2 years / 11 month update

I am the mother of a 2 year old. Seriously, Calan is 2. I thought his first year went by quickly, but this year has flown by. Maisie is going to be 1 soon. Seriously, soon I will be the mother of 2 toddlers and not 2 babies.

This morning Bob had to go to work early, so it was just me and the kids and we sat on our large chair snuggling. I loved every second of it. I love being a mom and love watching them get so old. Though it does make me sad. Time is going by too quickly. I think every mother feels that way. So much happens so quickly those first years, I am so happy that I have been here for everything!

Eating

• Calan is still my finicky eater. I swear he regresses all the time. It is always 1 step forward and 2 steps back with him. I do get him to try everything at dinner, but man is it a battle the whole way. Not sure if it is the time of day or what I am feeding him, but it is just the worst meal. I dread it completely. His appetite is still less, which means at least meals aren't too long. (Yeah.)
  I am working on getting him to stop playing with his food. Everything is either a boat or car and then he makes the hugest mess. Again, such a pain. I just wish meals were easy. One day, right?
• Maisie is an amazing eater. She does not even question it. If it is on her tray, she eats it. Though if after a few bites, she isn't a fan, she starts to drop it on the floor. The little stinker literally smiles at me when she does this. She is eating basically everything that we are. No more purees, which is making life a lot easier. She drinks four 6 oz. bottles of formula each day. I am behind on introducing a sippy cup, so hopefully she transitions OK in a couple weeks to milk. I just have to start being consistent about it. 

Sleeping

• Calan is sleeping a hundred times better. He still rocks, but 2-hour wake ups are becoming fewer and fewer. I can only remember 2 or 3 this month versus 2 or 3 a week. He has been taking a longer and longer time to fall asleep. We have started to give him a sippy cup of water and that helped a little, but now has become another thing he stays awake with. I have started going in there not saying a word and just resetting him and that seems to have helped a little. 
• Luckily, Miss Maisie sleeps through it all. She is out quicker than I can turn off the light. She is awesome when it comes to sleeping. Down at 7:30 and up just after 7 in the morning. No peeps, no rocking, no nothing; just pure sleep. She is still taking 2 naps, an hour in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon. They still nap separately and I probably won't change that till Maisie drops her morning nap. 
• Room sharing is still going great at night. No complaints there. 

Milestones

• Maisie got glasses this month. Little cute pink ones that will hopefully strengthen her right eye so that she doesn't go cross-eyed while focusing. She does really well with them and leaves them on her face most of the time, and to my utter shock, Calan leaves them alone too and tells me when they have fallen down. Crazy right? She will hopefully only need them for a year or 2. 
• Calan's birthday was a success. We had family and friends over for a fire truck birthday party and he loved it. The kid loves his trucks to say the least. 
• Maisie is up to 7 teeth right now and I am pretty sure all of Calan's 2-year molars are in (it is impossible to get in his mouth to check). 
• Maisie is clapping, repeating noises, and dancing (shaking her head or butt to a beat). No words yet. She is pretty quiet, so not sure when that will happen.
• Calan is fearless at all the parks we have been too. Love how active and fun he is. 
• Maisie is getting a bit more balance, but is still just walking along furniture. What is it going to be like having 2 walking kids? I'm a little scared.

Schedule

Still a bit all over the place with so much going on, but here is our base schedule:

• 7/7:30 - wake up, 6 oz. bottle for Maisie
• 8 - breakfast
• 8:30 - Pack-and-play time for Maisie and room time for Calan
• 9 - Maisie nap; Calan free play
• 10:30 - Maisie up; outdoor play or playdate usually. 
• 11 - 6 oz. bottle for Maisie
• 11:30/12 - lunch
• 12:30 - nap
• 3:00- wake up / snack; 6 oz. bottle for Maisie
• 6 - Dinner
• 6:30 - Bath and dad time
• 7:15 - stories
• 7:30 - Bedtime. (Calan usually falls asleep closer to 8 or 8:30, but Maisie is out like a light at 7:30)

Overall

Our summer is off to a great start. We are taking full advantage of the weather and where we live. We are having as much fun as possible. I am already dreading the winter months. Let summer last forever. 

The new jungle gym - our family room chair. 

First wagon ride around our neighborhood

My mini Elton John on our way to the park

The birthday boy!

Anything to do with water and my kids love it!

Feeling a bit sentimental these days

I am in full-on birthday-party mode. Calan will be 2 on Sunday. I will be the mother of a 2-year-old. OH MY GOSH. Where did the time go?

