When you have a child, you want him or her to be able to succeed. To take on the world and win.
When you have two, you want them to do that together.
And some other fun pictures from the park today:
Hayden dancing on the stage and singing his ABCs
What have you done to help prepare your kids to take on the world—including giving them a sibling to work side-by-side with?
This afternoon, I was struggling with Rebecca, who has recently decided that she would prefer not to have her diaper changed ever again. Hayden watched the writhing and screaming (from both of us) and offered some pointers (he’s already learning how to be a dad! 😉 ).
“Becca do not want to be wiped.”
I agreed with his astute assessment.
“You not wipe her?”
“I have to wipe her,” I explained. “She’ll get hurt if I don’t.” Apparently we’ve had the diaper rash discussion enough times before that he accepted this without argument. But after a moment, he offered one more piece of advice to help us avoid future encounters of the #2 kind:
“Becca, stop pooping.”
What incredibly logical arguments did/do your toddlers or preschoolers make?
As of yesterday, I’ve been a mother of two for nine months. It hasn’t been everything I expected—or maybe I should say feared. Yes, at times it has been very stressful (especially lately with both children suddenly thinking they need to make sure I wake at least every hour during the night).
But, as I always seem to find, enjoying motherhood is less about what my kids do and more about who they are. Of course, that’s also manifest in their actions, but their little personalities are some of the biggest joys of this life.
Especially when their little personalities get along so well.
Naturally, Rebecca is fascinated with Hayden. She can’t keep her eyes off him when he’s in the room. She laughs easiest at his antics. Even his mere presence can be enough to elicit a giggle.
And for his part, Hayden loves his little sister “Werbecca” very much. His favorite things to do seem to be helping to sing a lullaby before her naps and bedtime (“Baby Beluga”) and being there to wake her up after her naps. (Of course, since she finds him so interesting and entertaining, sometimes his efforts to help put her down aren’t so helpful after all, but it’s still sweet.)
A recent comment here really struck me. Mom on the Go said:
Don’t wait for the day that you can say it’s worth it. Wait for the moment. Grace comes in all lengths of time. The short ones seem to come with the small kids.
A few weeks ago, I let Hayden go in to talk to Rebecca after she woke up from a nap, while I was finishing up something on the computer. I came in to get my giggling children and I found one of those moments just waiting for me:
What moments have you found lately?
I’m not really going to get into a theory of evolution debate here—really, the more appropriate headline would be “Natural selection works.” I totally believe that and I see evidence of it in my everyday life (“natural selection” is just a lot longer than “evolution”).
Genetics at work: my mother and my daughter
As a mother of very young children, I can tell you exactly how demanding and frustrating babies and toddlers can be—but I’ve come to believe that a babies’ cuteness is, in fact, an inherited defense mechanism against some of their most motherly-frustration-inducing behaviors. My evidence:
What other naturally cute behaviors have you seen that totally take the wind out of your frustration?
Once upon a time, Rebecca liked solid foods. Okay, well, she liked bananas like two times. But at eight months, she’s once again nursing exclusively.
Baby: folds for easy storage convenience!
I think it had something to do with the entire month she spent with teeth painfully bulging her gums. The closest she came to solids was a steady stream of Tylenol.
Also, she had the dreaded car pox
We tried a variety of foods; we gave her teething biscuits; we let her hold saltines. The only thing she had any interest in sticking in her mouth was the bottle of the aforementioned medicine.
Silly Mommy. I don’t want this!
One tooth finally came through last Friday and the second this Friday. But that wasn’t what it took to get her interested in solids.
Yesterday, I had some beef stew. She found my empty bowl very interesting, so I tried to tease her with a little of the leftover sauce in a spoon.
She ate it. She ate and ate and ate until I couldn’t scrape together enough to put in her mouth anymore. I fetched half a teething biscuit; she suddenly understood where that was supposed to go. She went to town on some saltines.
Nummy!
We haven’t attempted any more solids today, but here’s hoping she’ll be interested when we do!
Maybe I’ve been a mother of a boy for too long. Maybe I’ve been out of school for too long. Maybe I’m just clueless. But this week, it suddenly hit me.
I have a daughter.
What up, Mom?
Okay, really, I know she’s a girl. In fact, it was one year ago today that we found out we were having a girl. So I’ve had plenty of time to get used to that idea.
But I guess I hadn’t really appreciated the full meaning of having a daughter until this week. It happened gradually. First we ran out of everyday pants for Rebecca, so I went through the mass of 6-12 month clothes we finally got out for her (she also still needs a dresser). All I found were dresses and skirts. I settled for a denim play skirt.
Look at those lashes!
We went through two denim skirts that day, and still the laundry didn’t get done (where is my laundry fairy?!). So the next day, I put her in a dress.
It was at this point that it hit me. I have a little girl. She can wear play dresses and tights—and I can buy frills and ribbons and flowers. She can play with dolls and pretend to teach them to read. She can play house, pretend to cook (if Hayden will let her take over those duties, of course), and dress up in my high heels. (No comment on doing her hair.)
But most of all: she can take dance lessons. Most instruments, most sports, most clubs, most other extracurriculars are fairly gender-neutral. But, let’s face it, dance lessons are they epitome of little girlitude.
This led me to a new dilemma: what kind of dance lessons? I did years and years of ballet, and a semester of Irish dance in college. I love lyrical; I don’t enjoy tap or jazz. We’re technically of Scottish descent, so there’s always Highland dance to consider.
I’ve decided, however, not to worry about all that now. Even after she’s old enough to start “dance” lessons, it’ll be years before she’s old enough or required to choose among the various styles.
And considering it took me a year to understand that we have a daughter, I’m sure it’ll take me that long to figure out what kind of dance (if any) we want her in anyway!
What are your favorite things about little girls?
