pictures of the day

They just seem to get bigger right before my eyes and do so many things that I don't want to miss or forget. Today we just had an ordinary day as a family on the heels of Mark's first week away for work.

winter sunshine

It's pretty difficult updating the blog these days. Seems like there's rarely a moment I have two hands free. But so much wonder and good stuff is going on in this house. Seems like we are all settling in to the new dynamic. Dalia has stopped having such huge tantrums and has begun being a very "cooperative" big little girl. We instituted a "cooperative gummi bear" reward system a few weeks ago and have had the most peaceful bedtimes and helpful outings to the store. Dalia hasn't been much for the reward system until now. It's pretty amazing, though I think it's a lot like bribery.

Dalia and Eloise are starting to form a great bond. I'm working hard on giving Dalia the freedom to touch and hold Eloise without so much interjection on how, mostly because I'm noticing that Eloise smiles and gets so excited when she gets big sister attention that is unbridled. Dalia has some big emotions and expresses them in big ways - one in particularly is squeezing really hard when she hugs. It actually hurts me when she does it, so we have to be careful to help her understand that she can't squeeze her like she wants. Eloise has shed a few tears from being touched too rough, but mostly she just can't get enough of Dalia's attention.

As you can see, Eloise has opened her eyes, and now that she's awake we can see that she is such a happy, pleasant little being. One of her favorite pastimes is flirting with a cellophane balloon that Dalia has graciously shared with her. She can't get enough of looking at it.


Mark and I get a little time with Eloise alone at night after Dalia's gone to bed. It's a sweet and special time.




We got to share a couple of days with Scott, Robin and Connor this past weekend. Dalia cried and cried when they left. It's always a joy to see our family loved so much.



Valentine's Day came first. She loved loved celebrating with homemade cards and chocolate. This photo of her with Pops was captured while making Valentine's Day popcorn.

We also got some snow! Dalia was beside herself.

But before that, she got to help Daddy clear out the garden beds. She shoveled and spread dirt for an hour. I was inside with Eloise and was sure that they'd left the yard for a walk or something because it was so quiet out there. I know Mark is happy to have a garden helper.
And finally, I'll say it out loud, Eloise sleeps! I'm getting 5-7 hour stretches of sleep these days, which I haven't had in over three years. Being well rested has helped me to feel like this Mom thing is pretty much the best job ever. I'm so overwhelmingly thankful we were brave enough to have a second child. She completes us all in such a wonderful way.

Dalia's girls

Dalia's got a pair of friends who live around the corner from us. These sisters have been our friends since Dalia was just a few weeks old. Emma is three months younger and Nora is about a year and a half older and this threesome has grown up together. Their mom, Nancy (who I really don't know how I would have lived through the last three years without) and I can hardly believe these girls are now running around for blocks and blocks together with their baby strollers and bikes, when they seemed just yesterday to be crawling around in circles in our tiny little houses, ramming into each other and falling down. Now they play imagination games like exploring and play downstairs without any supervision (how lucky!). Anyway, we were out on one of our walks the other day and Nancy captured this moment together. It's so fun to think of these girls being friends forever. Thanks to FB, I've got a couple of these BFF's in my life again. Oh, and by the way, Eloise was happily sleeping in a sling, such a pleasant soul.

smiles

Eloise is 10 weeks old. She weighs 10 pounds, 6 ounces as of last week, so pushing 11 pounds now. She sleeps well for a newborn, for this I am endlessly grateful. I honestly didn't believe that they really made babies that you could put down drowsy or swaddle or any of those things people recommend. Anyway, I'm still tired all the time, but it took 18 months for me to get sleep like I'm getting when Dalia was a baby. So, thank goodness for small miracles. And she is. Eloise is a dream. She's starting to smile now. It's such a window into her personality. So sweet. When she does wake in the middle of the night and is fussing around, when I turn on the little light we use to change her and she sees me, she stops fussing and gets the biggest smile. It melts my heart and continues to make it all worthwhile. She loves it when her sister sticks her big nose in her face (which is all the time!) and smiles so big at her antics and when she zurburts her tummy.

Speaking of Dalia - she is suddenly more grown up somehow. So helpful and kind, thoughtful and such a great companion for Mama. We are having a wonderful time just hanging around. We've been able to go outside more and next week she'll start a couple of classes at the community center. Gigi will help me by taking her and she will get to experience her little granddaughter do big things. What a treat and treasure to share this time with my Mom. On Super Bowl Sunday she was holding both girls and I couldn't resist going over and sitting on her lap, too.

Anyway, we're all looking forward to spring, but as we'd hoped, Eloise is our little bit of sunshine.

We've had a couple of wonderful days.

A day in the life

The days are all running together now. Everything is going well...mostly. Dalia is struggling from day to day, but Mom and Dad are making regular adjustments, including our expectations of her, and this seems to help. Due to a toddler-sized insistence to not take a nap, our evenings have gotten much shorter and a little crazier, and while Dalia is sleeping earlier in the evening, little Eloise likes to keep me up until about 10 and then, of course, a couple of times throughout the night, but thank goodness for television! Dalia's quiet time in front of the television is a much needed break for me, and most of the time Eloise sleeps or nurses.

We feel, even through the haze, so completely blessed for these beautiful girls and are learning everyday how to manage our own desires for a break from the chaos, knowing all of this will last for such a short time. I was thinking today about little Baby Dalia just learning to stand up. And now she's this beautiful, precocious and creative little girl. I was watching her play a song on her piano (which was followed by an interpretive dance), surrounded by her paintings (signed, of course) and am so excited about her creative spirit. She loves her sister, but is conflicted by how much her Mommy needs to hold her and take care of her. Thankfully, she has such a loving and compassionate Daddy to fill in many of the new gaps. Not to mention her incredible Gigi. And all our friends, even though currently they are all sick.

Here are some randoms from the past couple of weeks.

Eloise still sleeps so much


reading with Pops

One of Eloise's favorite pillows: Gigi!


First glimpse of smiles - she seems so big compared to just a few weeks ago


Dalia literally slumped over on the couch one late afternoon after refusing (as usual) a nap
Dalia swaddled


Little Eloise roots for num nums on Mommy's nose

my girls and their dad

love. chaos. exhaustion.