I will no longer have 2-under-2. I will have a 1- and 2-year-old. When did that happen?

I look back to Calan's first birthday and can't believe that he was so little when I thought he was so big and can't believe I was so big, when I thought I was so little. I was 9 months pregnant with Maisie and my big little guy wasn't even walking yet.

I am feeling a little sentimental for my newborn babies, my non-moving, sleep-on-you babies. My wiggly, can't sit still babies are all over the place now. Their getting into all kinds of mischief.

I just want to hold on to those little babies for a little longer. Calan now tells me to "Let Go" when I have hugged him too long. I just want to hold him all the time.

I had to buy Maisie some 18 month summer clothes because she is already busting out of her 12 month clothes. She is so tall her shorts barely go over her fluffy butt and her Buddha belly is hanging out of her shirts.

I am now cooking for a family of 4. Maisie is eating basically everything that we are eating during meals. Unless I am being lazy, she rarely has pureed baby food anymore.


Everything feels like it is happening too quickly for me. I want to savor this year for a little longer. I want my babies to be just like they are for just a little longer.


I want Calan to sing at the top of his lungs "Farmer and the Dell" all the time. I want him to count "2, 3, 6, 1, 2, 3, 5" again and again. I want him to mumble prayers and say "Amen" when I am taking too long to say them so he can start eating. I want him to say "Dank you" when I hand him what he wants and "sure" when I finally repeat what he was trying to ask correctly forever.


I want Maisie to smile with her 4-tooth grin all day long. I want her to try and escape out of our family room and smile back at me to only turn and move faster wiggling her little butt. I want her to raise her hands above her head when I enter a room every time because she is so happy to see me. I want her to bee-line to any shoe left in her reachable space forever.


I want to remember it all. I am not ready for this season to be over. I thought I would be, but I am not. I love having 2 babies. I love watching them grow, but growing means one day they won't be babies anymore.

I know that they will always be my babies. I am just feeling a bit sentimental right now. I just want to hold on for a little bit longer. This momma isn't ready to let go.

Love that this little guy made me a mom. 

The picture I used to announce I was pregnant on Facebook.

Calan's first trip to the zoo. 

First birthday

My two babies. 

Would I do it again?

Would I have children so close in age if I could do it all over again? My answer overwhelmingly is YES!

Maisie was not a surprise. She was not an amazing accident. She was planned and hoped for.

We wanted our children close in age. We wanted our children to have a sibling. When I envisioned Calan growing up, I saw an unknown sibling with him, even from a young age.

Did I know what I was getting into? Absolutely not! Did I worry if I would be able to handle it? Absolutely. But I have not for one second thought that I should have done it differently. Having two children close in age isn't for everyone, but it is definitely for me.

I have had my ups and downs, of course. There are nights when I get little sleep because they have tagged teamed me and there are days when I wish I could get a break. I am human after all. But I think no matter what age children you have those feelings are no different if your kids are close in age or if they are not.

What I love about having 2 kids close in age is that I am doing it all at once. Yes, I have 2 kids in diapers, but if I have 1 kid might as well change another diaper. I would actually hate to get out of the diapering stage and then have to start all over again. (Someone else might see that differently, but that is the way I see it.) It is the same with food. If I am cutting up and preparing one meal, might as well make it two.

I love that toys are similar. There are no choking hazards laying around for Maisie to play with right now. Most toys are still "edible." I love that I already have to teach my son to share with someone else. His toys from what he can remember have never just been his. While most of the time, Maisie gives up a toy pretty easily, Calan does have to ask nicely to use it. Or he has to trade her for the toy that he wants. All life lessons that I am so happy that I have to teach now and every day.

I love that they still go to sleep at the same time and nap at the same time. I love that for 3 hours everyday, it is just me. I refresh. I blog. I can get things done. I can nap if I want. I can clean if I want. From 12:30 to 3 or 3:30 every day it is just me. LOVE THAT!

Of course, going out somewhere is not the easiest. It is one huge downfall to two small children. My diaper bag is huge. And eating out is not completely easy, but it is all possible.

I get so excited for this summer and watching Maisie walk along and follow her big brother. Or Calan reaching for Maisie's hand to walk with her somewhere. They are quite the duo already. I love hearing them laugh together from another room. The bond is growing.

Please do not get me wrong, siblings are siblings and there will always be issues, but close together or far apart, those issues are the same.

So, would I do it all over again? Yes. But am I ready for more? Not right now. I am not crazy after all.

Plus, both stay in a stroller, so no chasing after an older child. Containment is sometimes really, really good.