It’s frightening how quickly time passes. It seems like only last week that Lena was still brand new and yet I can’t imagine life without Maggie.
These were all taken on my aunt and uncle’s porch. Same porch, different hammock, same two bottom teeth! Why does Maggie look so much bigger even though she’s almost three months younger?
Almost two years ago…and yesterday.
And the little one….finally growing some hair.
In the space of just a few hours we’ve had a series of major catastrophes! Lena fell down the stairs…well, that might be a bit dramatic. She did fall, but only a few steps. No less traumatic for her, I’m sure! She was mostly fine after calming down with just a small bump on her nose. My heart may still be pounding.
Maggie has decided that sitting relatively calmly on her mat and playing with toys strewn all around her is completely unacceptable. She’s now only content when flinging herself bodily (aka crawling) around the room and tipping chairs over on top of her head. No joke.
Let’s hope tonight’s activities are a bit more tame.
We have recently embarked on an endeavor to earn a little extra income. In turn, we’ve had to do some reorganizing at home. The result? Kid toys need a new home!
The main goal is to have a tidy place to store toys with out overrunning our family space.
I’ve long thought of purchasing an Ikea shelving unit and baskets to hold all the bits. However, we don’t have a lot of wall space and currently the best area available is in a hallway. Too cluttered? Possibly.
Another reservation is the very modern look of Ikea furniture when we live in an old house. I was on the verge of purchasing an Expedit unit this spring only to find Ikea had discontinued it and had not yet released it’s replacement! Fortunately, this dilemma is now solved with a new model called Kallax.
Alternatively, we have a door in our living room which is not original to the house. We almost never use it so can easily put furniture in front that buys us about five feet of wall space (though not a lot of height as there is a window in the door)!
We likely need some out if the box ideas to tackle this dilemma!
The other obvious choices are:
Baskets beneath our favorite coffee table, already home to puzzles and diapering station.
Or a tall, narrow bookshelf.
Obviously this is a work in progress. Brain wracking to be continued….
So you’d think life was pretty hectic with two kids and a new house. It is! Trust me, that’s more than enough to keep us hopping.
Add to that a giant (if gentle) dog,
a cat who thinks he is a dog,
a fish that Joe just had to get for Lena,
a semi-permanent cockatiel,
and six (yes, six!) hens who have yet to lay a single egg to earn their keep.
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Lena is on the cusp of turning three and it has been out of this world, literally, watching her imagination take flight. As an avid reader it’s been particularly gratifying to see her have a voracious appetite for books.
The imaginary play lately is outrageously funny. In the pool the other day she was pretending a leaf was a monster. She almost dissolved in tears when it kept floating against her leg and she couldn’t escape! Another day she set up school on the stairs and had her Papa sitting there for almost 20 minutes. Every time we turn around it’s a new game and a new set of rules. Another favorite is role reversal. When I get the esteemed privilege of being Lena and she’s Mommy, I take full advantage and ask an infinite series of “Why?” questions.
As we launch into these in depth discussions eventually I’ll have to give in and start laughing. To which she’ll reply with a grin, “Me just ‘tending mommy!” Priceless.
I’ve been in denial for weeks, hoping this stage will just wait a bit longer to surface. I mean, babies are supposed to sit in one place and be perfectly content for hours right?!
Maggie is on the cusp of crawling. I mean, literally…any day now she’ll be stalking across the floor to gleefully pull on her sister’s ‘oh so tempting’ curls (Hair has long been a fascination for her.). Gone are the days of stranding her in the jumper while the rest of us buzz around in our various pursuits. Lately, she’s only happy if she’s sitting in the middle of the room with toys strewn all around her. That way, she can cast about in any direction and snag something of interest before growing bored and flinging it away. Eventually, she teeters just a smidgen too far and ends up on her belly (or just face planting in the rug, no big) and sqwuaks in irritation until someone has mercy and pulls her upright again. Then with a devilish grin she repeats the process all over again.
So far, I’ve managed to discourage Lena from attempting this maneuver as I’m fairly sure it’ll end badly. Probably for Lena. The sweet little girl isn’t quite sure what to make of her little sis’ new-found mobility. We’ve been talking a lot about sharing again since it’s taken on a whole new meaning now that Maggie can more adequately defend her own territory. Gone are the days of stealing toys and skipping away with a blithe, “Maggie sharing me, Mommy.” Sure love, of course she is.
Watch out world…Maggie will shortly be on the move!
