okay, no more excuses for slacking. The last three months have been so full of acitivity, from counting down to our new arrival, watching Delaney change more and more every day, to some major stress and new developments with my job. I am considering the next few weeks the calm before the storm in a lot of ways. Not only preparing to bring our new little girl into the world, but also wrapping up one phase of my career and looking forward to a new adventure!

At Delaney's 18-month appointment, she was weighing in at 23lbs, 14oz (50%) and standing 34 inches (95%). I have been trying to remember all of her words that she has, and this is the most comprehensive list we have come up with:

pea, pizza, meatball, pasta, cheese, snack, apple, banana, cup, water, side (for outside), more, up, on, out, down, why, hello, bye-bye, star, football (before she even said mama!), dada, auntie, baby, Brady, blue, purple, roll over, all done, help, clip, tickle, hot, cold, sun, hat, bubbles, diaper, people, car, keys, hippo, baa, moo, quack, duckie, woof, pee pee and of course her very favorite...Poop. As a matter of fact, the other day when Auntie Kristen asked her what she wanted to name her new baby sister, she responded with "Poop." Maybe Linwood and I should just take her suggestion, since we have reached an official stalemate on a name!

Delaney seems to be learning a new thing literally everyday. She is so determined and independent, and insists on doing everything she sees us doing. She loves to wear our shoes and walk around the house,brush her teeth when we do, she even insists on putting on deodorant just like Mommy when I am getting ready. You can create a monster out of this kid by letting her do something for herself just one time, whether it be walking up the stairs or wearing her favorite "jewelery," she will do it her way everytime after that. Her latest obsession is lotion. She will lay down on her changing table and stick her feet out at me, waiting for me to put some on so she can rub it in.

We've done some fun family activities over the past few weeks, inlcuding the Worcester St. Patty's Day parade with Chris, Jack and Chad.



We also got some maternity pictures taken. Delaney is fascinated by my belly, and never misses a chance to touch it. The photos are a bittersweet reminder that this phase of our family life is coming to an end, and a whole new chapter is beginning!





I am sure I am missing so many details that I should be including, but that is the problem with waiting 3 months between posts! I am determined to do better...

Holidays

We are FINALLY wrapping up a marathon holiday season. At one point Linwood looked at me and asked, "Do we celebrate Christmas, or Hanukkah?" Valid question considering that we had a total of 5 Christmas celebrations, and haven't even been to see his family yet. Linwood was hoping to make his first solo overnight trip with Delaney the weekend before Christmas but the snowstorm stopped that. Speaking of snow, here it is only January 1st and we have have had quite a winter already. The Ice Storm of 2008 won't soon be forgotten, although we had it much easier than most. We have been hit by 3 more snowstorms, including one on the day of Aunt Kathy's get-together and one on New Year's Eve. Delaney's Christmas started off with a bang, literally, after she missed a step and fell face first onto the floor on Christmas Eve. She was given a clean bill of health at the Dr's, despite a huge bump on her head and a black eye. It was obviously harder on us than on her We did make an honest effort to make it to Christmas Eve service, and I was hopeful when we entered the church. Delaney seemed enthralled by looking around at everyone and was doing her trademark bob to the holiday music that was playing. Nevertheless, after 10 minutes she wanted full run of the place and we decided to cut out early. At least we tried! On the positive side, we were able to make it to the Duplessis' house in plenty of time for a nice visit and Chris' reading of "Twas the Night Before Christmas." This may be the last year that we get to actually wake Delaney up on Christmas morning, but she was clearly pooped from the day and night before. She woke up with a beautiful shiner, and was excited to sit in her new chair and go through her stocking with mom. Of course, Brady was the most into the stockings as usual. Delaney gave us her first ornament that she made at school. Later in the morning we went back to the Duplessis' house to exchange gifts, where we gave Grammy her picture of Delaney, Jack and Chad. She seemed to really love it, which made the whole ordeal of getting it taken worth it. Then after naps (for all of us!) it was over to Grammy's for dinner. Grammy gave Delaney her first babydoll and carriage, although Delaney thought she should be the one riding in the stroller. Joe T gave her some magnetic letters, which seemed to be her favorite of all! . All in all, it was a wonderful holiday, but next year will be a whole new adventure when we have our new little girl to celebrate with, too!
>