I’m proud to say I would never allow Zoe to wear high heels at this age (a la Suri Cruise). But I couldn’t help but smile when Zoe asked if her new pair of shoes were high heels and then, after I told her no, inquired, “Can I get some high heels? Like yours?” She seemed to accept my explanation that high heels are just for mommies – but now I know we’ve got some shoe shopping trips to look forward to in the future!
-M
Avery is a bit of a clingy baby: she likes to be held a lot, and she tends to cry when one of us leaves the room. (Zoe, in contrast, was a bit more independent at this age.) I would never complain about this – she just needs a little extra loving, after all – but it can make getting things done challenging at times. Case in point: I was preparing food the other day, and Avery kept pulling on my pants in an effort to get my attention and encourage me to pick her up. By the time Zoe joined in, I had lost track of what I was doing and had to wonder how I was ever going to get dinner made! But it made for a fun photo.
-M
A martial arts studio opened up a block away, and when we saw an ad for a “Little Pandas” class for 3- and 4-year-olds, Q and I jumped (ha, ha) at the chance. Zoe’s first class consisted of some punching and kicking and a lot of running around, and she seemed to enjoy herself. (She was showing off what she learned to her teachers just this morning.) I have a feeling we’ve got a lot of Hi-yahs in our future.
-M
-M
I had a nice, relaxing Mother’s Day weekend (thank you, Q), but the highlight, aside from little gifts from the girls, was watching two baby-themed shows. On Sat., we watched, for the first time in its entirety, our video from the day Avery was born. It starts with me calmly, happily sitting in my hospital bed, blogging (!) and waiting for the induction to begin; then it cuts to me holding a very tiny baby and Q walking Zoe over to my bed to meet her little sister. The video is fairly long (thank you, Uncle Dan) and captures Avery sneezing, snoozing, crying, and getting weighed and cleaned by the nurse; Zoe kissing and holding Avery for the first time; and me and Q looking longingly at the newest addition to our family. It was really fun (and emotional) to watch, and I was struck by how calm and normal things appeared. Our lives had just changed forever, but the appearance of this little baby seemed like the most natural thing in the world. (Which, I guess, it really was.)
Sunday night, Q took me to the documentary “Babies,” which follows four children from their birth to first steps. I had been dying to see it, and Mother’s Day certainly seemed like the appropriate time to watch a bunch of babies grow up, literally, before our eyes. It was a sweet movie (though I joked to Q that we could have saved our $21 by just watching Avery crawl around at home) and it reminded me of two important things: that a baby’s first year goes by like a flash; and that infancy is really an awe-inspiring thing! I had a huge lump in my throat when one of the babies, with a huge grin on his face, stood up for the first time – and I just couldn’t get wait to get home to see my babies.
-M
The other night, when Zoe was playing with her dolls and stuffed animals, she commented to me, “I’m the mommy.” “What do mommies do?” I asked her, and she responded, “They take care of their babies.” She made me laugh by going on to tell me what daddies do (“They go to Giants games”), but she also made me feel a bit like crying – in that good way – by showing that she gets what mommies are for. (I must be doing something right, I thought.)
And so, to all of you out there who have your own babies (even grown-up ones!) to take care of: Happy Mother’s Day! I’m honored to be a member of your club.
-M
Another Friday, another day for me and Avery to hang out and entertain friends. Here are some pics from yesterday.
-M
The Social Security Administration just released its list of most popular baby names of 2009, and Avery is ranked #32. That seems pretty high to me: I don’t know any other kids named Avery, and Zoe – a name I thought was more popular – was ranked lower (54) the year our Zoe was born. But it’s interesting to think of all those other Averys running around out there, and I’m guessing we’ll meet some someday…
-M
The CD that we most often listen to in the car is Baby Einstein’s Playdate Fun, and Avery has grown quite fond of the Baby Einstein Theme (track one here). She likes it so much, in fact, that if she’s upset and hears the song, she instantly stops crying; Q and I call it the crack song for its addictive qualities. (It happened again this morning: she was super tired and cranky as we drove home from a Target run, and she stopped crying the moment I turned on the song.) The only unfortunate thing is that it’s really short (less than 25 seconds in length) – but that’s what the “repeat” button is for.
I think it’s amazing what this song can do, but it’s not the first time that music has helped us with our kids. When Zoe was a baby, we used Baby Loves Jazz’ Lullabye (last track here) to lull her to sleep in the car: we would turn it on and watch as – like magic – her eyes slowly closed. It worked almost every time – until she was 2 1/2 or so. If only it was that easy to get Zoe to sleep these days!
-M
Avery has become quite fond of her sister’s kitchen; it’s a common sight for her to be standing near the range, “cooking.” This is also the place where Q and I got a glimpse of her angry side the other day: Zoe kept taking dishes out of Avery’s hand, and Avery suddenly started to shake and grunt. Her face got bright red, and I think a vein in her forehead even popped out a bit. All I can say about this is: oh, boy.
-M
The other day the moon, today the water. When we were driving to school today, Zoe cried out, “Look it’s the ocean!” (Our drive is a hilly one, and the water – though far away – can be seen in certain spots.) “It is the water. How did you spot that all by yourself?” I asked, glancing at her through the rearview mirror. “These eyes,” she said, pointing to them. “These eyes are very strong.”
-M
Just six months ago we were writing a 35,000 hit post and now we are approaching 40,000 hits! In honor of this feat, we are going to give another prize to our 40,000th visitor. If you come to the site and see the 40,000 marker at the bottom of the page, you win! Just send us a screen shot of the moment so we can post it and you will receive a surprise.
Jon Q
When I was little, my parents often dressed me and my sister in matching clothes/pajamas – and I’ve always thought it would be fun to do the same thing with Zoe and Avery. The girls have been dressed alike before, but last night they sported matching pajamas for the first time. I just had to snap a few pictures.
-M
I love what little kids get excited about. This morning on the way to school, Zoe started squealing when she saw a faint outline of the moon in the otherwise sunny sky. (“I see the moon!!”) She proceeded to talk all about it: how the moon is female (“She’s my friend”) and how the moon usually sleeps during the day, when the sun is out (“I sleep at night but sometimes I nap during the day too”). She even gave the moon a name (“Her name is Zoe Browdy!”) and later said the moon’s nickname was “Ballooney.” I sometimes wonder where she comes up with this stuff…
-M
I didn’t go to any Giants games last season (too busy doing other things), but we’ve already been to two this season. Q and I went to Opening Day, sans kids, a few weeks ago, and today we took the girls to the ballpark. We went nice and early, knowing we wouldn’t be able to see much of the actual game (because of naps), but we still managed to do a lot: ride the trolley, go down slides, hit some balls, roam the park and pose for pictures. Avery happily stayed in the Baby Bjorn the entire time, and I couldn’t help but think about the first time we took Zoe, also in a carrier, to a game.
-M
After dinner, I sat down with Zoe to give her the Animal Cookies we got earlier in the day. Here is how the conversation went:
Zoe: Can you open these for me?
Daddy: Sure, how many would you like?
Zoe: All of them.
Daddy: No, that is too many. Pick a number. Like how about 3 or 4 of them?
Zoe: How about 100?
Daddy: Zoe, that would be all of them!
Zoe: OK, sounds like a deal, I’ll take all of them.
Checkmate in 4 moves!
Jon Q