Violet's Milestones

Today, my little Violet pulled herself up for the very first time! I was beginning to think that I would never see this day. We were all here to witness the momentous event! As soon as she did it, the four of us burst into applause and very boisterous cheers which totally freaked her out. She immediately fell to the ground and started wailing. She did it 2 more times over the course of the day so it definitely was not an accident.

Oh..and she got another tooth today too. She's also been trying to talk. I think she may be saying actual words. She is definitely saying Jonah (Do-duh) and screams his "name" whenever he leaves the room. Today she also said what sounded to be "no" on more than one occasion.

With all these developmental things going on, at least now I know why she's been sleeping so much.

Two Nights in a Row

It happened again! Violet slept all night!!! This time I didn't wake up and have to go check on her. I actually slept too. I'm still not holding my breath that this is going to continue. My other two didn't sleep through the night until they were 3 (that's years, not months)! A mother can hope.

Free to a Good Home

Some days, when my kids are misbehaving, (to use the words of my best friend Angela) they are "free to a good home." So far, I have not been able to find any takers.

Last week, something wonderful happened. Every morning before Violet and I got out of bed, Jonah and Sadie, being the early-risers that they are, cleaned the entire house to surprise me! I'm not kidding.

They loaded and unloaded the dishwasher, cleaned up all of Violet's toys, made their beds and one day Jonah even vacuumed! He took the laundry downstairs to the laundry room too. He told me that he was going to try to wash it but didn't know how. How sweet is that?

At first, I must admit, I was a little suspicious. I thought why are they doing this? What is it that they are trying to get out of me? But they genuinely did it because they wanted to surprise me and they thought it would make me happy. They were right!

They are such good kids when they are not trying to kill each other. Most of the time they are really so sweet and thoughtful. I am such a lucky mom. At least for today I am going to keep them – so if you're thinking you might like to take them off my hands, they are NOT free to a good home. Check back tomorrow. ;-)

Here's a little diddy I wrote the other day...

“Do it with a Doula”

Doulas do it standing, squatting, on the floor,
In the bed – it’s never a chore.

On their knees and over the phone,
They aim to please, they even moan!

In the car and during the day,
On the toilet – any which way.

In the bed and in the shower.
They never charge by the hour.

Sitting, crawling, even walking,
Dancing, rocking, silent and talking.

They use their hands and have big balls,
They don’t even mind the midnight calls.

24/7 and all night long,
Do it with a Doula, you can’t go wrong!

Halleluia!

Violet slept through the night for the first time in her life! She is 14 1/2 months old, in case you were wondering. She slept from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.!!! I can't believe it. I'm sure it was a fluke but I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that it wasn't. For the record, the longest stretch she had ever slept before was 6.5 hours.

I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and panicked because she hadn't woken up yet. Of course I had to immediately go and check to see that she was breathing. She was. I went back to bed and couldn't fall back to sleep. It figures. I finally started to drift off right about the time she woke up at 6 a.m.

Oh I so hope this is the beginning of a new trend! I haven't slept properly in 9 years. I'm exhausted.

We Really Need to Get Out More!

This is turning into "The Sadie Blog" but I can't help it, she gives me the most material!

The other night we all went for a bike ride around the neighborhood. It literally was a 15 minute bike ride. When we got home, Sadie came up the stairs and said to me, "That was the BEST vacation EVER! Can we do that again next year?" And she was totally serious!

I felt so sorry for her. Poor child has never been on vacation. It takes so little to please her. We really have to get that kid to a beach this summer! Although, I must admit that I am a little hesitant to take her on a real vacation. Right now she is such an easy kid to please. Her expectations are low. If she finds out what a real vacation is like, we might be in real trouble.