Happy Birthday Zoe!

So, in honor of her birthday, we took Miss Zoe's to get her picture taken. And, keeping with tradition (is it a tradition if you've only ever done it once?) we got a cheap Kroger birthday cake for her to smear all over herself for the pictures. Or, rather, not. We set her down in front of the cake with only her little pink diaper on. She leans forward. Interested. Interested. Very interested. She puts one chubby little hand in the cake, pulls back, looks at the icing covering her fingers in horror and immediately starts trying to wipe it off, crying her eyes out.

So - pristine photos.

That night, we had a few friends over for birthday dinner and a red velvet bakery cake from The Velvet Bake Shop (located in Plano, totally totally awesome!). I'm thinking "OK, well, we'll take a quick shot of her with her slice of cake, then I'll eat it since she doesn't like cake." I get the shot, leave the room to put down the camera, come back and she is totally going to town on the cake! Loved it and ate every last crumb. Well, every last crumb that wasn't adorning some part of her body anyway. It was a very red-velvety bath that night.

So - I am left to conclude that Zoe just doesn't like cheap cake. That's my foodie girl :)

End of swim lessons - how'd we do?

Well, last night was our last swim lesson. JJ went from refusing to put his face in the water and clinging to whatever adult was available to blowing bubbles, kicking his feet, and jumping in (with getting his face wet) as long as there was someone to make sure he popped back up again. YEAH! Zoe can now almost climb out of the pool on her own (her chubby little legs are still too short - but that doesn't stop her from trying) and clearly LOVES the water. And mom and dad are now practiced at using the family changing rooms to get two wiggly wet children changed into their PJs and out the door with a minimum of fuss. Overall - very successful!

JJ asks a girl for a date

*sniff* My little boy is getting all grown up. At the end of his swim lesson, he approached his swim teacher (cute girl, Taylor, about 17 yrs old) and said "We have pizza and games at my house. Do you want to come over and have pizza and games with me?" She told him "Sure!" and then she and I started talking about how we were going to engage her for baby sitting in Dec. We head home and when we get there, I start unbuckling him from the car seat and he says "Where Taylor?" I explained that she went home to her house because it was a "school night" and she would come over another night to visit. He got this stricken look on his face and said "But, I told her!" We nearly had a meltdown, before I could comfort him that Taylor had not stood him up but would be over another day.

My little Casanova - what a cutie!

On the road with the Zoers

Girl's Road Trip!

The annual girl's road trip took us to Galveston with Auntie Angela and Auntie Joy (with a special guest appearance by Aunt Sharon). Zoe thoroughly enjoyed her first girl's road trip, and was a VERY good travel companion. She sampled the local cuisine (or at least as much of it as mommy would allow), made everyone adore her (I thought I might have to get physical to remove her from the Houston Museum of Natural Science she had so many adoring fans), and all in all had a great time. Auntie Joy was especially in favor because of her Sally's Spa iPhone App, which Zoe adored. And then there was the amazingly gorgeous fake fur white tiger coat from Aunt Sharon - pictures to follow very soon (she looks FABULOUS in it!)

Thanks to all the girl's that made the trip so fun :)

Swimming Lessons!

Waterbabies and Watertots - here we come!

Swimming lessons for both kids started today. They both LOVED it. JJ is cautiously enthusiastic (he's fine as long as someone is holding him) and Zoe is just enthusiastic. She's ready to go solo already. Child is going to give me a heart attack.

I'm not lion

JJ picked out his and Zoe's outfits this year. I gotta say - the kid has good taste :)

Dead T-Rex

JJ has a small plastic T-Rex dinosaur. Last night he runs up to John with this exchange:

"Oh no! Daddy. The T-Rex dead."

"Where JJ?"

"Over der, on de floah. Yoo needta kween him UP!"

"OK"

"What shold we do with him, JJ?"

"Lay him DOWN. Over heah, onna couch. No not like dat! Onna piwwow."

"How did the Trex die, JJ"

"He jus' dead. Iss veree sadt."

"But what happened to him?"

"I not know. Oh no. Trex deadt."

"Will he be better tomorrow?

"Yeah... HEY! Lookat dis, Daddy!"

And indeed, the T-Rex was up and around and attempting to bite Zoe's head this morning. Apparently he's familiar with Monty Python's Holy Grail (I think I'll go for a walk...) ;)

Save the date

Just got the Save the Date for Uncle Charles and Auntie Allison's wedding - Zoe is stoked!

