I didn’t miss Little Evan’s monthday on Saturday, I was just too busy enjoying spending time with him this weekend to bother to sit down and write an update. He’s turning into a little person more and more every single day and it’s an amazing transition to watch. Just this week he found two of my vintage doll house people – the father and the little boy – and he’s been carrying them around making up pretend stories and adventures. They rode on cars and rode on the dog and sat in chairs and ate stuff and talked to each other. I named the father Joe and after Joe told Little Evan to be nice to his mommy Little Evan gave me a kiss. I think maybe next time Joe is going to tell him to pick up his toys, eat his vegetables, and take more naps.

Although really, naps aren’t our problem. Anytime between 11:30 am and 1:30 pm that he starts looking tired he’s more than happy to head upstairs for some shut-eye. A sippy cup of milk and a blankie are his only requests, although if I let him take a book to bed he’ll “read” it before he zonks out. Bedtimes are almost the same, but Daddy does bath and pj’s first. It’s nice to have at least one consistently easy toddler thing – and for it to be such a BIG thing – especially on days when everything else feels like a battle.

Speaking of battles, we’re currently in the middle of one involving food and how it is prepared/served. It all changes daily, which is beyond frustrating. The whole apple he loved yesterday gets thrown across the room today or the yogurt he was eating from the container 30 seconds ago is suddenly not good enough unless it’s in a BOWL. I have to let him choose his own utensils or nothing gets eaten at all. If I put the plate on the desk and he wanted to eat at the counter the meal is ruined. I try to be accommodating because I know he’s just trying to control one of the few things he can in his great big world but food isn’t optional. He HAS to eat. The worst part is I doubt “picky eating” is a phase that ends anytime soon.

Little Evan’s favorite things this month include the dog, the cats, his vintage wooden desk, his alphabet flashcards, sitting on the couch with mama or daddy, coloring with chalk, reaching things he’s not supposed to touch, and getting anyone who comes into the house to pick him up. His least favorite things include leaving anywhere he’s having fun, being told “no”, and sitting in the shopping cart. All those least favorites makes taking him on errands all sorts of challenging, so my evenings and weekends are now busy with those sorts of things.

I’m excited about Little Evan’s upcoming birthday but of course sad that his days of being 1 are numbered. 2 is going to be a whole new adventure!!

23 Month Milestones (from BabyCenter as usual)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
• Names simple picture in a book – Yes! He’s very good at this now, especially the books with animals. Maybe exclusively books with animals. I’m not actually sure we own any books that don’t contain animals.
• Uses 50 to 70 words – I never did get around to making a list of words but I would say we’re up to about 60 or 70 on a regular basis. Plus he’ll repeat almost anything and picks up new words on a daily basis.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
• Opens doors – Yes, including our back door which is going to be a problem.
• Sings simple tunes – If by “simple tunes” you mean “the theme song to How I Met Your Mother or Battlestar Galactica”, then yes. In case you think I’m a horrible mother, he can also sing “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”. And several Ke$ha songs. Maybe I am a horrible mother.
• Takes more of an interest in playing with other kids – He has ALWAYS liked playing with other kids. He’s very good at sharing too, which always makes me a proud mama.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
• Talks about self (likes, dislikes) – No. I’m not sure he even knows what he likes or dislikes. It changes on a minute by minute basis.
• Asks “why?” – Not yet. Can I add “thank god”?

We (and every other family with a toddler) have had these Target boots for ages but because Little Evan has such tiny little feet (he’s wearing a size 5 or 6 shoe at almost 23 months) he never wears them. They’ve just lead to a lot of falling down and frustration.

Little Evan recently found them in his closet – I think I pulled them out of storage when I was struggling to find snow boots, thinking at least they were waterproof and would be better than nothing – and he started carrying them around saying “BOOT! BOOT! BOOT!”

A couple days ago he got bored with just holding them and wanted to wear them. He’s definitely gotten the hang of walking in them but because they’re kind of big they fall off a lot. It was a constant battle of on-off-on-off-on and eventually I told him I was done playing Prince Charming to his Cinderella with lost boots.

So when I saw him sitting here with the dog, wearing his boots again I was a little surprised.  Did he…put them on himself? How awesome is that?! And how terrifying – he cannot possibly be old enough to put his own boots on. That seems like such an advanced skill, such a grown up ability, so much more of a KID thing than a TODDLER thing. It made me a little teary-eyed. If he doesn’t even need me to help him with his boots, how much longer before he hardly needs me at all?

Of course, he hardly ever gets them on the right feet. So maybe he still needs me for a little longer.

We are still in the sleepy infant stage of Caroline’s babyhood and I have to say it’s such a nice, peaceful time. She likes to sleep, will sleep anywhere, sleeps through noise, sleeps in your lap, sleep sleep sleep. Every once in a while she has an ESPECIALLY sleepy day and I sort of…forget I have a baby. I’m secretly scared I will actually forget her one of these days and drag a the screaming toddler, giant diaper bag, four hundred bright plastic musical toys and enough snacks for a pack of rabid wolves off to Stroller Strides…only to realize Caroline is still at home strapped in her car seat sleeping soundly. The chances of this happening are greatly reduced by my slightly obsessive worry that it could happen – it’s hard to forget a baby when you check to make sure you didn’t 40 times for a 10 minute car ride.

