End of an era.

This evening for bed, we put Lilah in Gabbies old doctor onesie.  When Lilah was a newborn, we got them matching onesies to wear, and now she's getting too big for the biggest size.  I generally don't yearn much for "yesterday", but the end of the onesie era makes me a little sad, I have to say.  

She turned 2 last week - we had a Bubble Guppies party with lots of playing in the water.  She has this crazy independent streak, needs to "do it self", and has to do everything that her big sister does.  She is so much sassier than Gabbie was at this age, and she knows it.  

So, here's to the end of this era.  Our spirited, sassy, too-smart baby is passing another milestone.  Sure, it's a very small, odd milestone, but sometimes those ones mean more than the ones that are represented in a baby book.  

Bedtime.

Bedtime is a long, drawn out battle these days. Because the girls both sleep in the same room, getting them to bed, to sleep at the same time takes a lot of effort and patience.  We start the process of getting ready for bed and hour before we actually go upstairs. We change into our pajamas, watch a show, have a little bit of milk, and wind down for the night.  Then we go upstairs and read a book for a while as we're getting settled in.  Once the book is finished, we find all of the necessary blankets, pillows and stuffed animals - and it's lights out and into bed they go.  

This is when the fun begins. The girls talk back-and-forth to each other and to whichever parent is on duty that night.  They kick off blankets, ask to be let out of bed, demand more hugs or kisses, more to drink, or "need" to go to the bathroom.  After about 40 minutes of that they really start to settle in. Gabrielle such a cuddle bug that she insists holding hands with the parent who is up there with them until after she falls asleep.

This whole process takes roughly an hour every single night.  In the interest of sanity, we take turns alternating every other night.

Bedtime tonight was particularly challenging, seeing as how Gabrielle alternately insisted on holding my hand, and crying when I held my hand out to her.  

As I was getting ready to sneak out of the room after they both fell asleep, I stopped to take a look at them in their respective beds. I am always so surprised at how beautiful children are when they sleep.  :)

Sweet dreams, my little babies.

Now it's Delilah's turn.

In the interest of fairness, now it's Delilah's turn for her list of 5 things.  

1) Fearlessness.  This little baby of mine is not afraid of anything. She will go down the slide face first, she will run right into the pool to the point where she can't see her toes anymore, and she will do daredevil stair jumps now that her sister never dreamed of doing at not-quite 2 years old.  

2) Food.  Most mornings when we go into her room to take her out of her crib, the first thing she does is ask for food or drink. Sandwich? Bagel? Milk?  If she's upset about something, she's usually easily calmed down with the promise of a cracker.  (A foodie, and a carb junkie, at that!)

3) Smile!  When I take pictures of her she almost never smiles at the camera, no matter how much I asked her to. However, if I ask her to show me her teeth, that's when I usually get the best smiles.

4) Processes.  She's very procedurally-focused. When we go into the bathroom to get ready for the day, she starts to recite to me the things she needs to do and the steps she needs to do to complete them.  

5) Hair.  She has just about the most peculiar hair I've ever seen in a child. In the winter it's much darker, and in the summer it lightens up to almost auburn. It's ringlet curls in some places and stick-straight in others.  People ask me all the time how I think it's going to turn out when she gets older, and I really don't know - it seems to be different almost every day.

Here she is, doing one of her favorite activities. 

5 things about Gabs

Sometimes I feel like in the daily hustle and bustle of life, little things are passing us by.  Today I'm going to document a few things that I love/I would like to remember about our eldest born, Gabrielle.

1) This kid runs on cuddles. I've never seen a kid that loves to snuggle and cuddle as much as she does.  If she's happy: snuggles. If she's sad: snuggles. If she's tired: snuggles.  It's amazing and I love it so much.

2) Kindness and leadership.  She is so kind to others and such a leader with her little sister.  She's always trying to show Delilah how to so something, or trying to help out.  She got to help her daddy with a project today, and she was beaming when she was done.  Can you guess how she celebrated her job well done?  (See above)

3) Curiosity.  She is still incredibly curious about everything. What is this? Where did this come from? Who got me this? What are we doing today? What's the weather like today?  

4) Celebration and enthusiasm.  Everything is cause for celebration. I finished this puzzle! We are going to church today!  We're eating dinner outside today!  I went poop on the potty!  

5) Outdoor play.  She absolutely loves to be outside. If she could wake up, have breakfast, and go outside, only coming in to eat or watch a show, she would do that.  

She's hilarious, sweet, considerate, and getting way too tall for her age.  We are really blessed.