Houston, we have teeth

Two, to be precise. Miss Zoe is now the proud owner of 2 teeth (on the bottom). And Uncle Charles and Pappy were here to see them too! Well done Zoe!

House of snot

Good morning! Welcome to the house of snot.

Apparently, the weather has cause some allergen to bloom with a vengeance.

John's nose is stuffy.

JJ's nose is stuffy.

Zoe's nose is stuffy.

I can breathe with no problems, but I'm grumpy because I've gotten like 2 hours of sleep in the last couple of days because the rest of the household is up all night with stuffed noses and when they're not up, they're snoring so loud I don't know why the neighbors haven't called to ask why we're running a buzz saw in the middle of the night. I'm waiting for the USGS to contact me with a concerns over local seismic activity.

I hope everyone dries up before I have a psychotic break. I'm not exactly sure what a psychotic break involves, but I'm given to understand it happens when you don't get enough sleep over a prolonged time period and it sounds unpleasant.

Say hello to my leetle friend

John and I love to quote movies and sometimes the results with a literal minded toddler are a bit unexpected.

John made some little pancakes for JJ. He brought them over to him saying "Say hello to my leetle pancakes!" ala Scarface.

JJ, without missing a beat, says in a high falsetto voice "Hello little pancakes!"

And she's off!

Zoe is officially crawling. Friday she started doing the army-man crawl. I figured it would be a while before we saw an actual up on the knees crawl - WRONG! Sunday night she popped up on her knees and got moving. No rocking back and forth. No hesitation. Just not moving one minute and halfway across the floor the next.

This kid is amazing.

I've never seen a baby deliberately practice how to do things. It's like she has an instinctive understanding on how to refine physical skills. She will pull herself up to standing, lower herself back down then pull back up just to refine her standing skill. She's cruising easily now. I'm kind of surprised she bothered with crawling - I'm sure she's going to start walking soon. What an incredible kid!

There's a fire drill in my head

On arriving at work this morning, JJ announced "There's a fire drill in my head."

Me "What?"

JJ "A fire drill. Inside my head."

Me "uh...do you mean you hear a ringing like the fire drill?"
JJ "Yeah, inside my head. "

Poor kid - sinus headaches suck! But I got to hand it to him - only JJ would think to describe it as a fire drill inside his head! :)

Pulling up

She did it - last night she pulled herself up to standing on my arm. I was reaching for something and she just latched on and the next thing I knew she was standing. WOW. Cruising won't be far behind! Go Zozo!

No, mommy, don't get up!

Sometimes I wish I didn't have to go to work. Last night was a rough one, with Zoe up and down due to some nasty congestion (allergies) all night (I hate having to vacuum her nose with the nasal aspirator, but it seems to help - screaming and all). So when I had to get up for an early meeting this morning, I was already pretty tired and wishing I could stay in bed for 5 more minutes. Or hours. JJ was snuggling me when I started getting up and he threw himself across me trying to pin me to the bed saying "Mommy! Don't get up! Stay and snuggle me!"

Sigh. Some days....

Cashmere and Water Babies

This weekend we got a chance to visit our good friends, Joanie and Mark (well, Mark had to work, so we got to visit Joanie), who have both a salt water pool and a horse - aka, toddler and baby heaven. JJ was completely entranced by Cashmere, their beautiful mare, who permitted JJ to pet her nose and give her carrots. He has now renamed his toy horse from Coco to Cashmere and spent the next day feeding carrots to it. He also insisted on taking it to bed (a high honor, previously only afforded to his beanie baby alligator and Siamese cat).

Zoe on the other hand was all about the pool. When JJ was her age (7 months) we took him to visit Joanie and Mark and took him out in the pool and he FREAKED. Zoe however was apparently born to water. She thought it was the BEST thing ever, laughing and cooing and generally living it up. JJ refused to get in the pool proper, opting to dabble about in the spa. I think we need to get some swimming lessons for these two, pronto - for Zoe because she will love love love it and for JJ to help him get over his fear.

The adults got to enjoy good conversation, hanging out in the pool and yummy food. All in all a wonderful weekend :)

Can't Live Without It: Trixie Tracker

Product: Trixie Tracker (http://www.trixietracker.com/)

What is it: A website service that lets you record data about your child and detect patterns in that data over time. For example, you can record sleep times and use it to see patterns in sleep (so you know the best time to put them down for a nap, try to schedule a hair appt, etc.)