When she’s not sleeping like an angel, Caroline is happy to just look at people. Smiling is her favorite. Even when she’s upset if you just smile at her face enough she’ll mirror it back. I don’t remember Little Evan ever caring this much about my attention – maybe it’s a second child thing – but it makes me want to spend hours and hours just staring at her and smiling. It also makes the daily 5 am feeding a lot less sucky.

For a 2 month old, she’s put herself on a pretty strict schedule. I swear I am an on-demand type of parent (mostly because I am too lazy to enforce anything else) but she is a baby of habit. She’s awake for an hour or so in the morning, sleeps through Stroller Strides, wakes up around 11:00 for a snack and some smiling, goes back to sleep around 12:00 (just in time for Little Evan to take his nap – HORRAY FOR DUAL NAPPING) wakes up a few times in the afternoon for eating and pooping and then spends the evening throwing a baby party. Sometimes it’s a loud party, but even at her worst she’s no where NEAR colic/reflux/omg whyyyyyyyyyy levels of screaming. She’s down for the night around 11 and usually sleeps SIX FULL HOURS until that 5 am feeding/diaper change. It’s so…predictable. I like it.

Stats from last week’s appointment:

Height: 22 inches (50th percentile)
Weight: 11 pounds 15 oz (75th percentile)
Head circumference: 40.3 cm

So that’s what Caroline is up to at 2 months old – Sleeping, smiling, pooping, sleeping. And get ready for a zillion pictures (scroll down for milestones if for some reason you hate adorableness):

Thigh rolls! Finally!

Jeez Mom, enough already!!

2 Month Milestones (from BabyCenter, as usually)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Vocalizes: gurgles and coos – I swear she says “goo goo gaga” just like a freakin’ cartoon baby.
Follows objects across field of vision – Yes, with BIG GIANT EYES.
Notices her hands – She’s always been amazed at her hands but she’s still not doing anything with them.
Holds head up for short periods – Up from what? My shoulder? This permanent bruise on my cheek where she keeps whacking me while trying to look around says yes.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Smiles, laughs – Smiling’s her favorite! No laughs yet but we’re close.
Holds head at 45-degree angle – Maybe they mean from the ground? Then no, I don’t think so.
Makes smoother movements – Ehhhhh, she’s still got a lot of that OMG WHUT? jerkiness to her flailing.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Holds head steady – STOP ASKING ABOUT HER HEAD. I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN.
Can bear weight on legs – Sometimes. I’d actually forgotten babies didn’t always do this.
Lifts head and shoulders when lying on tummy (mini-pushup) – Uh, I dunno? I guess we need to do some tummy time. Evan HATED it so much we almost never even tried but maybe Caroline will tolerate it better. Yes! I put her on her belly. She does better push-ups than I do!

Hello, I like to speak to whoever is in charge of turning my little baby boy into this GIANT PERSON. I am dissatisfied with the speed at which it is happening and would like it to slow down immediately. Thank you.

There’s nothing like bringing home a new baby to make your old baby seem, well, old. Although some of it isn’t just in my head – I ask Little Evan to help out a lot more than I used to and so he’s learning responsibility pretty fast. I know “go throw this diaper away” or “bring mommy her iPhone” isn’t rocket science but it’s still cool to see him understand and follow through. Most of the time. Sometimes he gets weirdly possessive of the dirty diapers and cries when we throw them away. And sometimes he throws them at my face. Oh, toddlers.

In “things I really dislike” news, we’ve officially reached a point where I can’t help comparing my kid to other kids and worry about his development. Why doesn’t he talk more? Should he be saying more words? Why doesn’t he know his letters or numbers? Which of course leads to mountains of Mommy Guilt – although some of it might be just a little bit deserved. If I haven’t really been teaching him letters and numbers how is he supposed to learn them? I’ve been so focused on words (and words that actually SOUND like the words they’re meant to be) I totally skipped the alphabet. I guess I thought we had some time before I needed to start on that sort of learning, but based on my Twitter/internet friends we’re now way behind. And although I love his babbling gibberish I’m starting to feel like people are judging me in public because he doesn’t speak more clearly or say more words. One of my goals this month is to write down a list of all the words he DOES say so at his 24 month check-up I can ask the doctor if he thinks we should look into speech therapy.

Luckily the BabyCenter milestones for this month don’t include language skills so I can try to stop worrying for a little while longer. Oh! Although I have news on the block-stacking front! The other day I caught him making HUGE towers of blocks upstairs in the playroom, so I guess I no longer have to be bitter that he missed all those previous block-stacking milestones. TAKE THAT BABYCENTER.

