It’s been so long I hardly remember how to do this! I guess my absence tells you what’s it’s like to have two little kids. I really liked the part of blogging where I kept a record of my kids growing, though.
At this age they have kind of flipped roles a bit. Harper can communicate well enough to follow directions and she goes to bed reliably at 7:30, then sleeps until 7:30 (sometimes even later!). She’s still grappling with toddler emotions and SO MUCH ENERGY, but generally she’s a lot more mature. I can’t believe I’m going to be signing her up for kindergarten next summer.
Mellow Max on the other hand has become quite a handful. I had forgotten about the 18-months-ish age, where they can walk, climb and generally get into trouble, but they can’t really communicate yet. So if they want something and can’t make it happen, they just whine or cry. He does take naps, but he stays up later than Harper and during these really bright summer months, he wakes up ready to party at 6:30.
Max has figured out how to open the fridge and take things out. Poor guy is just hungry all.the.time. I can’t even imagine how much he will eat as a teenager.
Harper is getting a lot pickier about what foods she’ll eat. She still tries a lot of things, but she wants mac ‘n cheese and cereal, and if I make something with peppers and onions, she wants me to pick them out. They’re both all about the chocolate ice cream.
It is cute the way they play together now. Harper likes to help get Max set up in his high chair and sometimes she will even get him something he needs without being asked.
The problem is that they fight about toys all the time. They always want what the other one has, even if they have no real interest in it. Luckily they have different enough interests and we have enough toys that they can usually find something else to do.
Harper is still really into art projects and dressing up. We now have 3 cubbies and an overflowing bin of dress-up toys in her room.
Her biggest love right now is Moana. I actually think it’s a great movie, although I’ve seen it enough times to be a little over it. And of course she is always down to wear a princess dress to school over her clothes.
Max is super into trains lately. He says “choo choo” when a bart train goes by – it’s adorable. He also loves to build little things with Legos.
It’s interesting to see him developing language in kind of a different way than Harper. She didn’t say as many words, but she would say them perfectly. He’ll try more, even if it comes out all garbled. Sometimes he just kind of talks in gibberish and you’re like, OK buddy. I have no idea what you want, but right on.
Mike and I got a rare vacation when we turned his work trip to Vancouver into a long weekend without kids. My mom flew in from Kansas to watch them. It was so nice and over way too soon.
Our next trip will be with the kids to Minnesota in September. We wanted to go back to Lutsen for our anniversary (Sept. 18) and we thought we could have some alone time and then some with the whole family. I can’t believe we haven’t been back there since the wedding almost 7 years ago.
This stage of life is just tough. I think it was actually easier when Max was a baby. The not-sleeping part is super hard, but then their needs are pretty much limited to eating, sleeping and diaper changes. Now you have to be on all the time, and it’s intense. Especially for an introvert who needs alone time to recharge. I think when they’re old enough to have a little more independence it will be easier. But hey, no one does this because it’s easy.
Last week we finally got enough free time to take the kids on a bike ride in our neighborhood. It was really fun, and it was a little taste of the kind of outdoorsy things we can as a family, especially as they get older.
I have Max in daycare 4 days a week now, and I am starting to work a lot more. I now work at 2 stores (1 in Sausalito and 1 in San Francisco). I’m doing some PR work for one store and organizing classes at the other. And now I’m branching out and trying to teach more classes. I think that is really where it’s at for me. It’s the perfect intersection of crafts, media and retail, it pays well, and there are a lot of opportunities to teach around here.
I’m also trying to get back in shape, post-babies, so hopefully I’ll get a minute to share about that soon.