The creator, Ben MacNeill, uses the phrase "Data Driven Parenting" to describe the use of Trixie Tracker. It describes our exact approach to child rearing - that is, observe the child, look for patterns in behavior, then use that information to minimize conflict and maximize enjoyment for everyone (parents included). This program has really given me peace of mind: from knowing when the optimal time to put my daughter down for a nap is to being able to detect an ear infection before it even shows up (because we had a big nursing spike).

Cost: $8/month, $14.95/3 months, $24.95/6months

Why I Can't Live Without It: When you are sleep deprived and can't even remember if *you* had a shower this morning, let alone when you last changed a diaper, this tool is a lifesaver. And when you start tearing your hair out because you swear that the child is napping less and less, this tool can tell you whether that's true or just low blood sugar talking. And when the dr. asks you "so, how long is the baby sleeping/nursing? and how many diapers does the baby go through every day?" you can smugly tell them the answer (with graphs if you like!).

Zummer Klaus

Last year we held our first Christmas in July which was a BIG hit, so we decided to make it a family tradition and do it again this year. Since we're still feeling our way through what this holiday should be like, we made a few additions this year:

• We decided that the message for the kids would be that we wanted to remember that God gives us gifts every day not just once a year at Christmas, so this was a holiday to help us remember and be thankful for those gifts.
• We decided that Santa Claus has a summer counter part - Zummer Klaus - and that he brings 1 present for the Summer Christmas.
• We decided that Zummer Klaus put presents by your shoes, instead of a stocking.

I told JJ about Zummer Klaus then told him "but I don't know what he looks like or how he gets around. Do you know?" He said he did! So, here's the specs on Zummer Klaus according to JJ:

• Size: Large. Specifically tall and fat.
• Hair: Orange. And all over his body. (very hairy)
• Eyes: Purple
• Mode of dress: Flip flops and red shorts. Nothing else.
• Mode of transportation: A magic airplane
• How he gets into your house: Through the bathtub faucet.
• Where does he live: In a swimming pool

I never would've known that Zummer Klaus was a large hairy carrot top dressed in red shorts and flip flops lazing around the pool, with the ability to travel through water pipes. Good thing JJ was in the know - we put out shoes out by the bath tub and wouldn't you know it? He found them just fine (and without tracking water all over the house) ;)

Up on her knees - uh oh!

So, as solids have been progressing, I knew that it wouldn't be long before we started seeing signs of Zoe wanting to crawl. She's all over the rolling thing - she can get just about anywhere she wants to get rolling. In fact, we've entered the WWF-stage of diaper changes (you'd think doing a take down and pin on a 6.5 month old would be fairly easy - guess I need to start hitting the gym!)

But today she actually got up on her knees for a minute. Oh dear....crawling won't be far behind.

Empathy for toes

JJ is an exceptionally bright child, but he is also very empathic. I've been told that he will often offer comfort to crying children in his classroom, and I've observed how concerned he gets when his sister cries or when John or I hurt ourselves (stump our toes, etc.) always wanting to "kiss it!" He's pretty convinced that any amount of physical pain can be overcome with a carefully applied kiss - and in extreme cases, a band aid.

However, his little thoughtfulnesses continue to warm me. Yesterday I was doing some stretching before bed and explaining to him what I was doing (If I move like this, I can feel it here). I was doing the classic reach-forward-grab-your-toes hamstring stretch, minus the actual ability to grab my toes because my hamstrings are REALLY tight. I told him "And now I'm going to try to grab my toes. I can't ever seem to get them though." He got a very concerned look on his face, and quickly scrambled off the bed to land on the floor next to my feet. He reached forward and promptly grabbed my toes saying "Don't worry Mommy. I got your toes."

PLLLLLBBBBB

Zoe has discovered the joy of blowing raspberries. A lot. So much so, that playing with her has turned into a first-five-rows-at-Sea-World event. Somebody hand me a towel.

Chatty chatty chatty

I should've known when Grandma got her a toy cell phone, that it wouldn't be long before she started talking our ears off. And, true to form, we've got dada as one of our first words :) Ah Zoe, such a daddy's girl! Of course it's all part of the whole ga ga ba baba ga eeeeeeeeeeee! at the loudest possible volume that she graces us with, but it's in there nonetheless.

Sing the Zoe song

Riding into work today, I ask JJ "Should we sing a song?" "Yes mommy!" he replies quickly. "OK, what song should we sing?" "Sing the Zoe song?"

The what?