22 Month Milestones (from BabyCenter as usual)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
• Kicks ball forward – He’s a soccer player in the making.
• Follows two-step requests (e.g., “Get your doll and bring it here”) – Yes! He could probably follow a three or four step request. Understanding language is not our problem.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
• Does simple puzzles – Does this mean the wood cut-out ones? Because we’re working on those and he’s getting there but he loses interest pretty fast.
• Draws a straight line – Maybe accidentally. He likes coloring in theory a lot more than coloring in practice.
• Names several body parts – Yes. Especially my boobs.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
• Puts on loose-fitting clothes – Sometimes, although he has a problem understanding pants and shirts are not the same. Also that pants are not hats.
• Might be ready for a big bed – I’m planning to make the switch for his 2nd birthday. The problem is it involves a lot more than just switching the crib for a bed because the room isn’t very childproof and if he got up to play he could ruin a LOT of stuff before I noticed. But I’m hopeful that the actual transition to the bed will go well.
• Understands opposites (e.g., tall vs. short) – I don’t know? He understand enough differences that I can ask him to bring me one of two similar things and he gets the right one but I’m not sure we encounter a lot of opposites.

This morning in a desperate attempt to calm a temper tantrum I let him try out the piano for the first time and he loved it. He clearly heard the differences in the notes and loved sliding down to press the lowest ones and then reaching up to the highest ones. He also taught himself that pressing one key at a time made a different noise than smashing down a whole bunch. I’m not saying he’s an OMG MUSICAL GENIUS or anything, but it’s nice that he enjoys it.

Hmmm...time to write my materpiece!

Definitely need some of these notes up here

Brilliance has struck!

Stop bothering me while I'm composing!!

Now for the BIG FINISH

That's it! I shall touch it no more. My work is perfect.

Happy very first monthday baby girl! You can expect an update like this every 19th, as long as you and your brother behave long enough for me to write them. For example, today is actually the 20th so it appears I am late with your very first monthday, although it is not my fault because I wanted to include your height and weight stats and your doctor’s appointment was rescheduled because of the bad weather.

And by “rescheduled” I mean “confirmed by the office on Monday so I dragged my tiny baby out into the sleet on Tuesday only to find the building locked and no one there and then I had to call and ask when exactly I COULD bring you in for your appointment because no one from the office there bothered to call and apologize or set up a new appointment but no, I’m not bitter about that at allllll.” But that’s a lot for you to understand right now, so I let’s just call it “rescheduled”.

The first two weeks of your life you didn’t seem very interested in me. Or anything really. You didn’t even like eating that much, which my boobs found very insulting. Luckily you now love to nurse and are still super good at it – even if you keep trying to gnaw off my left nipple. But it’s ok, because Daddy gave you a bottle of pumped milk the other night and you drank the WHOLE THING. Amazing! You’ve started making eye contact a lot more and staring right into your face helps you calm down sometimes. You decided being held is much better than sleeping in your seat or the swing so sometimes I have to let you lie on me for a long time before you’ll fall asleep. When that happens I just remember you’re only going to be a teeny tiny baby for a little while and I should enjoy the cuddles while you still want to give them. You’re a bit of a night owl, preferring to go to bed around midnight, but once you’re down you’re letting me get 4 or 5 hours of sleep in a row before another feeding. I don’t know how I would be functioning at all right now without that sleep so I really appreciate it. Thank you so much for being a sweet, easy-going baby (most of the time). We love you!

1 Month Stats:
Height: 21 inches (50th percentile)
Weight: 10 lbs 3 oz (75th percentile)
Head Circumference: 39.1 cm (75th percentile)

Party baby WHAAAAAAAAT??!?!

Showing off her guns

I am suspicious of you and that black thing you always have attached to your face

Oh great, this thing again

Baby head!

Baby feet! (Totally better than baby head amirite?)

I know the tutu is sort of ridiculous now, but when she's 8 months old it's going to make for ADORABLE pictures.

Monthday onesie stickers by PurplePossom on Etsy. I’m not doing as well with the weekly pictures as I did with Little Evan so I’m dedicated myself to special monthly ones. Next month I’ll try to take them BEFORE it gets dark out so they don’t have the weird indoor lighting shadows.

1 Month Milestones (from BabyCenter, as usually)

(How weird is it that there are levels of milestones for ONE MONTH OLD BABIES???)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Lifts head when lying on tummy – Yes, she’s always had a really strong neck. The better to smash you in the face with when you try to hold her on your shoulder.
Responds to sound – Well, she no longer sleeps soundly through the toddler SCREAMING IN HER FACE.
Stares at faces – Loves faces!

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Follows objects briefly with eyes – Maybe? It’s hard to tell.
Vocalizes: oohs and aahs – Eh, still mostly just baby sounds. She’s got the eh-eh-eh-eh-eh while she’s hunting for a nipple down pat though.
Can see black-and-white patterns – Oh sure, she told me she likes the squares but the star shaped ones are a little too busy for her tastes. WTF BabyCenter?! How am I supposed to know what the baby can see??

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Smiles, laughs – Still just gas smiles but they’re still cute!
Holds head at 45-degree angle – Angle from what? When you prop her up she can hold her head straight for a good period of time but I don’t think she could hold it up from lying flat.