family, woodworking, photography, K-pop
I was bummed that we missed Halloween with the kids because of the trouble we had getting out of New York so the day after we got home I put the kids back into their costumes so I could take a few photos.
We even walked across the street to an understanding friend’s house so I could hear Mimi chirp “thick or treat!” and drove to my mother-in-law’s so she could see the kids in their costumes.
Vacations are awesome (even those interrupted by hurricanes) but it’s great to be home.
Last week I decided that it was time to say goodbye to Mimi’s baby mullet.
Her hair is so funny. It’s been growing in the back but the front and sides are the same length they were 6 months ago. I’ve been dying to put her hair into tiny baby pigtails but I guess I’ll be waiting for a while 🙂
Mimi has taken her own sweet time when it has come to moving around. She didn’t crawl until 11 months and when I took her in for a check-up at 16 months she had only taken a step or two on her own.
This time around I’ve been much more relaxed about growth milestones and mothering in general. It was clear that Mimi was thriving and doing fine; she just didn’t want to venture out on her own yet.
But when we were at her check-up and her pediatrician suggested that we should x-ray Mimi’s hips if she still wasn’t walking by 18 months I felt the first little niggling worry creep into my mind. What if something really was wrong? Hip problems do run in N’s family.
But then, that very evening Mimi let go of the couch/table/chair and started staggering across the floor on her own, beaming from ear to ear.
It’s been a little over a week since then and she practices every chance she gets, doing laps around the room. Her legs are already more steady and her walk is quickly losing that unsteady, watching-puts-your-heart-in-your-throat baby quality.
Soon she’ll be running.
Lately Mimi’s been really into babies. She loves pointing them out wherever we go and waving ‘hi.’ And when I turn on the forward-facing camera on my phone and let her watch herself on the screen–well, she goes a little nuts.
Lately, E has turned into an ever-negotiating little guy who wants to know “why?” about everything and who is just starting to realize what a big place the world is (and is therefore suffering from a bit of anxiety). For the last week or so every night when I put him to bed he begs me “don’t let the sun go down!” His faith in my abilities is both flattering and a bit heartbreaking.
And Mimi, well, lately Mimi is just everywhere. She’s not quite walking on her own yet but she gets around astonishingly fast. Unlike her brother she flagrantly disregards any and all admonishments to “leave it alone!” and loves to pull things out of cabinets and strew them about.
Lately it seems like both E and Mimi are changing and growing up noticeably every day. It’s both thrilling and bittersweet.
And in other news, I am *this close* to finishing the kitchen update. I can’t wait to share it with you!
Last week I took my mom and her friends to the tulip festival at Thanksgiving Point. The flowers were stunning. Every time I visit the gardens I’m impressed by the amount of work it must take to create such a lovely place.
The festival’s over but the gardens are still worth checking out. It’s a great place to turn the kids loose and let them run around.
I love this sweet girl.
Mimi was a real trooper on our trip. While we were at the parks she was usually content just to chill in her stroller.
But for the record she did go on a few rides at Disneyland: we took her on the submarine ride and into the Tikki Room theater which she loved.
E is already asking when we can go back to Disneyland: we told him that we have to wait until Mimi’s big enough to go on Space Mountain with him 🙂
I know I’ve been MIA lately I have a good excuse: last weekend we packed up the kids and drove to California!
We went to Disneyland and a few other fun places. I’ll sort through my snapshots over the weekend and post some next Monday.
I hope you have a nice weekend and a happy Easter!
Things have been lovely so far this week. The kids have been pleasant and the weather lovely.
And to cap it off, N and I are going to a showing of The Hunger Games tonight! His office rented out a whole theater–I think seeing a movie with friends makes it that much more fun 🙂
Yesterday was an EPIC FAIL, parenting wise.
I had gotten the kids ready to get in the car when I remembered I wanted to grab a cd. Mimi was happily playing with a drawer of Tupperware lids so I dashed down the 5 stairs to our family room. I was grabbing the cd from the shelf when I hear Mimi’s little knees crawling across the floor towards the stairs. I turned just in time to catch her as she starts tumbling down the stairs, but a second too late to stop her from bonking her head on the corner of the banister.
It doesn’t look that bad in the photo but she immediately got a huge goose egg which freaked me out. I used my cell to have a video call with N so he could weigh in on whether I should take her to the doctor but Mimi was fine after she calmed down; no signs of a concussion.
Then later that afternoon Mimi was playing in the Tupperware drawer again while I tidied up the kitchen. I turned my back for ten seconds and she got into the dishwasher packets under the sink. And bit into one. I rinsed out her mouth and gave her some water and called Poison Control who said she would be fine, which she was.
I felt TERRIBLE, like the biggest failure ever–I didn’t keep my baby safe.
If there’s a positive side to this it’s that it has inspired me to buckle down and get the rest of the cabinets painted and put back together so I can put baby locks on all of them. Gah.