John and I walk around the house making up silly songs for the kids all the time (Like "Zo Zo ZoZo bean she's a cutie pie" to the tune of Row Row Row Your Boat). So I sing one of the Zoe songs.

"Ok honey, what song next?" "Helicopter song!"

WHAT?!?!

SO, now, I don't know ANY helicopter songs. After a little probing, I find out he wants me to make up a song about a helicopter and sing it. So I did. And he loved it. I'd like to say it was inspired, fabulous and really entertaining. But I don't like to lie.

Ninja Mommy

We had a big family reunion this weekend at my grandfather's lake house. Loads of people all over, playing games, fishing, swimming, etc. John decides he is going to take JJ fishing down at the dock and swimming. We had gotten him a lifejacket before the trip but had not had a chance to try it on him yet. SO, after 20 minutes or so, I head down to the dock to take pictures of everyone. I find John helping JJ get out of the lake. He tells me that JJ freaked out in the water and that the lifejacket is too big on him (will not keep his face out of the water) and would I please watch him so John can go swimming.

I'm thinking, "no problem".

SO, JJ and I are sitting on the dock with 5 or 6 other folks and he's "fishing" (no hook, no bait - that's a daddy thing to deal with ;) ). It's a floating boat dock, so there's a railing on one side (to the open lake) and no rail on the other side (to the boat slip). JJ turns around and starts "fishing" in the empty boat slip. I am sitting right next to him. The next thing I know he's falling forward into the boat slip (he apparently saw a fish and was leaning forward to get a better look). I grab with my left hand and MISS. I grab his FOOT with my right hand (because at this point he is well and truly falling) and bodily haul him back up and into my lap. He got half his face wet, and scraped his leg on the way out, but was otherwise fine. I am checking him all over making sure he hasn't inhaled any water. He's ok (thank heavens!) In fact, he's so ok, he goes right back to doing what got him in trouble in the first place! (AHHHH!)

Next thing I know, half my family is over next to us exclaiming about my ninja-like reflexes. Apparently I moved faster than anyone had ever seen! One of my aunts said it looked like I teleported him out of the water. Personally, it all seemed like slow motion to me - I was absolutely terrified he would go in and inhale a bunch of water in his panic. I had visions of my beautiful baby boy drowned. It was horrible. The next day, my whole right side hurt like the devil, from my shoulder to my lower back. I had really wrenched something.

So, those stories they tell you about mom's lifting buses and stuff like that. I totally believe it now. And watch those little ones near the water this summer. I'm still not over the scare.

A substantial breakfast

JJ asked to have a cookie for breakfast. I said "No. you need something more substantial than that." He thought a minute and said "Ok mommy. 2 cookies."

What big lungs you have...

One of the little girls at daycare was looking at Zoe in her sundress. Pointing to the rolls of baby fat on her chest she says "Zoe has big lungs, just like her mommy!"
Now, I wonder how she knew I have big lungs....LOL!

Breakfast options

JJ when asked if he wants a cereal bar or yogurt for breakfast "No thanks, just ice cream.

Working Mom

Being a working mom has always been challenging - balancing the needs of your children and husband with a career, while simultaneously trying to live up to the June Cleaver model of house keeping and social interaction that our current culture holds out to us as ideal.

Now throw globalization into the mix. I've regularly got meetings that start in the 7am time frame so I can work with people around the world - but childcare doesn't open until 8am.

Angry bird

"Mommy, what birdie doing?"
"The bird is flying, sweetie."
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why flying?"
"Do you mean how is the bird able to fly or why does the bird like to fly?"

"Why *like* flying?"

"Well, do you like to run?"

"Yes!"

"Why do you like to run?"
"I not know."

"Well, birds are made to fly like you are made to run. And because they are made for flying, they are very good at it, and it is a joyous thing for them to do. By joyous, I mean makes them happy."

"Birdie happy flying?"

"Yes!"

"Birdie not happy, birdie angry."
"What?!"

"Birdie *angry* mommy."
"Um, ok...why is the bird angry?"
"I not know."

"OK, how do you know the bird is angry."
"Bit me. In the car."
"What?!"

"Birdie bit me in truck. Flew on car and bit me."

"Um, was this a dream."
"Uh huh."

"Ok, so let me get this straight, you had a dream in which an angry bird flew onto the truck and bit you. Is that right?"

"Uh huh."

"Well, I think the bird is probably happy now. It was just a dream."

"No! Birdie very angry."
"Um, ok. What can we do to help the birdie be happy?"

