Since the kids, I feel like summer is the ultimate measure of time. Maybe because it's where the bulk of our real living occurs. Next summer I will have a three year old, and by the end of it, a 5 year old. How can it be? How can it be?
Along with summer, I feel like time it's self has started to slip. There are days that seem to last forever, (like while dieting, or when the kids are sick or crabby or refuse to go to bed.) and then I turn around, and the summer is gone. The kid that was running like a toddler a few months ago (picture E.T. here, hands up to sides, shuffling back and forth cautiously) is now running full steam with total confidence. The little boy that was afraid of the jungle jim is now jumping down from the top of it without thinking twice!
What happened to my babies? We are FRESH OUT of babies.
Now I know full well how to fix the issue- and oddly enough I get pressure not only from my husband, but my friends and co-workers alike. (Yes, co-workers.) It is a strange thing, to feel like you need another baby, and at the same time not want one. I can't image myself out shopping with a 5 year old, a 3 year old, and a newborn. It sound like absolute insanity. But then there is this issue of the baby shortage...
The actual reason for today's post, is not to quip about my ticking clock, it is for my not so tiny Riley bug. I feel terrible that the "She Said" portion of this blog has been totally neglected. When I began- (what 7 months ago?) she wasn't really speaking volumes. Then I got caught up in all the drama, and well, I haven't posted anything that she said. And she says A LOT.
I will give you my absolute favorite right now. Riley is a little girl- and I can tell you there is a HUGE difference in the boys and the girls- Recently we went for a walk. On the walk we passed a man (about a block from the house). Riley says "What that man doing?"
I reply "I don't know."
She says to the man "What you doing, neighbor?" then she looks at me and says "Oh, dat neighbor, I lobb him!"
She "lobbs" everything, and everyone. It is the single sweetest thing in the world. She loves me, she loves the neighbors (and it seems that EVERYONE is a neighbor over here.) All dogs, puppies and stuffed animals- pretty much anything with eyes and a heartbeat. And all food.
Now that we've covered the sweetest part about the baby girl, let me just add that she entered age two with a fierce and fiery independence. I have heard enough "ME DO IT's" to last me a life time. Me do it is just great, except when it's cleaning up after a trip to the potty and includes the good old number two.This one is even better when Sean is in the shower, and doesn't know that this has occurred!) Me do it is just fine when it's not coloring off the paper on to the walls in my office at work.
And this girl has a look, that I have personally witnessed her practicing- brows furrowed, lips out- full on scowl. She has mastered it. I have yet to capture it on film, but I will! This look is often accompanied by her most frequent saying, which is "HECK NO!" (I guess a simple "No", just will
not suffice.)
She also really would prefer not to get dressed in the morning. Ever. She likes to yell No pants! And you no do it, eider!" For a few weeks EVERY sentence ended in "Eider". Like "hey mom (yeah- MOM) We go to the park? And NO ETAN CAN GO EIDER!" or "I watch Elmo on hiPad? AND NO ETAN CAN SEE EIDER!"
And so begins the saga of sibling rivalry at our house. I will be amazed if, at any point in their lives they like each other (or even pretend to.) It is no-holds barred over here! I have witnessed these children do things to one another that are border line unspeakable! (Which is why I will tell you all about them in due time!) I really should check our co-pay for ER visits...
So on we head toward fall- Toward pumpkins, and Pirate Parties, scarecrows and Halloween. Another set of Holidays that while exciting and fun, will, when it's over- leave us freezing in January with not much more a bunch of pictures and another fallen year.
My job now, is to try to slow it down when it isn't slowed down for me. To try to hold on to every moment that makes me laugh or smile or cry. To try to forget that I'm losing my babies, and remember that I'm gaining happy, incredibly bright, independent children (that sometimes use foul language in public and lay down in the middle of the sidewalk because they want to be carried constantly).
Well, it looks good on paper (screen) but maybe what Riley really needs is another baby to play with. After all, she really "lobbs" them!
