It’s happened so many times before that Avery now knows the drill: When I give her an unhappy look as I’m helping her get into a pair of pants or dress, it means we’ll soon be packing away that item of clothing. “Last time?” or “Growth spurt?” she’ll ask me with a sympathetic look before throwing her arms around me. (She knows how sentimental I am!) It happened again yesterday, when a dress that I swear fit her just a few weeks ago was suddenly too short. We measured her and confirmed that she had, indeed, had a growth spurt.

I’ve been a mom for almost seven years, and I’m still amazed at how kids literally grow overnight!

-M

Whenever Avery gets invited to a birthday party, the first thing she asks is whether her “bestie,” Sofia, is going. The answer was “yes” for last weekend’s party, and – as you can see below – the two girls were very happy to be together!

-M

It’s not every day that a kid gets to ride a pony, but it’s especially rare for a ride to happen in the middle of the city! Avery was lucky enough to experience this at a birthday party this weekend; below you’ll see her (along with the birthday girl) wait patiently for the pony to arrive, and then jump on.

-M

Over and over again, Zoe – with her ability to empathize with others and her instinct to help those around her – reminds me of a little Mommy. A few nights ago, I was tired and having a rough time, and Zoe jumped up to help with dinner and her sister’s bedtime routine without even being asked. I later thanked her for helping, and she sweetly nodded. “I know sometimes it can be overwhelming,” she replied. Similarly, I was having another tough parenting moment not long ago and mumbled, “Nights like these…” Zoe heard and said, “Yeh, I know – they’re exhausting.”

It’s like she’s six, going on thirty-six!

-M

Uncle Dan was in town the other night, and the girls spent a good amount of time waiting for his arrival. (I was gone – at a school event – when he got here, but I heard the girls had a blast with him. “I wasn’t shy with Uncle Dan,” Avery proudly told me the next day. “I was crazy!”) While they were keeping watch at the window, I overheard:

Z: “Do you know Uncle Dan, Uncle Gil and Daddy are all brothers?”
A (in a knowing voice): “Yeh, they all grew up together.”

-M

This may be my new fave picture of the girls…

-M

I posted this on Facebook but it’s too good not to share here, too… Last night I was teasing Avery (as I sometimes do) that I was going to take her to the zoo to live with the animals. She requested, in all seriousness, that she instead go live with her best friend, Sofia, and his twin brother. After talking for a few minutes about the prospect of her being away from us, I asked wouldn’t she miss me, Daddy and Zoe? She just shrugged and then said, as way of justification for moving out, “I want you to just have one kid so you handle it really good.”

(And here I thought I was handling things “really good!”)

-M

As mentioned here before, the girls play make-believe all the time – and one of Zoe’s favorite things to do (dating back to when she was just three) is pretend she’s a teacher. Avery was her student one day, and I was touched by a letter that Zoe wrote to her at the end of “class.”

-M

Last Halloween:

This Halloween:

Our Halloween night wound up being way more fun than I thought it would be, given Zoe’s sickness. By late afternoon, as mentioned below, she was feeling well enough to carve a pumpkin with her dad, give out (lots and lots) of candy, and even hang out with friends who stopped by. Avery, meanwhile, had a blast both giving out candy and trick-or-treating with a friend. Added bonus: She got a treat from our babysitter and neighbor, Minnie Mouse (i.e. Sophie).

-M

By the time 5 PM rolled around yesterday, Zoe was feeling good enough to gear up for Halloween. (The medicine and a long nap helped.) She couldn’t go trick-or-treating, obviously, but her doctor gave her the go-ahead to give out candy – as long as she was feeling well enough and as long as she wore gloves. The latter was no problem: Black gloves happened to go perfectly with her costume!

She wound up giving out 500 pieces of candy.

-M

For the second year in a row, Zoe was sick for Halloween. I picked her up from school the afternoon before and knew right away. She was slumped over in a chair, waiting for me and looking white as a ghost. My stomach sank.

I had taken off work for Halloween and was looking forward to the day. I had a lot of work to get done around the house – and after doing my chores I was going to surprise Avery by taking her to a pumpkin patch she had been asking to go to. After we picked up Zoe from school, I thought I might take the girls trick-or-treating at the stores on West Portal Ave. before it got dark, too.

All that went out on the window when I saw Zoe’s face that afternoon and found out the next morning that – sure enough – she had strep again. I was disappointed that our plans for the day were ruined – and worried about our plans for the evening – but then something happened. The two of us just hung out, having quiet time, and I found myself really enjoying it and forgetting about being upset.

I snuggled next to Zoe while we played puzzles on my iPad together, she read to me while I organized my closet, I helped her do her homework (a book review of “The Monster at the End of This Book”)… At one point I told her, “I really like spending time with you, Zoe,” and she said, “I like spending time with you, too, Mommy.” So though she didn’t feel well (which stunk) and though we couldn’t do the fun stuff I had planned (which also stunk), it was really nice just being with her.

I’m not known for turning lemons into lemonade – but in this case, the lemonade was made for me!

-M