She's One!

Attire inspired by Calliope

And just like that, she's one!

My gorgeous, happy, chortling girl is one. I'll never have another infant. But oh, how sweet this one has been. Still is.

I mentioned this in another post, but I think as a result of being a second child, she's actually slightly more advanced than Calliope was at one. Just yesterday she started saying "uh oh" and there's a lot of "Mamama" but I'm not positive that she really means me. Plus she's been saying "Hi" since nine months, I think, though it just recently morphed from a more amorphous "Haaaaaa" (accompanied by waving, so there was no doubt what she meant) to a more crisp "Hi!" (still accompanied by waving... technically waving to herself.)

And she gives kisses -- to the air -- and does the "wheels on the bus" motion, and has just started signing "more" and "all done."

She was seventeen pounds, six ounces at the doctor on Friday, just two ounces less than Calliope was at the same age. But doesn't look too skinny, so maybe she's shorter. I'll find out at her well baby visit next week.

Because, oh yes, we've made two visits to the doctor this past week. Amelie has Hand Foot and Mouth Disease, and Calliope presumably has the same virus, one day later and without the rash.

It ain't pretty. Both girls spiked fevers north of 104 degrees and Amelie's rash is pretty ugly. Luckily it's improving quickly.

We were supposed to go to the aquarium in Mystic, CT to see my siblings and their families for a birthday celebration but had to table that. Luckily our loyal Brooklyn "family" came through and our two closest family friends came by for a simple celebration of Amelie. I didn't want a crowd, since that would just be stressful for Amelie. Two one year olds, two four year olds, and a seven year old was just right. She had a great time and relished her first sweet treat.

And now she's crying. Despite a dose of Tylenol and drinking some water. At 10 pm. Off I go.

Conversation with Calliope

We're hugging and talking about how great our family is when Calliope mentions a daddy.

Me: do you wish we had a daddy?

Calliope: yes

Me: why do you wish we had a daddy? what do you wish he would do?

Calliope: He would lift me up so I could climb tall trees.

Me: Oh, I see. But where would he sleep? You've been sharing my bed my bed recently. 

Calliope: He could sleep in your bed and I could sleep on his belly.

Me: Oh, okay. And if we had another Mommy? 

Calliope: That's fine, she could sleep on YOUR belly!

My attempts to avoid assuming heterosexuality apparently translated into an openness to polyamory. 

A Major Milestone Has Been Reached...

We can achieve hairstyles! (Barely.)

"I don't understand that the baby in the mirror is me so I don't know
that I have hair missiles exploding off the top of my head."

"Mommy, do you still think I am the cutest baby in town, even with ridiculous pigtails?"

"I love it when the wind blows my tuft of hair."

Firsts, and The Very Best Video

I love, love, love this video.

We had just gotten Amelie's birthday outfit in the mail (thanks to a gift certificate) and Calliope absolutely couldn't wait for Amelie to try it on. And then was just beyond thrilled with the result.

It made my heart sing to see how proud Calliope was of her little sister.

In case you can't catch the dialogue, it's:

Calliope: "only girls, not boys."

Me (very hoarse from a cold), laughing, "okay. Who's the cutest birthday girl? And birthday sister?"

Calliope: "This birthday girl only choosed [sic], only girls. Right? (pause) She said yes."

And some firsts:

First good sleep photo. She is very attached to Monkey Love... a lovey given to Calliope

before she was born, but never used until now -- Calliope didn't want one.
I love it that Amelie has something from her namesake, my mom.

Her first time wearing a barrette. No one could argue that she needs it, but it's fun nonetheless.

Well, this isn't really a first but Calliope is really captivated by both Star Wars stories and the tale of the Wizard of Oz, so
we talk about them a lot. But she's way to scared to see them -- just a clip of Darth Vader breathing sent her running from the room.
I love this rendering of what she thinks Princess Leia looks like!
Also, she is starting to write words without help -- she can now write Leo with zero help, and just needs to be reminded
of the letters to write the names of her friends Ellie and Iris. She loves to write!

And finally... at sixteen days shy of a year, she finally has not one but two brand new teeth!

Eleven Months

Object in photo appears longer than in reality

My cuddly baby is practically a year. Sniff.

A lucky thing is that the further I get from pregnancy and childbirth, the less I want to go back and do it again. At first, I desperately wanted a third, in a I-know-this-isn't-practical-but-my-heart-still-longs kind of way. Now I don't even want it. But at the same time, I don't want this infancy to end.

She still remains the happiest baby on the block. We went to a friend's house today. A friend she hasn't met before, someone from school. We walked in and I handed the baby to my friend while I helped Calliope with her coat. And Amelie just sat in this stranger's lap for twenty minutes, cooing and waving and looking around.

She's saying "Haaaaaa" ("hi") and waving more and more now. I think she's trying to say a baby version of "peekaboo"occasionally but it's hard to say for sure. She can say sign and say "el-da" ("all done") but rarely chooses to. Likewise, she can sign "more" but rarely does. I'm trying to teach her the sign for "water" now. It's interesting to see her doing all this before a year, when Calliope didn't do any of it until after her first birthday. I was so sure my second child would be disadvantaged by not having all my attention but it seems that instead, she is benefitting from hearing so much talking all the time.

She's crawling a ton and pulling up constantly, though not cruising confidently yet. On the other hand, she loves to push a toddler chair or a stepstool around. I'm not in any rush for her to walk.