"Snack."
"We should give the bird a snack?"
"Yes!"

"What kind of snack would make the bird happy?"

"Goldfish! Snack make birdie happy!"

Fortunately for the "birdie", fruit and cereal at daycare was an adequate substitute for the goldfish. And here I thought he was a little young for the whole metaphor thing...

Rolling onto her tummy

Well Zoe sorted out how to roll on to her tummy in the wee hours of Wednesday morning and since then diaper changes have turned into roller derby wrestling! She's so pleased with her new trick she does it all the time - in her swing in her chair on th changing table in her bassinet...too cute!

Easter Hats Rock!

Gerber baby, eat your heart out!

What a day...

Up this morning and off to the Farmer's Market - Zoe's first since her arrival. Lots of fun stuff to see as it turns out because it is a Civil War reenactment weekend! JJ got to see his first spinning wheel in action (very cool). Then this afternoon we went to a friend's child's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. This was the first time JJ or I (or Zoe, for that matter) had been to a Chuck E Cheese. Oh my. I can't believe people actually pay to go to those things - it was insane! The noise alone was enough to make me want to run. JJ handled it ok, but was definitely ready to go within 30 minutes. We decided we were all too stressed out to cook dinner, so we stopped at Pho Mac on the way home for yummy cha gio (Vietnamese egg rolls). JJ, who turns up his nose at anything but macaroni and cheese these days, ate an entire egg roll and some rice noodles. Yeah! Then, during tummy time, Zoe turned over for the first time. WOW! what a day...

Rollin' Over

She did it! Today Zoe rolled over from her front to her back for the first time. You go girl!! So much for tummy time...

Getting on top of things

I've got to give it to the little guy - he is just amazing for being only 2. We have entered the infamous terrible twos, a time when children are trying to establish their independence, but still needing the security of mommy and daddy. Hormones are rampant as they go through growth spurts and learn huge amounts of new information daily. From a child's perspective, it's got to be pretty strange - sometimes mom and dad are all supportive of your latest discovery, for example when you point out a strange new bug you found and sometimes they just squash what you're trying to do, for example when you rub macaroni and cheese inside your shirt to see what it feels like on your chest.

I really wish that last part had been a hypothetical. Really I do.

But, in spite of the craziness of being two, coupled with the not inconsiderable stresses of a new little sister in the house, JJ is doing great. Do we have meltdowns? Of course. Does he refuse to eat anything that doesn't involve pasta some days? Yup. Do the words "no" and "self" figure prominently in his vocabulary? Absolutely. But, most importantly (to me at least), he has the ability to "get on top of it" if he needs to. No matter the meltdown, the tantrum, the pout...if I look him in the eye and say, "JJ, you need to get on top of this. Take a couple of deep breaths" he will do just that. And within minutes he'll be happy and back to doing something fun again. If it's a really bad one, I can hold him and say "It's ok, I've gotcha sweetie." and rock him and all will soon be right again. He worries about his sister when she cries and about his friends at daycare when they're upset. He loves his dog and his cats and tries very hard to help around the house. And he's so very very smart.

And best of all, when he wakes up in the morning, he throws his arms around me and whispers "I gotcha Mommy."

OMG - 8 hours!!

Thankyou Zozo!! She slept 8 hours last night! WHOOHOO!

Yesterday was...well, it started off with a night of Zoe getting up every hour and a half. Then JJ's pullup had a total fail during the night - TWICE. So, that's two bed changes (he's sleeping with us, so it's not just changing his sheets, it's changing ours). Then the dog throws up in her crate. Needless to say, getting ready for the day was less than pleasant.

Now this morning....well, JJ had another pull up fail, but it didn't happen until I was already up for the day, plus I got 7 hours of sleep last night (thankyou Zoe!), so it didn't seem quite so tragic. The dog threw up again, this time on the carpet in the living room and one of the cats also threw up, but in the den (just to make sure we have to clean ALL the carpets). Sigh.

But I can't be too upset - it's hard to be down when you've had enough sleep for a change!

More JJisms

"One tiny leetle piece of chewocolate?" - Um...how could I say no to that?

"Hey man! Poly" - as in, "hey man, I think you need a new coat of poly" a line from Cars by Ramone (voiced by Cheech Marin). Now, this is cute in and of itself, but what makes it is that JJ delivers this in his best gruff approximation of Cheech Marin (which is pretty darn good).

