Bless You

You always sneeze twice.

Milo's Little Sister

A Good Apple

Milo "Bend It Like Beckham" Diamond

Soccer

Tonight you start soccer. Not sure who is more excited mommy or ... daddy.

Love

This morning in bed you whispered to me, "Mommy, I think Willa loves me."

The Things You Say

Dada.
Doggie. (About any animal: dog, horse, squirrel, fish.)
Mama.
And as of tonight, uhhhh-ohhh.

What You Learned at School Today

Mommy: What did you learn at school today?
Milo: Yoga.

MMW

Milo loves Willa. Willa loves Marin. Marin loves Milo. Willa loves Milo. Milo loves Marin. Marin loves Willa. One big happy family.

You Love Mr. Eric

Police Officer Milo

You police Willa. You say NO WILLA when she tries to walk up the stairs or touch an outlet or put things in her mouth that shouldn't be there. Or touch your stuff. Sometimes you say NO NO NO and wag your finger at her. "Only mommies can touch that stuff Willa," you say sternly. You are so sweet because you share your MumMums with her. And get her fruit bars too.

Miso Happy

Last night you had miso soup. It was not only your first miso, but your first soup. You said it was delicious. Willa of course had sticky rice and mango and tempura and tofu and ....

The Things You Say

I need some quiet

Yesterweek

Soft Pants

"Because they're nice and warm"—there you have it. Why your toddler years will be remembered as a whole lot of sweat pants. I have to beg you to put on "nice pants" (AKA jeans) and sometimes when you get home from school you put on softer pants to replace your soft pants.

You Swim Too

... not just your brother. You LOVE it. You splash and kick really well. And unlike your brother you don't mind floating on your back. Today a fellow swimmer threw up in the pool. And even that didn't phase you.

Knight Milo

Your Skin

I hate your skin. It makes me sad and mad and crazy. I cry thinking about your misery. I hate how it makes my happy girl itchy and miserable and cranky. Its gotten worse, not better. The nightly baths, the creams—they seem to do nothing. Your skin is still itchy and bumpy. Every picture of you is a reminder—the greasy hair from the creams. You clawing at your skin. It preoccupies you. It keeps you up and wakes you up. Mommy and daddy have to give you medicine at night to help you sleep. Mommy tries to remember it is good for you—to let your body rest. But it kills me to "drug" you every night. But also because mommy and daddy can't be up every night from 2-3 or 1-2 ... it makes it hard to function. Hard to lie on the couch with you whimpering on our belly. Scratching, miserable. We are trying soy. We've heard about honey, and special bracelets, and bleach baths ... and want to look into homopathic interventions. We are going back to the allergist on Monday. We just want to find out what is causing this. What we can do to control it. We'll do anything.

Swim

My heart swelled today. After a mini meltdown last week at the pool—not wanting to do the big kid class because mommy and daddy weren't going to be there we gave in and today took Willa to the 9 AM baby class and you to the 9:30 toddler class. But you took one look at the little kids learning how to splash and blow bubbles and you knew it wasn't the class for you. "I want to do the big kid class," you told daddy. Yea right, I thought. But when the time came you got into the big pool with Jo (and two other kids) and sat there and listened (mostly) and swam on your own (a little bit) and survived! When you started to act out/show off ... daddy and I just removed ourselves from the area and you did even better. I remember when we first started swimming classes seeing the preschool class and wondering how any kid ever got to the point that they could be alone in a pool without a parent. To trust your kid enough that he would just sit there and wait for his turn and listen and, well, here we are.

Skinned Knees

The true sign of a well-lived childhood. You've got it all: bruises, scabs and scratches.

You Are Our Everything

Handsome Boy

Beauty Girl

Aunt Beth brought you those pink fuzzy bloomers when you were a few days old. She thought they would fit you last winter—but they were giant. Mommy tucked them away and pulled them out this winter. They are perfect. Warm and silly, like you.

You'll Always Have Each Other

Our Family

I Only Have Myself to Blame

From grandma: If you want to know where Milo got his crying when "no mommies are allowed"—look at yourself. If I left you at a kid's YMCA class for ONE HOUR-I could hear ONLY your screams echoing down the hall. The teachers would tell me to go, that you calmed down after awhile-but it was very hard to enjoy my one hour spent, of course, food shopping. Why couldn't you be like the other kids happy when their Moms left?? They were such fun classes for little kids. Even in beginning Sunday School you would not let me leave you-I had to have Dad take you because you seemed to separate better from him. Eventually you turned into the outgoing, friendly person you are today but until you got to kindergarten you were very uncooperative at these special classes. When you were older we did swim classes at the YMCA and you always did very good (better swimmer than Beth). Don't worry, he will outgrow this and you will MISS the times he cried to have you need him!!

Walking ... Not Quite

Lady—you are almost 14 months old. And still have no interest in walking. Why walk when you can crawl super duper fast. You've taken a few tentative steps on your own, you've walked with assistance. But your knees are still dirty and your shoes are still clean.

The Things You Say

About your camera: "I'm hating this thing. Come on!"

The Things You Say

"Firefighters don't dance like that, mommy. Sit down."

The Things You Say

"I'm a good opener. I'm a good reacher too."

Texts from Anna

Jumping in a jumper and screaming lol
Jan 5, 1:30 pm

She's in a crib making noises trying to fall asleep.
Jan 11, 2:27 pm

Sticking her head between the steps lol she is great, happy girl as always.
Feb 16, 12:56 pm

I put her down after lunch. She is such a happy girl! I love her soooooo much
: - )
Feb 22, 1:23 pm

Hey, she is napping. She is a little bully today, lol
Feb 24, 1:11 pm

Willa said doggie!!!
Mar 1, 9:36 am

The Things You Say

"I wish we had a garbage can in the car." We do. It's called mommy.

Solo

Meesh ... I don't know what it is. You hated the gym class we signed you up for when mommy was on maternity leave. HATED IT. It was everything you loved, but no mommies allowed. This time we signed you up for the preschool swimming class. That meant no mommies allowed. But we were allowed to watch and even stay in the pool. But no. You cried. You refused to stay. You carried on. I don't understand it. You are independent. You go to school five days a week. You can dress yourself. And undress yourself. And mostly poop in the potty. You carry on full conversations and can do stuff like empty the dishwasher and help with dinner. Why oh why can't you do a class by yourself.

Your Anna

Not including the people you are related to—Anna is your most important love of your life.

Monster Trucks

Daddy took you to a Monster Truck show in downtown Baltimore. You got to go down and meet some of the drivers and see the big trucks up close. Your report, "It was loud, mommy." You left your eye patch and sword there. Sigh.

Furry Couch