Last she got weighed, she hadn't gained anything in several months (but had grown lengthwise) so I'm curious to see her progress at her one year check up. She loves food and eats just about everything -- so different than her big sister, who basically refused to touch food until her first birthday. She's so fun to feed! Today I gave her chunks of peeled grapefruit, something her sister will never try, and scrambled eggs, something Calliope will only recently have a couple bites of... Amelie gobbled them up! She also loves roasted brussel sprouts, broccoli, and roasted chicken. I can't believe I have a kid that will eat regular old chicken! Thrilling. She's definitely not skinny like Calliope was at this age (see above re: food refusal... she also basically refused bottles at this age) and still has some delicious squishiness about her but has slimmed down over the last few months.

Happy sisters

Nursing isn't going as well. I'm really struggling with my supply of late and I'm also realizing that I just don't enjoy it as much as I did with Calliope -- Amelie's latch has always been problematic. Nowadays, she pulls her head back as far as she can until she eventually pops off. Then she relatches and repeats, over and over again. Annoying! I was getting worried about my supply dropping so much that I'd have to wean... but now I can also see the silver lining to that. I weaned Calliope at 18 months so I assumed I'd do the same with Amelie but maybe not. Calliope recently asked for a bottle of milk and I humored her... Well, Amelie saw that bottle and got very whiny. It wasn't even the kind of bottle that Amelie normally uses! I asked Calliope to give her a taste, thinking she wouldn't like it because she's never had cow's milk... To the contrary, she loved it. Oops.

All dressed up for their first Broadway show.
*Notice and appreciate Calliope's tights pulled up firmly above her waistband.

A Practically Perfect Day Rose From the Ashes

I bought tickets a while ago to take Calliope to her first Broadway show, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, along with her surrogate grammy, Barbara. I booked a babysitter for Amelie a month ago. Barbara made a reservation at a nice restaurant nearby. It was going to be a Very Special Day Out.

And then the babysitter looked at me blankly when I reminded her about our plans. She had gotten the dates mixed up, and had other plans.

And then this morning Barbara texted me that a dear friend's husband was in the hospital with a heart attack and she, Barbara, needed to go be with her friend.

And then Calliope whined about not wanting to go to the theater.

And I got in her face and yelled, "I spent a lot of money on these tickets and we are GOING and YES I am disappointed that Alex cancelled and YES I am disappointed that Barbara cancelled but we are GOING and we are going to have a GOOD TIME." I left out the word dammit.

And she said, "Okay." And got dressed.

And both girls napped in the car on the way to the show. Even though Amelie had already napped that morning (we went to friends' for dinner last night and I thought they understood our schedule, had agreed to it... and set out some food for the kids, finally, about the time I needed to be packing us up. So they were tired). And then I found a METERED parking spot (for up to six hours) a block from Times Square. I mean, what are the odds?

And we got to the show in time, and Amelie barely squirmed on my lap, and both girls were captivated. I was kind of bored, but seeing the delight on their eyes was priceless.

And then we came home and I made scrambled eggs and both girls loved them, a first for Calliope. And it sounds so silly but my mom and my siblings and I all love slow cooked soft scrambled eggs and it seems like such a triumph that both my girls, at last, love them too. It was this strange bonding moment. And Calliope and I have started washing dishes together and it's so cute and funny. She'll scrub a spoon diligently, stick in the drain and remark, "There! Perfect!" She's so pleased to have this new skill because it's something to do together. And despite her slowness and her imperfect technique... it amazingly feels so different to have help with clean up! I cleaned off the table and counters while she washed. Someone to share the load -- what a beautiful concept!

And then Amelie went to nap and I cuddled up on the couch with Calliope and watched cooking shows on the computer. This sounds idiotic but I've never really watched anything with her. It seems like such an obvious thing to do with her but I always try to restrict her screen time so the rare times I allow it, it's usually because I need a break. But oh! It was so sweet to curl up together and watch something we both enjoyed.

Then a workout for me, dinner for them, and an early bedtime for both of them. Not for me, unfortunately. But while staying up too late, I booked a trip to Florida with two other SMCs. That might not be my first choice of destinations ordinarily but a trip with other SMCs... amazing!

So although I was terribly disappointed this morning... I feel like our week of togetherness finally came together. In one [nearly] perfect day. I'm so grateful.

Better

Not a very interesting post but... I wanted to report that I'm feeling better. After a week off from work, spending nearly every day at home. I can't remember having such a quiet week since I've had kids, maybe ever. I've always been a little scared that if I accomplished so little, I'd never get up off the couch again.

It's been heavenly. Without a lot of big goals, I haven't had to rush my kids, well, really Calliope, out the door. We've both lived in our coziest pants. I've mostly been a lot less impatient with her. And I've loved getting to savor Amelie, who is still just the sweetest thing. I'm not sure if it's because she's still really small, but she's still such a baby, my baby, even at a day shy of eleven months. I love just lying on the couch and watching her.

So I think all this rest -- although I've actually only managed eight hours of sleep once -- or at least, time off from a hectic schedule, has helped a lot. I also wonder, in hindsight, if I was detoxing from going off wheat. I didn't eat a ton of wheat before but I've suddenly noticed, in the last few days, that I have had more energy for workouts. And I'm mostly not tired despite sleeping less than I usually do.

Whatever it is, I'm grateful.