"T-Rex got me!" - He will alternately pretend that a T-Rex or an alligator is chasing him around the house. Amusingly, his sense of scale is such that, when prompted as to exactly where the T-Rex is, he points to the ground, usually under a chair.

"Zozo kwying - it's ok Zozo!" This second reassurance is usually delivered at the top of his lungs at a shout.

You can pet her!

So, Zozo started daycare with her big brother yesterday. Sigh. Back to work for mommy. I was hanging out with them waiting for Daddy to pick us up, and watching the other little kids who are totally obsessed with the new baby (She's so tiny! She's like a little doll! Oh she's so sweet!) One of the little girls sees her mommy come in the door and yells "Mommy! Come see JJ's little sister! You can pet her if you want to!"

I about fell out of my chair laughing!

Weight loss - down below pre-pregnancy weight

Ok, so there's an upside to the stomach flu. I'm now 4lbs under my pre pregnancy weight and still losing. Whoohoo!

Downside is that apparently I'm having a hard time eating enough to keep up with the tandem nursing. I've been getting dizzy and light headed - here I thought it was a cold (inner ear stuff), but it turns out it's just me being hungry. Never thought I'd have trouble eating enough!

House of plague

Ugh. February has been a month of sickness at our house. First Zoe comes down with RSV (basically bad case of the sniffles for her - nothing too serious), then JJ gets a cold, then John and I get a cold (bad enough we both need steroids and antibiotics) then JJ gets diarrhea and is home for several days and John's cold gets bad enough he has to sleep in the chair because his uvula is choking him. Then the next week JJ gets a stomach bug (starts throwing up in the middle of the night), gets over it in a day, then John and I get the same bug (bad enough we had to call a neighbor to help us out at 4am because I was in danger of throwing up on the baby while I fed her and John was totally incapacitated - Nancy is an ANGEL!!). We get over that and JJ and John both get really awful diarrhea the following week. Poor JJ has been home from school almost 3 weeks out of the 4 in February and the rest of us have been the walking dead. Zoe is the only one who's flown through it all without much fuss. Boy I hope that is behind us!

Tandem Nursing - Notes from the Field

The Good: Still nursing JJ seems to be helping JJ adjust to having a little sister, in that he feels like he still gets his "mommy time". It also makes ensuring I get alone time with him easier on me because it's sort of built in. When they nurse together,it gives him a chance to "play" with his little sister (hold her hand or rub her head gently) in a closely supervised environment.

For Zoe, it has meant an easier time nursing since my milk was already "in" with less frustration. She's gained weight well and didn't have any jaundice issues. And finally, I'm down to 3lbs over my pre-pregnancy weight, just 3 weeks after birth (I gained 25lbs total during the pregnancy) and my bleeding has almost stopped. The Not-So-Good - Think of all the time you spend feeding a newborn. Then add half again as much time during the week and twice as much on the weekends because now you're feeding 2, one of whom doesn't really need it physically, but definitely needs it emotionally. I often feel like a walking cafe and that can get downright frustrating, especially when you're tired. Occasionally, I just want to scream "What?! Am I just a pair of boobs to you people!?!" And of course I know that's not the case and after a nap and a chocolate bar I've got my perspective back, but I'd be lying if I denied that I had those moments several times a week. Night times can be especially hard when Zoe wakes JJ up and he decides he wants "MILK!" too. It's hard enough to get a squirmy newborn latched on properly without having to juggle an impatient nearly 2 year old while operating on an hour of sleep. Also, it's nearly impossible to eat enough. I'm not surprised I've lost weight so quickly - it's hard to find time to eat (since I'm feeding someone else most of the time) and then it's just hard to eat enough to keep up with the calorie demands from nursing 2 kids. I'm hungry a lot. This is getting slightly better since JJ is back in daycare, but still a challenge. Would I do it again? Yes. In spite of the obvious challenges, I think the positives outweigh them for us. JJ clearly needs the emotional support and connection he gets from nursing and I really value the extra time I get to spend with him. It also made nursing Zoe SO much easier for me - I really struggled with JJ and had to supplement for a year because my supply was never enough. It's been good not to have that frustration this time.

JJisms

"hoe-ja" - hold ya or, more accurately, pick me up

"heardit!" I heard something

"checkitout!" - let's go see whatever made that noise, delivered in a breathy, schwartzenegger-esque tone

"here go" - here you go, you can have this

"maaalk" - mommy milk, please

"shoowar" - yes, I'm sure

"baff" - bath

"chewocolate" - chocolate

"spreaditout" - spread the blanket out